what did you do today? (2008-2015) (closed)

[Lsbcal]

...(snip)...
Delivered a six-foot wooden dinosaur to SIL for niece's upcoming bridal shower (it's a long story....).

But I'm willing to wager few have a stranger dining room centerpiece than that one.

Nice piece of work Walt. I'm wondering what the future bride is suppose to be thinking about this one ?

 

[W2R]

Looks like you are in luck. The NO Goodwill website doesn't list TV's as a "we don't want" item. Wish our local Goodwill would take my old sets...

We just gave our "working" old CRT TV to Salvation Army. Our son had been using it and the audio was a problem I think. But they also have a place to take electronics that are at the recycle stage. So if your TV isn't that great I think they have an alternative way to get rid of it.

Thanks REWahoo, Walt34, and lsbcal! We just got back from dropping off my old TV at Goodwill and they took it. Good! The last time I turned it on it was functioning, but that was probably around 2004. With small flatscreen TV's being so inexpensive these days, I didn't see any sense in moving this one north.

It's a nice feeling to be rid of it.

 

[haha]

I was downtown earlier and the place is overrun with guys wearing red tee shirts and ball caps. First I thought, hey you tourists are supposed to go home by labor day, but turns out Nebraska is in town for a football game with our so-so but hopeful Huskies.

Ha

 

[FIREd]

Huskies vs. Huskers.

Sorry, it doesn't take much to amuse me...

 

[Ronstar]

Delivered a six-foot wooden dinosaur to SIL for niece's upcoming bridal shower (it's a long story....).

I have to build one of those!

Instead I'm building beer crates and shelving units to organize my growing stockpile of home-brewed beer.

 

[happy2bretired]

Sorry Ha...Go Huskers! Downtown here on game day is bright red all over. It's quite a sight.

 

[RonBoyd]

... and choosing the military charities to receive the royalties.

The official Dilbert website with Scott Adams' color comic strips, animation, mashups and more!

 

[Nords]

I'm still cleaning the coffee off my monitor after reading this week's "Dilbert" strips...

 

[freebird5825]

Hi Freebird, I have a wood storage question. I'm on the California coast so we just get rain, no snow. I'm looking at your wood shed and wondering if when you get rain does the wood get too wet? In the past we stored the wood in our garage but I've heard that's not such a smart idea. So now I'm planning on going to a tarp and just bring in a little wood at a time but have heard that a wood shed is a nice way to go. Hence the question about wet wood in the rain, especially the driving rain one gets in storms around here.

P.S. Nice wood pile you have there!

Thanks!

Storing wood in the garage is a sure-fire recipe for carpenter ants or termites to take up residence.

The short answer...in 2 words or less...AIR CIRCULATION. Do not stack the wood too tightly. Air spaces are your best friend in a wood pile.
And do NOT cover your wood pile with a tarp. You would be creating the perfect moist environment for critters of all types.

My wood shed is situated so it gets sunlight at ALL times. It is also protected from excess rain by having the roof overhang out far enough to prevent too much rain from falling on the wood. It has real tar paper and shingles on the sloped roof. It also has a back overhang to keep water from dripping down and rotting the closed back.
You can't see it in the picture, but the east side of my house is approx 30 feet from the shed. Any driving rain or snow tends to be blown right over the woodshed by our prevailing westerly winds.
Once the wood dries out COMPLETELY, and I mean COMPLETELY, I transfer approx half a face cord to my unheated screened porch so that it is right outside my door. I inspect every single piece for critters (narrow tracks or pinholes).

Until the snow gets too deep, I continue to pull wood from outside. Then I use the supply in my porch.

 

[freebird5825]

I had an early AM visit from my fave Bostonian.
Then I mowed the back forty.

I bought some beautiful crisp Cortland apples on my recent jaunt to Ithaca NY. The annual apple pie made completely from scratch is imminent. I may make "pot pie" size pies this year. I have several small foil tins hanging around.

Last years' creation to get your collective salivary glands going...

 

[lemming]

My on going project to keep me busy is re doing my laundry room. It had water damage from pin hole leaks in copper pipes. I had the whole length of cold water pipe replaced with pex plastic pipe. Now I have open holes in the ceiling in laundry, hall, living room and kitchen. Pretty soon I'm getting more holes to reach the bathroom plumbing-bad tiles probably mean bad wallboard behind it.

I am having trouble getting up the adhesive from the old vinyl tiles. The solvent I got is not getting it up- it softens the top gummy layer but not the next layer down. Best thing that works so far is beating it with a hammer so it chips up-that takes up about an inch at a time and I can't handle more then 5-10 minutes. I'm thinking of renting a big sander and trying that. Any other suggestions? My first thought was to paint the concrete but I might put down stone/tiles instead if I could get away with not finishing the floor to bare concrete.

 

[brewer12345]

Went to a pet adoption fair this morning sans kids and DW. Probably too early for us, but the remaining dog has cancer and a 6 to 12 month life expectancy, so if we do not want a house totally empty of dogs we need to start doing some thinking and then looking.

After the kids had naptime, we went for a hike in the local state park in gorgeous weather. Nice, despite the little one's whining at the tail end.

Now pumpkin beer and black bean burgers for dinner.

 

[REWahoo]

After Sprint ambushed me this month by implementing download limits on my "unlimited" plan without prior notice, I switched to a new internet service provider. Not too many choices out here in the sticks: dial-up , aircard, satellite or line-of-sight radio transmission. I tried these radio guys four years ago and their service was lousy so they let me out of my agreement and refunded the installation fee. According to several of my neighbors they have made significant improvements since then, so I'm giving them another try.

They installed an antenna and transceiver on the roof a couple of hours ago and I'm up and running. So far, so good...

 

[haha]

Sorry Ha...Go Huskers! Downtown here on game day is bright red all over. It's quite a sight.

Yep, it has been a disaster. Your quarterback Martinez can sure run- he went 80 yards from scrimmage for a TD. He broke one slipshod tackle attempt, and from then on no one could catch him.

For all I know he might have done it again, I had to quite watching.

Congrats to you Huskers!

Ha

 

[happy2bretired]

Thanks! It was a good game. I'm ready to watch the next one if it's televised.

 

[Dreamer]

Went to a covered bridge festival in PA today. Beautiful weather, good music and food and had fun with my relatives!

 

[Nords]

I have plenty of things I should be doing today, and I believe that I've succeeded in avoiding every one of them...

 

[W2R]

I have plenty of things I should be doing today, and I believe that I've succeeded in avoiding every one of them...

Not me (at least, not today). I've been knocking myself out trying to get things done before the painters come over tomorrow to work up estimates for painting the entire interior of my house. I think every muscle and joint in my body hurts but it will be worth it once the they are done painting (well, once they are done painting every single room and the whole house is re-carpeted right after that, too).

I picked the colors today. I am so glad that I got my realtor to come over and give me suggestions first - - he is a real pro and knows what sells.

 

[W2R]

My house is in complete disarray, and all the common space (living room, kitchen, den, hallway) are no-man's land (I am typing in the bedroom). The painter has prepped the walls out there, and is now busily painting primer. The guy with the nail gun has gone around and made sure that any loose molding is nailed down.

I will be so glad when this is done! I guess it will be the same sort of experience with the recarpeting right after the painting is done, before I can really put my home back in order.

 

[antmary]

I am back to "work" on our online business. Gosh, it's beautiful outside today! Sunny, breezy, and 75 degrees. I need to move the sprinklers.

I keep packing and moving over to our new house from the old house (where I am now). Then, we will be fixing up this one to rent.

Time for a nap...

 

[Nords]

I swear I was just going to fix a leaky sprinkler.

I was wearing my usual attire of shorts, tank top, and slippers. At least I remembered to put on gloves before I started playing in the dirt. As soon as I poked my trowel in the ground, the little red (biting) ants swarmed me. The nest they set up around that sprinkler head was over a foot in diameter. They're nothing like Texas fire ants but that's not much consolation when you're doing the uwehe, 'ami, & slide outta there.

Half a can of Raid later, I finally excavated the sprinkler. Unfortunately it's leaking because its upstream control valve isn't seating fully. That particular (20-year-old) valve is jammed right against the side of the sprinkler box (luckily no ants there) so I was fortunate to get it apart and back together without breaking anything.

I cleaned a hairball of roots out of the sprinkler, and at least it's covering its zone again, but it's still doing a slow ooze into the ground. I'm sure the red ants are already dewatering and starting new tunnels.

The original owners spent $60K on landscaping in the early 1990s, but they put in eight sprinkler zones without a single vacuum breaker. Nearly 20 years later all those zone control valves are starting to leak a little past their seats because there's not a big pressure drop when they shut, and some of the sprinklers are siphoning the control valves.

I guess eight new control valves (with vacuum breakers) will pay for themselves with the water savings, but I'm sure not looking forward to the labor.

Spouse says "Don't be a cheapskate, call a landscaper" but I can't imagine anyone doing eight of those suckers for less than $100 each, and I doubt it'd be done right the first time...

 

[Bestwifeever]

My house is in complete disarray, and all the common space (living room, kitchen, den, hallway) are no-man's land (I am typing in the bedroom). The painter has prepped the walls out there, and is now busily painting primer. The guy with the nail gun has gone around and made sure that any loose molding is nailed down.

I will be so glad when this is done! I guess it will be the same sort of experience with the recarpeting right after the painting is done, before I can really put my home back in order.

Your house is going to show soooo well. What colors of paint did your realtor recommend? Smart to listen to him--I have a friend who was appalled to hear that her 20 year old mauve wallpaper in perfect condition was not a selling point

 

[REWahoo]

Spouse says "Don't be a cheapskate, call a landscaper" but I can't imagine anyone doing eight of those suckers for less than $100 each, and I doubt it'd be done right the first time...

And how much quality surfing and book-writin time are you going to sacrifice, not to mention wear and tear on your no-longer-all-that-resilient old bod?

Just askin...

 

[freebird5825]

2 day report...

Last night...thanks to LSBCAL for making me think about rotting wet wood and critters
I had a bunch of old wood sitting below my porch, supposedly to use for burning in my concrete fireplace. Well....2 years later, it was rotted and full of pinholes. So I cleaned it all out of there and burned it ALL.
I took 2 of those nice crispy Cortland apples, skewered them on a metal long handled roasting fork made for hot dogs, and had the most fabulous roasted apples.
If you have never made roasted apples, take a thin green sapling with a bend in it (so the apple does not slide off) or a camping style roasting fork, slide an apple on by skewering straight down through the core, and turn it slowly over the fire. Peel off some of the skin and let it cool. Munch carefully and wash down with cold cider or beer. WOW!

Today was a nice half day visit (you should know from who by now) over coffee.

More of my Red Ruby glassware from eBay arrived. I have quite the collection now. I'll post a picture once it all arrives.

 

[W2R]

Your house is going to show soooo well. What colors of paint did your realtor recommend? Smart to listen to him--I have a friend who was appalled to hear that her 20 year old mauve wallpaper in perfect condition was not a selling point

Back in 2002 I looked at a house with a brand new raspberry carpet throughout! It was NOT a selling point to me.

Thanks for the encouragement. I am so exhausted, and every muscle and joint aches from all the physical tasks involved in having one's entire house interior painted. But I do think it will be worth it.

My realtor said buyers here really like neutral earth tones. When he said that, I pointed to the wall of my den/kitchen and said, "Like that?" and he said, "Yes, they'll love that, paint the living room that color too."

That color really isn't all that neutral, but it is definitely earth tones - - sort of a muddy, rich but subtle, almost-but-not-quite-pinkish tan (Sherwin-Williams "Croissant"). I asked the Sherwin Williams guy what lighter color might go with it and decided on a yellowish cream color called "Casa Blanca". The common areas will have Croissant walls and Casa Blanca trim, and the bedrooms and bathrooms will be the reverse - - Casa Blanca walls and Croissant trim.

I looked online for neutral earth tones and found that linen, beige, and brown are often mentioned in combination. So, I thought about that possibility as well (which looks outstanding). But you know, I really like that Croissant color. It is my heart, and he said it was OK, so I went that direction instead.

BTW -- the colors shown on the Sherwin-Williams webite for "Croissant" and "Casa Blanca" are completely wrong IMO (too pink). If Casa Blanca looks pink instead of yellow on your monitor, those aren't the colors. But the color card for Croissant available at the Sherwin Williams store absolutely matches the color on my den wall so I think those are correct.