Chit Chat in VOLTVILLE Thread #2 :)

[cindycated]

Ha! I had to google Morice doorknobs and they aren't cool. Best to replace them so they go with the nice doors you get to keep. Or do you get to keep the doors? I'm confused. What kind of door knobs are you getting and do you have to pay for them.?

After all that arguing and explaining everything that's wrong with their plan, the solid wood doors stay. They're painted white (just correcting the last paint job on those, plus now I have to patch up the holes from the mortised knobs), and they'll get the cheapest oil-rubbed bronze knobs I could find. These:

My brother and sister keep cheaping out on me. If it were up to them, it would be the cheapest gold-tone knobs from WalMart.

Are you renting the house from them?

I don't even live here. This was Dad's house (passed last May) and the vultures are itching to sell. They were gonna hire cheap labor (you know, the ones you pick up from the HD parking lot), but heck, this was Dad's house. I was here to watch (and help, but didn't know how to do anything back then) when he spent ALL of his vacations working on this house. I think the difference is that I actually lived here with Dad and they didn't, so they never saw how much Dad really cared about this house. Couldn't bear to see it trashed like that, even though he's gone. And I couldn't see how shoddy work would help the property value any. Why bother, right? Plus, Mom plans to spend summers here for probably another year or two, so wanna make it comfy and pretty for her. Obviously, Mom and I are the last holdout, and I'm doing all the work because I know how crappy it would turn out if I didn't. What they did to the kitchen when they took over is proof. Luckily, I didn't leave them much to do, so won't be too much work to fix later.

Oh, boy, my blood's boiling now. Here's my brother's track record:
He hired painters to paint the exterior in 2009. Here we are in 2014, and big chunks of the paint have already peeled off.
He got double-paned windows put in. Unfortunately, they're illegal and he got taken. In Cali, U-value for new windows has to be 0.30 or better. These are 0.48, about the same as the single-paned 1935 windows that they replaced.
He "fixed" the shower in the bathroom, so it no longer leaks on the outside. But now it leaks inside the wall, and he completely vandalized the drywall in the bedroom closet (guess he couldn't find the spot where the plumbing was).

But he still thinks he's in charge and knows best. See what I'm dealing with?

I don't know why they're in such a hurry anyway. Out of all of us, I'M the only one hurting for money. The house is in a neighborhood that hasn't gone through gentrification yet, so property value right now is 30% lower than any other neighborhood in the city. Starbucks won't even open up here right now. So wouldn't it make sense to just wait and see for a little while? Just sayin'. I think this whole thing is dumb. But I actually AM having fun fixing it, so long as they don't cut my time short. They've committed to giving me 'til July, but they've screwed me before. Guess I'll have to sick MOM on them if they try anything sneaky.

Whew, feel better now! Sorry about that!

 

[tmcase]

After all that arguing and explaining everything that's wrong with their plan, the solid wood doors stay. They're painted white (just correcting the last paint job on those, plus now I have to patch up the holes from the morticed knobs), and they'll get the cheapest oil-rubbed bronze knobs I could find. These:

My brother and sister keep cheaping out on me. If it were up to them, it would be the cheapest gold-tone knobs from WalMart.


I don't even live here. This was Dad's house (passed last May) and the vultures are itching to sell. They were gonna hire cheap labor (you know, the ones you pick up from the HD parking lot), but heck, this was Dad's house. I was here to watch (and help, but didn't know how to do anything back then) when he spent ALL of his vacations working on this house. I think the difference is that I actually lived here with Dad and they didn't, so they never saw how much Dad really cared about this house. Couldn't bear to see it trashed like that, even though he's gone. And I couldn't see how shoddy work would help the property value any. Why bother, right? Plus, Mom plans to spend summers here for probably another year or two, so wanna make it comfy and pretty for her. Obviously, Mom and I are the last holdout, and I'm doing all the work because I know how crappy it would turn out if I didn't. What they did to the kitchen when they took over is proof.

Oh, boy, my blood's boiling now. Here's my brother's track record:
He hired painters to paint the exterior in 2009. Here we are in 2014, and big chunks of the paint have already peeled off.
He got double-paned windows put in. Unfortunately, they're illegal and he got taken. In Cali, U-value for new windows has to be 0.30 or better. These are 0.48, about the same as the single-paned 1935 windows that they replaced.
He "fixed" the shower in the bathroom, so it no longer leaks on the outside. But now it leaks on the inside, and he completely vandalized the drywall in the bedroom closet (guess he couldn't find the spot where the plumbing was).

But he still thinks he's in charge and knows best. See what I'm dealing with?

I don't know why they're in such a hurry anyway. Out of all of us, I'M the only one hurting for money. The house is in a neighborhood that hasn't gone through gentrification yet, so property value right now is 30% lower than any other neighborhood in the city. Starbucks won't even open up here right now. So wouldn't it make sense to just wait and see for a little while? Just sayin'. I think this whole thing is dumb. But I actually AM having fun fixing it, so long as they don't cut my time short. They've committed to giving me 'til July, but they've screwed me before. Guess I'll have to sick MOM on them if they try anything sneaky.

Whew, feel better now! Sorry about that!

Wow, what can I say? You're a good daughter trying to restore your dad's loving home and taking care of your mom. What the hell is wrong with your brother and sister anyway? Rhetorical question.

 

[Uncle]

To "My" Voltville Family - I hope Ya' all have a . . .

 

[Renolizzie]

UGH! Sis just came by and told me to replace all the MORTICED doorknobs with new REGULAR ones. 8 doors! In all fairness, they look really shabby, but such a pain to transition the doors for that.

Her husband, who THINKS he's handy, was all set to do it and had the "great" idea to take down and trash all the nice, solid wood doors that fit so perfectly, and replace them with Home Depot special hollow-core doors, but I put my foot down and, with much arguing, dissuaded them. If you can imagine a caveman doing DIY home improvement, you'd have a pretty good idea of what he's like. I can see it now. Uneven hinges, crooked doors, and "won't fit, we'll have to redo all the casings and molding now" (this house has beautiful woodwork). But oh boy, more work for ME! Oh, well. I've always hated painted hinges anyway (might as well, right?).

Cindycated - You have your work cut out for you on that project,

I replaced a couple of door knobs here at our house. The old ones were cheesy brass and not pretty so I got black ones. Then I had to get the new black face plates to work on the door jams. It was a pain in the behind!!!

 

[Renolizzie]

After all that arguing and explaining everything that's wrong with their plan, the solid wood doors stay. They're painted white (just correcting the last paint job on those, plus now I have to patch up the holes from the mortised knobs), and they'll get the cheapest oil-rubbed bronze knobs I could find. These:

My brother and sister keep cheaping out on me. If it were up to them, it would be the cheapest gold-tone knobs from WalMart.


I don't even live here. This was Dad's house (passed last May) and the vultures are itching to sell. They were gonna hire cheap labor (you know, the ones you pick up from the HD parking lot), but heck, this was Dad's house. I was here to watch (and help, but didn't know how to do anything back then) when he spent ALL of his vacations working on this house. I think the difference is that I actually lived here with Dad and they didn't, so they never saw how much Dad really cared about this house. Couldn't bear to see it trashed like that, even though he's gone. And I couldn't see how shoddy work would help the property value any. Why bother, right? Plus, Mom plans to spend summers here for probably another year or two, so wanna make it comfy and pretty for her. Obviously, Mom and I are the last holdout, and I'm doing all the work because I know how crappy it would turn out if I didn't. What they did to the kitchen when they took over is proof. Luckily, I didn't leave them much to do, so won't be too much work to fix later.

Oh, boy, my blood's boiling now. Here's my brother's track record:
He hired painters to paint the exterior in 2009. Here we are in 2014, and big chunks of the paint have already peeled off.
He got double-paned windows put in. Unfortunately, they're illegal and he got taken. In Cali, U-value for new windows has to be 0.30 or better. These are 0.48, about the same as the single-paned 1935 windows that they replaced.
He "fixed" the shower in the bathroom, so it no longer leaks on the outside. But now it leaks inside the wall, and he completely vandalized the drywall in the bedroom closet (guess he couldn't find the spot where the plumbing was).

But he still thinks he's in charge and knows best. See what I'm dealing with?

I don't know why they're in such a hurry anyway. Out of all of us, I'M the only one hurting for money. The house is in a neighborhood that hasn't gone through gentrification yet, so property value right now is 30% lower than any other neighborhood in the city. Starbucks won't even open up here right now. So wouldn't it make sense to just wait and see for a little while? Just sayin'. I think this whole thing is dumb. But I actually AM having fun fixing it, so long as they don't cut my time short. They've committed to giving me 'til July, but they've screwed me before. Guess I'll have to sick MOM on them if they try anything sneaky.

Whew, feel better now! Sorry about that!

Those look like the knobs I bought

Sounds like you are going to have to kick .... to keep that job on the right track.

 

[Renolizzie]

Thank you Sandy for the link! I'm gonna try it out when things get settled around here. I have alot more responsibilities now helping out my Future father in law with his finances. He's legally blind and is going through alot having to evict his stepdaughter and her family. Ugh it's been a rough few weeks and then on top of that drama, I signed up for FB to keep in touch with my aunt (who is never home). FFIL asked me to contact his daughter, who cussed me out on FB and said she didn't know me, even though we have met before. I blame the stepdaughter for influencing her. I hate drama. I wanna be a hermit.

Celt - It is very nice of you to help out your future father in law. Sounds like he needs someone trustworthy to help. Families can be so difficult to deal with. I've tried to like my in-laws but I find them irritating. His parents always go on and on about the family friend who is around Hubby's age who is Just like a son, he's wonderful, he's the best, blah, blah, blah. So, what is Hubby? The only hobby they have is hunting. Boring.

 

[Renolizzie]

Cindy, we have the boob ceiling lights, but the lines on the glass make them a little more interesting than the picture you had. Not my choice, the landlord's, but I don't mind them. Here's a photo I took of one.

The boob light conversation is cracking me up. We had those in our house in Fernley.

 

[Renolizzie]

Good morning, peeps.

Is today St paddy's Day? Thanks for the heads up, Uncle.

I got the peas and carrots and lettuce and rads in over the weekend.

We mocked up the sluice box idea for the pond and Hubby marked out where the electrical will come out of the wall at the back of the house.

We demolished the goat shed so the poor goats are laying out in the wind. That was a big job but it had to be done so we can get the horse shelter up, hopefully next weekend. Hubby doesn't really want to do home improvement so he totally gets on my nerves. I feel like, get over it, you live on five acres and stuff has to be done and YOU have to do it.

The horses have their butts into the wind but the goats like to lay with their faces into the wind. Total opposites on that issue.

 

[awsum140]

Cindy, hang in there and keep the original look. That can't be replaced.

The view from my security camera this morning, time to walk the snow blower AGAIN!

 

[Renolizzie]

Cindy, hang in there and keep the original look. That can't be replaced.

The view from my security camera this morning, time to walk the snow blower AGAIN!

Oh my, that is a lot of snow.

 

[rave]

Good morning, Voltpeeps.

Beautiful flowers, Sandy.

Rave, Sandy, Q, Celt - Are you thawing out yet?

Of course, we ended up bringing the two dogs into the house to sleep last night. Willie came in first. We basically had to drag her into the big, scary house. Once we got her in, we closed the door so she couldn't get out. She decided she could check it out. She cautiously explored all the rooms.

Once Willie was a bit settled, we brought Sassy in. Sassy had no problem coming into the house. She sniffed all the rooms and then lay down in the den.

Willie really liked Hubby's bedroom which was good since the dogs were sleeping in there. When they both got into the bedroom at the same time, I closed the door. They seem pretty content. They were both still flying pretty high from the anesthesia. Sassy threw up in the bedroom, which is understandable, but no one pooped or peed in the house. Yay!!!!!

Both dogs perked up enough to eat breakfast. Looks like they are fine. Nice to know they are spayed and we won't have any "issues" this spring.

Both dogs got their rabies shots. Rusty and Penny will be getting theirs in a week or two. There was a case of rabies in Gardnerville, so we want to make sure everyone is up-to-date.

Today's list includes: finish starting flower seeds...water the back berm...straighten up the house...poop patrol and taking the trash out to the street...the trainer is coming over...more weeding...I'm sure I can add to the list..

I hope all the Voltpeeps have a great day.

Dunno if I can say that it's thawed out completely here. It was 15 degrees when I got up this morning. So, I still have to play Cinderella. I've finally been convinced that I have to wear gloves when I do so. This weekend, I opened the metal mesh screen to add more wood, not realizing that it was incredibly hot and burned interesting square patterns on my forefinger and thumb. On the bright side: I can't feel it.

Glad to hear that the pups survived their procedure well and didn't give you too much trouble. Ah - I remember poop patrol well. I'm glad that it's a memory rather than a current event.

I'm still wondering myself. I guess I'm just afraid that I'm going to screw up and all my work will be wasted. I know it's a learning experience but that doesn't seem to help me be less nervous. It is fun, especially the detailing but it's nerve wrecking too. On the positive side, my nervousness keeps me warm.

A lesson learned is never time wasted. Just sayin'.

Being broke, living alone, being with a really UN-handy guy for 17 years, and wanting cool stuff are big motivators.

When I first started (before Google), I had a lot of Sunset How-To books, to help me fix all the stuff baaad contractors screwed up. Then I worked at Home Depot for about 7 months and asked a lot of questions (what's this for? what's that for? I was kinda cute back then and guys love answering questions when they're at Home Depot). Then I sold kitchens at IKEA for about 4 years and asked a bunch more questions (I was really tight with the installers and appliance reps). I've also taken some classes on building codes, project management, and green interior design/construction. Now, there's Google and YouTube. And Harbor Freight. Sometimes you can just look at something and figure out how it's supposed to be. I think it's genetic too. My dad was really handy.

And it's a little bit like your drawing. You keep doing it long enough, screw up enough times, and eventually you get really good at doing things right.

I really admire how you've taught yourself how to do all of this stuff. That's wonderful! Keep that current trend up and you could make a living as a Handywoman/Decorator! I'm only half kidding.

You hit the nail on the head with what you said about drawing.

Well that certainly explains it and good for you. I also hate to pay somebody to do what I can do but plumbing and electrical don't fall into that catagory. Plumbing is a PITA and I'm scared of electricity.

Before Google?

Me too. Anything but plumbing or electrical. I never ventured into those realms.

They are a vast improvement over this kind: http://www.lightingdirect.com/quoru...!27796109129&gclid=CIWQrvjdl70CFS9p7Aod2xgAZQ That's what I had in my home office till not too long ago. The bugs would collect in there, and that really did make the light dingy. I guess the kind I have now were ultramodern in the '40s and '50s. Every place I lived had this older square kind. Granted, the apartments I've lived in have been the budget kind, not the deluxe variety.

My old house in Illinois had those square glare fixtures. Hated 'em! One time I took down all of the squares to wash them, and found that one had a handful of Lemonheads rolling around in there. I blame my son. He didn't own up to shooting light fixture baskets until he was grown.

I like the second one in your post. I don't like the boob ones. It's hard enough to get the BF to look me straight in the eye without him staring at the ceiling too.

We had a couple of dry days but now we are paying for it. It rained all night and it's still raining and my car is floating again. <Insert bad word here>

I got some juice made yesterday and tested some that I ordered from a vendor. Yuk, yuk, yuk! This is why I DIY.

I also got a little work done on my drawing plus I found a video about white gel pens. I'm really excited about this. If they work like they say they do then I'll be able to do white toenails,whiskers, gleams in eyes and maybe animal fur. I ordered one to test.

Well, that sounds interesting! Hope it will be workable for ya.

I just got back from a walk around the neighborhood. Lord! Was it cold! The temperature was in the teens. I walked about 2 miles, and when I got home, I was grateful, but I just had to get out. I'm feeling cooped up.

I took my camera with me, and I saw lots of deer. They are really used to living around humans. This one looked like he was coming home after a hard day at work.



Then he saw me taking pictures of him, and he started walking toward me.



But he changed his mind and decided not to be sociable after all.

Great photos, Sandy!

Thank you Sandy for the link! I'm gonna try it out when things get settled around here. I have alot more responsibilities now helping out my Future father in law with his finances. He's legally blind and is going through alot having to evict his stepdaughter and her family. Ugh it's been a rough few weeks and then on top of that drama, I signed up for FB to keep in touch with my aunt (who is never home). FFIL asked me to contact his daughter, who cussed me out on FB and said she didn't know me, even though we have met before. I blame the stepdaughter for influencing her. I hate drama. I wanna be a hermit.

That lifestyle has its benefits and works really well for some.

 

[Renolizzie]

Leather gloves for dealing with the fire place is a greatidea, Raven. It will help you a lot.

 

[Qew]

Happy St. Patrick's Day Volties! ​

It's still cold here, like at Rave's, but we are getting more and more sunshine, yay! We still have snow, but it's shrinking, even though we got another 8-10 inches from that last storm that ran through. I think I am finally shaking the winter blues.

Hope everyone has a great day!

 

[Renolizzie]

View attachment 316399 Happy St. Patrick's Day Volties! View attachment 316399​

It's still cold here, like at Rave's, but we are getting more and more sunshine, yay! We still have snow, but it's shrinking, even though we got another 8-10 inches from that last storm that ran through. I think I am finally shaking the winter blues.

Hope everyone has a great day! View attachment 316401

Winter will fade away for you, Q. Enjoy spring!!!

 

[cindycated]

Cindy, hang in there and keep the original look. That can't be replaced.

The view from my security camera this morning, time to walk the snow blower AGAIN!

If I had to wake up to having to deal with that, I'd go back to bed!
Loving your camera. What brand/model?

 

[SandySu]

Awsum, I love that color blue. It might be my favorite color. You had more snow? I think you guys on the East Coast got more snow this winter than we did. This one slipped past us. Yesterday morning, there was a fresh dusting, but nothing yet today. We've got sunshine.

 

[cindycated]

Awsum, I love that color blue. It might be my favorite color. You had more snow? I think you guys on the East Coast got more snow this winter than we did. This one slipped past us. Yesterday morning, there was a fresh dusting, but nothing yet today. We've got sunshine.

haha maybe that's why bears hibernate all winter. They don't wanna deal with shoveling all that snow!
"Just stay in bed and wait for it to melt!"

 

[awsum140]

The blue color was from the IR cut filter settling down and the low light. That was captured before sunrise in very low light, but enough light to shut down the IR lighting.

The camera is a Grandstream GXV3672HD. It has 1.2 megapixels and can down 1280x960 in h264 format for all you IP video camera aficionados. I'm using the full version of Blue Iris video software and it is working really well with the camera. I still do get a lot of captures at night from headlights tripping the motion detection but I will be changing the view angle a little, raise the camera up higher on the tree it's mounted on, to try to limit that down a bit. Last night the video capture ran all night from the snow keeping the motion detection tripped and that can't b avoided.

We got about four inches, too much to leave alone and enough to get out the snow blower yet again. This is really getting old!

 

[awsum140]

Here's an "action" snapshot captured from the video stream inwhat's passing for daylight here today. The red rectangle is a "hot zone" target area superimposed by the software.

 

[SandySu]

Here's an "action" snapshot captured from the video stream inwhat's passing for daylight here today. The red rectangle is a "hot zone" target area superimposed by the software.

It's a "hot zone," but not hot enough to melt the snow, huh? You still have to blow it.

I'm heading out to tutor soon. Out into the cold sunshine!