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LuckyCharms

(23,142 posts)
Sat May 23, 2026, 12:10 PM 13 hrs ago

Fans



I have this fan sitting next to me. I've had it for years.

When I first turn it on, it squeaks like a bastard.

I have to backhand it hard with my right hand, just right, to get it to stop squeaking. The left hand doesn't do it for some reason, it has to be the right hand, and I have to hit it perfectly.

I would take it apart to fix it, but I'm half blind and the screws are recessed. I can't tell what type of screws they are, but I think they are Torx security screws, and I do not have those bits. So, I'm going to continue slapping this fan for the rest of my days.

Here is a song called "Bertha".

For years, a popular legend circulated that the song was written about an erratic, mechanical cooling fan in the band's office that would wobble and bounce around the floor. Jerry Garcia confirmed this in a 1979 interview. However, lyricist Robert Hunter clarified that the fan was actually named after the song was released.

This concludes your daily lesson about fans. Please don't ask me any questions, because this is pretty much all I know about fans.



14 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Fans (Original Post) LuckyCharms 13 hrs ago OP
I think that I knew that about "Bertha" Niagara 12 hrs ago #1
I've probably posted about Bertha a million times. LuckyCharms 11 hrs ago #4
I did the SAME THING to our llving room fan.. some_of_us_are_sane 11 hrs ago #2
The squeak will only relent with a backhand... LuckyCharms 11 hrs ago #5
Has a fan ever asked for your autograph? Harker 11 hrs ago #3
Yes! LuckyCharms 10 hrs ago #6
I had fans that used to show up at my softball games. Harker 10 hrs ago #7
Haha! LuckyCharms 10 hrs ago #8
They had to admire the swing, if not the timing! Harker 10 hrs ago #9
I sucked in the field, but I was a... LuckyCharms 10 hrs ago #10
That's a beautiful friendship! Harker 9 hrs ago #11
You are a SAVAGE, Harker. LuckyCharms 7 hrs ago #12
Every now and then, Lucky, in the past... Harker 5 hrs ago #13
Jr. high was rough LuckyCharms 4 hrs ago #14

Niagara

(12,154 posts)
1. I think that I knew that about "Bertha"
Sat May 23, 2026, 01:32 PM
12 hrs ago

I most likely learned it on DU.

Sometimes people's recollections are faulty so perhaps Robert Hunter doesn't remember how it all went down. lol

LuckyCharms

(23,142 posts)
4. I've probably posted about Bertha a million times.
Sat May 23, 2026, 02:05 PM
11 hrs ago

But...I probably do that a lot because I forget what I post as soon as I post it, and then end up posting it again a week later!

some_of_us_are_sane

(3,639 posts)
2. I did the SAME THING to our llving room fan..
Sat May 23, 2026, 01:40 PM
11 hrs ago
that sat on top of the TV.

(You have to show those S.O.B.s who's boss!)

LuckyCharms

(23,142 posts)
5. The squeak will only relent with a backhand...
Sat May 23, 2026, 02:35 PM
11 hrs ago

not a punch or slap.

And it has to be on the top right side of the Ryobi logo.

Fans are temperamental.

Harker

(18,180 posts)
7. I had fans that used to show up at my softball games.
Sat May 23, 2026, 02:45 PM
10 hrs ago

I thought they were chanting, "Ozzie! Ozzie!" when I played shortstop, but I eventually was told they were shouting, "Ozzy! Ozzy!"

LuckyCharms

(23,142 posts)
8. Haha!
Sat May 23, 2026, 02:55 PM
10 hrs ago


Hey Harker...that reminds me of a story.

When I worked as an accountant (first job out of college)...we used to go to the batting cages at lunch time. You could choose your pitcher...Nolan Ryan, Fernando Valenzuela, etc.

Well, I could always hit a baseball well, but I got REAL good at the batting cages. We would go every day. I tore my hands up until I got smart and got some batting gloves.

At the same time, I was on a slow pitch softball team. My timing was so used to the hardball pitching machines that I could not hit a slow pitched softball to save my life.

I was playing in a softball game that had a lot of spectators. I whiffed on three pitches. Three strikes you're out. I couldn't get my timing right to hit a softball.

Who the hell whiffs in slow pitch softball? Never been so embarrassed...people were laughing at me.

Ozzy! Ozzy!

Harker

(18,180 posts)
9. They had to admire the swing, if not the timing!
Sat May 23, 2026, 03:16 PM
10 hrs ago

I'm pretty sure I got laughed at on those occasions I played outfield, but I was too far away to hear it. I could not judge a long fly ball, softball or hardball. Every manager that put me out there only made that mistake once.

LuckyCharms

(23,142 posts)
10. I sucked in the field, but I was a...
Sat May 23, 2026, 03:24 PM
10 hrs ago

great hitter ( before the batting cages).

When I was in junior high, a few elementary schools merged together there.

About 5 guys from another school were messing with me...they beat me up.

Subsequently, one of those guys was the softball pitcher during gym class. I was naturally a little salty after getting beat up.

He pitched the ball to me, and I hit a line drive that bounced off the pitchers head and knocked him down. He couldn't get his glove up quickly enough.

We became friends after that.

Harker

(18,180 posts)
11. That's a beautiful friendship!
Sat May 23, 2026, 04:23 PM
9 hrs ago

Funny how every story seems to lead to another, Lucky.

I got hit with a pitch at school, must've been 5th or 6th grade. It didn't really hurt, and I was fine with that until the pitcher laughed.

I picked up the ball and rushed the mound. He stood there in apparent disbelief, eyebrows raised, arms by his side, and never even flinched as I bounced it off his forehead. He went down and stayed down for a couple minutes, during which I noticed the imprint of the stitches very clearly.

We didn't exactly become friends, but he smiled and said "hi" in hallways all the way through high school, when he was the C on the football team, and I was a long hair stoner.

LuckyCharms

(23,142 posts)
14. Jr. high was rough
Sat May 23, 2026, 09:07 PM
4 hrs ago

Grades 7, 8, and 9.

My elementary school was mild. Everyone was peaceful for the most part.

When I went to Jr. High, there was a lot of animosity between my grade school and the kids on the north side of the tracks.

They fought all of the time. Fistfights, cops, all that. They smoked pot (7th grade). They drank. they carried knives.

I'm certainly not slender now, but I was back them. And I got picked on. I had knives pulled on me, and I had a loaded shotgun pointed out a car window at me by a peer who was riding around with some older guys.

We were kind of poor, and one day in homeroom, this guy was making fun of my house, and I lost my shit. I had just lost my dad the previous year, and he was busting my ass about being poor.

I pulled him out of his little desk/seat combo (remember those?). I beat the shit out of him in homeroom, and then we agreed to fight at the tracks after school. These things were always a big deal, and about 100 people showed up. The guy had about 4 inches in height on me, and he weighed more.

We traded a few punches, looked at each other, and shook hands. Nobody bothered me after that. A rite of passage I guess.

This kind of shit happened once a week at my Jr. high. It was terrible, and it must have scarred me mentally apparently, because I still talk about it...at our age.

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