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In preparation for the arrival of my parents, who should be here any time in the next hour, I put a space heater into the guest bedroom and turned it on. The guest bedroom in my house is at the farethest end of the furnace's limits so it tends to be chillier than the rest of the house in winter and can use a bit of auxillary heating.

Five minutes after I turned the heater on, the lights in the master bedroom and the office (a repurposed bedroom) went dark. The UPS units in the office went bezerk. Was I having a brown-out? No, the furnace was still running and the light in the den was on.

Huh.

Off to the laundry closet I go, where a few seconds of looking later I can find a tripped circuit breaker. I reset the breaker, turn the electric space heater in the guest room down and go back to the office. About a minute and a half later, the UPS alarms are going off again and I'm sitting in the (relative) dark.

Sigh.

Back up, back to the laundry room, reset the circuit breaker. lady_curmudgeon suggested replacing the big space heater with her smaller ceramic-based unit. I do so, and once again three minutes later it's BEEP-BEEP-BEEP in the dark time.

I have run a heater in the guest room before and never had this problem, so this new set of circumstances vexes me mightily. I am making my way out of the office and cursing when I notice in the living room the Christmas tree lights are off, too. Wait, what?

Reset the circuit breaker, turn off the heater in the guest room completely and review what I know. I knew that all three bedrooms are strung on a single electrical circuit, but why is the livingroom off? Back into the breaker panel I go, and I reread the chickenscratch handwriting on the legend. "Bedrooms/living room." Then I look at the breaker - it's 10 15 amps.

TEN FIFTEEN. AMPS.

Ten Fifteen amps to run the master bedroom, the guest room, the living room and the office. But wait! I also know from tinkering about in my electrical panel that this same circuit also serves the master bathroom, the guest bathroom AND the garage. You know, the garage that has the flood lamps for the flag pole plugged into it.

TEN FIFTEEN. AMP. BREAKER.

The way I was taught electrical work, while growing up, was to put every room on its own circuit with its own breaker. Clearly the contractor who wired this house was taught no such thing and had no qualms snaking wire hither, thither and yon throughout the walls and connecting an unnecessarily long leg attach to a single breaker. This explains everything: with the new flood lamps for the flag pole running off the garage, the exterior Christmas lights running off the garage, the Christmas tree lights running in the guest room and the various other electronic widgetry I've added over the intervening years (cell phone charges, new clock radio, etc) I've taken this breaker and pushed it to the very edge. The additional resistive load of a space heater takes that precarious balance and kicks it right off the cliff.

Great, so now I know what I'm doing for my spring project in the house! In the next few months I'll be plotting which walls are coming down, amassing conduit to put in and when it's "Go Time" I will be replacing this snarl of copper-clad aluminum crap with proper romex. I'll have to hire an electrical contractor to replace the breaker panel (it's far too small and doesn't have nearly enough breaker positions to take each room onto its own circuit) but that's fine. Hell, while I'm in there I'll have to see about the feasibility of pulling a 50 amp 240 line into the garage to run a sub-panel so I can put in my welder and air compressor.

I can't help but keep coming back to the thought that some lazy bastard thought a single 110v 15 15 amp breaker serving all those rooms was acceptable or even "good enough." Oh, to travel back in time and slap some contractors...

Thanks to yesterday's events I had to go out out toilet hunting last night. With lady_curmudgeon in tow I visited a few stores, including Menards, shopping around to see what was available and at what price points. At Lowes I found a toilet from Crane that I considered to be a reasonable price (sub-$100). I like this one because it had a reasonable price and came with pretty much all the parts I needed, including a new wax seal. The really cool American Standard model that can flush a bucket of golf balls was over $180 and didn't come with a wax ring, bolts or even a seat. Speaking of seats, we also selected a new toilet seat since the stock plastic white one that comes with the Crane looked lame. Upon check-out I was able to put the $50 gift card I was given at Christmas by lady_curmudgeon's brother to good use, which knocked the total sale under $40. The new toilet won't win any design or beauty contests, but fashion for the crapper was not my primary goal.

I got home, bailed the old toilet with bucket and sponge until it was "dry enough," pulled it out and chucked it on the lawn (I'm so white trash). Then came the prep work of cleaning off the old wax seal, getting the new one in place, setting the bolts, applying the plumber's putty and seating the new toilet in place. It took a bit of work to get everything lined up but eventually I got the basin seated. My only real complaint at that point was that the anchor bolts that came with the new toilet are so long that they're holding the caps off the toilet's base. Better too long than too short, though, so I'll keep my complaining to a minimum. I made quick work of getting the water tank attached and then plumbed in the supply line. It was time to take the toilet for a a test flush!

The good news was the new toilet flushed pretty well and it looked like the wax seal seated just fine. The bad news was there was water pooling on the tile, so I had a leak somewhere, probably up near the tank. I did some exploring and discovered that the leak was not the seal between tank and basin, it was the water supply line! Water was dripping from where it attached to the tank as well as where it was attached to the shut-off valve. A bit of poking didn't yield any result and so I called it quits at 2030 to give lady_curmudgeon her Valentine's Day gifts. I was going to need a new line, preferably one that wasn't so long that it would kinked up as badly as this one had gotten, and I didn't feel like going out for Yet More Parts last night.

This morning, after a bit of frustration while playing "guess the size of the nut," I managed to take the old supply line off the toilet and the valve so I could do some proper measuring. The old line was vinyl, 12" in length and around 11/16" in diameter. I needed something that was more like 8" in length so it wouldn't have to bend and twist. I made a quick trip over to Lowes and found a 9" supply line in braided stainless steel for around $4. While I was there I also figured out what size the nut was (16mm... what the hell! Fits a 3/8" outer diameter pipe thread and is metric?!). Bought the hose, came back home, found my adjustable wrench and set to putting the new line in. 9" is a bit longer than the 8" I really need so I had to do a bit of bending on the line, but it went in relatively easy. Tightened down the valve nut, tightened down the tank nut and turned the valve on. Shortly after I took it for a test flush and ... everything worked. With no leaks this time. Hooray!

So that's the conclusion of the gust toilet replacement saga. If I had to guess I would say the crack that necessitated the replacement of the toilet began when I tried to put a new flush handle on the old toilet... and then I had a leaking supply line when I put the new toilet in... etc etc.

Let this be a lesson in home ownership: Never touch anything.

Broken toilet: I has one.

I was planning to replace the float valve on the guest bath's toilet this afternoon, since it had broken down and was running even when the tank was full and the float had moved to the "off" position. Alas, as I was getting ready to do the work, the toilet's water tank cracked. A quick fill-up confirmed my fear: the crack is terminal and leaks. I could empty the tank, dry it out and epoxy the inside but I'd still have a crack on the outside... and if the crack decided to grow I'd have a fresh leak. I would prefer not to take that chance.

As replacement of the tank itself is unlikely, I now embark on a shopping trip for a new toilet.

Unbeknownst to me, January 13th of this year (2009) was the fifth anniversary of me buying the house. Has it really been five years as a home owner? I guess it has.

Go me.

The gentleman from A-Elmhurst Refrigerator Repair showed up today at 10 AM (I later found out he was subcontracted from Wheaton Refrigerator Repair, according to the service sticker he put on the fridge before he left). When I called in yesterday I had been told that I could expect "Scott" between 9 and 11 AM today. Curmudgeon and I both figured this would be a case of the "waiting for the cable guy," so when he showed up at 10 on the dot it was ( a pleasant surprise. )

lady_curmudgeon just called me at work, in tears, because our kitchen fridge/freezer has apparently decided to stop fridge/freezing. While something of a surprise, this wasn't entirely unexpected to me; the compressor has been running non-stop for the last week or so. I suspect the compressor may have finally failed, but I don't know for certain and don't have the time to deal with troubleshooting or fixing it myself (though I would really rather do it myself). So a repair man will be stopping by tomorrow between 0900 and 1100 to provide an estimate and possibly repair it, assuming the price of the repair work isn't too outrageous when compared to buying a whole new unit.

In the mean time our food was getting thawed/not chilled and Curmudgeon didn't know what to do with the it. I suggested she grab our cooler and totes from the garage, put the food into those and take them outside to make use of the giant walk-in freezer that Nature has gifted us with since late November. I have no real doubt that the totes and cooler will keep local wildlife out of my food while the 15 degree temps outside will preserve it until we have a working unit again (one way or another I'll have a running fridge and freezer come late Saturday).

Nothing, except an unending hatred for cellulose insulation and the knowledge that my roof was built using trusses instead of stick framing. Oh, and that I need to go back up there next weekend with some duct tape and tape some venting hoses back together so they actually reach the vents instead of laying open on top of the insulation. And that the attic space above my den is not accessible from the attic space above the house proper, lending further to my belief that this was added on and not part of the original floorplan.

( At least I didn't fall through my ceiling. )
You can't always get what you want

Before I write anything else I have to say that I'm amazed at the way this morning is starting. As I begin to scribble down these thoughts it is 0840 in the morning and nobody but myself is yet stirring in the house. This is something of a reversal of the usual way things play out when I have guests....

( A Holiday in the Panfah's Household, 2006 Edition -- first time family has been here for a holiday, ever. )

With that I think I will close up the MacBook, grab myself a cup of coffee and prepare to get this day going.

Z'ha'dum, when I bought it, came with a dual-basin kitchen sink. This is handy for washing dishes by hand as the house did not come with a dishwashing machine. As I rather enjoy doing dishes by hand this was okay by me. It helps me find a little piece of zen peacefulness when I'm up to my elbows in hot water and scrubbing on plates and glasses. But I digress from the real point here -- my two-basin kitchen sink. In the left basin there is an In-Sink-Erator food disposal. I found out from reading the disposal's label that the unit is a Badger 5 model which has served me faithfully since I bought the house way back in January of 2004. Until a little while ago, that is. One of the last times lady_curmudgeon was visiting we made chilli with pepper and onion and lots of other goodies. We dumped the remains of the vegetables into the sink and, when I flicked the disposal's wall switch, all I got was a dimming of the can light paired with a humming. Sadly, there was no disposal action. My InSinkErator disposal was no longer insinkerating (or, if you prefer, no longer disposing)! This situation was tolerable to me only because the basin could drain. Until tonight, when it wouldn't. Clearly something had to be done.

Surprisingly enough the "Disposal Doctor" on InSinkErator's website was able to help me resolve the problem. With a 1/4" Allen Wrench and my trusty flashlight I gave the Doctor's advice a try. I figured I had nothing to lose -- if this didn't work I could get a new unit from Lowe's tomorrow and install it sometime over the weekend. I crawled under the sink, set up my flashlight and grabbed my pack of Allen wrenches. Sure enough there was a wrench hole and it was indeed set up for a 1/4" Allen wrench. Unsurprisingly, upon my first experimental tug, the wrench did not turn. The Doctor said this might happen and that it was okay to use some force. I applied a bit more elbow-grease to the wrench and suddenly there was movement! I spun the wrench a bit in one direction, then back in the other, gradually working up to full circles. There was a rush of water as what was backed up into the basin was freed to flow and I reset the InSinkErator's built-in breaker, which I had tripped in my frustrated on-off switching action earlier this evening. With some trepidation I hit the wall switch but I was pleased to hear the normal whirring of the disposal and saw a steady flow of water disappearing down the drain. Success, I had a properly-functioning disposal that was back and insinkerating again!

I'm glad this worked out. While I would have enjoyed buying myself a shiny new 3/4 horsepower disposal I was not relishing the idea of spending the better part of a day underneath my sink ripping out old equipment and installing new.

In other news: this Friday afternoon will see the arrival of my parents on a holiday visit from Minnesota. I expect I'll be pretty busy but at some point Curmudgeon will have the chance to meet the people who spawned and raised me. I'll be getting a new couch (where am I going to put yet another piece of furniture?!?!) and some incredibly awesome oak bookshelves that my mother managed to find in the thrift ads. Hooray for bookshelves, I'll finally get my living room floor back from the stacks of manuals and texts that have been sitting there since I moved in!

It's a never-ending circus ride

Has anybody else seen this shit? Or this?

Why am I just finding out about this now, almost a year after this got started? Why do I see echos of Kelo -v- City of New London in this? Where's the OUTRAGE and the news coverage? Why is the possible (later mostly-debunked) killer of Jon Benet getting press coverage while this sort of douchery is occurring on Capitol Hill? Why isn't this getting hours of air time on various television stations? Opiate of the masses, indeed. Ignorance shall reign and we all shall suffer.

It would appear that the American Dream is in actual jeopardy here. If I wasn't before, I am now Gravely Concerned about the direction our nation is heading in. I mean, seriously... we're talking about altering the very thing that makes the ownership of a home -- the essence of the american dream and the envy of lots of other cultures and nations -- a reality. When we start talking seriously about alterations like this there's something seriously wrong. So, is the deduction of mortgage interest a right, something afforded to us by the Constitution? No. But it's a privilege we award to those who have worked hard and who have shown they can do the due dilligence, think intelligently and are trustworthy of such high risk debts. America encourages home owners in an effort to magnify wealth and increase the standard of living for those who are dedicated to achieving a goal. Financially speaking I am doing pretty well for myself (at least for a 27 year-old unmarried male I think I am) and I am very dilligent about paying down my mortgage faster than my note holders may expect (average of $300/mo extra is going in towards principle), but that doesn't make me rich by any means. In truth it's only through tax code that says I'm allowed to deduct my mortgage interest that I'm really able to bear the cost of owning property and a house in one of Chicago's booming suburbs. Believe me, if I could move somewhere that wasn't exploding at the speed of light and still be able to work in my particular job arena at my acknowledged pay rate, I would.

This strike against the middle-class (and honestly the upper crust will be hit too, but the middle class will feel the biggest pinch because they've got the least margin for change) had better not be a result of an effort to offset the cost of our multitude of military actions -- if it is then the terrorists really have won. The idea of terrorism is, at the very root, to make your opponent so afraid or overextended that they end up waging an attack against their own base of power and ideals. Something this drastic is right up their alley as a goal.

To add to the fun: since the wiretap bill seems to be moving forward for warrantless monitoring of communications within the USA it seems to be simply a matter of time until privacy is an ill-remembered thing of the past. Have you had your daily allotment of Newspeak, citizen? Sounds alarmist, I know... but there was a time just a few years ago when I thought the Kelo ruling could never happen in our nation -- and I was proved wrong. Things do not indicate a trend towards improvement since then.

Do it in the name of love