A thread for miscellaneous stuff...

[flatbutt]

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

[rockfan4]

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.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by rockfan4

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.

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.

[Evans, Marv]

^^^^^ 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.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by rockfan4

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.

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.

[flatbutt]

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.

[Evans, Marv]

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.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by Evans, Marv

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.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by rockfan4

Earlier, I was attempting to book a hotel room so that we can visit the granddaughter for her birthday. The hotel's website was acting up and I was unable to reserve a room, but at one point a price came up less than what I normally get. So last night, I tried again, their website was acting normally. I copied the url and opened it in a private window. In private windows, the browser can't read your existing cookies. The lesser rate came up again. "Holiday rate" it said, even though we aren't booking until mid January. I was able to book the room at the lesser rate. I tried again for a second stay, we're going to Chicago in February, but it didn't work. Maybe the hidden promotion only lasted until the end of January. But, in the future, I'm going to book in a private window just to see what happens.

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).

[masraum]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

This woman is impressive

https://www.jordynzimmerman.com/

Non verbal autism is a certified beotch. Talk about resilience!

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.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

NJ Nat Gas is coming through town laying supply lines everywhere. I thought it was a no brainer for me to hook up but my property is a PITA apparently.

The side of my house where my current service is won't work because of all the decking. They said 'd need to tear up the decking in order to run the line. F sat!

The other side is the driveway but it's a tight clearance to the property line and that's where my water line is so that's a bit problematic too.

IDT think I'm going to be able to do it.

So, now I'm wondering if the presence of nat gas is going to drive up LP prices because they're losing hundreds if not thousands of customers.

Then again maybe I'm over thinking it.

Follow up: Comparing NG to LP I could cut my yearly fuel cost by 40% or a little more going to NG. However, my conversion cost is estimated at approx. $7500. So that's roughly a 10- year payback. There are also other costs involved. I'd need to demolish a portion of a deck and have my driveway trenched as well.

hmmm So I'll be 82 by the time this upgrade pays off. I'm thinking I'll hang on to the 7+K.

What would youse guys do?

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

[masraum]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

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.

You are in NJ. I'm sure that the NG folks have cousins in the cement pouring and deck building businesses.

Originally Posted by flatbutt

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.

Whacky, well "in your driveway"! Sounds like a huge PITA.

Originally Posted by flatbutt

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

Yep, absolutely.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by masraum

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

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.

[oldE]

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.



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

[flatbutt]

https://www.tiktok.com/@thesun/video/7403370173568240929?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

[flatbutt]

Hobby horse dressage etc.

[flatbutt]

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

[David]

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!

[flatbutt]

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

[flatbutt]

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

and he's going to eat the banana.