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

[freebird5825]

I actually have a scheduled appointment today. The gutters on my house have finally given it up from years of ice damage, leaking like hell when it rains. They are also filled with small leaves and other miscellaneous gunk. I can't clean them myself because I lived in a raised ranch and will not get up on a 30' ladder.
I am going to do it right and get the covered gutters (Gutter Helmet). If the covers get messed up by snow and ice, I will replace them under warranty. All good.

An approaching cold front Tuesday should prove interesting with predictions of gusty winds and large hail. Occasional small hail is normal for my area. Better go move and/or cover up my outdoor container plants today in anticipation of that mess.

Off to do my boat launch preparation tasks...Wednesday is launch day...FINALLY !

 

[EastWest Gal]

Yesterday I bought a smoker box for my grill then slow smoked split game hens with applewood chips in the box. I also put a rub on the hens. They were divine.

While the grill was going I vacuumed the pool then swam around for at least an hour. I climbed out of the pool at the deep end to put the pool brush away and slipped-I jammed my middle finger. It's not too bad-I did the same thing in high school. I'm taking it easy today but tomorrow I need to move my artichoke plants to a new location. They're nice and big enough that the rabbits can't ruin them.


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[Ronstar]

I actually have a scheduled appointment today. The gutters on my house have finally given it up from years of ice damage, leaking like hell when it rains. They are also filled with small leaves and other miscellaneous gunk. I can't clean them myself because I lived in a raised ranch and will not get up on a 30' ladder.
I am going to do it right and get the covered gutters (Gutter Helmet). If the covers get messed up by snow and ice, I will replace them under warranty. All good.

An approaching cold front Tuesday should prove interesting with predictions of gusty winds and large hail. Occasional small hail is normal for my area. Better go move and/or cover up my outdoor container plants today in anticipation of that mess.

Off to do my boat launch preparation tasks...Wednesday is launch day...FINALLY !

Good move on the gutter covers. I just climbed off the roof after leaf blowing the gutters for the 2nd time in the last 2 weeks. I'm up there probably 10 times a year.

 

[Theseus]

Completed a small project in remembrance of my Dad, a day late for Father's Day but the last of the parts I needed arrived today. A little bit of background; when he retired and wasn't travelling, woodworking and tending to a garden were two of his favorite pastimes. Me at the time, being barely even middle-aged and working around a lot of large machinery day-in and day-out was rather amused with his purchase of a Mantis garden tiller. So tiny it almost seemed comical, but it suited him just fine. A year after he had passed away Mom had found a buyer for the home and property, when going through things before holding an auction I decided to keep that tiny little tiller.

Used it a few times, and was pretty impressed with the job it did. Not big enough for landscaping or anything like that, but for keeping an established garden cultivated it does a pretty good job. Of course, when working, gardening tended to be low on the priority list and even in this first year of retirement DW and I did not think we really wanted to deal with having a vegetable garden. But now after putting 32 potato plants, 8 tomato plants, 5 pepper plants, rows of onions, radishes, carrots, and onions; oh and some zucchini, squash, and a row of sunflowers into the ground for good measure - I guess we've gone and done it anyway.

So, I was bound and determined to get that tiller running again. Drained the fuel and replaced with new, replaced fuel lines, filters, spark plug, and bad primer bulb. Still no go. Chatter on the net was to just replace the carburetor as next step, price makes it more sensible to replace than to try and rebuild. So carb came today, mail carrier dropped it off at our front door in the pouring rain. Started right up after changing that out, and after the ground dried up a bit I got the entire garden tilled.

Garden looks great, and I think Dad is smiling

 

[Ronstar]

Great story, Theseus! I'll bet your Dad is smiling. 1 for having a nice garden and 2 for fixing the tiller.

 

[MRG]

Had lunch with 2 guys I w*rked with in 1978. The one interviewed me back then. The 3 of us have stayed loosely in touch since then. Fun to catch up.

 

[freebird5825]

Good move on the gutter covers. I just climbed off the roof after leaf blowing the gutters for the 2nd time in the last 2 weeks. I'm up there probably 10 times a year.

Gutter covers are indeed the way to go. Lifetime warranty on the gutter covers, 10 year warranty on the labor, 20 year warranty on the gutter and downspout materials. Snow and ice damage is included in the lifetime and 20 year warranty, which really surprised me.
The company has been in business for over 50 years, a family owned business out of Canastota NY. Their communication with me from the time I first called was constant and the j*b estimator was only 17 minutes late.
I got the estimate immediately after the gutter company dude measured the house...only $3616 for the entire house, for labor and materials including all new gutters and downspouts, adding another downspout midway along one of the longer runs, and fixing a few disconnected roof heating wires. The total amount of gutter length is 113 linear feet, in 4 runs including a right angle turn connecting 2 of the runs. Each downspout will be 30 feet in length (raised ranch), total of 5 downspouts, 1 custom fitted to my enclosed porch structure.
I had expected a cost of $5000 for the entire house. It turns out there was a company promotion that included the gutters and downspouts free of charge if the entire house was done with the Gutter Helmet covers.
That was a no-brainer.
The w*rk will be done in the next 2-4 weeks, depending on the weather.

I am a happy camper.


.

 

[REWahoo]

Heard DW scream as she walked from the house into the garage. Reason: tarantula on the wall beside the door. She's not a fan...

 

[MichaelB]

Heard DW scream as she walked from the house into the garage. Reason: tarantula on the wall beside the door. She's not a fan...

Yikes. My reaction would be mostly inappropriate for this forum. What did you do?

 

[travelover]

Heard DW scream as she walked from the house into the garage. Reason: tarantula on the wall beside the door. She's not a fan...

They make great pets and minimize guest requests.

 

[REWahoo]

Yikes. My reaction would be mostly inappropriate for this forum. What did you do?

Caught it in a plastic container and relocated it out in the bush. While walking down the driveway his/her mate showed up, so I relocated that one as well.

 

[pb4uski]

.... I got the estimate immediately after the gutter company dude measured the house...only $3616 for the entire house, for labor and materials including all new gutters and downspouts, adding another downspout midway along one of the longer runs, and fixing a few disconnected roof heating wires. The total amount of gutter length is 113 linear feet, in 4 runs including a right angle turn connecting 2 of the runs. Each downspout will be 30 feet in length (raised ranch), total of 5 downspouts, 1 custom fitted to my enclosed porch structure.
I had expected a cost of $5000 for the entire house. ....

Wow! Our guy, which I have used for 3 different projects, runs about $5.50/foot of gutter or downspout for seamless aluminum gutters, but without gutter covers in our case.

 

[MBAustin]

After morning walk and breakfast, I decided to tackle getting the guest rooms ready for DH's sister and her family who will be here for a few days next week. The front room is my craft room so I organized the piles of unfinished projects as well as the unread newspapers stashed on the chair (most of those went in the recycle bin). The closet is a disaster but the rest of the room is functional. In the back room, moved the bed to a different wall (space now available since I got rid of a desk a few months ago), relocated the rugs and art and hung two new pieces. Found two broken mementos (DD's painted rock and my 3month-old footprint in ceramic) and glued them both back together.

After lunch I'll take DH to his physical therapy appointment and then fix a quick dinner as I have a meeting at 7. Will have to watch the woman's world cup game from DVR later.

 

[Walt34]

Sought out and found a family-owned farmer's market that I hadn't known even existed. They have some products that I hadn't known existed either - moonshine jam? They also have buffalo that they raise there but the supply of meats is limited and only available some times of the year. I did buy some veggies, corn, and a frozen flank steak.

 

[freebird5825]

Wow! Our guy, which I have used for 3 different projects, runs about $5.50/foot of gutter or downspout for seamless aluminum gutters, but without gutter covers in our case.

I went with the high end product (Gutter Helmet brand, lifetime warranty) because of the snow/ice loading that happens routinely up here in East Nowhere, smack dab in the infamous Lake Ontario lake effect region. Even with roof heating wires on the north side of the roof, this past winter, there was at least 2.5 feet of snow on my roof and easily 1 foot of ice at the edge. My gardening buddy and I spent 4 hours raking that snow load off the roof with his aluminum snow rake with many extensions to reach 30+ feet up.
If it were only rain and a little snow/ice, I could have gone with less expensive gutter covers.
My existing roof heating wires will be incorporated into the installation. No more ice filled gutters at this address. I wish I had a photo to show how bad it really can get.
There is also a custom fitting for one of the added downspouts that will chew up a lot of labor time. There is a right angle turn on the north side that needs extra time and parts to accomplish.
I'm happy with the estimate, especially in view of what I am getting in warranty coverage (10 labor, 20 gutter/downspout/lifetime Gutter Helmet).
I called a few contractor buddies to get their take on it all. They were in agreement with the materials/labor numbers.

 

[Ronstar]

Caught it in a plastic container and relocated it out in the bush. While walking down the driveway his/her mate showed up, so I relocated that one as well.

Geesh. My DW would need medical attention if she even saw a tarantula.

 

[pb4uski]

....Even with roof heating wires on the north side of the roof, this past winter, there was at least 2.5 feet of snow on my roof and easily 1 foot of ice at the edge. ....

We get ice buildup, particularly in two places where the eaves join (our house is like a "T" so the eaves join on each side of the roof), even though we have 6" of spray foam in the roof (but not under the eaves). Luckily, we have not had any ice damning problems (we ice & water shielded the whole roof) but we do get 6-10" of ice buildup, especially in the corners and it bothers DW.

My thought is that the good Lord put the ice there and in time he will take it away. She always want to get up there and chop it out and I keep telling her that the risk is that she'll do more damage to the roof by trying to remove it than by just leaving it.

I was considering roof heating wires but is sounds like they have not helped in your situation.

 

[freebird5825]

It's BOAT LAUNCH DAY

Finally...a break in the weather. I am soooo excited. I wanted to get the boat launched earlier in June, but a 5 day bout of a stomach bug, then the passing of a very dear veteran friend and followup care and comfort to his sister, threw me off for 2 weeks. Add thunderstorm forecasts and events for almost a solid week, and here I am, still a landlubber on June 24.

I have all the required gear, the paperw*rk, the water repellent spray for the cover once it's at the dock, and all I need to do is get dressed and show up at the boat storage place. The boat dude will drive me to top off the tank, get me launched, make sure I have power, and off I go. So much easier than me and Mr B ( a true landlubber ) trying to do this ourselves.

The lake should be deserted today, with very little wind, so perhaps I'll be blowing some carbon out of the carburetor on smooth water. 190 hp I/O

I'll be nice and steer clear of the fishing bubbas.

 

[freebird5825]

We get ice buildup, particularly in two places where the eaves join (our house is like a "T" so the eaves join on each side of the roof), even though we have 6" of spray foam in the roof (but not under the eaves). Luckily, we have not had any ice damning problems (we ice & water shielded the whole roof) but we do get 6-10" of ice buildup, especially in the corners and it bothers DW.

My thought is that the good Lord put the ice there and in time he will take it away. She always want to get up there and chop it out and I keep telling her that the risk is that she'll do more damage to the roof by trying to remove it than by just leaving it.

I was considering roof heating wires but is sounds like they have not helped in your situation.

Actually the roof heating wires have w*rked under reasonable snow conditions. This past winter was not reasonable at all. The wires are set in a zig zag pattern along the entire run of the north side of the roof. 1 line for the long run, 1 line for the short run at 90 degrees to the long run.
The heating wires do not melt the top layers of deeply packed snow...they create a path under the snow for drainage. The persistent subzero temps slowed down their efficiency. My existing gutters got destroyed.
Check with your roofing guy to see what he thinks, with your house configuration. Sometimes a melting wire can be installed in the gutter itself, versus on the roof surface.


Off I go to the lake....

 

[nafddur1]

My karting enduro teammate Tommy Lydon (right in this picture) and I finished second Monday in a 90 minute race at F1 Boston in Braintree, MA. We are team J Racing on the scoreboard. By finishing in the top 3, we're now qualified for a 3 hour enduro at the F1 Boston outdoor track in East Bridgewater, MA this fall.


Oh yeah, I had my annual physical yesterday (the day after our race) - the first time I had seen my PCP since my last physical a year ago - and I weighed in 3 pounds lighter than last year. A benefit to sweating off 5 pounds (before rehydrating) the night before.

 

[pb4uski]

...Off I go to the lake....

DW is having her ladies group here today and I am captain for the pontoon boat ride. Enjoy your time on the water!

 

[rodi]

Last night had interesting discussion with various cousins of my husband in Italy. Most do not understand how I can be retired. Their retirement system is a pension that they pay into - and can't start until a certain age. It's been "tweeked" over the years so the older cousins have bigger pensions, the ones my husbands age have smaller pensions, and their children are promised much smaller pensions. (Similar to the age requirement tweeks on the SS FRA that the USA did.)

In my bad Italian I kept trying to say I stopped working but don't have a pension yet and won't get SS for more than a decade... but that I'd saved as much money, while working, as I could.... The younger family members seemed to understand, not so much the older cousins.

Met another cousin later - who is a retired engineer - as is his wife - and they're about the same age as DH and I. He "got it"... because he did the same thing.

FWIW - these cousins are not dummies - they're all highly educated (professors, teachers, doctors, marine engineers, etc... All with advanced degrees.) It's just the cultural differences between the countries.

Very interesting to learn how things are different.

 

[Dcharles]

I finally finished planting our garden. Corn, summer squash and cucumbers. Did some fishing in the backyard creek and caught a few nice catfish. Fixed a roast with potatoes, carrots and onions for dinner when my wife comes home from her part time job at a nice Quilting store. it was a good day!


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[Meadbh]

This morning, with a group of friends, I crossed four high altitude suspension bridges both ways, one of them the longest in North America (at 800 feet).

Kelowna Mountain Bridges

Given my fear of heights, I felt it was worth celebrating with lunch at a local winery. The beet salad with prawns was delicious!

blu saffron bistro volcanic hills winery kelowna

Then I went grocery shopping. Now preparing to chair a board meeting. A full day.

 

[W2R]

What an amazing, exhausting, and yet wonderful day I had today! I completed the walk-through final inspection of my future home or dream home. The weather was in the upper 90's with simply ungodly humidity, and we had to stand around for over an hour outside waiting for the seller's realtor, and then waiting while the key to the garage was located. That was the exhausting part, in that heat. It was like the Three Stooges - - nobody had the key!

It was better than I had hoped. All their stuff was completely gone and the house was clean and totally dream-worthy. Closing is Friday, and I'm moving in next week. My present house will be on the market the week after that.

I couldn't remember if it had enough electrical sockets in the bedroom, so I took the opportunity to count them. There were EIGHTEEN! Wow. That is about nine times more than I expected in a house that is 50+ years old.