In the garden, and RAIN!!!!

POSTED BY: SIGNYM
UPDATED: Thursday, December 25, 2025 04:27
VIEWED: 1007552
PAGE 39 of 116

FIRST PAGE PREV PAGE 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 NEXT PAGE LAST PAGE

BRENDA

Monday, February 17, 2020 12:02 AM (P)

Hoping to get the back off the video cabinet so I can get more of it down to the garbage tomorrow along with more paper recycling.

SIGNYM

Monday, February 17, 2020 6:15 AM (P)

Tested the Weed Dragon (100,000 BTU) and it works SWEET! Let's see if it does to the weeds what they say it does.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!

SIGNYM

Monday, February 17, 2020 8:06 AM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
SIX do you have a digital camera or smart phone? I suggest taking several pictures of your skin ... close up, real close up, and medium distance (to indicate the spread) and take them to your dentist since he was the one who rx'd the amox. I think a second pair of eyes on this would give you assurance that your self-dx was correct. Also, at your earliest oppty get some Benadryl for possible emergencies.

You may need to be alert for any future rxs since all penicillins will prolly create the same reaction. There are 15 different 'cillins. Allergies are nothing to fool with because the next one could be critical.

SIX: I really should have taken some pics or a video of what it looked like that first night. It was awful. Yesterday was better, but some spots still got pretty bad. Today was less eventful. At this point the itching is still there, but it hardly welts up anymore. I could snap a few pics now, but it really wouldn't do the initial problem justice.

I don't imagine my dentist would tell me anything except that I need to see my doctor about it. I didn't even talk to him and just talked to his girl at the front desk who relayed everything and called in the scrip. She asked if I had any penicillin allergies and since I never had before I said no.

You're right about emergencies though. I hate taking anything, but now that I'm getting older I should probably have a few things on hand just in case something happens.

It's nice to know there are 15 cillins. I've taken Amox probably a half dozen or more times in my life before this with no ill effects. I know that I have no plans on ever taking it again after this happened though.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

Another person to talk to is your pharmacist. Every pharmacy has to have at least one pharmacist on staff.

I would recommend having an epi pen on hand given the strength of your reaction, but 1) you would need prescription and 2) since the pharmas decided to gouge the public and triple the price for no reason whatsoever, it's become unaffordable without insurance.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!

6IXSTRINGJACK

Monday, February 17, 2020 8:55 AM (P)

I'm not too concerned about it. I've never had an allergic reaction to anything before in my life. Even though this reaction was annoying and I'm still being slightly inconvenienced by it as we speak, it's almost passed and I didn't suffer any dangerous side effects. Seems that Amox is out of the question for me now though. If I have to get a cillin in the future, I will mention the reaction to the doctor at that time and inquire about also getting a scrip for an epi pen just in case the new antibiotic causes nasty side effects.

But getting a preventative scrip would require paying to see a doctor in the first place, and that's not something I'm going to do. It's a good idea to have some antihistamine on hand though. I'm looking into getting some non-drowsy stuff as well as benedryl.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

BRENDA

Monday, February 17, 2020 10:04 AM (P)

Video cabinet completely broken down and ready for the garbage over this week.

6IXSTRINGJACK

Monday, February 17, 2020 1:01 PM (P)

Dammit. I'm covered in hives again.

I've got to get that antihistamine and just try not to scratch. I thought it was going away earlier today.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

SIGNYM

Monday, February 17, 2020 8:38 PM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Dammit. I'm covered in hives again.

I've got to get that antihistamine and just try not to scratch. I thought it was going away earlier today.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

Now is your oppty to take pictures to show to your pharmacist!

He or she might be able to ID an allergic reaction, or rule it out.

Have you started using a new laundry detergent, shampoo, or soap?

I had angioedema ... lips and tongue swollen ... and the only thing I could ID was pepperoni, but subsequent testing for pepperoni ingredients found i was not allergic to any of them. Eaten pepperoni since with no reaction, but since cause unknown I've been advised to carry an EpiPen with me at all times.

You may need oral steroids to quell the reaction. But try oral Benadryl (diphenhydramine)- it makes most people sleepy - and steroid-containing cream, see if that works. If you start to have swelling in your mouth or face call 911.

Do you have a county hospital nearby? If they work like ours they have to see you where you have insurance or not.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!

6IXSTRINGJACK

Monday, February 17, 2020 11:53 PM (P)

Yeah. I took pics this time. Good thing, because they're gone again now. :)

I made them appear. Since I was hardly itching except for a few spots when I woke up (just like today), I did some spot testing. One thing led to another and I ended up scratching my entire body for a few hours straight and then everything was on fire again. I finally ended up taking a shower in the wee hours of the morning because that seems to "reset" the itching quite a bit.

Now, there's no evidence of it again. I have a hell of an itch on my right elbow though, but I know what is going to happen if I scratch it. I'm sure my entire body itches right now, but that's the part begging for it most and cancelling all the other itch signals to my brain.

I'm using "new" laundry detergent, but by new I mean I started using it a few months ago. From what I read, outside of antibiotics these reactions seem to be quite immediate, so I don't think that's the issue.

As for food, I'm eating the same stuff I've been eating now for years. With my extremely limited diet, at least I'm fairly confident I can rule any of that out.

I really think it has to be the Amox. The only other new thing introduced into my life was the oral work and the dentures themselves. Some people can actually be allergic to the dentures, but from what I read the reactions take place in the mouth itself and my mouth as well as my entire face is fine. The worst areas are wherever I have hair on my body.

From what I've read, although you would get an almost instant reaction from eating something you were allergic to, a penecillin reaction could take up to 10 days after you finished your scrip to manifest itself. If it's acute, it could last up to 6 weeks. If it's something more serious and a reflection of a deep health issue, it could be chronic and not go away on its own at all.

I don't even know if we have a county hospital. I know where the closest hospital is to me. They can't turn me down for not having money to pay for services, but that doesn't mean that they can't bill me for them.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

6IXSTRINGJACK

Tuesday, February 18, 2020 12:32 AM (P)

Holy shit... no freakin way I'm buying non-drowsy stuff. It's more than a buck a pill on sale! Sometimes more than two!

Benadryl it is.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

6IXSTRINGJACK

Tuesday, February 18, 2020 12:55 AM (P)

How's the flamethrower working out, Ripley.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

6IXSTRINGJACK

Tuesday, February 18, 2020 2:31 AM (P)

It's so weird... Right now, there is like zero itch anywhere most of the time. But every once in a while it creeps up and it is intense. But that's how it went around this time of day the last two days, so it's probably only is an illusion that it's gone away.

If I can ignore it, the itch goes away. Since my theory of letting the histamine "bleed" out was a bust, I don't want to indulge myself and scratch again until my body looks like the surface of the moon, so I'm going to just try to ignore it today and see what happens.

I got the Benadryl, but I'm going to sit on it for now. I might take it back if I can go without it. It turns out that you can buy a literal boat-load of the generic stuff at Sam's Club for as much as I just paid for 30 tablets. I'm going to have my old man pick some up for me to have on hand whenever he goes the next time.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

BRENDA

Tuesday, February 18, 2020 2:35 AM (P)

Paper recycling done and some more of the video cabinet in the garbage. Can't do anything more with until the garbage containers are emptied later this week. But a good start made so I am pleased.

Sunny day here today.

6IXSTRINGJACK

Tuesday, February 18, 2020 3:39 AM (P)

Good to hear Brenda.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

1KIKI

Tuesday, February 18, 2020 3:47 AM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
Tested the Weed Dragon (100,000 BTU) and it works SWEET! Let's see if it does to the weeds what they say it does.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!

I take it you watered everything well - and perhaps removed flammable mulch? - before you flamed the weeds?

1KIKI

Tuesday, February 18, 2020 3:48 AM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Video cabinet completely broken down and ready for the garbage over this week.

It's so enjoyable to hear of your progress, Brenda!

1KIKI

Tuesday, February 18, 2020 4:14 AM (P)

I've been thinking about your emergency food, Signy. How does your SO react to beans, blood-sugar-wise? And I'm asking about beans specifically, not beans+ ... grains, veges, etc. Because I took a class in diabetic nutrition, and if your food has more than 5g of fiber per serving, you're allowed to subtract the fiber from the total carbs. And some beans/ legumes have a phenomenal amount of fiber! (according to the USDA).

Here's my fiber list with top amounts of fiber, USDA reference, per 100g (food/ protein/ carbohydrate/ fat/ fiber):
Beans, cranberry (roman), mature seeds, raw 100g 23.03 60.05 1.23 24.7
Beans, french, mature seeds, raw 100g 18.81 64.11 2.02 25.2
Beans, kidney*, all types, mature seeds, raw 100g 23.58 60.01 0.83 24.9
*cook well to remove lectins
Beans, navy, mature seeds, raw 100g 22.33 60.75 1.5 24.4
Beans, small white, mature seeds, raw 100g 21.11 62.25 1.18 24.9
Beans, yellow, mature seeds, raw 100g 22 60.7 2.6 25.1
Lentils, raw 100g 25.8 60.08 1.06 30.5
Peas, split, mature seeds, raw 100g 24.55 60.37 1.16 25.5
All of these are about 40% fiber, except for lentils which are about 50% !!

So you and your SO might be OK with beans, no grains. BTW, beans have a standout amount of protein compared to grains. To make a balanced protein, iirc, I calculated out once that you'd need about 8x grains by weight to balance out the protein in beans. For additional protein, dry powdered milk would provide both calcium and protein; whey protein provides protein but no calcium or milk sugar. Oil could make up the balance of calories.

For DD perhaps canned meat - perhaps no-salt-added canned tuna, no-salt-added canned salmon, and other canned meat (chicken, beef, spam, but watch the sodium!) and as a relief from tedium and additional/ alternate protein source, dry powdered milk and/ or whey protein, and grains, plus oil to make up calories.

BTW - I was in Buffalo for the Blizzard of '77. It was a great way to empty the frig and cupboards. But we got down to eating oats and mustard, after we used up the mayo for oats and mayo. So as you suggested in your post - dried herbs and spices (Book's ticket onto the ship!), and dried or canned veges and maybe fruits.

ETA: If you're used to a daily dose of nicotine, caffeine, or alcohol, don't forget to include them in your hunker-down supply! Going through withdrawal could make you grumpy, give you headaches, and destroy your sleep!

1KIKI

Tuesday, February 18, 2020 4:52 AM (P)

Jack, I was thinking about your situation. It's possible either you have dermatographia, which causes hives-like rashes that don't seem to be allergy-related https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dermatographia/symptoms
-causes/syc-20371411 or you have hives https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hives-and-angioedema/sy
mptoms-causes/syc-20354908 .

Since hives and angioedema are both allergy-related, I worry that if you have one, you could have the other. As I wrote earlier, I have both been given by a doctor and taken myself more than 1 benadryl at a time for allergy-asthma (multiple times); but the one time I took more than 1 for hives, 4 hours later when my blood levels dropped below some apparent effective minimum, my tongue decided to swell up. Fun times. Not. I was worried. But since the swelling was so slow-moving, I took more benadryl and hurried my heinie over to the ER, where they prescribed a short course of oral steroids for the hives and an Epipen ... just in case.

The moral of the story is, if you take benadryl, take it during the day so you can monitor yourself when it wears off, and be prepared to hurry to an ER or call 911, just in case. Also know that angioedema can be fast-moving! Swallowing more benadryl might be far too slow to counter it, and worse, might be completely ineffective because it only targets the initiation of the biological cascade that leads to angioedema. Once you get past the initiation, the process isn't addressable by benadryl. Back in the day, before people could carry around Epipens and treat themselves - and THEN go to an ER!, when I got my EMT license, angioedema was considered once of the 3 true emergency situations that warranted lights, sirens, and blowing through red lights. (The other 2 were placentia previa and rupturing aortic aneurysm.) (ETA: I have NEVER been able to find out if inhalable epinephrine for asthma - OTC albuterol - can counter angioedema of the tongue and airways.)

Note that Epipen is a brand name for auto-injectable epinephrine. THERE ARE CHEAPER ALTERNATIVES! Search for Epipen alternatives.

SIGNYM

Tuesday, February 18, 2020 6:53 AM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
It's so weird... Right now, there is like zero itch anywhere most of the time. But every once in a while it creeps up and it is intense. But that's how it went around this time of day the last two days, so it's probably only is an illusion that it's gone away.

If I can ignore it, the itch goes away. Since my theory of letting the histamine "bleed" out was a bust, I don't want to indulge myself and scratch again until my body looks like the surface of the moon, so I'm going to just try to ignore it today and see what happens.

I got the Benadryl, but I'm going to sit on it for now. I might take it back if I can go without it. It turns out that you can buy a literal boat-load of the generic stuff at Sam's Club for as much as I just paid for 30 tablets. I'm going to have my old man pick some up for me to have on hand whenever he goes the next time.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

I am wildly allergic to mosquitoes. When my allergist asked what I was allergic to, I mentioned mosquitoes. I could see her Texas eyes kind of roll a bit (Doesn't EVERYONE itch with mosquito bites???) but when I was tested with a "poke test", as BRENDA calls it, out of the several dozen things I'm allergic to mosquito kinda stuck out like a sore thumb.

Which is to say ... you've discovered what I've discovered. IF you can get thru that first 20 minutes of INSANELY intense itching and NOT SCRATCH, you're golden. (At least for the next 12-36 hours.) But if you scratch, it's like you shmear the stuff under your skin and you may be in for another 12-24 hours of hell.

I tried all kinds of topical (skin) stuff ... benadryl gel, calamime lotion, pramoxine HCl, and various steroid creams and lodocaine creams, and the only things that worked for me were 4% lidocaine ointment(Rx) and plain old vaseline. And even then, I'm not sure if the lidocaine ointment wasn't some sort of placebo effect. (BTW the difference between an "ointment", "cream", and "lotion" is the amount of water in the base. Ointment is just vaseline, "cream" is vaseline or oil emulsified with water to be spreadable, and "lotion" has even more water than that.)

Try a bath in baking soda if the itching gets to be too much, and let me know how it worked for you!

Also, pay attention to KIKI. She knows far more about medicine and biology than the rest of the board put together.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!

BRENDA

Tuesday, February 18, 2020 6:55 AM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Good to hear Brenda.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

Thanks Jack.

Now, I just have to get a ride to somewhere like an IKEA to get a bookcase that I repurpose into a video/DVD holder. It needs to have at least 5 shelves because there is no room for anything that goes wide.

BRENDA

Tuesday, February 18, 2020 7:01 AM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by 1KIKI:
Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Video cabinet completely broken down and ready for the garbage over this week.
It's so enjoyable to hear of your progress, Brenda!

It feels good to be able to get things done after being stuck for so long.

It was also pretty easy to break down. Makes me glad I kept my dad's hammer. I did need something with some heft to do it.

BRENDA

Tuesday, February 18, 2020 7:23 AM (P)

Ottawa looking at changing the $5 bill. Sir Wilfred Laurier is on it now but for a new face they are looking at least 5 different people. John Candy is on the short list along with Tommy Douglas(father of the now NDP party and literal grandfather to Kiefer Sutherland). Also Tim Horton, who was a real person. Including artist Emily Carr.

Front runner seems to be Terry Fox.

SIGNYM

Tuesday, February 18, 2020 7:27 AM (P)

Quote:
SIGNY: Originally posted by SignyM:
Tested the Weed Dragon (100,000 BTU) and it works SWEET! Let's see if it does to the weeds what they say it does.

KIKI: I take it you watered everything well - and perhaps removed flammable mulch? - before you flamed the weeds?

The mulch has mostly done what mulch usually does after a couple of years, which is ... turn to carbon dioxide. My "soil" is motly silt right now, so I'm safe flamimg away! (But I wouldn't try this when the avocado leaves fall, a couple months from now. At least, not without raking up first.)

Gonna try it again at next oppty ... dd's dental appointment, sprinkler system reconfigurtation, delivery of a truckfull of clean dirt, plus one or our toilets has taken to seeping nasty stuff all over the floor ...???

Anway, a lot of things to urgently take care of first. But then I get to try out the new toy again!!!

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!

1KIKI

Tuesday, February 18, 2020 8:13 AM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Ottawa looking at changing the $5 bill. Sir Wilfred Laurier is on it now but for a new face they are looking at least 5 different people. John Candy is on the short list along with Tommy Douglas(father of the now NDP party and literal grandfather to Kiefer Sutherland). Also Tim Horton, who was a real person. Including artist Emily Carr.

Front runner seems to be Terry Fox.

AHA!! I know Tim Horton! Well ... not personally ... but from my visits back home. One may find Tim Horton places even in WNY!

1KIKI

Tuesday, February 18, 2020 8:16 AM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
... plus one or our toilets has taken to seeping nasty stuff all over the floor ...???

Hunh. Loosened wax ring? Like in the movie ... ... wax ring on ... ... wax ring off ... ...

1KIKI

Tuesday, February 18, 2020 8:37 AM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Also, pay attention to KIKI. She knows far more about medicine and biology than the rest of the board put together.

Eh ... probably not.

BUT if you credit me with giving out good advice, I think my best advice is - go see a doctor! (And not Doctor Internet.)

1KIKI

Tuesday, February 18, 2020 8:40 AM (P)

Quote:
SIGNY: Originally posted by SignyM:
Tested the Weed Dragon (100,000 BTU) and it works SWEET! Let's see if it does to the weeds what they say it does.

KIKI: I take it you watered everything well - and perhaps removed flammable mulch? - before you flamed the weeds?

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
The mulch has mostly done what mulch usually does after a couple of years, which is ... turn to carbon dioxide. My "soil" is motly silt right now, so I'm safe flamimg away! (But I wouldn't try this when the avocado leaves fall, a couple months from now. At least, not without raking up first.)

Gonna try it again at next oppty ... dd's dental appointment, sprinkler system reconfiguration, delivery of a truckfull of clean dirt, plus one or our toilets has taken to seeping nasty stuff all over the floor ...???

Anyway, a lot of things to urgently take care of first. But then I get to try out the new toy again!!!

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!

Good luck with the list, Signy ! I hope everything goes smoothly.

6IXSTRINGJACK

Tuesday, February 18, 2020 9:47 AM (P)

Thanks for the advise.

I'm not going to get all crazy about anything yet. This came out of nowhere, and probably is going to disappear just as quickly. If it doesn't, than that might be indicative of a larger problem and not just allergies to penicillin.

I can tell it's not gone. My stomach area around my wasteband is kind of calling for me to scratch at it. Other than that, it's been pretty quiet today. I'm not going scratch it at all tonight and we'll see what happens when I wake up tomorrow. It will the first night in days where I didn't go to bed with welts all over if I can manage it.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

6IXSTRINGJACK

Tuesday, February 18, 2020 12:59 PM (P)

It may not be the Amox.......

I went from barely itching to my left armpit and arm as well as my waistband being on fire after I ate. Usually by this time of day I had been scratching like mad before I ate, so I never made the corrolation. I've even got some hives that popped up on my arms now even though I didn't scratch them.

I think it's possibly the seasoning I'm using for my rice/vegetables.

https://www.samsclub.com/p/tone-s-cajun-seasoning-22-oz-shaker/160647

I had a bottle of it about a year ago and loved it but it ran out. Had my old man pick up two bottles for me.

What I loved about it was that it had so little sodium in it compared to other Cajun blends that I go quite a bit heavier on the amount recommended. I've used it 90% of the days since around New Years day.

It's going to be a huge bummer if that's the culprit, because I love how it tastes. :(

But it's better if it's the spice and not the brown rice.

Thoughts???

I'm going to go a few days without using it and see what happens.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2242522/Did-eating-chicken-
tikka-deadly-allergy.html

Do Right, Be Right. :)

BRENDA

Tuesday, February 18, 2020 1:04 PM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by 1KIKI:
Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Ottawa looking at changing the $5 bill. Sir Wilfred Laurier is on it now but for a new face they are looking at least 5 different people. John Candy is on the short list along with Tommy Douglas(father of the now NDP party and literal grandfather to Kiefer Sutherland). Also Tim Horton, who was a real person. Including artist Emily Carr.

Front runner seems to be Terry Fox.
AHA!! I know Tim Horton! Well ... not personally ... but from my visits back home. One may find Tim Horton places even in WNY!

Cool. They've run a couple of ads about him and Wayne Gretzky meeting him when he was a kid.

1KIKI

Tuesday, February 18, 2020 1:57 PM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
It's going to be a huge bummer if that's the culprit, because I love how it tastes. :(

It's quite possible you've developed an allergy, or multiple allergies, to food.

I know both Signy and I have over the years developed allergies to foods.

6IXSTRINGJACK

Tuesday, February 18, 2020 3:02 PM (P)

It's probably because I was ingesting an ungodly amount of it on a regular basis. I thought it was completely safe. Hope I didn't ruin it for life for me if that's the case. :(

Do Right, Be Right. :)

SIGNYM

Tuesday, February 18, 2020 6:25 PM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
It may not be the Amox.......

I went from barely itching to my left armpit and arm as well as my waistband being on fire after I ate. Usually by this time of day I had been scratching like mad before I ate, so I never made the corrolation. I've even got some hives that popped up on my arms now even though I didn't scratch them.

I think it's possibly the seasoning I'm using for my rice/vegetables.

https://www.samsclub.com/p/tone-s-cajun-seasoning-22-oz-shaker/160647

I had a bottle of it about a year ago and loved it but it ran out. Had my old man pick up two bottles for me.

What I loved about it was that it had so little sodium in it compared to other Cajun blends that I go quite a bit heavier on the amount recommended. I've used it 90% of the days since around New Years day.

It's going to be a huge bummer if that's the culprit, because I love how it tastes. :(

But it's better if it's the spice and not the brown rice.

Thoughts???

It could be anything. After a few years od not sleeping well and feeling like shit, I (among other things) saw an allergist. I was shocked... SHOCKED, I tell you! ... at the number of foods I was allergic to. "They" (including my and my hubby's allergist) say that repeated exposure leads to allergies, so had I followed the "rotation diet" for YEARS... eg rotating my main protein source thru beef, chicken, turkey, pork, beans, and eggs/cheese, rotating my green vegies and my non-green vegies so that we never ate anything (except onions) more than once every third day, and all it did was give me a laundry-list of foods I'm allergic to! Oranges? I never eat oranges! Rice??? Rice is supposed to be non-allergenic! I
m allergic to eight foods (that were tested positive: rice, beef, tomato, potato, lettuce, orange, coffee, and one other that I forget) and one other thing I suspect (eggplant, in the same family as tomato/potato). I figured out I was allergic to foods and should prolly be tested by eating nothing but chicken for a couple of days and having the symptoms miraculously disappear.

We had a friend go out to Indian food with us and had Scotch afterwards, and he broke out in hives that night. We were convinced it was the mango lassi but it turned out to be barley and onions.

I suppose you could try a similar elimination diet for a couple of days and see if it gets better. Food allergies are very hard to suss out, so instead of trying to eliminate one thing at a time (you might be allergic to multiple things) if you're going to try it, I'd do as complete diet revamp as possible.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!

6IXSTRINGJACK

Tuesday, February 18, 2020 11:04 PM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
It may not be the Amox.......

I went from barely itching to my left armpit and arm as well as my waistband being on fire after I ate. Usually by this time of day I had been scratching like mad before I ate, so I never made the corrolation. I've even got some hives that popped up on my arms now even though I didn't scratch them.

I think it's possibly the seasoning I'm using for my rice/vegetables.

https://www.samsclub.com/p/tone-s-cajun-seasoning-22-oz-shaker/160647

I had a bottle of it about a year ago and loved it but it ran out. Had my old man pick up two bottles for me.

What I loved about it was that it had so little sodium in it compared to other Cajun blends that I go quite a bit heavier on the amount recommended. I've used it 90% of the days since around New Years day.

It's going to be a huge bummer if that's the culprit, because I love how it tastes. :(

But it's better if it's the spice and not the brown rice.

Thoughts???
It could be anything. After a few years od not sleeping well and feeling like shit, I (among other things) saw an allergist. I was shocked... SHOCKED, I tell you! ... at the number of foods I was allergic to. "They" (including my and my hubby's allergist) say that repeated exposure leads to allergies, so had I followed the "rotation diet" for YEARS... eg rotating my main protein source thru beef, chicken, turkey, pork, beans, and eggs/cheese, rotating my green vegies and my non-green vegies so that we never ate anything (except onions) more than once every third day, and all it did was give me a laundry-list of foods I'm allergic to! Oranges? I never eat oranges! Rice??? Rice is supposed to be non-allergenic! I
m allergic to eight foods (that were tested positive: rice, beef, tomato, potato, lettuce, orange, coffee, and one other that I forget) and one other thing I suspect (eggplant, in the same family as tomato/potato). I figured out I was allergic to foods and should prolly be tested by eating nothing but chicken for a couple of days and having the symptoms miraculously disappear.

We had a friend go out to Indian food with us and had Scotch afterwards, and he broke out in hives that night. We were convinced it was the mango lassi but it turned out to be barley and onions.

I suppose you could try a similar elimination diet for a couple of days and see if it gets better. Food allergies are very hard to suss out, so instead of trying to eliminate one thing at a time (you might be allergic to multiple things) if you're going to try it, I'd do as complete diet revamp as possible.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!

I've consumed literally only 7 different things in the last few weeks, if you include the spice. 9 in total if you consider each vegetable in the combo packs separately.

2 of those I haven't had since the hives showed up because I ran out. Another one ran out 2 days ago.

If it's a food allergy, it should be EXTREMELY easy for me to figure out what is causing it.

I'm leaning VERY heavily toward the spice, but it could be anything I was eating I guess. It's almost certainly in my food because the bout of itchiness was triggered almost immediately after I finished eating after an entire day that was almost uneventful. I didn't give in this time and scratch, so it was the first night I went to bed without welts everywhere. (Although some did just pop up spontaneously on their own... perhaps triggered just from my clothing).

A bit of itchiness still remains this morning, but that's not out of the ordinary.

I still eat within only a 4 hour period on any given day, so now that I've not been scratching myself during the day it was very noticeable that it got worse almost immediately after eati

1KIKI

Tuesday, February 18, 2020 11:06 PM (P)

You can also be allergic to coffee.

6IXSTRINGJACK

Tuesday, February 18, 2020 11:12 PM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by 1KIKI:
You can also be allergic to coffee.

DON'T YOU SAY THAT. DON'T YOU EVER SAY THAT!!!!!!

If that's the case, it might just be this shit coffee that I drink from Aldi right now to save a buck. I don't 'think there's actually much coffee in it at all.

Have you ever read that this is a thing? A lot of the cheaper coffees out there put shit like sawdust in their brews. Even brand names.

EDIT:

https://modernfarmer.com/2014/08/wait-second-twigs-coffee/

Oh yeah.... I forgot that soy and wheat is on that list of contaminates in cheap coffee. I might not be soy/gluten free for the last 4 or so months...

Shit.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

1KIKI

Tuesday, February 18, 2020 11:26 PM (P)

I'm sorry. It's just I know that people have tested positive for coffee ... real coffee too ... the good stuff.

6IXSTRINGJACK

Wednesday, February 19, 2020 12:24 AM (P)

Nah. It's cool. I seriously doubt it's the coffee. I practically live on that stuff all day long. It wasn't until 10 or 15 minutes after I ate dinner late last night that the symptoms came out in force again. It's got to be something in the food I'm eating.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

6IXSTRINGJACK

Wednesday, February 19, 2020 2:29 AM (P)

Still drinking coffee and everything is copacetic.

Minor (hopefully) residual itching sensations persist today but are nowhere near as bad as after I ate last night/early morning.

I'm going grocery shopping and I will pick up more of what had run out and I don't believe is problematic as well as take my time to look around and add a little variety to my diet. It won't be the end of the world if I can't use that spice anymore, but it's going to make the gluten free lifestyle a little more challenging if it turns out that it's a rice allergy.

I'm going to completely change what I eat the next few days and see if I can get the symptoms to stop. Then I'll slowly introduce all the other things back into my diet one by one without the spice. Maybe in a few weeks I'll try the spice again, but only in very limited quantities instead of 10 or more times the serving size.

Fingers crossed.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

SIGNYM

Wednesday, February 19, 2020 3:34 AM (P)

They say you need a six month vacation to break a food allergy

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!

BRENDA

Wednesday, February 19, 2020 4:24 AM (P)

Another bright sunny day here. Squeak one more out tomorrow according to the weather people then back to rain.

6IXSTRINGJACK

Wednesday, February 19, 2020 5:18 AM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
They say you need a six month vacation to break a food allergy

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!

Really? I wasn't aware that was even something you could do.

I was just thinking that maybe it wasn't the seasoning itself that I was allergic to, but that I've eaten so much of it on such a consistent basis that it had become part of my bloodstream and my body finally had enough of it.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

1KIKI

Wednesday, February 19, 2020 6:18 AM (P)

What's with the supply chain over the last year? I can't just get my list together for groceries and sundries, and go shopping and get it all. Somebody - and often a few somebodies - are always out of at least one thing. So I have to go to different stores, or go back to the same store later, usually a lot more than once, just to get everything. Or bail on what I wanted and either get something sort-of-like, or give up on it altogether.

And it's been getting worse the last few weeks! Today for example, I struck out at 4 of 5 places where I went shopping! ... just looking for ordinary, everyday stuff.

Walgreens - Walgreens-branded sugar and dye-free cough syrup, and hand sanitizer, not a single one on the shelf. Albertsons - lite salt (discontinued entirely, even though I'd been buying it there for 10 years), it was the only reason I'd shop there.. Chevron - not pumping gas at all, open, but not for buying gas. Vitamin City - no paper towels or ground pork, at all. Target - no shampoo or paper towels. The only place that had what I wanted was Trader Joe's.

It's so time-consuming and frustrating!

I feel like there should be some geezer sitting behind the counter, picking his nails with a camp knife, saying ... nope, we don't have none of that here, neither. Not since the gas station burned down in oh-five.

Has anybody else noticed the same thing?

6IXSTRINGJACK

Wednesday, February 19, 2020 8:10 AM (P)

I haven't, but then again I don't buy much out of the ordinary and my lists tend to be extremely small.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

SIGNYM

Wednesday, February 19, 2020 10:59 PM (P)

Quote:
SignyM: They say you need a six month vacation to break a food allergy

SIX: Really? I wasn't aware that was even something you could do.
I was just thinking that maybe it wasn't the seasoning itself that I was allergic to, but that I've eaten so much of it on such a consistent basis that it had become part of my bloodstream and my body finally had enough of it.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

Well, yes, and ... but ...

Not an expert on food allergies or allergies in general (You would think that having so many allergies I would have become one by now!)

So for inhaled allergens they give you allergy shots, but for food allergies they preach avoidance. Go figure!!

I'v been seeing a lot of conflicting info, but the standard practice is to avoid for six months and then get re-tested. Supposedly, allergies are developed because of continuous exposure.
Hubby tested allergic to corn (prolly because he ate popcorn every night for months.) After six months of STRICT avoidance of anything having to do with corn- no corn, but also no corn oil, corn starch, or high fructose corn syrup - he tested negative. But I'm allergic to oranges and I never eat them because they make me rash out around my mouth. So I feel as if there might be "intrinsic" allergies ... stuff you're allergic to just because.

My cousin suddenly developed a life-threatening allergy to fish after years of eating it ("fish Friday" in the old Catholic days), but after avoiding fish for five decades tried some (in the doctor's office) with no reaction. OTOH, they say that the answer to severe peanut allergies is exposure: Extremely minute doses, ramping up over time.

I think there's a lot going on about food allergies that they don't understand. Anyway ... I guess avoidance is the best option. Good for you identifying canola oil as a possible allergen: It contains erucic acid, which some people react to. I'm allergic to inhaled olive pollen and my body hates black olives and olive oil. But for you. olive oil would be a good substitute because it has the same essential fatty acid (dietary oil) as canola oil.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!

6IXSTRINGJACK

Wednesday, February 19, 2020 10:59 PM (P)

Yup... I do believe it was the spice. It's either that or one of the other things I was eating all the time. Just going one day without eating it is a huge difference. I still have some residual itching even though I haven't eaten it in about 30 to 36 hours now, but I didn't get a major reaction or any welting last night. Should hopefully be as good as new by this time tomorrow.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

6IXSTRINGJACK

Wednesday, February 19, 2020 11:05 PM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Quote:
SignyM: They say you need a six month vacation to break a food allergy

SIX: Really? I wasn't aware that was even something you could do.
I was just thinking that maybe it wasn't the seasoning itself that I was allergic to, but that I've eaten so much of it on such a consistent basis that it had become part of my bloodstream and my body finally had enough of it.

Do Right, Be Right. :)
Well, yes, and ... but ...

Not an expert on food allergies or allergies in general (You would think that having so many allergies I would have become one by now!)

So for inhaled allergens they give you allergy shots, but for food allergies they preach avoidance. Go figure!!

I'v been seeing a lot of conflicting info, but the standard practice is to avoid for six months and then get re-tested. Supposedly, allergies are developed because of continuous exposure.
Hubby tested allergic to corn (prolly because he ate popcorn every night for months.) After six months of STRICT avoidance of anything having to do with corn- no corn, but also no corn oil, corn starch, or high fructose corn syrup - he tested negative. But I'm allergic to oranges and I never eat them because they make me rash out around my mouth. So I feel as if there might be "intrinsic" allergies ... stuff you're allergic to just because.

My cousin suddenly developed a life-threatening allergy to fish after years of eating it ("fish Friday" in the old Catholic days), but after avoiding fish for five decades tried some (in the doctor's office) with no reaction. OTOH, they say that the answer to severe peanut allergies is exposure: Extremely minute doses, ramping up over time.

I think there's a lot going on about food allergies that they don't understand. Anyway ... I guess avoidance is the best option. Good for you identifying canola oil as a possible allergen: It contains erucic acid, which some people react to. I'm allergic to inhaled olive pollen and my body hates black olives and olive oil. But for you. olive oil would be a good substitute because it has the same essential fatty acid (dietary oil) as canola oil.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!

Heh... You posted this like 15 seconds before I posted.

Yeah. It could be the Canola oil too. I've had that with my main dish every day since you guys suggested it to me about 1 1/2 years ago. I know I probably have too much of that too, given the large bowls I make, but it's nowhere near the insane levels of that Cajun seasoning I was using.

Since it seems very likely now that it is one of a very small number of things, I think I'm going to take a break from the dish for a while but slowly re-introduce everything back into my diet, with the spice being last, and seeing which one gives me the reaction. I'm pretty sure it could be everything in there except for the cauliflower, sprouts and carrots. But the spice and canola oil are the two most likely offenders.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

SIGNYM

Wednesday, February 19, 2020 11:07 PM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by 1KIKI:
What's with the supply chain over the last year? I can't just get my list together for groceries and sundries, and go shopping and get it all. Somebody - and often a few somebodies - are always out of at least one thing. So I have to go to different stores, or go back to the same store later, usually a lot more than once, just to get everything. Or bail on what I wanted and either get something sort-of-like, or give up on it altogether.

And it's been getting worse the last few weeks! Today for example, I struck out at 4 of 5 places where I went shopping! ... just looking for ordinary, everyday stuff.

Walgreens - Walgreens-branded sugar and dye-free cough syrup, and hand sanitizer, not a single one on the shelf. Albertsons - lite salt (discontinued entirely, even though I'd been buying it there for 10 years), it was the only reason I'd shop there.. Chevron - not pumping gas at all, open, but not for buying gas. Vitamin City - no paper towels or ground pork, at all. Target - no shampoo or paper towels. The only place that had what I wanted was Trader Joe's.

It's so time-consuming and frustrating!

I feel like there should be some geezer sitting behind the counter, picking his nails with a camp knife, saying ... nope, we don't have none of that here, neither. Not since the gas station burned down in oh-five.

Has anybody else noticed the same thing?

Seeing that here, too. Too many times lately I've come home and had to tell hubby (after he's asked for something specific) that they did't have it in the store, like sugar-free lozenges. Or had to change my menu because they didn't have picnic roast (pork) or full fat plain yogurt. I can understand not being able to find Thai red curry paste or shirataki noodles, but when you can't find reduced fat Swiss cheese or xfirm tofu or frozen peaches or frozen corn, something's fucked up.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!

SIGNYM

Wednesday, February 19, 2020 11:09 PM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Another bright sunny day here. Squeak one more out tomorrow according to the weather people then back to rain.

enjoy the weather, BRENDA!

Please send rain!

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!

BRENDA

Wednesday, February 19, 2020 11:13 PM (P)

More sun. So up and out in a bit.

SIGNYM

Wednesday, February 19, 2020 11:15 PM (P)

Just FYI, not going to be posting as much. Now that my energy is back (thanks to cetirizne, Advair and albuterol inhalers, mupirocin/saline nose rinse, and fluticasone, oxymetazoline, and cromolyn nose sprays, plus nose strips and the occasional lozenge, antacid, or cough syrup!) I'll be helping hubby with urgently-needed home repairs and catching up on the things that got dropped about 5 weeks ago.

Definitely will be checking in with you guys here, but don't expect to see me as much in the political threads.

As always tho, I enjoy your comments and info!

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!

6IXSTRINGJACK

Thursday, February 20, 2020 12:13 AM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Quote:
Originally posted by 1KIKI:
What's with the supply chain over the last year? I can't just get my list together for groceries and sundries, and go shopping and get it all. Somebody - and often a few somebodies - are always out of at least one thing. So I have to go to different stores, or go back to the same store later, usually a lot more than once, just to get everything. Or bail on what I wanted and either get something sort-of-like, or give up on it altogether.

And it's been getting worse the last few weeks! Today for example, I struck out at 4 of 5 places where I went shopping! ... just looking for ordinary, everyday stuff.

Walgreens - Walgreens-branded sugar and dye-free cough syrup, and hand sanitizer, not a single one on the shelf. Albertsons - lite salt (discontinued entirely, even though I'd been buying it there for 10 years), it was the only reason I'd shop there.. Chevron - not pumping gas at all, open, but not for buying gas. Vitamin City - no paper towels or ground pork, at all. Target - no shampoo or paper towels. The only place that had what I wanted was Trader Joe's.

It's so time-consuming and frustrating!

I feel like there should be some geezer sitting behind the counter, picking his nails with a camp knife, saying ... nope, we don't have none of that here, neither. Not since the gas station burned down in oh-five.

Has anybody else noticed the same thing?
Seeing that here, too. Too many times lately I've come home and had to tell hubby (after he's asked for something specific) that they did't have it in the store, like sugar-free lozenges. Or had to change my menu because they didn't have picnic roast (pork) or full fat plain yogurt. I can understand not being able to find Thai red curry paste or shirataki noodles, but when you can't find reduced fat Swiss cheese or xfirm tofu or frozen peaches or frozen corn, something's fucked up.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!

Hmmmmmmm....

Anybody think these "shortages" might be due to the fact that everybody has some local Amazon warehouses that are stockpiling things that normally would be dispersed among the local stores?

Not making any claims or anything. But I do happen to notice Amazon trucks in my area every single day when I'm working outside. We're kind of in a tucked away area of the city that doesn't have a lot of outlets and no thruways to major intersections too, so if I see that truck it is for somebody specifically within a 4 block radius. On about 6 occasions in the last year I was the guy they were delivering to.

Most stuff you can get on Amazon is priced lower than the local stores as long as you can weasel free shipping and don't let them take it back that way. I'd say my average savings on goods from Amazon, shipped to my door for free, is anywhere from 20% to 75% off of what I would pay for it in the store when it wasn't on sale.

If the shortages are somehow due to Amazon's local warehouses popping up all over the place, I expect that problem not to get any better, even if it doesn't get worse.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

1KIKI

Thursday, February 20, 2020 12:24 AM (P)

I'll keep my eye open for that.

Or, since Signy and I both live in SoCal, maybe it's a SoCal thing.

1KIKI

Thursday, February 20, 2020 12:27 AM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Just FYI, not going to be posting as much. Now that my energy is back (thanks to cetirizne, Advair and albuterol inhalers, mupirocin/saline nose rinse, and fluticasone, oxymetazoline, and cromolyn nose sprays, plus nose strips and the occasional lozenge, antacid, or cough syrup!) I'll be helping hubby with urgently-needed home repairs and catching up on the things that got dropped about 5 weeks ago.

Definitely will be checking in with you guys here, but don't expect to see me as much in the political threads.

As always tho, I enjoy your comments and info!

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!

Me as well. Though I'm still coughing somewhat from the flu (hence the regular cough syrup purchases), it put a 6 week divot in my life that I need to make up for.

I'll be reading here with interest! but not posting as much.

6IXSTRINGJACK

Thursday, February 20, 2020 12:33 AM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by 1KIKI:
I'll keep my eye open for that.

Or, since Signy and I both live in SoCal, maybe it's a SoCal thing.

Alright.... I got to say it. Didn't you just argue with me in the virus thread a few days ago that you don't live in California?

I'm not imagining that, am I?

Not aiming to kick up any drama with ya, but I seem to recall that being a thing.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

6IXSTRINGJACK

Thursday, February 20, 2020 12:37 AM (P)

Glad you're both feeling better.

Still kind of "bleh" here, but half of that is probably just the SAD that I usually suffer from this time of year but managed to power through before the denture process and all that ensued kind of derailed that train.

Bought some stuff I'll need to begin creating my closets while I was out for food last night. I was going to buy a stud finder, but even the cheapo ones are really pricey at the local store so I'm going to do some research and see if there are old man ways of doing it without tech do-dads first, and then I'll see what they've got on Amazon and if I have any other things to buy there to get me over the hump for free shipping.

Also got some barter work coming up with my friend, so even though it's not money it will help me get back on track and get me free assistance when I'm putting my gutters up and doing some other things around here in the spring/summer.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

1KIKI

Thursday, February 20, 2020 12:40 AM (P)

You originally claimed that I'm FROM SoCal and that's how I got my 'SoCal' values. I'm not FROM SoCal. I lived the first half of my life in western NY, near or in Buffalo. That's where I acquired my heritage, Catholic, socially-responsible values.

I LIVE in SoCal now.

Yanno Jack, a lot of these issues could be avoided if you would just read more carefully.

Sigh. Just read more carefully - OK?

BRENDA

Thursday, February 20, 2020 6:10 AM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Another bright sunny day here. Squeak one more out tomorrow according to the weather people then back to rain.
enjoy the weather, BRENDA!

Please send rain!

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!

I am SIG. If I could send you what is heading my way for the weekend I would.

SIGNYM

Thursday, February 20, 2020 6:59 AM (P)

Quote:
BRENDA: Another bright sunny day here. Squeak one more out tomorrow according to the weather people then back to rain.

SIGNY: enjoy the weather, BRENDA!
Please send rain!

BRENDA: I am SIG. If I could send you what is heading my way for the weekend I would.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!

BRENDA

Friday, February 21, 2020 9:28 AM (P)

My boss's husband took me to a local Walmart after work and I bought a bookcase to repurpose as a DVD/Video holder.

Project for the weekend.

6IXSTRINGJACK

Friday, February 21, 2020 11:05 AM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by 1KIKI:
You originally claimed that I'm FROM SoCal and that's how I got my 'SoCal' values.

Did I? I don't know. That doesn't sound like something I'd say to you. I think you may have been making an inference that wasn't implied because we were being testy with each other.

If I made that implication, that means I was making it about Sigs too, which also doesn't sound like something I'd do.

Quote:
I'm not FROM SoCal. I lived the first half of my life in western NY, near or in Buffalo. That's where I acquired my heritage, Catholic, socially-responsible values.

I LIVE in SoCal now.

Yanno Jack, a lot of these issues could be avoided if you would just read more carefully.

Sigh. Just read more carefully - OK?

I thought I had. I "knew" you were from California (now). I'm sure you've posted the history of where you grew up, but I either forgot it or never read it in the first place.

My bad.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

6IXSTRINGJACK

Friday, February 21, 2020 11:06 AM (P)

No rash for two days.

Still a little itchy, but it is the middle of winter and the heat is on. It's probably just dry AF in my house right now.

I think I'm going to try the rice and vegetables tomorrow without the spice and see what happens.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

SIGNYM

Friday, February 21, 2020 7:47 PM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
No rash for two days.

Still a little itchy, but it is the middle of winter and the heat is on. It's probably just dry AF in my house right now.

I think I'm going to try the rice and vegetables tomorrow without the spice and see what happens.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

Good luck!

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!

SIGNYM

Friday, February 21, 2020 8:02 PM (P)

So, one little fun project that popped up ... or should I say seeped up ...is one of the toilets, which I noticed had crap seeping up over the floor. Eeeew. Hubby removed the toilet (I was his loyal helper) and we found an old rusted waste pipe under the floor.

I thought the waste line was supposed to have been replaced when they replaced the rest of the waste lines??? So I dug thru my big box of "to be filed" papers, found the original contract and change orders and it seems to be as if that was specified in one of the chnage orders, so the tech is coming out today to fix it, for free, I hope.

Fortunately we have more than one bathroom! But, if THIS waste line wasn't replaced ...what about the others?

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!

1KIKI

Friday, February 21, 2020 11:07 PM (P)

Hmmm. Do you think you could have the tech check the others for free?

Something I learned from watching This Old House ... I don't know if you've ever replaced a toilet. But the seal between the toilet and the flange is made by a literal wax ring. It can be tricky to set. If you accidentally squish it down a little tipped, and then straighten out the toilet, you'll have a gap because the wax ring got deformed too far down and, of course, it doesn't pop back up when you adjust the toilet. And then you have to get a new wax ring and start all over gain. Anyway, now they have a silicone thingy instead of a wax ring, and it's much more forgiving, and reusable!

6IXSTRINGJACK

Friday, February 21, 2020 11:36 PM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
So, one little fun project that popped up

NOTHING ABOUT PLUMBING IS FUN!!!!

lol

I hope it works out. Sounds like they intentionally made a mistake on you.

Now that they're caught red-handed, let's hope they do you right.

Not only should the pipe they charged you to replace before be replaced now, free of charge, but you should make them check the other ones as well and show you they were replaced.

I'm sure you can manage to get them to do it, as well as be quite a bit more cordial about it than I would be. Don't let them push you around since they're the ones that got caught trying to con you, but you're not going to do the situation any favors if you fly off the handle at them either.

Maybe you should ask them if they used to work out of Indiana? Seems like maybe their crew built my entire house.

I'm only joking of course... Between DIY weekend warriors and unscrupulous contractors that cut corners to save on labor and materials, I think most people have stuff behind the scenes that would make their skin crawl if they were aware of the issues.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

BRENDA

Saturday, February 22, 2020 5:53 AM (P)

I am never buying another one of those bookcases you put together yourself. They used to be a one person job but now it seems they are a two person job.

SIGNYM

Saturday, February 22, 2020 6:26 AM (P)

BRENDA, I feel your pain! How do you hold two pieces in position and clip or screw then together? With your third (or fourth) hand?

One trick I discovered when I was assembling a shelving unit by my lonesome was to lay it out on the floor for the initial assy, then tip it up before adding shelves and tightening bolts. I have to admit, I was a lot younger then. Not sure I would try the same again.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!

SIGNYM

Saturday, February 22, 2020 6:42 AM (P)

About the plumbing... with contract in hand I called the company that did the original work, and the butt-hole on the other end of the line started weaseling about what was and wasn't included and nitpicking whether the part was called a riser or a combi. He offered us such a deal! He would take $500 off the $2200 estimate in order to finish the job! I feel fair certain we would have won in small claims court... hey, I've been there and got a judgement. OTOH we kinda wanted to get the thing fixed sooner rather than later, so we called a local company that we've worked with before and they did the job for$200. It was a pleasure calling Mr. Butt-hole and telling him he could take his deal and stuff it.

*****
Oh indeed, if people only knew what was behind the walls their skin would crawl!

While installing a light fixture hubby discovered that - with the switch off- of he touched the hot and neutral lines with one hand and the ground with the back of his hand he got a significant shock. The wiring in this place is atrocious, we fix it as we encounter it but hubby keeps asking if the place was built by monkeys.

Plus, it's an old house. It wasn't when we bought it, but we've been here a long time and during that time it transitioned from middle age to old. We were watching Love It Or List It when they were discussing the problems of working on a 100 year old house, and I realized that or house was only a couple decades younger! Well, it is what it is; and we just have to be prepared to deal with the effects of entropy!

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!

SIGNYM

Saturday, February 22, 2020 9:08 AM (P)

Random electrical outages! Fun times!

The houses across the street are on a different circuit. OURS always go out. Theirs always stay on. At least it didn't last very long, but does SCE realize how brain dead it is to advise people to report an outage online? The circuits are dead. The computer is dead, and even if it wasn't the WIFI is dead. Hello?? WTF are they thinking?

(I reported via cellphone.)

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!

6IXSTRINGJACK

Saturday, February 22, 2020 9:33 AM (P)

Yeah. My entire house was built on a Friday afternoon.

Glad you got your plumbing in order.

I've got the same problem with electric around here. Some of the houses on the end of my block are on the "old circuit". We tend to lose power more frequently than the rest of the block. Was great for about four years there, but that wind storm around 4 months back screwed something up. We've had two outages over 2 hours since, and three or four 15 second outages that knock out my computer and the clocks.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

BRENDA

Saturday, February 22, 2020 9:40 AM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
BRENDA, I feel your pain! How do you hold two pieces in position and clip or screw then together? With your third (or fourth) hand?

One trick I discovered when I was assembling a shelving unit by my lonesome was to lay it out on the floor for the initial assy, then tip it up before adding shelves and tightening bolts. I have to admit, I was a lot younger then. Not sure I would try the same again.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!

Yup. Last time I did something like this I was younger too. Think in my 20s.

Realized that I should have put it together standing up. I got both pieces together but they are separated spots. Going to see if I can fix my mess-up tomorrow.

1KIKI

Saturday, February 22, 2020 9:55 AM (P)

"we called a local company that we've worked with before and they did the job for $200" I'm curious - did they check the other ones as well?

"Oh indeed, if people only knew what was behind the walls their skin would crawl!" I know what's behind mine! Mice and rats, thanks to balloon framing. And let's not forgot the (probably raccoon) that ripped off some of the siding and is now living in the attic. Not for long. The exterminator is coming out Monday.

"While installing a light fixture hubby discovered that - with the switch off- of he touched the hot and neutral lines with one hand and the ground with the back of his hand he got a significant shock. The wiring in this place is atrocious, we fix it as we encounter it but hubby keeps asking if the place was built by monkeys." I might have mentioned how I got juiced in the shower, since the hot and neutral were reversed in a lighting fixture, which somehow shifted onto the vent stack, putting voltage on the drain system.

Entropy - and critters!!! They're all such rascals.

1KIKI

Saturday, February 22, 2020 9:59 AM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
BRENDA, I feel your pain! How do you hold two pieces in position and clip or screw then together? With your third (or fourth) hand?

One trick I discovered when I was assembling a shelving unit by my lonesome was to lay it out on the floor for the initial assy, then tip it up before adding shelves and tightening bolts. I have to admit, I was a lot younger then. Not sure I would try the same again.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!

Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:

Yup. Last time I did something like this I was younger too. Think in my 20s.

Realized that I should have put it together standing up. I got both pieces together but they are separated spots. Going to see if I can fix my mess-up tomorrow.

Me three. It was a long time ago for me as well. I got nothing. No suggestions. I just kept struggling till I managed and I don't even remember what I did. And I think I'd be hard-pressed to manage it again.

6IXSTRINGJACK

Saturday, February 22, 2020 11:48 AM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by 1KIKI:
"we called a local company that we've worked with before and they did the job for $200" I'm curious - did they check the other ones as well?

"Oh indeed, if people only knew what was behind the walls their skin would crawl!" I know what's behind mine! Mice and rats, thanks to balloon framing. And let's not forgot the (probably raccoon) that ripped off some of the siding and is now living in the attic. Not for long. The exterminator is coming out Monday.

"While installing a light fixture hubby discovered that - with the switch off- of he touched the hot and neutral lines with one hand and the ground with the back of his hand he got a significant shock. The wiring in this place is atrocious, we fix it as we encounter it but hubby keeps asking if the place was built by monkeys." I might have mentioned how I got juiced in the shower, since the hot and neutral were reversed in a lighting fixture, which somehow shifted onto the vent stack, putting voltage on the drain system.

Entropy - and critters!!! They're all such rascals.

I've still got a weird "cave-in" situation happening on the drywall that was installed needlessly in the attic (for finished "rooms" that can't be added to the square footage of the house since there is no point of egress up there besides the tiny window I put the blower in, and there is no heat/or air conditioning up there).

It's bowed in a bit between the rafters. From the outside, everything looks fine. There is no water damage.

I'm eventually going to have to knock some of this down and see just what the hell is happening. I'd be more concerned right now if there was water.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

1KIKI

Saturday, February 22, 2020 11:58 AM (P)

I always wondered how the previous owners just turned a blind eye. Didn't they notice? Didn't they care?

Yours sounds like the same thing ...

1KIKI

Saturday, February 22, 2020 12:53 PM (P)

Hey Signy

You asked a couple of questions about emergency supplies in the coronavirus thread

http://www.fireflyfans.net/mthread.aspx?bid=18&tid=63473&mid=1
094445#1094445
Sunday, February 16, 2020 3:26 PM

http://www.fireflyfans.net/mthread.aspx?bid=18&tid=63473&mid=1
094492#1094492
Monday, February 17, 2020 10:16 AM

that I accidentally answered here
http://www.fireflyfans.net/mthread.aspx?bid=18&tid=58882&mid=1
094532#1094532
Monday, February 17, 2020 6:14 PM

BRENDA

Saturday, February 22, 2020 1:34 PM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by 1KIKI:
Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
BRENDA, I feel your pain! How do you hold two pieces in position and clip or screw then together? With your third (or fourth) hand?

One trick I discovered when I was assembling a shelving unit by my lonesome was to lay it out on the floor for the initial assy, then tip it up before adding shelves and tightening bolts. I have to admit, I was a lot younger then. Not sure I would try the same again.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!
Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:

Yup. Last time I did something like this I was younger too. Think in my 20s.

Realized that I should have put it together standing up. I got both pieces together but they are separated spots. Going to see if I can fix my mess-up tomorrow.
Me three. It was a long time ago for me as well. I got nothing. No suggestions. I just kept struggling till I managed and I don't even remember what I did. And I think I'd be hard-pressed to manage it again.

The thing with this bookcase Kiki is the top half is heavier than the bottom. So I can't lift it into place. I am going to see if I can take apart the top half and then redo it and hopefully get it to fit on the bottom half. It's about all I can do.

1KIKI

Saturday, February 22, 2020 10:45 PM (P)

That seems awkward to me and not terribly stable. If I got it right, you're going to reconfigure it so the heavier part is on the bottom? That sounds promising! I hope it all goes easily, Brenda!

SIGNYM

Saturday, February 22, 2020 10:57 PM (P)

Quote:
SIGNY: BRENDA, I feel your pain! How do you hold two pieces in position and clip or screw then together? With your third (or fourth) hand? One trick I discovered when I was assembling a shelving unit by my lonesome was to lay it out on the floor for the initial assy, then tip it up before adding shelves and tightening bolts. I have to admit, I was a lot younger then. Not sure I would try the same again.

Originally posted by Brenda:

BRENDA: Yup. Last time I did something like this I was younger too. Think in my 20s.
Realized that I should have put it together standing up. I got both pieces together but they are separated spots. Going to see if I can fix my mess-up tomorrow.

KIKI: Me three. It was a long time ago for me as well. I got nothing. No suggestions. I just kept struggling till I managed and I don't even remember what I did. And I think I'd be hard-pressed to manage it again.

BRENDA: The thing with this bookcase Kiki is the top half is heavier than the bottom. So I can't lift it into place. I am going to see if I can take apart the top half and then redo it and hopefully get it to fit on the bottom half. It's about all I can do.

Gee, that sounds like a crappy design. As KIKI said, not terribly stable and also pretty hard to put together! Also, one of those design flaws that's hard to spot in the store. I also hope you can reconfigure it succssfully.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!

BRENDA

Saturday, February 22, 2020 11:10 PM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by 1KIKI:
That seems awkward to me and not terribly stable. If I got it right, you're going to reconfigure it so the heavier part is on the bottom? That sounds promising! I hope it all goes easily, Brenda!

No I'm not. I'm going to see if I can take the top half apart and then fit it to the bottom. The top has something that has to be screwed into the wall to hold it upright because it is so heavy and two possibly to keep it from falling incase of an earthquake. Will let you know what I did later today.

BRENDA

Saturday, February 22, 2020 11:12 PM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Quote:
SIGNY: BRENDA, I feel your pain! How do you hold two pieces in position and clip or screw then together? With your third (or fourth) hand? One trick I discovered when I was assembling a shelving unit by my lonesome was to lay it out on the floor for the initial assy, then tip it up before adding shelves and tightening bolts. I have to admit, I was a lot younger then. Not sure I would try the same again.

Originally posted by Brenda:

BRENDA: Yup. Last time I did something like this I was younger too. Think in my 20s.
Realized that I should have put it together standing up. I got both pieces together but they are separated spots. Going to see if I can fix my mess-up tomorrow.

KIKI: Me three. It was a long time ago for me as well. I got nothing. No suggestions. I just kept struggling till I managed and I don't even remember what I did. And I think I'd be hard-pressed to manage it again.

BRENDA: The thing with this bookcase Kiki is the top half is heavier than the bottom. So I can't lift it into place. I am going to see if I can take apart the top half and then redo it and hopefully get it to fit on the bottom half. It's about all I can do.
Gee, that sounds like a crappy design. As KIKI said, not terribly stable and also pretty hard to put together! Also, one of those design flaws that's hard to spot in the store. I also hope you can reconfigure it succssfully.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!

SIG it is a crappy design. I will let everyone know what happened later today.

BRENDA

Saturday, February 22, 2020 11:16 PM (P)

Out in a bit. Got another problem to solve. Rice milk I am using changed its packaging and added something that doesn't seem to like me. Very annoying a frustrating. About the only left I can use is coconut milk.

6IXSTRINGJACK

Sunday, February 23, 2020 1:02 AM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by 1KIKI:
I always wondered how the previous owners just turned a blind eye. Didn't they notice? Didn't they care?

Yours sounds like the same thing ...

Yeah... lucky me that I couldn't sleep at night if I passed all these problems on to somebody else. I might be here a little longer than I initially planned, but I could probably make a 250% profit if I do all the stuff I intend to do now before I sell it.

It sold for that much back before the housing market crashed and that's with all of these problems behind the scenes and none of the upgrades I have made and intend to make.

Once I get the gutters up this spring at least I should be at a point where nothing is getting worse while I work on making the rest of it better.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

SIGNYM

Sunday, February 23, 2020 2:39 AM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by 1KIKI:
I've been thinking about your emergency food, Signy. How does your SO react to beans, blood-sugar-wise? And I'm asking about beans specifically, not beans+ ... grains, veges, etc. Because I took a class in diabetic nutrition, and if your food has more than 5g of fiber per serving, you're allowed to subtract the fiber from the total carbs. And some beans/ legumes have a phenomenal amount of fiber! (according to the USDA).

Here's my fiber list with top amounts of fiber, USDA reference, per 100g (food/ protein/ carbohydrate/ fat/ fiber):
Beans, cranberry (roman), mature seeds, raw 100g 23.03 60.05 1.23 24.7
Beans, french, mature seeds, raw 100g 18.81 64.11 2.02 25.2
Beans, kidney*, all types, mature seeds, raw 100g 23.58 60.01 0.83 24.9
*cook well to remove lectins
Beans, navy, mature seeds, raw 100g 22.33 60.75 1.5 24.4
Beans, small white, mature seeds, raw 100g 21.11 62.25 1.18 24.9
Beans, yellow, mature seeds, raw 100g 22 60.7 2.6 25.1
Lentils, raw 100g 25.8 60.08 1.06 30.5
Peas, split, mature seeds, raw 100g 24.55 60.37 1.16 25.5
All of these are about 40% fiber, except for lentils which are about 50% !!

So you and your SO might be OK with beans, no grains. BTW, beans have a standout amount of protein compared to grains. To make a balanced protein, iirc, I calculated out once that you'd need about 8x grains by weight to balance out the protein in beans. For additional protein, dry powdered milk would provide both calcium and protein; whey protein provides protein but no calcium or milk sugar. Oil could make up the balance of calories.

For DD perhaps canned meat - perhaps no-salt-added canned tuna, no-salt-added canned salmon, and other canned meat (chicken, beef, spam, but watch the sodium!) and as a relief from tedium and additional/ alternate protein source, dry powdered milk and/ or whey protein, and grains, plus oil to make up calories.

BTW - I was in Buffalo for the Blizzard of '77. It was a great way to empty the frig and cupboards. But we got down to eating oats and mustard, after we used up the mayo for oats and mayo. So as you suggested in your post - dried herbs and spices (Book's ticket onto the ship!), and dried or canned veges and maybe fruits.

ETA: If you're used to a daily dose of nicotine, caffeine, or alcohol, don't forget to include them in your hunker-down supply! Going through withdrawal could make you grumpy, give you headaches, and destroy your sleep!

that's the problem with beans, you need a lot of grains to make a complete protein. So what provides the missing methionine (iirc) that's NOT grains?

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!

1KIKI

Sunday, February 23, 2020 3:06 AM (P)

It's not that beans don't have methionine, it's just that it's at lower levels than the other amino acids. So you could get enough methionine by eating more beans, with the understanding that the other excess amino acids would be wasted.

Apparently while vegetarians have a lower methionine intake than non-vegetarians, they have higher blood levels than non-vegetarians; but vegans have both very low intake AND low blood levels. And methionine seems to be double-edged sword - low levels can promote liver dysfunction, but high levels can be converted to homocysteine, which damages the cardiovascular system.

Anyway - looking it up, egg whites have high methionine levels. A 70kg person needs somewhat less than 1g methionine per day, a serving of egg whites has about 3g (according to one website). You can get powdered egg whites.

I hope this is helpful!

BRENDA

Sunday, February 23, 2020 3:31 AM (P)

Anyway decided to not try and attach the top to the bottom part of the bookcase. So it is in two pieces. Doesn't look good but at least it is usable. So all DVD and VHS are on the two parts.

1KIKI

Sunday, February 23, 2020 4:29 AM (P)

That sounds perfectly fit for use! (and safer and more stable and all around better).

BRENDA

Sunday, February 23, 2020 9:30 AM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by 1KIKI:
That sounds perfectly fit for use! (and safer and more stable and all around better).

It is and suits me just fine.

BRENDA

Sunday, February 23, 2020 1:10 PM (P)

Rookie's back on tomorrow night. Yay!!

SIGNYM

Sunday, February 23, 2020 3:33 PM (P)

Sometimes I think big companies need design input from regular people once in a while. What sounds good on paper and what looks good on the showroom floor just doesn't work well IRL. How about if you write them a letter??? No need to be nasty, just describe the problems you had and your suggestions for making it better. It might just help them improve their product.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!

BRENDA

Monday, February 24, 2020 12:43 AM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Sometimes I think big companies need design input from regular people once in a while. What sounds good on paper and what looks good on the showroom floor just doesn't work well IRL. How about if you write them a letter??? No need to be nasty, just describe the problems you had and your suggestions for making it better. It might just help them improve their product.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!

That might be a good idea SIG. I've still got the instructions on how to put it together and it should have something on it I can use.

BRENDA

Monday, February 24, 2020 1:48 PM (P)

The instructions for that bookcase gives the company name but no address. There is a phone number that is only good for the US. The case was designed in the US but made in China.

1KIKI

Monday, February 24, 2020 2:06 PM (P)

FWIW whenever a service tech came in to set up/ maintain/ repair an instrument I always asked them if their engineering departments ever asked the service people for suggestions ... and the answer was always no.

Why not have NO feedback for your what I'm sure you think is your perfectly perfect product!

6IXSTRINGJACK

Monday, February 24, 2020 9:31 PM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by 1KIKI:
FWIW whenever a service tech came in to set up/ maintain/ repair an instrument I always asked them if their engineering departments ever asked the service people for suggestions ... and the answer was always no.

Why not have NO feedback for your what I'm sure you think is your perfectly perfect product!

Because this is all cheap stuff made in China that sells well enough even though it's cheap stuff from China with instructions that can hardly be called English.

The entire plant is set up, and mostly automated, to make the products specifically as you get them in the box. Altering just one little thing would cause the need to alter the production process which requires shutting down a portion of the plant, re-configuring everything, then testing it before putting it back into production mode.

Given the fact that this stuff is manufactured, packaged and shipped halfway around the world and is still as cheap as it is, they are working on razor thin margins to turn profits.

The only time they're going to look into altering anything is if something is broken so bad that all of the units are getting returned, or (much worse) it ends up causing injuries or death.

I think about computers and computer parts and their history when I think of this. In the early days of building computers with a friend of mine, everything was made in the States and was SUPER expensive. But despite the fact that the processing power, storage and memory were just mere fractions of what we have at our disposal today, those old PCs were almost perfect when it came to stability compared to what we have today if you set them up right.

You'd be hard pressed to find any electronic parts now that are made in America. They're a boatload cheaper, for sure, and everything is so much more powerful after 20+ years of R&D. From the quality of anything from motherboards, CPUs and GPUs to the software you're running whether it be an office suite or video games, the coding is also quite lazy these days, relying on the processing power of today's technology rather than expert coding and intelligent decision making to really push the limits of today's hardware.

By all rights, the machines we use in our everyday lives should be capable of quite a bit more than they currently are. But everything from the Operating System to the software package for your Graphics Card/Chip is written so sloppily that countless cycles are lost every second executing redundant code.

But nobody is ever going to fix any of that. Nobody's life is at risk. Most of the time, even though it is thought of as an inconvenience, a simple power down of the system and reboot is all that is required to "right the ship".

That's arguably a small price to pay compared to the $4000.00 it would cost to build a new computer if all of the parts were made here in the states and the fact that the days of $600 Office Suites are long gone. Hell... you can just use Google Docs and Google Spreadsheets which are almost as good as Microsoft Office and offer more to most people then they're ever going to need to use and you don't have to pay a cent for it.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

SIGNYM

Monday, February 24, 2020 10:30 PM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
The instructions for that bookcase gives the company name but no address. There is a phone number that is only good for the US. The case was designed in the US but made in China.

Call the US number. Or maybe you can find the corporate office address online. I would be looking for "product development" or "design", or "customer feedback" or "complaints" but if you can't find those, ANY address will do!

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!

1KIKI

Monday, February 24, 2020 10:33 PM (P)

And as I keep pointing out - that's THE essential internal contradiction of capitalism.

The person who makes a Mercedes can only afford a Kia ... yanno, the difference between the value their work creates and the sales prices is profit. They literally can't afford to buy their own work.

The person who makes a Kia buys a bicycle ...

The person who makes a bicycle buys shoes ...

The person who makes shoes goes barefoot ...

And I suppose that's OK. There are enough warm places on the planet where going barefoot will get you parasites, but at least your feet won't freeze off. But then you start considering the food production cycle ...

OF COURSE people can't afford to buy quality, or even buy American! That's a DUH! And OF COURSE business will only makes what they can sell! That's another DUH!

SIGNYM

Monday, February 24, 2020 10:37 PM (P)

Quote:
KIKI
FWIW whenever a service tech came in to set up/ maintain/ repair an instrument I always asked them if their engineering departments ever asked the service people for suggestions ... and the answer was always no.
Why not have NO feedback for your what I'm sure you think is your perfectly perfect product!

SIX: Because this is all cheap stuff made in China that sells well enough even though it's cheap stuff from China with instructions that can hardly be called English.

The entire plant is set up, and mostly automated, to make the products specifically as you get them in the box. Altering just one little thing would cause the need to alter the production process which requires shutting down a portion of the plant, re-configuring everything, then testing it before putting it back into production mode.

Given the fact that this stuff is manufactured, packaged and shipped halfway around the world and is still as cheap as it is, they are working on razor thin margins to turn profits.

The only time they're going to look into altering anything is if something is broken so bad that all of the units are getting returned, or (much worse) it ends up causing injuries or death.

I think about computers and computer parts and their history when I think of this. In the early days of building computers with a friend of mine, everything was made in the States and was SUPER expensive. But despite the fact that the processing power, storage and memory were just mere fractions of what we have at our disposal today, those old PCs were almost perfect when it came to stability compared to what we have today if you set them up right.

You'd be hard pressed to find any electronic parts now that are made in America. They're a boatload cheaper, for sure, and everything is so much more powerful after 20+ years of R&D. From the quality of anything from motherboards, CPUs and GPUs to the software you're running whether it be an office suite or video games, the coding is also quite lazy these days, relying on the processing power of today's technology rather than expert coding and intelligent decision making to really push the limits of today's hardware.

By all rights, the machines we use in our everyday lives should be capable of quite a bit more than they currently are. But everything from the Operating System to the software package for your Graphics Card/Chip is written so sloppily that countless cycles are lost every second executing redundant code.

But nobody is ever going to fix any of that. Nobody's life is at risk. Most of the time, even though it is thought of as an inconvenience, a simple power down of the system and reboot is all that is required to "right the ship".

That's arguably a small price to pay compared to the $4000.00 it would cost to build a new computer if all of the parts were made here in the states and the fact that the days of $600 Office Suites are long gone. Hell... you can just use Google Docs and Google Spreadsheets which are almost as good as Microsoft Office and offer more to most people then they're ever going to need to use and you don't have to pay a cent for it.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

Well! You know quite a bit more than you let on, SIX! Hubby (who programs in C and many other languages and is also a computer hardware expert) says the same thing.

But even I can see the sloppy (SLOPPY! SLOPPY!) programming. Our tablet, for example, has all the horsepower under the hood to be able to run several applications at once, and yet it can't manage to run more than one tab at a time. (eg play a video while you look at something else online.) Even my phone does better than that. Our DVR? Can't manage something as simple as "file management". What about "memory management"? Why do products need to be rebooted every once in a while? Doesn't the system do cleanup on powering down?

And that's just the stuff that I see. If someone (not me) were to look at how man

BRENDA

Monday, February 24, 2020 11:04 PM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
The instructions for that bookcase gives the company name but no address. There is a phone number that is only good for the US. The case was designed in the US but made in China.
Call the US number. Or maybe you can find the corporate office address online. I would be looking for "product development" or "design", or "customer feedback" or "complaints" but if you can't find those, ANY address will do!

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

Happy New Year, WISHY. I edited out your psychopathic screed!

I was thinking about trying to look up the company name on line and see what falls out.

BRENDA

Monday, February 24, 2020 11:06 PM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by 1KIKI:
And as I keep pointing out - that's THE essential internal contradiction of capitalism.

The person who makes a Mercedes can only afford a Kia ... yanno, the difference between the value their work creates and the sales prices is profit. They literally can't afford to buy their own work.

The person who makes a Kia buys a bicycle ...

The person who makes a bicycle buys shoes ...

The person who makes shoes goes barefoot ...

And I suppose that's OK. There are enough warm places on the planet where going barefoot will get you parasites, but at least your feet won't freeze off. But then you start considering the food production cycle ...

OF COURSE people can't afford to buy quality, or even buy American! That's a DUH! And OF COURSE business will only makes what they can sell! That's another DUH!

Also what happens when I have to depend on people with cars and they will only go so far i.e. the local Walmart.

BRENDA

Monday, February 24, 2020 11:07 PM (P)

Out for the day. Later peeps.

FIRST PAGE PREV PAGE 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 NEXT PAGE LAST PAGE