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Post by ganews on Sept 29, 2022 9:41:44 GMT -5
Mice, dammit. We found poop under the sink, then a little while after that a hole appeared dug into the corner of the dining room carpet. A trap there quickly nabbed one, but the mouse that is left (at least I could hope it is only one) is smarter and more brazen. It hasn't gone for any of the traps, and I found it chewing a hole in Wifemate's bookbag to get at a single M&M in a fully lit room - disappeared before I could get something to trap it. Best thing I have found to catch mice is to get some basic Victor-type spring traps, wrap and tie some soft string around the little trip plate, then rub some peanut butter into the string for bait. They love peanut butter, seems like they can smell it from across the room, and the string makes it a lot harder for them to take the bait without setting off the trap. That's what I put in, but this mouse is a wily one. When I got home yesterday Wifemate was playing recorded owl hoots in the living room. We'll find out who is smarter. |
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LazBro
Prolific Poster 
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Post by LazBro on Sept 29, 2022 10:37:51 GMT -5
With our pandemic stimulus, pandemic "can't go anywhere" savings, salary increases, insurance decreases, a modest recent inheritance, and a new found if conservative "screw it" attitude toward the long term, we've decided we want to upgrade our backyard. We have a large backyard, which is nice for kids and dogs, but the patio is pathetic even after the extension we did when we first moved in 8 years ago. Not only is it small, especially once you put a table and two grills on it, but it doesn't look very good, and it's positioned so that at peak evening dining hours, the sun glares into the space at a perfect horizontal. So, we're planning to greatly extend it by more than doubling the patio space, adding a built in counter along one of the walls with enclosed storage below, roofing the entire thing, and adding retractable screens the full length of the western edge so we can block the sun/wind and still enjoy the space on sunnier days. I've pretty much planned the layout I want around 1) the grills I have and 2) the grills I still plan to get. It's gonna cost a lot. It's gonna be good. Done. |
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Baron von Costume
TI Forumite
Like an iron maiden made of pillows... the punishment is decadence!
Posts: 4,684
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Post by Baron von Costume on Sept 29, 2022 10:46:35 GMT -5
Nice!
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Post by Powerthirteen on Sept 29, 2022 12:31:36 GMT -5
Mice, dammit. We found poop under the sink, then a little while after that a hole appeared dug into the corner of the dining room carpet. A trap there quickly nabbed one, but the mouse that is left (at least I could hope it is only one) is smarter and more brazen. It hasn't gone for any of the traps, and I found it chewing a hole in Wifemate's bookbag to get at a single M&M in a fully lit room - disappeared before I could get something to trap it. Best thing I have found to catch mice is to get some basic Victor-type spring traps, wrap and tie some soft string around the little trip plate, then rub some peanut butter into the string for bait. They love peanut butter, seems like they can smell it from across the room, and the string makes it a lot harder for them to take the bait without setting off the trap. Number one thing I learned from spending way too much time with an exterminator this summer was that snap traps are by far the best option as long as you don't make the mistake everyone makes, which is to put way too much bait on them. Just a smear, enough for them to smell but not enough for them to be able to nibble. The number two thing was that the price of having a pro do a rodent exclusion on your house is money *extremely* well spent. |
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Post by Liz n Dicksgiving on Oct 3, 2022 13:21:45 GMT -5
With our pandemic stimulus, pandemic "can't go anywhere" savings, salary increases, insurance decreases, a modest recent inheritance, and a new found if conservative "screw it" attitude toward the long term, we've decided we want to upgrade our backyard. We have a large backyard, which is nice for kids and dogs, but the patio is pathetic even after the extension we did when we first moved in 8 years ago. Not only is it small, especially once you put a table and two grills on it, but it doesn't look very good, and it's positioned so that at peak evening dining hours, the sun glares into the space at a perfect horizontal. So, we're planning to greatly extend it by more than doubling the patio space, adding a built in counter along one of the walls with enclosed storage below, roofing the entire thing, and adding retractable screens the full length of the western edge so we can block the sun/wind and still enjoy the space on sunnier days. I've pretty much planned the layout I want around 1) the grills I have and 2) the grills I still plan to get. It's gonna cost a lot. It's gonna be good. Done.
That is a fine-looking patio! Nicely done!! |
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Post by Liz n Dicksgiving on Oct 7, 2022 9:02:08 GMT -5
Still no new fridge. It's now three weeks since I paid in full for it. I'm giving them one more week, and then I'm going to stop being patient.
Meanwhile, no movement on the range front.
And further meanwhile, the oven that does work decided it doesn't work anymore, so we got an appliance repair person in and he said the whole control panel had to be replaced. There was some back-and-forth with his office about the s/n of the oven, but we finally got the info to them. A few days later another guy showed up with the panel and was like, "Oh, it doesn't match the finish. Do you mind?" Boomer, who was talking to him, was like, "That's no problem!", so thank god I was home, because I was like, "WTF? Why doesn't it match? This oven model is a year old. They should still have parts that match." So the guy determined they ordered the wrong thing, placed the correct order, and two days later was out to replace it. Two screws and two plugs. That was the extent of the job. Motherfucker. I could have done that myself! Anyway, I might get the chance to, because guess whose oven just gave me the same "the control panel's not working" error code just now! It's been one fucking week since getting this new ($500) panel put on it! GRRRRRRRRRR.
So yeah, I'm a bit at wit's end here.
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Post by Liz n Dicksgiving on Oct 7, 2022 13:23:22 GMT -5
::sad trombone::
Now my new range isn't due for delivery until January. (And it took the sales guy FOREVER to find it; I'd left a message this morning for him just like, please, my kitchen is making me insane, we're creeping up on November -- when I'd last been told the range was due to be delivered -- and I want something tangibly good, tell me what date it's coming in. And he called me back all, "Uh, there's no range order for you." For a moment there things were NOT GOOD. Heh.) (Also, he was trying to be really chipper. Like, "The manufacturer portal has a concrete date on it, January 3, which normally it's just a month. So that probably means this is firm! In fact, it probably means it'll get moved up and will arrive sooner!" I told him, "No it won't.")
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Post by ganews on Oct 11, 2022 19:14:03 GMT -5
Yesterday was my biennial Columbus Day water-sealing of the deck. Today the birds are back to pooping all over the railing.
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Oct 12, 2022 14:51:32 GMT -5
Tis the time for things to start breaking a little, I guess. Just, broadly speaking.
Last year the oven stopped heating; got that fixed. Then the furnace stopped heating; got that fixed (that was pretty minor, thankfully). Now the fridge has stopped cooling. Had a repair guy out; it's the compressor, about $1k with the part, freon and labor. And, it has to be ordered, so we're looking at probably Saturday. No fridge or freezer for two more days. Wondering how much of our food we can salvage - there's nothing crazy expensive but lots of random frozen stuff I was saving that will probably need to be tossed. (I did buy two bags of ice and put one each in the fridge and freezer, just to hedge our bets.)
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Post by nowimnothing on Oct 13, 2022 7:17:36 GMT -5
Tis the time for things to start breaking a little, I guess. Just, broadly speaking. Last year the oven stopped heating; got that fixed. Then the furnace stopped heating; got that fixed (that was pretty minor, thankfully). Now the fridge has stopped cooling. Had a repair guy out; it's the compressor, about $1k with the part, freon and labor. And, it has to be ordered, so we're looking at probably Saturday. No fridge or freezer for two more days. Wondering how much of our food we can salvage - there's nothing crazy expensive but lots of random frozen stuff I was saving that will probably need to be tossed. (I did buy two bags of ice and put one each in the fridge and freezer, just to hedge our bets.) Dry ice is expensive, but it works better and won't leave a mess. Three blocks kept my fridge at a decent temperature for about three days when we were having trouble with it. |
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Oct 13, 2022 7:40:03 GMT -5
Tis the time for things to start breaking a little, I guess. Just, broadly speaking. Last year the oven stopped heating; got that fixed. Then the furnace stopped heating; got that fixed (that was pretty minor, thankfully). Now the fridge has stopped cooling. Had a repair guy out; it's the compressor, about $1k with the part, freon and labor. And, it has to be ordered, so we're looking at probably Saturday. No fridge or freezer for two more days. Wondering how much of our food we can salvage - there's nothing crazy expensive but lots of random frozen stuff I was saving that will probably need to be tossed. (I did buy two bags of ice and put one each in the fridge and freezer, just to hedge our bets.) Dry ice is expensive, but it works better and won't leave a mess. Three blocks kept my fridge at a decent temperature for about three days when we were having trouble with it. Good to know in case of future emergency, but at this point, I think the ice is just a placebo -- the fridge feels downright room temperature when I open it and the freezer is definitely above freezing. Oh well. |
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Post by Liz n Dicksgiving on Oct 13, 2022 9:42:52 GMT -5
Uh oh... the appliance store I ordered my fridge from is really shaking in its boots now. That's right -- I sent them a STERNLY WORDED EMAIL about how I paid in full for my fridge a full month ago and have heard nothing from the installer yet. That'll show them!
Hugs and I are planning to expand our Christmas-season decor into our downstairs den, and this week we went out in search of lights for the ornament swag we're planning to put over the big picture window in there (Lowe's has its full Christmas light inventory in stock, so it seemed a good time to be shopping for this). While talking through this new plan, Hugs was like, "I know it's silly to have lights on in a room you don't use much at night, but we'll see it every time we walk past, and maybe we'll just have it on, like, just the week of Christmas..." Our house is a mid-century split-level, so sort of a ranch house built in several tiers into a hilly lot. The downstairs den has a short flight of stairs up to the main level, so we will be enjoying these lights from the heart of the house, walking between the living room and kitchen all the time. Also, the downstairs den has another short flight of stairs to the basement proper, where the chest freezer is, and that's where I've been keeping our ice for the last ELEVEN MONTHS*. I said to her, "Yeah, and I'll be able to enjoy the new Christmas lights every time I go downstairs to get a drink!" She was immediately like, "No! We'll have the new fridge by then!" Pause. "Hm. Yeah. You're right."
*Ha ha. Has it only been eleven months?!?
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Post by chalkdevil 😈 on Oct 13, 2022 14:28:01 GMT -5
I found a fun "feature" for my oven. I haven't really used the lock lever on the oven door for the last 14 years I've owned the thing, but we have a toddler cruising around and have pretty much stopped trying to lock her out of the kitchen altogether. Anyway, last week I was cooking a pizza, the Devil Spawn was about, so I locked the oven. I come back 15 minutes later and the cheese is barely melted. Did another 10 minutes, but the kid was outside by that point so I didn't lock it again, pizza cooked. Kid and I made some muffins this last weekend, I preheated the oven, popped the muffins in and locked the door. Come back 20 minutes later and the muffins are barely cooked. I started to get suspicious that it was lock so I left it unlocked and eventually the muffins cooked. After they were done, I threw a thermometer in the oven and locked the door. After 10 minutes the oven went down 50°F. So apparently, locking my oven door turns off the oven, which seems somewhat backwards to me. I guess I'll put one of those child-proofing straps on there.
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LazBro
Prolific Poster
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Post by LazBro on Oct 14, 2022 7:14:48 GMT -5
I found a fun "feature" for my oven. I haven't really used the lock lever on the oven door for the last 14 years I've owned the thing, but we have a toddler cruising around and have pretty much stopped trying to lock her out of the kitchen altogether. Anyway, last week I was cooking a pizza, the Devil Spawn was about, so I locked the oven. I come back 15 minutes later and the cheese is barely melted. Did another 10 minutes, but the kid was outside by that point so I didn't lock it again, pizza cooked. Kid and I made some muffins this last weekend, I preheated the oven, popped the muffins in and locked the door. Come back 20 minutes later and the muffins are barely cooked. I started to get suspicious that it was lock so I left it unlocked and eventually the muffins cooked. After they were done, I threw a thermometer in the oven and locked the door. After 10 minutes the oven went down 50°F. So apparently, locking my oven door turns off the oven, which seems somewhat backwards to me. I guess I'll put one of those child-proofing straps on there. I've never really thought of oven locks for keeping kiddos out, though you're right that makes perfect sense.
The oven lock is for its self-cleaning program, so people don't open it while it's at 900 degrees or whatever. I think that's how it works for most ovens that have them, at least.
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Post by Liz n Dicksgiving on Oct 14, 2022 12:52:10 GMT -5
The plot thickens. The appliance store got back to me and said they were assigning a new installer for my refrigerator order. Which would be great... except I had to meet with the previously-assigned installer last year to discuss fitting the fridge into my kitchen, and he was going to have to remove a cabinet. So now I'm like, "Is this new guy going to be willing to do the cabinet bit?" and she's just responded that they are "reviewing the notes from the site visit". This is going to end up requiring a contractor, isn't it? If I'd known this was going to be such a fucking headache, I never would have bought a house!  |
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Post by Liz n Dicksgiving on Oct 18, 2022 9:02:57 GMT -5
Fridge update:
When last we left off, the sales person was pivoting to a different installer to try to get my order completed. It sounded perhaps a bit iffy whether this other installer would be willing to remove the cabinet over the fridge the way the first installer proposed. The whole situation was tenuous.
Then, late in the afternoon, out of the blue (and apparently without additional prompting from the sales person), the originally installer called to schedule with me! :: CHORUS OF ANGELS :: We set our date. I emailed the sales person back to tell her I was set with that guy, and she didn't have to have the second guy get involved after all. I went on about my Friday afternoon/evening business (read: napping and then strolling a couple of miles on the treadmill up in our gym). When I got back to my phone I was greeted by a flurry of texts and voicemails from the second installer guy, who sounded more than a little bit panicky.
I texted and called him back. When I explained that Installer 1 was taking care of it his relief was palpable. After an enormous release of pent-up breath, he was like, "I'm certified for Sub-Zero, but... it's better that he do it. Really. This is so good. You definitely want him to do it." Pause. "But you have my number if you ever need me to do anything for you! I'm also a plumber!" Mm hm. You'll be the first person I turn to, dude.
So we seem to be on track! FOR INSTALLATION TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!! The freezer died last November 14, I ordered the new one last November 17, and, one hopes, this whole saga will come to a triumphant (?) conclusion in just one more day. I can't believe it.
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Oct 18, 2022 9:27:46 GMT -5
My own fridge/freezer saga came to a much quicker end, although we weren't trying to get a new one installed or remove any cabinets!
The guy came out Wed afternoon, said he'd have to order the part, it should take 48 hours, and he hoped to be back Fri or Sat.
On Friday evening I hadn't heard anything so I texted the service and later got an apologetic response that they were still missing 10 parts that hadn't come in, the tracking said Monday, he was very sorry.
I was getting frustrated and even left a message for a different service asking if they kept compressors in stock.
Saturday morning I heard back from Service B that they do NOT install compressors, so sorry. A little later Saturday morning, I heard back from the first guy saying actually, the part was coming that day, and he would do his best to come out that evening.
And he did - I was out for dinner with a friend but TWBE oversaw it, two dudes came out and also had to replace part of the condenser, but Saturday night we had a working fridge again! ....and it only cost $1000, sheesh.
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Post by Liz n Dicksgiving on Oct 18, 2022 10:15:44 GMT -5
My own fridge/freezer saga came to a much quicker end, although we weren't trying to get a new one installed or remove any cabinets! The guy came out Wed afternoon, said he'd have to order the part, it should take 48 hours, and he hoped to be back Fri or Sat. On Friday evening I hadn't heard anything so I texted the service and later got an apologetic response that they were still missing 10 parts that hadn't come in, the tracking said Monday, he was very sorry. I was getting frustrated and even left a message for a different service asking if they kept compressors in stock. Saturday morning I heard back from Service B that they do NOT install compressors, so sorry. A little later Saturday morning, I heard back from the first guy saying actually, the part was coming that day, and he would do his best to come out that evening. And he did - I was out for dinner with a friend but TWBE oversaw it, two dudes came out and also had to replace part of the condenser, but Saturday night we had a working fridge again! ....and it only cost $1000, sheesh. I was SO happy for you when I saw your IG post about fridge success! My situation has been a nuisance, because we have had a fridge the whole time and there's another freezer(s) in the house. But to be wholly without either? UGH. That is THE WORST. |
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Oct 18, 2022 10:28:09 GMT -5
My own fridge/freezer saga came to a much quicker end, although we weren't trying to get a new one installed or remove any cabinets! The guy came out Wed afternoon, said he'd have to order the part, it should take 48 hours, and he hoped to be back Fri or Sat. On Friday evening I hadn't heard anything so I texted the service and later got an apologetic response that they were still missing 10 parts that hadn't come in, the tracking said Monday, he was very sorry. I was getting frustrated and even left a message for a different service asking if they kept compressors in stock. Saturday morning I heard back from Service B that they do NOT install compressors, so sorry. A little later Saturday morning, I heard back from the first guy saying actually, the part was coming that day, and he would do his best to come out that evening. And he did - I was out for dinner with a friend but TWBE oversaw it, two dudes came out and also had to replace part of the condenser, but Saturday night we had a working fridge again! ....and it only cost $1000, sheesh. I was SO happy for you when I saw your IG post about fridge success! My situation has been a nuisance, because we have had a fridge the whole time and there's another freezer(s) in the house. But to be wholly without either? UGH. That is THE WORST. The worst part honestly was having to throw out a BUNCH of food because we didn't catch it in time to save anything, really - had to throw out a lot of half-bags of frozen veggies, Mandarin orange chicken, tamales, empanada wrappers, chicken, so much bacon, a whole carton of eggs...  |
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Post by Liz n Dicksgiving on Oct 18, 2022 10:46:43 GMT -5
The worst part honestly was having to throw out a BUNCH of food because we didn't catch it in time to save anything, really - had to throw out a lot of half-bags of frozen veggies, Mandarin orange chicken, tamales, empanada wrappers, chicken, so much bacon, a whole carton of eggs... You should see about whether your homeowners insurance covers that. I feel like I've heard many policies do cover the cost of food loss in a fridge/freezer disaster. |
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Oct 18, 2022 11:03:43 GMT -5
The worst part honestly was having to throw out a BUNCH of food because we didn't catch it in time to save anything, really - had to throw out a lot of half-bags of frozen veggies, Mandarin orange chicken, tamales, empanada wrappers, chicken, so much bacon, a whole carton of eggs... You should see about whether your homeowners insurance covers that. I feel like I've heard many policies do cover the cost of food loss in a fridge/freezer disaster. According to the interwebs, it would only be covered if it were caused by something our homeowners insurance covers like... I dunno, a lightning strike or a tornado? Not normal breakdown of an appliance. |
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Post by Liz n Dicksgiving on Oct 18, 2022 11:13:49 GMT -5
According to the interwebs, it would only be covered if it were caused by something our homeowners insurance covers like... I dunno, a lightning strike or a tornado? Not normal breakdown of an appliance. Oh, that makes sense! |
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Post by Floyd Dinnertime Barber on Oct 18, 2022 20:37:20 GMT -5
I am seething right now. We have been trying for over two years now to get started renovating our other property, the house/shop/warehouse/former school building where I used to live and work. I get that the plague screwed everybody over, but still...This is a major project. We are basically gutting the building to the brick and steel, updating the utilities, and maybe reconfiguring the room layout. We are wanting to install solar and geothermal heat and cooling. Somebody stands to make a decent amount of money on this project if we could find anybody to fucking do it! We thought we had found a general contractor, who was supposed to be here tomorrow to replace the front door and entryway, and do another walkthrough to go over some plans. Like half an hour ago he texted, first saying that he had to more than double the price for that work, and when we requested some clarification (asking WTF? in the nicest possible way) he just ghosted us. No replies.
So it looks like now, instead of discussing the details of the project. I am going to have to start all over looking for another contractor.
And I was actually in a no kidding "good" mood till this happened.
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Post by ganews on Oct 19, 2022 11:38:39 GMT -5
I am seething right now. We have been trying for over two years now to get started renovating our other property, the house/shop/warehouse/former school building where I used to live and work. I get that the plague screwed everybody over, but still...This is a major project. We are basically gutting the building to the brick and steel, updating the utilities, and maybe reconfiguring the room layout. We are wanting to install solar and geothermal heat and cooling. Somebody stands to make a decent amount of money on this project if we could find anybody to fucking do it! We thought we had found a general contractor, who was supposed to be here tomorrow to replace the front door and entryway, and do another walkthrough to go over some plans. Like half an hour ago he texted, first saying that he had to more than double the price for that work, and when we requested some clarification ( asking WTF? in the nicest possible way) he just ghosted us. No replies. So it looks like now, instead of discussing the details of the project. I am going to have to start all over looking for another contractor. And I was actually in a no kidding "good" mood till this happened. This is also the eternal complaint of my mother who still lives in the boonies where I grew up. I used to tell her that she needed to resign herself to offering twice as much to get people out there to work if that's what it takes. But money isn't the issue; you can't get people to drive more than 30 minutes. Combined with the universal unreliability of contractors, it just can't be done. |
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Post by Floyd Dinnertime Barber on Oct 19, 2022 13:42:34 GMT -5
I am seething right now. We have been trying for over two years now to get started renovating our other property, the house/shop/warehouse/former school building where I used to live and work. I get that the plague screwed everybody over, but still...This is a major project. We are basically gutting the building to the brick and steel, updating the utilities, and maybe reconfiguring the room layout. We are wanting to install solar and geothermal heat and cooling. Somebody stands to make a decent amount of money on this project if we could find anybody to fucking do it! We thought we had found a general contractor, who was supposed to be here tomorrow to replace the front door and entryway, and do another walkthrough to go over some plans. Like half an hour ago he texted, first saying that he had to more than double the price for that work, and when we requested some clarification ( asking WTF? in the nicest possible way) he just ghosted us. No replies. So it looks like now, instead of discussing the details of the project. I am going to have to start all over looking for another contractor. And I was actually in a no kidding "good" mood till this happened. This is also the eternal complaint of my mother who still lives in the boonies where I grew up. I used to tell her that she needed to resign herself to offering twice as much to get people out there to work if that's what it takes. But money isn't the issue; you can't get people to drive more than 30 minutes. Combined with the universal unreliability of contractors, it just can't be done. The irony of all this is that I have a friend and neighbor who is an extremely reliable, competent, and reasonably priced contractor, who gave it up a couple of years ago at the beginning of the covid pandemic. I have asked him to recommend someone, and he just shook his head and said the same thing you did. He couldn't find people who worked up to his standards, and he is as old as I am, so he said screw it and retired. |
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Post by ganews on Oct 19, 2022 19:40:15 GMT -5
This is also the eternal complaint of my mother who still lives in the boonies where I grew up. I used to tell her that she needed to resign herself to offering twice as much to get people out there to work if that's what it takes. But money isn't the issue; you can't get people to drive more than 30 minutes. Combined with the universal unreliability of contractors, it just can't be done. The irony of all this is that I have a friend and neighbor who is an extremely reliable, competent, and reasonably priced contractor, who gave it up a couple of years ago at the beginning of the covid pandemic. I have asked him to recommend someone, and he just shook his head and said the same thing you did. He couldn't find people who worked up to his standards, and he is as old as I am, so he said screw it and retired. A unicorn contractor who is good and reasonably priced will be so busy locally that they don't have time or need to drive way out to the sticks either. |
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Post by Floyd Dinnertime Barber on Oct 19, 2022 21:49:33 GMT -5
The irony of all this is that I have a friend and neighbor who is an extremely reliable, competent, and reasonably priced contractor, who gave it up a couple of years ago at the beginning of the covid pandemic. I have asked him to recommend someone, and he just shook his head and said the same thing you did. He couldn't find people who worked up to his standards, and he is as old as I am, so he said screw it and retired. A unicorn contractor who is good and reasonably priced will be so busy locally that they don't have time or need to drive way out to the sticks either. The only thing in my favor is that it's all sticks for about a hundred miles in any direction. Any contractor within fifty miles is going to have to go to the sticks to survive. |
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Post by Floyd Dinnertime Barber on Oct 21, 2022 21:58:58 GMT -5
The contractors I fumed about earlier this week contacted us again, explained there was a miscommunication between partners, and they came today, installed our entryway, and we did a preliminary walkthrough of the building. They are going to come back in a few days to take measurements and notes, and work up some designs for us. I am very cautiously optimistic.
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Baron von Costume
TI Forumite
Like an iron maiden made of pillows... the punishment is decadence!
Posts: 4,684
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Post by Baron von Costume on Nov 2, 2022 10:07:47 GMT -5
The final round of cleanup from the fire next door is mostly done other than a carpet cleaning that has supposedly been 'about to be scheduled' for three weeks now. I had made it clear that I needed more than one day notice as it will involve moving some stuff around for maximum access. Dear Reader they called this morning and guess when they wanted to schedule? At least I was able to be firm this time and insist on early next week instead. Given I want to do a small drywall job for a non fire related thing this weekend that should be ideal but ugh I can't wait for this all to be done. |
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Post by Floyd Dinnertime Barber on Nov 5, 2022 22:16:27 GMT -5
Mrs. Floyd was worried that I'm now old and crotchety creaky so she called a professional chimney sweep to get an estimate to clean our wood stove, pipes, and chimney. He quoted $400-500 and I said, and this is a direct quote "Fuck That".
She had found a new 26' aircraft grade aluminum Little Giant* ladder in an auction, and we got it for about $150. Thursday we had decent weather and the wind hadn't picked up yet. so we set up the new ladder (which is much more sturdy and stable than my old fiberglass extension ladder) and I swept the chimney with no trouble, and I cleaned the stove and stovepipes. I had to run to town Friday morning to replace a damaged 6" to 8" stove pipe adaptor, and finished reassembling the system. Tonight I built a lovely, cozy fire.
*I don't get paid by these people or anything, but I got my first Little Giant ladder in 1991, and used it continuously, like five days a week, until a couple of years ago when either I lost it or it got stolen on a job site. It was still working exactly as good as new. If not for me giving up installation work, I would have bought another one immediately. I cannot recommend highly enough the quality of their ladders.
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