Well, at least I know ahead of time what tonight’s nightmares are gonna be about.

I feel both attacked and validated.

Some of the common critiques have themselves turned into memes. But they’ve been beaten to death by this point. I’m not sure if everyone you know just has bad taste, or they’re just bandwagoning the hater train (or both).

Might as well find out for yourself! The show isn’t considered a classic for nothing. (And don’t skip the movie, End of Evangelion.)

And/or clapped, depending on which version you’re watching.

The poop knife is just out of shot.

All good, you covered for me while I was trying to be witty >_>

Seconding your vouching. It really is painless.

Yes. Unfortunately I live in a nepo congressional district where the mob boss’s — I’m sorry, party power broker’s — little brother has a seat for life and runs unopposed every primary. And said “power broker” is VERY deeply embedded in the state dem machine (and much of the business dealings in and out of the public view), to the point where court action was needed to stop the ballot placement fuckery.

It’s also next to impossible to dig up information on county commissioners, township committee, and school board candidates. “John Doe was born in neighboring Othertown but has lived and worked in Hometown for decades. He has three children in the local school system with his wife Jane. ‘I care very deeply about policy and I think things should be good, not bad.’ John likes to go for long walks in the local park when he’s not hang gliding at his mountain vacation house.”

Unfortunately techniques like this work, as (at least) one of the Moms Against Liberty types got voted onto the school board last term. The term before that, they were all mask-off for the standard conservative Covid crap and lost… but not by much. They scrubbed their online presence to be as generic as possible… and the only POC on the board lost her seat.

And yes, I am prone to depression.

I did vote in 2000. “Wait… so the son of the VP during Regan’s Reign of Dementia is really a for real candidate?” Didn’t matter, state went blue, Florida did not because some guy named Chad Brooks hung his brother in front of SCOTUS.

I did vote in 2004. “Well this guy is completely forgettable but at least junior is going to follow in daddy’s footsteps and be a one pump chump.” Didn’t matter, state went blue, I begin to question reality.

I did vote in 2008. “I have no idea who this guy is but he talks a good game and he pisses off the bigots.” Didn’t matter, state went blue, record numbers came out to vote, and my mom suddenly cared about politics because she’s a racist piece of shit.

I did vote in 2012. “Let’s keep this rolling please and thank you.” Didn’t matter, state went blue, Bain Capital went on to kill both KayBee Toys and Toys R Us as revenge.

I did not vote in 2016. “These choices are bullshit, what the hell.” Didn’t matter, state went blue, large areas of empty space went red, and the oval office went orange despite almost three million more people voting for Buttery Males over Fraud Inc.

I did vote in 2020. “This election smells of mothballs and Icy Hot but at least I don’t have to stand in line.” Didn’t matter, state went blue, record numbers came out to vote, fascists went mask-off.

I will vote in 2024 (and already voted in the primary, which… didn’t matter). “I truly believe we are living in some sort of simulation, how can this possibly be real life?”

Pass the coconuts.

…okay, you’ve convinced me. As someone from a beige state that’s been presidentially blue for over 30 years (meaning my vote means dick-all due to EC shenanigans), I will continue to show up and vote to make sure it stays that way.

Maybe one day I’ll even get an inspiring candidate to vote for.

All good, I appreciate it.

I did not turn off the water (calculated gamble), but I did drain the diverter/mixer before starting any work, and didn’t apply heat for a while after that. The piece that’s frozen is right at the front of the handle (pic is elsewhere in the thread), and the stem head is right behind it. It should have gotten to temp pretty quickly. I didn’t go too crazy since I wasn’t planning on disassembling anything until I had access to replacement parts, just gave it a few tugs.

Just finished putting on the new spout… and at its tightest, it points straight up ᕕ(ᐛ)ᕗ So I backed it off a half and am now waiting for the caulk to cure. I packed the tile hole with putty so the caulk is more for looks than anything. If the diverter valve sprays everywhere… guess I’m going knocking until someone says I can use their shower lol.

Edit: all is well. Or at least no worse than it was.

Heat did the trick for the spout, no dice on the diverter knob. Same with WD-40… there’s no place to really access the problem spot. It’s on there good.

Noted on big box vs dedicated supply store.

I did some more research and I think I’ll be able to be able to replace the washers and re-pack the compression nuts, and keep the original valves. But I’m not attempting that until I can get an early start on a day when the supply store is open for any running back and forth that may be needed. And even aside from that, none of the local big box stores have any packing nut material in stock.

Thank you again for the insight!

Well I got a look at the back side. There is a fitting, but it’s after the elbow. ᕕ(ᐛ)ᕗ So yeah, not gonna be torquing that at all lol. I borrowed a heat gun from a neighbor, and the spout twisted right off after a minute or so. And then a ton of mineral buildup went everywhere. Thanks slow leak! What a mess.

Unfortunately the shower diverter knob doesn’t seem to want to give, at all. Push comes to shove I can leave it in place, but I would really prefer at least giving things a thorough cleaning.

Thank you so much for the tips!

The two wrench thing makes perfect sense, and was something I had in mind. It’s just that the other side of the fitting is on the other side of the wall lol. Would need to be a 2-person job. Need to get a better look inside the access panel (and take down a second piece of drywall for reasons only known to the previous owner) to see if the spout pipe is fitted or soldered. If it’s soldered, what would be the tool for the job on the other side? I’m thinking vice grips so as not to accidentally over-tighten but I’m well aware that there’s a bunch of stuff I don’t know.

I appreciate the general tips as well. The ceiling is coming down in the basement soon so I’ll be able to get a look at the underside. The master shower leaks like crazy so there will definitely be work to do. Fingers crossed that the prior owners also stopped using it, and there’s no subfloor damage etc.

Well. That just threw cold water on my plans. Pun intended. But I’m still confused. Everything looks identical (aside from ornamentation) to something like this:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Danco-3-Handle-Metal-Tub-Shower-Repair-Kit-For-Gerber/1092421

I should just be able to remove the old hardware: loosen the set screw on the flanges/caps, slide them off, unscrew the sleeves, then ratchet off the valve stems. The sticking point (literally) is the shower knob and bath spigot seem to be frozen/corroded in place.

ETA: yes this is in the US. Drywall under the tile, access panel behind… but I really shouldn’t need to do that. Everything I’ve read so far outside of this thread says it should be a simple swap job.

I am by no means an expert… I just kind of assumed everything was standardized, and new valves would be interchangeable.

Good call on the WD 40. I should be able to get behind the shower knob. For the spigot, it’s more of a spray and hope lol.

I’m not sure why I would need to remove the tiles? Unless it’s to have room for leverage to remove the shower knob.

Yeah, the main bath has an access panel (whereas the master shower stall does not). I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be looking for on that side. The spigot should just unscrew from the tub side, correct? And the shower knob is corroded in place.

Obligatory “Fuck Harmony Gold”

Everybody be worried about Skynet, and I’m all, we need to trudge through Multiplicity first.