Doing some renovation on our house. There were relatively minor things wrong with it, with a couple of exceptions when we bought it, but it was a short sale so we got a very good deal on it.
Today, we’re moving a garage door opener from the big garage door to the small one. The opener on the big door is really undersized for the job, and even more so that the spring/counterbalance isn’t working. We’ll get that adjusted by a professional since everything we’ve read about adjusting or repairing it was essentially “YOU WILL DIE ARRRRRRRGH!” But in the meantime I can install the new, bigger one.
Fixed a couple of leaks, including a temporary repair until the spring, when we’ll pull the window in question and re-frame it. It wasn’t framed in properly and it’s 1/2 inch out of level/plumb, but for now it’s not leaking. It’s the window in the kitchen, so it puts off tiling the backsplash for now. I didn’t figure out that it was out of plumb until I started layout lines for the backsplash and found it. No way around it except to pull it and reframe it.
Getting ready to upgrade the main electrical panel and run some new circuits in the garage, basement, and the bonus room office. I can pull the wire and connect the outlets and even install breakers, but upgrading the panel itself needs doing by a professional for the same reason as above. My challenges are nothing like John’s, though.
Landscaping–talked to the county extension office because I want to get the right plants in the right places and save water, and there’s a study going to start in the spring of some native grass/hybrid plantings. I volunteered for that. We’ll see how that goes. We’re going to replace the water heater with a gas tankless heater next month, and we’re going to install solar panels on the roof as well. There are a LOT of Green contractors here. People are very serious about this kind of thing here in this red state and there are a lot of state laws that support green building and renovation here. It’s not like Oklahoma where the oil and gas interests run everything. Tourism is king here.
On the political side here in UT, this is what’s happening:
UT will NOT go for Clinton. It just isn’t going to happen. It MIGHT go to Evan McMullin (which would deny the EVs to Trump, which is almost as good) but I’m not holding my breath. Trump holds a steady 3-4pt lead over McMullin in the local polling, and local political reporters aren’t getting too excited. McMullin is pulling in the crowds, and he comes off as a clean-cut, reasonable person. That kind of thing is important here. The Mormons don’t like Trump, and McMullin is a nice alternative, but they REALLY dislike Clinton. If it wasn’t for the fact that every single member of the UT delegation is a Republican, McMullin would have a strong chance at a House or Senate seat if he were to run and maybe he’ll primary somebody in a couple of years. To get a feel for the Mormon mindset on politics, think of Mitt Romney. Handsome, articulate, not (overtly) a bomb-thrower, (appears) reasonable, etc.
The House campaigns are going about how one expects them. The UT3 has gotten particularly nasty but Mia Love will win. The Salt Lake Tribune “endorsed” her along the lines of “she’s useless and incompetent and probably corrupt, but the House is likely to stay Republican, so better to have an in with leadership than not.” In the UT2, where I live, the race is between the incumbent Republican who makes a huge deal out of having been a B-1 Pilot in the Air Force and strong national defense. The biggest single site employer in the district is the US Army, with Tooele Army Depot and Dougway Proving Ground. His opponent is a Social Worker and Community Organizer whose main campaign thrust is about doing things for the people of the district like homeless shelters and increased access to healthcare–things the incumbent has ignored. The Trib’s endorsement of the Republican incumbent in UT2 is essentially the same as the UT3 with the names changed.
WereBear
Good to hear from you, Sooner!
All these renovation posts are frustrating, because we rent :)
Baud
Another vote for Hillary in the bag. Can’t believe we have to wait 10 more days for confirmation that a majority of Americans are halfway decent people.
Hi, SG.
NotMax
Just seeing the name Dugway brings back memories of the uproar over this
Tooele Depot was designated an EPA Superfund clean-up site in 1990.
Another Scott
It’s a shame about Hillary not having an obvious chance there. But incremental progress is good – I assume she’ll do better than Obama v Rmoney.
If you’re able, please tell us more about the gas tankless water heater. The efficiency always sounds great to me, but the idea of running gas lines to 3 bathrooms and the kitchen (we presently only have gas for our furnace and water heater in the basement) isn’t appealing. I assume one also has to run a vent line for the exhaust for each heater – true? It sounds to me like a lot of expensive work even if there are substantial efficiency benefits.
(Electric tankless gets rid of the gas line and exhaust requirements and substitutes running pretty big electrical cables to 3 bathrooms and the kitchen.)
Am I over-estimating the work (and cost)?
Thanks, and good luck!
Cheers,
Scott.
Roger Moore
I’m currently enjoying a vacation in Utah, so I can vouch for it being nice. Too cloudy for really good sunrise pictures in Bryce yesterday, but good for hiking.
Corner Stone
I wish AM Joy would go back to not including a Trump surrogate on every panel. I basically just muted the last 15 minutes of her show.
Corner Stone
Truer words, etc.
OzarkHillbilly
Good idea because, yes they can kill you, or at the least disfigure you beyond all repair. As to the main electrical panel, I had to rewire ours when we bought the place because it was a complete mess of spaghetti. It’s not as hard as it sounds. Even still, when this panel goes (I can no longer get replacement breakers for it) I’ll be hiring a professional to do it. Just not worth the anxious expectations of the next ZAP! while doing it or worrying about a possible fire someday.
Tokyokie
Soonergrunt, I lived in Ogden for a couple of years, and it’s no surprise how being dependent on winter snowpack for water throughout the year can focus attention on environmental issues. One thing that water utilities in Utah do that I haven’t seen elsewhere but makes a lot of sense is run lines with treated water inside the house but lines with untreated water for the outside. Like the grass needs fluoride to prevent cavities.
Corner Stone
I recently had spring break for one side of my main garage door. I thought about getting the replacement kit from the box store but my inner dislike of working on a ladder with my hands held above my head won over. Had a garage guy out and I didn’t even break a sweat, easy peasy.
Tbone
I replaced my dishwasher and kitchen faucet yesterday. 2 weeks without a dishwasher and 1 without a kitchen sink, probably lucky I didn’t have to replace my wife also.
I was surprised how easy it was to replace the dishwasher. Really just loosening a few nuts and that’s about it!
Schlemazel
GOOD TO HEAR FROM YOU! Hope you are feeling good SG.
I find I am going to be spending substantial time in waiting rooms again. Anyone here have suggestions for fun / interesting time wasting web sites I can visit to take my mind off the minutes? Thanks in advance.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Corner Stone:
I hung in as long as I could and flipped back to soccer. These guys can never be dynamited off their prefab talking points. It’s maddening. At least Joy calls them on it, instead of mumbling “Right, right,” like Chris Hayes.
Elmo
I want all y’all home renovators to come to my house for a weekend. It’s me and my disabled wife, and i’m fat and middle-aged (and female). The basement was finished when we bought the house, but a flood, three leaky pipes, and a busted water heater later, we have stripped out all the carpet and most of the drywall down there and it’s a mess. We want to swap out the nasty fluorescent light fixtures from 1978 but I don’t think they were wired right to begin with and it makes me nervous. We need to strip up the remnants of linoleum and glue that was under the carpet before we put down decent flooring. Then we need to fix the drywall and the stairs.
None of it is complicated; all of it is heavy, awkward, and requires lots of up and down stairs carrying shit. Meanwhile my job takes me on the road three weeks out of every five.
But homeownership! yay!
adorable trnc
New statement regarding Comey:
So, okay, my statement which heavily borrows from his July press conference.
Soonergrunt
@Another Scott: The gas tankless heater will directly replace the tank water heater for the whole house. Remove the tank heater, bolt the tankless on the wall next to where the tank stood, add a couple of fittings to the gas line and the water lines and the existing exhaust vent, and you’re good. It only fires up when somebody turns on hot water.
To save water, we’ll add a cross-over pump in the bathroom farthest from the water heater on a timer that will go off in the morning and again in the evening and pump water from the hot water line into the cold water line, briefly causing a demand to the hot water heater.
There are small point-of-use demand water heaters, but those are all electric. We MAY consider installing a couple of these, but we’ll have to run the numbers first.
Baud
So many Democrats are angry about Comey, why is my feed full of people who say this will only motivate Republicans? Maybe they are right, but why make that presumption?
Schlemazel
I just replace the spring on my garage door this summer. The “YOU’RE GONNA DIE” thing pertains to doors with a single central spring. Mine has a spring on either side and as long as you prop the door up so it does not fall on you there is no big risk. It took 2-3 tries to get the tension just right but it was not hard.
Baud
@adorable trnc: That’s good.
OzarkHillbilly
@Schlemazel: Cabin Porn.
adorable trnc
@Baud: Thanks.
Corner Stone
@adorable trnc: New statement regarding Comey:
“Fuck James Comey. Fuck him up his stupid ass.”
No, wait. Sorry, that’s not a new statement. My bad.
NotMax
@Schlemazel
Library of Congress site (loc.gov).
In keeping with the waiting room motif, perhaps some of the online offerings of the Mütter Museum?
May not entice everyone, but have found the info and pix here to be a time sink extraordinaire.
MattF
@Baud: I think I agree with that. Might shake up some complacent Dems. But it’s more likely to be a blip in the ongoing media party awaiting the meteor.
opiejeanne
@Another Scott: We have a 3 bedroom 2500 sq ft house with 2 1/2 baths, laundry, and dishwasher that draw hot water, and we have just the one tankless water heater in the garage. The owner skimped a little and installed the smaller version, but it does fine.
Corner Stone
@Steeplejack (tablet): We all already know what they are going to say, and it’s maddeningly stupid. But it’s the crosstalk that infuriates me. Just stfu and let the other person finish their statement and then you can repeat your same talking point again.
Schlemazel
@OzarkHillbilly:
Thanks, pron is always good . . . wait, did I say that out loud?
WereBear
@Schlemazel: Here’s suggestions:
Jack Chick Reviews It’s a mad mad world, all right, and there is a lot of funny comments here.
Film Sack Podcast Is my favorite film review podcast.
Now, if you are a serious geek/pop culture fiend, The Agony Booth has both text and video.
And for sheer variety, both Mental Floss and Cracked are guaranteed time suckers in so many categories.
MattF
@Corner Stone: But the purpose is to prevent the other side’s argument from being heard.
Schlemazel
@NotMax:
Enjoyed the Mütter Museum when I was there years ago, never thought about them having a web site
Cheyenps
@Soonergrunt: Best research this carefully before you jump in.
Most tankless heaters require a larger gas line than the one currently feeding your tank-type heater, and nearly all of them require a larger vent. Some require a larger *stainless steel* vent. They all have a lot of electronics in them and the loss of any part of that system will wipe out whatever tiny amount of gas you might save.
Unless you are desperate to save floor space tankless heaters make little sense, especially considering their initial cost.
Paul in KY
@Another Scott: I have an electric tankless water heater (wanted a gas one, but the store where I could get a 1 year same as cash only had the electric ones). Mine works fine now (a Bose model), but we had to switch it out (at Bose cost), when the first one malfunctioned. From what I’ve read, gas is probably the better way to go.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Corner Stone:
Yeah, they can’t even wait their turn to start spouting the bullshit. Ugh.
Corner Stone
@Schlemazel:
Well, we were talking about Utah, so…
JR in WV
Good to hear from you at length Sooner, will you be changing your nym to Utegrunt?
I kid ;-)
Doing a rehab on a house is a lot of work. I’ve done it twice, although only one to the degree you are into. I decided to quit fixing up the old farmhouse and build a new one back around 1989, started construction in 1991, and we moved in in 1994 – Mrs J said she wouldn’t move until every switch plate was installed.
Then when I retired we decided to build a small tight winter camp at 5500 feet in SE Arizona. I took 3 friends west in January, telling them it would be beautiful weather, chilly at night and sunny in the afternoons. I was wrong, there was a la Nina (or el nino I get them confused) which led to record breaking lows, which froze and destroyed water systems, and we wound up working often in snow flurries. After 4 winters of work, it’s quite comfortable now, although I will confess I have not done all the trim around doors workedand windows.
We have visited Utah twice, once to tour from SLC to Vernal to Fossil Butte WY and to Jacksons Hole and Yellowstone. And once to visit my bro when he worked for Novell in a SKC suburb for a week, when we learned about “invisible” low profile polygamy in town, and don’t order the Coke at Wendy’s ’cause it had been in the pipes for weeks. Well kept communities, ski resorts are beautiful, Park City is really cool, etc. Lots of odd people and customs, though.
This was before the Olympics, and so the liquor laws were, special, shall we say. You couldn’t get a strong drink, one oz in the mixer, can’t have a shot on the side to reinforce your g&t or in the case of dad, v&t. Weak sauce, he said, grumbling.
Best of luck with the new old house! Be careful, wiring you can get bit, hard. Other things can cause joint injuries, I’ve been there. So take care.
And don’t be a stranger!
greennotGreen
Soonergrunt! I didn’t even realize you were moving! We could have helped load the truck!
OzarkHillbilly
@Schlemazel: I have wasted hours and hours looking at cabins. My own would fit right in.
Aleta
@OzarkHillbilly: Thanks much for this.
elspi
Didn’t know you were behind the Zion curtain too. My condolences.
Paul in KY
That’s me at 31. Edited the thing & it popped up as ‘undefined’. Alain!!!
HinTN
@Another Scott: I have one tankless gas (propane) water heater that serves a huge house. No need to have one in every bathroom unless you just want instant hot water. Be sure you have the absolute shortest vent pipe, even if that makes the water pipes longer. That special double wall vent must be short. After that, infinite hot water and reduced utility bills.
Redleg
I lived in Utah during much of Bill Clinton’s presidency and I recall that Utah Republicans tended to hate Hillary more than they did Bill. I never thought Hillary had a chance in Utah, although the demographics there are a bit more favorable to Dems than they were in the 90s.
Speaking of the Dugway and Tooele Army Depots, I spent a good deal of time at both of those hot, dusty places when I was a field artillery officer. Good times!
JR in WV
@Another Scott:
You only install one tankless heater, typically, unless the plumbing runs would be too long from a central location. They try to put all the water outlets around the tankless device, which in my case cost about $900, and only feeds bathroom sink and shower and kitchen sink, with no run more than about 15 feet. Our bathroom is through the kitchen wall which the kitchen sink is along.
opiejeanne
@OzarkHillbilly: My cabin
piratedan
@Schlemazel: space.com if you’re into that kind of stuff
Hal
@Baud: Isn’t this just as motivating to Democrats? People are pissed at Comey and think he’s put his thumb on the scale. I don’t believe that, but if anything, this is going to make dems more resolute.
The only people I can see this affecting are Republican voters who maybe were leaning away from Trump to either stay home or vote 3rd party, but I doubt there were many of those people to begin with.
Gindy51
We have geothermal so hot water is free, we have a water heater but for the first three years we lived here, it never turned on. Scared the shit out of me when it did… the dogs went nuts at the strange noise in the basement.
Now it goes on when the geo isn’t running as much as it used to since we redid our shitty windows, added tons of caulk around them, added outlet foam insulation, use outlet guards, and installed thermal drapes. Plus we use the sun to heathe the rooms in winter and open the windows to catch the am cold in the summer (if the temps drop enough.)
PAM Dirac
My wife and I added votes for Clinton, van Hollen, and Raskin to the banked list this morning. Not crowded, but a steady stream of people. I’m more and more convinced that Clinton is not just going to be a good president, but a great president. She’s been putting up with this bullshit for decades and still gets things done and maintains her focus and disipline. She’s going to start out with completely NFLTG and that is the best thing that could happen for this country.
JR in WV
@Schlemazel:
I’ve had the link to Cabin Porn saved for years, it is swell.
Another thing that many won’t appreciate, but some will is Mindat, which is a non-profit mineralogy site with pictures of mines and minerals, many quite beautiful and rare. There is competition to post the best pic of a mineral each week. I have poster some mineral pictures, but never came close to photo of the week. Here’s a link to the photo of the day pages. There are thousands of photos of the day, and many more – some boring and some fascinating.
ETA:
Oh, yeah, almost forgot Farkdotcom Which tracks news of the moronic and crazed activities of the nation daily, with commentary.
John Cole
This post needs pictures so I can feel your pain.
debit
So good to see you posting, Sooner!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I do believe that’s Andrew Napolitano, proving that even loathsome clocks, et cetera, et cetera
I double checked the date just to be sure he wasn’t talking about the July press conference
Schlemazel
Thanks for all the great suggestions, I appreciate them all.
Ceci n'est pas mon nym
@NotMax:
I am frequently in the neighborhood of the Mutter. In fact frequently on that block. Yet somehow I’ve never found the time to check it out. One of these days…
wenchacha
My husband is an electrical contractor, so all these rehab jobs sound familiar to me. Hire professionals for those new panels! Our son is now in Mountain View, CA, working in a solar supply startup. His work as Project Engineer for his school’s participation in the 2015 Solar Challenge probably helped.
Back in the 80’s, we had a local homeowners’ showing of energy-efficient designs. People sorta chuckled at the idea of solar-anything in WNY. But it’s happening, finally. Good luck with your use of solar in your home, soonergrunt!
Steeplejack (tablet)
@opiejeanne:
Looks very cozy!
NotMax
Speaking of buildings, the oldest hotel in England (1769) has burned and collapsed.
Another Scott
Thanks everyone. I’d not heard of whole-house tankless hot water systems – I’d only read about tankless point-of-use systems.
We replaced our ~ 20 year old water heater a couple of years ago because it had a substantial calcium buildup, a leaking plastic (!!) drain valve, and would make pinging noises when the gas came on. J is a very light sleeper and the heater is right under our bedroom, so it was interfering with her sleep, also too. We ended up getting another conventional water heater as a replacement, and it’s fine, but it’s an energy hog (it’s above the top end of the DOE range on the yellow sticker).
Since point-of-use seemed to be out for us, I looked into high-efficiency, $1500+, condensing tank water heaters with various fans and fancy internal coils to maximize the heat extraction, but couldn’t justify the cost (and there are lots of complaints about the fan noise, fan failure, etc.).
If/when we replace the heater again, I’ll be sure to look into whole-house tankless.
Thanks again.
Cheers,
Scott.
NotMax
@Another Scott
Landlady’s house has tankless gas water heating dating from when they built the place in 1969.
Unit is in the garage. It sounds like a jet plane passing by when operating.
Comrade Scrutinizer
Two more for Clinton, Ross, and Cooper.
Lizzy L
In my 500 s.f. house everything — shower, bathroom sink, kitchen sink — runs off a small electric tankless water heater mounted in the bathroom. It’s absolutely silent. There’s just me here, so the draw on the heater is minimal. I’ve been living in this space for over two years and have had no problems, and the bills are reasonable.
Most of you have large houses with more than one person in it, so my specific solution won’t work for you, but I want to give a shout out to tankless water heaters, whether gas or electric. That’s all.
Oh yeah: my opinion of James Comey (a**hole) has not changed overnight. Imagine that.
Another Scott
@NotMax: Yikes!
Sounds like the Titanic! (3:02).
:-(
For some reason, this reminds me of a house we looked at before we bought this one. It had gas air conditioning. Apparently such things can be amazingly efficient these days, but this one probably dated from the early 1960s so it scared me.
TANSTAAFL. :-(
Cheers,
Scott.
Botsplainer
Recently DVRed “Judgment at Nuremberg”. Had forgotten how good it was and how great early ’60s black and white cinematography looked.
The script is amazing.
Botsplainer
Actually, it’s an indictment of current Wingnut judges and the prospective legal system of the Trump junta.
rikyrah
Glad to see you posting Sooner.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
CLT is Charlotte, NC airport. Weigel says in a follow up that it sounds like these women were anti-Trump Republicans, so not really a loss there. I suspect that kind of tote-baggery pseudo-sophistication will represent more voters than “Well I was gonna vote for Clinton, but then I found out Huma Abedin used email”
liberal
@PAM Dirac: she can’t be great if the Republicans keep the House.
Then there’s foreign policy, where there’s a substantial chance she’ll be awful.
MattF
@Another Scott: One of my neighbors in the condo is a retired lawyer/bureaucrat who was in charge of the federal sub-department that regulates natural gas utilities and distribution. One of the big attractions of the condo for her was that there’s no gas lines in the building.
liberal
@rikyrah: he’s a great guy. Smart enough to say we shouldn’t do Libya, unlike a lot of cretins/warmongers commenting here.
Kathleen
My grandpa hmmwho was an Irish immigrant and Ww2 vet watched it with me when I was 13. He said everyone in America should see the film and make sure Nazi crimes would never happen again. The fact that his great great grandson voted (I think) for Trump will have him rolling in his grave. Breaks my heart but I will play the great great grandpa card if my suspicions are comfirmed.
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
Hey Sooner, I was in Salt Lake this past May, went to Crown Burgers. Tt was awesome, have you been there, if not I highly recommend it.
tybee
@OzarkHillbilly:
wow. thanks.
Hill Dweller
The twitter machine is telling me Comey/FBI don’t even know if the e-mails are duplicates. Jane Mayer is reporting AG Lynch asked Comey to follow Justice Department policy of not publicly commenting on investigations or doing things that could possibly affect the outcome of an election. Comey refused. He should be asked to resign after the election.
JPL
@NotMax: An ad popped up on that page, and it was Helen Mirren reminding me to vote. Love trumps hate!
Botsplainer
@Hill Dweller:
Fuck after, how about now, along with public hara kiri after acknowledging that he did it in a craven bid to not have to deal with months of bullshit from Chaffetz.
Gindy51
@wenchacha: Our small array is going up the end of next week. Only 20 panels but couple it with the energy efficiency of our new geothermal unit, we are doing very nicely. We can also add more panels as we get the funds.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Watching Bill Maher excoriate the self-indulgently and self-righteously “jaded” lesser-of-two-evillers as lazy and stupid. I wonder if he’ll remind everybody of his “I call them Bore and Gush…” days.
Nope, he does not. I get more than a bit tired of millennial-coddling, but that was some extraordinary get-off-my-lawnism for a guy who was well into his forties when he voted for Nader because Al Gore’s mother owned stock in an oil company
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
@Hill Dweller: @Hill Dweller: First of all, Obama should pardon Clinton the day after the election based on Comey’s political hit job. Second, he should fire Comey for cause based on DOJ policy. Third, Comey should be investigated and tried for Hatch Act violation.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Botsplainer: underneath all the other crazy bullshit– has it been confirmed that none of the “new” emails were either sent by or to HRC?– that’s the thing I keep coming back to. The guy who stared down Dick Cheney is afraid of little Jasey Chaffetz? The little twerp makes Paul Ryan look like Robert Mitchum, fercrissake.
waysel
Can anyone provide a link to a good, sourced, de-bunking of Comeys latest email scandal letter? I’ve heard that it’s Huma Wieners phone, not Hs private server, and only 3 emails, and those 3 have been seen previously by the FBI. Anyhoo, I could use some substantiated ammo for refutation in my Facebook wars.
Immanentize
@OzarkHillbilly: Have you read “A Place of My Own” by Michael Pollan (of Omnivore’s Dilemma fave)? It is really a great read about making his cabin….
MattF
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I’ve read that the FBI needs a court order to see the emails. So, no one knows. It’s entirely possible that all the emails in question have already been seen by the FBI– there’s this clever but obscure technical procedure knwn as ‘cc:-ing’.
Amir Khalid
@Schlemazel:
Have you visited the Museum Of Bad Art website? It’s exactly what it says it is.
JR in WV
@NotMax:
We can hear our tankless water heated come on, but nothing like a jet plane. We get to watch A-10 Warthogs pass by below our site, coming down from crossing the Dragoons, so we know jet engines.
Botsplainer
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Dick Cheney is a raging asshole, but wasn’t a pit chihuahua running a congressional witch hunt committee like Chaffetz.
By the time it would have been over, Chaffetz would be subpoenaing Comey’s housekeeper’s uncle’s emails.
The best way to deal with Chaffetz is to give him and his committee the finger every time. Advise Ryan that you’ll answer any questions he has, behind closed doors any time, but it Chaffetz, his flunkies or any would be flunkies show up you’re out the door.
CaseyL
@NotMax: Ooh, thanks for the link to the Mutter Museum! I’ll take a more extensive look around at some point; just watched the Mike Rowe episodes for now. If I ever get to Philly again I’ll have to check it out.
soonergrunt, it is so good to see you posting again! Tales of house renovations always fascinate me. I can barely drive a nail in straight, so any DIY house stuff is beyond me. Fortunately my little townhouse hasn’t needed too much work, and I’ve been able to leave it to the pros.
Here’s the question for the BJ hivemind: I desperately need to replace the carpet in my house, and there’s no way on Gaia’s green earth I’m gonna try doing that myself. On the one hand, the living room is the only room that really needs it, so you wouldn’t think it’ll cost too much. OTOH, I have a lot of furniture, including 6 tall bookcases overstuffed with books, and a “floating staircase” that would have to be cut around. So I figure the installation will be hella expensive. Does anyone have experience along those lines, and an idea how much that short of thing costs? Do the installers charge by the hour, or by how much of a PITA moving and cutting was?
greennotGreen
Since this is an open thread, may I ask if any of you are motorcycle riders? Do they have to be so loud?
In January I moved to my new house about 400 feet off a rural highway that runs between the nearby town of 4500 to another town of 3300. During the weekdays it’s noisier than I had expected due to the logging and scrap metal trucks climbing the hill. But what I hadn’t expected AT ALL were the motorcycles on the weekends! Sometimes hundreds of them. On this idyllic, crystal clear fall day my pastoral calm is marred by local rolling thunder! Again, do they have to be so loud?
Baud
@Comrade Scrutinizer:
Vote often. ;-)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
greennotGreen
@NotMax: @JR in WV: Tankless water heaters have to be descaled from time to time. Since your landlady’s heater is older, the noise may be due to scale build-up or older technology. I can hear mine if I’m close enough to see the lights on the front by which I know that it’s running anyway.
waysel
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I’m pretty sure Maher donated $1 million to an Obama race, which made him admirable to my eyes.
waysel
@greennotGreen: How else are they to proclaim to the world that their penises are not tiny, laughable things? (ducks)
Another Scott
@greennotGreen: Condolences. :-(
I’ve heard some argue that they make their cycles loud as a defensive mechanism against drivers who don’t look for them, turn into them, etc. Maybe. In most cases, though, it seems to be a tribal thing (to show how bad they are, etc.).
Most places have noise ordinances, but some don’t. You could try complaining to the local constable, but it might be counter-productive in some cases.
Good luck!
Cheers,
Scott.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@waysel: True, in 2012. I just thought that otherwise enjoyable rant was blatantly hypocritical, especially with his comrade in Naderism, that bleating oaf Michael Moore, sitting on the stage with him.
Baud
@waysel: There are a lot of people in the “mixed” category. Not deplorable, but not reliable.
Amir Khalid
In the Crystal Palace-Liverpool Premier League match today, Liverpool centre-back Dejan Lovren has scored for both teams, heroically atoning for a defensive error that gifted an equaliser to Palace. Three goals scored in five minutes. Now that’s what I call football.
hovercraft
@Hill Dweller:
The entire things a Comey CYA operation. He has been getting grief from the congress critters for failing to rid them of this meddlesome woman, and there have been a number of people within the FBI who have been whining to the GOP that he should have recommended prosecution. The FBI rank and file used to be professional, but like everything else it has become more partisan, with normal decisions being viewed through a political lens.
At this point no one knows what’s in those e-mails, they just know that there are e-mails and there may be some to or from Clinton’s server, and if there are, they have no idea what’s in them. So it’s a fishing expedition with the fate of the free world hanging in the balance.
Amir Khalid
Damn. James McArthur equalises again for Palace.
hovercraft
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
He has said on his show in the past that he learned the hard way, how dangerous Naderism can be and has been. In that he is like Sarah Silverman, he was a Bernie guy, but he’s come around. I’m not sure, but I’m pretty sure he discussed his past support for Nader with her when she came on the show, and they both told the Bernie or bust people to grow the fuck up.
trollhattan
@greennotGreen:
90% will be Harleys and it’s part of the oeuvre to remove muffler baffles and be LOUD. Have never owned a Harley but my accountant does.
Pray for snow. First warm weekend in spring will be the worst.
Corner Stone
@hovercraft:
If he had stuck with precedent and kept his fucking mouth shut on July 5th, with no personal opinions being proffered, he wouldn’t have set himself up as quite the yoog target. But he thought he could inoculate himself against GOP attacks by appeasing them with some mealy mouthed bullshit they could use for soundbites.
Welp, enough is never, ever enough when dealing with these thugs. So they did exactly what it was obvious they were going to do. Put him under oath and ride the bejeesus out of him until he gave them what they wanted. And when he still didn’t do that they straight told him to invest in a lube company because you’re going to be needing it for the next few years, ya sniveling fuck.
Now he’s trying to keep them from taking one of Botsplainer’s roto-dildos and hammering him with it under the statue of Lady Justice.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@hovercraft: Okay I haven’t been watching lately because he tends to let right-wingers take over his discussions. I think it was mostly the harping on millennials that bugged me (again, an odd position for me), since lesser of two evilisim has been around since before the millennials were born
he did say in this rant, in re HRC’s “authenticity”: “Grow the fuck up! She’s a public servant, not a craft beer.” I like that line.
Pogonip
@Elmo: My dad replaced light fixtures, and he wasn’t an electrician. Actual wiring is a different story–when he built a room he hired an electrician to do that. Anyway, do you have any relatives who know what they’re doing? Friends? Church members? Members of local gay groups? Ask around. Nobody except blood relatives or people you dragged from a burning house is likely to do it for free, but you’ll probably get off cheaper than if you just hauled out the yellow pages and started calling contractors.
Trentrunner
Day brightener:
Playing around with an EC map, and Clinton can LOSE the following states and still win:
FL, OH, NV, NC, IA
This gives her 272.
Now I feel better. :)
JPL
@waysel: Since my other comment is awaiting moderation, I’m posting again..
Kurt eichenwald seems to have a lot of information. It’s a link to his twitter feed, but you don’t need an account to read.
Joy Reid’s show was also informative, but I can’t locate it online yet.
hovercraft
@waysel: @Jim, Foolish Literalist:
VIDEO
Pogonip
@greennotGreen: There used to be some idiot who ran his motorcycle up and down, up and down, up and down, our very short street all day. Should have spent that time working on his house; it ended up being condemned. We were all glad to see him go!
Ruckus
@Schlemazel:
Time wasting web sites? Look around man, you are there already!
It’s OK though, time well wasted is not time lost.
waysel
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yeah, I didn’t see the particular Maher thing you’re referring to. I don’t always agree with him, and I wish to fuck he would draw the line at giving Ann Coulter a platform ever. But he says and does some pretty righteous things. I usually just watch his monologue and the New Rules bits. The million just made me think he’s not JUST a career leftish comedian with no real political values.
Pogonip
@Baud: As opposed to reliably deplorable.
You know, if you’d only gone after the Deploro-American vote…
Pogonip
@Schlemazel: Try balloon-juice.com.
Steeplejack
@waysel:
The most complete story I have seen so far is Kurt Eichenwald’s at Newsweek (posted last night).
KS in MA
@opiejeanne: What a lovely house … uh, cabin!
Schlemazel
@Amir Khalid:
I had forgotten about that site! Thanks.
realbtl
@greennotGreen: High overlap between loud bike owners and Trump voters?
hovercraft
@JPL:
@waysel:
Here is the part of the discussion where they beat back Steve Cortes. Joy Reid
Amir Khalid
Shitty defending in the first half from both Palace and Liverpool. Four of five goals were scored with headers by completely unmarked players.
Central Planning
@wenchacha: where in WNY are you? I’m in a suburb of Rochester
greennotGreen
@trollhattan: Actually, I think rain would work just fine, and we sure need it.
AnotherBruce
@Corner Stone: Fuck Comey, he needs to be fired by Obama on November 9th, early in the morning. He doesn’t inform the justice department but goes right to the Chaffetz weasel committee? Goddamn it, I don’t care if it makes him a martyr. Fuck, let’s make as many republicans as we can into martyrs.
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
@Corner Stone:
Bingo.
trollhattan
@waysel:
Saw Maher live early this year (long before the nominations) and can attest he dials it back for his HBO show.
Amir Khalid
Is Comey at risk of getting fired over this whole emails business? It appears he disobeyed his boss, AG Loretta Lynch; harmed the reputation of a presidential candidate who hadn’t been accused of anything; and flouted long-standing DoJ policy against actions and statements that risk affecting the outcome of elections; Those seem like pretty serious offences, particularly by an official as senior as he. On the other hand, firing him now might seem like political retaliation by the Obama administration.
waysel
@hovercraft: Loves me some Sarah Silverman. I saw this in real time during the DNC and was happily blowed away. Starting around 4min20sec….
Johnnybuck
It’s always been my assertion that Bill Clinton purposefully met with Loretta Lynch to force Comey, rather the the Obama administration to announce that no charges were being filed. The press conference in July seemed like the vindictive act of a man who knew he was cornered, this seems like more of the same. If anything, his actions are riling up democrats more than republicans, particularly as details surface and the media reacts to getting punked.
wenchacha
@Gindy51: Hey, that is great to hear! We haven’t added any solar here, yet.
When we were starting out, in the 80s, there was so much skepticism about solar ever providing enough energy. Unpossible! I still blame Reagan.
Botsplainer
@AnotherBruce:
Please tell me that the martyrdom includes outdoor decorations in the style of Vlad Tepes – I could enjoy the visuals…
hovercraft
@Corner Stone: @Tilda Swinton’s Bald Cap:
Everyone who keeps believing that there is ever a point where they just cry “uncle” is delusional. They have been digging for dirt on the Clinton’s for 30 years, and still they won’t give up. Jimmy Carter was defeated but Saint Reagan in fucking 1980, and still they are intent on denigrating him. We allowed Poppy Bush to totter off into the wilderness without demonizing him, so much to the point that we allowed his idiot son to come back with the same name and destroy the country. Obama reached out to them over and over again and they smacked him down. No gesture of outreach or appeasement will go unpunished with this gang of jackals. If they are not on top, they will burn it down, and even when they are on top they are so incompetent that they still can’t get it right.
CZanne
@Elmo: what region? I don’t do the Midwest or the South, but my favorite form of exercise really is a good demo and construction.
Water is the fucking nemesis. Something so necessary for life, and so inimical to living, is surely the creation of the adversary.
@CaseyL: last year, we spent $2200 for 1300 square feet, 3 bedrooms, a den and a giant great room. We used Home Depot’s install service, with no stairs, and we moved all the furniture, because we moved, and the carpet was the 2nd to last thing (we also did the baseboards ourselves – I trust spouse with the pneumatic nail gun, but no other power tools). I do not lay carpet, I do not do roofing, I do not schlep appliances up stairs or try to stuff them in my Kia. We bought decent carpet, not bottom of the barrel, even though we were getting ready to sell. I was happy with their service, and they were the fastest service in the area (last year was a very tight labor year). I’d go ask for a quote. Worst case, it’s more than you can swing, so you start figuring out the next step.
@Lizzy L: seconding tankless. Even my 14 year old nephew couldn’t outlast it, and for a lad that smells mostly of Axe and runner-stink, boy can shower until he’s dragged out. Also, I can pop the heat up to 185 when I’m starting a dye-bath and bring it back down before I leave the basement.
Corner Stone
@AnotherBruce: Until recently I had misunderstood the “ten year term” for FBI Directors. I thought they were appointed to a ten year term unless they chose to resign, or died.
ISTM that there should be some protection against partisan revenge for an FBI Director going wherever a case takes them, and using any evidence as needed. But incompetence, on the other hand…
Botsplainer
@Amir Khalid:
The FBI director technically is quite independent of the Department of Justice and the AG.
It is a hybrid organization, the setup of which isn’t real sensible thanks to mad falangist J Edgar Hoover.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
seeing/hearing a contradictory narrative on twitter and MSNBC: Comey was worried about career FBI agents who thought he should be tougher on Clinton, and that now the FBI rank and file is furious about how he handled this
JPL
Both sides are suggesting Comey release more information. His July press conference was filled with disgust for Clinton, so I imagine, any statement that he gives, will be partisan in nature.
Ruckus
@greennotGreen:
A motorcycle rider for 50+ yrs and no, they do not need to be so fucking loud.
My personal feeling is that people with loud bikes are like the guys with jacked up 4x4s that never, ever see any surfaces but asphalt or concrete and never carry anything that wouldn’t fit into the trunk of a compact car. IOW boys with tiny dicks shouting “Look at me! Look at ME!” It is possible they watch too many videos that always have men with overly large appendages, screwing women with same and they feel inadequate.
Humdog
@CaseyL: The cutting of the carpet shouldn’t be expensive at all. Moving bookcases and such will add to labor costs by the hour but you can help reduce that by slowly moving the books and nicknacks yourself so the guys only have to move the large furniture pieces. Tell the estimator what you will move yourself. Look for sales at the carpet places, they usually have some brand on sale. If you traffic heavily, you will want a dense pile.look for the least expensive dense pile for long lasting usage. Estimate about 5-6 bucks per square foot. Should not take more than one day to install. I do books for a flooring company.
Cermet
Didn’t know the fbi asswipe was a thug; really, giving that post to both an asswipe AND thug was a mistake. That guy makes a partisan player look neutral. Her two confidential emails are such a minor issue that it is a joke; the average paper (national) has confidential information all the time. It is almost impossible not too; for instance – showing a photo of a local nuclear power plant is – Confidential info! Or showing possible new local high tension line route that will be built – again, confidential. Or …this level of classification is the biggest joke and a prime example of how insane our system has become.
WaterGirl
@Amir Khalid: I had not seen any of the “disobeyed his boss” part. If you are so inclined, I would greatly appreciate a quick summary and/or a link.
Chris T.
@Cheyenps: They (tankless water heaters) are good as auxiliary heaters, if your primary hot water system is solar. That’s what we put in on the previous house.
Mnemosyne
Halloween Movie Club post is up!
Ruckus
@Another Scott:
Yeah the noise is a defense bullshit. Emergency vehicles have their sirens pointing in the direction of travel so that the noise emanates in a fashion that lets you know they are coming. Bikes on the other hand have the exhaust going out the back. By the time you hear them coming, it’s usually too late. But you can hear them going away for sometimes a mile. It is possible that the rider’s hearing is so bad from the loud exhaust that they don’t really know how loud it is.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@WaterGirl: I don’t know if it amounts to disobeying, because I’m not clear on the hierarchy of AG/FBID, but this article says a lot of people in the justice department told him not to send that letter. I’ve also seen it said (on Twitter, people are saying, so FWIW) that Lynch felt she had to keep her hands off because of Bubba’s plane visit.
When people started saying that the plane thing was a conflict of interest because the email investigation, I laughed it off, because I still think all this hue and cry is a murder investigation without a murder.
Zinsky
Utah is the epicenter of religious cultism in the United States, exemplified by the Mormon cult (that’s what it is, folks,,,). They should fence it in, give them as many guns and and as much ammo as they want and let nature take its course. I’d be willing to bet they would kill each other off within 6-12 months. And good riddance, too!
waysel
@AnotherBruce: Here here!
hovercraft
@Corner Stone:
So there is plenty of precedent for his ass to be canned. No matter the outcome of the election Obama has cause to remove him, for injecting himself into politics, and causing the public to lose confidence in the FBI as an institution. As you said if he had just quietly gone about his job in the first place we wouldn’t be here.
Joyce H
@Amir Khalid:
You know, while we’re beating up on Comey (and he deserves it), let’s still remember one thing. He did NOT publicly announce this new e-mail business. He notified Congress in a letter to pertinent committee chairs. The person who threw the whole business out into public was Chaffetz, first tweeting and then posting the letter. The Speaker immediately jumped onboard to pile on. So the people with actual responsibility for bringing this information in a very prejudicial light into the public discussion wasn’t the FBI Director, it was Congressional Republicans.
That doesn’t absolve Comey, he HAD to have known this would happen, but let’s not let these guys off the hook. There was a time when responsible elected officials wouldn’t immediately go spewing to the public extremely inflammatory and slanted information about an ongoing investigation that had not yet reached conclusions about culpability. Comey was at best merely extremely naive and careless with investigation product, but it’s the Republicans in Congress who have long abandoned any restraint that used to be felt on the norms of responsible governmental behavior. So go ahead and bash Comey, but spare a swipe or two for Chaffetz and Ryan and everyone else who turned an entire branch of government into a snarling partisan mosh pit.
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
Saw this posted over at LGM:
Anyone else know about this?
Amir Khalid
@WaterGirl:
There’s this, from TPM. It has always been my impression that the FBI was an agency under the Department of Justice, having originally been set up as a team of investigators by the US Attorney-General in 1908.
hovercraft
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
It’s both, like any other institution the rank and file are a mixed bag, some agreed with the decision not to proceed, and many did not. The ones who disagreed went whining to the GOPers, who then whispered to the press that “the FBI” disapproved of his decision. His approach has angered both sides.
WaterGirl
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Wow, just read the article at your link. I was angry before, but I am even more angry now. HIs “I was just doing my job” bullshit is just that. Firing isn’t good enough for Comey. I don’t normally advocate for pitchforks, but geez, there need to be some serious consequences for this.
The head of the FBI should not be allowed to influence an election.
Corner Stone
@Joyce H: Oh, come on now.
The Lodger
@Another Scott: Why do you have to have a tankless water heater for each bathroom? We have a ranch house with 2 baths and one unit in the garage, no problems.
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
@Joyce H: Sorry Chaffetz is a scumbag so he will do this 100 times out of 100. This is ALL in Comey.
Ruckus
@Amir Khalid:
Well it was a political hit job that he did. Yes it may be better politics to leave it alone until after the election or even Jan 20th but it went way over the line. It shattered whatever faith a lot of people have/had in the department he runs and that’s probably why a lot of the lower level people are pissed off. He just made their jobs and reputations a lot worse. And all for probably not much political gain. It was a dick move.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
from Eli Lake, who I’m pretty sure is one of the neo-conniest neocons in neoconland
it’s worth putting the national security damage wrought by Clinton’s private e-mail server into some context
to which I ask once again, what damage?
WaterGirl
@Joyce H:
After reading the story linked above, I don’t believe that for a second. He was told by people at the DOJ not to do this, that it was against policy. And the bastard did it anyway. That’s not naive, it’s willful abuse of power to influence an election. This cannot stand.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
MSNBC goes from a local right wing radio host to a pundit who was a senior adviser to Romney,* who says it is unprecedented to have a possible president under criminal investigation. Technically true, but only because Poppy Bush covered his ass by pardoning the people whose testimony pretty much proved that Poppy had been perjuring himself in his Iran-Contra testimony
*and the reason I don’t turn it off is because I’m becoming addicted to this story, and I think MSNBC is still better than CNN
Another Scott
@The Lodger: See #58 – point-of-use tankless is the only kind I’d heard of before.
Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
Corner Stone
What’s the story with Sheinelle Jones of NBC/MSNBC? I have been listening to her a few times on MSNBC and she really sounds like Mrs. Greenspan Jr a lot of the time.
CaseyL
@CZanne:
@Humdog:
Thanks for the advice! I need to go through my books anyway, probably get rid of a lot of them. (Oy. Six book cases. Maybe a thousand+ books. Oy.)
Corner Stone
@Joyce H:
No, he did something worse than that. He sent a very vague and ambiguous letter to House Republicans knowing EXACTLY what they would do with it.
Publicly announcing what, in fact, was going on would have been a yooge improvement over what he did.
Chris T.
@The Lodger: You don’t (need a tankless water heater at each point source), you can have a central big one.
The main issue with central big ones is that they need a minimum flow just to start. An issue with ALL tankless heaters is that they have a maximum amount they can raise the temperature based on the flow rate. If your incoming cold water is at 50 degrees F and the max raise at 5 GPM (2 x 2.5GPM showers going) is 40 F the “hot” water will be 90 F.
Smaller, less expensive tankless heaters generally have a smaller turn-on flow rate but a lower max-raise and max-flow.
Electric tankless water heaters in the US tend to be wimpy (because they’re run from 120 volt power instead of 240) but do have the advantage of being cheaper and easier to install at each point source. This makes them good for raising lukewarm or “luke-hot” water to usefully hot temperatures.
(Electric tankless water heaters in Oz/NZ work pretty well since the base voltage is 240V.)
waysel
@greennotGreen: How else are they to prove to the world that they don’t really have tiny, laughable, p*n*ses? (ducks)(trying this again, with anti moderation asterisks this time.)
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
@Corner Stone: Then she’ll go far !
Another Scott
@Corner Stone: One could put a positive spin on Comey’s latest and his explanatory letter to the FBI staff on Friday, even with the internal warnings, IF he hadn’t been dragged before Chaffetz committee in July as a result of his previous letter and press conference. He knew how it would appear, to be making any statement at all about this e-mail stuff again. He knew the GOP would go nuts with it. There’s no way he can claim ignorance about the reaction and the obvious effect that it would have on political reporting with days to go before the election.
He either a partisan on the GOP’s side in this, or he is incompetent when it comes to investigations of political figures. Either way, he either needs to straighten up, or he needs to leave. (And he may have done so much damage now that he needs to leave regardless.)
Cheers,
Scott.
hovercraft
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I’m with you, I watch so that I know what the next bullshit meme will be.
Right now I’m listening to Trump lie to his hordes.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@hovercraft: You’re built of sterner stuff than I. I’ve got him muted, but I see the chyron: “Hillary Clinton put the position of Secretary of State up for sale”. I know his followers would start chanting “Lock her up” if he said Hillary Clinton shot McKinley, but he’s just highlighting how far rhetoric– from the MSM, not from him– is from the reality of this whole email thing.
Barbara
@Tilda Swinton’s Bald Cap: Right, maybe they can take an image of his computer and start poring over all of his emails to determine his intent. It would serve him right. Ugh.
Re: Utah — I had never been there until two years ago, when we drove across country to visit various national parks. We ended up in Moab for around four days total, and visited Arches and Canyonland and went rafting on the Colorado River, plus horseback riding. We then drove to the Grand Tetons by way of Salt Lake City, where I visited the Museum of Contemporary Art — who knew? We stopped in Logan and Bear Lake. I was suitably impressed.
hovercraft
@Corner Stone: I do not like Ms Jones so far.
@Another Scott:
Of coarse he would have been excoriated either way, but that is why you stick to the book, which says you don’t discuss anything you are investigating, don’t hold press conferences, don’t release 302 reports, and don’t announce anything within 60 days of any election. He put himself in this corner all by his lonesome. He has damaged his agency, and he will not be able to work with her when she is elected.
Brachiator
@Steeplejack (tablet):
Surrogates are the most idiotic component of political kabuki. I understand that they help at rallies to fire up the base, but otherwise they offer nothing useful.
With Trump it’s worse because his people are forced to stand outside on a sunny day and insist that it’s blackest night.
It doesn’t really matter whether a reporter asks a real question or two. Everyone knows that the point is to engage with the surrogates so you can get the candidate on for a future appearance and to bank goodwill to insure some news scoop after the election from a “knowledgeable source.”
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@hovercraft: new chyron: “Huma knows what’s going on”
is he playing the muslim card yet?
Ruckus
@Another Scott:
He may be an incompetent and a partisan hack. Both is not a impossibility. Or an improbability.
waysel
@WaterGirl: I’m with you. I’m even more incenseder than I was before reading the WaPo story, and that was a lot, of incense, ness!!!
hovercraft
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I couldn’t take it anymore, I’m watching Midsomer Murders on DVR, I will check back in on the talkers a little later. I rarely can get through a whole speech with him, though I was amused to hear he is winning Colorado, and that their Obamacare premiums are going up by so much that he won’t even tell them by how much, because he wants them to leave the rally happy. That was my cue to switch.
NW Phil
@greennotGreen: Noise travels in the line of sight. The cheapest sound barrier is usually a low berm along the highway, with maybe a fence and/or a thick hedge on top. Solid barriers reflect, soft materials absorb.
Barbara
@Zinsky: Oh come on. Mormons are more insular than most other denominations, I would venture, but they are not a cult. They have customs and practices I dislike, on the other hand, unlike most places in the U.S., they value second languages and the arts and provide education for both in their schools. Yes, I know that both are connected to some of their religious practice, but still, when you see something good you should praise it. When I needed an Indonesian interpreter to help with a pro bono client, the only person we could find was a young woman who had learned it as part of her missionary training.
D58826
@hovercraft: And if this flips the election to Trump he will have destroyed American democracy.
I said on a previous thread that he should have followed the medical dictum – first do no harm. If after Hillary is elected and it turns out that she did some illegal there are remedies – impeachment/indictment/political pressure to resign. In other words there is a fix. If it flips the election and there is no there there, then there is no fix. We cannot redo the election. We will be saddled with Trump for 4 years. This would
be true even if there was a ‘reasonable’ republican running. The FBI/DOJ should stay as far away from the election process as possible.
IIRC in 2004. just before the election, the Bush administration raised the alert level to Orange and and hinted that there was an impending attack. Later Tom Ridge said he had no idea why it was done because there was no new intelligence about an attack. Whither it had any impact on the election I have no idea but it does show what a corrupt administration can do to destroy the integrity of the electoral process. Comey just added his name to that corrupt list.
Hal
The more I think of Comey’s motivations the more I’m convinced he knows his days are numbered and this is his appeal to Republicans so that he is not ostracized when he’s finally out as a director.
A gig at some conservative think tank or other cush position with a high six or seven figure salary.
This is Comey making up for not recommending charges against Hillary.
The Golux
@Tbone:
You were lucky enough that the previous dishwasher wasn’t so old that you were able to simply swap out the old with the new. A few years ago, we replaced ours (circa 1960), and the plumber who did it (who is a freaking great plumber) said it was the worst dishwasher install he’d ever done. He had to relocate the electrical supply and rework nearly all the fittings. It cost a fortune even after he gave us a break on the labor.
bemused
@hovercraft:
He’s ridiculous but they sure eat it up.
Brachiator
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
A very fair question, but not the only one that had to be asked.
Clinton has apologized and to me this is largely a non issue. But she gave her enemies the stick they used to hit her with. The question is whether she set up the server without permission and in defiance of State Department policy. The Republicans are obviously riding this as hard as they can.
And the political fallout with a lot of voters has been looking at this as another example of the Clintons doing shit that would land an ordinary people under the jail.
Again, the national security damage looks pretty much to be none. And we are finding out about all kinds of more serious breaches, and also that the idea of tight cybersecurity is a quaint fantasy.
Also the Republicans always look deep and hard for something to use against the Clintons. But Hillary made it too easy.
D58826
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I also mentioned in a previous thread that given all of the government servers that have been hacked in the past couple of years there is no evidence that Hillary’s private server was ever compromised. I’m sure if had been, all of the up-classified e-mails would have been published in full w/o any of the redaction’s. Yet that hasn’t happened.
And whatever Eli Lake may be he is no Hillary fan.
greennotGreen
@Chris T.: I think my tankless water heater is 240, and I’m in the U.S. I’m not sure because I know pretty much jack about electricity, but it has huge honking wires and four 50 amp fuses. It works great for everything except one tub, and that may be a function of the mixer valve on the faucet. I may end up installing a point of use unit for that.
Also, the size of the unit you need is influenced by the temperature of the ground water which differs by area of the country.
Aleta
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
No one ever mentions this. It just dropped like a stone into a lake.
2. Since you’re immersed in the new email story, here’s something I don’t understand. They shared a laptop? Other version: she sometimes used his laptop to receive documents to print for HRC. Seems unusual that wealthy professional couples who need their laptops with them at all times, organized exactly as they left them, no time for mistakes, would use each other’s laptops.
I suppose this computer might have been a dedicated one that they kept hooked to their printer at home. In that case, it seems inflammatory to call it “his computer.” I doubt it would be the same as his personal laptop that he carried around, which seems to be the implication in what I’ve read.
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
@Brachiator: Nope, Hillary has been on trial for almost 30 years of this type of bullshit. She did nothing wrong the media are fools for scandal. Anything she does is fodder for the scandal machine, if it wasn’t the perfectly legal email server it would have been something else.
greennotGreen
@NW Phil: Yeah, I plan to do something like that next spring, health permitting. Bunch of big-growing shrubs by the road and trees behind because I have a greenbelt designation as “forester” so I need to “forest.”
D58826
@Tilda Swinton’s Bald Cap:
zBenghazi and the Clinton Foundation just to mention 2
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Trump has been talking for almost forty-five minutes, and MSNBC has covered all of it live. I’ve been vacuuming and other chores in that time and can see just from the chyrons as I walk by that most of what he says is abject nonsense, i.e. right not “we’re going to have the biggest tax cuts since Ronald Reagan– I’m pretty sure that’s mathematically impossible. Thats the only way this is “news”
@Brachiator: I agree with all of that, but if the server is the issue, and it is, how and why is the fact that HRC emailed her body-woman– for those who watch Veep, Huma Abedin is Gary, not even Amy or Dan– news, much less a scandal?
/rhetorical
ETA: Trump; “This is going to be beyond Brexit”
WTF? Love to know how many of his howler monkeys can say what “Brexit” is. He famously had no idea
bemused
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Trump: We won’t be a divided country when I’m president. It will be love, we will all love, love each other.
Trumpheads are the easiest, dumbest marks ever.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: and now a Trump “senior adviser” cause 45 minutes of Trump is not enough
Jesus christ.
Brachiator
@Tilda Swinton’s Bald Cap:
I don’t think that this is entirely the case, but I don’t think the situation was all that critical to anything real.
I agree with you on this point.
dww44
@WaterGirl: I’ve been away all day but when watching MSNBC last evening, it seemed to me that LOD was very much in Comey’s corner and very much out of Hillary’s. Talked about how she “REFUSED” to answer the question of whether she had spoken to Huma since the Comey letter broke. Yet, the replay showed that Hillary just didn’t answer it. She went on to other stuff and didn’t acknowledge it.
Is O’Donnell anti-Hillary like Chris Matthews? Did anyone else watch him last evening?. I turned it off after a half-hour given the necessity of leaving quite early today. But I was also pissed. FYI, he had Jonathan Martin, formerly of Politico, on and who was far more critical of Comey than was O’Donnell. Said that Comey was probably CYA’ng but had done a very inept job of it.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@dww44: O’D worked for and venerates Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who had a very spiteful relationship with the Clintons. He’s got a grudge against HRC going back to the early 90s health care debate.
opiejeanne
@NotMax: Is an inn different from a hotel? I ask because there’s one in the Cotswolds that claims to date to 947 AD, and we stayed in one called The Royalist in Stow-On-Wold where King Charles hid out in 1646 for a few days before surrender.
Another Scott
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I thought HRC was kinda anointed by DPM to take his seat when he retired? Apparently his widow liked Barack better in 2008 though.
Politics is strange sometimes.
[tyops]
Cheers,
Scott.
Hal
@dww44: Yeah. I saw that last night and was surprised how hostile he seemed towards Clinton. Hyping up the controversy with this doom style talking points.
Soonergrunt
@Cheyenps: Where we are now is that the tank water heater is as old as the house, and “It could go tomorrow, it could last another 3 years” according to the inspector who looked at it.
The vent off of it is 4-inch galvanized steel, but there’s a path through the fresh-air intake in the basement to the outside if it were to come to that. The OD unit we’re looking at uses the same 3/4in fitting as on the tank heater and can use PVC, galvanized steel, or insulated aluminum in a 4-inch fitting.
A new gas tank heater would cost around $400-$600, and the OD unit we’re looking at would cost $750 before the $300 rebate from Questar Gas.
One concern is that a tankless heater is much more sensitive to hard water than a tank is.
Our water here in Tooele is both very hard (>12gpg) AND alkaline (8.2). We have a passive water softener that reduces the hardness to around 6gpg, but this is a concern, and may have to go to a powered system.
dww44
@Hal: Exactly, because his intro was that Weiner may end up derailing the Clinton bid for the Presidency, whereas his sexting issues had no impact on any Democrats other than himself. That was the whole first part of LOD’s program, presented a la Rachel style.
FlipYrWhig
@dww44: O’Donnell swings in a very hard and indignant law and order direction sometimes when it comes to politicians and procedures.
Soonergrunt
@Zinsky: So, Salt Lake City with their lesbian Mayor, and their former mayor a while back who was a Muslim, and their 30% Mormon population, and the Shakespeare Society in Cedar City with their experimental theater arts program, 6 National Parks and 9 (likely soon to be 10) National Monuments in the state, and the University of Utah and Utah State University, both leaders in Conservation studies, forestry, and wildlife management, the restaurants and gastro-pubs with some of the best beers available anywhere in spite of the state’s weird-ass alcohol laws, the religious freedom that is practiced here rather umm, religiously, and everything else going for it should be fenced in and destroyed because you don’t understand and have some bigoted views about about a religious minority?
No thanks.
Jeffro
BREAKING NEWS: I just did 3+ hours of canvassing in Fairfax, VA and there are some fired-up folks out there on our side!
It’s interesting seeing how the ‘science’ of campaigning changes a little over each cycle. I guess I’ve been volunteering pretty heavily since the 2000 campaign. All I did today was visit the more occasional voting, Dem-leaners – no die-hards like myself who don’t need motivation or a reminder. Saw a couple Trump/Pence signs (could they make the ‘Pence’ font size any smaller??) as I was walking around but not many. Lots of folks have already voted early. When I returned to ‘base’, I got a pretty hard sell on volunteering again (which I was going to do anyway)…maybe folks are getting better at this community organizing stuff?? =)
1 more shift next weekend, plus 1 shift on Election Day. Can’t wait!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Another Scott: Huh, I made a google and can’t find anything on the frost between DPM and the Clintons, maybe I have it wrong, but my recollection was he didn’t like them and the endorsement was given rather grudgingly.
opiejeanne
@CaseyL: They generally charge by the hour, and estimates are free so they can tell you how much in advance, the total cost of the carpet plus installation; they can break it down and show you each cost. We had the upstairs of the cabin recarpeted and they had to move a very heavy captain’s bed and the queen mattress & box spring. We moved all of the smaller stuff ourselves, bookcases, books, desk, table chairs, nightstand, dresser.
At minimum if they have to move the bookcases they’ll expect you to remove the books first.
Chris T.
@greennotGreen: Four fuses is excess (you just need two) but yes, that means you have a 240V one. That’s typical for a centralized one, since electric tank-based water heaters also run off 240V. It’s the point-of-use ones that tend to be wimpy in the States, where we only have 240V run to electric dryers and electric ovens/ranges (for things not off in special areas, that is: i.e., excluding water heaters and central A/C compressors).
greennotGreen
@Chris T.: Actually, it’s two pairs of 50.
Another Scott
@Jeffro: Excellent news. Thanks for your efforts and the report!
Cheers,
Scott.
opiejeanne
@KS in MA: It started as one one with a stone fireplace in 1923, with an outhouse and a cookstove vented through the chimney. Like Topsy, it jes’ grew, and a couple of years later they added a kitchen and a bathroom and a bedroom. It’s now about 980 sq ft. The lower half of the building is quarter logs, can’t think what they’re called, but they give the look of a log building, the upper half is cedar shingles.
Another Scott
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Maybe scuttlebutt when a book was released in 2005? MediaMatters is on the case!
HTH.
Cheers,
Scott.
(Who only has vague recollections about the reporting at the time.)
Juju
@Comrade Scrutinizer: Yay!!