Messages

I've been wary of Dihydrogen monoxide since I learned of its many dangers years ago.   And way before that W.C.Fields warned about its issues with fish.   If the rest of you have no idea what this is all about google it.

http://www.dhmo.org/facts.html
http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/96409-i-don-t-drink-water-fish-fuck-in-it

I would think if Sprint, AT&T, Verizon or any of the others would come up with a "bad hombres list" and filter out the spoofed number and block them, they'd clean up on the cell phone plan market.

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On a related note, my wife has been getting a lot of e-mails from PNC bank to her and Bob (same last name) regarding processing and progress on a mortgage loan application.  After spending about 15 minutes on the phone with them, they said they must have made a typo when entering the e-mail address.  Yesterday, she got a reply all cc from Bob to the bank.

I told her the quickest way to get it resolved was to reply to Bob with a message like this.

"Bob,
I don't think we should really go forward this this loan.  Frankly, this life is not working for me and I've been seeing someone else.    Wishing you the best and sorry  we couldn't make it happen.   -- Sue"

What I don't understand is that it's a different number every time.   So blocking the # is futile and I don't know how they would get my response.  Last text yesterday was 11 pm and first today was 7:30 am.

I used to get voice mails (without a ring) by some guy who'd leave the same message, Hi this is Tim again, sorry I missed you, but we have business loans, blah blah blah."

The company I worked at for 24 years sold auto-dialer software.   It was designed to predict mean time on phone, mean time to answer (number of rings), percentage of non-answered or rolled to voicemail,  and its goal was to connect to an agent just as the person on the other end finished, "Hello?"  They told me the typical customer was something like an insurance company following up with a policyholder regarding some issue, like a claim.  Not sure I believed that, but whatever.

[Hi, a homeowner in Cincinnati is looking for an estimate for a handyman. You have first priority. Reply 1 if interested, 3 if not.]

I've probably gotten 8 text messages like this in the last 24 hours, up to11 pm.  All about the same but from a different (probably spoofed) phone number.

Hi, a homeowner in Cincinnati is looking for an estimate for a handyman.  You have first priority.  Reply 1 if interested, 3 if not.


Sometimes it's slightly different -- needs help installing a deck, above-ground pool, etc.   Why are they calling me?   I don't have a "handyman service!"

Anyone else bothered by these low-life?

A few years ago a guy (presumably "Bob") came up with "Bob's Rule" with 24 Bobs to an inch.  Why?   24 is evenly divisible by 2,3,4,6, and 12.

Of course, if we were really smart, we'd adopt the ancient Arabic  number system, base 60, like we have for degrees of a circle, minutes, and seconds.     Why?   Evenly divisible by 2,3,5,6,10,15, 20, 30.

There are 10 types of people -- those that understand binary and those that don't.

And now this subject has gone π off topic.

I just wish USA will give it up and go metric.  Look back to the '70s and everyone we'd be there in 10 years.

I do some woodwork in metric, just because.    What I've learned is to just give up imperial and think in metric.  Worse if I have three tape measures with imperial and metric on them.   One reads in cm, the other in mm, and the third m and cm.   For example,  at 110 cm, the first reads 110, the second 1100, and the third 10 (an look left for the 1m mark).   I finally gave up and just bought a metric only and use it alone.  I guess we have similar issues with imperial between a carpenter's tape and a cabinetmaker's tape.   One will read 7'2" and the other 84".    I did a job last year spec'd by an architect, all the cabinets, furniture, and wainscoting was in feet and inches -- drove me nuts to make a table 2'10" tall, Whaaaa?  How about 34?

That is to think in metric you never ask yourself "just how many mm is a quarter inch?"  Darn it, it needs to be about 6 mm. Contrary to this was some of the thinking in the '70s like road signs that read "Columbus 67 miles 100 KM"   or recipes that read "10.24 g baking powder"   Really, when was the last time you saw a recipe that said  1.318 tsp baking powder?"

I just found 50 rotted slide floors during my coach inspections at a big rally in Elkhart. It is an ongoing problem and water inside an RV is a terrible thing.

Chris

We got an RV a couple of years ago after being away for 20 years or so.   But yes, leakage and wood rot is a common and expensive proposition.   Our new RV had a plumbing leak that resulted in a soft bathroom floor.   Luckily, the company covered it even though it was a bit past warranty period.   It took them two weeks to fix it and I'm glad I didn't have to. 

Everyone we talked to prior to purchase said that slideouts were not a problem but I suspected otherwise, so avoided it.   I've heard of slideouts that didn't slide back in while camping.   The warranty manager said their most common warranty issue was repairing slide outs.

Would this work? http://www.homedepot.com/p/Oatey-3-4-in-x-10-ft-Galvanized-Steel-Hanger-Strap-339232/100167964

No idea how the gauge compares, but all the big boxes, Fastenal and Grainger carry something like this.

I remember way back in the '70s, when I was just getting started in woodworking, I read an article that said ring- or spiral-shank nails have vastly superior holding power to regular nails.   Recently, I have read that cc (cement coated) nails don't really add much.  But I can tell you after pulling apart lots of recent furniture joints that failed, staples and pneumatic brads don't have a lot of holding power in a stress situation.  But I've never seen a scientific test that says this type has x withdrawal force required and this other one has y.  Some people think that if you put the nails in at opposing angles, that increases the resistance.  Again, no numbers given.

Not sure about OSB, but a good side-grain to side-grain glue joint is generally stronger than the surrounding wood.   Found this out years ago too when I tried to break apart a joint and it split the wood and not the joint.

I did a presentation last year on joint strength and one of things I came away with is there are different kinds of stress on a joint, commonly
- Shear
- Cleavage
- Tension
- Compression
- Racking

Also important is sudden vs. gradual failure.  If you have a chair joint that fails, you want it to gradually loosen and not just dump the occupant on the floor one day.

Wood (and engineered wood products) are orthotropic or anisotropic, so a lot of this depends upon direction of grain lines in the orientation of the joint and which way the fastener goes.

(Once a geek, always a geek)

Put on a few drops of hydrogen peroxide and see if it goes away.

Simple reply:
Yes, I can do pick up and delivery for $200 per piece.

Re-upholstery will be $3000-6000 each depending on fabric choice and if springs, foam or fiber cushions and/or padding are needed.

Thank you for your business, looking forward to hearing from you soon.

A friend of mine in town who used to be the editor of a woodworking magazine left there a few years ago, went into business for himself doing custom woodworking, publishing, writing, and teaching.    Today, he posted some advice in his blog.   I think it's appropriate for people here considering, as one other person, "telling the man to KMA" and leaving, starting your own business.  I know some of us here have done that.

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Take My Advice, I'm Not Using It
by Lost Art Press

Three Tables
During my final year of teaching, I had three distressing encounters with teenagers in my classes and lectures. At the end of the event, the teens came up and said: "I want to be you when I grow up." And then they asked a terrifying question: "How do I get to where you are?"

I hate to give advice. But I also hate to be a jerk. And so I gave some after-school-special answer about working hard and never listening to adults.

The honest answer is: Become a hedge fund manager for five years, make more money than I will in a lifetime and "retire" to building furniture for clients and writing about woodworking.

As we don't need more hedge fund managers, here is a list of things I have done right in my career (the list of things I've done wrong would fill a book and require multiple therapy sessions).

    Keep your day job. Don't quit your real job until you have paid off all your debts (I paid off my mortgage when I was 39) and have purchased all the equipment you need to get started. Build your business while you are working for the man. Yes, this requires multi-vitamins or amphetamines. I chose vitamins.

    Reject all overhead. Don't hire employees, buy/rent/lease a building or add any overhead until these things seem like pocket change. Even though I can afford an employee (or five), it's better to keep a business small and flexible. Plus, you didn't really quit your job to become a middle manager at your own business, did you?

    Embrace the Internet. If you aren't happy to share your struggle on Instagram, Twitter, SnapChat, blogs, forums and usenet (they're FREE), I think you are fighting without using your fists. These tools allow you to compete with huge businesses. All it takes is being clever and determined.

    Make friends. You cannot do this alone. Take other makers out to lunch and figure out how their businesses work. Because I have a network of woodworkers here in Northern Kentucky, I could live off referrals if I needed to (not that I really want to make 600 shutters for the county courthouse). Friends will keep you fed. And you should return that favor for other makers.

    Don't do one thing. Make sure you have multiple income sources. I make money from writing, building furniture and publishing other people's books. All of those hands wash each other. When one goes to pot, the other one can make up the difference.

    Live someplace cheap. This is huge. The Cincinnati area is dirt cheap but densely populated. That's perfect for what I do. I have the infrastructure I need (gigabit Internet, lumberyards, transportation, other makers) and access to the rest of the world, thanks to the Internet.

    Do it all yourself. Learn photography, website design, copywriting, CAD, QuickBooks and whatever else it takes to make your business work. Yes, you might hire others to do some of this stuff (someday), but you should be good enough at all these things that you can tell when you are getting cheated or are working with a slug.

    Keep your day job. If all the above points sound exhausting, then maybe your day job isn't so bad.

One more point: I'd do exactly what I am doing even if there were no money in it. I'd do it if no one read it. I'd do it if no one bought it. Seriously, I can't not do it. I am obsessed and crazy (ask Lucy). And that, more than anything, is why we didn't eat ramen tonight.

-- Chris Schwarz

I'm starting to get quite a few calls from people that got my info on  www.nextdoor.com

Apparently, this is a website divided into local regions so neighbors can refer service providers to each other.
I don't know for sure, since in order to find out, I would have to sign up. And I rarely sign up for anything anymore. I'm tired of my inbox being crammed with spam emails.

It took me forever to get "unsubscribed" from all the Angie's list crap.

I've been on "nextdoor" quite a while.   Often people there will ask for a referral for some service.  There is a way if you recommend someone that you can link to their web site.   Personally, I've never asked but referred friends.

I found Angie's List very helpful in getting non-BTB traffic.  I eventually decided to go part time / semi-retire and shut that down.   I do use it to find service providers now, though.

I do a fair amount of upholstery cleaning -- most of which is to remove one-time occurrence stains like food and body fluids and all of it within the first five years of their protection plan. The average consumer would be surprised just how dirty their upholstery fabric gets.   If I'm doing just a seat cushion, back, arm, or two, the rinse water can come out as dark as coffee.  I had one once where the guy tried to clean it himself and "got a light spot."    I didn't tell him, but that was actually just a "cleaner" spot.    When I do these jobs, I do a "seam to seam" cleaning so it's uniformly clean.  Not many people wear the same clothes or use the same bed linens for 5 years without ever washing them.   Although the guys that did my driveway this year were close ;-)   You guys that strip off panels and use them for templates/patterns probably know that.

I think the worst I ever had was a woman moving into an apartment after an apparently bitter break up / divorce.   She had a hard time getting some furniture out of her ex.   I think he took the dog out into the mud and let it rub off on the furniture.   There was about 1/4" of caked on mud on the outside arms and corners.

It's been my experience that micro-suede can't handle any heat.   A dropped ember on it would probably leave a permanent melted spot.

No one seems to have mentioned smoking.   I know Gene has gotten a number of new customers because he runs a smoke-free shop.    I am very sensitive to smoke -- I can smell it going down the expressway with my windows up.  I'd be really upset if I had a re-upholstery job done and it came back smelling of smoke.   I did an in-home job a couple of weeks ago and the owners where smoking in the next room.   I came home reeking (to me) of smoke and stripped and showered as soon as I got home.   Last time I had to do that was when I was doing cleaning for "the cat lady" -- always scheduled last job of the day, too.  At one trip, she said, "I don't know why he peed on the sofa -- he's never done that before."    Ugh, when I opened up the cover, there were a dozen 10" diameter cat urine stains.

We recently got a Consew CN3115-RB1 (supposed to be clone of some model of Singer).   Had it to the shop for a tuning and lube and wife has just started to use it.    She's doing some detail work and would like it to go a lot slower.   Is there a technique or a way to do that (without having to buy a new servo motor or fool with the pulleys and belts?)  I'm thinking just "riding the clutch" is not a good way either.