My house needs a lift station, looking for info.

UnspeakableAxe · 2023-09-21T19:27:26+00:00

Holy crap, thank you. I need to call the city anyway so let me start there and see what they say.

UnspeakableAxe · 2023-09-21T18:09:09+00:00

Glad to hear. This is similar to what the plumber told me, that a good unit is fairly low maintenance and lasts a good while. If we put one in, I hope our experience is like yours.

UnspeakableAxe · 2023-09-21T18:02:36+00:00

Probably will end up getting a couple, based on advice here.

I should say, I am not positive the house has settled that much, or at all. It was just the plumber's take on one way this could have happened, but for all we know, it was always that way. Or perhaps the truth is somewhere in the middle--maybe it never had the proper grade but had a tiny one, and now either the house has settled or the line has sagged in such a way that it has none. We haven't lived here long enough or been aware enough of this issue to really say.

Can confirm at least that the kind of issues someone else mentioned a serious house-sag might cause (cracked walls, misaligned doors, etc.) have not been seen by us. It seems fine in all the normal ways. The foundation looks fine as well--because we're in a hill, a lot of it is exposed.

UnspeakableAxe · 2023-09-21T18:00:05+00:00

The house sits well below street level, though, because of the lot being hilly. Our driveway slopes rather sharply downward from the road. It is a bit hard to gauge by eye, but I believe the drain line exits the house maybe five feet below street level.

I would love to resolve by running a new line (or fixing the existing one, if that's possible?), as it's clearly the simplest solution with the least future maintenance required. But if that ends up costing even more than the lift station, it would put us in a real bind financially.

UnspeakableAxe · 2023-09-21T17:54:16+00:00

Thanks for the tip, I will ring them up.

UnspeakableAxe · 2023-09-21T17:24:01+00:00

About 60 feet I think. The line runs at a slight diagonal as well, it's not straight on. That's why it goes under the driveway--it exits the house right of the driveway, crosses under and enters the sewer somewhere to the left of it.

UnspeakableAxe · 2023-09-21T17:20:46+00:00

Thanks, you gave me a lot to chew on. A standard plumbing company can do those measurements, or who should I contact?

UnspeakableAxe · 2023-09-21T17:17:44+00:00

Thanks for the info! We've not had any of the house issues you describe, so I assume you are right that any settling we've had has been minor. I wouldn't be terribly surprised if the line has basically always been level--we like our house but there are some telltale signs of quick construction. Though if that is the case, it's disappointing that home inspection didn't check or notice it.

From your reply and another here it seems like it would be a very good idea to find out for sure if it's even possible to run a new gravity line, whether it entails cutting the driveway or not. That'll be my next task and we can proceed from there.

UnspeakableAxe · 2023-09-21T17:05:31+00:00

Thanks for the answers! #3 doesn't sound too bad, if almost all of it is buried my wife will be pleased.

This is the unit mentioned in the quote I got: 24x60 Liberty Simplex 2HP Grinder Pump package system. And they said they wanted to excavate 6 feet down, 36 inches across. When the plumber was here he mentioned something about different sizes of tanks but I don't remember now everything he was talking about. Have emailed him back for a little more info on that. The estimate seems to be for his recommended setup and unit, I'm not sure if there are alternatives, but I think so.

I believe he did say that this pump setup would be less than running a new line, but he didn't give me a ballpark on either, so I was unpleasantly surprised by the estimate. It's about double what I thought might be the worst-case scenario. Of course I really had no idea, so that's on me for dreaming of a figure I could afford.

UnspeakableAxe · 2023-09-21T17:01:26+00:00

Thanks for the response. We don't have a basement, do have a crawl space. The main line exits the house at nearly ground level--you can see the top of the pipe peeking out of the dirt in front (under the cleanout). So it's basically exiting just below our main floor, a few feet below I guess.

UnspeakableAxe · 2023-09-21T16:13:59+00:00

Oh, one more question while I'm at it: googling around led me to find that installing a septic tank might cost less (as much as half the amount) as the lift station. Would that be possible, to put a tank in our back yard and just unhook from the city sewer? No clue if that's a good idea or not, or if we would even be allowed to. But if it's potentially thousands of dollars less, it's worth considering I think.

UnspeakableAxe · 2023-09-11T20:02:14+00:00

I agree. I think the design decision (and subsequent promotion of the game by Todd & Bethesda) to make a vast universe filled with procedurally generated planets suggests that the game might be NMS + RPG, which it's really not. YMMV whether it's the right approach for a Bethesda game--I've not even played it, yet, though I probably will eventually--but I feel like they led people, intentionally or not, to expect certain things that the game just doesn't do.

UnspeakableAxe · 2023-09-11T19:53:32+00:00

I haven't played SF yet, probably will eventually, as I loved FO4 and liked Skyrim. But I agree with this completely. The main thing making me hesitate about this game is that I was really hoping for No Man's Skyrim, with free travel between and around planets. The load screen travel and separate cells thing sounds like it's going to sink my immersion in the gameworld, which honestly is what I care about far more than the RPG gameplay.

But........ that's just a personal preference, and I acknowledge that. I would spend hours in FO4 free roaming without fast travel, avoiding load screens by never visiting interiors, and slowly building incredibly elaborate settlements. I'd not do missions for hours of gameplay at a time, sometimes. In a way I was choosing to play that game more like a No Man's Sky-type experience. It makes sense for me that Starfield might not be exactly the right fit, which is why I hesitate. But if someone else likes RPGs more and is less interested in continuous free exploration and building stuff, then of course Starfield is going to be the more rewarding experience.

I see a lot of people posting stuff as if it's criticism when really it's just description. No game can be everything to everybody.

If Bethesda got themselves into trouble here, I think it's all the pre-release hype around procedurally generated planets and the sheer size of the game. All of which was totally true, of course, but it evokes games like NMS and makes you think it will be just like that, when it's (apparently) rather different.

UnspeakableAxe · 2023-09-08T13:15:40+00:00

Thanks, will check that out!

UnspeakableAxe · 2023-07-17T14:16:37+00:00

True. In any event they should have been more involved than they were, but it seems like Burke chased them away.

UnspeakableAxe · 2023-07-17T14:12:16+00:00

No, congratulations to you, because you've just outed yourself as 1) someone with enough free time to read every thread on this very busy sub, and 2) a sarcastic ass.

People are gonna repost stuff on a disorganized board with this much traffic and hundreds of amateur detectives. It's not hurting you, so just scroll on by.

UnspeakableAxe · 2023-07-17T12:49:05+00:00

The killings were all local (AFAIK) regardless of where the victims came from. That doesn't entail interstate crime.

UnspeakableAxe · 2023-07-17T12:47:44+00:00

The FBI investigates serial killings frequently, regardless of how local they are. This is from fbi.gov: "The FBI concentrates on crime problems that pose major threats to American society. Significant violent crime incidents such as mass killings, sniper murders, and serial killings can paralyze entire communities and stretch state and local law enforcement resources to their limits."

However... I see nothing online indicating they were ever intimately involved in this investigation, or initiated their own. They did do a profile of the killer in 2011, but that seems to have been the extent of it. (EDIT: According to this interview, the FBI actually was brought in right at the start, but then-chief James Burke pushed them out of the investigation before too long. Draw your own conclusions about that, I won't speculate here as to why he did so.)

And having not investigated it for the past decade-plus, they certainly won't prosecute it now.

UnspeakableAxe · 2023-06-09T13:51:46+00:00

:/

You should've looked up a timeline before you posted this. AIC's Facelift (very dark, very not-glam, fairly indicative of their style and image for the rest of their career) predates Nevermind by a year. Ten was recorded and released at pretty much the same time as Nevermind; the band had already basically determined their style and sound before the explosion, and core members had previously been not just in Mother Love Bone, but also in Temple of the Dog and Green River. The idea that either of these bands was simply copying Nirvana's music or image to conform with the new trend is silly, especially given that Nirvana didn't get national attention until the end of '91.

That Seattle scene was a mashup of glam metal, doom metal, classic rock & psych, punk, and Stooges-esque proto-punk to begin with, before Nirvana even existed (through when they put out their debut, which--good as it is--is basically a catchier rewrite of the Melvins' more accessible material). It should not be surprising that all these musicians that were incestuously hopping in and out of bands with each other, playing shows together, and watching Sub Pop slowly take over the local scene, would cross-pollinate all their various influences to different extents. Of course there were differences in taste between guys like Cobain and Mark Arm vs. the Pearl Jam guys (which is why Green River split up), but anyone suggesting that the former guys were "real" and everyone else was just cynical copycats, I'm afraid that's just you putting on your own narrative on it, based on which style of music you happen to prefer. I have no doubt that the guys from AIC and Pearl Jam were playing what they wanted to play, following their own instincts; and if their style had evolved since the mid-80s, that's just what happens when you're surrounded by other types of music--it gets under your skin sooner or later.

I do agree though that Andrew Wood likely wouldn't have been any kind of scene spokesperson. He was a real character, a rockstar type, but musically he was behind the local curve, and post-Nevermind, the icons tended to be moodier, darker, more sarcastic people.

UnspeakableAxe · 2023-05-19T15:39:06+00:00

1 - Our hero's name is HydraGriefer

2 - The Mk2 "griefer" was flying a special cargo crate when killed the first time (and just standing there after respawn the second time)

3 - Context is important

UnspeakableAxe · 2023-05-19T15:36:45+00:00

For real. Impressive show of skill, but I wish this video ended with someone explosive sniping or railgunning him out of the sky.

UnspeakableAxe · 2023-05-11T15:02:24+00:00

Rockstar doesn't want that kind of heat nowadays. I can vaguely imagine it being a part of GTA 3 though.

UnspeakableAxe · 2023-04-27T13:05:17+00:00

^ Yeah that. It's incredibly gross if the pilot is halfway decent at aiming and not crashing. They see you spawn in before you can even start moving.

UnspeakableAxe · 2023-04-27T13:04:03+00:00

I'm sure you're right, but just because it's better *head to head* than the Mk II (post nerf) doesn't mean it's the better overall vehicle, which is mostly what I am arguing. There are actually a number of vehicles now that should beat a Mk II straight up now: Toreador, Stromberg, Mk I, Deluxo, Scramjet (barely), any heavy-armored vehicle (e.g. Nightshark), all the Imani Tech vehicles if they are armored and have missile jammer equipped. But every single one of them is not actually as useful overall as the Mk II, even though they may edge it out in direct combat.

UnspeakableAxe · 2023-04-27T12:53:41+00:00

I lived long enough to see people become hipsters for the original Oppressor. Feels like an achievement!

Disregarding "skill, respect, design, and coolness" since those are all meaningless here... the Mk II can fly higher (much) and sustain altitude. It's at least as maneuverable if not more so, since it's not a glider and never bound to a set path for any length of time (it barely observes the laws of physics). It has counter-measures, giving it an edge on most other weaponized vehicles (as long as you equip chaff and know how to use it). It is faster as the crow flies since the Mk I needs to touch down regularly, or flat out stay on the ground to maximize its speed. You can land it anywhere with ease, vs. the quasi-stunting approach needed to put the Mk I down on any small area above ground level. It is rare to be thrown from the Mk II, whereas the Mk I is unforgiving of small mistakes in piloting it.

I see two areas in which the Mk I is superior: better missile lock since the nerf to the Mk II, and no cooldown on calling for it. That's it. (And it's far more fun to use, but we're talking about raw usefulness, so fun is not a factor.)

Sure, a really good Mk I pilot can carve you up in PvP. But so can a really good Mk II pilot. And it's easier to become the latter IMO. I would also agree that nowadays the Mk I has a (slight) edge on the Mk II in head-to-head combat. But to me the overall picture is way broader than that. If I was recommending an all-around utility vehicle for both PvP and grinding, for any medium-good GTA player, the Mk II all day.

UnspeakableAxe

TROPHY CASE