Recent content by DougJohnson

It's $30 at Home Depot: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Clopay-21-in-Opener-Reinforcement-Bracket-Kit-4125479/100069364 It looks like a 10 minute job with a wrench and screw driver. -- Doug

I'm running 1Gb over cat 3 cable I installed in 1996. Short runs, less than 75 feet. Yes, I'm getting the full 1Gb. Usually, when I see slow downs to the 87Mb range, a patch cable only has four wires connected. Gb ethernet requires all 8 wires to be connected and will fall back to 100Mb...

I live in Texas. Hail is not rare. I've had my insurance company (same company for all of them) replace five roofs. They ranged in age from a couple of years to close to end of life. All replaced for full cost less deductible. The last one was the end of life one. One spring, we had a...

Because the policy had replacement cost coverage? Mine does and I paid extra for it. It also covers the cost of replacing stuff damaged in a fire or other insured event. Otherwise, you will get the depreciated value. For clothes and lots of other stuff, that can be close to zero. -- Doug

I'm a very DIY kinda guy, but after 7 years on Medicare, I contacted https://boomerbenefits.com. They are a Medicare broker. They were terrific. Very knowledgable about Advantage plans, supplement plans, the whole 9 yards. Also very patient and no pressure. I normally don't do brokers...

I have had a Medicare Advantage PPO for the last seven years. I'm mostly pleased, but I am healthy so far. Only the occasional checkups and screenings. For the first two years, I was with Blue Cross. I got pissed at them when they lost a claim I filed *seven* times. Never did get paid. I...

We're booked on the Sea Cloud from Dubrovnic to Naples in June. it's been postponed twice. And a Rhine river cruise is on my mind. -- Doug

The cruises are very different from the big ship cruises. There is no casino. Very little on board entertainment of any kind other than lectures by first rate experts on the area you are traveling. NatGeo photographers accompany most trips. Night life is slow. Maybe a movie with popcorn...

The story on all of them is pretty simple. DW and I are addicted to National Geographic Expeditions. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/expeditions/ They are a major example of BTD, but we have never regretted a nickel of it. They have access to the most amazing places and people. Pitcairn...

North: 82º North, just short of the ice pack. South: Palmer Station, Antartica East: Agra, India West: Mount Everest (miss closing the world circle by about 300 miles) Highest: Pang La pass, Tibet (17,076 feet, breath taking in several ways) Lowest: Dead Sea (-1410 feet) Remote: Pitcairn...

When my dad died, he had a couple of thousand slides, I had about the same myself. I bought one of these: https://www.ebay.com/itm/224699378087?epid=1201596580&hash=item34512069a7:g:rygAAOSwdr1hew5E off eBay and scanned them myself. In total, it took about 6 weeks. The automatic slide feeder...

15 amp breakers only need 14 gauge wire. -- Doug

I grew up in Detroit. There are two kinds of people there, Lafayette people and those misguided types who go to American Coney Island next door. Recently, I took DW to Lafayette for the first time after talking about it for years. She said "This place looks like a dive." I said "Well...

Eh? Don't all for profit companies have that as their purpose? If banks provide a service that people are willing to pay for, how is that unethical? OK, I know some banks have unethical practices, e.g. Wells Fargo But that doesn't seem to be an intrinsic property of banking. -- Doug

I have a few fancy watches. Hardly ever wear them. My Apple watch is way more useful. They are *not* an investment. They're not scarce. More are made everyday. And the price difference between buying a new watch and selling a used one? Oh yeah. If you have saved long enough and hard...