robert blu
quiet photographer
Buon Compleanno! Best wishes! Stay safe!
robert
robert
New York Greetings From Hill-Billy Calvin, AKA Augie
- Thread starter Calzone
- Start date
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Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Bob,
Endings are beginnings, I've had many of them. The take-away though is to move forward.
Be aware of the grief and the sense of loss that happens, one thing I learned from Navy SEAL training, even though I was not a SEAL, is that 95% of survival is maintaining a positive mental attitude.
A funny story of how true this can be, it is also an "American" story of sorts. I work with many fools, my boss was a bully and could be cruel and mean, and overall I found the work enviornment to be "hostile."
So there was this technician who I worked with. We had to deal with all this work abuse and disrespect.
So one day Diego asks me how am I doing, and of course things were difficult, but I explain that the one thing keeping me from becoming a mass murderer and killing people at work, that as bad as things are that the one and only thing keeping me from reverting back into NYC 1970 mode where all kinds of evil went on, that my only concilation was was that my name was not Diego because overall he got treated worse. LOL.
Anyways this acknowledgement made Diego laugh even though sadly it was true. Diego soon thereafter got fired. This is at a hospital that runs television ads stating it is one on the best hospitals in the country. Evidently not the best to work at.
"Time is the best weapon," is an old Chinese expression. I think my revenge will be when I retire. "Ha-ha," I say. Fact is there are only about 1,000 Cyclotrons in the world, and finding a cyclotron engineer is not so easy.
I'm certain that I will get the last laugh.
"Ha-ha," I say.
I can't wait to reveal the rude surprise... This will be very-very satisfying. Basically in this case these mean and evil people screwed themselves and I had to do nothing.
"Maggie" does not approve of my evil thinking, ""Evil Calvin" is a name she at times calls me, but I am proud of my Cantonese heritage where revenge and honor is the culture. I can look upon myself as a true hero who survived adversity.
Augie
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Bob,
Endings are beginnings, I've had many of them. The take-away though is to move forward.
Be aware of the grief and the sense of loss that happens, one thing I learned from Navy SEAL training, even though I was not a SEAL, is that 95% of survival is maintaining a positive mental attitude.
A funny story of how true this can be, it is also an "American" story of sorts. I work with many fools, my boss was a bully and could be cruel and mean, and overall I found the work enviornment to be "hostile."
So there was this technician who I worked with. We had to deal with all this work abuse and disrespect.
So one day Diego asks me how am I doing, and of course things were difficult, but I explain that the one thing keeping me from becoming a mass murderer and killing people at work, that as bad as things are that the one and only thing keeping me from reverting back into NYC 1970 mode where all kinds of evil went on, that my only concilation was was that my name was not Diego because overall he got treated worse. LOL.
Anyways this acknowledgement made Diego laugh even though sadly it was true. Diego soon thereafter got fired. This is at a hospital that runs television ads stating it is one on the best hospitals in the country. Evidently not the best to work at.
"Time is the best weapon," is an old Chinese expression. I think my revenge will be when I retire. "Ha-ha," I say. Fact is there are only about 1,000 Cyclotrons in the world, and finding a cyclotron engineer is not so easy.
I'm certain that I will get the last laugh.
"Ha-ha," I say.
I can't wait to reveal the rude surprise...
Augie
raid
Dad Photographer
Congratulations, Cal. I somehow missed this thread. Must feel great to move into a home and enjoy it.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Raid,
I would not say I was homeless, but all the disruptions, beginnings and endings that created a sense of loss and grief for me seem to be healed by finally having a place where I belong, a place that is not temporary that has a sense of permanence, and a place that has a long future is very-very soothing.
Growing up there was a lack of security, any sense of permanence, that lead to a lack of sense of future.
Because of my past buying and owning a home has profound meaning.
What I can share is that this required a lot of delayed gratification. I will finally have a darkroom, but know that about 20 years ago I bought a used enlarger and put it in storage for two decades.
A dream is coming true.
The nice takeaway is that this segways into my retirement where I will have the time to fully enjoy the fruits of my labor. The postponement, delayed gratification, and the promising future seems worth the wait.
My Baby Victorian is just under 1500 square feet of living space. Bonus is a two car garage, a full basement (26x26), a bonus porch basement (7x15), and a spare building lot I call my "back-backyard" where technically I could build a second house.
Even though it is in the suburbs and an hour 5 minutes train ride to Grand Central because I'm on the fringe of the city (Peekskill is a Hudson River Town) and because I live next to a 1500 acre preserve and a brook that empties lakes and ponds on that said preserve the vibe is very-very rural and country.
This is the house for me. In a way it is almost like a tiny house even though it is a Baby-Victorian built in 1912.
Cal
Life's too short to be using Sony instead of Fujifilm! I hope you are feeling better and better Bob.
Range-rover
Veteran
Hi John, Your right I have a X-pro2 and Xt-1 with three lenses. when you
start using fuji lenses the metal barrels and quality can't be beat, plus why
does Sony have to make the bodies small and the lenses so big full frame
maybe. On the how I'm feeling front good had a Catscan last week and
my doctor was please nothing change everything stable see say's I'm
geting stronger compared to when she first met me in June which to
her is a great thing.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
So my bad attitude of being a "short-timer" is paying off.
Last year I took a life expectancy test. While the mean life expectancy is 83.2 years for an American man I was expected to live til 106 years and my biological age was 39.
So now with Covid that led to a "freeze" of my pension, meaning no additional years can be added, basically it makes no sense anymore to work till 66 years 8 months, so I should retire at age 64 a year from now.
So now the life expectancy calulator is saying that my life expectancy is 111.2 years and that my biological age is only 40.
The big change though was the biggest factor was my BMI. Covid-15 for me was a weight loss rather than a weight gain, and pretty much although always a skinny/lanky guy that currently I have a more youthful body of when I was a 15 year old.
So for my birthday wish it would be great if they offered me a "package" to retire even earlier. I know this is wishful thinking, but it is not so dill- LOOSE-shon-L and is in the realm of possibilities.
Anyways playfully retirement looks for me to be a great regression into becoming a teenager all over again wondering what I might do over the next 4-5 decades.
Calvin-August the Hill-Billy
Last year I took a life expectancy test. While the mean life expectancy is 83.2 years for an American man I was expected to live til 106 years and my biological age was 39.
So now with Covid that led to a "freeze" of my pension, meaning no additional years can be added, basically it makes no sense anymore to work till 66 years 8 months, so I should retire at age 64 a year from now.
So now the life expectancy calulator is saying that my life expectancy is 111.2 years and that my biological age is only 40.
The big change though was the biggest factor was my BMI. Covid-15 for me was a weight loss rather than a weight gain, and pretty much although always a skinny/lanky guy that currently I have a more youthful body of when I was a 15 year old.
So for my birthday wish it would be great if they offered me a "package" to retire even earlier. I know this is wishful thinking, but it is not so dill- LOOSE-shon-L and is in the realm of possibilities.
Anyways playfully retirement looks for me to be a great regression into becoming a teenager all over again wondering what I might do over the next 4-5 decades.
Calvin-August the Hill-Billy
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Sunday I called my friend Tim. As usual he did not answer, and when his phone went to voice-mail his message box was full. This is his standard operation.
One entire summer he was missing. I began to worry that some boyfriend or husband of a former girlfriend finally got to him and killed him.
An interesting observation is that Tim rejects getting serious with women. He tells them that he is no good, that he is a bum, and that they deserve to be happy and can do better than him.
So human nature is such that you want the most what you can't have, and for some strange-strange reason former rejected girlfriends still love him, even if they get married of move onto a new boyfriend.
Of course these husbands or new boyfriends don't like or love Tim. LOL.
So this one summer that Tim was missing was explained when out of the blue he called in the fall. It turns out that he was in Bell-jum living in a tent with gypsies that were decendants of Django Reinhart learning to play gypsy guitar.
So another time at one of Tim's gigs, might have been Irridium or The Blue Note, I see Tim the dog caught in-between two girlfriends. The one sitting alone at the bar seemed mighty pissed. She had the look of a future murderer.
So Monday on the train I tried calling Tim again with no luck, but then when I pocket the phone it rings, and it is Tim.
"Just calling to see if you are still alive," I say.
So it turns out that all the gigs ran dry and for once Tim has a steady job as a doorman in Chelsea since March.
He tells me he works from 5:00 PM till 11:00 PM and that at this point he has at work a guitar and a mandolyn so I guess it is cool that he plays at work.
He reports that Williamsburg is still hopping and crowded with young people as if there is no pandemic, and that it is not like in Madhattan.
So the legend of Tim lives on...
Likely been a year or year and a half since we connected. I wanted to give him the update about moving out of the city.
I knew Tim when he was just 16 and I was in my thirties. When I heard this amazing player out front from the back room at the guitar shop, I had to stop to see who this amazing player was that had a feel for every style of music.
I went to the front and see this little punk kid and I asked, "What is your name?"
"Tim," he said.
"How old are you? I asked.
"16."
Then I asked, "How long have you been playing?"
"Not long, maybe a year or two. I'm really a drummer."
Then I said, "You suck."
So that was when "You Suck Factor" was first invented.
His playing made me want to smash every guitar I own. Boy was I green with envy at his talent. Pretty much an Idiot Savant.
So Tim has mucho talent and has what every guitarist or musician would want, but if he had my personality he would not be so under the radar.
Cal
One entire summer he was missing. I began to worry that some boyfriend or husband of a former girlfriend finally got to him and killed him.
An interesting observation is that Tim rejects getting serious with women. He tells them that he is no good, that he is a bum, and that they deserve to be happy and can do better than him.
So human nature is such that you want the most what you can't have, and for some strange-strange reason former rejected girlfriends still love him, even if they get married of move onto a new boyfriend.
Of course these husbands or new boyfriends don't like or love Tim. LOL.
So this one summer that Tim was missing was explained when out of the blue he called in the fall. It turns out that he was in Bell-jum living in a tent with gypsies that were decendants of Django Reinhart learning to play gypsy guitar.
So another time at one of Tim's gigs, might have been Irridium or The Blue Note, I see Tim the dog caught in-between two girlfriends. The one sitting alone at the bar seemed mighty pissed. She had the look of a future murderer.
So Monday on the train I tried calling Tim again with no luck, but then when I pocket the phone it rings, and it is Tim.
"Just calling to see if you are still alive," I say.
So it turns out that all the gigs ran dry and for once Tim has a steady job as a doorman in Chelsea since March.
He tells me he works from 5:00 PM till 11:00 PM and that at this point he has at work a guitar and a mandolyn so I guess it is cool that he plays at work.
He reports that Williamsburg is still hopping and crowded with young people as if there is no pandemic, and that it is not like in Madhattan.
So the legend of Tim lives on...
Likely been a year or year and a half since we connected. I wanted to give him the update about moving out of the city.
I knew Tim when he was just 16 and I was in my thirties. When I heard this amazing player out front from the back room at the guitar shop, I had to stop to see who this amazing player was that had a feel for every style of music.
I went to the front and see this little punk kid and I asked, "What is your name?"
"Tim," he said.
"How old are you? I asked.
"16."
Then I asked, "How long have you been playing?"
"Not long, maybe a year or two. I'm really a drummer."
Then I said, "You suck."
So that was when "You Suck Factor" was first invented.
His playing made me want to smash every guitar I own. Boy was I green with envy at his talent. Pretty much an Idiot Savant.
So Tim has mucho talent and has what every guitarist or musician would want, but if he had my personality he would not be so under the radar.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Yesterday at work at my famous hospital an armed man locked himself in a bathroom in the Urgent Care area. Thankfully no one was injured and it was diffused. This event was reported on the nightly news.
So they are trying to vaccinate 1,400 people today, and I am one of them. There is a bit of a pile-up, and I have to go back after lunch and wait for an opening. Luckily I have a book to read.
They had some code that they wanted me to scan on my cell phone, but when I mentioned that I don't have a smart phone all these women on my left and right were either smiling or laughing.
Since I'm a drama queen I pulled out my near antique flip phone to show it off and a women who was just smiling started laughing and then another woman further away social distancing another 6 feet away laughed.
One woman said no one uses those old phones anymore, and I replied, "I do I'm a cave man."
So I hammed it up a bit.
So my full basement is a square 26x26 with 7 foot ceilings. There is a center chimney and of course the oil burner vents into it. Then around the perimeter is a black pipe manifold to distribute hot water to radiators, so there is about a 7x11 section of the basement where I can have full 7 foot ceilings.
I have to deal with a house that was built over 100 years ago and its limitations.
So I was thinking, "What would Devil Christian do?" So Hill-Billy Calvin-August figures that since the sound room is so small that I can't store all my guitars and amps inside the room that I can build exterior storage on two of the walls.
Acoustically this will work like the cement stucco on the exterior of the house that works as insulation and sound proofing. A bonus is that the added mass hung on the room's exterior walls will lower the rooms resonance and lower the reflected transmission of sound due to having a lower "Q."
Bonus is I still have lots of ELFA shelving left over that I can recycle.
The porch basement is about 6 1/2 x15, so area wise it is a skinny bitch like me, but the floor is uneven and the ceiling height only about 6 1/2 feet. I would have to insulate the piss out of the porch basement... but it could easily become a wet darkroom.
So the other choice is a 6x10-11 section, but that would be a dry darkroom. Hmmm...
From MFM's educating me with some info he mailed me I learned how condensation is a problem and why one should not use fiberglass mats against cement walls. Rigid foam should be used instead to avoid promoting mold.
So building a free standing sound room and dry darkroom make sense even though rather unconventional so there is little risk of trapping moisture. I'll still use rigid foam for insurance even though it would be vented like a roof with free air circulation.
So after I get vaccinated I'll be heading home.
Happy-happy.
I wrote an interesting and profound post to respond to a post my friend Murray posted today in the Happy Birthday thread that our frien Robert started.
It is as true as somewhat an exaggeration because the thoughts have distilled and been concentrated, but the real truth is spoken.
In a ways my gainful employment has been a long-long performance piece that I should win an Emmy Award for.
At my present job they wanted someone with a Masters Degree in Electronic Engineering. I only went to a 6 month vocational school to learn electronics. For me the job interview was more like an audition.
Perhaps I was better looking than the guy who worked at IBM that had cyclotron experience and a Masters Degree in EE from Oxford no less.
Somehow I wrote a great cover letter, even though I did not have my MFA yet, that promoted my Ivy League work experience working at a Fortune 500 Company called Grumman that was the 4th largest Military Contractor in the U.S., and two National Labs.
I bragged that I got an education you could not get in Grad School, and that I worked one on one with PhD's doing research in broad areas of science like solid state physics, optics, chemistry, and of course in nuclear physics labs.
So over twenty years ago I got this job, and it was being a poser and acting. Where is my academy award for best actor?
I find this to be pretty funny. Somehow I pulled it off.
And as far as being annoying, just ask my old boss who hired me. He ended up hating me and mentioned many times that he made a big mistake. LOL. "You are so lazy," he would say. I took the ball and then ran with it. That's kinda how the "Lazy-Slacker" riff got started.
How-Weird eventually had a heart attack, he didn't blame that on me though, although when in front of a bunch of nurses I got blamed for his high blood pressure.
We were donating blood and he was ranting on how good looking he is, then I turn to all the nurses an do an open poll and start a beauty pagant of sorts by asking the group of nurses "Who is the better looking man, me or my boss."
So the response was unamomous that I am the better looking man: younger; taller; nice hair; better build...
Oh how these women flattered me. LOL.
My boss was kinda pissed.
"I'm so jealous," he said.
When a phlabotomist took his blood pressure it was elevated, and she mentioned that he should go see his doctor.
That's when How-Wierd kinda lost it and shouted, "My blood pressure is high because of him."
IMHO you kinda have to be either a huge looser, a big jerk, or both not to get along with me. How-Wierd was both a loser and a jerk.
In the end he screwed himself. "Time is the best weapon," is an old Chinese expression.
Ha-ha I win.
Cal
So they are trying to vaccinate 1,400 people today, and I am one of them. There is a bit of a pile-up, and I have to go back after lunch and wait for an opening. Luckily I have a book to read.
They had some code that they wanted me to scan on my cell phone, but when I mentioned that I don't have a smart phone all these women on my left and right were either smiling or laughing.
Since I'm a drama queen I pulled out my near antique flip phone to show it off and a women who was just smiling started laughing and then another woman further away social distancing another 6 feet away laughed.
One woman said no one uses those old phones anymore, and I replied, "I do I'm a cave man."
So I hammed it up a bit.
So my full basement is a square 26x26 with 7 foot ceilings. There is a center chimney and of course the oil burner vents into it. Then around the perimeter is a black pipe manifold to distribute hot water to radiators, so there is about a 7x11 section of the basement where I can have full 7 foot ceilings.
I have to deal with a house that was built over 100 years ago and its limitations.
So I was thinking, "What would Devil Christian do?" So Hill-Billy Calvin-August figures that since the sound room is so small that I can't store all my guitars and amps inside the room that I can build exterior storage on two of the walls.
Acoustically this will work like the cement stucco on the exterior of the house that works as insulation and sound proofing. A bonus is that the added mass hung on the room's exterior walls will lower the rooms resonance and lower the reflected transmission of sound due to having a lower "Q."
Bonus is I still have lots of ELFA shelving left over that I can recycle.
The porch basement is about 6 1/2 x15, so area wise it is a skinny bitch like me, but the floor is uneven and the ceiling height only about 6 1/2 feet. I would have to insulate the piss out of the porch basement... but it could easily become a wet darkroom.
So the other choice is a 6x10-11 section, but that would be a dry darkroom. Hmmm...
From MFM's educating me with some info he mailed me I learned how condensation is a problem and why one should not use fiberglass mats against cement walls. Rigid foam should be used instead to avoid promoting mold.
So building a free standing sound room and dry darkroom make sense even though rather unconventional so there is little risk of trapping moisture. I'll still use rigid foam for insurance even though it would be vented like a roof with free air circulation.
So after I get vaccinated I'll be heading home.
Happy-happy.
I wrote an interesting and profound post to respond to a post my friend Murray posted today in the Happy Birthday thread that our frien Robert started.
It is as true as somewhat an exaggeration because the thoughts have distilled and been concentrated, but the real truth is spoken.
In a ways my gainful employment has been a long-long performance piece that I should win an Emmy Award for.
At my present job they wanted someone with a Masters Degree in Electronic Engineering. I only went to a 6 month vocational school to learn electronics. For me the job interview was more like an audition.
Perhaps I was better looking than the guy who worked at IBM that had cyclotron experience and a Masters Degree in EE from Oxford no less.
Somehow I wrote a great cover letter, even though I did not have my MFA yet, that promoted my Ivy League work experience working at a Fortune 500 Company called Grumman that was the 4th largest Military Contractor in the U.S., and two National Labs.
I bragged that I got an education you could not get in Grad School, and that I worked one on one with PhD's doing research in broad areas of science like solid state physics, optics, chemistry, and of course in nuclear physics labs.
So over twenty years ago I got this job, and it was being a poser and acting. Where is my academy award for best actor?
I find this to be pretty funny. Somehow I pulled it off.
And as far as being annoying, just ask my old boss who hired me. He ended up hating me and mentioned many times that he made a big mistake. LOL. "You are so lazy," he would say. I took the ball and then ran with it. That's kinda how the "Lazy-Slacker" riff got started.
How-Weird eventually had a heart attack, he didn't blame that on me though, although when in front of a bunch of nurses I got blamed for his high blood pressure.
We were donating blood and he was ranting on how good looking he is, then I turn to all the nurses an do an open poll and start a beauty pagant of sorts by asking the group of nurses "Who is the better looking man, me or my boss."
So the response was unamomous that I am the better looking man: younger; taller; nice hair; better build...
Oh how these women flattered me. LOL.
My boss was kinda pissed.
"I'm so jealous," he said.
When a phlabotomist took his blood pressure it was elevated, and she mentioned that he should go see his doctor.
That's when How-Wierd kinda lost it and shouted, "My blood pressure is high because of him."
IMHO you kinda have to be either a huge looser, a big jerk, or both not to get along with me. How-Wierd was both a loser and a jerk.
In the end he screwed himself. "Time is the best weapon," is an old Chinese expression.
Ha-ha I win.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
My shoulder was unusually sore from the Covid Vaccine injection Friday night. Usually I suffer no discomfort when I get vaccinations and Flu shots.
So it was at a level where you might be bruised fro getting punched or kicked in the shoulder.
On the home front "Maggie" and I are finding shooting content for posting on her blog or Instagram is kinda stale and we have grown to hate it.
She just submitted a book proposal to her Literary Agent and also multiple Television Producers have been contacting her about creating a series. One pitch looks to becoming real.
On Saturday I drove to Dave's house out on Long Island to pick up some of my gear. I filled the Audi A4 with amps, guitars and a bass. Been without them for a decade.
I still have more gear stored at another friend's house on Long Island.
So now we are planning out building a Bluestone patio, getting the front stoop replaced, and building a Pergola for either Clematiis, Wisteria, or climbing roses.
I have lots of concrete to break up. I have a Maul in the garage that was left behind by a former owner of long ago. Evidently this previous owner worked for Metro North and I have a maul stolen from them.
I saved a shelf that formerly was part of a shipping crate that has a rail yard address, and there is a cut-off section of rail road track in the garage that has been repurposed into an anvil.
So "Maggie" is stepping up and getting OCD about the Bluestone pation, the Pergola and setting up the back yard. It took a while for her to realize that this stuff is more vital than the interior decorating she has been obsessing about.
Meanwhile I'm planning on replacing the ceilings in the front hallway (asbestos tiles) and the ceiling in the dining room (tiles), the kitchen ceiling, plywood with wood strips, and the hanging ceiling in the front porch.
Bought lots of the tools required to put up sheet-rock, and a lot of them I already owned like Milwaukee screw guns. I just have to rent a truck and bring home a load of sheet-rock and plywood.
The idea here is to prep everything so I can call a plaster guy to do a skim coat and then a finish coat of plaster.
The front porch will get a planked wooden ceiling that will get painted a light color sky blue according to Maggie. I'll insulate the ceiling, and when I get a chance the porch floor via the porch basement.
The soil that I will excavate to lay down the Bluestone will get recycled for terracing the back-backyard beyond the south fence where my property extends with an 6-8 foot level landing like the rest of the yard before descending down to Dickey Brook and a rather large bog.
A major paint company could be a source of a job, and some home furnishing retailers as well.
So now a pivot of sorts.
A summer task is to strip all the raise panel doors, the original pocket doors, and all the original moldings. Lead paint...
What is great about this house is that it retains much of the original details, and that it never was gut renovated. A house like this is not so easy to find.
With Biden and Harris it is just a matter of time before tax subsidies will become available for me to do a 10 kilowatt solar installation. The rear roof is oriented perfectly south, and the area has more than the required square area for an ideal installation.
Pretty much good timing, and this Baby-Victorian was a very lucky find. Already the home presents itself like an episode of "Escape To the Country" where rural homes are sort out by urban dwellers in the United Kingdom.
Calvin-August
So it was at a level where you might be bruised fro getting punched or kicked in the shoulder.
On the home front "Maggie" and I are finding shooting content for posting on her blog or Instagram is kinda stale and we have grown to hate it.
She just submitted a book proposal to her Literary Agent and also multiple Television Producers have been contacting her about creating a series. One pitch looks to becoming real.
On Saturday I drove to Dave's house out on Long Island to pick up some of my gear. I filled the Audi A4 with amps, guitars and a bass. Been without them for a decade.
I still have more gear stored at another friend's house on Long Island.
So now we are planning out building a Bluestone patio, getting the front stoop replaced, and building a Pergola for either Clematiis, Wisteria, or climbing roses.
I have lots of concrete to break up. I have a Maul in the garage that was left behind by a former owner of long ago. Evidently this previous owner worked for Metro North and I have a maul stolen from them.
I saved a shelf that formerly was part of a shipping crate that has a rail yard address, and there is a cut-off section of rail road track in the garage that has been repurposed into an anvil.
So "Maggie" is stepping up and getting OCD about the Bluestone pation, the Pergola and setting up the back yard. It took a while for her to realize that this stuff is more vital than the interior decorating she has been obsessing about.
Meanwhile I'm planning on replacing the ceilings in the front hallway (asbestos tiles) and the ceiling in the dining room (tiles), the kitchen ceiling, plywood with wood strips, and the hanging ceiling in the front porch.
Bought lots of the tools required to put up sheet-rock, and a lot of them I already owned like Milwaukee screw guns. I just have to rent a truck and bring home a load of sheet-rock and plywood.
The idea here is to prep everything so I can call a plaster guy to do a skim coat and then a finish coat of plaster.
The front porch will get a planked wooden ceiling that will get painted a light color sky blue according to Maggie. I'll insulate the ceiling, and when I get a chance the porch floor via the porch basement.
The soil that I will excavate to lay down the Bluestone will get recycled for terracing the back-backyard beyond the south fence where my property extends with an 6-8 foot level landing like the rest of the yard before descending down to Dickey Brook and a rather large bog.
A major paint company could be a source of a job, and some home furnishing retailers as well.
So now a pivot of sorts.
A summer task is to strip all the raise panel doors, the original pocket doors, and all the original moldings. Lead paint...
What is great about this house is that it retains much of the original details, and that it never was gut renovated. A house like this is not so easy to find.
With Biden and Harris it is just a matter of time before tax subsidies will become available for me to do a 10 kilowatt solar installation. The rear roof is oriented perfectly south, and the area has more than the required square area for an ideal installation.
Pretty much good timing, and this Baby-Victorian was a very lucky find. Already the home presents itself like an episode of "Escape To the Country" where rural homes are sort out by urban dwellers in the United Kingdom.
Calvin-August
Phil_F_NM
Camera hacker
I think it was anthrax booster #6 and #7 that left a hard golfball in my shoulder. These were given at 6 month intervals, usually in the left shoulder, but when I presented my left arm to the corpsman, it was noted how hard the knot was in the bit of muscle over my bony arm, so I got the next injection in the right arm and had a matching set of golfballs in my shoulders. I got a total of 13 anthrax vaccines while I was in the Navy, along with maybe 50 or so other shots for who knows what.
Phil Forrest
Phil Forrest
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
So don't tell "Maggie," but it seems my tiny house is constraining my style and limiting what I can do due to space constraints.
Devil Christian made it clear that you really can't go "net-zero" or go off the grid retrofitting an old house, and it is clear that to really make an ennergy efficient dwelling/studio that new modern construction, design and materials are required.
Not really sure if Post Covid Pandemic if WFH will remain the trend or how much it might moderate, but there will always be artists who would like to have a separated work studio.
So I wonder is I should build out something on the Back-Backyard... Perhaps a barn with a full bath and a bedroom that could also serve as a guest house.
It makes sense to use the garage as a garage for the Audi, but also as a warehouse and wood working shop with a table saw, drill press, sander, jointer. Pretty much I want to have the ability to make custom frames and build things like cabinets and furniture. Would be great to have a shop where I could build guitars.
I guess still want to do a Crazy Dan of sorts and fully exploit my digital negative capabilities to exploit contact printing for analog printing. I would need a rather large vacuum frame and a series of huge trays. "Crazy-good," I say.
Realize that I'm an hour and 5 minute train ride to Grand Central.
Cal
Devil Christian made it clear that you really can't go "net-zero" or go off the grid retrofitting an old house, and it is clear that to really make an ennergy efficient dwelling/studio that new modern construction, design and materials are required.
Not really sure if Post Covid Pandemic if WFH will remain the trend or how much it might moderate, but there will always be artists who would like to have a separated work studio.
So I wonder is I should build out something on the Back-Backyard... Perhaps a barn with a full bath and a bedroom that could also serve as a guest house.
It makes sense to use the garage as a garage for the Audi, but also as a warehouse and wood working shop with a table saw, drill press, sander, jointer. Pretty much I want to have the ability to make custom frames and build things like cabinets and furniture. Would be great to have a shop where I could build guitars.
I guess still want to do a Crazy Dan of sorts and fully exploit my digital negative capabilities to exploit contact printing for analog printing. I would need a rather large vacuum frame and a series of huge trays. "Crazy-good," I say.
Realize that I'm an hour and 5 minute train ride to Grand Central.
Cal
Out to Lunch
Ventor
My two cents: when retiring while the benefits picture is not clear, go for a basic plan. Expand or downsize it whenever you have a better idea how many Dollars will be in your account. Cheers, OtL
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
OTL,
Good advice, especially since I'm not retired yet.
But here are my thoughts/worries: I worry about the deficit and inflation as well as the inflated stock markets.
I wonder when the shoe drops where can I put my money/wealth where not only where I can enjoy it, but where it will give me the best Return On Investment (ROI) as well as with any purchase be a store of value.
I believe I got a good deal on my small Baby-Victorian, and I am glad it is a modest house with assets like mucho original detail that can be preserved, and a bonus second building lot where I could build a second house.
My situation is that I have grown use to saving money and living well below my means, so my situation presents the problem of how to best spend/invest an annual surplus.
Since real estate is a hard asset, but a long term investment that is not so liquid, I see it as a place that might be good ballast in a time of high inflation.
Buying gold is an option, but it serves no purpose other than being a store of wealth and to battle inflation.
I will keep your good advice in mind though because it is very good advice.
Many thanks.
Calvin-August
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
So I direct you to:
https://www.youtube/watch?v=hf91Y7-WNyw&feature=emb_rel_end
I recommend if you have 1:10:47 of free time to view this performance in one sitting without interuption
Tommy Emmanual on 20 July 2019 at the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival held in upstate New York.
This is Pre-Pandemic and somehow I stumbled into this, but it captures a moment (pre-pandemic) of Hill-Billy music that I find interesting because it is rather sophisticated and is an evolved solo performance for the most part.
The encore is a guitar rendition of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" that seems hopeful and prophetic considering how we all are struggling to survive this pandemic.
Also there is this interesting rendition of a Beatles medley that begins with an instrumental rendition of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," but maybe it is my learning disability that I hear parts of "Here Comes The Sun" woven into that section of the front section of the Beatles medley.
This is an interesting twist where within a solo instrumental performance I kinda hear "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Here Comes The Sun" super imposed upon each other.
How iconic to capture a moment that rings true the confusion and contrast of today as we deal with a pandemic.
Great art can involve yoking opposites.
Anyways I though I would share this. I believe it involves "Divine Intervention."
Know that the way I stumbled into this was by digging into a 3/4 sized guitar mad by a boutique guitar company called Santa Cruz, and the guitar I am interested in is called a "Firefly."
Back 100 and more years ago guitars were smaller. Today we call them "Parlor Guitars."
Calvin-August
https://www.youtube/watch?v=hf91Y7-WNyw&feature=emb_rel_end
I recommend if you have 1:10:47 of free time to view this performance in one sitting without interuption
Tommy Emmanual on 20 July 2019 at the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival held in upstate New York.
This is Pre-Pandemic and somehow I stumbled into this, but it captures a moment (pre-pandemic) of Hill-Billy music that I find interesting because it is rather sophisticated and is an evolved solo performance for the most part.
The encore is a guitar rendition of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" that seems hopeful and prophetic considering how we all are struggling to survive this pandemic.
Also there is this interesting rendition of a Beatles medley that begins with an instrumental rendition of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," but maybe it is my learning disability that I hear parts of "Here Comes The Sun" woven into that section of the front section of the Beatles medley.
This is an interesting twist where within a solo instrumental performance I kinda hear "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Here Comes The Sun" super imposed upon each other.
How iconic to capture a moment that rings true the confusion and contrast of today as we deal with a pandemic.
Great art can involve yoking opposites.
Anyways I though I would share this. I believe it involves "Divine Intervention."
Know that the way I stumbled into this was by digging into a 3/4 sized guitar mad by a boutique guitar company called Santa Cruz, and the guitar I am interested in is called a "Firefly."
Back 100 and more years ago guitars were smaller. Today we call them "Parlor Guitars."
Calvin-August
Bob
Leica M User
Bob
Leica M User
