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Post by onlyMark on Feb 3, 2018 15:09:10 GMT
Oh, Mossie, I was in a place you would have loved today. A fish market (nicer though than the one before) in a third world country. I walked round mentally pointing things out to you to share the experience.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2018 15:31:40 GMT
Cheery, I so wish you had Bixa there to settle this matter. She could pose as your "partner". The matter would be settled toute de suite with very likely something extra thrown in with it.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Feb 3, 2018 17:47:19 GMT
Casimira, Bixa would have been marvellous I'm sure. But its my battle and I took the cowards way out . My sister Peggy is going to take me to another jeweller when I've had time to calm down. in a few weeks...
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 3, 2018 18:31:07 GMT
You didn't take the coward's way out. Under the circumstances your actions were not only civilized, but also the best way to avoid further stress. Your decision to wait until the emotional dust has settled before proceeding further makes perfect sense. Probably, though, should the occasion arise, you might want to steer potential customers away from that jeweler.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Feb 3, 2018 19:54:47 GMT
Thank you sweetie...you are a star
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 4, 2018 2:21:33 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Feb 4, 2018 18:51:54 GMT
While considering a future trip to London, I was quite upset to discover that my current favourite hotel, the Ibis Hotel Euston has closed and is being demolished to make way for the expansion of Euston Station (new high speed line apparently). This is the third time that my preferred hotel in London has closed. I seem to be choosing the wrong hotels. Perhaps I should stop visiting London.
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Post by mossie on Feb 5, 2018 10:24:18 GMT
Questa, sorry it has taken me so long to thank you and reply to your post re non-linear time, but I have collected the most awful cold and still can't stop my nose running onto the keyboard.
I have read through the article you linked to but am afraid still can't get the proposition into my regulated head, Mark's c) is nearer the Mark.
The book most likely came from the sergeants mess library, mainly books donated by members on their much anticipated return to U.K.
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Post by questa on Feb 5, 2018 14:34:52 GMT
You are not going daft...you were trained as a navigator which would require you to think only in linear mode as a matter of survival. Ditto the road building...linear. It is 1 am here and I need to sleep but one day I will try to show you what I mean. Hope your cold gets better quickly...
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 22, 2018 13:46:07 GMT
Well, Kerouac has his "High Water in Paris" report going, and I have my own water crisis right here, right now.
I couldn't sleep, so finally got up at 5 a.m. When I went out into the hall from my bedroom, I thought it was raining. But even though it was still dark, I could see that it was dry outside. Then I realized what was happening. [insert much horrified cursing here]
The municipal water came in on Sunday and the faucet on the pipe where it arrives was leaking badly, but I managed to contain it. Day before yesterday I attempted to get the hose off the faucet and the damned thing broke in two. I couldn't get the broken part off the pipe, so called the plumber. He said he was overwhelmed with work, but would try to come the next morning. He didn't come, but I wasn't too worried since the water wasn't due to come again probably until this coming Sunday. Yesterday afternoon I managed to get the broken piece out of the pipe and planned to go get a faucet today. Ha!
That noise I finally became aware of at 5 a.m. is gallons and gallons and gallons of water gushing out of the open pipe. It's now quarter of eight & no telling how long it will go on. I've called the landlord, but don't know if there is any way to cut off the flow. There certainly isn't from my side. [insert more cursing]
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2018 14:27:16 GMT
Jeezums Bixa, what a nightmare!!!!!!
Hope it gets resolved soon soon.
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Post by Kimby on Feb 22, 2018 17:56:25 GMT
My current petty trauma (also involving plumbing) is too petty to post in light of bixa’s nightmare deluge! I’ll come back later when the mess is cleaned up.
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Post by mossie on Feb 22, 2018 19:30:02 GMT
Great sympathy Bixa, hope it is very soon fixed.
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Post by mickthecactus on Feb 22, 2018 19:46:47 GMT
Goes to show, with a dodgy faucet you mustn’t force it.
I do hope it gets sorted very quickly Bixa. Not fun.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 22, 2018 20:19:56 GMT
Thanks, all!
The landlord (who lives on the other side of town) came over & turned the water off at its source. That is on the other side of the property & I didn't have access. I went downtown & got a new faucet -- brass, not the pig iron kind that broke -- and installed it. Let's hope there are no other surprises lurking.
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Post by questa on Feb 22, 2018 21:49:14 GMT
Why are there never enough plumbers to go around? What a horrible time for you, Bixa. I hope you have not lost anything precious to water damage.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 22, 2018 22:05:01 GMT
Thanks, Questa. It's fine -- the water was just gushing out on to the patio. It was a waste of water, though. The problem was something I could (& did) fix myself. What caused the trauma was the city sending water today, something that ordinarily would have delighted me. Well, that and the fact I couldn't get to the water turn-off.
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Post by questa on Feb 22, 2018 23:37:48 GMT
Pity we couldn't catch the water and send it to Capetown SA...along with some from Paris.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 23, 2018 0:35:51 GMT
Well, and it's horribly dry here, too. I didn't know Capetown was suffering a drought.
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Post by questa on Feb 23, 2018 2:50:25 GMT
Oo Yes! Severe rationing ...15 litres pp pday, 2 showers per week pp. They have designated "Day Zero" which is when the taps run dry. It was in June but compliance by the people has allowed the day be pushed back to July. Tourism is in a slump. As I come from "the driest state in the driest continent" my thoughts go out to all the folks doing it tough.
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Post by Kimby on Feb 23, 2018 13:03:31 GMT
Whew! Glad that’s over bixa. Your landlord needs to make it possible for a handy tenant like you to turn off the main water in the future.
My petty trauma. Yesterday morning after my shower I grabbed for my earrings and dropped one into the sink. As the little diamond stud skittered toward the drain I leaped into action and stopped it, then slid it up the side of the sink with my finger to remove it only to have it fall into one of the overflow holes that I forgot were there. Noooo!
Mr. Kimby helped me take the trap pipe apart and I spent the next hour and a half picking through black gunk and hair, pouring it through a sieve hoping to find the earring. Nothing. I flushed gallons of water down the overflow holes, thinking it might still be there, but no sign of it. I had just about lost hope, but I am nothing if not stubborn, so got a bendy wire and a bright light and did some more sluicing. Eureka! The light picked up a tiny glint of gold. I was just able to reach it with a long pair of tweezers. An alcohol bath for the earring and another half hour of cleaning up the mess, and we’re good.
It’s only a petty trauma because it had a happy ending.
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Post by kerouac2 on Feb 23, 2018 13:44:41 GMT
But now Mr. Kimby won't be able to console you with a new set of earrings!
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Post by Kimby on Feb 23, 2018 13:57:40 GMT
I think not having earrings was gonna be my punishment for sloppy handling of the original pair, which was a Christmas gift from him. He DID do the wrench-work that made it possible for me to finally find it.
If I hadn’t found it, I was going to use a marker on the bottom of the porcelain sink saying “earring inside” so when we get around to updating that bathrooom we could take a sledgehammer to the sink and find the earring. Of course by then I would have lost track of its mate...
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Post by kerouac2 on Feb 23, 2018 14:25:45 GMT
Well, at least you can knit Mr. Kimby a sweater with all of the hair that you found in the drain.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 23, 2018 15:48:03 GMT
Not petty, Kimby! My heart skipped a beat in sympathy with your tale. Expensive earrings used to always have screw backs on their posts, rather than the less secure pressure backs. Should be a law!
For what it's worth, and take this from a person who has dropped as much jewelry as she's worn -- no jewelry in the bathroom. It's a place full of dampness, hard surfaces, and sneaky inaccessible hidey-holes.
And here is a tip for people who feel compelled to remove their rings when washing their hands in public restrooms: put the ring in your mouth, not on the side of the sink.
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Post by Kimby on Feb 23, 2018 16:45:26 GMT
I have never owned a pair of earrings with a screw back, though I wish they were available. My Austrian step-grandmother had screwback earrings and I was so impressed with them.
This particular pair of diamond studs survived an earlier potential loss when I discovered one day I was walking around with an earring with NO back on it. Fortunately the good part stayed in my ear, and backs are easily replaced.
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Post by onlyMark on Feb 23, 2018 16:47:11 GMT
So you've just wiped your backside, you go to the sink, and put your ring in your mouth before you wash your hands? I've never understood this anyway as not being a ring wearer. Why can't you wash your hands with your ring on?
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Post by mickthecactus on Feb 23, 2018 16:51:53 GMT
I would definitely swallow it.
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Post by questa on Feb 24, 2018 10:30:14 GMT
I keep the plug in the plug hole whenever I am using screws, hooks etc near or above the basin or drain holes. Once when I was fitting a shelf above the kitchen sink, I lost a small screw down the open plug hole. Searched for a matching screw before having to remove the S bend and retrieve the original. If I can't find a plug, I 2/3 fill a plastic bag with water, expel air and knot it closed.It will sit in the plug hole and fill any space an earring could get through.
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Post by onlyMark on Feb 24, 2018 10:56:15 GMT
I just rest a small bin liner in it.
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