Excess Deaths

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Kellemora
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Re: Excess Deaths

Post by Kellemora »

Did you ever spill a drink? Particle board has a tendency to swell when it gets wet.
Perhaps the pet of a previous owner used that room as a lavatory?

My uncle used OSB in a basement room on the walls, but it was coated with lacquer and looked nice.
He used particle board in another area of the basement, but instead of sealing it with an oil or lacquer based primer, he used a latex primer, and latex paint, which he put on way to heavily to start with.
The next day, that room looked a post card sponge that got rained on, hi hi. Only swollen haphazardly.

If you can see the subfloor from the basement, you don't need to drill any holes, just put caulk between the floor joist and the subfloor. Trying to get some up over the joist and under the subfloor if possible. That should fix your squeaks.

They do make a tiny drill bit, I think it is 1/64th inch or less. It is primarily used to clean the holes in air-hockey tables, but most hardware stores do have that smaller size drill bit. A syringe with a needle, larger than an insulin needle of course, can be used to inject silicone into the hole. You normally make the hole where there is a gap between the hardwood floors, if you have hardwood floors. Anywhere if it is subflooring with carpeting over it.
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Re: Excess Deaths

Post by yogi »

I probably could get a 1/64th inch drill bit, but I don't have a chuck that would hold it. LOL I do have a Dremmel tool that might work if I can squeeze the locking mechanism to that small diameter. Even so, I doubt the drill bit would survive the first hole. Even the larger bits tend to break on me, and that tiny drill would not have a chance of surviving. Then, too, I suspect I might run into problems finding a syringe to do the injection. The FBI probably is already monitoring what I do here and I don't need the DEA too.

We have had numerous spills on the hardwood floor, and a few doggie accidents as well. However I don't think any of that liquid got past the oak flooring. I told you a while back about how I managed to flood the bathroom floor from overrunning water in the sink. That water did seep down to the basement. Most of it went through the heating vent but there was some dripping from the joists as well. No squeaks are to be heard in that area, which is very surprising to me. About eight feed down the hallway approaching the bathroom is one squeaky location however. Whatever is causing the noise it is not a major problem. The noise does not happen all the time. I'm not sure what brings it on, but it could be the humidity or lack of it.
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Re: Excess Deaths

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Those drill bits also come with a hex mount for battery drills. A lot more expensive though.

I have some syringes I'm sure you've never seen before in your life.
One is a needle inside of a needle and is over 8 inches long, hi hi.
Without the outer needle, It is what I used to refill ink cartridges with.
I forget what it was originally intended for. But back when I bought it, there was no trouble getting those big ones, mainly because they are not used for drugs. Our hobby shop used to sell several types of syringes also, but they all had blunt points, and normally used for gluing. Heck, I even had some that had a curved end on them, like dentists sometimes gave out to help clean your teeth with.

Sometimes you only get a squeak if you step on the exact board in the right spot.
Sometimes they will only squeak about four or five times, then quit for a month or two.
I think it has to do with humidity and a nail getting some rust on it.
After a few squeaks the rust rubs off. Then it is quiet again until the next time it decides to rust.
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Re: Excess Deaths

Post by yogi »

Now that you mention it, I have seen drill bits with hex shafts to fit into a drill chuck. I have a power washer and those heads that spread the water get clogged, so I am told. One of those tiny drills would do wonders cleaning them up.

I must admit that I don't' recall ever seeing a syringe with a needle inside a larger one. I can't imagine what purpose that would serve, but apparently a lot of people needed it for them to be available at all. Truth is that I have not tried to buy syringes lately. It might be easier than I thought. I do know there was a time any kind of needle was prohibited without an Rx. Those things are indeed handy for lubricating in tight spaces. I can't see them working on caulking, however. Even the original tube can only be used once after which time the nozzle clogs up and makes it useless.

Well, the squeaky floor is just a nuisance at this point. I think it is pretty much as you suggest and related to rust and humidity.
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Re: Excess Deaths

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I think they make a stainless steel music wire designed just for cleaning power washer heads, mainly the heads used on plumbing pressure drain cleaners and root cutters.
Those root cutting power drain cleaners have really amazing heads used with them.
Of course, they take very high pressure to make them work!

I kept the package it came in for years and years just so I would remember what it was for.
But then, after switching to laser printers for over a decade, that little paper got tossed I'm sure.

I have aluminum glue dispensers with fairly large needles on them.
Since they are aluminum, they can sit in solvent to clean them up, when they haven't been used for a long time.
But even so, it is best to empty and clean them after you are done using them.
Or else buy disposable syringes, there are a lot of them you can get without a script, but they have blunt needles.
Heck, I would get a new one with each ink refill kit I would buy, but then I just started buying only the ink.

If you know about where the squeak is, perhaps you could pour some mineral oil in the cracks and see if that stops it.
Only a few drops, not the whole darn gallon, hi hi.
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Re: Excess Deaths

Post by yogi »

I never thought about using a power washer to clean drains, but that is an awesome idea. The package of heads for my power washer came with a wired that has a finger loop on one end. That is what they suggest to use for cleaning the heads. That will work, I'm sure, but I also am sure that wire is going to get lost like a million other things that small. LOL

It's probably just me, but I have problems with glue dispensers. Even the Elmer's glue bottle clogs up for me and makes it more or less useless. I don't seem to have a problem with 2-part epoxy. Those tubes flow freely all the time.

I like the idea of using mineral oil on squeaky floor boards. i use that stuff on my cutting board and it preserves the wood very well. No squeaks at all on that board. :mrgreen:
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Re: Excess Deaths

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If you are ever over on Farcebook, do a search for Drain Addict, and take a look at a couple of his videos of doing drain cleaning.
He has a pet rubber rat he calls Ratty, and sometimes wears a Rat Head covering like a mask. He's added a few more critters he displays when working on drains.
It is amazing some of the things he finds in drains that don't belong there, and got stuck tight.
But if you view just one of his video's you'll see some mighty powerful root cutting powerheads using only water.
He also ends up working in some of the most awful places to have to get to. Why the smell don't kill him, I don't know, hi hi.

When glues came in metal or glass jars, they lasted forever, but once they started coming in plastic, they dry up fast.
And yes, most that are self dispensing will dry up in the nozzles, sometimes overnight.
Most of those I had, you removed the nozzle and put a cap on the syringe, then cleaned the needle like delivery tube.
Others, you took off the needle cap, turned it around so the needle was inside, then put another cap over that. Very hard to find those kinds anymore. Probably because they were so overpriced.

We had an old wood floor hardware store when I was growing up. I loved to go in there just because of how it smelled.
He probably used Hemp Oil on the floors, because it smelled just like he got a shipment of Hemp Rope in, all the time.
I'm surprised the place never burned down, since folks put out their cigarettes on the floors in those days.

One store had a wood wall at one end, it was decorative, and they coated it with mineral oil a few times a year. On the outside they used Linseed Oil so it looked jet black most of the time, hi hi.
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Re: Excess Deaths

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Just to give you a frame of reference, olive oil has a flash point of 410℉ while hemp oil has a flash point of more than 1000℉. While that says something about flammability, you would never want to fry anything in hemp oil. It smokes and breaks down way before olive oil.

Back in elementary school days I recall using paste from a jar. I have some vague recollection of the new and improved Elmer's Glue All, which was a liquid instead of a paste. It was amazing stuff to a kid like me. The plastic containers they put glue in today must be porous which causes the glue to gum up quickly. I think you have the right idea about taking off those dispenser nozzles and replacing them with a normal cap, if you can find one to fit. I used to like the plastic glue the sold for building model airplanes. That stuff came in a metal tube, More often than not the nozzle would become coated with glue which hardened rather quickly. The good news is that it was easy to peel off and the goo inside the tube was still usable.

Oddly enough we had two hardware stores within walking distance of the house I was born in. The closer one had those sweet smelling floorboards that you mentioned being coated with hemp oil. It did indeed have an aroma of it's own which was weirdly attractive. That shop was great. It was a store front with living quarters in back of the store. You would have to ring a bell to alert the owner you needed service. And that was generally only to make change. It was perfectly ok with him to grab the items you need and leave the money on the counter. Nothing like that exists in today's world.
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Re: Excess Deaths

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Interesting about the flash points on hemp oil being so high.
I've often wondered what my grandpa used in the warehouses which were all wood.
From what I understood, whatever it was they used, it was supposed to retard a fire.
But it was not used on or in any of our barns. Perhaps that's why the barns burned down and the warehouses never did, hi hi.
If you asked his three sons, one would say it was just Borax and water, another would say Boric Acid and water, and another would say it was a concoction grandpa came up with through trial and error, But did remember seeing barrels of Borax, and several 30 gallon drums of some type of liquid, which were delivered before they built the new warehouse. New meaning prior to 1925, hi hi.

Elmer's glue is just PVA. I don't know what it was in the early days though. But PVA can be purchased as a paste, a thick liquid like honey, a thinner liquid like paint, or really liquid almost like water. It has a multitude of uses. Everything from wall primer to puzzle coating, to gluing things together. PVA is Polyvinyl Acitate.

The old style glue for plastic models, the one some kids would sniff, was the best darn stuff for other uses too.
I do know it has oil of mustard in it, but I don't know if that is the main ingredient, or just the ingredient period.
One could actually used toilet paper with airplane glue to make the skin to go over the framework. It was more delicate, but TP was cheap, and the glue was fairly cheap.
Even so, for balsa wood usage, especially model airplanes, I always used Ambroid glue. It didn't vibrate apart, hi hi.

Our old grocery store was like that. If the owner had to leave for something, he left the door unlocked. Most of us had a charge account there, so we would just write down what we got in our charge book that sat in a rack with everyone elses.
Either that are you wrote it on their big notepad they set on the counter when not available for the register. And sometimes folks would put the money in one of the reusable old envelopes he kept in box he set on the counter if he left for some reason. Yes, folks were honest back then, hi hi. Well most of them anyhow! Kids would always take twice the amount of candy they wrote down on the charge book, but that was fairly well known which kids it was who did that too.
We were about the same age as the storekeepers son, and he was a little slow at things, hi hi.
If you only had three dollars, you could fold the middle one in half, and count out four dollars by showing only the ends as you counted them in front of him. He never recounted them and put them in the drawer with the folded one in between two straight ones, hi hi.
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Re: Excess Deaths

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I looked up the flash points for the oils because I don't know them off the top of my head. The high point for hemp surprised me too, but they emphasized the fact that its smoke point is lower than that for olive oil. After it starts smoking it just deteriorates rapidly until it bursts into flames.

Apparently your grandpa knew what he was doing. Borax plus boric acid are indeed what is used as a fire retardant. I guess it works but I have no idea why. I would think the first time it rained it would all wash off and form pools of seltzer water. LOL

For all I know the paste we used in grammar school was PVA. All I recall is that one day the nun came in with a bottle of white liquid for certain kids to use instead of the paste. I was not a chosen one, but I do recall being totally amazed that glue can come in a liquid form.

Those old time neighborhood grocery stores were perfect for that era. I think people probably were more honest in those days simply because all the neighbors knew each other. You could not get away with anything for very long in that kind of environment. Today there are credit cards and scan-to-pay with your smartphone. It's hardly necessary to even carry cash around anymore. We visited one of those rest stops along I-55 on the way home yesterday and discovered that some of the vending machines took credit cards for payment. All we had to do was wave the card in front of the terminal and voila! Out came the bottled water.

And, on a slightly different note, my clever phone has an unusual problem. The phone itself is snapped into a cover to protect the back and sides. The power stitch and volume controls are accessed via this cover. About a week ago I started having trouble adjusting the volume. The cover buttons were not engaging with the actual phone buttons. So, I took off the cover and to my utter amazement the back side of the phone was peeling off right about where those buttons are located. I tried compressing it to close the gap but that didn't do much good. I'm thinking the battery is swelling up or the glue that holds that cover in place is failing. Not sure which it is, but just to be safe I ordered a new clever phone. I should have it in hand by the holiday. Hopefully my old phone lasts that long.
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Re: Excess Deaths

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I was working in a house once where the owner bought some brick sealer to seal the used bricks on the inside of the house.
I worried the entire time I used it too, because it said the flash point was something like 110 degrees, and it was close to that in that not yet air-conditioned house in the dead of summer.

Every stick of wood that went into building the big warehouse was first soaked in this concoction of his. And then after it was built, I'm sure it was sprayed several times with the same stuff.
That warehouse was as important to him as our greenhouses. But the old barns, he rarely used them except to store junk nobody wanted, hi hi. All except the old stables, now that is where he parked each car he retired from usage. Some of them would be worth a mint today, especially the old Moon he had in there which one of the family members cobbed, like I did with the old 46 Ford Super Deluxe, hi hi.

I was familiar with several liquid glues from an early age. One we used called Muculage was poured into the roll paper dispensers. This is what was used before tape was invented. You pulled the paper across a metal roller that picked up the glue and put it on the back side of the paper, then you stuck it down over the flaps of box, like you do with tape nowadays.

My brother got out of the vending business when they all had to be connected to services which were not cheap to get at the beginning. A phone line had to be run to each one, which was another expense. But the ones today mostly use WiFi and local access points. If not that then cellular services, like this thing my wife has around my neck, hi hi.

My last pair of glasses, instead of being welded, the front frame with the earpieces only had the metal rings that hold the lenses in place glued to the front frame, and the nose rests were part of the lenses housings. I've had to glue these glasses back together several times. At first I took the time to clean them properly and use a bonding adhesive, but then after that eventually let go, out came the super glue, hi hi.

NOTHING is made with any quality to it anymore! Sad, really sad! Especially since they still charge quality prices, hi hi.
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Re: Excess Deaths

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We probably don't agree on this, but merchandise today is of a different quality than it was back in the 40's. That difference does not mean things are better in either time frame. Take telephones for example. Those black desktop phones were build solid as a rock, if you could afford to have one in the first place. There is no way to compare the quality of those old phones to what is being sold today in 2023. They are two different animals. My clever phone, as an example, is actually a computer that can make phone calls. Does that kind of flexibility add to the quality of the phone? Yes, of course it does, and computers were simply not available back in the 40's. Back then my $700 phone (if it could have been purchased then) would cost between $40 and $45. Today you would say that's cheap, but back then it was a small fortune. Today millions upon millions of people can and do buy such 'expensive' phones. Thus, the quality in today's world exists, but I will agree it's not like quality in 1945. And I thank the Lords of Inflation for that. :lol:

Would you believe that I personally used Muculage in my long long lifetime? LOL The first official job I had at the envelope company had tape machines that used that old glue. I'm not sure what my go-to glue would be today, and I guess it would depend on the application. I favor epoxy for the heavy duty jobs and Pliobond for most other tasks. The Pliobond can take some flexing, such as gluing shoe soles back together, which is why I like the stuff. It's not clean and easy to use, but it is very effective. My wife uses Elmer's for just about everything. She glued one of our ceramic dishes back together after she chipped it and that darn dish is still holding together even after several trips through the dishwasher. I like super glue too, but it's tinsel strength is its only good point. Any side pressure breaks the bond easily.
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Re: Excess Deaths

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Most things made these days, are not made to last. Built-in obsolescence, materials that don't hold up, etc. ad infinitum.
Technology has made it possible to make things cheaper, AND control how long they will last in service.
And many things, they add lots of bells and whistles to them which makes them break down more often too.

Some things can be made just like the old days, for a price. A wood screen door is a good example.
But in one way, you cannot compare the prices of things today with the prices of thing in days of yore.
One reason for this is manhours it takes to work to buy something back then, were less than they are today, for the simple reason they had more disposable income due to less taxation.

I used to carry a small metal rack in my truck that held like 8 different types of glues. 6 of each type.
These were small tubes you normally used up doing a small project.
Duco Cement was one I usually stocked a dozen of in that rack. It was a great all purpose glue that worked on metal, glass, wood, and was clear. I also had adhesives for cloth materials, and of course double-tack style adhesives.
And these did not include the glues used in plumbing, or replacing Formica, etc.

There are different types of Cynacrolate Resin, aka Super Glues. The two brands I normally used were named "Jet" and "Hot Stuff" both of which would SMOKE when you put a drop on something. None of the store bought super glues come anywhere close to the holding power of Jet or Hot Stuff.
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Re: Excess Deaths

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Built in obsolescence was pioneered by General Motors. They changed the style of their cars every year so that you would be encouraged to update annually. The metal was thicker, but it's difficult to assume that those old cars lasted any longer than what is being sold today. We don't use heavy gauge steel for fenders anymore but today's very expensive automobiles last just as long. I have this 2009 Saturn, for example, and there is no sigh of wear and tear on the body or the engine. That has something to do with how the previous owner used the car, but the metal did not disintegrate because it is not as thick as metal on 1949 model cars. The problem, as I see it, is many of the materials that went into old merchandise is in short supply or not available at all. Plywood comes to mind. There is none in this house I own. They used cheaper paneling to keep the costs down, but the truth is that the trees used to make plywood are nearly extinct.

I like your explanation of why you think people had more disposable income back in the old days. You suggest fewer taxes is the reason. That is partially true because back in those old days corporations were paying a lot more taxes than they are today. That is the basis of my argument to increase corporate taxes today. If the consumer pays for those corporate taxes when they buy merchandise, then how could those old time consumers have had more disposable income? :mrgreen:

Those Cynacrolate Resins are great stuff. I'm pretty sure that's what they used to patch me up the last time I had surgery. No stitches were involved. Super glue has a very high tinsel strength which means it's hard to pull apart any objects glued with that stuff. That's not the case with side pressure. Thus super glue has limited application. It bonds quickly which can be an advantage in some situations. I have no experience with Jet or Hot Stuff so that those two might be the exception to the rule. Both are readily available online and it's interesting that I never heard of the stuff.
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Re: Excess Deaths

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I still see one heck of a lot of pre-war cars around this neck of the woods, and tons up to the 1950s.
The metal in cars today, what little of it there is, is treated with rust proofing, where the old cars were not.

My old '46 Ford I rolled down a hill that was too steep, in never got a dent in it, hi hi.
And when I was a kid, we jumped up and down on the roof of dads car, using like a trampoline.
It would pop down and back up again, to the point sometimes it stung our feet.
Later on that day, a belt made our rear ends sting, hi hi.

I think super glues need an official rating on them, like the octane rating on gasoline.
I've had some that took over 1/2 hour to dry, and no I didn't use too much. You can't use a lot with that type of glue or it defeats how it works. If you only need one drop, don't use two for good measure, hi hi.
I also think ALL batteries should have the mAh rating on them too, since so many don't now.
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Re: Excess Deaths

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An AA battery can deliver 2850 mAh.
An AAA battery can deliver 1200 mAh.
A 9 volt battery can deliver 1200 mAh

Those ratings are pretty standard and to be honest I've not seen them on any batteries I've used in recent years. I don't think the ratings have changed, ever.

mAh ratings are pointless for car batteries because the battery there is used for a different purpose than the ones I listed above. Car batteries are rated at their Cranking Amperage or Cold Cranking Amperage which is a measure of how many amps they can deliver for 30 seconds of time. Once the engine is started you don't need the battery anymore because the alternator takes over. Thus amp hours are meaningless for car batteries.

Those old time cars were built like tanks but without the spent uranium armor. I suspect they weighed just as much, however. LOL The reason for light weight cars today has to do with government mandated MPG ratings. The only way to boost MPG is to lighten up the load. The internal combustion engine has reached its peak of efficiency so that altering the load it mus bear is the only way to meet the regulations. You would think the lighter automobiles with less steel would cost less, but they don't. As you pointed out they are treated with rust inhibitors and the engines now are computer controlled fuel injected. None of that existed back in the old days. You also might think it's a waste of effort to make cars as they do today, but consider how many millions more cars are on the road compared to 1945. Increasing the efficiency of just one multiplies that energy savings millions of times over. Nobody cared about such things way back when.

Then again, there is that phenomena that you mention. People are keeping their cars longer and the used car market has gone bonkers. Some are more expensive than new cars. That has to do with the price of cars in 2023 more than anything else. I also think some of those refurbished cars you see running around town were rebuilt from a pile of rusty metal in somebody's barn. I don't think you will find bright and shiny cars that were made 75 years ago unless they have been rebuilt.
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Re: Excess Deaths

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They make batteries in many different ways, so the mAh on them has to be different on different types.
Even among the Alkaline batteries, some will last for a week, some will last for a month.
I used to count how many times I could use my flash camera on a set of batteries, and I'll tell you, the brand and type make a HUGE Difference in longevity of the batteries.

Agreed on the car batteries!

Making a car lighter may get it a few more miles per gallon, but then you don't have the safety of a heavy car.
They want you to think they are safer, but in reality, they are not.

I'm driving my '97 Blazer, don't plan on trading it in either. Took me a year to find one like mine I wrecked.
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Re: Excess Deaths

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You are correct about the variance in batteries. The numbers I quoted are for the most common alkaline that are fresh off the battery line. The numbers are also typical and not exact. My point in quoiting it all was to show how easy it is to discover the mAh ratings. They are well known and not required to be labeled on the battery.

I read about how the cars being made today are designed to crumble upon impact. That was not the case in those old time heavy metal tank type automobiles. At first thought you would think all that stiff heavy metal is great protection, but it's not. Being rigid like that means there is no, or very little, absorption of the shock at impact. Thus the driver gets smashed into the steering wheel or tossed out the front windshield. The cars that crumble absorb the shock and help keep the driver in place, and alive. Those old time inline engines also had a habit of entering the driver's compartment upon impact. The FWD engines in today's cars tend to drop down on impact and not crush the driver. I don't have any hard statistics to show which cars are safer or better at preserving the life of it's occupants. I do know my mom had a head on collision with another vehicle and walked away unassisted. She had one of those light weight FWD cars at the time.
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Re: Excess Deaths

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I don't remember off the top of my head, but some of the batteries I used to buy, high-end batteries, all showed the mAh on them. One was the Kodak branded batteries, the expensive versions, hi hi.

It is true that the cars now have crumple zones, and most have had since the late '70s or early '80s.
It just makes it so the insurance company totals most of them after an accident though.

They may make them in such a way to protect the driver and passengers in an accident.
But unfortunately, they make the cars in such a way, they are more prone to being in an accident too.

Look at my original Blazer. It was a minor accident. But it crumpled way too much and totaled the vehicle.
Had it been the drivers side, instead of the passenger side, it probably could have been salvageable and repaired.

I installed seat-belts in my '62 Impala, and all cars after it, if they didn't come with them.
I remember the brand I bought also, made by Irving Air Chute Company.
In the cars I raced, I had the full racing harness, which I loved much better than these diagonal belts in cars these days.

Besides my O2 problems, I'm starting to have several other medical issues cropping up.
My doc has me lined up with a few specialists. One for GI problems I started having. Another for my legs, which ache big time, but not Charlie Horses, this is pain in the whole leg, and worse than a Charlie Horse.
Plus a Pulmonologist, since I'm having trouble even keeping my O2 up at all now, which of course means the CO2 is going bonkers as well. I'm in near Panic Mode at times every day now, and sometimes the inhalers don't help me through it very well.
So, If I come up missing a day here, I'm probably in the hospital or on another doctors visit.
I'll try to let you know if those cases arise without warning.
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Re: Excess Deaths

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I think by and large the automobile manufacturers are trying to make cars safer. It's not my impression that they are doing it voluntarily but in response to government laws and regulations. The safety in the design of cars is an improvement, if not an additional cost. I think a lot of lives are being saved as a result of cars being able to crumple. There is indeed a huge increase in the occurrence of accidents because of the number of vehicles on the road. Obviously more cars means more opportunities for them to crash into each other.

Never did like seat belts but I would not feel comfortable without them now. I have my doubts about the effectiveness of the cross body type, but they do work well enough if they are adjusted properly. A buddy of mine had an Alpha Romeo many years ago. He was big on road rallies. I never accompanied him in a race but he did give me a thrilling ride one day. The seat belts in that car were five-point contact type and felt very awkward. There was no way to be thrown out of the car with those in place. You might crush a few ribs from the pressure of the belts during an impact, but you mist likely would stay alive. I'd wear them today if that is what they installed, but they will never do it. Ladies in dresses and skirts would have a hard time with such seat belts.

I understand perfectly your situation. It certainly is a pleasure being able to chat with you every day, but I also know you have more pressing needs. I don't know what's going on with your legs but at one time mine were getting cramps as well as other strange pains. I have poor circulation and apparently that is one cause of pains in my legs. The good news is that I now wear compression stockings and seldom get those pains. A lot of walking helps too, but then that might affect your O2 requirements. Seeing all those specialists has got to be a pain in the drain. But, they are specialists. If anybody can help you through all this it would be medical specialists.
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