- Joined
- Dec 3, 2017
- Messages
- 27,297
Rant for the Day (keep it clean)
- Thread starter phideaux
- Start date
Help Support Homesteading & Country Living Forum:
- Status
I get rantable...when I stop and fill up with gas at $2.33/gal.
Drive down the road a couple miles and see the same brand gas for $2.18/gal
That happened today.
Jim
Drive down the road a couple miles and see the same brand gas for $2.18/gal
That happened today.
Jim
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2017
- Messages
- 27,297
Publix has $50 gas cards for $40 a couple times a month, when we miss the time I get upset with myself.
I only gas up about every 3 months. The main thing I look for is a place I can get in and out of without crossing traffic or making a left turn
.Disclaimer: I also own stock in BP and Exxon so it's ok if I overcharge me for gas
. "If you can't beat'em, own'em".
Last edited:
That's about $1 a gallon cheaper than here. Send me a tanker truck full.
OK, new rant.
Medicare commercials. It is now open enrollment time and just about every commercial, on every show my wife watches is for Medicare insurance policies.
As I sit here writing this there have been 3 commercials on.
My wife has a Medigap policy and I would like to compare it to other new plans but that is almost impossible. If you go online the companies all want contact information so they can hound you endlessly. I just want an honest, unbiased comparison of what's available and what it will cost. That doesn't seem to be asking for too much, does it?
Another thing that really makes my blood boil. Why does the government restrict which insurance companies can operate in which states? Open all plans to all people and let the market take care of the price.
If anyone has any input on medicare plans please feel free to let me know.
Medicare commercials. It is now open enrollment time and just about every commercial, on every show my wife watches is for Medicare insurance policies.
As I sit here writing this there have been 3 commercials on.
My wife has a Medigap policy and I would like to compare it to other new plans but that is almost impossible. If you go online the companies all want contact information so they can hound you endlessly. I just want an honest, unbiased comparison of what's available and what it will cost. That doesn't seem to be asking for too much, does it?
Another thing that really makes my blood boil. Why does the government restrict which insurance companies can operate in which states? Open all plans to all people and let the market take care of the price.
If anyone has any input on medicare plans please feel free to let me know.
And another new rant!
I’ve mentioned before this house is a duplex. I didn’t live here most of those early years but according to legend…dad bought a used hv/ac unit in 1984 for the upper unit where he lives.
Again, according to legend, the heat portion of the hv/ac stopped working in the early 90’s. In fact, it started tripping the main breaker when the heat would try to turn on. Dad had someone remove the heat controls from the unit so that only the a/c worked. Dad had a nice large fireplace with insert/fans upstairs along with two space heaters, more than enough heat.
The duct work enters the house in the crawl space above the downstairs unit and the upstairs unit, right above my 3rd bedroom which I use as an indoor tool room.
This spring I started hearing strange noises coming from my tool rm when dad started using his a/c. When it kicked on it sounded like a cat caught between the radiator and the cooling fan in a running car engine, not a nice sound. Its days were numbered…
A couple of months ago he spent $9K for a new, energy efficient, all the bells and whistles, hv/ac unit. It’s been running great.
Tonight I was reorganizing the tool rm. Rain totals for the day are over 3 inches. I noticed a water leak, then another… and another, and another! 1/2 of the toolrm ceiling was never installed so the ducting is in plain sight.
Water is dripping into the room at a half a dozen spots off the main duct from the unit outside. Now the tool room looks like a bad comedy show with little buckets and plastic containers sitting everywhere catching water. Seems to me that for $9K someone should have thrown a few buckets of water against the side of the house to make sure there were no leaks around the ducting, at least ran a water hose over it for a while…
I was in the hospital when this work was done. Had I been here I would have made sure dad got what he paid for. These installers saw an 85yrold man and took advantage of him. This makes me wonder what else wasn’t done.
First thing Monday I’m calling whoever is responsible and lite a fire under their backside! I’m not going to sit by for this! They are going to send a crew if necessary and go over every bolt and screw to my satisfaction.
I’ve mentioned before this house is a duplex. I didn’t live here most of those early years but according to legend…dad bought a used hv/ac unit in 1984 for the upper unit where he lives.
Again, according to legend, the heat portion of the hv/ac stopped working in the early 90’s. In fact, it started tripping the main breaker when the heat would try to turn on. Dad had someone remove the heat controls from the unit so that only the a/c worked. Dad had a nice large fireplace with insert/fans upstairs along with two space heaters, more than enough heat.
The duct work enters the house in the crawl space above the downstairs unit and the upstairs unit, right above my 3rd bedroom which I use as an indoor tool room.
This spring I started hearing strange noises coming from my tool rm when dad started using his a/c. When it kicked on it sounded like a cat caught between the radiator and the cooling fan in a running car engine, not a nice sound. Its days were numbered…
A couple of months ago he spent $9K for a new, energy efficient, all the bells and whistles, hv/ac unit. It’s been running great.
Tonight I was reorganizing the tool rm. Rain totals for the day are over 3 inches. I noticed a water leak, then another… and another, and another! 1/2 of the toolrm ceiling was never installed so the ducting is in plain sight.
Water is dripping into the room at a half a dozen spots off the main duct from the unit outside. Now the tool room looks like a bad comedy show with little buckets and plastic containers sitting everywhere catching water. Seems to me that for $9K someone should have thrown a few buckets of water against the side of the house to make sure there were no leaks around the ducting, at least ran a water hose over it for a while…
I was in the hospital when this work was done. Had I been here I would have made sure dad got what he paid for. These installers saw an 85yrold man and took advantage of him. This makes me wonder what else wasn’t done.
First thing Monday I’m calling whoever is responsible and lite a fire under their backside! I’m not going to sit by for this! They are going to send a crew if necessary and go over every bolt and screw to my satisfaction.
I'm not much help since I don't have to play the game yet.
They made them change the Joe Namath commercial which made it sound like selecting the right 'medicare' plan would get you "all the benefits I deserved" for a zero dollar premium with no co-pays.
It was blatantly misleading....for elderly people, something I find disgusting.
The current commercial informs you that 'an agent' will 'enroll you' in a supplement insurance plan with 'rides to medical appointments' and 'home delivered meals'
.Every commercial you see on TV is paid for by a for-profit insurance company not connected in any way with medicare.
Humana is the odd ball. They take over everything and bill medicare direct but you have to go to their hospitals and doctors and do everything they say. You become their B**CH.
The only truthful one out there is medicare.gov. They are the only one that will tell you what choices available during open enrollment.
As for the supplement plans, good luck. They all make money. Finding the 'least-greedy' is going to be a struggle.
Backlash...
I been working on this for my wife every year.
Here's my conclusion.
Your not going to get a better deal/policy/premium by shopping all the companies.
They all offer the same thing.
They all basically let you pay small amount of premiums, your out of pocket will be approx $6000/year.( Bigger copays)
Or you can pay a bigger premium, ( little or no copay), out of pocket will be $3000/year.
These companies have it figured to the penny..
You can't beat them.
My wife has Humana advantage for $63/mo. Copay to doc visit is $15.specialist is $45.
Total out of pocket is $6900.
IF she has a lot of health problems.
Or she could pay $130/Mo and only have $3000 out of pocket, IF she needs it.
They gonna make money, they are not going to lose.
We pay smaller premium and come out better than paying big premium.
That's basically how it's going to be , no matter who you talk to.
Anthem, Blue Cross, Aetna, Humana ...etc.
The one thing you gotta look at is which company your doctors and hospitals will accept.
It's different in different areas.
Here it's Humana.
Clear as mud ?
Jim
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2017
- Messages
- 24,680
We got mom's medicare supplement through Cigna. $220 month covers everything Medicare doesn't. Any hospital, any doctor. Got her RX insurance from AARP/Walgreens. It's $20 a month. She's on some expensive meds. Went on the medicare website to research this. She's in Kansas. In California she had an HMO and it cost her a lot more.
My rant about dripping water above was just the start of a nightmare. Something happened yesterday that hasn’t happened in 40 years.
The house sits into a hillside on top of a wet weather spring. The sump pump is set up to handle big rains, 5 inches are no problem if it falls continuously. Much of it drains around the house through a pipe in gravel buried beside the foundation.
Starting early yesterday… we got an inch of rain… couple hours later, another inch… couple or 3 hours later another inch… etc… about 5 inches total over 15hours. It didn't run off... It soaked into the ground in the 20 acres behind the house. 26K gallons = 1 inch of rain on 1 acre... you do the math...
You get the picture… All that rain soaked into 200yrds of gentle slope towards the upper fields that feeds the wet weather spring. The gravel and pipe couldn’t handle 100,000 gallons plus of water converging about 10pm last night. It filled the block of the entire back wall of my downstairs unit. The back wall was sealed by professionals but the pressure and weight of all that water was to much and started flooding my house.
First you will see in the photos that I’m prepared pretty well for leaks, even major ones. Everything along the back wall is in heavy plastic containers or raised up on cement blocks, brick, shelving or pallets. Not my first rodeo in this house!
I only lost 3 cardboard boxes in the white floor room. They contained sealed #10 cans which are water proof. Who cares about cardboard boxes.
The real damage is my bedroom… 12x12… all that carpet I bought and put down last winter when I should have been in the hospital.
I noticed the disaster happening about 10pm but still didn’t realize how bad it was, after all, it’s been at least 40 years since this happened. I still lived at home then, 70’s.
I started moving items while mopping…
At midnight I woke up dad (85yrold). I needed someone to keep the sump pump running continuously while I mopped. In the white/green herb room I mopped up 5 1/2 gallons of water off the floor in 3 hours… The sump was running but the strange grey hand pump in the pump room takes the water down in the cavity another 3 inches. I carried 54 gallons of water out in 6-gallon pails while mopping and moving stuff.
At 2:30 I was completely exhausted… I sat down and ate a whole summer sausage, 2 packs of ritz crackers w/mustard and had a pepsi.
Dads sleeping now, he’ll be up by 7 to get his great grandsons up here to take over for me… I have it under control for now.
The real concern is the 400sqft+ of laminate flooring I had put down last spring. If the water makes it out of the 12ft deep back rooms then the laminate is toast.
When the boys get here they will rip all the carpet out of my bedroom and spread it in the shop to dry, hopefully… I laid cash out… there are storage units 7 miles down the road… anything of value… long term foods, ammo etc some furniture goes also, at least a 1000lbs of stuff.
They are going to do all this while fans and heat are cranked… keeping the water at bay…
I’m going to try to sleep in recliner in the living rm during all this. Most of you know I haven’t been doing well… wasn’t going to write about it but… between august 8th and last Tuesday I’ve lost 67lbs. the last 2 weeks I’ve been losing muscle mass. My weight has stabilized though… about 158. This was the last thing I needed.
I’m going to crash and burn for the next week or 10 days… will check in from time to time… probably will sound incoherent. I so tired now I'm not sure what I'm ranting about other than the whole situation...
Oh! Best part... last night the weatherman said the big rains don’t get here until noon today… Oh Goody!
The house sits into a hillside on top of a wet weather spring. The sump pump is set up to handle big rains, 5 inches are no problem if it falls continuously. Much of it drains around the house through a pipe in gravel buried beside the foundation.
Starting early yesterday… we got an inch of rain… couple hours later, another inch… couple or 3 hours later another inch… etc… about 5 inches total over 15hours. It didn't run off... It soaked into the ground in the 20 acres behind the house. 26K gallons = 1 inch of rain on 1 acre... you do the math...
You get the picture… All that rain soaked into 200yrds of gentle slope towards the upper fields that feeds the wet weather spring. The gravel and pipe couldn’t handle 100,000 gallons plus of water converging about 10pm last night. It filled the block of the entire back wall of my downstairs unit. The back wall was sealed by professionals but the pressure and weight of all that water was to much and started flooding my house.
First you will see in the photos that I’m prepared pretty well for leaks, even major ones. Everything along the back wall is in heavy plastic containers or raised up on cement blocks, brick, shelving or pallets. Not my first rodeo in this house!
I only lost 3 cardboard boxes in the white floor room. They contained sealed #10 cans which are water proof. Who cares about cardboard boxes.
The real damage is my bedroom… 12x12… all that carpet I bought and put down last winter when I should have been in the hospital.
I noticed the disaster happening about 10pm but still didn’t realize how bad it was, after all, it’s been at least 40 years since this happened. I still lived at home then, 70’s.
I started moving items while mopping…
At midnight I woke up dad (85yrold). I needed someone to keep the sump pump running continuously while I mopped. In the white/green herb room I mopped up 5 1/2 gallons of water off the floor in 3 hours… The sump was running but the strange grey hand pump in the pump room takes the water down in the cavity another 3 inches. I carried 54 gallons of water out in 6-gallon pails while mopping and moving stuff.
At 2:30 I was completely exhausted… I sat down and ate a whole summer sausage, 2 packs of ritz crackers w/mustard and had a pepsi.
Dads sleeping now, he’ll be up by 7 to get his great grandsons up here to take over for me… I have it under control for now.
The real concern is the 400sqft+ of laminate flooring I had put down last spring. If the water makes it out of the 12ft deep back rooms then the laminate is toast.
When the boys get here they will rip all the carpet out of my bedroom and spread it in the shop to dry, hopefully… I laid cash out… there are storage units 7 miles down the road… anything of value… long term foods, ammo etc some furniture goes also, at least a 1000lbs of stuff.
They are going to do all this while fans and heat are cranked… keeping the water at bay…
I’m going to try to sleep in recliner in the living rm during all this. Most of you know I haven’t been doing well… wasn’t going to write about it but… between august 8th and last Tuesday I’ve lost 67lbs. the last 2 weeks I’ve been losing muscle mass. My weight has stabilized though… about 158. This was the last thing I needed.
I’m going to crash and burn for the next week or 10 days… will check in from time to time… probably will sound incoherent. I so tired now I'm not sure what I'm ranting about other than the whole situation...
Oh! Best part... last night the weatherman said the big rains don’t get here until noon today… Oh Goody!
Last edited:
Oh, at some point I took a 2.5lb hammer and punched the hole in the back wall to a larger size to let the water flow into the sump cavity faster. I was going to add something else but have forgotten what it was. Oh.. all my electronics are safe and all wall outlets are 3ft high at least... no body is getting fried down here. I remember doing this every time it rained in the 70's, no sump pump back then. My grandparents lived down here, grandma had cancer, had to move her around a flooding house. Wasn't easy... Thought all that was behind us... Oops!
Just weighed myself. I gained 4lbs tonight, must have been that summer sausage, I was hungry!
I remembered... the water is still dripping of that stupid hv/ac unit... still annoyed about that.
Just weighed myself. I gained 4lbs tonight, must have been that summer sausage, I was hungry!
I remembered... the water is still dripping of that stupid hv/ac unit... still annoyed about that.
Last edited:
I’m still up but only for a few more minutes, took my meds, going to crash.
Boys couldn’t come, said they were going to an auction in Mississippi instead.
I found a new tarp I had stashed away (finally). I dragged all the wet carpet out of the bedroom and out on the porch with it. To heavy to carry to the barn… oh well.
The leak is only along a 12ft section all of which now has easy access for mopping. The pump is working faster so it shouldn’t be a problem now… Weather seems to be lifting to the east a little, if so I’m in the clear, no big rain this afternoon…
Dad slept until 8 so he’s rested some… going to keep an eye out… will wake me if it starts flooding again…
The good news… now I can put down a new coat of sealant on the slab in the 1st&2nd bedrooms, needs it anyway. Yea!
Take me a month to move everything back where it goes… Yall saw in the pics… I was stacking stuff as fast as I could… just get it off the floor, put it anywhere. Half the stuff isn’t even in the room it’s supposed to be in… good thing all my shelving is heavy duty rough cut oak, it’ll carry a load.
Well, going to crash as soon as I toss the last of the bedding in the dryer, got all the sheets and comforters that got wet washed good. If the rain stops I’ll get to sleep in my own bed tonight!
Night Ya'll!
Boys couldn’t come, said they were going to an auction in Mississippi instead.
I found a new tarp I had stashed away (finally). I dragged all the wet carpet out of the bedroom and out on the porch with it. To heavy to carry to the barn… oh well.
The leak is only along a 12ft section all of which now has easy access for mopping. The pump is working faster so it shouldn’t be a problem now… Weather seems to be lifting to the east a little, if so I’m in the clear, no big rain this afternoon…
Dad slept until 8 so he’s rested some… going to keep an eye out… will wake me if it starts flooding again…
The good news… now I can put down a new coat of sealant on the slab in the 1st&2nd bedrooms, needs it anyway. Yea!
Take me a month to move everything back where it goes… Yall saw in the pics… I was stacking stuff as fast as I could… just get it off the floor, put it anywhere. Half the stuff isn’t even in the room it’s supposed to be in… good thing all my shelving is heavy duty rough cut oak, it’ll carry a load.
Well, going to crash as soon as I toss the last of the bedding in the dryer, got all the sheets and comforters that got wet washed good. If the rain stops I’ll get to sleep in my own bed tonight!
Night Ya'll!
When I read flooding I'm wondering how many feet of water in the basement!
Glad it slowed down to where the sump can handle it. Would a larger gallons per minute sump pump be insurance if it happens again?
Several winters ago when the ground was frozen hard we had a heavy rain. Mom called to tell me that the basement was flooded. Several times I ask how deep! She final answer my question with 3 inches. Furnace was up off the floor on bricks. Told mom I'm on my over before the furnace floods and she loses heat. She told me the floor was dry by the furnace. Her 3 inches deep flood was a 3 inch wide stream of water flowing from a basement window, across the floor to the drain. I left out the details about the two fire departments and plumber that she had tried to call.
I hope I didn’t bore everyone with my ranting last night… I was exhausted and frustrated, not a good combination for pleasant internet dialog…
I’ll be cleaning up this mess for days to come. Being an incurable optimist, I can say a lot of good came from this. I lost 3 cardboard boxes but none of the contents. I had the carpet in one-bedroom, 12x12, soaked (drying now in the shop). I saved every square inch of the 450sqft of laminate flooring, not one buckle or curve. This came from good planning and fully understanding my circumstances.
This was an epic success considering the situation. Decades ago I saw this unit flood many times (a little math – 1/4 inch of water on 1600sqft is about 250 gallons), that’s a lot of water… In just over 24hrs I got 7.37 inches of rain. The way the rain came down packed 70ft of cinder block wall with about 1300 gallons of water. It has been pumped out/removed with a little sump pump, buckets and a mop.
The big plus… I had planned to spend the winter reorganizing everything in my house, a couple of pickup loads to throw away, all my long-term foods and prepping gear repacked/rearranged/sorted, general use of space improved. This is a great start… almost everything got moved last night and much the furniture rearranged. A 2-fer!
On a more personal note… 3 hours sleep, a few odds and ends, all bedding and comforters washed & dried, bed made/covers turned down! About to cook wings for supper and watch some college football. Dad and I are exhausted but all is well at my house. Oh, today I got into a pair of jeans w/38 waist size! Didn’t think I’d ever do that again. Always an optimist!
(Carpet drying over bee hives not in use. 1 fan blowing on it, will add a second one tomorrow.)
Anyway, thanks, sometimes we all need to rant!
LL the size of the pump doesn’t change the rate at which a cinderblock wall drains when full. As long as it pumps faster than gravity drains the wall it’s plenty large enough. The problem last night… the wall got filled without my realizing it. It took about 4 hours at a frantic pace to get caught up then it was routine if time consuming and mind numbing at 5am.
I’ll be cleaning up this mess for days to come. Being an incurable optimist, I can say a lot of good came from this. I lost 3 cardboard boxes but none of the contents. I had the carpet in one-bedroom, 12x12, soaked (drying now in the shop). I saved every square inch of the 450sqft of laminate flooring, not one buckle or curve. This came from good planning and fully understanding my circumstances.
This was an epic success considering the situation. Decades ago I saw this unit flood many times (a little math – 1/4 inch of water on 1600sqft is about 250 gallons), that’s a lot of water… In just over 24hrs I got 7.37 inches of rain. The way the rain came down packed 70ft of cinder block wall with about 1300 gallons of water. It has been pumped out/removed with a little sump pump, buckets and a mop.
The big plus… I had planned to spend the winter reorganizing everything in my house, a couple of pickup loads to throw away, all my long-term foods and prepping gear repacked/rearranged/sorted, general use of space improved. This is a great start… almost everything got moved last night and much the furniture rearranged. A 2-fer!
On a more personal note… 3 hours sleep, a few odds and ends, all bedding and comforters washed & dried, bed made/covers turned down! About to cook wings for supper and watch some college football. Dad and I are exhausted but all is well at my house. Oh, today I got into a pair of jeans w/38 waist size! Didn’t think I’d ever do that again. Always an optimist!
(Carpet drying over bee hives not in use. 1 fan blowing on it, will add a second one tomorrow.)
Anyway, thanks, sometimes we all need to rant!
LL the size of the pump doesn’t change the rate at which a cinderblock wall drains when full. As long as it pumps faster than gravity drains the wall it’s plenty large enough. The problem last night… the wall got filled without my realizing it. It took about 4 hours at a frantic pace to get caught up then it was routine if time consuming and mind numbing at 5am.
Nobody has a stitch of carpet down here.
After a flood, it just ends up piled by the road anyway
. If it stays wet with dirty-water for more than 2 days, stuff grows in it that won't come out.Ceramic tile floors and throw rugs are the order of the day.
Pressure-wash the tile, dry it, throw down some new rugs, and you're back in business
.
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2017
- Messages
- 16,351
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2018
- Messages
- 1,369
@Grizzleyette___Adams you might have missed part of that creek! more to the story.
https://www.homesteadingforum.org/threads/wood-art.7160/
I love spending time on that creek... only made it twice this year...
more to the story.https://www.homesteadingforum.org/threads/wood-art.7160/
I love spending time on that creek... only made it twice this year...
Last edited:
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2018
- Messages
- 1,369
Be still, my heart! What a truly lovely place! It must also be teeming with many wonderful healing plants, which makes it even more beautiful to me!
Now I'm off to read the story at the link!
Now I'm off to read the story at the link!
I get so frustrated when I go to put on my casual sports socks. I wear the brand Hanes , tube socks...I'm cheep.
With the name printed on the toes.
Some people say the name goes on top , some say , no, the name goes under the toes...I don't know and I don't care.
So I wear them like this...now I can't be wrong.
Jim
With the name printed on the toes.
Some people say the name goes on top , some say , no, the name goes under the toes...I don't know and I don't care.
So I wear them like this...now I can't be wrong.
Jim
The right one is inside out so you have covered all options.
Got a call from my bank. Someone tried to order $300 from Petsmart on my debit card. It was flagged because it was being shipped to Fl and not Nm. So now I'm debit cardless until the new one arrives. Fortunately I don't need it this week but what a pain.
My theory is everyone's information has been stolen. If the information hasn't been used it's just because they haven't got to it yet, but give them time they will.
My debit card was cloned and used in NY at a McDonalds and Target. My bank caught the fraud and canceled the card and voided the charges.
My debit card was cloned and used in NY at a McDonalds and Target. My bank caught the fraud and canceled the card and voided the charges.
I have my cards in order. I never use debit card except at an ATM (safe) about once every 3 months.
I have a CC that is only used online, a CC that auto-pays are set up on, a CC that everything I shop goes on, and a CC standing by to replace #1, and a CC ready to replace #2, and I carry the spare CC to replace #3 in my wallet
. It's all their money, not mine. All I have to do is read statements.I like playing cards.
Edit: And my socks look just like Phideaux's.
Last edited:
Church is preparing to celebrate their 50th anniversary at their present location. Last night after the regular service there was a group of us rehearsing. Sister-in-law turns to me and says, "You're leaving on mm/dd/yr to go visit xxxxxxxx. You're going to gone how long...a week?" Most of the group are close enough to overhear, a few are looking directly at us. So much for OSPEC and me asking the wife not to tell ANYONE that were are going on vacation.
I have a state issued credit card and this happens to me without fail about 2x a year.
Hubby Gov card too and he hasn't used it in probably 5 years. He had one that got to him with charges already on it. Had to cancel it before he even got the pin in the mail.
Last edited:
- Status
Latest posts
-
-
-
-
As anyone made a long tempering oven?
- Latest: SoulSeeker
-
-
-
-
-
-