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

[redduck]

Went to the brokerage company and gave them my final and forever Roth IRA contribution. Went to the library and decided to check out some young adult fiction. Now I have six YA books to read. (I might want to consider re-working my bucket list).

That's got to be a great feeling!

Actually, I had mixed feelings re: my very last Roth IRA contribution. I always enjoyed putting money into my Roth IRA (kind of felt like I was doing something healthy and worthwhile for myself). But, it also felt good because it means that I'm done with work and that I will have more time to do whatever I want (especially once the restraining order gets lifted).

Right now, the only thing I have in my bucket is six young adult books. Maybe I should replace the bucket with a book bag. Walking into the library with a bucket just looks plain weird no matter how well dressed I may be.

 

[NW-Bound]

I am taking a break from a small home exterior paint job.

The window installers finished yesterday, and my 30-year-old home is up-to-date with the Jones regarding dual-pane low-E windows. My mother and brothers' homes were built later, and they all have dual-pane windows, but they are just dual-pane with no fancy-schmancy glass and argon-filled stuff. I don't know if I will cause window envy, but man oh man, I hope these expensive windows will pay back in lower utility bills before I croak.

Now that the windows are in, I need to clean up the home interior before hitting the road in my RV.

... Right now, the only thing I have in my bucket is six young adult books. Maybe I should replace the bucket with a book bag. Walking into the library with a bucket just looks plain weird no matter how well dressed I may be.

Just make sure that your bucket does not look like the bucket that janitors carry into the restroom.

 

[M Paquette]

Just finished working an amateur radio license exam session. Nine people came in to take exams for a license, and eight left with a new or upgraded license, which was pretty good. Several folks even took a shot at taking a more advanced license test after they passed the one they came in for, which was nice to see. (There's no extra charge, and we offer the opportunity to everyone that passes the first exam.)

 

[aja8888]

I hope these expensive windows will pay back in lower utility bills before I croak.

Now that the windows are in, I need to clean up the home interior before hitting the road in my RV.

The last time we calculated the break even return year on new, double pane windows, it was a very, very long time in the future.

 

[braumeister]

Just finished working an amateur radio license exam session. Nine people came in to take exams for a license, and eight left with a new or upgraded license

I love the new system. Back in Paleozoic times, I had to take all my license exams at an FCC office, which could mean quite a long trip if you didn't live near one of those cities. Got my Technician in NYC, my Advanced in Atlanta, and my Extra in Los Angeles. Now, there seems to be VE availability nearly everywhere. Thanks for taking the time to do it!

 

[NW-Bound]

The last time we calculated the break even return year on new, double pane windows, it was a very, very long time in the future.

It may change if the energy cost rises.

I realized how poorly regular glass windows are as an insulator when we started RV'ing. Better RVs have dual-pane windows, but ours are just thin glass. As poorly insulated as the motorhome fiberglass wall is with its 1" of foam, the heat gain or loss through the windows is tremendous. And if your RV bed is right by two of these windows, man, you just suffer. The RV A/C is 1 ton, and that should be more than enough for 200 sq.ft., compared to a house A/C for a house that's much larger, but the thing can run non-stop when it is hot.

I am very curious to see how much I will be saving in electricity this summer. It still takes a long time to pay back, but another benefit of these windows is that you will not have hot and cold spots throughout the house close to the windows.

 

[aja8888]

It may change if the energy cost rises.

I realized how poorly regular glass windows are as an insulator when we started RV'ing. Better RVs have dual-pane windows, but ours are just thin glass. As poorly insulated as the motorhome fiberglass wall is with its 1" of foam, the heat gain or loss through the windows is tremendous. And if your RV bed is right by two of these windows, man, you just suffer. The RV A/C is 1 ton, and that should be more than enough for 200 sq.ft., compared to a house A/C for a house that's much larger, but the thing can run non-stop when it is hot.

I am very curious to see how much I will be saving in electricity this summer. It still takes a long time to pay back, but another benefit of these windows is that you will not have hot and cold spots throughout the house close to the windows.

I'm not against them, its just a high cost improvement. There are two other benefits:

1. They are harder to break (two glass panes)

2. Installing them gives you a chance to seal up leaks around the frame area that existed with the old windows.

 

[NW-Bound]

The payback in terms of utility bills takes a long time, no doubt. So, one has to think of other secondary benefits to sweeten the deal, else it's very hard to write the check.

Now, when going for a walk around the neighborhood, we know to spot all these improved retrofit windows. They are fairly popular.

 

[outdoorgirl02]

Easy hike this morning followed by a few slushy ski runs this afternoon. 60+ degrees in the mountains felt great today!

 

[Walt34]

I don't know if I will cause window envy, but man oh man, I hope these expensive windows will pay back in lower utility bills before I croak.

When we had new windows installed in FIL's house about a year before he moved we noticed an immediate difference in the heating bill. Not dramatic, but ~$30/month or so. Payback will happen but it takes a while.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Got the paperwork together to do our taxes tomorrow. Every year it gets simpler and simpler--we no longer can itemize, so that's a lot of paper not needed. Most of the 1099s etc. are from big enough outfits that they can be downloaded by TurboTax directly from the payers. Just some random small things to key in and voila.

 

[harley]

Absolutely nothing. It was too damn hot. We were going to take the pugs to the dog beach this morning, but we overslept and by the time we were up and moving it was already pushing 90. I think it's about time to fly north for the summer.

We'll try again tomorrow.

 

[Walt34]

Nice backyard family gathering at a cousin of DW's. Another cousin's father was visiting from Oregon. Burgers, beer, grilled chicken, etc. and luckily the weather cooperated and it was warm enough - 60° F but clear sky and bright sunshine. I have a mild sunburn, I forget about sunscreen every spring.

 

[Buckeye]

Did free tax prep with AARP today at my local library. Saved my last client $1,000 by doing a 1040X for 2013. Very satisfying.

 

[davemartin88]

For those reasons I went with shingles rather than metal. If I were doing it over again, I might consider metal for 2-3' along the eaves and shingles for the rest - some people have that around here but I don't know how well it works in preventing ice dams.

We have shingles on our house but several outbuildings with metal roofs. We're certainly not in a high snow environment but all the metal roofs have "snowbirds" installed in two rows across the bottom of the roof which keeps the ice/snow from sliding off and causing damage. We had one barn with a metal roof for a while that didn't have these installed and the gutters were damaged by sliding snow, I added the snowbirds and have had no problems since. We like the look of metal and do think they last longer than a shingled roof but we also like the sound of the rain hitting the metal!

 

[ls99]

Lazy morning, checked out some rockabilly on the yooootube.

 

[redduck]

...Right now, the only thing I have in my bucket is six young adult books. Maybe I should replace the bucket with a book bag. Walking into the library with a bucket just looks plain weird no matter how well dressed I may be.

...
Just make sure that your bucket does not look like the bucket that janitors carry into the restroom.

Rest easy, old friend, my bucket does not look like the bucket that janitors carry into the restroom.

My bucket has up-to-date dual pane low-E windows.
The glass is definitely fancy-schmancy with argon-filled stuff. Additionally, the lid comes with a retractable sunroof. Still, I get these weird looks from the library patrons. Maybe it's the 22 inch custom rims that I had put on that they wonder about.

 

[harley]

Took the pugs to the dog beach today. That's such a blast! But at one point one of the sisters squatted to pee in the sand, and all we could see was blood. Ended up spending a couple of hours at the emergency vet. Severe urinary tract infection. So now we've got antibiotics and she should be OK. But if we hadn't gone to the beach we might not have known until she got much worse, since she goes outside in the grass and we wouldn't have been able to see it. Lucky.

 

[Ronstar]

Went for a run/walk. Bought and installed a bird feeder. Bought a small propane torch and torched my ornamental grasses in a semi-controlled burn.

 

[Dash man]

Finished my taxes today. Owed about $1600 federal and $800 state. At least we broke even on local television taxes.

 

[Khan]

Arrived at my now home in Florida.

 

[Accidental Retiree]

Arrived at my now home in Florida.

That is very exciting! Happy new home to you!

 

[harley]

Arrived at my now home in Florida.

Welcome to the neighborhood.

 

[Dreamer]

Arrived at my now home in Florida.

Congratulations! How exciting. You will especially love it next winter!

 

[pb4uski]

....Bought and installed a bird feeder. ....

Around here our Fish & Game Department recommends taking down bird feeders at this time of years as the bears come out of hibernation and are quite hungry.