What did you do today?

[MSLI]

Send that clown to the circus

I cheated by flopping it end over end into the room….

Oh, that reminds me, I ran into a fellow senior sub-contractor at the shop and I asked him about how he was going to deliver 2 ea. 12 x 15’ attached cushion Carpets ? He showed me his A-frame hand truck …. This thing is hard core …. Smarter not harder…. Now for the disorganized truck, that’s another story

 

[highup]

Gotta earthquake warning and 5 minutes later a Tsunami warning.
7.0 earthquake 10 miles off the coast, 140 miles south of here.
After an hour and a half the warning was cancelled everywhere. Well, the phone warnings (emergency alert system) work.

 

[MSLI]

Gotta earthquake warning and 5 minutes later a Tsunami warning.
7.0 earthquake 10 miles off the coast, 140 miles south of here.
After an hour and a half the warning was cancelled everywhere. Well, the phone warnings (emergency alert system) work.

O-My, I’m glad Mother Nature settled down. Hopefully you get that job done and paid before she hits.

 

[highup]

It's up above the ocean about the level of Bandon Dunes golf courses..... but then again, I suppose I'd have to get there.

 

[MSLI]

It's up above the ocean about the level of Bandon Dunes golf courses..... but then again, I suppose I'd have to get there.

You and your brother may have to live there until completion and have privileges to golf too.

 

[zannej]

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days. Got hit with fatigue again. Tire shop never could figure out the source of the sounds. Got my struts (front and back) replaced. They replaced my brand new rear brake pads without asking and put cheaper/lower quality ones on but didn't charge me for them since they didn't ask. They took apart all of the brakes-- E-brake and all-- and got rocks out. Now there's a "check brake system" message. I'm going to have to take it to a dealership to get it checked out. I've never given up on a vehicle before, but it's still having some problems and we are looking at a 2019 RTL-E (Honda Ridgeline). Saw one with running boards, no active recalls, right color inside and out, no accident reports, no visible damage, but it has just under 100k miles. Dealership selling it has decent ratings. I do want to see if the price will come down though. Another drawback is it's in Slidell, which is 4hrs away over crappy roads.

Hit a snag on the struts being installed at first bc one was missing. Amazon showed struts being in one box but there were 2 and one of them didn't arrive until Wednesday and I reported the package missing/undelivered and then it turned up afterward so I canceled the replacement but they still sent both-- and they just put these things in cardboard with no padding. So the boxes tore. The online return thing wanted to charge me $5 to have UPS come pick up the packages to return and wanted $1 to mail me return labels (wanted me to print them but I don't have a working printer). And it was only going to send one label. So I called Amazon CS who said it was free to have the packages picked up and that they would arrange the return. All I had to do was leave the packages where UPS could find them. I tossed in a package being returned to diabetes supply place (they recycle them and had a return label already). I stuck bright colored sticky notes on each box saying Please Return.

Was helping my friend fix up the house he's trying to buy so it would pass inspection. Inspector didn't look under the area rug to see the curling vinyl plank in the bedroom so that trick worked. Only thing flagged inside was a door delaminating on one side. Outside we acknowledged that the addons to the workshop need to come down. There was a moment I found amusing when I told my friend that if he took the back lean-to down he could then use that area to work on cars (since it has concrete slab) and he could add a path to the double gates. He was confused and asked "What double gates?" and I said "The ones out front near the corner". I then pointed to the gates and he did a doubletake. I'd seen them on Google Maps and he never noticed them before. Went over and they still work. I also discovered a small gate between workshop and barn. I'm sure some more painting will be in order before next followup inspection. Hoping the same guy will be back but his wife is about to have a baby so he might not be able to come.

Another funny thing was when friend's wife was taking down painter's tape and I talked about how bad I am with tape and how I jinx it. Friend said I could look at tape and make it go crooked or stick to itself. I touched the tape very lightly to help pull it down and it broke. We all had a good laugh about how just me touching it caused it to break. And then another one I didn't touch broke and they joked it was bc I looked at it.

Friend's microwave blew up while heating up popcorn (no metal was put inside) so I ordered him one that was on sale from Samsclub.

We continue to battle the stupid roaches-- using boric acid tabs, spray, roach traps, peppermint oil, etc.

 

[MSLI]

Friend said I could look at tape and make it go crooked or stick to itself. I touched the tape very lightly to help pull it down and it broke. We all had a good laugh about how just me touching it caused it to break. And then another one I didn't touch broke and they joked it was bc I looked at it.

I have a love / hate relationship with blue tape.

Don’t you wish you could break the roaches with a good stare
good luck with the car.

 

[highup]

You and your brother may have to live there until completion and have privileges to golf too.

It's a private residence, so no golf privileges
I can occasionally hear a golf or more likely a service vehicle on the other side of the trees... So maybe I can sneak onto a green unnoticed. Have to remember to take off my knee pads

 

[highup]

I was rigging up dust collection for my band saw tonight and missed a text from a friend who lives 2 1/2 hours away.
I haven't texted, called or talked to them in a few months.
So here's something spooky.
There's a YouTuber I used to watch all the time. Her videos are just easy going and relaxing.
Anne does OCD quality woodworking for a good reason.
She's done carving, joinery, made museum quality instruments, a really cool axe, put a starter in a 1951 Chevy, built gardens, raises animals, done blacksmithing build a woodworking school.... You name it.
Here's a live video chat she did 5 days ago with her husband.
https://www.youtube.com/live/g8qSde_-ewM?si=-WWQwD443nRP6Idr

Ok, here's where it gets really strange.

I haven't watched one of Anne's videos in almost a year.
This video pops up 5 days ago, so I watch it.

I haven't talked or texted my friend in 3 or 4 months.
A couple hours ago she sent me a text and included a link to this same video saying "it starts slow, but I think you'll like this video"

You guess the tune that's playing on my head right now

 

[havasu]

I agree, it starts slow. 6 minutes in and all I saw was a burnt donkey?

 

[highup]

I agree, it starts slow. 6 minutes in and all I saw was a burnt donkey?

It's not her usual show. Live feeds are kinda weird and unless you watch a person's channel and know them well, not much makes sense. She's a pretty neat lady with a lot of passion for whatever project she takes on.

 

[zannej]

I recently watched this video


Hopefully that litterbox will hold up, but cleaning up the corners will be a pain. My cats would break it.

Got 3 packages from Samsclub today and only 2 of them were things I ordered. They sent a duplicate item for some reason. Giant blankets that my cats are already loving. Kitties are piling on.

Oh I wish i could kill roaches with a stare. Stupid little buggers.

 

[zannej]

Sunday and Monday my brother and I went over to help our friend with demo of the addons to the workshop at the house he's buying. Inspector said they had to come down to get bank approval of the sale. Got most of the front addon down on Sunday and the rest on Monday. Had more help on Monday, but friend had to stop and work on some cars. First he replaced the radiator on the vehicle of a lady who is related to the former tenants at the house. They left some stuff behind and she came to get it and friend saw her car was busted up. Deer jumped out in front of her so he replaced the radiator and secured the broken headlamp. She was very appreciative.

Then his co-worker (my brother's former supervisor) arrived with her husband to help while friend installed LED bulbs in the husband's headlights. Bro mostly walked around talking to himself, whining, and criticizing me until the co-worker showed up. Then he wanted to show off and actually put in some good work and cooperated with me more. He'd been sniping at me and refusing to help me when I asked or just fussed and helped only after our friend defended me. Bro ended up putting a hole in the wall that wasn't supposed to get taken down so that will have to be patched. I'll have to see if the plywood I set aside for it is still there. Friend is going to burn the rotted wood, one of his mother's friends showed up to help in exchange for taking any usable lumber and tin (well, aluminium) with him. That helped clear out a lot of stuff. He let us borrow is 4ft pry bar.

Friend's mother tricked friend into giving her the address of the place under the pretense she was going to bring a tarp over. She showed up without a tarp and dumped the 4-yr-old she was supposed to be babysitting on us. So we couldn't do much after that. She was angry that there wasn't any good stuff for her to pilfer. I grabbed up my tools and put them out of her reach when she arrived (she has a habit of stealing tools). Friend was irritated with her for dumping the kid there instead of taking him back home to his wife. Pretty sure she'll be showing up there with her hand out wanting something frequently. At least his grandfather doesn't know where he's moving. That jerk would probably block his driveway and the road while laying on his horn and hollering all hours of the day and night like he currently does.

99% of the demo is done. I still need to peel the fiberglass shingles off the remains of the roof so the rotted wood can be burned and shingles disposed of somewhere else. At one point I saw a red hook hanger thingy for tools and decided to mess with my friend and said "Hey, look, that hook looks like it can be salvaged" He turned to give me side-eye and then looked at it and said "Oh, this is a good one!" and I laughed and said "I was kidding! I wanted to see your reaction!" but he unscrewed it and kept it. LOL.

Hopefully cleanup will go quickly. Still need to figure out where the hell to take the shingles.

Friend just told me he's out there with someone cleaning up but he still needs to repair something on the hvac closet door so I'm going to head out there soon.

 

[highup]

I'm tired just listening to other people working. I'm taking a nap
I accomplished nothing today.

 

[C.J.]

I’ve loved her a long time. 2005 E250. 563k, windshield is cracked, back tires are bald, needs shocks soon, damn check engine light came on and it has an expensive sounding rattle that isn’t getting better. Could be anything. Loose heat shield, prolly not. Flex plate, if I’m lucky. Transmission, wouldn’t surprise me. I could do all the necessary work but when it’s all done I'm still never going to get anything better than 10 to 15 mpg, soooo, I’m thinkin it may be time to trade it in. What are you guys driving?

 

[highup]

That's impressive. Just have my 93 s10 with 301,000 miles.

 

[MSLI]

Pick a method, Area Rugs or wall to wall ?

 

[C.J.]

Pick a method, Area Rugs or wall to wall ?

Wall to wall covers things up. Area rugs are nice n easy but you gotta kinda want to see at least the perimeter of what’s underneath? Is that real hardwood floors that I see!!!

If you have a history of renting to longer term residents that seem to take care of the place, I would say have the hardwoods spruced up and roll with that. If not then I would do a wall to wall installation. Area rugs and runners can be trip hazards.

 

[MSLI]

. Area rugs and runners can be trip hazards.

Thanks for the feedback Man
Yes real hardwood and a combination of factors is leading me to sell the Area Rug Method.
Number one :
they did not prepare the trim ( 3/4 round + base) properly before painting, and underneath the white is dark brown paint. After spending my time fitting and tucking properly, it will look like hell and we know who they will blame

Number two: The stiff Berber remnant will make it even harder to fit carefully.

Number three: The elegance of the hardwood and its properly installed craftsmanship deserves to be seen, even if it’s a small amount.

The tripping hazard is valid, but we are thinking about no pad or something thin.
Stay tuned

 

[highup]

Area rugs might work with a few staples across the edges that get traffic. Short staples 5/16" not 9/16", especially so if hardwood