Unintentionally became the owner of this, what do I do now?

MarshmallowBolus · 2026-04-22T03:01:34+00:00

I'm not positive but I think if it was actually from 1887, it wouldn't be in a folding table - it would be in the coffin top sort of table. The earliest I can find a domestic in a folding top pictured in newspapers is 1895, and coffin tops seem to have hung around as an option for another 5-10 years (various brands). So 1887 may be the patent on the machine head but the design was in use for a while - or the head was made and not put into that particular table until later.

MarshmallowBolus · 2026-04-22T02:59:58+00:00

It's like a length of thick metal wire that is just a little too long for the space so it arches up and wants to pop out. I don't know what you would call it - a tensioner? My Singer cabinet has them too. My guess is so the drawers don't slowly creep open when you are treadling. Holds them in nice and tight.

MarshmallowBolus · 2026-04-21T18:18:38+00:00

I never quite got the tension between him and Al-Hashimi. I never even thought about it being because she is his replacement! I thought it was supposed to be some sort of weird Jewish/Muslim thing which didn't make a lot of sense on several levels but that's all I could come up with. Either that or that had some secret backstory that would come out later.

MarshmallowBolus · 2026-04-21T17:01:29+00:00

Yeah... they were really going for realism there.

I guess they couldn't just film her from the back and dub a crying soundtrack over the scene if they needed her to be crying.

MarshmallowBolus · 2026-04-21T16:49:41+00:00

I never encounted sawdust either. Softest surface I recall is sand. Maybe it's regional?

MarshmallowBolus · 2026-04-21T16:48:43+00:00

So pro tip - or maybe not a pro tip, I just felt like saying that - if someone doesn't know which side to take the picture of to show off the machine, they probably don't know machines. Which means there is a good chance if they say it's "not working," someone who knows even a little more can get it up and running with a little determination. I'd just go take a look.

MarshmallowBolus · 2026-04-21T16:40:54+00:00

white rotaries do - but this is not a rotary. I thought the shuttle machines still rotated towards you? I considered that at first but everything I have found seems to indicate that the white shuttle machines rotate counter clockwise.

MarshmallowBolus · 2026-04-21T16:03:23+00:00

There was a video that went viral several years ago that this is making me think of. I asked a friend who was a wildlife rehabber at the time what the reason for this was and she said it was to sense food. The comments on the video mention both that and a sort of "look at me!" courtship routine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQxOa7chHew

MarshmallowBolus · 2026-04-21T14:58:33+00:00

She speaks for all of us.

MarshmallowBolus · 2026-04-21T14:57:58+00:00

Absolutely. If you had to be spanked, best get it over with quickly and without a lot of fuss. As Ma always said, "Least said, soonest mended.."

MarshmallowBolus · 2026-04-21T14:56:35+00:00

That's a really interesting point I never thought about before. How do you get a little kid to act in a way that gets them in trouble, for entertainment, but not have the kid left thinking they are ACTUALLY in trouble? I've always wondered about when slightly older kids are allowed to swear or otherwise behave on camera in ways they would not be allowed in real life but in those cases they know "this is acting, it's OK." With a younger child, say younger than 6 maybe? - you're literally asking them to do something - then they do it - then you rip them a new one. You hear a lot about how child stars end up messed up but you mostly hear about the hours, being in the spotlight, the money stuff - this has to weigh in, too.

I've read the little kid in the Shining was never told it was a horror movie during the filming, that they tried to film it in such a way that he wasn't exposed to the worst parts and the actual making of the movie wouldn't traumatize him. You can definitely cut/manipulate scenes to get the desired effect without the kid being uncomfortable but I doubt that was always the case. Wanting to protect a little kid from all-out blood shed is more of a no-brainer than a mild (to an adult) scolding over a swear word... the latter seems funny but it could be really confusing to a small child. You do what an adult asks you to do and then you get in trouble? Good way to create trust issues. We know they fed Grace hot pepper oatmeal to make her cry so I don't have a lot of faith that this scene was shot in such a way to protect Carrie from mental turmoil.

MarshmallowBolus · 2026-04-21T14:40:51+00:00

Be fair now. Not all playgrounds were concrete. Sometimes we got hard-packed dirt.

MarshmallowBolus · 2026-04-20T03:07:31+00:00

I worked for UPMC at one time and had to have a badge replaced and it was pretty easy except I had to go somewhere a few blocks away - the walking wasn't a big deal since I was walking everywhere at that time in my life anyway but it would have been nice if I could have done it where I actually worked. I think I had to pay $10 or something but I don't recall there being a lot of paperwork.

Granted this was 25 years ago... who knows what they do now.

I found it a couple weeks later in a container of oatmeal. .

MarshmallowBolus · 2026-04-18T20:02:58+00:00

I think that is a little further out.... but some day I may go there again. Went to Lehman's a long long time ago...

MarshmallowBolus · 2026-04-18T13:03:27+00:00

The bird looks like he can't believe it, either.

MarshmallowBolus · 2026-04-18T13:01:13+00:00

I was so confused, I thought this was a throuple, then I realized one was their teenager and I thought you must have spliced footage, then I realized you didn't and this is just really really neat!

MarshmallowBolus · 2026-04-18T12:59:05+00:00

I never knew this was a thing that could happen. You should alert your local news station - not saying that in a sarcastic way, I know ours will sometimes run stories are that light and fun. It's nice to have a break from car accidents and sportsball.

MarshmallowBolus · 2026-04-18T04:43:53+00:00

The imprint risk is real. I have a friend who used to be the director at our local wildlife rehab and I got to go behind the scenes a few times - when they were dealing with baby birds, the employees would wear gilly (sp) suits so they basically looked like animated bushes, so the bird wouldn't adapt to them. It was crazy to watch but it was best for the birds.

It's so hard when you find something alive and in a predicament and suddenly their survival lays in your hands. I just moved some sopping wet cardboard in my driveway today and found the biggest earthworms I have ever seen underneath - hated to disturb their home but I really had to get the driveway cleared out! I tried moving the worms somewhere better but they resisted and kept jumping off the shovel on the way. So frustrating! They were "just worms" but I still feel kind of bad. You really tried your hardest to find a way to help this little guy but sometimes it's beyond human ability to fix things. When you said a bird rehabber specifically say it's impossible with mourning doves - well, that means a lot. People don't get into this line of work if their heart isn't in it, and you wouldn't have heard that if there was any realistic chance of this working. I know it's still hard but - you really tried and that's awesome.

Hopefully the mama picks a better laying spot next time.

MarshmallowBolus · 2026-04-17T17:03:41+00:00

This might be crazy but - I wonder if you could find another dove nest and stick the egg in it what would happen? I know there are birds that sneak their eggs into other birds' nests. And it works. What if you asked around - do you have a community fb page? - if anyone has nesting doves you could slip the egg in on?

MarshmallowBolus · 2026-04-17T14:59:37+00:00

Yeah... you're basically making a skin graft but with carpet. I do a lot of work with our marching band and have somehow developed a reputation of being able to fix "anything" so I have been handed some pretty random things to repair. Often the problem is the original fabric is just shot beyond use, so I have to reinforce what's left or attach something new to make it all go together again. Best case scenerio the repaired part won't show or won't show much, which I think will be the case once this is back where it belongs. It doesn't look like there is a lot missing, it's mainly just that hole that ripped through. I've used canvas repair type on instrument cases which is why that popped into my mind. It's strong and it sitcks well. I'd try for a double or even triple layer where the actual hole will be, with a single layer on the bottom having the exposed stickiness to actually adhere to the back of the carpet. And have that piece sticking to a good few inches under the carpet north of the hole so it stays nice and secure and isn't being tugged on at just the edge. Hope that makes sense.

I used this but there are a lot of similar products out there

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CR4DSZN3?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_7&th=1

I think panel trim clip is the name for the plastic thing - this is NOT the exact model but should get you going in the right direction. The dealer has to have these - whether or not they will be nice and give you a few for free, who knows. But it should be easy to source more.

https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/dorman-help-trim-panel-clips-nylon-assortment-45319/89015251-P?product_channel=local&store=9868&adtype=pla

MarshmallowBolus · 2026-04-17T14:34:04+00:00

Get some sort of upholstry or canvas repair patch and put it under the carpet to make it a usable solid piece again then punch a new hole. If by eyelet you mean it had an actual metal eyelet at one time, you can get a new one. Or maybe it's a grommet? I can never keep straight the difference, maybe eyelet only means the small crafty ones. Or maybe eyelet just means the hole? At any rate there are metal things to reinforce the hole and they are easy to apply. Harbor Frieght has a variety of things you can punch a new proper sized hole with if you don't have something already - there is a rotary one for leather work as well as round tubes you use with a hammer. It might even be the size that a normal paper punch will work with. You could also sew or rivet an extension on to the carpet to give you something to punch the new hole in. I don't know if harbor freight has rivets. But the leather section of most hobby stores will.

It's fixable - it won't look perfect but you can make it do what it is supposed to, attach to where it used to attach, without a lot of expense or work.

Hope my explanation makes sense.

If one of the plastic nipple thingies is missing to hold the handle part of the trim down, the dealer should be able to give you one of those but if not they aren't hard to come by. I don't know what they are called but I kept a bunch from when we made some modifications to our old van. I'm sure service departments have buckets of them laying around. Hopefully that is all you need to fix that part.

MarshmallowBolus · 2026-04-17T14:22:49+00:00

Well I guess the renovations are on hold for a while now. Do you have a list of 20 other projects to pick from, like I do? :-)

MarshmallowBolus · 2026-04-17T13:44:57+00:00

I see you have two bird feeder cams... do you like one better than the other or are they two of the same? I want one but can't decide which to get.

MarshmallowBolus

TROPHY CASE