hausdok

Yes, from an expert witness's point of view, which is what you do these days, I can imagine that it would be good crap. Kurt makes a good point about the NRCA. When I first moved out here to Washington State I didn't find any drip edge flashings on the very first home that I inspected. I was like, "What the hell is going on; what kind of ijit installs a roof this way?" I wrote it up and the reeltor started griping, "I've been in this business X number of years and no home inspector has ever written this up; I don't think your right about this." I told her that I was building houses before she was out of high school, so I did know what I was talking about and she backed off. Then I found the same thing on the next house, and the next, and the next. After a while, after catching constant flak about it and being the sort that likes to back up my observations, I got on the phone and called the NRCA and asked to speak to one of their subject matter experts. A gentleman came on the phone with me and I told him what I'd been finding. As best I can remember, he said something like, "What, isn't Washington State supposed to have a lot of rain?" "Yeah," I answered, "We do get a fair amount of rain out here, but the roofers apparently don't think a drip edge flashing is necessary." His response - "That's the dumbest thing that I've ever heard. A climate like your's is exactly why drip edge flashings should be used; otherwise, you're going to end up with some roofs rotting." "Could you send me something to document NRCA's position on this?" I asked. "Sure," he said, "I can do better than that; I'll give you ARMA's (Asphalt Roofing Manufacturing Association) as well. Give me your fax number." To this day, when a roofer starts arguing with me about drip edge flashings, I shoot him those faxed pages with the official NRCA letterhead on them. It kind of shuts them down in a New York minute. If NRCA, with all of their experience, blesses this, than I'll have to say, "Well, okay; I don't like it, I think it's a cheesy way of doing things, and I certainly wouldn't do it on my own home, and I'd say that to any of my friends and relative, but I guess it's "acceptable." By the way Professional Roofing magazine is free subscription. Everyone in this business should be subscribed to it. To sign up, click here. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Well, Gary, This compugeek stuff can be pretty overwhelming for those of us whose brains refuse to absorb it easily. I thought that by posting these articles I could de-mystify computers a little bit. When I initially read about the gizmo in the initial post, I thought it was pretty incredible. Turns out, it's not that hi tech. I have several computers here because when one breaks down I don't have time to wait for it to get fixed, so I go out and buy another. I mean, hell, the danged things are cheap nowadays. For what it'll cost me to get one repaired, I can replace it with one that's faster and has more storage capacity. So, the old ones end up taking up closet space. However, that leaves me with a problem - how to get all of that data if the old computer won't boot up? I had a 30 GB tape backup drive, but that was a royal pain in the rump to use and required me to know hot to disconnect it, reconnect it, install the program for it, set up a schedule, etc. - all more than I'm capable of doing without giving myself a major migraine and seriously stressing myself out. So, for months and months and months those boxes just sat there with data in them. One day, I got brave and pulled one of the hard drives, plugged it into my new computer, and booted it up. I figured, it's plug-and-play, it should see the drive right away and everything will be fine. Well, it locked up my new computer and it wouldn't boot after that. Cost me a trip down to Fry's and $125 to get it 'un-frozen' which took the guy about 10 seconds to accomplish. The kid handed me back my computer and the old drive and had a look on his face that said, "Jeez, Man, you're a friggin dinosaur!" I just skulked away feeling pretty inadequate. I put the drive back in the old box and they sat there for many months. That's why the gizmo that I started this thread about seemed so cool to me. Well, turns out that it's really nothing to turn heads. Last week I told one of my clients, an ex-Microsoft guy about those boxes and he just chuckled. "Pull both of your drives, bring 'em to me, and I'll fix you up for future work credit," he said. So, I hauled those two drives down to his place and dropped them off. The next day, I got a call, "Come and get them." I went down there, he hands me back my two drives, one a 35Gb and the other a 30 Gb - more combined capacity than I'd ever be able to use in 10 years - and then hands me a black plastic box barely larger than a hard drive with a power cord and USB cord attached and a little stand. "There you go," he said, "Just plug that USB cord into your computer and it will read this drive. There are two files on it - Mike XP and MikeWin98, so you'll know which computer they came from." I looked at the device, "Why, it's just a little plastic box with a hard drive plugged into it," I said. "Well, yeah sort of," he said, "It's basically an adapter that turns your regular hard drive into a USB device. You plug it into a receptacle, turn this little toggle on, plug in the USB cable, and you read it like you'd read anything else." "You mean this little box accepts any hard drive and I could have gotten one of these at any compugeek place?" I asked. "Yeah, that's about it; I've tossed one of my old hard drives in there and have copied the data off of these two drives onto it for you. I don't need it, it's 80Gb and way too small for my needs. Have a good one," he said. I got home, plugged it in, turned it on, and it popped up immediately. Now I've essentially got three computers, the current one, and the two previous ones all sitting there, except those previous ones are contained in a little black plastic box about 5" x 8" by 1-1/4" sitting on top of my computer. The solution was so darned simple, but, being as afraid of computers as I am of rats and math, I'd convinced myself that it was really, really complicated. Well, anyway, when this computer eventually goes to computer heaven, I have a device handy to just pull the hard drive, plug it into another computer and I'll have my old computer there right alongside my new one. Now waddueyedowiththeoldhardrives? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

That's just it, when you read these articles they never tell you stuff like that because it will ruin the article. The author of the article probably wrote something like, "After getting some complaints," and the copy editor stepped in and said, "That's too weak," and changed it to a "huge number of complaints." For the regular newshounds it's all about sensationalism, ratings, and making the story seem more important than it is. Compared to the actual number of homes sold in that state, and the number of complaints against reeltors, or say, auto mechanics, I bet the number of actual complaints is minute. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Washington, D.C. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) today announced the results of a special evaluation of consumer lead test kits. CPSC staff used commonly available test kits on a variety of paints and other products containing different levels of lead. Many of the tests performed using the kits did not detect lead when it was there (false negatives); some indicated lead was present when it was not (false positives). Of 104 total test results, more than half (56) were false negatives, and two were false positives. None of the kits consistently detected lead in products if the lead was covered with a non-leaded coating. Based on the study consumers should not use lead test kits to evaluate consumer products for potential lead hazards. These findings are consistent with previous CPSC staff test results. CPSC staff studied two common types of home lead test kits that are based on chemical reactions involving rhodizonate ion or sulfide ion. Most test kits were developed to detect levels of lead in household paint that are usually much higher than CPSC's regulatory maximum level of 0.06%. As a result, staff found that these kits may not be useful for detecting relatively low lead paint concentrations or for detecting lead in other materials, such as metal jewelry or vinyl products. Also, both types of kits may be affected by substances such as iron, tin, or dirt, or by paint colors that can cause the color in the test kit to change or hide the color change, thereby interfering with interpretation of the test results. As part of the study of lead test kits, CPSC staff also evaluated the use of x-ray fluorescence (XRF) for screening for lead in paint and other products. Twelve of 13 samples were correctly identified as containing lead. The staff notes that this technology may be of use by a professional inspector for screening for the presence or absence of lead in products, particularly for surface level lead. However, XRF detectorsare generally not available for consumer use. Further, use of an XRF device requires knowledge, training and consideration of its limitations. For example, XRF detectors have limited depth of penetration so, for certain applications such as children's metal jewelry, it is possible for the surface coating to mask the presence of potentially hazardous leaded base metal underneath. Consumers should exercise caution when using these test kits to evaluate consumer products for potential lead exposures. False results can make it difficult or impossible for consumers to determine the proper course of action to take. In fact, CPSC staff has tested a number of other samples that had been identified by consumers and others based on their use of inexpensive test kits as having high lead levels. To date, none of these items has actually had high lead levels based on CPSC lab analysis. This is another indication of the poor reliability of the kits for this purpose. Testing by a qualified laboratory and trained personnel is the only way to accurately assess the potential risk posed by a consumer product that may contain lead. Consumers can stay informed of lead-related recalls by signing up for email announcements at www.cpsc.gov. Consumers who suspect that their child has been exposed to excessive levels of lead, should immediately contact a physician. To see this release on CPSC's web site, please go to: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08038.html

ATLANTA New York City is home to some of the world’s best known green buildings and leading design firms that test new boundaries in high-performance, sustainable design. In a special roundtable session at ASHRAE’s 2008 Winter Meeting, two of New York’s best-known owner/developer firms, along with the engineering designers who bring their projects to reality, discuss the challenges, opportunities and successes in delivering new green high-rise towers that add to New York City’s skyline and grace the covers of engineering trade magazines. High-Performance Buildings: Lessons from the Leaders takes place 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 22, at ASHRAE’s meeting, Jan. 19-23, New York City. Registration is required to attend. Learn about owner motivations, technical challenges, design choices and trade-offs, costs for these projects, and perspectives about whether the expectations set early in the design process have been met once the buildings are occupied. “The building market is transitioning to high-performance green buildings,â€

Other than in states where a certain report format is mandated, there is no standardized reporting method. So, anyone in the business in those other states has a lot of options. If some prefer narrative type reports, as I do, they're free to write narrative reports. If some prefer checklists or semi-checklists, or even Kurt's comic book format, so be it. I probably write the longest, most boring reports in the business, yet my clients go back to their company message boards and rave about the reports to their friends and co-workers. I know, because when I'm at the job and I ask in passing how folks learned about me, they'll tell me about reading about me, and my type of report, on their intranet message board. So, I think there's a market for it; as I know there's also a certain segment of the market that likes the other types of reports. Last year, I had my students at North Seattle Community College - mostly investors, homeowners, realtors, and property managers, go on the internet and each find one copy of a checklist report, a semi-narrative report, and a full-narrative type report. We discussed it in class and then they voted on which type of report they preferred. The winner was the semi-narrative with the checklist second. Though the third style came in last, those who liked the narrative report were emphatic that they wanted to learn about their homes as much as they wanted to know about its current condition. Last week, I did something similar with this years class. I asked them to find examples of strong reports and suckup reports so we could talk about them in class. As it turned out, after doing their research, some expressed a certain amount of disdain for narrative reports and favored the checklist types that we all scorn so badly. So, you see, there is a market for every report style. You just have to find your niche and work within it. Oh, by the way, they're probably on here right now doing research for next week's assignment and getting an eyeful from some of the commentary in here. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Sorry, You haven't convinced me - especially by saying it's in Alabama. I was stationed in Alabama at Ft. McClellan for four years and spent a lot of time out on the ranges in winter. It not only gets down to freezing, it snows quite a bit there. An ice dam formed on the roof of my government quarters and water leaked into my son's bedroom one winter. I still say it's crap. Anyone that would flash a roof like that has his head so deeply inserted in his anus that he probably needs to go to the a proctologist for an eye exam. OT - OF!!! M.

The guy's got more tricks up his sleeve than David Blaine! Here's his latest. Gary might like this one. http://ct.zdnet.com/clicks?t=40629487-c ... f&s=5&fs=0 ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I still think it's crap, hemmed edge or not. In my opinion none of us should be saying that it's fine "when done properly" because this isn't properly installed flashing, regardless. There's a reason that step flashings work so well - the amount of actual flashings that extend beneath the roof surface at each step is small and then water is directed on top of the roof material before enough can accumulate to get past the flashings. With what you've got there, a larger amount of water can flow down that channel under the shingles. Upturned lip or not, when more water runs into that channel than can squeeze out the bottom of that channel, it's going to build up pressure near the bottom of the roof and overflow that lip onto the roof deck. God help you if the end of that mess freezes. It's another example of builders not paying attention to what subs are doing. The subs think up creative little ways to cut corners and save a few bucks here and there - leave out drip edge flashings, use this crap instead of real flashings, leave out starter and valley courses, etc., and then the builder says, "It's done to code," because he either never learned to do it right and doesn't know any better, or he's willing to accept it because he knows it will last long enough for his warranty to expire. I'm sorry if I sound fired up, but I just returned from an upscale development where I found half of a 9-year old architectural-grade comp roof ruined because some sh*t-for-brains roofer didn't check the pressure settings on his roofing guns. As I'm up on the roof shaking my head at how the shingles have delaminated and are probably defective, I checked the nailing pattern and found that the idiots had put most nails either 3/4 of the way through the shingle or at an angle. A moderate wind creating a low pressure area over the ridge, combined with lousy nailing, and the cover has literally pulled itself off the deck and is held on by a fraction of it's nails. And, despite the fact that these shingles, which are warranted for at least 25 years, are defective, the homeowner, who bought the house new, isn't going to be able to get anything from the roofing manufacturer, because the cover is installed incorrectly and the warranty is void. Even if the owner could get the manufacturer to ante up something, it'd be pro-rated and would cover only the cost of the material. That's a far cry from a $15,000 roof. The topping on the cake though was when I looked around me for 360° and noticed similar damage on every single house in that 9-year old development. If I had my druthers, the so-called roofer who's crew put these covers on would be hauled off and jailed without a trial, and then held indefinitely underground in a lightless grotto and would be fed nothing but hard tack and water passed to him through a tube. Grrrrr. [:-gnasher Please, do not give crap like this a by - write it up, regardless of whether it's commonplace in your area. Hell, there's drip edge flashing on maybe 1 out of every 1,000 houses I see in my region. Most roofers here have never even seen it and don't know how to install it. That doesn't stop me from writing it up when it's missing. When something is done half-assed, we need to say that it's done half-assed. If we don't, the half-assed stuff takes on a life of its own and becomes the norm for the area. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

No, It's there, believe me, I just checked it. You've probably got your machine set to disallow certain types of documents. I can go upstairs on my wife's Vista machine and none of these documents show for me, but when I'm down here on my XP box they display immediately when I click them. I've never bothered to go upstairs and screw with the settings on her machine. I think if I did that they'd probably display. Did you wait for the full document to load when you clicked on the link or did you see the cover of the manual, start to scroll immediately, and found nothing? You have to wait until the document is fully opened before trying to scroll it. Watch the count at the bottom of your screen. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Yes, that's exactly what I was referring to and what Chad has described; I'm just puzzled as to whether this is what wonder88 is talking about and wondering why anyone would use it on anything other than a tile or metal roof. OT - OF!!! M.

Shhh, don't tell anyone until I'm done doing my shopping!!! Click Here OT - OF!!! M.

Sounds dumber than a screen door on a submarine. OT - OF!!! M.

It sounds like some idiot's homemade version of a roof/wall flashing for a tile roof. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, This "J" flashing sounds like a local term that I've never heard before. When you say "J flashing" are you referring to a single continuous bent piece of metal along an entire raked roof/wall intersection, or are you referring to the "J" channel along the bottom edge of the vinyl siding. Someone want to clarify this for me? If it's a J-channel, that has nothing to do with the roof anyway, and there're supposed to be step flashings behind it. However, if the bottom of the vinyl J-channel has been installed too close to the rake, you wouldn't necessarily be able to see those flashings without prying up the bottom edge of the siding. The correct procedure for flashing shingles at a roof/wall intersection has only been around for about 400 or 500 years, so I doubt that any builder or roofer who is reasonably competent would attempt to flash a wall any other way. If the roofer or builder is trying to do it another way, it's time to put the car and reverse and back away from that place as fast as you can, because if he can't get a simple thing like flashing right, there could be a whole lot more wrong with the house than just the flashings. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Carl, Yes, you should go look at it. When you get a complaint, grab a copy of the report and go out there as quickly as possible. You need to see it before they bring in an army of contractors who start tearing stuff apart and replacing it, and you end up being presented with the bill. From your description, every time the bathroom sink is used water is running out of the kitchen drain. How could anyone live in a home for 3 months and not notice that? That's what I'd be asking her. FWIW, I think your color coded convention and the fact that it took them to call you will save you if you have to go to small claims court - especially if they never bothered to do anything to fix the leak, strong recommendation or not, but I agree with Walter; for crying out loud, if you think it, write it! Don't be afraid to say so with confidence and don't write like Master Yoda speaks. Carl, when you described the issue to us above, you didn't use that passive voice gobbledygook; you used active voice, so why would you use it in your report? Next time you're writing a report, just imagine that it's your mother, sister, wife or brother sitting there in front of you and write it the way you'd say it to one of them. If you do that, you can't go wrong. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I saw it hours ago. I would have commented, except that I think folks are probably tired of reading my blather. I was hoping someone else would jump on that. OT - OF!!! M.

The foil idea was very popular in the 50's and 60's. Too bad it doesn't work well when it gets dirt on it. It provides no insulative value whatsoever, but you couldn't have convinced anyone of that in the 50's and 60's. Come to think about it, there're some you can't convince of that now. I've found lots of houses from that era that were built using only foil and no insulation. It's a good example of how manufacturers of building products will rush something into market as the next fad, before it's been fully tested or they understand how to use it properly. Lots of builders buy these new products and hastily incorporate them into their homes, thinking they are the latest thing, only to find out later that they don't work. Many have been bankrupted that way. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

By Rick Bunzel CRI , and Greg Wayman CRI (Original published in the NAHI Forum December 2006 and used by permission of the authors.) As home inspectors who perform visual inspections, we use flashlights at every inspection. Our ability to see into the darkest nooks and crannies is critical to inspecting a home. It’s no wonder that many inspectors feel very passionate about their choice of flashlights. I have had the same light for several years and wanted to look at the newest crop of lights on the market. I had bought some of the LED flashlights on Ebay but hadn't been impressed. I also bought one of the million candlepower spotlights; but found out the hard way that it dies after about 15 minutes. Looking at flashlights can be confusing because one cannot depend on the advertised power of the flashlight. Each manufacturer measures the power of their flashlights differently. Some use lux; others use lumens, and some candlepower. During my research, I learned that how the light or power is measured also affects its rating. Changes in distance from device, measuring peak vs. average, etc., will cause the rating to be higher or lower. Rather than make this a Consumer Reports (i.e. scientific) type test, I chose to do a field test of the flashlights and asked Greg Wayman to participate. We used the lights over a number of inspections and compared results. I own one of the standards in the industry, the Maglite rechargeable with the halogen bulb. I have had it for several years now and have come to depend on it. I decided that we would test lights with similar specifications: 40,000 candlepower, rechargeable, and in the less than $120.00 retail price range. I was hoping to incorporate LED based lights into the tests but after looking at what was available, it was clear that LED’s were not ready to compete in the same arena. However, this is rapidly developing technology and LED lights with low heat and power consumption are very attractive. Once manufacturers figure out how to focus the LEDs to throw more light we will see a new crop of contenders; but for now, incandescent bulbs still rule. MAGLITE 3Cell (with 3 D batteries), Cost: $20id="size4"> The cost of constantly buying batteries adds up fast. This light has good aluminum construction with diamond grip texture and a glass lens with a two-pin bulb. You can change the focus from flood to spotlight by twisting the bezel. It has a push button on/off switch and comes with an extra bulb in the base cap. It's water resistant, really tough (don't use the head as an impact object, though; it has a glass lens!), good bulb life, it's very bright, and it's easy to get parts for. Greg: Extremely durable. I’ve dropped it many times and it just doesn’t break - that includes the bulb. I have one rule of thumb for dogs; if they bare their teeth at me, I don’t want them around during the inspection. With this flashlight, I always have the option of using it as a club if I must. During the busy season, I find myself replacing the batteries once every week or so! There were a few inconvenient moments at inspections where I didn’t have replacement batteries and had to break away to go buy some. As a messy side note: During really cold weather, the batteries exploded inside the light leaving a nice acidic mess to clean up. In comparison to the rechargeable Maglight, Stinger, and SureFire G2, the brightness is not as strong, but it still gets the job done. The beam of light is good overall; you can pan in to have one strong concentrated beam. However, once you pan out, the beam of light weakens fast. This flashlight is good for noticing items in basements, crawlspaces, or attics that you can focus the light on in concentrated small areas. However, I still find myself pulling out the 3,000,000 candlepower monster I carry in the back of my truck to tackle those wide angle views, such as looking at all the rafters at once for alignment or sagging. Maglite 3 Cell Rechargeable with Halogen Bulb, Cost: $120id="size4"> This light has the same frame as the battery Maglite, good aluminum construction with diamond grip texture, and a glass lens with a two-pin bulb. You can change the focus from flood to spotlight by twisting the bezel. It has a push button switch and also comes with an extra bulb in the base cap. It's water resistant, really tough, has good bulb life, and has good battery life for a rechargeable. It throws a very bright beam and it's easy to get parts for. Greg: This battery outlasted the UltraStinger and Surefire G2 when they were fully charged. The Maglite lasted approximately 2 hours, which was twice as long as the Stinger (This was Rick’s Maglite and it was 4 years old; the UltraStinger was brand new.). When you concentrated the beam of light, the area that was lit up was about half a foot larger in diameter than the Stinger’s and just as bright. The wide-angle view was still just as bright as the Stinger and got the job done. Like the original battery Maglite, this flashlight doubles as a club. The beam is full of "rings and holes" when it's unfocused. A quicker charger system would have been better. Rick: Compared to the other lights in the test, this flashlight was very heavy. I wouldn’t want to drop it on a tile floor because the floor would crack for sure; however, the light would survive just fine. If you carry it in a holster in the small of your back like I do, you have to be careful that you don’t turn too quickly, or you might find yourself replacing a window or vase. Occasionally, I will forget to grab my Maglite going out to an inspection and have to fall back to a standard Eveready 3 cell flashlight. Although I don’t have the specifications, I would estimate that this Maglite produces about 2.5 times the light that the Eveready produces. When the light was new, I could go two days or about 4 inspections without having to worry about recharging. After 4 years, the charge doesn’t last as long, but on a daily basis is holding up just fine. I haven’t seen the need to buy a new battery pack. Compared to a standard battery powered Maglite, my cost of ownership has been pretty low. Surefire G2 with rechargeable kit, Cost: $130id="size4"> The Surefire G2 is a very lightweight, compact and versatile flashlight; it would make a good companion for anyone who needs a durable, bright light. Fit and finish are very good. The G2 has a bulletproof casing made of Nitrolon (a type of plastic) that makes it exceptionally durable and resistant to dings, scratches, dents, etc. The flashlight is turned on temporarily by pushing a button on the end cap and then locked on by twisting the end cap ring. The G2 is actually pretty inexpensive in its 2-cell non-rechargeable format. However, it does require Lithium 123a batteries; these batteries are hard to find and are very expensive if purchased retail. However, they can be purchased online for about $15 per box of twelve. The Surefire batteries are supposed to be specially formulated for the high-drain lights. Greg: After being fully charged, the flashlight died after only 30 minutes. This summer I inspected a 1900’s church with a 2,000 s.f. crawlspace. I would have been extremely upset if I had to bellycrawl out in the dark! It's a great compact light to fit in your back pocket and the beam packs a punch! However, this light is not practical for home inspections, simply due to its short battery life. Rick: This flashlight packs a lot of power into a small package. However, for some reason I didn't like it - perhaps because I was accustomed to my 3 cell Maglite. Being aware of the short battery life, I didn't feel comfortable with it in crawlspaces. I also found the power switch to be inconvenient, because I like to be able to click it on or off. The smaller format threw out a lot of light for its small size, but it was not in the same league as the rechargeable Maglite or the UltraStinger. The charger is also inconvenient compared to the Maglite and Streamlight systems. I really don’t want to have to disassemble the light each time to recharge the battery. That inconvenience alone makes this light a non-contender in my book. Streamlight UltraStinger, Cost: $120id="size4"> The first thing one notices when picking up the UltraStinger is that it feels extremely solid but lightweight; almost as if it's machined out of a single piece of metal with no moving parts. Everything about it says quality. The anodized aluminum body is textured for grip; as is the bezel focus ring. The light comes with 2 chargers (120V and 12V), and there's a spare bulb in the base of the light in case of failure. The switch is on the side of the head and is a simple click switch protected by a rubber cover. One depresses the switch partially for momentary on and presses until it clicks to keep it on. Greg: This flashlight is light and packs a punch! The first thing I noticed was the strong beam of light coming from such a small light. You can shine it around easily while maneuvering it with only 2 fingers and don’t have to grasp it with your entire hand like the Maglite. For those of us with bad backs, carrying a heavy flashlight throughout the day on our tool belt means going home with a sore back. With the Stinger, you barely notice its presence. This light has a clean powerful beam and enough wide-angle light to see surrounding areas at the same time. However, the battery life didn’t compare to the Maglite, and it only lasted about 45 minutes to an hour each time I fully charged it. I’m still deciding if I can live with this - Shorter battery life vs. lighter weight. Rick: I really like this light. It's a quality piece of work with a very bright beam. Streamlight claim’s the UltraStinger produces 75K candlepower, which I thought was overkill for most inspection needs. However, comparing it side by side to the rechargeable Maglite, the Ultra Stinger output is very similar. The charger is not as well designed as the Maglite’s - it's easy to put the UltraStinger into the charger and the contacts won't engage. I found that I had to wiggle the light around to get it to seat properly. OVERALL CONCLUSION:id="size4"> Greg: I’ve been a “batteryâ€

Okay, The following is meant to be humorous and is not to be taken as an acceptance of religious or political discussions on TIJ. I just thought the punch line was cute. Thanks to Rick Bunzel; he sent this to me about a year ago and I'd forgotten that I'd archived it. OT - OF!!! M. --------------------- God was missing for six days. Eventually, Michael, the archangel, found him, resting on the seventh day. He inquired of God. "Where have you been?" God sighed a deep sigh of satisfaction, and proudly pointed downward through the nether, "Look, Michael; look what I've made." Michael looked puzzled, and said, "What is it?" "It's a planet," replied God,"and I've put Life on it. I'm going to call it Earth and it's going to be a great place of balance." "Balance?" inquired Michael, still confused. God explained, pointing to different parts of earth. "For example, northern Europe will be a place of great opportunity and wealth, while southern Europe is going to be poor. Over there I've placed a continent of white people, and over there is a continent of black people. Balance in all things," God continued pointing to different countries. "This one will be extremely hot, while this one will be very cold and covered in ice." The Archangel , impressed by God's work, pointed to a land area and said, "What's that one?" "Ah," said God. That's Washington State , the most glorious place on earth. There are beautiful mountains, rivers and streams, lakes, forests, hills, plains, and coulees. The people from Washington State are going to be handsome, modest, intelligent, and humorous, and they are going to be found traveling the world. They will be extremely sociable, hardworking, high achieving, and they will be known throughout the world as diplomats, and carriers of peace." Michael gasped in wonder and admiration, but then asked, "But what about balance, God; you said there would be balance?" God smiled, "There is another Washington, Michael, ....wait until you see the idiots I've put there."

This article from the San Jose Mercury News touches on the angst experienced by many home buyers in this very tense market. A few real estate agents that were interviewed for the story had a few comments about putting things "in perspective." To read the entire article, click here.

Uh, Mark? The page? OT - OF!!! M.

That makes sense, When I was a kid radios all had some kind of antennae lead or connection point. I suppose at some point prior to television folks could have had their homes pre-wired with an antenna (aerial) system. It also makes sense that it would be a plug that couldn't possibly be confused with a conventional current-carrying type. Bet if you cruise some vintage radio websites you'll eventually find a picture of an old radio with a cord and plug attached. OT - OF!!! M.

Ahem! Did we lose a planet and clone another? What happened to Mercury? Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto (?), ??? Les, go sit in the corner. Gary, Chris, Kurt, and Walter, your powers of observation need some work; go clean the erasers and dump the trash. [:-dunce][:-dunce][:-dunce][:-dunce][:-dunce] OT - OF!!! M. []

'Bulkead" door? What ever happened to the terms 'overhead door' and 'garage door'? OT - OF!!! M.