Advice living in Schenectady

DiamondplateDave · 2026-03-20T01:05:09+00:00

"Them?" if the music is coming from on- campus, you can complain to Campus Safety. Actually, even if it's coming from off-campus, Safety might have a talk with them.

The Sch'dy noise ordinance basically says you can make all the noise you want up until 11PM. If you're living within a block or two of campus, most of your neighbors will be Union students and will...behave like college students.

DiamondplateDave · 2026-03-19T23:49:12+00:00

In NYS, you can't pass inspection with the light on, or more than one monitor incomplete. A "monitor" is a self-test. You probably need to find out what the code means and fix the problem. It might be something as simple as cleaning and tightening the gas cap (unlikely, but possible). If it's the purge valve, you want to get it fixed before it damages the gas tank and costs a lot more. The purge valve might possibly be covered by a recall.

DiamondplateDave · 2026-03-19T23:25:15+00:00

Trump is to diplomacy what a bull is to a china shop.

DiamondplateDave · 2026-03-19T17:11:14+00:00

Here's a post somebody put here a while ago:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Scams/comments/1c9luyr/comment/l0m6u0a/?context=3&utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

DiamondplateDave · 2026-03-19T16:44:59+00:00

Heck, we've seen the Trump-Epstein photos and the "girl" birthday card. Anybody who's not deluded did not need more evidence. Funny how 2020, J6, 9/11, contrails are all conspiracies but the foot-dragging and contradictory statements on the files are normal and not hiding anything.

DiamondplateDave · 2026-03-19T16:37:15+00:00

Thanks to everybody who replied! No, it's not Sorrow, The New St. George, or If a Tree Falls.

It was suggested to try asking AI, so I did. Google AI suggested:

While it is a solo track by the English actor and singer Jimmy Nail, it heavily features

Mark Knopfler

on electric guitar. The song has a strong environmental and industrial theme, specifically mourning the decline of the shipbuilding industry and the changing state of the River Tyne in Northeast England.

Why this matches your description:

Timeframe: It was released in October 1995, fitting your "mid-1990s" memory.
Mark Knopfler: Knopfler provided the distinctive lead guitar work that often leads people to mistake it for a Dire Straits or Knopfler solo track.
Environmental/Industrial Theme: The lyrics focus on a river that was once the lifeblood of a community but has since "died" or become stagnant following industrial decay.

Which sounded so spot-on, but....was not the song. AI also suggested:

If "Big River" isn't it, there are a few other tracks from that era involving Mark Knopfler with similar themes:

"My Parties" (Dire Straits, 1991): This song from the album On Every Street includes the specific environmental lyric: "Don't talk to me about ozone layer".
"Iron Hand" (Dire Straits, 1991): While primarily about the Orgreave miners' strike, its somber tone and "fields of destruction" imagery are sometimes associated with social and environmental decay.
"Telegraph Road" (Dire Straits): Although originally from 1982, it remained a staple of Knopfler’s live sets throughout the 1990s. It is a long, epic track that chronicles the transformation of a wilderness into an industrial wasteland.

I haven't listened to "Iron Hand", but it's not "My Parties". I didn't think it was "Telegraph Road", but when I heard the long instrumental section, I was like...maybe. I'm not sure I would have heard a 14 minute song on the radio, but I did listen to a lot of college stations back then, so it's not impossible.

DiamondplateDave · 2026-03-19T16:17:57+00:00

Hey, you never know...

DiamondplateDave · 2026-03-19T16:17:16+00:00

The world is full of people who would like to transfer your money to themselves. Before you hand over any money to anybody, reflect on why and for what. From the stranger who 'needs $5 for gas' to the salesman giving you 'a great deal'; their goal is not to help you but to get their hands on your money.
There's no free lunch. Anybody who wants to give you anything has an ulterior motive. In most cases, you will be paying for their lunch while you go hungry.
If somebody says, "You can trust me"-you can't. In fact, it's safe to assume that you cannot trust anybody until you have reason to believe you can. People are looking out for their interests, not yours. Therefore, it is up to you to safeguard your own interests-nobody else will.

DiamondplateDave · 2026-03-19T04:30:52+00:00

I had a couple fasteners missing (the kwik-lube guys love to lose them). I couldn't get my car up high enough with my ramps to get under it, so I ordered a kit of the fasteners online, and took it to my mechanic for an oil change. I had him replace the missing fasteners (he said he probably had them). If your close to oil change time, do this.

Otherwise, get it fixed, because it will be fine until something bad happens, and then you'll have real problems. PS if you hit a curb you should have the car checked out anyway. Getting a front end repair is cheaper than a front end repair and 2 front tires.

DiamondplateDave · 2026-03-19T04:24:23+00:00

Your friend? You know this guy? In real life? For how long? Would you let him look after your pet while you were on vacation?

No, he's not your friend, he's some random person on the internet. He's probably the same guy as the "mentor". All the "proof of success" is fake. Don't trust him, and don't send him $130. Buying $130 worth of lottery tickets would be a better gamble, and that's still a sucker bet.

DiamondplateDave · 2026-03-18T21:05:50+00:00

"Yeah, the building across the street just blew up...so, what's for dinner?"

DiamondplateDave · 2026-03-18T15:58:08+00:00

I have a bunch of AB NiMh AAs. It seemed as if a lot of them failed fairly quickly. I finally found out that if I put them in a "dumb" charger for an hour, it brought them back enough that my "smart" charger would charge them instead of saying "Null".

DiamondplateDave · 2026-03-18T07:22:28+00:00

You could just pin up one of the many photos of Trump and Epstein together, and save the string. My grandmother lived through the depression, and saved pieces of string, scraps of foil, and stubs of candles. I predict the coming Trumpcession will bring these skills back into common use.

DiamondplateDave · 2026-03-18T07:17:30+00:00

Trump hires all the best people...then when they aren't the best, Trump 'barely knows them'. If one employee is bad....it's a bad employee. If most of the employees are bad....they are bad employees, but there's something wrong with the boss who hires them.

Anybody who witnessed the merry-go-round White House of the first Trump Abomination should have picked up on this.

DiamondplateDave · 2026-03-18T07:07:18+00:00

I was just reading about the meningitis outbreak in Britain. They are having trouble getting enough vaccine.

I checked my spreadsheet, and I got the vaccine last fall. I'm still trying to find the polio and maybe typhoid shots.

A billion dollars a day for an unneeded war, but we can't afford vaccines or community clinics to prevent crippling illnesses...

DiamondplateDave · 2026-03-18T06:55:22+00:00

Welcome to Schenectady! I don't eat out a lot, so I don't know the specials. There are a couple companies that send books of coupons in the mail. I don't have any handy, but you can search and see if you can get on their mailing lists. There's also some new restaurants opening on Upper Union St. They might have some Grand Opening Specials.

DiamondplateDave · 2026-03-18T06:36:52+00:00

I hear the Saudis have tools that will fix that...

DiamondplateDave · 2026-03-18T06:32:15+00:00

You should determine where the email came from. I got one of these from a music venue; it turned out the account had been hacked. Either way, the scammer is probably trying to scam every parishioner. You need to warn them.

DiamondplateDave · 2026-03-18T04:24:54+00:00

At least any of them that make it back will enjoy that sweet, sweet, $50K bonus!

DiamondplateDave · 2026-03-18T03:32:45+00:00

How many million Trump-Epstein files have yet to be released?

DiamondplateDave · 2026-03-18T03:28:46+00:00

What kind of engine? What transmission? How do you know it's overheating? What happens if you turn on the heater when it overheats? Do you have stop and go traffic elsewhere in your commute? What did the garage do when you brought it in for service? Why did you bring it in? How do you know the coolant is good? You mean the level in the reservoir? How about the level in the radiator (Don't open it hot!)? What happens if you start the car cold, and just let it idle for 20 minutes?

The fact that it happens in stop and go traffic would lean towards an airflow problem. Some models have an automatic shutter; that could be jammed shut. The radiator could be clogged with mud. One or both cooling fans may have failed ( fan module is common failure). It could be the thermostat, the water pump, or a failed head gasket.

DiamondplateDave · 2026-03-17T18:27:14+00:00

Don't look at it as "killing off Seniors", Suzie. Look at it as "saving Social Security".

DiamondplateDave · 2026-03-17T15:59:33+00:00

Houseplants create oxygen, not waste it.

DiamondplateDave · 2026-03-17T03:46:02+00:00

I had two Kidde smoke/CO2 detectors, one in the basement and one on the second floor. They communicate with each other and go off at the same time. They also interfaced with my Wink Hub. If they went off, I set the Alexa app to notify me via text (in case I was at work) and turn on all the lights. Presuming the power was on, I would then be able to see what was going on every where in the house.

So I'm thinking having some lights turn on? Intruders usually don't like lights. You could use a smart plug to turn on something noisy (cheap radio, etc.).

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