July 2017 Cat Thread - Cats are assholes. Get four

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > July 2017 Cat Thread - Cats are assholes. Get four

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

I found out The Dude becomes very concerned when I set this light to gently caress you rave all night change colors constantly. He sits there and stares at the bulb. :catdrugs:

# ¿ Jul 1, 2017 04:25

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 10, 2024 15:55

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

So I haven't dropped much weight - not even 10 pounds - but I'm making an effort to eat a bit better, and trying to work out a couple of times a week. I started the year bouncing between 195-200. I'm at 189 right now. At 5'7", that's still kinda heavy, but at my worst I was around 230. (my dad is 5'11 and 165... the most he's ever weighed)

NONE OF MY PANTS FIT ANYMORE. :argh:

The shorts I'm wearing now used to be uncomfortably snug... they won't even pretend to stay on my hips without a belt (and I'm down 2 notches on said belt).

it's rhyno's fault

# ¿ Jul 2, 2017 09:15

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

cakesmith handyman posted:

Honest question, how's your drinking?

Yes.

It's still more than I'd like, but I'm around a 6 pack after work now, instead of an 18 pack or more. I'm still dealing with the physical addiction to a degree - can't sleep without it, get some anxiety, and get to deal with dry heaving overnight and into the next day as well if I skip it, but I don't turn into shaky mcshakerson if I go more than a couple of hours without a drink anymore.

randomidiot fucked around with this message at 10:31 on Jul 2, 2017

# ¿ Jul 2, 2017 09:47

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

The Locator posted:

There is almost always a meter with shutoff valve somewhere near the edge of the property where they do the meter reading. I seriously doubt that they come into your basement to read the meter.

Last time I went remotely north, I saw lots of houses with all of the meters in the basement (gas, power, water). They had some electronics bits to transmit usage.

Older houses often had a similar setup, except you'd self-report now and then, with any weird variations resulting in them sending someone out.

cakesmith handyman posted:

He's in a top floor apartment so this involves a balcony or window?

My windows open up to my balcony. :mad:

spog posted:

Did you go for a piss every 20mins, throughout the entire evening? Do you have a TV mounted above your cistern, so you can follow the plot?

Or do you simply wander around your yard for the entire evening, with your cock out, simultaneously drinking and leaving a trail of piss?

Mostly the former, without the TV bit, since I don't watch TV much.

# ¿ Jul 3, 2017 09:27

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

Jesus Christ. That's like a $300k+ house here.

randomidiot fucked around with this message at 07:29 on Jul 4, 2017

# ¿ Jul 4, 2017 07:27

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

Rhyno posted:

The housing market here is booming but prices are stable. You can get a lot of house for under $150K if you have the time to watch the market.

A few years ago out here, you could get a decent starter house in a decent area for that. If you didn't mind moving out of the city a bit, you could get a brand new house on a decent lot.

Now? If you want to stay in a decent area, the best you're gonna do for that will be a condo, or a house that needs a shitload of work. If you don't care about the neighborhood, you can get a small 3 bedroom house in a not great area.

The Ft Worth side of DFW is a bit cheaper though.

# ¿ Jul 5, 2017 05:31

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

Godfuckingdamn. That's a lot of house. Definitely dated (and why is the dishwasher so far from the sink?), but tons of room and looks like a decent layout.

We don't get basements here. :smith:

# ¿ Jul 5, 2017 07:16

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

Liquid Communism posted:

1978 is 'older' there? Jesus, a good bit of the housing stock out here was built in the 1910's.

I'm very much in a first ring suburb, and my place is considered "older" (built sometime between 82-84). A brand new apartment complex just opened a couple of months ago down the street from me.

There's a tiny neighborhood down the road with houses that date back to the 1930s, a bigger neighborhood that dates to the early 70s, but everything else around here (aside from that one new apt complex) was built by one guy in the late 70s/early 80s. The apartment I'm living in now was originally condos, named after that guy of course.

But the part of town I'm in wasn't even annexed into this city until the late 1960s - this city wasn't even thinking of being a suburb back then, it was just another industrial/farm town.

Now if you go into Dallas, you'll find some housing that dates back to the 1910s-1920s, but like FAT32 mentioned for his area, a lot of the really nice stuff was torn down. About 20 years ago, I lived in a duplex that I believe was built in the 1910s or 20s (based on stuff I found in the attic, plus the [no longer live] knob & tube wiring); it was razed probably a decade ago, there's an 8 plex sitting there now. :smith:

I liked living there, damnit! You're not going to find much that dates back past about the late 20s or early 30s in even the oldest parts of Dallas anymore; everyone just wants to buy the lot and slap together a McMansion.

randomidiot fucked around with this message at 08:22 on Jul 6, 2017

# ¿ Jul 6, 2017 08:10

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

Friend got a liver transplant today. it went well, he's awake and coherent. Yay!

Another friend's mother died from liver failure 2 months ago at the same hospital, and was on the same transplant list. :smith:

(both were due to hep c from blood transfusions)

# ¿ Jul 7, 2017 06:25

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

I didn't even notice it was a GIF until you mentioned that.

:argh:

# ¿ Jul 9, 2017 08:58

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

Can personally confirm that the Ion (which he also has) does have a flood clear mode - I use it every time I do an oil change to try and get the oil moving before letting it fire up (I crank it for about 15 seconds, then let go of the throttle and it starts up). But he said it wouldn't turn over at all?

randomidiot fucked around with this message at 05:19 on Jul 10, 2017

# ¿ Jul 10, 2017 05:16

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

What's a "standard non kindle fire"? :confused:

# ¿ Jul 10, 2017 05:18

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

Huh. I guess they just dropped the Kindle part of the Kindle Fire name?

fake edit: yup

Shows how long it's been since I bought a tablet. I have the original first gen Kindle Fire.

# ¿ Jul 10, 2017 05:29

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

guys

At 6pm, this loving thing gets thrown into the car. No, not the cat (this time).

I'm really hoping there's nothing unexpected, like black death. The compressor didn't seize (clutch came apart, and possible front shaft seal leak), but given the price, and the miles, it made more sense to just replace the whole thing.

Driving 150-200 miles a day with no ac for 2 months has slowly run off what little bit of mind I still had left.

# ¿ Jul 12, 2017 07:52

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

Enourmo posted:

Holy gently caress, I'd missed this little saga. How the gently caress has your body not been broiled into jerky by now?

Ice chest packed full of ice and gallon jugs of water, mostly. A bit of pulling over and stopping under a tree for 5-10 minutes here and there.

If I was 21, I could probably handle this poo poo a lot easier. As an overweight 38 year old diabetic... not so much. :v:

Previa_fun posted:

Driving 8 hours a day with no AC in Texas isn't normal...

...But in the "sharing economy" it is.

Eh... I've owned a few cars that didn't have working ac. But I was a lot younger and skinnier back then. And didn't drive nearly as much.

Also if I picked up an uber/lyft passenger without working ac, I'd get 1 starred into oblivion. Assuming I actually wanted to pick random strangers up.

# ¿ Jul 12, 2017 11:22

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

Yu-Gi-Ho! posted:

I'm really hoping there's nothing unexpected, like black death. The compressor didn't seize (clutch came apart, and possible front shaft seal leak), but given the price, and the miles, it made more sense to just replace the whole thing.

Welp there's yer problem.

Old compressor was definitely an OEM one (has GM and Sanden stickers on it, no reman stickers anywhere), but the bolts holding it to the engine were finger tight. :stare:

System was also loaded up with UV dye. So someone's been in here before.

Think I dodged a bullet. Old compressor is a little rough when turning it. Didn't see any shavings though.

randomidiot fucked around with this message at 01:46 on Jul 13, 2017

# ¿ Jul 13, 2017 01:41

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

I kinda consider being short to be a bit of a blessing for exactly the same reasons.

The worst I have to deal with is moving the seat up a bit in a car. I'm not super short, but I think average height for a US male is around 5'9" or 5'10"? I'm about 5'7".

# ¿ Jul 13, 2017 09:33

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

IOwnCalculus posted:

4' tall, 20" long

Does your wife call you tripod?

# ¿ Jul 13, 2017 21:27

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

Applebees Appetizer posted:

Pretty much. I'm old school so I'm still getting used to it. Went through one lovely cheap vaper already so I'm gonna invest in a good one. I should listen to what TCC goons say to get right?

I have an early battery powered vape (Magic Flight Launch Box). I've had it for several years, and I've had to buy new batteries a few times; it takes a lot of getting used to, but once I figured it out.... weed lasts for-loving-ever. It's also small enough that you can take it anywhere. I wouldn't recommend it for a newbie, but it definitely works once you figure out how to use it. I would think newer stuff is a lot more advanced, but I haven't looked in ages (and probably won't until the MFLB dies).

I still like bongs now and then, but I'm no longer a fan of pipes or joints anymore - at least not when I'm paying for the weed. Just too much waste!

randomidiot fucked around with this message at 05:59 on Jul 14, 2017

# ¿ Jul 14, 2017 05:47

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

So the Goodwill down the road has a Kirby vacuum for a not horrible price.

.... They also have walkers. I feel 80 just from knowing what a Kirby is.

I'm probably going to grab one of those things on Friday.

# ¿ Jul 16, 2017 10:50

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

Gawd damnit.

Mom's car got broken into, in her driveway. No real damage to the car (either she left it unlocked or they got it open without popping the door handle out of the car?), but her garage door opener remote is gone (nothing else is missing, but the car got tossed pretty good - everything in the trunk, glove box, console, trunk, etc was just dumped out on the ground).

Don't know why she had a remote in the car to begin with. Her car has a built in remote for openers/gates, and it's been programmed since she got the car in 2003. Went over there after work and changed the DIP switches on the door opener (yeah.. it's kinda old), used my remote to program the homelink poo poo, and moved enough poo poo around in her garage to get her car in (for the first time since 2005 or 2006).

# ¿ Jul 17, 2017 08:15

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

Darchangel posted:

So, guys, talk me out of this house:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/414-S-New-Hope-Rd-Kennedale-TX-76060/29172265_zpid/

(The pictures towards the end are what interest me, beyond the TWO ACRE lot. Note in those pictures that the guy clearly has the right stuff)

I see nothing that I hate, that can't be changed with wallpaper and paint (that bathroom...)

Holy poo poo the 60s are strong with that one.

Talk you out of it? Check for aluminum wiring (though I don't think Al wiring became very common until a few years after that was built). That siding needs a lot of love to bring it back. The commute to work. Beyond that, just needs updating. That garage... and right by a dirt track? :swoon:

Darchangel posted:

You want a Dyson?

Nah, thanks though. I was interested in the Kirby more because it'll outlive me. The vacuum I have now works well.

Funny you mention how you got it though. The vacuum I have now (a Eureka bagless upright) was found in a dumpster about 10 years ago at my last apartment. Clogged, dirty, and a pet had made a chew toy out of the cord Changed the filter, unclogged it, and patched up the cord. In the 10 years since, I've replaced the beater brush once, the filter a couple more times, and it's gone through a few belts. I'm probably into it for about $50 total.

# ¿ Jul 17, 2017 22:37

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

So that super cheap compressor bit me in the rear end today. Hard. It seemed like it was pulling more power than the original compressor, and my mileage took a big hit (about 7 mpg - I'm used to a 2-3 mpg hit). Locked up on me today on the highway.

Clutch was a trooper for the 15 seconds or so it took me to realize what was shrieking and turn off the ac switch. Amazed it didn't throw/shred the belt, but I don't really trust the belt after that kind of abuse at 3000 rpm. Guess I get to replace the lines and condenser now.. on top of the compressor.. and flush black death out of the evaporator. :fuckoff:

Just gonna do what I should have done and go with a used OEM compressor, and go with R152a this time.

Ether Frenzy posted:

Schindler's Lift, eh?

holy poo poo.

# ¿ Jul 20, 2017 04:10

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

Raluek posted:

Did you recharge it, or did the shop do that? What's the chance of it locking up like that due to an overcharge?

It was charged by weight by the shop. If anything, it was slightly undercharged (due to me be being awesome at math - it would have been 2.4 oz undercharged), but there's a decent chance it had too much oil. :sigh:

Apparently the evaporator core is parallel flow too, so that may be an extra bit of gently caress you dumped in my lap, depending how badly the compressor failed. The compressor failed with less than 1000 miles on it, so I'm crossing my fingers that it didn't run long enough to poo poo up the system too bad (hopefully the screen in the orifice tube caught anything before it got in there?). I won't know until I yank the lines though, which won't be until next week. And depending how badly it got hosed, I may not have time to fix it until the 1st week of August.

Pressures looked fine when it was first charged, but it seemed like the compressor was lugging the engine a lot more than the old one did - had to reset the ECU to get it to idle properly, and if I try to turn on the ac now, the idle jumps up to almost 1500. I took a huge hit in MPG when it was working too (30ish mpg down to 23). So... not sure if it was just a lovely rebuild, or if the compressor got damaged from oil/charge/etc.

My hopes aren't too high though - for a couple of miles before it failed, it started cutting out (electrically - clutch was disengaging - for a few seconds at a time, then it'd run for about 30 seconds) - I'm guessing either the high pressure or low pressure switch were unhappy with something. If it was the high pressure switch, that might mean it shat itself real good and clogged poo poo up on the high side in a hurry. :can:

randomidiot fucked around with this message at 05:39 on Jul 20, 2017

# ¿ Jul 20, 2017 05:30

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

So her life insurance policy and will are up to date, right?

# ¿ Jul 20, 2017 07:32

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

Olympic Mathlete posted:

Take her to a concert with a really good sub setup and go find the spot where it's the loudest.

I unintentionally found about about this 'trick' years ago.

I used to do this at raves all the time.

Except I'd just sit up against the speakers.

Drugs can be bad. And I can't hear a drat thing you're saying BECAUSE THAT loving PHONE WON'T STOP RINGING SOMEBODY ANSWER THE loving THING ALREADY

# ¿ Jul 20, 2017 09:18

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

cursedshitbox posted:

Phone won't stop ringing? More like I'm perched on the wing of a b52 during takeoff.

I can't hear poo poo humans speak, but boyyyyy howdy if there is one slight tink amiss inside of an engine I know it before anyfuckingbodyelse.

Yeah, I've gotten to the point where trying to use a phone just pisses me off. Also pisses off the people I'm trying to talk to. :sigh:

But anything high or low pitched - like the tink of a tiny screw falling off of something and bouncing off of a desk, counter, floor, etc (or some rear end in a top hat driving by in a clapped out car with $5000 in subs in it) gets my attention in a hurry. The latter is pretty lovely when you live where I do. :argh:

# ¿ Jul 20, 2017 11:40

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

Boaz MacPhereson posted:

I make this joke to my wife every time we ride a Schindler elevator.

I wind up in several elevators a day, including a lot of Schindlers (they seem to be very popular in apartments here).

I never made the connection. :downsgun:

# ¿ Jul 20, 2017 20:52

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

So uh that fan is on a GFCI, right? :ohdear:

I guess the dude has a boxer fetish now?

# ¿ Jul 21, 2017 21:38

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

Tomarse posted:

Today I have also been educated about Fiat wiring. They don't run an ignition switched ACC feed to the standard looking ISO plugs behind the head unit, only a permanent live. Then they sneak 2 CAN cables into the ISO connector inplace of some of the less useful wires and the Fiat head unit switches on and off with the ignition using those. So if you want to fit a different head unit you have to dig out an ACC feed from somewhere else to make it turn on and off properly.

GM has been a fan of this party trick for awhile, as well as running chimes, dings, dongs, basically any noise the car makes, through the stereo.

There's plenty of adapters that take care of this for you, but they add another $50-150 (depending on if you want to retain OnStar).

# ¿ Jul 22, 2017 20:58

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

Darchangel posted:

Can confirm. My brother in law's Cobalt used the CAN bus to turn on the radio. Fortunately, his was the base model, and the didn't do all the chimes and driver info center through the radio on that one. Just had to dig out an ACC from the fuse panel conveniently located in the center console just below the radio.

06+ went to the corporate GM stereo that did all that. Older Cobalts only ran the DIC (if equipped) through the stereo; 06+ had the DIC in the cluster and moved the chimes to the stereo.

Funny that Cobalts had the fuse panel there too; I thought that was just a Saturn thing.

Oddly, my 06 Ion also came with the corporate stereo (just different color lighting; it can be flashed via Tech2 to work in a Cobalt, Tahoe, Suburban, etc), but was only tied into CAN (well, GM-LAN) for OnStar in the Ion's case. Chimes come from a speaker in the cluster, the only thing you lose by ripping out the corporate stereo and not using a GM-LAN adapter is OnStar (you also get a persistent B2aaa code on OBD2 readers if you rip out the factory stereo on an Onstar equipped Ion). I guess GM knew by then that they'd be killing the Ion off after the 07 model year and opted not to change any wiring when they moved to the newer radio. The wiring is identical to the 03-05, but 03-05 had a 1.5 DIN Saturn-branded stereo. Ions never got a DIC either.

# ¿ Jul 23, 2017 04:22

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

IOwnCalculus posted:

WHAT A DAY! WHAT A LOVELY DAY!

That's something I REALLY don't miss about El Paso.

# ¿ Jul 24, 2017 03:49

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

Sup summer buddy :smith:

I'm at the point where I'm trying to decide if I want to spend the money to fix the ac in my car, or spend a similar amount of money to replace the whole car.

Paid a friend (who's been working in a shop for over a decade) to throw a new compressor in a week and a half ago, got a week of glorious cold air, but with the car struggling to maintain highway speeds and mileage nose diving.

_{that last dot - the compressor locked up when I was down to about half a tank, so the mileage went back up a bit afterwards.. haven't filled up again since, but I have well over 200 miles on this tank and still have over 1/3 of a 13 gallon tank left, so I think I'm back to my normal mpg.}

Best I can figure, he dumped entirely way too much oil in it. Pulled the compressor today. Dumped out about a cup and a half of oil going by my measuring cup (total system capacity is 8 oz... compressor alone should hold about 5 oz, 1 cup is ~8 oz), with a side of sparkly bits. Dem sparkly bits and chunky bits probably mean I get to replace a whole lot more than just the compressor this time, right?

I'm not bitter. I'm not pissed off. Nope. Not me. Not one motherfucking bit. why would I be pissed off? I only spend 8+ hours a day in the loving car.

_{sorry I'm in a really loving bad mood after dealing with this loving heat}

randomidiot fucked around with this message at 08:32 on Jul 24, 2017

# ¿ Jul 24, 2017 08:17

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

Rhyno posted:

I'm no actor but my balls are pretty dope

These balls made many people giggle.

# ¿ Jul 25, 2017 00:50

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

US goons:

If you had a choice between Capital One and Wells Fargo for a checking account, which would you choose, and why?

Don't want to go into the why's of why I'm choosing between the two and not using a CU.

Both have branches nearby (across the street from each other). I've previously banked with WF and didn't have any complaints, but both of my credit cards are already with Cap One.

# ¿ Jul 26, 2017 09:01

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

So it sounds like you guys really love Wells Fargo. :v:

I made some very bad financial moves over the past year (mostly due to sadbrains causing my income to go to zilch for a couple of months), so my options are limited to those will accept people on ChexSystems until I clear that up. I had moved to BBVA Compass several months ago, but despite having savings, an overdraft line of credit, and having a decent amount of money in the bank (in both checking and savings), they were regularly returning ACH transactions. The little "hey we returned a payment" card they'd mail even showed I had more than enough in the account to cover the transaction. :argh:

I get locked out of their drat online baking several times a week too; nobody can ever tell me why, they don't see login failures, and the error I get is "system of record error" when I try to reset the password myself (so I guess something on a DB somewhere?).

I had opened a WF second chance account last week, and my direct deposit shows up early in the day like it should with every bank, but I was having second thoughts due to their history (they're not pushy at all about secondary products these days, though). Plus there's some limits on their second chance stuff such as $300 in ATM transactions per day, $500 in debit transactions per day (normally not an issue, unless I want to go hog wild and buy a new TV, pay for an expensive car repair, or buy a set of tires). Their big plus is 24/7 customer service; BBVA doesn't even have a way to report a lost/stolen debit card on the phone after hours. It's also stupid easy to avoid monthly fees with WF (use your debit card 10 times a month, or have direct deposit activity of at least $500). WF's mobile app also doesn't seem to work with fingerprint authentication on my phone, which is annoying (since I use a long, mixed case, alphanumberic, with symbols, password). I did like that they let you customize debit cards, that was kinda cool. BBVA did too, but "no political messages"; a picture I had taken of a rainbow flag was rejected for being political (whereas a rainbow flag is one of the offerings from WF).

Got Capital One 360 and Capital One Savings accounts opened today. I'm going to wait until I get rent paid to leave WF, don't want any delays in direct deposit being switched (again) to cause issues. Didn't even realize CapOne checking accounts were interest bearing, savings rates look downright great for a brick & mortar bank too.

randomidiot fucked around with this message at 19:53 on Jul 26, 2017

# ¿ Jul 26, 2017 19:45

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

I'm fine with the ATM limit, it's the $500 purchase limit that's annoying.

I don't buy stuff that expensive often, but it'd be really annoying having to go to the branch in person to get the cash for, say, paying someone for a clutch job (since I'm too cheap to order checks.. and not many people take them anymore anyway).

# ¿ Jul 26, 2017 20:55

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

Magnus Praeda posted:

It's definitely a good way to go, but I'm guessing that no CC is going to touch STR with a ten foot pole for at least the next year or two.

Pretty much. My credit got absolutely destroyed late last year into about April, and I wound up selling a lot of stuff and ignoring everything else so long as I was able to pay rent and keep the lights on. Still have one thing in pawn (my camera :smith:

). I'm going up there Friday to renew the loan, but plan to pick it up next weekend.

I still have 2 credit cards - one major (Cap One Visa) that's in good standing, one store (Kohl's) that's delinquent, but with payment arrangements made to bring it back into good standing. 2 charge offs recently, an angry credit union (they're my #1 priority, they're most likely to sue, and they're why I'm on Chexsystems + EWS), and about $1300 in back tolls.

CU is owed about $750, $1300 in tolls before I can renew my car registration again (end of December), about $2000 in charged off cards. It was a sinking ship, but that ship was a canoe, so the overall damage could have been a lot worse. My student loans never went into default, I was never in danger of losing my home, and my power never got shut off. Those charge offs are what will really hurt me for a few years, but my Capital One CC has been open for several years, which will help a bit. I think adding a secured card into the mix will help bring my score back up again. It was in the high 600s this time last year, high 400s now.

I did have the CU made a pretty massive gently caress up on their end (bounced my rent check when I had overdraft protection, with plenty available on the overdraft line of credit... and my paycheck was credited immediately after - was watching online banking when it happened), but they owned up to it, and even paid the returned check fees from my landlord, plus sent me a letter to give to my apartment manager admitting the gently caress up. The only reason I was unhappy with them up until then is they had a $10/mo fee, with only one way to waive it (average daily balance of $10k+)..

It could have been a shitload worse; this is all stuff I can fix by the end of the year. One thing hanging in the balance is the car though - it's paid off, but needs, at the least, a new condenser, compressor, and lines, and I'm at 180k on the original clutch, so there's a decent chance I'll be forking out for a clutch at some point too. I think when clutch day comes, it'll get parked and I'll find a friend to hit an auction to look for a late model CVPI or late model ex-cop Malibu (a former goon has offered me a 6th gen 3.9L/4T65-E former cop Malibu for $1k with relatively low miles, but i'd have to find a way to get it here from NV).

Leperflesh posted:

Oh yeah for sure, I only mentioned it because I am not actually sure if there is a cap on my debit card.

So the Capital One debit card has a $5,000 daily spending limit. :stonkhat:

I'm .... not comfortable with it being that high, but if I'm going to have that much in my bank account, I'm going to keep most of it in savings, and only move what I need every week into checking. And obviously I'll be opting the debit card out of any kind of overdraft options - I only want that poo poo on ACH and check transactions.

Their branch is literally next door to the Wells Fargo branch I opened my account at too. It's still a 10 minute drive into another city (possibly county?), but that's not too bad considering I'm kinda on the outskirts of town.

meltie posted:

I hate my bank.

The Internet Banking app is asking a security question I don't remember.

To reset it I have to phone in. When I call them they ask more questions � that I can't answer without access to the account.

"on the 11th of July you made a transaction, can you tell us who it was to?"
"can you tell us the date you opened the account?"

I've had this account for about 22 years. Like, how the gently caress am I supposed to know?

"i'm sorry, we can't authenticate you"

I went through that a few days ago.

Sometimes the mobile banking app still lets me login with fingerprint even when the account is "locked", but they kept saying the "last deposit" I was giving them didn't match their records (it was my loving paycheck and I had the emailed paystub in front of me, and was logged into the mobile app confirming it matched!)

I was locked out again this morning. Called in, got it unlocked... logged in again 5 minutes later, locked AGAIN, with the same loving "SYSTEM OF RECORD ERROR UNABLE TO RESET PASSWORD CALL CUSTOMER SERVICE . Called back again, they asked "why haven't you told us about this error before?". That moment when you ask the CSR to look up how many times I've called in 3 months about this.... they stopped counting at 50. Then they try to say "well you never mentioned you were getting an error". YES. I. loving. DID. EVERY. loving. TIME.

After it was unlocked, grabbed a CSV to import into Quickbooks, went to the branch, closed the account. gently caress BBVA, and gently caress their US CSRs. The overseas ones are much more helpful/less condescending (I never thought I'd say that, usually overseas CSRs make me want to eat a bullet).

Sinestro posted:

This is one of the few things Trump's done I'm not finding the ability to get angry about. I'm cool with not being able to be drafted to die in our next pointless quagmire in the Middle East or elsewhere.

I just got old instead.

I don't think they draft 39 year olds with diabetes, high blood pressure, and a history of depression and anxiety.. right? right? :ohdear:

KakerMix posted:

realize that the kid you are talking to was born in 2000.

Was on the phone with a friend I grew up with last week. His son was 3 or 4 when they left Dallas.

"He's talking about souping up our Explorer and putting a badass stereo in it. I'm hosed, he's definitely my son."

His kid just turned 17. When said friend was 17, he had an 88 Prelude with 2 12s in a bandpass box. Pretty sure a good chunk of my hearing loss is his fault. :colbert:

I... might have a spare head unit somewhere. With RCA outs. And I know it'll fit. I could be ultra evil and send one of my old amps.

# ¿ Jul 27, 2017 08:12

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

Let's see... got pretty nasty heat exhaustion halfway through my shift for amazon. I drank over 3 gallons of water through the day, and only pissed once. Yikes. Tried to get ahold of a good friend in the town I was in to see if I could go hang out at her place and cool off a bit, never heard back.

Adulted and finally got my own washer and dryer. They're beat up, but work fine, and not that old for something like that (06 and 07, Whirlpool). And hey, $100 for the set.

Had to buy the right cord for the dryer. No biggie, just kind of a surprise since the seller included both a 3 and 4 prong cord set. Fired it up. Rats nest flies out of the vent. Well, the guy did say it'd been sitting awhile. Unhooked the hose and ran it for a bit on air dry while rocking it a bit to try and shake everything out.

Got new hoses for the washer. Made sure to insert o-rings into the hoses. Hook it up. Open valves in the laundry room, get shot in the face with a very forceful jet of water - coming from around the stem of the valve, not where the hose attaches. gently caress. Well, okay, it's in one of those washer connection boxes, they're made to handle leaks and divert them down the drain. So I slapped a cup over it so I could do a load of laundry. Tried using the hoses that came with it anyway, just to verify what I already knew. It ain't the hoses.

Then saw water coming out from under the baseboard. Took a closer look. The plumbing box is cracked. Touched the wall under it (very gently, as in just trying to see if it felt damp), and my hand went through the wall. That's bad, right? Turned off the valves.. or tried. They're still dripping pretty good around the stems. I can turn off the hot water supply at my hot water heater, but can't turn off the cold water supply (and natch, it's the cold side that's really pissing). Called 24 hour emergency maint 3 times, starting at midnight, haven't heard a drat thing.

Wonder how many ~~days~~ months it'll be until maint gets out here to fix it. My downstairs neighbor is on vacation, whenever she gets back she's going to find quite a bit of water damage on her kitchen ceiling, if nothing collapsed. It's very obvious that the wall around the laundry connection box has been cut out at least once, and the box itself is a mess of hot clue and caulk.

My hate level is a bit high right now.

edit: huh, so if I crank the valves open as far as they can go, then give em an extra gutentite twist, the hot side doesn't leak at all, and the cold side is just the slightest bit damp (no visible leaking, so it may just be whatever hasn't evaporated yet). I feel a bit extra special after realizing that. Packing washer/nut still needs some love eventually, but at least I can actually do laundry without worrying about water damage now. I was worried about opening them all the way, worrying that they'd go from spraying around the shaft to full on geyser (I have no idea where the shutoff is for the building...)

randomidiot fucked around with this message at 11:57 on Jul 29, 2017

# ¿ Jul 29, 2017 11:02

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 10, 2024 15:55

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

Goddamnit guys. You're making me hungry as poo poo, and I'm stuck here until maintenance decides to show up. Don't really have anything here except cereal. :mad:

Salmon is my favorite fish by far.

Fo3 posted:

All my fish comes in cans. tuna, sardines, mackeral. but not salmon, never ever get tinned salmon.

Yeah, seems like the shaft seals. My garden tap is like that. Slightly open and leaks around the shaft, fully hard open, the brass on brass seal is good enough to stop leaks. Though look forward to water hammer if your building is susceptible to that. I can't have my washing machine taps fully open due to that.

Yeah uh... speaking of that. Guess it was still dripping a little overnight, I walked in to water all over the kitchen floor. Thought maybe I'd left a hose loose on the washer, so I pulled it out a bit.. yeah, one hose had a single drop of water hanging off at the washer end, it was finger tight, but... water is coming out from under the baseboard. Tried turning the valves off so I could unhook the washer, got a mini geyser around the stem of both until they were GUTENTITE off.. now it's a drip around the cold water stem and a trickle from both valves. At least I have a shutoff on my water heater, so now it's only the cold one leaking.

The on-call maintenance guy told me to hook the hoses up and run them into the drain and he'll get here Monday. Yeah uh, that ain't gonna work buddy.. not only will they not shut off all the way, they're still leaking around the stems even when gutentite off. I've got them run into a bucket, but it's only a 1 gallon... already about 1/4 full after 20 minutes. And I'm sure my downstairs neighbor has some water damage. Maint guy said he'll be here in an hour when I got him to understand that water was coming out around the stems and going into the wall.

Just took a few pictures of the seriously hosed up drain they have in the washer box. Those boxes are designed to catch leaks like that and run them into the drain.. someone hacked out the molded-in drain and jammed a pipe through the hole, and put 5 pounds of caulk around it. Playing a bit of CYA in case they try to blame me for anything (like when they blamed my Nest for "burning up the furnace and melting the wires from the breaker to the condenser" - now I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure it was the progressively larger breakers they kept slamming in that melted that 12 gauge wire run).

e: just realized it's been over an hour since they said they'd be here in "45 minutes". :golfclap:

Bucket is almost half full now.

Wrar posted:

As with many things, the Better off Ted episode on this topic is gold.

Holy poo poo, I'm not the only one who's watched this?

randomidiot fucked around with this message at 01:51 on Jul 30, 2017

# ¿ Jul 30, 2017 01:38

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > July 2017 Cat Thread - Cats are assholes. Get four

«‹›2 »