PennSilverTaco's "Perfect 5-Lug Regular Cab" Build, Aspergers, and General BS MegaThread!

I was reaching for sure.

 

I blast country too...

 

@Plain Jane Taco
@LocoLocal
@Iamraiderpower
@ChadsPride

What do y'all think this is?


Look closer:


This is a baby crab! Me and some friends had dinner at an Asian fusion buffet type of place tonight, and my friend's wife found this little guy (or girl) in the clam she was eating. Yes, it's dead, but frrreaky either way:


And when we all got our fortune cookies, this is what I got...

I'll take that!

 

The central air in my friend Pat's hoagie shop hasn't worked since at least September 2016. I went up there in about September 2016 and did a walk-around of the unit. The indoor unit (air handler) worked fine, and the condenser fan on the outdoor unit turned on, but the compressor wasn't running. I determined that the problem was probably a capacitor, either the run cap (runs fan motor and keeps the unit running) or the start capacitor (starts the compressor). However, summer was almost over, A/C wasn't going to be needed much longer, and this was put on the back burner until spring.

Today, neither of us were doing doing anything, so we went up onto the roof and took the service panel off of the unit, a 16-year old Lennox straight cool unit. After a thorough inspection (both capacitors and the contactor), I was still unsure and texted some pictures to a fellow HVAC nut in South Carolina. His thought the contactor looked "kinda burnt" and upon closer inspection I realized he was right. Pat and I then realized the the contactor was not clicking. I removed the contactor, had my friend in SC run the part number (Lennox part # 96C8601, a 40 amp single-pole contactor), and took it home with me to do more research. My friend Pat ordered the part on Amazon Prime and it should be here no later than Thursday. I will install it then. Here are some pictures!

2001 Lennox Value Series 4-ton (48,000 BTU) straight-cool central air-conditioner (FUN FACT: The biggest residential/light commercial split-system condensing unit you can get is 5-tons/60,000 BTUs)

Lennox still makes great products in my opinion, but the fit and finish of their "base model" products was much better prior to about 2006-2007. This is a 2001 model, as in 16 years old at the time photos were taken (doesn't she look good?).

FUN FACT: That green wire is the ground wire for a replacement condenser fan motor (Replaced sometime prior to my friend buying the hoagie shop). Green=Ground!

This is without a doubt the nicest unit on the roof. The only two FUNCTIONAL units on the roof from what I can tell are a brand new new NORDYNE heat pump (SHIT) and another OLD Frigidaire/NORDYNE heat pump (SHITTIER).

There is a 1970s Carrier heat pump (unsure if it works), a 1984 Bryant heat pump (no longer hooked up), a packaged heat pump of an unknown brand (DEFINITELY DOES NOT WORK), and some rusted out refrigeration componenents (DEADER THAN LAST YEAR'S TURKEY!).

The supposedly dead A/C unit, a 2001 Lennox:


Long-ass lineset (FUN FACT: Thick tube is low-pressure/suction and thin tube is high-pressure/liquid; and another FUN FACT: New A/C units and heat pumps come factory-charged with enough refrigerant for a certain length of lineset. Obviously this unit required more than just the factory charge since it's up on the roof the indoor unit is on the first floor):


Data sheet:


Wiring schematic:


Behind the service access panel Central air-conditioners and heat pumps, just like everything in this God-forsaken world, are becoming too technologically advanced for this world! Take a look at how simple this is!):


No fancy computerized shit here! Just the run capacitor, start capacitor, contactor, and a bunch of electrical spaghetti. If something breaks (in this case the contactor), you just remove it and put in a new one; No licensing or certifications required!

Inside the space behind the panel:


An up-close look at the the run capacitor (Run cap for short; Smaller oval-shaped shiny thing) and start capacitor (Cylindrical shiny thing):

Run cap looks fine:

Start capacitor does too:


Inside the disconnect box (Looks good!):


And the prime suspect, the contactor:


My friend from SC noticed that the top part was burnt:


On top of that, the contactor does not click on when the thermostat is calling for A/C:



Quite easy to remove:


Pat ordered a new contactor on Amazon Prime. It's guaranteed to arrive by this Thursday, and we'll put it in and see if it works:

 

I went to see "The Accountant" and one scene specifically made me flashback to earlier experiences in my childhood. It was the scene when Ben Affleck was giving himself a form of sensory therapy. I had done a form of sensory therapy when I was younger but hadn't really thought about it until recent months.

I knew I was always socially awkward, and it was difficult keeping friendships (still is). I always chalked that up to just being socially awkward.

A recent conversation I had with an online friend made me look into more Asperger's. They sent a link to aspergerstestsite.com where you can test you AQ level. According to that website, an AQ score of 26-31 is borderline and a 32 or higher is the official criteria for being an aspie. I scored a 33.

I hope you take no offense, but I instantly thought of you, @PennSilverTaco.

After taking the test, I instantly went to the wiki page for aspergers and read the entire page.

Social interaction was the first symptom. As I've already established, friendships and even basic conversations have been difficult for me. Selective mutism was something that stood out for me because in school I would hardly say a word unless otherwise required, but at home I could blabber on an on to my mother. Forced eye contact was another big thing for me as I've grown up told that it was the only way you should talk to someone, but it often comes off as awkward because I restrict myself to only look at the eyes 90% of the time. I'm conscious about it and try to fix it, but it's pretty hard.

Restricted and repetitive behavior was the second symptom. From a young age, I remember restricting myself from many activities and instead strongly focusing on just one and collecting all the information I could about it. I remember having very specific repetitive motor behaviors at a young age but have since cut that off as I grew overly conscious of it. And lastly fiction as opposed to nonfiction books as I remember being in elementary school reading war journals. I can remember exactly what they look like and felt like in my hands but can't remember the name of them. Go figure.

The third and second to last symptom was speech and language. I pretty much have all the abnormalities there are. Some people tell me that I speak abruptly fast or loud and other times too quiet and mumble. In my head I sound fine but I guess others perceive it differently than I do. The wiki page also describes how some aspies tend to not understand metaphors in speech or cannot tell if people are genuinely interested in conversations, but I found that not applicable to me. Nonliteral language for me is somewhat hard, but I found it to be different with each person. I understand some better than others.

The last symptom was motor and sensory perception. This is a throwback to my sensory therapy days as a young child. The page describes having an odd or bouncy gait that I had when I was growing up, but made a conscious effort to stop. The page describes some aspies being poorly coordinated. This one is strange to me. When I'm alone or with a very trusted family member or friend, I tend to be as coordinated as possible. I taught myself guitar and, imo, very good at it especially for someone who never had a lesson in their entire life. I drive really well. I used to ride a dirt bike all the time when I lived on the west coast and was damn good at it. HOWEVER, I tend to fail HARD in the coordination department when I know I'm specifically being watched by someone. A specific example I can include was my drivers test for my license. I drive to the T with all the laws and avoid many incidents waiting to happen due to other drivers. But once I got in the car with the instructor/grader/stranger/whatever you want to call the dude, anxiety quickly turned my coordination into crap. I barely got a passing score. "Very uncomfortable in my own skin" when around strangers is a better way to sum things up. Lastly the page describes that aspies are more likely to have sleep problems. This is a problem I've always had.

If you got this far, I greatly appreciate you reading. You have no idea. There are some questions I want to ask you specifically though (@PennSilverTaco). In your opinion, does HFA differ from AS? Aspergers and High Function Autism seem to greatly overlap each other and I'm wondering if they are considered the same or are two different things. When were you diagnosed? Is it specifically hard for you to keep friendships with non-aspies? How hard is it to keep a job for you? It's extremely hard to find a fitting job as I'm not really sociable and I just like to focus on my work and be productive instead of chit chatting, and it seems that many company environments DISLIKE that, especially coworkers and bosses.

Again, thank you to anyone who actually read my entire post. I kinda thought writing down my thoughts and experiences would help me go through finding out I'm an aspie. It's not exactly a fun thing finding out. Should've been obvious from a younger age but I haven't really desired to look more into it until now.

 

Thanks for this post - seriously. I have a niece with Asperger's and understanding how it manifests, how people cope and learn to live with it is very eye-opening and helpful to understand her reactions and behavior.

My wife is a CPA. I tell everyone she has CDO - it's like OCD but the letters are in alphabetical order.

 

Can't read through this right now but subbed for later. I have aspergers as well

 

I just went to that site and took the test and scored a 26.

Interesting stuff. May need to dig into it a bit more.

 

Wow. I feel like you were reading my life story there. I can definitely relate. I wonder if I should get some sort of test done.

 

I just took that test at aspergerstestsite.com , only rated 22 but thought I would rate higher after reading some of the stuff in here. Some of it is exactly what I do every day. But, I find as I grow older that I am less AS-symptom prone than I used to be. If I took that test in my early 30's, I'm sure I would have been diagnosed as AS. In my early 40s, most probably. But now in my early 50's, I KNOW a lot of the things on that test would have been answered differently by the younger me(s).

As I grow older, it's in fact easier to multi-task and not be so damn obsessed with doing this-or-that one thing perfectly, it's easier to be in social situations, etc. It's almost like the don't give-a-fuck factor starts to creep in, but in a good way. Just not being so damn high strung all the friggin time. There's pluses and minuses, like everything else.

 

Thank you for this post. I just took this test.

I scored a 34.

 

IMO keep in mind that test is one those tests you gotta blow through, first instinct, no pondering. It's very obvious how the questions are going to affect the final score.

 

I'm sure going to an actual doctor to get actually diagnosed is better, but I think the test combined with the wiki page will at least give you a sense of what the doctor might tell you. Determining a mental (disorder?) over a test from the internet isn't a guaranteed thing.

 

My cousin has AS and I've been having him work with me on and off for the last 10 years trying to help him get to place in the future he could live on his own. Very bright, hardworking and loyal. Get him in a conversation of something that's not real black and white and you can see where the struggles kick in. Relationship things are hard for him because there are no set rules for it. It's tough to watch sometimes, cause he just wants to find someone to be with like everyone else. I think the more people that have it and can articulate it to those who don't is good.

 

Agreed. Kudos OP for starting this thread.

 

There are probably a lot of people in their 30's, 40's and older that are undiagnosed since it has been only relatively recently that AS has been somewhat understood and separated out from Autism.

I would go get an expert opinion because there are tests that experts can do to make sure whether you have it or not.

My nephew has this and every characteristic you listed he exhibits. I actually learned more than I knew before about this from reading your post and following Charlie's thread here.

 

True, an official, expert test will be the actual gauge to go by. But much of this thread describes me in several areas. It never crossed my mind before. Something to consider.

 

I took the test just for curiosity because after being around him I noticed certain things he and I were similar on from time to time. I got a 12, only a few of the answers I could mark definitively agree or disagree. Most answers fell in the middle.

 

I just took the test and got a 15. It's a pain doing it on an iPhone because apparently one of the questions didn't register my answer...drove me nuts finding the one question "not answered". Then when I pushed the submit button it said "Safari cannot open this link". Finally got it to go through. Now my OCD has kicked in and I need to take a smoke break!

 

OCD tends to run on my wife's side of the family and my oldest daughter was diagnosed with it. So I know a bit about it.

People with OCD and other anxieties (the mechanism is similar in all forms of anxiety) lack the "ok switch" that non OCD people have. Once a task is complete that switch is thrown and the person moves on. With OCD that switch won't close. A person will obsess about something and redo it over and over until it feels right...and the ok switch finally closes. All the while, the logical part of their brain knows nothing is wrong or that nothing bad will happen if the obsession is not met...but finds it difficult and sometimes impossible to move on until that switch closes.

Whether it's a task, wording, physical movement, counting, ritualistic/habitual behavior, symmetry/balance, numeric organization, etc., etc...the anxiety level in that person ramps up if the compulsion becomes an obsession until that ok switch closes. It can be quite a challenge.

OCD is a spectrum really. To some degree, most people have a touch of it here and there. But for some, it's a true disorder that can effect the quality of their life.