The rumor I heard was that if you buy a product that fails before the warranty ends, you do not need to contact the manufacturer (in #Belgium). You can simply return the product to the merchant and the merchant must deal with the warranty service.

A store manager refused to accept my return of a device that died after 2yrs+2 months, which was covered under a 3 year warranty. He said I must deal directly with the manufacturer. I threatened to complain officially and the manager gave in. But then as he was angrily returning money to me, he said he is only required to handle warranty service for the 1st two years and that he is making an exception for me. I figured he was confused because 2 years happens to be the length of the EU implied warranty. I had not heard that it was also a limit of the store’s obligation as an intermediary.

To complicate matters, the product was marked down on liquidation because the store apparently severed ties with that manufacturer. Though I doubt that’s relevant to my situation because it would not void the warranty. But the article also says merchants must accept returns for any reason in the first 14 days, yet the store makes that zero days for liquidated goods. Does that break EU law?

Anyway, I need answers. Maybe I owe the manager a bottle of wine. The EU article indeed confirms sellers must handle warranty returns for up to 2 years. But that’s EU-wide #law. What about #Belgian national law?

Next question, out of curiousity: normally manufacturers have a choice whether to replace, repair or refund. Is that choice passed through to merchants? Or are merchants required to handle this with one instant transaction (thus no repair as the consumer would have to return to the store later)?

For example, this invidious instance offers a download option for a YoutTube video, as that instance does for all YT videos:

~~https://invidious.fdn.fr/watch?v=lU4vv7qCQvg~~ (see update)

Exceptionally, if you opt to download it it merely opens a player to watch realtime. While other downloads from the same invidious instance have no issues. Why is this one getting different treatment?

update Apparently it’s an instance-specific problem with that particular video:

works → https://invidious.fdn.fr/watch?v=lU4vv7qCQvg

broken → https://iv.ggtyler.dev/watch?v=lU4vv7qCQvg

I’ve seen other instances where this particular video download is broken. AFAIK, invidious.fdn.fr is the only place where it works as expected.

ATMs I’ve checked:

BNP Paribas: no balance inquiry option. Nor did it print the balance on the receipt.

Attijariwafa: no balance inquiry option. Both ATMs are always out of paper, so no way to check whether the balance would be printed on the receipt. Anti-feature: you must enter your PIN before it shows you the menu. Does that mean it connects to my bank even in the absense of a transaction?

Ing: no longer has ATMs?
KBC: no longer has ATMs?
#Belfius: no longer has ATMs? (answered)
Aion: only has 1 ATM (unplugged & vandalized)
Europabank: has no ATMs?
DHB bank: has no ATMs?
Fintro: ATM is the same as BNP Parabas?
BBVA: do they still exist?
Bank of Baroda: has no ATMs?
Beobank: didn’t check if they have any ATMs
Keytrade: likely has no ATMs
BinckBank: likely has no ATMs

Batopin (3rd party w/Ing & KBC): no balance inquiry option.

This website claims to give a way to check your balance, but I’m not so trusting:

https://www.getmybalance.com/

I have a few apparently cast-iron chimneys bedded in concrete. They have no hats on them. I’m not sure how the fireplaces were blocked off but it feels solid, as if they bricked them shut and plastered over it.

Isn’t this a bad idea? They don’t seem to be filling up with rainwater yet it rains quite heavily. I assume the fireplaces have been blocked off for over a decade at least. There must be quite an ecosystem of creepy crawlies going on in there.

So what if I want to open the fireplace back up and install a boiler, sewer vent, wood stove, kitchen range hood, or ventilation system? Can they be restored or must they just be treated as wasted dead space?

My façade was old & cracking. Chunks looked like they were close to falling. I removed all the loose bits and re-rendered with new concrete. I did the proper bonding steps with polyvinylacetate (#PVA). That previously cracked part of the #façade seems relatively strong and water resistent now (i.e. the color remains light colored and slightly shiny even after rainstorms).

There were old parts of the façade that I did not touch because there were no significant cracks. But these old untouched areas appear to absorb water. They are always wet looking. They only appear dry if there is a quite long stretch of no rain. I think it takes several weeks of mid-summer dry weather before the water evaporates. I think the constant moisture will shorten the life of the affected areas and the moisture is apparently getting into the house as well.

anti-stucco paint school of thought

Painting #stucco is controversial. Some people insist on it, and some say stucco is meant to “breathe” and should never be painted.

I’m personally in the anti-paint let-it-breathe camp. However, I think my situation is a bit exceptional. Perhaps the original stucco was not the right stuff. It’s too porous. Re-rendering seems to have a high cost/benefit.

As a hack, I am tempted to prime and paint the part of the façade that appears to be holding water. I would like opinions on this as well as alternatives. I would also like to know if any exterior paint will do the job or should I look for paint with waterproof properties.

Note that I do not care much about cosmetics. I just want to reduce the water ingress but ideally without suffocating the wall too much, if possible.

The energy suppliers in my area all have contracts I do not agree with. My gas & electric service may be cut in a couple weeks.

What’s my best move? I need enough electricity to power a mid-sized refrigerator (but could downgrade to a minifridge if needed), a few lights, router, laptop.

My boiler is gas but I have an old previously used mazut tank and furnice which I could possibly get working again with some effort.

Not sure what to do for cooking. Maybe use a portable electric cooktop.

(updates)

I’m favoring diesel over gasoline, for these reasons:

• My large mazut tank could store a year supply diesel but I doubt I could safely store gasoline in that quantity. It’s questionable though because it has mold or something growing in it so I’m not sure if it needs to be cleaned (or whether cleaning it is even possible). Or maybe the mold is harmless.

• Mazut and diesel may be compatible (not sure). That is, maybe a diesel generator can burn mazut or perhaps the mazut furnice can burn diesel. Guess I should find out how different they are.

• Clean biodiesel can be made in a basement from waste cooking oil and lye. I can probably get the waste oil at no cost.

W.r.t renewables, it’s in a densely packed city with a tiny terrace so wind turbines are probably impossible. Solar panels may be viable, I need to look into that. But I would be really surprised if solar could warm the house in the winter -- it’s not a passive house (in fact not even insulated). I think solar would be a nice clean & quiet supplement.

Camping propane or butane stove may be the way to go for cooking.

First of all, is my terminology correct? These are brands of synthetic wood alternatives:

• #Wedi
• #Qboard
• #Schlüter #kerdiboard
  etc.

Is “construction board” the generic name for this stuff? I think some people call them “building panels”. I ask because my search for Invidious (Youtube) vids came up short. I would rather not have a brand-dependent search query because I have to try many queries as it is to try to get this answer.

Qboard offers a factory made corner piece (called Qorner; attached to this post). I was trying to work out how I could do that myself. I’ve never worked with #constructionBoard, nor have I used a router, but I suspect they use a router to cut a “V” in the board without competely bottoming out (but nearly), so the outer skin does not get cut. Has anyone done this?

I need to come up with a right angle gearbox (example)

I’m not a blacksmith and local hardware stores are coming up empty apart from selling a right angle drill attachment (which would work but they’re a bit pricey for my purpose).

The purpose: to hide a water valve (positioned upright) & control it from the other side of a wall. (back story)

My ideas so far:

1. find a broken angle grinder that someone threw away (seems unlikely) & cannabalize the gears
2. build right angle gears out of wood
3. harvest worn down bicycle cassettes from the trash and orient them at right angles against each other. They are designed to mate with a chain, so I’m not sure how well it would work. The valve is only turned on/off a couple times per year, so maybe I can get away with it.
4. go to a toy store and find a kid’s Capsela set (do they still make these?); though I imagine it might exceed the cost of a right angle drill accessory anyway and it would possibly break under stress.

What other tools or appliances should I look for on a dumpster dive which would likely contain a right angle gearbox?

It would be nice to have curtains that absorb street noise.

Some custom curtain tailors offer a fabric that claims to be soundproof. It’s a little pricey. Not absurdly pricey, but it’s also a bit hard to be confident that such thin fabrics can absorb much sound (they claim 20%).

I would prefer to try hacks. I’ve heard that thick furniture moving pads absorb sound well. I’ve also heard that fiberous fabrics can be effective. For the moment, I probably want to pass on edgy ideas like egg cartons. Maybe later on those. What fabrics are decent for reducing sound? Specifically, I’m wondering about carpets or painter’s drop cloths. Not the simple white canvas drop cloths, but the thicker drop cloths may out of recycled fabrics.

(all text is linked)