Anybody I used to know still post around here??????

POSTED BY: 6ixStringJack
UPDATED: Thursday, May 23, 2024 14:59
VIEWED: 53504
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Been a while since I've been here, particularly anywhere out of the Real World Fighting Forum......

Just wondering who I used to know still comes around :)

I've had a lot of good things happen recently and I'd like to let any of my fellow Browncoats know about it if they're still around.

Things have been great, and everyday now feels like a new adventure. The best part about it all is that I finally feel like I have a real purpose.


I hope things are going well for all of you ;)
~6

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned."

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Welcome back! I think there's been quite a shift in regulars since you've been around.


"Whatever is wrong with you is so right for me." -- Marillion.

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Hi Karel,

I figured as much. Dust in the wind baby.... dust in the wind.... :)

I don't recall if you and I have even spoken before, so sorry if we have and I don't remember and/or thanks for being the first to post back!


I did peruse a few other posts here and I'm happy to see that some people I used to know are still posting here. Actually, some of them are people my brother has met in person at DCon, but since I've never gone there I'm just his older "phantom" of a brother. I'm not sure these days how much involvement he has with this anymore with his new family and house and all.....

This new adventure I'm talking about makes me feel just about as "Mal-like" as I think I could make myself in this world. I may not be able to float in the vastness of space, and I surely don't find myself in predicaments on a daily basis that solidify myself in the minds of others who "can't do" that I'm a hero, but that wasn't what Mal was about anyways, was it?

Nope...... This path is rather modest, but it's extraordinary at the same time.

Here's to living free.... or as free as you possibly can be in this world.

I genuinely hope that all of my fellow browncoats can experience what I am in their lifetime.

Warmest Regards,
~6

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned."

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I'm still here, although I don't think we crossed paths too often. I try to stay out of harm's way by NOT venturing into RWED if I can help it.

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Well I dunno if we ever spoke, but I remember yer handle (reminds me of the title of a movie-Six String Samurai?)I use ta be Iremist...I remember yer sig, too. (I never could settle on one.)

We still have a lot of the originals come 'round when there's good news or bad news...Things still travel well in the 'Verse.

We're happy you came in to visit, none the less.

Could you maybe elaborate jest slightly in vague terms what's made ya so damnded happy? Some of us could use a bit of inspiration these days...

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(EDITED TO ADD: This was a reply to ECGORDON)

Hehe.... Smart man/ or woman, such as it were :)

I don't recall your name either, but then again, 90% of my posts here were probably in the RW. I usually only remembered those who I argued the best with if they weren't my brother's friends.

I'm happy to say that since I was laid off near the beginning of 2010, I have watched very little news and have not kept abreast of any "RW" things happening on a large scale. I've been focusing on community level things and stuff that I can actually have an effect on and it's liberating.

It's truly unbelievable how much things you can accomplish for yourself and those you care about when you're not burdening yourself by the world's woes by watching the news and always pondering the world's problems.

Can you believe that the hole in the earth that was spewing millions of gallons of oil in the ocean last year went on for nearly 2 months before I even know about it?

Not saying I condone burying your head in the sand, but..... Ignorance is bliss.

I think I speak for more than myself when I say that we've all got enough problems to deal with without having to worry about BP's colossal f-ups.

:)

~6

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned."

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Hey Six, long time no wave.
Rushing to Earth-that-was, ain't we?


The laughing Chrisisall

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Hey WISHIMAY,

I don't recall speaking with you either with that handle or the other you mentioned.

Six-String Samurai was AWESOME! I actually just watched it again for the 2nd time about 2 weeks ago, so it's funny you mentioned it. When I made the name I had just seen that movie and being that I love playing acoustic guitar (though I still suck) and I loved playing Texas Hold 'em, I came up with that name. :)

Glad to hear that nobody's figured out how to stop the signal yet. :)

As for elaborating.......

I'm kind of hesitant to do so just yet when you put it that way. I realize that things are tough for a lot of folk these days and I'd hate to come off like I was bragging or being a dick about things.

I feel that over the years I've made a lot of good choices and that I could help others in the future make better choices themselves. Leading by experiences and results, as it were.

The situation I've gotten myself into is no walk in the park by any means, but it is a key to freedom. It was also a long time in the making and didn't happen overnight. I hope that maybe I could help other good folk come to the same conclusions in life someday.

You said it best when you said "Some of us could use a bit of inspiration these days..."

That's what I would like to give here, rather than just coming out with it and unintentionally knocking others down.

I just want to show that a dumb guy who tried 4 times to get an associates degree but dropped out can still do something in this life if he plays his cards right.

~6

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned."

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I remember you! Hey!

Glad you've had some good things going on and to see you around here again.

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Holy .... Chrisisall :)

Good to see you man!

I'm still on Earth that "IS" and if we all play our cards right it will never be one that "WAS", right?



Being responsible starts with US.

It is also spread by influencing those around us to also be responsible.

I've never thought myself a leader since about the 3rd grade, but now I feel that I've put myself into a position of responsibility and that I must conduct myself as such.

We can all go to the "RW" or other such sites and bitch and gripe about all the wrongs done against us, but in the end that serves no purpose other than to satiate our desire to be heard or argued with.

Outside there is a TRUE Real World, and though I won't be egregious enough to say that I'm conquering it, I will say that I'm getting pretty damn good at navigating it since I've been away.

Although I don't wake up every morning feeling it, even in this situation.... every day I wake up is a boon. It's another opportunity to make not only my life, but those I care about better.

I've never been closer to my family than I have been recently and there is so much that you can help people you care about without paying taxes for getting the work done that it would make your head spin. ;)


Bring it back to a local level....

If we continue to be slaves to what the status quo wants, we deserve what we get (or don't get, as it may be).

~6

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned."

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Hey BYTEMITE,

I remember your name too. Although, we must have never fought in the RW, because you don't stand out. Good for you :)

If I ever said anything ever that pissed you off or was personal, I apologize. Everyone who posts here, especially in the "RW" forum really cares. Whether or not their hearts or heads are in the right place is a matter of debate that (I Hope I don't sound like a dick about) I'm above now.

I don't care about the "RW" anymore and I encourage those entrenched in it to seek more productive ways to express their passion.

I'm sure that if any die-hard "RW"-rat, like I was, spent a half of that energy on the actual real world, they'd have so much more to show for it.

The first night I looked at the starry sky from my new place I heard "You Can't Take The Sky From Me".....

And then I wished that I could play that on guitar.... lol

Nothing is going to change that... as much as I want to play guitar, I'm always going to suck.

~6

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned."

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I know this is going to sound sort of snotty, so I'm going to try and say it nice. In most circles it isn't nice to say you're doing ... something that is uncannily wonderful without telling people what it is, especially if you're saying you can help us all and the rest of the world but you're being cagey as to exactly how. That being said I'm sort of in a crappy mood today so I'm really not trying to be mean and I'm sorry if the admonishment came across too much that way as meanness. But yeah, don't dangle carrots if you're not going to drop them to the masses of lil' rabbits.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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There's still some good things that happen around here. There's the Can't Stop The Signal Charity. And even the RWED sometimes, even when we don't always agree with each other, will pitch in and lend a hand to make the world a better place. After the Gulf Oil Spill, we raised $500 to send fellow RWEDer Niki, who I don't think you've met, to help cleanup efforts.

But yeah, I think all of us wish we were more involved on our local community level, much props to you for giving your time.

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Yeah, I actually kinda miss your less than charming self sometimes, but I wouldn't discount so much bitchin on the internet about stuff neither, as Byte mentions our Gulf Rescue mission, and surely you've not forgotten Genarlow Wilson (*I* sure haven't forgotten McDade, nor forgiven..) but yeah verily, getting involved locally is the way to do it, although that did get me kinda run out of my last township on a rail when I actually followed through on what they thought they wanted.

But it's all good, you do what you can, right ?
Currently I am running a small security service doin what the cops won't for neighborhoods who generally can't afford such things, and the competition has made the local law step up their game, as intended, and resulted in overall better living conditions, which is a plus.

Also, I'll have you know that the primary founder, sponsor, and initiator of the Hellcamps actually fell to us - as of Feb 2009, WWASPS and all their little shellgame affiliates collapsed financially and politically, the camps liquidated and abandoned, and those behind it all are up to the neck in debt and facing serious legal action.
Which makes it a "win" as far as I am concerned, although there's still religious ones and the juvie "justice" system needing work, the wholesale, widescale deporting of kids to them damn overseas or stateside concentration camps is over, hopefully gone forever and forgotten as if it never existed.

Let that be a lesson to ya in not givin up a fight that appears hopeless at first glance, ehe ?

I'm still kickin around if you ever need a shoulder or an ear, mano.

-Frem

I do not serve the Blind God.

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Hi RIONAEIRE,

It's not snotty. I don't blame you at all. Please don't apologize.

As a rule, I've always been a cynic, for better or for worse, so I don't blame you at all.

I'm just unsure about telling you all about how I went about doing it without coming off as an a-hole.

There is nothing that I did that any of you are incapable of doing, but it's something that most people, at least in a world where a 14 Trillion dollar US Debt, would never do.

So....

Being that I continue not to be a dick about things...... my new utility bills had yet to come up on the first.....

The only bill that had come in on the first of the month was my cell phone bill for 61 bucks. Perfectly aware that there are other first time utility bills coming up mid-September, I was more than happy to pay 61 bucks for a phone and not be paying 900 bucks for rent and/or mortgage.

Only the next few weeks will tell me how much my essential bills per/month will cost.

In the mean time, I've spent the last month working full time removing 95% of the mold in the basement of my new tri-level house as well as getting the hot water working and running electric to my formerly-dead garage.


Unlike all of my friends (most of which have union jobs), who are underwater on their mortgages, I owe nobody for my house. It is mine.

In 2005, this house (according to Trulia.com) sold for over 3 times what I paid for it.

I may or may not be working a "paid" job before the end of the year, but every month I work on this house, I make at least 800 bucks a month in rent that I would be paying for an apartment that was less than half of the square footage of this place.

All of my friends bought houses when I told them to wait. All of them are underwater now.

It is, what it is.....




It's not easy, and I'm taking on mold and other issues that others would never even comprehend, but when I'm done in a few years, I will have 3 times the house people have paid the price for without a mortgage.

I hope to be able to help you and all other Browncoats.

Warmest Regards,
~6

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned"

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BYTEMITE

Good to hear man.. I'm glad that we are doing some good things here besides trying to get a dead show back on the air. :)

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned."

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Hehe.....

Yeah.. I've been known for being less than charming in the past. you for noticing....

Never forgot Genarlow Wilson. I read that story and was mortified about it and somehow after bringing it up her and you got involved it was "fixed".

You've asked me several times if I know who you are Frem, and I don't. I've never even suspected. I think sometimes you may think I'm a lot smarter or "world traveled" than I am.

I can honestly say, that I would really like to be your friend one day though. I know that you are unquestionably a good man. If I had anything to do really with Genarlow getting free, it almost brings a tear to my eye :)

I know you're probably 10 times as cynical as me and it would never happen Frem, but I'd love to meet you in person some day and shake your hand. You are one of my heroes. Keep doing what you're doing man.

Love ya,
~6


"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned."

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Last couple of long lost friends I ran into tried to make me an Amway distributor so I don't get as excited to see old friends as I used to.

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Pyramid schemes are what they are.....

Just make sure you're on top directing....

and not hauling the bricks till you die ;)

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned."

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Six, its cool that you're fixing up your house, sounds like you've made some good choices on that front.

What exactly is it that you are going to help us all with again?
Because I think I missed the memmo. You appear to be on some kind of high, or some kind of high horse, time will tell which I reckon.

But its really cool that things are going so well for you, that you are excited about what you're doing, that you are feeling inviguerated. But that Amway comment isn't far off the mark, I'm kind of suspicious.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Quote:

---

Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
it would never happen..

---

Actually that's no longer as unlikely as it seems, old friend.

You know, it's funny how fate goes sometimes Jack, for I've found myself in the completely unexpected position of no longer having any active enemies competent enough to matter - those that were are either dead, rotting in prison, bankrupt or thrown out of power or otherwise in no position to do anything about it anyways, and those on the professional end have prettymuch abandoned ship and are at worst neutral, if not come round to sympathetic or even turned whistleblower themselves.

Besides, doin unto me would buy them nothin, I passed the operational reins over to Justin soon after WWASPS fell, cause our battles now are fought in courtrooms and other venues of law - there's no place for me there, in fact my presence is kind of a detrminent, cause there's no need for blackmail, extortion and nasty beatdowns in the darkness, although deny it all they like, that *IS* what paved the way and helped drag a lot of this into the daylight, where it withers and dies under public scrutiny.

So what they got let, make a martyr, pffth - nothing, not a goddamn thing, Jack.
Ergo I really got no need of the smoke and mirrors gig beyond the obligatory insurance of just what might come out if something did happen to me, but honestly most of what I knew already *HAS* come out, and the powers that be these days got far bigger problems to deal with, meh.

Thus if you check your messages, you'll find a dropbox for email, cause I wouldn't mind raising a glass or two with ya myself, although I regret to inform you that 30yr old bottle of scotch I had went down the hatch Feb 2009 as well..

-Frem

I do not serve the Blind God.

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Ni Hao hun! Your screenname is familiar, though the thread you singled out was not one I frequented.




Browncoats are the shiniest folks in the 'verse
www.texasartcat.com/bluesun.html <--my bluesunshop

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Hello:)

I'm still here:)

To love someone is to see a miracle invisible to others.
--Francois Mauriac
It's fuzzy-minded liberal thinking like that that gets you eaten.

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Seeing more and more seemingly departed posters returning, if only to say hi and goodby. Not much really happening, except for the charitable efforts, a few fanflicks what the original cast are doing on other shows. It is a lot slower here than it was one, two, or five years ago (not to mention the splendidly busy 2005.)

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Might be some new material soon though.

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I think I can relate to how you feel. I have this relative who said every time there was a hurricaine or tsunami or earthquake that it was a sign of the end of days...so basically every fifteen minutes. I was so messed up from it that I started to preserve and freeze food...JUST IN CASE...

Then one day I decided I wasn't going to worry too much about anything that wasn't going on in my little area and it was very liberating. Not so sure NOT as least keeping up with the news is a good idea- I have other relatives that saw where the market was heading that sold their houses and stocks and made a bundle, so I'd say a basic knowledge of current events is a little necessary...

But I did tell off my paranoid relative and said I didn't want to hear it anymore...

Also, I know what you mean on the housing thing. My husband and I waited 10 years to buy a house because we watched others go under and prices go up and up. We eventually got a moderate fixer-upper and spend our weekends making it our own, which can be liberating as well. Knowing you can make payments=pricele$$!

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Hey 6ixstring, I'm still flying - actually had a look back at some discussions in RWED back when it was people debating back and forth (in a tough but reasonable way) rather than just endless posts of nonsense and insults.

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Hey RIONAEIRE,

Yeah.... I've always enjoyed any type of rehabbing job, but it's so much cooler when you're not doing it for somebody else. I'd like to think I made some good choices over the last 6-7 years, but it's not as though it hasn't come at a large expense as well. I have had to sacrifice a lot of things to get where I am now, but I'm hoping that when the dust settles and the major stuff here is taken care of that I can start getting back to a more normal sort of life.

No Amyway scheme here, I can assure you. This definitely wasn't a get rich quick scheme and it took a lot of years of doing without a lot of things I used to enjoy. Let's just say that 10 years ago when I was living at my grandma's basement, unemployed, and with the two problem cats that would pee all over, and about 6k in credit card debt, I never thought I would see the day all this happened. Rewind 3 years from that and even when I was making a very good buck for my age and lack of a college degree, I never thought I'd see it either. A) House prices even then just seemed so out of reach, and B) I was too busy spending my money on party expenses, needless gadgets, a great cable package and sound equipment for my car to ever have a chance.

I got my foot in the door in an entry level position at a large company at the end of 2004, thanks to my dad. I had to move out of state and leave all my friends and family behind for the most part to do it. This helped largely on the "spending money on BS front", but it also has made me somewhat of a hermit today. I do hope to branch out again once I get the house to a moderately livable level and become gainfully employed again.

Fast forward to the end of 2009 and after 2 buyouts at the company...... I got axed. When it came to which employees they were going to keep, it as all attitude over aptitude. I'm not complaining about it, mind you.... I know I was a trouble maker there. My direct sup and his boss loved me, but anyone from Middle-Management and HR and above couldn't stand me. Actually after the first buyout everything changed and I wanted so badly to quit the job anyhow, but nobody in their right mind with no degree would seriously consider quitting a job like that after getting several good promotions, merit raises and good health benefits. In the end, them laying me off was a huge favor. I thank them for ending what had grown to be a horrible chapter in my life. I'm just so happy that I made good on my promise to myself to make those years count and set myself up for when the market did a downturn.....

And boy..... Did it ever?

Since then, I've been living a "barter-system" type of life, at least until the house purchase. I've spent more money in the last month than I could ever imagine spending.... The house was one thing, but IT IS EXPENSIVE HAVING A HOUSE!!!!! Especially when it needs so much work to begin with.

I've spent much of this last year and a half or so helping my family out with things such as rehab work on their houses and trying to help certain people I care about with their "personal" issues. I never took any money for work I did while on unemployment. I got back what I gave in the form of free room and board and other "perks" you can enjoy only when you have another source of income that doesn't take up 40 hours a week. The job market has been tough, and now that unemployment has ended a long time ago I am still finding it VERY difficult to get anything other than a minimum wage job with my lack of education. Hell, let's be honest..... Every minimum wage job I've applied for has turned me down before the interview process. I don't know if it's that I test poorly on their ethics tests, or if they see how much an uneducated guy was making before and they "know" I won't be happy with minimum wage. For whatever reason, it seems that I'm damn near unemployable unless somebody I know can give me a foot in the door.

Maybe I should say instead that I'm looking to help people, but also looking for help. When the time comes that I really need a jo

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Oh okay, now that you explain it it all makes perfect sense, sounds like you've made some really good choices and stuck with it for the long haul. Now if you could find a job things would be even better. I'm glad that you're feeling so good about where you are in life right now. When you were saying stuff but then not explaining it sounded a little like you'd joined a cult or something and didn't want to say so until we'd all gotten used to you. :))

I wasn't trying to be mean, I just was waiting for the cult shoe to drop and wanted to head it off at the pass so to speak. Kind of silly now that I think about it.
:)

And if Frem wrote a novel or a memoir about his life I'd probably read it.
"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Six String Samurai was a truly GREAT film.


Just sayin'.


The laughing Chrisisall

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Quote:

---

Originally posted by SimonWho:
....actually had a look back at some discussions in RWED back when it was people debating back and forth (in a tough but reasonable way) rather than just endless posts of nonsense and insults.

---

Wait, there was a time when RWED was civil?
When was that?

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Its not so very bad in there, I'm still alive and I can be a total wuss sometimes. If I'm tough enough then I reckon a lot of folk are too. they're always nice to me, usually. :) Seriously though I'd never gotten in any real fights as it were. Disagreements yes, but that is par for the course for me.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Quote:

---

Originally posted by Moose:


Wait, there was a time when RWED was civil?
When was that?

---

In like, 1999.


The laughing Chrisisall

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Hey Six,

I'm still around, but not as much when. You know Browncoats never die, we're just waiting for the inevitable sequel (fingers crossed).

But I, like EC, stayed a safe distance away from RWED. It's not my strongsuit.

Glad to see you back and stomping around the place.


SGG

Tawabawho?

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Hey RIONAEIRE,

Hehe... yeah, looking back at the original few posts I could totally see how I was coming off as a Scientologist or something lol.

Nope.... just a ordinary guy doing some extraordinary things is all.

As a recent example of money saving tips I've learned in just the last month, I got three tips for you right now, regarding Lowes home improvement stores.

1) If you know you have a huge Lowes purchase to make for appliances or a large number of home improvement things on your to-do list, take a trip to your local Post Office and ask for a change of address package. (They'll usually ask you how many you want, and I usually say 2).

Inside is a 10% off coupon good for up to 500 bucks worth of savings, if you're made of money and plan on spending 5k in one day.

2) Get a Lowes consumer credit card. It's worth 5% off of all of your purchases. (DON'T DO THIS THOUGH IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE MEANS TO PAY IT OFF RIGHT AWAY, OR IT DEFEATS THE PURPOSE!!!!!!)

3) If you know what you want ahead of time from Lowes, buy it all online and it will be there waiting for you in 20 minutes (everything except for what they have to special order). If you enter the 10% code online and use your card you will get 15% off your purchase. If you go to the store and buy it, you can't stack the discounts and you'll only get 10% off :(

As a bonus with the change of address package, you'll also get 10% off coupons for Sears and Best Buy as well as some other good deals that I haven't taken advantage of in those packets.

I wish I had known that when I bought my own Motorola Surfboard cable modem from Best Buy to avoid paying 7 bucks a month for leasing one. (Another great money saving tip in the long run, BTW)..... Having that coupon would have been another 5 or 6 bucks in my pocket.




Oh... And I'm sure I'd read Frem's memoirs someday. I haven't had time to read a book in so long though. I hope that day comes soon. I do so much miss reading a good book.

Later,
~6




Hey CHRISISALL,

6 String Samurai is an AWESOME flick. :)




Hey SHINYGOODGUY,

Good to see ya.

Stay far away from RWED lol......

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned."

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i think you're way after my time, i'm looking for St Jayne and Channain and Paperwaster and Nykjay and Werzbowski and HLGEM and artships. but welcome back, fellow browncoat, shiny to have you in the 'verse again

"Haven't you killed me enough for one day ?"
- Mal, War Stories

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It would be a Fremoir, :)

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Quote:

---

Originally posted by Moose:

Quote:

---

Originally posted by SimonWho:
....actually had a look back at some discussions in RWED back when it was people debating back and forth (in a tough but reasonable way) rather than just endless posts of nonsense and insults.

---

Wait, there was a time when RWED was civil?
When was that?

---

Civil might be overstating it but it wasn't two groups of people either ignoring or insulting each other. Threads lasted for dozens of posts rather than just a handful of insults before the next soundbite topic came up.

Quite a fun way of doing nostalgia is to use the "On this day" page. For example, January 1st 2005 is:

http://www.fireflyfans.net/linearthread.asp?d=1/1/2005

Just change the date to see a different day. I went through a chunk of late 2005 and came over all warm and fuzzy.

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Haha Fremoir :)

Why is that funnier to me than it should be?


BTW... Got another money saving tip for you....

Everytime you're going to a place you need to shop at for groceries or home improvement, stop at the local Goodwill if there is one around there.

It's like a treasure hunt every time you go!

Last weeks purchases......

Dirt Devil hand held vacuum, 4 bucks.
Awesome looking metal and maple twisted lamp and shade, 4 bucks.
Beautiful maple trimmed 50 lb mirror, 7 bucks.
Unopened and sealed Bemis white toilet seat cover, 3 bucks.


This weeks purchases.....

12 cup Mr Coffee coffee maker with reusable filter in perfect working order, 8 bucks.
Brass interior doorknob for my pantry that didn't have one, 2 bucks.


You never know what you'll find there, but I've never left Goodwill without making at least one purchase. One man's junk is another man's treasure.

And the best part is, after overhead your money is helping people in need.

Don't listen to the "Brave New World" programming where new is better. There is plenty of life left in a lot of things that people no longer need.

Hell... I was bummed that I spent 3 bucks on a 32" vinyl blind last week at Goodwill that didn't fit any of my windows...... until this morning. I realized that the one window out of five in the basement that had blinds didn't have the hang-down stick that opened or shut the blinds.......

I went right out to my trash can and grabbed the knob from that unit and saved myself another 2 bucks on a new blind set





Oh yeah.... my old man and step-mom came over for the first time today now that I've gotten rid of all the mold in the basement. I never thought I'd care this much about his opinion, but the fact that my dad seemed thrilled about my purchase makes me as happy as a child on Christmas day.

I learned a lot of my cheap-ass-isms from him, and for him to tell me that I didn't make a good purchase, but I made a GREAT purchase.......

well.....

It makes a uneducated dumbass like me feel like the smartest guy alive.

High on life, is all.....

No weed in these lungs since March, and I intend to keep it that way after witnessing how much can be done when you're not toking up!

~6

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned."

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Yay, I'm glad your dad likes what you've been doing and how you've been doing it. And good for you in all of it, sounds like a lot is getting done.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Thanks RionaEire,

I was surprised how happy I was to see how much he and my step-mom loved the house and it's potential.

In the end, it's a three bedroom 2 bathroom 2000sq/ft plus house that I purchased for just barely 1/3rd of what the previous owner bought it for in 2005.

Making it a livable house in the last month has been a full time job in itself, but i'm glad they didn't come until now....

When I first walked into this house, even on the first floor it smelled like 100 cats crapped all over the basement. Today, my Dad and Step-Mom came in and said they didn't smell anything, even in the basement, except for a faint smell of bleach. It's even stronger because they both don't smoke.

Today, there was at least 2000 pounds of drywall and insulation and shit removed from this house since little more than a month ago.

I thought I would use this experience to help my friends if they ever had the same experience, but I know now that I would tell them to get a professional if they had mold to remove.

I still smell mold in my house even though non-smokers can't smell anything. I wash my clothes and I smell mold on them when nobody else can. I'm MOLD CRAZY now.

I don't think I'll be happy until the scrubbing of studs/tracks are done and I seal it all in with Killz and mold/mildeew proof paint is applied.

Scrubbing with bleach, hydrogen peroxide and vinegar now before i paint it.

It might be all moot if i replace the wood with metal studs......

Later,
6

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned."

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Goodwill, part two....

Seriously.... Goodwill is awesome. Even though the one by me seems to request some rediculous prices for TVs and furniture, the rest of the stuff is in line. I bought two in the box ceiling fixtures for my house that (even though the boxes were open) the hardware and units were still in the factory wrap. One was 3 bucks and the other was 5 bucks.

Here I was thinking that I was still paying too much for them, giving that it was Good will, but then the cashier was scratching off a ticket for me. I guess Wednesdays (at least at this goodwill) is scratch off day. She told me that I was her first 40% off customer for the day (which made me wish I had also lugged a few choice pieces of furniture that were obscenely priced otherwise). I also got my "I" in "GOODWILL" which I guess results in a gift certificate worth cash there if I spell it out.

In all, the two ceiling fixtures cost me 5.35 with tax. At Lowes they would have easily been over 35 bucks before tax, if not twice that.

I'm also ordering the dirt to fill the crater in my back yard from a previous pool tomorrow. Unfortunatly I need "11 yards", which means 11 cubic yards of dirt which also means it weighs 22,000 lbs. The guy told me that he would most assuredly ruin any lawn he had to drive over to get to where it has to go and that he would also probably destroy part of my driveway getting back there seeing as how the dirt alone weighs 22,000 lbs and the truck another 40,000 lbs.

Looks like it's getting dumped in the street and I'll have to invest in a few wheelbarrows and shovels and a lot of pizza and beer for the friends and my brother to help moving all that stuff 150 feet from where they're going to plant it.

Hope my township doesn't mind 11 tons of dirt on their street while we're working on it. Hopefully I can have it dropped late in the day on a Friday. ;)


P.S. I wanted to add a pic of the mold I delt with.... The smell is gone now and after 3000 lbs and 37 Hefty Contractor Bags I believe I've "remediated", this is a sample of what it looked like.

[IMG][/IMG]

Looks like a hippie painted it, doesn't it?
"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned."

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Quote:

---

Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
Looks like it's getting dumped in the street and I'll have to invest in a few wheelbarrows and shovels and a lot of pizza and beer for the friends and my brother to help moving all that stuff 150 feet from where they're going to plant it.

Hope my township doesn't mind 11 tons of dirt on their street while we're working on it. Hopefully I can have it dropped late in the day on a Friday. ;)

---

*laughing hysterically*

-F

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I found a $350(priced it on the internet) Tiffany style chandelier for $20 last month at Goodwill

I hope you had good air flow and masks and stuff on with the mold...That stuff can mess with ya more'n you think...

Our basement flooded with more than six inches of water three times this crazy spring (not a single problem the other three years!!) It's masonry block, so no mold, but you don't wanna see what a package of drop-ceiling tiles and a half dozen boxes of papers and stuff looks like in a flood...not pretty... one word...RUBBERMAID!

Looks good now...in fact better!

You might wanna look an equipment rental place for a backhoe for that dirt(or call around to construction companies, sometimes they're cheaper than you think, especially when you factor in a chiropracter...And I've learned to save the friends for when you have no other choice, less drama that way...But maybe you have drama-less friends...In which case-GODSPEED!


Just FYI, the beta site chat is the place for Do-It-Yerselfers...We frequently post what projects we got goin on, or just ramble incoherently 'till the fumes clear

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Good find on the chandelier!

I've found a few, but I didn't really like them much and since I'll be doing a whole lot of rehabing everywhere I don't want to buy chandeliers or ceiling fans until I know what the motif will look like beforehand. Some people can take something as simple as a light fixture and build a room around it, but my mind doesn't work that way....

As far as the mold remediation goes, I had windows open and window fans blowing air out. I also cordoned off the entire basement from the rest of the house using poly-sheeting (not only is the stairwell wide open to the basement, but you can see into the basement from the first 2 1/2 feet of the kitchen through a decorative "grating"). I was also wearing an OSHA approved mask with mold cartridges, and heavy duty PVC gloves. I didn't bother with the tyvek suit though, and I've had no ill effects that I'm aware of on exposed skin because of it. Originally, I had bought two tyvek suits because I thought at most this job would only take 2 days, but I've spent more like 20 days down there and there was no way I was wearing a full tyvek suit in 95 degree weather with no A/C.


As for the pool, I don't mind doing the work manually. I enjoy a good workout. Looks like I may have all that dirt here first thing tomorrow morning..... Only problem is, there's a decent chance of showers later in the day. I may end up doing half of the work in the rain. Looks like it's suppposed to rain the next 4 days too, so I better hustle. No way I'm going to get friends or my brother out on a friday morning, so it looks like I'm on my own.

I bought a really cool "wagon" from Lowes though that carries up to 600 lbs and has a locking mechanism that will allow you to lift it up and dump the dirt on the spot. It's on 4 wheels so no worries of tipping over and also no worries of tearing up my good grass with a single wheel since the weight will be distributed to 4 wheels. It says that you should only use 300 lbs if you're going to use the dumping feature, but I figure I could probably go 4 or 5 hundred.

Even at 300 lbs, it would only take me seventy-four 130-foot trips...... That can't take too long, right?

I also splurged on a (fairly expensive) full-aluminum 30" digging shovel with a very wide lip that should make short work of that dirt compared to the cheaper counterparts I could have bought.



Oh.... I also got the last of the blinds installed today, so all of my windows are now covered

Also got those two ceiling fixtures installed from the last post and my digital randomized timers on my garage light and a livingroom light so it looks like people are here at random times even if they aren't :)



Moving along.............

~6

P.S. What is the web address of that DIY site? I missed it if you posted it.



"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned."

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Good call on the shovel, I broke two this year...but they were old anyhow...

Fireflyfans.net has an updated version that I think is called "beta" and the original is "alpha" so Haken could do some updated techno-magical stuff...I think if you search FF.net it will bring up both sites in the listing...For some reason my account times out after a minute on the old site, so I use the new site most of the time.

If the screen is red border, you are on the Beta site...The chat's are individual, and different people in both. I obsessively pop into beta chat couple times a day, if you get bored, feel free to babble a thought of the day, how you are feeling, ask questions, leave messages- ANYTHING GOES! I'm not trying to sound simplistic or trying to over-explain here, but others have asked as well...

I assumed the blue one will eventually go bye-bye when all bugs are worked out, I'm guessing it has to be more work to keep both runnin', but then what I know about programming could only fill up half of that >* little spec


And I have been known to plan a room around a single item...Also, to save money on paint, depending on if you are a paint snob- I go to hardware stores and Wal-mart to the return and mis-tints. You can usually get a five gallon bucket for half normal price...If it isn't the color you want, add any leftover paint you have, those little acryllic bottles are good, or find another mistint and have fun...My aunt is an interior decorater and she couldn't tell, so......

Painted my garage this summer for $40!

Glad to see you took extra precautions on the mold...We've got enough people flyin' around here without containment in their reactors

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Hey Wishimay,

Yeah, I LOVE the shovel. You truly do get what you pay for when buying new.

Granted.... I'm just judging it on the look, feel and weight of it at this point. The dirt wasn't going to arrive until about 11AM and we were supposed to have rain mid-afternoon and for the next 4 days, so I re-scheduled for next Friday. The shovel is light as a feather though and seems to be indestructible.



I didn't know they updated the site. It's cool that a site with this much history about a show that's nearly a decade old might be getting a big technological update. I've never had a problem at the old site myself, but I'll have to check out the new one.

Soooo..... there's a DIY chat going on there?

Cool



Yeah...

Something told me you might be one of those people who could plan an entire room around one item. Dunno why.... :)

Honestly, and I may be generalizing, I think that's (largely) a female trait. The ability to see something they really like and be able to change everything else around it so it flows seamlessly with the surroundings.

I tend to compulsively plan out every minute detail with things from scratch until I have a grand plan, so if I were to buy things ahead of time they likely wouldn't mesh too well with the finished product. (Thank God for Goodwill and 5 bucks for two ceiling fixtures that might not be there a year from now, right?)

Actually, I'm kind of a paint snob. Not necessarily on color, mind you, but with my rehab experience I would only use Sherwin Williams or, even better, Benjamin Moore. Paint is one of the few things you really can't buy used or at Goodwill, so the "you get what you pay for" rule really holds here. The finish really stands the test of time and I also find that these two paint brands are the smoothest to spread on the walls with a roller.

(BTW.... when rolling I would ALWAYS recommend sheep/lambskin roller sleeves. They're quite a bit more pricey than the standard fare, but as long as you're not using oil based paints and you clean them properly they will outlast the others 10 times as long and I love the "orange peel" effect that a 3/4" nap or more leaves)

I could still probably use that advice though. I don't know if Sherwin Willams or Benjamin Moore accept returns though. Wal Mart will accept anything, being that they're trying to take over the world :)


I'd LOVE to be able to paint my garage... and my house too for that matter. Unfortunately, they're both covered with a baby blue vinyl siding now. It doesn't look terrible, and actually it's all in very great shape. I figure that once I got the interior done and it falls apart I'll replace it with much higher quality siding. For now though, it's completely serviceable.




As for the mold, as OCD as I believe myself to be I'm in no way a germaphobe. It was only at the behest of a few people I know who used to work in mold remediation that I at least did some research and ended up using the bare minimum protection for a job this size.

I'm cheap by nature, but it was worth about 150 bucks of preventative measures if it meant keeping me out of the hospital for having mold in my bloodstream. A big part of me thinks that's all propaganda to sell stuff... but for 150 bucks, I'll take the chance of getting ripped off over the alternative.

True or not..... Those mold stories are SCARY!




"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned."

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Ohhh, I did a bad thing today...

I boughta porch. No, really -a whole porch!...Was in our local chain store and a sign said they were getting rid of their demos so they could bring in new other products, and we've been talking about ridding ourselves of the filled concrete block disaster for a while(terrible idea those, always full of ants!)
Anyhow, it's all put together, and HUGE!...Talked him down $400 and free delivery, too! Oh, and we put it on their card and are getting a good rebate outta the deal!


So I guess we'll be suffering through our weekend as well...Better than suffering through a month of building it!

And I have it on good authority that the special paints they have for vinyl siding now work really really well...Justa thought.

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Wait..... you can paint vinyl???????

Gonna have to give this house a treatment if you can then. My house color screams "It's a boy!!!!!!"

I seriously don't know what they were thinking....


Good luck on the porch. I'm sure it will look much better if it fits well with your house.

My "porch" out back is a bunch of 1'x2' drab concrete blocks haphazardly thrown together without the proper base below so some are cracked and sinking and....... shit... I can't even imagine that it looked good when it was level and put in fresh on day one.

Again....... WHAT WERE THEY THINKING!!!!!

At least it looks a thousand times better now that I've removed 100lbs of weeds from the cracks between the bricks. (My poor bloody stumps for finger tips.....)

I envy your ability to put a wood porch in your back. It just wouldn't work well in the back at my place with my garage to house setting. I'll have to do something in stone, but I need to research the sweet spot between A) cheapest, B) best looking and C) lowest maintenance for my stone porch. (A guy can't work on his house 24/7 without a job forever, right?)

I've got a wicked idea in my head about how I want it to look, but the real trick is finding a way to keep it looking that way 20 years from now with minimal upkeep, right?

I hope you got it done this weekend. My guess is, it takes a lot longer than that. :)

I don't know about you, but when it comes to this house, I ALWAYS underestimate how long it's going to take me to do a job.

HAHA..... I thought I'd have the moldy basement removed and sealed in a week. Here we are 45 days later......



I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!

Finally moved a majority of my furnature into my place now that the mold has in essence been removed. My living room now looks better than any apartment than I've ever lived in with the hardwood floors and my bedroom by tomorrow night will have a king bed and a full bedroom set adorning it when I get everything into place. Hell... the room is so big that I could still make a 6'x6' dance square that Fez would be envious of....

My only desire would be to have access to the bathroom from the Master Bedroom on the 1st floor..... but I don't know if that would ever be possible given the small size of it unless I removed the closet from the secondary bedroom.

Not entirely sure my future kid(s) would approve

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned."

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be sure to throw a few handsful of sand into the paint to keep if from getting slippery during wet weather
Ok keep looking at handsful and as I know it is in the dictionary I'm leaving it....but it looks weird

To love someone is to see a miracle invisible to others.
--Francois Mauriac
It's fuzzy-minded liberal thinking like that that gets you eaten.

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Handful or handfuls.

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Good tip MSA... gotta keep it safe

Spent all day today cleaning furniture that's been in my brother's garage since November and staging it. My god..... between my nicotine and the garage smell, it took about 4 wipe downs with 409 and another layer of Pledge to get these things to living standards. Happily though, they look and smell great now and, surprisingly, there were very little "spider" problems underneath.

Holy crap...... My living room looks like a living room now and so does my Master Bedroom. After a bottle of Febreze, everything smells awesome too. I just hope that it lasts a week from now. Not that anything smelled bad (just nicotine) before, but here's hoping that now that everything is clean and that I don't smoke inside that things keep smelling great.

Man.......

Hot water...
Electric to the garage and a remote door opener...
A weed free back yard....
A mold free, albeit, unfinished basement...
Light fixtures installed everywhere there wasn't one before...
A sparkling clean kitchen and bathroom which almost took a week to clean (previous owners were pigs)....
All of the appliances you could ask for except a washer and dryer (which is sitting in the garage until I move them in and install them).....

Life is good.....

I'll have to provide some pics when I get the time.

Tons of work here, and I'm sure that every dollar I've put into it would make me two dollars if I sold it today!

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned."

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I don't have to paint it for a dozen years or so...I think...it's one of those new composite decking things, but I will keep that sand trick in mind for the future...

And I would've gotten it done this weekend were it not for the cats and dogs pouring outta the sky, and in laws unexpectedly moving, and me being a last resort and all. Fortunately, I got a few more weekends before they deliver it.

I have a dozen other projects to fill my time with too-staining french doors, 1000 sq. feet of tile (bought at contractors surplus auction for a fraction of cost! Paint, trim ect. I'm having the time of my life, and in some ways have never been more stressed. Beats having nothing to do though- by a long shot!


I think Maureen O' Hara said it best in The Quiet Man...about having your things shining about you... it's a truly nice feeling.

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Hehe.... rain and in-laws.... nothing ever goes according to plan.

Even without outside intervention, I've found that I make a habit of seriously underestimating how long a job will take. It probably has something to do with my undiagnosed OCD though. Sometimes it's a drag while the work is going on, but when jobs finally get done (way over schedule) I'm a lot happier with them than I would have been if I just slapped things together to get them done on time.

"I have a dozen other projects to fill my time"

Yup..... I feel for ya. With a foreclosure/rehab, I've probably got a year of a baker's dozen, dozen jobs ahead of me. Sometimes it's overwhelming, but that's why I have a TO-DO list I reflect on every morning and I also end the list with the "DONE" stuff so I can reflect on all the work I've already done if the pending projects ever start feeling like a downer.

I usually set it up like this:

Today
Tomorrow
This Week
(Any special days where things are scheduled)
Next Week
Medium Priority (Things that should be put in the "This Week" as soon as time allows)
Low Priority (Things that can be done whenever, but should be done at some point.

This helps me greatly to stay on task and to keep my sanity with all this work that needs to be done.

When you're working on your own house, it's all shiny :)

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned."

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Please people.....

Post here for advice or for giving me advice or just for the of it.

I find it horrifying that I've been posting in the RW forums again out of boredom.

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned."

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Want my advice?

Put down the mouse....and GET BACK TA WORK

Heh.

Rwed's not that bad, it's a nice place to find the things that are actually important to you and yell or discuss them...every once in a while. Nice de-stresser...Too much of anything...and all that jazz...

I put in a window this weekend where previously there weren't! I'm countin' this weekend a WIN! You?

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Hey Wishimay,

Good idea!

How's moving 7.5 tons of dirt 150 feet and raking it in the old pool for getting back to work?

Just got my dirt dropped off this morning at 7:30AM and stopped working at 4:30. I only (only ) ordered 11 yards (see: tons), but because of all the rain we've had there were clumps at the bottom so the guy loaded me up with an additional 2 yards for my trouble.

Thanks...... I think........

I'll be damned if I didn't move half of that on my own today....... makes you wonder how much the world would weigh if put on a scale in a test room where you could fit the entire planet and it would have the same gravity that we all go by.

I'm DEAD right now..... I'm not in horrible shape, but I do drink and I've smoked for nearly half of my life. I'm still quite strong, but my endurance ain't what it was 8 years ago when I stopped working out regularly.

Hauling 3,000 lbs of your moldy basement in two weeks is a disgusting job, but it doesn't even come close to the effort of hauling 15,000lbs of dirt in a day. (Although, the mold was so nasty I enjoy this work so much more)

Just took my shower and feel awesome. I think I'll have a few beers and watch some Arrested Development (for the 4th time) and hopefully call it an early night. I'd like to get this dirt all hauled by Noon on Thursday.

Wish me luck!

Later,
6



Oh yeah.... I'm too tired to do anything resembling work right now, but I did take before/after pictures of the pits in my back yard and the dirt mounds when it was dropped off. I figure I can post the pertinant images after the final product.

BTW.... I'll also find out exactly what shovel I bought and the name of the awesome wagon with a dumping mechanism I bought from Lowes are and let you know, in case you ever need to do work like this. They both work like a DREAM!

Nearly 100 bucks for the two of them new, but when I think of doing this work with a smaller (heavier) shovel, and a crappy wheelbarrow, I cringe. I wouldn't have gotten half the work done today that I did had I not spent a little extra green.

MONEY SAVING TIP #????:

Your back and joints aren't what they were back when you were a teenager. Sometimes it really does pay you back 10 fold to pay more for the RIGHT equipment.

Especially when you don't have health insurance

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned."

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I'm still here!!! I used ta be BlazeSolo but I lost all my stuff when comp crashed. Think we chatted only once or twice.

Lil Gal Big Gun

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Yepper....I was Zzetta13 back then, still am actually, but with a new handle….Bruce Pluto from my concept art icon….

BPZ

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Good to see you guys/gals again!

Finished my dirt move today thanks to my awesome bro!

13 tons of dirt moved 200ft in 2 days and raked into the hole where the pool used to be!!!!!!

All I have to do tomorrow is remove the last 3 or 4 wheelbarros of compacted dirt in the grass and try to keep from killing it in the process.

I kinda wish now I had it all dropped in the asphalt driveway, but I was scared out of it when a guy at the company told me that the 65,000 lbs of the truck might destroy whatever he ran over.


I'll show pics soon.... maybe tomorrow.

It's awesome :)

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." ~Shepherd Book

BTW... I love my General Discussion Peeps. If you feel a strong need to judge me on RWED discussions I've had in the General Discussion, I welcome it, but I also say that they are two different worlds......

And while my core never wavers and though I may say things you don't like in the RWED, I'd never say them in General Discussions and I hope you would do the same.

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Hey Wishimay!

You haven't met anyone around here who's an HVAC guy, have you?

I was wondering if I could show pics of the damaged wiring to someone who was and they could point me in the right direction.

The furnace, like a few other things in this house, was sabotaged by the previous owners before getting evicted.

Until this afternoon, I didn't even know how to light a pilot on a furnace. After doing some research on the subject I figured out the reason that gas wasn't getting to the pilot light had nothing to do with the sabotaged electric and that it was just clogged up.

So..... I unclogged it.

After that though, the pilot wouldn't stay lit, even if I held it down for 2 minutes.

So.... took another trip to my favorite store Lowes and got a universal thermocouple for 8 bucks and viola! A pilot light that stays lit!

Now I just need to figure out which wires go where for the thermostat and the blower.

I had planned on paying somebody to do this, but it turns out that I don't know anybody in that trade and none of my friends and family have any close relationship with somebody who might give me a discounted rate. When I called around today, the cheapest rate I could find was $110 bucks an hour plus parts and they would not tell me how long they thought this would take.

So..... I skipped raking out the extra dirt by my driveway today and got half of the furnace working.

I'm hopeful that I'll have a working furnace by the end of the weekend.

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." ~Shepherd Book

BTW... I love my General Discussion Peeps. If you feel a strong need to judge me on RWED discussions I've had in the General Discussion, I welcome it, but I also say that they are two different worlds......

And while my core never wavers and though I may say things you don't like in the RWED, I'd never say them in General Discussions and I hope you would do the same.

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Sorry no...electrical is my one weakness.

Did they rip off the 'stat, or did they mess with the wires from the furnace? 'Cause that last one is just freakin diabolical....

I do know that anytime I've had to fix an appliance I've been able to find manuals or troubleshooting repair sites by typing in my make and model on the internets(if ya didn't already know). Sometimes it's easier having older equipment 'cause everybodys already posted problems and resolutions. Fixed my fridge few months ago, they had the diagrams and even told me where ta get the parts, heh. Regulater switch is a nothin part...'till you ain't got one

Also, reminds me of a 'stat problem I had a few years back...one died so I had a top of the line model put on and a few months later started having problems...Finally figured it out and went and put on a cheapie, not a problem after that... Just K.I.S.S- keep it simple stupid!

And I bought 3 gallons of Sherman Williams paint(brown )at a flea market for $5 a piece- so ha ha paint snob! (required to say I'm just poking fun, sometimes I get mistaken for being confrontational on the interwebs..)

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Sweet find on the Sherwin Williams paint!

If the color works for you, it's great paint. I don't know if you've ever used it before, but you'll have to let me know what you think when it's up.

(No worries: I didn't find that confrontational at all )


As for the furnace, they cut wires in the actual furnace. (bastards )

The good news.......?

I fixed it today!

Once I had a solid pilot light, I was able to tinker around with a few wires here and there and got the burners fired up.

When I put the fan position to "ON" on the thermostat, it works fine.

The only problem now is that the blower doesn't kick in when the burners are going before they go out. I'm not sure at the moment if it's because it's just too hot in the house and the burners aren't on long enough, or if there is still another wire that needs to be connected, or if the timing mechanism is shot (hopefully not that, because it's an 80 dollar part).

I may have to go up and unclog the chimney as well because I was feeling a little light headed being by that furnace for a few minutes while the burners were going off and the blower wasn't working. There may be more carbon monoxide released indoors than you would want.

Damn carbon monoxide and it's deadly but odorless properties!!!!!



But hey.... at least at this point I know I won't freeze to death during the winter!

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." ~Shepherd Book

BTW... I love my General Discussion Peeps. If you feel a strong need to judge me on RWED discussions I've had in the General Discussion, I welcome it, but I also say that they are two different worlds......

And while my core never wavers and though I may say things you don't like in the RWED, I'd never say them in General Discussions and I hope you would do the same.

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Hehe......

I kinda broke several of my rules today, but I think it just might pay for itself if I still don't have a job this winter.

I was ordering some light bulbs at Lowes for a beautiful chandelier I got from goodwill last Monday (10 bucks) and the front page mentioned that they had 15% off their entire stock of snow blowers until 10/10.

So....... I ordered a TroyBilt blower with a Briggs and Straton motor (just like my awesome lawnmower I mentioned before). It was normally $599 before taxes, but when you order online you can stack the discounts.

1) 15% off sale
2) 10% off Movers discount (from post office change of address packet)
3) 5% off Lowes card.
4) only 7% taxes here rather than 10% plus in Cook County.

After the discounts it was only $464 with tax!!!!!

When I went to pick it (and the light bulbs) up, the guy said just bring my truck around and they'd load it up......

Uh.... Oh.......

How big is it, I said......

IT IS HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(and the bonus is, they assemble all blowers and tractors as part of the price, so I won't have to assemble it like I thought I would)

Good thing my stepdad was already coming around on Monday to haul the sub-facia that needs to be replaced on the garage and house as well as about 20 sheets of drywall and two interior doors in his cargo van. Now I can just pop that sucker into his van at the same time.



I hear we're about to have the worst winter of our lives thanks to El Nina or whatever the name of our newest hurricane. There are plenty of elderly people on my block as well as 2 income households who I'm sure would appreciate the help.

I'll just have to put on my early-bird cap and wake up at 4AM and get all the driveways done before the normal people go to work

That's what Foldgers was made for.....

I love my coffee almost as much as I love my beer....

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." ~Shepherd Book

BTW... I love my General Discussion Peeps. If you feel a strong need to judge me on RWED discussions I've had in the General Discussion, I welcome it, but I also say that they are two different worlds......

And while my core never wavers and though I may say things you don't like in the RWED, I'd never say them in General Discussions and I hope you would do the same.

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You are ambitious, aren't ya? Even tryin' ta work ahead of Mother Nature...
Now that they've said we'll have tough winter, see if she won't do her best ta prove us wrong...

Still I hope you get a chance ta use yer new toy at least once...

I probably would've bought one at an auction...If you think ahead and buy off season you can pick 'em up for pennies...Bet they'll go big now, though!
I love auctions...It's soooo much fun ta poke around in other people's stuff, and they encourage it, heh. Not recommended for people who can't control themselves, and first timers should always take someone experienced and not exciteable along. I know people who couldn't and they came home with boatloads of crap( that mostly went ta goodwill a few days later )

I'm thankful we don't have a sidewalk...but don't have a porch yet either...Next weekend, in all probability.

Do be careful with all the cold weather stuff. My gramps had to do everyone else's driveways too, and got an aortic dissection and a steel box from it many years ago.

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Quote:

---

Originally posted by Wishimay:
You are ambitious, aren't ya? Even tryin' ta work ahead of Mother Nature...
Now that they've said we'll have tough winter, see if she won't do her best ta prove us wrong...

Still I hope you get a chance ta use yer new toy at least once...

I probably would've bought one at an auction...If you think ahead and buy off season you can pick 'em up for pennies...Bet they'll go big now, though!
I love auctions...It's soooo much fun ta poke around in other people's stuff, and they encourage it, heh. Not recommended for people who can't control themselves, and first timers should always take someone experienced and not exciteable along. I know people who couldn't and they came home with boatloads of crap( that mostly went ta goodwill a few days later )

I'm thankful we don't have a sidewalk...but don't have a porch yet either...Next weekend, in all probability.

Do be careful with all the cold weather stuff. My gramps had to do everyone else's driveways too, and got an aortic dissection and a steel box from it many years ago.

---

Yeah..... probably would have done well at an auction, but there is something about buying a motorized unit that is new (unless it is a car... because, damn those things are REALLY expensive!!!!)

Sure... I saved myself about $150 back in August on a reconditioned Troy-Bilt mower, but it looked brand new (probably DOA and never used once) came with the 90 day return policy and the 2 year manufacturer's warranty. The only thing was they wouldn't allow me to buy the 4 year extended warranty I wouldn't pay for in the first place.

BTW.... the 4 year extended warranty (I didn't buy) for the snow blower would have made the thing cost more than I saved with the stacked 30% off.



Besides.... If I can figure out how to fix a furnace in two days when I didn't even know how to light a pilot beforehand, I'm pretty sure I can troubleshoot a lawnmower and a snow blower with the good 'ol internet....





I've never been to one, but I totally need to go to an auction. When I get a job one of the first things I want to do is upgrade to a larger pickup truck that has a bed large enough to haul drywall and MDF. I figure after paying Carmax 40% of what was still owed on my Camry I could sell that even for a profit once I get my truck. I think an auction would be the place to go unless I find out another person I know is getting their large truck repo'd and wants to unload it in a bankruptcy.




So.....

In the last two days I got my car completely legal, and got myself registered for the vote (what luck!!!! Without even knowing it, today was the last day to register to be able to vote in the local elections in November!!!!), and I removed all the rotted wood outside the 3-season porch where previous owners (pigs) used to have a sauna that they let destroy the wood framing for the windows. I installed new wood to replace the old moldy rotten wood and caulked it all. Hopefully I get up early enough to primer everything now before it's supposed to rain tomorrow!

Got some friends coming by tomorrow for the first time and some family coming by for the first time on Thursday. I can't wait to show them everything I've done.



I'll have to spend tomorrow morning getting all of my pics off of my camera and organizing them.

Pics, or it never happend, right!!!!

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." ~Shepherd Book

BTW... I love my General Discussion Peeps. If you feel a strong need to judge me on RWED discussions I've had in the General Discussion, I welcome it, but I also say that they are two different worlds......

And while my core never wavers and though I may say things you don't like in the RWED, I'd never say them in General Discussions and I hope you would do the same.

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Still working on getting pics....

But I got my furnace working today!!!!!!

In the end, it was just a matter of a clogged pilot, a shot thermocouple and some cut wires and some other wires intentionally wired wrong..... yes... according to a friend who is an operation engineer (granted... a different Union job than an HVAC technician), intentional sabotage is the only explanation in the end.....

Seriously... it's sorry what deadbeats who can't pay the bills will do to enact revenge for something they're entirely responsible for. But, I can't bitch about things.... the sabotaged furnace is one of the many reasons why I could even afford this awesome house in the first place. I paid just over 1/3 of what the previous owner paid for this house in 2005. Throw in the fact they removed both A/C units, let a flood destroy the downstairs furnace and water heater, ripped off all of the gutters for cash, destroyed a lot of the electric circuits, allowed mold to grow in the basement for 15 months while one of their kids lived in the basement bedroom where the mold was growing, and ripped out every single bush and hasta in the frontage, and it took me 5 hours to just remove all the burned all over all 4 of the burners of the stove.......

Wow..... these people were pigs.....

Thanks Pigs!!!!!!!

Thanks to you......

I'M RICH BE-OCH!

This furnace job would have cost me at least 220 bucks in labor and at least 8 bucks in parts (assuming, of course, the tech was honest about the price of a thermocouple to a novice). If the tech who came here was a "parts thrower" I may have had to pay for a Fan Limit unit that I didn't need which would have been another 80 bucks at least on top of that.

In the end, it was just several days of learning and troubleshooting and an 8 dollar thermocouple from Lowes and the problem is fixed.

The 300 bucks saved isn't worth half of what I learned though. I've already put the word out to the family that if they have ANY furnace problems at all that I have a good chance of figuring it out for free instead of paying a tech.

Not bad for a guy who couldn't even light the pilot 5 days ago.

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." ~Shepherd Book

BTW... I love my General Discussion Peeps. If you feel a strong need to judge me on RWED discussions I've had in the General Discussion, I welcome it, but I also say that they are two different worlds......

And while my core never wavers and though I may say things you don't like in the RWED, I'd never say them in General Discussions and I hope you would do the same.

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Anybody know a good image hosting service where I could upload pics in album format? I'm putting together some albums of the work I've done on the house. I think that would be better than randomly linking to one or two pics here and there.

Today I ripped down the rotten sub-fascia on the east side of my garage. Boy am I glad I decided to do that before winter......

There was about 5 feet of missing soffit panels because the damage to the sub-fascia was so extensive. A lot of the rotten wood just came apart in your hands, and all of the nails were rusty.

The worst part though, was that there was a nest on both sides of the missing sofits. HUGE nests.... I don't know where all this "hay" came from, but there was a lot of bedding up there. There were also rather large and heavy fruit type things up in there, so it must have been squirrels or something large and not birds living up in there. I was worried I was going to get bitten doing the demo work, but fortunately the roommates either weren't home, or they already moved out before I evicted them.

Got some pressure treated wood up there now that I pretreated with Kilz and secured to the garage with 2 1/2" rust resistant porch/deck nails rather than the standard 8 penny rust bucket nails. That should get me through the winter even if I don't put the fascia up until spring.

There is NO WAY though that I'm putting any of those soffits back up until I buy the missing ones and have them all wrapped up in fascia again. I'll have another rats nest up there by spring time.



"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." ~Shepherd Book

BTW... I love my General Discussion Peeps. If you feel a strong need to judge me on RWED discussions I've had in the General Discussion, I welcome it, but I also say that they are two different worlds......

And while my core never wavers and though I may say things you don't like in the RWED, I'd never say them in General Discussions and I hope you would do the same.

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Yuk!

The shower upstairs leaks into the bathroom downstairs when the shower is in use. Upstairs bathroom was one of the nicer things that didn't truly need any work to it otherwise for years. The entry of the shower head through the wall is packed to the gills with silicone, so unscrewing the top, adding some plumbers tape and screwing it back in to see if that fixes the problem will be about a thousand times harder than it should be.

It's obvious that the previous owner knew about this too because the bathroom was the only room that didn't have drywall installed on the ceiling, and there are about 7 holes drilled into the plywood above the joists where the leak occurs to let the water leak into the basement. (Looks like they used the bit you'd use to drill out a doorknob hole to achieve this). I can't believe I never noticed this leak before, but I haven't been in the basement much in the last 3 weeks with all the outdoor work and when I was going down there all the time I usually didn't go down after a shower and it was so hot it was all evaporating before I'd notice it.




Oh.... I've also been told since I've been here that a gate valve was installed to prevent backflow during flood conditions, but I could never find it. Well.... now I know what the 5 lbs of Great Stuff is sitting in the basement by the drain pipes at the back of the house. After I removed those walls for the mold remediation, I couldn't figure out why all of that gunk was back there.

My guess is, it was probably leaky and just needed to be serviced, but now who knows how much Great Stuff goes down into it and if I'm going to flood my basement by drilling it out. I think I'm going to have to have to pay a real plumber come early spring to see if it's even salvageable at this point. Heh.... If I didn't have to take out all the walls for the mold, this invaluable tool to keep water out of the basement would be buried right now. I just think it's funny that the previous owners buried the one thing that could have kept the basement from having mold crawling 5 feet up the walls.

Morons...

The previous owners sure loved silicone caulk and Great Stuff. All of the stuff they did wrong is going to take 10 times as long to fix because the bad work they did was practically "set in stone".


Bah.... whatever....

Got to keep reminding myself that these little joys are why I got the house in this great little neighborhood at the price I did.


Well.... the Furnace is working great so far anyways. Since I'm cheap, I have the thermostat set to 60 degrees and it hasn't kicked off much. Here's hoping my luck with that holds out....


Stay warm
~6


"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." ~Shepherd Book

BTW... I love my General Discussion Peeps. If you feel a strong need to judge me on RWED discussions I've had in the General Discussion, I welcome it, but I also say that they are two different worlds......

And while my core never wavers and though I may say things you don't like in the RWED, I'd never say them in General Discussions and I hope you would do the same.

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Got porch

Got rain

You might or might not find ThereIfixedit.com funny.

Why is it idiots always use 30 lbs of great stuff? And you know they don't read the instructions fer anything so they gotta be walking around with hands encased in the crap...It has uses...but not for EVERYTHING. That's what duct tape is fer.

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Quote:

---

Originally posted by Wishimay:
Got porch

Got rain

You might or might not find ThereIfixedit.com funny.

Why is it idiots always use 30 lbs of great stuff? And you know they don't read the instructions fer anything so they gotta be walking around with hands encased in the crap...It has uses...but not for EVERYTHING. That's what duct tape is fer.

---

Good for you on the porch. Hope you're further south than me and can enjoy it before springtime.

Hehe... that site rules! Maybe I can make some useless contraptions for a laugh like that one day when I have nothing more important to do on the house!



Yeah.... Great Stuff is, well, great stuff.... when used appropriately. It's freakin' everywhere around here though!

I have been using it recently to get underneath and behind the exposed studs after the mold remediation. Rather than rip anything out, I figure it would be better to just seal everything in with a mold proof substance, and where the "cracks" are too thin for that I'll use mold resistant caulk. Originally I was going to use it to seal some holes in the house where the A/C used to come in before the idiots ripped out all the copper, but I'm actually going to use that aluminum tape, which although much more expensive, I find it to be so much more effective and lasting than duct tape.

It's funny, the duct tape that I recently bought by 3M proudly states "Made in the USA" with the flag on the cardboard inside, yet it's the worst duct tape I've ever used. I can't buy a piece of furniture made in the US without spending an arm and a leg, you can't buy a good car made in the US period... and they're expensive. When I finally find a US made product I can afford on my budget, it may as well have been made in China.



Oh well.....

Just got to get the subfacia up on the back of the house and do a little more in the basement so I can get my washer and dryer installed, and this is basically a home. Tons of work will need to be done as the years go by, but I don't think I have much left that can justify not having at least a part time job.

Gonna have to hit the streets, I guess. This applying online BS is not working out.

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." ~Shepherd Book

BTW... I love my General Discussion Peeps. If you feel a strong need to judge me on RWED discussions I've had in the General Discussion, I welcome it, but I also say that they are two different worlds......

And while my core never wavers and though I may say things you don't like in the RWED, I'd never say them in General Discussions and I hope you would do the same.

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Quote:

---

Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:

Gonna have to hit the streets, I guess. This applying online BS is not working out.

---

Never has for me. Once we wanted this particular job, so hubbs called every 2-3 days to see if there were any new developments and went by there once every week and a half. Eventually they gave him the job. Turned out to be one of the worst he's had...but.

That's my strategy. Bug 'em 'till they give it to you. Nothin ta loose!

Take No Prisoners! Wait, wrong job description

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Just hoping to get around 30 hours a week somewhere and clear 275-300 a week and I should be straight. I have a few opportunities to work 50 plus hours a week, but they're both really far away and between the long hours/days and driving time I'd never have any time to work on my house. I suppose I could pay other people to work on it then, but where's the fun in that?

I don't think I've ever found a job on my own before, unless you count being placed by a temp agency. I'll have to make some connections out here.

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." ~Shepherd Book

BTW... I love my General Discussion Peeps. If you feel a strong need to judge me on RWED discussions I've had in the General Discussion, I welcome it, but I also say that they are two different worlds......

And while my core never wavers and though I may say things you don't like in the RWED, I'd never say them in General Discussions and I hope you would do the same.

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Best wishes finding a new job soon, its super hard out there. The only way I was able to find a paying job was to make myself indespensible as a volunteer, made them think they couldn't live without me there so they made a paying position for me. Otherwise no one wants me to work for them. But I think you'll not have as hard of a time. Hopefully itworks out soon because times are tough and even though you're good at managing your money everyone runs out sooner or later without new cashflow.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Oh, 2 pieces of advice...NEVER WORK FOR ADT or Toys 'R US and buy GORILLA TAPE!
Most awesome stuff....expensive at around $15 a jumbo roll...but worth every penny! Am pretty sure it would rip off several layers of skin if ya left it on there...

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Quote:

---

Originally posted by RionaEire:
Best wishes finding a new job soon, its super hard out there. The only way I was able to find a paying job was to make myself indespensible as a volunteer, made them think they couldn't live without me there so they made a paying position for me. Otherwise no one wants me to work for them. But I think you'll not have as hard of a time. Hopefully itworks out soon because times are tough and even though you're good at managing your money everyone runs out sooner or later without new cashflow.

---

Thanks for the good will and ideas man. I'm sure something will come along.

Hehe..... yeah, you can only manage your money for so long before you run into trouble when nothing new is coming in. I've never been a great innovator at figuring new ways to open up cashflow... I just got lucky with a few choice positions with a high ceiling and did the best I knew how with what I was making at the time. Fortunately, I've set myself up to not have to make anything near what I was making before to be self sustaining, and that also allows me to live quite comfortably at the moment even with all the HUGE expenses I've incurred recently to make the house a home, but ya still have to be making something......, right....?

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Wishimay:
Oh, 2 pieces of advice...NEVER WORK FOR ADT or Toys 'R US and buy GORILLA TAPE!
Most awesome stuff....expensive at around $15 a jumbo roll...but worth every penny! Am pretty sure it would rip off several layers of skin if ya left it on there...

---

Ha! Funny you mentioned TRU!

That was my first job! And yes.... It sucked!

Yup.... Gorilla tape.......

I almost bought it, but balked at the price..... sometimes you get what you pay for and this is definitely one of those times. When I run out of the crap, which shouldn't take long with all the extra stuff I have to keep using to keep my polysheeting in line, I'll be sure to buy the good stuff from now on.





In the mean time, I thought I was going to have my gutters done today. Had a quote from a guy I know for 400 to 450 bucks on labor, for just the house, including replacing the bad subfacia and facia, (which is AWESOME) and he thought the materials would only be around 300-350 bucks.....

Turns out the cheapest I can get what I need would be nearly 600 bucks for just the house and if I had the garage material made and delivered as well you're looking at over 900 bucks....

That's just too much for me right now.

I'll be getting the facia/subfacia work done on the house this weekend for only 130 in materials and 150 for labor. I'll then be taking the old facia from the house and putting it on the garage so I can install all of the sofit panels and finally have the garage wrapped up. The garage is only 1x6 sub facia and the house is 1x8. Whoever installed the gutters before cut corners and only used 1x6 facia on the 1x8 sub on the house, which wasn't a problem until the gutters were ripped off and that's why all of the sub is rotting.

So.... No gutters before winter, but between the new costs and the existing wood I bought, I'll at least have the house and garage wrapped up tight under the shingles for about 350 bucks.

Plus, I don't have to go 15 feet up on a ladder myself without health insurance.

Not bad at all....

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." ~Shepherd Book

BTW... I love my General Discussion Peeps. If you feel a strong need to judge me on RWED discussions I've had in the General Discussion, I welcome it, but I also say that they are two different worlds......

And while my core never wavers and though I may say things you don't like in the RWED, I'd never say them in General Discussions and I hope you would do the same.

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So.....

Got a ton done today

Got the primer repairs on the sunroom windows finally finished. Also scraped all the rust off of the garage service door and jambs and rustoliemed the crap out of it. It was a bit iffy work with the dark clouds all day, but thankfully mother nature complied with my plan of action.

Got my facia and soffits ordered today so I'll have my house and garage wrapped up tight come Saturday night.

Got my new 1TB NAS drive working so I can access my movies, music and TV shows and all of my guitar tabs and pics from any computer or TV in my house (AWESOME!!!)

Got a new yahoo account to upload all of my repair work pics (FINALLY!). So I should be able to send links to the work done so far soon.



So........

After I get the facia/subfacia wrapped up and get the basement squared away to where I think I can get the washer and dryer in there safely, I think I'm overall done with the necessities, and I can stop spending an average of 2,500 a month to live while working on this house.

If I can get something as little as 1,200 a month take home pay, I'll be sitting pretty and have the ability to put about 400 a month into the house in my free time.

Since I won't be doing that much during the cold months, it's time to start saving for a fail-safe sump pump, a generator, and a pick up truck so I don't have to keep asking my stepdad for favors

~6

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." ~Shepherd Book

BTW... I love my General Discussion Peeps. If you feel a strong need to judge me on RWED discussions I've had in the General Discussion, I welcome it, but I also say that they are two different worlds......

And while my core never wavers and though I may say things you don't like in the RWED, I'd never say them in General Discussions and I hope you would do the same.

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BEFORE AND AFTER TODAY:

(Trying to figure out how to share everything at the moment.....)

Before:

After:



EDIT: Well.... blank pics for now. I'd like to believe I didn't do anything wrong though and that it's their bad....If I have to reupload tomorrow, I will.

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." ~Shepherd Book

BTW... I love my General Discussion Peeps. If you feel a strong need to judge me on RWED discussions I've had in the General Discussion, I welcome it, but I also say that they are two different worlds......

And while my core never wavers and though I may say things you don't like in the RWED, I'd never say them in General Discussions and I hope you would do the same.

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I saw 'em. I was trying to figure out why you had a trapdoor to china for a few minutes, as they were sideways, heh.

Very shiny work. Paintin' is my very favorite thing, it's like "new car smell" for a room to me.

I too need some soffit and facia work done, but only on half the house, guess they figured out how much standin; on a ladder that entails...

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Hehe.... China :)

Nope... just too lazy to rotate them. Should have thought of that though before I uploaded all of my pics to flickr.

Did you see the other pics then?


I'm going to have to arrange them properly and make sure they're right-side-down.




Ugggggh..... tell me about ladders. I can't stand being more than about 6 feet off the ground. I've been wanting to get the sub/facia on the house fixed since I've been here, but with all the other things I needed to get done it was easy to justify putting it off. I'm really glad I hit it off with the Code Enforcer and he suggested this kid to me. I can't afford the gutters until spring, but it was really cool to see him get all of that bad sub down and put up my new pressure treated wood up there in just over 3 hours with only an extension ladder on his own. WELL WORTH THE HUNDRED I GAVE HIM TODAY!!!!!!!

It's not that I'm afraid of heights, I just hate them. The fact that it would have taken a day and a half for me to do what took him only 3 hours and also the fact that I don't have health insurance to cover the inevitable face plant bills I'd be paying if I did it myself..... well.....

Picked up the rest of the house facia and a 12 foot length of soffit to put on the garage today. By saturday my house, even though it won't have gutters, should be otherwise weatherproof by saturday evening.

So exciting!!!!

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." ~Shepherd Book

BTW... I love my General Discussion Peeps. If you feel a strong need to judge me on RWED discussions I've had in the General Discussion, I welcome it, but I also say that they are two different worlds......

And while my core never wavers and though I may say things you don't like in the RWED, I'd never say them in General Discussions and I hope you would do the same.

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Got the facia and sofits done on the house and garage today! They look great!

I hope I can find some work for this guy on the side. He does an awesome job.

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." ~Shepherd Book

BTW... I love my General Discussion Peeps. If you feel a strong need to judge me on RWED discussions I've had in the General Discussion, I welcome it, but I also say that they are two different worlds......

And while my core never wavers and though I may say things you don't like in the RWED, I'd never say them in General Discussions and I hope you would do the same.

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Well.... back into the basement now that the outside work is done.

Got the bedroom studs primered and caulked today, well... almost. Ran out of caulk. Uggggg.... I think I'm going to go through about 100 bucks more of mold resistant caulk, 50 bucks of primer, and 50 bucks of mold resistant paint to finish the job.

As long as I get that damn smell out and I'm sure there aren't any mold spores flying around. I really need to open up that basement since there is no heat to it and there are a lot of pipes down there. I'm going to be insulating all of them, but still.... I'm sure there are going to be some pretty cold nights on the horizon and I'd like to see the basement getting at least some hot air.

Contrary to popular belief, heat does not rise. If it did, we'd all be in a world of hurt, sleeping in dead Tauntaun carcasses on ice planet Hoth. Heat disperses to all areas it can reach evenly, and is only impeded or effected by the properties of its surroundings. As the moleules slow down they become cold.

Good news for me, anyways....


"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." ~Shepherd Book

BTW... I love my General Discussion Peeps. If you feel a strong need to judge me on RWED discussions I've had in the General Discussion, I welcome it, but I also say that they are two different worlds......

And while my core never wavers and though I may say things you don't like in the RWED, I'd never say them in General Discussions and I hope you would do the same.

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CLASSIFIED AD:

MAID WANTED....

Beautiful 25 year old or younger female desired to cook healthy meals and clean the house so focus can be put solely on rehab work and finding long term employment. BBW aren't ruled out.... I've known some extremely sexy plus size women in my life.

French Maid outfit prefered, but street clothes is entirely acceptable

Free room and board for a part time position, leaving you with plenty of time and opportunity to bartend, waitress, strip, volunteer, or be a lawyer on the side.... whatever will provide you with health benefits and side cash that this position doesn't include.

As a precaution, I must disclaim that it's very possible you may fall in love with me while on the job, but I promise you that I will resist your advances and keep the relationship strictly professional..... unless, of course, I see a future in it.

I'm pretty good at predicting the future, BTW....



"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." ~Shepherd Book

BTW... I love my General Discussion Peeps. If you feel a strong need to judge me on RWED discussions I've had in the General Discussion, I welcome it, but I also say that they are two different worlds......

And while my core never wavers and though I may say things you don't like in the RWED, I'd never say them in General Discussions and I hope you would do the same.

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I take issue with the "LOOKING for long term employment" part of the advert. Hubby takes issue with it NOT being in Russian...

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Haha! You got me. I haven't actually been looking yet, per-say.

But that's why I need a maid!

Does your husband think I should go Russian? I get plenty of emails from girls from Russia who send me their pics and are looking for a relationship. Not exactly sure how I got on that mailing list and why girls who could be 5k an hour call girls would want to talk to me without having even seen my face. I must admit that the pics look very "girl next door" and classy, but these girls definitely got it going on.

I didn't think that America was that desirable to a young 20-something foreign bombshell today that they would cold-call a guy who could very well be an obese balding ape living in his mother's basement.



"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." ~Shepherd Book

BTW... I love my General Discussion Peeps. If you feel a strong need to judge me on RWED discussions I've had in the General Discussion, I welcome it, but I also say that they are two different worlds......

And while my core never wavers and though I may say things you don't like in the RWED, I'd never say them in General Discussions and I hope you would do the same.

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I'm hoping yer not serious...

Every one of those relationships I've seen , which granted, I've only seen a half dozen or so-have ended VERY badly...Not that a typical relationship HERE can't end badly...My theory about buying things on the internet is a lot like a rear-view mirror and things not being what they appear....

The media can portray Russia, ect, as being burgeoning commerce centers all they want. I have a feeling it's a lot like here, L.A. looks so very shiny when you are on, say, Rodeo Dr, but if you take a back-back-back road in Arkansas you're gonna get an entirely different picture...poeple struggling with the basic necessities and a powerful desire TO LEAVE.

A fixer-up house is one thing, I'd have the number of a good shrink or at least a good bartender if you plan on a fixer-upper relationship!

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Haha... yeah. I'm just kidding.

You've actually seen Russian relationships lol?????

The only one I ever saw was on Aqua Teen Hunger Force and when Carl went to pick up his Russian bride at the airport, he was directed to the baggage claim where a coffin with a dead Russian girl was waiting for him and he was stuck with the burial bills.

Truth be told, I'm not really looking for a relationship at all at the moment. I love my freedom. 99% of the time I love being completely in control of my own life, answering to nobody and owing nobody anything... but there is that 1% of the time where it can get a little lonely on a cold night.

Funny I never feel that way during the summertime, but when these cold months come around I start thinking about those things.

I still wouldn't trade my life right now for all of my married friends' lives. Hell... I've had the same phone for 6 years because I enjoy month to month cell service and I don't want to commit to another 2 year contract just for a free phone upgrade......... And I LOVE my current carrier!!!!!

Maybe someday.....

My old man was 8 years older than me when he married the second time to a girl half his age with a kid and they've done brilliantly raising the kids and seem to have a great relationship to this day. I figure I still have time to build my castle while skirting the whole first bad marriage and child support and weekend visits with the kids and all.




By the by....

I finished primering about 2/3rds of the exposed studs and tracks in the basement today. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have about 95% of that primering work done except for a few trouble spots that are still in serious need of scrubbing down, and the few spots that I'm going to need to fire up the sprayer to hit.

It actually smells great down there between the residual bleach and the smell of Kilz2. Hopefully when those smells dissipate there will be no more mold smell now. I can't smell any trace of foul odor over the bleach and primer now.

Next step is caulking everything and make it all water-tight, and then a coat of (supposedly) mold proof paint and I should be set to finally get my washer and dryer down there so I don't have to drive to my parents house to do laundry everyweek.

Don't get me wrong, I love seeing them all the time and buying us 1/2 price pizza at the local bar (which is AWESOME pizza, BTW).... It's kind of become a tradition... but I really don't want to be stuck doing that or going to a nearby laundromat when there is snow/sleet/ice on the streets.

Once the basement is wrapped up and water-tight, I really only have a very few pertinent things to take care of before this house is really a home. Besides the unfinished basement, this house will look and function better than a lot of other houses I've been in, even with all of the cosmetic work that I want to do over the next few years.



"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." ~Shepherd Book

BTW... I love my General Discussion Peeps. If you feel a strong need to judge me on RWED discussions I've had in the General Discussion, I welcome it, but I also say that they are two different worlds......

And while my core never wavers and though I may say things you don't like in the RWED, I'd never say them in General Discussions and I hope you would do the same.

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Yep, I've seen some Russian relationships...We actually had a lot of them as exchange students in high school, and I worked in a casino...I've seen it all...

I have pay as you go for the same reason, love the damn thing and all it does is make calls. No puttin up with the major carriers crap... no overages, fine print, yada yada... I live in freakin Indiana, I don't need internets every where I go...there's nothin to learn about...

I wish I went on vacay enough TO need one, but that's not bloody likely...

Everything I need is HERE at home, and that's plenty fer me... And yeah, you've got plenty o' time...Do it right, darlin...

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Quote:

---

Originally posted by Wishimay:
Yep, I've seen some Russian relationships...We actually had a lot of them as exchange students in high school, and I worked in a casino...I've seen it all...

I have pay as you go for the same reason, love the damn thing and all it does is make calls. No puttin up with the major carriers crap... no overages, fine print, yada yada... I live in freakin Indiana, I don't need internets every where I go...there's nothin to learn about...

I wish I went on vacay enough TO need one, but that's not bloody likely...

Everything I need is HERE at home, and that's plenty fer me... And yeah, you've got plenty o' time...Do it right, darlin...

---

Exchange students are a different thing altogether though, I think. I'm talking about girls who (supposedly) live in Russia and (supposedly) are beautiful and young who email me about twice a week. (Although since I've been ignoring the emails, they've died down considerably).

I'm still not sure how I got on the greedy-Russian-Princess-looking-for-a-greencard-and-a-windfall list....... but it is what it is....



Not all foreign relationships are bad though.....

One of my ex's married a great guy from Bulgaria a few years back. He was a foreign exchange student at the college we attended (which they both graduated from and I dropped out, unceremoniously).

I saw her mom working at a Blockbuster Video a few years later and she kept asking me why I ever left her and that she wished I married her daughter instead. I couldn't understand why she didn't like the guy, but I guess when I've spoiled the parents early, nobody is going to live up to the hype.

I kinda felt like Owen Wilson in Meet the Parents




So..... you're in IN, huh? We're probably a lot closer than I would have imagined. Interesting, since I hardly ever meet anyone online who is within spitting distance of me.

Go Mitch!

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." ~Shepherd Book

BTW... I love my General Discussion Peeps. If you feel a strong need to judge me on RWED discussions I've had in the General Discussion, I welcome it, but I also say that they are two different worlds......

And while my core never wavers and though I may say things you don't like in the RWED, I'd never say them in General Discussions and I hope you would do the same.

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You wanna narrow down your geographical area, or would you have ta kill me then?

I promise not to come steal your caulking gun, hah.

I'll even tell you I'm in Southern Indiana, ooooh.

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Hehe... It's not you I'm worried about. It's the alliance.

Then again, I know they already know every IP address that posts every single post or email anywhere, so what's the big deal right?

I forgot that there was a Southern Indiana.

I'm quite a bit closer to the Lake.

I absolutely love it here so far. Great neighbors, great property, all the stores I had living in Chicago plus some, and 1/3rd the taxes. Even the code enforcer is cool.

The only thing that is taxed more here is beer. But I go back to see family and friends enough that I just stock up on it whenever I'm back to the hometown. Even if I didn't, it would take an army of me to drink enough beer to make up for all of the other taxes I'm not paying by living here.

Truth be told, having lived in Illinois all of my life, I can't believe that Indiana is able to run a budget surplus with about 40% of the tax burden on its citizens that Illinois has.

I think that speaks volumes about the corruption in Illinois. That, and the fact that the last two Governors we had were ousted prematurely for scandals.

And the People thought it would be a good idea to put somebody from the Illinois political machine in charge of the country.......

Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm........



"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." ~Shepherd Book

BTW... I love my General Discussion Peeps. If you feel a strong need to judge me on RWED discussions I've had in the General Discussion, I welcome it, but I also say that they are two different worlds......

And while my core never wavers and though I may say things you don't like in the RWED, I'd never say them in General Discussions and I hope you would do the same.

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Quote:

---

Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:


Truth be told, having lived in Illinois all of my life, I can't believe that Indiana is able to run a budget surplus with about 40% of the tax burden on its citizens that Illinois has.

---

Yeah, that's 'cause you get NOTHING for being a good citizen in Indiana. Unemployment?? That's just an urban legend, right? Most people here get pink slipped when the economy tanks-because we have a seasonal economy. My kid's school never knows who is gonna be teaching the next year and they don't have an air condioner in the gym(can reach 100 degrees easy, thought some granparents were gonna pass out last year) due to budget cuts...God forbid your kid actually have a problem...There is NO ONE to help...My daughter is in 3rd grade and still can't see the difference between a b and a d... Every time I try to even have a conversation they "handle" it by saying what a great personality she has...Principal actually said the other day that they don't make educational allowances for children of Catholics, Athiests and others, btw.

Food banks are empty 'cause no one qualifies for SQUAT. Oh but we are the fattest area in the nation, because there IS NOWHERE TO GO and NOTHING TO DO.
Mental heath problems? Have some more meth...
Churches are doing well here though, the two megachurches down the road just remodeled, put on new roofs, and paved parking lots... meanwhile a quarter of the kids here can't buy lunch...
Next county over actually went broke this year.
I took a drive up north last year and decided to see some back country. More like THIRD WORLD COUNTRY. Buildings falling down all over the place...
We've got our share of crappy leaders, too. Several embezzeled the crap outta this area last couple years.
Not much worth being HERE for lemme tell ya.

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Quote:

---

Originally posted by Wishimay:

Quote:

---

Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:


Truth be told, having lived in Illinois all of my life, I can't believe that Indiana is able to run a budget surplus with about 40% of the tax burden on its citizens that Illinois has.

---

Yeah, that's 'cause you get NOTHING for being a good citizen in Indiana. Unemployment?? That's just an urban legend, right? Most people here get pink slipped when the economy tanks-because we have a seasonal economy. My kid's school never knows who is gonna be teaching the next year and they don't have an air condioner in the gym(can reach 100 degrees easy, thought some granparents were gonna pass out last year) due to budget cuts...God forbid your kid actually have a problem...There is NO ONE to help...My daughter is in 3rd grade and still can't see the difference between a b and a d... Every time I try to even have a conversation they "handle" it by saying what a great personality she has...Principal actually said the other day that they don't make educational allowances for children of Catholics, Athiests and others, btw.

Food banks are empty 'cause no one qualifies for SQUAT. Oh but we are the fattest area in the nation, because there IS NOWHERE TO GO and NOTHING TO DO.
Mental heath problems? Have some more meth...
Churches are doing well here though, the two megachurches down the road just remodeled, put on new roofs, and paved parking lots... meanwhile a quarter of the kids here can't buy lunch...
Next county over actually went broke this year.
I took a drive up north last year and decided to see some back country. More like THIRD WORLD COUNTRY. Buildings falling down all over the place...
We've got our share of crappy leaders, too. Several embezzeled the crap outta this area last couple years.
Not much worth being HERE for lemme tell ya.

---

Methinks you need to make the move to Illinois

For me, personally, Indiana is where it's at. I pay a very minimum in taxes and I get to keep more of my own profits from working. Also, I live in a state now that isn't sucking at the teet of the federal government because it's just as far in debt as the federal government as a whole is.

Easy to say, I guess, since I don't have a wife or kids.... but it is what it is.

I'm a guy who figures that I won't have any Social Security benefits when I retire and I'm so paranoid about debt to anybody that I have zero debt right now and when somebody I care about does something for me I pay it back 2 fold.

If you want to be a guy who wants to be left to his own devices, pay minimum taxes, and basically be your own man (or woman), Indiana is where it's at. If you're in a position where you have burdens upon you that you can't cope with alone or even with your family or friends or church helping out, Illinois is where it's at..... for now anyways.....

Until they "officially" go bankrupt.

Daley sold all of the parking meters in Chicago to a private company in a 99 year contract and spent all of that money before he left. The last two governors (both republican and democrat) were ousted for corruption. The current governor raised the income tax 2% this year, and currently Cook County, IL has the highest sales tax in the nation. Gas prices there are also anywhere from 15 cents to 45 cents higher depending on the way the breeze blows.

If you find yourself in the unfortunate position that you need help, I guess Indiana isn't the place to be. God help me that I don't find myself in that position anytime soon since I don't have any medical benefits to speak of right now.

My brother, who I've mentioned in another thread, is currently getting free medication for his State diagnosed bi-polar disorder (likely due to the brain hemmorage he had at 6 years old). My dad has gotten him completely off of the booze, caffeine and nicotine as well. The meds would cost over 12 hundred dollars a month if he had to pay for them.

Personally, I think that's a problem we need to fight the major pharm corps a

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Finished scraping, sanding and primering my porch today!!!!

Man... that took a lot longer than I thought it would..... 2 full days... and not a bead of caulk on it yet even.

It's not just recklessly primering studs in a previously moldy basement that will eventually be covered with drywall like I've been doing the previous few days.

There were 55 small posts and 5 large posts to this porch that were all turned on a lathe, and had several spots that were very intricate. I could have done it in half the time if I just slapped primer on it haphazardly, but there would be drips everywhere if I did that!!!!

Thanks to the man upstairs for some decent weather in November and to my mom for talking some sense into me 2 nights ago to get me to postpone my focus on the basement for a few days to get that wood protected for the winter so I wasn't hit with severe wood rot come springtime that I could have (and now did) eliminate.

I'll be caulking tomorrow and if things go well, I'll start actually painting with the quart of Satin White Sherwin Williams paint I have. I hope it's enough paint



BTW..... I wanted to shout out to the bozos doing the weather forecast. 64 degrees and sunny today, my ass..... Maybe until 11:00AM..... By 12PM it was 50 degrees at most and the wind was so hard that it felt like 40 degrees. Not to mention that the wind was blowing from everywhere and the leaves were blowing in circles all up on my freshly painted wood consistantly.

I'm confident I'm going to feel so sick tomorrow that I won't even want to get out of bed, but it was so worth it. Even just primered, the porch looks amazing. I almost feel bad that I did it, in a way, since it just puts on display to the neighborhood just how much the front of the house otherwise needs a power washing........




Seriously wishimay. I wish the best for your daughter and you and your family. I hope bullshit politics didn't piss you off. We all have our own opinions, and we're all entitled to them. I don't want to argue that crap here, and I hope I didn't come off too argumentative here as to put you off. I've enjoyed our conversations here otherwise and, especially since you're the only one who really posts here but me, I'd hate to think I put you off.

Best wishes,
~6

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." ~Shepherd Book

BTW... I love my General Discussion Peeps. If you feel a strong need to judge me on RWED discussions I've had in the General Discussion, I welcome it, but I also say that they are two different worlds......

And while my core never wavers and though I may say things you don't like in the RWED, I'd never say them in General Discussions and I hope you would do the same.

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Quote:

---

Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
Personally, I think that's a problem we need to fight the major pharm corps about, and not our state governments. Why can I get blood pressure medication for 12 bucks for a 90 day supply at wal-mart, but if I'm bi-polar, it's going to cost me 3000 times that?

---

Ever stand in line in Wally World and watch the old folks shell out thousands of dollars for their meds? THAT'S depressing. I plan ta not make it THAT far, heh.

Course there was an article just today that says that the disparity in $$$ between the old and the young has never been greater.

Thanks for the concern for my kid. We get along. I realize that it helps to drill it into her, so we go over things until I go All I really want is a conversation with someone about any new techniques or things I could do to help her, there's suprisingly little they even know about these kinds of things. I can't imagine how the kids who don't get any help, or have a parent there feel. Also, don't worry about ticking me off. Even if you somehow were to, I have a tendancy to forget all about it by the next day. That kinda thing helps in a marraige, too A LOT

I finally got steps, and a railing, yay. Also, wired up a couple more recessed lights in the basement, then realized I for got to buy a switch, darnit. Back ta the hardware store....Wonder what kinda trouble I'll get into today?

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Actually, I've never been in to WalMart for a prescription. I just hear about it from family members. In the last 10 years I've only been to two clinics for strep throat and I just overpaid slightly for the penicillin there. It was cool that they had that place. You didn't have to put your social and you could even put a fake name and pay in cash. I had insurance at the time, but I don't like things on my "permanent record".

Truth be told, I have such a paranoid aversion to the records they keep that the first time I got strep I didn't go until I had to beg my brother to drive me to the clinic since my fever had reached 103 degrees and I could barely walk. There wasn't an inch of my body that didn't sting to the touch, and swallowing a cold glass of water felt like swallowing razor blades. Had the left side of my throat swelled up as much as the right side, I wouldn't even have been able to breathe through my mouth at that point. By this time, I had been foolishly thinking that my body could fight it off on my own for nearly two weeks. (I later found out that you could have a heart attack if it's the right kind of strep and it goes unchecked, even at a young age, so I dodged a bullet there)

The next time I got it was only a few years later, but I knew the second it started hurting what I had and went right after work and got it taken care of. Even after looking at it the physician's assistant wasn't convinced it was strep and took the test. She asked me afterward how I knew it was strep and I told her I hope she never goes through what I put myself through the last time. I think I have developed an instinctual response to strep throat now.

I know what you mean about planning not to make it that far though.... Although, that little (joke?) seems a bit less funny now that I only have 18 years left before my desired check out date. Who knows what will happen. Hopefully in 18 years we've gotten the healthcare issue straightened out into some reasonable model that both "sides" can agree is fair. Whatever side you're on now, you can't say that the system works, and no proposals that these paid politicians on either "side" put out there offer any real solutions.



About what you're daughter is going through....

When I was in grade school (I don't remember what grade, but it was very early), we had to copy sentences on the board onto paper for a grade and we had a limited time to do it. Back then, I was usually the first done with everything (Later on finding it wasn't because of my very-slightly-higher-than-average IQ, but more due to my OCD tennancies and a drive to excel. (A drive that, unfortunately, I definitely lost somewhere along the way).

My teacher had me help out some students that were having problems complete the assignments in time after I was done. For that particular assignment, I remember that I would look at the board and see a sentence at a time and write them down before looking back up at the board. I remember one of the kids looked only at a single letter and wrote it down before looking back up. I was able to tell him what I was doing and he got the hang of it and didn't have a problem completing it on time anymore. He didn't get to a sentence at a time right away, but with practice he was finishing the assignments right behind me by the end of the year.

I know there's probably no similarity to the two stories, but perhaps there really isn't anything "wrong" with your daughter that would require medicine of any kind and just that she's processing information differently than others may naturally do. This wouldn't be her fault at all and maybe not even her teacher's fault. Every kid is different and will go about solving problems in a different way, and unless you know what is going through their head when they're working, I'd say it's probably impossible to get them to understand a better way to do it. It may just be a matter of being able to understand exactly how she is processing this information and showing her alternative ways, and if she can se

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I understand paranoia. These days it's hard to be safe in anything ya do. I think alotta people in the health care industry do anything but. I wouldn't worry too much about records, unless you HAVE one, or plan on having one(not! the medical kind). And yeah, sometimes going clinic is easier than dealing with insurance, especially if you or the people you know know nothing about the system. I had to learn about it the hard way. I spent two years fighting something that was denied. Turned out the hospital had lost the copy to our insurance card and HAD USED OUR SS# to look up old expired insurance which they had billed. In the end I WON DAMMIT!!!

The thing that bothers me about my kid's problem is that the teachers know she has no control over it, but they mark her papers wrong every time anyway. What was that about killing off drive? For the most part all they do are really boring worksheets day in and day out..... Also, I have a feeling she may not grow out of it.

I always though schools do a piss poor job of actually teaching life skills. And these days parents and grandparents can't teach them, because so many people never learned themselves. I know alot of people who have never cooked, paid their own bills, or know which end of a screwdriver ta hold.

You're not the only one taking time off. Actually I find if I slack off on one day a week, I can usually push myslf a little better the rest of the week. Hard to remember to give yourself permission to be human. We're all a wee bit off this week, though. Weird storm systems and allergies
It's easy for me to find time to work on the house with hubbs sleeping all day(thirds) and my kid at school all day. Nobody here but me and my They both help where they can, too.

Maybe you better hurry up with that dating thing, if you only wanna be here 18 more years. Not alotta time...

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I don't look at this thread anymore, well, didn't look at this thread anymore, not for any particular reason except that I don't really know anything about home remodeling, even though my dad does that sort of stuff for a living. Anyways I happened to look at this thread. Six, I hope you're not actually planning to off yourself in 18 years, if you are I can't stop you, but by then you might have changed your mind. If that's still your plan don't have babies because you'll just be screwing them over by checking out early.

I'm glad your brother is not using the alcohol and cigs anymore, now you can get a better idea of how the medicine will work for him. If it doesn't work right away don't freak out, sometimes it takes a while to see improvement. Plus sometimes different things have to be tried, whether that be regular medicine or medicine from the earth, before he finds one that is the most helpful for him. He's fortunate to get on the co. free medicine program. Yeah, some of those medicines can get spendy. :(

Wish, yeah it sounds like you guys are having a hard time with the reading and writing thing right now. I've heard that doing things in different colors can help. Of course that would be temperary until she is better able to manage. Most kids with dyslexia or other similar things are able to compensate through techniques and different ways of doing things and they catch up to the other kids in the reading stuff eventually. It sounds like her school is rather incompetant though. Does she have an IEP (individualized education plan) yet? The best thing you can do as her mom is to keep advocating for the assistance she needs. She sounds like a bright child who has lots of potential and who will do well with the right tools and strategies. Dyslexia runs in my dad's family, but fortunately its fairly mild with them and so reading is challenging when they're little but they are able to catch up etc. with minimal assistance. But everyone is different and some kids need a lil' more help than others and that's okay.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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I have posted a new thread, which might help.

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Also, I AM THE 100TH POSTER, MU HA HA!

I get to be queen for a day, right?

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