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14 November 2006
Hope me. Two questions inside.→[More:]
1. My bathroom sink is clogged and draining verrrry slowly. Do I have to get that Draino shit?
Depends on the kind of mp3s you want. Popular stuff you can always find on isohunt.com, if you're bittorrent-savvy. If not, try Soulseek. Soulseek's kind of a pain in the ass because if the person you're downloading from logs off, you have to go find someone else with the album. On the other hand, lots of MetaChatters are on Soulseek, and we'll give you access to our collections.
Bonus answer: I'm wearing my "I luv Specklet" t-shirt. Well, one of them. I have dozens.
1. You can try pouring 1/2 c of salt & 1/2 c of baking powder down the drain, followed by a shwack of white vinegar. Follow about 5 mins later with a kettle full of boiling water. If that doesn't do it, I'm afraid it's time for the heavy artillery (i.e. Drano or something).
I'm wearing army pants and my favouritest most comfortable black cotton sweater. My ensemble is becoming encrusted in dust and spider webs (don't let anyone say I don't know how to accessorize). You?
1. Yeah, probably. Once it's good and clogged there's not much you can do. I have to go to Safeway tonight so I could get you Draino if you want.
Bonus answer: My usual outfit. Green and yellow spandex leggings, fuzzy leg warmers, oversized sweatshirt with a picture of a teddy bear on the front, one blue sock and one red sock.
1.) Drano is hellishly toxic and caustic and can destroy old pipes and lead to excruciatingly annoying situations with one's landlord... but you knew this yes? I think our lease even has a clause in it stating that we're not allowed to use caustic drain cleaners. I'd start with a plunger and graduate to a snake. a big long snake. No not that kind you perverted slackers! the steel kind like plumbers use. if the plunger doesn't work, it's best to get a professional for this, cos you can break shit, and not in a good way.
2.) um... there's a lot of decent bittorrent sites out there, however be very very wary of them. I'm very leery of these as they are generally riddled with trojan horses and spyware. one such just brought my roommate's machine to its knees yet again.
bonus: my adorable grey chrome messenger knickers, black smartwool knee sox, a cute red military-themed full-zip hoodie with an embroidery eagle logo on the shoulder, matching red shoes, a divine black/red/grey/yellow/purple watercolour silk scarf my grandma brought back from singapore in the 1950's, and my awesome black wool newsboy cap that gets complimented by cute guys every time I wear it.
my boss actually said I looked really snappy today. personally I think it's the messenger knickers.
You can plunge a sink like you would a toilet, if you have a plunger you're okay with using in a non-toilet capacity. If it's a simple clog this is often enough to clear it.
Sink: Do you have any wire hangers? Straighten one out and poke it down the drain to dislodge any possible blockage. Do you have a plunger? No, you say? Do you have a neighbor you could ask to borrow one? No? Then off to the mini-market with you for some liquid plumbr.
If the clog is scummy stuff, the baking soda/vinegar fix will work. If it's hair, you need a commercial product. (Or you can pull out the stopper and reach down in the drain with your hand or a coat hanger, but this always makes me hurl. And since you're hungover, probably not the best bet.)
Another option, remove the gooseneck pipe below the sink and flush it out. Swab out the pipe that runs from the drain to the where the gooseneck was. Check the pipe that extends from the wall to see if there's anything in there -- a flashlight comes in handy.
But I still say go for Drano or Liquid Plumr -- just read the label to make sure that the one you pick says "safe for all pipes." Yeah, it's bad stuff; and yeah, people here and elsewhere will likely lecture you for using it. But you offset in other ways, so whatever.
(And plungers don't work well on pipes that aren't clogged with standing water.)
1. I use the coathanger or "unscrew the trap" method.
2. MP3 blogs or Soulseek.
3. New super-soft, warm, black corduroy jeans, cute green argyle sweater, no makeup. And an "I <3 Specklet" charm for my secret body piercing.
I'm going to try the baking soda/vinegar thing before I buy toxic crap. I'll let you know if it works.
I love that y'all have the I Luv Specklet shirts and the I heart Specklet charms. Oh yeah, baby.
And I'm wearing spring green sweatpants, my woobie (which is an old t-shirt and I rarely actually wear it), my white bathrobe, and black boy shortie panties. Slippers. My feet are cold so I'm going to go put on socks. Also, I have mascara smeared under my eyes and smell like girl sweat and bars.
1. Answered!
2. The mister very much enjoys this audio blog scraper thing which I found either here or at Mefi.
3. I'm wearing a black tee and fucking maternity jeans. The kind with the big honking stretchy panel in front. I tried the "cool" kind that sit under your belly, but I am short and have no torso, so they kept falling off. Pathetic!
1. Although it's been answered, I go for the chemicals
2. AltaVista's audio search here.
3. Purple leather slippers, black sweat pants, tomato soup red long-sleeved t-shirt with multi-coloured stripes and a beige-ish sleeveless vest hoodie thing
1: If you rent, try the Drano. If you own the place, don't.
2: P2P, if you're willing to abide by sharing rules and follow etiquette and whatnot. Soulseek, EDonkey, Bittorrent. If I knew more about the kind of stuff you like, I could provide more specific suggestions. Also, a combination of RSS readers and the Firefox extension DownThemAll, which downloads every file linked to on a page. Also what pie and ramix said.
bonus: black t-shirt and navy cargo pants. Oh, okay--also black boxers, a black belt, brown heather socks, an olive wristwatch and piercing jewelry.
1) Yes. If it's draining but slowly, that foaming shit is good.
2) usenet, there are a zillion alt.binaries.mp3 groups. Downside: you don't get to pick what comes up. Upside: You get to drink from the FIRE HOSE! And also it's a damn sight more anonymous than p2p.
I'll believe usenet if one of you fuckers can find me Jerry dale McFadden's "Country Beats The Hell Out Of Me," The Lovedolls "Pearls At Swine" or Bo Donaldson & the Heywood's cover of "Teenage Rampage."
1. I don't know. I pray this does not happen to me. The toilet is just enough for me to battle.
2. what everyone else told you already
3. too embarrassed to describe: but someone asked me today where my horse is... and I am not joking :(
I have been totally unhelpful, I know. And garb challenged, apparently.
1. I was going to mention an enzymatic cleaner that eats gunk, but I only recently learned that Draino is bad for drains, so I won't actually recommend it... I have been flirting with danger all these years!
2. You can Google for the artist or title plus "torrent" and download it with a torrent program. I have heard...
3. A celadon ribbed turtleneck and blue fleece lounge pants with snowboarding Hello Kitties on it.
2. usenet, baby. I'm serious, you can find tons of stuff you want, and just as much stuff that you didn't know you wanted. And if you don't see what you're looking for, just ask.
From Fenriq's Wife: Drain-Fix-it-Yourself, like a Pro, save money long term and never buy toxic Drano, Lye, etc. again! I own a salon and have a slow drain. This is cheap only if you have a drill. At Home Depot I picked up a "Snake-it" that you connect to a drill. SO SIMPLE and only $20!
As for the mp3s, I have no idea.
An easy place to find mp3's that has been getting less and less useful is g2p.org. Its a search string with a pretty GUI page that lets you use Google to search for mp3s left out on people's servers. I've found some quite random stuff and some totally worthless stuff, its like a microcosm of the internet.
Late to the drain cleaning party, but just for reference, these "Zip-It" drain cleaners work great. Cheap too. You can get them at Home Depot. It's kind of gross pulling up years of drain gunk, but they work. Used one on the shower and it hasn't clogged in months.
On the MP3 front del.icio.us can be fun to browse. Also, don't forget the library as a easy source for CDs to rip.
1. I use Drano. As a sink cleaner and a dessert topping.
2. Soulseek, man. Always.
3. Blue sweats and my t-shirt from the Shakespeare show from this summer. Soon, I'll swap this ensemble out for a job-interview suit and a shit-eating grin. Later, that look will be exchanged for jeans, a wool vest and linen jacket to go out to Molly's in and marinate in Fuller ESB's because I will celebrating my new job.
Sink: Use a plunger, but make sure you also plug the overflow drain if there is one (it's usually a series of holes on the bowl of the sink on the rim closest to you when standing at the sink). Fill up the sink untill it is about an inch or two from the top, plug the overflow drain holes (you can probably do this with your fingers of one hand) and use the other hand to plunge. Vigorously. Up and down. Yeah, that's the way baby. Oh yeaaaahhh....
1. I just use the stuff that sizzles and smokes, evil ultra drain cleaner. Chased with boiling water.
2. Like fenriq, I like g2p
3. Black yoga-y looking pants, dark brownish green tight polyester shirt under larger, open dark brown silk button down with black polka dots, black knee highs, high heel slip ons. And an uncomfortable bra, of course, since I'm at work.
photo by splunge
photo by TheophileEscargot
photo by Kronos_to_Earth
photo by ethylene
