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Joined: May 2008 Posts: 4996
Location: Phoenix AZ | So I'm home bound for a few days recovering from getting my achielles tendon stapled back on to my heelbone. Basically I'm bored to death and driving my wife nuts.
This morning "her" desktop computer, a 2 year old DELL won't start. Dead as a doornail. So this is my chance to finally do something productive and I'm into it up to my elbows. I've got meters and wires and have downloaded lots of diagnosis tips on line using "my" computer. I'm really in my element and know that 1) I will impress her that I can actually fix the thing (step away, I am an engineer) and 2) feels good to actually be doing something productive.
Unfortunately I'm not making very good progress. This dog is REALLY dead and $$$ signs are swirling through my head. Then my dear wife pipes in "Does this GFI button over here by the sink do anything ???"
"NO, NO, that's nothing, just ignore it. Go do the wash or dust or something and I'll have this PC working in no time ..." |
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Joined: March 2005 Posts: 12759
Location: Boise, Idaho | The GFI breaker to the outlet in the front of our house is upstairs in the girls bathroom. It took me hours and a lot of cussing to figure that one out when the compressor I was running quit. That's another of those Tim the Toolman DIY projects that saved me $20 and took 2 days out of a nice weekend. |
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 Joined: April 2004 Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | I learned about the GFI button earlier cause we got one in each bathroom connected to the same circuit breaker. Whenever SWMBO plugs in the rollers and the hair dryer, PSSST goes the breaker switch (which by the way only controls the bathroom and the garage where the FREEZER IS!)
but hey.....you felt like a man for a few hours! |
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 Joined: April 2004 Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Originally posted by Gallerinski:
So I'm home bound for a few days recovering from getting my achielles tendon stapled back on to my heelbone. That really sucks.....was that from running or training for the marathon? |
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 Joined: September 2003 Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | Dave... sorry to hear your down. Sounds like a nasty type of injury.
How'd you do it? |
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Joined: March 2005 Posts: 5567
Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | Don't worry Dave: unless switching on the PC now causes the neighbor's garage door to open and shut randomly...hang in there and get better...I knew that there was something affecting your mood...glad it's not terminal...lol
Take care... |
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 Joined: December 2004 Posts: 4394
Location: East Tennessee | Originally posted by Gallerinski:
So I'm home bound for a few days recovering from getting my achielles tendon stapled back on to my heelbone. Basically I'm bored to death and driving my wife nuts. Ouch.
BTW: Will there be pictures like we had on Iffy's ankle? :D |
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 Joined: July 2005 Posts: 3410
Location: GA USA | When I lived in an apartment I had a switch on the wall that didn't do anything. Every day I flipped it on and off, on and off. A month later I got a letter from a lady in Germany saying "cut it out". |
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 Joined: January 2002 Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Ouch!, good thing you didn't have to run in Texas. |
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 Joined: December 2003 Posts: 13996
Location: Upper Left USA | I think this phenomena is known as the "Goober" effect.
Take a normally hyperactive person and nail one foot (ankle, knee, etc.) to the floor for several weeks until they explode!
I used to think it was ultimate Taboo to do any electrical work that included the Breaker Panel but after a little instruction I was able to put my Garage/shop tools on separate circuits.
How about some suggestions for "Things for Dave to do"?
1) Call Al once a day and ask him how he's doing. If you thought your day sucked he will surely make you realize that yours is much better than his.
2) Call Walter Carter and ask him how the new History of Ovation book is coming along. |
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 Joined: September 2003 Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | 3),,, line up all your guitars in a row, alpha / numeric, according to model number. |
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 Joined: December 2004 Posts: 4394
Location: East Tennessee | 4) After completing step 3, line guitars up according to year of manufacture. |
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Joined: December 2006 Posts: 6268
Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | Ouch! How long will you be laid up?
When we moved into our present home, it took me couple of days to determine what all the 3-way switches operated. The wall outlets were the challenge!
Here's to a successful recovery while retaining sanity!
year of manufacture ... and then model number... |
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Joined: October 2005 Posts: 5331
Location: Cicero, NY | Sorry to hear 'bout the heel, Dave. I've heard that one really ranks up there in the painful department. Hope you're back in the sneakers soon.
On the flip side, nice work on the wife's pc. I thought you were going to say you went out and got her a mac. |
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Joined: November 2004 Posts: 4413
| Get well soon. |
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 Joined: December 2006 Posts: 6995
Location: Jet City | ooo
ouch
I've been there (twice). It's a long recovery, then you get to wear the walking boot forever.
Be sure to get the tag for the car so you can park in the disabled parking. You feel like a gimp using it, but it does help especially during the holiday madness. |
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Joined: November 2006 Posts: 3969
| Get well soon! |
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Joined: May 2008 Posts: 4996
Location: Phoenix AZ | Sorry, intent of this post wasn't to broadcast my achelles issue, just wanted to poke fun at my electrical ineptness. Anyway, thanks for the kind words. Hurts like hell now but long term prognosis is good. It wasn't like a sudden accident or anything. Years of long distance running had calcified the bottom portion of the tendon and fragments had broken off and were lodged between the tendon and the bone. It had been getting worse and worse over the past 6-9 months. Tried other treatments but no success. prognosis is 3 weeks in a card cast and crutches, 4 weeks in soft cast with restricted movement swimming and very light excercise bike OK, then 4 weeks in a walking cast. No impact activities (running, tennis, etc.) until February. It's actually not as bad as it sounds and I'll try to use the time productively. Heck I already fixed 1 PC and restrung 3 guitars.
Toby |
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Joined: March 2005 Posts: 12759
Location: Boise, Idaho | Take care of yourself. The stuff you do to stay in shape could cause injury or death. |
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 Joined: January 2006 Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Great story, Toby. Hiding the GFI controller in odd places is something they teach at electrician school. I actually tripped the breaker for the first time (there will likely be many more) in the bandroom last weekend. I set it up to be a pretty heavy duty system, and it handled 53 lighted signs without so much as even a burp until then. I think I was turning on switches too fast and the neon transformers were still ramping up. Going slower took care of it. |
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Joined: November 2004 Posts: 4413
| This proves that my attitude towards exercise is the correct one. Stick with T'ai Chi and Qi Gong - difficult to hurt yourself standing still.
Keep smiling Toby. |
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Joined: October 2005 Posts: 5331
Location: Cicero, NY | Originally posted by ProfessorBB:
Going slower took care of it. With age, this becomes more and more relevant. |
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 Joined: February 2005 Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Feel better, Tob.
This simply adds more credibility to my theory that exercise is dangerous, and is to be avoided at all costs.
fwiw, I discovered that whoever wired my house before I bought it had put two bedrooms (one is my computer/music room), the kitchen and bathroom all on the same circuit. I learned this the day I was in the middle of a critical programming project for work and my daughter decided to make toast while my wife was making popcorn... |
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Joined: March 2005 Posts: 12759
Location: Boise, Idaho | I also had a modest success on an electrical project this weekend. We get 3 channels (including the PBS channel) on our TV up at the cabin. After I moved the antenna because of a roof project, we weren't getting a decent picture on any channel. The antenna is mounted at the top of a pole above the roof. I took the pole down, rotated the antenna, put the pole back up, go in and check the picture, all repeated many times unsuccessfully. I checked all the connections and even tried another TV. Nothing.
This weekend Linda asked what she could do to help, so I suggested she help with the antenna. After a false start (I removed the pole and rotated it this time, but then had to remount it because she didn't respond to me yelling, "Is this any better about 5 times." I went in to find that she had turned the TV off and was reading a book. Of course, she said, "But you didn't tell me what to do.")
Several more efforts failed to get a decent picture on all 3 channels, so I took the pole down off the deck and lowered it and leaned it against the cabin so that I could check the antenna connections. She yelled, "That's much better." I watched BSU beat Idaho with the antenna leaning against the cabin. I cut off the bottom of the pole and nailed it in place the next day. Turns out shorter is better sometimes. |
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 Joined: February 2005 Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Toby... maybe you should stick to this for a while. |
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 Joined: January 2002 Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Maybe panatonics? |
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Joined: May 2008 Posts: 4996
Location: Phoenix AZ | Originally posted by The Wabbit Formerly Known As Waskel:
Toby... maybe you should stick to this for a while. I love it - THANKS !!! |
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 Joined: February 2005 Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Thought you would... :)
Make sure you try the other 3...
Bike Mania2
Bike Mania on ice
Bike Mania 4 - Micro Office
4 Wheel Madness is fun too.
FlashGames247
Be careful... they're addictive. |
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 Joined: August 2005 Posts: 3736
Location: Sunshine State, Australia | Funny story Dave.
What does GFI stand for?
In Australia, its either an RCD (Residual Current Device) ELCB (Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker) or just 'safety switch'.
I assume a GFI is the same thing? |
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 Joined: September 2003 Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | Ground Fault Interupter |
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 Joined: January 2006 Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Great story about your cabin television antennae, Mark, but isn't this somewhat akin to rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic? |
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Joined: March 2002 Posts: 15676
Location: SoCal | Hey Toby, you have pics of the surgery? I suspect that this crowd would enjoy them..... |
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 Joined: February 2005 Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | I was going to say that the only bummer bigger than having the surgery was that we didn't get video... |
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Joined: April 2006 Posts: 972
Location: PDX | Late to the party because i thought it was going to be another MAC ad from you or dvd.
_____
gh1 |
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Joined: November 2003 Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | As to the the initial post...
This is exactly why you don't want a bunch of "experts" in the room. |
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 Joined: January 2006 Posts: 2120
Location: Chicago | Now if only SWMBO had a GFI somewhere on her person! When she overloads, you can just set her in the corner for a few hours.... |
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Joined: March 2005 Posts: 12759
Location: Boise, Idaho | Originally posted by ProfessorBB:
Great story about your cabin television antennae, Mark, but isn't this somewhat akin to rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic? Are you referring to the switch to digital? We ordered the coupons for the converters and hope the local translator will work, although I've heard that rural areas may not get digital signals because the local translator stations won't be able to pick up the signal on their equipment.
Dobro, you could push her test button and shut her down for awhile and forget to reset her. |
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