Otis in the Suburbs (1 Viewer)

[JerseyToughGuys]

Otis, you're rich, and haven't purchased a miter saw already. Don't make the same mistake I made.

Get a 12" compound miter saw, not a 10" stationary one.

Every time I'm cutting something bigger than a 2x6, I regret my decision to go with the 10".

solid advice (and I agree)

 

[Reepicheep]

Guys, I was spot-on when I said yesterday was Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Also I accurately predicted that the weather would be sunny, partly sunny, partly cloudy, cloudy, raining, or snowing, and hot, warm, cool or cold.

Yesterday was Thursday, ThursdaySorry, couldn't help it.

 

[Demian]

This thread is now boring.

 

[offdee]

I used to really look forward to getting out to a bar, getting lit up, and talking up wimmens. Now, I can't tell you how stoked I am to get a mitre saw and start working on building a radiator cover.

Not jealous.

 

[Koya]

I used to really look forward to getting out to a bar, getting lit up, and talking up wimmens. Now, I can't tell you how stoked I am to get a mitre saw and start working on building a radiator cover.

Not jealous.

Dude, totally. Otis is dead.

 

[Otis]

This bat thing may not be the best idea.

Link

 

[Rohn Jambo]

How is the guarantee implemented? If you kill the tree due to neglect, poor planting or overwatering is it covered?

rookie mistake correctly predicted.

Yeah, great prediction, Nostradamus -- weeks after I tell you the trees are dead, and when your prediction includes every possible way a tree could die.

Maybe we should have used a larger font.

This advice is from years of personal experience. I have killed countless house plants by giving them too much TLC so I know what I'm talking about.

It may be difficult for Otis but must.not.overwater.the.trees. The key to being a good gardener is knowing what is too little, what is too much, and what is just right. :goldilocks:

"Leyland cypress is considered relatively pest-free. However, because of its relatively shallow root system, and because they are often planted too close together and in poorly drained soils, Leyland cypress is prone to root rot and several damaging canker diseases, especially during periods of prolonged drought."

This is true of almost all cypresses. The tighter the planting the more difficult the care. Cut water and fertilizer by a third to half depending on water retention in the soil, because the trees stunt each other making the needs of two trees somewhat equal to the needs of one when the roots go siamese twin underground. While watering less in volume you must water more frequently because they are more sensitive to being to overly saturated or dried out without the space needed to adjust to either too wet or dry conditions. A drip line is ideal.

 

[Rohn Jambo]

This bat thing may not be the best idea.

Link

I knew there had to be a catch.I was attacked by a giant mosquito that took 8 big bites on my legs, toe and middle finger last night. The itch is killing me!!!

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Installed my new microwave today. It only took building 2 custom pieces of wood, drilling the anchor holes twice, stripping 3 #### ### screws from lowes, one cursing flip out, complete with telling my daughter to go upstairs and leave me alone.

:flex:

 

[squidrope]

a radiator cover.

A what?

Shuke>One of these to cover one of these.

instant just add saw

 

[Rohn Jambo]

Speaking of trees, the 7 leylands that our landscaper planted in the yard were confirmed dead. He blamed me and said we overwatered. I told him I'm from Brooklyn, have no idea how much a freshly planted leyland cypress should get, and that he never told me. I also told him the reason I started overwatering them is they didn't look like they were doing well to begin with. He also then claimed he was taking a bath on it, but that he was going to replace them all -- but just once, and that we are on our own after that. He gave me a guilt trip and said he was going to take a loss on this -- I called BS, told him these trees go for $100 a pop at a nursery (so $700 total for ours) and that he charged us around 2 grand for the job. He'll do just fine. In any event, it was a lesson for me, and we'll have to be a lot more careful with the next batch (turns out we discovered part of the issue may be that our neighbors up the hill have a sprinkler system -- and because they are uphill, that water is probably seeping down to the trees, so they were getting double-watered right out of the gate).

Now you can get the leylands planted the right distance apart.How are the older, replanted trees doing? Did you water them the same amount?

 

[Rohn Jambo]

I found this article on watering new trees.

Link

I heard treegators are helpful if you're really clueless.

 

[desert rose]

I love my community. They send a truck through the neighborhood every evening to spray for mosquitos. I haven't been bitten once all summer.

 

[Rohn Jambo]

I love my community. They send a truck through the neighborhood every evening to spray for mosquitos. I haven't been bitten once all summer.

I prefer itching like crazy than breathing in pesticide every day.

 

[corpcow]

I love my community. They send a truck through the neighborhood every evening to spray for mosquitos. I haven't been bitten once all summer.

This seems expensive and excessive. What the hell are they spraying?

 

[Rohn Jambo]

Projects sure lost a lot of momentum after Otis ran out of $5,000 bills for the contractors.

 

[Rohn Jambo]

This bat thing may not be the best idea.

Link

Nope. It was a very bad idea. Who suggested it?

 

[Otis]

Projects sure lost a lot of momentum after Otis ran out of $5,000 bills for the contractors.

I'm still doing plenty of work, Hoss.

- Ordered $500 worth of shrubs from fast-growing-trees. They were delivered and are all about a foot tall. They're going to look completely ridiculous planted out front at least until 2014.

- Couple of giant walnut trees over the top of the house are wreaking havoc. First off, I had no idea these things were even walnuts. They look like tennis balls and are like twice the size of walnuts. I'm told the good stuff is in the middle there somewhere. But beyond that, I'll be sitting here in the morning feeding the baby, and one will hit the roof so loud that I'll jump through the ceiling. Yesterday we woke up and walked out to a top-to-bottom crack in the windshield of our car. THANKS, NATURE! Now we park down at the bottom of the driveway.

- Last weekend I finally figured out how to work the sear station in the grill, and it was awesome. Let the thing heat up for like an hour. It hear something like 700 degrees. Throw on a marinated steak, 30 seconds on each side, and it's the best steak I've had in a while. Hopefully this is repeatable.

- Today/this weekend my projects include planting all the midget trees and shrubs we bought and installing path lights along the front walkway (NON SOLAR, BETCHES)

- Wife and I were digging this griffin statue we saw at a nursery, but they only had one, and we were considering two for either side of the front stoop. I found some local dealer online who had the same ones. We negotiated price by e-mail, and then he sent me a list of finishes. Well, I told him there was one we were interested in but asked if he could send me a sample of that finish on a full statue. He said he'd check around his yard. I follow up with an e-mail or two, and then yesterday get an e-mail "Otis, your statues are finished, let me know if I can deliver tomorrow!" I never gave him the green light, so now we're stuck with nearly $500 worth of statue that I'm not even sure we wanted. It might look OK or terrible, I can't decide (and the sample looked a lot more like a black finish than grey, though either may look OK with the house, what the hell do I know). Something tells me they'll find their way into the yard within a year. Might as well have buried a $500 bill back there.

- The eyesore, tornado continues in the dining room.

- Meanwhile, although the suburbs are a giant PIA, my sister who still lives in Brooklyn informed me that yesterday a bunch of "local youths" ran up behind her, grabbed her cell phone, and threw it clear across the street and then ran off. I don't miss Brooklyn.

 

[JerseyToughGuys]

Projects sure lost a lot of momentum after Otis ran out of $5,000 bills for the contractors.

I'm still doing plenty of work, Hoss.

- Ordered $500 worth of shrubs from fast-growing-trees. They were delivered and are all about a foot tall. They're going to look completely ridiculous planted out front at least until 2014.

- Couple of giant walnut trees over the top of the house are wreaking havoc. First off, I had no idea these things were even walnuts. They look like tennis balls and are like twice the size of walnuts. I'm told the good stuff is in the middle there somewhere. But beyond that, I'll be sitting here in the morning feeding the baby, and one will hit the roof so loud that I'll jump through the ceiling. Yesterday we woke up and walked out to a top-to-bottom crack in the windshield of our car. THANKS, NATURE! Now we park down at the bottom of the driveway.

- Last weekend I finally figured out how to work the sear station in the grill, and it was awesome. Let the thing heat up for like an hour. It hear something like 700 degrees. Throw on a marinated steak, 30 seconds on each side, and it's the best steak I've had in a while. Hopefully this is repeatable.

- Today/this weekend my projects include planting all the midget trees and shrubs we bought and installing path lights along the front walkway (NON SOLAR, BETCHES)

- Wife and I were digging this griffin statue we saw at a nursery, but they only had one, and we were considering two for either side of the front stoop. I found some local dealer online who had the same ones. We negotiated price by e-mail, and then he sent me a list of finishes. Well, I told him there was one we were interested in but asked if he could send me a sample of that finish on a full statue. He said he'd check around his yard. I follow up with an e-mail or two, and then yesterday get an e-mail "Otis, your statues are finished, let me know if I can deliver tomorrow!" I never gave him the green light, so now we're stuck with nearly $500 worth of statue that I'm not even sure we wanted. It might look OK or terrible, I can't decide (and the sample looked a lot more like a black finish than grey, though either may look OK with the house, what the hell do I know). Something tells me they'll find their way into the yard within a year. Might as well have buried a $500 bill back there.

- The eyesore, tornado continues in the dining room.

- Meanwhile, although the suburbs are a giant PIA, my sister who still lives in Brooklyn informed me that yesterday a bunch of "local youths" ran up behind her, grabbed her cell phone, and threw it clear across the street and then ran off. I don't miss Brooklyn.

this small project will make a huge difference. pretty good "wow" factor imo

 

[Otis]

What a day. All shrubs and trees planted, path lights and new spotlights installed, had the statues delivered (they actually look great), trimmed a bunch of tree branches and bushes out front that were obscuring our house from the road (almost took my hand off with chainsaw multiple times), still managed to take my dynasty trophy in to get engraved (first to three, suck it Righetti!!11), and had a drinking brunch with the wife and kid. And it's not even 3pm...

 

[squidrope]

What a day. All shrubs and trees planted, path lights and new spotlights installed, had the statues delivered (they actually look great), trimmed a bunch of tree branches and bushes out front that were obscuring our house from the road (almost took my half off with chainsaw multiple times), still managed to take my dynasty trophy in to get engraved (first to three, suck it Righetti!!11), and had a drinking brunch with the wife and kid. And it's not even 3pm...

now it's real. congrats oats

 

[Otis]

What a day. All shrubs and trees planted, path lights and new spotlights installed, had the statues delivered (they actually look great), trimmed a bunch of tree branches and bushes out front that were obscuring our house from the road (almost took my half off with chainsaw multiple times), still managed to take my dynasty trophy in to get engraved (first to three, suck it Righetti!!11), and had a drinking brunch with the wife and kid. And it's not even 3pm...

now it's real. congrats oats

 

[Tiger Fan]

Projects sure lost a lot of momentum after Otis ran out of $5,000 bills for the contractors.

- Wife and I were digging this griffin statue we saw at a nursery, but they only had one, and we were considering two for either side of the front stoop. I found some local dealer online who had the same ones. We negotiated price by e-mail, and then he sent me a list of finishes. Well, I told him there was one we were interested in but asked if he could send me a sample of that finish on a full statue. He said he'd check around his yard. I follow up with an e-mail or two, and then yesterday get an e-mail "Otis, your statues are finished, let me know if I can deliver tomorrow!" I never gave him the green light, so now we're stuck with nearly $500 worth of statue that I'm not even sure we wanted. It might look OK or terrible, I can't decide (and the sample looked a lot more like a black finish than grey, though either may look OK with the house, what the hell do I know). Something tells me they'll find their way into the yard within a year. Might as well have buried a $500 bill back there..

If you guys ever decide to do a remake of Ghostbusters, you should be set

 

[Otis]

Projects sure lost a lot of momentum after Otis ran out of $5,000 bills for the contractors.

- Wife and I were digging this griffin statue we saw at a nursery, but they only had one, and we were considering two for either side of the front stoop. I found some local dealer online who had the same ones. We negotiated price by e-mail, and then he sent me a list of finishes. Well, I told him there was one we were interested in but asked if he could send me a sample of that finish on a full statue. He said he'd check around his yard. I follow up with an e-mail or two, and then yesterday get an e-mail "Otis, your statues are finished, let me know if I can deliver tomorrow!" I never gave him the green light, so now we're stuck with nearly $500 worth of statue that I'm not even sure we wanted. It might look OK or terrible, I can't decide (and the sample looked a lot more like a black finish than grey, though either may look OK with the house, what the hell do I know). Something tells me they'll find their way into the yard within a year. Might as well have buried a $500 bill back there..

If you guys ever decide to do a remake of Ghostbusters, you should be set

They look pretty bad ### actually. I'll post of the new and improved entrance tomorrow...

 

[JerseyToughGuys]

Oat>Hi!~@~!

did you ever buy a power washer? If so, got any product review research to share? I'm in the market

 

[Otis]

Oat>Hi!~@~!

did you ever buy a power washer? If so, got any product review research to share? I'm in the market

Haven't yet, but will let you know if/when I get into it. Right now I'm just letting the back wall turn a very nature shade of brown. I'm thinking of maybe throwing some trellises up align that wall and some climbing plants like ivy. May be our best bet.

 

[lumpy19]

Oat>Hi!~@~!did you ever buy a power washer? If so, got any product review research to share? I'm in the market

I bought a craftsman 2700 psi powerwasher last summer(around $300). Used it a few times, very happy with it. Got it out yesterday and can't get it started.Wish I had purchased one with a honda motor and spent the extra money.

 

[JerseyToughGuys]

Oat>Hi!~@~!did you ever buy a power washer? If so, got any product review research to share? I'm in the market

I bought a craftsman 2700 psi powerwasher last summer(around $300). Used it a few times, very happy with it. Got it out yesterday and can't get it started.Wish I had purchased one with a honda motor and spent the extra money.

noted (that sucks)

 

[belljr]

Oat>Hi!~@~!did you ever buy a power washer? If so, got any product review research to share? I'm in the market

I bought a craftsman 2700 psi powerwasher last summer(around $300). Used it a few times, very happy with it. Got it out yesterday and can't get it started.Wish I had purchased one with a honda motor and spent the extra money.

noted (that sucks)

I have a troy bilt pressure washer 2650 (don't think they make that anymore). Used about 3 to 4 times a year. Going on 5 years now I think. The only issue is the soap intake doesn't work like it did new. May be clogged. I usually just apply any cleaner with a bucket and brush anyway.

 

[BigJim®]

Internet has good info -- I guess our options are something like a "mini split" or I read good things about this system from Unico. God only knows what all this crap would cost... I feel the thousands siphoning from my bank account as we speak...

have waited almost 8 years to take this plunge. Its time

I had a Unico contractor over today and I'm taking the plunge. I like what I've read about this system and the vents have an interesting look.

 

[Otis]

Nice day in the burbs today. Nearly electrocuted myself trying to fix some electrical issues at the front wall switches in the foyer. Turned out we have some of that old cloth covered wiring in the wall and it was slowly burning through and shorting. After I saw sparks jump out of the wall and the breaker tripped multiple times, I decided it was time to call the pros. Got in a great new electrician on short notice, helped me square it all away. 85 bucks for the service call and that's it.

Tonight have our first dinner party with the neighbors -- we were invited next door with some of the others. We're by far the youngest. Will report back...

 

[urbanhack]

Tonight have our first dinner party with the neighbors -- we were invited next door with some of the others. We're by far the youngest. Will report back...

Sounds exciting.

 

[Da Guru]

Nice day in the burbs today. Nearly electrocuted myself trying to fix some electrical issues at the front wall switches in the foyer. Turned out we have some of that old cloth covered wiring in the wall and it was slowly burning through and shorting. After I saw sparks jump out of the wall and the breaker tripped multiple times, I decided it was time to call the pros. Got in a great new electrician on short notice, helped me square it all away. 85 bucks for the service call and that's it.Tonight have our first dinner party with the neighbors -- we were invited next door with some of the others. We're by far the youngest. Will report back...

I shorted half of my home out trying to re-wire an outlet and learned my lesson. For plumbing and electric..call a pro.

 

[squidrope]

Nice day in the burbs today. Nearly electrocuted myself trying to fix some electrical issues at the front wall switches in the foyer. Turned out we have some of that old cloth covered wiring in the wall and it was slowly burning through and shorting. After I saw sparks jump out of the wall and the breaker tripped multiple times, I decided it was time to call the pros. Got in a great new electrician on short notice, helped me square it all away. 85 bucks for the service call and that's it.

Tonight have our first dinner party with the neighbors -- we were invited next door with some of the others. We're by far the youngest (brightest, best looking, etc.). Will report back...

fixed

 

[Reg Lllama of Brixton]

Nice day in the burbs today. Nearly electrocuted myself trying to fix some electrical issues at the front wall switches in the foyer. Turned out we have some of that old cloth covered wiring in the wall and it was slowly burning through and shorting. After I saw sparks jump out of the wall and the breaker tripped multiple times, I decided it was time to call the pros. Got in a great new electrician on short notice, helped me square it all away. 85 bucks for the service call and that's it.

Tonight have our first dinner party with the neighbors -- we were invited next door with some of the others. We're by far the youngest. Will report back...

My link

 

[Rohn Jambo]

Otis, we don't have all day. Tell us what you found out about your neighbors.

 

[mr. furley]

Nice day in the burbs today. Nearly electrocuted myself trying to fix some electrical issues at the front wall switches in the foyer. Turned out we have some of that old cloth covered wiring in the wall and it was slowly burning through and shorting. After I saw sparks jump out of the wall and the breaker tripped multiple times, I decided it was time to call the pros. Got in a great new electrician on short notice, helped me square it all away. 85 bucks for the service call and that's it.

Tonight have our first dinner party with the neighbors -- we were invited next door with some of the others. We're by far the youngest. Will report back...

I shorted half of my home out trying to re-wire an outlet and learned my lesson. For plumbing and electric..call a pro.

Greek?

 

[squidrope]

Otis, we don't have all day. Tell us what you found out about your neighbors.

 

[Phil Elliott]

Otis, we don't have all day. Tell us what you found out about your neighbors.

I t was either "that good" or "that bad".

 

[Britney Spears]

Oat>Hi!~@~!did you ever buy a power washer? If so, got any product review research to share? I'm in the market

I bought a craftsman 2700 psi powerwasher last summer(around $300). Used it a few times, very happy with it. Got it out yesterday and can't get it started.Wish I had purchased one with a honda motor and spent the extra money.

Do you have some old gas in it?

 

[cstu]

Oat>Hi!~@~!did you ever buy a power washer? If so, got any product review research to share? I'm in the market

I bought a craftsman 2700 psi powerwasher last summer(around $300). Used it a few times, very happy with it. Got it out yesterday and can't get it started.Wish I had purchased one with a honda motor and spent the extra money.

Do you have some old gas in it?

Gasoline can go bad after a couple months, especially if it's ethanol.

 

[urbanhack]

WHAT ARE THE BIG PLANS TONIGHT???

 

[Otis]

WHAT ARE THE BIG PLANS TONIGHT???

You missed out on a good one. A real good 'ol suburban NYE. The wife cooked up some amazing food, we had a stocked bar (a dozen kinds of scotch, couple cases of red and white, half a dozen bottles of champagne), and a fridge stocked with a mix of good beer. The sisters and brothers in law, cousin and a few others came by. Went through a couple bundles of wood keeping that blaze going in the fireplace all night. Sat around the fire, ate a bunch, drank a bunch, broke out the ol' guitars and payed and sang a bunch. Sat out on the front patio on a perfect night, had some scotch and cigars, listened to the fireworks down by the water and looked up at a sky and enjoyed the scenery. Was a great night. I don't miss the city one bit.

 

[Osaurus]

WHAT ARE THE BIG PLANS TONIGHT???

You missed out on a good one. A real good 'ol suburban NYE. The wife cooked up some amazing food, we had a stocked bar (a dozen kinds of scotch, couple cases of red and white, half a dozen bottles of champagne), and a fridge stocked with a mix of good beer. The sisters and brothers in law, cousin and a few others came by. Went through a couple bundles of wood keeping that blaze going in the fireplace all night. Sat around the fire, ate a bunch, drank a bunch, broke out the ol' guitars and payed and sang a bunch. Sat out on the front patio on a perfect night, had some scotch and cigars, listened to the fireworks down by the water and looked up at a sky and enjoyed the scenery. Was a great night. I don't miss the city one bit.

So you channeled the Waltons, but with alcohol for NYE Oatboy?

 

[corpcow]

Oat>Hi!~@~!did you ever buy a power washer? If so, got any product review research to share? I'm in the market

I bought a craftsman 2700 psi powerwasher last summer(around $300). Used it a few times, very happy with it. Got it out yesterday and can't get it started.Wish I had purchased one with a honda motor and spent the extra money.

Do you have some old gas in it?

Apparently those things need some maintenance too Gotta change fluids and stuff. And in the winter, the gas can freeze up too.I remember for my inlaws snowblower I had to buy some cleansing starter fluid or something.Ok, yeah, so that really wasn't all that helpful. Sorry. But go ask someone at Sears they'll know.

 

[gianmarco]

Update?

All the upgrades and projects on the Otis home-front come to a standstill? If so, color me surprised.

 

[Otis]

Update?

All the upgrades and projects on the Otis home-front come to a standstill? If so, color me surprised.

Big projects at a standstill. Budget is all tapped out. Next project is probably at least 2 years down the road (depending on whether we can sell our condo then and, if so, depending on whether we make decent money on it). That will be a major extension on the house with a family room and brand new high end kitchen with all the fixins.More minor recent Otis projects included adding all the basement lighting to a motion sensor, so we don't have to mess with the various pull-cord lights hanging all over from the ceiling separately, which usually just resulted in us leaving lights on down there all the time (just added these into those fixtures and set them up onto the home automation network along with a couple motion sensors down there).

Another recent project was rebuilding/refinishing all the radiator covers, which were warping, old, and falling apart. They came out pretty decent -- not quite professional, but a lot better than what was there previously (or in some instances, the bare radiators).

Last weekend I also took down the hideous ceiling fan they had in our bedroom and replaced it with a nice chandelier. Looks great. Still need to paint the bedrooms and do some redecorating in them, but for now they are fine -- will probably wait until the baby is ready to move out of her crib and into a bed before we do that.

Another major item will be redoing the bathrooms upstairs. They are just nasty. But I'll call in a pro for those, and it's a couple years off.

Come Spring there will be a crapload of outdoor landscaping to get back onto. Want to plant another row of privacy shrubs along the back of the yard, and also need to redo a fence.

Basically, in 5 years or so, the house will be pretty sweet. Till then, plenty of projects to work on.

To quote General Eisenhower, "when I die, I want to leave a piece of earth, and leave it to God better than I found it."

 

[belljr]

That screw in adapter is that just to make it connect to the smarthome? Or does it have the built in motion detector?

Is smarthome what you use for all the automation?

 

[Koya]

What are the big super bowl plans for Suburbia Bowl I?

 

[Otis]

That screw in adapter is that just to make it connect to the smarthome? Or does it have the built in motion detector?Is smarthome what you use for all the automation?

The screw-in is just a wireless hub to connect to the smart network. Motion detectors are separate. I use HomeSeer hardware and software to run the show.