COLD DARK ROOM

[jeff kushner]

I came in, worked for 2 hours getting my critical stuff done, then right after I saved my bid, Microsoft decided to log me out of the network so apparently, I'm done for the day? LOL

Not a bad day for that.....

I woke at 10:30 last night so I'm dragging this morning and don't have a lot of fight in me for that stuff today. A slow Tuesday ,,,,,sounds about right


That guy we just hired, the one without sense? He was standing next to a running forklift yesterday looking lost....so I asked....and he said, "the fork lift is running but I need the key to open the other warehouse"

"why don't you take the key you need from the ring on the running forklift w/o turning it off."

"oh, I didn't think of that"

God help us all! LOL

 

[Maro2Bear]

Recent project. I had a ton of extra cutoffs from all the recent birdhouse construction (over 50 houses built since late December). The cutoffs have been piling up & piling up. By luck, up popped a few YouTube videos on the making of “Wind Spinners”. Sooooo, a few more cuts & a piece of threaded rod & viola - our Wind Spinner.

Now I’m wondering if it’s the kind of thing that folks might purchase. I think I've just about saturated the local birdhouse market.

 

[Cathie G]

Recent project. I had a ton of extra cutoffs from all the recent birdhouse construction (over 50 houses built since late December). The cutoffs have been piling up & piling up. By luck, up popped a few YouTube videos on the making of “Wind Spinners”. Sooooo, a few more cuts & a piece of threaded rod & viola - our Wind Spinner.

Now I’m wondering if it’s the kind of thing that folks might purchase. I think I've just about saturated the local birdhouse market.

View attachment 354357

That's really nice. I can't stand and won't throw away the little blocks of wood leftovers from woodworking. It always seems like there has to be SOMETHING you can make from them.

 

[Cathie G]

Was it? Or did you make it a little more complicated than it needed to be? LOL


If my Kerry told me that, I would likely find that she is "planning for ANY contingency" making it very complicated. LOL I love it!

I live on a city street that has a lot of foot traffic. Now that my garden border fence is rigged it's more complicated for someone to just walk in my yard and take my camera . They'll look pretty funny either using steel cutters in my front yard or walking down the street with a camera and 8 foot of very awkward fencing flapping every which way.

 

[Cathie G]

That's really nice. I can't stand and won't throw away the little blocks of wood leftovers from woodworking. It always seems like there has to be SOMETHING you can make from them.

Also maybe that's how the age old toy came about. Wood alphabet blocks.

 

[jeff kushner]

I like it Mark, clever!!


Erie just left....WHEW! LOL. My big question to Aaron from Erie was "what do we do with all the stuff while the work is being done"
(Imagine standing in a 600sf room with no more than 2sf visible at any place on the floor & there are two other affected rms like this)

His answer made me feel all warmy inside;

"Two things, first I am going to send you a contractor to go through every single item, here on-site to evaluate for damage because it's too big a job to ask the client to undertake. Also, you wouldn't see and would miss the damage we would, especially to the wooden furniture. Second, I'm going to authorize and send a separate contractor to set pods in your driveway and remove every single item to the pods, then replace it all when the Construction is complete. You can hire your own contractor or we can send one for the flooring and walls. Your check for $XXXXX will be mailed in 2 weeks, it does not include the costs for laminate and carpet. The restoration company has samples and will send out for valuation. I will also send you a copy of my estimate to use with your selected contractor"

I don't usually swear online.....but HELL YEAH! Aaron is my "hero of the day"

He used to work for Remodeling contractors...several jobs, mid-30's....been with Erie 8 months and he slammed it for me. Heck yeah I chat them up a bit. Keep my life simple, that's all I want.....I'll choose when and where to make it exciting, we have no shortage of those moments now do we!

Thanks Erie


You know, I've had a lot of "basement issues" over the past year...what with Erin's animals, the well and water stuff....it's prob a poltergeist of an old GF making my life hell. I don't even want to start on that list.....



Oh, here's the culprit cause enquiring minds want to know;



Come on, I've been a plumber who builds buildings for decades and works with other plumbers and NO ONE has ever seen this before. I'm certainly not a plastics-expert but imho, this has stress fracture all over it, like it was whacked like the guy on Ghosts can do! LOL

See, it could have been lots worse!

 

[jeff kushner]

I live on a city street that has a lot of foot traffic. Now that my garden border fence is rigged it's more complicated for someone to just walk in my yard and take my camera . They'll look pretty funny either using steel cutters in my front yard or walking down the street with a camera and 8 foot of very awkward fencing flapping every which way.

I really was only teasing......but isn't it funny how we think that a task will be cut & dry.....but then we find out the "Rest of the Story" once we get started?

I didn't realize that you wanted to point back at your home instead of From your home, pointing out. I'm thick like that sometimes. That's a pretty nice cam, you're right not to want to give it away!

 

[Cathie G]

I really was only teasing......but isn't it funny how we think that a task will be cut & dry.....but then we find out the "Rest of the Story" once we get started?

I didn't realize that you wanted to point back at your home instead of From your home, pointing out. I'm thick like that sometimes. That's a pretty nice cam, you're right not to want to give it away!

Well... no I want to get pictures that my eyes see while I'm sitting on my bum on the couch. So it has to be facing the street and just letting the camera do what it does. Which means I'll be getting some dumb pictures to wade through of people's cars and people maybe too. We'll see what happens.

 

[Cathie G]

I did manage to get a bad picture of a cardinal scarfing up some seed today with my smartphone I can't wait to get the campark going.

 

[Ray--Opo]

I came in, worked for 2 hours getting my critical stuff done, then right after I saved my bid, Microsoft decided to log me out of the network so apparently, I'm done for the day? LOL

Not a bad day for that.....

I woke at 10:30 last night so I'm dragging this morning and don't have a lot of fight in me for that stuff today. A slow Tuesday ,,,,,sounds about right


That guy we just hired, the one without sense? He was standing next to a running forklift yesterday looking lost....so I asked....and he said, "the fork lift is running but I need the key to open the other warehouse"

"why don't you take the key you need from the ring on the running forklift w/o turning it off."

"oh, I didn't think of that"

God help us all! LOL

When I was working at General Motors. It was a safety violation to get off your forklift if it was still running. Not to say we still did it, but we had to eliminate the kill switch under the seat. I don't recall a kill switch on the stand-up forklift.

 

[Ray--Opo]

Just got back from Delray Beach, Florida! We went to the Delray Beach Open which is the ATP 250 tennis tournament. It was so nice down there and I caught two signed tennis balls from the same guys! Hans Hach Verdugo and Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela

I have never been to a tennis tournament.
Are the signed tennis balls something they do before the tournament? Hitting signed balls into the spectators area?

 

[Maro2Bear]

I like it Mark, clever!!


Erie just left....WHEW! LOL. My big question to Aaron from Erie was "what do we do with all the stuff while the work is being done"
(Imagine standing in a 600sf room with no more than 2sf visible at any place on the floor & there are two other affected rms like this)

His answer made me feel all warmy inside;

"Two things, first I am going to send you a contractor to go through every single item, here on-site to evaluate for damage because it's too big a job to ask the client to undertake. Also, you wouldn't see and would miss the damage we would, especially to the wooden furniture. Second, I'm going to authorize and send a separate contractor to set pods in your driveway and remove every single item to the pods, then replace it all when the Construction is complete. You can hire your own contractor or we can send one for the flooring and walls. Your check for $XXXXX will be mailed in 2 weeks, it does not include the costs for laminate and carpet. The restoration company has samples and will send out for valuation. I will also send you a copy of my estimate to use with your selected contractor"

I don't usually swear online.....but HELL YEAH! Aaron is my "hero of the day"

He used to work for Remodeling contractors...several jobs, mid-30's....been with Erie 8 months and he slammed it for me. Heck yeah I chat them up a bit. Keep my life simple, that's all I want.....I'll choose when and where to make it exciting, we have no shortage of those moments now do we!

Thanks Erie


You know, I've had a lot of "basement issues" over the past year...what with Erin's animals, the well and water stuff....it's prob a poltergeist of an old GF making my life hell. I don't even want to start on that list.....



Oh, here's the culprit cause enquiring minds want to know;

View attachment 354359

Come on, I've been a plumber who builds buildings for decades and works with other plumbers and NO ONE has ever seen this before. I'm certainly not a plastics-expert but imho, this has stress fracture all over it, like it was whacked like the guy on Ghosts can do! LOL

See, it could have been lots worse!

Sooo many questions. Exactly where does this key piece fit in the overall plumbing scheme in your house? And u probably said, but how much water filled up in your rooms?

Many years ago - maybe the Winter of 1982 - we had a very nasty sub-freezing cold spell. I lived in Wild Lake (Columbia) in a townhouse there with friends. I came home from work & could hear the GUSHING of water against the door even before I opened the front door. Opened up & 1000s of gallons had entered our ground floor due to a burst pipe in a bathroom. We had a TON of water. We got the main water shut off (eventually) but were able to open sliding glass doors & get the water out. We broomed & pushed it all out. Luckily no wall-to-wall carpeting.
I don’t recall any major damage that didnt dry out.

Ps - is Erie your homeowners insurance company? Never heard of them.

 

[Maro2Bear]

Expecting 80F here tomorrow. Today it’s looking a bit dark on the water as this big warm front moves in.

 

[Cathie G]

Sooo many questions. Exactly where does this key piece fit in the overall plumbing scheme in your house? And u probably said, but how much water filled up in your rooms?

Many years ago - maybe the Winter of 1982 - we had a very nasty sub-freezing cold spell. I lived in Wild Lake (Columbia) in a townhouse there with friends. I came home from work & could hear the GUSHING of water against the door even before I opened the front door. Opened up & 1000s of gallons had entered our ground floor due to a burst pipe in a bathroom. We had a TON of water. We got the main water shut off (eventually) but were able to open sliding glass doors & get the water out. We broomed & pushed it all out. Luckily no wall-to-wall carpeting.
I don’t recall any major damage that didnt dry out.

Ps - is Erie your homeowners insurance company? Never heard of them.

I'm not Jeff but Erie is what we have also for car, flood and home owners insurance. I'm glad to see they have been so good in more than one way. Glad for Jeff and glad for us in case we need them too.

 

[jeff kushner]

Wow Mark, you guys were LUCKY!

Apparently in 2023, anytime fresh water makes possible contact with sewage, they automatically trash anything that got wet. I have a inground-sewage ejector for the full bath downstairs and a separate pump for the clothes washer once it fills it's drywell. There was only a 1/2 inch of water on the floor when I got home but I knew there was no way they were drying the carpet and padding...it's just too plush but the laminate, that surprised me. I thought for sure they would dry it out but nope, it's all gone! Here's a vid of the carpet....Kerry took it on her iphone https://spaces.hightail.com/space/EiidcutBbk For some reason the sound didn't transfer but we all know what it sounds like; squish squish....LOL

You remind me of old days....in '80, I got married and we lived in Ashberry Square Apts in Laurel...when we got the big snow the next year, 22" of snow, DC & Co was shut down but the local theater was open. I convinced my young wife to hop on the back of my H1 Kawasaki two stroke triple to go for a ride to the movie theater.........I dragged both feet, (outside the pegs) and we went to go see a movie next to the Giant on Contee road! It was only a 1/2 mile away but I'll never forget that ride....woohoo! Good times

 

[jeff kushner]

The Part as you guessed Mark(sharp guy), was a new check valve furnished and installed by me, a month or so ago. I checked, no channel lock marks on the upper half, it was just faulty apparently.

See guys, full disclosure.....I admit that I won't necessarily volunteer that info...but I don't lie, so there's that! LOL

I typed this last night, must have gotten distracted

The sub that Erie hired to inventory items for damage calls me yesterday and in very clear language he said "well, I tend to write everything off as a total loss, but that doesn't mean you still can't use it, no one is going to check"


Part of me is undeniably happy to hear this, he wants to put money in my pocket

Another part of me knows this is wrong.......I absolutely hate these moral dilemmas because I already know it will cost me money, they always do. LOL

 

[Cathie G]

The Part as you guessed Mark(sharp guy), was a new check valve furnished and installed by me, a month or so ago. I checked, no channel lock marks on the upper half, it was just faulty apparently.

See guys, full disclosure.....I admit that I won't necessarily volunteer that info...but I don't lie, so there's that! LOL

I typed this last night, must have gotten distracted

The sub that Erie hired to inventory items for damage calls me yesterday and in very clear language he said "well, I tend to write everything off as a total loss, but that doesn't mean you still can't use it, no one is going to check"


Part of me is undeniably happy to hear this, he wants to put money in my pocket

Another part of me knows this is wrong.......I absolutely hate these moral dilemmas because I already know it will cost me money, they always do. LOL

I don't feel like you have a thing to feel like you are being dishonest about anything. You installed a faulty part. That's not your fault. With your basement the way it was, (from what you said) the sub wouldn't have been doing his DUTY to you if he hadn't done it exactly the way he did. Yes you would have had to clean it but a flood is different. Count it as a gift from God and perfect timeing.

 

[Cathie G]

Well... it must be spring. I saw my first Robin today. S/he sat in the crabapple tree for a long time even though it's still bare. (Probably contemplating a nest )

 

[Blackdog1714]

I have never been to a tennis tournament.
Are the signed tennis balls something they do before the tournament? Hitting signed balls into the spectators area?

The winners do it after the match!

 

[Lyn W]

Recent project. I had a ton of extra cutoffs from all the recent birdhouse construction (over 50 houses built since late December). The cutoffs have been piling up & piling up. By luck, up popped a few YouTube videos on the making of “Wind Spinners”. Sooooo, a few more cuts & a piece of threaded rod & viola - our Wind Spinner.

Now I’m wondering if it’s the kind of thing that folks might purchase. I think I've just about saturated the local birdhouse market.

View attachment 354357

Lovely garden decoration!
A Jenga set would work too with even smaller pieces!!