![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
The clothes washer that came with the house is on its last legs. This was somewhat expected, it's over 20 years old, and I had accepted this as inevitable before I even bought the house. How do I know it's failing? It's leaking water. At first I thought maybe it was just a hose going bad or a clamp broke but no, the main drum is rusted through. I have the leaks (plural) plugged up with some kind of steel-based putty, and that will buy me some time, at least until it leaks through again or I get a new washer. At least this is all happening in the basement on a cement floor, with a drain nearby, so any water that comes out dribbles off harmlessly. Unless the drum suffers a catastrophic failure, in which case things can get moist. In the meantime, I'm keeping it to small loads. That will keep some pressure off the drum and limit how much water comes out if another leak occurs.
You know how there's various epoxies and putties that claim to adhere to almost everything but when you go to use them, they don't stick? When used on metal, the surface needs to be clean and rust-free. But by the time you need to use the stuff, the surface in question certainly isn't clean or rust-free, and the act of cleaning it usually results in a larger hole than before. It's kinda like the exhaust repair kits that claim to "outlast the rest of the exhaust" but the caveat there is by the time you need to use it, the exhaust itself doesn't have much time left. Or, the material is #2 or #5 plastic, which just about laugh at almost every solvent and corrosive chemical, rendering every consumer-grade adhesive useless.
When I took Ai in for inspection, they didn't find anything wrong. They did say to keep an eye on the rear brakes, so I'll probably order the parts ahead of time and tackle that next spring. I'll also order a new muffler, as the aftermarket ones tend to fail in 3 year increments. The service tech who did the test drive asked me if the clutch was replaced recently. I mentioned the clutch was replaced in 2004, over 300k miles ago. (That's a lot for a clutch.) Now granted, when the clutch was changed back then, it was because the pressure plate was starting to fly apart. That could happen again. Who knows.
I've been organizing my library-ish room. I say library-ish because I'm also using it to store extra clothes that I'm too lazy to haul up to the attic. Or I could just get rid of them, as I should. Ikea's BILLY series seems like it has potential. I already have one set up, and it's now 2/3 full of doujinshi. The other 1/3 is reserved for more doujinshi.
The thing about the Ikea bookcase is I can see some room for improvement, such as using self-drilling screws to hold the backboard on. That would enable me to disassemble the unit more easily if I have to move it because I know it's not going to fit down the stairwell in one piece. Also, it could use some steel braces to give it a bit more rigidity. Books can get heavy and the last thing any bookcase needs is too much flex.
Another thing I found about Ikea's BILLY is that it's easier to get one home in Ai than in Nozomi. That's because Nozomi has side airbags that are built into the seats, while Ai doesn't. In Ai, 4 bolts and the seat is out. Of course I could also just drive home with it sticking out the hatch either way. That's another thing: The latch on each car is oriented differently, making it easier for me to use a tie-down strap on Ai's hatch.
Last weekend I had my first Mountain Dew in a bunch of months, closer to a year. I used to chug the stuff, going through 4-6 cans per day. At some point I simply lost the taste for it.
Otakon is coming up! I pre-registered for it, and I already have the badge, and I plan on going. I'm just not all gung-ho about it (or cons in general) like I used to be. The only things I'm really looking forward to are seeing friends who come out this way once a year, and picking up laserdiscs.
You know how there's various epoxies and putties that claim to adhere to almost everything but when you go to use them, they don't stick? When used on metal, the surface needs to be clean and rust-free. But by the time you need to use the stuff, the surface in question certainly isn't clean or rust-free, and the act of cleaning it usually results in a larger hole than before. It's kinda like the exhaust repair kits that claim to "outlast the rest of the exhaust" but the caveat there is by the time you need to use it, the exhaust itself doesn't have much time left. Or, the material is #2 or #5 plastic, which just about laugh at almost every solvent and corrosive chemical, rendering every consumer-grade adhesive useless.
When I took Ai in for inspection, they didn't find anything wrong. They did say to keep an eye on the rear brakes, so I'll probably order the parts ahead of time and tackle that next spring. I'll also order a new muffler, as the aftermarket ones tend to fail in 3 year increments. The service tech who did the test drive asked me if the clutch was replaced recently. I mentioned the clutch was replaced in 2004, over 300k miles ago. (That's a lot for a clutch.) Now granted, when the clutch was changed back then, it was because the pressure plate was starting to fly apart. That could happen again. Who knows.
I've been organizing my library-ish room. I say library-ish because I'm also using it to store extra clothes that I'm too lazy to haul up to the attic. Or I could just get rid of them, as I should. Ikea's BILLY series seems like it has potential. I already have one set up, and it's now 2/3 full of doujinshi. The other 1/3 is reserved for more doujinshi.
The thing about the Ikea bookcase is I can see some room for improvement, such as using self-drilling screws to hold the backboard on. That would enable me to disassemble the unit more easily if I have to move it because I know it's not going to fit down the stairwell in one piece. Also, it could use some steel braces to give it a bit more rigidity. Books can get heavy and the last thing any bookcase needs is too much flex.
Another thing I found about Ikea's BILLY is that it's easier to get one home in Ai than in Nozomi. That's because Nozomi has side airbags that are built into the seats, while Ai doesn't. In Ai, 4 bolts and the seat is out. Of course I could also just drive home with it sticking out the hatch either way. That's another thing: The latch on each car is oriented differently, making it easier for me to use a tie-down strap on Ai's hatch.
Last weekend I had my first Mountain Dew in a bunch of months, closer to a year. I used to chug the stuff, going through 4-6 cans per day. At some point I simply lost the taste for it.
Otakon is coming up! I pre-registered for it, and I already have the badge, and I plan on going. I'm just not all gung-ho about it (or cons in general) like I used to be. The only things I'm really looking forward to are seeing friends who come out this way once a year, and picking up laserdiscs.
