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

[Hermit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound I was still working on decluttering the half of the garage where I kept my junk treasure. I sorted them out, and put what I want to keep up in the attic space above the garage to free more space. Eventually, I will be able to park another car in there.

Ya know, the attic is just a stop-off place for stuff you will eventually get rid of.

[MichaelB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by braumeister Frankly, I admire you for doing that. I would have simply walked out and not gone back. I might even have posted a bad review online. My feeling is that if the manager is so inept as to not know how customers are being treated, the store deserves to fail. Harsh, but they brought it on themselves. But please take a pat on the back for doing the right thing.

Thanks. I don't disagree with your view on the store or the manager, but one of my jobs was managing customer feedback and satisfaction, and ever since, I decided every business deserves a chance to make good. That's "a", as in one. If they're serious, that's all they need, and if they're not, well, what you said.

[NW-Bound]

FIFY.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hermit Ya know, the attic is just a stop-off place for stuff you your kid will eventually get rid of.

I have been saving some stuff for a while, so what's another decade or two?


PS. Actually, my kids most likely will sell the home with all the treasure left up there for the next owner to discover.

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 62° here today. I (perhaps foolishly) moved the snow thrower from the garage to the shed. But I did NOT drain the fuel from it so just moving it isn't a jinx.

Well, apparently I was mistaken and it was a jinx. Moved the snow thrower back to the garage for the 4"+ of snow forecast for tonight/tomorrow.

Lesson learned.

Gym day today, and DW up and decided that she wanted to go out to lunch afterward at Ruby Tuesday's. At least she had a $5 off coupon.

[outdoorgirl02]

Coffee with a friend this morning then ran some errands and prepped for DD's birthday party on Saturday.

Tonight - Garth Brooks concert. I cannot wait!

[freebird5825]

Quote:

Originally Posted by simple girl So sorry to hear about your dental issues - sounds awful, ugh! This caught my attention - wanted to suggest you think about taking Florastor if you are on antibiotics. It is a yeast probiotic, vs the other probiotics that are bacterial. Florastor will not be killed off by the antiobiotics. There is some good evidence it can help prevent antibiotic-associated sx and c-diff (not something anyone wants to get...)

Awful but necessary. Bone loss from periodontal disease in my early 30s caught up with me in my mid 50s. My dentist is amazed I had no problems before this. I have kept up with a routine of 3-4 cleanings per year as prevention from recurrence.
It was inevitable that wobbling teeth and removal would happen later in life. Not unusual for not being 20 anymore.
Anyway, thanks for the tip about the c-diff monster. I am eating a lot of yogurt in my fruit smoothies and have probiotic supplements on hand.
So far so good...no intestinal issues to report. Details would be spared of course...

I'm just about over the worst part (extractions). It's all good from here forward.

[harley]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 Well, apparently I was mistaken and it was a jinx. Moved the snow thrower back to the garage for the 4"+ of snow forecast for tonight/tomorrow. Lesson learned.

Why not just stay home for a day? It's going to be in the 60s on Saturday.

[Hermit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 Well, apparently I was mistaken and it was a jinx. Moved the snow thrower back to the garage for the 4"+ of snow forecast for tonight/tomorrow. Lesson learned.

I posted the first picture on another thread a couple of days ago with a comment about starting up construction with the better weather. The second picture is this morning. I spent most of the day sweeping snow off the floor and off the tarps covering the lumber piles.

[NW-Bound]

So, I was thinking about W2R's childhood story of kids spending hours trying to open a safe with a dial combination lock. Is it feasible? How much time it would take if you did a brute force attack by trying all combinations?

Before answering that question, one must understand how the lock works. Basically, a personal fire safe like my Sentry safe has a lock not unlike the common padlock made by Master Lock. Both employ a set of 3 disks with notches that must be lined up for a lever to engage for unlocking. This is best explained by a youtube video using a wooden model.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ8WRDVgKrk

To see the actual internal mechanism of a Sentry safe, fast forward to 3:30 in the following video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmBHwiWgGKM

The dial has graduations from 0 to 99. However, the slots of the 3 wheels are intentionally cut wider than the intruding lever to allow some slop. A tight tolerance would make the lock too finicky to open, and that would frustrate users. I have found that I can deviate about +-2 from the given combination and the lock still opens.

So, we do not have to try every number for each of the combinations, but perhaps only one every 3 graduation marks. Then we have 33 x 33 x 33 = 35,937 combinations to try.

How long would it take to try 1 of the possibilities? Note that turning the dial for the first 2 combinations numbers takes the longest. That may take perhaps 15 to 30 seconds. Then, one just sequentially tries all 33 possibilities for the last number. That would take perhaps 60 seconds.

Then, the time to try all possibilities would be 33 x 33 x (30 secs + 60 secs) = 98,010 seconds or 27 hours maximum. On the average, it should be half that, or 14 hours.

If the lock can be opened with a slop of +-2 on the dial, then it would take only 25 x 25 x (30 sec + 60 sec) = 56,250 sec or 16 hours max. On the average, that's a mere 8 hours.

A team of youngsters can take turn to open a safe if they approach it systematically. The task is still nowhere long enough to keep them occupied over a summer. One patient kid can tackle this by him/herself even.

[freebird5825]

Yesterday my taxes were done by me and my in-house accountant, Mr B.
I managed the data, he ran the software. No charge except making him a nice lunch of grilled ham and cheese sandwiches and heating up some leftover French fries.

I am getting a $27 fed refund and owe nothing to NY. My govt pensions and fixed annuity (TSP conversion) are completely exempt from state taxation. Income from my portfolio was under the $7800 standard deduction for a single filer in NY. Snoopy dance. Devil horns.

I only received 2 months of my FERS pension in 2014 and had the correct amount of fed tax taken out. All set for 2015 fed tax withholding.
Now I have to sit down and figure out how to best way to invest my FERS pension in 2015 and stay under that $7800 NY standard deduction. Probably a NYS Tax Exempt fund with VG.
I have 2 accountants on deck (Mr B and my gardening buddy) so between the three of us we will figure out how to minimize my tax footprint with the state. They are both good at doing this kind of analysis. All I have to do is give them the data and watch the spreadsheets fly.

I'll pay attention so I learn something.

[bbbamI]

Was able to spend some quality time in the master bathroom since we've completed Phase 1. ahhhhhh.....

DH and I took out the garden tub (we never used it), painted, and had the flooring extended out where the tub used to be.

Phase 2 will consist of pros replacing our shower and cabinet counter top. Phase 3 will be touch up paint. I'm hoping everything will be done by mid April.

[Bestwifeever]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bbbamI Was able to spend some quality time in the master bathroom since we've completed Phase 1. ahhhhhh..... DH and I took out the garden tub (we never used it), painted, and had the flooring extended out where the tub used to be. Phase 2 will consist of pros replacing our shower and cabinet counter top. Phase 3 will be touch up paint. I'm hoping everything will be done by mid April.

Such a charming space!

Yesterday on the first day of spring, I saw my first robin. A silly but happy moment.

[Theseus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bbbamI DH and I took out the garden tub (we never used it), painted, and had the flooring extended out where the tub used to be. Phase 2 will consist of pros replacing our shower and cabinet counter top. Phase 3 will be touch up paint. I'm hoping everything will be done by mid April.

Looks great! We took out the tub 6 years ago and haven't missed it all. Replaced a 36x36 fiberglass shower with 48x50 tiled shower w/built in bench, wall mounted body spray jets and hand held shower spray in addition to the standard overhead, all of that has been way more practical and useful than the tub ever was.

[Gumby]

Shoveled about 5 inches of snow this morning. Went to Lowes for top soil, peat moss, grass seed, etc, but unfortunately won't get to put any of it down this weekend.

[bbbamI]

Thanks y'all...much appreciated.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bestwifeever Such a charming space! Yesterday on the first day of spring, I saw my first robin. A silly but happy moment.

I get a case of the giddies too. A robin has built a nest in one of the crepe myrtles in our backyard.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Theseus Looks great! We took out the tub 6 years ago and haven't missed it all. Replaced a 36x36 fiberglass shower with 48x50 tiled shower w/built in bench, wall mounted body spray jets and hand held shower spray in addition to the standard overhead, all of that has been way more practical and useful than the tub ever was.

Ahhhh..now that sounds awesome...especially the spray jets and hand held shower spray...I'd probably never leave the bathroom.

Furnishing the space didn't cost much. We ordered the corner table from Walmart ($80) and bought a new towel bar ($20). Our neighbor gave us the chair and I already had the little wicker table.

As far as the shower and counter top go...well, I'll just say we're almost over 'sticker shock'.

[freebird5825]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gumby Shoveled about 5 inches of snow this morning. Went to Lowes for top soil, peat moss, grass seed, etc, but unfortunately won't get to put any of it down this weekend.

We've had snow off and on all day in upstate NY. Happy Spring !

The good news is it is not sticking to the roads for once. It's getting warmer every day up here.

I'm chilling out on day 4 since tooth extractions. I am dying to go out, but my common sense
(and Mr B) say to take it easy one more day. So I will plant some more tomato seeds indoors, maybe some sweet peppers also.

If I get REALLY bored, I'll wash the insides of the windows. I doubt I'll get that bored.

[NW-Bound]

Just came back in from the garage, where the reorg was ongoing. A few hours everyday...

My $11 digital temperature controller bought off eBay finally arrived from HK yesterday. Will jury-rig it up for steak sous-vide tonight, so I can catch up with all the gourmands here. Then, will put it into a nice project box later for a permanent installation.


PS. So, it's all wired up and powered on. Temperature target: 135F. Current crockpot temperature: 90F and rising. Will see what this sous-vide fancy stuff is all about. Heh heh heh...

[HFWR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound Just came back in from the garage, where the reorg was ongoing. A few hours everyday... My $11 digital temperature controller bought off eBay finally arrived from HK yesterday. Will jury-rig it up for steak sous-vide tonight, so I can catch up with all the gourmands here. Then, will put it into a nice project box later for a permanent installation. PS. So, it's all wired up and powered on. Temperature target: 135F. Current crockpot temperature: 90F and rising. Will see what this sous-vide fancy stuff is all about. Heh heh heh...

I started with hot tap water, which was around 130F. Real time saver, if you're in a hurry that is...


Sent from my iCouch using Early Retirement Forum

[NW-Bound]

Yes, but I had plenty of time, and also set crockpot power on Hi. Just went out to look, and the temperature is there at 135F.

By the way, comparison of the $11 controller temperature display to the wonderful Thermapen's reading of the water temperature shows agreement to 1F. Cool!

[springnr]

FYI, you might want to try a rice cooker for Sous Vide, they heat up faster and the heat from the bottom works better than side heating elements as in a crock pot.

You can find like new rice cookers in most thrift stores. You want a basic unit with manual high low switch, so your controller is in charge verses a digital rice cooker(won't work). I was using a 10" Aroma 750 watt rice cooker, but recently picked up an Aroma 12" 1000w, much better for large cuts.