In the garden, and RAIN!!!!
POSTED BY: SIGNYM
UPDATED: Thursday, December 25, 2025 04:27
VIEWED: 1007826
PAGE 25 of 116
Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Been virtually swimming for the last few days here too Brenda. :(
Went through a few more boxes of stuff and got rid of almost all of it. Got one can full for garbage day.
I think I am going to get rid of the patio furniture set I bought years ago. It was a cheap piece of crap I got from KMart and time hasn't been too kind to it. On top of the patio pavers that were all but ruined by the ants, it's just an eyesore right now. I think I'll keep a few of the chairs for now, just to have something to sit on, but that'll be something huge I can get rid of along with the trash this week since I have no plans on ever taking that with me.
Going to try getting through a few more boxes and consolidating my artwork tomorrow. If I get through that, I'm going to try to spend some time organizing stuff in the garage with all those nice boxes I cleared out.
I looked at the "keep" boxes I've got and it's a bit more than I'd like to have. I already have a plan for getting rid of three of them. I don't think I'm going to be able to get rid of more than that though. But I do need to think hard about it because once all that is done I need to keep in mind that whenever I do move I have to pack up clothes, toiletries and kitchen stuff that I use regularly and I'm not packing up now. That's going to be quite a bit of extra boxes on top of what I already have.
Speaking of clothes, I hope to go through all of them next week and get rid of about half of them. When I started doing all of this my plan was to keep any clothes I wasn't going to ever wear again for packing material to protect fragile stuff. But now that most of the stuff is packed I don't have to do that anymore so a lot of that can go in the trash or to goodwill when I get to it.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
Goodwill for old clothes is a good idea Jack.
I clothes shop at my local Salvation Army thrift shop. Last time I was there I picked up a couple of pairs of jeans.
Got more shredding to get to hopefully over the weekend but we shall see. Also started going through my earrings. Found three that lost their mates and one set is broken. Had to get some cleaner for them as they are pretty grungy. I'm keeping a few then donating some along with some rings I've got. But I think I might keep one or two of them. I've got a nice ying/yang pinky ring that I am keeping and snake one too. Have to find that one first. A turtle thumb ring that I won't be able to wear again. So it can go.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:As I recall last fire season was pretty bad.
Originally posted by Brenda:
We've been lucky in BC this year. Fire season hasn't been too bad. Few places were on evac notice but after a few weeks those were pulled as everything was under control.
There's been snow up around Fort Nelson which is the Northeastern corner of the province.
Not suppose to be a lot of rain if it shows up down here.
So rain's headed south to you but just a bit of it ...
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
regarding the two big earthquakes a few weeks back ...
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-08-19/earthquakes-foresh
ocks-seismology-new-study
Scientists finally know how big earthquakes start: With many smaller ones
By Rong-Gong Lin IIStaff Writer
Aug. 20, 2019
3 PM
The vast majority of earthquakes we feel come soon after smaller ones, according to new research that provides unprecedented insights into how seismology works.
Sometimes days or even weeks before most temblors of at least magnitude 4.0, scientists have found, smaller ones start rippling beneath the Earth’s surface — activity that can be detected thanks to an advanced computing technique.
“One of the biggest questions in earthquake seismology is how earthquakes get started,” said the study’s lead author, Daniel Trugman, a seismologist at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Previously, scientists observed that only half of all moderate quakes had smaller precursor events. This new study of earthquakes in Southern California of at least magnitude 4 between 2008 and 2017 found that at least 72% of them followed less-powerful quakes. “Elevated foreshock activity is pervasive in Southern California,” the study concluded.
“It is surprising,” said study coauthor Zachary Ross, an assistant professor of geophysics at Caltech. “It’s important for understanding the physics of earthquakes. Are they silent until this big event? Or is there a weakening process of the fault, or some evidence that the fault is changing before this larger event?”
The study shows the answer is likely the latter explanation.
The discovery gives scientists a better understanding about how earthquakes are generated.
Knowing that even moderate quakes probably occur after a series of less-powerful ones gives added weight to the idea that earthquake sequences can grow, not unlike a spreading disease epidemic. In fact, the study shows the foreshock sequences ranged from starting three days to 35 days ahead of the mainshock.
The finding doesn’t mean we should suddenly be worried about small quakes. Statistically speaking, only 5% of earthquakes are followed up by something worse. It also doesn’t mean researchers are any closer to predicting the exact timing and epicenters of big earthquakes.
“The vast majority of time that you have an earthquake,” Ross said, “even if you see anomalous activity start up, it’s going to die down on its own — that’s most of the time.”
But understanding how quakes get bigger can only help scientists get better at aftershock forecasting. That would help the public understand when there’s a greater risk, such as when the chance of a large quake rises from a background risk of 1-in-10,000 odds to 1-in-1,000 odds, based on a previous quake.
“We are definitely moving toward forecasting that is statistical in nature,” Trugman said.
The discovery could also help improve the speed of earthquake early warning systems, Ross said. If the computer has detected microquakes close to a major fault, and knows that most major quakes are preceded by smaller foreshocks, that can help speed up the decision by the system to issue a warning in the moments after an earthquake has begun rupturing along a fault.
The breakthrough in the study, published earlier this summer in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, was made possible by the discovery of a new technique to find very small earthquakes — quakes as small as magnitudes 0 and 1, and some as small as magnitude negative 2.
(Quakes can now have negative magnitudes because this new technique allows for observation of quakes so small they were previously thought to be undetectable.)
Having a higher-definition look now allows scientists to detect many more foreshocks.
“This new information is coming from the tiniest magnitude events that were basically invisible before,” Ross said.
For the study, Trugman and Ross focused on 46 of the largest quakes in Southern California between 2008 and 2017 (while excluding those that were aftershocks of other larger events). They fo
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:As I recall last fire season was pretty bad.
Originally posted by 1kiki:Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
We've been lucky in BC this year. Fire season hasn't been too bad. Few places were on evac notice but after a few weeks those were pulled as everything was under control.
There's been snow up around Fort Nelson which is the Northeastern corner of the province.
Not suppose to be a lot of rain if it shows up down here.
So rain's headed south to you but just a bit of it ...
Fire season was Kiki. And last year or the year before was the big fire up at Fort McMurray which is in Alberta that practically took out the whole town.
Rain arrived during the night. Woke up to a soggy morning and about to head out in it.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
I remember Fort McMurray! I saw three extremely creepy/god-awful videos from it (the camera that broadcast the living room as the home got swallowed up by fire, the porch fire that .would. not. die., and the fire creeping to a pickup in a line of cars trying to evacuate out) and they're still stuck like glue in my brain.
Here in SoCal we used to have a fire season, but now they say it's year-round. Last calendar year here was so-so for fires, but the northern half of Calif got clobbered. So far we're not doing too badly!! YAY!! They were saying that because of the previous '18-19 good winter rain season 
we'd have a bumper crop of dried grasses and weeds just waiting to burn. SO FAR ... not yet. Maybe because the air's been pretty humid. Though it'll start getting trickier once the dry Santa Ana's start blowing to offshore from the desert, which usually starts in October.
As much as I love the rain, you reminded me of how I hate being out and about in soggy weather.
I think I remember you do, too. So stay dry ... And warm!
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Another morning another box of stuff sorted through. Real sentimental stuff this time, so it took hours to go through even though I didn't stop to read most of it. Lot's of great photos I'd forgotten I had even had. About half of it is trash though, so that's good.
Need to sort through those 3 boxes I was talking about to pull out the 4 things I know I want to keep so I can get rid of the rest. It's a crystal glass set with golden trim. It was used in an episode of Killjoys and I know I recently saw it in a movie too. Shame to get rid of it, but I'm not going to bother with trying to sell it, my brother can't take any more stuff with his own hoard and it's got no sentimental value to me. Just a bunch of crap I don't need in boxes I don't want to keep anymore.
Probably going to put my patio furniture set out tonight. My friend is deciding right now if he wants it or not.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
At this end, I guess my status could be considered "making progress on all fronts" ... or maybe "running in place" ... it's a little hard to tell!
Time is so divided up, doesn't help that hubby derails things. Got kinda testy with him this afternoon when I was trying to figure out the Medicare maze and he kept wandering around the room bitching about this that and a third thing. As it turns out the Medicare software threw up some weird error that I couldn't get past, so I had to call. On hold for 45 minutes, then they hung up. Called again, on hold another 45 minutes and didn't get a resolution, just an appointment for ANOTHER phone call two weeks from now which may or may not resolve the problem.
Wrong insurance billed on something else, so I got a whopping $1000 bill. On top of all that, despite sinus surgery I have ANOTHER sinus infection confirmed by doctor today. I hope the culture shows something easy like staph, and not pseudomonas since that will require IV antibiotics.
But onward thru the fog! as they say.
Managed to get one stripe painted on one wall to see how the technique goes, won't know till I pull off the painter's tape, plus we got and tested the angle grinder so I think we have all the tools and materials needed for stucco patching. Now, if I could only put together 3 or 4 contiguous hours I might actually get something effing accomplished.
-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake
You idiots have been oppressing the entire sexual spectrum as long as you have existed. I can't wait for the day your kind is dead - WISHIMAY
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by 1KIKI:
I remember Fort McMurray! I saw three extremely creepy/god-awful videos from it (the camera that broadcast the living room as the home got swallowed up by fire, the porch fire that .would. not. die., and the fire creeping to a pickup in a line of cars trying to evacuate out) and they're still stuck like glue in my brain.
Here in SoCal we used to have a fire season, but now they say it's year-round. Last calendar year here was so-so for fires, but the northern half of Calif got clobbered. So far we're not doing too badly!! YAY!! They were saying that because of the previous '18-19 good winter rain season
we'd have a bumper crop of dried grasses and weeds just waiting to burn. SO FAR ... not yet. Maybe because the air's been pretty humid. Though it'll start getting trickier once the dry Santa Ana's start blowing to offshore from the desert, which usually starts in October.
As much as I love the rain, you reminded me of how I hate being out and about in soggy weather.
I think I remember you do, too. So stay dry ... And warm!
I remember the videos too from Fort McMurray. Scary indeed.
Hope your area manages to avoid fires.
I do hate being soggy. Luckily being closer to everything now means I wasn't soggy at all today. Would have been 3x worse if I had to wait on buses to get where I had to go today.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Shredding some old papers of my dad's this afternoon. I never knew how much the Veteran's Affairs stuck their nose into his business. From when I was 3 till I was 13years my parents bought 4houses and with each purchase the Canadian VA had to have a say.
Freakin' Ottawa.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
I hear ya on the running in place Sigs. I've certainly got my good days and my bad days, and at times it felt like I wasn't really getting anywhere, especially when I started this de-hoarding process. Then when everything is pinning you down and making you feel claustrophobic, life swoops in and gives you a nice suckerpunch on top of it.
But it will get better if you keep doing right. You'll bounce back. I hope you're able to work that insurance stuff out and get those sinus problems taken care of once and for all.
Sucks about the VA getting in your old man's business like that, Brenda. Interesting for you to know, but I'm glad you're still shreddin'. Time to get rid of all that crap you don't need!
Had a great productive day again today. Thursdays always seem to be my most productive since it's garbage day. :)
Got another two cans out and an old fold up chair with a cloth top that's been sitting in this house for 8 years and never used. It was a nice little chair and quite comfortable, but I discovered you can't separate it from the legs to wash it. It still reeked of smoke from back in the days when I smoked in my apartment and it had to go...
Mowed the lawn and killed it on the de-weeding and edging. Filled another can halfway full with it. Aside from my back patio pavers being destroyed by the ants, my property has never looked better from the street than it does today.
Also went through my old artwork and got rid of about half of it that was lousy and/or unfinished. Saved all of the good ones including my award winning stuff. Finished going through all of the sentimental stuff and culled that down to about 1/3rd of what it used to be as well and now have it in a small shell case of a box to protect it all from the elements.
Then I decided to get rid of the patio furniture. I figured I'd put it out a week early and give passerby's a full week to mull that one over. I hadn't washed the top of the glass table in probably 3 years. The sides of the table had a bit of green "algie" type stuff growing on it. The aluminum chairs had paint chipping off of them because when the wind would blow it banged them all over the place. I half though that would be on my driveway until next garbage day.
15 minutes later it was gone. 
Going to get rid of my elliptical machine. Paid good money for that 12 years ago and used it twice. I hate working out at home. I'm going to need to get a gym membership again when I get all of my affairs in order... especially if I don't get a highly physical job like my last one.
Got a great tan this week too.
Oh... and I got my energy bill for the month too. 4 less days on the billing cycle than last month, but it was $6 less than last month too. I used that blower fairly sparingly compared to thinking I'd have it on 10-12 hours every night, but I wasn't a scrooge with it and it was on more nights than not... at least for 4-6 hours.
It definitely costs some money to run it, but nowhere near as much as I had imagined it might after last month's bill. I've also made sure though that I was doing my best to turn my computer and TV off when they weren't in use as well, so I'm sure that helped.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
>>Sucks about the VA getting in your old man's business like that, Brenda. Interesting for you to know, but I'm glad you're still shreddin'. Time to get rid of all that crap you don't need!<<
Reading that did suck. I mean he was just trying to do right by his wife and children but the VA had to make sure that he was obeying their rules, so he wouldn't loose his army pension. Heck! Over 1 house he had to prove that me and my brother existed by sending them copies of our birth certificates.
It is interesting but upsetting too. Yeah, it is time as there is no need for any of that stuff anymore. My dad's been gone over 40years now. So, I will keep shredding until I don't need to.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Thanks for the words of encouragement SIX. And believe it ir not, your progress really cheers me up!
So at this end dear daugther and I are marking the lines for her fancy paint job. Since this is all horizontal stripes and her bedroom has one very long wall, this is definitely a two-person job, Fortunately hubby has an 8 ft straight edge and a pretty long spirit level. She was totally unfamiliar with how to use a spirit level and unfamiliar with how to use a level and a straight edge together, so we struggled a little bit with whose hands were on what equipment but eventually we figured out a system and now she knows how use both. I plan on finishing the marking Saturday and taping two of the stripes and ... if we get done fast enough painting them as well (As you know SIX, it's always the prep that takes the longest!) If we get two of the stripes done by Sunday we can do the other two on Monday (after our dental appointment) and Tuesday, so by the end of Tuesday her room will be ready enuf to move back in. That's the goal. I'm looking forward to crossing that off the list.
-----------.
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake
You idiots have been oppressing the entire sexual spectrum as long as you have existed. I can't wait for the day your kind is dead - WISHIMAY
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
>>Sucks about the VA getting in your old man's business like that, Brenda. Interesting for you to know, but I'm glad you're still shreddin'. Time to get rid of all that crap you don't need!<<
Reading that did suck. I mean he was just trying to do right by his wife and children but the VA had to make sure that he was obeying their rules, so he wouldn't loose his army pension. Heck! Over 1 house he had to prove that me and my brother existed by sending them copies of our birth certificates.
It is interesting but upsetting too. Yeah, it is time as there is no need for any of that stuff anymore. My dad's been gone over 40years now. So, I will keep shredding until I don't need to.
Good for you Brenda. :)
Have you started noticing yet a feeling like you're having a weight lifted off of your shoulders?
My old man goes through something similar to what your father went through with my brother's social security disability and the other programs he's in. My brother can't do any of it himself. Recently, he had gotten them to mail out copies of any communication to both of them. The last time something important came though, it only went to my dad. So my dad called them up and "fixed" it, but the next piece that came only went to my brother. I told him that he's going to have to just have the stuff sent to him if they can't get it right. It's really no good in my brother's hands. There was something time sensitive in the last mailer that my dad had to physically drive down to his place a few weeks earlier than he had planned to to read himself when my brother said he couldn't find any dates on it.
Fortunately, my dad is very meticulous about making the plans out for how to take care of all of this stuff. When he goes, there is no way my brother will be able to do any of it himself and he will need my other brother and I to do it for him.
Guess I'm making all this room for a new mountain of paperwork when that time comes.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Thanks for the words of encouragement SIX. And believe it ir not, your progress really cheers me up!
So at this end dear daugther and I are marking the lines for her fancy paint job. Since this is all horizontal stripes and her bedroom has one very long wall, this is definitely a two-person job, Fortunately hubby has an 8 ft straight edge and a pretty long spirit level. She was totally unfamiliar with how to use a spirit level and unfamiliar with how to use a level and a straight edge together, so we struggled a little bit with whose hands were on what equipment but eventually we figured out a system and now she knows how use both. I plan on finishing the marking Saturday and taping two of the stripes and ... if we get done fast enough painting them as well (As you know SIX, it's always the prep that takes the longest!) If we get two of the stripes done by Sunday we can do the other two on Monday (after our dental appointment) and Tuesday, so by the end of Tuesday her room will be ready enuf to move back in. That's the goal. I'm looking forward to crossing that off the list.
-----------.
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake
You idiots have been oppressing the entire sexual spectrum as long as you have existed. I can't wait for the day your kind is dead - WISHIMAY
Glad to hear, Sigs. I hope we're all inspiring each other to keep pressing on and getting more stuff done today that doesn't need to be put off until tomorrow anymore.
Yup. Prep work sucks, but you're going to be so much happier in the long run when it's all done that you took the time to do it.
Speaking of that... I'm meeting up with my friend to help him on the house again today. It's his inspection day. I hope they finally get off his ass with the work they've seen done and that we can make the entire outside watertight by the end of the weekend.
I'll be painting today, which I have to be honest is something I really don't want to be doing with all of my structural issues still not being tended to yet.
I'm a little concerned about my friend. We were always drinkers and partiers back in our day for sure, but he always seemed to have a real level head on his shoulders.
But recently I've noticed a few times where he's become forgetful. Like we'd talk on the phone about something one day and then a week later it's as if we never had that conversation. I chalked it up to him being extremely busy with his work and family life, and this house taking up most of his mental energy after that.
But I think he's got a drinking problem. The last time we worked I knew he had a few at the end of the day, but then he asked me to drive. He's got a nice vehicle. First, he presented it to me as "just wanted to let you take it for a spin". I told him I'm really not comfortable driving cars that aren't my own, but then he looked serious and said "please".
I said "what. You've only had a few beers. Stop being a pussy, you'll be alright".
He then told me he had like 7 or 8 all day.
What the hell. He must have been guzzling them in the garage while he was going for tools or making grout or something.
At some point I said something like "I'm the last person to judge you man.", and then he smiled and said "Maybe you should. Maybe I need it."
Uh oh. I know what that is. I'm very familiar with that behavior. Far too familiar.
Sure enough, the next morning when we were working I tested the waters and made a joking offhanded comment about maybe going easy on the beers today, to which he seemed rather annoyed that I said it. I wasn't counting, but when we went out to get coffee he picked up more beer and wasn't shy about drinking them either.
He's highly functional. He's got a really nice house, a great job, a great fiancee, he gets things
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
SIX, I just hope he keeps his promise to you about fixing up your porch. You might want to ask him an occasional question about "how would he do such and such" to your porch, technique-oriented questions for your edification, and to keep that project front and center in his brain.
Yanno, hubby used to work construction when he was young. He was a mason's helper and, being big and strong they gave him the heaviest jobs, like carrying a 300-lb flue up a ladder. One time they had just put a cellar wall up but because of rain it was threatening to collapse, so he went down into the hole and tossed 1100 cement blocks up to save them in case everything caved in. He still has nightmares about being buried alive. Anyway, the point was that this particular contruction crew ran on beer. Each person probably drank a couple of six-packs OR MORE per day. (If anyone were to break open the cement blocks from their projects, quite a number of them would have empty beer bottles in them!) It was a source of energy and a way of staying hydrated, and for all the beer that hubby drank he never became an alcholic and neither did anyone else of the crew, that I know of. Maybe this is a case of that, I don't know.
It's possible his drinking is situational, and when his worries clear up his drinking will too. It's possible that he drinks only when working heavily. Or maybe he fels unwell or is on pain. Or maybe has has a problem of much longer standing, but you won't know until the construction is ended INCLUDING YOUR PORCH and you get to see him when the pressure is off. IMHO most people drink as a form of self-medication (for anxiety, self-doubt, pain or other feelings of unwellness etc). Then at some point the drink BECOMES the problem that they self-medicate for, but I don't know where your frined is at. I would probably give him a bottle of Super B Complex (either Nature Made or Nature's Choice) vitamins since heavy drinkers need a lot more B1 to process the alcohol, plus the B12 should help with his memory.
If after the construction merry-go-round stops he is STILL drinking, then I don't know what your best option is. You definitely don't want to be an enabler ... protecting him from the consequences of his drinking ... but needs some thought because you can only influence him if you manage to stay in contact.
-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake
You idiots have been oppressing the entire sexual spectrum as long as you have existed. I can't wait for the day your kind is dead - WISHIMAY
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
>>Sucks about the VA getting in your old man's business like that, Brenda. Interesting for you to know, but I'm glad you're still shreddin'. Time to get rid of all that crap you don't need!<<
Reading that did suck. I mean he was just trying to do right by his wife and children but the VA had to make sure that he was obeying their rules, so he wouldn't loose his army pension. Heck! Over 1 house he had to prove that me and my brother existed by sending them copies of our birth certificates.
It is interesting but upsetting too. Yeah, it is time as there is no need for any of that stuff anymore. My dad's been gone over 40years now. So, I will keep shredding until I don't need to.
Good for you Brenda. :)
Have you started noticing yet a feeling like you're having a weight lifted off of your shoulders?
My old man goes through something similar to what your father went through with my brother's social security disability and the other programs he's in. My brother can't do any of it himself. Recently, he had gotten them to mail out copies of any communication to both of them. The last time something important came though, it only went to my dad. So my dad called them up and "fixed" it, but the next piece that came only went to my brother. I told him that he's going to have to just have the stuff sent to him if they can't get it right. It's really no good in my brother's hands. There was something time sensitive in the last mailer that my dad had to physically drive down to his place a few weeks earlier than he had planned to to read himself when my brother said he couldn't find any dates on it.
Fortunately, my dad is very meticulous about making the plans out for how to take care of all of this stuff. When he goes, there is no way my brother will be able to do any of it himself and he will need my other brother and I to do it for him.
Guess I'm making all this room for a new mountain of paperwork when that time comes.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
I've been wanting to do this for years but just haven't been able to what with all the moving around and my stuff having to go into storage for a bit.
I do. It's good going through the clutter that my mom forgot about and seeing what happened around the time I was born and before.
Your brother is lucky to have you and your dad to do this stuff for him. Paperwork with ANY government agency is a pain in the butt. Doesn't matter what side of the line you are on.
My dad had a fight to get one of his pensions. My poor mom had to go on a letter writing campaign to get a copy of his birth certificate from Alberta, a letter from his oldest sister but the hospital he was born in burned down and so those records were gone. The school he attended would have been gone by the late 60s out there. Think she had to write one of his aunts as well. Good thing they still had his army discharge papers to help.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Off to see what is causing all the feedback with my hearing aides since they have been repaired. Also need to find some small flat head screws. Gotta fix something of my mom's that I found a few days ago and I want to keep.
Later peeps.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:I am dear daughter's representative payee and will probably shortly become her (limited) conservator. Most likely SIX, your dad is your brother's conservator. When he dies, someone will have to take his place. Possibly that has already been worked out with your other brother.
Sucks about the VA getting in your old man's business like that, Brenda. Interesting for you to know, but I'm glad you're still shreddin'. Time to get rid of all that crap you don't need!- SIX
Reading that did suck. I mean he was just trying to do right by his wife and children but the VA had to make sure that he was obeying their rules, so he wouldn't loose his army pension. Heck! Over 1 house he had to prove that me and my brother existed by sending them copies of our birth certificates.
It is interesting but upsetting too. Yeah, it is time as there is no need for any of that stuff anymore. My dad's been gone over 40years now. So, I will keep shredding until I don't need to. - BRENDA
Good for you Brenda. :) Have you started noticing yet a feeling like you're having a weight lifted off of your shoulders?
My old man goes through something similar to what your father went through with my brother's social security disability and the other programs he's in. My brother can't do any of it himself. Recently, he had gotten them to mail out copies of any communication to both of them. The last time something important came though, it only went to my dad. So my dad called them up and "fixed" it, but the next piece that came only went to my brother. I told him that he's going to have to just have the stuff sent to him if they can't get it right. It's really no good in my brother's hands. There was something time sensitive in the last mailer that my dad had to physically drive down to his place a few weeks earlier than he had planned to to read himself when my brother said he couldn't find any dates on it.
Fortunately, my dad is very meticulous about making the plans out for how to take care of all of this stuff. When he goes, there is no way my brother will be able to do any of it himself and he will need my other brother and I to do it for him.
Guess I'm making all this room for a new mountain of paperwork when that time comes.
Do Right, Be Right. - SIX
I've been wanting to do this for years but just haven't been able to what with all the moving around and my stuff having to go into storage for a bit.
I do. It's good going through the clutter that my mom forgot about and seeing what happened around the time I was born and before.
Your brother is lucky to have you and your dad to do this stuff for him. Paperwork with ANY government agency is a pain in the butt. Doesn't matter what side of the line you are on.
My dad had a fight to get one of his pensions. My poor mom had to go on a letter writing campaign to get a copy of his birth certificate from Alberta, a letter from his oldest sister but the hospital he was born in burned down and so those records were gone. The school he attended would have been gone by the late 60s out there. Think she had to write one of his aunts as well. Good thing they still had his army discharge papers to help. BRENDA
The paperwork is a nightmare, the bureaucracy is bumbling, but it's intended to prevent fraud and abuse. Can you imagine what would happen if there were no controls whatsoever on who got government money? A it is, there is STILL quite a bit of fraud and abuse in the system ... I recall sitting in the Social Security office for dear daughter's re-evaluation of disability and looking at the other people sitting there and thinking ... what the hell is wrong with THEM? I just personally became aware that someone I met is collecting $1600/mo of my taxpayer's money for a disability that doesn't exist. It's furstrating and inefficient, but if anyone can think of a better way please let me know.
-----------
Pity would be no more,
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
It's a good thing BRENDA that your things finally came out of storage and you get to sort thru them. I'm still pleased beyond what I can express that you're out of that dark, dank, substandard hole that you were in, and in a place that has room, light, and functional utilities! Happy sorting!
-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake
You idiots have been oppressing the entire sexual spectrum as long as you have existed. I can't wait for the day your kind is dead - WISHIMAY
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
It's a good thing BRENDA that your things finally came out of storage and you get to sort thru them. I'm still pleased beyond what I can express that you're out of that dark, dank, substandard hole that you were in, and in a place that has room, light, and functional utilities! Happy sorting!
-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake
You idiots have been oppressing the entire sexual spectrum as long as you have existed. I can't wait for the day your kind is dead - WISHIMAY
Oddly enough I do enjoy the sorting and even the shredding. I was absolutely giddy when I got a kitchen table and chairs.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
SIX, I just hope he keeps his promise to you about fixing up your porch. You might want to ask him an occasional question about "how would he do such and such" to your porch, technique-oriented questions for your edification, and to keep that project front and center in his brain.
Yanno, hubby used to work construction when he was young. He was a mason's helper and, being big and strong they gave him the heaviest jobs, like carrying a 300-lb flue up a ladder. One time they had just put a cellar wall up but because of rain it was threatening to collapse, so he went down into the hole and tossed 1100 cement blocks up to save them in case everything caved in. He still has nightmares about being buried alive. Anyway, the point was that this particular contruction crew ran on beer. Each person probably drank a couple of six-packs OR MORE per day. (If anyone were to break open the cement blocks from their projects, quite a number of them would have empty beer bottles in them!) It was a source of energy and a way of staying hydrated, and for all the beer that hubby drank he never became an alcholic and neither did anyone else of the crew, that I know of. Maybe this is a case of that, I don't know.
It's possible his drinking is situational, and when his worries clear up his drinking will too. It's possible that he drinks only when working heavily. Or maybe he fels unwell or is on pain. Or maybe has has a problem of much longer standing, but you won't know until the construction is ended INCLUDING YOUR PORCH and you get to see him when the pressure is off. IMHO most people drink as a form of self-medication (for anxiety, self-doubt, pain or other feelings of unwellness etc). Then at some point the drink BECOMES the problem that they self-medicate for, but I don't know where your frined is at. I would probably give him a bottle of Super B Complex (either Nature Made or Nature's Choice) vitamins since heavy drinkers need a lot more B1 to process the alcohol, plus the B12 should help with his memory.
If after the construction merry-go-round stops he is STILL drinking, then I don't know what your best option is. You definitely don't want to be an enabler ... protecting him from the consequences of his drinking ... but needs some thought because you can only influence him if you manage to stay in contact.
-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake
You idiots have been oppressing the entire sexual spectrum as long as you have existed. I can't wait for the day your kind is dead - WISHIMAY
Yeah. I'm pretty concerned about him. I'm not sure if he finished the two 6 packs of Icehouse he bought before we started today or if he forgot to bring the rest with him, but I was driving us home again tonight. At least he had the good sense to pull over shortly after we left and have me drive. But right on the main corner before we got to his house he had me pull into the gas station. I thought he was getting gas, but he was getting more beer. :(
He explains it away like you just did about your husband. Maybe that's what it is for him, but I'm getting a real feeling of "you can't bullshit a bullshitter" here.
To be fair, I was never capable of working on anything serious when I was either drunk or high. He's always been able do do either or both. But that fucking Icehouse is the Devil's Brew that I was drinking by the truckload when I nearly destroyed my life. These aren't Lite beers. They're the American version of Mudders Milk.
I'm hoping it's just the stress. He does seem a lot quicker to anger than I remember him being. Road rage, and the like. After the middle of the day he must have enough in him to not be that way anymore, but he's certainly not a morning person. I probably told him early on before we got rolling that everything was going to be all right at least half a dozen times, which usually g
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Hey Six
About your friend ... fwiw I've been in some serious pain for almost 2 decades. I used to drink a half-bottle of wine BEFORE I did yard work; not because it helped with the pain, but to get me to the point where I didn't care about how much it was going to hurt, so I could just start. (Eventually I gave up trying to do yard work.) And then I looked after a child with chronic partial seizures and frequent nasty ones. If it was a one-glass-of-wine-day after I got home, it was a normal response to the stressful behaviors. If it was a two-glass-of-wine-day after I got home, a warning flag went up. If it was a three-glass-of-wine-day after I got home, FOR SURE the child was going to have a nasty seizure within the next 24 hours. So I can see how people drink due to pain or stress, even over a long time.
But I have a natural 'off' switch with alcohol - if I have say a half-bottle of wine (or equivalent) 2 or 3 days in a row, my stomach just kills me, and it takes a week or more to feel better. So I never get to the point of chronically drinking. IDK about your friend.
I have a relative who started drinking because of chronic pain, and they ended up a serious alcoholic.
Not to be mercenary about it, but how fast are the relative timetables going, in your opinion? The alcohol impairment of your friend v the time to the completion of his work? Do you think he's stable or quickly escalating?
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:I second that! I think the old place must have weighed on you heavily. But now things are way better!
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
It's a good thing BRENDA that your things finally came out of storage and you get to sort thru them. I'm still pleased beyond what I can express that you're out of that dark, dank, substandard hole that you were in, and in a place that has room, light, and functional utilities! Happy sorting!
Quote:Oh that sounds really enjoyable!
Originally posted by Brenda:
Oddly enough I do enjoy the sorting and even the shredding. I was absolutely giddy when I got a kitchen table and chairs.
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Just in general about paperwork ...
I've written extremely complicated technical procedures that involved multiple pieces of software, specifications (like NIST), multiple procedures (like NATTS/ PAMS/ ASTM), skills, requirements, and in-house instructions (for home-built policies and procedures like legal sample storage and document retention or 'how to calibrate model zzz freezer).
Because of that, imo, given a knowledgeable person or set of people to do the documenting, I'm a firm believer that it can all be reduced to independently-accessible (and editable), but procedurally-linked, flowchart steps.
If it can't, then, imo, there's something wrong with the foundation the paperwork is built on.
I just can't excuse non-functionality because ... ... 'it's complicated'. If it's not straightened out, it's because making it functional wasn't a priority.
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
I've been wanting to do this for years but just haven't been able to what with all the moving around and my stuff having to go into storage for a bit.
I do. It's good going through the clutter that my mom forgot about and seeing what happened around the time I was born and before.
Your brother is lucky to have you and your dad to do this stuff for him. Paperwork with ANY government agency is a pain in the butt. Doesn't matter what side of the line you are on.
My dad had a fight to get one of his pensions. My poor mom had to go on a letter writing campaign to get a copy of his birth certificate from Alberta, a letter from his oldest sister but the hospital he was born in burned down and so those records were gone. The school he attended would have been gone by the late 60s out there. Think she had to write one of his aunts as well. Good thing they still had his army discharge papers to help.
Good for you that you're doing it now.
Save the love letters. Throw away old bank statements.Quote:
Do Right, Be Right. :)
Gotta be done now.
Unfortunately no love letters between my folks.
Just my dad's birth certificate and my grandparents(my dad's parents} marriage license. Another small document showing how many horses my granddad was taking across the line to sell one time. Old but from my family's history point of view valuable.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by 1KIKI:Quote:I second that! I think the old place must have weighed on you heavily. But now things are way better!
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
It's a good thing BRENDA that your things finally came out of storage and you get to sort thru them. I'm still pleased beyond what I can express that you're out of that dark, dank, substandard hole that you were in, and in a place that has room, light, and functional utilities! Happy sorting!
It did weigh me down terribly Kiki. Definitely added to my depression. They are so much better.
Quote:Oh that sounds really enjoyable!
Originally posted by Brenda:
Oddly enough I do enjoy the sorting and even the shredding. I was absolutely giddy when I got a kitchen table and chairs.
I know it sounds silly and it was such a little thing (getting the table and chairs), but not being able to do anything for so long. It was nice. Now, I just have to get a couch.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:It doesn't sound silly to me in the least bit.
Originally posted by Brenda:
I know it sounds silly and it was such a little thing (getting the table and chairs), but not being able to do anything for so long. It was nice. Now, I just have to get a couch.
Well, it's time I toddled off.
Goodnight!
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by 1KIKI:
Hey Six
About your friend ... fwiw I've been in some serious pain for almost 2 decades. I used to drink a half-bottle of wine BEFORE I did yard work; not because it helped with the pain, but to get me to the point where I didn't care about how much it was going to hurt, so I could just start. (Eventually I gave up trying to do yard work.) And then I looked after a child with chronic partial seizures and frequent nasty ones. If it was a one-glass-of-wine-day after I got home, it was a normal response to the stressful behaviors. If it was a two-glass-of-wine-day after I got home, a warning flag went up. If it was a three-glass-of-wine-day after I got home, FOR SURE the child was going to have a nasty seizure within the next 24 hours. So I can see how people drink due to pain or stress, even over a long time.
I appreciate the empathy. Not being a wine drinker myself though, I'm going to venture to guess that though a half bottle of wine is nothing to sneeze at, especially if you're smaller than we are, we're not talking about the levels of self destructive behavior I definitely went through and those that I'm worried I'm witnessing my friend exhibit right now. I could be wrong though. I hope you didn't damage yourself or relationships with it, and that you're not still doing it today if you're worried about that.
Quote:
But I have a natural 'off' switch with alcohol - if I have say a half-bottle of wine (or equivalent) 2 or 3 days in a row, my stomach just kills me, and it takes a week or more to feel better. So I never get to the point of chronically drinking. IDK about your friend.
Oh, right. Forgive me. I read this late last night but since I had to get up to meet him again today I was tired and needed to get to bed instead of replying then. I'm glad that it never became a problem for you, and especially that you didn't "power through" the nausia.
I don't see what happens when I'm not there. He doesn't seem to be getting sick over it and looks healthy for his age. But when I was at my worst and going through two day drinking binges I might have thrown up 2 or 3 times and kept going.
Quote:
I have a relative who started drinking because of chronic pain, and they ended up a serious alcoholic.
Sorry to hear that. I can only imagine how that must have been having only been on the other side of it before. I'm still not jumping the gun here, but my level of concern is in the orange right now.
Quote:
Not to be mercenary about it, but how fast are the relative timetables going, in your opinion? The alcohol impairment of your friend v the time to the completion of his work? Do you think he's stable or quickly escalating?
I can't speak to the escalation. We haven't worked all that many days together, actually, since we just started in early august and missed last weekend due to the rain all weekend. He's only able to work around his full time job.
He's quick, and he's good at it. It helps that despite the drinking he seems to be keeping himself in relatively good shape compared to the fat sack of malnourished shit I withered into when I was at my worst.
But he's making dumb mistakes. He cut two fingers by pinching them in this terribly heavy extendable ladder he's got that I absolutely hate using since it's ridiculously heavy compared to both of mine. He's got some paint touch up work from late in the day for stuff that spilled that I would consider beyond what is reasonable. He was working on scaffolding right under an American flag and when he left to do something the flag blew at his paint bucket and it was ruined.
We're making good progress, but I'm seeing mistakes that I would consider inexcusable if we were on a legitimate job site and I was the foreman.
I'm just wondering when and if I should say anything about it. It's really not my place, espe
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
I've been wanting to do this for years but just haven't been able to what with all the moving around and my stuff having to go into storage for a bit.
I do. It's good going through the clutter that my mom forgot about and seeing what happened around the time I was born and before.
Your brother is lucky to have you and your dad to do this stuff for him. Paperwork with ANY government agency is a pain in the butt. Doesn't matter what side of the line you are on.
My dad had a fight to get one of his pensions. My poor mom had to go on a letter writing campaign to get a copy of his birth certificate from Alberta, a letter from his oldest sister but the hospital he was born in burned down and so those records were gone. The school he attended would have been gone by the late 60s out there. Think she had to write one of his aunts as well. Good thing they still had his army discharge papers to help.
Good for you that you're doing it now.
Save the love letters. Throw away old bank statements.Quote:
Do Right, Be Right. :)
Gotta be done now.
Unfortunately no love letters between my folks.
Well, sorry about the lack of love letters, I'm sure you would have loved to read them. But you've got the idea. :)
The love letters/bank statements was from a song that came out in the late 90's that for some reason really stuck with me. Now that I turned 40 today, it means even more than it did back when I was 20.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:It doesn't sound silly to me in the least bit.
Originally posted by 1KIKI:Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
I know it sounds silly and it was such a little thing (getting the table and chairs), but not being able to do anything for so long. It was nice. Now, I just have to get a couch.
Well, it's time I toddled off.
Goodnight!
Good because I did think that I was a little ridiculous.
Have a good day.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
I've been wanting to do this for years but just haven't been able to what with all the moving around and my stuff having to go into storage for a bit.
I do. It's good going through the clutter that my mom forgot about and seeing what happened around the time I was born and before.
Your brother is lucky to have you and your dad to do this stuff for him. Paperwork with ANY government agency is a pain in the butt. Doesn't matter what side of the line you are on.
My dad had a fight to get one of his pensions. My poor mom had to go on a letter writing campaign to get a copy of his birth certificate from Alberta, a letter from his oldest sister but the hospital he was born in burned down and so those records were gone. The school he attended would have been gone by the late 60s out there. Think she had to write one of his aunts as well. Good thing they still had his army discharge papers to help.
Good for you that you're doing it now.
Save the love letters. Throw away old bank statements.Quote:
Do Right, Be Right. :)
Gotta be done now.
Unfortunately no love letters between my folks.
Well, sorry about the lack of love letters, I'm sure you would have loved to read them. But you've got the idea. :)
The love letters/bank statements was from a song that came out in the late 90's that for some reason really stuck with me. Now that I turned 40 today, it means even more than it did back when I was 20.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
I would have loved to read something like that and I know that is something that my mom would have kept if my dad was inclined to write. When she went back east to work before they got married I know they talked on the phone a bit. Long distance phone calls were cheaper back then.
I know Jack.
I don't know that song. Didn't really hear any of the music from the 90s really. But the song does have a point.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Work today. Up and out.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Not to be mercenary about it, but how fast are the relative timetables going, in your opinion? The alcohol impairment of your friend v the time to the completion of his work? Do you think he's stable or quickly escalating? - KIKI
I can't speak to the escalation. We haven't worked all that many days together, actually, since we just started in early august and missed last weekend due to the rain all weekend. He's only able to work around his full time job.
He's quick, and he's good at it. It helps that despite the drinking he seems to be keeping himself in relatively good shape compared to the fat sack of malnourished shit I withered into when I was at my worst.
But he's making dumb mistakes. He cut two fingers by pinching them in this terribly heavy extendable ladder he's got that I absolutely hate using since it's ridiculously heavy compared to both of mine. He's got some paint touch up work from late in the day for stuff that spilled that I would consider beyond what is reasonable. He was working on scaffolding right under an American flag and when he left to do something the flag blew at his paint bucket and it was ruined.
We're making good progress, but I'm seeing mistakes that I would consider inexcusable if we were on a legitimate job site and I was the foreman.
I'm just wondering when and if I should say anything about it. It's really not my place, especially since I shut out all my friends back in the day since I was literally killing myself with the stuff. I don't know his fiancee well enough to talk to her about it, and even if I did I can't imagine that I'd ever do that to him. I really feel helpless about it right now. Maybe like you said I should just keep tabs on him after both of our main work is done and his life becomes a bit less stressful. I am pretty sure I wouldn't be able to even deal with the level of stress his overall situation has become.- SIX
Try to keep him from killing himself on the jobsite or the road, and stay mum until your porch is finished. THEN see how he behaves presuming the pressure is off. THEN you can say something.
Just OOC what kind of stress is he under? I gather that he has a full-time job and rental property (properties?) that need serious work to be brought up to code, plus a fiancee and marriage on the horizon. Does he have an ex? Child support? Does his fiancee have children from a previous relationship? Is he in debt? Is he in pain? Does he have a chronic medical condition? Any other sources of stress? In other words, is he living in a pressure-cooker right now?
I don't know what the most effective thing to say might be, tho. You don't want to drive him away, and it's unlikely that just having one talk or making a couple of comments will sink in. Maybe the most important thing to do right now is talk to him about HIS LIFE? Find solutions for the stressors that he's under?
I dunno. Maybe "talking things out" is a girl thing, but that's what I would do. It might open the door for further conversation about his drinking.
-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake
You idiots have been oppressing the entire sexual spectrum as long as you have existed. I can't wait for the day your kind is dead - WISHIMAY
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
I wish my boss would stop walking away from me as she is talking. Even with my hearing aides on I had to ask her to repeat herself to me twice because she and her husband did that. I told her that I've been having problems and once I even said please don't do that.
Gorram people.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
I know it sounds silly and it was such a little thing (getting the table and chairs), but not being able to do anything for so long. It was nice. Now, I just have to get a couch.
Quote:
Originally posted by 1KIKI:
It doesn't sound silly to me in the least bit.
Well, it's time I toddled off.
Goodnight!
Quote:I know how it is when there's something you need to do. It might not be the most pressing thing to do, or the most important, but still ... you need to do it. And something's keeping you from it. So it's on you mind a bit ... and on your mind a bit ... and on your mind a bit ... and on your mind a bit ... it's like a little itch you can't scratch. And then - oh blessed day! - you can finally get to it. I think there's a certain relief and satisfaction. That's what I think.
Originally posted by Brenda:
Good because I did think that I was a little ridiculous.
Have a good day.
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:Happens all the time at home. I've gotten to the point that I don't ask hubby to repeat himself ("I'm sorry sweetie, I didn't hear you. what did you say?") I simply don't respond. HE's the one who started talking, presumably he wants to be heard. Instead of me trotting after him, he has to head back in my direction if he wants me to respond.
Originally posted by Brenda:
I wish my boss would stop walking away from me as she is talking. Even with my hearing aides on I had to ask her to repeat herself to me twice because she and her husband did that. I told her that I've been having problems and once I even said please don't do that.
Gorram people.
-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake
You idiots have been oppressing the entire sexual spectrum as long as you have existed. I can't wait for the day your kind is dead - WISHIMAY
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by 1KIKI:Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
I know it sounds silly and it was such a little thing (getting the table and chairs), but not being able to do anything for so long. It was nice. Now, I just have to get a couch.
Quote:
Originally posted by 1KIKI:
It doesn't sound silly to me in the least bit.
Well, it's time I toddled off.
Goodnight!
Quote:I know how it is when there's something you need to do. It might not be the most pressing thing to do, or the most important, but still ... you need to do it. And something's keeping you from it. So it's on you mind a bit ... and on your mind a bit ... and on your mind a bit ... and on your mind a bit ... it's like a little itch you can't scratch. And then - oh blessed day! - you can finally get to it. I think there's a certain relief and satisfaction. That's what I think.
Originally posted by Brenda:
Good because I did think that I was a little ridiculous.
Have a good day.
That was it exactly! There was a relief and satisfaction when that happened.
Soooooo nice to have somewhere to toss keys, change and put my jacket on a chair because there is no one here but me.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:Quote:Happens all the time at home. I've gotten to the point that I don't ask hubby to repeat himself ("I'm sorry sweetie, I didn't hear you. what did you say?") I simply don't respond. HE's the one who started talking, presumably he wants to be heard. Instead of me trotting after him, he has to head back in my direction if he wants me to respond.
Originally posted by Brenda:
I wish my boss would stop walking away from me as she is talking. Even with my hearing aides on I had to ask her to repeat herself to me twice because she and her husband did that. I told her that I've been having problems and once I even said please don't do that.
Gorram people.
-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake
You idiots have been oppressing the entire sexual spectrum as long as you have existed. I can't wait for the day your kind is dead - WISHIMAY
I see your point Sig. But when it is a work question and I am depending on that answer about something that she wants made and if it isn't done to her specifications.... Well, you get the picture.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:Yes I do. What I do at home isn't possible for omeone at work. It's a rude, power-play kind of behavior on your boss' part. I'm trying to think of a clever way to make that stop without getting you in trouble, but so far I haven't thought of one ....
I wish my boss would stop walking away from me as she is talking. Even with my hearing aides on I had to ask her to repeat herself to me twice because she and her husband did that. I told her that I've been having problems and once I even said please don't do that.
Gorram people.= BRENDA
Happens all the time at home. I've gotten to the point that I don't ask hubby to repeat himself ("I'm sorry sweetie, I didn't hear you. what did you say?") I simply don't respond. HE's the one who started talking, presumably he wants to be heard. Instead of me trotting after him, he has to head back in my direction if he wants me to respond.- SIGNY
I see your point Sig. But when it is a work question and I am depending on that answer about something that she wants made and if it isn't done to her specifications.... Well, you get the picture.
-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake
You idiots have been oppressing the entire sexual spectrum as long as you have existed. I can't wait for the day your kind is dead - WISHIMAY
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:Quote:
Not to be mercenary about it, but how fast are the relative timetables going, in your opinion? The alcohol impairment of your friend v the time to the completion of his work? Do you think he's stable or quickly escalating? - KIKI
I can't speak to the escalation. We haven't worked all that many days together, actually, since we just started in early august and missed last weekend due to the rain all weekend. He's only able to work around his full time job.
He's quick, and he's good at it. It helps that despite the drinking he seems to be keeping himself in relatively good shape compared to the fat sack of malnourished shit I withered into when I was at my worst.
But he's making dumb mistakes. He cut two fingers by pinching them in this terribly heavy extendable ladder he's got that I absolutely hate using since it's ridiculously heavy compared to both of mine. He's got some paint touch up work from late in the day for stuff that spilled that I would consider beyond what is reasonable. He was working on scaffolding right under an American flag and when he left to do something the flag blew at his paint bucket and it was ruined.
We're making good progress, but I'm seeing mistakes that I would consider inexcusable if we were on a legitimate job site and I was the foreman.
I'm just wondering when and if I should say anything about it. It's really not my place, especially since I shut out all my friends back in the day since I was literally killing myself with the stuff. I don't know his fiancee well enough to talk to her about it, and even if I did I can't imagine that I'd ever do that to him. I really feel helpless about it right now. Maybe like you said I should just keep tabs on him after both of our main work is done and his life becomes a bit less stressful. I am pretty sure I wouldn't be able to even deal with the level of stress his overall situation has become.- SIX
Try to keep him from killing himself on the jobsite or the road, and stay mum until your porch is finished. THEN see how he behaves presuming the pressure is off. THEN you can say something.
Just OOC what kind of stress is he under? I gather that he has a full-time job and rental property (properties?) that need serious work to be brought up to code, plus a fiancee and marriage on the horizon. Does he have an ex? Child support? Does his fiancee have children from a previous relationship? Is he in debt? Is he in pain? Does he have a chronic medical condition? Any other sources of stress? In other words, is he living in a pressure-cooker right now?
I don't know what the most effective thing to say might be, tho. You don't want to drive him away, and it's unlikely that just having one talk or making a couple of comments will sink in. Maybe the most important thing to do right now is talk to him about HIS LIFE? Find solutions for the stressors that he's under?
I dunno. Maybe "talking things out" is a girl thing, but that's what I would do. It might open the door for further conversation about his drinking.
-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake
You idiots have been oppressing the entire sexual spectrum as long as you have existed. I can't wait for the day your kind is dead - WISHIMAY
That's good advice. I think it's all I can really do at this point until we get our collective situations more under control.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
About that three boxes of crystal I was planning on getting rid of...
Um...
I'm going to have to do some research on it and figure out just exactly what I have in my hands
here. If it's "St. Louis Crystal", which it very likely is considering the source, that's
probably not the type of thing you want to give away to Goodwill. There are a lot of
knockoffs out there that don't go for much even if they have legit gold trim, but even if
it doesn't seem to retain its retail value, the SLC variety seems to go for quite a bit used
on ebay.
Example: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Old-Saint-Louis-1936-Or-Later-Thistle-Test-Ba
ccarat/293176424743?_trkparms=aid%3D333200%26algo%3DCOMP.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20171012094517%26meid%3Df0301832fca940a6a30486b854d65275%26pid%3D100008%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D8%26sd%3D193058205059%26itm%3D293176424743%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675&_trksid=p2047675.c100008.m2219
If they actually sell this one piece for over $400, I've got 3 boxes of those things.
And I'm pretty sure the full sets I was seeing on Killjoys and whatever movie I'd just
recently seen them in were not the real deal now.
[sorry for the weird line breaks I had to use here. The ebay link was screwing up the
post, at least on my end]
Do Right, Be Right. :)
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Or how about a set of 6 for $1,599?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/6-ST-LOUIS-Crystal-Goblets-THISTLE-PATTERN-w-
Gold-Overlay-7-5-H-MINT/333199735956?hash=item4d94407c94:g:khYAAOSw76hc3lkM:sc:USPSPriority!46319!US!-1
Gaudy AF. Who in their right mind would pay that much money for something so ugly?
Do Right, Be Right. :)
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
So yesterday...
Yesterday, yesterday, yesterday...
Called my friend up to let him know I was on my way. I could tell he got up right at the same time and was still shaking out the cobwebs. I get to his house and he says, "you're going to be really pissed". Uh oh.
His fiancee reminded him they had a wedding to be at that they needed to start getting ready for at 1:00PM. Since I don't have a cell phone, he wasn't able to call me to tell me that until I drove my happy ass out there and paid my first toll.
Sweet.
I just told him "It is what it is".
You could see the guilt on his face about it. Especially since it was my birthday and we were talking about going out after work the day before.
I wasn't mad though. The only thing I was mad about was that I haven't yet gotten at least some measurements for the wood that we needed, because he said maybe we could go pick up the lumber we needed for my job with the time he still had. But now I've got him letting me know he's good for transport, so I won't have to rent a truck to do it myself when we get it. He's also (supposed to) come over to my place after work one night this week so we can take a second look at the problem together and get measurements and a list of things we need... maybe even pick the stuff up that night.
I think my mileage for getting stuff done on my end after the wedding thing happened greatly outweighs what it would have been if we worked a second day in a row until sundown.
We talked a lot about the projects I need done before I can start working on the smaller things in the house that I can do myself. Specifically the back and front porch issues.
While we were at it, it somehow turned into a de-hoarding of his own garage. We spent a few hours clearing about 1/8 of the crap he had in is garage out.
I'd say things like "I don't want to be annoying here, but do you want to hear my opinion about what I'd get rid of right now?" Then I'd point out 5 or six things and he'd get rid of one of them after mulling the choices all over. I'd say that I can't wait until he comes over next time and sees how empty my house is and how after I get rid of a few more things in the garage I'll be able to get to anything I'm looking for without having to move something out of the way to get to it. I let him know about how throwing a lot of this stuff out is essentially checking off a lot of things on your mental to-do list that you were never going to get to. It's all about encouraging them, and planting seeds in their minds about how much better off they'll be without the clutter that is getting in their way.
I told him about how I have 7 flashlights now, and when I'm done using them I put them back where they belong. I told him about the 3 nail clippers, and how I could never find any of this shit when I needed it. I told him if he can manage to purge the shit that he really doesn't need and organizes the rest, he won't be flipping out at 10:00AM on a weekend when he can't find a 5-in-1 tool anymore like he had the day before.
I don't know how long it's been since they could park a car in that tiny, just barely 2 car garage with no depth to it, but they could manage to just squeeze one of them in there now. He's also got half of his work bench cleared off, which was also stacked 2 feet high with shit like mine was.
I was really bummed that I couldn't get him to commit to trashing the old projection screen TV, a tabletop Foosball table with a broken piece he picked out of the trash years ago, or a half busted electric scooter that I can't even imagine what he'd use it for at 40 years old even if he was able to fix it. His kid is too old for it.
Baby steps.
Maybe he'll be inspired for round two after he sees my house/garage.
So when I got home, before even opening my front door to my house, I had spent 1/2 hour in my car and g
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:Yes I do. What I do at home isn't possible for omeone at work. It's a rude, power-play kind of behavior on your boss' part. I'm trying to think of a clever way to make that stop without getting you in trouble, but so far I haven't thought of one ....
Originally posted by SIGNYM:Quote:
I wish my boss would stop walking away from me as she is talking. Even with my hearing aides on I had to ask her to repeat herself to me twice because she and her husband did that. I told her that I've been having problems and once I even said please don't do that.
Gorram people.= BRENDA
Happens all the time at home. I've gotten to the point that I don't ask hubby to repeat himself ("I'm sorry sweetie, I didn't hear you. what did you say?") I simply don't respond. HE's the one who started talking, presumably he wants to be heard. Instead of me trotting after him, he has to head back in my direction if he wants me to respond.- SIGNY
I see your point Sig. But when it is a work question and I am depending on that answer about something that she wants made and if it isn't done to her specifications.... Well, you get the picture.
-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake
You idiots have been oppressing the entire sexual spectrum as long as you have existed. I can't wait for the day your kind is dead - WISHIMAY
I don't think there is a solution. I told her what the results for my left ear look like as I was taking off my hearing aides. Didn't really need them anymore as I was finished for the day. Said the right is just starting to go a little bit but that is just Father Time catching up to me. Course I also have to remind her that I am hypoglycemic and need to stop after a couple of hours of hard work and sit and eat. Her comment, "You are a good example. I should do that." Which is when I mentioned my condition. Being a doc she asked about diabetes. I said, "No, I am still walking that fine line between the two and so far I am on the right side of it. I also have never passed out because I have let my blood sugar get too low when I am out. "
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Lazy Sunday here.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Damn...
Nope. I'm not sitting on a gold mine here with that crystal.
Looks like they got the knockoffs. A set of 5 that look identical to the ones I've got in the boxes are going on ebay for $75.00 plus $10.00 shipping. Probably still worth a few hundred bucks, maybe even over $500 or $1,000 in total if I took the time to list them all on ebay and sell them. I don't have time for that shit. Somebody at Goodwill is going to have a lucky day.
REAL ONES:
VS. THE FAKE ONES I'VE GOT:
Pretty sure I can still say that I've got the ones that were on Killjoys. I doubt they'd have the production budget to waste money on the real McCoy when 99,999 out of 100,000 people wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Yep. There it is:
I'm the proud owner of 3 boxes of "Rosedale" knockoff crap crystal that was featured in Season 2, Episode 5 "Meet the Parents" of Killjoys.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
I'm starting to think that it's possible that all but two of the glasses I had were knockoffs of knockoffs.
I'm not sure how thin the gold flake is on the pricey ones, but I'm pretty sure you can't see through gold. Maybe at a single micron you can, so if there's gold on there it's like gold dust.
Went through them and there were actually two main varieties, then two different ones that were obviously much higher quality that had a much clearer musical "ping" to them and thick "gold" bands on them. I'm half tempted to say that one of the two main sets weren't even crystal and were straight up glass with gold colored aluminum tape on the rims.
Two and 3/4 more boxes out of my life for good once I get that crap to Goodwill.
The rest of the box had what I was looking for. Some genuine Wedgewood pieces that had sentimental value to me and were the only things of my grandmothers that I have today.
Not the exact pieces I have, but if you've ever seen anything like these then the were likely Wedgewoods:
I've got the two Christmas boxes to go through now. I'm going to get rid of anything in there that wasn't ornaments that have my name and year on them, and maybe a few that don't but I remember my Mom buying when we were kids. The rest of them are going to Goodwill too.
Managed to pack up three new boxes finally that made me re-think the other stuff I'm purging now. This will bring me up to a nice and even 20 boxes total when I combine the Wedgewoods with the ornaments that I'm keeping.
I think after that, there will only be two more boxes being packed that isn't artwork, guitars, clothes, toiletries, kitchen stuff, electronics currently in use and all of my tools that will eventually come with me out in the garage. (Jesus Christ I still have a lot of stuff, don't I?)
Still some more to go through in the house, but for the most part I think it's all getting thrown out except for the two boxes I anticipate adding.
My friend is supposed to be coming over Thursday after work so we can get our measurements and pick up lumber to start the job.
Hopefully all I have left by then is deciding what to do with the antique bedroom set I'm not keeping as well as one of the two twin bed frames in the garage. At that point, I should have full access to everything in my garage as well. :)
Do Right, Be Right. :)
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
At this end ... hubby has filled the stucco holes with that kind of stucco "mesh" that keeps it in place. (I got stuff better than the old chicken wire.) I'm no longer worried about the dog worming her way under the house ... or any other critter for that matter (mouse, rat, 'possum, or raccoon).
DD and I had our teeth cleaned today, and managed to tape and paint the green stripe. I'm doing the edging on the yellow stripe. We won't be done by tomorrow evening but we'll have three of four stripes painted, I think.
SIX, you have experience painting. Have you ever used painter's tape? We're using the stuff from 3M that promises not to let paint "bleed" under the tape edge, and I've got to say that (unlike other tapes) this does a nice job leaving a crisp line when the tape is peeled off. But the tape is SO adhesive it's actually pulled paint off the wall. I know youre not supposed to leave i on more than 24 hours, so we've been careful not to tape unless we can paint/peel tape within that time period.
Any advice?
*****
Nice to know that you're starting on your property! Does that mean that your friend's work is done? Has he passed inspection? Fingers crossed!
Congrats on the AWESOME job decluttering! We're not quite there yet; still doing repairs and such. But I look forward to the say when we too will start tossing en masse!!!
-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake
You idiots have been oppressing the entire sexual spectrum as long as you have existed. I can't wait for the day your kind is dead - WISHIMAYnk
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Ask This Old House has a video on painters tape. It apparently comes in different adhesions! Who knew?
Steps: 1. Only use painter’s tape if it’s really needed. If you plan to paint the whole room, it may not be necessary. Start with the ceiling and work your way down. With a careful hand, you can cleanly paint an entire room without risking peeling any of the paint off with tape.
2. Don’t use masking tape in place of painter’s tape. It has a high adhesion, which can peel off or chip some of the surface being protected.
3. Read the labels on the tape to determine which one will work best for your project based on the following guidelines:
a. Use very high adhesion tape for exterior projects
b. Use medium adhesion tape for interior projects that will require a longer period of time to complete.
c. Use light adhesion for interior projects with delicate surfaces (ex: wallpaper) or that will only need to be up for a day or two. Light adhesion tape is least likely to damage the surface underneath, so aim to use that kind as much as possible.
4. The different colors of painter’s tape only indicate which manufacturer they belong to and don’t necessarily have different purposes.
5. To apply the tape, use long sections of tape at a time, at least 18”. Press hard against the edge being protected to ensure no paint can slip underneath the tape, but don’t press all the tape down on the surface if you don’t have to.
6. When painting, paint just as carefully as you would if there were no tape at all. The tape is really just meant to act as extra insurance.
7. As soon as the paint is dry, remove the tape. Peel off one corner and pull the tape away from the wall at roughly a 45 degree angle to prevent damage to the surface.
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Sigh. I'm jealous of you guys, making so much progress.
I guess I'll just have to keep on keeping on. (Though that includes keeping an eye out on the cat who hasn't pooped in a while, has a low appetites, and has thrown up the small amount of soft food I gave him, immediately after eating- I need to make sure he doesn't need an emergency trip to the vet ... and getting my phone fixed, whose screen just died (I think it's the power connection).)
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
SIX, you have experience painting. Have you ever used painter's tape? We're using the stuff from 3M that promises not to let paint "bleed" under the tape edge, and I've got to say that (unlike other tapes) this does a nice job leaving a crisp line when the tape is peeled off. But the tape is SO adhesive it's actually pulled paint off the wall. I know youre not supposed to leave i on more than 24 hours, so we've been careful not to tape unless we can paint/peel tape within that time period.
Any advice?
3M has always worked good for me. It's hard to explain exactly how "hard" I put on the tape, but unlike how I force the back of my pointer fingernail with my thumb into tape when putting packing tape on boxes or aluminum tape on hard drive magnets who's coating broke when removing them, easy does it when putting painter's tape on a surface. I usually use my thumb to put a smooth taught line on it, but not a lot of pressure. You don't want paint getting underneath the tape or what's the point, right?
That being said, I usually remove the tape immediately after I'm done painting whatever surface I'm doing. If I'm painting a wall, I'm cutting in with the paintbrush in the corners first, then I'm hitting the inside with the rollers. If I'm putting on more than one coat, I make sure I have time in a single day to let the first coat dry and put on a second one then immediately remove the tape after that. I don't like putting on the second coat after I go to sleep for the night because you're in danger of ripping off more than you want to when you finally get around to pulling the tape then.
I'm assuming that you were having problems with the paint that you just laid down ripping off with the paint, and not whatever you were covering? At least in my experience, that's usually the case if I need to do touchups. If you pull that tape off as soon as you can after you're done painting that should eliminate that problem.
But if you're pulling up stuff that was under the tape that you put down, you're putting it on too hard. In that case, Kiki's video would probably be a good place to start to find a tape with less adhesive power, but at the same time, I don't have that problem with 3M tape, so it's really just a learning process to know that you do it right the second time.
Good luck
Quote:
Nice to know that you're starting on your property! Does that mean that your friend's work is done? Has he passed inspection? Fingers crossed!
I'll believe it when I see it, but yeah, it sounds like it should start soon. My friend's work is hardly done. There's a TON more to do over there. We did pretty much do everything outside that needs to be done except for the outside of the garage, but there was a lot of damage done to the inside of the house from leaks.
I told him that this is because he has hoarders living in the house. Being a former hoarder myself, I know the mindset. It's got to be extremely tough for them now that they're in the position where somebody outside has to see what they live like. I'm sure they're mortified. They were happily sending their full rent on time every month just to keep him from going inside. It wasn't until the city contacted him because how bad the property looked on the outside and neighbors were complaining that he saw the hoard and the fact that they were letting the ceilings start to cave in without complaining to him about any of it. The house stinks.
But our main focus with him is to get the outside watertight, which I believe were right on the cusp of doing. And second to that is to continue to get good visits from the inspectors. They're working with him, but it needs to look as though there is continual progress being made. Quite a few things were checked off of his list, but they're coming back in a month.
Fortu
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Beautiful weather for the end of August into the beginning of September.
Flipside, I probably did something dumb today. Lightbulb blew out in the kitchen overnight. Well, I fixed it myself today. I am okay but it could have been bad. It's just that I am so used to doing things myself.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Still cleaning earrings. Just redid 5 pairs as when I first did them I realized that I didn't do a good job. One is a favourite pair of silver musical notes.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Do you mean it blew out and shattered?
If you did, how did you get it out?
That recently happened to me, and I was able to find a pair of needle nosed pliers with a rubber coating on the handles to get it out. I still should have turned the electric off before doing the deed, but I've been shocked by 110v before. No big deal. You guys use 110 up on Canada, right? Not risking your life everyday with 220v like they do in Europe?
In the future, if you've got some potatoes laying around, they're good for getting the bulb out. I didn't have any though.
Nice job on the work, btw Brenda and Sigs. Nice to hear that everyone is making progress to their goals.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by 1KIKI:
Sigh. I'm jealous of you guys, making so much progress.
I guess I'll just have to keep on keeping on. (Though that includes keeping an eye out on the cat who hasn't pooped in a while, has a low appetites, and has thrown up the small amount of soft food I gave him, immediately after eating- I need to make sure he doesn't need an emergency trip to the vet ... and getting my phone fixed, whose screen just died (I think it's the power connection).)
Aaaaah... You'll get there too.
I know you're retired and not working too, but the difference is that I'm not retirement age and I should be working full time and not have the free time to do everything that I'm doing right now.
Just don't beat yourself too much about the days that you don't get anything accomplished. I've had plenty of those since I was laid off. (It's been 2 months and 2 days now).
You just got to bounce back and get to it.
If you're like me, you're going to find that you start having really good days where you're on a roll and you start to enjoy it. I hope you can feel that, because once you get there it doesn't even feel like work anymore.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Hey Jack
I appreciate the kind words. I am working 6 hours a day come hell or high water ... fortunately I have a 'hot weather' list of computer and desk work and a 'cooler weather' list of physical work. (It'll be months I think before I get to the 'cooler weather' stuff. It's been ranging 92 - 102 the last couple of months and I expect it'll be ranging that through October.)
It's just that things are piling up and disasters are happening faster than I can manage. I mentioned I had screen doors put in and an exterminator come to kill off a gopher.
But when I went to check to make sure there were no more gopher hills, I found that a critter (not a gopher, probably a raccoon) had literally ripped the siding off my house to get under the house. That was last Thursday. OK - too busy to get to it, put that on hold.
Then a couple of days ago I went to the pharmacy get my scrips that I have to have, and was told THE most important one was 'unavailable' - for months. Not until December. Except for a couple of mfgs where they thought they could try to purchase some August 30th, or another mfg where they could try to purchase some September 16. But it was all very iffy. They'd put in an order and see ... WTF??? After some frantic calls around and going back to the pharmacy they said that it's only the combo pill that's 'unavailable', they could call my doctor to split the scrips into 2. So I'm waiting till the 30th, if that doesn't work out I'm going to ask them to call and split the scrips because I can't, CAN'T, be without and I'm running low.
Then literally last night my phone broke, and it would be no problem to get a new one and have the info transfered over, except I'm not the person who has control of the contract, so I have to work out how to do that. (The last couple of times I needed a new phone, the SIM card from the old one fit in the new one, so I batted my baby blues and they sold me a new, unregistered phone to put my old SIM card in on the QT. But I can't do that now since the SIM card format is different.)
On top of that my cat has been really iffy. He hides illness well, and I have to keep up on whether or not he needs an emergency trip to the vet. (When he was about a year I noticed his appetite was off for a few days, and when I finally checked on how heavy he was hefting, he was skin and bones. He goes downhill quickly.) It sounds silly but I have to hand feed him and see if he's keeping it down.
And I have a crap-ton of important things to do paperwork-wise.
What really stymies me are the problems where I have to do that before I do this ... but I can't do that.
I feel like I'm trying to run in quicksand.
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by 1kiki:
Hey Jack
I appreciate the kind words. I am working 6 hours a day come hell or high water ... fortunately I have a 'hot weather' list of computer and desk work and a 'cooler weather' list of physical work. (It'll be months I think before I get to the 'cooler weather' stuff. It's been ranging 92 - 102 the last couple of months and I expect it'll be ranging that through October.)
Wow... all the way through October! I feel for you. Did you get your A/C situation fixed? Without A/C that blower saved my summer.
Quote:
It's just that things are piling up and disasters are happening faster than I can manage. I mentioned I had screen doors put in and an exterminator come to kill off a gopher.
But when I went to check to make sure there were no more gopher hills, I found that a critter (not a gopher, probably a raccoon) had literally ripped the siding off my house to get under the house. That was last Thursday. OK - too busy to get to it, put that on hold.
Then a couple of days ago I went to the pharmacy get my scrips that I have to have, and was told THE most important one was 'unavailable' - for months. Not until December. Except for a couple of mfgs where they thought they could try to purchase some August 30th, or another mfg where they could try to purchase some September 16. But it was all very iffy. They'd put in an order and see ... WTF??? After some frantic calls around and going back to the pharmacy they said that it's only the combo pill that's 'unavailable', they could call my doctor to split the scrips into 2. So I'm waiting till the 30th, if that doesn't work out I'm going to ask them to call and split the scrips because I can't, CAN'T, be without and I'm running low.
Then literally last night my phone broke, and it would be no problem to get a new one and have the info transfered over, except I'm not the person who has control of the contract, so I have to work out how to do that. (The last couple of times I needed a new phone, the SIM card from the old one fit in the new one, so I batted my baby blues and they sold me a new, unregistered phone to put my old SIM card in on the QT. But I can't do that now since the SIM card format is different.)
On top of that my cat has been really iffy. He hides illness well, and I have to keep up on whether or not he needs an emergency trip to the vet. (When he was about a year I noticed his appetite was off for a few days, and when I finally checked on how heavy he was hefting, he was skin and bones. He goes downhill quickly.) It sounds silly but I have to hand feed him and see if he's keeping it down.
That's quite a list. :(
You're going to get through it though.
Not to instigate a pissing contest, but to show solidarity here, I've still got quite a few of the issues that I had at the beginning of summer that I'm either dealing with or haven't even started dealing with yet.
Hrmmmm... let's start with what I have fixed.
1. Racoon is out, and no more are coming back in.
2. The fixes from the piece of shit car I did last summer are thankfully keeping it hobbling along, but I still refuse to drive it further than about 35 miles just in case.
3. Most of my hoard is gone from the house and garage and I'm just trying to wrap the rest of it up and organize everything.
Next, the things I'm dealing with...
1. Looking for a job, dealing with the unemployment office. (Which seems to be extraordinarily helpful compared to Illinois. Something I didn't take notice of last time when I drank my way through it).
2. Finishing cleaning the hoard out.
3. Helping my friend deal with his major issues so I can get help with mine.
4. Getting my yard back under control.
5. My never-ending battle with the ants. (At least they're out of the house, even if they're still tearing the patio apart). Moles are a problem here too and seem to be tag-team
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Hey Jack - first off CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR HOARD !!! That is a major, major accomplishment, and maybe you can even see me smiling for you all the way out here !!!
Anyway, I figured out how to get so many hours worked in a day, and that was to recognize I don't have the strength, energy, or stamina I used to. So I limit what I try to do physically under bad conditions. You can only do what you can do ...
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for sharing your list! It's not just me. THAT'S a RELIEF!!
Quote:HA HA !! How MANY lists do you want to see?
Hope you're making a to-do list. It's the only way I keep my sanity.
Quote:My nightmare dreams about my house mostly have to do with rain (which is weird b/c we hardly get rain here) and it's raining, and the entire drywall ceiling in every room starts bowing down with little streams of water running down off the low spots ... and then I look up and I see the underside of the attic roof (somehow) with rain just pouring in ... why that is my PARTICULAR nightmare idk ... but I really hear you on that!
If I'm not having dreams of my house falling down ...
Thanks Jack.
Quote:
Keep your head up.
You too.
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Hey KIKI, don't forget, we're working in air conditioned space. I set the A/C in the zone where we're working to 78F, not terribly cool I know, but I'll bet it's a full 22 degrees (OR MORE!) cooler than what you're experiencing. Do you know what I'd be doing at 100F?
Nothing!!!
We had to go out for our teeth cleaning, and just walking to and from the car was exhausting! I think you can only realistically expect to get anything done beginning in October.
Altho I have to say, when I DO have to work outdoors in the heat I find it refreshing to wet my shirt down.
*****
Did a little something different for dinner today, did "southern style" ... collardgreens and bacon/onion (Dear Daughter had green beans bc of her food sensitivities), roast yam, and oven "fried" chicken, which I made from a modified ATK recipe. yum yum!
-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake
You idiots have been oppressing the entire sexual spectrum as long as you have existed. I can't wait for the day your kind is dead - WISHIMAY
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Do you mean it blew out and shattered?
If you did, how did you get it out?
That recently happened to me, and I was able to find a pair of needle nosed pliers with a rubber coating on the handles to get it out. I still should have turned the electric off before doing the deed, but I've been shocked by 110v before. No big deal. You guys use 110 up on Canada, right? Not risking your life everyday with 220v like they do in Europe?
In the future, if you've got some potatoes laying around, they're good for getting the bulb out. I didn't have any though.
Nice job on the work, btw Brenda and Sigs. Nice to hear that everyone is making progress to their goals.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
Sorry, I meant it just the bulb just died. And I stood on a chair almost on tip-toes to change it. Should have called the manager to do it. But sometimes I am just too stubborn for my own good.
Thanks. Still got more to go through and still more shredding to get at. And I will.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Signy
Does THAT sound good!
I also like mixed greens (collard, turnip, mustard, kale) w/ bacon and onion, polenta (organic, pre-made from TJs) instead of grits or corn muffins, and slow-roasted pork shoulder. Some time I'm going to get tired of the plain pork shoulder and make it bbq or pulled pork. But now is not yet the time!
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by 1kiki:
Hey Jack - first off CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR HOARD !!! That is a major, major accomplishment, and maybe you can even see me smiling for you all the way out here !!!
Thanks.
It feels amazing. Then to be able to go back into things I've already done and get rid of more? I'm infected with the purge.
I really had no idea how good it is to get it all out. I've got 8 years in this house now, and a fairly good idea of what I use on a regular basis, what I use seldomly but still holds value, and what I never use at all. I have no idea why I furnished every room in this huge house when it was just me here. I have a feeling once I start going through my clothes I'm going to wonder why I still have some from 10 and 20 years ago that I never wear and I've got enough to fill two bedroom sets and two closets when I regularly only wear about 5 pairs of jeans and a dozen or so tops.
Quote:
Anyway, I figured out how to get so many hours worked in a day, and that was to recognize I don't have the strength, energy, or stamina I used to. So I limit what I try to do physically under bad conditions. You can only do what you can do ...
That's good to figure out. I don't have the same limitations, but I've got my own. I would joke with people at work toward the end there who only saw "beast mode" Jack that I'm the laziest mofo they've ever known. I do waste a lot of days, and I admire people who live busy lifestyles and never seem to just relax. I honestly don't believe I could have ever gotten rid of this hoard if I was working full time. As it is now, even on the days that I do a ton of work, it usually takes me about a half pot of coffee and a good deal of time putzing around here and other places online, and sometimes a few good hours after I wake up before I even begin. That gets me in trouble sometimes because when I really get on a roll it's not uncommon for me to be up until 4 or 5AM working on stuff and then the next day is all messed up too.
Quote:
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for sharing your list! It's not just me. THAT'S a RELIEF!!
You're welcome. That was my intention. I know most if not all of that I've talked about here before over the last 6 months or more, but I thought it might make you feel better if I was to condense everything I could remember into a list to show you that you're not the only person that luck has taken a bad turn on of late.
Quote:
Hope you're making a to-do list. It's the only way I keep my sanity.
Quote:
HA HA !! How MANY lists do you want to see?
However many you want to make. That's what the support group here is for, right?
I find it therapeutic to list it all out myself. Even though that list looks daunting several months later, a lot of that is reasonably quick fixes compared to what I've already gotten done. Let's just say that most of that stuff isn't going to take the 3 months it's taken to dehoard the house. Once we get that porch situation handled, I'd say half of the remaining list should only take a few days to get done.
Making lists is such a great practice. But honestly, I haven't been doing my own to-do list yet other than this little journal of sorts I've been writing in this thread. There has just been SOOOOOOOO much to do that I haven't really needed to, and since I knew that so much of it is reliant on having that porch fixed first I didn't want to really worry about a lot of it until I could do something about it.
I figure once we get that porch done I'll make a proper to-do list for myself.
(Oh, BTW... I should probably add installing that blower fan and making what would have otherwise been a pretty miserable summer for me much more agreeable to the work that needed to be done)
Quote:
If I'm not having dreams of my house falling down ...
Quote:
My nightmare dreams about
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:Huh, that sounds good! I'll try it next time. I make a good ... no, according to the family GREAT "bbq" pork, so between the ketchup (red) and the greens (green) I'll have the "colors" covered (I try to do a greenish veggie and a not greenish veggie every meal, plus a "eat all you want and it won't make you fat" side ... maybe cauliflower would fill the bill).
Originally posted by 1kiki:
Signy
Does THAT sound good!
I also like mixed greens (collard, turnip, mustard, kale) w/ bacon and onion, polenta (organic, pre-made from TJs) instead of grits or corn muffins, and slow-roasted pork shoulder. Some time I'm going to get tired of the plain pork shoulder and make it bbq or pulled pork. But now is not yet the time!
-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake
You idiots have been oppressing the entire sexual spectrum as long as you have existed. I can't wait for the day your kind is dead - WISHIMAY
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
OMG, lists ... I have lists of lists of "things to do". MY personal home-related nightmare is about the framing coming apart. Must be from the townhouse that we used to live in that was real "flexible" ... If we slammed the front door the front window would shake. Well, I've poked my head up into the attic crawl-space of THIS house, and I'm none to thrilled about what I see up there, either.
So I have a "XXX's random list of things to do" where I jot down some of the things that I see that I'm likely to forget, but ... as I have said to hubby ... everywhere I look I see a DOZEN things to do, and I mean that literally.
Right now I'm working on several tracks:
Health for myself and family
Dr appointments,
Eye exams,
Surgery for dear daughter,
Formal therapy for dear daughter
Ending my never-ending sinus problem (have S aureus in my sinuses again, but will tackle it with oral antibiotic and specially-compounded antibiotic rinse solution)
House
Finish up after the consequences of the renovation (doorway moving and window replacment and complete replacement of all waste pipes) means finishing painting, clean up bathroom and get dear daughter moved back into her bedroom, stuccoing the holes that the plumbers left etc
Fix the fascia behind the gutters and either remove them or replace them with good stuff ... SIX, don't get the cheap Homx Depox plastic gutters, they sag, they leak, the seams trap leaves and debris and then they overflow ... sometimes towards the fascia side where they trap water and rot the wood. :-(
Declutter (given dear daughter's hoarding tendencies this is going to be an item-by-item struggle)
Renovate our laundry area and all four bathrooms. (Originally we were going to leave one of them alone, but dear daughter's compulsive picking impelled her to peel paint from the walls, door, and cabinetry in a random pattern. Plus the pumbing under the sink needs to be replaced and given the custom-sized sink and cabinet, plus the discovery of lead paint on the cabinet we'll just go with replacement)
Complete landscaping front yard and revise irrigation system all the way around.
Financial/legal
Get our family trust and wills updated, get a special needs trust written, limited conservatorship, durable power of atty between hubby and myself, also medical proxy and ... oh, whatever that thing is called that the hospital asks you about whenever you go in for a procedure
Xfer a credit union account from one FCU to another one closer to home. (They have been bouncing me back and forth, one doesn't work with "shared" institutions and the other one is giving me a hard time about wire xfers)
Get my Medicare application on-track
Get my Medigap insurance application started
Close out/ consolidate some of our accounts so they're easier to keep track of
Disaster-prep
Finish preparing for The Big One. It's coming. I know it is, I just don't know when.
Plus a few things I don't want to get into online.
I feel like a dog in a forest of fire-hydrants! But right now, my IMMEDIATE goal is completing the painting in dear daughter's room to her specifications so she and her major furniture can be moved back. (her hoard is going to be gone over, item by item)
Yep! Well, given all that.. time to get to work!
-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake
You idiots have been oppressing the entire sexual spectrum as long as you have existed. I can't wait for the day your kind is dead - WISHIMAY
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:I'm glad it's just that!
have S aureus in my sinuses again, but will tackle it with oral antibiotic and specially-compounded antibiotic rinse solution
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
When it comes to lists - I kinda combine you two. Like Signy, everywhere I look I see many, many things to do. At the moment I'm not working off of any lists (except trying to keep up with the disasters like my meds and my phone and the critters / siding, as they come up). Because if I get bored with one thing I can always shift to another without having to even think at all. Every bit of stuff I do is all good.
But then ... my memory ... oy vey ...
When I think of something and it's especially vital and I can't get to it right away ... I write it down. I *have* to. Otherwise, I forget. So I have lists. And lists. And lists. AAAAaaaaaaand lists! FORTUNATELY they're all in one appointment book. Yeah, they're disorganized. And I have to thumb through the book to find them. But they're there. And I know where they are. And that's what I need.
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Well it seems that we can all make each other feel better by posting all of the shit we're collectively dealing with.
That's a joke, but it's also serious too. Drinking issue aside with my friend, I look at all the stuff he has on his plate on top of his full time job and it's a wonder he can even function at all. Seeing the struggles of others and empathizing with them puts your own situation into perspective. Well... at least I think it does.
Yeah Sigs. Thanks for the tip on the gutters. I already have a place I'm going to get them from that will roll out the exact lenghts I need in full lengths so there are no breaks to seal. On top of that, it's much higher quality construction, much wider gutters and it's cheaper to boot.
I'm not sure if that's the same all over the country, but I'd recommend anybody that is going to DIY gutters to price it out first at a legit place vs the hardware stores. I'm guessing the only reason that Menards and the other big box stores make any money off of the shit gutters that they push on people is because most people would just go into the job assuming that it would be cheaper that way and they end up screwing themselves 3 different ways.
Got another carload over to Goodwill today and put a cooler I haven't used in 10 years out on the street.
Going to centralize all of my clothes and linens in one room and start going through them, washing whatever needs to be washed, bagging whatever I'm not keeping and prepping for what is hopefully one of my last Goodwill drop off trips in my life.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Managed to get grocery shopping done, vacuuming and paper recycling done today.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Beautiful sunny day here.
And I am off to the chiropractor.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
So... didn't do the clothes/linens thing last night. I decided to do something else that was nagging at me and I wasn't even sure if I was going to do it.
I tore up the carpet in the furthest room away from the stairwell into the attic that was finished for some reason probably decades before I bought the house. With that overhang issue and my front roof, I'd noticed this spring that some of the plywood floor under the carpet had popped up in places which has been a huge cause of concern for me. Although this room (that doesn't need to be carpeted) doesn't have carpet down anymore, I'm glad that I did this to ease my mind. It's no big deal. It's not the nightmare situation I was imagining it to possibly be. There are two layers of plywood flooring. What's happening is a much smaller shift than I had imagined, and these floors were put down in the good 'ole days with straight up hammers and nails instead of screwed in. The slight shift that I will realign when I jack up the overhang and get it back to level just caused the edges of the 2nd layer of plywood to pop up about 1/4" under the carpet.
Sigh... Glad to have figured that out. One less potential catastrophe to give me house crumbling nightmares.
Worked with the state on some online resume action stuff. Things I know I could have done at home, but sometimes it's good to make appointments and do things like this outside of your own home where a million and one things can distract you from the task at hand. Probably did more on that front in 3 hours today than I would have done in months at home if left to my own devices.
SOMEBODY TOOK THE EXERCISE MACHINE FINALLY!!!!!
Idiot didn't read the sign I put on it apparently though. They left the brand new replacement computer/screen for it in the box that was set right on top of one of the legs. I sure do hope the one that was on there still works after having been out in the rain all day the other day. Going to leave the backup screen out on the curb until trash day, but I can't imagine any scenario where they'd come back to pick it up. Well... maybe if they haven't thrown the sign away yet they might actually read it and realized they didn't take everything.
Dummies.
Decided after emptying out all of the dressers to go through clothes that I'm going to keep the antique set afterall. Even though it's not as "masculine" as my folks old set from the 70's that was built like a brick shit house, it's made of much higher quality wood and it just really smells nice when you open the drawers. The set I was going to keep have that "old dresser funk" smell that seems to permiate any clothes that are left in there too long without the drawers being opened.
Another bonus to this set is that it has high legs so it's easy to clean under with a vacuum hose, and is just easier to move around on the pads on the legs than the other monstrous set.
Talked to my friend today too. He's working out his shit with his fiancee still, but it looks like he is going to still come over tomorrow after work so we can get those measurements and maybe pick up lumber. REALLY looking forward to that, but I won't get my hopes up until it happens.
Anyway... I've got more free time today than I thought I was going to have going into it. Need to figure out what I want to tackle next so it doesn't go to waste.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Nice. Somebody just took my old mini-fridge from my drinking days and the busted computer monitor.
Found it odd that they took a busted computer monitor and didn't take a box with scrap wire that was under it though. Worth a few bucks even if he didn't bother to strip the rubber off the copper.
Wish I had something else that was ready to put out for the light haulers, but I still have some decisions to make on manageable stuff that still can go out from the garage and there's no way I'm getting that bedroom set out to the curb without some assistance.
Already have 2 1/2 cans full and it's not even garbage day. And the lawn and all my yardwork is already done too. Strange not having a super heavy load of work to do in a rush to get the trash out on garbage day.
I think I'm going to take it easy the rest of the night, enjoy my dinner that's going to have some homegrown tomatoes added that a neighbor gave me while I was mowing my lawn, then finally get to sorting through the clothes and linens tomorrow before my friend comes over to start our game plan.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Hey SIX, sounds like you managed to give your friend lot of advice. I wonder ... the two of you are in very different situations. He "has" a lot - a lot of connections, but also a lot of responsibilities. I wonder if he was thinking to himself ..That SIX, he's a lucky guy. He can do what he wants, when he wants, without having to think about anyone else A little bt of the grass being greener on the other side, perhaps. It sounds to me like you did a pretty good job describing the downsides of your lifestyle. Maybe gave him a little bit of a wakeup call ... not just about drinking, but about other things too. I hope he takes your discussion to heart. I hope he can solve the dilemmas that seem to be so stressful to him.
*****
Yesterday was kind of a dud. Took the dog for her usual walk. Did KP. Started the dinner. Had to get more painter's tap, a couple of 2X4s for hubby, a new edger's brush, and some weedkiller ... but before that I had to fill a car tire ... turns out all of them were low ... but before that we had to drag the compressor out from under a pile of lumber. Refill the washer fluid. Hose the car off, it was filthy. Also grab some essential groceries that we were missing. By the time I got done it was 3PM. Hubby wanted me to watch something (45 minutes). Then I was so sleepy I nodded off ... for over an hour! Gave up on the idea of painting and just finished fixing dinner instead.
So we're painting today.
The flaw with the painter's tape is that the sealer didn't stick to plaster. How does THAT happen? But we just repaired the holes as best we could and are painting today.
Speaking of which ... this was my break. Back to work!
-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake
You idiots have been oppressing the entire sexual spectrum as long as you have existed. I can't wait for the day your kind is dead - WISHIMAY
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
"The flaw with the painter's tape is that the sealer didn't stick to plaster." UH ... no primer or sealer?
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
As for me, yesterday wasn't the hottest day ever, but BOY was it humid! So I didn't manage my 6 hours.
I just wanted to explain that whole '6 hours' thing. If I do anything physical at all under adverse conditions, I poop out in an hour, maybe two. And I'm finished for the day in the literal sense. But if I limit myself to easy stuff, I can keep going.
It looks like we ALL have the stack of before I do this I need to do that - except maybe Brenda! Anyway, yeah, I too need to get going on stuff.
See ya!
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:There were areas where some wall repair was done ... where a bookcase was pulled off the wall, a built-in desk removed (to be able to replace the window) and a door frame replaced, so some areas had been freshly plastered for repair. We wiped the dust off the plaster (spackle, probably) with a damp rag, then coated it with drywall sealer. Then we coated it with the specialty sealer (because I found that after I found the first). But when we taped it for painting and pulled the tape off afterwards, the sealer failed right at the plaster, there was no sealer left on the wall whatsoever, just bare plaster.
Originally posted by 1kiki:
"The flaw with the painter's tape is that the sealer didn't stick to plaster." UH ... no primer or sealer?
Between yesterday and today we managed to get dear daughter's room (wall stripes) almost entirely finished. There is just a little bit near her doorway that needs doing, plus a few touchups here and there. We could have done a better job, but given that we had no idea what we were doing and my overall lack of energy and dear daughter's overall lack of troubleshooting skills, I think it came out really well: The stripes are straight, the lines are crisp.
Now dear daughter gets to clean the paint drips off the floor! I refuse to get involved! I told her a million times ... "Watch your drips because you're going to have a big cleanup job!"
Now comes the cleanup job! Yes, we had long cardboard pieces to catch the drips, but dd would mange to shift it away from the wall, and she'd let big drips hit th cardboard ... no big deal ... but then she'd step in them and track paint around. No matter how many times I told her not to. Sigh. Well, maybe the pain of cleaning up will get to pay attention next time.
-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake
You idiots have been oppressing the entire sexual spectrum as long as you have existed. I can't wait for the day your kind is dead - WISHIMAY
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Work today. Got back and did my dishes, cleaned some more earrings. Found another couple of broken ones. I am now down to 1 earring tree still to tackle.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:I was wondering! I thought you were doing sealer! My experience says it was badly applied by whomever did it. Generally one applies joint compound or whatever in thin layers with drying, some sanding, and wipe-up in between. But if you apply it it too wet/ thin over a dry spot, or don't remove the sanding dust before re-applying, you'll get a poorly bonded later. :( DANG NAB IT!
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
... some areas had been freshly plastered for repair. We wiped the dust off the plaster (spackle, probably) with a damp rag, then coated it with drywall sealer. Then we coated it with the specialty sealer (because I found that after I found the first). But when we taped it for painting and pulled the tape off afterwards, the sealer failed right at the plaster, there was no sealer left on the wall whatsoever, just bare plaster.
Quote:THAT SEEMS LIKE A BIG BIG ACCOMPLISHMENT!!! YAY!! I hope you're as pleased as I am for you!
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Between yesterday and today we managed to get dear daughter's room (wall stripes) almost entirely finished. There is just a little bit near her doorway that needs doing, plus a few touchups here and there. We could have done a better job, but given that we had no idea what we were doing and my overall lack of energy and dear daughter's overall lack of troubleshooting skills, I think it came out really well: The stripes are straight, the lines are crisp.
Quote:Sigh as well. What is the cleanup remedy? I hope not too error-prone.
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Now dear daughter gets to clean the paint drips off the floor! I refuse to get involved! I told her a million times ... "Watch your drips because you're going to have a big cleanup job!"
Now comes the cleanup job! Yes, we had long cardboard pieces to catch the drips, but dd would mange to shift it away from the wall, and she'd let big drips hit th cardboard ... no big deal ... but then she'd step in them and track paint around. No matter how many times I told her not to. Sigh. Well, maybe the pain of cleaning up will get to pay attention next time.
-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake
You idiots have been oppressing the entire sexual spectrum as long as you have existed. I can't wait for the day your kind is dead - WISHIMAY
What do you think of how it looks? What does DD think?
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Hey SIX, sounds like you managed to give your friend lot of advice. I wonder ... the two of you are in very different situations. He "has" a lot - a lot of connections, but also a lot of responsibilities. I wonder if he was thinking to himself ..That SIX, he's a lucky guy. He can do what he wants, when he wants, without having to think about anyone else A little bt of the grass being greener on the other side, perhaps. It sounds to me like you did a pretty good job describing the downsides of your lifestyle. Maybe gave him a little bit of a wakeup call ... not just about drinking, but about other things too. I hope he takes your discussion to heart. I hope he can solve the dilemmas that seem to be so stressful to him.Y
Yeah. It's hard to get a read on him. I usually don't get him to give me any info. He stays so positive about things in general, it's only a few times now that I've seen his anger get the best of him, which never used to happen back in the day. I was actually surprised I got him to admit the thing about him worrying about feeling the need to self medicate with beer.
We didn't talk about it at all today, but that's because he was here to kick ass and take names. (more on that later, I'll just say that he didn't crack open a single beer until we were wrapping up for the night).
It was a GREAT day. Two full cans of trash and a can of recycle stuffed to the brim are gone. All the stuff I put out this week was picked except for that box of scrap wire, which I just threw out. I'm done dickin' around with that stuff.
Two bags of washed clothes in my car ready to go to goodwill. Did about 6 loads of laundry today.
Sadly, my bud brought a bike with him in his car for some reason, so he wasn't able to take the torpedo heater out of my garage yet. :(
But we made good progress today in only 3 or so hours. Picked up all of the dimensional lumber for the framing, along with the nails, screws, construction glue for the caulk guns and some metal joining pieces. Pretty impressed that it only cost roughly $200.00 so far for all of that. Plywood isn't going to be cheap when we get to that point, but we decided against buying it today since we knew we weren't going to get that far. Got everything in my garage without anyone being the wiser.
Took up a lot more of the flooring. No safe entry in and out from the back I'm afraid until more work is done. Need to use a ladder to even get in at the moment. Have a section of the wall on the south end jacked up on one side of the door, but his second jack wasn't any good. He's going to get some from his old man and hopefully get him to come out and give some advice or maybe even lend us a hand. All in all, I'd say it was a great day. I'll feel much better when it's solid and the floor is back in. I'm hoping I don't have to wait too long for him to come back. I think he realizes we can't just sit on it now though.
Got some "homework" to do before he gets back. I'm also hoping that I can finish all of the clothes and linens tomorrow too. I'm going to keep all of the extra towels and stuff for now, maybe put them in bags and keep them in the garage. I think I'm going to have use for a lot of crap towels with the work coming down the pipe. :)
My brother should be coming some time late next week too, so we can move the bedroom set I'm not keeping either out to the curb or to stage it in the garage until we get a few sunny days so it doesn't get rained on and somebody takes it. Then I'm going to move the other set into the master bedroom and my other bro will have much better sleeping arrangements when he comes in for Christmas this year.
Anyway.... pretty amped up right now. I'll probably be having a late night even though I'm exhausted.
Glad to hear we're all making such great progress. Keep on keepin
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
The flaw with the painter's tape is that the sealer didn't stick to plaster. How does THAT happen?
Not to raise any alarms since it's likely a very minimal amount of moisture otherwise you would have noticed severe damage or at least some cracking and crumbling by now, but the plaster walls have probably had some level of moisture from inside the house.
Quote:
Old plaster from the 19th century was based on lime held together with sand and animal hair. Around 1900, gypsum plaster began to displace lime plaster because gypsum didn't need the animal hair binder and cured within three weeks rather than 9 to 12 months. But whether lime-based or gypsum-based, plaster's biggest enemy is moisture. The first symptom of a moisture problem is a fine white powder on the plaster surface caused by soluble salts that migrate to the surface of the plaster. If the wall stays wet, the plaster eventually will crumble.
You've probably got a fine powder on the surface, so the tape was actually sticking, but what it was sticking to wasn't sticking to the rest of the wall. Even just washing plaster in preparation for work could be enough moisture to leave behind a residue.
Not sure if you figure it out yet, but I might try putting up some primer first if it remains a problem. For a job like that, I'd probably use Kilz. If you make sure to put good cloths down and wear crappy clothes, as well as using cheap rollers and brushes that you can immediately throw away after, you're better off using the oil based Kilz too. That stuff is virtually impenetrable once it's up. The water based stuff is good too, better than most other brands, but I swear by the oil based stuff. Just be sure to throw the shit out when you're done. It's not worth trying to clean it out. If you have other stuff to primer at the same time it might be worth just doing it all in one go before dumping the garbage.
And for cleanup, get some mineral spirits. Even though you're throwing out the roller sleeves, you'll want to wipe the roller tools themselves down real good with a rag soaked in mineral spirits so that oil paint doesn't gunk up the works and ruin the tool.
Oh... and if you use the oil paint, when you take off your painting clothes just let them dry out in the sun or something for a day and then they're safe to wash so you can use them again. I'm sure it goes without saying, but you don't want to put clothes that have any wet oil based paint in your washing machine.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by 1kiki:
As for me, yesterday wasn't the hottest day ever, but BOY was it humid! So I didn't manage my 6 hours.
I just wanted to explain that whole '6 hours' thing. If I do anything physical at all under adverse conditions, I poop out in an hour, maybe two. And I'm finished for the day in the literal sense. But if I limit myself to easy stuff, I can keep going.
It looks like we ALL have the stack of before I do this I need to do that - except maybe Brenda! Anyway, yeah, I too need to get going on stuff.
See ya!
Trust me, I got the 6 hour thing. I'm probably the only one here that can truly empathize with you without having any A/C at all. At least you have one room to retreat to when it gets bad. You're having a MUCH hotter summer than I have, and this was our hottest one for about 5 years. But I do remember those miserable weeks where my thermostat on the second floor was reading body temperature. Ugggghhhh...
Just do what you feel you can right now. It won't be hot forever. I'm sure there's plenty of smaller stuff that needs doing in the mean time.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
No work for me next week so plenty of time to do little things around here. Got some flat headed screws from my boss's husband and hopefully one of them will fit to repair my mom's jewellery box.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Good luck. Next week is cool by you, no?
Do you have a Home Depot by you, or a Menards? If that screw doesn't fit, I'm sure you could take it to a place like that and ask somebody there to help you get the right one.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Good luck. Next week is cool by you, no?
Do you have a Home Depot by you, or a Menards? If that screw doesn't fit, I'm sure you could take it to a place like that and ask somebody there to help you get the right one.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
Next week is. It means no rushing around. Still have things to do but just bill paying and such.
There is a Home Depot or Rona just into another city that I can reach by bus quite easy if none of these screws work. I can do that if I have too.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Wet today. And I have somethings to do.
Looks like a soggy end to August up here in BC. Suppose to rain off and on over the weekend according to the weather news I heard on Wednesday.
Hope it dries out for September.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Yeah... the rain sucks. Looks like it's supposed to rain here again Sunday, which means we can't work on my friend's house outside. Might not be the worst thing in the world for me though since we've started my work and we'd have a roof over our heads for most of what needs being done.
Just got a call from my friend, btw. He's coming back tonight.
Unfortunately though, that means he's not going to see his old man to get more jacks before he comes over, and we really can't do anything else until we get one. Stores around me don't have what I need, so I've got to do some traveling to pick it up. They're cheaper than I thought they would be though, so that's a plus. I can't think of anything else in particular I'd ever use it for, but for 20 bucks it's probably not a bad tool to have in my box.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Yeah... the rain sucks. Looks like it's supposed to rain here again Sunday, which means we can't work on my friend's house outside. Might not be the worst thing in the world for me though since we've started my work and we'd have a roof over our heads for most of what needs being done.
Just got a call from my friend, btw. He's coming back tonight.
Unfortunately though, that means he's not going to see his old man to get more jacks before he comes over, and we really can't do anything else until we get one. Stores around me don't have what I need, so I've got to do some traveling to pick it up. They're cheaper than I thought they would be though, so that's a plus. I can't think of anything else in particular I'd ever use it for, but for 20 bucks it's probably not a bad tool to have in my box.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
The rain does suck but soon will be heading into autumn so got to expect it.
Too true on tools. Never know when you are going to need something out of the ordinary.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
DONE!
-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake
You idiots have been oppressing the entire sexual spectrum as long as you have existed. I can't wait for the day your kind is dead - WISHIMAY
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Screws I got from my boss's husband don't fit. So I will have to go to the Home Depot or Rona in the next city. Have to be next Friday as Monday is a holiday and I don't plan on doing much.
It is so nice not to have to worry about the weather to take out the garbage, which I did earlier before watching some tv.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
If you feel comfortable doing it, I would bring the jewelry box with you. I know you don't have a car to leave it in until you find somebody who will for sure help you out. But really, even if you can't find somebody to help you, they should have a pretty vast hardware section where you could thumb through stuff yourself until you find one that fit.
Speaking of big box stores, I was just in the largest one I've ever seen in my life. I had to make that long trip to a Menard's for the jack I needed since the one a mile away didn't have it in stock. I'm glad I did. I've never seen a two story home improvement store before. It literally dwarfs the one by me.
Speaking of jacks, I'm so glad I sprung for the 12 ton instead of the 4 ton. Mine is WAY beefier than his was, and was the right tool for the job. His, sadly, wasn't. Gave us a good scare there when it actually failed on us at one point. Fortunately, we already had the new wood we were putting in for it to land on and we just hadn't jacked it down yet. I just shit my pants when I heard my house fall like that.
Had the same thing happened on the other side of the door where my 12 foot jack was put before we had a much larger section of new wood put in, that could have been catastrophic.
That being said, we had another amazing night otherwise. While he was making some cuts, I dug a trench around the back part of the house where the cinder-blocks were creeping their way inward, and while we had everything jacked up we were able to get them all straight again. Going to do some research on how to tuck point and what materials to use, and also how to give everything a good seal down there to keep as much moisture as possible out.
It's SO nice to have a solid frame around the door again. There was literally nothing under the threshold for over a year now since the wood was rotted out and crumbling. We also got new sills and outside joists on the north end of the house as well to replace the bad stuff. :)
We didn't rush into putting up new joists yet though. We want to make sure we're putting up everything right so the floor is level when we're done. He's going to go work out at his house tomorrow, but he wants me to stay here and get some stuff done this weekend before he comes back. I've got a few windows to seal up good so the new wood doesn't get damaged, as well as figuring out how to get those cinderblocks taken care of. He also wants me to do a double dose of ant poison since we did upturn another swarm of them while I dug that trench out.
What is kind of hilarious, and makes me feel much better about this situation, is that it's apparent that this is not the first time that somebody repaired this floor before. We discovered two things I hadn't noticed before while I was underneath today. The first is that in the worst area, there were already two joists that were married together, which is blatant evidence that somebody had "fixed" this problem before. Also, the three joists closest to the house where the wood is healthy and there haven't ever been any problems are only 2x8's that go flush across from end to end. All the rest of them are 2x10's that were notched out to fit on the sills and under the wall frames.
When we're done it's going to be built like a tank. Not like the shoddy work those amatures did.
And to think, I was worried that I'd only be doing a temporary fix and sticking the next owner with a potential mess. Our work is going to be fine when it's done. It was the jagoffs that lived here before me that stuck me with the bad porch that was waiting to fall down.
Oh yeah... we're also going to build in an access point somewhere in the room so I can get back down there if I ever need to without having to tear up part of the floor again.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
"how to give everything a good seal down there to keep as much moisture as possible out"
You can go a few different ways.
First of all, how high is your water table? If it's at or above the lowest level of your foundation, you may need to install a foundation drain (plastic pipe) which is installed in a trench along the bottom of the outside of the walls; so that ground water runs by gravity to some drain system. Then you can waterproof and install textured polymer sheets on the outside of the foundation walls, so that surface water also drains down along the outside of the foundation to the pipes and away from your house.
If your problem is surface water, if you're downslope of an area that water drains from, to your house, try to divert it around your foundation. You can put in a subsurface tile system to drain water soaking into the soil away to some drainage point. Make sure to contour the dirt around the foundation (hill it up) so water runs away from it (doesn't puddle around the foundation) and collects elsewhere.
It also helps to have your gutters discharge at some distant, downhill point from your foundation, again, so it runs away from your foundation.
If you're going to try and install a dry well, don't put it within 12' minimum from your foundation. That keeps it from weakening the dirt's lateral support of the foundation's weight. Farther is better.
And do you have expansive soil? If you've substantially dug out around the foundation, it would be better to fill with gravel near the wall and non-expansive fill elsewhere.
Just a few things I've learned by experience and the experience of others.
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Yeah, what KIKI said! Especially the part about sloping your yard so water runs AWAY from the foundation. Good reason to get gutters because it keeps the water from running off the roof right close to your house. (Also, that broken drain pipe, which is in the front - correct? - could also be pumping a lot of water very close to your foundation. That needs to be fixed, too!)
But I'm curious: Don't block walls have rebar? I thought the block wall was supposed to be on some kind of footing, and reinforced with rebar. But maybe because this is a porch and not part of the house per se, it's not expected to carry much load, so maybe I'm just overcomplicating things.
Quote:Jeezuz, SIX! THAT would have exercised my blood pressure for sure! I'd probably have to go sit down and recover for 30 minutes if something like that had happened to me!
Speaking of jacks, I'm so glad I sprung for the 12 ton instead of the 4 ton. Mine is WAY beefier than his was, and was the right tool for the job. His, sadly, wasn't. Gave us a good scare there when it actually failed on us at one point. Fortunately, we already had the new wood we were putting in for it to land on and we just hadn't jacked it down yet. I just shit my pants when I heard my house fall like that.
-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake
You idiots have been oppressing the entire sexual spectrum as long as you have existed. I can't wait for the day your kind is dead - WISHIMAY
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by 1kiki:
"how to give everything a good seal down there to keep as much moisture as possible out"
You can go a few different ways.
I'm all ears... or eyes, as it were.
Quote:
First of all, how high is your water table?
I'm probably not qualified to answer the question other than saying that it's "very high". I do live on the outskirts of what is the lowest pocket in the entire area, but if I were to get flood insurance it wouldn't be the $2,000 per year variety. I did get quotes for shits and gigs a few years back and it was roughly $450 per year. I'm pretty sure people who live a block behind me and especially 2 blocks behind me would be paying the maximum.
The ditch across the street from me is probably 6 feet higher than the land my (tri-level) house is on, and when we have these crazy rain springs and early summers (like we've had for 5 years straight now) there are times where it's pretty full for short stints. (I heard before that ditch was made back in the 60's that the area would regularly flood to the point where a neighbor used to kayak down the streets to make sure everyone was alright).
Quote:
If it's at or above the lowest level of your foundation, you may need to install a foundation drain (plastic pipe) which is installed in a trench along the bottom of the outside of the walls; so that ground water runs by gravity to some drain system. Then you can waterproof and install textured polymer sheets on the outside of the foundation walls, so that surface water also drains down along the outside of the foundation to the pipes and away from your house.
I'm not sure exactly how extensive they system is, but there is one installed already. I've heard it referred to as a "French drain". The sump pump well in my crawl space under the first floor at the front of the house has a large ingress hole to it where this water constantly comes in during storms and especially these wet springs. The ingress hole to the drain is probably around 6", compared to the 2 to 3" drain pipe the sump shoots the water up and out of. (This is where the break in the pipe is, right outside of the house).
BTW... I'm pretty sure you've read it before, but to get an idea of how much water comes in that ingress pipe to the sump, if my power is out or the sump dies, my house will flood if it's not in the middle of a dry August.
Not once, but twice this has happened. Both when the water was near freezing (once in February and once in November). The first time was the worst, when I had to take off all of my clothes at one point to avoid hypothermia when I would get out to warm up in between messing around down there. My lips turned blue. I was so delirious that I didn't even turn the breaker off before plugging the new sump pump in even though I was kneeling in knee deep water up to my navel when it went on. I'm lucky to be alive, honestly.
Quote:
If your problem is surface water, if you're downslope of an area that water drains from, to your house, try to divert it around your foundation. You can put in a subsurface tile system to drain water soaking into the soil away to some drainage point. Make sure to contour the dirt around the foundation (hill it up) so water runs away from it (doesn't puddle around the foundation) and collects elsewhere.
The one thing I can say about the construction of this home is that they at least did a good job with the sloping of the land. There really isn't any point around the perimeter of anything where any water pools up. This all is a little jacked up because I haven't put gutters up yet, but when I do I will make sure to regrade everything.
Quote:
It also helps to have your gutters discharge at some distant, downhill point from your foundation, again, so it runs away from your foundation.
Yeah.... This should be cool in the front of the house. I'm a bit
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Jeezuz, SIX! THAT would have exercised my blood pressure for sure! I'd probably have to go sit down and recover for 30 minutes if something like that had happened to me!
Haha. Tell me about it.
It didn't really phase me though, surprisingly. Both of us were outside of the porch, although very close when it happened. It was a huge WTF! moment for sure though. But we realized right away that the new stuff we put in we did a great job on though. Half the weight of a heavy shingled roof just fell on it, and it didn't budge. Rock solid!
We didn't have time to mess around though. The other side of the door had not been completed yet as far as tying everything in and if my 12 ton jack failed I could have been looking at a porch that was in need of professional work.
I couldn't believe how loud it was though. It was only up about 1/8 of an inch.
Oh... I will have before/after pictures. :)
Not sure if I want to do it yet, but I might even put selfies we've taken while doing the work too. I'm feeling a lot better about life in general now and maybe I'll feel adventurous enough to do that at some point.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
If you feel comfortable doing it, I would bring the jewelry box with you. I know you don't have a car to leave it in until you find somebody who will for sure help you out. But really, even if you can't find somebody to help you, they should have a pretty vast hardware section where you could thumb through stuff yourself until you find one that fit.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
I've thought about taking it with me to the store but I noticed that it has a small gouge on the lid and I don't really want to do any more damage to it. I was thinking that I could take one of the other screws out of the box and take it with me when I go to the store. That might be a better idea. I will think on it.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Laundry day for me in a minute then some other chores to do. Later peeps.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Dry well ... basically a well-hole filled with gravel. The land is sloped... or drains pipes are laid ... in such as way as to lead water to the dry well, where the water has an easier time sinking down into the gravel and from there into the subsoil. It can be simple or it can be complicated.
-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake
You idiots have been oppressing the entire sexual spectrum as long as you have existed. I can't wait for the day your kind is dead - WISHIMAY
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
I really wonder about the hydrology around your house. It may not be as bad as you think, you may be mostly dealing with surface water. If I understand your sump pump situation, it pumps water out to a 2-3" pipe which is broken near your foundation (Probably due to settling) so the water may just be "recirculating" a lot.
Where I used to live, the water table was really high, but there was a lot of rain and surface water as well, so wet basements were always an issue. On top of that, the soil was very heavy clay, so if it rained it took forever for the water to soak Since our backyard butted up against other backyards and they were (of course) sloped away from the houses, the back property lines were lower than everyplace else and turned into a marsh every spring (IN winter, it would freeze over and as little kids we would go "ice skating" on the puddle) So dad asked the city if he could break into their storm system and installed a drain in the back ... end of water problem at the back property line.
That might be good place for a dry well, since that's where the water seems to want to go anyway.
Still, when there was a lot of rain, water would come flooding up the floor drains in the basement, and not just storm water but sewer-water too. Eeew. That remained a huge problem until the city got its ass kicked by the state environmental department for sewage overflow into the nearby creek, and actually ... finally, after decades of neglect ... cleared the main storm drains et voila! Problem solved!
One more thing: I noticed on my last visit that the upper part of the basement wall ... right next to the driveway, in fact, was buckling a little bit. That was where the downspout was, and the diverter wasn't long enough to lead the water away far enough from the house. A new diveter solved the problem.
-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake
You idiots have been oppressing the entire sexual spectrum as long as you have existed. I can't wait for the day your kind is dead - WISHIMAY
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Hey Signy
I'm SO happy for you that you're DONE!! ! ! !
How did that specialty sealer work out for you (except for those areas where the plaster/ joint compound failed)? How did the tape work out for you (no bleeding under the edges)?
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Hi Brenda!
BTW, I'm assuming these are 'machine' screws (fine threaded, flat-tipped) that fit into a metal threaded fitting, and not wood screws or sheet metal screws (coarse threaded, pointed tip).
A good salesperson should be able to match the screw thread and width (and head style, which may be important if it's a counter-sunk head
)
or merely cosmetic otherwise); and if the off-the-shelf replacement is too long, be able to cut it down to the right length without damaging the thread. Unless you have a preference either phillips or slotted should be OK if there isn't a match otherwise,
but stay away from anything else including torx if you are asked.
If you know something about its origins (time and place of mfg) it might be easier to determine metric v 'standard' thread. Sometimes a metric thread can look like a 'standard' thread. If you get one for the other, oftentimes you'll be able to get about 3 turns in before it gets stuck-ish. Don't force it if that happens, just back it out and get the right one instead.
That's why, when installing screws, bolts, or nuts, it's important to thread them down by hand ALL THE WAY - so you can feel if it's either starting cross-threaded or getting tight a few turns down. Use your tools to tighten ONLY after it's installed.
Very small, fine-threaded screws can be tricky to install ... hard to hold on to and easy to cross thread. Try PARTIALLY removing your 'example' screw, and then putting it back in all the way a few times for practice; then once you remove it completely, try putting it back in its original hole a few times for practice; and then in the empty hole (to check for bad threads in the MT hole) a few times.
I've had some very skilled people give me many of these tips, and also, too many times by my own self getting hung up on what should be an easy job because it was trickier than I thought!!!
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME