ROTD thread

[GAD]

Here’s my rant:

Why did the human body evolve with carpal tunnels that are too narrow to efficiently serve the tendons and medial nerve to the thumb and three fingers, yet the pinky is served by a completely different apparatus that causes far less of a problem.

I had surgery on my right hand on Jan 4, with the left hand scheduled for Feb 19. Can‘t play guitar!

My orthopedist says he has done several thousand carpal tunnel release surgeries, and he is only in his early 40’s. Clearly a design flaw.

I’d venture a guess that the design is fine. It’s what we do to our bodies in this modern age that’s the problem.

 

[GAD]

true, but most home panels are in the garage, if not the neighboring ultility room. Also, many of the biggest breakers in a panel are actually a tad overkill and often run to things that have breakers of their own at the unit. Just today I was testing a hvac unit that called for a 60amp breaker. The panel was a GE panel and the only 60 amp they make takes up 4 spaces and I just can't swing it I was maxed out ...w/ 2 sub panels! A 50 amp takes up 2 spaces...and I cranked the heat until it went into emergency heat mode and checked the draw at the heat pump itselt, It was only drawing 41 amps at it's worst. A 50 amp breaker will do the job. For a single/double car garage, it shouldn't cost that much to get a 40amp service near the garage door. If your panel is out of room, you can swop out some single spaced breakers for double "piggyback" breakers and free up a few slots. Also, good thing in my area, if you request power upgrades to your house, it's on your dime. But...if you incread the load and the power from the company can't keep up, it's up to them to upgrade on their dime. I know of waterfront marinas/restaurants that shelled out 200-300k to have poles and lines upgraded to 3 phase. All my boss did was keep adding crap until transformers blew and he was shut down for 2 days....next thing you know, the utility company upgraded everything. It's all on them to provide...

and more than anything....if you can afford the car, you damn sure better be able to afford the hookup! Just like drivers of benz and beemers will soon be driving junk if they don't/can't shell out for average annual maintenence. (even low grade crap!)

I agree with “don’t buy the car if you can’t afford the service” but that’s not the same thing as needing to install a fuel reserve if you buy an ICE car.

Our current house has the panels (300A total) in the basement on the far side if the house from the garage. Last house was the same. I don’t know if it’s a NJ thing or what, but the majority of the houses we looked at when buying two years ago had the panels in the basement.

 

[Midnight Toker]

Where I live the 10 year models are mandated when you sell a house. If you out in a 9v you’ll fail the inspection.

Really? The only mandate here is they all be hardwired so when one goes off, they all do. In fact, in Md (not 100% if it’s still ongoing) if you hire an electrician to do any work on your home, no matter what it is, if your detectors are all standalones, they have to include hardwiring them into their job. It becomes part of all electrical inspections.

 

[davismanLV]

Here’s my rant:

Why did the human body evolve with carpal tunnels that are too narrow to efficiently serve the tendons and medial nerve to the thumb and three fingers, yet the pinky is served by a completely different apparatus that causes far less of a problem.

I had surgery on my right hand on Jan 4, with the left hand scheduled for Feb 19. Can‘t play guitar!

My orthopedist says he has done several thousand carpal tunnel release surgeries, and he is only in his early 40’s. Clearly a design flaw.

If you want a really bad human design flaw, look at the male reproductive system. The prostate, which basically serves no purpose unless you're reproducing, has two functions. a) get enlarged and restrict flow. b) get cancer and try and kill you. Those are what it excels at as far as I can see. I'm not sure who designed it, but it's a bad one!!

 

[GAD]

Really? The only mandate here is they all be hardwired so when one goes off, they all do. In fact, in Md (not 100% if it’s still ongoing) if you hire an electrician to do any work on your home, no matter what it is, if your detectors are all standalones, they have to include hardwiring them into their job. It becomes part of all electrical inspections.

I should clarify that our town specifies different requirements for different age ranges of houses. If the house is more modern then it requires wired detectors. For the age of our house 10-year detectors are required. If memory serves there are four different age ranges. I can dig up the details if you’re interested.

That MD code seems excessive. Are there exclusions for historic homes?

 

[steve488]

I agree with “don’t buy the car if you can’t afford the service” but that’s not the same thing as needing to install a fuel reserve if you buy an ICE car.

Our current house has the panels (300A total) in the basement on the far side if the house from the garage. Last house was the same. I don’t know if it’s a NJ thing or what, but the majority of the houses we looked at when buying two years ago had the panels in the basement.

Something else to keep in mind is that the panel itself has a load capacity limitation. Just because there are empty breaker slots does not necessarily mean you can throw another breaker in. Exceeding the breaker panel capacity leads to potential problems up to and including fines for code violations and maybe worst case a fire wherein the insurance company won't compensate.

Personally I would not put one of those EV's in my garage. Even a scooter / hover board size battery can start a fire and take out your house.

 

[Rocky]

I’d venture a guess that the design is fine. It’s what we do to our bodies in this modern age that’s the problem.

That and humans only evolved to be around 30-40 years old. As far as evolution cares, once you get your last children old enough to fend for themselves, you're just a drag on the system.

 

[bobouz]

My brother-in-law just reminded me of this one: People who whistle loudly - everywhere, anywhere, and all the time. After a while, you’d like to slap a muzzle on ‘em!

 

[Balderdash]

I had surgery on my right hand on Jan 4, with the left hand scheduled for Feb 19. Can‘t play guitar!

Neal; sorry to hear that. Will the surgery let you get back to the guitar?

 

[Midnight Toker]

I should clarify that our town specifies different requirements for different age ranges of houses. If the house is more modern then it requires wired detectors. For the age of our house 10-year detectors are required. If memory serves there are four different age ranges. I can dig up the details if you’re interested.

That MD code seems excessive. Are there exclusions for historic homes?

Maybe if registered in a historical district. But I can see their point, as non hardwired detectors won't alert people upstairs if a fire breaks out downstairs. (or just on opposite sides of a single story). Wired detectors give people the absolute best chances by sounding everywhere...not just where there's smoke. Especially considering bedrooms are furthest away from kitchens/utility rooms, garages where most fires start....and sadly also where most main entrances are. (and again, I'm not 100% if it's still an active mandate, but it was for several years (at least) that I know of. )

 

[chazmo]

My house is probably out-of-code here in MA these days. I have 6 detectors in the house, all are unwired. Do they make wireless alarms that can set each other off these days? I'm certainly not going to wire my house up for these at this point.

Wired detectors give people the absolute best chances by sounding everywhere

Outstanding point, and definitely valid. Not that I have any intent or desire to wire up my house. I remove; I don't add.

I should note that there is a flip side to having a house-wide alert triggered by fire alarms... A friend of mine suffers from serious anxiety as a result of alarms. She has way too many false alarms in her apartment that trigger her anxiety because of the ridiculous volume of the klaxons. The speakers are embedded in the walls of her apartment. I've offered to cut the wires, but she won't let me.

 

[Nuuska]

Hello

Since there has been discussion about electric systems - over here we have 3-phase system everywhere - 3x240V @ 16 - 25 - 35 - 63A - for homeowners - bigger for apartment buildigs - shopping centers etc.

BUT - it is 3-phase net everywhere.

As I understand - correct me if I' wrong - many places in US have only two phases out of three connected - most likely they share tha phases like 1&2 - 2&3 - 3&1 - 1&2 - etc along the houses on every street - but how common is it that all houses have all three phases ?

 

[GAD]

Hello

Since there has been discussion about electric systems - over here we have 3-phase system everywhere - 3x240V @ 16 - 25 - 35 - 63A - for homeowners - bigger for apartment buildigs - shopping centers etc.

BUT - it is 3-phase net everywhere.

As I understand - correct me if I' wrong - many places in US have only two phases out of three connected - most likely they share tha phases like 1&2 - 2&3 - 3&1 - 1&2 - etc along the houses on every street - but how common is it that all houses have all three phases ?

I think it's pretty rare for a residential house to have three phase power. Industrial buildings are 3-phase.

Also, I don't think residential service is actually "two phase", but I'm not an electrician.

Edit - According to this post on Reddit here in the US we generally have a "split phase" system for residential.

Edit2 - if you scroll down in that thread there is a post about how some apartments and condos have real 2-phase power that's part of a 3-phase system.

 

[Nuuska]

I think it's pretty rare for a residential house to have three phase power. Industrial buildings are 3-phase.

Do you happen to know any reason for this ?

W 3-phase all electric motors can be run w/o starting capacitors - or whatever you call them - plus naturally there is 50% more energy supply in case you need it.

Cabling at net level does not change - only from street to house you need one wire more + one main fuse more - after that - no extra cost.

 

[GAD]

Do you happen to know any reason for this ?

W 3-phase all electric motors can be run w/o starting capacitors - or whatever you call them - plus naturally there is 50% more energy supply in case you need it.

Cabling at net level does not change - only from street to house you need one wire more + one main fuse more - after that - no extra cost.

I don't know for sure, but my guess would be lower cost to the homeowner and the fact that the first electric service in homes were only powering lights.

 

[geoguy]

A friend of mine suffers from serious anxiety as a result of alarms. She has way too many false alarms in her apartment that trigger her anxiety because of the ridiculous volume of the klaxons. The speakers are embedded in the walls of her apartment. I've offered to cut the wires, but she won't let me.

Painter's tape (or something similar; perhaps transparent packing tape would look nicer?) applied over the noisemakers will reduce their volume to a tolerable level, but still allow them to warn her when needed.

 

[chazmo]

That's a good idea, Mark!

 

[chazmo]

Chazmo's ROTD, 3-Feb-2024:

We could probably bitch all day long about annoying things Apple does, despite having great love for their products... So, here's mine today. A couple of years ago, I migrated from an iPhone SE -- a phone which copied the perfect, beautiful, sleek iPhone 4/5 dimensions and case material -- to an iPhone 13 mini because Apple said they were discontinuing the SE. So, now, they are discontinuing the "mini" and reviving (or should I say just advancing forward) with the SE.

So, what am I bitching about? OK, well, the next phone I get will probably have to be an SE... I don't need one yet as the battery in my mini is still quite usable, but I'm sure I will need to replace it some time in the next couple of years.

 

[Nuuska]

My My

iPhone SE - the right size model - w beautifull thalia Guild cover - still fighting to keep the battery in usable condition . . .

'cause I wish to keep them Thalia covers in use - instead of in the bottom of a drawer of no-more-usables

ALL modern phones are simply too large - mainly because more and more folks are using hem as their main computer - instead of telephone - " telephone, telephone, what the #€% is telephone? " - someone might remember the song . . .

 

[chazmo]

iPhone SE - the right size model - w beautifull thalia Guild cover - still fighting to keep the battery in usable condition . . .

I'm not sure how you're keeping yours going, Timo. Bravo!