Update Update

Dan Schultz · Post by **Dan Schultz** » Fri Dec 25, 2015 1:09 pm

The families (mine, hers, and ours) started arriving around 10am. At 11am the handle on the toilet in the guest bathroom broke off. Luckily, there are are two more full bathrooms in this house!

The cheap-assed Chinese/Taiwanese/Mexican/whatever plastic handle broke where it passes through from outside to the inside mechanism. My repairs skills combined with a plethora of tuba parts and a A Newcastle brown ale came in very handy. A short piece of 3/13" square stock from an old lyre and a little torch heat had it all back together and operating within about fifteen minutes.

Lesson learned. When I installed that toilet I should have spent another buck or so for a solid brass handle and lever instead of the crap import. Hmmmmmm.

You have been updated. Now... back to the festivities and maybe a Shiner Bock this time.

bisontuba · Post by **bisontuba** » Fri Dec 25, 2015 1:25 pm

Gigs are done, it is in the high 40's here in Buffalo, time to enjoy the Holiday

...

Dan Schultz · Post by **Dan Schultz** » Sat Dec 26, 2015 2:58 pm

Band party tonight with music-loving adults and no small children. Life is good!

tbn.al · Post by **tbn.al** » Mon Dec 28, 2015 3:41 pm

It really is crazy here. Had the family over yesterday and cooked a tenderloin on the deck, 82 in the shade. I sweated through my long sleeve dress shirt. My camellias are full of blooms and honey bees. I thought the bees were all in for the winter. December tornadoes? Crazy!

tbn.al · Post by **tbn.al** » Mon Dec 28, 2015 4:07 pm

bloke wrote:Bermuda (summer) grass is popping out of the ground. It's WONDERFUL !!!

Don't know exactly how wonderful all those bugs are going to be? As long as we have enough coal, and I have enough money to pay the bill, I can just stay inside and enjoy the A/C. Which I ran all day yesterday, December the 27th?

bort · Post by **bort** » Mon Dec 28, 2015 4:21 pm

Hrmm... it's 72 degrees indoors here, that's something!

I've always wondered why people still wear sweaters and lots of clothes indoors when the heat is on and it's 72... but when it's 72 degrees outside, it's shorts and T-shirts. Makes no sense to me. One of my favorite things is cranking up the heat and wearing shorts indoors in the winter.

Oh, and we're getting 10 inches of snow tonight (and it snowed 2 inches on Christmas night... I count that as a white Christmas). I guess it's winter somewhere!

bort · Post by **bort** » Tue Dec 29, 2015 11:53 am

Apparently, snow tires are an actual thing, and people actually swap out their regular tires for snow tires. I mean, I had heard of snow tires before, but thought that was just an up-sell. I thought a little sliding and spinning wheels was just the way it goes. Grit your teeth, slide around a bit, and hope for the best... right?

It's a crazy new world here for me in winter land.

bisontuba · Post by **bisontuba** » Tue Dec 29, 2015 12:16 pm

bort wrote:Apparently, snow tires are an actual thing, and people actually swap out their regular tires for snow tires. I mean, I had heard of snow tires before, but thought that was just an up-sell. I thought a little sliding and spinning wheels was just the way it goes. Grit your teeth, slide around a bit, and hope for the best... right?

It's a crazy new world here for me in winter land.

http://www.bridgestonetire.com/tire-brand/blizzak" target="_blank IF you want snow tires and not all season radials, these are the best!

Mark

bort · Post by **bort** » Tue Dec 29, 2015 12:52 pm

Thanks Mark, I was just reading about those! That seals the deal, I don't want or need to spend more time on this than I have to.

Now... what on earth do I do with the 4 tires already on the car? I don't have a garage...

bisontuba · Post by **bisontuba** » Tue Dec 29, 2015 12:55 pm

bort wrote:Thanks Mark, I was just reading about those! That seals the deal, I don't want or need to spend more time on this than I have to.

Now... what on earth do I do with the 4 tires already on the car? I don't have a garage...

Basement?

bort · Post by **bort** » Tue Dec 29, 2015 1:41 pm

I live in a condo, so unfortunately there's no room to store tires, wheels, etc. It's possible that my tires need replacing anyway, but that would only delay the problem for a few months until the winter when the snow tires come off.

I guess I could get a storage unit somewhere if the $ makes sense. Or just not drive in the snow.

Thanks for the help guys!

Thomas Maurice Booth · Tue Dec 29, 2015 1:53 pm

Depending on the store where you buy your tires, some places have an option for off-season tire storage.

For those of you who have the option of a garage or shed, I just put one of these racks up in the garage a couple of weeks ago for my wife's off-season tires. Super easy to install and has a large storage capacity.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0058B ... 1_2&sr=8-2" target="_blank" target="_blank

TMB

Donn · Post by **Donn** » Tue Dec 29, 2015 3:39 pm

People who really need snow traction might not think as much of SUV 4x4s. But I don't know anything about it from experience either. I have some mounted snow tires in the basement, that came with the car when I bought it many years ago. Actually I think they're studded. Whatever, by now I think they're too old to really contribute to driving safety, so even in the unlikely event that it snows, I'm not going to start putting on snow tires now. I've never worn a tire down, they all die of old age.

bort · Post by **bort** » Tue Dec 29, 2015 6:26 pm

Just found out that one of my favorite authors died earlier this year. That blows.

scottw · Post by **scottw** » Tue Dec 29, 2015 9:47 pm

bort wrote:Just found out that one of my favorite authors died earlier this year. That blows.

who was this?

bort · Post by **bort** » Tue Dec 29, 2015 11:13 pm

scottw wrote:
bort wrote:Just found out that one of my favorite authors died earlier this year. That blows.
who was this?

A Swedish author named Henning Mankell, most widely known for the Wallander series of crime novels. Frankly, I don't even think the books are all terrific (some are better than others), but his complex characters and great sense of place were what sets it apart for me. Also, over the years that I read the books, it occasionally got me through a few rough spots in life, and for that, it's all the more vivid. One of the TV series based on the books was fantastic -- I just finished watching it. I knew he had cancer, and hadn't heard any updates in a while, but wasn't prepared to hear that he had died.

I know little about the man personally, but I totally got hooked into the characters and I related to them. Reading Scandinavian crime novels is now my guilty pleasure, and I'm trying to talk my wife into going to Sweden (it's on the list at least). Anyway, it expanded my mind a bit, and I connected to it.

I've said it before and will say it again -- cancer sucks.

bort · Post by **bort** » Tue Dec 29, 2015 11:31 pm

I did not... Very cool though!

Donn · Post by **Donn** » Wed Dec 30, 2015 1:42 am

nworbekim wrote:i've had several different kinds of 4X4's. they all do well enough. where i live, in winter, i would be stranded without one.

I hear some owners are disappointed by the stopping ability of 4 wheel drive, that's all.

hup_d_dup · Post by **hup_d_dup** » Wed Dec 30, 2015 9:37 am

Donn wrote:
I hear some owners are disappointed by the stopping ability of 4 wheel drive, that's all.

Maybe that's because 4X4 vehicles often have high center of mass which makes stopping a little harder to control.

My Ford Explorer doesn't stop as well as my Subaru Legacy, both with 4 wheel drive.

Hup

Donn · Post by **Donn** » Wed Dec 30, 2015 10:21 am

nworbekim wrote:never heard that one. i'm not sure how stopping a 4X4 would be anymore difficult than a 2X4.

It wouldn't be - nor any easier. The point is that while 4 wheel drive will help get you going, it won't help you stop. Unlike special tires, chains, etc. which help either way. That may seem extremely obvious, but from the frequency with which state police etc. sites feel compelled to offer that advice, I think a number of drivers exist who are capable of missing this obvious fact.

The Physics of 4 Wheel Drive and Snow

TubeNet

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