...I made the wife's day by sending a pun to Serious Jockin' and Steve read it out.
The Positivity Thread aka "Today was a great day because....."
- Thread starter MWF
- Start date
GRtak
Forum Addict
I killed the box elder bug! You can run and try to hide, but in the end, I gotcha!
The wife and I got a bit of a break from the rising electricity prices.
tl;dr: Old electricity provider went bust, new one is taking us on at total bargain prices because we’ve been lucky this time.
A friend of ours had started working at one of the many private providers in the summer and convinced us of switching to his company in one of those “find a friend” deals. However, our old contract was still running until next summer, so the switch was still a few months away.
Fast forward to the last couple of weeks and our old provider had to cancel all customer contracts because their own contracts with the grid operators had been cancelled due to non-payment. This means you fall back onto the most basic offering of the (usually) publicly owned local provider, which is of course insanely expensive. Like double the price expensive.
But after a few calls and e-mails, our chosen new provider has agreed to take up where the previous one had left off and we will be charged no more than what we had agreed in the summer. Which the aforementioned friend has called The Jackpot.
tl;dr: Old electricity provider went bust, new one is taking us on at total bargain prices because we’ve been lucky this time.
A friend of ours had started working at one of the many private providers in the summer and convinced us of switching to his company in one of those “find a friend” deals. However, our old contract was still running until next summer, so the switch was still a few months away.
Fast forward to the last couple of weeks and our old provider had to cancel all customer contracts because their own contracts with the grid operators had been cancelled due to non-payment. This means you fall back onto the most basic offering of the (usually) publicly owned local provider, which is of course insanely expensive. Like double the price expensive.
But after a few calls and e-mails, our chosen new provider has agreed to take up where the previous one had left off and we will be charged no more than what we had agreed in the summer. Which the aforementioned friend has called The Jackpot.
Eye-Q
Forum Addict
What a timing for a shelter to appear! I set myself the challenge to cycle to the north sea and back (230 km in total). Currently I'm sitting in a shelter directly at the shore and not 30 seconds after I arrived there it began to rain. Even better: on the return leg I will have tailwind all the way. 
Eye-Q
Forum Addict
It's just a matter of practice. 
The longest ride up until now was 190 km, but I thought in 2022 I could up the ante.
The longest ride up until now was 190 km, but I thought in 2022 I could up the ante.
Eye-Q
Forum Addict
Well, I made it to 190 km ... sort of ...
At 175 km the front tire had a puncture, but the puncture was too big to be filled by the sealant (on the road tires I have a tubeless setup). I do have tubeless patches, but they didn't work and it got dark so I gave up patching. I knew the track I planned would lead me to a city with a train station so I pushed my bike there, a whole 15 km. Afterwards I discovered that I could have gone 1 km back where another train station was...
So far so unpleasant, but at least it didn't rain and there was virtually no traffic at all since I planned the route via back roads. From then on everything clicked into place: as soon as I went up to the platform the train arrived so I didn't have to wait even a minute to get back home. Additionally, the timetables of the regional trains and tubes were pretty spot on so the maximum waiting time between changing trains (I had to change trains twice) was three minutes.
At 175 km the front tire had a puncture, but the puncture was too big to be filled by the sealant (on the road tires I have a tubeless setup). I do have tubeless patches, but they didn't work and it got dark so I gave up patching. I knew the track I planned would lead me to a city with a train station so I pushed my bike there, a whole 15 km. Afterwards I discovered that I could have gone 1 km back where another train station was...
So far so unpleasant, but at least it didn't rain and there was virtually no traffic at all since I planned the route via back roads. From then on everything clicked into place: as soon as I went up to the platform the train arrived so I didn't have to wait even a minute to get back home. Additionally, the timetables of the regional trains and tubes were pretty spot on so the maximum waiting time between changing trains (I had to change trains twice) was three minutes.
DanRoM
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You walked 15 km in cycling shoes? 
Eye-Q
Forum Addict
Well, I use only SPD, not SPD-SL so they feel normal-ish... 
DanRoM
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I use the same so I can at least walk the few steps to the garage and stuff, but 2.5 hours is a bit much, I think 
GRtak
Forum Addict
I wish I had a camera rolling, I got my mom to shoot tea out of her nose.
Sometimes it's the smallest things, sometimes it's the slapstick!
Sometimes it's the smallest things, sometimes it's the slapstick!
Same thing when I got my grandparents to double over laughing with tears.
Scored a little win today:
I wanted a wall shelf for a stereo and had a hard time finding something suitable in stock at any of the chain hardware stores in the area. So I gave up and ordered it from the website of one of those chains.
Unfortunately, the site gave very few details apart from the dimensions, colours and prices, so I didn’t know how much weight the thing supports. It was delivered earlier today and the packaging says 20kg. The combined mass of the stereo and speakers is 19kg.
I wanted a wall shelf for a stereo and had a hard time finding something suitable in stock at any of the chain hardware stores in the area. So I gave up and ordered it from the website of one of those chains.
Unfortunately, the site gave very few details apart from the dimensions, colours and prices, so I didn’t know how much weight the thing supports. It was delivered earlier today and the packaging says 20kg. The combined mass of the stereo and speakers is 19kg.
Soooo we may have just agreed to buy a house? I’ll maybe believe it when I see the contract? Crazy stuff… I may be a bit stunned that this actually worked out for us after visiting Saturday and making a slightly lowball offer 
I found out about a Ukraine aid initiative in my town last weekend, just before I had to depart on a business trip. After returning home yesterday, I went back on the website to check in with them and instead found out that not only do they currently have enough volunteers, they also say that their "waitlist" is long. Donations? They're no longer asking for any of the things I could give (that'd be clothes in my case) and there are photos of what appear to be generous donations of nonperishable foods.
I'll keep an eye on it, but for the moment: thank goodness the response has been that helpful.
I'll keep an eye on it, but for the moment: thank goodness the response has been that helpful.
NecroJoe
Stool Chef
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I'm normally terrified working on anything having to do with gas. Today, I replaced the ignitor on my gas oven. Now...true, that this part doesn't actually involve working on the gas lines. It's purely electrical. However, just getting up the nerve to get near it was a big deal.
And in the end, I properly diagnosed the issue, found the right replacement part, took apart some of the oven, and successfully fixed it.
I won't lie, when I turned the oven on to test it, I immediately walked around the corner to the opppsode side of the refrigerator...just in case.
To provide some insight as to why I have at least some of my fear of gas...when we moved into this home which we had just purchased, I could see this from my driveway:
en.m.wikipedia.org
And in the end, I properly diagnosed the issue, found the right replacement part, took apart some of the oven, and successfully fixed it.
I won't lie, when I turned the oven on to test it, I immediately walked around the corner to the opppsode side of the refrigerator...just in case.
To provide some insight as to why I have at least some of my fear of gas...when we moved into this home which we had just purchased, I could see this from my driveway:
San Bruno pipeline explosion - Wikipedia
The wife and I went to their depot today to drop off some things and ask what else we could bring.
Apparently, lots more people had similar ideas. Just before we got there, a minivan (Ford S-Max or something) had arrived and it looked crammed full of stuff.
Contract signed. Holy crap it’s happening yo!Soooo we may have just agreed to buy a house? I’ll maybe believe it when I see the contract? Crazy stuff… I may be a bit stunned that this actually worked out for us after visiting Saturday and making a slightly lowball offer
Dr_Grip
Made from concentrate
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History repeating. Made lowball offer on an apartment yesterday, got counteroffer today, accepted.Soooo we may have just agreed to buy a house? I’ll maybe believe it when I see the contract? Crazy stuff… I may be a bit stunned that this actually worked out for us after visiting Saturday and making a slightly lowball offer