Quantcast

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
Thanks. Our inspector noted the shallow insertion as well and the wood shims are to be replaced with metal before the beams are grouted in.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
Supposedly spotted on a TDI in Portland:



Time to see if the "2-4x" bit about emissions wrt Suburban is correct.

Step 1: Find emissions standards that the cars at least supposedly adhere to. The answer is that the subject-to-recall 2014 Jetta TDI is a LEV-II ULEV, and the 2016 Suburban is LEV-III ULEV125.

Step 2: Translate those ratings into numbers. The EPA has a page that translates this into Tier 2 Bin X, which is only useful after numbers are assigned in this page.

Step 3: Arithmetic. Thankfully this is easy since it turns out that LEV-II ULEV and LEV-III ULEV125 are actually equivalent to Tier 2 Bin 5. Therefore NOx should be equivalent. As VW is cheating by 10-40x that sheet should therefore say that the Suburban is 10-40x cleaner than the TDI.

QED.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
I think I may have found my next commuter bike, for the post-move lengthened commute:

Trek XM700+. Previously announced but now showing up on the Trek US site!



I like it quite a bit: Trek warranty, Bosch smoothness, 28 mph limit, fenders stock, and both front and rear rack eyelets. $3500, which is about what I'd pay to make my own less-elegant albeit more powerful e-bike with a clunky hub motor these days.

My only wish would be for a bit more tire clearance as I have a loose-material commute, but can't win 'em all in the factory sphere. As long as I could stuff my 47 mm Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires in there I think it'd work.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
Latest purchase:



(That's a long image URL!)

Anyway, I upgraded myself from third- to second-class parking at work. First class is the close-by garage upon whose waiting list I still languish. Third class is the far away lots and garages. Second class is the "reserved" bank of spots in each of them.

I had always wondered about those reserved spots/what one must do to get one but never bothered to find out until today. The answer is that one must pay $75/month instead of $57/month for such a spot. As both of these are pre-tax figures it was a no brainer, IMO. Both of those fees also get me free parking at the downtown campus where I have weekly rehearsals for Colorado Wind Ensemble, for what that's worth, although I would have been reimbursed by the group anyway.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
I think I've posted this here before, but perhaps not this nice pic specifically:



Bolt M-1. 1000W and 5500W modes. Technically a moped, so supposedly legal on bike paths? I'd feel awfully goofy speeding along on that and not pedaling, but perhaps that flies in SF circles.

I'll be keeping an eye out on this company to see if they a) fold, b) support their wares, and c) set up a distribution network outside of the hipster/electric mecca of SF.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
The other day I went to a Mazda dealer to "test sit" in a 2016 Miata. The verdict is that a Miata shall not be in my future, unless it has a race seat bolted straight to the floor without seat rails. There was little chance of it fitting into my schemes anyway, what with the two kids and all, but it's good to confirm these things. :D
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
Operation "RAV4 EV recall work" is a failure.

While I did manage to get the regional rep to come in to work on the vehicle the recall was not performed. The car was kicking off the following error codes, which gave the rep the willies (since he doesn't want to brick the car!):

P312F <-- probably Tesla related
C1241 <-- related to 12V battery, likely not Tesla's fault
C1551 <-- possibly C1251 instead, written down wrong by dude, and apparently not Tesla's fault as well
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
I got labwork back from my most recent (and hopefully final) round of insurance physical exams. (For now I'm insured as much as I need to be and will ratchet it down every 5 years until 15 years from now I plan to be able to self-insure, i.e. have a net worth equal to my current insurance level.)

Anyway:

- I have normal glucose (60 at fasting!) and hemoglobin A1C, so despite being fat I am decidedly not diabetic
- liver enzymes show AST normal, ALT elevated, which means I probably have a fatty liver, which would be delicious were I a bird
- kidneys are working well as urine was totally normal, with top of range creatinine probably due to muscle mass (as in old little ladies have low creatinine)
- total cholesterol of 259 is normal but at the top of their range, with HDL of 45.6 (pretty good, higher being better) and a persistently elevated LDL of 182
- I continue to not have hepatitis B or C, which is a good thing

All in all this is pretty close to a normal panel, and that's why I got a reasonable insurance rate.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
Come spring I will sacrifice several hours in order to have Discount Tire swap out the winter tires on the RAV4 EV with new all-seasons. (Edit: Make that "a Tire Rack preferred installer" instead of "Discount Tire" above.) I will also finally get the long-promised second set of wheels with all-terrains for the Land Cruiser.

I'd been searching idly for a while for steel wheels, after this old mockup of mine years ago (before I switched from wanting a 200 Series to getting a 100 Series):



The problem is that the big retailers (Tire Rack, Discount Tire) don't carry cheap steel wheels. I can see why, but it's still annoying. Via a Google search that turned up a relevant IH8Mud thread I found allfactorywheels.com, which has these fine offerings:



New 18" steelies for $83 per wheel



Refurbished 18" Tundra alloys for $118 per wheel

Either of those would work. After my sidewall issues and slightly "loose" feeling of the Nokians I think I will step up to a LT model instead of P-metric. Something like this Hankook would work, in LT275/65R18. That's bigger than stock but the same diameter as what I'm running now with the Nokians, and the same size as the scrapped Michelins that were on the vehicle when I bought it.






Addition:

For the RAV4 EV, maybe a set of these wheels (or maybe sucking it up and paying to mount/remount each year). Probably upsize a bit on the tires so that I can get one with a higher load rating and stiffer sidewall, like this one in 235/65R17 (stock being 225/65R17).

I learned yesterday that Tire Rack has a distribution center right in Denver so shipping is free! It's halfway between the rental house and the new house--ridiculously close. Such are the benefits of living in a neighborhood largely flanked by industry.
 
Last edited:

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
Next logical step after the Land Cruiser starts to feel small:

Diesel, low range 4x4 Sprinter, now with 100% more plans to have it be sold in the US.



One of those in high roof forms would finally shut me up about having enough headroom, I figure.
Spotted in my workplace's employee parking lot this very morning:



It had a 4x4 badge on the back, in case the fender gap wasn't enough of a clue.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
So Lexus released a GS-F recently. The car itself doesn't interest me: no need for a near-500 hp sports sedan in my life (akin to the claimed power from Stoney's perpetually-on-jackstands ///M5 :D ).

What is quite interesting is its active differential technology:



One of the main features of the GS F I was looking forward to experiencing is Lexus’s new Torque Vectoring Differential (TVD). The very simple explanation of TVD is that it is basically an open diff with electronically operated clutch packs on each output shaft with an overdrive gear that allows each wheel to be turned faster than its counterpart.

Many cars on the market today come with their own version of TVD that use the brakes to slow one wheel allowing the other to spin faster and increase (or decrease) steering response. But using the brakes to go faster is as oxymoronic as it gets, and most of those systems fall short pretty quickly once you start driving them hard.
This sort of reminds me of Honda's SH-AWD system, only with the overdrive at the axle level instead of at the "center diff"-equivalent level. Per this article (noting that that white SUV is an RDX, not an MDX--that gen RDX indeed did have SH-AWD, though) with SH-AWD the rear differential can be driven up to 5.7% faster than the front differential. That overdrive is then translated into wheel-specific vectoring thrust by clutch packs on each half shaft, more or less.

Cool. Seems like a great way to generate heat! It's also amusing that it's sort of similar at a 30,000 foot level to the front drive concept on the Ferrari FF...
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
Ok, this kind of makes me want a Tesla. Traffic? Who cares if the car is driving you along? :D

 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
I think I may have found my next commuter bike, for the post-move lengthened commute:

Trek XM700+. Previously announced but now showing up on the Trek US site!

More on this after a quick phone call today to the giant, 30,000 sq ft Bicycle Village in Aurora:

- no electric Treks stocked by this store, for better or worse
- they can be special ordered, however, since they are a Trek dealer nominally
- if special ordered then it must be purchased when it arrives
- if purchased then it can be returned within 30 days for a full refund, which kind of makes the must-purchase part irrelevant.

I still think I'll go for it in the spring despite not being able to try it. Worst case is I don't like it and just waste the time of the dealer. I think the warranty will make the reduced power compared to what I can build worthwhile, especially since I can extend it for a year for free by using a Visa.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
I think I crowed in this thread earlier about being able to get 1 Gbps fiber optic Internet service at the new house. I finally found out accurate pricing for it via the local CenturyLink rep (+/- possible issues with me still being under contract for the current renal house):

Option 1, Internet service only) 1 Gbps Internet for $111.94/month, albeit with a $59.99 installation fee and $100 purchase of their fiber optic modem-equivalent (presumably an optical network terminal). 12 month contract.

Price over the contract's term would therefore be $1,503.

Option 2, Internet + basic bundled TV service) 1 Gbps Internet + over-Internet basic TV service for $121.93/month. Installation fee is waived. ONT is leased with that lease fee waived as well. 12 month contract.

Price over this contract's term would be $1,463.

I have no need for bundled TV services but the way this pricing is set up I'd be crazy to not pick Option 2. At a year's time then I could buy a modem and switch over to the cheaper service as presumably there's no installation fee for installations that already exist. I'd then break even at 8.33 months.



Edit: It turns out that $100 fee is not for the ONT but rather some WiFi router. I can bypass this router: http://kmwoley.com/blog/bypassing-needless-centurylink-wireless-router-on-gigabit-fiber/ . Eliminate that $100 and then Option 1 becomes cheaper even despite the installation fee. The kicker would be if we like the Prism TV-over-IP serve. I think it'd be safer to go with Option 2, try to bypass the router anyway and keep Prism working, and reassess at one year.
 
Last edited:

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
Winter commuting tire found, assuming I end up with something like that Trek that takes ~40 mm 700c tires:



Continental Top Contact Winter bike tire. It's the equivalent of my Nokians, whereas the rest of the winter bike tire world seems to revolve purely around studs. As I'll be going at least a bit on sidewalk and on-campus roads that will be cleared I don't want studs.

Here's a review from a guy in Boulder: http://velonews.competitor.com/2011/11/bikes-and-tech/reviews/review-continental-topcontact-winter-ii-tires_197231
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
House now has 100% more drywall and insulation:







Windows still are uncased so I can't measure/have someone come in to measure for blinds yet:



See that outlet box by the garage door? The one facing inside? Yeah, that one is supposed to be an exterior outlet. :lol: I hope they leave this one in and just give me an extra outlet. They were warned, so I have no pity that they have to redo drywall and insulation to fix this.



Outlet boxes and in-wall speaker wire boxes galore in the basement for my planned home theater setup:



Hispanic drywall crew leaving artwork:



USG Durorock under what will be the tiled areas, in this case the master bath:



Right about where that horizontal band of sheetrock compound is located is supposed to be another 120V outlet box. The box exists. The insulation guys put their wrap right over it. I caught this, pointed it out and emailed the builders. Despite this warning explicitly that this might cause the drywall guys to miss its presence (it's an added outlet) the drywall guys did exactly what I thought they would. :facepalm:



Nice split piece of wood in what will have a pocket door:

 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
One exterior outlet on the porch looks like this: wood trim, metal flashing above, plastic box:



The other looks like this. Hmph.

 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
What I'd like to do:

1) At work: Have lots of screen space for "thinking area." Run Chrome. Run MATLAB. Run Excel, Word, and EndNote. Manage email with Exchange and IMAP accounts (via Thunderbird when on Windows, Mail.app on OS X).

2) At home: Have small form factor for use on couch. Sync with my iPhone using iTunes, run Photos (formerly iPhoto), run Lightroom, which more or less dictates running OS X. Similarly run Chrome, MATLAB, Excel/Word/EndNote, and Mail.app.
So this musing from a page or two back has now become relevant once again: the Hackintosh is currently crashed. I think drive(s) are going, and that this all happened suddenly and apparently with multiple drives makes me suspect that something more centrally is going south, in the region of the motherboard.

I think the following setup would be nice:

1) Work laptop will end up staying at work permanently, unless I'm traveling.

2) Home Mac OS X needs (iTunes, Photos, Lightroom) to be served by a 5k 27" iMac that will live on my desk in our "office" (really our formal dining room that shall never be used as such--still will have a butler's pantry connecting it to the kitchen!).



3) Gaming "needs" will be served by a new PC build that can handle 4k gaming on the future downstairs TV/home theater setup without breaking a sweat. I'm not going to bother with making the hardware Hackintosh compatible: this will be a straight up Windows-only machine. Two 980 Ti cards in SLI, perhaps? We shall see.

4) Lounging on couch/lounging in bed websurfing needs will be handled by a tablet of some sort. $50 Amazon tablet? iPad Pro? Something in between?
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
Hmm, I wrote prematurely. Hackintosh was humming away nicely when I got to my office this morning after repairing the errant disk. It's just that the remote access software wasn't running. Perhaps I shall wring a few more years out of it yet.

I'm still going to build a gaming PC for the basement, but the work-supplied laptop will perversely continue to serve as my home computer until which date the Hackintosh totally kicks the bucket.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
One exterior outlet on the porch looks like this: wood trim, metal flashing above, plastic box:



The other looks like this. Hmph.

Builder's response:

[Construction super] thinks one of the outlets is missing a part and this will be remedied

Everything will be symmetrical and fixed
Good.
 

cecil

Turbo Monkey
Jun 3, 2008
2,064
2,345
with the voices in my head
One exterior outlet on the porch looks like this: wood trim, metal flashing above, plastic box:



The other looks like this. Hmph.

The bottom one is called an "old work box" they missed it and had to fish the wall and cut it in after siding was installed

10' ceilings nice, are they putting a waterproof membrane on durarock before tile? Just because it's a cement board does not mean it's waterproof, the waterproof membrane can be a troweled on or a roll on

I'm a general contractor every trade has gone down hill in the past 30 years.....all drywallers smoke pot live in their cars and eat peanut butter sandwiches lol
They Coated each side of the butt seams without toiching the tape on their bed coat that's a good sign they are good finishers
 

cecil

Turbo Monkey
Jun 3, 2008
2,064
2,345
with the voices in my head
Is the drywall in the garage touching the concrete? They should have layed scrap pieces on the concrete when they hung it so there would be a 1/2" gap moisture will wick into and it will mold eventually

I'm totally not raining on your parade just pointing out what I would if I was your builder
 

cecil

Turbo Monkey
Jun 3, 2008
2,064
2,345
with the voices in my head
We make our plumbers camera the sewer line out to the street those little drywall cut outs for the outlets one of those falls into the toilet shoe it will catch paper and solids and you will have back ups and the builder will accuse you of flushing baby wipes, paper towels etc them you will have to pay for someone to power jet or run a sewer machine down the pipes
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
The bottom one is called an "old work box" they missed it and had to fish the wall and cut it in after siding was installed

10' ceilings nice, are they putting a waterproof membrane on durarock before tile? Just because it's a cement board does not mean it's waterproof, the waterproof membrane can be a troweled on or a roll on

I'm a general contractor every trade has gone down hill in the past 30 years.....all drywallers smoke pot live in their cars and eat peanut butter sandwiches lol
They Coated each side of the butt seams without toiching the tape on their bed coat that's a good sign they are good finishers
I have no idea what that butt seams comment refers to, but I'm glad it's a good sign.

:D

With regard to the Durarock the contract says:

"Wet areas: DenShield Tile Backer by Georgia Pacific or equivalent per ASTM C 1178 (no paper faced gypsum board to be used as sheathing behind tile in any wet area); weatherlap joint of tilebacker board, tile and rim of tub unit to form a drainage plane for the assembly (per EEBA Builder's Guide to Cold Climates, 6th ed). No tape in wet areas, mud only; drywall all the way to ceiling."

No mention of another waterproof membrane, but DenShield itself has a moisture barrier: http://www.buildgp.com/densshield-tilebacker-board

Yeah, 10' first floor, 9' basement, 9' second floor. That was a factor that swung us to this design.

Is the drywall in the garage touching the concrete? They should have layed scrap pieces on the concrete when they hung it so there would be a 1/2" gap moisture will wick into and it will mold eventually

I'm totally not raining on your parade just pointing out what I would if I was your builder
Here's a bigger version of that photo (click):



I think you're right and the drywall in the garage is going down to the concrete. Does it make a difference that the concrete is ~4" up from the ground? There shouldn't be any moisture inside the garage, really, especially off the floor. Denver is dry.

We make our plumbers camera the sewer line out to the street those little drywall cut outs for the outlets one of those falls into the toilet shoe it will catch paper and solids and you will have back ups and the builder will accuse you of flushing baby wipes, paper towels etc them you will have to pay for someone to power jet or run a sewer machine down the pipes
I hope we don't run into that problem. With a builder this big and busy (46 houses being built at once!) there's no chance I can get them to do anything above what the contract specifies, and the contract has nothing about that. It does have a bit about them having to clean out the air ducts before turning the house over, at least, so we won't be blowing construction about the house for days.
 

cecil

Turbo Monkey
Jun 3, 2008
2,064
2,345
with the voices in my head
It looks like there is a small gap on that picture
The horizontal seams in the garage the edge of the drywall is tapered and you fill the recess the vertical are not recessed so you fill each side of the joint

Denver yea no substantial ground water so probably no issue like other regions although if your ever curious duct tape a 12"x12" square of clear plastic to a concrete floor make sure the perimeter sealed and see if condensation collects under plastic in a day or two if it does then you may want hire someone to take a real moisture test

Again not knocking your place it looks really nice attention to detail quality materials and the things your dealing with are typical things that happen always on every job.....its nothing out of ordinary just frustrating cause they are easily avoidable
As for sewer you could have them run water from a garden hose for 15-20 min down one of the toilet shoes before they paint that would find or flush out any debris saw dust etc if any got In there
 

cecil

Turbo Monkey
Jun 3, 2008
2,064
2,345
with the voices in my head
image.jpeg

image.jpeg


Today a primary care facility I'm turning over to the hospital 11/2 we had a roof leak needed to get wet insulation out of wall and found a buried electric box in the wall with a black arc mark where a live wire shorted out on it.......like I said happens every day
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
Financial milestones I have to look forward to, now that I'm settled down and secure at work and am closing on a house (in 7 weeks!):

October of every year: Bonus time. Future bonuses per our new formula are likely to be smaller than this and next year's that are/were under the old formula, but it should remain non-negligible, probably on the order of $30-50k. I'm treating the bonus separately from my monthly budget and am basically assuming it'll be spent instead of saved each year on stuff like more solar for the house, etc.

2016-2017: Wife may go back to work. Negligible net increase in income due to increased preschool/aftercare costs.

2017-2019: Up for promotion around this time. + ~$1000/mo post-tax increase.

2018-2019: Older kid into kindergarten then first grade. + ~$500-700/mo (half day kindergarten is free but full day has a small cost that disappears when first grade is hit).

2020: Both car notes gone. + $964/mo.

2020-2021: Younger kid into kindergarten then first grade. + ~$500-700/mo.

2023: Done with my student loans (PSLF, effective ~0.4% rate). + $1588/mo.

2026: Done with wife's student loans, assuming I refinance to a new 10 year term this winter @ 2.8-3.5%. + ~$1000-1200/mo.

2030: Technically able to retire? I'll still have 15 years left on the mortgage, assuming I haven't been paying it down early...
I'll have to weigh retirement timing carefully against FAFSA and the like, as my oldest kid will be entering college around this time, with the younger two years behind. Perhaps I will try to retire early so as to maximize my kid's chances for grants? Either that or just put my head down, accept that she'll get only loans if that, and work through the period.

Meanwhile if I drop off the planet unexpectedly or get disabled I'm adequately insured. It's somewhat depressing to think that my existing debts will require me to work until my 2.5 year old kid is a freshman in college (barring unforeseen great returns from the market), but I really can't complain too much.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
Another option emerges:



Refurbished 16" 1999-2002 Land Cruiser OEM wheels for $138 per wheel.

I was inspired to look into this by the numerous early series 100 Land Cruisers I see around Denver. They run 16" wheels with correspondingly taller sidewalls. This in turn could open up the UN-style tall and skinny look, which I like because it's opposite that of the bro-dawgs in their lifted Tundras with 20" wheels and 315 width tires.

Possibility would be a Toyo M-55 in 255/85R18, which is 33". I've been running 32" without issue and apparently it's quite possible:




(Not the tire in question but is the right size, and that looks to be a stock Series 100 suspension setup.)

Reviews are pretty good, especially since I have the Nokians for winter use so wouldn't have to sipe the Toyos: http://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/from-toyo-m-t-to-m-55.427316/



Mmm, tall sidewalls...
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
Ma house continues to get more built each day. Now we have tile in the bathrooms, cabinets throughout, and finish on the drywall.

Remaining:

- fixing the electrical outlets that have been incorrect for a few months now (garage interior vs. exterior outlet mixup on the part of the electricians, drywall people drywalling right over an outlet in the master bathroom)
- paint
- counters
- trim
- banisters
- actual outlets with covers instead of electrical boxes with wires, same for switches
- garage door opener
- real front door and doors in general
- carpet and hardwood
- closing

Photos:


100% more brick on the front facade. Stupid mandatory $10k not-so-optional elevation to get this. Note the outdoor outlet is still not fixed to match the other.


Drywall is now finished but not painted. Note door jambs and windows not cased yet, so can't send in the blinds people to get measurements.


Tile in 1/2 bath on main floor. No grout yet here or elsewhere.


Gas fireplace is installed. Tile is being worked on by the Hispanic dude partly in the frame.


Kitchen cabinets, as of yet without pull hardware. This bit on the right is a built in desk.


More cabinets. We elected for no trim atop the cabinets so as to not block those windows in the last foot or so before the 10' ceiling.


It's a big island. The granite overhangs this a bit, too.


Mariko was afraid the tile guy would be loud.

For my own reference the fridge space is 37" wide, 28" deep to the edge of the cabinets, and 72" tall.


Kids' bathroom starting to come together.


Other half of kids' bathroom cabinets was in the bedroom, waiting to be installed. This shows the tile goes all the way under the cabinets.
 
Last edited:

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550

Laundry room has tile, drain, cabinet. No sinks yet as there are no countertops anywhere. Mariko likes it. For my reference, 60" width, 37.5" depth for where the washer and dryer will go.


Mariko would fit well in the depth of the washer/dryer space if she were lying down.


Master bath has tile and cabinets. Shower pan is poured but not tiled yet.


Master bath toilet room. Note drywall still covering up the outlet box that exists, to the photographic right of the toilet's drain on the back wall.



Can light is all cattywampus.


Measuring a wall in the basement for a custom bookshelf. 12' tape measure falls short.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
The bad news from this is that the electrician subcontractor still hasn't fixed their shit (exterior garage outlet, can light in basement, drywalled-over outlet in master bath).

The good news is that the drywalled-in and cabineted-in dimensions for the fridge and the washer/dryer are of a standard size, and I should be able to wedge modern/large appliances of each appropriate category into there without issue.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
Mystery of the creaking Land Cruiser is solved:



Cliffs Notes: Never go to Big O Tires for anything but tires, per se, and probably not even for that.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
I'm certainly not in the market for a pickup but I find this interesting nonetheless:



Did you spot what's weird yet? Yeah, that's a nominally 1/2 pickup on single rear wheels... with a 5th wheel trailer.





What's more, this is a factory option. To be fair, this is an "XD" which is supposed to be a 5/8ths-ton model, if you will. Still very odd to see 5th wheel + SRW 1/2 ton-ish together.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
The virus fun doesn't start for her until she goes to preschool, which will be the upcoming August probably.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
The new house worksite is supposed to be locked up every night. Thankfully for me it wasn't locked up tonight when I stopped by after rehearsal.


Railings are now up. Still no steps yet, although the houses further north on the block have had that poured already.


Cased windows! and paint on the walls and ceiling! This means measurements for blinds can now be done.


Tile and fireplace trim is done.


Granite is in under that paper.


Miscellaneous shelves and seating areas are now in.


1574 sq ft x 17 inches of insulation in the attic!


Sidewalk isn't poured yet. The basin where it will be poured is filled with probably 6" of brackish water with an ice cap. I walked all the way around out of the frame to the left to get to a "land bridge" where I wouldn't have to go wading in the freezing weather.