THE MOWER WORKS NOW!!

Unbelievable!! Some would have thought unpossible. But I accomplished something today.

After my older sister fouled the workings earlier this month, I finally was able, with some help from my brother in law, to install a new Champion J19LM spark plug in the mower (sparing no expense), after also buying a $7 spark plug ratchet socket for which I have no proper ratchet handle. The end of that socket is hexagonal, which if you know your channel locking plier / wrench thingies (or vise gripping tools), you can still use it to turn the spark plug socket. And so out the fouled one came, all black and nasty, and after a few days of letting it sit and more or less dry out, I took a Q-tip to the opening to see what I could find, and then installed the new plug. The rule of thumb for this I found is just get it in nicely snug. Don't strip the threads. So I got it in to the point where I couldn't turn it anymore and the mower started on the first try. It's nice to use something with oomph behind it again.

I mowed a little that needed some attention right away, but due to the heat and the pain I felt, I took a break to swallow some water and Ibuprofen and cool down until later this evening. I also have a small chip on a front tooth to see about, perhaps with a tooth repair kit at the pharmacy. I need to know what kind of coverage I got. I know my teeth are horrible (and stained). I just don't need some dentist lecturing me about it. And those whiten your teeth at home kits are needlessly expensive for no reason!

Well, there's likely a reason, but it's not a good one.

Nobody will be allowed to touch the mower until they are certified.

Frustrated

Some people have too many vacations next to each other in a row. I need
help, and I definitely suffer from depression right now. I guess that's
the big step - knowing you have a problem and wanting help for it.

I don't know why it's been so hard to find a job with my CompTIA A+
certification. So many places have been contacted, but nobody even bats
me an eye.

Makes a person feel unwanted and worthless.

My own family treats me like crap.

I think the phone calls for that crap have stopped at last

I haven't received any more phone calls for the crap mom left behind for
the past week or so after sending out the drop dead letter to the last
bunch of creeps trying to collect on what she owed. And as I've read, we
are not responsible for her debts she left and we do not have to pay
them. We are not obligated to do so. It is kind of fitting that I would
discover so much of her business after it was necessary to do so and in
spite of everything she had to go through that she would leave a debt
she was obviously planning to pay at some point.

She had no estate, as we the "heirs at law" will not get anything as she
was insolvent. Any creditors left will have to write off the bad debt.

I hope I can get counseling soon for my depression. I don't think it's
normal to wake up crying because I miss my mom. There are still things
that set me off and I sob. I miss having someone else around here to
talk to. I called the one doctor's office and got no response that they
said they would get back to me. I guess the answer was no.

My younger sister isn't exactly treating me right. I haven't been able
to get my nieces out here to watch Ponyo like mom was hoping to do.

Right stuf, get with the times!

El Hazard: The Wanderers DVD Collection
>(Hyb)

Why does Right Stuf still use the archaic "Hybrid" term for dual- or
multi-language DVD releases? Hybrid was for Laserdiscs with multiple
language tracks, analog and digital. We're not dealing with Laserdiscs
anymore.

I really wish they'd use a different term. "Dual language" or something.
Not "Hybrid." "Sub/Dub" is appropriate, because there are dub only and
sub only releases, and I remember their catalogs noting that, too, in
that manner.

Printers, Ranma 1/2, etc?

I got one friend that I wish he would just buy a new printer instead of
used ones.

I don't where he got one Canon BJC model, but the clip that held the ink
cartridges in place broke because of being made of cheap plastic. So he
bought one from a 2nd hand shop here in town for $10. It had no CD or
USB cable, but it had the power cord as the model he bought was one of
those multi-function printers. Well, the USB cable was easy enough, and
I showed him a place for inexpensive refilled cartridges online, and the
drivers for XP were on the manufacturer's website.

He gets the carts and we find the printer isn't sending black ink to the
page. So we have options to check - Make sure the printer head is clean.
This is a model that the print head doesn't change with the ink
cartridges. And I do that and get it to output really nice color for
once, but still no black. I get to thinking about it, and maybe the
black refill was dry or empty. He hasn't done anything with it, in fact
it sits at his place not hooked up. I told him about how people report
it clogging up unless you run it at least once per week, and to check
for a new black cartridge.

Then about 2 weeks ago, he calls me up about a "surprise" - he bought a
bunch of computer stuff for $5 at a flea market. Some of it was junk,
and some of it had promise, like a Pentium 2 tower with Windows 2000 on
it, a system that I had to clear the BIOS / CMOS password on it, and
then clear the OS passwords with a password reset boot CD. It was a
system used by a private academy near Pittsburgh, PA. But another bit
was an HP printer. No power supply, cable, or CD. Well, no problem. HP
printers tend to be well supported, and a replacement power supply would
be $12 online. He's got the USB cable, and once again the drivers would
be on their website. This HP printer does have the print head replaced
with the ink cartridges, so that problem is moot. But he doesn't try
anything with it.

Yesterday, someone living near his place was having a yard sale and in
that bunch was yet another printer. I don't know how much he paid for
it, but he did ask if it worked, and all the guy said was his son used
it. Book, CD, and power cord included. But instead of getting cheap
refills like last time, my friend rushed out to a local office supply
store and paid for pricey brand new ink tanks, and as he tries it out,
it prints only blue.

After he brought it over for me to look at, I pretty much gave up trying
to open it up because I felt the print head was really severely clogged,
and more so after pulling a dead moth out of the unit. I couldn't do
anything more because I couldn't get at the print head to really clean
it. Plus this is one of those Epson models with a chip in the ink tank,
making refilling annoying and reinstalling a new ink tank annoying when
the printer doesn't "sense" them right. It will need really good
servicing. He didn't want to wait a week to see if it worked.

I tried to advise him to find one of these places that will take older
printers and offer a Trade In on a new model (or just buy a new one
outright and stop buying the used ones because that's the reason they're
being sold - they stopped working for some reason). He tried to recycle
his Canon BJC printer and they were going to _charge_ him $10 to do it.
I've heard of printer trade-in promotions before; he just needs to find
some place around here that still does that. He should get a
multi-function printer unit.

re: Ranma 1/2 -

My project to backup my Ranma 1/2 VHS subtitled tapes is not taking as
long as I thought it would, nor as many DVDs as I originally estimated.

I was up until 2:43 am playing Ookami for the PS2 last night.

The mower

Well, with appreciated help from my Brother-in-law, we took a look at the mower my older sister fouled up. He noticed some black stuff flowing out of the gas tank as he dumped it out and then did his best to clean it out further with a rag. In spite of the best efforts, it was decided the spark plug is fouled because of the water and dirt that was dumped in out of the red plastic gas container. So I need a plug for a 3.5 HP Briggs and Stratton engine. I think my older sister should have to pay for it if she doesn't buy a new mower, which is probably what we need. I want a new electric motor for the electric lawn mower we have now if anything.

More bars in more places

Well, I WAS working on that, but now never mind...

This past week or so I was working on checking the lawn mower and
getting it ready. The problems I had were that I didn't know how to tell
if there was enough oil for the motor because the dip stick looks like
it has broken off at some point. The other bit is that it needed gas. I
don't exactly remember if I ran it dry (preferable) or I left a little
bit in the tank.

SO my older sister came up for last week, and instead of leaving the
mower to me which I would have gotten to pretty soon, she just barrels
along and just starts messing with it.

For some reason, there's this red plastic gas "can" that's been around
since the first deadbeat was here. I don't use it because the last time
I did, there was water in it. If there's no gas in it now, I'm going to
toss it. The other gas can is metal, my grandfather used it just fine.
She seems to think some cans are legal and stuff, but this one is just
fine.

Anywho, you can see where this is going. Instead of asking me something
about the mower and said gas cans, she goes and puts whatever was in the
red one into the mower's fuel tank. I had already checked that one, I
know there's water and dirt in there. She never bothered to ask me what
I know, and when she tells me that's what she did, I tell her good luck
getting it started, you'll have to drain the tank now. Her response is
"Well, I didn't know." Well geesus krist, ASK me. You can look inside
gas cans, ya know. And Gas has an Odor to it. The walls of the red
plastic one do let some light through, and that's how I knew not to use
that for anything except throwing it away. I made that mistake 2 years
ago, and the mower had to be cleaned out.

She eventually does get some gas (I hope it's in the metal can) but we
can't get it started. The spark plug might need changed or cleaned, but
the main problem now is finding out where there's still water and dirt
in the fuel and probably fuel line, and the issue of motor oil still
needs clarified.

If it had been left to me, I would have gotten gas in the metal can, put
some in, and it might have started. And if not, I have friends who can
take another look and find out what's going on.

My older sister has a bad habit of thinking she knows everything and
just does stuff with things without talking to anyone. It's a bad habit
she needs to break.

Get it at a pawn shop

Today, I spent time getting my eyes checked and visiting my dad's mom. We went out to eat and during the meal my older sister asks how many TVs there was because she doesn't have one. Trying to take what I'm using? She can just as easily buy one at a pawn shop and it might even have a digital tuner for almost no money! She ain't getting mom's!

An example of how I supposedly have and don't have medical coverage

I hope the recent reforms change this, because right now at the same
time I do and don't have medical coverage. Here's how it works:

Because of my disability, I have Medicare A and B. The Part B premium is
covered by state Medicaid under a thingy called QMBY, so there's no
deduction out of my disability check. However, I do not get Medicaid per
se unless I spend $60 of my own money, while at the same time I have to
deal with Medicare deductibles.

So what this means is if I wanted to get a new pair of glasses, I would
have to spend $60 on the process of getting one and then have the rest
billed to Medicaid. This is what is known as a Spend Down rule. This
sort of thing likely also applies if I need counseling and the like.

What's messed up about this is that I can't exactly afford $60 out of my
pocket every month. I'm barely covering my obligations for the month.
Getting some steady work might help. I wonder what my mom would have
said if she saw how different things are for me. She never had to pay
anything out of her pocket, but then her disability check was just a bit
less than that I get. It's not fair I get screwed.

So while yes, I have Medicare A and B for what they're supposed to
cover, I might as well not have anything anyway because of what I have
to go through to use it. It's not worth my time to figure it out. It's
too confusing.

I hope the health care reforms eliminate the need for a "spend down" as
well as deductibles for what I'm supposed to have.