Never thought retirement would be like this

NancyNGA said:
... So it *was* a bad breaker. BUT WHAT CAUSED IT TO BURN OUT IN THE FIRST PLACE??? ...
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Back of old breaker. Contacts are in crumbles. :p

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Have a feeling this is the reason. Why? Because it makes sense. :rolleyes:

Answer to another member with same problem on an old DIY forum:

"I would suspect a loose connection between the breaker and the bus bar. This can be caused by a breaker that is not fully engaged. A loose breaker can be made worse by a humid condition or other corrosive atmosphere.

"The loose connection allows a thin layer of oxidation to build up between the contacts which increases the resistance of the connection. This resistance causes heat build-up which increases the rate of oxidation until the heat becomes so much it melts stuff. If the connection is so loose that it causes arcing then the heat builds up very quickly."

May have lucked out again. If I can buy another 22 years with new breaker, that should be good enough.:)
 

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Work on any new project is on hold until I do a repair job that I've been putting off. A form of self-imposed punishment to force me to finally do it. Not working well so far, btw. :rolleyes:

The upstairs bathroom in my house is built under the slope of the roof. Slanted ceiling except for a flat section at the top, which contains a vent pipe and wiring. (Black hole explained below.)

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There is a leak up there but it takes heavy rain to show up. I have been on the roof twice in the past and put tar around the vent pipe exit. Didn't work. Did I have the wrong spot all along?

Yesterday I dug a hole out around the leaky spot big enough to stick my arm up through. I can reach all the way to the bottom of the roof. The pipe feels dry but there is water on the insulation below it. Have been waiting for heavy rain since yesterday afternoon. WeatherChannel.com has been Gaslighting me, saying it's been raining all along. Haven't seen it. :rolleyes: If the leak is not there, then I have to crawl up in the attic and look around. Crawling around up there is an *awful* experience. :p

If it turns out to be that vent pipe, and I think it will, I'm going to fix it one way or another this time. Then I've got a huge challenge. First ever try at drywall repair. That will be a disaster, I know, because it takes a lot of practice.:(
 
Nancy, before you start, be sure to unpack some more confidence from that big trunk you have stashed somewhere! I know plumbing and roofing are not in your "comfort hemisphere", but you will get'er done!:)
 

Sounds good, Meanderer, but confidence can only go so far. Trust me, it won't be pretty. The guy that did the sheetrock up there did a good job. Most newer finish work in the house was not that well done to begin with, so not hard to replicate. ;)
 
Nancy, how is your arm doing? I have been reading up on acupressure points, and trying it on my right shoulder back and upper arm. I have had some success, and thought it might help your arm. The term "point" is somewhat of a misnomer, that later came from acupuncture. It's more of a "cave",or soft depression, that you feel for and apply pressure with your finger or thumb.

If you lay on your good side, you can reach around with your good arm, and feel for the two spots on your upper back. The upper one is next to your shoulder blade, and the lower one is about 3 inches below that. As you gently probe, you will find the "cave" and then locate the sore spot. Press firmly with your finger, harder depending on your pain threshold.

When you hit the "sweet spot" you can feel it in your fingers. Its like ringing the old style doorbell for 10 or 12 seconds, until you can feel the knotted nerve bundle "dissolve" and melt away. You have immediate relief. This should be repeated as needed. There are other pressure caves along the upper shoulders, but I haven't gone there.

You can google more info.
 
Meanderer, be careful about shoulder pain. Years ago a good friend carried a large window AC unit for me once, for less than a minute, and hurt his shoulder doing it. He didn't get it looked at and it bothered him forever after. I still feel bad about it. Probably a torn ligament or tendon somewhere. Those kinds of injuries take forever to heal, and if they don't heal right it's not good. So if you have some pain that persists, have it checked out.

See, this is me giving advice I probably wouldn't take myself, but know I should. Ha!

I know at least one of those pressure points you are talking about, near the shoulder blade. It does help to put pressure there. I don't understand why though.

My arm/finger thing is unpredictable, but gradually getting better, two steps forward, one step back process. The most important thing is not putting any kind of pressure on that nerve ever. But that's almost impossible to do when you have a lot of responsibilities. I suspect it will just go away one day, and I won't even remember when it disappeared. Compared to problems of others my age it is nothing, and why I'm embarrassed to even talk about it. It's more of a puzzle to me than anything else.

Thanks for asking.
 
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I tore a ligament in that arm 10 years ago. Since then I have some arthritis in that shoulder. I am doing OK with it. At those pressure points I mentioned, there is a bundle of nerves that go to the arm and other parts of the body. A junction of sorts. I think applying pressure unknots them and the energy flows as it should. Normally,I am not a bundle of nerves.:rolleyes: Thanks for the free advice...worth every penny.:D
 
It has been drizzling off and on for 2-3 days and the deck has stayed constantly wet. Not liking what I see out there so far. The part that was treated with the Cabot brand (the expensive one) is getting a milky look to it. That happened once before when I tried a water based wood preserver. It got sticky, turned dark, and was hard to remove the next time. Never again used water base. Should wait longer to judge, I guess.

Apparently not enough rain to cause the bathroom ceiling to leak. No information to go on. Vent pipe is dry as a bone. :confused:

Will slip out to the farm late this afternoon, whenever the drizzle moves out, replace that breaker, sweep out the barn, and call it quits. Everything will be wet and messy, especially the barn. :p



Update ~11:45pm: .... Drizzle didn't stop until 3:30, so got a late start. Goat barn was not so bad. I keep forgetting there are only 4 goats now, not 14. The new breaker is in and working, but is not going to last 22 years. One of the contacts on the panel was pretty badly burned/corroded. Tried to sand and polish it, but never got it even smooth, let alone to shiny metal. The other contact is in good shape. I think they make 2 pole type breakers that fit on only one terminal now??? The terminology is confusing. Left it on the fence circuit, not the pump. That would be a steady current, unlike the pump---on and off. Wonder if that makes a difference? Too many questions. :confused:

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Just filler - a picture from 2006

Two years old. Up in the cart.:rolleyes: One of the remaining four. A real character.

"Here's lookin' at you, Kid." :)

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Still procrastinating. More filler (to stuff in pillows).
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Just spent a whole dollar to download a song!!! :eewwk:

Can't understand a word they are saying, and the drums are too loud, but otherwise I like it.:rolleyes: :confused: ..More so if I knew the lyrics, I think. :playful: .. Hope they are not X-rated. :eek:

Voices in the Hall - by Hare and the Hounds, 2015, Atlanta

 
After listening to that song a hundred times, I've got some of the lyrics. ....Anyone got better ears?

When dark surrounds me now, you just breathe it all in.
I'm so glad you're here. I'm so glad you are mine.

We needn't follow the ..............?
But you were always there. You were always around.
This is why you're here. This is why you remain.

I saw the voices that ..... down to my heart???
I can get to you hardly even ..... ?

Say soft sweet ................?
But I am just like you. I like? to share the same light?

If I would listen then I could hear me calling me.
Then maybe I could turn into what I was meant to be.

When dark surrounds me now you just breathe it all in.
This is why you're here. This is why you remain.
 
Nancy, here's another stab at those lyrics, but it doesn't all make sense. I also went to the band's website (https://hareandthehounds.bandcamp.com/track/voices-in-the-hall) to see if the song version there was a bit clearer. There's an email link on their page if you wanted to request the lyrics.

When dark surrounds me
How you just breathe it all in
I'm so glad you're here
I'm so glad you are mine

We meet a carnival << this doesn't make sense
I don't wish to go down
But you were always there
You were always around
This is why you're here
This is why you remain.

I follow voices that echo down in my heart
And I can get to them
I hardly even at all
The face I see when I look down in your eyes
But I am just like you
My eyes to share the same light

If I would listen then I could hear it calling me
Then maybe I could turn into what I was meant to be.

When dark surrounds me
How you just breathe it all in
This is why you're here
This is why you remain.
 
bluebreezes said:
Nancy, here's another stab at those lyrics, but it doesn't all make sense. I also went to the band's website (https://hareandthehounds.bandcamp.com/track/voices-in-the-hall) to see if the song version there was a bit clearer. There's an email link on their page if you wanted to request the lyrics.
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Bluebreezes, I did send them an email, but don't expect a reply really. The YouTube video looks inactive for a year. First and only album so far.
I don't know why getting lyrics right bothers me so much, but it does.
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Progress! I hear the same things or some compromises, in the blue below. Still don't hear the ones in red.
　
When dark surrounds me
How you just breathe it all in
I'm so glad you're here
I'm so glad you are mine

We meet a carnival << this doesn't make sense
I don't wish to go down
But you were always there
You were always around
This is why you're here
This is why you remain.

I follow voices that echo down in my heart
But I can't get to them
Hardly even at all. :rolleyes:

The face I see when I look down in your eyes
But I am just like you
My eyes to share the same light

If I would listen then I could hear it calling me
Then maybe I could turn into what I was meant to be.

When dark surrounds me
How you just breathe it all in
This is why you're here
This is why you remain.
 
Spoke too soon. Just got a reply a few minutes ago. Wow, some basics I didn't catch.

---------------------------


Of course. No trouble at all and thank you so much for the purchase!


-Luke






When dark surrounds me
How you just breathe it all in
I’m so glad you’re here
I’m so glad you were mine


We meet upon a road
I don’t wish to go down
But you were always there
You were always around
This is why you’re here
This is why you were made

I follow voices that echo down in my halls
But I can’t get to them
I hardly hear them at all
The face I see in the mirror
He will tell me no lies
Though I am just like him
Our eyes they share the same light

If I would listen then I could hear it calling me
And maybe I could turn into what I was meant to be

When dark surrounds me
How you just breathe it all in
This is why you’re here
This is why you were made
 
Just a couple of things before I close the books on this song episode...:rolleyes:

-I found it by accident as the background to a YouTube video on How to Use a Brace and Bit . :giggle:

-If Luke knew that seniors were listening to his song, he would probably cringe.

-When I'm 101 in the nursing home, and Luke has become a big star, I can say that I got an email from him before he was famous. No one will believe me.
.



If I hadn't already replied to the thread, "Before I Die I Want To __________ ," I would have put

.....Write a song, including melody, lyrics and arrangement. :rolleyes:

Not with the intent of ever publishing it, just to see if I could do it. But how in the world do you write a song without copying something from your head that has already been written? I wonder if there is a data base somewhere with the note patterns of all the songs ever written.
 
The neighborhood TNR cat has essentially disappeared for a week, but he stops by some time during the day to eat just enough food to let me know he has been there. He knows how to keep all his options open. A neighbor lady I've never met before, who owns a house on the next block over, stopped by this morning to ask about him. Turns out he has been at her house and she has taken a liking to him. :) She said *another* neighbor told her the cat was mine. I know who that was, and she knows better. Wonder how many others she's told that over the years? Thanks a lot (on behalf of the cat too).

If this lady put in the effort to walk over and ring the doorbell, she must be thinking seriously about him, right? :) She told me he likes to have his stomach rubbed.;) Good sign. I told her I would stop putting out food until she decides. Fingers crossed.
:banana:

Happen to have an old picture of him on file, so might as well plaster it on here. :rolleyes: He has the longest tail of any cat I've ever seen.

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Meanwhile Raccoon is still making mud out of the cat's water dish every night. Two days ago he also made a "deposit" on my newly painted porch floor. In the back of the house, Possum (I think) is making many deposits on the roof overhang above the basement door. He gets out there from the deck. Why would he do that?!? The territory has been thoroughly marked long ago.

Life sure is full of interesting little puzzles.
 
Twixie said:
The thing I like most about being retired is time...time to pick blackberries from a hedgerow...time to watch the birds...looking at the clock and thinking..'' I don't have to get up if I don't want to...

And time reverting back to it's normal pace..
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Did you know that "blackberries" are a dreaded pest in this part of the world--do everything possible to get rid of them, but even before you say "boo" they've turned up again!! :eeew:
 
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..
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Meanderer and Susie, I will make sure to take down all my "Night Deposit" and "Blackberries Welcome" signs. :lol:

Forgot to mention, last night I put the cat's dish of leftover (dry) food on top of the recycling roll cart. That thing is at least 3 feet tall, plastic, and gets wider at the top. Raccoon got up there somehow, emptied the dish, and didn't knock it off the cart. Another puzzle? Nope, it was sitting too close to the inside porch wall. Just figured it out from this video.

Maybe I need to get serious about this?? But you have to admire something that agile and courageous, don't you? :)

Long story short, they didn't all make it *this* time. But wait 'til they get a little bigger. She pulls up a second one around the 2:30 mark.

 

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