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Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11377] Wed, 11 February 2009 19:44 Go to next message
jmeadows  is currently offline jmeadows
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Further Applications of Hot Water


Smooshes!
Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11378 is a reply to message #11377 ] Wed, 11 February 2009 19:54 Go to previous messageGo to next message
jmeadows  is currently offline jmeadows
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Those are some footnotes there, Robin. *awe*

I vote kettlesful, though my spell-checker prefers kettlefuls.

What does a cigarette lighter do to help you unfreeze your lock? I feel like I'm missing something important here...


Smooshes!
Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11380 is a reply to message #11378 ] Wed, 11 February 2009 20:09 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Robin  is currently offline Robin
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Warms it up! :)
Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11381 is a reply to message #11380 ] Wed, 11 February 2009 20:11 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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Robin wrote on Wed, 11 February 2009 20:09

Warms it up! Smile


Don't you have to plug it into the car thing first? If you can't get into your car, you can't plug it in, right?


Smooshes!
Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11383 is a reply to message #11377 ] Wed, 11 February 2009 20:29 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Black Bear  is currently offline Black Bear
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no smuggling into the semi-oblivious parental abode of inappropriate romantic partners.

Hmm... what would be an inappropriate romantic partner for a sighthound... a rabbit? "But we...we LOVE each other..."

Which puts me in mind (as so many things do) of a comic--in this case, on the perils of blind dating:

index.php?t=getfile&id=162&private=0

(credit where credit's due--that's a strip from Big Top, by my friend Rob Harrell...)

  • Attachment: bt060722.gif
    (Size: 16.23KB, Downloaded 401 time(s))


"The time is always right to do what's right."--MLK Jr.
Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11384 is a reply to message #11377 ] Wed, 11 February 2009 20:43 Go to previous messageGo to next message
dances-with-needles  is currently offline dances-with-needles
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She means butane flame cigarette lighter also good for torching coat sleeves if held wrong. If you can get hold of a hypodermic needle and some rubbing alcohol you can inject the alcohol into the lock and it will a) thaw the lock and b) drive the water out. The problem is, that using hot water keeps water in the mechanism and creates a continuing cycle of frozen lock. Isopropyl alcohol encourages the water to leave the lock and defrosts it as well. The only thing that I would say is under no circumstances should you use both the lighter and the alcohol. Or if you do, please take a photo, it should be spectacular.


Dances
Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11385 is a reply to message #11384 ] Wed, 11 February 2009 20:51 Go to previous messageGo to next message
xylia  is currently offline xylia
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My DH says WD-40 will work in the lock too--keep it from freezing!
Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11387 is a reply to message #11377 ] Wed, 11 February 2009 21:01 Go to previous messageGo to next message
skating librarian  is currently offline skating librarian
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Actually I prefer preventatives ... some graphite lubricant ... and trying all the doors, in case one didn't freeze.

If you do use the lighter and the car key trick, be sure you are wearing gloves.

When at home I like the hair dryer with a long extension cord for serious icing. That is, when it's not just moisture in the lock, but ice sealed gaskets and a thick coating all over the door handle. In cases like that the hairdryer can also help with the ice on the windscreen.

I understand that it is possible to buy a little gizmo, battery operated, which heats up when you insert it in the lock.

The hot water will just prolong your misery I fear, as water in the lock will just cause it to freeze up again.

Tonight's footnotes were spectacular. I ended up feeling dizzy from the twists and turns.
Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11389 is a reply to message #11377 ] Wed, 11 February 2009 21:13 Go to previous messageGo to next message
shalea  is currently offline shalea
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For what it's worth, I like the WD-40 option! I have a padlock on the door to the crawlspace under my house, and once or twice a year I squirt a little WD-40 into the works and jiggle everything around good.

icon10.gif  Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11398 is a reply to message #11377 ] Wed, 11 February 2009 22:09 Go to previous messageGo to next message
judith  is currently offline judith
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Gee. I was going to suggest buying a container truck full of those cans of compressed air with the little tubes on the end, that one uses to clean computer keyboards, and spend a few days blowing them into the locks to dry them out against the perenially damp UK climate, but I like the "better living with chemistry" ideas better. Smile
Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11400 is a reply to message #11377 ] Wed, 11 February 2009 22:21 Go to previous messageGo to next message
blondviolinist  is currently offline blondviolinist
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On Topic: seconding the WD-40 trick. Much better than putting water in your lock.

Off Topic: Because of Robin's rampant footnotes, I usually read her entries in two different viewing tabs: one for the entry itself, and one for the footnotes. Saves tons of scrolling, and wondering which footnote is referring to what. I just click back and forth between the footnotes and the "main" text. This system usually works delightfully well -- except on days like today when the footnote's footnotes have footnotes. Smile I refuse to open five tabs for one blog entry. Very Happy


"Purity of heart is to will one thing." Kirkegaard
Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11401 is a reply to message #11387 ] Wed, 11 February 2009 22:45 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Maren  is currently offline Maren
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skating librarian wrote on Wed, 11 February 2009 21:01


I understand that it is possible to buy a little gizmo, battery operated, which heats up when you insert it in the lock.



I like the sound of those as well, but they're not reviewed well (there are other brands on Amazon but they fared worse). A safer bet is this stuff which I think is basically WD-40 with a tip that inserts into the lock.

I always had more problems with the doors freezing shut under solid sheets of ice, like you mentioned. Invariably I would only be able to get the back passenger side open, then have to climb over the center console to get to the driver's seat. I briefly had a heated ice scraper which was brilliant but cheaply made (I don't know what brand--the one that I linked to is for illustrative purposes only). I think I just stepped on the cord while scraping, and it pulled right out of the handle. I will definitely locate a sturdier one of those if I ever move to where people have to scrape their cars again. Razz
Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11403 is a reply to message #11377 ] Wed, 11 February 2009 23:19 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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I vaguely remember having a little spray de-icer that I used to carry around in Indiana and Michigan during the winter, in case my car door lock froze. BTW, various sites with information all say using boiling water will exacerbate the situation if the cold weather persists. Some of the suggestions made by others in the earlier comments are all good, common-sense ideas. One site I read said to heat the key with the lighter, insert it into the lock, unlock the car door, then spray the lock immediately with WD-40 or another similar lubricant to prevent further freezing.

My problem was the entire door sticking. Since I tended to use silicon spray to lubricate the sliding door on my van, that was the door that would eventually open. I would then have to climb into the front part of the van to start the engine and get the defrosting action going. Yeah. That's another reason I hate winter. However, I never had to deal with rambunctious hellhounds while trying to do all this.

Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11408 is a reply to message #11384 ] Thu, 12 February 2009 00:18 Go to previous messageGo to next message
R and B  is currently offline R and B
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Its amazing what you learn on this blog!
Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11414 is a reply to message #11377 ] Thu, 12 February 2009 02:20 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Diane in MN  is currently offline Diane in MN
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I'd vote for kettlesful, myself, and also for the graphite or WD-40 in the lock. We've never had frozen locks here despite the extreme cold because the air is so dry in the winter, but it was a problem when we lived in Baltimore, and the graphite worked very well. The wind off the Chesapeake is vicious. I had a frozen transmission once--had to sit in the parking lot idling the engine for half an hour until it defrosted enough to shift.

Here's hoping your cold snap comes to an end before the geranium-and-rose house disintegrates completely.



"The point of books is to have way too many but to always feel you never have enough . . . " Louise Erdrich
Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11415 is a reply to message #11377 ] Thu, 12 February 2009 02:36 Go to previous messageGo to next message
southdowner  is currently offline southdowner
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twenty-thirding the WD40; and love the description of dog giggles...
If you do this back at him you can have quite the conversation before one or the other of you breaks into helpless giggles. Dog giggles appear to present as sneezing and tail-wagging.
...and the idea of self-distributing hellhounds - if we had a generous supply of hellhounds we could have a weather-type map showing their distribution
"tonight there are localised warnings of hellhounds clumping on sofas and by firesides..." Very Happy

And being able to go on stolidly ringing Grandsire doubles no matter WHAT is going on elsewhere in the ringing chamber is a Pearl of Great Price in the ringing community
Yaay! on being able to ring steadily despite whatever may happen around you^, and hoping you get more chances to practice Stedman
^I read a ringing quiz recently and questions included - what do you do if you want to sneeze while ringing? and - what do you do if a baby crawls up to your feet while you are ringing? -Aaaaaarrrgh!


Someone says "pie" and we all go on alert, like meercats. "Pie? Where?" - Blackbear
icon7.gif  Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11418 is a reply to message #11377 ] Thu, 12 February 2009 03:08 Go to previous messageGo to next message
amp15  is currently offline amp15
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I used the hot water method for years, and even took along a filled termobottle when visiting in the evening. Then one very cold evening the door froze while on my way home!

I'm now driving with an oil-radiator on the backseat and an extension cord beside it. My home, my workplace, and most of the other places I go to often, all have either an outdoor electric outlet you can turn on from the inside, or a window into a bathroom, kitchen, utility room with an electric socket I can use. When I plug in the radiator 15-20 min before I want to leave, I can go enter a nice warm car with no frozen door.

This looks ridiculous, but works so well I even had my brother make a crate to keep the radiator upright.


Anette, the Great Dane
Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11425 is a reply to message #11377 ] Thu, 12 February 2009 04:44 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Guest
http://www.amazon.com/Chek-Windshield-icer-Spray-Aerosol/dp/ B000NZOA76

http://www.rainx.com/Products/Windshield_Treatment/De-Icer.a spx

Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11427 is a reply to message #11384 ] Thu, 12 February 2009 06:24 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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dances-with-needles wrote on Wed, 11 February 2009 20:43

She means butane flame cigarette lighter also good for torching coat sleeves if held wrong.


Oh! Hah!

Now I feel really stupid. I *know* there are cigarette lighters other than the ones you plug into the car. Really, I do! Okay, that makes a lot of sense. Thanks!


Smooshes!
Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11432 is a reply to message #11427 ] Thu, 12 February 2009 10:20 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Mrs Redboots  is currently offline Mrs Redboots
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jmeadows wrote on Thu, 12 February 2009 11:24

dances-with-needles wrote on Wed, 11 February 2009 20:43

She means butane flame cigarette lighter also good for torching coat sleeves if held wrong.


Oh! Hah!

Now I feel really stupid. I *know* there are cigarette lighters other than the ones you plug into the car. Really, I do! Okay, that makes a lot of sense. Thanks!


In fact, wouldn't a stove gas-lighter (or barbecue lighter, whatever) like these http://www.germes-online.com/direct/dbimage/50290289/Gas_Lighters.jpg
be better, as easier to manipulate into the lock?


Mrs Redboots
I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11436 is a reply to message #11377 ] Thu, 12 February 2009 11:30 Go to previous messageGo to next message
skating librarian  is currently offline skating librarian
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http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/479813.html

I think this has a lot of good info. Pros and cons of various methods ... and warnings, particularly the ones about not applying too much heat to the vicinity of the lock because of plastic parts.

Live and learn!


"Winning a war is like winning an earthquake" Jeanette Rankin
Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11437 is a reply to message #11377 ] Thu, 12 February 2009 11:31 Go to previous messageGo to next message
AJLR  is currently offline AJLR
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Quote:

because by now the locks are green and squishy and swamplike and won’t dry out till July


OK, how about Atlas makes you a tiny little detachable portico that you could hang over the handle/lock every night, to keep the rain off? Smile

Quote:

Under Peter’s too, for that matter. He’s used to me but there are limits. My husband goes to bed at about 10:30.


I quite like the idea of you standing under his window, serenading him with inventive words and phrases. Just call it a different sort of extended Valentine gift, much better than the slushy stuff!

Quote:

there haven’t been too many Days of Falling Water^^^, but I can remember one or two, when we went out for four walks, half an hour each, which was as long as any of us could stand, because I quite like my cottage in its present configuration, and did not approve of the threatened redecoration.


I suppose they couldn't just be let loose inside Third House for an hour? It sounds as if any depredations they might make there wouldn't be noticed much at the moment...

Quote:

Consumed in the somewhat unlikely shade of two furiously flowering patio fruit trees. Very pretty pink flowers, my little peach and my little nectarine. You just don’t really expect them indoors.


Well, at least you're following the correct horticultural method for avoiding Peach Leaf Curl. As you will know, that does say to keep them covered over so the rain doesn't splash up on them from the earth between January and April. Just remember to brush the flowers over with a little soft brush as an aid to pollination (unless you also have a leftover-from-CHALICE stash of bees in there with all the flowering plants?) Smile


"Never let a computer know you're in a hurry."
Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11450 is a reply to message #11381 ] Thu, 12 February 2009 19:01 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Robin  is currently offline Robin
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The generation gap is worse than I realised. You know, those snappy things that in old movies the hero whips out to light the heroine's cigarette. FIRE! I'm sure it plays hell with your paint job but I don't suppose kettlesful of boiling water are doing it much good either.

Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11451 is a reply to message #11383 ] Thu, 12 February 2009 19:03 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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BEARS DON'T EAT RABBITS. Much.
Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11452 is a reply to message #11384 ] Thu, 12 February 2009 19:04 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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Yes, the coat sleeve thing is why I've tended to prefer boiling water.
Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11453 is a reply to message #11398 ] Thu, 12 February 2009 19:08 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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Yes, I'm definitely going to try the WD 40. Thank you to those far sighted pragmatic folks who have recced it.

I've tended to use the lighter on the LOCK I'm afraid because I end up burning my FINGERS, and the plastic head of the key starts to Smell Funny and . . .
Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11454 is a reply to message #11400 ] Thu, 12 February 2009 19:09 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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. . . Heh heh heh heh. Don't want to make it too EASY. YOu're all USED to mere footnotes by now. :)

(Also, some nights I have more brain than other nights . . . )
Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11458 is a reply to message #11401 ] Thu, 12 February 2009 19:14 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Robin  is currently offline Robin
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Maren writes: I like the sound of those as well, but they're not reviewed well (there are other brands on Amazon but they fared worse). A safer bet is this stuff which I think is basically WD-40 with a tip that inserts into the lock.

I always had more problems with the doors freezing shut under solid sheets of ice, like you mentioned. Invariably I would only be able to get the back passenger side open, then have to climb over the center console to get to the driver's seat. I briefly had a heated ice scraper which was brilliant but cheaply made (I don't know what brand--the one that I linked to is for illustrative purposes only). I think I just stepped on the cord while scraping, and it pulled right out of the handle. I will definitely locate a sturdier one of those if I ever move to where people have to scrape their cars again. :p
[/quote]

Ah yes the crawling over the seats experience: I have more than once crawled in from the *boot*, because Wolfgang's boot lock is permanently peculiar and I can sometimes jigger it open when everything else is solid friz. So over TWO ranks of seats, joy. And I didn't find out till this winter that the useful looking scraper I bought years ago because I'm from Maine and you ought to have one even if you live in southern England is ACTUALLY A PIECE OF CRAP. There's something wrong with the *angle* of the scraper edge--the rubber wiper edge works just fine but not the edge for ICE. NEXT WINTER I am going to be SO ready . . .

[Updated on: Thu, 12 February 2009 19:15]

Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11459 is a reply to message #11450 ] Thu, 12 February 2009 19:17 Go to previous messageGo to next message
jmeadows  is currently offline jmeadows
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Robin wrote on Thu, 12 February 2009 19:01

The generation gap is worse than I realised. You know, those snappy things that in old movies the hero whips out to light the heroine's cigarette. FIRE! I'm sure it plays hell with your paint job but I don't suppose kettlesful of boiling water are doing it much good either.




No no, it's the gap between my ears.

I even *have* a big lighter (for candles when the power goes out), but I wasn't thinking of that at all. You said cigarette lighter close to the word car, and that's where my head went. I think of the other things just as lighters.

Gap between my ears. Generation gap is right on schedule.


Smooshes!
Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11460 is a reply to message #11415 ] Thu, 12 February 2009 19:18 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Robin  is currently offline Robin
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...and the idea of self-distributing hellhounds - if we had a generous supply of hellhounds we could have a weather-type map showing their distribution
"tonight there are localised warnings of hellhounds clumping on sofas and by firesides..." :d

*****Hysterical laughter*****

And being able to go on stolidly ringing Grandsire doubles no matter WHAT is going on elsewhere in the ringing chamber is a Pearl of Great Price in the ringing community
Yaay! on being able to ring steadily despite whatever may happen around you^, and hoping you get more chances to practice Stedman
^I read a ringing quiz recently and questions included - what do you do if you want to sneeze while ringing? and - what do you do if a baby crawls up to your feet while you are ringing? -Aaaaaarrrgh![/quote]

**********BABIES? FIND ANOTHER TOWER.

. . . I mean, LOOSE babies? We have a baby at our tower, but we TIE HER UP before we ring. :)

[Updated on: Thu, 12 February 2009 19:19]

Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11461 is a reply to message #11418 ] Thu, 12 February 2009 19:22 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Robin  is currently offline Robin
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Gosh. Yes. I remember those. My Subaru was very good at *starting* no matter what the weather but older cars in fierce weather . . . you had the little gizmo hooked on the engine block and the cord run through your bathroom/kitchen window and a LOT of blankets plugging the draught: and your elderly whatever coughed into life next morning.
Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11462 is a reply to message #11432 ] Thu, 12 February 2009 19:24 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Robin  is currently offline Robin
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Yes, but they don't fit in your pocket/knapsack so well. This is the fatal 'keeping it in the glove box' moment. :)
Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11463 is a reply to message #11460 ] Thu, 12 February 2009 19:45 Go to previous messageGo to next message
southdowner  is currently offline southdowner
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Quote:

...I read a ringing quiz recently and questions included - what do you do if you want to sneeze while ringing? and - what do you do if a baby crawls up to your feet while you are ringing? -Aaaaaarrrgh!

Robin wrote on Fri, 13 February 2009 00:18


**********BABIES? FIND ANOTHER TOWER.

. . . I mean, LOOSE babies? We have a baby at our tower, but we TIE HER UP before we ring. Smile

question 7
I can't imagine anyone letting a baby loose in a bell tower - !!!


Someone says "pie" and we all go on alert, like meercats. "Pie? Where?" - Blackbear
Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11465 is a reply to message #11451 ] Thu, 12 February 2009 19:49 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Black Bear  is currently offline Black Bear
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Robin wrote on Thu, 12 February 2009 19:03

BEARS DON'T EAT RABBITS. Much.


Not much. Bears eat grubs and berries... and cookies, and pad thai. More the latter than the former, really. Smile


"The time is always right to do what's right."--MLK Jr.
Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11469 is a reply to message #11377 ] Thu, 12 February 2009 19:58 Go to previous messageGo to next message
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Catching up on the comments here was a delightful LOL way to end my day. Thank you all!
Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11480 is a reply to message #11377 ] Thu, 12 February 2009 21:26 Go to previous messageGo to next message
holmes44  is currently offline holmes44
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man, no one can stay sad when the read the forum.thanks for the light relief.


Bonnie Holmes the faster ahead I go, the more behind I get
Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11484 is a reply to message #11377 ] Thu, 12 February 2009 22:06 Go to previous messageGo to next message
cgbookcat1  is currently offline cgbookcat1
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Try a culinary butane torch. It's good for de-icing, and when you're done you can make creme brulee and bananas foster!

My previous car was particularly temperamental in the winter. The front doors would freeze shut (or open, occasionally), the back doors could only be opened from the inside (reverse child-safety?), and the windows stuck, so for 10 years I regularly climbed through my trunk to enter the car in the winter and hope things thawed enough I could get out. I received many stares in public parking lots.
Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11496 is a reply to message #11461 ] Fri, 13 February 2009 04:07 Go to previous messageGo to next message
amp15  is currently offline amp15
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The little thingies are a lot more elegant, but they cost about 10 times as much as a radiator. Plus you must pay a mechanic to install it. The radiator cost about as much as a tank of gas, you can just place it on a seat, and closing the car door on the cord does no damage.
At home I use the cord for the electric lawnmower. It runs from the socket by my interior staircase (so I can just flip it on when heading for my kitchen in the morning), out a small drilled hole in the edge of a window-frame, across the lawn, and into the car. When I want to drive I just disconnect and hang the end of the cord over a branch of the quince tree. I use duct tape to insure that there gets no water into the downwards hanging socket. It's worked for more than 10 winters.


Anette, the Great Dane
Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11499 is a reply to message #11377 ] Fri, 13 February 2009 06:32 Go to previous messageGo to next message
jmeadows  is currently offline jmeadows
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6:00am brilliant idea.

Robin, I know how to thaw your car.

FLAMETHROWER.

Should thaw it out in no time.

Plus, fire pretty.


Smooshes!
Re: Further Applications of Hot Water [message #11501 is a reply to message #11499 ] Fri, 13 February 2009 11:40 Go to previous messageGo to previous message
Vikkik is currently online Vikkik
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jmeadows wrote on Fri, 13 February 2009 11:32

6:00am brilliant idea.

Robin, I know how to thaw your car.

FLAMETHROWER.

Should thaw it out in no time.

Plus, fire pretty.



Jodi, I have a friend who you really should meet! That's EXACTLY the kind of thing she'd say. So much so in fact that for a minute I thought "How come Rosie is posting on Robin's forum?"


Don't worry about the dust bunnies, they're just here to guard the treasure.....
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