What did you do today? - 2023/2024 version

[aja8888]

Still waiting on my last tax document from my pipeline company (K-1). Then I can file (mid month, I hope).

Today, I am planning on working on my "End of Life" book for my daughter to have when the time comes. I need to add the Transfer on Death Deed into it for the house.

 

[pacergal]

Heading to the coast for a few days, first time leaving puppy with our regular dog sitter. He will do fine, it's mom who misses him and the snuggles!
He is the first dog we have had in years who would actually be under the weight limit for hotels, but we have not traveled with him yet. He is 7 months old and very active, not sure he would do well for too long in the car, even with exercise breaks!

 

[Walt34]

I have declared that winter is over, at least in this part of WV. We briefly hit 70° F. Today I took the snow blower out of the garage, drained the fuel system including the carburetor bowl, and put it in the shed with the gas cap off so the last vestiges of gasoline will evaporate. Next week I'll bring it inside to the workshop area and do all the off-season maintenance, greasing and oiling and inspecting as required. Then it gets put in a far corner, waiting until the next snowfall. Then I can check the tires, add gas, and be reasonably confident that it'll start right up.

I also took the generator (Honda EX4500) outside and ran it for 20 minutes or so just to make sure it all works and that the magnets were still doing their thing (they were). Same deal, drain the fuel system and let it sit in the shed for a week before bringing it back inside. This makes certain that little critters like mice don't decide to make a home in it and being in a climate controlled environment slows the aging processes like deterioration of rubber fittings, corrosion, and the like. That generator is 25 years old and looks brand new.

 

[MC Rider]

Hope you did not jinx yourself, Walt34.


Was going to paint the new siding on the back shed, but it is too cold and windy. Should be better tomorrow. So, I thought about it.


And I voted.

 

[Venturer]

Went to my Autozone and got a battery for my riding mower. Got home and installed it but when I hit the switch it would turn over but not crank. I am going to check the spark from coil and then check the plugs. It has been sitting since last fall but I put in some gas tteatment before shutting down so hopfully it isn't bad gas. I knew I would be replacing the battery so since mower batteries only have a 90 day guaranty I chose to wait till spring to replace it. I don't use it much any more since I I have a lawn service but I am going to use it to pull my areator over the yard.

 

[jollystomper]

Continuing my multi day battle to set up a new NAS system. My current NAS units are fine, but being 10+ years old I thought I would BTD and try out some newer ones. So far no success, returned 1 unit and disk drives. If the testing continues to fail on the 2 unit, its going back.

Updating my python file backup automation programs to add some flexibility to them... at least that is going well .

 

[kgtest]

Continuing my multi day battle to set up a new NAS system. My current NAS units are fine, but being 10+ years old I thought I would BTD and try out some newer ones. So far no success, returned 1 unit and disk drives. If the testing continues to fail on the 2 unit, its going back.

Updating my python file backup automation programs to add some flexibility to them... at least that is going well .

I need to increase my NAS a bit. I am almost at 70% capacity. I had a good black friday deal and decided not to buy, and now the drives have been spendy since.

I figure with these HDDs the less usage the better so I try not to tax them too much. I like them being idle unless there is a pull of data from them...ie we are streaming a movie from the LAN NAS instead of the WAN stream.

Took me a while to optimize streaming and all that, which is a whole other story. Finally found a channel and have the static IPs configured to a point there are enough open banks for any auto IP assignments to not collide, all the smart little devices running fine on the main antennae and all my streaming stuff on 5G.

I use have streamed thousands of hours off of the WD Mybooks over my LAN with almost zero issues now...and we live in a larger 2 story with lots of concrete between the router and my upstairs master.

Disks have never failed. I do test each one before I deploy it into the network.

 

[Walt34]

Hope you did not jinx yourself, Walt34.

That thought did cross my mind, but it's not just here, it seems like that all over the country (except of course for out west) there's a lack of snow. Y'all ought to see all the whining and complaining about the lack of snow over on the snowblower forum. If worst comes to worst, I'll have to pull it outside and put some gas in it, I won't be doing the serious maintenance on it for another month anyway.

 

[aja8888]

Spring cleaning. Garage, house, closets, etc. Goal is a totally filled trash can!

 

[MC Rider]

More painting of the new siding on our back shack / shed. That T1-11 stuff is all rough texture and those grooves make it a real pain to prime paint with a brush. But that's what I have and will use to finish the job that l somehow thought I could knock out in an afternoon. What was I thinking? I have at least another couple days to go. My shoulders are kind of sore.

 

[street]

Ranch day for me. Were mid-teens today with an east breeze so I decided to just spend the good part of the day at cabin and just relax. Had a nice fire going got it about 75 degrees and felt great. I had lunch there couldn't get a radio station and no cell service so was a quiet day just looking out the window. A very lazy day didn't even take a walk.

Ohh, I did do some measuring for irrigation pipe to see if I had enough pipe to irrigate some new seeded Sainfoin. I will be seeding very soon. I need to cut tight first, some old bromegrass, so I and seed right into that existing hay field.

 

[CosmicDreamer]

Today I got a relaxing massage for my back, it felt much better because it was giving me trouble these last few days.

 

[Walt34]

More painting of the new siding on our back shack / shed. That T1-11 stuff is all rough texture and those grooves make it a real pain to prime paint with a brush. But that's what I have and will use to finish the job that l somehow thought I could knock out in an afternoon. What was I thinking? I have at least another couple days to go. My shoulders are kind of sore.

The answer to those sore shoulders is an airless paint sprayer. I have a couple, one is a stand model and one is hand held. Both are great, although admittedly a bit of a pain to clean, but at least you can do that sitting down. There's a short learning curve and some masking to do but it really goes faster than one would think especially for outdoor projects. Learning how to use a piece of cardboard as a mask makes it go even faster.

I think airless paint sprayers are one of the greatest inventions since canned beer.

 

[braumeister]

About two years ago the water line between the meter and the house broke, and the repair was over $3K, just for a patch at the break.
Yesterday it happened again, and this time I decided to replace the whole 30 feet of it and get a 10 year warranty. $11K this time.

If those prices sound high, I had to do the same thing about 20 years ago at another house and it cost $6K then, so I figure 11 is about right for now.

Can't figure out why this is the only house on the block with the problem, but just glad I can afford it.

 

[MC Rider]

...............I think airless paint sprayers are one of the greatest inventions since canned beer.

LOL. I remember you posting about those. It's a pretty small job, so....


When we are ready to do the while outside I will hire it out.


Today I went to the dentist for teeth cleaning.

 

[Badger]

Finished my taxes with the help of AARP like I have been doing for the past 10+ years. I thought I had the taxes covered since I increased my quarterly payment from the previous year. 2023 must have been good for dividends and interest since I owe a few thousand more.

 

[REWahoo]

Replaced the ceiling fan in our bedroom. The old one (25 years) worked OK but had developed an irritating hum on low speed, not conducive to a good night's sleep - even after removing my hearing aids.

 

[pacergal]

Today is errand day. I try to lump them all together in one day if I can, then map it out to the least driving!

 

[athena53]

Not much but that's good since it's been a busy week. A friend gave me a subscription to StoryWorth for Christmas and it was a great idea- he'd gotten one from his daughter. They ask you questions about your life (with the ability to skip some and/or write your own). At the end of a year you can have it bound into a book. I just finished a section on my jewelry- something I've been wanting to do for a very long time. I have WAY more jewelry than DDIL and my 2 granddaughters will ever use, my sister has her own golden hoard, and I want them to know what has sentimental value or family ties so they can decide what to keep and what to sell to "We Buy Gold" places with a clear conscience. I added pictures of the important items. I may even print those out now and include them with my important papers. Good to have done that.

 

[1242Vintage]

Picked up and filed both Moms and my taxes. Glad this tax prep season is done! Paid a minor penalty for not withholding enough state but that’s it. Done!

Headed out for a workout on the bike. Then clean up for a late afternoon conference call on post-retirement consulting gig.

 

[Walt34]

Yesterday I got a bill from a hospitalist medicine group for $22.27. From what I can gather from the gibberish on the bill, the insurance policy number(s) were entered incorrectly, so it was denied, and now they want me to pay for it. Not gonna happen - they want me to pay for their mistake? Nope.

So I tried, once, to call their 866 number and keyed in some numbers as requested by their "automated system" which then promptly hung up on me. Rather than waste the next hour or so fooling with their stupid system, I spent 20 minutes writing a letter telling them to have an actual live human being call me. We'll see what happens. Frankly, I don't really care if they send it to collections. But if they just send me another bill I'll call the hospital directly rather than their budget/incompetent billing system in Los Angeles, CA. BTW, I live in West Virginia, but I guess that was the cheapest billing outfit they could find.

 

[jollystomper]

I need to increase my NAS a bit. I am almost at 70% capacity. I had a good black friday deal and decided not to buy, and now the drives have been spendy since.

I figure with these HDDs the less usage the better so I try not to tax them too much. I like them being idle unless there is a pull of data from them...ie we are streaming a movie from the LAN NAS instead of the WAN stream.

Took me a while to optimize streaming and all that, which is a whole other story. Finally found a channel and have the static IPs configured to a point there are enough open banks for any auto IP assignments to not collide, all the smart little devices running fine on the main antennae and all my streaming stuff on 5G.

I use have streamed thousands of hours off of the WD Mybooks over my LAN with almost zero issues now...and we live in a larger 2 story with lots of concrete between the router and my upstairs master.

Disks have never failed. I do test each one before I deploy it into the network.

Well, the 2nd NAS unit is just as bad... boxing it up to send back. Time to DIY and set up openmedia vault on a spare server. Maybe I will document this sordid tale on a standalone thread.

Meanwhile, took DW to airport yesterday, she is going to visit her mother and sister for a week. She and her sister have some tough decisions they need to make regarding care for their mother, whose physical capabilities are diminished and needs help around the home. She will give her sister a break for a bit as they work out home care options. The timing is good as I have a number of social activities with friends over the next few days, as well as dealing with my NAS situation and testing out a mesh network to see if that will provide better home coverage. So I will be plenty busy.

Today I finalized and submitted our tax returns. Owe the Feds, but payment is scheduled for April 15th. Relatively big refund from the state, primarily due to me turning 65 last year, and that will be received before the Fed tax is due. The net result will be a nice but not too big refund.

 

[MichaelB]

Yesterday I got a bill from a hospitalist medicine group for $22.27. From what I can gather from the gibberish on the bill, the insurance policy number(s) were entered incorrectly, so it was denied, and now they want me to pay for it. Not gonna happen - they want me to pay for their mistake? Nope.

So I tried, once, to call their 866 number and keyed in some numbers as requested by their "automated system" which then promptly hung up on me. Rather than waste the next hour or so fooling with their stupid system, I spent 20 minutes writing a letter telling them to have an actual live human being call me. We'll see what happens. Frankly, I don't really care if they send it to collections. But if they just send me another bill I'll call the hospital directly rather than their budget/incompetent billing system in Los Angeles, CA. BTW, I live in West Virginia, but I guess that was the cheapest billing outfit they could find.

Good luck with that, Walt. There is nothing more irritating than a health care provider trying to collect a miscoded invoice.

The last time I spoke with a person over a miscoded charge they were rude and aggressive on the phone with me, unnecessarily threatening me with legal action. That’s a mistake, it just motivates me to invest more time and effort to get them to correct their billing, which they finally did.

 

[Walt34]

Good luck with that, Walt. There is nothing more irritating than a health care provider trying to collect a miscoded invoice.

Oh, I fully expect that. I'll be regarding this as making a hobby of being a PITA to the billing department. Most if not all communication will be by good old fashioned U.S. Mail, so they have to pay someone to open it, read it, and deal with it. The aim is to make them spend as much time dealing with me as I can. Us crotchety old geezers have to have something entertaining to do on rainy days.

 

[MC Rider]

Bunch of stubborn old farts.


Trimmed 3 of 6 arborvitae trees. On #4 the chain saw blade derailed from the bar. A bunch of plant material got clogged up in there, so I cleaned it up and put it back together then called it a day.