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Cleanouts are very useful when it comes to cleaning, repairing or replacing sewer lines. Best installed at the front of the house, cleanouts allow a technician to work with problems in a sewer without having to enter the house, thus preventing a lot of mess. 

In case a cleanout is not present, you can easily have one installed. The costs are offset by the ease of sewer cleaning. Mike Counsil Plumbing not only takes care of sewer line repair but also offers to install cleanouts. For queries regarding cleanouts and/or repair of the sewer drains, they can be contacted at 408-272-4900, 650-965-2400 and 510-739-1100.

Today, three delightfully sordid food stories worth sharing:

1. The Wall Street Journal reports Bernie Madoff is adjusting well to prison. The lede is hidden way down, though: “There are gangs and a thriving black market for smuggled luxuries, a current inmate says, such as liquor, shrimp, chicken and cigarettes, which can fetch $10 apiece.”

Shrimp? What kind of shrimp, and how and where does it get cooked? The news that matters is never what they report.

2. Slate.com on donut sludge. (They say “doughnut.” Must we?) Fairfax County sued KK for $2 million, and settled for $750k: KK was fouling up the sewer lines with “excessive quantities of highly corrosive wastes, doughnut grease and other pollutants.” KK includes it in direct operating expenses, as though paying to dump the grease down the drain is just part of the biz.

A subject of deep interest to me ever since I reported on Juneau’s bowels earlier this year. (“What not to flush: A magical mystery tour — and cautionary tale — of Juneau’s sewer lines.”) You just never know what people are going to put into those tubes we all share. At one time, inmates and juvenile offenders in Juneau were flushing sheets and towels that clogged the tubes downstream. The sewer guys found out because they were labeled, LCC — Lemon Creek Correctional. The problem was fixed by installing some sort of machinery on the user end that would cause the toilet to instantly and catastrophically overflow if you stuffed it with something inappropriate. Somewhere out there must be an analogous solution for errant grease-dumpers.

3. Lye: an easy way to dissolve those pesky bodies laying around. For slate.com’s Explainer, Brian Palmer follows up on the NYT’s story: the time commitment is about the same as making a pot of posole — but does not mention that the same substance used to dissolve (“digest,” alternately) bodies is what turns cod into lutefisk. Again, serious holes in the story. What is the difference between the lye solution fish soaks in and that used on bodies? Does a body, before dissolving into a golden oil, go through a lutefisk-like stage?

I know. I’m sorry. What with the coon foot, this blog is no longer passing the breakfast test. Tomorrow: unicorns and teddy bears, all in pastel, I promise.

There will be a BOS meeting tonight at 7:00 PM at the Town Hall.

To date (not including November’s bill) Bill Black has spent over $7,700 in legal fees “fighting” the veterans’ tax exemption. So he has now spent $7,700+ to save the town $4,400 this year. Robin Hodge acquired this information via a FOIA request filed a few days before Thanksgiving. Initially, Black told her that she would have to wait 20 “town” business days which would have been after Christmas. Mrs. Hodge immediately contacted the FOI commission, at which time Black complied without further delay.

Gas Hot Water heaters

Why do my Polite light keep going out ?
1. Check to see if the gas is on at the Water Heater and out side meter (easy over look)
2. Could be a bad thermo coupling
3. Thermostat control valve malfunctioning
4. If the Hot Water Heater flue pipeis connected to the same main flue pipe
That the furnace is hook to. When the furnace kicks on
It can blow out the polite light with back pressure.
5. Water heater in a very hot place. This is some thing that happens
in some parts of Texas like Houston. Where the hot water heater are install
In the attic. The attic can get very hot so hot that it well shut off the
hot water heater. The newer Hot Water Heaters that they have out
Today have a safety device that will cut off the hot water heater completely
Just in case it over heats for your safety. The temperatures in the attic can easy
Assed the 200 or more degrees and the water heater will shut down at around 160 Degrees.
Some hot water heater Manufacture will tell you these hot water heater are not design for the
Attic. But luck has it that some Manufacture will send you out a part that will over ride the attic
Heat and keep your hot water heater functioning. If you have this problem look on the side of your
Hot Water Heater and get the 1-800 Number give them a call and the manufactory will help you.

Not Getting enough hot water
1. Dip tub inside Hot Water Heater is broken off.
2. Thermostat control valve malfunctioning
3. Very old water heater with calcium built up inside (replace Water Heater)

Hot Water Heater making Loud popping Noise
1. To much calcium built in hot water heater
( You can flush the Hot Water Heater out, But that not a guarantee fix
And can be a difficult job. Save Time have it replace)

I sat on my back deck watching my dogs play. The darkness of the night had closed in and as I sat and watched them play, I noticed I kept loosing sight of them. While I reflected on this, I noticed that I use to see in the dark quite well. Well enough for friends to notice. I use to go exploring the city’s under belly. I had an ability to know where I was and where to go. Never getting scared, but still knowing when not to press in to somewhere or when it was time to go back. I sighed and thought to myself it sucks getting older.

I didn’t think about it for a while, but the thought creept back up in to my mind. I spent the next couple days thinking about it. It started just as a casual thought, but it then became the majority of what I had been thinking of. This couldn’t just be from getting older. So, what else change?

There had been no school in days and I really missed my friends.  That was the only bad thing about being an only child, there was usually no one to play with.  My parents were nice, but their idea of play was giving me history lessons, talking about the Revolution, or teaching me how to make some sort of jam with a random piece of fruit.  That morning we were still on lock-down.  Usos y costumbres had been declared law but it had only been a week and, as you would expect whenever there’s some seismic shift in people’s lives, things were chaotic.  Many corpses, revolutionary, army, and civilian were still in the streets and they had begun to smell.  My parents told me that perhaps that week more people died than were born.  We tried to live normally but we were all quiet.  When I had accompanied my mother to the grocery store, I saw Bernadette, my classmate with a hole on her head and simply started crying.  My mother leaned down to give me a hug.

“Everything is going to be okay Barbara.”  And then she started crying too.  We just hugged in the middle of the street.  Strangers stopped and hugged us briefly, others just sat down next to us and cried for the victims they had known.

An old man with a cane tapped my mother’s shoulder, “We will uproot the tree that bestowed this sorrow upon us, and we will burn it at sundown.”  At that, my mother stopped crying, she grabbed my hand and started to run.  It was night-time, and we both went straight to bed when we got home.

I woke up to a loud knock on my door.

“Barbara dear, we need you to pack your bags and go to grandma Julienne’s house for a few days.  Take the back road today.”

“Yes, dad.”  I packed some bags and went to the kitchen for some coffee, and my parents were gone.

The back road to the my grandmother’s house was actually a lonely road that I knew very well, it meant having to walk into a shallow lake so as not to leave any footprints in case anyone tried to find me.  (In case you were wondering, kids are more independent during war time, parents teach you things a lot faster because they always fear you will be an orphan).  I finally reached the coffee plants that indicated I was in my grandmother’s backyard and went in through the back door.

The radio was turned on:

“…and in keeping with yesterday’s coup there will be an open forum in the Main Square in downtown today at 3 PM.  All are invited, please join us to discuss the direction you think the country should take after successfully getting rid of–” my grandmother turned it off.

“Good morning, Barbara.”  I ran up and gave her a hug.  ”My parents left about an hour ago.”

“That’s what I thought.”  I went to my father’s old room and put my things down.  It was about 1:00 PM, it was right in the middle of summer, but the sky was cloudy today, as if it was mourning with all of us.  I really wanted to know what was going on at 3 PM.

“Grandma, I’m going over to Pedro’s house to play!”  I ran out before she could say anything and went straight to his house.  Pedro was my grandma’s neighbor.  He was one year older than I was and attended a different school, but he was a good friend and we always played together whenever I visited my grandmother.

“Pedro, let’s go to town.  I want to see what’s going to happen today, I heard about it on the radio.”  His eyes widened for a bit.

“You must be insane Barbara, there are going to be a lot of crazy people out there.  My parents say the have a bad feeling about this.”

“But you never listen to them!  Let’s go!”  I grabbed him by the arm, and he pushed me away.  ”Fine.”

I knew the city like the back of my hand, I went straight to the crowded plaza on foot.  It took more than an hour.  There were mobs of people, some with signs with their demands written on them.  We waited and waited.  I didn’t see a single child my age.  Perhaps I should’ve known something would go wrong, the entire day had been rather strange.  It was too quiet for such a throng of people, and I noticed something: no one was white.  According to my grandmother we were part French, she even talked to me in French sometimes, but I looked just like everyone in this crowd….

Then I saw them.  Soldiers were surrounding us, tanks came in after them.  First one gunshot was fired, and suddenly everyone around us began firing, tanks included.  We began to run.  I felt someone grab me by the arm and started screaming.

“Run!” It was Pedro, he had a bandanna with a symbol on his left arm, very similar to the symbol my dad had a tattoo of on his back.  I had stopped to observe it for a few seconds.  ”Barbara…. run!!!” This time he pushed me and ran as hard as he could.  Normally, when Pedro and I would play, he always won because I would start wheezing and I’d have to stop, but today, my lungs had never felt stronger.  It was my first phlegm-free moment.  All around me, people were falling to the ground, I had to jump over several people in order to keep up with Pedro.  Soldiers were clubbing anyone they could see, shooting at random, tanks were approaching the crowd, and they didn’t care whether or not they squashed anyone.  I felt just as I did yesterday with my mother, only this time I didn’t want to cry, I wanted revenge.

“Come on Barbara, this way!”  Pedro and I found an alley.  It had the most horrible smell, but no one was there, and the feeling of peace made me almost forget about what was going on at the moment.  Pedro noticed a water sewer and removed the lid.

“Get in!”  He yelled at me.  My back quivered.  I never understood my fear of water sewers or holes in the ground.

“I can’t!  I’m too scared!”  He shot me a look.

“Fine, I’ll go in myself then.”  He jumped straight in, and I, too scared of being left alone, jumped in after him and closed the lid.

We could hear the sounds.  You know those firecrackers on the Fourth of July?  In a strange way, the ground above us sound like that.  Amidst the smell, the water, and the dirt, Pedro and I went to sleep.  When we woke up, it was night-time and all I could hear were cars moving.  Pedro went up first, I followed him.  We walked out of the alley and back into the Main Plaza.

Those cars were actually bulldozers, and they were removing hundreds, maybe even thousands of corpses, all of them with brown skin showing through their bloody cadavers.  This time, I could not cry, I just wanted revenge.

In case you’ve been wondering if the site is dead, the answer is no. The problem (if you want to call it that) is that business is taking up all of my time lately. I would like to open the site up to other people to contribute new articles. I’ll be sending out some invites to people who’ve remain actively involved in the various issues discussed here. For now, however, updates may be few and far between from yours truly.

One update I can share is that Washington Rd is apparently not done. Another grinder pump was installed at one of the rental homes next to me. And, apparently, I’m next on the list. Honestly, I’d had it with asking the town what was going on with my place, and just decided to stop asking. It’s not my job to manage the sewer project and remind the town employees to do their jobs, and quite frankly, I was just planning on not getting the pump installed now and not connecting.

Apparently, however, the town figured out I wasn’t done yet as the electrician showed up knocking on my door the day after Thanksgiving. I let him in this time and let him check the panel. When he was done he asked me where the grinder pump was going. I told him to ask F & J or the town, not me, as I’m not in charge of the sewer project, and then I politely showed him to the door.

Whats next, then? I can only imagine that F & J will show up to install the grinder. However, I have never signed (and never will) any consent form without my stipulations attached. These would be the very same stipulations that the town said they would not accept, in a letter sent to various residents (including myself) by Steve Pisch early last month.

On another note, I’ve heard nothing from the BOS on my volunteering and recommendation by the Republican party for the Charter Revision committee. In fact, the most information I’ve received is from the article published in the most recent Rivereast last week, which referenced this very blog and the sewer issues. I’m certainly not holding my breath for appointment to this committee, however.

Lastly, “Pink Lady” has posted a comment elsewhere on the site that the town may be facing yet another lawsuit, thanks to King Bill. I know nothing of this lawsuit, but will be interested to learn the details. Great job, Bill.

Luis Martinez, age 2 went missing from his FL mobile home park on Nov 27 about 3pm. Early reports states the parents allowed this lil guy to roam around the confines of the park unsupervised. Neighbors, who apparently think this is an ok thing to do, came forward with that tidbit of info AFTER this child went missing. Nice neighbors…

Luis asked a neighbor for ice cream, shortly before he went missing (again with the neighbors!)
Here is hoping he now gets all the ice cream he wants as he flies high above the rest of the world.

Source

This is a repost from my other blog.

I’m sure you’ve all seen these markings on either sidewalks or raodways and wondered WTF are these?  They are often seen in different colors but the more prominant ones are; Red, Yellow, Blue, Green and often inside a marked area in White.  The paint itself is not permanent and will eventually fade.

Each color identifies a utility; Electrical, Gas, Potable Water, Sewer/Storm line respectively.  Most people who mark are minimalists and some get real technical using industry abbrev. that identify material, size and even depth.  Pretty straight forward stuff for excavation work.  So that “Joe Dirt” doesn’t sever your power, water and poop water.   Leaving you a caveman/woman/family for several hours eating cold Ligo sardines and rice, which is pretty damn tasty.

The industry mantra is “Call before you dig” meaning all proposed excavations must be called into USA North, a third party that sends out notifications to agencies and operators of a proposed project.  Each operator/agency is required to locate and mark their particular utility within the proposed work area marked in white with the words USA.  Mark’em if you gottem!

Obviously roadways and sidewalks can get pretty colorful if it’s a large project, which can really piss off some of the residents in my municipality.  Often times they don’t care to know what they are for, despite every attempt to explain their importance, so their services won’t be affected by “Joe Dirt” wanking on the heavy equipment joystick.  “I don’t like how it looks”, “can’t you use a more subdued color that matches the roadway?”, how long will I have to look at it?”, I have visitors coming from out of town and this is not acceptable”, “can’t you write smaller?” “I’m calling the police as I consider this graffiti, what is your name?”…Donald Duck ma’m. O_o

Graffiti you say!? I may just have to keep practicing  my handstyle.  Montana paint, anyone?

The last time I was in Washington, D.C. a rat scurried across the sidewalk right in front of me. I’m fairly certain the hurried rodent dived into the nearest sewer grate. But was he going to his calculus study group? Was his teacher Hobbie-J: smartest rat in the world?

Good heavens, I can barely deal with the wild, fornicating, garden devouring rabbits in my backyard. How am I going to handle genius rats?

Our friends to the North, in Malibu, are looking to clean up their act.  By 2019, they will actually have a sewer system, after years of battles to get rid of the septic tanks that seep onto one of our favorite surf spots, Surfrider Beach.

Check out this video:

This is video commentary completed for COMM 435, taught by Professor Steve Scauzillo.

In our efforts to ensure an accurate MLS database, we would like to remind all agents to appropriately mark the Utilities field when uploading a listing. The more common omissions include: Private Utilities Public Utilities Municipal Water Sewer Septic Public Water Sprinklers (Metered, Recycled or Well) Well Water

This Utilities drop-down window is listed in alphabetical order. Please be sure to scroll down to view all of the possible choices.  We appreciate your compliance in this regard. If you have questions regarding any MLS policy or procedure, please feel free to contact a friendly MLS Administration Specialist for assistance at 407-218-8607 or 800-686-7451 (Option 3).

The leaves change and it rains.

The hill washes out to bricks again.

Fill dirt clogging the drain.

The chickens have turned their yard into sheet mulch.

We have almost got the gate up.

Waterfront Sportsman and the Environmental Investigation Coalition’s  goal is to raise $1 dollar for every person who depends on the Castle Hayne and Pee Dee Aquifer. Over 30 million people in 6 states depend on the Pee Dee and Castle Hayne Aquifer. Help us surpass that goal by purchasing items from this shop. Proceeds will be donated to the cause!!  Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/sayNOtosludge

Go to www.cafepress.com/eyeonthewater

I decided to take a short trip to Onderon.  Short, uneventful, check out the local foliage maybe, nothing too exciting.  That’s how it was supposed to be.

It started off well enough, I got there and was taking a short walk to get my bearings.  A Mandalorian named Cho’paa, approached me, so I was on my guard.  He asked me for directions to a local cantina, and even offered to buy me a drink for the trouble.  I explained that I wasn’t sure where one might be, but a drink did sound like a fine idea.  Not to mention having someone with a blaster on my side didn’t sound so bad.

We got slightly distracted by a force field preventing us from going up a ramp when I fell into a sewer.  To his credit, he jumped in after me.  We started exploring under the city, thinking that it would be a good idea to get around the force field by going under it.  No luck, though… I did end up falling into a huge pool with a giant fan going around.  I was centimeter away from being squashed and drowned when Cho’paa pulled me up.  He insisted on carrying me back out, to prevent me from getting harmed any further.

We got out of the sewers and hadn’t gone far when we both became aware of someone trailing us.  When he got close enough, I saw he was a Mandalorian– yes, apparently Onderon is lousy with em- but his armor was much more detailed than Cho’paa’s, with a toothy grin on the helmet, and a strange skull as a shoulder pad. 

We spoke, it turns out that my trip with Master Vel to Blood Moon turned some heads, as there is.. was?  Is a abounty on my head, as well as Master Vel’s.  However, they only know Master Vel as a “freight jockey,”  so they weren’t able to hunt him down so easily.  I offered to go, alive, to clear up the whole mess, but he wasn’t having it, and he shot me multiple times- I lost count after 4- and I lost consciousness after something exploded arond me, sending searing pain through my body.

When I woke, Cho’paa was wrapping my wounds.  He carried me to his ship, and we took off.  Once in the air, he set on autopilot and wrapped my wounds with bacta bandages.  He talked, telling me his story of being in disgrace for loving a jedi who had been killed.  It was a sad story, and I felt for him, but was also grateful that he had the kindness to help me.

When we got to Ruusan it appeared that the Mando who had shot me had arrived first and told everyone I’d been captured, so it took some sorting out.  Cho’paa got me to the hospital while Jehn, and later, Cho’paa, hunted down the bounty hunter.   Lady Sabra healed my wounds and when I woke Houzu was there keeping watch.  He double checked me and put me under house arrest so that I’d actually rest, as opposed to what he called “thrill seeking.”  As if that’s what I was doing!

I got out of the hospital without much ado because of a Sith invasion at the Academy that sadly ended in the capture of Master Oden and Lady Sable, I didn’t get signed out or anything, which is a bonus.  The less people remember me being in the hospital, the better.  House arrest, indeed!

A resident reported that the adoption of the regulations has been tabled until the November 19th WPCA meeting, primarily because of my letter. It was also reported that King Bill has a “Selectman’s Corner” coming out in the Rivereast, on the sewer, covering at least these two issues:

“When will the sewers be operational?” and “Have the sewer regulations been adopted?”

Too bad he doesn’t add, “Why did I spend $15,541 dismissing two legal petitions calling for a town meeting?” I’d like to see an answer on that one.

The WPCA is holding a meeting tonight at 7:00 PM at the town hall, to formally adopt the sewer regulations. The regulations are posted on the towns website and can be downloaded here. I have not had time to review these.

The agenda also lists the “OPERATION & MAINTENANCE BUDGET 2009-2010″, which will determine the usage charges.

Additionally, I’m supposed to attend the RTC meeting tonight to officially volunteer (yet again) for the Charter Revision Committee. Both of these meetings are inconveniently scheduled at the same time. Unfortunately, I can’t be in two places at once.

Decisions, decisions. There’s little chance I’ll actually get on the Charter Revision Committee even if the Republicans put me up as a candidate (of which, I have my doubts.) And, there’s little chance that anything I could say that the WPCA meeting would make a bit of difference, as almost everything I’ve said has fallen on their deaf ears. Perhaps, if you have time tonight, please attend the WPCA meeting and record it.

Here is a letter I sent to Jack Murray, WPCA Chairmen, to be read aloud. If you plan on going to the meeting, please print it out and take it with you.

The Marlborough Republican party swept all the races in town, with 1157 votes cast by residents. Bob Clarke has the details on his blog, which you can access at right. Congratulations to Pasquale, Dick, and Cliff.

Come by 15 Washington Road tonight, October 30th and / or tomorrow, October 31st, between 6:00PM and 9:00 PM, for my annual “Haunted House on Lake Terror-Among-Us”. We will be accepting non-perishable food and monetary donations for the Marlborough Food Bank.

I will also have the petition available regarding the Board of Selectmen as discussed in previous posts.

See you tonight — and, BOO!