HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: davel@booboo.SanDiego.NCR.COM (David Lord)
Subject: Re: Help! Washing Machine Spews out Flakes
Reply-To: davel@booboo.SanDiego.NCR.COM (David Lord)
Organization: NCR Corporation, Rancho Bernardo
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 1992 17:43:52 GMT

In article <1992Aug19.175641.9800@informix.com> davek@informix.com (David Kosenko) writes:
>In article <1992Aug18.151004.7923@porthos.cc.bellcore.com> patter@dasher.uucp 
>(24224-guthrie) writes:
>>In article <1992Aug17.233849.11607@gvl.unisys.com> garyp@gvls2.gvl.unisys.com 
>(Gary Palangian) writes:
>>
>>>I beginning to think that Sears really sucks!
>>
>>What took you so long?
>>
>>Seriously, Sears is not a manufacturer. They are a retailer. They farm
>>out the manufacturing rights to "their" products. Not only is the
>>quality suspect (after all, you're dealing with the lowest bidder here),
>>but there's no continuity of manufacturer. Just because you got a real
>>good Kenmore appliance 10 years ago is no indication of the quality of
>>that appliance today. The manufacturer will be different.

Sears washers and dryers are made by Whirlpool and have been for
many years. Note that they are not identical to models that
Whirlpool sells under it's own brand names, Sears models have
some improvements and some areas where costs have been cut.

I think the biggest problems with Sears appliances are that they
are overpriced and the service has gone WAY downhill over the
years. My parents had a major run in with Sears a few years ago
and will never do business with them again. In a nutshell, Sears
was supposed to install a new water heater and repeatly didn't
show up for the installation apointment. Finally my parents cancelled
and got a water heater from someone else. Sears billed them anyway
and it took months and many phone calls to get the bill cancelled.


>It used to be that Sears had some pretty good quality stuff, say going back
>20 years or so.  I currently posses a ~30 year old Craftsman tablesaw
>(belongs to my dad, but I'm borrowing it until I gather the resolve to
>spring for a Delta contractor's saw) that is still going pretty strong.
>Most everyone I talk to who has purchased power tools or appliances from
>Sears in the last 10 years or so are less than thrilled with the quality.
>A lot break down sooner than one would expect, or they are not as powerful
>as the older units they replaced, etc.  I suspect this is in large part
>the reason Sears has declined as a market force (when I was a kid, we and
>everyone else tromped to Sears on the weekend for almost everything).
>Craftsman hand tools seem to be the major exception to this, as they
>still seem to be good quality, and have a lifetime guarantee.

Well who would you recomend for washers and dryers? Consumer Reports
recomended Whirlpool, but like most of the things Consumer Reports
recomends my Whirlpool washer turned out to be crap. Wish I could
afford a Maytag.
From: jbb@hpcvxjb.cv.hp.com (Jim B. Byers)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Masking tape residue
Date: 17 Aug 92 21:23:28 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Company, Corvallis, Oregon USA

I picked up a little bottle of some stuff called Desolve-it (not sure
of the spelling) at HomeClub a while back on a whim.  Latter I had to try
to remove those little white double stick pads from a varnished door.  I
also removed tape residue from a refrigerator.

The stuff worked great.  It is citrus based.  I haven't tried it on masking
tape yet, but I would give it a try.

The little bottle was small but under 2 dollars and looks like it would go
a long way.

Jim Byers

    "The significant problems we face cannot be solved at
     the same level of thinking we were at when we created them."
                                        Albert Einstein
From: fields@acuson.com (Julian Fields)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Solution for a smokey fireplace -- gas log?
Date: 12 Aug 92 06:04:09 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Acuson; Mountain View, California

>>When we bought our house we knew the fireplace smoked.  
>........
>>The bad news is, after having the flue professionally cleaned the fireplace
>>still smokes.  So far, we've had two professionals evaluate it (no obvious
>>problem, plenty of "might fixit" suggestions at varying costs).  The firebox
>>is huge and deep, the damper high, and the flue is your basic ceramic tube.

>I've seen this problem before with similar fireplaces (oversize fireboxes).

Yes, I too believe your problem is the oversized firebox.
The simple and easy solution is to reduce the size of the opening
to you living room.  You can do this by putting a glass fireplace
cover or a metal fireplace insert in front of the fireplace.
Put the fireplace cover as close to the bricks as you can.

The basic problem is that you have a 1 square foot flue with
hot air rising from the fire at approx 2 inches per second.
If you opening from the fireplace to the living room is 3 feet
high and 4 feet wide, you have 12 square feet of opening
THe velocity of the air at the opening would be 1/12 of the
velocity thru the flue. ( In the example, I just gave 1/6th inch
per second.)  

-- 
Julian Fields, Jr        fields@acuson.com  
VLSI Design Engineering Consultant 
415-929-9112x2408 work,408-773-8197h
This is from ~/.tail 
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: reg@dptg.att.com (51351[efw]-Regina Mackiewicz(MT4799)1374MT)
Subject: Re: Address of IKEA
Summary: telephone numbers
Organization: AT&T BL Middletown/Lincroft NJ USA
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1992 15:44:55 GMT


washington DC  703-494-4532
elizabeth, nj 908-289-4488
pittsburgh, pa 412-747-0747
philadelphia, pa 215-834-1520
baltimore, md 410-931-5400
long island, ny 516-681-4532
houston,tx 713-688-7867
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: ljc@sei.cmu.edu (Larry Crowe)
Subject: Renovators Supply
Keywords: fixtures
Organization: The Software Engineering Institute
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 12:16:37 GMT


I'am lookin at purchasing some fixtures from Renovator Supply out of
Millers Falls,Massachusetts.There a mail order outfit that deals in
older lookin bath fixtures,pedestal sinks,basins etc.Can anyone recommend
the quality of there products.Its one of those deals were the price is right
but is the quailty?

                       Larry
From: n9020351@henson.cc.wwu.edu (James Douglas Del-Vecchio)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Killing burglars.
Date: 20 Aug 92 17:04:52 GMT
Article-I.D.: henson.1992Aug20.170452.13994
Organization: Western Washington University

cantrell@seqp4.sequoia.com (Paul Cantrell) writes:

>Here's where I get labeled a whining pinko criminal lover :-(

>However, I'm not, really. I've owned guns, shot competition on my college
>pistol team, etc. And I wouldn't think twice about shooting a intruder who
>I really thought was threatening my family. BUT...

>Keep in mind that most of the people killed by guns at home are family
>members. Either through domestic arguments that get out of hand, or cases
>of mistaken identity where a family member gets mistaken for a burgler.

	That's not true.  I've looked at the FBI UCR and seen no such 
thing, nor are there any stats anywhere to support that to my knowledge.
I'm not saying that you are lying, just that I'd have to put that stat 
in the "urban legend" category w/o some substantiation. 

>Paul Cantrell

Jim Del Vecchio
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: nancy@jpl-devvax.jpl.nasa.gov (Nancy Feagans)
Subject: Re: non-toxic termite treatment
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA)
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1992 17:33:33 GMT

In article <1992Aug13.153353.9844@jato.jpl.nasa.gov> mlei@mona.jpl.nasa.gov (Mary Lei) writes:
>Can anyone tell me about his/her experience with treating termites with microwave rather than fumigation?.  I am looking for a non-toxic way to deal with termites. Please email me mlei@gina.jpl.nasa.gov. Thanks.

Mary:  Last year the 118-unit townhome complex where I live was treated for
termite infestation using the "electro-gun" technique.  Each unit was individually treated, with the only cautions being to unplug electric applicances and 
remove any computer software.  The treatment comes with a 2-year guarantee: if
a homeowner notices evidence of termites anytime within that period, they come
out and re-treat at no cost.  After the 2-year period, the entire complex is
retreated on a yearly basis.  The cost was cheaper than the microwaving technique, and significantly cheaper than the freezing method.  The name of the company
we used is Ecola, based in Burbank.  Kevin Hughes was our coordinator.
 
Overall, we're very pleased with the result.  They have been back 2 or 3 times to retreat problem areas, but other than that no problems.  Disclaimer:  I have 
no affiliation with Ecola other than being a satisfied customer.

-- 

Nancy J. Feagans     (818) 306-6423
Jet Propulsion Lab   nancy@jpl-devvax.Jpl.Nasa.Gov
"Not a shred of evidence exists in favor of the idea that life is serious."
From: fredch@phx.mcd.mot.com (Fred Christiansen)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: how choose shingles and lumber?
Date: 18 Aug 92 17:02:32 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Motorola Computer Group, Technical Systems Operations

I've compiled a set of bids for goods and services for my BYOC (*) house
(footings were poured this morning).  My natural inclination is to
go with the lowest bidder providing acceptable goods or services.
Subs I select by examining their work, by past experience with them,
or by the word of a contractor friend whose judgment I trust.  Materials
I can examine also; I take the 4 or 5 low bids (out of a dozen; yes, thanks
to faxes, I don't have to run all over town to get quotes) and visit these
people and look over what they've got.  But the lumber has me a bit puzzled.

Wood is wood, eh?  If I ask for KD HF (kiln dried HemFir) this or DF#2 that,
it all ought to be the same, right?  The bids on identical materials lists
range from $2700 to $3450.  I hadn't expected that variance.  Would there
be differences in quality of materials?  What sort of questions should I
ask to determine the quality.

Finally, re shingles:  During out-of-town camping trip, we noted a home
whose finish was attractive, a light, pinkish blush paint coat over stucco
with a light gray dimensional shingle roof.  After talking over it, as
the miles flew by under our wheels, we reckoned that's how we'd like to
finish our house.  Now, the challenge:  How to find that color paint
and that kind of shingle.  The paint part is probably easy -- just go
to a paint store and look over the bizillion samples.  The shingle part
is harder.  I've been in to Home Depot and HomeBase and all they have
for shingle samples are these little 2"x1" rectangles which give you
no real clue as to how a whole roof of the stuff is gonna look.

Anyone able to suggest the manufacturer and color name for a dimensional
shingle that is a light-to-medium gray?  Thanks.

* BYOC = Be Your Own Contractor.
-- 
Fred Christiansen, Motorola, 2900 S Diablo Way, Tempe, AZ 85282  "Canajun, eh?"
fredch@phx.mcd.mot.com  ||  uunet!phx.mcd.mot.com!fredch  ||  +1 602-438-3464
  On Attitude & the Immune System:  A sound heart is the life of the flesh:
    but envy the rottenness of the bones.  Prov 14:30
From: jeq@i88.isc.com (Jonathan E. Quist)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Telephone Outlets
Date: 20 Aug 92 20:05:32 GMT
Article-I.D.: i88.1992Aug20.200532.38
Organization: INTERACTIVE Systems Corporation, Naperville, IL

In article <BtAnuw.H19@news.cso.uiuc.edu> tmkk@uiuc.edu (Khan) writes:
>
>In article <5942@grus.cs.nps.navy.mil> erickson@taurus.cs.nps.navy.mil (David Erickson) writes:
>>We bought a Sony cordless recently, and we were told
>>that it has built-in scrambling.
>
>Ah, now I understand where you got that crazy idea. You should know better
>than to believe anything a salesdroid tells you. ;-)
...
>He's saying that the VAST majority of cordless phones do not have
>scrambling. NOTE: What your sales droid friend may have told you was
>"scrambling" is probably, in reality, a "security code" which does
>nothing more than reduce the likelihood that someone else with the same
>model phone can come up near your house with their handset and place a
>call using your base. It does NOTHING to the sounds transmitted between
>base and handset.

I can't speak for the Sony, but Motorola makes a cordless phone
that has frequency-inversion scrambling.  It's sold exclusively through
Sears; when my brother bought his, he claims he nearly had to pull
the salesman's teeth to get him to even admit they carried the phone,
much less sell it to him.  Perhaps the profit margin is lower...? :')

At any rate the Motorola unit has a decent sound quality, from the times
I've been on the other end of the line with it.


For whatever it's worth,
-- 
Jonathan E. Quist                              INTERACTIVE Systems Corporation
jeq@i88.isc.com  '71 CL450-K4 "Gleep", DoD #094        Naperville, IL
George Bush claims to have neglected domestic issues in favor of foreign policy.
    Looking at Iraqi civilians, I'm glad we didn't have his full attention.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: tcubed@ddsw1.mcs.com (James Hanlon)
Subject: followup--attic fans, counterpoint
Summary: use attic fans with caution, anecdote
Keywords: attic fan fire
Organization: ddsw1.MCS.COM Contributor, Chicago, IL
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL3
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1992 16:27:52 GMT
X-Disclaimer:  Material posted in this article is the sole responsibility of
                the poster and does not represent MCSNet or the system owners.

Note: I posted an empty followup to this topic last week; my newsreader
didn't like my text editor.

Re attic fans. All is not rosy with them; you can't just take a "set and
forget" attitude towards them. My neighbor a few doors down had an attic 
fan that worked well for years, providing the benefits that the attic fan
salesmen, and recent purchasers, relate so cheerfully. One day, the fan
motor froze up, and the fan began drawing excessive current. Not "locked
rotor" current, and not beyond the fuse/breaker rating, but enough to
slowly cook the windings. At a certain point, the windings began to
generate smoke. Not a lot, and no flames; but, eventually, the smoke
became heavy. An alert neighbor noticed smoke coming from the eave of the
(2 1/2 story) house, and notified the fire department. 

Now, when the firemen arrived, they sized up the situation: smoke pouring
from the eaves, big house, potential risk to neighboring structures, etc.
They did not presume that a fan motor had overheated, and that popping the
breaker could remedy the situation. No. They swung into action, "ventilating"
the fire by chopping 4 holes into the roof, and proceeded to dump 20,000
gallons of water into the house. The fire was extinguished.

The moral here is clear. Hesitate, and hesitate again, before installing
an electric motor in some relatively inaccessible part of your house. You
won't maintain it, you won't inspect it, it will break someday. If you
really want to vent your attic, get one of those wind turbines that rotate
in the wind--they look funny, but they don't fail catastrophically. Me,
I added mucho insulation to my attic; it's not as effective, but it is
completely passive and foolproof; and I sleep nights (and on vacation, etc).

Postscript: The neighbor recovered, after two years of dragging water-damaged
junk from his house. The roof holes he squared up, and made skylights for.
So, a happy ending. Not my kind of happiness, though.

Regards,

Jim Hanlon
From: denise@pprg.eece.unm.edu (Denise J. Richards)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: GFB's and Water Saver Showers
Date: 19 Aug 92 17:52:50 GMT
Organization: University of New Mexico, Albuquerque


First: I am borrowing this acct so please post replies or e-mail to:

		boggs@agps.lanl.gov

I have two unrelated questions:

	1. I have a large aquarium I would like to have connected
           to a ground fault breaker (GFB) incase while I am 
           cleaning it one of my lights or something happens
           to fall in.  The house is 30 years old and does not
           have outlets with 3 prongs.  In the store I see
           GFB's that you can plug into a 3 prong outlet. Question
           is since I don't have these 3 prong outlets can I
           either get a two to three prong adaptor to plug this
           GFB into or snip off the ground prong and just plug
           it into the outlet.  Will it still work and protect
           me? Or am I stupid and need to do something else.
           

	2. Since we had a 30% increase in water rates and my
           last water bill was $139.00, what are the best
           water saver shower heads?  I have 2 teenagers and
           1 soon to be teenager that spend a lot of time
           in the shower.


Finally: I am borrowing this acct so please post replies or e-mail to:

		boggs@agps.lanl.gov

--Marsha
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                     boggs@agps.lanl.gov (505) 665-6606
Los Alamos National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1663  MS J488  Los Alamos, NM 87545
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: patter@dasher.uucp (24224-guthrie)
Subject: Re: Splitting a circuit
Reply-To: patter@dasher.cc.bellcore.com
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 92 00:03:12 GMT
Keywords: electricity

In article <jmcging.713646675@ssa.gov> jmcging@oss724.ssa.gov writes:
>We've just installed a built in microwave over the range (replaced the
>hood over the range) and ran into a problem.  The house is 23 years old
>and has 150 amp service.  I have breaker space available.  Problem is
>that running the microwave for any extended periond pops the breaker,
>unless we turn off all the lights on that circuit <g>.  [Dinner by candle
>light]
>
>We have a guy coming out to split the circuit, but wondered if switching
>from incadescent to flourescent lighting fixtures would help?  The old 
>owners put 100 watt bulbs into everything, and switching to 60 in the 
>fixtures extended the running time a whole lot.  Would swapping to flourescent
>[which I prefer to incadescent anyway] further reduce load on the circuit,
>so maybe we could turn a fixture back on?

Probably would. A 45 watt flourescent can be used to replace a 60 watt
incandescent in many places. Each location will vary, however. Pick out
the units you want. Then figure out how much wattage you've saved. Then
cut off that much wattage in your existing lighting load and see if the
microwave stays on. If it works, and you like flourescent lighting, go
for it.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                    | There are very few personal problems which
George Patterson -  | cannot be solved by a suitable application
                    | of high explosive.
                    |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: douglis@MITL.COM (Fred Douglis)
Subject: Re: Making low offers
Keywords: house buying
Organization: Matsushita Information Technology Laboratory
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1992 14:42:27 GMT

davek@informix.com (David Kosenko) writes:

>In article <1992Aug18.232058.15847@porthos.cc.bellcore.com> 
>	patter@dasher.uucp (24224-guthrie) writes:
>>
>>You obviously are unfamiliar with the Real Estate situation in New
>>Jersey. He's lucky to have sold it at all!.


>Hmmm.  Have you been in the market *recently*, George?  It is my experience
>that the situation is *currently* the exact opposite: There are a lot of
>buyers, but the inventory is low (that was the case in the beginning of
>the year, when I was looking).  I know some folks who are looking to spend
>mid $200K in the greater Monmouth County area, and have seen nothing but
>junk.  
...

It seems to depend on exactly what you're trying to buy.  In May and
June, my wife and I looked mostly at townhomes in Somerset, Hillsboro,
etc., and found some areas where they were commodities (lots of similar
homes available, with everyone competing with each other to sell), and
some places where the opposite held true.  When we settled on what we
wanted we actually had to wait for one to come on the market because
all other townhomes in the complex were already under contract (except
for one that was very overpriced).  We bought it before it even hit the
multiple listing book -- fresh out of the computer -- and probably paid
a premium for the privilege.  (I say "probably" rather than "certainly"
because we offered exactly what the other end-unit in the same block of
townhomes had just gone for.)

Perhaps this "phenomenon" (if you can call it that) is just limited
to townhomes, since they tend to be so much alike.... But with so many
developments of single-family homes, I wonder whether the same is true
of that market as well.
-- 
Fred Douglis
Matsushita Information Technology Laboratory  | Email: douglis@mitl.com
182 Nassau Street			      | Phone: +1 609 497-4600
Princeton, NJ 08542 USA 		      | Fax:   +1 609 497-4013
From: eric@desktalk.com (Eric Lieber)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: help with neighborhood dogs
Date: 21 Aug 92 16:24:18 GMT
Reply-To: eric@desktalk.com
Organization: Desktalk Systems Inc.

In article 4530079@hpfcdc.fc.hp.com, newlin@hpfcdc.fc.hp.com (Doug Newlin) writes:
>Although I didn't read the original post, here's a solution that
>really works:
>
>Get a spray bottle that will project a single stream for some distance.
>Fill the bottle with a 60-40 mixture of household ammonia and water
>(don't make it 100% ammonia or it might injure the dog's eyes).
>When the dog trespasses, squirt him down good.  The immediate effect
>is that the dog goes into paroxysms and tries to escape from this
>painfully noxious (to him) smell.  Soon, he will associate this
>nasal assault with your yard and won't come near it.
>
>It's just a matter of avoidance conditioning.

 Will this work with cats also?

Eric Lieber
Desktalk Systems
Torrance CA
eric@desktalk.com	STD DISCLAIMER
From: jhp@sactoh0.sac.ca.us (Jim H. Puga)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Replacing windows(Retrofit or not?)
Date: 20 Aug 92 03:56:05 GMT
Reply-To: jhp@sactoh0.SAC.CA.US (Jim H. Puga)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Sacramento Public Access Unix, Sacramento, Ca.

Has anyone out there had any experience with the retrofit
windows?  These are the ones that slip into the old window
frame so there is no cutting of the exterior or interior
walls.

I was leaning toward these retrofit but I don't like the way
they'll rest within the window frame(it's an older house so
the replacement window won't fit flushly against the outside
wall.  It will have to rest within the window frame).

I am now leaning toward conventional windows and cutting the
stucco around the window.  This way I'll fill at ease with
the window resting "correctly" in its spot as opposed to
resting in the old frame.

I'd appreciate any advice or info in choosing one over the other.

Thanks, in advance.

-- 
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- jhp@sactoh0.SAC.CA.US    What else can I say?             -
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