How does online retail work between different US states which have differing sales tax ? Would say amazon prices vary according to which state you are logging in from (can they tell?)?
Fixit Log
Re: Fixit Log
Re: Fixit Log
I didn't want to pollute the fixit log with this message, but I couldn't find a better spot.
There's a precedent for aliexpress taking care of foreign taxes. Aliexpress already collects EU import VAT at source for all small purchases up to 150€. This is a largely automated process.Sclass wrote: ↑Sat Apr 19, 2025 8:53 amI’m wondering if the tariffs are going to bring this to a grinding halt. I don’t think Customs and Border Protection has enough staff to examine every little pack and calculate the tax (to be paid by me) on the millions of little things coming into port every day. It’s a waste of time for anything less than a macro bin. Maybe they’ll force us to pay the tariffs like we were forced to pay state sales on online purchases years ago.
Re: Fixit Log
No that’s cool. I’m sure everyone is curious how we are going to pay this stuff.
VAT is a good indicator of how that may all work. Automating with computers is likely the way forward. I think it hasn’t been implemented on Aliexpress because the rules keep changing.
There was a time prepandemic when we didn’t pay state sales tax on online purchases over state lines. That went away at some point. I wasn’t paying a lot of attention but I sold something stuff on eBay about that time and the buyer complained he had to pay sales tax. He tried to say it was my problem and I had to pay him back. I told him to discuss it with eBay. I never heard about it again.
ETA - @chenda yeah I don’t know. I never paid attention to purchases on Amazon sent to different destinations. There are different tax rates depending on what city you live in out here in California. Maybe they use your billing address? There’s this entire rule set over origin and destination for things like cars. For example if you have to have a certain model and color of car that is only available at a dealership in a higher tax county…I cannot recall how the exact rate is calculated. California has a flat rate and cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco tack on another percent. I kind of recall a conversation with a coworker about her traveling across the state to pay less sales tax on a new car which was a significant amount of $$ for a $30,000 car. Like San Diego had less sales tax than San Francisco. She claimed she’d save a percent which was more than the cost to travel there. Forgot to check up on how it all worked out. I recall someone arguing no way they determine it based on the destination…not origin. Another reason I buy cheap used cars on Craigslist…I can lie about how much I paid for it when I register it.
VAT is a good indicator of how that may all work. Automating with computers is likely the way forward. I think it hasn’t been implemented on Aliexpress because the rules keep changing.
There was a time prepandemic when we didn’t pay state sales tax on online purchases over state lines. That went away at some point. I wasn’t paying a lot of attention but I sold something stuff on eBay about that time and the buyer complained he had to pay sales tax. He tried to say it was my problem and I had to pay him back. I told him to discuss it with eBay. I never heard about it again.
ETA - @chenda yeah I don’t know. I never paid attention to purchases on Amazon sent to different destinations. There are different tax rates depending on what city you live in out here in California. Maybe they use your billing address? There’s this entire rule set over origin and destination for things like cars. For example if you have to have a certain model and color of car that is only available at a dealership in a higher tax county…I cannot recall how the exact rate is calculated. California has a flat rate and cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco tack on another percent. I kind of recall a conversation with a coworker about her traveling across the state to pay less sales tax on a new car which was a significant amount of $$ for a $30,000 car. Like San Diego had less sales tax than San Francisco. She claimed she’d save a percent which was more than the cost to travel there. Forgot to check up on how it all worked out. I recall someone arguing no way they determine it based on the destination…not origin. Another reason I buy cheap used cars on Craigslist…I can lie about how much I paid for it when I register it.
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Re: Fixit Log
Amazon, ebay, etc. charges sales tax according to where the goods are delivered (shipping address). So if you live in Oregon (no sales tax) and buy a gift for your aunt in Illinois (sales tax 10.75%), amazon would charge you 10.75% and then remit that to the state of Illinois. (And this is the reason why I don't sell the ERE book myself. Because then I would have to collect the sales taxes and distribute them to 50 different states.)
Shipments from out of country used to be subject to a "de minimis"-clause in which shipments valued less than about $800 (per day as far as I understand) would be imported duty free. Otherwise, it would be up to the importer (that would be you when buying directly) to deal with all the import and customs declarations. Many years ago, I ended up paying ~$100 in broker, port, handling fees, and taxes for a $20 pair of sunglasses after getting railroaded in this process, so I'm less confident that it's "just going to work out" automagically. (There's a reason why "import-export" is a business that requires lawyers, accountants, international experts, ...) Given the current chaos, whether the "de minimis" is currently on or off during the exact time and day of your shipment passes through is hard to predict. Since I don't want to be a test case, I'm holding off on anything and anyone crossing a border. FWIW, it's my understanding that the exemption has been eliminated but that implementation has been postponed for ... reasons. Those reasons likely being a matter of logistics given how many such packages go through the system on a daily basis.
The way a shipper like Ali or Temu could work around it would be to eventually establish a warehouse in the US and deal with the tariffs and paperwork themselves, passing some or most of the 124% (or whatever it is these days) tariff and increased warehousing costs onto the consumer. Aside from increased costs, this would be transparent to the consumer. Whereas dealing with the forms and fees after getting notification that your $1 handbag is held back sitting in the port of LA incurring daily storage fees is ... a quick education in import-export theory and legal practice.
Shipments from out of country used to be subject to a "de minimis"-clause in which shipments valued less than about $800 (per day as far as I understand) would be imported duty free. Otherwise, it would be up to the importer (that would be you when buying directly) to deal with all the import and customs declarations. Many years ago, I ended up paying ~$100 in broker, port, handling fees, and taxes for a $20 pair of sunglasses after getting railroaded in this process, so I'm less confident that it's "just going to work out" automagically. (There's a reason why "import-export" is a business that requires lawyers, accountants, international experts, ...) Given the current chaos, whether the "de minimis" is currently on or off during the exact time and day of your shipment passes through is hard to predict. Since I don't want to be a test case, I'm holding off on anything and anyone crossing a border. FWIW, it's my understanding that the exemption has been eliminated but that implementation has been postponed for ... reasons. Those reasons likely being a matter of logistics given how many such packages go through the system on a daily basis.
The way a shipper like Ali or Temu could work around it would be to eventually establish a warehouse in the US and deal with the tariffs and paperwork themselves, passing some or most of the 124% (or whatever it is these days) tariff and increased warehousing costs onto the consumer. Aside from increased costs, this would be transparent to the consumer. Whereas dealing with the forms and fees after getting notification that your $1 handbag is held back sitting in the port of LA incurring daily storage fees is ... a quick education in import-export theory and legal practice.
Re: Fixit Log
Fixed a cracked ball joint boot today. Caught it before the joint was too far gone.
I was down under the car looking for some unrelated issue that keeps dogging me. Suspension vibration. Turns out my idler arm bushing is very worn. The best way to find these worn steering parts is to get a partner in the car to turn the steering wheel back and forth while you stare at the steering components down below. I look for excessive play (slop). I was able to find this idler arm issue when I had my helper shake the wheels side to side while I observed what was moving. There was some rattle in the steering and it came from an ovalized idler arm bushing. I got one on the way.
Unfortunately I found the cracked ball joint boot. Or fortunately. It’s not like finding it made it happen. I caught it early enough to save the joint but on these modern Mercedes cars it is a lot easier to change out a ball joint than on the vintage models. On this car you just unscrew a nut and use a separator to press it out of the knuckle. Got the free tool rental from AutoZone and I pressed the parts free. Rebuilt with new grease and an aliexpress boot. Too bad this is going to end with the cancellation of deminimus tax limits going away. Looks like I may be searching for new ways to make repair parts. I think I need to learn how to print rubber parts (tpu) on my 3D printer.
Speaking of which I bought a big load of filament in anticipation of high tariffs and the need to do more home diy repairs using 3D printing. I’m a little uneasy about how this stuff will upend the economy but u plan to dig in by making more things and doing more repairs.
Cracked boot
Aliexpress repair. $2.50. It gets cheaper the more boots I use out of the assortment I bought.
I was down under the car looking for some unrelated issue that keeps dogging me. Suspension vibration. Turns out my idler arm bushing is very worn. The best way to find these worn steering parts is to get a partner in the car to turn the steering wheel back and forth while you stare at the steering components down below. I look for excessive play (slop). I was able to find this idler arm issue when I had my helper shake the wheels side to side while I observed what was moving. There was some rattle in the steering and it came from an ovalized idler arm bushing. I got one on the way.
Unfortunately I found the cracked ball joint boot. Or fortunately. It’s not like finding it made it happen. I caught it early enough to save the joint but on these modern Mercedes cars it is a lot easier to change out a ball joint than on the vintage models. On this car you just unscrew a nut and use a separator to press it out of the knuckle. Got the free tool rental from AutoZone and I pressed the parts free. Rebuilt with new grease and an aliexpress boot. Too bad this is going to end with the cancellation of deminimus tax limits going away. Looks like I may be searching for new ways to make repair parts. I think I need to learn how to print rubber parts (tpu) on my 3D printer.
Speaking of which I bought a big load of filament in anticipation of high tariffs and the need to do more home diy repairs using 3D printing. I’m a little uneasy about how this stuff will upend the economy but u plan to dig in by making more things and doing more repairs.
Cracked boot
Aliexpress repair. $2.50. It gets cheaper the more boots I use out of the assortment I bought.
Re: Fixit Log
Permafrost Post and Pad Foundation Level and Repair Entry 1:
My summer project is to get E's cabin's foundation up to snuff.
Her cabin is on boggy land over permafrost. The ground moves up and down unpredictably. Also, her cabin is about 20' from a pond that may have been a mine shaft, so it's also sliding laterally towards this hole.
Her cabin is on a "post and pad" style foundation. Roughly 3' square 4-6" thick concrete pads with a wooden post going up to the beams or rim joists. It is a common foundation style for cabins and small residential structures on permafrost here. One of the benefits of a post and pad style is that since it floats on top of the ground, rather then penetrating down like a helical or pier style, is that you don't have to worry about differentially thawing the permafrost under your structure. (You also want to keep your structure elevated about 2' above the ground and NOT put a skirt around your structure, so you have good airflow, so you don't thaw your permafrost). You only have to worry about general climate change induced thawing.
Post and Pad style foundations require regular leveling. At least once a year you need to check the differential level of your cabin and shim up to keep things within spec. As I understand it this is a fairly straightforward maintenance procedure.
...typically. E's cabin is extra challenging because of the sloping and lateral movement of the pads, particularly on the SE corner which is closest to the pond/mine shaft.
There is some history to work done on the foundation over the past few years which I won't get into. tl;dr it's difficult to find knowledgeable people willing to work on these foundations at the residential scale, and so her foundation needs some significant attention to get it back in good shape.
Another feature of E's cabin is that it is actually an original 16'x16' log cabin, with a roughly 20x16 addition (2x6 frame construction) on one side, a 12x8 arctic entry on the other side, and a front and rear deck. There is also a separate foundation structure for the 1,000g water tank, which is also sliding into the mine shaft pond at a different rate than the cabin is (which is what caused the insulation to separate last Thanksgiving and freeze up the pipes). I'll need to address that as well.
Phase 1: Survey, Research, and Work Plan
I made a water level, made a mark on each post at datum level, and then measured distance to bottom of joist. This lets me see how far I need to adjust each post up.
Water level: 50' of vinyl tubing shoe-goo'd into a smoked paprika spice container. Also a good example of a more or less textbook pad and post. This is under the main log cabin portion with fairly level ground.
40' away, the level of the water on a SE pier that is looking a tad sketchy. The pad has dropped vertically as well as shifted laterally over time.
When going from pier to pier, you want to be careful and not let any water leak out of the end of the hose, otherwise your datum is messed up and you have to start over. Commercial water levels have a little cap, but I just kept my thumb over it. This made shoulder-blade-crawling under the cabin extra challenging. You also need to watch for air bubbles in the line, which will also screw up your reading. It's best practice to put coloring in the water to make bubbles and the level easier to spot.
The real work will be in addressing the lateral movement. I'm still evaluating each post condition and making a plan for each. The SE posts need the most attention, likely involving bringing in extra gravel to bring the pads themselves up and leveled, which will be a whole sequence thing.
Since the water tank (to the right in this picture) got installed on top of these pads, which have since shifted laterally, I will need to abandon the original pads in place, bring in more gravel, and put new pads on top centered under the posts.
There isn't a lot of information on building or 'repairing' this style foundation. I got a number of ideas and best practices from "house lifting" youtube videos from the lower 48 in terms of jacks, cribbing, screw floor jacks, sequencing, etc, but this is only for how to safely lift the cabin at each post. The design guidance documentation that I found don't address the lateral movement circumstance I'm dealing with.
The other factor is that due to the history of this cabin, it isn't clear which elements of what's going on under there is "legit for Alaska" vs. patched together as a temporary solution. I'm having to rely more on reasonable design sense rather than prescriptive guidance, which is fine since I tend to err on the side of over-engineering things.
Oh right: also, we're in a seismic zone. So this work needs to have some chance in hell of keeping the cabin from dropping into the swamp mine shaft situation in case of an earthquake.
Now that I've got my level data and some research done, I'll make a post-by-post work plan.
My summer project is to get E's cabin's foundation up to snuff.
Her cabin is on boggy land over permafrost. The ground moves up and down unpredictably. Also, her cabin is about 20' from a pond that may have been a mine shaft, so it's also sliding laterally towards this hole.
Her cabin is on a "post and pad" style foundation. Roughly 3' square 4-6" thick concrete pads with a wooden post going up to the beams or rim joists. It is a common foundation style for cabins and small residential structures on permafrost here. One of the benefits of a post and pad style is that since it floats on top of the ground, rather then penetrating down like a helical or pier style, is that you don't have to worry about differentially thawing the permafrost under your structure. (You also want to keep your structure elevated about 2' above the ground and NOT put a skirt around your structure, so you have good airflow, so you don't thaw your permafrost). You only have to worry about general climate change induced thawing.
Post and Pad style foundations require regular leveling. At least once a year you need to check the differential level of your cabin and shim up to keep things within spec. As I understand it this is a fairly straightforward maintenance procedure.
...typically. E's cabin is extra challenging because of the sloping and lateral movement of the pads, particularly on the SE corner which is closest to the pond/mine shaft.
There is some history to work done on the foundation over the past few years which I won't get into. tl;dr it's difficult to find knowledgeable people willing to work on these foundations at the residential scale, and so her foundation needs some significant attention to get it back in good shape.
Another feature of E's cabin is that it is actually an original 16'x16' log cabin, with a roughly 20x16 addition (2x6 frame construction) on one side, a 12x8 arctic entry on the other side, and a front and rear deck. There is also a separate foundation structure for the 1,000g water tank, which is also sliding into the mine shaft pond at a different rate than the cabin is (which is what caused the insulation to separate last Thanksgiving and freeze up the pipes). I'll need to address that as well.
Phase 1: Survey, Research, and Work Plan
I made a water level, made a mark on each post at datum level, and then measured distance to bottom of joist. This lets me see how far I need to adjust each post up.
Water level: 50' of vinyl tubing shoe-goo'd into a smoked paprika spice container. Also a good example of a more or less textbook pad and post. This is under the main log cabin portion with fairly level ground.
40' away, the level of the water on a SE pier that is looking a tad sketchy. The pad has dropped vertically as well as shifted laterally over time.
When going from pier to pier, you want to be careful and not let any water leak out of the end of the hose, otherwise your datum is messed up and you have to start over. Commercial water levels have a little cap, but I just kept my thumb over it. This made shoulder-blade-crawling under the cabin extra challenging. You also need to watch for air bubbles in the line, which will also screw up your reading. It's best practice to put coloring in the water to make bubbles and the level easier to spot.
The real work will be in addressing the lateral movement. I'm still evaluating each post condition and making a plan for each. The SE posts need the most attention, likely involving bringing in extra gravel to bring the pads themselves up and leveled, which will be a whole sequence thing.
Since the water tank (to the right in this picture) got installed on top of these pads, which have since shifted laterally, I will need to abandon the original pads in place, bring in more gravel, and put new pads on top centered under the posts.
There isn't a lot of information on building or 'repairing' this style foundation. I got a number of ideas and best practices from "house lifting" youtube videos from the lower 48 in terms of jacks, cribbing, screw floor jacks, sequencing, etc, but this is only for how to safely lift the cabin at each post. The design guidance documentation that I found don't address the lateral movement circumstance I'm dealing with.
The other factor is that due to the history of this cabin, it isn't clear which elements of what's going on under there is "legit for Alaska" vs. patched together as a temporary solution. I'm having to rely more on reasonable design sense rather than prescriptive guidance, which is fine since I tend to err on the side of over-engineering things.
Oh right: also, we're in a seismic zone. So this work needs to have some chance in hell of keeping the cabin from dropping into the swamp mine shaft situation in case of an earthquake.
Now that I've got my level data and some research done, I'll make a post-by-post work plan.
Re: Fixit Log
The lateral movement you’re referring to is in regards to the pad or the house itself? I’d be very surprised if the house moved. It seems more likely the concrete blocks moved, which would simply involve just moving them and centering them back into place.
Another distinct possibility, given the state of some of the posts and the construction environment up here, is that they were installed that way (ie on the edge of the concrete blocks) and have barely moved laterally.
Another distinct possibility, given the state of some of the posts and the construction environment up here, is that they were installed that way (ie on the edge of the concrete blocks) and have barely moved laterally.
Re: Fixit Log
Yes the pads appear to have moved, not the house. Yeah, I believe they weren’t all placed perfectly centered originally but there’s ample evidence that some amount of ‘sliding down a subsiding and eroding embankment’ was going on as well. Relevant to know that the edge of the gravel pad used to be just a foot or so beyond the edge of the house - the current ten/fifteen feet of sloped gravel apron before the pond is recent as of 2022 or so. Those pads were on the very edge of the pond for ~25-30 years with an unknown maintenance history.
Bringing in more gravel to really flatten that side of the house and get the pads on level vs sloping ground and bring the worst offenders up a foot certainly might be overkill. Hard to define “structurally overkill” for a house on stilts in a seismic zone imo. Overkill for a 6.0? 7.0? 8.0? What magnitude quake are we cool with not surviving? It’s just a bit more gravel and work, might as well do it while I’m at it.
(I recently read through the history of seismic codes for mobile homes in California as part of researching lateral bracing for my studio in QH. They get updated after every quake, when they go tour around the homes that slid off their foundations and caused gas fires. They poke around and go whelp, guess those straps weren’t quite wrong enough, better revise the code requirements.)
Bringing in more gravel to really flatten that side of the house and get the pads on level vs sloping ground and bring the worst offenders up a foot certainly might be overkill. Hard to define “structurally overkill” for a house on stilts in a seismic zone imo. Overkill for a 6.0? 7.0? 8.0? What magnitude quake are we cool with not surviving? It’s just a bit more gravel and work, might as well do it while I’m at it.
(I recently read through the history of seismic codes for mobile homes in California as part of researching lateral bracing for my studio in QH. They get updated after every quake, when they go tour around the homes that slid off their foundations and caused gas fires. They poke around and go whelp, guess those straps weren’t quite wrong enough, better revise the code requirements.)
Re: Fixit Log
I personally wouldn't overthink this too much. For the pads that no longer work, dig in a sonotube and get some ready mix concrete to pour yourself. Set in blocking ties with your new posts and call it good for a few more years. (yes digging down will suck but call it your functional fitness workout for the week)
https://www.homedepot.ca/product/simpso ... ?rrec=true
Being an old existing cabin with a bunch of add-ons plus your photos I'm getting the feeling that permitting and codes are extremely lax in that area.
https://www.homedepot.ca/product/simpso ... ?rrec=true
Being an old existing cabin with a bunch of add-ons plus your photos I'm getting the feeling that permitting and codes are extremely lax in that area.
Re: Fixit Log
Sonotubes would be easy but are not possible and/or viable in ground with permafrost and ice lenses.
Re: Fixit Log
Technically speaking, permitting and codes don't exist for single family residential in Alaska, although that might be changing in the near future. Anyway, I'm unaware of any prescriptive code language covering this style of foundation in any jurisdiction. I would happily consult such documents for the design guidance.
Anyway, despite all my verbage, I think my decided-upon approach is pretty straightforward. For a few of the posts that've dropped low enough the seismic strap is no longer communicating with the actual house and are on significant slope, I'm going to bring in gravel to level and raise the level of the pad. Every other pad and post just needs a skootch and a bump here and there.
Re: Fixit Log
Changed the motor mounts in my Mercedes c280. I ordered two new motor mounts and a transmission mount for $150 on Amazon. The motor mounts were flattened down 1 cm compared to the new ones. The transmission crossmember mount was torn internally. Cracked. Thirty years and 148,000 miles wore out all the rubber isolation. The ride is transformed now. It’s like driving in a new car. Super smooth and quiet.
When I bought the car it was shaking through steering wheel at speed. There were many worn parts and I replaced about $250 in worn steering components like tie rod ends, drag link, idler bushing. It was so worn it wouldn’t hold an alignment setting. It is like new now.
I don’t see many of these cars on the road anymore. They seem to get totaled by repair cost. You see a lot of old Hondas and Toyotas on the road from 1997. I guess they’re cheaper to maintain.
Well this didn’t turn out too bad for a $2000 car with $250 in suspension parts. I guess I got a good deal because the car bounced all over the road when I test drove it. The old owner was dying to get rid of it.
Here are some snapshots I took.
My car looks like this (not mine but looks identical). It looked good when I bought it but it drove poorly. Sounded like it had a jackhammer under the car.
Old and new hydraulic engine mounts. Old one is really crushed down.
View of passenger side installed.
Bad transmission mount with a big crack right through the rubber.
Brand new transmission mount prior to installation.
It was really fun saving this car from the junkyard. It was basically totaled by its repairs. The parts were cheap but I have put in thirty hours of labor give or take. Nobody would pay $150/hour to fix a $2000 car. There is nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes.
I think I’ll drive down to the coast tonight and pretend it’s 1997.
When I bought the car it was shaking through steering wheel at speed. There were many worn parts and I replaced about $250 in worn steering components like tie rod ends, drag link, idler bushing. It was so worn it wouldn’t hold an alignment setting. It is like new now.
I don’t see many of these cars on the road anymore. They seem to get totaled by repair cost. You see a lot of old Hondas and Toyotas on the road from 1997. I guess they’re cheaper to maintain.
Well this didn’t turn out too bad for a $2000 car with $250 in suspension parts. I guess I got a good deal because the car bounced all over the road when I test drove it. The old owner was dying to get rid of it.
Here are some snapshots I took.
My car looks like this (not mine but looks identical). It looked good when I bought it but it drove poorly. Sounded like it had a jackhammer under the car.
Old and new hydraulic engine mounts. Old one is really crushed down.
View of passenger side installed.
Bad transmission mount with a big crack right through the rubber.
Brand new transmission mount prior to installation.
It was really fun saving this car from the junkyard. It was basically totaled by its repairs. The parts were cheap but I have put in thirty hours of labor give or take. Nobody would pay $150/hour to fix a $2000 car. There is nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes.
I think I’ll drive down to the coast tonight and pretend it’s 1997.
Re: Fixit Log
The simple things often reap the highest rewards, well done on the mounts. With the escalating prices doubling up right now on the covid car market shakeup having this great investment of an overlooked gem of a car is treating you very well.
Have a great cruise ~ better have this playing
https://youtu.be/t85Pm6jk5C0?si=cZwZnCDUMAb4D2YA
Have a great cruise ~ better have this playing
https://youtu.be/t85Pm6jk5C0?si=cZwZnCDUMAb4D2YARe: Fixit Log
Good tunes.
Used cars are expensive. This one is old and doesn’t get particularly good mpg but gas is still pretty cheap compared to vehicle depreciation on the average new car.
The car is actually a pretty nice vehicle. Some idiot paid $40,000 for it back in 1997. The seller’s late father. I remember buying a brand new Honda back then for $18,000. Just trying to imagine my younger self buying a car that costs two new Hondas is unthinkable. Actually thinking how we bought a Honda that was most our net worth in 1997 is unthinkable for my current self.
My wife rode down to Laguna Beach with me and remarked how well the car handled and sounded. Basically it is dead silent when running. Feels like a vault inside. The car still has value even though it’s all depreciated out.
Even though I can only sell it for a few grand I’d say it’s a super nice vehicle to own and operate. For the last twenty years I’ve been buying these neglected old luxury cars and replacing out all the wear parts and then just driving them. The theory is (not always reality) is you are paying for more car when they are new and you get more. Higher quality components, better materials and more engineering. Then you buy one all depreciated out and fix it up and use it. A properly set up vintage Mercedes is an amazing car for the money. 99% of owners are terrified of repair bills so they just dump the car when the issues start coming up. As you can see from my posts it’s always some rubber part that is just destroyed by 30 years of use. You swap out the rubber part and the metal is still good. Even better you 3D print the rubber part. Then you drive.
I’m headed down to Autozone to recycle the engine mounts. I checked them with a magnet and they are made with roughly two pounds of Aluminum. I couldn’t feel right just trashing them in my dumpster bin. That’s a lot of soda cans. Autozone collects scrap auto parts and recycles them for profit. I like to think I’ll get some of that back as a shareholder.
Used cars are expensive. This one is old and doesn’t get particularly good mpg but gas is still pretty cheap compared to vehicle depreciation on the average new car.
The car is actually a pretty nice vehicle. Some idiot paid $40,000 for it back in 1997. The seller’s late father. I remember buying a brand new Honda back then for $18,000. Just trying to imagine my younger self buying a car that costs two new Hondas is unthinkable. Actually thinking how we bought a Honda that was most our net worth in 1997 is unthinkable for my current self.
My wife rode down to Laguna Beach with me and remarked how well the car handled and sounded. Basically it is dead silent when running. Feels like a vault inside. The car still has value even though it’s all depreciated out.
Even though I can only sell it for a few grand I’d say it’s a super nice vehicle to own and operate. For the last twenty years I’ve been buying these neglected old luxury cars and replacing out all the wear parts and then just driving them. The theory is (not always reality) is you are paying for more car when they are new and you get more. Higher quality components, better materials and more engineering. Then you buy one all depreciated out and fix it up and use it. A properly set up vintage Mercedes is an amazing car for the money. 99% of owners are terrified of repair bills so they just dump the car when the issues start coming up. As you can see from my posts it’s always some rubber part that is just destroyed by 30 years of use. You swap out the rubber part and the metal is still good. Even better you 3D print the rubber part. Then you drive.
I’m headed down to Autozone to recycle the engine mounts. I checked them with a magnet and they are made with roughly two pounds of Aluminum. I couldn’t feel right just trashing them in my dumpster bin. That’s a lot of soda cans. Autozone collects scrap auto parts and recycles them for profit. I like to think I’ll get some of that back as a shareholder.
Re: Fixit Log
Around here in the Yukon, wood cribbing on pad is a popular choice with permafrost condition for small - medium size building. It performs better than post + pad and it also meet enforced building codes (National Building Code).AxelHeyst wrote: ↑Mon May 19, 2025 12:31 pmTechnically speaking, permitting and codes don't exist for single family residential in Alaska, although that might be changing in the near future. Anyway, I'm unaware of any prescriptive code language covering this style of foundation in any jurisdiction. I would happily consult such documents for the design guidance.
For example, page 6 of this ----> https://langford.ca/wp-content/uploads/ ... -Homes.pdf
(The city of langford in B.C. is in a high seismic zone, but no permafrost).
Re: Fixit Log
Had a beginner plumbing DIY adventure with the kitchen tap recently. The kitchen has a dual side-lever tap with two handles for hot and cold, something similar to this:
One day, the lever for the hot water stopped working: no matter how much or which way we turned the lever, the hot water wouldn't stop running. Not "flooding-level incident" but pretty unpleasant. Eventually with prayers and swearing, we managed to turn it off and only used cold water from then on, which is not ideal for activities like actually washing dirty stuff.
So I started poking around and talking to friends, thinking I would have to change the tap and hopefully not the entire sink. But it turns out it's possible to only change the bit that's in the handle. It's called a tap cartridge and I had never seen one before.
Before I could even get that far, I had to figure out how to turn off the water in the house. I had a valve in mind, though it turns out it's more for emergencies and draining the whole system, and there are more conveniently accessible ones... Many, many of them. I managed to stop (most) of the water by turning off 3 valves. There are 4 more unidentified ones that I'll ask the plumber about next time they're around. There's one I'm fairly sure is used for the radiator filler water, but for the others... No clue
Meanwhile, after measuring the cartridge I reassembled the tap. If the water had been completely cut off, I'd probably have just left things disassembled and cycled to the shop to buy the new one.
As it turns out, the problem had nothing to do with the cartridge. Instead, there's a tiny screw under the handle that you need to loosen up to get to the cartridge out. I think that had gotten loose even before. So when I put everything back together and tightened it properly again, the problem with the tap was resolved and we can use - and stop! - the hot water again.
One day, the lever for the hot water stopped working: no matter how much or which way we turned the lever, the hot water wouldn't stop running. Not "flooding-level incident" but pretty unpleasant. Eventually with prayers and swearing, we managed to turn it off and only used cold water from then on, which is not ideal for activities like actually washing dirty stuff.
So I started poking around and talking to friends, thinking I would have to change the tap and hopefully not the entire sink. But it turns out it's possible to only change the bit that's in the handle. It's called a tap cartridge and I had never seen one before.
Before I could even get that far, I had to figure out how to turn off the water in the house. I had a valve in mind, though it turns out it's more for emergencies and draining the whole system, and there are more conveniently accessible ones... Many, many of them. I managed to stop (most) of the water by turning off 3 valves. There are 4 more unidentified ones that I'll ask the plumber about next time they're around. There's one I'm fairly sure is used for the radiator filler water, but for the others... No clue
Meanwhile, after measuring the cartridge I reassembled the tap. If the water had been completely cut off, I'd probably have just left things disassembled and cycled to the shop to buy the new one.
As it turns out, the problem had nothing to do with the cartridge. Instead, there's a tiny screw under the handle that you need to loosen up to get to the cartridge out. I think that had gotten loose even before. So when I put everything back together and tightened it properly again, the problem with the tap was resolved and we can use - and stop! - the hot water again.
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ducknald_don
- Posts: 389
- Joined: Thu Dec 17, 2020 12:31 pm
- Location: Oxford, UK
Re: Fixit Log
I often think those ceramic cartridges are more trouble than they are worth, they don't seem to last any longer than traditional washers. It's usually the washer at the end of the cartridge (red bit in your second picture) that fails but good luck buying just that as it usually has an insert in it rather than being a plain washer.
Re: Fixit Log
Oh, new terminlogy acquired, thank you! When you mean the washer/red bit fails, does that manifest as a leak, or some other thing?
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ducknald_don
- Posts: 389
- Joined: Thu Dec 17, 2020 12:31 pm
- Location: Oxford, UK
Re: Fixit Log
As a dripping tap.
Re: Fixit Log
I have a few upcoming services due for my 2010 Hyundai SantaFe that I am trying to keep running for as long as possible. It is now at 332,000km and hope to hit at least 350,000km with it. (I love having no car payments and have had this vehicle for over 10 years now)
One of the services it needs is was a rear differential gear oil replacement, for some reason in my head I had it being that it was tougher than doing on my old domestic branded vehicles.
Well it was super easy and only needed to remove a simple drain plug and fill plug as well as buy a $12 quart jug hand pump and the $30 bottle of gear oil. WAYYYYY better than the $163 I was quoted from our local shop as I just wanted to get a price reference. So with the extra savings I decided to replace my rolling floor jack that was on sale for $65 dollars off and got it for $89 (I have the jack stands but one of my brothers took my jack years ago). A trip to the parts store, 30 minutes under the vehicle and 2 new tools added for future use all for $50 less than going to the shop.
https://youtu.be/G8wwmFidYWk?si=on65Jl-aKzZp52Jn
I then took a crack at my front transfer case but it is very tight quarters and the fill plug is really in there. Going to give it another try with a different breaker bar socket wrench when I can grab it from my son. That service from the dealer costs $163 as well and now that I have the hand pump would like to do it for the $30 in oil and save $133 in the process. Hope my second crack at it is successful.
https://youtu.be/Bzt77hE4S3E?si=ktmkaaN1knh3yBns
One of the services it needs is was a rear differential gear oil replacement, for some reason in my head I had it being that it was tougher than doing on my old domestic branded vehicles.
Well it was super easy and only needed to remove a simple drain plug and fill plug as well as buy a $12 quart jug hand pump and the $30 bottle of gear oil. WAYYYYY better than the $163 I was quoted from our local shop as I just wanted to get a price reference. So with the extra savings I decided to replace my rolling floor jack that was on sale for $65 dollars off and got it for $89 (I have the jack stands but one of my brothers took my jack years ago). A trip to the parts store, 30 minutes under the vehicle and 2 new tools added for future use all for $50 less than going to the shop.
https://youtu.be/G8wwmFidYWk?si=on65Jl-aKzZp52Jn
I then took a crack at my front transfer case but it is very tight quarters and the fill plug is really in there. Going to give it another try with a different breaker bar socket wrench when I can grab it from my son. That service from the dealer costs $163 as well and now that I have the hand pump would like to do it for the $30 in oil and save $133 in the process. Hope my second crack at it is successful.
https://youtu.be/Bzt77hE4S3E?si=ktmkaaN1knh3yBns