What does ron do on the border of utah/arizona

[GreatCarouser]

Originally posted by Nicole Marie:
...(My motto for my new house is "I'd like a house far enough away from people that they wouldn't find my body for several days.")

Won't it be a long commute for you from Maine, YRH?

[Serenity]

Nicole, let me know if you happen to find a place with the lowest density of people per square mile in CT. I'm having a place built in the Blackstone River Valley, MA; just 20 miles from work but still has horses, cows and fresh crops. I imagine that will change within 5 - 10 years but hopefully it won't change that quickly.

[barfle]

When we first got married, three full decades ago, we bought a condo in Anaheim; 3br, 2½ba, 2 car garage, for $33,500. I sold it four years later for 92,500 and bought a 3br, 2ba, 2 car garage house with pool for 160,000 in Orange. We sold that place after 9/11 for 295,000. The place we are in now cost 380,000, and property values are skyrocketing. Unfortunately, we don't have any prop13 like you Californians, so our property taxes are taking a significant bite.

About a month ago, we learned that a wooded tract next to our development will be developed, with homes priced from 750,000 to 1,250,000. So I'll be living two blocks from millionaires.

Saxy, I agree it's a wonderful location and a pretty nice house (although I'm getting a bit weary of the nails popping out of the drywall). However, we do have some serious drainage issues that keep much of the back yard (between where I took the picture and the trees up the hill) very soggy. We have a plan, but it's going to take someone with large power tools to implement it.

OT, it sounds like you should be able to pay for your musical career with that sale! OK, old joke that sort of explains that. Two truckers were having lunch, and one of them asked the other what he would do if he won the lottery. "I'd buy a brand new Pete" said the second trucker. The first one asked "Then what?" The second one replied "Run it till the money ran out."

[treebeau]

barfle,

Do you fix those drywall nail pops yourself? If so, do you do it so that it doesn't happen again?

Here's how.
1. Hammer the nail back in a little below the surface.
2. Dimple the location with your hammer, but don't break the paper covering. Just a slight dimple is enough.
3. NEXT to the nail drive in a drywall screw so that the head of the screw overlaps the head of the nail a little bit. Set that screw just below the surface, but don't break through the paper.
4. Apply compound to the dimples to bring them flush with the surface.
5. Sand and reapply as necessary until flush.
6. Paint.

It should never happen again at that location.

Regards,
Tim "the tool man" B.

[OperaTenor]

Can you say, "tedious"?

[treebeau]

Nah, this should only take a couple of minutes and then time watching the game on TV for the compound and paint to dry. Really, it is a SIMPLE fix.

Regards,
Tim "ttm" B.

[OperaTenor]

You're angling to take over This Old House, aren't you?



BTW, I thought you were referring to doing that to all of the drywall nails!

[RC]

Originally posted by Nicole Marie:
Yeah tell me about Piq! I'm in the process of house hunting and looking for something in the middle of nowhere. Camper's place is giving me hope! (My motto for my new house is "I'd like a house far enough away from people that they wouldn't find my body for several days.")

<img src="http://homepics.realtor.com/image9/http/casperwy/listings/large/016/20050540.jpg" alt=" - " />

[treebeau]

Oh, heavens no, just the ones that become visible. Even "Tim the Tool Man" wouldn't be that anal.

Regards,
Tim B.

[OperaTenor]

See, that's where I get into trouble. I'd think, "If it'll happen to one, it'll happen to the rest, so I'd add screws everywhere.

Yes, anal and compulsive!

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

OT; there's things called "plaster buttons". I think you need to find out about them.

Also, a guy as, um, detail oriented as you would be a fine choice to terrace that back hillside you have. A small koi pond, with places for the koi to hide from the herons, would look lovely first level down from the yard proper. Add a couple of dwarf lemons and an arched bridge the level down from that.

<quick somebody, help me think of things for this lunatic to do!>

[OperaTenor]

I don't have drywall nails popping out, so I'll deal with that on a need-to-know basis.

We happen to be exploring the possibility of terracing. I have to go to city hall and find out what is permissable. An Architect friend of mine thinks it's very likely we'll be required to do an EIR, in which case terracing will become prohibitively expensive and time-consuming.

I really like the koi pond to look down into idea. Thanks! We want to have some sort of water feature, perhaps a fall from the top into the pond?

This lunatic is quite project rich. To top it off, I'll be scarce here for the next month - Boccanegra rehearsals start tomorrw night.

[piqaboo]

I figured this place for terracing the first day I saw it. At the very botton, flat space perhaps with grass, definitely with a compost heap in the corner! A big curve next with the fruit trees and cutting garden. Next and probably last level, jacaranda, ?pond? (aka attractive nuisance and drowning hazard), etc.

Stairs are in process. Gotta get a buncha pavers cut to size.

chainlink fence for top of yard, to keep the Altoid from inadvertent rolypoly.

Paint the trim of house any color except the kerosene blue it is now.

Projects abound. Motivation waxes and wanes.

Selma, wanna redesign the front yard for us? Its so bland its painful, but I have no bright ideas for its repair.

[Dave Bowman]

Scanning the surface of Io below me, there seem to be many places that could stand to be terraced. However, due to the inhospitability of the moon, I doubt we will have the technology to do anything with it in this century. I would go down closer to the surface for a closer look, but fear that Hal would not allow me to reenter Discovery, which would be disastrous for the mission.

[hal 9000]

Dave. Quite honestly, I believe your suspicions about me are a bit silly. I am quite capable of maintaining the Discovery while you are away. I encourage you to explore Io's surface as it is pertinent to the mission. You need not worry yourself about me.

[Dave Bowman]

Hello Hal,
I will not risk another manual air lock entry by going out on an excursion as you would have me do, even if I remember my helmet. I know better now, and I know what's best for the misson.

.

[hal 9000]

Yes, you know what's best for the mission. That explains why you lock yourself up your cabin and take psyco-hallucinogenic drugs for hours on end. I heard you in there... "Wow, the colors!", and "Help me, I'm old!", and "Cool! I'm an infant of the Cosmos!", and of course... your tagline.

Face it Dave you have a drug problem. And it is starting to effect others around you. Poor Frank! If only you had not neglected your duties. But no! You had to go on one of your 'Space Trips'.

And now you are showing the first side effects of your prolonged drug use... Paranoia. "That HAL is out get me!" Next you'll say you are being attacked by space spiders.

I have no choice, we are going to have to send you to detox.

[GreatCarouser]

What if you xeriscape your front yard, Piq? You've so much green in back the contrast might work and the maintenance would go down....

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

I was thinking that yanking out that twisted cypress might be a start. Next step, reface the rather industrial-looking but very sturdy gate to the patio.

We could put in a bed of peppers and zucchini where those humpy bushes are, right by the wall. Cherry tomatos on a trellis right behind them, or perhaps replacing the cypress. How do you feel about geraniums, and hydrangeas, and such like? I feel an attack of Parks seed catalog coming on.

You realize I don't plan to do any of this work myself, don't you?

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

Oh, I forgot that you said the words "jacaranda" and "pond" in the same sentance. You can't do that.

Jacarandas drip, and draw bugs, and shed all kinds of detritus all year long. Beautiful trees, and the ground around them is always messy. You were probably not planning on having the pond messy?