Text 35958, 334 rader
Skriven 2006-08-04 09:41:50 av Roy Witt (1:397/22)
  Kommentar till text 35886 av Carol Shenkenberger (6:757/1)
Ärende: IQ Test
===============
04 Aug 06 13:33, Carol Shenkenberger wrote to Roy Witt:

 CS>> Thats sweet <g>.
 RW>> Heh, I suppose it made a great impression on her when on our second
 RW>> or third date, I re-wired her stereo before we went out.
 CS> I did fix a record player once for a friend.  Impressed their
 CS> parents. Just needed a new needle and some manual adjustment.

That is impressive...getting them adjusted is difficult at times. You must
be mechanically inclined to have pulled that one off.

 CS>> Seriously, Don wont take just 'any job'.  He wants to look at it and
 CS>> be sure it's something he knows how to do right first.
 RW>> Of course.
 CS> Sane way to handle things.  That way you never upset a customer (ora
 CS> freindly neighbor who's hiring you at the price of a 6pack and some
 CS> pizza for small stuff).

A friend of mine came over a while ago, took one look at my workbench in
the garage and implied that it looked like his tool shed - everything
piled up with no place to work. Last weekend he came over and wanted to
use my tools to pull the back wheel off of his motorcycle, so he could get
a new tire put on it. I only helped when he asked for it, hold this, pull
that wheel out while I lift the bike, etc.. When he was done he asked how
much he owed me for the use of my tools and space...Today, all of the
tools laying around on my bench are now back in their proper places in my
tool box. :o)

 RW>> Heh. And I have to open every can that Nancy wants opened...she's
 RW>> not good with can openers, but she's a great housekeeper and good
 RW>> cook. Oh and she gets more paint on herself than she does the walls.
 RW>> :o)

 CS> Ohh, I could almost paint in my 'sunday best' at this stage as long
 CS> as it's not rolling out a ceiling.  I hate painting ceilings.

Cover or better yet, remove the furniture, cover the floor with one or two
of those plastic painter's sheets, tape it off, set up the Wagner and
spray the ceiling. It takes just a few minutes.

 CS>> there are lots of cut-ins to make but the wallpaper wont take more
 CS>> than 1/2 a day including the time to take the old stuff off (never
 CS>> skip that, the new stuff will get all funny after a mere 4 years if
 CS>> you do).

 RW>> Not many people do wallpaper these days. I've done some but it's a
 RW>> job wouldn't enjoy doing for very long.

 CS> True but it's worth it if you can find the right pattern for the
 CS> house.  In this case, the one wall is the only one I have to paper
 CS> and it's got no windows or anything.  Just 2 outlets to make a cutout
 CS> around (then you paper the outlet cover or get a fancy one to match
 CS> the looks of the room.

I papered the wall above the fireplace in a house we owned in Poway before
we moved to Mira Mesa. The only bricks in that fireplace were under the
mantle in the house, the rest covered by wallboard. That wallpaper had
what I thought was a neat pattern.

 CS> I often just skip that and paint them with a complementary color).
 CS> The current paper is rather 'antique' looking but it was old and had
 CS> spots you just couldnt clean away from where pictures had hung for
 CS> years.  The tennants painted it (with permission) as they didnt have
 CS> matching pictures and it was ugly without covering those.  I'll have
 CS> to rent a steamer to get the old off, but once that's done it's an
 CS> easy fix.

I remember my grandmother putting wallpaper over old wallpaper...wallpaper
was in common use in those days and she was a stickler for new wallpaper
every so often.

 RW>>> up because of ground movement didn't pass up my house. I had
 RW>>> someone come

 CS>> Yeah, had to have the underfloor heating vents sealed and install
 CS>> ceiling ones then rework the entire house AC/Heat to use them.
 CS>> Expensive.  Even in Virginia, you get that over time due to
 CS>> frost/thaw issues.

 RW>> In the old days of coal fired furnaces, you didn't have to worry
 RW>> about that, unless the house didn't have a basement. Those furnaces
 RW>> will kee even a non-heated basement warm enough.

 CS> Yes, but this is a slab construction so these things happen over
 CS> time.

I imagine so...

 CS>> enough for them.  Don generally got about 20$ an hour worth stuff
 CS>> that were frills to the side of a main job.

 RW>> Money under the table. I've always liked cash customers when it
 RW>> comes paying for labor.

 CS> Yes, he did that type too <g>.  Some week's he have no work at all,
 CS> others he might work 20 hours.  Standard would be 4-5 hours a week.
 CS> Often alone but sometimes combined with another for a small job that
 CS> required '2 people' if the owner wasnt wanting or able to be the 2nd
 CS> 'people'.

It's no fun sharing cash under the table.

 CS>> roof jobs but never a toilet!

 RW>> Well, I've got one rocking on the base seal now. I'm told that I
 RW>> need permit to fix it, but I'll do it without one.

 CS> Yup.  Nancy can help steady it like I do for Don and it's a snap job
 CS> if the bolts arent rusted out.  Best not to wait til that happens or
 CS> it can take hours and a drilling job.

That may already be the case, as the privious owner left it that way. I
think he took the toilet off to fetch something his little boy may have
flushed down the toilet. I don't think he retrieved it, as the toilet
doesn't flush right either. We use the one in the master bath and this one
gets used very seldom.

 RW>> In a house, it's easy. All of the white wires connect to each other,
 RW>> a of the black wires connect to each other and the green wire, if
 RW>> you ha one, goes to a ground.

 CS> We have that but the house is older and I'm not sure how to snake
 CS> wires through walls right.

Visit a Home Depot or Lowes and ask for the electrical wall snake section.

 CS> Attic part is easy but the other, I'm a little grey on.  One thing
 CS> about my house is the origional owner (we are the 3rd one) had a
 CS> major electrical upgrade around 1990 and it's got major excess
 CS> capacity as well as outlets out the jing-yang (19 of them on the back
 CS> porch) in many spots but lacks them in some other spots (only 1 in
 CS> the garage other than the washer/dryer unit).

The garage gets one outlet because you're not supposed to use it for
anything but auto storage. Every house I've lived in with a garage, I left
the garage with an outlet every other stud and plenty of built in work
benches.

 CS> Backyard is wired heavily for external lights all about the roof rim
 CS> so you can play badmitton at midnight if you want to.  No outlets in
 CS> the bathrooms but 7 in the kitchen and 9 in the livingroom, I think
 CS> it was.

If it weren't for the tile in our bathroom, we'd have more than the one
outlet there. Good for a night light and a radio. Oh, and the light switch
is outside the bathroom...don't ask me why, as there is another switch
where you would think the light switch would be, but it's for the exhaust
fan. I'll fix that one this winter when it's cooler in the attic.

 CS> Few are 3 prong except 3 in kitchen (one of which we had added in a
 CS> spot we needed an outlet due to our use of that spot for the
 CS> breadmaker) and the ones along the back porch.

Those are probably illegal if your house wiring doesn't have a third
wire ground system. Our house in MM was wired like yours and I installed
three prongs wherever they were needed. Plastic outlet boxes and no third
wire makes the 3 prongs illegal by city code as the realtor inspectors
report indicated before it was sold. To make them legal, one would have to
run a ground (third) wire to every outlet.

 RW>> circuit. All I have to remember is not to use both at the same time,
 RW>> j in case the breaker can't handle both. Although I believ it will.
 RW>> Nanc has instructions to see that the compressor switch is off
 RW>> before she starts the dryer.

 CS> Something like that is why we added an outlet in the kitchen.  It
 CS> wasnt just 'location' driven.  We needed something to run a microwave
 CS> and a breadmaker at the same time.  I think that cost 250$ or so but
 CS> there were other minor jobs done at same time as a package deal so
 CS> not recalling it in detail now, 9 years later.

Not permitted I'll bet...the price is too low for a contractor.

 RW>>> gate o
 CS>> I think I've heard of it but never been there.  I do recall fondly
 CS>> the outstanding 'SOS' at Post 460 (American Legion).

 RW>> I dont' think she serves SOS, but you'll find the food there to be
 RW>> gre Where is that Post 460? I recall something like that on Balboa,
 RW>> just w of I-15.

 CS> Sorry, been a really long time for me to recall in that level of
 CS> detail now.  I havent been in San Diego for 12 years (left something
 CS> like 1 Feb 1995 so I dont count that year and say it's been 1994-2006
 CS> now).  I seem to recall it as near a big computer store, very popular
 CS> major outlet for parts and things.  I recall a long sweeping upwards
 CS> road off a main highway but not 'directions' or what road I may have
 CS> been on at the time.

That sounds like Clairmont or the east end of it, east of I-805 in Kearny
Mesa next to I-15. Computer heaven. That's where the VFW post is that I
was thinking of, on Balboa Ave just of off I-15.

 RW>>> make one th liked, but it's a green ranchero sauce, not red.

 CS>> See?

 RW>> Here, they don't put any tortillas under the eggs...I've found out
 RW>> why they do put them there in western Mexico, or wherever the dish
 RW>> came fr The egg whites are usually not done when they put them on
 RW>> the plate (tortilla) and the very hot (heat) rancheo sauce finishes
 RW>> cooking the white before or while the dish is served. I made mine
 RW>> that way and the eggs were just right. Sunny-side up, of course.
 RW>> (gotta watch it so tha you don't get sauce on the yolks)

 CS> One of my favorite things here, quite different, uses a trick a bit
 CS> like that in cooking the eggs.  Rice Porridge is the local name.
 CS> It's a very Japanese version of what you may know of as Juk or
 CS> Congee.  I'll post the recipe where it's more topical but in gist you
 CS> have boiling broth with lots of rice (1 cup cooked rice with 1 or a
 CS> bit more cups boiling broth added), bits of seafood chopped tiny, and
 CS> a raw egg.  The egg cooks almost 'poached' style in the broth while
 CS> you eat around it then mix it in when it's the level you like.  To
 CS> make it properly, you have some 20 'bits of different type things'
 CS> besides the rice, egg, and broth but it's actually not complex to
 CS> make.  They are 1TB amounts of chopped up leftover seafoods and
 CS> veggies with mild (normally) spices.

Sounds delicious, except the seafood part. Can I just add some fish oil
and be done with it? Sheesh, I just looked and I have over 850 messages to
wade thru in COOKING.

 CS>> I kinda upset Don slightly.  He's always made the spagetti here then
 CS>> one day, not having his recipe, I made some.  Bad Mommie!  Bad!
 CS>> They liked it better and now they bug me every 2 months to make it
 CS>> again <g>.  Worst of it is I like Don's better!

 RW>> Do like we do...Nancy made a very tasty 'bean pot' but I didn't like
 RW>> i with the pork fat in it. I suggested to her to use Vegetarian
 RW>> beans in and it's better than ever.

 CS> I've been making beanpots since 1978 and while i sometimes add meat,
 CS> normally I do not bother.  I dont use anything but dried beans for
 CS> them so my beans at least are vegetarian (grin).  You'll find I'm
 CS> sorta the 'crockpot Mama'.

Her's is stove top, but she adds so much, it's hard to say what's in it
besides beans. She makes a dark sauce that makes your mouth water, just
looking at it, never mind the sweet aroma.

 RW>> My mom used TV dinner trays to save leftovers from big meals. When
 RW>> the wanted something different, both worked, they'd pull out a TV
 RW>> dinner t filled with last Thanksgiving's turkey, stuffing and gravy,
 RW>> or the reu picnic left overs. Nobody ever wants to take home the
 RW>> food the brought a reunion, so she collected every bit of it.

 CS> Have to have a goodly chest freezer for that but yes,

They lived in a sort of enclosed stilt house, where the garage was under
the living quarters of the house. Their freezer was an upright, until it
and it's contents were ruined in a spring melt. That flood was good for
fertilizing the garden, but hell on freezers. They replaced it with a
chest and put it upstairs. That must have been a chore, getting it up the
stairs, but they already had a regulation pool table up there, so I guess
it wasn't impossible.

 CS> works fine or so it sounds.  I have some (few) keeper units for meals
 CS> preset but never thought to try filling my own leftover TV Dinner
 CS> sets.

TV dinner trays and some tinfoil and you're in business.

 CS>> He's the one who I've heard of and it's almost a chemistry class
 CS>> with his cooking right?  Sounds neat.

 RW>> Yeup...he's the best I've seen.

 CS> (Alton) I havent seen him out here.  Then again, you've got huge gaps
 CS> in TV here which is to be expected.  I dont live in an English
 CS> speaking country and for my first 3 years here, lived out in town
 CS> (not base housing) so only had access to Japan cable.  I hear of all
 CS> sorts of interesting shows that I've never seen here.  There's one,
 CS> 'Dark Angel' I think it is that is obviously USA stuff and looks
 CS> interesting, but i can only get it in Japanese.

Hmmm, I haven't seen nor heard of it. I wonder if you could get satellite
service and pickup the Alaska sat or maybe a far east military sat that
would have English programming. I used to get the Alaska sat in SD, even
though it's footprint is way north of SD. If they get English programming
sat service in Thailand, it must be available elsewhere.

 CS>> much of it is all in Japanese which leaves you guessing what the
 CS>> item is they are adding (salt, msg, sugar, humm...)

 RW>> Hmmm. Maybe I should be recording these shows. I have a DVD recorder
 RW>> t I could put an entire season on.

 CS> Might be worth it if you want to watch them over and over!

Blank DVD discs are pretty cheap these days. Less than a dollar each in
bulk.

 CS> I miss having the VCR able to record all I wanted.  I have a huge VCR
 CS> tape library here, brought from the states and a sanity saver when we
 CS> were out in the Cho (town).  Lots of DVD's too.

Didn't you miss the commercials?

 CS>> hot dry areas is to cut up old bluejeans and line the bottom of the
 CS>> pot with them before filling with dirt.

 RW>> This one hanging pot (not ceramic) I used has a water retention
 RW>> 'rag' around it and that's all that holds the dirt in...leaks like a
 RW>> sieve i you overwater.

 CS> Tomatoes need you to hold that water in for a bit so the soil truely
 CS> 'soaks' or you get just water running off too fast as it beads up
 CS> then runs past the dry balls of dirt-lits.

And that it did...tnx, I'll try a different pot next time.

 CS>> above. I hate listening to others walking on my ceiling so get top
 CS>> floor when possible.
 RW>> Ahhhh. I can't remember the last time I lived in an apartment.

 CS> I've had little choice since i moved out from home.  Some of the
 CS> places were really nice, and some just a place to stay til we moved
 CS> on.

When I moved to SD in 67, I rented a room on the third floor of an old
house on 6th Ave, north of Laurel St. The first thing I did after finding
a job was to look for a house to rent. After a couple of weeks I rented a
furnished two bedroom house off of Fairmont and El Cajon Blvd.  No garage,
but that was ok because I bought a 2br house in Clairmont within 8 months
of moving to SD. Never had anything less since those days.


               R\%/itt

               A Coyote will beat a Rabbit every time.


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