Recent content by BasketCase24

I admit to not having thoroughly read every reply to your post. That being said, I concur with stress not causing ulcers. I might recommend that, while you have good insurance, you ask your wife if she needs some counseling to relieve stress and uncertainty. I mean, she’d have to stop working...

Now take the landline number, port it to an old cellphone, then to Google Voice and you’ve got a number you can put in public places, auto-screen the calls.

The original question was “will utilities shut off power to prevent fires and subsequent lawsuits”? Where it applies, probably. It will also depend on likelihood of lawsuits from purposeful outages. Utilities run a precarious balance between profits and public opinion, particularly regulated...

They’d rather pay their customers to use a few kilowatt-hours less than buy those kWh from a nearby utility OR startup a jet-engine powered peaking unit.

I live in a Phoenix suburb, so stations are 25-45 miles away. I have tile roof. I have antenna in attic, with an in-line booster. I get good signals, and I am anticipating better signals when all the transmitters are upgraded to the new digital signal.

What about renting one? Have you looked into Turo, where you can rent a car from a person for a specific period of time? You might be able to splurge on a once-a-quarter weekend driving a really fun car in a fun location, and not have to pay for the fun car sitting lonely in your garage.

A few thoughts. What about a lockbox that the fire department can open? Our subdivision has them on almost every house, all you I have to do is call them and they can access a key. I have a smart deadbolt on entry door and door inside the garage. Can unlock via Bluetooth with my phone. Smart...

We live in Sun City West, since 2020. The housing market has DEFINITELY slowed down here, so your friend's concerns are diminished. Sun City West has 8 golf courses, four recreation centers (each with a fitness center and pool), over 100 clubs, and many homes pay no school taxes. There are a...

Guess what else works with TSA? I cleaned one too many cards out of my wallet before a short trip to the midwest - left my driver's license at home. Because a relative had LOST his wallet while visiting, I knew TSA had a process to identify me. Guess what the TSA agent asked first? Do you have...

Not true. Illinois allowed ComEd (at the time) to divest itself of the fossil fuel plants, and become "merchant generators" with the nuclear units. None of the coal units could compete on cost or cleanliness of generation. The unknown was shale gas, which drove the price of natural gas way down...

Share your expertise with young people. Go to Nepris, and help a teacher use your wide range of expertise to enhance education. All done via their zoom-like system. Rewarding.

Preliminary caution: I use technology often, sometimes just for fun, mostly to make our lives easier. I dispute the first assumption, that a cell phone is required for many of these activities. We have an Apple-centric home, and we use iPads for many of the tasks the original poster listed, not...

I find it hard to believe that someone wise and wealthy enough to be on this site would take chances with their lives on a Jerry-rigged electrical configuration. FIRE is supposed to stand for Financially Independent Retired Early, not FIRE! like you can’t shout in a theater! My brother died in a...

What? It’s not REALITY? Next thing you’ll tell me is that Wrasslin’ ain’t real, neither?!?

Electrical tools I think everyone should have First, basic outlet tester. Klein Tools GFCI Receptacle Tester is nice because you can also test GFI. Second, Klein Tools Digital Circuit Breaker Finder with GFCI Outlet Tester and Accessory Kit so you can identify which breaker is associated with...