Trees And Other Things

The new cartridges were just the right size. No more drips.

However, this is how you turn off the water now.



....I don't want to talk about it.
...

 

looks like the semaphore signal for the Letter J.

 

When I posted that picture of the faucet, I was trying to poke fun at myself. I had run out of time, and assumed it was just another silly mistake that could be easily fixed on the next trip. Since then I found out I was wrong. And there's more.

The original faucet cartridges should NEVER have worked. No one would believe me unless my name was Nathan Hart, The Plumber. I feel obligated to show this, because this faucet is gaslighting me in so many ways.

This is the opening where the cartridge for the hot water goes. Note the opening where water goes to the spout (red), and the 2 notches cut out of the rim (green). Most important, note the opening is directly under one of the notches.



These are the two old cartridges. Note the two nubs sticking out that go in those two notches. The opening (white) is not under the notches, but opposite them.



The water flow into the spout is permanently blocked off. The only thing that moves when you turn the spindle are the ceramic pieces (white). Those nubs cannot be moved. Neither can the openings. But even if they could be, the point is that's the way they were in there.

The water must have squeezed its way around to that opening somehow. The pressure always seemed low in that faucet. I blamed it on the small water tank and low pressure. But how could a manufacturer make such a mistake?

That's past history. These new cartridges have fixed that error. Now the openings are under the nubs. But they changed two other things that make it impossible now to do the hot water with the handle in the correct position. But I keep trying anyway.

 

These faucets were bought at Home Depot or Lowes as replacements for the original faucets in the mobile home. They are very good faucets, other than the cartridge mix up. Everything is brass. Maybe they were on sale because of this problem, and why I bought them in the first place. I don't remember.

And there are two sinks with matching faucets in that bathroom. If I replace one the other wouldn't match.

Another solution might be to replace the handles with 4 round knobs so position wouldn't matter. If you can find them with a D-shaped opening. I'll look around.

I would prefer to solve this puzzle instead. But it doesn't look good. The only problem is with the hot. Cold works perfect. Now it's bugging me that the other sink likely has the same faucet problem.

 

You're a better man than I am Gunga Din. I called a plumber because I kept having trouble with my shower. Now this was the second plumber I called and he showed me that the cartridge was bad (re-paced already) and the other plumber had put in two washers to try to fix it. So, not only are the chinese fixtures off, so are the plumbers now.

 

Tomorrow will be one month that the cat has stitches still in her mouth (I presume). Wish I knew someone who would help me hold her, while I look in her mouth. But what good would that do? The last vet essentially told me it would last this long. And the vet sites on the internet say it can be up to 4 weeks after tooth surgery for stitches to dissolve, and some pieces may hang around internally for even longer. It just seems unnecessary to me.

She is acting fine, eating, even playing, much more relaxed and friendly. But still gagging, shaking her head, like there's something stuck in her mouth, every time she tries to groom or "meow." She started regurgitating food at surprise locations in the house again, last week. So I started feeding her more often with less food each time. Seems to help.

I guess if she's acting fine otherwise there is no need to worry yet. Keep hoping tomorrow will be the day? I just feel sorry for her. Maybe she is over-reacting also.

 

I ran across this while cleaning the mobile home. It's a plastic cereal container made to look like Donald Duck in an astronaut outfit. You cut out a slot in the back and make a bank out of it. Some for sale on eBay date it 1966.



Is it full of coins? No, buttons. My mother saved buttons.



It's not the only container of buttons she had. She bought them on sale on cards, in bulk, and also cut them off old clothes before throwing them away. I wonder if there's anything useful you can make out of 1000's of buttons.

 

@NancyMurkley Maybe they were Thanksgiving "leftovers"?

 

@Nancy Hart, there are lots of ideas going through my head right now on these buttons. Check out Pinterest.

 

Dalton Stevens, The Button King, from Bishopville, SC.