Tag: broken

Windows 7 Update Broke, No Notice, How to Fix

I don’t spend much time on my Windows 7 boot, and even if I did I would not have known. The Windows 7 Update program has been broken since October 2016. I did not receive any message to tell me to fix the error, so went without bug fixes for 6 months. For an automatic updating system that has been in existence for many years, this shows disrespect for Windows customers.

When I did try to do Windows Update, it would show me the old update options and allow me to submit update requests, but then wait indefinitely for updates to download. There was no error message whatsoever to tell me something else was wrong.

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Spanner Slotted Screw Head: Hard to Remove and Unnecessary

These spanner slotted screw heads are a pain in the butt. My broken Black and Decker VS200 Heat Sealer used 2 of 9 screws as spanner slotted, the rest were philips. Why go non-standard? photo by Don Tai

Heat sealing some frozen corn with my Black and Decker VS200 heat sealer, from a 2 kg bag down to 0.5kg bags, I heard a pop, and then noticed the heat strip of my heat sealer was no longer hot. Damn, we are going to need a repair.

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Repair Viking Auto Dryer, T. Eaton Company

Old machinery is ugly, strongly made of metal, is serviceable and lasts a long time. This is the case of my Viking Auto dryer, made by the T. Eaton Company (long defunct), model no. EDX22RW1181. This dryer came with the house and has been working pretty well until recently. Ten years ago or so it stopped heating, so I took it apart and fixed the broken heating wire. Now it runs but the heat shuts off after about 20 minutes, so our clothing takes 3 hrs to dry. Why did I wait this long to repair the dryer? Because others in the house did not tell me of the problem until recently. Now that I cleaned out all the lint from 10 years it should run well again.

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Neighbour’s Tree Falls, Toronto, Canada

Trees are something I cannot live without. It was with great regret that I saw my neighbour’s maple tree downed, a huge branch ripped off and cast aside in their backyard. Such is life.

Apparently unbeknownst to us there was rot in the crotch of the limb, which became a stressor. With the recent windstorm this stressor proved to be the straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak. The crack was at the 12′ level, hidden from us puny humans. This downed limb was as thick as my waist and probably weighed in at about 1,000 lb. Overall this was just under half the tree.

The loss of this limb ripped half the circumference of the tree, severely weakening it. I am sure it will topple over sometime soon. It should be cut down.

We live in this area of Scarborough partially because of the plentiful canopy of trees. They are everywhere, providing shade, cleaning the air and habitat for birds and squirrels. They make the neighbourhood much more inviting.

Usually trees are quite strong, but they are also very resilient and will sway in heavy winds. Maybe we can all learn from this age old model. The tree that does not sway will break in stormy weather. Even the strongest will sway, something to keep in mind for the stiff upper lip crowd.

I have many trees in our backyard that I care for. With a minimum of pruning each year they reward me by growing stronger and taller, further beautifying our neighbourhood. One mulberry also gives us fruit, which tastes great. The birds feed on these as well. Our crabapple tree provides us with fresh blooms in the spring and shade in the summer. I simply prune it minimally each year, and it takes care of itself.

Maybe we all could learn more from trees.

My neighbours tree broke off a huge branch during a wind storm, Toronto, Canada

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Cheap Chinese Made Junk Products: Paper Shredder

Chinese made paper shredder, no brand name nor factory, model number WMC6X, irreparable because of this cheaply made plastic gear. While there were many metal parts in this paper shredder, the gears driving these metal parts are plastic? Who decided this? What a waste of resources, not to mention cheating the consumer. Photo 3x macro.

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GBC 450-KM Binding Machine Maintenance and Controls

GBC 450-KM binding machine: Maintenance is required for smooth and reliable function

All machines need maintenance or they will break down. My GBC 450-KM binding machine is no exception. My machine uses common plastic combs, will punch comb rectangles and bind into a booklet of varying thicknesses. Given use it will jam and will refuse to bind, so you need to open it up, trouble shoot, tighten and grease. The user manual also does not fully explain the left side controls of the machine nor any maintenance, so I thought I would embellish here.

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