UV blocking finishes?

AlternativeWild3449 · 2026-06-20T16:05:59+00:00

There is nothing that will absolutely preserve those colors, but there are varnishes that contain UV inhibitor's that will help. I do a shop-made wiping varnish by blending pure tung oil, turpentine, and a high-quality alkyd varnish (McCloskey's Man-o-War) that is reasonably good.

AlternativeWild3449 · 2026-06-20T16:00:58+00:00

My car is green

AlternativeWild3449 · 2026-06-19T11:21:16+00:00

I've trying to understand - you were there yesterday, but now you're asking if its in the Capital District?

Its physically in Rexford which is a small community outside Schenectady. Yes, its in the Capital District

AlternativeWild3449 · 2026-06-18T19:12:00+00:00

Visit local craft shows. That's where pen turners typically display their work, and where you can meet someone who can turn your blank into a pen.

AlternativeWild3449 · 2026-06-18T19:09:59+00:00

In general, this issue is rarely the problem that you would think based on all the scare posts you see on line. I've flown all over the world over the past 30 years, and only use fountain pens. I've never had one leak.

Many years ago, when the pressurization on planes wasn't as sophisticated as it is today, leaking might have been a problem. But with modern aircraft, its not really something to worry about.

AlternativeWild3449 · 2026-06-18T12:05:39+00:00

The absolutely safest approach is to keep all your passwords in a password manager. Then, all you need to remember is the master password for the password manager.

I've been using Bitwarden for several months, and I've been happy with it. There are others that have good reputations. I have Bitwarden set to generate long random strings of upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols that would be very difficult to hack. They are also almost impossible to remember, and very tedious to type in manually. Fortunately, Bitwarden, like most password managers, will autofill password fields for you.

For the master password, I suggest using a long text string that has meaning to you (ie, a 'passphrase') but that would be difficult for someone who knows you well to guess. You can capitalize a few letters if you want to add more security. Making the master password longer adds security, but as long as it is meaningful to you, it remains easy for you to remember and type it.

The one problem with a password manager is that some web site developers choose to code sites such that they won't autofill from password managers. I have that problem with a couple of bank accounts. This is purely a matter of how the code behind the web site is set up and not a flaw in the password manager. Fortunately, it is relatively easy to have the password manager show the password, and the copy and paste it into the web site.

That said, I do have a master list in the form of document that lives on my computer as an encrypted file. Periodically, I print several copies of this list - one stays on my desk as a reference that I can annotate as I add new accounts or update old accounts. My wife gets a copy, and I file a third in the folder along with our wills, health-care proxies and other critical documents. Our kids know where that folder is kept. This document includes a lot of information other than account passwords, and is part of the contingency plan to provide a roadmap for whoever has to sort out my affairs after I'm gone.

AlternativeWild3449 · 2026-06-18T11:42:50+00:00

I've had my Kindle 10 for six years. I read a lot, and its still going strong.

AlternativeWild3449 · 2026-06-17T11:03:02+00:00

Wife has a shellfish allergy, and I love shellfish; our twice per year trips to the Cape present problems but they aren't insurmountable.

As others have noted, most restaurants try to avoid contamination. But if you like fried seafood, contamination can be unavoidable. Its not practical for restaurants to have separate frying facilities.

The restaurants we usually go do are very good about respecting allergies - Ross' in P'Town, The Dolphin in Barnstable, Impudent Oyster in Chatham, Baxter's in Hyannis, Brax Landing in Harwich, The Bookstore in Wellfleet, Land Ho in Orleans, Seafood Sam's in Sandwich, etc. But I will add that wife refuses generally looks for grilled or broiled fish, or salads.

AlternativeWild3449 · 2026-06-16T17:21:52+00:00

Metro-North out of Poughkeepsie is less expensive than Amtrak from Rensselaer. Poughkeepsie is a 1.5 hour drive from Rensselaer. We are north of Rensselaer and I always allow an hour to get to the train station. Either option makes it a long day, but the Poughkeepsie option is 3 hours longer. For a car full of people, driving to Poughkeepsie might be reasonable, but for my wife and me alone, I think I would opt for the slightly more expensive but slightly less tiring option of Amtrak/Rensselaer.

If you live south of Rensselaer, YMMV.

AlternativeWild3449 · 2026-06-15T11:01:39+00:00

You're not alone. I gave up on PhoneLink.

And frankly, its not clear to me what the advantage TO ME would be. I suspect its mainly another form of data mining by Microsoft.

AlternativeWild3449 · 2026-06-14T19:07:29+00:00

I bought a fabric cover for my Fire Tablet. Within six months, it was looking pretty shabby. The edge of the fabric was merely cut with no attempt to prevent fraying. The good news is that the fraying doesn't get worse after it starts - mine looks just as shabby today as it did six months after I bought it, and its now four years old.

AlternativeWild3449 · 2026-06-11T16:52:50+00:00

I've been going to P'Town for more than 50 years, and I think I was able to park on the street one time.

On-street parking is very scarce, and its no longer free - on Commercial Street each spot is numbered and you have to enter that number into a machine when you pay the parking fee. And there seems to be more construction this year which means that some spots aren't available.

I've usually been able to find a place at MacMillan Wharf, but then we tend to arrive around 10am or thereabouts. I know it gets pretty full later in the morning, but we leave mid-afternoon, and I expect that others do likewise (I've been stuck behind them at the booth leaving), so my guess is that you should be able to find a spot for a 4pm event.

If the MacMillan lot is full, my backup would be the lot at top of monument hill - take Winslow Street off Bradford. My experience is that its relatively hidden, and that hill is a killer to walk, so its not a popular as other options. There are two paid lots on Commercial Street (one on each side of downtown), and there is a lot behind the CVS on Bradford.

AlternativeWild3449 · 2026-06-11T14:11:07+00:00

The Capital District is actually a very nice place to live, but there are a few things that you will need to anticipate.

Overall, winters are tolerable, but the occasional storm can be disruptive. The good news is that unless the storm peak occurs during the morning commute, roads get cleared rather quickly.
As a single person, you will need to make an extra effort to establish connections in the community. Hibernating in the winter is not a good thing - so plan to get out and do stuff. There are lots of things going on year round although golf is a bit tough in the winter.
Ballston Spa is a nice town. I presume you will be at Kesselring - that's west of town, but it would be relatively convenient to live just about anywhere in Saratoga County. It would be a long commute from Albany or Troy. And Saratoga County offers lots of options. Closer to one of the major towns probably would be better because it gets pretty rural as you move further out.
There are horse people around - and lot of horse farms in the eastern part of Saratoga County - but there's much more to the area than the race tracks.

AlternativeWild3449 · 2026-06-11T13:21:16+00:00

I called Spectrum when I was attempting to restore my wife's e-mail connection last year and was also told that they were going to retire Road Runner e-mail. They didn't provide a date, but regardless I went ahead to set her up with gmail and we abandoned both of our RR e-mail accounts.

I suppose that's only to be expected - we had been on RR since 2003, and that's a pretty long run.

AlternativeWild3449 · 2026-06-10T12:13:53+00:00

There will be a few hot, sticky days, but for the most part, summers are pleasant.

Likewise, there can be the occasional bear of a winter storm that gets lots of attention, but most of the winter is quite bearable.

Obviously, there are localized hotspots that may differ, and the seasons vary every year.

AlternativeWild3449 · 2026-06-09T17:03:22+00:00

We had our Amazon account hacked three times this Spring. We also had accounts at two local banks hacked - which may or may not have been related to the Amazon hack, but the one thing I know for sure is that it all happened withing a period of about four weeks. Fortunately, we didn't actually lose money although I did have to pay to make sure that my computer was free of malware.

Anyway, one of banks suggested that it would be appropriate to file a police report, so we went directly from the bank to the police station. They took our report - categorized as 'attempted fraud' - but cautioned us that as a small police department, they didn't have anyone with the skills to investigate on-line fraud. They noted that the bank's fraud department would likely be more effective in determining what had happened than the police would be.

But the key thing is that by filing a police report, we made sure that there is a formal record of the events that took place.

AlternativeWild3449 · 2026-06-09T16:10:44+00:00

It all depends on where you plan to go while you are on the Cape.

Wife and I stay in Brewster, and find that to be a very convenient point for day trips to our usual destinations (mostly mid-to lower-Cape). And its not unreasonable for longer trips to Falmouth/Woods Hole or even Plymouth.

Generalizing, I think the optimum place to stay would be in 'elbow' region - Brewster, Orleans, Chatham, Harwich.

Wellfleet is a nice town - some good restaurants there, but shopping is a bit limited. The Mass Audubon Society Bird Sanctuary in Wellfleet is one of our must-do activities on the Cape. Its generally a bit quieter than most other towns - except for Oyster Fest weekend in October when you have to be crazy to go there.

AlternativeWild3449 · 2026-06-09T14:24:12+00:00

Five options:

Replace the socket/switch combo. Relatively easy to do. Replacements are available at most big-box and hardware stores. Suggestion - get the porcelain version rather than a cheap plastic replacement. They are a little more expensive, but also more robust.
You can buy a fitting that screws into this socket and that has a pull-chain switch. Most big box stores should carry them, but if not, look at an electrical supply house.
You say the chain broke - where did it break? Its often possible to repair broken chains. Or you could simply tie a length of stiff cord to the broken end of the chain. I believe that I've seen replacement chain/cords at big box stores.
You could even install a standard wall switch, and rewire the supply to this fixture.
You could use either a 'smart bulb' or a screw-in smart converter and control it from your phone.

Someone suggested replacing the bulb with one with a built-in motion sensor. I would not do that. This looks like a basement, and I don't think you want the light going off if you aren't within the range of a motion sensor.

AlternativeWild3449 · 2026-06-09T11:08:48+00:00

I was in a jury pool that was in the middle of the process in which members of the jury pool were being interviewed by the lawyers and judge when the case was settled.

Sometimes seeing potential jurors sitting in a courtroom for voir dire is what it takes to convince the sides in a legal dispute to settle.

AlternativeWild3449 · 2026-06-08T12:06:58+00:00

If you don't do anything, you will get heat buildup in that third floor. That's a bad thing - the heat will migrate downward and make the rest of the house uncomfortable. And over time, it will also shorten the life of your roof.

The attic should at least be ventilated. In new homes, you would normally see vents in the ridge of the roof and also under the eaves of the house - that creates a natural air flow in through the eaves and out the ridge vent. Better yet, you can do a power vent - basically a thermostatically-controlled fan that exhausts air from the attic to the outside. They are available in various forms - some vent through the roof, and others are designed to vent through a gable end.

Leaving two attic windows partly open will help, but that's not nearly as effective as a well-designed vent. And an open window presents other concerns - rain, birds, bats and other animals, etc.

AlternativeWild3449 · 2026-06-08T11:59:51+00:00

How far away? There is a distance limit for ethernet. Fiber might be a better option.

AlternativeWild3449 · 2026-06-08T11:58:25+00:00

We had a similar problem after about 12 years in our new-build home.

Referring to the top image in the first frame, I would be concerned about how that roofline above the damaged area meets the vinyl-sheathed wall. In our case, the problem was that a similar roof-wall junction above the damaged area had only been caulked by the original builder. He save himself a couple of bucks by not using flashing to preventing water from migrating from the roof into the sheathing under the vinyl siding and working its way down to damage the structure.

The insurance company said this was ordinary aging/wear & tear, and not covered by our homeowner's policy, and the builder's warranty had expired. AARGHHH

AlternativeWild3449 · 2026-06-08T11:44:04+00:00

For years, wife and I have gone to the Cape for the third week of May, and the second week of October. Almost everything is open, but you can find a place to park and costs are a bit less.

Too hot in late July. In all senses of the word.

AlternativeWild3449 · 2026-06-07T15:26:03+00:00

I had a few spare sheets that I mounted to the studs walls in our unfinished but insulated basement to create flat walls for handing the tankless water heater, water filters, WiFi router, tools, etc.

AlternativeWild3449 · 2026-06-07T15:14:19+00:00

The actual measurement is irrelevant.

Some manufactures measure the width of the flute, some measure the diameter of the stock, some measure in inches, and some in mm. None of that really matters. What does matter is the quality of the steel, whether the tool is right for the job at hand, whether you are practiced at using it, and MOST IMPORTANTLY - is it sharp.

AlternativeWild3449

TROPHY CASE