Most Liked HowTo Blogs (280)

.... It's quaint to hear the claims of privileged, self loathing, white guilt libs. Walls don't really work. And it's true, in part, if by working, one expects 100% efficacy. But they can be partial barriers, allowing more effective patrolling of the more vulnerable places. Yet, there are walls, and then there are W A L L S. Still a few East German STASI border guards about for guidance on making serious walls. To do it right, there would be loud warning sounds/lights, berms, moats, mine fields and automated heat sensor guided tower machine gun nests. Really not much more expensive than lesser secure barriers, and may even be more cost effective. After a few bodies, word gets out. No more approaches. Oh sure, folks world wide will piss and moan. But they already hate us. How convenient?

I recently posted a blog in which I violated blogging rule 13. I didn't realise I was breaking a rule when I posted the blog, but when it was brought to my attention I felt a definite buzz. I now find myself wanting to do it again; 'chasing the dragon' is the term, I believe. The trouble is, I can't make up my mind which rule to break next.

The house my parents bought had a roof leak where a room addition was connected to the main house. It was patched a few times over the years and by the time I inherited the place, a small section of plaster in the dining room broke through. I didn't have the money at the time to re-roof and patched it again a few times.

Eventually, the entire roof was replaced and has been holding up more than 16 years. I had the roofer reinforce the trusses from inside and that changed the weight load to the structure causing a stress crack in the ceiling that I lived with all these years.

I'm in renovation mode cleaning and painting and repaired the crack, but the area I fixed is visible to the existing work. The original stucco/plaster had a sandy texture and the patch is smooth. Having the experience of reworking a ceiling in 3 rooms of a condo (yeah, the one I bought last year) I decided to 'skim coat' the entire ceiling of the dining room to remove all the trowel marks of the original textured work.

Using slow setting drywall compound and an 8" drywall knife, I smoothed out the old repair and any irregular texture. Since it wasn't too bad to begin with, most of the coating I applied was as thin as 2mm. It troweled on pretty nice and was starting to dry by the time I packed up for the weekend.

The 4th is Thursday and I'm planning a 4 day weekend to get a few more things done.



For comparison, I troweled on 1-1/2 gallons yesterday and the condo renovation was 11 gallons total.

The pain is back!
When I got up this morning, my neck muscles were complaining... I needed aspirin for breakfast.

We should all rejoice at each example of many CS folks. Their struggles, and willingness to put these out for us, either directly, or by allegory. Sometimes, with the emphasis on GORY. The pluck to keep trying,---even leaving for a bit, in time to reenter into the fray. Apparent levels of honesty are welcome, whether an essential birthright part of one's esssence, or a sign of progress in that general direction. The same with kindness, as with present company. I just read a post from a lady who has been open with us about her many attempts/setbacks in finding aggreeable gainful employment. Now she appears to be in the driver's seat, pun intended, and who among us isn't really happy for her. CS could put a place for folks to comment on more than successses in finding partners. In fact, I suspect that the latter might just be contingent on getting one's shite into one's sock on the former.

I googled this site but could not figure who started it. I found nothing. Maybe I am missing something.

One of the first things I wanted to replace in my condo remodeling project was an old toilet. I named it Swirley because it used 2-1/2 gallons per flush and took 2 minutes to fill up again. That really wasn't the worst part... The worst part was watching the water level rise to the rim of the bowl and start swirling it's contents (yes, poop) for 30 seconds before making it's way to Mar-a-Lago!

The missus didn't mind it probably because she came from a country where they poop over a hole in the floor. Another complaint I had was the low seat height. Think of Kiddie height for young children. So, it was agreed new toilet was in the budget.
I got a name and number of a plumber from the VP of the condo association and his guy wanted $250 and recommended I get a $250 toilet.

Not wanting to pay $500, I put the project down on my 'do list' until one day I had to stop at my place for lunch and a plumber was in the guest spot finishing a conversation before getting out of his truck. I asked if he had a set price to replace a toilet and he said "$135"
I said "Put me on your schedule for the middle of next week"
The night before I stopped at The Home Depot and picked up a name brand toilet for $190. Chair height and elongated no-slam seat. This is normal by today's standards.

On the appointment day, the plumber called to confirm and showed up on-time. He disconnected the old toilet and carried it out in parts for removal. I asked if there was a date of manufacture and he glanced down at the lid shouting back to me "1977"
Smiling to hear that... it was an antique and I was replacing the original toilet that came with the condo.

He worked fast and within 45 minutes the new toilet was installed and caulked to the floor. I paid him for his work and got a quote to do some other repairs after I replace some vanity cabinets.

Swirley is gone. I have a new fangled toilet that uses 1.28 GPF and fills quickly.
Just to be sure, I gave it a test run within minutes after installation and all went as planned!

I do not drain my pots neither do I put pebbles on the bottom. Once in a while I remove soil because plants become bigger. They need space.

If that sounds like a big task, my suggestion is to start with a magnet!

...sage job advice for youth. Seek out jobs that put emphasis on ability to work in different and unpredictable situations, that maximise human interactive interpersonal qualities, such as humor, social/emotional intelligence and multisituational creativity. Avoid repetitive sorts of work without these features. Become a Cyberhacker.

''Your ancestors outnumber your fears
Feel their power.''


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