OH yeah it would also mean tossing out a perfectly good tankless water heater as it cannot be converted. :(

I guess the two questions I have are -
How old is the deck?
How old is the water heater?

If it was me, and I'm going to live there a while, I'd wait until it's time to redo the deck, and schedule the work while the top boards are off the deck. Hopefully the water heater lasts until that time, as I'd hate to have to replace the water heater before replacing the deck. I guess if you did, make sure it's a model that can be converted from LP to Natural Gas.

I just talked to my brother-in-law, and he was lamenting replacing his deck. He put it on in the 70's when he built the house, and found out he's not as spry as he was 50 years ago.

Edit: I thought about it some more. How high off the ground is the deck? Can a guy get under it, let's say, to trench the gas line? If it is, you could cut an access hatch in the deck (look it up on youtube) and then they could get in and install the meter, and you wouldn't have to tear out the whole deck. They'll probably complain they can't run their trenching machine under the deck and refuse to dig it by hand, but I don't really see another option.

The deck is old enough to use new boards but the water heater is only 8 years old.

I kind of feel like I have a gun to my head. The gas company is saying that they'll do the trenching and meter mount for a small fee but if I wait till later then I'll pay a hefty fee.

^^^^^ Yep. It's a no brainer, especially considering the additional work that's needed. The only consideration down the line is resale value of the house after you're gone or if you want to sell it beforehand. That won't be a big worry for you though.

They said boring is an option but if they hit rock they need to trench. They are adamant about removing the deck...no discussion.

This seems like a YUGE PITA for a lot of money. But most of the town is signing on and I wonder what impact that'll have on the local LP supplier.

Oh you guys are going to luv this. I'm on a private well and the well head is in my driveway where the gas co. wants to put the trench.

I have never known the exact route of the water line to the house, so I call the town building dept to get the original plan. They can't help me and put onto the state authority for digging. I get a real human and he tells me ... yup...talk to your town.

Better yet if the line does get damaged it sounds like it's on me for the repair cost.

Retrofits suck.

Either witch out the lines yourself or get somebody who knows how to do it. Rods would be the best thing to use for that. Locate them and dig down to verify what kind of line it is.

It's a paved driveway so I'd need to hire out. This whole project is pushing me towards passing on it.

Many sites/services will do that. Years ago, I was trying to book a flight to visit my mom. I was trying all different days and times to find the best rate. I must have searched 10 times. Most of my searches were coming up with the cost @ ~ $200 round trip. After several searches, the price almost doubled. Continental realized "this guy is shopping, he's almost definitely going to travel. We'll gouge him."
You can do the same thing, and then delete the cookies and the price will go back to normal.
I am not surprised that other vendors are doing the same thing these days.
I think Amazon does something similar, but I don't think clearing cookies helps, and sometimes the price changes are <$1 (which adds up if you have millions or billions of purchases).

Interesting. I watched a show (may have heard about it here) that I think was based on a Japanese boy that was non-verbal and wrote a book that included a lot of discussion about and by others (I think UK based). It was very interesting and informative.

Interview with Jordyn Z.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/C0CoM0GNUUo" title="Inclusive education – with Jordyn Zimmerman, nonspeaking autistic advocate" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

It sounds like the next owners will need to get NG hooked up...

You are in NJ. I'm sure that the NG folks have cousins in the cement pouring and deck building businesses.
Whacky, well "in your driveway"! Sounds like a huge PITA.
Yep, absolutely.

The next owners are my kids but they're getting a free house. When I move out the only thing going in a box is my flat butt. :D

I feel old as dirt. Yesterday we were visiting a museum and came across a steam powered turbine generator set which came out of a coal fired power plant which was decommissioned almost 50 years ago.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1724196073.jpg

The trouble? Last time I saw this device it was operating. 60 years ago. I remember the roar and vibration of the ball mills used to pulverize the coal before it was blown into the boilers. The generator seemed much bigger back then, but I was 10 at the time.

Best
Les

Good dog!
 

OK this is just odd...
 

Hobby horse dressage etc.

<iframe width="962" height="541" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/O8nZkXfng4A" title="Germany hosts its first hobby horsing championship" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

K Mart is done
 

The last full size K Mart closes in NY. Along with so many other retailers that are shutting down hundreds of locations.

When my work desktop died last week, I learned that it may still flash a code on the start button to tell you what's wrong. Mine flashed 2 and 7 times. I looked up Dell codes, which showed a memory problem. I pulled memory cards until my computer worked!

Has anyone used this? It feels a wee bit phishy to me.

https://www.amazon.com/prime/offer/earnify/prime-deal?ref=ellis_BP_US_outbnd_TnsEmail

Wtaf?
 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/duct-tape-banana-art-sells-025021039.html

and he's going to eat the banana.

I have an apology to those who were complaining about the stop/start function on vehicles they had driven. My previous experience was with a Kia Cee'd in 2010 in the UK. It worked flawlessly.
Last weekend I had the opportunity to drive a Nissan Pathfinder. The stop/start function felt like it was engaged with a jackhammer. Not smooth at all.
The designers of the gear selector deserve a good swift kick as well. It has a "selector lever" which will allow you to engage Drive or apparently Low gear. To select Park, Reverse or Neutral, there are push buttons on top of the gear selector. Let me tell you, that was fun figuring that out in the rental garage. KISS!

Best
Les

Shrinkflation is messing with my Thanksgiving!

I'm making a side dish that calls for 18oz of frozen corn.
All the bags are 14oz or 12oz.

I've seen several of the vids of competitions and people practicing, and to me they are absolutely bizarre! Makes me wonder if these are folks that are going to be into "pony play" later (if they aren't already).

The whole "step counting" thing that took off with smart watches and fit bits is nothing new. Folks were counting steps in the 19th century.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/from-jealous-spouses-to-paranoid-bosses-pedometers-quantified-suspicion-in-the-19th-century-180985504/

Not the full article, just the first bit...

There are also websites where you can get notified of price changes of items on Amazon. I would love to know about price changes, but I don't want/need to be tracked more than I already am.

Needs to be beyotch slapped.

This is cool...

https://people.com/tom-cruise-awarded-navy-highest-civilian-honor-8763212

and this is obscene

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/tripideas/the-2025-golden-globes-gift-bag-is-worth-1-million-here-s-everything-inside/ar-AA1waA3x?ocid=msedgntp&pc=NSJS&cvid=cdf1f731fa8e47 46a9a33500740e4a4f&ei=21

24 hours of hell. Last night after supper the wife reported her almost 30 year old Morgan gelding seemed to have colic and she had the vet on the way. None of the treatments worked so the vet ended the horse's suffering this morning. A fellow with an excavator arrived this afternoon and buried it. This was a horse my wife first saw when it was 3 weeks old. She trained it and broke it to saddle then babied him when he could no longer be ridden.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1736115079.jpg

Goodbye De Lion ( he is the big guy closest to the dog.)

Best
Les

30 years! is that unusual?

My condolences. I'm sure that hurts.

Les,
My condolences as well. I hope the other horses are taking it well.

Thirty years isn't unheard of for an equine which gets appropriate feed and doesn't have a hard life. On the other hand, the phrase "healthy as a horse" sets my teeth on edge. Horses evolved in environments where they had to keep moving to get enough to sustain them, so when they get too much or too rich food,(clover, oats or the like) and not enough exercise, their gut rebells and they can die. This old guy had worn down teeth from almost three decades of chewing so he was on supplements . He was doing well until his bowel became obstructed. Then it was over.
Don't know what brought it on. We didn't have the vet do a necropsey.
And yes, the other horses came by and said their goodbyes. The donkey actually spent the morning in the stall with him after it was over. They were buddies. The donkey was the only one who could back him off his hay.
I did know a guy who had a Morgan horse that lived into its 40s. That was exceptional.
We are doing OK this morning, but it was hard going into the barn and missing that big goof.
All the best, folks.
Les

My condolences to you and your wife, Les. Horses have a magic that is hard to describe.

Les, my dental hygienist had a horse that died from similar conditions. He was young, like 3-4 yrs old if I recall, but very big, 17 hands. She's been riding for a long time. She said it happens.
Give your wife my condolences as I'm sure a friendship of 30 yrs is tough to have end like this.

Here's a story on the other side of things.
This morning, while walking the dog around the marsh, we came across a raven which had been roosting on the parts of my dock. It didn't fly away, but flapped and hopped away from us. I called the dog back and noted the bird didn't go too far. After calling the regional wildlife rescue center, I rook some dog food down to the place where the bird had been hanging out. Over the next hour it ate that, so I went back with a crate and more food to get it used to changes in case we had to capture it. The raven walked and hopped about 100 yards away and didn't go back for an hour, but eventually accepted the crate and food. My next plan was to attach a long cord to the door and try to capture the bird, but about a half hour later it started making short, then longer flights. It was joined by another raven and a few minutes ago both birds were on the lawn close to the house. I don't know if the bird was cold and starving, sick or bruised, but it seems to have made a recovery!
After the weekend we just had, I guess I needed to feel I accomplished something.
Oops. Must have been other ravens flying around. It seems our charge is still dealing with limited mobility
Best
Les

116 years old!!!
 

She passed away in December after 116 years. Wow

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomiko_Itooka

Rest In Peace De Lion. Than you for giving him a good life.
It kills me when our non-human friends pass on. Prayers and tears here.
This post deserves its own thread.

Update on the raven. This morning, my wife went down on the marsh to take some food for the bird and it startled and tried to escape through the wild rose bushes at which point it got stuck. The wife called for me to bring pruning shears and within minutes she had cut her way into the poor creature and got it out and into a dog crate. By 11 o'clock it was in care at a local branch of Hope For Wildlife. The young lady who received the bird confirmed it was underweight and observed its right wing seemed to not be tucking in properly. It is now in good hands.

Best
Les

My wife has a new man in her life.
Tonight she took me to meet him.

This is Zorey (sp?) He's a 6 year old Gypsy Vanner. His mane reaches his knees, his tail sweeps the floor. His butt is as wide as a bus. He's a lesson horse, but he isn't owned by the barn. He belongs to a friend of the owner, and she offers him for use for lessons in exchange for boarding. He's kind of out of shape, and I guess she's done this before, to get him some riding time and get him in better shape.

I called out the wife for tying that halter wrong, she just rolled her eyes at me.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1736913865.jpg

One of the other trainers offered a good story when we got there. She had just finished a group lesson with 4 20 something young men. The guy who booked the lesson said he was an advanced rider, as he was from Oklahoma. A couple of them even had the proper hat, right out of the Yellowstone catalog. The advanced rider attempted to mount his horse from the wrong side, and put the wrong foot in the stirrup. Didn't know how to hold his reins either.

Today is 2/5/25...or...2525 one of the goofiest songs ever written. :D