THE REATTA LOUNGE

[Padgett]

For today's traffic I prefer the CTS. Lotsa power and big enough to be seen.

[Ronnie]

Hope everyone is making it through this cold spell without problems.

 

I'll bet you guys up north are making it better than the people here in Tennessee even though it is much colder there. You guys are prepared for it and we aren't. My pipes in the crawlspace aren't even insulated. I closed the foundation vents to help keep the heat in and let the faucets drip to prevent freezing. So far no problems with the pipes. It's amazing how many people on our local facebook group are saying they have frozen pipes and no plumbers are willing to come out. The small town not too far from me had a water main break and have no water or really low pressure.

 

Also for the first time in TN, that I'm aware of, TVA has started having rolling blackouts all over the state. Mine was just off for 20 minutes this morning but people not to far from me have been without power for as much as 7 hours at a time. TVA is asking for people to conserve power but last night the power plant across the lake from me was lit up like New York city. They don't practice what they preach.

 

It was down to 5 degrees this morning and is up to 21 now. I know that is nothing to you guys who live in the north but we aren't use to this cold weather and it really effects us when it gets this cold. The good news is that we didn't get any rain or snow and the roads are good. It will be up in the 60s by next weekend and plumbers will start repairing pipes that have burst.  Let the price gouging begin!!

[ship]

I ended up with about 2+ inches of rain; enough to set off the sump pump every 3 or so minutes.  It drains out onto the front lawn under some bushes sight unseen.  Am getting a little water coming in from the cellar bulkhead, but I just keep rotating old towels to sop up the leaks.  Once the ground goes into a deep freeze, any future cellar water issues will stop.  Martha's Vineyard, some 65+ miles SOUTH of me is continuing to get snow...6 inches so far.  Go figure.

[DAVES89]

Try setting the trip switch on the pump at a higher level in your sump. I set mine about 3" from the top. Hardly ever runs. My reasoning is that if the pump fails no matter where it was set I'll flood so might as well set it to where it hardly runs. My neighbor won't do what I suggested so his runs all the time.

 I actually trip my switch every so often just to be sure everything works.

[ship]

I will move the trip switch setting up...thanks!

[DAVES89]

Mine is an upright so it was easy to move the rubber stop. I also put a rubber stop so it doesn't run too long. Why pump out the entire sump? The water will just come back to it's own level anyhow.

 If you have a submersible just raise the pump up on blocks until you get the water level where you want.

 Did that for the lady across the street. Works great.

 Don't forget the check valve so the water doesn't drain back from the pipe.

[ship]

I also have an upright sump pump.  So, I adjusted the rubber stop to a better/more efficient position.  I also have a check valve to keep water from backing up.  I also keep 2 extra standup pumps in inventory.  I've had pumps burn out over time in the 30 years I've owned this house.

 

First named "Dave"s do think alike....

[DAVES89]

Okay take a rubber stop off one of the other pumps and put it on the other side of the switch so the pump runs for just seconds. No sense in letting it pump the entire sump out.

 

 

[Top Down]

FYI,  California houses do not have basements so I left all the sump pump, stand pipes, and check valves back in Illinois when I left............instead we have earthquakes.

[Padgett]

In Florida if you have a basement it is an indoor swimming pool.

Was clear down in the 30s over the weeked. People in restraurants with sweaters ad coats and hats. now I have some gloves...somewhere.

[Ron Walker]

Coldest air temp here was -10 below Zero. Not a lot of snow, but wind was continuously strong with gusts in the 50-60 mph range so wind chill much lower. Good to stay in, if possible, which I did. No problem with electricity in my neck of the woods. No outages - got lucky. Other places in PA were without electricity for many hours/days. As Ronnie alludes to, we're heavily insulated, so no problem with frozen pipes. 

[Ronnie]

On 11/18/2022 at 10:29 AM, Ronnie said:

I've been informed that the current software I use for the how-to guides and other documents has come to it's end-of-life cycle. It will no longer be updated or supported in 2023. It is being replaced with a new version that is completely different. It is designed for cellphone and tablet users. For the most part isn't compatible with the current version of the software I used to build the  ROJ website. The programmers that make the software have determined the future is mobile devices taking the place of computers for personal use. ...

 

What does all this mean for ROJ?  It basically means I will have to convert ROJ to the new version of the software or let ROJ become obsolete and eventually stop working properly.

Back in November I posted that the software used for the How-To guide section of ROJ will soon become obsolete. I will have to migrate to the newer version of the software to keep ROJ up to date or let it die a slow death. Just want to let you guys know that I'm working on the ROJ How-To guides to make them compatible with the newer version of the software. Several people have said they want me to keep ROJ going and I'm going to try my best to do that.

 

Since the new software version is so different, and designed primarily for cellphones and tablets, almost all of the How-To guides need to be reworked, some more than others, to make them compatible with mobile devices and still be able to work properly on desktop computers (which is what I use 95% of the time).  There are 259 How-To guides here on ROJ, a lot more than I realized, so it is going to be a big job.  I'm spending several hours a week in my spare time going through each page one by one and making changes to make sure they are going to work with the new software and look right on a mobile device. It's going to take time but eventually I'll get it done.

[Padgett]

My pages are designed for real computers. See here.

 

BTW HTML 5 (2008) and JavaScript were designed to determine the screen size/type and can accommodate pages for big screams and tiny. Any programmer who does not use this is just lazy or under orders. (see var w = window.innerWidth;
var h = window.innerHeight; )

 

ps I'd buy a CD or DVD or flash drive.

Edited January 8, 2023 by Padgett

[Ronnie]

58 minutes ago, Padgett said:

My pages are designed for real computers. See here.

You have a good website. Thanks for letting me copy some of the articles.

 

57 minutes ago, Padgett said:

ps I'd buy a CD or DVD or flash drive.

That's a project I've dropped the ball on. Been spending too much time at the cardiologist's office and at the hospital for outpatient testing and procedures. They seem to think A-fib and Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy isn't good for your health. A cardioversion has the A-fib fixed - for now. The HCM is forever.  This website software thing has took away the time I intend to use on a ROJ CD.

[Padgett]

Real programmers create web pages with Notepad.

 

BTW, do you mind if I try to download the whole web page ? Will do in wee hours.

Edited January 8, 2023 by Padgett

[Ronnie]

2 hours ago, Padgett said:

Real programmers create web pages with Notepad.

Sounds like real programmers are right on the cutting edge of medieval technology. 🙂 Just because you can do something the hard way doesn't mean it's the best way to do it.

 

If you are asking about downloading the entire ROJ website, I don't know what purpose you have in mind for doing that but I couldn't stop you if I wanted to.

[2seater]

R U guys speaking in tongues?🤣

[Ronnie]

29 minutes ago, 2seater said:

R U guys speaking in tongues?🤣

No. We just have a different point of view on building a website. One way you use Google Maps to get you where you want to go. The other way you use a fold-up road map that you got at the Texaco station in 1971 to get to the same place. 😃

 

No offence intended Padgett. Just kidding around a little bit. 🙂 

[Ronnie]

3 hours ago, Padgett said:

Real programmers create web pages with Notepad.

Seriously, when I edit HTML or PHP I use PSPad. It does a good job of structuring and highlighting the code so it's easier for me to read. Plus it has FTP built into it so you can edit code in real time online and immediately see the changes without having to download and upload the file each time. You should give it a try. I'll bet you would like it. It's free.

[Padgett]

Have used a number of programs for creating web pages, Front Page mostly until discontinued. Microsoft Word can output in html but commecial programs always add a lot of header and footer garbiage so for quick and dirty I just use Notepad.

 

Yes you can, just say no. Why I asked. Have never been a hacker and wrote a lot of security software (think I was the first to use caller ID to decide if a computer would answer the phone). Is a matter of ethics.