Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with broken

Baby, it's COLD inside...

Spyder's Game — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:51:12 -0800

Thermostat seems to work fine. Except at night. When it gets cold. Quick background info: We bought this house a year ago. Yay! Ran into this same problem almost immediately. The heat works fine. Sometimes.

Last night my wife came home after I'd already gotten in bed. She said "it's freezing in here!" and I suddenly realized it was pretty cold. Temp had been falling steadily since I'd gone to bed at ten or so. So, rough night and two grumpy toddlers later, we were trying to figure out what happened. Then the heat (the glorious HEAT!) came on. And all was good. Last night it got cold again.

The thermostat seems to be the problem. Says the temp is 66 degrees. Says it SHOULD be 74. Fan is on AUTO and blows continuously, cool to (cold!) room temp air. It seems like it's TRYING to heat, but it has no heat to give. The next day, all is good again. What is it about cold winter nights (we had this problem last year right after we bought the house and muddled through the rest of the winter after the thing seemed to auto-correct itself.)

If I didn't know better, I'd think we had accidently programmed the thing to cool down to 66 at night. But we checked the programs. Daily and weekly. The temporary override feature also says it's working to bring the temp up, but it stubbornly stays at 66. I mean, a SOLID 66. Which is why I think the thermostat is to blame.

When it does heat, it blazes like the noonday sun, and does a great job. But at night, it's a different story. Anyone have an explanation for this? Similar problem that you fixed? We thought about calling a technician, but we're afraid he'll just come and charge us $150 to show us how to program our thermostat. But we're tired of shivering under the covers at night.

Here is the manual for the thermostat. It's the 5000 model.

Recommendations for wounded yet likeable men in books.

beautifulcheese — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:21:09 -0800

Book recommendations: Recently I have discovered that I really enjoy a certain type of flawed character in television shows. Think Gregory House on House or Dr. Cal Lightman on Lie to Me. Wounded inside with a tough smart exterior that push people away with sarcasm or slight jerkish behaviour. Help me find examples in literature so I can continue my current obsession when I shut the tv off. I'm not sure if I'm explaining exactly the type of character that I like but that is the closest that I can get to. I've read a previous thread about bad but good characters but it just referred to tv shows.

Any recommendations? Or a way to better word what character type I'm actually looking for to help me search would also be helpful.

How dangerous is this glass in my hand?

shelayna — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 06:26:45 -0800

I think there's a piece of glass in my hand. Is this a bad thing? A few days ago I broke a glass on the kitchen counter. It shattered into millions of tiny little shards. I stupidly swept them into the garbage with my bare hand. I then, more stupidly, brushed my hands together to get rid of any pieces- forgetting that these were bits of glass that could hurt me. Well, one did hurt me- and I wasn't sure if it had entered my hand or not, but now I'm pretty sure one tiny piece did.

It's the palm of my hand, in the skin below my fingers, right between the index and middle finger. It looks like a little pimple, slightly raised and pink. If I push on it a certain way, it hurts. The little cut the glass made has already scabbed over, so if there were no glass in there, I don't think it would hurt anymore. It doesn't hurt unless, like I said, I press on it.

If there is a piece of glass in there, how bad would it be to just let it be there for a while? I really don't have time to go to a doctor for a few weeks- but of course, if it's an emergency, I'll do it. Can I let this go for a while, or am I in imminent danger?

Help me fix my statue...

diode — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:17:00 -0800

My cement statue fell apart after 50 plus years of standing around enigmatically. How can I put it back together? I have this small cement statue, at least 50 years old. I know that because it's one of the first things I remember seeing when I was knee high to a snake. It's about 2.5 feet tall and seems to be a kind of female Mayan diety, if they had such.
Over the years, cracks from freeze/heat cycles developed into gaping splits that have finally made her fall apart into several large chunks.
I think there must be some substance I could patch her up with, like super-cement-bondo kind of stuff.
Does such a stuff exist? Will Maria ever again cast her serene gaze around my yard?

Find a new life for the remains of mugs

brambory — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 10:55:53 -0800

What to do with broken ceramic mugs? I've been really clumsy lately and keep breaking members of our ceramic mugs collection. They are handmade and the glazing is really pretty, so it seems like a waste just to throw them away. I've glued a few of them back together as toothbrush holders, but am running out of ideas.

What else can I do with the sad remains? (As the pieces mostly have a bit of a curve to them, mosaic tables seem impractical...now if only I were breaking plates instead...)

On the plus side, the view I get with a cracked mirror is pretty funky.

pemberkins — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 04:42:48 -0800

What's the best way to fix my driver's side mirror? Due to an unfortunate combination of my early morning stupor and the parking space from hell, my drivers' side mirror is smashed. The actual assembly is completely fine - most of the glass is still attached, even, it's just all cracked.

My first thought was to just replace the glass myself. However, I've already tried to purchase replacement glass for my car (a 2006 Honda Civic) from two places. In both cases, the order went through okay, and then I received a message a couple days later saying that the piece was out of stock.

So here I am, a week after the fact, and I still have this broken mirror to deal with. Does anyone know of a reliable place where I can get replacement glass? Or, do you think it would be better to find a mechanic/body shop/Honda dealer to replace it for me? (Keep in mind, I don't need the whole assembly replaced, just the glass itself.)

Bonus: If I get the new replacement glass myself, what would be the best way to get all the old glass off without doing myself an injury?

Call the Waaaahmbulance

monkey!knife!fight! — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 04:59:16 -0800

I had a broken bone, it was put back in place with some pins and a plate and now I'm not sure what to do... Last spring I had a proximal humerus fracture that required surgery. I was in a ton of pain after, but am now totally healed. I have a full range of motion, a scar that's not too bad, and a decision to make.

I'd thought he'd said when I'd last seen him that IF I had problems after a year then he'd take the plate and pins out. Since I felt fine, I figured I was all good, but when I saw him last month for what I thought was just a checkin to make sure that I'd healed properly he said that since it was all healed we should now take the metal bits out. He said it wasn't something that I had to do quickly, but that I should do it soon since 12 to 18 months after they are put in is the best time to remove them.

Here's my question - has anyone had this surgery? How does the recovery compare to the initial surgery? Has anyone left their bionic parts in? The doctor said as I get older I could lose bone mass and that would cause me problems then, or if I were to get hurt in that area again it could be "bad". On the other hand, the idea of having another surgery kind of freaks me out because I'm a total wuss and the thought of recovering from this again isn't something I'm looking forward to.

The doctor really wasn't firm about it one way or the other and it's up to me when and if I want to do it. Now I just have to figure out what to do.....

Getting tape residue off windows, and holding broken ones up?

nmaster64 — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 13:40:39 -0800

Best way to get duct tape residue off windows, and how to hold broken car windows up? My gf's car is in some real crap shape. I'd love to surprise her one day and clean it up, specifically her windows. Her front driver and back passenger windows don't work and have to be held up. She's been using duct tape for over a year to do it, we still just can't quite afford the fix.

After a year of reapplying duct tape on a regular basis, the windows are covered in baked-on adhesive, it's actual a bit of a safety concern too. What's the best way to get that stuff off and clean them up nice and clear?

And is there a stronger non-permanent solution for holding the windows up? Even w/ tons of duct tape they fall over time or at a big bump. I don't mind the tape solution, I just wish it would hold better and for longer so we didn't have to reapply it every other week.

It's a 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix if that helps. Also, I am completely allergic to working on cars for the record.

what is wrong with my dryer?

cheemee — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 18:11:34 -0800

kenmore clothes dryer help: my wife and i recently purchased a home that came with a kenmore washer and dryer. at the time of the house inspection, the dryer was working fine. we have tried to use it since moving in and it no longer functions. any ideas what could be wrong? ...when we turn the dial and press start, the dial moves as if it is drying a load. however, the drum inside does not spin and the unit does not heat up. the little light inside it does turn on when we open the dryer door, which makes me think that it is not an issue with the power or breaker. but can it be? or can anybody suggest what could be wrong?

if anybody has any recommendations for a repair-person in the richmond/vancouver BC area, i'd also appreciate that!

thanks all!

Time for Iphone Funeral?

dealing away — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 13:30:30 -0800

So we now have 2 non-functioning Iphone 3Gs, both not working because of charging issues. What can we do with them? - # 1 Iphone 3G is not working because my 2 yr old daughter yanked the charger cable out of the phone. This cause the charging pins in the Iphone, which normally look like a straight row, to become crooked, bent or some pins missing. Needless to say, it won't charge anymore. It's past the warranty, and even when it was, I took it to the Apple store and they said it wasn't covered in the warranty anyways. What can we do with this one?

# 2 Iphone 3G is not working because it will not charge. This Iphone worked perfectly, no problems, but one day, it did not recognize the charger. At first I thought something happened to my charger, so I tried other people's chargers, but to no avail. There is no water damage. I just went over the 1 yr warranty a month ago, so no help there. I live in Maui, so the closest Apple Store is in Honolulu and I'm not going there anytime soon. I called Apple support, they said warranty is over, so no help there. I once had an Ipod that would not charge in a similar way, and I took it to the Apple Store where they did a 'potent special charge' and it brought that Ipod back to life. If that's what happened, how can I get a similar experience like that again? There is an AT&T store here, should I ask them about it? Any ideas? I miss my Iphone....

- Purchasing new/used ones is not really an option. Trying to pay off debts...

- Should we sell it? Is that a market for non-functioning Iphones?

- If we do sell it, how can we be sure that all our info that's inside the phones won't be compromised if someone somehow restores it?

Thanks in advance. We're lost here on this issue.

MBP driven to tears?

uaudio — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:59:51 -0800

I bought a MacBook Pro in June 2007. Since then, its needed a new hard disk drive, right cooling fan, and DVD read/write drive. Is this normal wear and tear? I've had different Mac desktops before for work, but this is my first personal Mac laptop. This is a family PC and it roams around our house. My wife and my son (just educational games, 4yo) also use it and it stays on 24/7. The battery needs replacing as well; we usually just have it plugged in.

Does this usage pattern just destine me to go through components quickly or is this just chance?

My Boyfriend Wants To Be Just Friends

xopaigexo — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 05:34:14 -0800

My Boyfriend Wants To Be Just Friends? Tonight, my boyfriend of 7 months told me he feels our relationship going back to more of a "friendship" ( we were really good friends for a long time before going out ). It was in a text message, which i didnt get until now because i was sleeping, so i havent talked to him yet. The last few weeks, he was affecionate (kissing, cuddling) as always but not anything like making out or higher, which we had oppurtunity to i suppose but didn't, which usually wouldnt be the case. I felt like we didnt spend enough alone time together with just me and him but i dont want to be quick to blame it on that. He said he wants to be good friends, like me and my best friend aaron, who is like a brother to me and he knows that. Me and aaron are together all the time, talk all the time, so i suppose thats what he wants? He also says he misses being single. And that he doesnt want to hurt me and that that is the last thing he wants to do. I know he still cares about me and wants me to be in his life but im confused on something. Im not sure if he only feels feelings of friendship toward me OR if it was just the relationship getting too close to being a friendship and he needs some space from the actual relationship to figure out what he wants. I know i havent talked to him yet, but i need some insight and advice to what is going on. And i also need help with what to do at school when i usually see him, because im not ready to be jumping into being his "best friend", like we were long before. I have him in my history class, we sit next to each other. Please help me. He is my best friend/ boyfriend/ lover/ all bundled into one and he means alot to me. I dont want to lose him. ive noticed that the past couple days at school hes been hugging me very closely, kissing me more than usual when saying goodbye before each class

Can't turn my lamp on anymore

lockedroomguy — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:06:59 -0800

Can't. Turn. The. Switch. On my lamp. I have two identical table lamps bought at Crate & Barrel a year ago.

Six months ago, we found we couldn't turn the switch on one of them any more. It just wouldn't turn.

I unscrewed the black turny-thing and below it was a metal stem. I took a pair of pliers and was able to turn the stem that way, and I turned the lamp on. Then I plugged it into a power strip, and we just turn the power strip on and off to control the lamp.

This past weekend the same problem happened with the other lamp. Can't turn the switch by hand, need the pliers

I know lamps aren't that complex inside and replacing the whole switch mechanism is not that hard, but does anyone have any idea what is going on here? The switch is working, since it still turns the lamp on. It's just very hard to turn.

Headphone adapter broken off in my macbook.

ryaninoakland — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 04:53:11 -0800

My dog broke off a headphone adapter in my macbook. How do I get it out? The very tip of a 1/8 inch TRS male adaptor is stuck in my computer and I need it out. The jack is too small for any tweezers I can find. Any brilliant ideas?

My PS3 done broke. Should I shell out the cash to repair, or hold off and see what Sony's got up its sleeve?

yellowbinder — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:45:39 -0800

Broken PS3 - ship it off for repairs or wait and see what the holidays bring? Last night my PS3 decided to not accept any more discs. Not as in they won't play, but as in the disc drive won't feed them into the machine. The machine is otherwise running perfectly, can play media, online games, and I'm sure if I could get a disc in there, it would work just fine.

I'm out of warranty, no store bought service plan, and while the receipt is probably... somewhere, I wouldn't bet I could find it.

I called up Sony today and they want almost $200 to fix it, which seems a bit extreme for what will likely be a simple fix or drive replacement. On the other hand, I don't really want to go to an unauthorized repair place.

I've heard rumblings through the blogosphere about a redesigned PS3 due for the holidays, complete with price cut. Obviously, this is rumour until announced, but it's seeming slightly more certain.

What is the likelihood of something like this, or at least a significant price cut? And when would that be likely to be announced prior to the holidays?

I've been thinking that it might be more cost effective to sell mine on eBay and pick up a new one, if the price drops. I wouldn't really want to wait more than a month or two to find out.

I realize the question posed is impossible to answer definitevely, so I guess the real question is, what would you do?

Rhinoplasty questions

Chrysalis — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 22:41:17 -0800

If my nose gets broken, can I get it fixed to look the way it did before? I have a nice nose, I also compete in boxing. I'm hoping I can continue to do both at once, however, if I do end up with a broken nose, what are my options? Can I wait until I retire from fighting to get it fixed or would it need to be done right away? Can surgery really fix it to get it back to it's original appearance? What is involved? (cost, procedure, healing time etc) Does it depend on what kind of break it is?

*knock on wood*

Ye're my LaCie come home.

ageispolis — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:22:05 -0800

My 500gb external hard drive fell onto my hardwood floor. Hard. When I turn it on it makes a slow whirring noise as if it is dying of internal injuries. Then I hear a single "beep" which stops the whirring for the duration of the beep, and then the whirring continues. This whirring / beep loop seems to continue indefinitely. My MacBook doesn't recognize the HD when I plug it in. Is there anything I can do at this point to salvage my data?

Replacing a broken Macbook optical drive.

You Can't Tip a Buick — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 15:23:37 -0800

So I've got an older Macbook with a broken optical drive (it takes heroic measures to get it to eject discs), and I'm trying to figure out the best way to replace it. This is probably a ridiculously simple question to answer, but I wanted to get the hive mind's advice first anyway. My plan is to buy an external cd/dvd drive and just write off the internal as a loss, since the guides I've found for replacing an internal optical drive indicate that it's more of a major task than I'm prepared to take on, and having it professionally replaced would cost a significant fraction of the value of the computer. Is there anything I should watch out for with this plan? Any specific drives that people recommend? I've noticed while idly browsing in stores that most all of the drives I've found say "requires Vista" or something equivalent; does this actually mean that these drives won't work with a Mac?

Broken baby: how long for recovery?

five fresh fish — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 10:20:00 -0800

My baby girl, 7 months old, has a spiral fractured femur - mum caught her as she was falling while getting into a back carrier - she is in hospital, has had specialist orthopaedic paediatrician attention and is now in traction. She is probably at the the best hospital in the country for this, but it is a long way from home. She is 100% breast fed, and my wife is staying with her. Can any of the medicos or Mefi, or people who have had similar experience offer some advice? No doctor has talked to us about time frames or processes, although they have been otherwise great, but the nursing staff have said 10 days in traction (could be up to six weeks) and possibly a cast that reaches from her waist to her ankles. But everyone is cagey about timeframes.

Help me Mefi in understanding what will happen, and when to my little girl. I've got a full time job it looks like I will be missing for (how long?) a while to look after my other kids. I feel our medicos are reluctant to be frank about time-frames, because they seem long. Can somebody give me some idea on what happens next, and how long I should be planning, and what about after-care?

To be clear, we are in Australia, so this is covered by our government health insurance, but I am keen to know the full longer term prognosis, so I can set my employers expectations accurately, and I want my little girl back in full health.

[note: posted for a distressed friend; I don't actually have a baby, he does.]

Smoky...

Christ, what an asshole — Thu, 28 May 2009 08:27:13 -0800

As a non-AAA member, what are my cheapest options for transporting a broken vehicle 12 miles? Radiator cracked and began smoking off the freeway last night. Car is basically undriveable, and having already put so much money into fixing it, it's past the point of further maintenance. I just want to get it home and sell whatever's left of it on craigslist. Issue 1? Most inexpensive method to bring her 12 miles.

Thanks.

Why are there holes in my shoes underneath my big toes?

ericales — Sat, 02 May 2009 06:38:26 -0800

Most shoes I wear tend to wear out rapidly underneath my big toes. To the point that a hole wears through the insole and, on some shoes, the footbed cracks or collapses. It has happened with various styles and brands of shoes. The Doc Martens I had were the worst case. There was no insole to wear out first so when the footbed cracked and caved the shoe was worthless. I have some pretty big calluses on the inside edges of my toes. I have to assume that this might be part of my problem. I'm working on those and on one foot it is mostly gone. In thinking about it I suppose it could also just be a function of how I walk.

Is it broken?

notned — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 07:58:43 -0800

Does the DTV box need to be returned? We've got the DTV converter box. We've got channels that have switched and channels that have not. So the DTV box gets turned on and off. Here's the thing, when switching on it is taking 4 or 5 times of off/on sequences before it finally goes.

Shattered Like My Heart

sourwookie — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 08:57:04 -0800

My iPhone 3G screen is shattered but still works. I need to get the glass replaced pronto. What are my options? --I'm about seven months away from my renewal period.
--Only the glass is shattered: the screen still displays and responds.
--There is no one local to do it.
--If I am to believe what others have told me, Apple won't do this, unless I want to pay full price for the phone.
--These guys come recommended. Any opinions?
--Would I be able to pop my SIM card out and stick it into a gas station phone while it's away?

So, Mefites, What would you do?

How could a digital camera break like this? Is it worth fixing?

Nelson — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 16:50:31 -0800

How could a digital camera break like this? Is it worth fixing? My partner's little Canon Elph S500 has broken in an odd way, resulting in distorted pictures with lots of horizontal black lines and a striking absence of green. There's a lot of vertical blurring, too, and the weird thing is it's uneven. The image is equally distorted in the live preview as the stored JPGs, so it seems to be the sensor, not the processing / compressing / storing part that's broken. FWIW the camera hadn't been used in a few months and had been in a moving box for awhile, so could possibly have been jostled.

I know a fair amount about how digital cameras work, but for the life of me I can't figure out how it broke this way. Any guesses?

Also, is it worth repairing? I found some online site that promises a repair for $135. Brad new similar cameras with more features are about $350. But I hate feeling so wasteful with a relatively new piece of equipment.

MacBook screen replacement?

entropicamericana — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 21:16:40 -0800

I broke my MacBook's screen, and I'd like to get it fixed. A quick googling turns up several firms. Can anyone recommend a specific firm? TechRestore's work seems somewhat dodgy. (I've seen pictures of damaged bezels, etc.) Does anyone have experience with MacService? Any other firms that you would recommend?