Young People must do This!

[digitS']

The switch to Windows 10 caused my old pc to forget it has a dvd/cd disc player!

HP says to disconnect all wires from the back of the 'puter. Remove the cover, disconnect the wires in there from the deck. Count to 20 slowly ... I like the sing the alphabet song ... reconnect all wires. (I just made that up about counting to 20 .)

How can I keep track of which wires go where? I took a picture with my phone!

Okay, now that I've shared that millennial tip, I'm in a quandary about replacing some water valves in the house ...

The two under the kitchen sink can no longer be closed, apparently because of mineral deposits/corrosion. The sink faucet works fine, no leaks anywhere.

The valve in the basement for the backyard water, leaks. Not when it is off, when it's on. I fiddled with the stop/waste cap last spring and it didn't leak for 7 months. I only need to turn it on to water the greenhouse for the next 5 months. When I do - drip, drip, drip.

The valves under the sink will be tuff for olde Steve ... maybe I can employ a couch cushion. The basement valve is overhead where I can really get some torque on that 1/2" pipe. I'll need to be careful not to damage it!

Where do you think I should start?? I will have to turn off ALL the house water before beginning and leave it off until finished, at least with one task. Maybe the sink's hot water valve has less corrosion. Maybe more. Keep in mind - this is Thanksgiving Week .

Steve

 

[Ridgerunner]

I see no reason to update to Windows 10. If it ain't broke, why break it on purpose. Updating will break it.

I seriously hate plumbing. If I were a few decades younger it wouldn't be as difficult, but that stuff is almost never in the open where you can even see it clearly, let alone contort your body to get a wrench in there. You either damage something when you take it apart or you find that something unexpected is already damaged so there's another trip to the hardware store. Your post reminds me of the outlaws visiting shortly after we were married and the garbage disposal going out when we were getting ready to cook Christmas dinner. Not pleasant memories. If it is not leaking under the sink, procrastinate.

It sounds like you need the one in the basement now. That would be my priority.

 

[Smart Red]

As someone who has years of plumbing experience watching DH and DS install and replace shut-offs, I find they are not all that difficult once you manage the advanced yoga positions needed to get into place to reach them. They do look a lot easier when done by DS (40) then by DH (76), but when compared to other plumbing tasks, shut-offs are definitely more doable.

My only suggestion is to be sure to get quarter-turn shut-offs. They seem to last longer then the faucet handled turn-until-they're-fully-open/shut faucets do.

 

[digitS']

Too late on several accounts!

I'm not sure why but I wasn't delighted at first with Windows 7, either. This operating system somewhat mirrors several others on the other devices. ~ That is what it is coming to, you know. ~ If you can't figure one out the others will look just as confusing or more so, @Ridgerunner . The advantage of staying (modestly) abreast is that with the change in one smart phone, tablet, pc -- the change in the others isn't so daunting!

The hardware store guy had the same advice, @Smart Red . I left and returned after looking for the 3rd time at those valves. "They don't make 'em like they used too!" Plumbers ... or, it was probably the homeowner. (Still, yours truly may be a match for the previous owner .) I've had more trouble with ball valves leaking than gate valves and this is down on galvanized pipes leading up from the floor. So, I bought the gate valves I'm more comfortable with.

PC repair: I had my usual problems with every step HP detailed and that I'd written out. I've always felt that if I don't have to redo things more than once, it's been a success. And, The PC Now recognizes the dvd/cd deck!

I loaded a disc my cousin sent me. First picture up .... um .... my great grandmother's grandfather?? ... Yeah.

The old bird's image and a picture of his tombstone. His photograph was from a studio in South Bend, Indiana. Here's what the tombstone says,

"In Loving Memory of
John Hopkins,
Died August 31, 1892
Aged 104 years

A PRECIOUS one from us has gone;
A place is vacant in our home ..."

Can you imagine? He lived from 1788, almost entirely through the 19th century! In 1788, the newly formed states were still in the process of adopting the US Constitution. Born the same year was David G. Burnet who would preside over the Council of 1836 which declared Texas independence from Mexico. Nearly the entire Westward Expansion, Railroads, the Civil War, etc., etc. occurred during his lifetime ... I hope he was able to appreciate indoor plumbing and wonder what John would have thought of computers.

Steve

 

[Ridgerunner]

@digitS' the answer to that is pretty simple. Don't have other devices.

 

[digitS']

Well, as is so often the case, DW had a use for water then a use for my help. I spent the morning on one ladder or another, cleaning kitchen walls!

They are 9'6" and way higher than DW can reach. At the top, above the wood paneling, is a mural over plaster painted by a local artist. Real western scenes are on 3 sides of the room. Here is a small part as an example:


My last bucket of rinse water has been tossed. I can saddle up and go out in the garage for a pipe wrench ...

Steve

 

[digitS']

It sounds like you need the one in the basement now. That would be my priority.

Why the union for the pipe was placed 8" above a basement cabinet, I don't know. I could have moved it but, while on my feet, I seldom have reasonable ideas like that. My channel lock pliers performed beyond expectations.

Got the new valve on, water back on, opened the outside faucet to a little dribble - went back down the basement stairs to turn it off. Opened the stop and waste so as to drain that outside pipe, and ...

Pppssshh! Water sprays the ceiling! I can't see a problem - the valve isn't on backwards!

You know that sinking feeling when things are going very wrong and you don't know why?! I'm going for broke and directing that spray off the basement ceiling, down my arm, into my shirt! It's gotta stop but why all this pressure?!! And, it stops.

Shoot. There must have been ice in the outside pipe enough to plug that dribble ... There has been frost in the shade continuously for the last 3 days. That pressure had me in a 20 second panic . Everything seems fine.

Steve
who just might wait until after T-day to crawl under the kitchen sink ...

 

[Smart Red]

T-day might be a good day to remind me that I need to shut off the outside water as well. Too cold to try it now, but Thursday is supposed to reach nearly 60 degrees (F).

 

[digitS']

You haven't turned off your outside water, @Smart Red ?!

In Wisconsin??

My backyard water pipe runs about 8' exposed, under the deck. I've had the water off since our near-record warm October. (Second warmest locally. Warmest average in Washington State, ever.)

Steve

 

[digitS']

" ... now that I understand procrastination, I just have no room to wiggle."

" ... present self and future self ... Some people see these selves as completely distinct, and some people see them totally overlapping. The people who see the present and future self as more overlapping have more self-continuity and report less procrastination."

"people prone to procrastination are, overall, less compassionate toward themselves — an insight that points to ways to help."

" ... now my biggest challenge is how do I teach my kids this. That’s really hard."

LINK

Steve