Three Reasons Why Pets In North America May Get Better Medical Care Than Their Owners Do

[spokewrench]

Actually, she was really good about being washed in the sink.
She was clawing and scratching to get out, but she didn't dig her claws into me.
I think she knew that I was trying to help?

She's a good sport to re-enact that episode so you could take pictures for us!

I vaguely remember bathing a cat in the sink on more than one occasion. I guess it was for fleas. She'd get even by shaking off like a dog. Then I'd wrap her in a towel. Nowadays I'd make it easy on the cat by exposing fleas with an electric shaver. I've heard hairless cats fetch higher prices on the used-cat market!

My memories of washing lobsters are even vaguer, but I remember they would claw when they saw the wash tub because lobsters hate baths. The trick was to put them quickly into cold water, which lobsters don't associate with baths, then heat the tub slowly. Lobsters find warmth so soothing that they don't mind being washed.

You have the same faucet handles I had from 1985 until this year. I was worried because I couldn't even remember what brand it was, to order replacement parts. (They say in plumbing, it's worthwhile to use parts that fit.) Wiping around a spout and two handles was beyond my housekeeping ability, but the real urgency was intellectual.

One day when there was no hot water, I went to the cellar and disassembled the water heater to see what I needed to replace. Everything workedl. When I went upstairs, I had hot water again. As I pondered, I saw that the hot water valve was marked C. I assumed an archvillain had sneaked in the kitchen door and switched handles that very morning. Then I realized I'd probably mixed them up the last time I'd done maintenance, years ago. I hadn't read the handles since because I invariably let my right hand choose. That morning, I'd gone to the sink with an object in my right hand, so I read the faucets to turn the H one with my left. I turned the right one, but my right would have known to turn the left.

I'd always found marked valves too demanding cerebrally, so I bought a faucet with a valve and lever mounted on the spout. The valve was supposed to stick out to the right, making forward hot and back cold. How was I supposed to remember that? I turned it so that the valve comes out over the sink. When the handle is at 1 o'clock, it's cold, and 11 o'clock is hot. I can remember that because 11 is bigger and it takes longer to get hot water. What's more, my dripping hands stay over the basin, so I don't have to wipe behind it.

 

[PCeBiker]

She's a good sport to re-enact that episode so you could take pictures for us!

I saved all her baby pictures.
She's 9½ years old now and hasn't had a bath since she was 6 months old.
She went Fricken Nuts when she was 9 months old so I had to get her fixed.
That calmed her down.

Nowadays I'd make it easy on the cat by exposing fleas with an electric shaver.

I use this once a month now.
It kills everything except the cat.

You have the same faucet handles I had from 1985 until this year. I was worried because I couldn't even remember what brand it was, to order replacement parts.

I replaced the valve seals a few times until it was time to replace the valves.

The valves were old-school where the hot water valve was reverse thread with a heat resistant heavy duty build so the tap wouldn't dwindle to a trickle when the hot water got to it and heated it up.

I was told at the hardware store that they don't make those anymore and they just use the same cold water valves for hot and cold.

He got a kick out of my hot water valve. He hadn't seen one in over a decade.

I installed a new faucet a couple of years ago,..

When the handle is at 1 o'clock, it's cold, and 11 o'clock is hot.

I put cold at 1 o'clock and hot at 11 o'clock.

I also put a separate valve on the hot water line to turn down the maximum water flow so that I don't waste hot water.

 

[spokewrench]

I installed mine 5 months ago. I've decided not to file a copycat lawsuit because my attorney has advised that if you did it first, I'd be inviting a ruinous countersuit.

Instead of a valve, I installed a restrictor from customer service which in my case reduced the flow from 1.6 to 1.2 gallons per minute. I figured I wouldn't leave the hot water running enough to worry about gallons. I was concerned about splashing. I'd noticed that moving the handle over the basin kept the area behind dry, that inspired me to eliminate splashing from the stream.

An aerator reduces splashing by reducing the density of the stream so that it's easier for the cohesion of the water to produce a laminar flow around an obstruction. The aerator on the new nozzle worked well. The problem was that the new nozzle was two inches higher than the old. It was 14 inches from the bottom of the sink and 8 inches above counter level. The old one was only 6 inches above counter level.

As an aerated stream descends from a nozzle, it increases velocity by gravity, and it increases density by losing bubbles. The new nozzle had two extra inches for a stream to increase its splashing potential. On this faucet, the nozzle can be pulled out on a hose. I found an old amber pill bottle with the same diameter as the spout. I sawed the bottom off, sanded it square, and taped it to the spout as 2-inch extension, bringing the nozzle down to 6 inches above counter level, like the old one. It reduced splashing, and after 5 months of daily use, it's still solid. Pill-bottle plastic seems very durable, and duck tape holds up well in this application.

I hadn't thought the flow restrictor would make much difference but it did. At last, a dry counter!

At the farm, the Dobermans sometimes caught cats for fun. They were fast and worked as a team. I was horrified the first time I saw a Doberman's jaws snap shut around a fleeing cat. No harm was done. Under it all, those dogs were gentle. One cat would ignore their lunges. They never chased him because if he wouldn't run, he was no fun.

One day I found one of the Dobermans in a pool of blood coming from his face and ears. I knew what had happened. He'd discovered a litter of newborn kittens, and the mother had lacerated him repeatedly as he investigated. He was too good-natured to retaliate.

 

[PDoz]

Imagine a world where we treated people with the same dignity as cats.

Homeless, flea infested and need a clean? No worries, come live at my place and I'll throw in some free healthcare.

 

[PCeBiker]

I figured I wouldn't leave the hot water running enough to worry about gallons.

I'm as stingy with electricity for my hot water heater as I am with my e-bike.

I Never leave the hot water running unless I'm using it.
I didn't like wasting a liter of hot water waiting for the hot water to get to my faucet, so I installed ¼" plastic waterline and valve from my water heater to my kitchen faucet.

I would just wash my hands in cold water because I didn't want to waste a liter of hot to wash my hands.

Now I only waste ¼ liter of water to get to the hot stuff.
It still takes the same amount of time to get hot, because I reduced the current flow by ~75%.

I ended up spending almost $100 on plumbing parts and supplies because I kept buying the wrong connectors and valves and learning as I went along.

But it's working great and I now wash my hands in hot water.

I'm sure it will pay for itself in about 50 years.
Too bad I won't live long enough to break even.

 

[spokewrench]

In the 1990s, I noticed that at the washing machine, hot water was much slower than cold. I saw 3/4 and 1/2 inch pipe connected to the water heater. I figured the plumber had used the smaller pipe coming out so there would be half as much water getting cold between uses and you'd get hot water from the tank in half the time. Lately, I realized it's the other way around: 1/2" for cold water to the heater and 3/4" coming out. What was he thinking?

 

[PDoz]

In the 1990s, I noticed that at the washing machine, hot water was much slower than cold. I saw 3/4 and 1/2 inch pipe connected to the water heater. I figured the plumber had used the smaller pipe coming out so there would be half as much water getting cold between uses and you'd get hot water from the tank in half the time. Lately, I realized it's the other way around: 1/2" for cold water to the heater and 3/4" coming out. What was he thinking?

Probably allowing for the drop in pressure through the water heater and trying to make sure you had pressure at the tap. ( sorry pcbiker, but you're going to regret those puny pipes in a few years when they start clogging up, or your water heater starts to struggle)

 

[PCeBiker]

( sorry pcbiker, but you're going to regret those puny pipes in a few years when they start clogging up, or your water heater starts to struggle)

That's OK.
I bought 100' of tubing.
I can replace the line in ten minutes now that I know how to do it.

I only used the ¼" tubing for the hot water to the kitchen.
I used half inch PEX pipe for the rest of the house.

And our water is quite soft at only 112 PPM.

 

[spokewrench]

Probably allowing for the drop in pressure through the water heater and trying to make sure you had pressure at the tap. ( sorry pcbiker, but you're going to regret those puny pipes in a few years when they start clogging up, or your water heater starts to struggle)

I measured with a caliper, and I was wrong. The white supply line looks smaller than the gray hot water line, but they're both 1/2". I know where I got the idea that the hot water was more restricted. When I'd set my washer on "warm" the mix with both valves open was pretty cold. In fact, if the winter supply temperature was 55 F and the hot water 115, the mix would be 85 F, about the same as the supply temperature in summer. (I grew up with steam heat. The boiler produced water so hot that a mix was plenty hot.)

 

[spokewrench]

That's OK.
I bought 100' of tubing.
I can replace the line in ten minutes now that I know how to do it.

I only used the ¼" tubing for the hot water to the kitchen.
I used half inch PEX pipe for the rest of the house.

And our water is quite soft at only 112 PPM.

The 12 feet of 1/2" pipe from the heater to my sink holds about 500ml. If the pipe contents turned cold, drawing hot water from the tank would take 7 seconds. Heating that 500ml of water could cost me about 1/5 cent worth of electricity.

Years ago, the power company sent out packages of energy-saving items such as aerators. It included a few feet of 1/4" foam tape with foil on one side and adhesive on the other. It was supposed to be wrapped around hot water pipes in a spiral. It would take a pro to do it right, and it wasn't worth hiring a pro for a little thin insulation. I soon discovered that the adhesive didn't stick long.

More recently, they distributed 6 feet of foam tubing. It worked so well that I bought more to insulate to the sink. I'm sure it doesn't save even a penny a day, but it will keep water lukewarm for hours, and usually, lukewarm is all I need. That's more convenient than letting it run 7 seconds.

If 5 times a day, I want to draw off the lukewarm pipe water to get freshly heated water, that would amount to 35 seconds of waiting and a penny's worth of electricity. Your smaller pipe would save most of that penny and probably most of that waiting.

I think with plastic pipe, you don't have to worry about mineral buildup.

 

[PDoz]

I think with plastic pipe, you don't have to worry about mineral buildup.

You still get a biofilm , and some mineral build up . Or at least, we do - but our water is essentially diluted bird feces ( rainwater collected from our roof, stored in our water tank, pumped through less than perfect water filters)

BTW, we recently fitted a small volume under sink electric water heater. It's soooo nice having immediate hot water!!! It was a least worst option for a plumbing disaster - we had a copper pipe decide 22 was a long enough life. It was our sink hot water pipe - having come down from the roof, through a concrete slab, then up to an island bench. We lost half a tank of water because we were away for the weekend (12,000 gallons ). Running a new pipe wasn't viable - the cause of death was in our slab.

 

[PCeBiker]

BTW, we recently fitted a small volume under sink electric water heater. It's soooo nice having immediate hot water!!!

I was considering one of those to make coffee or tea but it was around $800.

I wanted to install a half size water heater but it's $400.
I bought a full size water heater for $184 at the time.
Then I turned the water temperature down to just hot enough for a shower to save energy, help preserve the life of the tank, and satisfy my ridiculous OCD minimalist lifestyle.

They've also got these electric hot water on demand faucets, but I'd want to spend more than $40 on something with such a potential for failure or disaster.

 

[spokewrench]

You still get a biofilm , and some mineral build up . Or at least, we do - but our water is essentially diluted bird feces ( rainwater collected from our roof, stored in our water tank, pumped through less than perfect water filters)

At the farm, the pump was in a sort of cement doghouse around a spring 100 feet from the house. The intake wasn't screened, and sometimes there would be chunks of salamander in the drinking water. I replaced pipes but didn't notice a slimy film inside.

I've discovered that laminar flow is a sort of limitation. The water against the sides of a pipe tends to stay where it is, and the flow at the center is fastest. Two cups from my kitchen faucet should be enough to clear the standing water and start getting hot water from the heater. Instead, it takes 4 cups to reach 100 F. The gradual warming seems to come from the slower water, nearer the pipe walls, mixing with the faster water, near the center.

 

[PDoz]

I was considering one of those to make coffee or tea but it was around $800.

I wanted to install a half size water heater but it's $400.
I bought a full size water heater for $184 at the time.
Then I turned the water temperature down to just hot enough for a shower to save energy, help preserve the life of the tank, and satisfy my ridiculous OCD minimalist lifestyle.

They've also got these electric hot water on demand faucets, but I'd want to spend more than $40 on something with such a potential for failure or disaster.

View attachment 168837

Our standard electi al outlet is 10 amp ( 240v) , so that faucet would need an electrician to install it!

 

[PCeBiker]

Our standard electi al outlet is 10 amp ( 240v) , so that faucet would need an electrician to install it!

Having 3000 Watts concentrated into a 2" by 8" cylinder sounds even more dangerous than the no-name lithium batteries from China.

 

[spokewrench]

To make coffee I have a thermostatic teapot plugged in by the sink. I'd pour a cup of boiling water into a Vietnamese coffee maker. Now I make instant, which doesn't need scalding hot water.

Reading the meter before and after a shower, I found it took 4.5 gallons. (In the name of conservation, the power company sent out 1.6 gpm shower heads, so I replaced my 1.2 gpm head.) That means the water was on 2 minutes 48 seconds from the time I turned it on to let it get warm.

That was 4.5 gallons of a mix. Without measuring the temperature, I don't know how much was hot. I'll pretend it was all hot. It would be 16.7 kg with a winter temperature rise of 34 C. The specific heat of water is about 4 kj per kg per C, so it took about 2.77 kj. That's 631 watt hours: enough to recharge my Radrunner after 140 miles.

I pay about 12 cents per kwh, so that shower cost me somewhat less than 7.6 cents. Until now, I thought it was because of my ebikes that my power bills come addressed to "Mr. Moneybags." Now I see it's my filthy habit of showering. In the future I'll do it only in summer, when a 4.5 gallon shower would take only 380 watt hours (4.5 cents).

I could cut my winter cost to 3.8 cents by switching back to the 1.2 gpm head and leaving the water on only 1 minute and 52 seconds. I'd need an electric timer with a buzzer to tell me when to turn off the water. I could use duck tape to fasten it to the shower wall.

 

[PDoz]

Heathens.

For my morning coffee, I grind 18.7 gms of my favorite beans into my dosing cup, then transfer them into my lelit espresso machine, extracting 34 - 36 gms at 94 degrees c over 28- 30 seconds. If the ambient humidity increases sufficiently , I'll tweak the dose to get the balance back where I prefer it - a fraction of a turn coarser on my Eureka grinder , perhaps an extra 0.2 gms when humidity is extreme.

Instant? Life is short.

 

[PCeBiker]

I used to hang my laundry in the house to dry, but then decided to splurge, be wasteful, and start using my clothes dryer.
I put a gentle reminder of my wasteful ways on my clothes dryer,..

(The "Warm" setting isn't actually heated. It's just the power required to spin the motor.)

 

[spokewrench]

Instant? Life is short.

That's why I switched to instant. The Vietnamese system is to put the perforated base plate on the cup, put the tin cup with the perforated bottom on the plate, add a tablespoon of coffee, put the perforated water spreader on the coffee, twist it until the coffee seems level, put a tablespoon of water on the spreader to get some moisture into the grounds, and a minute or so later, pour on water at 206 F. Then wait for it to seep through. Seepage time could vary a lot.

Instant saves hassle, but you're right. Instant doesn't taste as good. Maybe I'll switch back.

 

[PCeBiker]

I use a one cup coffee maker that comes with a reusable stainless steel mesh coffee filter.
It doesn't waste energy and is almost as easy as instant.

I put a lighter to a screw and melted/threaded it into the lid to use as a handle to bang the lid a few times to keep it from dripping when it was done.

My stainless steel, insulated, double walled mug is awesome.
Coffee stays hot and mug doesn't get too hot to hold.