What did you do today?

[C.J.]

One of my aunts lives in Arizona. I wonder if she's still in real estate

My brother is a licensed realtor in Oregon. Phoenix is a hot market so I told him he should get set up down here in AZ but the problem is every damn trophy wife that’s married to some rich ass dude thinks they are a realtor as well so there’s a ton of competition. When we got this place maybe 6 months ago it was absolutely poppin here. Decent houses were gone in just a couple days so you had to jump quick and you were gonna definitely pay over asking price. It’s just insanity. Even my little town in NC has seen house prices jump. I feel for the younger generations because a lot of them just can’t afford to buy a house at these ridiculous prices.

 

[Floorist]

Houses here in rural Missouri have doubled in price this year. We bought this house 3 years ago and it valued now at almost three times what we gave for it.

 

[highup]

Damn, I love Arizona even more. $127.09 for everything to switch over. Tags, title, plate, license and a $25 fee cus I went to an authorized service center instead of waiting for hours at the actual dmv.

You officially moved there?
Say hi to my aunt Betty, she lives in Green valley. Super nice lady

 

[highup]

My brother is a licensed realtor in Oregon. Phoenix is a hot market so I told him he should get set up down here in AZ but the problem is every damn trophy wife that’s married to some rich ass dude thinks they are a realtor as well so there’s a ton of competition. When we got this place maybe 6 months ago it was absolutely poppin here. Decent houses were gone in just a couple days so you had to jump quick and you were gonna definitely pay over asking price. It’s just insanity. Even my little town in NC has seen house prices jump. I feel for the younger generations because a lot of them just can’t afford to buy a house at these ridiculous prices.

I'm doing some work for a friend of mine. He and a friend are flipping a house. They bought it for $200,000 and have about 80,000 into it not including 4 and 1/2 or 5 months of Labor every night after work and on weekends. The house as it was had a weird layout so they did some major changes. That's where making a profit makes you win or lose.
I saw the house soon after your first bought it and after seeing the places the walls were moved and the bathrooms laundry area and other things were repositioned....
... it's going to be an easy sell because they made such fantastic improvements on the layout of the home and they've also added a brand new kitchen a 10x12 master bathroom which it didn't have before.
I think he's going to do good.
But we're talking a not so fancy house and I'm not so fancy neighborhood for 300 plus 1,000 dollars?
Since I'm not in the market for a house and I haven't looked at house prices hardly ever, 2 days local house prices makes my knees shake. Who are these average citizens in my area that can afford a "typical" $350,000 house?

 

[highup]

Oh yeah and since this is what did you do today, here's what I did today and yesterday and the day before and the day before.
The camera makes the pattern a lot more wild than it is. it's actually pretty tame. It's a Lowe's or home Depot laminate flooring not an lvp. I think he paid two bucks a square foot for it and it actually fits together pretty nice and feels like a decent surface.
All three areas total less than 400 ft. In the entryway, I actually had to make up end joints.
In the last two rows of the entryway I "manufactured" three different end joints, so he wouldn't have to buy another box of boards.
the the last row is only 4 in wide and it's on the wall behind the door. It's locked into place with super glue and will eventually be held down the baseboard. The pieces aren't going to move around and go anywhere in this five and a half foot square entryway.

 

[C.J.]

You officially moved there?
Say hi to my aunt Betty, she lives in Green valley. Super nice lady

Down below Tucson? I’ve only made it as far south as Eloy. I haven’t even seen the tent city here yet. I love watchin crazy people. I think the heat fries their brains just that much more. They have that west coast tweaker speed in their movements, buzzin around like crazy ants.

AZ says you can go up to 7 months here without changing over (snow birds) but if you ‘work’ here you must change over immediately. Kinda hard to drive around in a work van full of tools and demo and claim I’m not ‘working’ here. I already pushed it a few months and I don’t like getting tickets so I figured I better be a good boy and play by the rules.

That laminate floor looks like what I do every day, basic. Sure is easier than packin in carpet though.

 

[Tom Picciani]

Think I would like to be in Arizona right now myself. I’m camping in northern Pa. Was 36 degrees this morning. Used the Buddy heater. One more night and heading home tomorrow. Skies had a few moments of awesome but weather not really cooperating. Tonight should be better.

 

[zannej]

I got up early, picked up mail, and then snuck in to my friend's house while he was sleeping to paint the side of the cabinet (my brother has a key) but my brother opened the door to go sleep on the bed next to my friend since his girlfriend is at work. I went to get him to tell him it was time to leave and the door creaked and woke the baby up. Oops.

I know my aunt used to be a realtor but I'm not sure if she's retired or not. I know her husband was having some major health issues. I think his kidneys are failing & he had a stroke.

Highup, that floor looks neat!

When I took the lid off the paint, it slipped and flew out of my hand and fell on the floor (paint side down). There are no paper towels so I had to scramble to clean it up with toilet paper, soap, and water before it could stain the floor. Fortunately, that worked.

 

[Floorist]

Found a van for Randy.

 

[C.J.]

Got a fatty Coretec job going right over existing tile. Finished off the evening breaking in the BBQ. Grilled a flank steak, some corn on the cob and some herb n butter rice on the side.

 

[highup]

Down below Tucson? I’ve only made it as far south as Eloy. I haven’t even seen the tent city here yet. I love watchin crazy people. I think the heat fries their brains just that much more. They have that west coast tweaker speed in their movements, buzzin around like crazy ants.

AZ says you can go up to 7 months here without changing over (snow birds) but if you ‘work’ here you must change over immediately. Kinda hard to drive around in a work van full of tools and demo and claim I’m not ‘working’ here. I already pushed it a few months and I don’t like getting tickets so I figured I better be a good boy and play by the rules.

That laminate floor looks like what I do every day, basic. Sure is easier than packin in carpet though.

It's even easier when you walk in and the materials stacked and ready to go.
The kitchen had some flatness issues. Took a while to figure out which way to drag my 6-ft screed so I didn't go the wrong direction the first time. spent quite a bit of time screeding three bags of filler, mostly in the kitchen but I didn't charge him except for materials.
He's a good friend and he's helped me at other times so I can't bill this out like he was another Joe Blow. When my truck was torn apart a month and a half ago he lent me his van for a little over a week so I could make it to the store and do parts runs. I just build the job out of two bucks a square foot for all three areas. Not a great money maker, but I wanted him to know how much I appreciate the things he's done for me over time. It totaled out at $800 including the three bags of filler.

 

[C.J.]

It's even easier when you walk in and the materials stacked and ready to go

That’s gold, ain’t it.

 

[DarisMulkin]

Wife and I are making salsa for the first time. I have hungarin hot peppers in the garden and put a few in with the jalapenos. I like hot. Anyway she just skimmed the some of juice off and I tried the juice. Got a bite to it. yummmmmm

 

[highup]

Sounds good as long as it's not too hot. A little warm is okay but if it's hot I don't like it.
If I'm having chips it's probably going to be with clam dip.

 

[highup]

Found a van for Randy.

View attachment 13043

I think I might need a trailer too.

 

[highup]

Think I would like to be in Arizona right now myself. I’m camping in northern Pa. Was 36 degrees this morning. Used the Buddy heater. One more night and heading home tomorrow. Skies had a few moments of awesome but weather not really cooperating. Tonight should be better.

How do you keep the dew off the lenses?

 

[C.J.]

Sounds good as long as it's not too hot. A little warm is okay but if it's hot I don't like it.
If I'm having chips it's probably going to be with clam dip.

I always tell the waitress ‘white people hot’.

 

[zannej]

I miss having bbq. We loaned my friend our nice bbq but he loaned it to his exgf's (now dead) father and the father built a whole outdoor kitchen around it and never gave it back. We are thinking of going over there to see if the bbq is still there now that the old man died and get it back. Might have to mention it to the ex-gf first. Her boyfriend might help us get it. (Assuming it hasn't been pilfered bc people around here will steal stuff before the corpse is even cold).

CJ, my brother made the comment that he could tell the fried chicken we got from the local place was made by white people bc it was not cooked right. LOL. The breading was actually pretty bad this time.

I felt like garbage all day yesterday. Dizzy, headache, generally exhausted. My mother woke me around 6pm to gripe she was hungry. I said I was going to get her food & she hung up abruptly. I went and asked her why she hung up and she wouldn't speak to me. Just glared at the computer angrily. I got her food and gave her the butter. She sniped at me about something. I told her to put her own f***ing butter away and went back to bed. Normally I can be patient when she goes into b*** mode but I was not having it. She gets extra b***y this time of year. On my birthday she goes into super mega b*** mode. She will be nicer if she doesn't remember its my birthday, but when she remembers my birthday, b**** mode activates on full throttle and she does her best to make my birthday as miserable as possible. No idea why, but it's been her habit for decades. I have plans to lock myself in my room on my birthday, take the batteries out of my landline phone, & let my brother deal with her. Anyway, a few hours later she wasn't as b***y and I got her something else to eat. She normally snacks on stuff most of the day and I cook two or three times. Usually two.

I'm hoping I can be productive today. I need to clean up in the kitchen since my brother spilled trash when taking the trash bag out the other day. I also want to see if my chopsaw in the workshop is still functioning. I wonder if it can cut wood or just metal....

 

[Tom Picciani]

How do you keep the dew off the lenses?

Dew heaters. I have a controller that limits the current to what I set. I also have dew shield lined with felt to help absorb the moisture.

packed place. 450 people. Registration only was up for 2 weeks.
Used a buddy heater. Worked great in tent. Allowed me to get dressed without freezing. Morning was in the 30’s!

 

[C.J.]

I’ve wanted to build an outdoor kitchen for a few years now if for no other reason than to keep from heating the house up during the summer. Sometimes my wife will make something that just stinks the place up too. Last time her folks were up visiting she made a basalmic reduction that she was going to swirl in some ice cream. Tasted good like something fancy that you would get at salt n straw but damn if the whole house didn’t smell like vinegar for hours.

Happy B day to ya, Z, whenever it is. Sounds like it’s soon. Go to DQ and get you a cherry dilly bar. Damn, now I want a cherry dilly bar.

There’s a restaurant here that does char grilled oysters and my dad loves them. Who knew that living in the desert would mean fresh seafood is a bit harder to come by. I’ve found a couple places here that sell raw oysters so I think I’ll have to put them on the ol dinner menu this week. I’m gonna get my money’s worth out of that bbq for sure.