Cool and clear. Windy? Yesterday was. Very windy and all day long too. I wore shorts, but also a sweatshirt. 50F when I went to sleep, and not all that much warmer during the day.
I ran my errands, starting with helping my wife pick up the GS cookies. Did a pretty good job of filling a honda minivan, and then the half of the foyer. The volunteers at the warehouse rocked.
Then I got some stuff together and took a pickup load to auction. My check for the last one was about ~$840 after commissions. I don’t know what my net was but we are getting back into the area I used to be in- a decent part time income from part time work. If I can get up to doing $500 a week I’ll be happy. And yes, my wife has a great job, for which we are all thankful. Everything I make is “extra” if there is such a thing. I am the ‘stay at home’ after all.
Everyone should be establishing some extra lines of income. Everyone should be exploring alternative sourcing. I’ve mentioned I think things are going to get a lot worse, right? I seem to recall saying something at some point….. anyway. People are still buying stuff. That could and probably will change. Pokemon cards are not going to fill empty bellies, so there is a ‘sell by’ date on Pokemon. Ditto for most of the stuff on ebay or etsy. However, local trading groups and FB, and all the other forms of local selling are going to facilitate barter and money saving reuse/repurpose/resell for the foreseeable future, and may shift from unloading stuff to selling desperately needed basics.
Explore your options now. Everything has a learning curve. Whether you’re a buyer or a seller, or a mix of both, the ‘secondary market’, which is where I’ve been living for years, will play an increasing role in your everyday life. You want to be careful of course. One man’s money saving yard-sale-ing could become .gov’s black-marketeering in short order. The prepper-sphere is always talking about barter for after SHTF. Consider that the fan isn’t so shiny, and has a suspicious odor already…. and start working on some of those skills. In Gulag-19, I’m the ‘scrounger’. Who are you?
Skills, people, stuff. Stack ’em high.
nick
I had fiberglass fibers placed in the mix that was used when I replaced the asphalt drive with concrete. No cracks after 20 years. Same thing on the driveway extension. No cracks after 15 years. Installer did a great job with the install and used a lot rebar reinforcement.
At the same time, remembering Teri Garr, who is still struggling. She was a natural talent, and could light up a stage in an elegant way.
When CBS fired Letterman (cough) and Garr didn’t show up for one of the last shows five years ago, we figured that her health problems were really bad.
That could and probably will change. Pokemon cards are not going to fill empty bellies, so there is a ‘sell by’ date on Pokemon.
Keep an eye on the dates for events like C2E2, retro gaming conventions, and the big anime shows like San Japan. If those are completely pushed into next year, you’ll end up sitting on the cards and similar merchandise for a while.
I know San Japan has a swap meet scheduled Labor Day weekend if you want to trade Pokemon cards for something easier to move. Just be aware that the rules prohibit exchange of currency for items.
Go with an open mind. The people watching at the anime shows is … interesting. Surprisingly, Texas isn’t more restrained because of groups like the Furry culture enthusiasts among A&M alumni. Furries show up at everything in this state, even the big horror movie convention in Dallas.
The latest propoganda airing on the Faux Network TV stations. We even had Marin Austin’s Fear Porn Burlesque to localize the material last night, but I think even the TV station realize the games are getting obvious with that on-air “talent”. At least, I haven’t seen the local clip on the web site yet this morning.
https://www.fox7austin.com/news/double-mask-fauci-says-wearing-2-masks-may-offer-more-protection-from-covid-19
WRT the double masks, I’ve been seeing that for some time now among our “betters”. Someone must have called Fakey on it. They have been wearing a retail cloth mask to show they’re just plain folks, but they’ve got an N95 under it to actually protect themselves. I was going to comment on it a few days ago, must have gotten distracted.
n
MIL saga continues.
Wife flew out to San Antonio on Tuesday. Had to fly out of Atlanta because flights out of Knoxville are about three times as expensive. Plus Southwest allows two bags for free. On Delta that is another $100.00. The cost difference more than covers the cost of the trip to Atlanta.
MIL is wavering between moving out of her house into senior or assisted living. She is concerned about money but has enough money to pay for assisted living for 10+ years. She fails to understand that concept and is worrying about becoming destitute. She is 87, her 10 siblings that are older only lived to an average of 86 so she has beat the odds. But she is not going to last much longer.
Wife had talked with a real estate agent and the agent said the house could sell for $80K. An old house, in a run down, mostly illegal alien neighborhood. She has lived in the house for 50+ years. Not a very well built house, Ray Ellison shack basically. The house would require about $20K in repairs and upgrades to sell at $80K.
What is hilarious is that Google Earth Street View has her picture. Working at her mailbox. The image is more than two years old as her old car is pictured in the carport.
https://earth.google.com/web/search/166+Reefridge+Place,+San+Antonio,+TX/@29.36936213,-98.61860696,223.19874573a,0d,59.99999999y,200.66309174h,73.98831672t,0r/data=Co8BGmUSXwolMHg4NjVjNWFmZmIzOWM0MWJmOjB4MWIyMGViZmZiYjI1YTYzZhmV3BeGfl49QCHWoxWEl6dYwCokMTY2IFJlZWZyaWRnZSBQbGFjZSwgU2FuIEFudG9uaW8sIFRYGAEgASImCiQJXo4JMbcRREARGMuUAwERREAZRK1jYzq4UsAhv5Eea8a4UsAiGgoWV2lJblJsMndaWjFOZXphd1FkdmVVQRAC
She is much thinner now and is probably thirty pounds lighter than what is shown in Street View.
Wife also talked with a house flipper. He offered $75K for the house “as is”. MIL can sell what she wants out of the house, move what she wants to keep to an adult facility, and left the rest. The flipper will put anything left in the house in a dumpster. Sign on the dotted line, handed a check, give the flipper the key, and walk away. MIL would be given 30 days to get anything she wants out of the house.
In my way of thinking that is a no-brainer. No issues with doing repairs. No need to clean the house. No need for inspections. No need for surveys. Transaction accomplished within hours.
Today wife and MIL are going to go look at a couple of adult (assisted/senior) facilities. I am seriously hoping the MIL makes the decision. If she does wife and her brother will rent a small U-Haul truck, have a couple of the grandkids show up, and move her within a couple of days. Then a small yard/garage sale for a couple of days to sell what they can, then close the door for the last time.
I was supposed to drive out in a couple of weeks to finish some items, then wife and I would drive back. I am hoping now that is not necessary. I told the wife if she can fly back for $400.00 or less, do it. As the cost to drive out, two hotel nights traveling, one hotel night in San Antonio (Hampton Inn off highway 151), plus the cost of gas, (meals don’t count as I would eat anyway) would come close to exceeding, or passing, $400.00.
Bleah. We had another few inches of snow last night. Now it’s raining on the snow. What a mess. I shoveled a path along the edge of the driveway, for walking, but the “snow” is brutally heavy, so the rest is going to sit there. It will probably freeze tonight, but tomorrow is warmer (5C/40F), with more rain forecast, so I have hope that it will just melt.
Everywhere else, there’s about a meter of snow on the ground. Around the drive, where I’ve been shoveling, it’s more like 2-3 meters. I suppose one advantage of the rain is that it should settle the snow (making room for more – February is more the usual snowy month). FWIW, yes, this is a lot more snow than normal here. All the glacier lovers should be ecstatic, because this amount of snow will certainly add to their bulk.
Glaciers are nice to look at, but I’ve never understood why the eco-types like them so much. They are nothing but dead zones. When they retreat, they leave an exposed area totally without topsoil, and it takes decades for plant life to gain a real foothold. I’m not saying we should go after the glaciers with blowtorches, but I sure don’t understand going to crazy lengths to preserve them.
I suppose it’s just people who think the whole world should be in stasis, never changing from the way they know it today (or remember it from yesteryear). Not how life works, and anyway, warmer is better than colder. I know, I’m a heretic.
According to this article, CJ Roberts *refused* to sit for tRump’s second impeachment trial. I think he either doesn’t want to be involved in unconstitutional malarkey, or he’s a wimp. Instead we get One-Foot-In-The-Grave Leahy. Maybe Dickhead Schumer threatened him. /tinfoilhat
John Roberts’ refusal to sit for Trump impeachment sparks constitutional concerns
h/t NYP
@ray, I’m with you. If you intend to sell it, take the flipper’s offer.
n
WRT the double masks, I’ve been seeing that for some time now among our “betters”. Someone must have called Fakey on it. They have been wearing a retail cloth mask to show they’re just plain folks, but they’ve got an N95 under it to actually protect themselves. I was going to comment on it a few days ago, must have gotten distracted.
Actual medical grade N95 masks are in short supply again according to my wife.
In my way of thinking that is a no-brainer. No issues with doing repairs. No need to clean the house. No need for inspections. No need for surveys. Transaction accomplished within hours.
That part of San Antonio, yeah, but giving up the house is still surrendering a lot of independence.
Sell to the flipper. No brainer. In addition to the items you mentioned, no 6% to agents. I would be sure to have an attorney examine the paperwork, though.
N95s are available in the auctions…
https://hibid.com/lot/81990404/byd-n95-particulate-respirator-mask-20-pcs-?pn=5
they’ve got 58 lots in this auction, and had about the same in the last couple.
n
They are still going for a couple bux a mask though in places but nothing like back in March.
I’m going with the six-mask option. Asphyxiation* is 100% effective against COVID.
*Gleefully stolen from the innertubes.
According to this article, CJ Roberts *refused* to sit for tRump’s second impeachment trial. I think he either doesn’t want to be involved in unconstitutional malarkey, or he’s a wimp. Instead we get One-Foot-In-The-Grave Leahy. Maybe Dickhead Schumer threatened him.
Roberts has been pretty consistent in his belief that The Court is not the appropriate mechanism to protect voters from “foolish” political choices.
Leahy is the oldest member of the Dem caucus and the traditional Senate President Pro Tempore, upon whom the responsibility falls by convention. IIRC, the Alcee Hastings Impeachment established the precedent when Grand Kleagle Byrd presided in the late 80s.
Of course, the Senate didn’t vote to ban Hastings from future office, only remove him from the bench. He was a major embarrassment to the Dems as a Judge, but he currently holds what is regarded as one of the safest seats in Congress.
Alcee Hastings is a Florida legend. He was arrested but didn’t step down from the bench so he conducted court business from his cell until arraigned. Even Carl Hiaasen couldn’t write a more bizarre story if he tried.
Nah just take it to a title company and have them execute the sale with title insurance. Keeps it all legal and lower than other fees. Does all the govt paperwork for you. I just did two small ones for my sister. Made only one mistake on a house sale years ago but it wan’t critical. Carried the financing (hell it was 10% back then) but forgot a due on sale so it resold without paying me off. No issue as the buyer was a good payer too but he got smart and payed it off when interest rates dropped.
That’s how it works here in Cali but may be different there.
That is part of the problem. She does not want to be around other people. She also does not want to be on the feeding schedule of the facility. She goes to bed at 5:00 PM and is up by 2:00 AM. In a facility that would have to change if she uses their meals. Which in my opinion she should to avoid having to shop and buy groceries.
Yes, that alone would almost make up the price difference. The agent was helpful, somewhat, but I think she is overly optimistic and does have the MIL’s best interest at the top of the list.
That is also being done today, perhaps tomorrow. The guy has done this with several other homes in the area so I suspect his paperwork is probably fairly solid.
He makes money by doing some repairs, enough to get by to qualify for section 8 rentals. The state pays him normal rent without having to worry about tenants not paying. Damage done by tenants is covered by the government (my understanding) so no worries there. Non-section 8 renters he gets a hefty damage deposit.
The house does need new wiring. Old fuse box with two wire circuits, no ground wire. Plumbing should probably be replaced although nothing is leaking. Bathroom and kitchen need gutting and rebuilt. Insulation needs to be placed in the walls. Flooring needs replaced as some floor tiles are damaged, I think they are asbestos, expensive to remove, but probably just covered over would be fine. Foundation is solid, no structural issues. So such repairs are within the realm of accomplishing. But would require several thousand to do the tasks.
Wife, son, BIL, everyone feels the offer from the flipper is the best option and better than everyone thought would happen. Even disposing of any items left is a plus and no cleaning required.
Wife, son, BIL, everyone feels the offer from the flipper is the best option and better than everyone thought would happen. Even disposing of any items left is a plus and no cleaning required.
When my father-in-law moved out of his house in Orlando after more than a decade, the place needed a lot of repairs so he sold it for whatever cash he needed to pay off his debts at the time, and we thought that was it.
Unfortunately, even then, 20 years ago, Zillow and Google Maps would show updated images of the house as renovations got done and the place went up for sale, and my wife’s father spent the remaining time until he died fussing about what the new owners did to “his” house, no matter how necessary the work.
We didn’t pay it much attention, but my sister-in-law was way too sympathetic. Make sure everybody is on the same page with regard to selling, particularly to the flipper.
So after stealing elections, now the dems want to negate the will of voters and kick out reps they don’t like…
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9195733/AOC-claims-Kevin-McCarthy-answers-QAnon-members-Congress-including-Marjorie-Taylor-Greene.html
n
Everyone is on the same page. MIL has no internet so should not be an issue with Zillow.
At one time about three weeks ago MIL was will to sell for $20K which is what one guy offered. We told her no, don’t do that, it is too low. So the $75K offered made her feel better.
There is another house in the area, three or four doors away, that was done by a flipper. The resulting house he/she/shim is asking $150K. There is no way, in that neighborhood, with the condition of the other houses, with the clientele in that area, that he will get more than $90K.
MIL knows, as does everyone else, that fixing up the house will get a few more $K. But the cost of the repairs will exceed the increase in value in almost everyone’s opinion. Selling with a realtor will also add in the cost of realtor, inspection, survey, etc. It would also be necessary to rent a dumpster to toss all the worthless junk the MIL accumulated over the years.
A solution is needed quickly. Moving into a senior facility in the next couple of weeks and getting rid of the house quickly is the best solution. Sometimes losing a little bit of gain is more than offset by getting results quickly. Time is not on our side for physical undertakings nor for the MIL’s longevity. No one lives close, her son is 3.5 hours away, daughter (my wife) is 22 hours away driving. So doing something now is a top priority. I don’t think MIL will see 2022.
The beginning of the HARRIS/plugs’ administration *thought crimes* program. The FBI even arrested someone posting memes in 2016 for “election interference”. It will never end until CWII.
LET THE HEELING AND SEARCH FOR THE INNOCENT BEGIN!
Shot Girl ™ to Ted Cruz:
I am happy to work with Republicans on this issue where there’s common ground, but you almost had me murdered 3 weeks ago so you can sit this one out.
Happy to work w/ almost any other GOP that aren’t trying to get me killed.
In the meantime if you want to help, you can resign.
She’s into heeling, except for those nasty Conservative fcuks. Murdered, really, isn’t that libel? I guess CongressPukes can say whatever they want. Anybody else saying that to Shotsy would be banned from Twitter and have the FBI knocking at their door.
Just tried to install TurboTax 2020 Premier on my home Windows 7 x64 Pro PC. It will not install. It says use their website version if I am not willing to install Windows 10. I will have to think about this for a while.
“What Is Going on With GameStop? Meme Stocks Explained”
https://www.pcmag.com/news/what-is-going-on-with-gamestop-meme-stocks-explained
“Thanks to some financially savvy Redditors, and a push from Elon Musk, a number of flailing companies, including GameStop, are having a great week on the stock market. Here’s what you need to know.”
One of the brothers who rents my office warehouse tried to explain this to me yesterday. He is a professional landscaper. I immediately thought to myself, this is a bubble. He is shorting Tesla. I did not try to talk him out of it.
He does own about 20 pickups, of which about 15 run. He and his brother buy end of life trucks and resuscitate them enough to do their work. You do not want to give new trucks to landscape crews. He thinks that electric trucks pulling their 30+ ft trailers with tractors and such is stupid.
Dilbert: Ted The First Gay And Disabled Person
https://dilbert.com/strip/2021-01-28
ROTFLMAO.
I downloaded Turbo Tax from Amazon last week to my Mac. No problems.
One of the brothers who rents my office warehouse tried to explain this to me yesterday. He is a professional landscaper. I immediately thought to myself, this is a bubble. He is shorting Tesla. I did not try to talk him out of it.
“Beer” money, not “food” money.
I have money in the QQQ shorting ETF as a hedge, but individual stories are hard to bet against. The Real Life Tony Stark has a personality cult similar to The Legend of Jeff.
Americans still love a story and want to believe.
“They are going to make something that starts with “K” and ends with “dozer””
https://gunfreezone.net/they-are-going-to-make-something-that-starts-with-k-and-ends-with-dozer/
“I’ve never seen politicians so brazenly say “we’re going to destroy your job – in the middle of a pandemic, by the way – and that is good for you, you’ll thank us later.””
“Fire a bunch of guys making good money on the oil fields and then bullshit them with the idea of new jobs in the future that we all know will never materialize.”
“There are a lot of bulldozers from pipeline projects that will be sitting idle and a lot of welders with a lot of free time on their hands.”
“GameStop Robinhood Puts Kibosh on Trading … Retail Investors Cry Foul”
https://www.tmz.com/2021/01/28/robinhood-gamestop-traders-blocked-amc-hedge-fund-battle/
If your service is free then you are the product. I would use somebody else like Fidelity. In fact, I do use Fidelity.
Ruh, Roh:
‘That was quick’! Class action lawsuit filed against Robinhood in New York’s southern district
h/t Twitchy
Shot Girl ™ is getting labeled as a lying libeler puke on Twitter. Let’s see what Twitter does about the Tweet where she said Ted Cruz tried to have her murdered. Probably…Yawn. She’s a Dumbocrat, you see.
“GameStop Robinhood Puts Kibosh on Trading … Retail Investors Cry Foul”
If your service is free then you are the product. I would use somebody else like Fidelity. In fact, I do use Fidelity.
Robinhood actually makes money by selling the trade to one of the big guys whose clients are getting clobbered in the squeeze. Normally, the big guys pull shares out of their dark pools and sell to Robinhood’s customer at a profit, but, with GME, the pools are dry, with shorts having committed more shares than were actually ever issued.
Dilbert: Ted The First Gay And Disabled Person
https://dilbert.com/strip/2021-01-28
ROTFLMAO.
A friend of mine on the intertubes responded with:
https://dilbert.com/strip/1993-11-09
Robert Francis O’Rourke — fourth generation pure Irish-American heritage.
So pure that his grandfather was Secretary of the Navy under JFK.
The first Mexican Governor of Texas?
The media push started this morning.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/beto-orourke-considering-run-governor-texas
Fetch the jars of “Kennedy – Addisons” tone makeup! We’ll need about two years worth.
“It’s a big club, and you ain’t in it.”
— which is what thousands of retail investors are discovering today.
Links- zerohedge.com
n
We sold our last house to a flipper. We found out from a realtor friend that the flipper’s girlfriend liked the area and planned to keep it and fix it up themselves. That knowledge got us a few thousand more during price negotiation. No formal inspection, just a 15 minute walk-thru with his general contractor. In terms of a survey they were happy with a copy of the survey from when we bought the house. Closing took all of 10 minutes. ‘Mobile Notary’ met us in the hotel lobby and we signed the papers. Walked across the street and verified the wired funds and we were done. Kept thinking until the last minute that it was all too easy.
Another trouble area can be the buyer’s inspection. Even if you point out obvious issues and acknowledge that your price accounts for them, if they have a sharp inspector the report will be a laundry list of every nit and nat wrong with the house and they will want to use it to negotiate more allowances (or pre-closing repairs) to no end.
All that melted ice has to go somewhere, no?
Dilbert comics mixed with pipeline welder and wind turbine installer jobs:
UNIX, Eunuchs. Fungible. 😉
“It’s a big club, and you ain’t in it.”
— which is what thousands of retail investors are discovering today.
Links- zerohedge.com
Robinhood didn’t make a secret about the way they earned money on the trades.
Neither did Schwab when they eliminated commissions. Though, Schwab may be in more trouble because they are a big player with their own dark pools. The shares may have been available just not at a price where they could avoid a big loss.
History is way more complicated than you might think!
I was particularly struck by the over-40 requirement for German civil servants. Wonder if there might be some need to eventually “de-Nazify” the generations of American kids “educated” in American public schools.
Another trouble area can be the buyer’s inspection. Even if you point out obvious issues and acknowledge that your price accounts for them, if they have a sharp inspector the report will be a laundry list of every nit and nat wrong with the house and they will want to use it to negotiate more allowances (or pre-closing repairs) to no end.
I spent over a thousand dollars making the buyer happy when I sold my old house back in July. $600 in fixes, $500 in cash back. And the house was in good shape, bunch of minor crap.
“Robinhood forcibly selling shares of GameStop without users’ consent”
https://noqreport.com/2021/01/28/robinhood-forcibly-selling-shares-of-gamestop-without-users-consent/
This looks to be actionable to me.
two students tested positive at daughter #2’s school. Last attended Jan 11.. they have been sick for a while.
n
This looks to be actionable to me.
Looks like the trade in question was cancelled.
Regardless of what your statement says, the brokers don’t keep “your” purchased shares in some kind of digital lockbox. Shares are resold/loaned constantly. When you go to sell at a given price, the broker puts the calculated proceeds in the money market settlement account. Just electrons moving around. All perfectly legal.
Heck, since MF Global, the cash in “money market” accounts at banks/brokerages is no longer considered to be “your” money but rather shares in the financial institution.
Wanna be really scared? Go read the statement from your “safe” bank account. See the words “money market” in the savings account title? Congratulations — you are part owner of the bank!
Now investigate what happens when you go to close that account in most states.
I do not get emotional when buying and selling. Is the price right – deal, not the price – no deal. Just know where you stand. If there is an ‘adjustment’ involved in the deal process – the rules above still apply; if you know where you stand, you use the ‘adjustment’ or accept one. I had one buyer come visit after a price was agreed – he said he just wanted to check some things out – I knew three things a) He wanted to start to renegotiate b) I knew I wasn’t moving on the price c) I knew his wife wanted to buy. Net is, he complemented me on being the hardest (best?) negotiator he had come across, and we completed at the agreed price. He knew I would walk away from the deal, and he knew he couldn’t walk back to his wife without a deal.
OFD isn’t here to post the obligatory link to the latest, relevant posting from Ann Barnhardt so I’ll do the honors.
https://www.barnhardt.biz/2021/01/28/if-only-there-had-been-some-sort-of-warning-that-the-financial-markets-were-totally-lawless-siphons-of-wealth-from-the-working-class-to-the-oligarch-class/
The son has been talking with real estate companies here in the oil patch. Most are expecting a surge in foreclosures once the moratorium ends (which the banks are demanding of the democrats) and he sees an opportunity for property recovery companies who do clean up and repair for said banks. He’s sold himself to a couple of regional banks and is asking me to help him get ready for the rush in a few months. I’m happy to give him advice and invest a little for another truck and trailer. My grandfather made his money in the depression by finding out what people needed and giving it to them. With a little luck my son can make his money off the Biden/Harris depression.
So much for overcounting*…
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/cuomo-admin-under-counted-covid-19-nursing-home-death-50-ny-ag-report-finds
n
*what we see here is the effect of perverse incentives. If the reporter benefits from a low number that is what you get. If from a high number, then you get a high report. It looks like the deaths were counted in the TOTALS but that definitely skewed the numbers that guided public policy and individual decisions.
RE Woodshop: This will be my first wood shop; previously I set up my Delta table saw and old Dewalt miter saw in the middle of the garage. I used dedicated shop vacs to keep the dust down. I have no idea where the table saw will be placed in the 17×11 shop so don’t know where to place the PVC pipe (or a floor outlet). I do want to get a large shop vacuum system if I get additional power tools.
My contractor is providing 3000PSI concrete with fiber for the slab with ten priers for the building frame and two footings for the vehicle lift. I like the idea of sealing/staining the floor. Used floor commercial floor polishers are not on Craigs list. The Armor Acrylic sealer is $200 for 5 gallons with two coats recommended which only covers 500 sq. ft. so I’ll need eight pails – $1600. That seems steep to me. Enough Killz Interior/Exterior acrylic based sealer to cover my floor is $240. Probably will need two coats.
Finished two books – “Critical Viewpoints” by L. E. Modesitt Jr. and “Dead Watch” by John Sanford.
The dead-tree version of Heaven’s River (Bobiverse, Book 4) just landed on my doorstep! 🙂
One would think that Andrew Cuomo was deliberately killing New York’s senior citizens in order to reduce the state subsidy to care homes, which is a burden on a heavily indebted state.
Let’s say that Andrew Cuomo is not a murderer.
But if he were, what would he be doing differently?
@Bob Sprowl
Concrete floors tend to be dark. When I did garage and shop 30 years ago, I used a urethane for the shop and an epoxy for the garage. Both were tinted a light buff color to my specification, and applied to permeability tested etched slabs 100+ days after installation. Light single colors on a well-kept floor reflect more light and make it easy to see spills and dropped objects.
Traditional concrete sealers that penetrate and densify the surface are based on sodium silicate. A better alternative is lithium silicate. Convergent Concrete Technologies is the leader in the field with Pentra-Sil. They make other products, including a colored topcoat that is tough and easy to maintain. Both products are spendy, but it’s worthwhile to look at the specs and compare performance.
If you don’t know locations and intend to buy a dust collector and add tools later, stick with the shop vac for now but consider adding a cyclone separator before the vac to take out the larger material.
No commissions either at Fidelity, or Vanguard or Schwab. And RobinHood is one of the reasons the big three dropped their commissions.
Don’t sell what you don’t own.
I absolutely do not understand the VA disability system.
I am getting 20% for breaking my back while in the service. Time spent in large computer rooms got me 10% for tinnitus, 0% for hearing loss. In November I applied for hearing loss rating increase. Just had the hearing test on Tuesday this week. So far going as planned.
Then I check my bank and find a large deposit from the VA in addition to my regular benefit payment. So I go online and find out I am getting 10% for hearing loss. The large amount was paying for 11 months going back to February 2020. Uh, I did not file the claim until November of 2020. So where did this additional compensation materialize?
Is the VA going back and checking records, prior claims, fixing errors? Did the American Legion (my representative) file on my behalf? I don’t know if they can do that.
Is my recent hearing test, where I rated good on word recognition, but is not excellent going to affect this latest increase? Will it drop? Will it increase? Is “good” good enough for the VA as opposed to “excellent”.
The extra 10% is an additional $212.00 a month. My ultimate goal is 50% at which point the VA will pay 100% for my prescriptions rather than the $15.00 copay that I currently pay. This additional 10% puts me at 40%. There is also the issue of how disability is calculated. Since I am at 40% an additional 10% for my back would only be applied against 60% as the VA will not allow disability against an existing disability. Thus 10% of 60% is an increase of only 6%. Add that to my existing 40% and the VA gets 46% disability. They round up to the next multiple of 10, thus 50% disability. Getting beyond 50% is much more difficult.
Some would say I am greedy. Nope. I missed out on 20 years of VA benefits because I was lied to when I left the service. I also feel strongly that the hearing loss is directly a result of the computer rooms with no hearing protection. I have had no other significant noise events after leaving the USAF and my next computer assignments were mostly in an office. The computer rooms at the banks and other jobs had much better noise control with wall baffles and ceiling sound absorption material.
Speaking of lithium batteries, NTSB just released this video and a report…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6eS6JzBn0k
report
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I was wrong earlier when I thought the popo had blown their budget. They’ve had a couple of surveillance ops going all day, and they’ve got something going tonight too.
Of course, an armed robbery with an exchange of shots adds spice to the workday for anyone…
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44F and still, pretty chilly out.
Maybe this garden thing is a bit early…
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