What did you do today?

[highup]

Supposed to reach 40 today, mid 40's tomorrow, 60s by Monday, then cold and snow again.

Everybody needs to leave their cars idling all night and get this global warming crap moving like it's supposed to. We're not cold like you guys are but we've been in the mid-30s for the last 2 weeks for a low and looks like it's going to stay that way through the next week. We're supposed to have some light rain on Sunday Monday and Tuesday but inland in the passes they're supposed to have another foot of snow. Nothing better than a big snowpack to make the Summers easier in the center of the state.

 

[zannej]

Been out of it the last few days. Lost track of time/day. Jon, I hope x-rays helped. Rusty, I hope you won't have to keep getting infusions. Sending virtual hugs to both of you.

It is fairly cold for here but no snow. Sams and Walmart were out of the usual food my cats get so I had to substitute with a different type. They are not happy.

Ran into a snag with the Starlink. Apparently it needs no obstructions on the north, west, and east sides. Looks like the pecan tree to the east is interfering as there aren't enough satellites in my area for better signal. I connect to a pop (ground) station in Dallas TX.

This is my dish:

We ordered a different mount but after looking at what Mom ordered I realized it won't work as well so we need the pipe adapter instead and need to put it on a taller pipe or splice together two pipes we already have to mount the dish.
Maybe something like this to put the poles together:

And use the official pipe adapter from Starlink:

Our order for the wall mount thing hasn't been prepped yet so if we cancel we can order the adapter instead.
My friend is still trying to get his GF to pack her **** and leave. She's been sleeping on the couch and then running the AC while sitting on the porch with the front door open. His power bill was $400+ because of her. But she won't pay a dime in bills/utilities. She's going to need all her $ to pay her car note and to pay fines for not having car insurance for the past 2 months. And she will need to pay her car insurance. Friend stopped paying her car insurance for her when she physically assaulted him & said she wanted to leave him but wanted him to financially support her (while leaving the baby with him).
She apparently is making demands. Wants the dresser he bought from his uncle, wants a tall cabinet I bought for the bathroom, wants another dresser I bought, wants a tv, etc. My friend told her to f*** off. She didn't pay for any of that stuff. She only bought 2 things: The baby's dresser and some crappy entertainment center that is falling apart. Her current boyfriend doesn't have a vehicle. My mom offered to go over there and pack the girl's stuff in trash bags to be put out on the porch. What she means is, she wants me to do it bc she doesn't stand or walk much.

 

[C.J.]

Been out of it the last few days. Lost track of time/day. Jon, I hope x-rays helped. Rusty, I hope you won't have to keep getting infusions. Sending virtual hugs to both of you.

It is fairly cold for here but no snow. Sams and Walmart were out of the usual food my cats get so I had to substitute with a different type. They are not happy.

Ran into a snag with the Starlink. Apparently it needs no obstructions on the north, west, and east sides. Looks like the pecan tree to the east is interfering as there aren't enough satellites in my area for better signal. I connect to a pop (ground) station in Dallas TX.

This is my dish:
View attachment 14058
We ordered a different mount but after looking at what Mom ordered I realized it won't work as well so we need the pipe adapter instead and need to put it on a taller pipe or splice together two pipes we already have to mount the dish.
Maybe something like this to put the poles together:
View attachment 14059
And use the official pipe adapter from Starlink:
View attachment 14060
Our order for the wall mount thing hasn't been prepped yet so if we cancel we can order the adapter instead.
My friend is still trying to get his GF to pack her **** and leave. She's been sleeping on the couch and then running the AC while sitting on the porch with the front door open. His power bill was $400+ because of her. But she won't pay a dime in bills/utilities. She's going to need all her $ to pay her car note and to pay fines for not having car insurance for the past 2 months. And she will need to pay her car insurance. Friend stopped paying her car insurance for her when she physically assaulted him & said she wanted to leave him but wanted him to financially support her (while leaving the baby with him).
She apparently is making demands. Wants the dresser he bought from his uncle, wants a tall cabinet I bought for the bathroom, wants another dresser I bought, wants a tv, etc. My friend told her to f*** off. She didn't pay for any of that stuff. She only bought 2 things: The baby's dresser and some crappy entertainment center that is falling apart. Her current boyfriend doesn't have a vehicle. My mom offered to go over there and pack the girl's stuff in trash bags to be put out on the porch. What she means is, she wants me to do it bc she doesn't stand or walk much.

I got this all figured out for you, Z. You rent a boom lift so you can put your starlink up on top of the 50’ tower. Not many obstructions up there.

That’s for you, but now for us. You gotta film all this baby mama drama that your friend is going through and put it on the net. You’ll make enough money to pay for the boom lift and then some. You’ll be famous, this could be the next Tiger King. Im sure the best episode will be when your friend gets new floors installed at his place cus that’s my spin off show where I become famous, The Installers. Don’t worry, I got a spot for all you peeps in my show. Guest appearances at the very least but I’m sure some of you will be regulars for sure.

 

[zannej]

I've had someone on another forum say I should get my own reality show based on the nutjob people in my area.
That spot on the antenna tower is not good. We lost an antenna to lightning up there before and its much harder to retrieve dishy to stow when here is a hurricane. Plus the cable was only 50' and it's a 50' tower. Believe me, we considered using that tower but weighed the pros and cons. Having the antenna get blown down more than once cinched it for us.

 

[highup]

Been out of it the last few days. Lost track of time/day. Jon, I hope x-rays helped. Rusty, I hope you won't have to keep getting infusions. Sending virtual hugs to both of you.

It is fairly cold for here but no snow. Sams and Walmart were out of the usual food my cats get so I had to substitute with a different type. They are not happy.

Ran into a snag with the Starlink. Apparently it needs no obstructions on the north, west, and east sides. Looks like the pecan tree to the east is interfering as there aren't enough satellites in my area for better signal. I connect to a pop (ground) station in Dallas TX.

This is my dish:
View attachment 14058
We ordered a different mount but after looking at what Mom ordered I realized it won't work as well so we need the pipe adapter instead and need to put it on a taller pipe or splice together two pipes we already have to mount the dish.
Maybe something like this to put the poles together:
View attachment 14059
And use the official pipe adapter from Starlink:
View attachment 14060
Our order for the wall mount thing hasn't been prepped yet so if we cancel we can order the adapter instead.
My friend is still trying to get his GF to pack her **** and leave. She's been sleeping on the couch and then running the AC while sitting on the porch with the front door open. His power bill was $400+ because of her. But she won't pay a dime in bills/utilities. She's going to need all her $ to pay her car note and to pay fines for not having car insurance for the past 2 months. And she will need to pay her car insurance. Friend stopped paying her car insurance for her when she physically assaulted him & said she wanted to leave him but wanted him to financially support her (while leaving the baby with him).
She apparently is making demands. Wants the dresser he bought from his uncle, wants a tall cabinet I bought for the bathroom, wants another dresser I bought, wants a tv, etc. My friend told her to f*** off. She didn't pay for any of that stuff. She only bought 2 things: The baby's dresser and some crappy entertainment center that is falling apart. Her current boyfriend doesn't have a vehicle. My mom offered to go over there and pack the girl's stuff in trash bags to be put out on the porch. What she means is, she wants me to do it bc she doesn't stand or walk much.

People ask why a nice guy like me never married.

 

[highup]

I've had someone on another forum say I should get my own reality show based on the nutjob people in my area.
That spot on the antenna tower is not good. We lost an antenna to lightning up there before and its much harder to retrieve dishy to stow when here is a hurricane. Plus the cable was only 50' and it's a 50' tower. Believe me, we considered using that tower but weighed the pros and cons. Having the antenna get blown down more than once cinched it for us.

50 ft tower to see daylight ?

 

[highup]

Hope they aren't accurate. If they are, we're going to set records Tuesday and Wednesday.
Wasn't but a month ago I was bragging about the rarity of temps below 28.
The water in the house is going to be trickling all night for sure.
Tuesdays predicted low is 24 degrees lower than average.

 

[highup]

Daris in his college days.

 

[Tile Tom]

Hope they aren't accurate. If they are, we're going to set records Tuesday and Wednesday.
Wasn't but a month ago I was bragging about the rarity of temps below 28.
The water in the house is going to be trickling all night for sure.
Tuesdays predicted low is 24 degrees lower than average.

Pretty sad that those numbers look like nice days for this time of year to me.

 

[Tile Tom]

I'm guessing that you guys don't insulate for temps that low and are worried about your water freezing?

I bought a sheet of 2" foam board and made a box to fit over the water line coming into the house. The inside of the box is only 6"x6" and I tripled the layers so the thickness is also 6". It goes from the slab to the bottom of the subfloor where it comes into the house.

I get temp's around -30 some nights in the winter and haven't had any freezing. Before I did that it would always freeze up on me.

 

[highup]

I'm guessing that you guys don't insulate for temps that low and are worried about your water freezing?

I bought a sheet of 2" foam board and made a box to fit over the water line coming into the house. The inside of the box is only 6"x6" and I tripled the layers so the thickness is also 6". It goes from the slab to the bottom of the subfloor where it comes into the house.

I get temp's around -30 some nights in the winter and haven't had any freezing. Before I did that it would always freeze up on me.

Let's put it this way, there's no such thing as a frost or freeze zone here. If a homes built around here the footing on the home is designed to hold the building up. We don't worry about the ground freezing and buckling. Homes around here are not designed for cold weather.
I recall one time since 1989 that the temperature dipped to 16°.
27 or 28 can happen but 26 is rare.

 

[zannej]

Highup, I hear you on that one. I've had marriage proposals but I prefer to be single. People are too much drama. Probably TMI but my doctor asked me why I'm still a virgin and I looked him in the eye and said "Because I give zero *****". The nice guys always seem to get rolled by people. My friend is so worried about being "the bad guy" that he lets people walk all over him. He still hasn't kicked his useless ex out even though he keeps telling her to pack her **** and get out. Apparently she's packing very slowly because she doesn't want to go stay with her adopted mom (who currently has the baby) bc she will be made to actually watch the baby and clean up after herself. She doesn't want to stay with the guy she left my friend for bc he apparently wants her to nurture him bc he's too ******* stupid to realize she's not the mothering/nurturing type. She's the one who wants to be babied. I think she's also not attracted to the guy physically but he's infatuated with her. I think there's at least a 5 year age difference (with her being older).

When my father first erected the 50' tower it was in the late 1980s and it was the only way to get TV signal with an antenna mounted to the very top. I still vaguely remember being in a hardware store with him & he was discussing with my mother what sort of cables he needed to raise the tower up and that he needed something rubberized or he wouldn't be able to get a good erection. Some dude nearby started laughing his ass off. IIRC, there were more trees around back in the 80s. We've lost a few oaks and pecan trees that surrounded the house. The 300yr old tree died in 2016. Another smaller oak next to the AC keeled over in a hurricane. A pecan tree next to the car port got taken out by hurricane Rita. And the 400yr old oak lost 1/4 of its mass and was then cut back drastically to prevent it from hanging over the house.

It very rarely used to get below freezing here as well. No frost lines declared. No special protections taken for pipes. I tend to wrap stuff in insulation though.

As an aside, I found an image of something similar to the metal bender we have. It just happened to be in a video about forging parts for a wagon (something I find fascinating).


Dishy's diagnostic of the obstructon:

I'm thinking of getting this mount: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Antennas-Direct-40-in-Antenna-J-Mount/5001197433 and figuring out how to splice a longer pole to it. A straight pole will have to be bent at least slightly unless I take a pressure treated wood block, paint it, and secure it to the wall to bump the mount out a little bit more. Cheapest option is to either bend a long pole slightly or use a block for bump-out.
I want as few joints as possible to have a sturdy pole.

Something mentioned on another forum is that I need to ground the pole. Can I just run a ground wire/cable that is attached via screw or T-Rex tape or something to the underside end of the pole/pipe and turn it to the grounding rod that the old satellite is grounded to? Or can I re-use existing cable of some sort to run to the grounding rod behind the house?

 

[zannej]

Tossed and turned all night. Bundled up bc it was cold then woke up sweating and had to take the blankets off completely, then got cold again, then hot. Felt nauseous, headache, and had a little trouble breathing. Coughing up a bunch of mucus. Decided to postpone my dental appointment. Earliest they can see me is next month at 1pm. Fine with me. Gives me time to clean my teeth better.

I'm now trying to figure out a way to modify my square D float switch so it stops jamming up every single ******* day. It has literally jammed every day this week. I have to keep going out there to check it and by the time I check, cistern is overflowing. Ugh.


Old one was diy rigged to have an extension welded on to it so it reached from a pvc pipe on top of the cistern lid. Was more than twice as long as the one on the unit pictured. I've been thinking of a few solutions. I could maybe cut off the tongue of a couple of the older ones and jbweld them together and use some metal bands as clamps (if I can find them). and some t-rex tape for good measure. Or make it so there are two holes and use bolts to make sure the flat piece stays straight. Or I can use aluminum flat stock to extend it and make sure to drill the right sized holes and add vaseline to he rod so it doesn't catch. I can use the bolts method combined with jweld and t-rex tape. then I can mount that sucker back on the thing the old one was mounted on.

What do you guys think?

 

[Kyle Nelson]

Yum!

 

[Floorist]

Yum!

That looks nasty

 

[highup]

Tossed and turned all night. Bundled up bc it was cold then woke up sweating and had to take the blankets off completely, then got cold again, then hot. Felt nauseous, headache, and had a little trouble breathing. Coughing up a bunch of mucus. Decided to postpone my dental appointment. Earliest they can see me is next month at 1pm. Fine with me. Gives me time to clean my teeth better.

I'm now trying to figure out a way to modify my square D float switch so it stops jamming up every single ******* day. It has literally jammed every day this week. I have to keep going out there to check it and by the time I check, cistern is overflowing. Ugh.

View attachment 14102
Old one was diy rigged to have an extension welded on to it so it reached from a pvc pipe on top of the cistern lid. Was more than twice as long as the one on the unit pictured. I've been thinking of a few solutions. I could maybe cut off the tongue of a couple of the older ones and jbweld them together and use some metal bands as clamps (if I can find them). and some t-rex tape for good measure. Or make it so there are two holes and use bolts to make sure the flat piece stays straight. Or I can use aluminum flat stock to extend it and make sure to drill the right sized holes and add vaseline to he rod so it doesn't catch. I can use the bolts method combined with jweld and t-rex tape. then I can mount that sucker back on the thing the old one was mounted on.

What do you guys think?

Zan, I don't have a clue how those work. What's connected to what to activate the switch?

 

[highup]

Yum!

Water issue?
What ever gave them a clue?

 

[highup]

Highup, I hear you on that one. I've had marriage proposals but I prefer to be single. People are too much drama. Probably TMI but my doctor asked me why I'm still a virgin and I looked him in the eye and said "Because I give zero *****". The nice guys always seem to get rolled by people. My friend is so worried about being "the bad guy" that he lets people walk all over him. He still hasn't kicked his useless ex out even though he keeps telling her to pack her **** and get out. Apparently she's packing very slowly because she doesn't want to go stay with her adopted mom (who currently has the baby) bc she will be made to actually watch the baby and clean up after herself. She doesn't want to stay with the guy she left my friend for bc he apparently wants her to nurture him bc he's too ******* stupid to realize she's not the mothering/nurturing type. She's the one who wants to be babied. I think she's also not attracted to the guy physically but he's infatuated with her. I think there's at least a 5 year age difference (with her being older).

When my father first erected the 50' tower it was in the late 1980s and it was the only way to get TV signal with an antenna mounted to the very top. I still vaguely remember being in a hardware store with him & he was discussing with my mother what sort of cables he needed to raise the tower up and that he needed something rubberized or he wouldn't be able to get a good erection. Some dude nearby started laughing his ass off. IIRC, there were more trees around back in the 80s. We've lost a few oaks and pecan trees that surrounded the house. The 300yr old tree died in 2016. Another smaller oak next to the AC keeled over in a hurricane. A pecan tree next to the car port got taken out by hurricane Rita. And the 400yr old oak lost 1/4 of its mass and was then cut back drastically to prevent it from hanging over the house.

It very rarely used to get below freezing here as well. No frost lines declared. No special protections taken for pipes. I tend to wrap stuff in insulation though.

As an aside, I found an image of something similar to the metal bender we have. It just happened to be in a video about forging parts for a wagon (something I find fascinating).
View attachment 14072

Dishy's diagnostic of the obstructon:
View attachment 14073
I'm thinking of getting this mount: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Antennas-Direct-40-in-Antenna-J-Mount/5001197433 and figuring out how to splice a longer pole to it. A straight pole will have to be bent at least slightly unless I take a pressure treated wood block, paint it, and secure it to the wall to bump the mount out a little bit more. Cheapest option is to either bend a long pole slightly or use a block for bump-out.
I want as few joints as possible to have a sturdy pole.

Something mentioned on another forum is that I need to ground the pole. Can I just run a ground wire/cable that is attached via screw or T-Rex tape or something to the underside end of the pole/pipe and turn it to the grounding rod that the old satellite is grounded to? Or can I re-use existing cable of some sort to run to the grounding rod behind the house?

I would look up how to connect a grounding rod. Maybe look up how to ground an antenna.
I wouldn't trust any advice from me nor any other guy that installs floor covering.

 

[highup]

Don, that's some fancy stuff you did round that stairwell. Curious why the molding continued down by the baseboard. Looks good just curious.

 

[zannej]

I looked up the grounding info and watched some videos. I think I can make it work. It's the float thing that is an issue.

So, power comes in to the switch and then goes to the pump. There is a vertical rod with a nut up top and a nut farther down and a float at the bottom of the rod. When the water rises the float lifts the road and the lower nut pushes the lever (flat part that sticks out) upward and turns the pump off. When the float drops and the nut on top hits the lever and pulls it down, the pump kicks on. Problem is, because the newer switches didn't have long enough levers to reach the hole from where the original mount was, the guy caulked a block of wood to the top of the lid and screwed the new switch on to the block. But with expansion/contraction, the block has shifted and keeps shifting. But it won't shift back into alignment when I try to move it. This has caused the rod to be misaligned with the hole so it goes in at an angle. Now when the float rises, the rod turns sideways instead of going up all the way and then jams without pushing the lever up. So I have to keep going out there to physically grab it and pull it up.

I want to do a different setup but it involves electrical changes and the well service guy doesn't know anything about any other system but the one we're using. He got grandfathered in. I might see if the pool store is still around in Alexandria and see if anyone there knows anything about floats.