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Economy: Landfills (and thrift stores) hurting as consumers repair, reuse
The News Tribune (Tacoma WA) ^ | 4/25/09

Posted on 04/26/2009 3:37:32 PM PDT by llevrok

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To: MrEdd

T-minus how long until some socialist supporting clown will use this “story” to say this:

If we didn’t have capitalism we wouldn’t have so much stuff and so many landfills wouldn’t have been filled in which release methane which have been causing temperatures to rise due to it being one of the ways man, undoubtedly, has been causing global warming...


21 posted on 04/26/2009 4:08:40 PM PDT by phatus maximus ( John 6:29. Learn it, love it, live it.)
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To: oldteen

We need to bail out the landfill industry...put a TARP over the dump.


22 posted on 04/26/2009 4:09:39 PM PDT by dogcaller
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To: cubreporter

Your post was a breath of fresh air, thank you.


23 posted on 04/26/2009 4:27:12 PM PDT by diamond6 (Is SIDS preventable? www.Stopsidsnow.com)
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To: wally_bert

Well, I’ve taken coffee makers apart and cannibalized them to make a good working one. Whenever possible, I repair instead of replace.

My dishwasher was leaking so I had to pull the motor and the pump to redo the seal, works like a charm now. That was kind of a fascinating exercise because the pumps on them are bi-directional, if the motor spins one way, it pumps water into (through) the system, and if the motor spins in the other direction, then it pumps the water out of the system!

But you are right. I would guesstimate that 95% of the time when something breaks, your average Joe (or Jill) doesn’t have the time or inclination to fix it, even assuming they knew how..


24 posted on 04/26/2009 4:28:28 PM PDT by djf (Live quiet. Dream loud.)
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To: djf
I finally got around to fixing the broken pull cord on my troybuilt 5550 generator a couple of weeks ago. That was an adventure. The biggest aggravation was having to take the float bowl off to get the housing clear.

I would have taken the carb off but it had oddball fittings that would strip if I did anything but use the special tool that I didn't have for it. Putting the float bowl back on and aligned right took a few tries but I got it. I also remembered why I don't like working on carbs of any kind. I really don't know where to get a hold of something like that. It is a Briggs Stratton which I am 99% sure.

I was never the greatest small engine guy in the world but the old generator starts right up. There is a tiny bit of slack in the cord. The oil pressure safety switch is apparently defective on some models like mine. It will run fine for about 45 minutes or so then start to stumble and almost shutdown and then it will come right back. I need to track down a replacement switch.

Maybe when the surgeon releases me this Friday hopefully I can get back to doing stuff around here. I feel so much better overall than before going in. My gall bladder blew out on me recently and I had the first real surgery of my life. Looking back it may have been giving me problems for a very, very long time. At least I have become reacquainted with Bonanza and Gunsmoke. Favorites of my Grandfather.

25 posted on 04/26/2009 4:44:29 PM PDT by wally_bert (Tactical Is Still Missing A Chair! Star Wreck In The Pirkinning......)
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To: cubreporter

i sure remember those days. always wished i had spent more time with my dad learning stuff i could use in my days without him and mom.


26 posted on 04/26/2009 4:44:29 PM PDT by alfie (peace through superior firepower)
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To: alfie
The best things I did for myself was take wood shop and auto mechanics in school. Those interested me the most. Science and history came next.

My wood shop taught some basic 110 home electrical and one guy already worked with his dad a lot and knew how to do a lot. He impressed us and the teacher too. This was 7th grade. Auto Mech was 9-12 and I was perfectly happy in there. I hated the rest of the high school racket.

27 posted on 04/26/2009 4:47:37 PM PDT by wally_bert (Tactical Is Still Missing A Chair! Star Wreck In The Pirkinning......)
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To: djf
But you are right. I would guesstimate that 95% of the time when something breaks, your average Joe (or Jill) doesn’t have the time or inclination to fix it, even assuming they knew how..

It's funny. I have been repairing industrial equipment for almost thirty years. I fix everything. I fix things that others would throw away. It's really hard for me to understand NOT trying to fix something.

28 posted on 04/26/2009 4:58:47 PM PDT by raybbr (It's going to get a lot worse now that the anchor babies are voting!)
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To: Kieri
to those of us with older PC's who refuse to downgrade to Vista.

But...why don't you want a buggy piece of spyware masquerading as an operating system?

29 posted on 04/26/2009 5:03:50 PM PDT by MrEdd (Heck? Geewhiz Cripes, thats the place where people who don't believe in Gosh think they aint going.)
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To: cubreporter; All

HA....our 1+ year old washing machine QUIT the other day....I couldn’t figure out why.....it just wouldn’t start and go past the first phase....so, I got on the Internet, and did a little research. In the end I found a HINT at a POSSIBLE problem, removed the top so I could reach some things (and unplugged it!).....eventually I wiggled some things. Tried it...and VOILA!, it worked!

This Internet thingy is great! And, I’m a 58 yr old woman...sure impressed my husband by saving a call to a “repair guy” who would have charged probably $75 just to show up.


30 posted on 04/26/2009 5:09:12 PM PDT by goodnesswins (Free Speech for THEE, but NOT for ME????)
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To: goodnesswins
This Internet thingy is great!

Ya, the Internet thingy knows everything. That's why I have it instead of TV. It's our humor, our online EVERYTHING resource, entertainment, best friend, and puppy. I pet and feed the modem every morning until it's tail wags.

31 posted on 04/26/2009 5:24:59 PM PDT by Big Giant Head (I should change my tagline to "Big Giant penguin on my Head")
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To: HiTech RedNeck

Monopolists don’t operate under the law of supply and demand. Our garbage rates go up every time the waste stream goes down. Rates really jumped when they started the “free” recycling program 20 years ago. We raised our family of three kids with only one trash can every week due to that program.


32 posted on 04/26/2009 5:33:20 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: wally_bert

I hate carbs... But I can fix one if I have too...

Don’t know about gallbladder surgery, but an ACL replacement/Meniscus sew-up/ MCL sew-up is not very fun either. I have a new respect for ice packs!


33 posted on 04/26/2009 5:40:36 PM PDT by waterhill
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To: waterhill

Rebuilt a 2 barrel carb about four times on my old Chevy Vega, back in the day. That thing never did work right at idle. Drip, drip, sputter, sputter.


34 posted on 04/26/2009 5:45:54 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Beat a better path, and the world will build a mousetrap at your door.)
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To: waterhill
Give me the book and the kit, mix in some patience and I will get it working. For the aggravation and time, I have replaced a few rather than expend the labor. Replacement is a lot faster.

One rule of thumb I have been able to remember is running a mixture screw in to close and back out 1 1/2 turns to be close. The little 2100 on my 304 has one mixture screw that is a real pain to adjust without one of those flexible screwdrivers.

A blown gall bladder is a special brand of misery. Abdominal pain on par with a kidney stone, turning very yellow/orange all over, dark brown urine, and an overall since of misery.

35 posted on 04/26/2009 5:50:14 PM PDT by wally_bert (Tactical Is Still Missing A Chair! Star Wreck In The Pirkinning......)
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To: raybbr
Before something is junked around here, I will make an assessment of repair/replace/do without.

I can also handle most basic plumbing, electrical, and some carpentry. A lot of my limitations come from a tools budget standpoint or something that takes two bodies. However, I do know what I can and can't get away with. In those can't situations, I know to call somebody.

36 posted on 04/26/2009 5:56:05 PM PDT by wally_bert (Tactical Is Still Missing A Chair! Star Wreck In The Pirkinning......)
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To: llevrok

I did my part on Earth Day to help the economy and keep people employed. I threw away a couple aluminum cans in the trash while at work.

I help keep the Bauxite miners, aluminum smelters, and landfill personnel with jobs.


37 posted on 04/26/2009 6:41:06 PM PDT by Chewbacca (Buy gold and silver coins to profit from the comming dollar melt down!)
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To: llevrok
When the ice maker in Maureen Schlangen's 12-year-old refrigerator went kaput, she didn't have the fridge hauled to a landfill.

Would some idiot actually throw away a working refrigerator just because the icemaker broke?

38 posted on 04/26/2009 7:51:32 PM PDT by PAR35
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To: goodnesswins

You got it and....good for you. Gotta watch out for us 58 and OLDER (like me) ladies. :)


39 posted on 04/26/2009 10:07:10 PM PDT by cubreporter (Rush Limbaugh - Truth, honesty and the American Way. Go Rush!!!)
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To: alfie

Well, I’m sure you learned much more than you ever realized just by being in the house and not hanging out with anyone inparticular. That’s how we all learn...watching, examples etc. We DID learn lots from our parents when they taught us and then we learned lots from them just by being around them. That’s what parents are for. Today? Not so much because so many work. It’s a crying shame but...guess I’m just old fashioned and would rather do with less yet have so much more. :)


40 posted on 04/26/2009 10:10:04 PM PDT by cubreporter (Rush Limbaugh - Truth, honesty and the American Way. Go Rush!!!)
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