What are you doing today?

[58 Yeoman]

Congratulations Frank.

[WZ JUNK]

I worked some more on the clown riding the unicycle on the high wire toy.  It seems simple but I have had many problems.  I mess with it and then leave it alone.  You can see the linear actuator that raises and lowers the high wire in the background.  I have it all working by manually operating the linear actuator.  It goes back and forth about 40 feet across the shop.  I am working on the automatic part now using a timer circuit.  

I saw this toy in a department store 60 years ago and I have wanted one since then.  I may have it by Christmas.

After a year of recovery from surgery,  I am nearly caught up with house maintenance, shop maintenance, yard work, and I am about ready to start back to work in the shop on hot rod stuff.  

John

[kb426]

I just replaced my water heater. 3rd time for me in 34 years. 4th heater since the house was new in 1979. It took 2 hours but it wasn't as bad as I expected. Nothing was frozen and unremoveable. I went to the hardware store and bought a bunch of new stuff so I wasn't tempted to reuse old parts. The new heaters are a different size than the older ones but I had enough space to do everything I needed. Off to a hot shower.

[phat46]

I just replaced my water heater. 3rd time for me in 34 years. 4th heater since the house was new in 1979. It took 2 hours but it wasn't as bad as I expected. Nothing was frozen and unremoveable. I went to the hardware store and bought a bunch of new stuff so I wasn't tempted to reuse old parts. The new heaters are a different size than the older ones but I had enough space to do everything I needed. Off to a hot shower.

They make Shark Bite water heater connectors now. What a huge time saver they are when dealing with an older installation. They thread onto the water heater and "bite" onto the old copper. No soldering in a cramped spot.

[purplepickup]

I just replaced my water heater. 3rd time for me in 34 years. 4th heater since the house was new in 1979.

How do you know if it needs replacing?  If it just quits working or leaks I would know, but are there other things to watch for? Our gas unit was new in 1978 and seems be ticking just fine.

[Mikej]

I just replaced my water heater. 3rd time for me in 34 years. 4th heater since the house was new in 1979.

How do you know if it needs replacing?  If it just quits working or leaks I would know, but are there other things to watch for? Our gas unit was new in 1978 and seems be ticking just fine.

You could replace now with one that won't last as long.

[purplepickup]

You could replace now with one that won't last as long.

Probably true. My furnace is the same age and 87% efficient.  I was told that if I upgraded to a more efficient one I could maybe expect 15 years without problems.....but then I'm nearing the age where I won't care if it lasts longer than that.

[kb426]

Hey guys. The water heater hadn't started leaking yet. I've been getting oxide stains on the floor of my white shower stall. All my side of town is plumbed with pvc and my house is all copper. Rather than wait for failure I just tried to avert a disaster. The bottom fell out of the first one when I was home. I heard something and was able to turn off the water before it flooded the house. We have real hard water here so I think this has something to do with the lifespan on the heaters. In my lifetime, I haven't noticed any difference in the lifespan of the heaters since I started paying attention 40 years ago. Anywhere from 6 to 13 years. Rather than a tank failure, the gas valve fails sometimes. It costs more than an older heater is worth.

[kb426]

Phat46, all my connections are threaded copper. I used braided stainless hose on this. In the past I used the flexible copper tubes that are female on both ends. That hose makes this a simple deal. The hoses and a ball valve for a line in shutoff that wasn't there when the house was built was about $40.

[phat46]

Phat46, all my connections are threaded copper. I used braided stainless hose on this. In the past I used the flexible copper tubes that are female on both ends. That hose makes this a simple deal. The hoses and a ball valve for a line in shutoff that wasn't there when the house was built was about $40.

Yeah those connectors are great, should last forever. In situations, usually older stuff, where there's no threaded connections on the house side the Sharkbites are great, I almost feel like I'm cheating!  

[rooster]

Joining Facebook, didn't think I would ever do this but its become necessary.

Stumbling my way through it now.

Merry Christmas

[58 Yeoman]

Joining Facebook, didn't think I would ever do this but its become necessary.

Stumbling my way through it now.

Merry Christmas

So far, I've resisted...resisting...resist...

[phat46]

Joining Facebook, didn't think I would ever do this but its become necessary.

Stumbling my way through it now.

Merry Christmas

So far, I've resisted...resisting...resist...

I also resisted for a long time but finally gave in. Now I love it, you just have to control how many "friends" you have and who can see what content you have. I see many people with over a thousand friends, I have 42 or so. They are people I actually know and want to be able to contact and share things with, most of mine are relatives or close friends. It's a nice way to stay in contact with and share things with these people. I also joined a few local FB sites to keep up with local happenings, they usually get reported sooner than the local newspaper does. But be forewarned, you cam also spent a lot of time poking around too! 😀

[Crosley.In.AZ]

Joining Facebook, didn't think I would ever do this but its become necessary.

Stumbling my way through it now.

Merry Christmas

I joined to be in contact with my older grand kids.  Well...  that grew way larger as various family members found me on FB.  Soon I was freinds with distant family members I have never met, will never meet.  Vastly different views on things & interest from me.  Folks from school, that I have not seen in 35 - 40+ years.

I removed folks from my list of 80+ friends down to 30.  I think I sit at 37 friends now & many of them are set on ignore.

Oldest Grand kids are 18 & 15 now, have little interest in grandpa

[Carnut]

Speaking of Facebook, I've been spending most of my waking hours on Facebook for a few years now. I can only imagine what I might have gotten done if I wasn't on Facebook.

'George Carnut McDowell'

A really cool place for right wing extremists like me.