New York March NYC Meet-Up

MrFujicaman said:
Cal, stop by the county tax office-their maps will show if the land behind that house is public lands or not.
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MFM,

Many thanks. That provides certainty. I also want to know if the lot is actually two full small building plots. It would be a really big deal.

That super insulated barn off the grid could be in the future. Joe and John kinda know me, and all kinds of stuff like this seems to happen to me.

Someone said about me that I can step into crap and the next thing you know is I'm selling fertilizer.

That Jeep Scrambler I bought when it was 4 years old was owned by a little old lady from Santa Fe. She used it as a farm vehicle and it had under 20K miles when I bought it.

I drove to New York, but on the way the mufler went south. I bought a new one. Because of the dry New Mexico air and their lack of use of road salt I simply removed the old muffler clamps and reused them.

I only paid $5K for the Scrambler. It had a half cab which was the one I wanted. Jeep Scramblers are kinda rare and were only made for 3 years.

When I moved back to New York I would find notes on my wiper blades with telephone numbers just in case I wanted to sell.

Cal
 
Why is everyone changing their names? I blame Covid Iso-induced neurosis.
Simon Beecher has adopted a new surname since marrying, there was a spate of pen name changes a few months ago (Out to Lunch, Leica4ever, others), and now Calzone.
Cal, I thought you might change your name to Herbert, after the Czech-English actor famous for playing crazies.
Anyway I love your arcadian plans. The current buzzword for energy efficient houses is Passivhaus - super insulated, as you want, but also airtight like your lab cleanroom, with low-speed heat exchanging HVAC.
 
I've had my fun with fast vehicles or vehicles with extraordinarily overkill engines. Now I want a late 1950s Willys Wagon so bad. I'll stick a Mercedes Benz 5 cylinder turbo diesel in there and be done. That engine, in a 4x4 with a PTO would make for the ultimate truck. One step below the old "Deuce and a half" the US military used from the end of WWII until the HMMWV and LTVR replaced them in the 80s. A heck of a lot more reliable than the HMMWV pig that can't get out of its own way.
Maybe one day...
Phil Forrest
 
pyeh said:
Why is everyone changing their names? I blame Covid Iso-induced neurosis.
Simon Beecher has adopted a new surname since marrying, there was a spate of pen name changes a few months ago (Out to Lunch, Leica4ever, others), and now Calzone.
Cal, I thought you might change your name to Herbert, after the Czech-English actor famous for playing crazies.
Anyway I love your arcadian plans. The current buzzword for energy efficient houses is Passivhaus - super insulated, as you want, but also airtight like your lab cleanroom, with low-speed heat exchanging HVAC.
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Pete,

Herbert and I have similar names. You can call me Herbie, I don't mind. I have been called a lot of things. LOL.

Anyways my neurotic behavior and impulsive behavior pre-dates Covid.

Back in the seventies when my friends heard the song "Psyco Killer" they thought of me.

Huge bouncers would say, "I don't want any trouble," indicating they were afraid of me because they knew I was trouble, of course women love the bad boys.

Anyways "Maggie-Factor" is kinda raging. I can't wait till Friday to see this house that no one loves except Maggie and I. The Realtor wants to show us two other nice homes, but they are kinda straight laced.

Anyways a very odd Victorian pretty much on the outskirts of town and antisocially hidden and tucked away.

John calls my cameras "Monsters" because well they kinda are. LOL. This home has the same effect.

Kinda funny is the corner house just across the street sold in January 2020 for $25K more, but it is a 3 bedroom not 4; has 1 1/2 baths instead of 2, has a one car garage instead of a two, is not on a dead-end, the lot is smaller.

This home was built in 1910, my house 1912, and in the neighborhood these seem to be the anchor homes that are the oldest.

Then down the block a modest 3 bedroom/one bath sold recently for just $10K less then my across the street corner neighbor. The lot also is half the size of mine.

Maggie is already thinking we need a lap-pool and a period correct slate patio.

Don't tell Maggie, but I want to set up a small greenhouse, and perhaps a Koi pond along with a "swamp garden."

Just to be over the top the back-backyard past the garage is where I could plant a 40x100 field of Sunflowers. Call me a hill billy, but how cool is that? I won't initially have the time to waste moving the back-backyard. Planting a 40x100 is a lazy-slacker thing to do. LOL. Well anyways I think whatever I do will be a bit excessive, which seems to be a trademark and my branding. LOL.

Calvin-August
 
Phil_F_NM said:
I've had my fun with fast vehicles or vehicles with extraordinarily overkill engines. Now I want a late 1950s Willys Wagon so bad. I'll stick a Mercedes Benz 5 cylinder turbo diesel in there and be done. That engine, in a 4x4 with a PTO would make for the ultimate truck. One step below the old "Deuce and a half" the US military used from the end of WWII until the HMMWV and LTVR replaced them in the 80s. A heck of a lot more reliable than the HMMWV pig that can't get out of its own way.
Maybe one day...
Phil Forrest
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Phil,

I would love to add a Mercedes diesel to my "fleet" as a crusier.

I want a ratty pickup as a trashy beater, but I like old Harvester Internationals and of course Willies also.

My old Jeep Scrambler had 350 HP and 400 foot pounds of torque and could beat a SVO Mustang in a drag race. With a a 6.31 low granny gear and all the gear multiplication I had calculated I had 60 to one gearing as my rock crawling gear, but I kinda also that if I had enough traction I likely had enough torque and gear multiplication to say push over a telephone pole into a house of someone I didn't like. How hill-billy is that?

A Volvo 122 S would be replacing my first car. Could easily build out a 250 HP Ford 2.3 liter 4 cylander naturally asperated with dual Webbers, or perhaps a turbo 2.3 liter. Of course a World Class T5 tranny from the SVO unit.

Then I would have a "Sleeper" that had a monster motor or big crate engine.

A 356 Porshe would be cool.

Had a 1967 Mustang convertible.

One of my friends, John, told me about his P71, a Crown Vic Police Interceptor that he had. His wife hated it because of the beefy/harsh suspension. But it would be cool to be like in the "Blues Brothers."

As you can tell no new cars, but I would likely have one just to fill out the heard.

A lot of this "hoarding" is due to knowing poverty and depravity. This is my guess why I tend to do extreme things and the reason why I'm kinda capable of doing all kinds of crazy things.

BTW at a photo shoot where I was a model, Chris the photographer bought out his vintage 2 seater Mercedes coupe. I forgot the designation but it was the rarer special version with the oversized huge motor. Anyways this car was used as a prop, but it fit my style like a glove.

My friend Carl, a musician, is a Mercedes diesel fan. He told me stories of doing 140 late one night on the LIE heading to the Midtown Tunnel. All the truckers radio ahead to bear right, and as Carl blew by them they tooted their air horns.

Funny a week later Carl lost the brakes and had to replace the master cyclinder.

He ended up wrecking that Diesel: he made a choice when some driver did some dumb manuver and decided to have a head on collision with a wall rather than kill people. The Mercedes was totaled but he didn't even have a scratch.

I figure I have about 40-45 years left to do some really crazy things. I have a reputation you know. LOL.

BTW, "Don't tell Maggie."

Cal
 
"Maggie" has been bumping up. 746K followers.

Her work, even though now retired is picking up. Also now home improvement, home furnishings and the like seem to be lining up.

It would be really-really great if I got a free 10 Kilowatt solar array or a 60 foot lap pool. Work-Maggie-Work.

Perhaps I should do a blog: Hill-Billy-Calvin-August; or riff off "This Old House."

"Devil Christian" had a good domain name: www.LazySlackerCalvin.com. Pretty much a lifestyle journal/magazine. My original idea was "CalvinTheLazySlacker," but Christian taught me that shorter is better.

"Don't tell Maggie."

Augie
 
jsrockit said:
Retired for good or just until COVID is over?
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John,

"Maggie" retired from academia, but really with her blog she had two jobs.

Her blog keeps her busy, and her income remains still mighty huge/big. She is still busy, and last week she had a "beauty" shoot with a limited crew of 10 due to Covid. All wore masks and she was the "talent."

So she still has lots of work, but no job. Of course I get slaved to do all the photography. She earns more money than me by far and the year is not over.

Interesting enough is that a huge big box home improvement chain/store is already lined up for doing some work, and we don't even have a house yet. I do believe though that things will open up and expand to be more about lifestyle.

Separately my fooling around here, I'm kinda half serious of doing my own www.LazySlakerCalvin.com blog, even as a joke. I don't need the money. Life is that good. "Don't tell Maggie."

So if I can get carried away, it might not be so far fetched that we could get a line on decking, paving stone, garden supplies, appliances, plants, fencing, a greenhouse, solar panels, lap pool...

After we see the house and secure it I'll do the big reveal of why this house is so novel besides the location and geography. It has an odd curb appeal that shouts out that likely old hippies live there or the owners are definitely artists.

This is not your typical suburban home in the affluent Westchester suburbs.

I talked "Maggie" into hiring a PE (Professional Engineer) because I want to know all the defects up front. They kinda do forensics and document any issue or deficientcies. The house dates to 1912 and is over 100 years old.

Anyways I can see how people would find us interesting and our lifestyle, but I'm not so sure everyone will. I can see us being seen as being a lot different.

So if you can imagine not being confined or restricted to a 650 square foot 1-bedroom apartment in Madhattan how feral I can get. Like letting a wild animal out of a cage.

The house is 4 bedroom/2 full baths. Maggie claims the one bedroom that is the upstairs Re-Pun-Sal tower with an arch of huge windows for her home office; the smallest bedroom will serve as her "closet" for her clothes, shoes, and bags (likely might not big enough); a third bedroom is going to be a guest room; and finally a bedroom where Calvin-August can sleep. LOL.

She donated me the two car garage that will be a workspace and likely a woodworking studio with all high end Powermatic commerial/pro machines.

I have the full basement to do a "Crazy Dan" which means a mucho crazy photo studio and darkroom. I'm encouraged by the somewhat oversized windows along the foundation.

Of course there will be guitars, amps, bass'es, my tube stereo, and perhaps even a sound proof room. This means I need a dry basement. The house has a town sewer hookup.

I just created my own bubble to live in for the next 40-45 years. My wish is that they offer me a buyout on my pension not this year, but next year.

I have about a 40x100, the size of a building lot, that I call my back-back yard, that perhaps I could create a new identity as a farmer.

How crazy is it that I can have it all and still be just an hour's train ride to Grand Central.

It does seem like divine intervention, because in a ways this house seems engineered especially for me. Also this is true for "Maggie."

Cal
 
Calzone said:
My friend Carl, a musician, is a Mercedes diesel fan. He told me stories of doing 140 late one night on the LIE heading to the Midtown Tunnel. All the truckers radio ahead to bear right, and as Carl blew by them they tooted their air horns.

Funny a week later Carl lost the brakes and had to replace the master cyclinder.

He ended up wrecking that Diesel: he made a choice when some driver did some dumb manuver and decided to have a head on collision with a wall rather than kill people. The Mercedes was totaled but he didn't even have a scratch.
Cal
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Cal,

I’m glad you said wreck, when people drive like that they don’t have accidents.

Joe
 
jszokoli said:
Cal,

I’m glad you said wreck, when people drive like that they don’t have accidents.

Joe
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Joe,

Very true. Carl is kinda crazy for sure: a musician.

Like I say, "It takes one to know one."

I at least had enough sense that if I'm tempting death that I would not hurt anyone else.

In my Jeep Scrambler, pre-Corvette engine (100 HP 220 foot-pounds torque inline 258 cubic inch inline 6), I pegged the speedometer for an hour (for a hundred MPH) and drained a full 23 gallon tank of gas (hightest) in an hour, but I was on a highway cutting though desert and encounter no one.

Only other time a pegged the odometer was with my Volvo 122S, and that was going to Jones Beach 5 o'clock in the morning. When the toll booths came up I coasted though them doing 80 MPH.

Yeah I know we were high on drugs, and I was with two of my friends, but we were perhaps all 19 then.

Somehow we had hull-lucin-ated that there were fishing boats leaving Captree at 6:00 AM and we would miss the boat. LOL.

In te second story I look upon my friends as vol-N-tears... LOL.

Cal
 
Joe,

Another "Takes one to know one story." My friend Scott, a musician, did autocross. At one time he decided to go to some race driving school in Conn. They had formal classes and then track time where he would get to beat on a Dodge Viper.

How much fun is that? This is something I would love to do. "Don't tell Maggie."

So on the day of track-time it rained. Kinda ruined it for Scott.

BTW when I bought my 1984 Scrambler from the little old lady from Santa Fe, I was actually the first caller, but the second person to test drive the car. For some unknown reason my little old lady decided to sell me the Jeep.

The day all this happened was Christmas eve, and somehow I found the ad in a free printed advertising paper that would be comparable to "The Pennysaver."

How cool is that.

Similarly the Ti IBIS I bought off EBAY that was suggested by Scot Nicole the NORBA Trial Champion and owner of IBIS is a one off prototype Ti bike I got as a "Second Chance" bid because I lost in the initial bidding war, but the winner did not seal the deal.

How lucky am I.

"Divine intervention," I say, but also my crazy amount of luck does annoy many of my friends. "Why do they love me?" I say. LOL.

Augie AKA Cal

Another friend, white Mike (verses black Mike, due to working with both at Brookhaven National Labs), had a Olds 442 with the W68 package which was some optional girdle on the rear end to handle the monster torque of a 442.

Mike revealed that he was cruising in the middle lane on the Southern State Parkway, when this 911 Porsche pulls alongside in the left lane and throws down a gauntlet to challenge Mike's 442. Mike is just cruising with his family.

So Mike drops down to third and displays what he calls a "bunny hop" which lurches and chirps the tires at perhaps 60 MPH leaving the Porshe behind. The Porsche guy is kinda upset that he got humbled, and he wants another go at it to gain back his selfrespect, but Mike Bunny Hops him again and again, but now the Porsche driver is pissed and slamming his fist against the steering wheel.

So one of Mike's kids, the baby girl, laughs every time Mike does a bunny-hop. She loves it.

How do I get to know and meet all these crazies?

Augie
 
Way off-topic, but this guy who was a member of the racing team I also was a member of, Dave, I also knew because we both worked a Brookhaven National Labs. Dave is a PhD Scientist. He was also a crazy fast road racer.

So Dave owned a bungalow on Dune Road in the Hamptons. His neighbors were mansions. Basically he had one of if not the smallest house on Dune Road.

So I am getting to understand why I seem to know so many people and so many crazies. The world is not that big, and I kinda move around a lot.

Anyways what I find really weird is when people I don't know, know who I am, perhaps through other people. There is a buzz of sorts, kinda like all the people who knew who I was because I was the guy who put a Corvette engine into a Jeep Scramble, or the guy who gets all this cool stuff at Grumman and like Robinhood steals from the big business to donate to the small business, the skinny Chinese guy with the poneytail, or the Chinese guy who looks like the Latino guy named Max who works at Hempstead Harley and also Grumman.

The world is really not that big when you meet someone of another race that looks like you. It was kinda funny actually meeting Max. He was a "pony driver" a guy who rode around a propane powered cart that trailered airplane parts around an airplane factory that was within a building a quarter mile long and an eighth mile wide.

When I first worked at Grumman I worked in Plant 2, but years later when I was scrounging around the 500 acre site all these workers in Plant 2 called me Max and said hello, then I ran into Max.

So even in clubs and driving my Jeep even all these hard core Harley bikers waved to me. And this girl at a club kinda was hitting on me, asking if I worked at Hempstead Harley. Also some of my friends mentioned they saw my twin brother.

Augie
 
Calzone said:
John,

"Maggie" retired from academia, but really with her blog she had two jobs.

Her blog keeps her busy, and her income remains still mighty huge/big. She is still busy, and last week she had a "beauty" shoot with a limited crew of 10 due to Covid. All wore masks and she was the "talent."

So she still has lots of work, but no job. Of course I get slaved to do all the photography. She earns more money than me by far and the year is not over.
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Ah, I thought she retired from modeling too. That was my confusion.
 
jsrockit said:
Ah, I thought she retired from modeling too. That was my confusion.
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John,

Things are less frantic, but the gigs are the higher end of luxury. In a way less work and higher pay.

Also she is at a point where she turns down gigs for political or social justice reasons. It is really powerful being able to pick and choose. She is kinda picky, and that suits her name as a "Maggie."

I'm really excited about seeing this house tomorrow. I hope all this works out. I verified my pre-approval yesterday, I have no lease, we have a big down payment, and another realtor pointed out we don't have to sell a home.

Augie
 
Calzone said:
John,

Things are less frantic, but the gigs are the higher end of luxury. In a way less work and higher pay.

Also she is at a point where she turns down gigs for political or social justice reasons. It is really powerful being able to pick and choose. She is kinda picky, and that suits her name as a "Maggie."

I'm really excited about seeing this house tomorrow. I hope all this works out. I verified my pre-approval yesterday, I have no lease, we have a big down payment, and another realtor pointed out we don't have to sell a home.

Augie
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Good luck with everything 🍻
 
jsrockit said:
Good luck with everything 🍻
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John,

Thanks.

I do feel lucky, but I require a dry basement. I'm encouraged by the windows around the foundation that the basement is at least a standup.

I convinced "Maggie" that we should pay extra to have a PE (Professional Engineer) to perform the house inspection. On a house built in 1912 I want the full report on any defects or deficientcies to avoid surprises.

I know someone who bought a house and later learned shortly thereafter that the entire house had to be rewired at a cost of $30K.

Foundation cracks that need to be sealed could cost $10K. Excavation is required.

Phil mentioned $20K for mold remediation.

Anyways this process is a bit fraught. I'm a clever guy, but I'm not a licensed plumber, or licensed electrician, or licensed contractor who is an expert. I would be less worried with a newer house. With an over 100 year old house anything is possible and likely probable.

Also in Beacon it seems there are indications of some deals unwinding and that the market might have peaked. A house that was in a bidding war now is back on the market. Even some forecloses were added. Maggie reports 2 were added today.

Cal
 
Paying a "PE" a $1000 is way better than finding out after you move in that the house needs tens of thousands in repairs. Look at it as spending to save money.
 
MrFujicaman said:
Paying a "PE" a $1000 is way better than finding out after you move in that the house needs tens of thousands in repairs. Look at it as spending to save money.
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MFM,

Even "Maggie" understood that.

We are both kinda obsessed. I discovered WWW.EndlessPools.com as an alternative to a lap pool. Smaller footprint, a different approach, and a different landscape and water feature.

"Maggie" also in into being green, so tonight I can tell her about natural pools that create an ecosystem to filter the water and UV light to sanitize the water. I'm cool with the low energy (cheap-cheap-cheap) and also creating habitat.

Landscaping fits into my swamp garden. BTW I created a swamp garden in the backyard of the rowhouse we rented in Greenpoint. It was really beautiful and different that in a tiny place I could create all these envionments and separate spaces.

I love having a backyard, and a second back-backyard. The garage which is set into the property a bit is a transition. There are three sets of concrete paving blocks that kinda divide the two backyards into thirds with these narrow paths.

The first third I would call the first backyard and the other two thirds the back-backyard.

There is this mighty short chain link fence that starts behind the two car garage with a pyramid style roof. Maggie asked what I would do about the fence. Mighty clever, but also the slackers way: low maintenance and looks good.

I kinda like it because it establishes a border and a boundry, but I would plant ivy so it would create a thin green wall that would draw the eye and kind be a low maintenance way of having a groomed look of a narrow hedge of sorts that would add green all year round.

Last night Maggie and I talked about a lap pool. I already had an overview of our lot, the garage placement, that I sketched out. I had a post-it cut down to be a sticker to where she might want the pool. Her idea was to fit it in the first backyard to be close to the house, and this would limit the length to 30 feet.

Today I looked at the streetview again and see that the first backyard is not big enough to accommodate a transverse 30 foot lap pool.

I had envisioned perhaps of maybe 40 feet more towards the back to create a magical gardening feature that would be a grand water feature and a separate enviornment. To me this would be a bolder statement and would be separate from the house, but Maggie wants it closer to the house.

Towards the rear my neighbor has trees that offers more privacy and seclusion. Don't forget that although I'm well known that I am truely a loner at heart.

Then again a lap pool can be a really nice feature that you might not want to hide away, and also might be cozier closer to the house.

The Endless Pool with its lower volume of water, smaller footprint, likely could get 8-9 months use outdoors, or a dwelling or even the 2 car garage could be made into a year round spa.

Augie
 
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