| Author |
Message |
Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Tuesday, April 07, 2020 - 8:15 pm 
quote:I think it will be a long time until I can use a smart phone.
I have a little flip phone TracFone.
Dogdoc, if you already have Tracfone, you will be able to upgrade with the phone you are getting from your niece and transfer your minutes over. Use the "I am bringing my own phone option." It is not the least bit difficult, except you will need someone with good eyes and nimble fingers if you need to replace the SIM card, which you probably will. BUT, Tracfone will absolutely help you do it. They may even send you a free Tracfone SIM card. Not to worry, none of this is difficult. You are savvy enough to do it.
You WILL be able to use your new phone easily. You have a computer now, so you can use Google to ask every simple question in the world about how to use your phone, and it will be answered a thousand times over somewhere on the internet. You will be VERY surprised! Oh, and texting!! Texting is wonderful! If you get too much into texting, you can buy like 500 texts, maybe even 1000 texts for $5 from Tracfone.
Oh, and of course, first thing you do when you get the new phone is go to Google and download the user manual for it. And then I think there is also a thread somewhere here for how to use smartphones. Everybody has to start somewhere.
TNT, you got it, honey. Will get it together and mail to you. Same for you, you will surprise yourself at how much you might already know. It is really nothing but a tiny computer that also makes phone calls. Um, you may need reading glasses to see the screen. I do. Don't be vain about it. Uh oh. I just opened the drawer the phone is in. I have TWO of them!! TNT, do you want hot pink case or neon green? Anybody else need one? They are same model, same age, maybe 3-4 years old, have not been used in a couple years, but when I turn them on, both of them are still at full charge despite having lived in a drawer for a couple years. Just amazing.
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Dogdoc
Member
09-29-2001
| Wednesday, April 08, 2020 - 7:42 am
Thank you Juju. I have 3,114.00 minutes on my TracFone phone.
I will ask my niece about when I can get her phone.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Wednesday, April 08, 2020 - 2:01 pm
Whoa! You are in luck, Dogdoc.
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Kitt
Member
09-05-2000
| Friday, April 10, 2020 - 3:35 pm
Stimulus payment info...
If there is anyone here whose income is low enough that they do not need to file a tax return, then the IRS have made a new option for you to make yourself known to them so they can send a stimulus payment. You can give them your bank info for direct deposit, or simply give them an address for a stimulus payment in check form.
This is not for people who receive Social Security, Railroad Benefits, SSDI; those people will receive a stimulus payment automatically.
This is not for people who need to file a tax return, or who have filed a tax return but just want to give the IRS your bank details for direct deposit. Those people have to file a tax return or wait for the (allegedly) upcoming portal to enter your bank details.
Here's the link:
https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/non-filers-enter-payment-info-here
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Kitt
Member
09-05-2000
| Friday, April 10, 2020 - 3:58 pm
Also, direct deposit stimulus payments have started being deposited as of today, and will continue through next week (and possibly beyond).
Within 15 days of the deposit the IRS should send you a letter saying where they deposited it and how much was deposited, so if you're not seeing what you expected, wait for that.
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Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Sunday, April 12, 2020 - 5:03 pm
So, I've been having problems with one of my toilets not flushing right. It would go all the way to the top, even overflowing sometimes, and then slowly drain almost all the way out. Nothing has worked, not the plunger, not pouring dish soap in and super hot water. So, I broke down and bought a toilet snake. What do you know, it didn't work either. I'm at a loss. No telling what is in the toilet blocking it. My husband has dementia. I've told him not to use that toilet, but he probably won't remember. My son is supposed to come look at it tomorrow.
No stimulus check here yet.
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Mak1
Member
08-11-2002
| Sunday, April 12, 2020 - 8:13 pm
My online bank account shows "1 pending ACH" which means "These transactions have not been posted to your account, but we have received them. Direct deposit transactions are examples of pending ACH transactions." It says $2400 from IRS Treasury will be settled on April 15.
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Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Sunday, April 12, 2020 - 10:45 pm
Hecka, do you have a cesspool? How old are the pipes going out to it? If they are old and metal, tree roots could have gotten into them. Or they could also have rusted in some spots and dirt and rocks fallen into the spots.
I hope it's something simpler than that.
Hey! If you have a cesspool, maybe it's full.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Sunday, April 12, 2020 - 11:23 pm
I suspect I will have to wait... I had to an more last year. Social Security definitely direct deposits..
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Monday, April 13, 2020 - 8:41 pm
Hecka, I think Grooch means septic tank, which is a VERY good question. It is possible your husband always just took care of it? Or perhaps you rent, and it is the landlord's responsibility?
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Jeep
Member
10-17-2001
| Tuesday, April 14, 2020 - 5:57 am
Agree with the septic tank comments. A slow toilet that didn't respond to a snake cleaning was my first indication that the tank needed to be pumped. Hurry if that's the case. A backup is imminent if you don't act soon. Happened to me.
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Scooterrific
Member
07-07-2005
| Tuesday, April 14, 2020 - 7:31 am
Question: Does anyone have a Roomba type vacuum cleaner? If so what are your recommendations? We have carpet (living/dining and bedrooms), tile (2 bathrooms) and hardwood floors(kitchen, family room, hallways and laundry room).
Are any better on all surfaces than others?
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Karuuna
Board Administrator
08-30-2000
| Tuesday, April 14, 2020 - 8:11 am
If it's a full septic tank, not likely that only one toilet would be slow? They all drain to the same septic tank.
(From a septic tank owner).
Out here in the sticks, we have leech fields, so the septics are self draining. You do have to have them pumped occasionally, but not as often since the water "leeches" out constantly.
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Jeep
Member
10-17-2001
| Tuesday, April 14, 2020 - 8:45 am
Yeah, that would usually be right Karuuna if it's a one story house. I have a tri-level and the toilet on the lowest level is the one that gives me the warning. Not as much drop to the tank as the ones on the upper floors.
the water isn't really the problem, since it does "leach" out in the drain field. It's the solid matter in the tank. If that fills up the tank, then no more water or anything else can get in.
And never put anything in a septic tank except water and toilet paper. No tissues, paper towels, wet wipes, nothing?
Believe me, I learned all this the hard way. I now have a service I call every 2 or three years to have it pumped. Might be overkill, but I never want to go thru that again!
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Karuuna
Board Administrator
08-30-2000
| Tuesday, April 14, 2020 - 9:19 am
Jeep, I have a ranch, so maybe not applicable to me. 
The company that pumped it last time (because the pipes to the leach field had become clogged), said there was rarely a reason to pump if you maintain it well. Haven't had it pumped since the leach field was cleared (had to dig up some of the pipes and replace them).
But I am VERY careful about the products I use. RV toilet paper (which disintegrates faster than so-called "septic safe"), and no other paper products.
Quite a few people have believed the claims about "flushable wipes" -- there is no such thing!
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Jeep
Member
10-17-2001
| Tuesday, April 14, 2020 - 10:02 am
True Karuuna..........I didn't have a problem for 15 years and bang! it started giving me problems almost every year. It's just me there, so no one knows what caused it to start. Maybe my "solids" aren't stinky enough 
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Roxip
Member
01-29-2004
| Tuesday, April 14, 2020 - 10:06 am
I had the same problem with my water lines that ran to the city sewer - tree roots had grown into my line and dislodged the boot that connected it to the city line - OF COURSE it happened on my side and not the city's - my upstairs toilet flushed fine by my downstairs toilet (and my bathtub) started backing up.
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Kitt
Member
09-05-2000
| Tuesday, April 14, 2020 - 10:46 am
Re: the roomba question
I have an old original style roomba. It's very good at wooden floors, good on tile, ok on carpet (but ours is very low, not sure how it would be with a deeper carpet). Meant to be very good with animal fur, but I don't have any, so don't know.
One problem is the edges of the room, it gets close, but I tend to sweep the edges on the wood/tile, to get it to the center where the roomba can get it. The carpet edges stay dirty until I can bother to get out the proper hoover and the edge attachment.
Also, like any hoover, if you get down low after hoovering/vacuuming you can see dust is still there even though it looks all gone, so it's kind of best thought of as something that allows you to leave longer between doing the floors properly.
Oh and it's noisy. At least my seven(??) year old roomba is. They might have improved.
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Scooterrific
Member
07-07-2005
| Tuesday, April 14, 2020 - 12:53 pm
Thanks Kitt...I appreciate your input!
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Rosie
Member
11-12-2003
| Tuesday, April 14, 2020 - 2:09 pm
I absolutely love my Roomba. (My cat loves my Roomba and I keep hoping that he will climb on it and take a ride around.) He does like to watch it go around the house.
The absolute best part about the Roomba is that it picks up the litter that gets out of the litter boxes. The boxes are on the enclosed patio that has indoor/outdoor carpet and the litter tracks all over the patio.
Charlie gets up high on one of his spots and watches the Roomba zoom around to clean up after him.
It does pick up cat hair.
I love my Roomba!
It does need to be emptied a couple of times.
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Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Tuesday, April 14, 2020 - 2:45 pm
I live in a very old mobile home. In fact, I fell through a hole in the closet today. Had to put a wooden board down to cover it up. The place is falling apart. My son said they arent' meant to be lived in this long, but I don't have a choice. He ran a toilet snake in the toilet twice. Only got a slight bit of hair out. Wouldn't be causing the clog. The toilet that is closest to the septic tank is working fine. It is all one-level.
I also think my washing machine connections might be leaking. The floor gets wet in the kitchen next door. I looked behing it however and do not see anything so don't know about that.
Son is supposed to come out this weekend and see if he can fix the toilet and see if he can figure anything else out.
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Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Tuesday, April 14, 2020 - 3:23 pm
Okay, just looked behind the washing machine while it's running. Do not see any water leaking anywhere, but the water has to be coming from somewhere. The towels I put down are soaking wet. Hmm.
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Dipo
Member
04-23-2002
| Tuesday, April 14, 2020 - 3:24 pm
Might be leaking from the underneath that you can't see.
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Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Tuesday, April 14, 2020 - 3:28 pm
Oooh, I think that happened to my mother once. If that's the case, there's nothing you can do about it.
Hecka, I'm so sorry you are having all these problems.
Wait, did the washing machine problem start at the same time as the toilet? Can they be connected?
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Zeyna
Member
07-15-2001
| Tuesday, April 14, 2020 - 7:19 pm
We've had a Roomba for a few years, and it's good for a general sweep, but it definitely doesnt replace a thorough vacuuming. I find that it works best on wood floors and tile. The one carpet we have is thick and the Roomba gets stuck.
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