I was at the checkout at Publix, just kind of staring at the stuff I bought moving down the conveyor belt. Behind my purchases, one of those plastic bars. Then comes two dozen cupcakes, a big jug of Hershey's chocolate syrup, a bottle of Mountain Dew Code Red. Then the person starts grabbing chocolate candybars off the rack and putting them on the belt. I look up and see this lady... she's half a foot taller than me, but can't weigh more than 45 kilos. Black T shirt and jeans. She looks like she's been dead for 3 days, but hasn't figured it out yet. Even though she has gray hair, I think she's about my age. She smiles at me and I see she only has about 3 teeth in her mouth. "I don't know if I bought more sugar for myself or for the kids!" Her attempt at small talk.
I've seen pictures of crystal meth addicts before... but in person, wow.
Cousins Paul and Bobby have been feeding me all the time. They get that from their father. Tonight was ribs that Paul made. The night before, Bobby was trying desperately to give me food out of the fridge when I stopped by. "Want a steak? How about a burger? I've got mango juice!" Last night, Paul stopped by with a plate of chocolate chip cookies he had made. You can't help but like my cousins: they are nothing if not earnest.
Best way to wreck a garbage disposal is to put unpopped popcorn kernels down there. They get caught in the little gap between the rotating disc on the bottom and the side wall, jamming it. I eventually overcame my fear of a mangled hand, stuck my hand down there, and got the kernels out. The entire time my hand was fishing around down there, I was staring intently at the switch on the wall as if some unseen force might suddenly switch it on and I would need to be ready.
I went to watch the new Narnia movie in 3D today. My first 3D movie. The 3D is okay but it isn't realistic... it doesn't mimic human sight at all. (First, you can't have things in the background out of focus... anything the human eye looks at comes into focus. Same for things in shadows... the movies need to be filmed in an HDR style, so that things in shadows are as easy to see as those in light. Also, the frame rate needs to be a lot higher, so that movement on the screen doesn't cause the edges of objects to blur, as that does not happen with natural sight.)
Okay... time to get to work.
In some places the local code calls for a plug to tie the disposal into the wall power. Look under the sink. If there is a power outlet there, and a plug in the outlet that is feeding the disposal, unplug it, then try the disposal switch. If the disposal won't turn on now, you have your extra margin of safety and piece of mind.
ReplyDeleteIf the only wire feeding power goes right into the wall/cabinet back/floor, then maybe you might want to go to the hardware outlet, and get an outlet box, and receptacle. Shut the power off at the distribution box (in the garage??). Cut the wire to the disposal, wire the outlet-receptacle to the wall of the under sink cabinet, put a plug on the disposal end and then do the same for the dishwasher power (if there is one.) I've found being able to unplug those saves me a ton of time and work.
Caveat - But I'm also the guy that thinks some walls should be removable so I can work on the plumbing innards without having to do dryall repairs... so maybe I'm the only guy who gets a time benefit from this kind of thing. I usually have to do a repair three times the first time I encounter it. Each time learning a little more, until I get it right. Just Like Microsoft. ;-) After that learning curve I'm comfortable with that kind of repair from then on. Of course, the next time it will be a different kind of repair thats needed....
An engineer speaking if I ever heard one. Heheh.
ReplyDelete