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On August 23 2015 15:32 Cascade wrote:
I didn't want this to turn philosophical. For example, from a purely practical standpoint, how can a non-physicist convince themselves that quantum mechanics is a real thing?
a lot of our knowledge of chemistry is based in it
lasers
emission spectra of ionized gases (i mean this is all chemistry still but yea)
that stuff's predicted so specifically that it's hard to find a convincing alternate explanation to quantized energy states of electrons
i'm sure people could list lots of other practical things that quantum mechanics are applied to
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So I'm at my dorm now on campus and the dumbasses who installed fire detectors when the building was built put them in the bathrooms right next to the shower, like so:
+ Show Spoiler +
As a result, the fire alarm goes off every time I shower with hot water because of the steam. Tampering with the alarm itself (including covering it in any way) can lead to criminal/civil charges according to the school, as well as my removal from housing.
How best do I take hot showers without setting the alarm off? I'm thinking along the lines of ways to reduce the steam and/or dispersing it so it doesn't cloud around the alarm and set it off. Would something like a dehumidifier work well enough for this purpose? Does that do anything to steam? Or if I had a fan pointed at the fire alarm or something (but that might blow steam at it and set it off too so idk). Is it better if I have the dorm cold before I take a hot shower via the AC, or should I leave the AC off before I take a hot shower?
I've already tried opening the door and having the ac on when I took a hot shower, and that set it off too.
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First thing should be talking to housing since you can't be the only one with this problem.
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I doubt they'd do anything. The alarm is hardwired into the building, and there's 6 floors with maybe 100 people or so on each floor. I asked the cops that came by the other day when I set it off if there was anything I could do and they suggested I open a window (wtf there's no windows in the bathroom, closest window is through the living room into my room) or to take cold showers/stop taking showers...
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Find someone that let's you use their shower
Tape a towel over it that's drenched with cold water
Take colder showers/stop taking showers (hue hue)
Become a genius hacker so you can remotely tap into the fire alarm and shut it off
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On August 24 2015 01:39 Epishade wrote:So I'm at my dorm now on campus and the dumbasses who installed fire detectors when the building was built put them in the bathrooms right next to the shower, like so: + Show Spoiler +As a result, the fire alarm goes off every time I shower with hot water because of the steam. Tampering with the alarm itself (including covering it in any way) can lead to criminal/civil charges according to the school, as well as my removal from housing. How best do I take hot showers without setting the alarm off? I'm thinking along the lines of ways to reduce the steam and/or dispersing it so it doesn't cloud around the alarm and set it off. Would something like a dehumidifier work well enough for this purpose? Does that do anything to steam? Or if I had a fan pointed at the fire alarm or something (but that might blow steam at it and set it off too so idk). Is it better if I have the dorm cold before I take a hot shower via the AC, or should I leave the AC off before I take a hot shower? I've already tried opening the door and having the ac on when I took a hot shower, and that set it off too.
I think it's all part of a bigger plan by the evil people who govern us in order to reduce hot water usage, in order to frustrate you and make you look dirty, in order to make you work harder as a result.
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Canada11355 Posts
+ Show Spoiler +On August 23 2015 23:21 Cascade wrote:
I don't think we can assume everyone on TL got university education. I haven't had any post secondary education, so you are correct
I have 4L (1 US gallon) of pickle juice in a bucket. Is there anything fun(ny) I can do with it? Is there anything delicious I can make with it? I love pickles, for the record.
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On August 24 2015 01:39 Epishade wrote:So I'm at my dorm now on campus and the dumbasses who installed fire detectors when the building was built put them in the bathrooms right next to the shower, like so: + Show Spoiler +As a result, the fire alarm goes off every time I shower with hot water because of the steam. Tampering with the alarm itself (including covering it in any way) can lead to criminal/civil charges according to the school, as well as my removal from housing. How best do I take hot showers without setting the alarm off? I'm thinking along the lines of ways to reduce the steam and/or dispersing it so it doesn't cloud around the alarm and set it off. Would something like a dehumidifier work well enough for this purpose? Does that do anything to steam? Or if I had a fan pointed at the fire alarm or something (but that might blow steam at it and set it off too so idk). Is it better if I have the dorm cold before I take a hot shower via the AC, or should I leave the AC off before I take a hot shower? I've already tried opening the door and having the ac on when I took a hot shower, and that set it off too.
Wow, that's pretty bad... I'd first ask around and see if others have the same problem. Then go and talk very seriously to the landlord. Ask to get the problem fixed or significantly lowered rent.
If they do nothing, go to tenants union or ombudsman.
In Australia there if a clause in the tenants act that gives you the right to "quiet enjoyment". Likely there is something similar in US, and I doubt it is legal for your landlord/school to tell you to only take cold showers. So yeah, it'll be a big fix, but the problem is the landlords, and they can't keep renting out rooms where you can't take normal showers.
Actually, before you go to ombudsman or whatever, make sure to have a written piece where your landlord says they'll do nothing. If you can have them tell you in writing to have only cold showers, even better. An informal email conversation is enough.
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Set it off everyday. Eventually the fire department will make them change it. 
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If I set a car on cruise control, will opening the door turn it off? Or will I be able to jump out of the car and have it continue on to its' final destination?
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talk to whoever's in charge first and see if they have any ideas or ways to change it. unless the dorm's brand new it's likely that this has come up before. Don't mess around with anything complicated until you at least bring up the problem.
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On August 24 2015 08:57 riotjune wrote:
If I set a car on cruise control, will opening the door turn it off? Or will I be able to jump out of the car and have it continue on to its' final destination?
Apart from that, most cruise controls wont switch on below a certain speed (I think it's 30 or 40km/h for ours), so well above what you can comfortably jump out from. In fact, our doors auto-lock before that, so not even possible even if I'd want to do a stuntman-style roll out of the car.
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On August 24 2015 10:09 Cascade wrote:Show nested quote +On August 24 2015 08:57 riotjune wrote:
If I set a car on cruise control, will opening the door turn it off? Or will I be able to jump out of the car and have it continue on to its' final destination? Apart from that, most cruise controls wont switch on below a certain speed (I think it's 30 or 40km/h for ours), so well above what you can comfortably jump out from. In fact, our doors auto-lock before that, so not even possible even if I'd want to do a stuntman-style roll out of the car.
Guess I'll stick with the concrete block then.
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So I went and talked with the RAs at the front desk and they said they'd report it but there's nothing they can really do. This problem appears to be limited to those with suites (which I am in) which house 2 people, instead of apartments which house 4. As much as I feel like I should set it off as much as I can to spite housing management, it'd only tick off the police officers who have to come by every time it's set off, and I don't want them against me. As well as I don't want the alarm blaring every single time I shower in the morning and have to prepare for class if I can help it.
If only it set off the whole building's alarm, then it would be a big enough problem for them to fix, but as it only sets off my room's alarm, they won't care. I sent an email to Housing and Residence Life detailing my issue, but I doubt that'll help. I'll see what they say anyways.
Taking lukewarm to cold showers is what I currently have to do, and it blows. I'm thinking I may be able to jerry-rig some fans around to blow steam out the door, instead of clouding around the detector.
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On August 24 2015 13:28 Epishade wrote:
So I went and talked with the RAs at the front desk and they said they'd report it but there's nothing they can really do. This problem appears to be limited to those with suites (which I am in) which house 2 people, instead of apartments which house 4. As much as I feel like I should set it off as much as I can to spite housing management, it'd only tick off the police officers who have to come by every time it's set off, and I don't want them against me. As well as I don't want the alarm blaring every single time I shower in the morning and have to prepare for class if I can help it.
If only it set off the whole building's alarm, then it would be a big enough problem for them to fix, but as it only sets off my room's alarm, they won't care. I sent an email to Housing and Residence Life detailing my issue, but I doubt that'll help. I'll see what they say anyways.
Taking lukewarm to cold showers is what I currently have to do, and it blows. I'm thinking I may be able to jerry-rig some fans around to blow steam out the door, instead of clouding around the detector.
trying the fans should be okay but be careful so you don't electrocute/overload anything.
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If there are other alarms in your unit I'd just tape a bag around it. Or even just when you shower. They have to give heads up if they come in to inspect right? You can take it down easily enough.
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On August 24 2015 13:40 JumboJohnson wrote:
If there are other alarms in your unit I'd just tape a bag around it. Or even just when you shower. They have to give heads up if they come in to inspect right? You can take it down easily enough.
Hmmm, I'm a little worried about getting caught, but I might try this. If anything I'll take it down as soon as I finish. I'll have to run some tests within the next week or so with this. I don't want to set it off too soon after already setting it off a few days ago though.
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Use masking tape and I'm sure you'd be fine.
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On August 24 2015 13:28 Epishade wrote:
So I went and talked with the RAs at the front desk and they said they'd report it but there's nothing they can really do. This problem appears to be limited to those with suites (which I am in) which house 2 people, instead of apartments which house 4. As much as I feel like I should set it off as much as I can to spite housing management, it'd only tick off the police officers who have to come by every time it's set off, and I don't want them against me. As well as I don't want the alarm blaring every single time I shower in the morning and have to prepare for class if I can help it.
If only it set off the whole building's alarm, then it would be a big enough problem for them to fix, but as it only sets off my room's alarm, they won't care. I sent an email to Housing and Residence Life detailing my issue, but I doubt that'll help. I'll see what they say anyways.
Taking lukewarm to cold showers is what I currently have to do, and it blows. I'm thinking I may be able to jerry-rig some fans around to blow steam out the door, instead of clouding around the detector.
I think you have to put more pressure on. If everyone takes cold showers, it won't be a problem for management. So if you don't hear anything from the in a week or so at most, you have to follow up. Go together all of you in the rooms with this problem, send an email together (or one each) to management and give them a deadline to address the issue (at most another week), and that you will contact a third party if you don't get this solved immediately (unions or ombudsman or whatever you call it in US).
Read through the contract to understand your rights. In ours there is a clause that says that they have to reply to any issue within 48 working hours. Maybe there is something similar in yours. But give them a few extra days for good measure. 
But all in all, you have to make it an actual problem for them for anything to happen. Either by making the police contact them, or probably better, some third party that can back you up. Make it clear that you won't put up with it, and that ignoring it isn't an option for them.
It's happened twice for me that some conflict ended up with me contacting the ombudsman (once for my internet company that wouldn't allow me to cancel my contract, once my apartment agency that stalled a repair for months), and both times they turned around immediately and I got what I asked for within a couple of days, after months of email/phone exchanges. That was AU though, but it can't be that different in US, can it??
So well, keep up the pressure, give them deadlines, and have next step ready if they don't act. I'm pretty sure you are supposed to be able to take hot showers, so don't let them get away with giving you a defect room and then just ignore your complaints.
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EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/1Z7pxlu.jpg)
