MetaChat - Man, I love the web.

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01 April 2011

Man, I love the web. →[More:]
My dishwasher has leaked twice in the last few weeks, water coming out of the front towards the end of the cycle. I couldn't work out why and, although the dishwasher's under a 5 year guarantee, of which over 4 years remain, I wanted to make sure it wasn't anything I was doing before calling out the service engineer.

Googling 'intermittent dishwasher leak' led me to a forum where someone with a Bosch dishwasher (mine is a Siemens, they are related companies) had the exact same problem and it was caused by her cheap floppy dollar store cutting mats blocking a little round grate half-way up the right-hand side of the dishwasher. Her expensive rigid cutting board didn't block it but the flimsiness of the dollar store one made it stick over the grate and block it, causing the dishwasher to leak.

Lo and behold, that's where I put my cheap floppy 99p store cutting mats too! And my dishewasher has the exact same little grate half-way up the right-hand side.

I thought it had to be something I'd done, because it didn't leak every time (as it would if it was a loose connection), but I couldn't for the life of me even begin to guess what it might be.

Yay internets!

post by: Senyar at: 19:39 | 13 comments

Cool!

posted by Specklet 01 April | 20:13

That's amazing! I don't understand people who don't love the Internet.

posted by toastedbeagle 01 April | 20:18

I share your yay for the internet.

posted by Miko 01 April | 20:25

I have similar yay for the internet experiences quite often regarding weird computer problems, which are my job to fix. You just get to know after a while which ones are going to be obvious and simple, and which ones are going to take hours and hours of troubleshooting. With the latter type, every so often when I plug the cryptic error message into Google, I find someone who has had the exact same problem and posted a solution for it that works. Glory be!

(Of course, the rest of the time it's something like "Yeah, my computer sometimes locks up when I insert an image with a filename starting with the letter J on a Tuesday", and you really are the first person in the world to ever try to solve that particular problem.)

((Although really nobody ever reports problems in that level of detail, it's usually more like "my computer keeps freezing" and you have to figure out what things are triggering the problem to have a hope in hell of fixing it.))

posted by FishBike 01 April | 20:43

I'm amazed that I managed to own a house before the internet. How I figured out how to do anything is astounding. I used to hit the home repair section of the Carnegie Library and take out ten books at a time. Or I'd have to go to the (now non-existent) local hardware store and ask the guy behind the counter how to fix whatever plumbing or plastering problem I had.

Now I just search and the answers are right there. The future is very cool sometimes.

posted by octothorpe 01 April | 22:47

My favorite thing I learned on the internet recently is to throw the little cup you pour the laundry detergent into right in the wash with the clothes so it comes out all clean instead of collecting grody soap scum. Totally a revelation, would never have thought of it on my own.

posted by Twiggy 01 April | 22:54

Yes, let's have tips learned from the internet, right here!

posted by Senyar 02 April | 06:47

I learned that when you screw up your eyeliner, the best thing to do is not try to take off the messed up part but instead to just put a bunch more on and then when you take it off with a Qtip and makeup remover, only the part closest to your lashes stays on so it looks like you did it perfectly.

posted by rmless2 02 April | 10:35

yikes, I don't even know where to start. That detergent-cap trick is a perfect example, Twiggy! I would never ever have thought of it, but it's so obvious!

I learned how to reupholster furniture online, the hardcore down-to-the-bones kind of reupholstery.

I learned online that you can use any lean simple dough to make pita. You don't have to make a specific dough; my standard French or Italian recipe balloons up perfectly after you roll it out and rest it. That kinda blew my mind.

My nearby siblings think I'm The InterNerd because when faced with a problem I can't easily solve, I research it online... and almost always come up with a solution. Their amusement doesn't bother me, but it does make me wonder: why on earth aren't they doing this, too? It improves my life in innumerable ways! Who wouldn't want that?

posted by Elsa 02 April | 10:39

I learned that I am in no way unique. I mean this in a good way.

posted by JanetLand 02 April | 12:07

I learned online how to hack a Swiffer Wet Jet so you can refill the bottle with your own floor cleaner.

You remove the empty bottle from the mop, and stand it, cap side down, in very, very hot water for about 15-30 seconds. The lid will then unscrew, and, using nail clippers, you can clip the little notches from the inside of the lid. Then you can refill and reuse it over and over instead of having to buy the expensive refills.

I also read that you can wash the Swiffer pads, and I will try this tomorrow as I have two dirty ones which I'll put in with the cat's towels.

I LOVE the eyeliner tip.

posted by Senyar 02 April | 17:31

I gotta say I love the Internet and have learned a lot from it, especially about fixing Microsoft software, but by far the place I've learned the most about how to find what I need on the Net is Metafilter.

posted by bearwife 02 April | 18:23

That thing about the laundry detergent cap has made an otherwise cruddy weekend worthwhile. Thanks, Twiggy! Thanks, Internet!

posted by tangerine 04 April | 00:18

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