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

[Walt34]

Cleared more snow from the driveway/sidewalk. Went with DW to her sister's to meet with a guy from Hospice re FIL. Had to leave that early for my regularly scheduled Dr. appointment. At least that part went well. He sees no reason I won't be a leach on my former employer's pension plan for the next 30-40 years.

 

[Marita40]

Went to work in the dark and snowy cold. Waited in below zero temps for a bus that did not come. Toes nearly frost bitten. Got to work finally on next bus. Work. Came home in the dark and cold.
Eating chocolate chip cookies for dinner.
Ah, Minnesota.

 

[Ready]

Did my normal morning exercise routine (sit-ups, pushups, weight lifting, then a long walk along the beach). Came back to have some fruit and fresh made vegetable juice, then went for a bicycle ride to the pool, swam 20 laps, relaxed in the sauna/steam room/hot tub, then rode my bicycle back home. Now getting ready to go to a holiday party this evening.

All in all, a perfect day.

 

[davemartin88]

Installed dishwasher and baseboards in the bedrooms for the guest cabin we're building. Nearly done and a good thing, first guests here next week!

 

[NW-Bound]

What did I do today? Hmm... The day is still young, and I have not even had breakfast yet, but I have a feeling I will not be doing much today.

I am stuck here in a timeshare in a tourist town, but the wind was blowing all night, waking me up at times. Good thing we did a bit of walking downtown when we had the chance. Today, perhaps we will drive around a bit but stay in the car. Or just stay in the room by the fireplace, with my trusty Calvados bottle nearby.

 

[aja8888]

Got my third central air conditioning estimate and pulled the trigger on the best offer. This is a ridiculous time to have AC installed in Michigan, but they are not busy and I got a good price (I hope...).

• None of the three contractors (all top rated on Angie's list) did a proper Manual J calculation, only one even measured the house square footage.

• When I expressed interest in maximizing humidity control, two of three suggested a bigger evaporator coil, which is exactly backward.

I'll feel sorry for the installers working under the gaze of a retired engineer with nothing else to do. I already downloaded the installation manual and am reading up.

Good luck and watch the copper pipe soldering technique closely.

I went through that same nonsense two years ago here in hot & humid Texas. Decided to buy my own equipment and install it myself. I just hired an A/C guy we know to pull a vacuum and reload the new system. I'll bet I saved $3000 on the job this way.

 

[travelover]

Good luck and watch the copper pipe soldering technique closely.

I went through that same nonsense two years ago here in hot & humid Texas. Decided to buy my own equipment and install it myself. I just hired an A/C guy we know to pull a vacuum and reload the new system. I'll bet I saved $3000 on the job this way.

Good advice. I looked into buying the hardware from a place like Alpine and hiring a HVAC tech to do the silver soldering and refrigerant work, but I was happy with the installed price given that I was getting brand name hardware that is arguably a step up from Goodman and didn't have to do the work myself. Installed price, for reference, was $2600 for a Carrier mid-range 2 ton all inclusive of wiring, sheet metal fabrication and plumbing. Ten years parts / two years labor warranty.

Or maybe I'm merely rationalizing my decision.

 

[aja8888]

Good advice. I looked into buying the hardware from a place like Alpine and hiring a HVAC tech to do the silver soldering and refrigerant work, but I was happy with the installed price given that I was getting brand name hardware that is arguably a step up from Goodman and didn't have to do the work myself. Installed price, for reference, was $2600 for a Carrier mid-range 2 ton all inclusive of wiring, sheet metal fabrication and plumbing. Ten years parts / two years labor warranty.

Or maybe I'm merely rationalizing my decision.

That sounds like a great deal!

Down this way with the heat loads are high (I have lived in Michigan for a few years), the unit I bought was a Goodman 4 ton from an outlet in Florida. I believe I paid about $2300 + $80 shipping for the condenser/evaporator coil and spent another $500 or so on charging/etc. But that was two years ago and I did it in November. It was a drop in installation except for a bit of modification on the intake sheet metal for the evp coil.

Quotes I had at that time were $5 - $6K installed.

 

[MichaelB]

Finished with Mom's holiday cards and gifts. And just like that, we received a gift box in the mail from DW's sister and BIL. He's a good guy, fun to be around and a great drinking buddy. We don't see them often and rarely exchange gifts, so this was unexpected, but they know I like Lebkuchen, and good Germans that they are, they know where to get the good stuff.

Won't be a white Christmas for us, but it will be a fattening one.
.
.

 

[FIREd]

Started working on the 400+ pastries I need to bake before Sunday night. It's tradition, each and every one of DW's employees gets a small bag of homemade goodies for the holidays. Last year, I wiggled out of it using the fact that our new kitchen was too small for such endeavor. But too many people asked me to resume the tradition this year, some shamelessly using their kids to beg, so I'm back at it. It's going to be a logistical challenge.

 

[NW-Bound]

I do not bake, but my wife knows how to make a kind of Petits fours salés (savory pastries filled with ground meat), and choux à la crème (cream puffs).

I like to eat savory food more than sweets, hence have not been too interested in baking. Maybe I should explore a bit more about this culinary area.

 

[Walt34]

Went to the gym with DW, then she wanted to stop by the grocery store for "a few items" to have on hand before tomorrow's forecast 3 - 5 inches of snow. $100 later(!) we were out of there. Well, okay, I got a bottle of wine.

Tomorrow's goal is to stay under roof and out of the snow.

 

[Meadbh]

Got up really early and drove to the airport. Incoming flight was 40 minutes late due to bad weather to the east, but we were promised that we would make our connections in Vancouver, and we did. Very pleasant flight to Cancun on Westjet, complimentary shuttle to fabulous Grand Bliss resort (suite is as big as my condo), delicious taco supper, dip in a the plunge pool on the balcony, now watching CNN before turning in. Tomorrow: shop for groceries in Playa Del Carmen, explore huge resort, swim, arrange tours to Mayan ruins, etc.....life is good.

 

[ls99]

Got up really early and drove to the airport. Incoming flight was 40 minutes late due to bad weather to the east, but we were promised that we would make our connections in Vancouver, and we did. Very pleasant flight to Cancun on Westjet, complimentary shuttle to fabulous Grand Bliss resort (suite is as big as my condo), delicious taco supper, dip in a the plunge pool on the balcony, now watching CNN before turning in. Tomorrow: shop for groceries in Playa Del Carmen, explore huge resort, swim, arrange tours to Mayan ruins, etc.....life is good.

I see you are really roughing it.

That is also DW's idea of camping.
Enjoy.

 

[seraphim]

Just getting ready for Christmas - buying gifts, put the tree up, etc. - spending too much money lol.

 

[Khan]

Made year end donations to various groups/orgs/blogs...

 

[Gumby]

Watched Navy beat Army again.

 

[Walt34]

Slept late, read the paper, made an omlette for breakfast, took a nap, watched a two-hour Photoshop instructional video, took another nap, watched snow come down.

IOW, pretty much nothing.

This retirement gig is all right!

 

[Brett_Cameron]

Yesterday, my Cub Scout pack assembled and placed 5,000 luminarias (paper lantern made from paper sack, sand and a candle) in a local neighborhood. We had 50 boys, girls, adults working for 5 hours. A great time was had by all.

 

[Helen]

My spouse and I adopt a family every year from a school where my partner heads up a volunteer program. We always ask the school to recommend a family where at least one of the parents are working and both are involved in their kids lives. We want to know that they are trying.

Last year we had a family with seven kids. This year it is a family of four (two kids). They live in a motel.

We received a list of their sizes and what toys they like on Thursday, went shopping on Saturday and wrapped gifts today. We bought shoes, pants, shirts, pajamas, socks, underwear, books, toiletries, toys and gift cards (for a grocery store).

Every year that we have done this, the parents have never asked for anything for themselves, even though we request the information. It is very sad that there are so many that could use some help.

 

[pb4uski]

Got car inspection, wheel alignment and oil change. Normally I do oil changes, since it was slightly overdue, it was already in the shop, had the shop do that too. Less floor crawling. I consider it a hoilday splurge.

I used to do oil changes, but no more. Our local dealer does them for ~$23 and while I could do it slightly cheaper myself, to be honest, the cost difference isn't worth the effort/mess, including taking the old oil to the recycling center.

 

[Walt34]

Ordered a 4-channel radio control helicopter with gyro stabilizer from Amazon. I can't believe how inexpensive some electronics stuff is now. So now I'll have a neat toy to play with on Christmas Day. And maybe I can get skilled enough to work up to a 6-channel one. Those are not for helo beginners like me.

Poor DW went to Toy "R" Us (by herself fortunately) to get some requested items for the grandnieces. Even on a Monday it was a madhouse there.

 

[ls99]

I used to do oil changes, but no more. Our local dealer does them for ~$23 and while I could do it slightly cheaper myself, to be honest, the cost difference isn't worth the effort/mess, including taking the old oil to the recycling center.

Yes, I can see this could be habit forming. Hmm, got two more coming up on the oil change schedule. Looks more inviting to have the shop do it in January

 

[travelover]

I used to do oil changes, but no more. Our local dealer does them for ~$23 and while I could do it slightly cheaper myself, to be honest, the cost difference isn't worth the effort/mess, including taking the old oil to the recycling center.

I still do my own, but take my DW's car into various places. One put double gaskets on the oil filter and it blew oil all over before she even got out of the lot. A different place overfilled the oil by a couple of quarts and blew out the PCV valve. Still waiting for the ever popular stripped out drain plug - zip -zip with an air gun.

 

[Helen]

Still waiting for the ever popular stripped out drain plug - zip -zip with an air gun.

This happened to me and apparently a lot of other people who took their car to the same place. When I took it back for the next oil change they fessed up and told me they would pay for a new oil pan. I let them off easy by opting for a used oil pan since my car was high mileage. I think someone was fired over this....