Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with replacement

car audio in Durham/Chapel Hill - where to buy?

amtho — Wed, 01 May 2013 12:18:36 -0800

_Other_ than Best Buy, how/where would one obtain a replacement car audio system near Durham, NC? I have no idea where to shop. I'm OK with installing it myself if it's not too involved, but installed is good too. We have a 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid; my dude just got a new job with a _commute_, so I think he should have a new audio system so he can play audio from his phone (or an MP3 player). He wants a CD player too.

Do we need all this work? And is this a good quote?

Calamity Jen — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 05:10:16 -0800

My SO and I have a 1999 Lexus ES 300 with low miles (ca. 80K). We use it mostly on the weekend for errands. The car is in more or less good driving condition, but parking on the streets and Boston winters are taking their toll cosmetically. Dealership recommended $5100 in repairs on its recent checkup--nearly the value of the car--and we're wondering which repairs are worthwhile, which are overpriced and should be done elsewhere, and which can be skipped. We want the car to last a few more years--at least until we move to a place with a driveway or garage--but sinking $5100 in repairs on a car Kelley Blue Book says might be worth $6200 doesn't make sense.

Here's what the dealer proposed:
Automatic Transmission Fluid Change: $372.30
Power Steering Flush: $193.90
A/C Belt: $137.61
Power Steering Belt: $83.46
Timing Belt Replacement (with w/p along with cam and crank seals) $1307.00
Spark Plugs (6 cyl): $415.08
Valve Cover Gasket Replacement: $799.04*
PCV Valve Replacement: $46.78
Sway Brushings (rear): $338.36*
Brakes (Front pads/rotors): $651.54*
Trans Pan Gasket: $445.10

The ones noted with an asterisk are the ones the shop strongly recommended.

Obviously, safety is a prime concern, so we'd surely do the brakes (though is that a good price for front brakes?). But if all that work really needs to be done, and that's a good price, we would probably think about trading in the car for something else.

Neither of us have any experience with this--thanks for your help!

Will the hospital let me keep my hip after it's replaced?

amandi — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 23:44:48 -0800

I realize this is an incredibly weird question. I'm having a total hip replacement, and I would like to keep the bones they take outta me. Is it possible the hospital will let me, or are there laws against this? I live in the U.S.

Replacement lids for Bormioli Rocco glass pitchers?

answergrape — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 09:22:57 -0800

I have a few Bormioli Rocco Frigoverre glass pitchers with hermetic lids like this one and these, but one is missing a lid and the other lid is beginning to crack, after long wear. It seems like the factory does not sell replacement lids. Anyone else able to get replacement lids? If not, what have people done for a replacement?

I broke my friend's lamp...

ptsampras14 — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 15:52:48 -0800

I broke my friend's lamp and I am trying to find the closest possible replacement. It's like a desk lamp but takes a candela E12 bulb. There is no identifying information on it except a sticker which contains:

02/2M
E188266
PORTABLE LAMP
ISSUE NO. BH-93 156.

How can I find this lamp online, or one very similar to it? Here's a link for photos of the lamp and sticker: photos

Replace the motion of my Pop-pop's pocketwatch

runcibleshaw — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 22:43:31 -0800

So I have my father's father's retirement pocketwatch. My father gave it to me almost twenty years ago and it has never worked. Recently I pulled it out of the china cabinet and tried to fix it myself following some youtube tutorials. Unfortunately I forgot that I am clumsy and bad at not losing small things. Long story slightly longer, I lost/broke a couple pieces. At that point I took it to a jeweler/watchmaker and he could not fix my mistake. Now I'm wondering if I can just replace the entire internal mechanism of the watch while keeping the part that has my Grandpa's name on it. I'm having no luck finding anything online. The watch itself says "F.C. Caravelle Watch Division, Bulova Watch Co, Swiss, 890" On the actual mechanism (which I'm told is called "the motion") it says "Caravelle Watch 16 0A" and "Seventeen, 17 Jewels". Pictures here and here. I'm willing to spend under $500 to get this done. Bonus points if you can point me to a nice matching chain (like the one Lincoln had in 'Lincoln').

Is this a re-bound cat?

indienial — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 23:43:59 -0800

My beloved cat died five months ago, and I miss him every day. A friend has a kitten she needs to find a home for, and asked if I would take him on, as she knew I would like another cat one day. I'm not sure. How do I tell if this is a good idea? I've had cats before, and always "loved" them. But I got Igor when he was a very young kitten, and we bonded in a way I didn't know was possible for a cat. He genuinely loved me, which is something I couldn't say for the other cats I've had.
Everyone used to comment on how devoted he was to me, and vice versa.

At age eight, he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, and we had to put him down in July. Even when he was so sick, he would purr when he saw me. I was heartbroken, and to be honest, I still am - I'm crying even remembering this. He was my best friend. Anyway.

I'm on a couple of different Facebook pages for animal rescues in my area, and I always figured one day there would be a pair of cats who were maybe a bit old and needed to be re-homed together so no-one would want them, and I would know they were meant to come home with me. That was the plan.

But instead, a woman at work has found this six-week old kitten, and needs to find a home for it. The shelters are full as it is "kitten season" here. She knows I want another cat one day, and asked if I'd take it. In a moment of weakness, I said yes. I told her I would come over to meet it this weekend. It feels in a way like this cat needs me.

But ... I don't know if it's a good idea. I would prefer two adult cats as they can entertain each other. And I am worried the kitten will be a little terror, and I will compare him to Igor all the time. Mostly, I'm worried the kitten won't love me.

I really miss the companionship of having a cat, and that affection (I'm pretty lonely, living in a new town). I don't miss stinky litter boxes and being woken up at 5am though.

Should I tell my colleague that I can't take this kitten on, after all, and risk it being put down? or should I take the plunge and accept that no cat will be like the one I have lost?

If I don't get this cat, should I keep looking?

How do I replace the hard drive in an Acer TravelMate 512T?

signsofrain — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 11:03:13 -0800

How do I replace the hard drive in an Acer TravelMate 512T? I have an old laptop. Still works fine, except for the hard drive. It's an Acer TravelMate 512T - It has access doors for the RAM and to replace the modem card... I've tried removing pretty much all the screws from the bottom of it and the top and bottom seem to kind of start separating but they don't come apart easy and I don't want to force it. I've been looking for a service manual or take apart guide, but can't find one. Help me replace the hard drive!

Need a tshirt replacement

curious nu — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 18:05:51 -0800

Lands' End used to make what they called a heavyweight shirt. It was 100% cotton, tagless, fabric was a little coarse and it had a very satisfying weight. They also weren't too long and fit my somewhat-short torso well. They don't make it anymore! Do you know the shirts I'm talking about? Have you found a replacement?

Should I replace the brush head now or can I wait?

neitherly — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 19:19:37 -0800

The reminder bristles on my Sonicare brush head have already faded to the halfway point. Is it wise to continue using it until the 3-month mark or should I switch to the next unused brush head? I haven't used my Sonicare much since I bought it, but I found it again and decided to recommit myself since I remembered how slick my teeth felt after using it. I bought a fresh pack of brush heads and I've been using the Sonicare for several weeks. My reminder bristles on the first brush head have already faded halfway and I was under the impression that the bristles would fade after the brush quality had degraded enough to warrant replacement.

Is it ok to ignore the manufacturer's note about replacing brushes once the blue bristles have faded or is it best to move on to the next brush? Is this a "whichever comes first" kind of guideline or is three months the best standard to follow (regardless of the reminder bristles)? Also, I use the accompanying UV sanitizer after each brushing -- would that influence how quickly the color fades from those blue bristles?

The last question is the silliest perhaps, but I figured I would ask. I didn't think that my brushing was so vigorous that it would wear down the bristles this quickly. And I realize that the thousands of movements per minute would subject any brush to a great deal of physical stress, but I thought Philips may have considered that while designing the bristles. I searched AskMeFi and I turned up a post where some folks suggested waiting until the bristles are simply bent out of shape, falling out of the handle or stiff (which reminds me of crunchy old socks). I was wondering if anyone had different advice or experiences relating to brush replacement.

"Thanks" in advance for the help -- I know a dentist is the best source for this information, but I've only just signed up for dental coverage (beginning in 2013). Nighty night...

In which I reveal my ignorance about the cell phone landscape...

ersatzkat — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 11:10:02 -0800

My husband has a phone I'd like to replace as a gift for him, and I want to be sure I understand what I'm getting into. My husband has a fairly new (4 months old?) Samsung Galaxy III. Something horrid happened to it and I'd like to replace it for him. He bought it through Amazon Mobile and we added it to our Verizon account. Replacement is not covered, so I'd like to just order this for him. Is there any difference at all between the "bought it for a specific carrier" phone and the "international unlocked phone" besides price and unlocked-ness?

Bodyweight replacements for standard barbell exercises?

d. z. wang — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 20:59:06 -0800

Thanks to Sandy, it'll be a couple of months before I have access to a gym. If I describe my usual barbell routine below the fold, can anyone recommend bodyweight exercises that target approximately the same muscles without any equipment? The exercises I'd like to replace are deadlifts, squats, power cleans, bench press and lat pull-down. I feel pretty good replacing bench press with push-ups (I bench ~60% of my body weight), but I deadlift and squat more (~125%) and pull-down much less (35%?), so the obvious candidates (one-legged bodyweight squats, pull-ups) don't quite work. Unless there's some variant or progression that lets me adjust the difficulty by changing leverage or something? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

N.B. when I say "without any equipment" I literally mean I have a bed, a rickety plywood nightstand, four walls, and a door frame (that cannot support my weight). And a stack of junk mail, because apparently the USPS has been doing high-availability since before high-availability was a thing people did.

iTunes Replacment for Android/PC

dforemsky — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 07:44:24 -0800

Looking for recommendations for an iTunes replacement to sync podcasts with an Android phone. I've been using iTunes to sync podcasts with an iPod touch, but I don't always like carrying my phone and iPod with me. I like the workflow with iTunes - download all of the podcasts to my PC with iTunes, then use iTunes to sync the 10 oldest unlistened to episodes to the iPod.

A bonus feature would be to allow separate syncs with more than one device (i.e. the app would recognize that the podcast has been listened to via my phone, but not my wife's so it would still sync with hers).

Also, recommendations for podcast-friendly media players once they are on the device are also appreciated.

Music isn't as important, so a strictly podcatcher app would be fine.

Hardware: Windows 7 PC and Jellybean Android devices (Nexus S 4G, rooted Kindle Fire with CM10)

Help me identify this drawer runner.

knapah — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 08:13:06 -0800

Help me identify these drawer runners so I can get replacements. We recently moved into a new rented flat and one of the kitchen drawers moved very strangely on its runners. I took it out and the runners promptly fell apart. The landlord said he would reimburse me for replacing them, which I was perfectly happy with, but then I took a trip to the hardware store and there were no suitable replacements. So I'm calling on you to help me identify them and source replacements online.

The metal runners slide on ball bearings and have a circular hole at one end which clips onto part of the moulded plastic drawer. The only potentially identifying text on the drawers (nothing is written on the runners) says 'Perstorp', 'Pat[ent] Pend[ing]' and 'Made in Sweden'. Perstorp is a Swedish chemical company, so I think this refers primarily to the type of plastic rather than the drawer itself.

The runners are 1 inch in height and are 31.5 cm (12.4 inches) when at their shortest, and 49 cm (19.3 inches) fully extended.

Here are a variety of photos of the runners (a working one rather than the broken one), the drawer and how they clip together.

I will also happily take suggestions on alternative ways to fix this. I'm a little sceptical of getting generic runners and attaching them with screws as the plastic seems a bit flimsy, but if anyone can advise me otherwise then feel free.

Help me find this hinge off my kitchen cabinet

wongcorgi — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 10:29:03 -0800

Help me find this hinge off my kitchen cabinet- Broken hinge here (imgur).

Looking for an exact match as replacements don't seem to have the same hole pattern. Came from builder grade cabinets in my townhouse.

It's also a 90 degree hinge.

Looked a bunch on google images but was unable to find a match.

Thanks!

Obsolete iMac Hard Drive Replacement. Where to purchase?

hdh — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 09:33:32 -0800

What internal Hard drive can I purchase for an iMac 20" G5 computer? I need to replace the internal hard drive on my 20" iMac G5, which has become damaged. I've removed the hard drive, but don't know where or what to purchase to replace it. The computer other than that works fine. I can boot from a CD or in Target mode from my Macbook. I've had no success figuring out how to get an external drive to be the start up drive.

I was running the latest version of Tiger when it crashed and did manage to backup all of the data on it using Disk Utilities Restore function to an external hard drive. Disk Utility, nor Disk Warrior were able to repair the internal hard drive.

Any advice would be appreciated. I can't afford a new computer.

Are all Ikea cam screws and locks plastic now?

racecar — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 12:32:04 -0800

I just received some replacement cam screws and locks from Ikea and the locks are plastic! Are all Ikea cam locks plastic now? Alternatively, do Billy bookcases come with plastic locks now? I bought mine years ago and they were metal. Picture of what a cam screw and lock look like in case they go by some other name I don't know

How do i talk to my doctor about switching my medications?

isopropyl — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 11:33:25 -0800

How do i talk to my doctor about switching my prescription from Vicodin(hydrocodone)/Tramadol to oxycodone? I am in a lot of pain from numerous accidents occurring and catching up to me over the years, I am prescribed Tramadol because I had a reaction to the Vicodin prescribed which was prescribed to me first. How can i get a different pain killer such as ,oxycodone, because the Tramadol is not working and I am worried about taking so much tylenol because of my liver (I used to be a very heavy binge drinker in college). How do i talk to my doctor about switching from hydrocodone to oxycodone?

How to find wallpaper matching existing wallpaper?

herrdoktor — Wed, 30 May 2012 10:25:03 -0800

Help me find a specific wallpaper design to replace/repair missing sections. Hey folks! I've got some wallpaper that looks like this. I'm trying to find the same pattern/wallpaper to patch up a couple of small sections where the wallpaper got torn.

Any ideas/resources/answers or general tips on how to go about cutting/pasting/matching up the pattern?

Many thanks!

Replacement wheel for luggage

hruntlefoot — Sun, 27 May 2012 01:48:25 -0800

I have a Mandarina Duck trolley case - carry-on luggage for flying - and one of the wheels has broken. I am trying to find a replacement to buy and fit myself, but have had no luck to date. Can anyone please advise or help? Many thanks, Kevin

ERR_EMPTY_RESPONSE

Trexsock — Mon, 21 May 2012 16:04:42 -0800

Livejournal is failing me. Help find a replacement? (snowflakes inside) So for the past couple years (and more intensely) for the last couple months, I used Livejournal pretty extensively without many troubles at all. Even the recent layout changes didn't bother me much, but this is starting to get on my nerves. I've been using the website to Roleplay with a friend of mine and am now unable to do so because of the errors I keep getting.

Basically, I've been getting this error with pretty much every post I try to make (that is, a reply to an already created journal post).

Error 324 (net::ERR_EMPTY_RESPONSE): Unknown error

So since I cannot make it go away (anyone know how?) I'm looking for websites that emulate/simulate what LJ is and that can:

- Easily create 'posts'
- Reply with no problem, reply to different comments, etc.
- Avatars, though this is not 100% necessary
- E-mail notification. So if make a 'journal post', I get notified every time someone comments in it.
- Ability to hide my posts from everyone (like the 'lock for everyone but friends' option in LJ)
- ABILITY TO POST WRITTEN EXPLICIT CONTENT. This is a big one and one of the reasons I haven't switched over to using a proboards or something similar.

And of course, a layout that makes reading relatively large (max-sized, 750 word +) comments easy and not a chore.

Thank you very much in advance!

The check's in the mail

dave99 — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 02:04:34 -0800

Electronic transfers have not replaced checks in the United States to the same degree as in most other Western countries. What are the technical and cultural reasons underlying this?

How much cheaper will a Nikon D7000 be after the replacement model comes out?

Beardman — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 09:23:21 -0800

Is the Nikon D7000 likely to be replaced this year? If so, how much cheaper will new D7000 bodies be after it happens? I'm interested in picking up a Nikon D7000 body. However, the D7000 is a few years old, and Nikon Rumours thinks it's likely that Nikon will release some sort of replacement by the end of 2012.

I'm not necessarily interested in buying the newer model--the D7000 seems like what I need. However, I would feel burned if I paid full price for a D7000 (around $1050 in my city), only to have the price drop substantially in a few months. Then again, if they'll only be $100 cheaper or something, I'd rather just buy a D7000 now.

So, my questions: is it likely that there'll be a D7000 replacement soon? And more importantly, if there is, roughly how much will new D7000s drop in price (based on past experience)?

All the news in 5 minutes.

bswinburn — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:35:51 -0800

A few days ago the New York Times discontinued the New York Times Front Page podcast. Help me find a replacement. I'm looking for a short (5-10 minutes) podcast that gives a quick overview of the news of the day. I want something with the following criteria:
a) Short. 15 minute long and up podcast won't do.
b) Dry is better. I'm looking for the raw info I can follow up with later if I want to. I've got funny, entertaining podcasts aplenty. I want an early morning news bomb to help me not miss a big story.
c) Daily, or at least every weekday.

Got anything?

Faulty Nikon D80: repair or upgrade with new lens?

0bvious — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 06:40:51 -0800

I have a faulty Nikon D80 with two superb lenses. What model is its natural successor, and what is the best quality lens I can get bundled with it? The fault means I have to manually pop-up the flash before I can take any pictures. The camera works, but it's a pain in the arse.

Because the D80 is 6 years old anyway, repairing it might cost me more than it is worth. An upgrade would be sweet, especially since I'd also like a new lens...

My lenses currently are a AF-S 18-200mm 1:3.5-5.6 - amazing for outdoor shots. It can do anything, but it is bulky.

The second lens is a AF 50mm 1:1.4 - extremely portable, amazing in low-light and for portraits, but limited in the breadth of the photos it can take. Beautiful photos though.

I want the best quality lens in between these two. Something pretty portable that takes great close to mid-range shots. Any ideas?

I could then buy a new Nikon (which model is the natural successor to the super D80?) bundled with this lens, and sell off my old body. That's the idea anyway.

What should I do?