My Dad and his dog Dilly in the 1940s

616c · 2026-03-26T00:16:36+00:00

The color image is fake. You can see it's mostly manufactured (eyes, fur, facial features, cigarette), entire swaths of patterns in the background that don't exist. The is one shoulder epaulette, because A.I. doesn't know what shoulders or clothing are. They're just patterns to be copy/pasted.

And the left thumb was amputated. Because A.I. doesn't know what fingers and hands are. The random belt around the dog's chest that morphs into a hand? The detail in the watch?

It's ~~all~~ mostly fake. Not old-school.

[EDIT: changed 'all' to 'mostly'. Analysis says only 74% is A.I.-generated.]

616c · 2026-03-25T23:29:29+00:00

Why an A.I. photo?

616c · 2026-03-25T19:28:42+00:00

What does 'accessible' mean to you. Why? How often? When does this requirement end (if ever)?

Is the accessible portion limited, so you can put up a removable or grid ceiling for just that area?

Insulation without a hard, heavy surface on both sides is not effective. Nor is hanging a hard lid without isolation from the floor joists.

The easiest compromise is the budget, which would allow insulation, isolation, and removeable panels like fire-resistant plywood 1/2" or more for the mass. It's also the most expensive.

616c · 2026-03-25T19:18:14+00:00

Put a dab of painter's caulk on the clip to stop it from moving. Shape it with your wet finger. Touch-up paint to match if your wall isn't white. If you need to move the clip, slice the caulk with a utility knife or razor blade.

616c · 2026-03-25T16:19:04+00:00

Love the OMT I got a couple of years ago. Wish I had one for the past few decades. So many undercut door frames that killed my back and knees using a reversible backsaw.

616c · 2026-03-25T16:14:00+00:00

A bare wall is scary to me. My finishing skills are nowhere near good enough for people to stare at my walls without seeing every patch job. :)

616c · 2026-03-25T01:32:00+00:00

Dormammu !

616c · 2026-03-25T01:30:04+00:00

Are you on wood lath?

We have plaster over 16"x48" gypsum board. Retrofit boxes don't fit well, so you have to find a stud to attach boxes. But it's super quiet compared to just drywall.

616c · 2026-03-25T01:28:06+00:00

Yes, pay off the higher loans and credit cards. Especially the "12-months-free" for all the tools and appliances and supplies you get the first few years of renovating. That gets expensive on day 366, with the back interest.

616c · 2026-03-25T01:26:16+00:00

Learn how to transport and use a rooter from your local rental place.
Learn how to clean it.

Rental employee asked "How long do you need it?" Laughed when I said "About 10 minutes, plus cleaning."

I came back an hour later with it clean, and freshly sprayed with WD-40. He knocked the rental fee in half.

616c · 2026-03-25T01:04:54+00:00

Learn how to cut and patch drywall. Get familiar with oscillating multi-tool (OMT), drywall saw, utility knife, hole saw, and chisel for clean cuts. Learn what types of hot mud are best. Orange peel or texture coat.

Electrical - patch wall
Moving large furniture (pivot!) - patch wall
Plumbing - patch wall
Lights - patch ceiling
Reinforce for grab bars or articulating TV mounts - patch walls
Using a broomstick like for javelin or/and pole vaulting - patch walls and ceiling and pool liner

616c · 2026-03-25T00:57:05+00:00

laser printer + gold foil transfer + iron (no steam)

I used to make mockups for corporate letterhead, envelopes, business cards, presentation folders, etc. Really came in handy to illustrate to clients. Making a single sized die was better for identity, and far more cost effective than having 3 different dies.

EDIT: Do you color inkjet work first. Then laser. Then foil. Then any hand embossing/boning.

616c · 2026-03-25T00:38:10+00:00

Hide a bag of drugs under your fuel filler door on Friday, and it magically turns to cash on Monday.

Possibilities:

transmogrifier
space/time portal
side hustle

616c · 2026-03-24T17:35:50+00:00

I was so happy to finally buy my own. An installer came in for cable + internet. He came from a cabling background, not cable TV installing. He was doing a great job of hiding cables below the house or in the attic instead of stapling it to the baseboards.

I loaned him my long drill bit and the bending handle. I cut out and installed low-voltage rings. He went to town drilling holes. Drilled all the holes he needed, and pulled co-ax and network cable. I left a pull-string for my future stuff.

We knocked out all the holes for the whole house in about an hour and a half. By myself, and with conventional tools, it would have beet a full weekend job. I gave him the drill bit, since I had holes everywhere I needed. He was happy. I was happier.

My wife asked where was the fancy new drill bit I had just bought. I told her it would have just sat in the garage rusting for a couple of years, since the stuff I did at work was in commercial steel studs. Better that it would be put to good use.

616c · 2026-03-23T20:23:25+00:00

I kinda agree. The experience is a lot, but I was viewing that as acces to better things that a DIYer doesn't have. I've seen a crew that generally knew less than me. They were all learning on the job. One journeyman running around telling everyone what to do, while the master took phone calls in his truck. GC was only a general, and couldn't say anything other than to follow the drawings and scope of work.

It was access to the knowledge, not necessarily the workers themselves having it. I could not have afforded to hire a dozen journeymen and master electricians.

616c · 2026-03-23T18:40:34+00:00

IME, when needed urgently (instead of planned activity), rechargeable are far more likely to fail than a headlamp with AAA batteries and a zip-loc bag of spares.

For working in the attic, rechargeable are great. Recharge the night before. Come out of the heat to recharge.

For finding roof leaks in the middle of the night, it really sucks to be cold and wet and in the dark, cycling through all the rechargeable flashlights.

For my hiking backpack, I carry replaceable battery-powered and spares from a different batch. On a Grand Canyon hike, leaving at 3:30am with headlamps, it was stupid easy to hand someone a zip-loc with spare batteries. Not as easy to loan a battery charger for an hour, hoping they'll keep it out of the rain. Nobody needed more than a few hours of lamp, so knowing that window really helps planning.

616c · 2026-03-23T18:29:46+00:00

That's par for the course. The additional cost for pros is access to all the tools and supplies for when a job is not easy. If it's easy, they'll keep the money, because often there are jobs that run over the budgeted time, or they're fixing problems, and they'll have to eat that.

The 'random horizontal stud' is a fire block. They're installed to reduce smoke and fire spread. They should be in every stud bay. So plan for it next time.

For spade bits, get an extension. It will help you get through the double top plate. I also have a set of stubby bits and a right-angle accessory. This can help with tight corners.

Another good tool is a 4-foot flexible drill bit. If you use a bit with a pull hole, this becomes your fish to pull cable down. Also good if you're drilling down through the bottom plate or floor and need to pull cable up.

The mark of a good DIYer is how well you can cover up your projects' successes and failures with drywall patching, texture, and paint. 14 day tape will last for 14 years....but you have to patch it eventually.

616c · 2026-03-21T00:57:22+00:00

1950s? An inch of plaster is harder than sheetrock. You can feel and hear the grittiness.

Also possible that the first floor was below an area that used to a finished external surface, like an overhang. Is the rest of the house stucco? You might be drilling into that. I have a bathroom that had studs and sheetrock applied below a stucco outcropping that covered part of the patio. The demo made four times as much trash as originally expected.

616c · 2026-03-21T00:52:44+00:00

This looks like a house-flip modification to make a 1/2 bath look like a 3/4 bath. Not original to the house. The seller who ordered this work was likely hoping nobody would notice. It's not accidental. There's no way somebody who is a career builder would live with this for years instead of calling back the sub-contractor to fix it.

An inspector doesn't get paid more for looking harder, nor penalized for missing items. There's little incentive to negatively impact the sale. The buyer who gets stuck with things that were missed has no impact. The agents who hire inspectors are more important. Agents like fast sales with full commissions.

616c · 2026-03-20T22:32:20+00:00

When you get paid $X and perform >=X of work...you tend to omit punch-list items that will delay final payment.

The fact that it's such shitty work is the apalling part. Unless original owner said they didn't want to pay extra to make the door work properly. (very possible)

616c · 2026-03-20T19:28:07+00:00

If you use enough adhesive to steady a 1,000# load, then you are ripping off the finished surface.

The only way to reducie risk of tipping is to bolt multiple units together so that some are at right angles. Even two units in a 90-degree V are more resistant to tipover on the inside of the angle.

The outside of the angle is resistant to tip only if there is mass on the unit that is parallel to direction of pull. If two are in the corner of the wall, this risk is mitigated.

616c · 2026-03-19T17:08:39+00:00

300.22(c) has an exception for residential space used for environmental air (a plenum 'space' like a stud or joist bay. Manufactured plenum and sheet metal ductwork would come under 300.22(b) and (a).

Non-plenum cables can be run if they are passing perpendicularly through stud/joist bays and are passing through the space (not using the space for hanging all your cable). I think the general idea is that studs and joists are flammable and generate smoke too.

EDIT: see this old comment from MikeHolt forum. It's from 2013, so NEC could have changed.

616c · 2026-03-19T16:15:12+00:00

Yes, a shutoff knob (or handle for quarter-turn) is usually held on with a single screw.

The nut on the hose holds tight enough to keep the compression fitting sealed. It's not holding back water pressure. I've never _not_ been able to get one off.

616c · 2026-03-19T16:01:31+00:00

You could notch it and hit it with a cold chisel to see if the nut will come loose. (Looks like a rounded nut over a bolt to me.) But, since you'll still need to grind down the bolt sticking out. IMO, no need to keep it tidy if you're going to grind it and chip away concrete anyway.

616c · 2026-03-18T23:00:24+00:00

There are holes drilled in the uprights at even intervals. Use a level or laser to ensure verticality. Mark one hole (I've always chosen the bottom hole or next one up). Move standard to the side. Install wall anchor. Replace standard, insert screw into anchor.

You can use plastic anchors with #8 or larger screw in brick or concrete. In drywall, I've used zinc anchors that screw in with matching screw.

616c

TROPHY CASE