That too

It’s a code red snowflake alert

If we were living in a rational world I’d agree, but with all the ludicrous stuff we’ve seen in the last few months I’m not convinced we are. We really shouldn’t dismiss anything as impossible with Trump at the helm of the US. It’s a hope for the best, prepare for the worst kind of time.

When Doug Ford was going to tax the electricity going into the US, Trump said on Truth Social:

I will shortly be declaring a National Emergency on Electricity within the threatened area. This will allow the U.S to quickly do what has to be done to alleviate this abusive threat from Canada.

I find that extremely worrying. With enough bluster and showing of force all it takes is one mistake to kick things off.

I think they sold the rights to a Blackberry phone to Chinese company, TCL or Foxconn I think. They advertised a phone, but it was never made.

They’ll do him up like Lenin

Totally agree. If we can’t at least expect certainty out of the current arrangement, then we should stop with any sweetheart deals. It’s ironic that the gist of Trump’s views on international relations center on other countries pulling more of their weight, and it seems he will ultimately accomplish that, albeit by burning all the bridges established with said countries.

It seems to me like these proposed tariffs were just a way to get Canada and Mexico to come grovel and kiss Trump’s ring. Both countries naturally want to avoid such a destructive policy being put in place, so they’ll do what Trump asks for now. I expect these sorts of actions by Trump to continue throughout his term though. This begs the question, when will America’s historic allies finally have enough? I was thinking these tariffs would be the ripping off the band-aid moment that spurs Canada and potentially the rest of the west to start re-structuring its economy away from such an unreliable partner. I guess this tentative status quo will continue for now.

I was the exact same way. I could justify watching ads to support the people I watched, but then I learned how little compensation a creator actually gets from one view and decided my time was more valuable. Plus I just got too used to never seeing ads and could never go back.

This video sums up the sentiment you’re describing nicely.

Couldn’t have said it any better.

Reach has been glassed

Sounds like you had a good idea of what you were doing. I suppose I was making too many assumptions after reading your initial post! As long as you got the job done.

With a 7 year old heater and that much sediment/deposit it’s definitely water quality. Where I am water heaters can run for 15 years on city water without a flush. I know there are many types of water treatment options for different scenarios, but that’s about the extent of my knowledge. Luckily, it sounds like that’s your area of expertise.

The 140°F setting is coming from memory so it’s possible that I’m off or that it isn’t a universal setting. I would tend to stick with the manufacturer’s recommendations. I know it’s possible to buy higher temperature rated thermostats then the ones we use though.

I don’t know how equipped I would’ve been, I’m still just a helper lol.

Congats and good luck with the new home too!

EDIT: Just checked the spec sheet of the water heater brand I install. The Canadian models are set to 140°F, but the American ones are set to 125°F. I wonder why there are different standards?

I’ve been working installing and servicing water heaters for the last 2 months, so I have a little knowledge to share. I’m still learning so I may get some things wrong.

We use a transfer pump to drain tanks because gravity draining is super slow and will become even less effective as the water level drops, especially when there is also sediment plugging things up. In both cases you need to let air into the tank so a vacuum isn’t created. You can do this by opening a hot water tap somewhere in the house or by flipping the lever on top of the pressure relief valve. You might have a vacuum breaker on the cold water line above the tank, but I’m not sure how well that can supply air to the top of the tank as the water level drops. I would use one of the other options instead of relying on that.

You say you’ve installed the new elements, but are still trying to remove the sediment through the drain valve? Why not get the water level down and use a shop vac through the element holes?

I’m assuming the tank is fairly old if it has sediment like you describe. Around here homeowners insurance will tell you to change them every 15 years. If an old tank leaks and the water destroys anything in your home it may not be covered. If your tank is in rough shape you’d probably want to change it proactively anyway, they will fail eventually.

A note on changing the temperature setting of the thermostats. You’re not supposed to tamper with them. The ones I install are set to 140°F. I’ve been told this is a WHO standard to ensure nothing can grow in the tank. Aside from that, by lowering the temperature you are just decreasing the amount of hot water that’s available and you will run out quicker.

I could probably go on, but this is already information overload lol.

EDIT: typo

I never considered this was a difference, interesting! For a lot of years in school I didn’t use a bottle and relied on the fountains exclusively. Also, the bathrooms usually always had the motion activated faucets that just spray warm water with no temperature controls so using them for drinking water wouldn’t work. I’m starting to think the way this works in NA might be somewhat overly complicated lol

For conveniently drinking out of them and filling water bottles in public buildings like schools and hospitals. They’re really common in NA, what part of the world are you in?

Someone will be smuggling microfiche behind the iron curtain…wait wrong century.

Bleach the skeletons and sell them to medical institutions H.H. Holmes style

Canada could really use an injection of progressive minded people too, sounds like a win-win.

I sincerely hope the European powers will overcome their internal politics and the rightward slide many of them seem to be on, and cooperate more closely for the world’s sake. I want to be hopeful for the climate and humanity.

Hopefully Canada will stick with Europe rather than the US ideologically, but with how things are going here we seem farther along on our rightward slide.

Ukraine’s chances have certainly taken a hit after this election. I also hope Europe starts producing more arms to back Ukraine. Europe needs to do that now and so much more.

Trump also probably still holds a grudge against Ukraine for not manufacturing/finding dirt on Biden during the last election, or whatever the particulars were.