What did you do today?

[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

 

[highup]

Headed to town about 3:00
Got there about 9:00
1/4 mile from the house, the truck started really hard. The truck was running fine at the stop sign. Two minutes of driving an the engine gauge looked like I was totally warmed up.
Quickly made it home and lifted the hood.
No serpentine belt.
.......and no alternator pulley
I walked a couple hundred feet down the gravel road to the mailboxes to begin retracing my short journey.
200 feet down the road was my pulley and a shredded serpentine belt.
Grabbed those, then slowly walked back towards the house looking for a lock washer and the nut. I found the lock washer right where the pavement meet the gravel. I found the nut directly under where I park my truck.
Couldn't put them back together because the shaft was stripped.
Had to wait till my nephew got home from work at 7:00 to get a new belt $60.... and a brand new alternator. $0.00
I've just received my 3rd free alternator.
So, here I am 60,609 miles later with a new (not rebuilt) alternator.
I like O'Reilly's lifetime parts warranty.
Years back, one of the alternators went bad after 5 weeks. This last one made it over 40,000.
My battery is almost.... OK, exactly....3 years old.
Here's what my load tester read after I gave it test. SOH is state of health.
SOC is state of charge.
It shows 430 Amps
My battery is 550 Amps.
I guess since I've been replacing a lot of stuff in the past year, the battery is next even tho it's been starting just fine.
I'm buying the next group size battery. The last two batteries I bought were smaller than the battery tray.
I guess since I'll have a new battery, new alternator and new belt, the factory belt tensioner is next on the list.... The tensioner and it's pulley have 301,600 miles on em. It's not wobbly or squealing, but what the hay. Over time the spring can break.

 

[havasu]

Could I see a pic of the battery tester? Looks great, but pricey?

 

[highup]

I think this is the same one I've got.
https://www.google.com/search?q=top...zExMzQzNzM1OA==,pvt:hg,pvo:19&oshop=apv&pvs=0
Not very spendy. It's cheaper now than 2 years ago. I really like it. They make old school load testers with a large residing element inside, but this gives you more info.

 

[highup]

They have a newer version (12v) and a 12/24v
Topdon BT100 and Topdon BT200
Light weight and has really nice flexible cables and clamps.

 

[highup]

After charging last night, then driving 30 miles today, the battery shows good.
I hadn't driven the truck for a few days, then I started it yesterday and drove it a mile with no belt and pulley.... That's why it showed "replace"
Here's today. I'm going to hit it with my charger a hand full of times set at 15 amps to see how much better it gets.
The charger is automatic, so it doesn't stay on continuously at 15 amps. I just want to zap it a bunch of times then leave that charger on so it stays topped off.
Then I'll check again in a few days to see where it really stands. I didn't think it could be dead yet.
Here's yesterday and today. Mucho better.
I think the health should be well over 90 or even 95%
Notice the Amps went from 430 to 515. I think the 515 should get a little better too.

 

[Tile Tom]

My kid fought in the national Silver gloves competition (golden gloves for kids 8-17). He’s is now the 90# NYS champion!! He advances to regionals in Massachusetts January 10th. Very proud of that boy!!

 

[C.J.]

My kid fought in the national Silver gloves competition (golden gloves for kids 8-17). He’s is now the 90# NYS champion!! He advances to regionals in Massachusetts January 10th. Very proud of that boy!!

View attachment 20460

Good man! To both of you.

 

[C.J.]

More butcher block! I’m a big fan of under mounting sinks but butcher block always makes me pucker a little, or a lot, when I’m routing out the sink opening. Funny thing is if the router jumps hard enough it’s 50/50 as to whether I instinctively throw the router away from myself or not. Done it before.

So I’ve got the sink mounted in a cradle and the top rough fit. I reach up through the sink hole and trace the outline of the sink with a 1/4” offset. I flip the top over and draw new lines with another 1/4” for fluff room cus I could be wrong and blades deflect. I put the top back in place and damn if I don’t have a perfect 1/2”. Problem is 1/2” of wood at 1.5” thick is a lot of material to remove in one go. I would much rather it only be 1/4”, or even 1/8”, of material to remove but that’s cutting it too damn close. I’m always afraid of making a mistake and removing too much when I’m rough cutting out the sink opening, thereby screwing myself and creating a lot more work to try and save the situation.

Hmm, what to do? What would you do? It’s Sunday so I’m stewing on it for a few before I do anything. This is the funnest no fun decision one could make.

 

[MSLI]

I’m always afraid of making a mistake and removing too much when I’m rough cutting out the sink opening,

Now Stew on some of the inner workings of the mind

The focus point is key ! Will it be on the fear side today or on the trust side ? …. And Every day / job is different. So you see, I have no technical advice to give other than monitoring your ‘ fear / trust ‘ barometer each day, and then discern which one to follow for that particular job…..Fear / caution means more routing and that’s ok, be at peace and be the cautious craftsman. We can’t hit home runs every day, and take a short cut home, sometimes we have to go and stop at each base.

Projects looking good Man ! I trust in you !

 

[MSLI]

My kid fought in the national Silver gloves competition (golden gloves for kids 8-17). He’s is now the 90# NYS champion!! He advances to regionals in Massachusetts January 10th. Very proud of that boy!!

My daughter, at that age, made it onto the
‘ travel dance squad’ and we had to travel 3 hours one Saturday for a competition. They danced to the Will Smith song ‘ Wild West’ The costumes were top notch and the girls looked amazing. All those practices twice a week for months payed off, not by winning first place, but by giving the audience a perfect performance.

Thanks for sharing Tom, because I just relived that experience from 22 years ago


Best of skill for your young champ in January Man !

PS> did you see the topic for a Stone job opportunity in Saint John Island a few weeks back ? They are looking for a master installer for a 3 month or so job.

 

[C.J.]

Now Stew on some of the inner workings of the mind

The focus point is key ! Will it be on the fear side today or on the trust side ? …. And Every day / job is different. So you see, I have no technical advice to give other than monitoring your ‘ fear / trust ‘ barometer each day, and then discern which one to follow for that particular job…..Fear / caution means more routing and that’s ok, be at peace and be the cautious craftsman. We can’t hit home runs every day, and take a short cut home, sometimes we have to go and stop at each base.

Projects looking good Man ! I trust in you !

That’s some voodoo stuff you come up with because I used to tell people that you have to trust your pattern whenever I was making a pattern for something. Sheet vinyl and Formica have wiggle room though. As long as your seams are dead nuts, you usually left yourself enough fluff to trim a hair off here n there or it was going to be covered by something if it was shy. No wiggle room with a flush trimmed sink. The only option I have to salvage a mistake is to put an undersized bearing on and route it again.

I went and bought an ‘industrial’ router bit today. I’ll take my time and touch the bases

 

[Tile Tom]

My daughter, at that age, made it onto the
‘ travel dance squad’ and we had to travel 3 hours one Saturday for a competition. They danced to the Will Smith song ‘ Wild West’ The costumes were top notch and the girls looked amazing. All those practices twice a week for months payed off, not by winning first place, but by giving the audience a perfect performance.

Thanks for sharing Tom, because I just relived that experience from 22 years ago


Best of skill for your young champ in January Man !

PS> did you see the topic for a Stone job opportunity in Saint John Island a few weeks back ? They are looking for a master installer for a 3 month or so job.

Sounds like you had it easy with the practices & traveling .


We train our fighters 4 hours a night, 6 days a week. We travel 2-3 weekends a month a minimum of 2 hours away. Most of the time to Albany or Buffalo (3.5 hr drive).


The fight game is a lifestyle with no season. It’s year round. Some say we’re crazy but we love every minute of it. We’re a small community but a VERY tight one. Like a big family!!!

 

[highup]

My kid fought in the national Silver gloves competition (golden gloves for kids 8-17). He’s is now the 90# NYS champion!! He advances to regionals in Massachusetts January 10th. Very proud of that boy!!

View attachment 20460

How much for a signed photo?
How about two. I might need to sell one if I need to get my hips replaced in 10 years.
Nice!

 

[highup]

That’s some voodoo stuff you come up with because I used to tell people that you have to trust your pattern whenever I was making a pattern for something. Sheet vinyl and Formica have wiggle room though. As long as your seams are dead nuts, you usually left yourself enough fluff to trim a hair off here n there or it was going to be covered by something if it was shy. No wiggle room with a flush trimmed sink. The only option I have to salvage a mistake is to put an undersized bearing on and route it again.

I went and bought an ‘industrial’ router bit today. I’ll take my time and touch the bases

View attachment 20465

That wasn't $25. Looks more like a nice dinner out.

 

[C.J.]

That wasn't $25. Looks more like a nice dinner out.

Dinner out for one, no drinks.

 

[Floorist]

Medicare turned down the med I need to stop internal bleeding.

 

[MSLI]

Medicare turned down the med I need to stop internal bleeding.

Holy Fudge! Rotten *******s and I just completed my Medicare application. Maybe its time to move to Canada and get the universal healthcare.

Good luck Rusty, Maybe time to open a go-fund-me account

My sisters brother in law had a stroke in Canada, and had a week stay with a procedure for half the bill from a Phila hospital that only monitored him for 3 days afterwards. He saved the insurance company lots of money by being in Canada.