What's literacy?

If I could read that long word, I'd probably be able to tell you what it meant.

Burn brightly my brethren and sistren. Do not allow others to place limits on your children and grandchildren... Protect those young people as you would defend yourself. Or even more strongly.

Dylan Thomas died in 1953


DO MORE.

Went to a seminar the other nite for solar panels put on by Smart Energy - it was held at one of the better restaurants here and I figured I'd learn something about pricing and enjoy a good meal. Meal turned out to be pretty awesome (Gratzies in Bothell) but was kinda disappointed by the seminar.... they talked about solar for ~15 minutes..... then all the talk was about insulation.... classic bait and switch. Couldn't get out of there without scheduling an evaluation and quote --- went ahead and agreed just to see how much it would be - they were pushing the metallized 'bubble wrap' barrier for attic and crawl space along with blown insulation along with solar powered roof vents --- I guess thats how they justified the 'solar' aspect of the presentation. After looking at the attic(s) for maybe a total of ~10 minutes and then chatting for another 5, he gave me aquote of $3600 for all the vague work and non identified materials?!?!?! THEN.... came the hard sell tactics.... man, this guy put timeshare salesman to SHAME!!! He couldn't understand why I didn't sign immediately for $3600 worth of work!!!! 16 hours earlier I was expecting to hear about solar and now he wants me to sign off on $3600 worth of insulation.... four rounds of hi pressure tactics... I told him I don't make snap $3600 decisions --- that amount of $$$ requires research.... ALOT more than just the (minimal) info he provided. He kept asking 'what do you need to research and who are you going to talk to?' --- I explained to him that my dad actually was involved with writing specs and codes for building insulation and reflective coatings at the Department of Energy... and left there to run a cellulose insulation manufacturer... and my brother is a roofer who also installed insulation in his early years... good resources for this topic. Needless to say, the salesman left kinda pissed off...

So, talked with my brother about it.... he was actually surprised that the cost was so low and seemed like a fairly good deal, but cautioned that he was sure that they would 'find' a problem that would cost $1000 more to proceed.... ok, been there done that before, and judging by the vagueness and lacking a statement of work, it seemed very likely. Then I talked with my dad --- damn the old guys really know their shit.... he put this way.... you spend $3600 to save money on your heat bills... how much can you hope to save each month during the heating season? $15-20 would be extreme and probably unlikely, but use for arguement (would equate to ~20% on my bill).... so, $20 savings X 5 heating months per year = $100 savings per year... how many years to pay back the cost of 'saving' energy? 36 YEARS!!!! Gotta love the analytical side of the old guy --- if the payback is more than 5-6 years, its really not worth it --- 36 years, hell no.

Getting old sux. Spilled salt on my eggs this morning.... ate them anyway (it didn't seem like THAT much). Hand blew up today (finger joint pain and stiffness) and can't make a fist with my right hand. We ALL know how detrimental that will be for my Friday night.

Women are safe for an evening........

......................meanwhile, jukk's left hand lives in fear.......

Crunch time on the house...
Paint, finish electrical, flooring, stair rails, cabinets, finish plumbing, interior doors- all supposed to be within the next 6 weeks.

Will the end of this project arrive while I am still alive and kicking? I have my doubts.

Dude, don't remind me...when I retire in May, this awaits me. But at least it's over a 9 month period.

May 2018 "Backyard re-grass"
May 2018 "Pressure Wash Gutters"
June 2018 Beauty bark
July 2018 Fence
Aug 2018 "paint House Trim"
Sep 2018 Pack Garage
Oct 2018 Refinish Hardwood
Sep-Nov 2017 Paint Interior
Jan 2019 "Re-tile Laundry/Pantry/Steps in garage"
Feb 2019 Clean Carpets
Feb 2019 Window cleaning
March 2019 Clean/pack attached garage
April 2019 Garage Sale
May 2019 Move

That's it?

That's it! for a guy closer to 60 than 50, that's a workload!
The house is 20 years old.
We had the crawl space completely redone, new furnace, new waterheater installed.

No shit. When I was 25, I would rebuild a complete bathroom on a weekend. Wire and drywall a whole bottom floor in 3-4 days, etc.

60 this year. Oh hell no. I need to check the oil. Honey, can you get the teflon oil, the shitter door is squeaking.

I always admire the scenery in the show Longmire. "OMG, that is so beautiful, I'd love to live there."

Then I recently watched the show Godless. Same thing: "Holy crap that's gorgeous, that's exactly where I want to be."

Yesterday I found out that both shows are filmed in New Mexico. Hmmmmm.

Fact - Albuquerque has been rated the happiest and most livable area in the US for multiple years. My friend left in 2008 after selling his condo(which he owned outright) in Bellevue that he bought in 1992. He moved there as a single guy with a long distant relationship in Washington. He moved back in 2012 due to her. He loved it there.

Albuquerque is a crime ridden shithole. Closer to Santa Fe is nice, the other side of Sante Fe, Espanola is a heroin infested shithole. Look up the crime stats.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Santa ... 105.937799

But yes the scenery is very nice. Awesome really. Some nice shooting spots.

Albuquerque is fooking hot beyond hot in the summer, but the elevations around Santa Fe never ever get hot. Just drier that beef jerky.

Spent hunks of time there and relatives in Santa Fe.

Did my crawl space last weekend, vapor barrier against the insulation and moved all the rocks on ground to the sides of foundation an laid out new plastic. No air or electric staplers either, 5k plus staples drove in with a hand stapler.
I'm fully beat an trashed, back has bruises all over, neck muscles are shot and regretting every bit of it. Even twenty years ago it would've been a decent work out, now it's just fucking sadistic abuse......
Now second guessing promising the wife remodeling the kitchen, painting entire interior and new hardwood through half the house.
The shit you have to promise to get some expensive new gun. To old for this shit....