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  1. #1
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    Triumph and Disaster

    Most know by now just how I feel about the two different teams of 'builders' I had working in my house.
    Unsatisfactory would be kind.

    I can do a much much better job.......but it takes time. I really can't work fast in this climate.
    Nevertheless, I can get jobs done so much better by doing them properly.

    Even a simple task like repainting seemed to be beyond the capability of the folks I hired.
    Of course I know i have responsibility as I hired them, but I just can't be watching over them every minute of every day.

    I did learn though that they will cut corners as soon as they can. Why I just can't figure.

    You'd think they never heard of primer for new wood.

    Anyway this story begins with a leak in my kitchen.
    In very heavy rainstorm I noticed pools of water on my kitchen worktop. Over a period of time it became clear that water was streaming down between the wall and the side of the kitchen wall cabinet.

    No choice, I'd need to rip out the side of the cabinet and try to find just where the water was getting in.

    It's not going to be easy to visualise what I found.
    There was a window in the corner wall of the kitchen. The glazed window frame was removed and the side of the kitchen cabinet (3/4in marine ply) was just nailed up on the wall to cover the opening in the wall..
    That's it. That was really what they did. They made no attempt at all to fill the opening with hollow block or cement.

    OK, lets remove all the wet and rotting wood and get this window opening properly closed up and weather resistant.
    Well it took me the whole day and the following morning to block up the window.

    However, disaster struck.
    We discovered that somehow a RAT had used the opportunity to enter the house.

    The triumph story will follow ........


  2. #2
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    Each night for about week the rat would come out looking for anything it could to eat.
    Whatever food or fruits we had we soon learnt that we need to hide away.

    We tried everything. Poison, glue boards, large traps etc.
    We began to feel very down. Sometime we could hear it scampered, sometimes squeeking.

    One time we found it up on the third floor and after arming ourselves with sticks and wooden bats we chased it all over the house.
    Finally we lost it.

    Another time after having no internet connection for the whole day I eventually discovered that the cable had been damaged due to being half eaten.
    Nightmare. Especially as I had to own up to PLDT following ny complaint.

    I set about sealing up each room in the hope we could trap in somewher. But no.
    It was now trapped in the house crapping all over everywhere.

    One night, about 1 in the morning, my wife heard it.
    We again armed ourselves and set off downstairs. Again all the so-called poisoned bait had gone.
    Pellets of rat crap all over.

    Just where the hell was this thing hiding during daylight. Where was it's nest.
    Then suddenly my wife spotted it run under the sofa.
    Yet again we chased it, trying to figure out how to corner it and guide it out the open front door when it suddenly ran behind the TV came out and ran inside
    my floor standing speaker.

    Just above floor level there's a kind of horn opening to the base speakers.
    It had gone inside. Thinking this was our chance I covered this opening and the beast was now well and truly trapped.
    Hooray....

    We disconnected the speaker and put it outside in the porch.

    We could sleep easy now.....and we certainly did in the knowledge that we had been triumphant.

    Next morning we tried to think how we could now handle this.
    Not so easy. I really didn't want to just let it escape to the big wide world. I wanted capital punishment.

    Eventually we resolved to keep it trapped for about a week and starve it.

    So that was our plan.

    Everyday we would shake the speaker and listen to it's scratching. Hoping it would soon be no more.

    Sure enough, after around a week, it was all quiet on the western front and I noticed ants all around the base speaker.
    Surely this was a sign that the monster was no more.

    Another disaster was about to reveal itself though......

    This will be revealed in the next episode

    Maybe someone can already guess what happens next?


  3. #3
    Trusted Member stevewool's Avatar
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    Fried rat


  4. #4
    Moderator fred's Avatar
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    OMG.. I was hoping..Nay praying that this subject would not come up..
    I`ll wait first for Terps shocking story to end...
    Then I`ll trump it with mine!!


  5. #5
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    So it was now time take the plunge and remove the cover from the bass horn hole and very carefully take a look inside.

    Torch at the ready we put speaker on it's back and gave a couple of hard shakes....nothing. Removed the cove and looked inside......nothing. No sign of the devil rodent at all.
    OK lets replace the cover and remove one of the bass speaker units.

    WHAT.......

    As I removed the speaker it was clearly not connected to anything. No wires at all.

    WTF

    As I looked inside the speaker box I could see nothing, except what looked like a nest of soundproofing material and wires.
    After poking with a piece of sharp rebar, sure enough the evil beast was dead.
    I got my wife to glove up and remove it along with as much of the nest as she can. (I really don't like rats, even dead ones)

    Looking around, the final disaster became all too apparent.
    Yes, all the speaker wiring had been destroyed. The crossover unit wiring had been destroyed and the speaker 'damper' chewed and used for nest making.





    After many hours looking around I've also realised just how difficult it's going to be to get my hands on replacement speakers.

    I've started looking around at a new set of speakers that will be a reasonable match for my Pioneer AV receiver and amp.
    I do have a couple of other amps if needed but rather like the Pioneer.

    Looked at a set of Pioneers speakers the other day in SM Appliances but at P47k I'll need to convincing to ship the priority of spends.

    Anyway, I bought some wire, soldering iron and solder and some electronic components and will have a bit of fun trying to fix up the old ones.

    I really hate that rat.
    I really should have known not to keep it trapped inside my speaker.

    Those floor standing speakers were bloody expensive when I first bought them in 2003 in UK
    Then spent quite a bit 'crating' them up in custom made wooden boxes and shipping to Davao then last year shipping to Marikina.

    Live and learn.


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