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mgbinspect

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Everything posted by mgbinspect

  1. I heard an interesting rule of thumb recently: "If it can't spoil, don't eat it." I also try to stick to stuff that we would have consumed if we were out in the wild, hunting or foraging. So, it's lots of vegetables, fruits, fish, poultry, nuts and eggs for me (some red meat, but not a lot). I have hereditary high cholesterol (mid 200s without treatment). Yet, my grandmothers both lived into their 90s and my great grandmother lived to be 101. My folks are both eighty-seven and doing fine. Apparently, the lack of good cholesterol, is a lot more critical than elevated bad cholesterol. Eggs used to get a bad rap, but doctors are beginning to conclude, based upon a lot of research, that eggs are a near perfect form of protein that actually raises the HDL cholesterol (the good stuff), to offset and maybe even lower LDL (the bad stuff). So, now doctors concede that a few eggs a week are probably actually a good thing. My last cholesterol test, thanks to eggs, fish and statins, had my HDL in the 80s, which is pretty good. I just try to limit the consumption of refined sugar, animal fats, flour and pasta. As a matter of fact, I almost never have rice, pasta or breads, because carbs tend to be instant weight gain for me.
  2. Thanks, Les, for your great thoughts and wishes. I am certainly thankful I stumbled into TIJ. It's been a real pleasure getting schooled here regarding every aspect of our profession, by the best gang of fellow inspectors on the net. What a priceless journey it's been. Wishing all an outstanding Christmas and New Year.
  3. A few years back, I inspected a home with a roof that was installed with the cutout for a ridge vebt, but the roofer never installed the vent. You could not even tell from the ground, because the ridge cap shingles looked complete from below. For ten years there had been a hole in the roofing about three to four inches wide that ran the length of the ridge, and yet the only consequence was a slightly gray stripe of fiberglass batt insulation below the opening. Of course, being at the ridge, only rain drops that fell directly through the gap entered the attic - no runoff water. If I hadn't seen it, I would have expected much worse consequences. It was surprising that no one had ever questioned the attic being open to daylight at the peak.
  4. Hey - It's Uncle Fester after NutriSystem!
  5. I've been running Microsoft'sw own free anti-virus (Microsoft Internet Essentials) for about two years now. I checked out several reviews on it, and the ratings were pretty encouraging. It's been great!
  6. For about 23 years, I owned bricks and mortar businesses- lots of employees, lots of inventory, lots of accounts receivables (just as many accounts payable), 941 filings, sales tax returns, parts proliferation and skyrocketing property taxes and insurance. At the end of '05 I decided to do a month of the FEMA gig and it turned into three months. I came home, paid the bills, closed my vendor accounts, locked the doors and put up a FOR SALE sign on the front doors. I literally work 50 fewer hours a week than I used to, and I can gross over a million dollars less per year and still make a living. I hear ya! About three months ago, I held a three day estate sale, and sold everything that I owned - as if I had died. Then, I moved into my paid for fairly plush travel trailer, and stuck it on a decent camp ground, at a strategic point near the crossing of the two largest highways north of town. That was the final step, through a three year process, that netted me a reduction in cost to live of right at 78%. I'm very thankful that, like you, I've done a lot of things in my life, but there's a lot to be said for a simpler fairly stress-free life too. Now, I'm seeing my kids, grand kids and parents, who are all over the country, three times as much as I was. And, if I ever see a paint brush or rake again, it will be too soon. I prefer a mountain bike, jet exhaust as I leave for some part unknown, watching my cruise ship set sail, snowboarding, etc. Happiness is the true diamond that no one can take from you. One can only give it up...
  7. Just think how bad it could have been if this had happened about four years back, before Chad got hit on the head by a brick - or whatever it is that mellowed him considerably... []
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  9. Nice looking work! When I first arrived in Richmond, there used to be a lot of lovely copper work here, but it seems no one can afford to replace ir renovate it. I see less of it as time goes on. I suppose, as soft as copper is, it's fairly easy, with the right tools, to press it against forms into just about any shape. I remember, when I was a kid, you could get sheet copper and a mould to form your own little copper relief, which you then stained an d wiped down to give it all depth. They were pretty popular in hobby shops back then. [:-propell
  10. Ah yes... the automatic traffic cameras.. I went to my Wheaton High School re-union. It was our collective 60th birthday celebration. Eighty-nine out of a class of 568 attended. It was a great time. A few days later I receievd a letter from the state of Maryland with an impressive picture of the rear end of my Durango: $45.00 please! (At least there are no points involved, but what a cash cow for the state of Maryland... Brilliant!) I must say, the particular stretch of road I was on certainly didn't seem like a 35 MPH zone. It had the look and feel of a highway. Oh well, it definitely could have been worse, and I do agree: I bet folks are a lot more attentive to road signs up there.
  11. Great pic, Terry! Nice colors... Do you have your trailer set up there for the season, or was that just someplace you visit often? I had mine set up in the same campground about five miles from the beach for four years - a home away from home that I visited several times each season.
  12. Hm... The cleaned brickwork does look awfully pristine. Interesting...
  13. It's funny. In a crawlspace, they always freeze. I guess they're hoping that I don't see them. So, I go my way and let them be. We have an understanding: stay where you are, and live... So far, they have and they did.
  14. I bet the whole affair yanks right out if needed. Does it Bain? (just lift the far end and rotate it out from under the counter flashing.) No clue, Mike, but probably. When I removed the lid and eased through the hatch to subject myself to rat shit, spider webs and other funk, my interest in the pretty copper box waned dramatically. : ) I bet! Last week I broke a couple of crawlspace records: In my whole 19 year career, I've only seen two snakes in a crawlspace - tons of skins, but only those two snakes. And, of course, I've seen my share of black widows. But on a vacant property I ran across two widows inside the house (first number one), and a average sized black snake in the crawlspace. (not a first, but the widows and the snake all in one property was.) Yet, I think I'd take that combo over a rat or cat droppings loaded crawlspace. A crawlspace that has become a cat box is the worst, I think - pretty damn disgusting.
  15. There are more attorneys per capita in America than any other country - one for every 265 Americans. We swim in shark infested waters...
  16. I bet the whole affair yanks right out if needed. Does it Bain? (just lift the far end and rotate it out from under the counter flashing.)
  17. Sand-blasting is damaging to brick. A pressure washer shouldn't be too bad. It's how brick is cleaned up, after installation. What a change - pretty amazing. What - are these buildings along a railroad track or something?
  18. I love (and stole) Jim K's comment regarding appliances and equipment: "Functioned today." I love it... Lol... thanks Jim!
  19. Then, there's always the American way: get a storage facility and pay enough in a year to replace everything in the storage facility on an annual basis - the most costly possessions on the planet...
  20. I too have allergies. I used to be allergic to cats, but grew out of that one. I still remain allergic to down, which was accidentally confirmed by successive visits to my daughter's homes. They both had down pillows on their guest beds and both times by about 2:30 am I was pretty stopped up. As soon as I pitched the pillows I began to clean up. Mowing the lawn tears me up - nose running, itchy eyes and congestion. Trailer life is about to eliminate that allergy, and I won't miss it. Similarly, whenever I am lazy and don't dawn my respirator to go into a crawlspace, which is too often, I'll find myself experiencing a little reaction by about 3:00 am, like right now So, obviously, I am allergic to some forms of mold too. I just get tired of the hype, and how easily folks can be led astray. I do need to become more religious about wearing my respirator, or won't make it to 120.
  21. I assume Mike B is not me. Far be it from me to suggest that you change that marvelous avatar. You know me and old cars. Keep that rare beauty. Does she have any muscle? I know the Hawk we rode in came stock with a supercharger, or at least that was the story. It definitely had one, but I wouldn't know if it came stock that way. He also had an Avante, which was a real gem.
  22. The fellow across the street from me with the twin Packards had beastly looking sedans - apartment green. Both were within a year of each other and were most likely 1952 vintage. This is the body style and grille, for sure: Click to Enlarge 36.95 KB Les, now that I look at a Hawk, I don't know why I thought Mike's car was one - no real resemblance at all. Oh, well. Mike's Packard kinda looks like a catfish - very hydro, I mean aerodynamic. I'm just playin' Mike. It's a cool car. I've never even seen one. Hm.. I'm beginning to suffer from remorse for torpedoing Chad's thread. A gauntlet might be in order...
  23. Oh, wow! The man across the street from me, as I was growing up, had two Packards - identical and about the color of the online button for our site. He kept them both humming like sewing machines. Of course you know that the WWII PT boats were powered by twin Packard engines! Yep, My father lied about his age in order to get into the Canadian navy in order to get into the fight. They found out he was too young and kicked him out; so he left Cape Breton, went to Massachusetts and spent the war building PT boats in Ipswitch, Massachusetts. That's what got him interested in construction. After the war and until he died he'd always wanted to find one of those boats and restore it, or build himself a full-sized replica, but he never did. That would have been friggin' awesome! Enough! Like Les said, don't get me started! ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike My Pop fibbed about his age, as well - backing it up with a letter from his mom, so he could get into Navy flight school. The war ended before he graduated, but fibbing to get in was a very popular thing to do. They really were the Greatest Generation, in my book. It must have been all that untreated mold back then...
  24. What if such foolishness is a brain disorder caused by mold? Think about it. . . I clearly already have it...
  25. [quote name="hausdok Grrr' date=' Stop calling my Packard a Studebaker! ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike"]Oh, wow! The man across the street from me, as I was growing up, had two Packards - identical and about the color of the online button for our site. He kept them both humming like sewing machines. Of course you know that the WWII PT boats were powered by twin Packard engines! "This above all: to thine own self be true." - William Shakespeare
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