What did you do today?

[zannej]

Yeah, they will use any excuse they can find to jack up prices to increase their profits. I bet some of it is because of increased demand due to a lot of damage from the hurricanes.
Btw, if you want to see a clusterf*** of a website, google Hayco Buildings. The words run together and a lot of it is in allcaps. I suspect the customer testimonials are fake. I'm trying to find a different vendor for the metal buildings.

Since I couldn't sleep I played around in Sketchup. I keep uninstalling and reinstalling the trial version of 2020pro so I can play around. If they didn't charge something like $200/yr for it (they went from selling license to a subscription format) I'd consider subscribing. But that is too high & I don't use it commercially. I went from 2013 version to this one. Nice new features like if you hit arrow keys to lock to green, blue, or red axis you can type a number and it will put it in measurements box. Hit enter and it will draw the line/shape to the exact measurement. I spent hours drawing cabinets line by line & measurements were approximate. I scrapped my old cabinets and drew new ones in a few minutes. The push/pull & offset tools came in handy. I wish the scale tool had measurements in inches instead of percentage though.

I'm going to watch some tutorials on Blender (which I just installed) to see if I can figure out how to draw the vanity top. It bugs me that I haven't been able to get it looking right. LOL.

I had another charlie horse in my arm/shoulder last night so it's not wanting to cooperate for reaching/stretching, etc.

I might stop by the hardware store to talk to the owner & find out what metal building companies he works with. Also need to pick up some meds.

 

[Floorist]

The Amish around here put up buildings cheap.

 

[zannej]

We have no Amish in our area sadly.

This morning I went into town with my brother. Picked up mail, stopped by the hardware store to talk to the owner. Best friend saw my truck and followed so he could chat with us. He stayed chatting with my brother outside while I went inside. Owner said he doesn't work with American Steel Carports and was dubious of their claim of using 12gauge steel. He said it would have to be super thick. He said he does up to 24 gauge but it's very expensive. Said 26gauge should be good. He also does 29, but I want something thick. I mentioned my cow has big horns. I drew a diagram with measurements but I drew it while there on the desk and the desk is not smooth so it turned out pretty bad. I then showed him pictures of the barn sketch (different angle views). He wrote down measurements and details, made sure to ask me about what sort of floor I wanted (if any), leg height, etc. He really took the time to listen and explain things about the buildings. He doesn't do electrical hookup but my certified electrician friend can. Over 15yrs ago his father installed the car ports on our property (he ran the hardware store back then). His dad and my dad died within a month of each other so we bonded over that. He's always been very respectful & nice to me & the car ports that we had put up are good quality. Took 2 trees falling on one to really mess it up. Big heavy oak trees at that. I may see about getting the damaged one repaired at some point. He said he'll talk to his metal guy on pricing and get back to me tomorrow. I warned him I answer my phone with "<surname>'s Mortuary".

Went to Walmart to get medicines & butter. My brother got some coconut water that turned out to be pretty awful & sour.

Dropped by to see our friend again & showed him the earth auger we just got. It's battery operated but it works great. He read the instructions, popped it together, and drilled as deep as it would go in less than 10 seconds. Battery showed 1 bar so he put it inside to charge. His ex is now claiming they worked things out and are back together, but I don't know if she's nuts or if he caved. She's trying very hard to do better though. She's back on her meds, is working, and is doing better with watching the baby. I just hope she doesn't get complacent and start her bad behavior and cheating again.

Friend told me the plumber said the sewer clog is on the city's side. City claimed it was on my friend's side-- but every house on the street had to get their pipes dug up & cleanouts installed so I think it's the city. They are still charging him sewer fees even though his sewer hasn't worked in over a month. Fortunately, his sinks & shower drain in to the backyard (long pipe out into the back-- not legal, but lets his water drain). His next door neighbor's yard was marked for sewer line digging. Lady across the street came over to talk & said she believed it was the city's fault. Said her landlady hired a plumber to dig up her lines. She gave my friend the contact info so he could get the number of the plumber from the landlady to see if that plumber could help. She said he was extremely rude but he did the work. I'm hoping we can find the sewer pipe with the new auger.

Mom had a baked potato for lunch (hasn't asked for anything else yet). I'm about to go see if she wants shepherd's pie.

Tomorrow my brother has a foot doctor appointment and I'll pick up the toilet tank from HomeDepot. Here's hoping it isn't damaged.

 

[highup]

I got a couple things accomplished this weekend. I changed the oil in my little S10 starting on Friday night. The truck sits low so I drove it up onto some 2x6s and dropped a small tarp under the front of the pickup instead of laying on the grass by the driveway. I slid the oil drain pan underneath, remove the filter and turn it open the side down in the drain pan and then pull the plug. The oil was pouring quickly into the drain pan and just for the heck of it I decided to let it drain overnight. It was starting to get dark anyway.
Next morning when I went out to reinstall the plug I noticed the oil drain pan was full to the top and had overflowed. When I turn the oil filter upside down to drain, it plugged the hole in the top of the drain pan and once the top of the drain pan filled with oil I'm guessing two quarts of oil leaked out onto the ground. Went to the store and got some kitty litter and poured the whole bag of it on top of that area and work it into the grass with my fingers so it would make as much contact as possible with the dirt and grass it's been raining recently so the ground and grass was soaking wet. The oil was just sitting on top of the ground not soaking in. The kitty litter probably did a pretty good job but I think I still may have to scrape the surface of the soil and remove some of that grass. It's off in the corner of the yard anyway by the fence so not really that big of a deal. After changing my own oil for over 45 years, this is only the second super fund site that I've created.
I decided it was time to see if I could get the pressure washer started. It's always had a tiny bit of oil leaking on the housing around the motor so I thought I'd cure that. I went to the store and got an o-ring to stack on top of the special rubber seal that wasn't working so good. Got that fixed too, so at least I accomplished something this weekend.

 

[highup]

I looked on Marine traffic.com, a global ship monitoring website and zoomed in on the Suez canal. I counted about 130 tankers waiting to get in along with a few hundred cargo and other ships.
I'm at website you can click on any individual ship that you see and it brings up some information about the ship such as when it was built and how big it is and where it is heading.
One of the tankers that I clicked on was just over 1000 ft long and 196 feet wide.
What a mess that ship made for the shipping business. I read that it's around a 15 million per day lost just for the canal itself in lost traffic fees.

 

[DarisMulkin]

I read that is going to cause a shortage of TP and coffee plus whatever else they can dream up. Its not a tanker by chance because the price of gas keeps going up.
Did Biden stumble in front of that ship and it swerved to miss him?

 

[highup]

He was steering the ship.

 

[Floorist]

Took my daughter 100 miles one way to buy a car yesterday. Have to go back tomorrow to get it. She gave $15,000 for a 2018 Durango with 30,000 miles. thought that was high but car prices are exploding.

 

[highup]

I would have sold her my 93 S10 for $5,000. It's only got 260,000 miles out and needs to paint job.

On the bright side they got that ship floating again.

 

[zannej]

That Suez canal thing is a nightmare for all involved.

I didn't do much this weekend. Saturday I was exhausted & got in a good sleep because the cats knocked my phone handset off the charger so it lost battery. My mom apparently tried to wake me up by calling several times (apparently once in the middle of the night and then a few times throughout the day). No phone ringing, no being paged on the intercom-- best sleep I had in awhile. I finally got woken up by her screaming at me from the hallway. Not a great way to wake up, but at least I'd had uninterrupted sleep. Saturday night the AC didn't work & I was overheating. I could hear water pouring down under the compartment. I opened it up and saw water and ice chunks. There used to be a bottle of bleach to pour down the condensate line but my brother took it to use on his laundry back when he had to wear white shirts at work. So, I need to get new bleach to pour down. I set the thermostat to turn the AC off so it would thaw out but the AC is no longer responding to the panel. My mom is upset because the AC fan is running and we can't turn it off without shutting off the breaker. I don't really want to shut it off because it will get too hot. I was boiling earlier while she was complaining it was too cold.

Sunday I felt like garbage. Digestive issues & felt nauseous most of the day. I cooked for Mom and then curled up in a ball for most of the day. Had some beef stew my brother made and felt better. Then I cooked for mom again.

I need to do some cleaning in the morning and then I have an appointment for the Covid vaccine this afternoon.

 

[Floorist]

Took her to pick up the Durango. My old Nissan got 35 mpg

 

[Mark Brown]

That is some seriously good mileage. My 2007 Elantra doesn't even get that mileage only driven on the highway.
Sure it isn't 3.5

 

[zannej]

Got up early to have breakfast and clean. Got litterboxes cleaned & filled with fresh litter, cleaned the hallway, etc. Had to open mom's bedroom door to see the floor while I was sweeping.

Earlier I had used the Walmart pharmacy website to schedule myself for the Covid vaccine and then scheduled my brother on his computer.
Went to unload the new toilet tank. Opened the box & my brother went to take the smaller box out & got his finger sliced. Tank was broken. Must have been broken in shipping or at the store.
Picked up mail. Got vaccine, picked up RX. I didn't even feel the needle go in. It was completely painless. I had her give the shot in my already sore arm.
Took the tank back to HomeDepot & told the clerk what happened. He was horrified & apologized profusely. Gave a full refund without question.
Stopped to get food at Chinese buffet. Had a lady ask me if the red bean ball was sweet in flavor. I told her "yes" and told her what was in it (it's in a pastry like wrapping with sesame seeds).
Went to Walmart to pick up some summer pillows I ordered online. They wouldn't ship them but they were in stock at that store. Missed getting them when they were in stock last year & wished we'd gotten them. They went down in price so I ordered them. They are perforated memory foam with cooling gel. I don't care about the cooling gel so much as the comfort. I have a similar pillow that was out of stock (and I wanted a 2nd one). I got 2 and gave one to my brother. He loves it. These are probably the best pillows I've ever had in terms of comfort. The case (which has a zipper) is super soft.

Stopped by to visit my friend & found out my air compressor is missing (as I've suspected). He thinks he saw it for sale in the local pawn shop & said he'd get it back for me if it is mine. It could also be another friend's compressor that was stolen from the burned house. I thought he'd stolen mine but he said his was Craftsman (which would make it red and black). Mine is Porter Cable (which is also red and black). Friend said he'll check tomorrow to ask the owner who sold it and see what brand it is. he said he saw some other familiar items there so it's likely someone stole it from his house (he'd been borrowing my compressor and nail gun & I've been asking for them back for ages but he was always too busy to look for them). He has so many mooches and druggies in and out of his house that there's a long list of possible culprits.

One of the mooches at his house blew a gasket on his truck while borrowing it. Decided to street race some people in it & messed it up. Friend is no longer letting him use the truck. I think he should kick him out. Guy has outstayed his welcome again. The chick he already kicked out was there with a U-Haul loading it up. She wasn't speaking to his ex bc she knew the ex was the reason she was being kicked out. Saw her little brother again & he gave me a hug. He's a sweet kid.

Left my brother over at friend's house with his pillow so he could hang out and nap while I came home to get food for mom. I'm about to eat some of the leftover beef stew.

 

[Floorist]

That is some seriously good mileage. My 2007 Elantra doesn't even get that mileage only driven on the highway.
Sure it isn't 3.5

It got 35 when we got it 4 years ago, my MIL left it to my wife. I was just surprised that it still got it. It has 206,000 miles

 

[Mark Brown]

Thats just some insane mileage. You don't have a horse attached to it or something do you??

The most insane mileage i ever got out of a vehicle was a 92 civic with a d16y7 engine in it with 17 inch tires. That thing would get 48 mpg at the ripe old age of 220000 km. The current civic i am working on will likely get 4.8 mpg thanks to the turbo and the B18C1 engine.... if i ever finish the damn thing

 

[Floorist]

My 94 Ford Econoline gets about 16. I had a 68 GTX 440, I think it took 5 gallons to start it.

 

[zannej]

My friend apparently brought my brother home last night. I was out.
The only symptoms I had from the vaccine were fatigue & my arm feeling bruised (with no visible signs). So I slept it off. Mom sent me in to town to get her an order from Subway since she realized I wasn't up to cooking. I think tomorrow I should go to the grocery store. Need bleach for the condensate line for the air conditioner.
I called HomeDepot to find out if they could make sure my toilet tank was packaged more securely when re-ordered. Customer service lady was appalled that the broken tank caused injury & also shocked that they didn't offer me a discount. Apparently they were supposed to re-order it with a discount in store in that situation. She said unfortunately, there is nothing they can do to give instructions on better packing but she did re-order it for me with a discount. I said this time I will get a flatbed cart and open it in the store to check. So, new tank should be arriving in a couple days. Crossing my fingers that it will be intact.

 

[Floorist]

Got both mowers started today. My rider is a 1980, the push is 15 years old. Both started easy after sitting out in the open all winter.

 

[highup]

I wonder where some people would be without YouTube and the internet.

 

[Jon]

I would never met you guys without the internet
He certainly can move his fingers