When It Rains..... It Pours !

[Big Frank]

Back in the '80s and '90s Samsung and GoldStar were selling VCRs and other electronics so cheap they were practically giving them away. They had to since no one would pay good money for Korean crap like that. Then GoldStar merged with Lucky Chemical and LG was born. The next thing you know LG and Samsung each spent millions of dollars convincing people that not only were they not a big pile of $h!t, but were actually better than most other brands, and the rest is history.

When I moved into this house 26 years ago it came with a GM Frigidaire fridge that looked old even back then. I had to get it charged with Freon once and may have called a service man for one other thing, I can't recall for sure. Later on I talked to a guy at a service parts supply store about a problem I had with it. He happily sold me a timer which I installed myself. That was the 3rd(?) and final repair that was made and I still have the same fridge today. Something minor goes wrong with it every 10 years or so. The freezer smells funky if I don't keep a box of baking soda in it but what do you expect after a few decades and no one knows how many owners, plus the house being empty awhile before I moved in? The fridge stays at a constant 40 degrees and the freezer isn't much colder but is still below freezing. When I want something deep frozen to 0 degrees I put it in the chest freezer.

Also, I'm still on my first microwave oven that I bought around 1986. That puts it at about 31 years old and it's never had any kind of work done on it. It's a Tappan 500 and has one cooking level - on. It has one button to open the door and a dial timer that turns to set it for up to 15 minutes. The light comes on when it's running and it has a mechanical ding when it's done. It's so simple that almost nothing CAN go wrong with it. For most things I'll stick with the good old American brands and avoid the Korean ones as long as possible.

[PegLeg45]

Last pumps I ordered were horizontal multi-stage centrifugals that output 14,500 bbls per day (525,000 gallons a day) at 1,750 psig.  Big suckas....used a lot of electricity...they hummed with continuous 700 HP.

Last pumps used on a well we were pumping 110 barrels per minute (6,652,000 gallons per day) at 9,350 psig.  Not one pump, but a slew of them piped together and all computer controlled for single point control....also had one idling in case we lost one during the frac job.

However....the big levee pumps in New Orleans pump 1.2 million gallons a minute.  That's a big hoss...even if it can't pump more than a few psi in discharge pressure.  That's enough to empty a standard Olympic sized pool in about 30 seconds.

Our oil pumps were low volume but high pressure for extruding aluminum profiles (I worked for Alcoa's soft alloy division). Most of our presses either used Oilgear's old warhorse D-pump (three per machine powered by 200 hp motors) or the newer Oilgear PVV (using 250 hp motors). They wouldn't do much more than a couple hundred gpm, depending on model, but they would do it from 3500 to 5000 psi. 
Twice a year I had to tune each pump for optimum output.....fun.

[Rastus]

Got up to 102 today.  Guess who had to have their A/C repaired today....    

Also had the duct work fixed that was never done right.  All in all a pretty hot and expensive day.

[TAB]

Got up to 102 today.  Guess who had to have their A/C repaired today....    

Also had the duct work fixed that was never done right.  All in all a pretty hot and expensive day.

   I got 7 ac calls today...

[Rastus]

Lucky you!  I have seen several AC companies in my development this week.  Surprising for so few homes.  My unit has been junk for some time....finally had the scratch to fix it.

EDIT ADDITION:  They did a good job.  Ready for 115 degrees with 100 degree lows again.

[Sponsor]

[PegLeg45]

It always works that way....heater goes out on the coldest day (have had that happen, thankful for fireplace) and A/C seems to keel over on hottest days....and weekends when it costs more.

[Big Frank]

Lucky you!  I have seen several AC companies in my development this week.  Surprising for so few homes.  My unit has been junk for some time....finally had the scratch to fix it.

EDIT ADDITION:  They did a good job.  Ready for 115 degrees with 100 degree lows again.

You can keep your 100 degree lows. I'm happy with 60 degree lows at night. I can turn off the A/C, and the house soaked up enough heat during the 80 or so degree day that I won't have to run the furnace either. I may have to cover up with a sheet in the middle of the night but not likely. It doesn't get much better than that.

[Rastus]

That comes in mid-August for a couple of days....however a few years ago we had a month of it. 

Frank, you do know you are boasting.   

[Big Frank]

That comes in mid-August for a couple of days....however a few years ago we had a month of it. 

Frank, you do know you are boasting.   

Maybe. Boasting would seem to imply I actually did something to boast about. I'm just lucky enough to live somewhere that has decent weather for most of the year. All I did was stay here.     To me anyplace that hits 100 degrees is considered uninhabitable. I know some people must feel the same way about a place that snows 1/4 of the year, but I can always dress warmer if I'm cold. When it's hot and I'm wearing next to nothing I can't take anything else off, and once it gets in the 90s it doesn't take much to make me feel physically ill. 100 degrees plus would literally kill me.

[Rastus]

Yeah, it's a heck of a thing to admit but getting older and fatter I can't deal with the heat like I used to.  I grew up in Louisiana with humidity and would cut grass at 95-96 degrees and not have a problem other than sweating like two pigs (20 years ago).  After I moved up here the low humidity made it a breeze for me....I remember a neighbor taking pity on me cutting the grass in 105 degree heat and bringing some ice water.  105 with a low sun and low humidity was easy compared to the 95+ and high humidity. 

That's too long for snow on the ground.  I actually like northern Arkansas and my folks have 30 acres in the woods there.  It's a few degrees cooler than Oklahoma or Louisiana in the summer and a nice compromise between the two in humidity.  There's a small spring drip where it stays cool in the summer but it's about 50' down a steep gulley.  I need some stairs to get to it....but I could live there in a heartbeat.  Only problem is the wife does not like Arkansas, for some prejudiced reason she believes if we move to Arkansas we will become 1st cousins and have buck teeth...pisses me off because I think Arkansas is great. 

Oh well.....thread drift all over again.