Richard Moore

I think I may have tied this whole thread together with a neat bow... Dr Who's best known, long time enemies are the fiendish machines known as Daleks. Of course we all know that! But did you know that Spiridon (also known as Zaleria) was a planet used for a base by the Daleks in the early 26th century in their plan to destabilize the galactic balance of power before an invasion in force. The planet was home to several non-intelligent predators, most of which were nocturnal. Many of the plants, like the eye plants, also exhibited signs of sentience and were dangerous in their own right. One such species spat fungal spores at anything which came too close. The mould resulting from direct contact grew rapidly across the skin of anyone hit, rapidly incapacitating and eventually killing them. I'm sure if the OP looked hard enough, she could find those too!

Is the wife shopping for a new tub? I've been out of it all week myself, but it seems to be more of a persistent cold. Certainly no excess discharge from either end...touch wood. NyQuil is my new buddy.

Those sons of b*tches, the Bumpuses, still living next door? I watch that movie every year, and every time I get very nostalgic. I was Ralphie's age in the late 50's (just a tad later than depicted in the movie) and I also remember wanting a Daisy air rifle. Sadly, I never got mine. We were living in this house in Port Colborne, Ontario at the time... Download Attachment: 106Forest.JPG 128.42?KB Courtesy of Google Earth but much as I remembered, less a row of large Elm trees along the street at the left. We left in 1958, when I was 8, to return to England due to my father's terminal disease. I was kept unaware of the seriousness until he died a couple of months after returning. My few, happy, childhood memories of my father, that house and being raised in a small Canadian town are stirred each time I see the movie. Life would have been much different, if only.... Anyway, it's why I'm here now. I was drawn to my memories of this side of the pond and grabbed a chance to be imported to Toronto as a programmer back in 1974. Seattle happened later. Christmas Story, even though it's a comedy, and perhaps more than any other movie, can still make me tear up. ..... Enough of that soft crap! Happy New Year all you old bastards!

I saw my first Nest thermostat in a house a few months ago. Something similar?

It's not a slippery slope, Bob. It's also not about the typical neighborhood stuff. We are talking about unusual information the OP just happened to know about this particular house. In my theoretical example, with the molester, it was once again info I somehow already knew about the property. No one is suggesting that it's our job to do a search for these issues or any other unknown outside of the norm, or to put them in a report. BUT...if you think it's unprofessional to make a client aware of knowledge you already possess, knowledge that could be detrimental to their future ownership of the home, then you are a more cold blooded professional than I am.

Bill, I would take a few steps to confirm it, to make sure I wasn't mistaken, but then yeah, it's something you know about the house even if it's not on our usual list of stuff. Not in the report, but I would "casually" mention it to make sure my client knew. It's not that I believe in ghosts or anything like that, but it could negatively affect the future resale. Another, admittedly more extreme example might be if you happened to know there was a registered child molester living next door. and your client has small children. It may not be in the SOP, but I think once you have knowledge like that, you have to pass it on. Just make damn sure you have the facts straight.

You pay for a Hotmail account?

Tester worked normally in all other receptacles and I had similar results with a different tester in the same GFCI (just not the initial long interval between readings).

This "amused" me for a while today. I tripped an exterior receptacle with a GFCI tester and heard the click coming from the nearby interior. OK so far. Later, when I'm in that room, I find the GFCI contaminated with paint and had trouble resetting it. With a basic 3-light tester in place, I finally manage to get it to turn on, but find it indicating reverse polarity. I take a picture (for my notes). Click to Enlarge 16.07?KB I then turn to my client who happens to be in the room and turn back to point out the offending GFCI receptacle, that mostly needs replacing because of the paint. And, as if it had had a quick trip to Lourdes while I had my back turned, it healed itself! Click to Enlarge 13.43?KB Subsequent trips and resets resulted in more momentary flashes of reverse polarity (less than a second) and then, voila, fine again. I suspect this has something to do with the paint slowing down the buttons, but I have never seen one behave like this. Something in the internal circuitry causing this?

Now THAT is funny! Thanks for the morning chuckle, Les.

He's been doing that for maybe 3 or 4 months now. Clever doggie!

Hang on to that day job, Mike!

Yeah, long after. I thought it might be related to the "self cleaning" action of these units. I could have sworn I read something, somewhere dissing these. Maybe not. I suspect if it is the tube in this case, that it has fallen off somehow rather than crumbled like those older ones. Sadly, as is often the case, I'll probably never find out. I'm not about to contact the seller, whose house I just trashed inspected, to ask how they fixed it.

I did have the dishwasher going so there may have been hotter water initially. And note that I turned the thermostat down to the "normal" mark. The repeating cycle of rapid drop in water temp suggests to me that cold water is entering at the top, mixing near the hot water outlet, and not near the bottom where it would trigger the thermostat. When I was getting 95? water at the tub I could get the heater to fire, but only by cranking it way up. A bad gas valve, alone, just wouldn't explain the results I was getting. Something odd is going on. I came, I reported, I'm done. I did suggest in the report that it might be a dip tube issue, but I ultimately left it to the plumber to evaluate and repair. Just curious if there was a known recurrence of the old dip tube problems with these rotoswirl types.

Today, I had a 2005 Kenmore 40-gallon gas Power Miser 12 (12 year warranty) with "Roto-Swirl technology". It was exhibiting all the signs of a failed dip tube. Vacant home but thermostat was cranked up to max and I expected to be seeing some very hot water. I turned the thermostat down to the normal mark and soon after started filling the jetted tub to get rid of the excess heat. But I never registered anything over 120 and with only about 4" of water in the tub the temp had already fallen to 95. Back to the heater to re-check hot-cold connections (OK). Heater is not firing despite the low temps at the faucet. This cycle, initial hot quickly fading to tepid, repeated elsewhere. I will leave it to the plumber to diagnose/repair, but I was wondering if this is a known problem with these "self cleaning" heaters of this vintage? I can't find anything definitive online, but it could be under other brand names(?). Oh yeah, also had 95psi water pressure. Could that damage the swirly thingamajig dip-tube?

Second childhood! I had one of the original Mini Coopers in England when I was 18. I spent a lot of money on that one, including an enlarged half-race engine fed from a huge Weber carburetor. This one, the S model, is much faster than that one ever was. Of course, the windy English roads, virtually no speed cops in those days and, well, just being 18, probably made that first one more fun. Ahhhh...nostalgia. It ain't what it used to be! Anyway, yes, while it's no Ferrari (or Corvette for you heathens), it can be a blast to throw around while stirring the gears. Just not enough good, deserted corners where I usually get to drive.

I have been using the same pair of standard duty ratchet straps since I bought the mini in 2005. I use them to secure the LG to the two side to side roof rack bars. Download Attachment: troll2.jpg 217.16?KB Because I loop the strap under the bars at both sides of the ladder, I modified the straps by prying open and removing the hooks on the long strap part. That way I can just toss the strap over the roof without worrying about damaging the paint. I then go around the car and pass the ends under and back over. The remaining loops in the webbing (from the removed hooks) get connected to the hook on the short strap at the ratchet. Works well for me. Maybe 20 seconds to get the ladder off and about 3 minutes to re-secure it. They are also cut to size so that I only have short ends to tuck away. With all that, I actually travel without the LG whenever possible, at least half the time. It's a bit quieter and less drag on the MPG. MLS and street view pictures usually will tell me if I can definitely get on a roof using only the telesteps I keep in the "boot".

That was a barn? Sheep, cows and bulls lived there? Wow! Any photos of the mansion?

I had something similar last week on a 1959 sfr home, also a first for me. In this case it was a large pull block at the exterior meter. From there were two conduits to two widely separated and different 125-amp breaker panels, one at the exterior by the front door and the other in a basement bathroom (handy for flipping breakers while showering). Both of those panels had co-mingled grounds and neutrals along with all sorts of other electrical crap. The home was occupied, which gave me a good excuse for not pulling the block, not that I really needed one. Download Attachment: 121106W015.jpg 57.51 KB

Something a little different. 1953 3000+sf custom built daylight rambler. One owner since new. Basically frozen in time, with no updates. All original single pane windows. Every window a simple fixed pane, many with separate open-able vents below, but not a single window in the home actually opens, just a few standard exterior doors. This seemed like a good idea at the time? Download Attachment: 121112W010.jpg 92.54?KB Download Attachment: 121112W110x.jpg 128.38?KB Download Attachment: 121112W107.jpg 84.11?KB Lots of other funky 50's "state-of-the-art" stuff such as the built-in Hi-Fi and weird lighting system as well as all the original wiring, plumbing, etc, etc. Some of you old-timers might get nostalgic over this wall display of albums. Download Attachment: 121112W079.jpg 91.49 KB

Hell Marc, I have found that as I get older, I often don't understand what I'm saying live. [:-propell

If you Google "pest control insulation" you come up with a few links to products that may be what you have there. Terminex, Orkin, etc have this as an option, blown in over existing insulation.. I haven't seen it myself, but it does look similar to the stuff in your photo. Have a look at the photo at http://en.prnasia.com/story/67926-0.shtml

Might be. After the last debacle over fees and charges, we switched everything, business and personal, from the mega bank we had been with for many, many years to a local well known credit union.

Interesting. Turns out my bank has this Popmoney thing built right into their online banking. You need to register the first time, but it seems to walk you through that part. If I'm reading the Popmoney fees correctly, the total fee, no matter what the amount is $0.95. That either gets paid by the sender if they initiate the transaction or the receiver (you) if payment is "requested". Even if the latter, it doesn't seem like they have the same aversion the credit card companies have to tacking that fee onto the requested amount. However, I would probably just eat the small fee rather than bother asking for $600.95 (eg). All in all, it seems like a quick and easy way to get paid when the client isn't going to be present. Certainly a lot cheaper than the credit/debit card reader fees. If I had a bunch more years left in me (for the job, not life itself...hopefully) I would sign up. But balancing my need (minimal to none) with my checking info being just that little bit further "out there", I'm gonna pass.

No, it had a couple of elbows before entering the wall, and then the termination was another 20' or so away. Maybe a hacksaw on the old TPR?