Something Random

Pradeep

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Mubs, Merc, I feel your pain. My facial hair is coarse and irregular. Rather than being fashionably elegant with designer stubble, my desperado appearance tends to frighten children and animals.

I've always found safety razors ineffective, like using a pen knife to cut grass - I need a mower. Although frustrated with most electric shavers, I'm now happy with the better Braun models that include a cleaning 'machine'. The ability to cut against the grain suits the way my hair lays down, a big advantage over a blade.

I think safety razors only work well with soft or short hair (both of which cause problems for an electric shaver, BTW).

The Braun foil has a 'B' profile with two rows of cutting discs. There's also a flat blade that nestles in the valley, and IMO this is what allows it to shave so close, i.e. there's no comb between your face and a motorized blade! Yes, you can cut yourself if you push too hard.

Howell et al, shaving in the shower wastes water, something that we're becoming acutely aware of here on the driest continent. :(

I just installed a new cutter/foil on my Braun 7680 series shaver (around 2.5 years old now, had a hole in the foil), and a happy surprise is that it uses the new "honeycomb" foil design from the newer Activator series. It's like a brand new shaver again, and cost about $20 from Amazon. Works on all 7xxx shavers.
 

Clocker

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I love my Braun shaver with the automatic cleaning and charging base. Best electric shaver ever, IMO!
 

Mercutio

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Fun links from somethingawful.com (which may not be the best site to visit at work, but there's nothing bad about these links).

First: Retail Worker Horror Stories:
Part 1
Part 2

Second...
Did you all know that AOL released years of its users' search records to the public? They did, stripping away the "screen name" for an anonymous identifier. A couple users have even been identified from that info, but the nice guys at somethingawful came up with a rather disturbing list of the most bizarre searches.

(Not safe for work language buried in GIFs, also not safe for higher brain function)

Folks, this is why AOL users should not be allowed to breed. Or breathe. Whichever.
 

LunarMist

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Yes, I can see that the FireFox is a registered trademark of the Mozzarella Corp. I installed the early version 1.0, and it messed up my system badly. However, my question is about the origin of the FireFox, or is it just a modern invention for marketing purposes? I still don't understand the logo either.
 

Mercutio

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Nothing about Firefox/Phoenix/Firebird could've messed anything more serious than your default browser setting, Lunar. Everything Firefox does goes in its own keys in the registry and always has.

Firefoxes are real creatures. They are also called Red Pandas.

The logo is a Firefox chasing its tail around the world, which is wonderfully distinct.

Firefox is wonderful for dialup users who still want to look at some images, because of the many features for filtering what images to download.
 

Handruin

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Today I began a project like never before (for me). I decided it was time to learn how to change all the brakes on my car.

My car (acura TSX) has had problems with warped rotors for as long as I can remember. While it was under warranty I usually had them cut the rotor and the problem went away...only temporarily as it turned out. I researched my issue and it turns out many other people have the same problem. So now that my car is out of warranty and the rotors were warped seriously bad, I decided to upgrade my brakes. The dealer wanted $275 to cut the front brakes, so I knew I had to research other options because the problem would only come back in a few thousand miles. I don’t believe I’m excessively hard on the brakes because I have 64K miles on the car including the original rotors and pads. To fast forward really quick, there was plenty of meat remaining on the stock pads…the only problem is that the front and rear edges are badly worn from the warped rotors (I’ll take a pic so you can see what warped rotors do to your pads).

I bought 4 rotors from a company called Racing Brake for a decent price (got a discount and free shipping through the acura group I chat in which saved me a little over $100). The brakes had great reviews so I figured I'd give them a try. I also wanted to learn how to change brakes since many people said it wasn't that hard.

My project for today began at 1:30PM in the afternoon after I arrived home with the tools required to do the job. I replaced 4 rotors and all brake pads (4 slotted RacingBrake rotors and Hawk HPS Ferro-Carbon pads). I finished installing everything at roughly 1:00AM! I then went out for a drive to "bed" the brakes after I completed the work (bedding is to break them in). That consisted of 5 very firm braking’s from 80MPH to 40MPH in order to set the brake pad material into the virgin rotors. After I did that I had to make sure to drive around for a while without stopping so that the rotors could cool down. If you come to a complete stop with your foot on the break, you have a good chance of leaving brake pad deposits on the rotor which will cause rough braking.

So that's my story. It wasn't as easy as I thought, but I was able to complete the job in half a day. Both my hands are extremely sore including my back. There were quite a few bolts that required some serious oomph to get them loose. I also ran into a problem with the set screws which hold the rotor in place (as a convenience to the installer). Turns out those screws were a huge inconvenience. I stripped the heads off two of them and had to drill them out. Drilling them out wasn't the hard part; the part which pissed me off is that my drill was locked in storage 35 miles away! So I took a walk to K-Mart about 1 mile down the street. I had to buy a drill (and the only had battery drills!) and a drill bit. So I walked back home with my goods and then had to charge the friggin drill enough to drill out a few of those screws. All said and done, the new brakes don't shake any more, and they seem to stop very well (which was the whole point of upgrading to a performance brake). That’s my learning adventure for today. Would I do it again in the future…probably not, but at least now I know how.

Now I'm very tired...time for bed.
 

mubs

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You're a brave man, Handruin! Several vehicles I've owned have been cursed with warped rotors, and like you said, the problem never ever goes completely away. Glad you fixed it once and for all. Me, I'm too lazy, and dont have the strength to wrestle with nuts tightened by a pneumatic driver or some young fella bursting with energy! :-D
 

Handruin

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Some of the lug nuts were on extremely tight. Which makes me think that might have aided in the warping (over tightening the rotors can warp them too). I know they were too tight because I tried taking them off with my torque wrench. Honda specs the lugs at 80ft/lb of torque and I'd guess those were way over 100ft/lb. My hands are really sore this morning. It hurts to squeeze them closed (and even to type on the keyboard). :eek:wneddnce:

Part of the reason I wanted to do this my self was to insure the rotors were properly bedded. I suspected a mechanic wouldn't have bothered to bed them, and it's crucial to do it before any amount of normal driving is done with them. I was literally trying not to use them at stop signs etc until I got onto the highway. The good thing about this taking so long is that I went out to bed them after 2:00 AM when most sane people are sleeping.

The brakes did save my butt from a ticket though. I was doing 80MPH and shortly after a bend in the road I brake really hard to bring it down to 40MPH and sure enough there was a cop radar’ing. The car stopped really quick and luckily I didn't get pulled over.
 

Groltz

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Handruin said:
Today I began a project like never before...

Good grief, another mechanic in the forum! I'm so happy.

Nice work Doug. By the way, one of the possible culprits for automobile brake rotor warping is overtightened caliper bolts. You might want to get the torque specs for yours and do a loosen-retorque session on all those bolts with an appropriate torque wrench.

Here's a picture of my last brake change. It was a pain in the ass since we only had a 60-minute window to get it done in and it was at 4:00am. ;-)
 

Handruin

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So, even the caliper bolts may warp the rotors? From what I saw of the calipers, it doesn't even look possible to warp the rotor from the caliper bolts. They were attached to the hub assembly...I guess anything is possible. The rear caliper bolts were insanly tight...but the rear brakes have never warped, it has always been the front. I've test this by using the e-brake on the highway and it doesn't shake. That's a good idea though, I'll look up the torque spec and re-set them.

Are those a brakes from a private jet, or a bigger plane? Those are insane looking! How many pistons and rotors does it have per wheel?!

I'm not really a mechanic; I'm more like a wannabee mechanic. ;) It took me 12 hours to change brakes! If I made the normal rate of a mechanic I'd be rich at those times...and likely fired too. In my defense I had to figure out a lot of things being this was the first time. One thing which drove me nuts was the rear calipers. I had read to use a c-clamp to push the caliper piston back in in order to make room for the larger brake pads. Well, in the rear they wouldn't go back in no matter how hard I tried. Turns out the rear caliper piston rotates in order to adjust the size. They do this to adjust the parking brake tension as the brake pads wear out. I had no idea that's how it was done, so I spent an hour trying to figure it out. It also would have taken less time if I had the right tools. The ratchet I had was too short (the handle) which made it very hard to loosen some of the caliper bolts. I ended up making a make-shift handle from the end of the hydraulic jack. That made things soooo much easier. Leverage is everything!
 

ddrueding

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Good job Handruin. I've done a brake swap before and it was no fun. On the '97 Neon the front pads shattered and buried the rivets into the disks...oops.

Now that I just finished putting 17x8" racing wheels and 225/45-17 Pirellis on my car, the brakes are on the list...right after I do something about the rear suspension. I was "trying them out" on Hwy 35 in the Santa Cruz mountains last night and the car kept entering "tripod mode" where the inside rear tire actually left the ground; that can't be good.

The reason I was up there in the first place was because I went rock climbing! Truly challenging stuff, a friend took me out and we had a great time. I only had one "off" and that caused me to swing across the face and into a waterfall...serves me right ;)
 

Handruin

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That tripod mode you speak of happens some times when a really stiff sway bars. I've seen it happen on the older Honda Civic Si. Hard cornering compresses the outside wheel which in turn compresses the inside wheel from the sway bar (and sometimes the wheel leaves the ground). If your shocks/springs are weak, then it's possible they are compressing too much to begin with...that or you corner way too hard. :D

I put Yokohama AVID V4S's on my 17x8's. Mine aren't racing wheels (they aren't light weight by the term racing), but they do a good job. The Yokohama's are much stickier than my OEM Michelins. Most people actually race with a 16" wheel because there is less rotating mass to deal with.
 

Groltz

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Handruin said:
So, even the caliper bolts may warp the rotors?

Overtightened caliper bolts can cause a brake to drag thereby inducing rotor warp. My ex-wife's Accord had this problem for a while until some troubleshooting found the caliper bolts tightened about 2X what they were supposed to be at. (It was from a auto shop) After retorqueing to spec and yet another rotor turning there were no more problems.

Handruin said:
Are those a brakes from a private jet, or a bigger plane? Those are insane looking! How many pistons and rotors does it have per wheel?!

I'm only working on commercial airline jets these days. That particular one was a Scarebus A320. I believe that brake has 4 rotors, 3 stators, and 12 pistons but I'm not 100% positive. I'd have to go eyeball another one to be sure.
 

ddrueding

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This is the stock suspension of my Volkswagen Golf, so I don't think anything in the suspension is "too hard"...yet ;)

Cornering way too hard? Yeah, probably. Stock, this car ships with 185/60-15 economy tires so I've upped the footprint just a bit. Now it's time to figure out what I can to to maximise my new sticking power.
 

Handruin

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Groltz said:
Overtightened caliper bolts can cause a brake to drag thereby inducing rotor warp. My ex-wife's Accord had this problem for a while until some troubleshooting found the caliper bolts tightened about 2X what they were supposed to be at. (It was from a auto shop) After retorqueing to spec and yet another rotor turning there were no more problems.



I'm only working on commercial airline jets these days. That particular one was a Scarebus A320. I believe that brake has 4 rotors, 3 stators, and 12 pistons but I'm not 100% positive. I'd have to go eyeball another one to be sure.

I need to buy more sockets for my torque wrench...the one I bought is a 1/2" connection and the rest of my sockets are 1/4" (I think?). I'll check on the specs for the rotors. I dread taking those things off again. :D

Those brakes are for serious business, but it seems appropriate given the forces it needs to deal with. I was surprised to see my car's calipers only had one piston. I thought most had two...
 

Bozo

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Handruin said:
These have roughly 64,000 miles on them. Notice how bad the edges are...the should be square, not rounded.

Some manufacturers taper the ends of the pads to cut down on the noise they can make. It also helps remove grit, grime and water from the rotor and pad. Keeps the crap from embedding in the pads.
Be careful putting high performance pads/rotors on a street vehicle. Some need to be warm to work properly. Stepping on the brake and having nothing happen for a few seconds will diffinately get your attention.

Bozo :joker:
 

paugie

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Handruin

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Bozo said:
Some manufacturers taper the ends of the pads to cut down on the noise they can make. It also helps remove grit, grime and water from the rotor and pad. Keeps the crap from embedding in the pads.
Be careful putting high performance pads/rotors on a street vehicle. Some need to be warm to work properly. Stepping on the brake and having nothing happen for a few seconds will diffinately get your attention.

Bozo :joker:

Hmm... I didn't realize that some manufacturers taper the ends. That might be what they did with my car... I was also aware of the issue with higher performance brake pads and the initial stopping power. It is slightly noticeable when the car is cold, but I can stop without any trouble. Once they get to working temperature the cars stops brilliantly. The drawback to a harder brake pad is exactly what you described. The pads I bought (HPS – High Performance Street)) were meant for street use, not for racing. However they still have a little less braking power when cold due to the hardness of the pad.
 

Handruin

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Happy birthday ddrueding! Do anything fun today or was it all work and no play? :b-day: :drinka: :beer:
 

Mercutio

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DD probably started his day with a menage a' trois, moved on to Dom Perignon on his sailboat and right about now he's probably enjoy a Kush fattie. And having another menage a' trois.
 

ddrueding

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Thanks guys! Aiming for true Heffner style, I got together with a half-dozen female friends and we've been hanging out for the last 2 days. Dancing, drinking, hot tubs, eating, rock climbing (lots of ass-shots doing that), and tonight is the sailing. I need a bigger boat ;)
 

Mercutio

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1. I was right, even down the the correct number of women.
2. Hefner only has one F.
3. Die in a Fire, Captain Sailboat. :p
 

mubs

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I read a couple of days ago that Hef sleeps with 3 women in his bed (in their early 20s), and he claimed the sex was good. What's he now, 82?
 

Mercutio

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Generally, Hugh Hefner maintains around six "girlfriends" at a time. They are essentially paid for their status with magazine and newsstand-special (e.g. Playboy's Voluptuous Vixens) appearances and with the added media exposure of being seen in public with Hef. There's an annual turnover of three girlfriends. He's an evangelist for Viagra, but from all reports, Hef doesn't REALLY have sex with them. Basically, they play with each other while everyone watches dirty movies.

I met Hugh Hefner once. He was the most charismatic and gracious person I've ever had the pleasure of speaking with.

However... I also know a woman who lived at the Chicago Playboy mansion in the early 70s. She claimed that Hef was so jaded by that point, 35 years ago, that the only things he found exciting were gay male porn (but not actually men), bestiality and other things that are considered perverse even by today's standards. I guess if you live your life in naked woman paradise, naked women aren't so interesting any more. :(
 
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