What did you do today? 2016 version

[aja8888]

Walt: My DW has a 6S also.

Pretty soon she will be telling you to check your text messages if you ask her anything. And once she figures out what SIRI can do, you may be always wrong about anything.

 

[Walt34]

And once she figures out what SIRI can do, you may be always wrong about anything.

That won't change anything, I'm always wrong now anyway.

 

[MichaelB]

That won't change anything, I'm always wrong now anyway.

But here you're all right ..

 

[NW-Bound]

That won't change anything, I'm always wrong now anyway.

But of course we always are. And that may apply, even if your wife is not around. I talked about this before.

See: Subjective Idealism.

 

[W2R]

I got DH to loosen up the purse strings for a bit of a bathroom remodel at our vacation home.

It was his idea to begin with, but then he got sticker shock and didn't want to go though with it. The bathroom is not bad at all, but it has a tub/shower surround and DH wants to replace that with a shower to accommodate my parents (and him, I think). He wants a shower with grab bars, that can be entered without having to step high over the side of the tub. We are having Lowe's do the work. When we went to the store the first time, the consultant asked what we wanted to "invest" in the job (ha ha) and DH said $3K - $5K. Consultant said that most jobs of our scope run $5K - $7K. So we go through the process of selecting tiles/doors/ finishes and it comes out to $6800.

DH wanted to walk away, and make it a DIY job or find other contractors to piece-meal the job. I offered to go through our selections and give up some options. We did that, but DH wasn't willing to give up some of the more costly items (such as a nice swinging shower door). Finally the consultant threw in the shower head and grab bars for free and I got DH to say yes to ~$6800.

After years of LBYM and DIY, will be nice to have someone else do the work on a project that has a few little luxuries. Too bad it is in our second home and a bathroom I very rarely use!

Sounds like a wonderful shower! Honestly, the older I get, the more sense it makes to have a good shower with no threshold to trip over, sturdy grab bars, and a seat or plenty of room for a shower stool. We may not need these things now, but when we do everything is set. That's one of the things I like about my Dream House - - it has a dream shower that is elderly/disabled friendly. Also, I am all in favor of having someone else do difficult things when one can afford it. To me, this is a good use for extra money.

 

[Hermit]

No, but I think we both would have collapsed if I had. He because of old age. Me because of too many beers.

So... Exactly who was helping whom up the stairs??

 

[Souschef]

My older grandson will start college in a few weeks. I have never been able to talk to him one on one because of his father. I invited him to our local airport for the open house, and his dad balked. I told him he was a helicopter parent and let my grandson come up by himself.
Next thing I know, I get an e-mail from my grandson telling me he was driving up to meet me!
We had a great time together, talked about his college planning, and broke out my slide rule ( class of '58). He had never seen one, so I told him it is in a glass case to be broken in case of power failure
I also told him of my experiences in the early days of home computers with 640K memory and a 4.7MHz processor.
His dad was worried about the cost of tuition, but I sent him the form to get the $2500 American Opportunity tax deduction, plus the money I was sending from the 529 I had set up, he was quite relieved.

 

[pb4uski]

Sounds like a wonderful shower! Honestly, the older I get, the more sense it makes to have a good shower with no threshold to trip over, sturdy grab bars, and a seat or plenty of room for a shower stool. We may not need these things now, but when we do everything is set. That's one of the things I like about my Dream House - - it has a dream shower that is elderly/disabled friendly. Also, I am all in favor of having someone else do difficult things when one can afford it. To me, this is a good use for extra money.

I almost considered a handicapped shower floor when we rebuilt our home as the shower is plenty large enough but the cost scared me away so we went with a conventional shower base but it is a small 2" threshold so it should serve us well until one of us is wheelchair bound. A couple wealthy friends recently had their master bathrooms renovated with a wheelchair shower and I concede that they are very nice. I think we can fairly easily do it later if necessary.

 

[Philliefan33]

I almost considered a handicapped shower floor when we rebuilt our home as the shower is plenty large enough but the cost scared me away so we went with a conventional shower base but it is a small 2" threshold so it should serve us well until one of us is wheelchair bound. A couple wealthy friends recently had their master bathrooms renovated with a wheelchair shower and I concede that they are very nice. I think we can fairly easily do it later if necessary.

We also will have a 2" threshold. To do a wheelchair accessible shower would've meant tiling the entire bathroom floor and that is more $.

 

[traineeinvestor]

Stopped by the office today intending to take advantage of the team lunch held every Monday and was told that today was Tuesday.

I guess that means I have finally adjusted to this early retirement thing.

 

[Jerry1]

but DH wasn't willing to give up some of the more costly items (such as a nice swinging shower door).

We've done major remodels on a couple of bathrooms and the last one we did - the one we use now - does not have the "nice swinging shower door". We went back to a curtain and am very happy with it. Not only did we save over $1,000 on glass, the curtain is a lot easier to clean. The curtain is also better at allowing access to the shower as it gets completely out of the way.

We never liked the curtain in a tub/shower because it tends to "blow" in on you and stick to your legs. However, in a decent size tile shower, the curtain doesn't do that.

The glass is usually the last thing to go up and it is also something you can do later. Might be worth waiting and trying out the curtain. We did and are happy with it.

And in keeping with the topic, today I put primer on the two closets we're remodeling. We ordered the materials to do a "California Closet" treatment, which are expected to arrive tomorrow. I'll paint and install by next weekend so we can get more stuff put away.

 

[bbbamI]

We've done major remodels on a couple of bathrooms and the last one we did - the one we use now - does not have the "nice swinging shower door". We went back to a curtain and am very happy with it. Not only did we save over $1,000 on glass, the curtain is a lot easier to clean. The curtain is also better at allowing access to the shower as it gets completely out of the way.

We never liked the curtain in a tub/shower because it tends to "blow" in on you and stick to your legs. However, in a decent size tile shower, the curtain doesn't do that.

The glass is usually the last thing to go up and it is also something you can do later. Might be worth waiting and trying out the curtain. We did and are happy with it.

And in keeping with the topic, today I put primer on the two closets we're remodeling. We ordered the materials to do a "California Closet" treatment, which are expected to arrive tomorrow. I'll paint and install by next weekend so we can get more stuff put away.

+1 on the shower curtain. We had our bathroom remodeled a couple of years ago and did not have a shower glass door installed. I got sick of cleaning the old one, so we decided to try a curtain. Besides being easy to clean, you can change it on a whim at very little cost.

 

[vanessaanderson]

What is happiness?

Semi retired and house sitting in Panama. Surprisingly went to a jungle philosophy meeting. Topic was "what is happiness". Thought I'd found it, but damn philosophists - they make you question everything

Save​

 

[Walt34]

Today was a gym day, then went to a shopping center to visit the Sprint and AT&T stores within sight of each other. I wanted to learn more about what plans they offer for the iPhone 6s I'm going to end up buying. Playing around with DW's I'm realizing what I've been missing.

I know, I know. Resistance is futile.

I think I'll wait until the iPhone 7 comes out in a month or so, then the current models will be at least a little cheaper. And at the bottom of the learning curve I'm sure I won't need the newest model.

Then lunch at Ledo's Pizza in the same shopping center. They make a decent gluten-free one. Since by then it was 2:30 we just about had the place to ourselves.

 

[pb4uski]

+1 on the shower curtain. We had our bathroom remodeled a couple of years ago and did not have a shower glass door installed. I got sick of cleaning the old one, so we decided to try a curtain. Besides being easy to clean, you can change it on a whim at very little cost.

DW insisted on a curtain rather than a glass door that I wanted... I have to admit that she may have been right (but don't tell her).

 

[Walt34]

DW insisted on a curtain rather than a glass door that I wanted... I have to admit that she may have been right (but don't tell her).

OMG, don't ever let her know! You'll be hearing about it for the rest of your life.

 

[bclover]

Grrrr, trying not to choke the life outta my 21 year old son Who destroyed my two very nice pans because he refuses to believe you can't cook, text, take a "quick "shower and watch tv all at the same time. I walking around the house mumbling "this too will pass".

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

 

[MichaelB]

Grrrr, trying not to choke the life outta my 21 year old son Who destroyed my two very nice pans because he refuses to believe you can't cook, text, take a "quick "shower and watch tv all at the same time. I walking around the house mumbling "this too will pass".

Sounds like he's old enough to repay you - or work it off.

I just signed up for a Washington Post digital subscription via Amazon Prime. First 6 months free, then (if I still want it) only $4 per month.

 

[Walt34]

Today was a gym day, then DW wanted to go to the grocery store for some ice tea that she likes. On impulse (because it was on sale) I bought about 5 lbs of very high-fat hamburger - 27% - but I figured most of it would burn off anyway.

Wow, it sure did! I first noticed that "Gee, that's a lot more smoke from the grill than I've ever seen." Then the smoke turned from white to black and I knew there was a problem. A minute later I could see the flames coming from under the lid. Turned off the burners and propane at the tank, it was so hot I had to almost lie on the deck to do that last part.

Then I just let it burn itself out, the grill was far enough away from the rail and siding that it wasn't going to hurt anything. In the future I'll stick to leaner hamburger.

And I had a baked potato for lunch....

 

[braumeister]

Walt34, that isn't really as bad as you might think. I normally make my burgers out of 2 parts 80% chuck and 1 part Italian sausage mixed together. So the total fat content is at least as high as your 27%.

I've found the key to great burgers is technique. The Smashburger method is my go-to burger technique and hasn't failed me yet.

Instead of putting the meat on the grill, get yourself a cast iron pizza pan. This is the one I use:
Cast Iron Pizza Pan -14 Inch

Put that on the grill and let it get hot (anything over 400 °F works nicely).

Then use the Smashburger method. Here's a great video on how to do it by the founder of the chain:
Smashburger Founder Tom Ryan Teaches Us How to Make a Smashburger

 

[Walt34]

Thanks for the links. I put the pizza pan on my wish list, maybe order next month.

 

[FIREmenow]

Sounds like he's old enough to repay you - or work it off.

+1

 

[Choices]

I picked 3 lbs of bush beans, guess that'll be lunch for the dog and me tomorrow. Trying to finish up a ball of thick ivory colored yarn, the old hands are complaining a bit. The unfinished mess is mocking me

 

[Huston55]

Stopped by the office today intending to take advantage of the team lunch held every Monday and was told that today was Tuesday.

I guess that means I have finally adjusted to this early retirement thing.

Well, it was still Monday back here in the US of A....we missed you @ lunch.

 

[Philliefan33]

DW insisted on a curtain rather than a glass door that I wanted... I have to admit that she may have been right (but don't tell her).

I also wanted a curtain (easier to clean) but DH wanted the door. I admit that the glass door will look more "high end", and since this shower will not be used on a regular basis the cleaning won't be too onerous. Unless, of course, I love the final product so much I switch to this new shower as my default.

In any event, the door was a custom order that has already been placed, so we'd lose some money if we cancel now. The total cost of the project won't even put a dent in our cash reserves so it's not worth wot worrying about it