How to Unclog a Bathroom Drain

I received a few requests to write an article on home maintenance, so I figured that I would dust-off this article (published in 12/2008), and share it with you. Although this article describes how to unclog a drain, you may also use these directions in the instance of a leaky P-trap.

Also, if there is a specific repair job you are interested in, please let me know in the comments and I'll do my best to write an article about it.

Note: if you have a really old, chrome P-trap, be prepared to go to the store for a replacement. When I did this for a living (the apartment complexes I worked at were over ten years old and it was the original plumbing), I cannot count the number of times that I would begin to unscrew the nut and I would feel the entire trap twist and then break.

What you will need...

bucket or pail
paper towels
a long, slim, stick such as an old chopstick
pipe wrench and cloth(if your pipes are not plastic)

• Firstly, I emptied all the things that get stored under the sink; it's amazing how much stuff accumulates under there


• Place the bucket under the P-trap (the U-shaped pipe)


• Running your hands down the Tail-Piece (the straight pipe that leads from the sink to the P-trap), you should feel a straight metal rod attached by a nut.
  This is the rod which raises and lowers your drain stopper


• To remove, unscrew the nut and then, with one hand on the stopper, remove the rod from the pipe


• Remove the stopper from the drain


• Unscrew the nuts which attach the P-trap (be sure not to remove the nuts from the pipes, unless you plan to change the washers) and place the P-trap in bucket


• Rinse/ clean out the P-trap while still in bucket (that way you can dispose of the gunk outside)




• If you are working on brass (usually chrome plated) or other metal pipes, wrap the cloth around the nut (this will help ensure that you do not damage or scratch the pipes with the teeth of the wrench)




• Take a paper towel and crumble it and place inside the drain


• Using the chopstick, push the towel all the way through the pipe


• repeat


• This should clean out all the soap scum that has been slowing down the water flow


• Once the P-trap and the tail-piece have been cleaned, reverse the process




• If you are going to install a new P-trap now, obviously, is the time to do so. If you are unsure of what size to get, just take your old trap to the store with you




• When you tighten the nuts, be sure to not over-tighten


• For plastic pipes, hand tight is usually sufficient


• For metal, hand tighten and then give maybe a quarter turn with the wrench (You can always tighten it further, if needed


• Replace the drain stopper and feed the rod through the hole in the bottom of the stopper and tighten the nut...again only hand-tight


• Take your paper towels and make sure the pipes are nice and dry


• With the bucket back under the P-trap, turn the water on and test for leaks


• Use your paper towels to make sure everything remains dry


• If there is a leak, tighten the appropriate nut until the leak stops

If you have any questions, please let me know.

I originally posted this in December of 2008 as cleaning a bathroom drain

Alien Cattle Mutilations

I would like to thank Project Savior for suggesting this topic. I quickly discovered that this topic goes way beyond a single blog post, but I will do my best to try and do the subject justice. When I first started to look into this subject, I noticed that with the vast amount of resources and the numerous angles that this subject could be approached, I would quickly be suffering from information overload. So, I've decided to just pass along the information that seems to be consistent in many of the cattle mutilation cases (my disclaimer for writing a "strained" article on the subject. As you can tell, I'm not very happy with how this turned out). Also, please understand that I will not be listing what parts of the animal are removed.

So, why exactly are these cases making the news? I understand that this is a horrible act of cruelty and those that perpetrate it are hopefully caught and punished; However, those cases are the ones that don't fall into the Alien cattle mutilation category. What's the difference? Well, it has to do with how the mutilation is actually done and what is and is NOT present at the discovery scene.

Since 1967, there have been more than 10,000 (average of 233 per year)^* reported cases of cattle mutilation, worldwide. Although these incidents occur worldwide, Colorado seems especially plagued. In 1975, ranchers on the state's Eastern Plains, particularly around southern Elbert County, reported more than 200 mysteriously mutilated cattle.¹

In 1979, the Governor of New Mexico asked the FBI to investigate a rash of cattle mutilations and he stated that since the mutilations have crossed state lines from Colorado to New Mexico, it now fell into federal jurisdiction. After investigating, the FBI stated that the mutilations were a result of predators and scavengers.²

Is the FBI correct? Before you answer that, let me give you a little more information on what is found at the mutilation sites...

■ Animals are completely drained of blood (eviscerated)and no blood is present on the underside of any peeled skin

■ The incisions are made with surgical precision and are cauterized

■ No blood is present at the scene

"■ Sometimes there’s radioactivity present, sometimes not.

■ No tracks into or out of the mutilation site.

■ No signs of a struggle.

■ Many say it’s as if the animal was laid there, already dead."³

We could conclude from this, that the actual mutilation did not occur where the animal was eventually found. It would also indicate that whomever performed the act, had a knowledge of animal anatomy and was skilled in dissection. You can also deduce that once the dissection was complete, the animal was dropped at another site in such a way as to not leave any tracks. This would suggest that an aircraft, possibly a helicopter, could have been used to transport the animal.

This brings me to a possible question: why not just leave the animal at the mutilation site? Why go to the extreme trouble (these animals weigh several hundred pounds) and risk the possibility of getting caught, by transporting it to another area? In a case in Montana, there were several houses nearby the discovery scene and no one reported seeing or hearing any aircraft.⁴

Okay, what about it being a predator attack? Without going into the fact that the parts were surgically removed, there is the lack of blood around the animal, which would rule that out. Also, we are dealing with ranchers here and they, more than anyone, know what a predator attack looks like.

Here's another theory I came across: the Gasbuggy Site-Black Helicopter Theory:

A 1967 underground nuclear explosion at Gasbuggy near Bloomfield, N.M., was supposed to unlock a wealth of natural gas beneath the San Juan Basin.

Instead, it contaminated the ground and water, and sent radioactive particles into the Northern New Mexico atmosphere. Prevailing westerly winds continue to bring those radionuclides into our area.

As unclear about airborne dangers as it was about underground contamination, a secret corner of the federal government initiated a longterm study in the 1970s on the health impact of airborne radioactive exposure. To do so, they needed tissue samples to test. Cattle, with their close DNA link to humans and docile nature, were deemed the best sources.

But anyone can see that openly killing cows for research would be ethically and politically problematic. So, black helicopters come in under shroud of night, scoop up cows from below, excise the samples, lay the otherwise healthy cows back on the ground and fly away.⁵

"Despite the theories, no mutilation has ever been thoroughly explained."⁶

So, do you think the FBI was correct or do you think they came to those conclusions for another reason?

While trying to figure out how to write this, I did come-up with a few a areas that might be worth pursuing:

Are there connections between Alien Cattle Mutilations and...

• UFO Sightings


• Crop Circles


• Alien Abductions


• Proximity to Nuclear Power Plants/Uranium mines


• Latitude/Longitude


• Convergence of Magnetic Fields


• Economic/Political upheavals

Oh well, something to ponder.


^* Inserted by author

¹denverpost.com

²history.com

³taosnews.com

⁴helenair.com

⁵taosnews.com

⁶denverpost.com

Java Plug-in Not Working with Pogo.com

I would like to thank Karen at Karen & Gerard Zemek for this question and I will do my best to help you resolve it. I will go from the easiest fixes to the more complex.

Firstly, if you use Firefox to play on Pogo and you have the NoScript add-on, make sure that it is disabled on the entire site.

If you have the AdBlock Plus add-on for Firefox, make sure that is disabled.

Try playing the games using Internet Explorer, if the Java plug-in still does not work, send me just three easy payments of $19.95 and I'll be happy to help (sorry, couldn't resist).

Okay, here are some other tips I found:

Make sure your Java plug-in is enabled...

1. Click Start


2. Click Control Panel (make sure you are in Classic View)


3. Click Java


4. Click Advanced (if you do not see this tab, then you have an older version and need to upgrade. See below for link)


5. Click the + sign on Default Browsers for Java


6. Make sure the boxes for Internet Explorer and Mozilla Family (Firefox) are checked


7. If not, click the appropriate box and hit Apply

To Test Java... verify java plugin

Still not working...
play these games and see if it works in any of them...

* Word Whomp
* Ali-Baba Slots
* Cribbage (play with robots so you can leave if need be)
* Ez-Win Bingo

I discovered that Pogo.com will display the "corrupt Java" warning message if one of the online games takes too long to load, even if there is nothing wrong with your installation. So, if any of these games works, then it may be an issue with the site's response time or your Internet connection has slowed due to increased traffic.

If the games don't work, here are a few more things you can try:

Clear your Firefox browser...

1. Go to Tools


2. Click: Clear Recent History


3. Click all tabs (this is what I do)


4. Click: Clear Now

Clear your Java cache...

1. Click Start


2. Click Control Panel (make sure you are in Classic View)


3. Click Java


4. Click General


5. Find the Temporary Internet Files section


6. Click Settings


7. Check both boxes: Applications and Applets & Trace and Log Files


8. Click Delete Files


9. Restart your computer

You might also want to do a scan for any malware that may be lurking on your computer. Here is a link to a very powerful, yet FREE program... malwarebytes.org. When you click the download button, it will take you to CNET for the actual download.

Also, a pre-boot scan of your system may also be helpful. I use Avast!, again FREE. It is a very aggressive anti-virus program and I have to admit, it has saved my computer more times than I can count. It will notify you when a virus is trying to download and will prevent it from downloading.
I hope this helps, if you are still having difficulties, I have included some useful links for you. Good luck!

Helpful links:

The Pogo help page... Pogo.com Help

The Java help page... Java.com Help

To Download/Test Java... Download Java