this post was submitted on 25 Mar 2026
401 points (99.0% liked)

Dull Men's Club

3818 readers
470 users here now

An unofficial chapter of the popular Dull Men's Club.

https://dullmensclub.com/

1. Relevant commentary on your own dull life. Posts should be about your own dull, lived experience. This is our most important rule. Direct questions, random thoughts, comment baiting, advice seeking, many uses of "discuss" rarely comply with this rule.

2. Original, Fresh, Meaningful Content.

3. Avoid repetitive topics.

4. This is not a search engine
Use a search engine, a tradesperson, Reddit, friends, a specialist Facebook group, apps, Wikipedia, an AI chat, a reverse image search etc. to answer simple questions or identify objects. Also see rule 1, “comment baiting”.

There are a number of content specific communities with subject matter experts who can help you.

Some other communities to consider before posting:

5. Keep it dull. If it puts us to sleep, it’s on the right track. Examples of likely not dull: jokes, gross stuff (including toes), politics, religion, royalty, illness or injury, killing things for fun, or promotional content. Feel free to post these elsewhere.

6. No hate speech, sexism, or bullying No sexism, hate speech, degrading or excessively foul language, or other harmful language. No othering or dehumanizing of anyone or negativity towards any gender identity.

7. Proofread before posting. Use good grammar and punctuation. Avoid useless phrases. Some examples: - starting a post with "So" - starting a post with pointless phrases, like "I hope this is allowed" or “this is my first post” Only share good quality, cropped images. Do not share screenshots of images; share the original image.

.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Decades ago, I moved from Massachusetts to Florida. When I moved from that house to a new one, I discovered an unopened bathroom fan motor + blower wheel in the attic (left by a previous owner). "Nice" (head nod) I said to myself, and threw it in with everything else in the moving boxes.

Of course, my wife told me to "just leave it" and "you're such a hoarder!" It stayed in that box when we moved again a decade later.

Today, one of our bathroom exhaust fans stopped working (for the 2nd time) so I decided to reach deep into my hoard of random crap. "I have just the thing!" I still remembered which box it was in and where I stored it in the attic above the garage!

BONUS: The old bracket nuts didn't fit the new motor so I had to fish around in my collection of random nuts, bolts, and screws to find two exact matches. Which I had, of course—because I save all the screws of all the things 👍

I saved ~$37 and a trip to the hardware store today!

top 33 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] brax@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 day ago

Yo hold on, this guy just used something from the "I might need this later" drawer.

This is worth a fucking celebration. Dudes everywhere have now been vindicated and justified for our collection of trinkets!

Amazing.

[–] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 66 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I feel like we all share in this historic win

[–] albbi@piefed.ca 22 points 2 days ago

And the bonus was just chef's kiss.

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

that's a 2059 series what do you mean dull

[–] riskable@programming.dev 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

3900-2059-000 was the original motor (and assembly). The new motor didn't come with a bracket for some reason 🤷. Fortunately, the old steel bracket is as tough as (steel) nails so I was able to re-use it.

Here, have some more unnecessary details:

Photo of the OEM cardboard box that held the BROAN BP27 bathroom exhaust fan used to replace the 3900-2059-000 motor that was originally installed in the ceiling of the bathroom

thanks i tried to find the dullest thing i could comment

[–] noride@lemmy.zip 45 points 2 days ago (4 children)

This gives me great hope for my box of obsolete cables and adapters.

[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 23 points 2 days ago (2 children)

You never know when you'll need to hook up an IDE floppy drive

I mean ... you do know, but you might not want to admit it

My bnc networking gear will save the day (one day)

[–] Vex_Detrause@lemmy.ca 7 points 2 days ago

Mr President, we need to reset the nuclear codes to restart earth! But we need an IDE floppy drive!

Mr President(Space Noodle): I need to get to my 2026 attic!

[–] riskable@programming.dev 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I still have the proprietary cable that lets you hook up a 1992-ish Sony Handycam to a TV with RCA inputs.

I know exactly where it is in my attic: Under the S video cables, an original FireWire cable, and the cable that lets you hook up two Atari Lynx portable consoles together in order to play Warbirds against each other in real time.

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

do you still have the handycam? that took super8 right?

[–] riskable@programming.dev 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yes I do! Not Super 8... Wow. I'm not that old! Super 8 is from the 1960s and 1970s. The Sony Handycam I have used a format called "Hi8".

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

damn we must have been using old equipment. we shot everything on super 8 off whatever cameras we could get our hands on in the 90s. except my buddy who did stop motion who had a 35mm

This is what we train for

If nothing else, you can strip them for copper!

[–] ikidd@lemmy.world 14 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I'm of the firm belief that baseboards need at least 5 years being stored in the garage to properly acclimate to the particular environment of the microclimate that is my house and immediately surrounding area. My wife tries to get me to install them right away, after buying them, not understanding that if I did, it would warp the house so badly that it might collapse in on itself, taking space and time with it and eventually the entire known universe.

You all owe your continued existence to my willpower and stubborness in the face of my wife's annoyance at not having baseboards at the end of any home renovations.

You're welcome.

[–] how_we_burned@lemmy.zip 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Is that the reason

All I know is if I install something straight away it almost always fails but if I wait five years, it goes on with nay a problem.

I have to be very Zen and focus on the projects I started five years prior at any given point

[–] myrrh@ttrpg.network 6 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Although I would gently suggest that if there are many things that you have said you're going to fix but haven't yet, perhaps the person isn't reminding you in a "hurry up and do the thing" kind of way, but in a "honey, are you doing okay? You try to do so much for us, and whilst I appreciate it, I do worry about how you're coping. If you're feeling overwhelmed, I'd rather you tell me "I'm not going to fix that thing for the foreseeable future" than to run yourself ragged"

[–] ikidd@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

I need this sign.

[–] undeffeined@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 day ago

Saving all the screws is tight!

Well done!

[–] wolfeh@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)

When I eat too many beans, I get Motor Assy too.

...I'll see myself out.

[–] FauxLiving@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago

…I’ll see myself out.

And leave the door open, sheesh

[–] Raiderkev@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Seeing vice grip printed on something that is not channel locks is mildly infuriating.

[–] riskable@programming.dev 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

Seeing vice grip printed on something...

I think you're suffering from the same vice as little Miss Spelings.

A vice grip would truly be an immoral tool.

[–] skip0110@lemmy.zip 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Oh boy…I also have a perfectly working bathroom fan motor. In storage for around 15 years now, and rescued from my parent’s renovation. Good to know it may indeed be useful :)

[–] riskable@programming.dev 5 points 2 days ago

Some day, one of your current bathroom fans will break its last wind. It's seen some shit. On that good day, you won't be a hoarder, you'll be a prophet that saw the end coming back in 2011.

"I knew! I predicted this! Because I gave a crap and wish to give many more!"

[–] teyrnon@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 days ago

Nice I did one of these not long ago. Second Story to had to put ina vent through the soffit, I paid some asshole to get up on a ladder and do that part.

[–] schwim@piefed.zip 2 points 2 days ago
[–] edgemaster72@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

!pareidolia@sh.itjust.works