Category: FWIW

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Summer Projects

Well, it seemed like it was time for another minor kitchen facelift. Nothing major, but with the nice stainless steel (inside and out) Bosch dishwasher last year and the stainless steel monster fridge this year, the cabinets and counter top were looking a bit tired by comparison, so…

So far:

Counter top sanded down and preliminary prep for a Giani faux granite finish done. But before doing that,

A fresh paint job on the cabinets–1/2 done, now–high, high gloss white with new chrome hardware to please my Wonder Woman. 🙂

Also before the Giani stuff, some small stuff: new light fixture, some wiring (before, because some of the wiring will actually affect the counter top), a few small structural and cosmetic additions and changes (like some plastering/replastering and repainting of some areas of the walls)–nothing big.

And after the counter top is finished, then I can finish up the stove area: sheet, brushed stainless steel backsplash and some stainless steel paint for the oven door–from the same company as the counter top paint.

Yeh, yeh, I know: paint a countertop?!? This will be my second time. The last was 12 years ago, and it lasted well. In fact, I’ve only been able to sand it down not even off (a really good epoxy paint). Besides, it’s not like I, Mr. Tightwad, would actually buy a granite counter top!

Hmmm, now that I think of it, just about the only things that aren’t getting changed in the kitchen are the ceiling and the floor… I ought to reconsider that. Maybe get rid of the nasty “popcornish” ceiling and plaster/paint it…

Oh, forgot. Doing the faux granite to approximate a match to some marble tiles I picked up that are going to make the counter backsplash. And yeh, I’m not removing the tile that’s there. Got some spacers to allow me to tile over the current bqacksplash and reinstall the electrical outlets, have an adhesive that’ll let me adhere the marble to the ceramic. I’m all set there. Again: cheap and less work. (Have you ever removed ceramic tile? Messy, PITA and all the backing has to be replaced before putting anything else up. Not doing that again. Just not.)

*sigh* Also neglected to mention that the peninsula I added to the kitchen about thirteen years ago (20″X40″, hardwood top, 2 large drawers, cutting board drawer, pot rack above) has gotten a renewal as well with a fresh sanding of the top followed by a pickling treatment. Not going to do the same with the kitchen island, though I may change the cabinet to the white the rest of the kitchen cabinets have gone to.

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What Do Barack Obama and Anders Breivik Have in Common?

It seems the P-resident of the (dys)United States and the Norwegian shooter have some substantial things in common:

  • They both apparently claim to be “Christian” (at least for values of “Christian” that the Mass MEdia Podpeople Hivemind recognizes as valid) and
  • They both espouse the values of the Loony Left; The Zero those of the leftist bomb team of Ayers and Dorhn, Breivik those of the equally leftist Unabomber.

Of course, The Zero and Breivik apparently have another thing in common. Since they both reportedly claim to be “Christians” but have behaved in ways that openly, blatantly, flamboyantly contradict the teachings of Christ, then they are both also liars.

Yeh, yeh, I know the Mass MEdia Podpeople Hivemind insists on calling Breivik a “right-winger” but anyone who has one of the Hivemind’s favorite left wingnuts as the PRIMARY source for his own “manifesto” is no right-wing anything, and the fact that that Hivemind insists on the lie says more about the Hivemind than about Breivik.

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Dinner’s Getting Microwaved Tonight

Here’s why:

Yeh, yeh, the house is mostly cool, but I spent some time this afternoon doing some electrical work in some areas w/o AC, and I’m wrung out, so no stoves or ovens for me tonight. 😉

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“Downtown’s On Fire, Man!”

A little blast from the past via memory of George Carlin’s “Al Sleet, the hippy-dippy weatherman”…

105° F in Third World County Central’s environs, complete with “Have to wear SCUBA gear when going outside or drown” humidity.

Nice day to stay inside. Did a lil bit of handyman work for Lovely Daughter and her Undaunted Husband (she’s a sometimes daunting person *heh*). Wish I could have done more, but they’ll survive. 🙂

Relaxing, enjoying planning some lil handyman tasks here at home as well. Planning ’em, cos I’m not doing anything BUT relaxing tonight, and planning those tasks (and getting tools and materials lined out) is relaxing. OK, and typing in this low-density post. 😉

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Burying Their Wounded

Michael Flynn has quoted, and commented on, some interesting information about Thomas Disch,

“…part of the reason he quit writing science fiction was that, to deepen it into real art, ‘I would have to be like … Gene Wolfe and return to the Catholicism that I barely got away from when I was young–and I can’t do that, of course.’–Thomas M. Disch, 1940-2008, Joseph Bottum on Thomas M. Disch

In addition to Flynn’s comments on why he thinks Disch might (repeat: might) have felt a return to Catholicism would be necessary in order to deepen his fiction into art, Flynn also offers this speculation,

“As for the second, he may have thought that people suffering from illnesses are not welcome in a hospital.”

I can actually understand that sort of thought process in a person who’s left a church for whatever reason. Many congregations are closer to the Pharisees of Jesus’ day and are more likely to bury those they view as sinners under a heap of condemnation or smarmy false “pity” than welcome them into–or back into–the fold. In such congregations, it seems that The Nazarene’s parables of The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin and The Loving Father (known to those who misplace the emphasis as The Prodigal Son) have been excised from their scriptures, or at least from their hearts.

I can understand if Disch thought going back to Catholicism might entail dealing with such a “welcome”. He might well have been correct. IF this were any part of the mental process that prevented him from returning to the religious roots of his youth. Big “if” as we have no way of asking him, of course.

Still, I have known enough church-going Pharisees to make Flynn’s speculation plausible. “Hospitals” that bury the wounded instead of helping them are really just slaughter houses.

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Yes, I’m Back… Sorta

Since our PDG (Pretty Darned Good :-)) deal on our fridge (38% off a price that was already nearly 12% lower than MSRP), we’ve decided to keep an eye on large appliance prices just for kicks, and we’ve noticed something interesting.

In an economy where inflation is a fact of life and the dollar is worth less and less every day, both because of price inflation in general and because of the Fed’s devaluation of the dollar via flooding the economy with paper money coming off the presses far faster than the economy justifies, we’ve noticed something interesting: in general, prices are falling at the retail end on many major appliances from most manufacturers.

Why? I can only surmise at this point that the fact that consumer purchasing is way down is seriously impacting cash flow at these companies. They apparently feel they cannot absorb the costs of warehousing excessive inventory.

Expect more fall-off in manufacturing, leading to more layoffs and lower consumer purchasing, leading to… etc.

Unless the grossly obese “feddle gummint” chimp riding the economy’s back is forcibly removed (and put on a stringent diet), this cycle will likely continue.

Get yours (whatever that is) while the getting’s good. Just sayin’.

Link 1

Link 2

Go ahead. Do your own searches for “Emergency Preparedness,” “Survival,” etc. Then, if you’ve not already taken steps to increase your chances of pulling through Obama’s Great Depression of 2012, get moving on it. Now.

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I Do Love It When a Plan Comes Together

So, this was to be the summer when we purchased a new fridge. The one we have has served us well, but it entered this house two owners back and has definitely reached the effective end of its service life.

The glass shelves are still good, though. *heh*

So, we looked around, doing our due diligence, researching options on the web, and selected one from a Big Box home improvement center, the same one where we bought our Whirlpool washer/dryer set and nice Bosch dishwasher last summer. Yes, we would like to have purchased a new fridge last year, but we prioritized things a bit, ran the numbers and decided not to spend the cash that way last year. Instead, we lump summed out of our mortgage.

Now, with more than enough cash on hand, we decided to purchase the fridge we’d selected in July. Then, two days ago, my Wonder Woman noticed that it had gone on sale “through June 27” for $300 off the price we’d decided was our sweet spot. So, we went in to make the purchase and arrange delivery, instead of ordering online (because I needed some plumbing and electrical supplies and because I like making sure the salespeople there get their commission. Makes ’em glad to see me coming *heh*. It was no surprise they had none in stock. No problem as they could order it in. But while we waited for the salesperson to finish up with another customer, we looked around a bit anyway.

Oh. Wait. My Wonder Woman saw a fridge that had been on my own short list but t aprice point we didn’t want to (not couldn’t but didn’t want to) pay. The manufacturer was running a (apparently, “Gotta clear out our inventory!”) special: $610 off, placing it, with nearly 8 cubic feet more storage and a couple of other gewgaws and gimcracks, at juuuust under the one we’d come to purchase.

Got it. The four year extended warranty was also less. Got that. The plumbing kit for the icemaker (to replace the old, old line now semi-installed *heh*) was also less. Heck, with the savings on the bigger fridge with more doodads (features), etc., my additional plumbing and electrical supplies only brought us about even with what we’d been planning to pay for the fridge alone.

Not too shabby.

I love it when a plan comes together. I’m also thankful that “lucky” can still beat “planning” every now and then. 🙂

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I Just Hate It WhenThis Happens…

… no, I REALLY hate it.

Bought a window AC unit for that never-cool-enough room. Long story. Unboxed and installed it. Plugged it in and followed the directions to turn it on, checking off the steps in the owner’s manual (cos it had a hi-tech remote sensor unit and a buncha other gewgaws and gimcracks and I wanted to make sure no one sneered at me later, “RTFM!” *heh*).

Nope. DOA. Ran through the simple troubleshooting checklist in the back that’s designed for people who are too stupid to even be able to read it. Nope, of course I had plugged it into a live circuit of the correct voltage and amperage rating. *sheesh!* Who did these people think they were talking to? An idiot?

After I got through being insulted by the troubleshooting page, I dialed the toll-free number listed right after the words, “If these solutions fail, call… ”

Yep. Nothing but an automated line directing me to call a toll line for support.

Now, I’m not just insulted but pi**ed off.

Rude cretins and beating down on me with a stupid support process.

So, I finally got some nice lil gal with a checklist to make sure I had already done allthe things in the insulting “troubleshooting” checklist in the owner’s manual. Finally, I had to tell her what was wrong, since her lil list ran out of things. The “reset” switch on the plug was dysfunctional. She offered me three “solutions” to that, and then deleted one for some inexplicable reason.

  • 1. Send me a new cord.
  • 2. Send me a new cord and make an appointment for a service person to come and install it.
  • 3. Give me an RMA number for the AC unit.

And guess which one she deleted from the list? Right, just sending me the cord. I had to talk her back into that one. *arrggghh!*

So, the cord I know would solve the problem will be here next week. And? I already replaced it with one I had laying around. (I just had to recall I had it and go get it.) 20,000 screws (well, it felt that way *heh*) and some finicky and delicate plastic clips later, I had a functional unit. The cord I used had the same circuitry for line test and overload/reset, so it fit just fine. Now, I suppose I’ll just have a spare when the other one comes in. And since no provision was made for return of the dysfunctional cord, I’ll have that to play with (and probably repair when I get around to it).

But that was time I’d rather have spent on something else than a BRAND NEW DEVICE that came from the factory broken. Oh, and the dimensions on it were 1/4″ larger (height) than the listed specifications (both at the seller and the manufacturer–I checked). I had to disable the lift mechanism on the aluminum-framed window I installed it in–in addition to removing the storm window. If I’d had the 1/4″, I’d not have had to do that.

I just hate it when companies can’t get their products or their facts right and it costs me, with no real repercussions for the company.

Oh, Frigidaire. The unit had good reviews and ratings, but the company probably changed the production line after the reviews to save $0.25 per unit and invalidated all previous ratings and reviews…

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Tightwad Electrical

OK, I’m a patzer in the area of electrical work (OK, perhaps just lacking the practice necessary to own a high level of skill, ‘K? :-)). I know that. It means, for one thing, that I work very, very slowly when working with electrical wiring, etc. BTDT as a young kid with the live socket thingy. *heh* It also means… tools. As in, my better tools are designed for car mechanicking, plumbing and wood working.

The “proper” tools for doing electrical work are fairly expensive. I’m talking about the screwdrivers and pliers, etc. (I have circuit testers that work for the simple electrical circuits I work on around the house. Yeh, they’re overkill, but I’ve also found them useful for electronics stuff.) Since the electrical work I have planned will end when everything at twc central’s finished, I didn’t want to spend $20 for a pair of pliers, etc., but just have some tools that’d do the job–safely. Of course, almost all of it could be done with uninsulated tools as long as I were pretty darned careful (shut down circuits, etc.), but rewiring electrical panels w/o detaching the meter (detach meter=get the electrical company pi$$ed off at me) does require working around some hot lines, so…

Bought some new, cheap-a$$ed tools and wrapped the handles with some self-fusing silicone/live rubber tape rated for high-voltage electrical wire wrapping that I always have laying around.

Works. Cost me about $2/tool. Added to the $1/”cheap-a$$ed” tool price, I came out of the operation with tools as safe (electrically) as $10-$20 tools (screwdrivers in the “pro electrical” range are still expensive) for about $3 apiece. Yeh, yeh, the tools backups. I already have one designed for wiring work (has the nifty lil wire bender for socket/junction box, etc., installations built in–and it’s had its insulated handle beefed up by rubber tape wrap, just ‘cos) and a couple of better wiring pliers, but @$3 apiece, making sure I have one to leave behind at one end of a run can be really handy for my work style.

Besides, if I “lose” one of these, I’ll not weep and moan and gnash my teeth as badly as if I lost one of my better (still not “pro” grade) tools.

Oh, first up? Running a new circuit off an outside circuit that’s been unused for ten years or so. Still not planning to use it for the purpose it was once used for (above ground pool, now gone), so re-routing it inside as a new, dedicated, circuit for the overloaded kitchen. There’s another unused circuit available on that panel (it’s a simple two-circuit sub-panel) that I think I may dedicate to the freezer or the dishwasher, just for the heck of it. Three more unused circuits on another outside panel that may get used outside in the near future, but they’ll just have to wait.

Some strange stuff in this house’s wiring already, so I don’t feel too weird about these lil projects, even though I know it’d be best to just rewire the whole house “correctly”. I’ll settle for safe, for now. Heck, four years ago, I started tracking down a “mystery circuit” that was wired in the main breaker panel but didn’t feed to anything in the house I could find. It was in a terminated box, unused, coming out of the basement ceiling. It’s now serving ONE room downstairs… Son&Heir’s electronics only. Gotta love 12-gauge Romex. (Strangely, that circuit was wired with 12-gauge from the box, whereas the rest of the house 110 has 14 gauge wiring… weird. I kept that circuit at 12-gauge throughout.)

I’d like to pull new wiring, circuit by circuit, throughout the house and rationalize some of the weird layout, but that’s something I’ll just have to do a teensy bit at a time, I think. May take me the rest of my lifetime, as I have plenty of other projects to complete around here. *heh*

Anywho, the “proper tools for the job” don’t always have to be expensive, special-purpose tools. As I did with these, they can be common tools adapted and repurposed to very closely approximate the special-purpose, “pro” tools while maintaining both functionality and essential safety features. Less expensively.

After all, I don’t plan on making a living with ’em, nor do I plan on willing ’em to my heirs.