My guess, and it is just a guess… it’s a storm water control system being used as a basement drain, possibly flowing into the sewer line.

I’ve seen older houses where someone cut into the basmeny floor directly into a sewer line to put in a basement drain.

Based on you saying water was in there when it was raining, someone might have cut into the storm water mitigation line for a basement drain. Then someone tiled the floor and put a vent over the hole because that’s what they found that fits.

With older houses, a lot of times, the storm water system was tied directly into the main sewer. If that’s what this is, I’d be concerned about sewer gasses coming up from it.

Again, with only seeing one picture, it’s just a guess.

Edit: It could also just be a cleanout for the storm water drain too.

Continue reading.

Sodium Hydroxide, when exposed to Carbon Dioxide (already in the air), combines to become Sodium Carbinate.

NaOH + CO2 → Na2CO3 + H2O

Sodium Carbinate then reacts with water and more Carbon Dioxide to become Sodium Bicarbinate, which is baking soda.

Na2CO3 + CO2 + H2O → 2 NaHCO3

Not only does a Sodium Oxyde fuel cell produce electricity, it takes CO2 out of the atmosphere.

From a physics and chemistry point of view, it’s pretty cool. I’m curious how well it scales though.

Ran into a couple small bugs on xbox.

When making a potion the game crashed. After repeating it multiple times, I figured out that it only happened when mixing a stolen and non stollen ingredient. I have not retested since the last update.

Prior to the update, I could not create an enchanted item with a static effect at frostcrag spire. For example, a ring with nighteye. I could create one with detect life because it was a magnitude selector. This bug went away after the update.

“The government” is multiple agencies and departments. There is no single computer system, database, mainframe, or file store that the entire US goverment uses. There is no standard programming language used. There is no standard server configuration. Each agency is different. Each software project is different.

When someone says the government doesn’t use sql, they don’t know what they are talking about. It could be refering to the fact that many government systems are ancient mainframe applications that store everything in vsam. But it is patently false that the government doesn’t use sql. I’ve been on a number of government contracts over the years, spanning multiple agencies. MsSQL was used in all but one.

Furthermore, some people share SSNs, they are not unique. It’s a common misconception that they are, but anyone working on a government software learns this pretty quickly. The fact that it seems to be a big shock goes to show that he doesn’t know what he is doing and neither do the people reporting to him.

Not only is he failing to understand the technology, he is failing to understand the underlying data he is looking at.

He didn’t even work for the company, his wife did. She had him record the lines on a tape recorder in their livingroom. She sold it to the company for a few hundred dollars.

I agree with what you’re saying. They got the phone from Carrier A with the expectation the phone plan went with it. Once the phone is paid off, they can take the phone to Carrier B. Since they phone is basically bought on an interest free loan, the interest is recouped by the plan, and the collateral for not paying is a loss of the phone plan and use of the phone. To leave the plan, payoff the phone.

That does require that, the moment the phone is paid off, it should be automatically unlocked. There shouldn’t have to be a request or additional waiting. And the customer should be notified that it’s unlocked along with an explanation that they can now use the phone with any other provider.

If you’re getting water inside, Jchannel is probably the least of your concerns. Something isn’t sealed correctly. Unfortunately, if you have water getting in, you have water in your wall. Even if you seal the window, you could end up with a mold issue.

If it was me, I’d pull the window, ensure all flashing and housewrap is in place, the reseat the window in a thick bead of silicone. Assuming the window is still in good shape. Otherwise, a new window is needed. Once the window is in place, trim, jchannel, and siding would be put back.

Once the window is properly installed, I’d focus on the inside. Pull the trim and drywall around the window, letting it air out for a day then coat the inside sheeting with mold killing primer. New insulation would be added before new drywall is put in. Then mud, sand, paint, and reinstall the trim.

It’s a decent amount of work, but not insurmountable. My concern is, if it was installed incorrectly, chances are, your other windows were too. I’m not trying to be doom and gloom here, just trying to forewarn you. It’s something to keep an eye on.

All of this is assuming the problem isn’t something like a window left open or something like that.

I get why people are upset by the headline. It is written to provoke anger. Unfortunately, anger at the wrong issue.

I understand the argument that a large company can absorb the cost of workers they don’t currently. Though it’s unrealistic to expect them too.

I lived in the Quad Cities for a number of years. A large majority of people I know, both family and friends, worked for either Deere or Case IH - until they closed the plant in East Moline.

Layoffs are a yearly thing. Deere, Case, Caterpillar, they all hire a bunch of people in the beginning of the year and lay them off towards the end. It’s typically around August or September, and they announce it in July. Everyone in the Quad Cities knows it. It is expected. Sometime early next year, they are going to hire these jobs back. The people who take these jobs go into it knowing this is going to happen.

It can suck being let go and some people might struggle with it. Those who are used to this cycle treat it as a well-paying seasonal job. Many already have something else lined up. This is only a single, anecdotal, data point, so take it with a grain of salt… one of my uncles works for Deere and is a bus driver for one of the school districts. He knows Deere is going to let him go by fall so he has the driving job for the rest of the year. In spring, he will go back to Deere.

Perspective is also important. Deere has somewhere between 80k and 85k employees. They are laying off < 1000 based on this story. That’s the equivalent of a small, 80 person company hiring 1 person to get through the holiday season, then laying them off in January. Next year, they will do it again.

Headlines like this are nothing more than a distraction from real issues. For example, why does any company have multi-billions of dollars in profit to begin with? It just means they are charging more than they need to. The farmers who buy Deere equipment then have to charge more for their produce. Which means the stores have to charge more. Which means we pay more for our food. Deere’s profits are leading to higher food prices for everyone. To me, that is more of an issue than 1/80th of their workforce being in a hire/layoff cycle.

I have, conservatively, two dozen playthroughs under my belt at this point, including the original trilogy and remastered versions. If I had to guess, I’d say im about an 85/15 split FemShep over MaleShep. Apparently I’m in the minority, but I much prefer Hale’s performance.

I’m curious as to the paragon vs renegade percentages for each character type. As in, do more people play FemShep as paragon or renegade? Same for MaleShep.

Just another BS article designed to get clicks.

7/144 = 4.9% With the information presented and using the same jump-to-conclusion analysis, energy drinks reduced the likelihood of a cardiac arrest by over 95%.

I winder how many of the 144 had brown hair. Let’s guess 30%. The article could read, “People with brown hair have a 30% likelihood of cardiac arest. Why hair dye saves lives?”

Good luck to you. Post the results when you finish. I’m sure more than just me would like to see it

Shellac is not the same as oil based. Oil based is made from, well, oil. Shelllac is made by crushing the shells of the lac bug. It is an insect that is cultivated specifically for the purpose. Shellac is typically used as a final coat for protection. Shellac primer is basically that mixed with a white pigment. It is great for sealing. Fairly pricy though.

I will echo the Bondo route that others suggested. The big box hardware stores sell quart cans of general purpose Bondo in the paint aisle.

Cut out the vaneer over the bad area with a razor blade or box cutter.

Sand with 80 or 120 grit to remove any loose bits of the board. The particle board will crumble a little, but it will be fine. Just dont go overboard. Vacuum it to remove most dust.

Using a flexible putty knife, get one to two globs of Bondo on a clean piece of cardboard. Don’t do too much as you will have about 5 minutes of working time once the hardener is added. Follow the instructions on how much hardener to add, you wont need much. Fold the hardener into the Bondo with the putty knife until it is a uniform color.

Spread the bondo over the area you cut out. Try to get it smooth, but dont overwork it. It doesn’t have to be perfect.

Using 60 or 80 grit paper, sand it as it starts to dry. If it is gumming up the paper, it is still too wet to sand, give it another minute or two and try again. You are shaping it with this step. If you let it completely dry, it is hard as a rock and more difficult to sand.

Once it is in a good shape, switch to the next step up for sanding and repeat (60 to 80 to 120 to 180 to 220). Do not skip gits or you will just make work for yourself. You can probably stop at 180, but since it is next to vaneer, i’d go to 220. Again, if it is gumming the paper, wait a few minutes. Once you are at 220, use it to sand the entire cabinet to rough up the surface and accept primer better.

Once sanded, wipe the entire cabinet down with a tac cloth. I also recommend wiping the cabinets with a wax and greese remover so everything will stick better.

Now it is time for primer and paint. For a smooth finish, use a good quality foam mini-roller and foam brush for tighter areas.

Prime the cabinet using any water-based primer; killz is pretty good. They make an oil based that would be better, but will smell up your whole house, so I don’t recommend it unless you have excellent ventilation.

Lightly sand the peimer once it is fully dried with 220. If any spot is too light, do a second coat. Wipe up the dust.

Paint with an alkyd paint. Do at least 2 coats.

Not necessary, but if you want extra protection, you could use a foam brush (not a roller here) and do 3 to 4 coats of a water-based polyurethane on top of the paint. It might be overkill for what you want though.

This might seem like a lot, but you will have a great finish when done. Also, fair warning, Bondo has a strong smell. Open a window.

Let me get this straight. You were made fun of by a guy who works for Disney. An organization that’s ridiculously protective of their brand and famous for not being fucked with. One of the most litigious organizations, with an army of lawyers who know more about entertainment law than anyone on the planet. And you’re plan is to sue these people? Good luck.

The 50 to 60 hour week over multiple jobs does happen. However that is not the average nor the norm. Though I’m sure you were using it for effect more than an actual data-point.

According to the Bureau of Labor statistics, for 2023, the average American works 38.5 hours per week. If you drop part-time workers (<35 hrs / wk), a full-time worker does an average of 41.9 hours.

https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat23.htm

Fear and caution are not the same thing.

Do you really think the US has any real concern about being attacked? There is plenty to say about US policies, both good and bad. Part of that is the nearly $1T per year spent on the military. I don’t think you’ll find many credible people who think attacking the US will be good for whoever does it.

Attacking the US has been, historically, one thing that tends to unite the country. We - Americans - like building shit and we like fighting people. We never stop building new weapons. But when there is no-one to fight, we fight each other. There is a huge social divide in the US right now. You want to fix that, attack us.

*Edit: spelling

There isn’t enough in the picture to be 100% certain. In no particular order, these are the three things that I would check first:

1. The cable could be too short on that side
2. The track could be slightly too high on that side
3. The floor is angled and has a natural gap

“Would have liked to run tests on the sea shells.” ~Mordin Solus (Mass Effect 3)

My misunderstanding. I thought you meant from the heater to the floor.

To fix the gap you were talking about, you could do some acrylic caulking. You could do high heat silicone if you were worried about the heat, but the acrylic should be fine. Check the tube for the allowed heat range. The silicone will do vetter against the expansion and contraction, but you’d never be able to paint it. The acrylic would be paintable. But had a high chance of cracking.