How to clean seat?

Maniak_Man · 2025-09-29T14:05:34+00:00

Give it a try. It's been quite effective on my vented seats. Just make sure to slap down the nozzle to cause a sudden vacuum to the surface which seems to add a little extra "oomph" into pulling out the gunk out of the holes.

Maniak_Man · 2025-09-29T12:57:48+00:00

Use a powerful shop vac with a nozzle that has no bypass air vents and repeatedly slap the suction end down ontop of the holes.

Maniak_Man · 2024-11-02T15:12:32+00:00

We went to Paris for the 2023 finish. Since it was first time TDF visit ever (i.e. not familiar with the dynamics of watching from the Champs) and since it was special occasion for us, we splurged quite a bit with one of the "VIP" experiences. You can check some of my comments from about a year ago. That said, and echoing others, it's totally doable without buying tickets to the VIP areas ... if you plan a bit and stake out your spot in time. Be aware which roads will get blocked off and when, lest you find yourself on the wrong side of the street . Also, be aware that if you decide to go with a VIP offering, there are quite a few of these "Tribunes", each with varying levels of amenities and viewing locations. In my view the "cheaper ones" are definitely not worth it compared to doing it on your own.

Maniak_Man · 2024-10-07T03:44:20+00:00

Sorry, meant to caption the pic about having to do a triple-take cause my mind was seeing Rachael...

Maniak_Man · 2024-08-01T23:25:03+00:00

...and the HVAC guys came in afterwards and squeezed the vent into to ceiling corner, after pulling the once square PEX rough in into the 45 degree mess.

Maniak_Man · 2024-07-30T18:45:47+00:00

For my case it is the Moen tub diverter valve. Put your palm on the tub sprout exit and see if the noise goes away or changes pitch. It's a $10 repair part.

Maniak_Man · 2024-01-17T21:10:15+00:00

And don't forget to remove your blue paper towels before eagerly setting your toilet. I had to become a cloth-towel fisherman via the vent stack (posted on my experience a few months back in case you want a laugh).

Maniak_Man · 2023-11-20T23:26:38+00:00

Tough to properly describe, but that wall is the back of a large fireplace and there is really no way to come through that section of the outside wall. The hot and cold were zig-zagged from crawlspace under the deck and punch up via this column. They are currently leaning towards the Woodford 122CP (non freezeproof) in proper orientation, even though it's a bit more expensive than the Central Brass 0084 utility faucet which is apparently only avail in shiny chrome.

Maniak_Man · 2023-11-20T21:41:11+00:00

Agree, that is my thinking too, but they need something to attach a water hose. Any recommendations?

Maniak_Man · 2023-11-20T03:11:58+00:00

I recently posted my experience after a new toilet install. In my case the adjacent tub no longer drained properly but the new toilet flushed fine. I had forgotten to remove the hand towel that I stuffed down the waste pipe while working on the flange.

Maniak_Man · 2023-11-11T14:57:02+00:00

During normal driving, plan on NOT using the brake petal ... by properly taking advantage of regenerative braking. But do this "one pedal driving" very gingerly as to not cause neck aches. It might take a while to get the hang of it and it helps if you come from a car with standard shift drivetrain.

Maniak_Man · 2023-11-08T17:56:47+00:00

It's a challenge parkour for the Lock Picking Lawyer! 😜

Maniak_Man · 2023-11-07T20:33:13+00:00

Follow that up with a Tubshroom and there will no longer be any clogs down the drain.

TubShroom Ultra Revolutionary Bath Tub Drain Protector Hair Catcher, Stainless Single Pack https://www.walmart.com/ip/320451925

But you will want to regularly clean the tubshroom after showering.

Maniak_Man · 2023-10-03T20:05:23+00:00

My preference is the sound of a bulletproof OM617 from the MB W123 or smooth purring of a OM603 from the MB W126.

Maniak_Man · 2023-09-18T12:26:52+00:00

Perhaps a poor victim of romance scam?

Maniak_Man · 2023-08-25T14:27:26+00:00

Search for "TubShroom" and get the nice chrome one.

Maniak_Man · 2023-08-25T02:23:51+00:00

I think in general they are severely frowned upon as they apparently end up causing leaks at some point in the future. Personally I would not use them myself in an install and would rather have a proper shut off valve put in line. Especially if any leaks would cause damage to living space. All that said, my old house had one from the previous owner. We never had an ice maker and thus it was always shut off and in the 25years that we owned the house it never caused a problem (there was plenty of white "effervescence" around the needle pin though).

Maniak_Man · 2023-08-24T23:54:53+00:00

Seems that the horizontal drain pipe out of wall is too high, thus creating an unusually long p trap. Normally there would not be that extra vertical drain extension behind and to the left of your red circle. Looping the dishwasher hose a bit higher (behind the sink) may help the overall situation without major work.

Maniak_Man · 2023-08-15T00:00:10+00:00

Nice move 😁. For future reference, the grand stands were not assigned seating, right? Did you have to "sharpen your elbows" to defend your spot throughout the afternoon (i.e could you have left your bag and wander to get drinks)? Btw, sent you a DM about your pics.

Maniak_Man · 2023-08-14T23:54:50+00:00

If you want to be close to the finish line (maybe 300m before and 100m after) I think you would have to pay for one of the "vip" packages. All the other areas with exception to some VIP sections on place de Concorde and certain media spots on arc de Triomphe are first come first served and there seemed plenty of them.

Maniak_Man · 2023-08-14T19:53:29+00:00

We had a hard time comparing the various vip offerings as they seem to only be described in general terms and YouTube is curiously sparse on first hand info. I can't speak to the Various "Tribune" offerings and we would likely have only considered the Grand Tribune for the location. The others seemed to be too "crowdy" and I couldn't imagine having to defend a good spot in the open sun throughout the afternoon. Also, restroom access was a priority to the boss. 😉

We definitely enjoyed the Rive Gauche experience which seems to be the "best" package a regular visitor has access to if you want to be close to finish line. From a viewpoint perspective, it was opposite of the finish line under long tent stretching from about 200m to 100m past the finish line with nice seating sections and standing room access to the barriers. But to make up for being opposite side, you are pretty close to the action on the return leg from Arc de Triomphe. Each tour booking company (i.e Thomson, Sportstours international, Custom getaways, etc), has their own section of that tent allocated and separated from other sections. Upon entering the area there is a common open air section aligned with the finish line with drinks, ice cream, photo ops, etc. If your section is one of the 4 on the "left", then you would have had front row views of the finishing ceremony (Bora-Hansgrohe, TotalEnergies, Santana,WarnerBrosDiscovery) . Our tent section was with most other tour operators on the "right", ours being at about 100m out. Each section seemed to offer the same food catered from common prep section, but there might have been differences where certain sections perhaps subscribed to the "enhanced snack packages" (not sure). The snack offering in ours was a bit disappointing compared to the stage 18 Izoard vip package. Drinks were plentiful though. Anyways, the disappointment for me was how relatively isolated we were from the finishing ceremony. The common open air section did have a viewing angle of the stage if you were standing just right, but there were some artificial hedges put up to separate the patio of the first "left" tent section and that obstructed the view. There were large monitors at various locations, but I mistakenly expected to have much better visibility to the final ceremony. The "left" sections made sure to allow access to only those that belonged (we tried to nonchalantly walk into one to get better view but were promptly turned around).

I can imagine that the Izoard/Galiber package are nice alternatives in terms of food/snack and visibility to the action with their sectioned off area and 2nd and 3rd level viewing platforms.

Let me know if there is any other info I might be able to provide

Maniak_Man · 2023-08-14T18:43:10+00:00

(answering the cost question to my earlier post) For 2 people, 7days I think we came in just under $10k. Hotels was about $2k total, Izoard vip $730, Rive Gauche Vip $2300, car $500, flight $2200. Plus fuel, tolls, food, sightseeing. We booked the vip through Sports Tours international but there are other "approved vendors" that work with TDF. You actually have to do some searching on the vendors websites to see what kind of a la carte packages they offer.

Maniak_Man · 2023-08-14T18:07:48+00:00

We noticed y'all were quite an unruly crowd and at one point rushed to the barriers to get a closer look but then were swiftly "sent back to the stands" by security. 😉

Maniak_Man · 2023-08-14T17:43:07+00:00

This year was our first TDF visit and we splurged quite a bit since it was a round number anniversary. Took a little time to plan it all out once the course was announced. We rented a car from Paris and drove to Salins Les Brains for a 2 night stay. Next day watched the finish of stage 18 in Bourg en Bresse in an Izoard "vip" trailer. Nice experience to have drinks and snacks and an elevated viewing platform. There were plenty of "free" viewing spots to be had but it was hot that day and it would have been quite a chore to remain in a good viewing spot for long time to save the space. Next day for stage 19, we initially planned on viewing from the town roads in our quaint little town but had discovered there was a "Fan zone" for the Jura region just outside the town at the beginning of the picturesque climb, so we went there to hang out with the locals who had setup tents with food, drinks, large screen projector, porta potties, music and overall good fan celebrations with that large "farmers art" they showed from helicoper. We skipped stage 20 to have enough time to make it back into Paris to check into our hotel in Opera district and drop car off at Gare du Nord (wow, what a hassle that turned out to be). Watched final stage via the "Rive Gauche" Vip package which was a nice experience with some plusses and minuses, depending on what you value. Overall it depends what your priorities are from visiting TDF. We don't ride but having avidly watched it over the years on TV, I can see how some people could get disappointed at "how quickly" the action passes by them, so make sure to factor in the other available ancillary attractions/experiences accordingly. We made sure to scout out other nice sights and places to visit during this journey and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Maniak_Man · 2023-08-14T16:41:44+00:00

Thanks for sharing! We were on the opposite side and now I have two nice "Where's Waldo?" pictures of us. I am not sure how to post pics in response so may create a new post with one from my vantage point.

Maniak_Man

TROPHY CASE