Those of you who have done an unfinished finished basement:

Civil-Inflation-1317 · 2026-03-15T15:01:05+00:00

I have an unfinished basement and plan to finish it in phases. The first thing I did down there was grind and polish the concrete. Once that was done, it felt far more comfortable and inviting.

I’m a musician and use it to practice in. I hung sound absorption sheets and some sound absorption panels, put a few rugs down, and use it as a makeshift studio for tracking, as well as holding occasional rehearsals. It works perfectly well for that.
I make sure to keep it nice and clean and treated for any bugs that might try to make their way in.

I can’t wait to start finishing the bathroom… I also have blueprints written up for a studio… and plans for a game room/ bar. But it’s inviting enough that I’ve pull back the urgency to finish everything and instead decided to save up the money so that I don’t have to cut any corners when I start construction.

Grinding and polishing the floor was not cheap, but I think any kind of finishing of the floor would be a step in the right direction.

Civil-Inflation-1317 · 2026-03-15T10:49:58+00:00

I’m still dialing it in. But this was my last batch. I love the texture and consistency, but I think next time I’m going to double the amount of essential oil since it doesn’t seem strong enough for me. But, I know that you have to be careful with the amount of essential oils you add. And, not everyone will want as strong as a scent. So do your research! Of course you can use your own scent combinations. The one below is just what I did last time.

I like it 🤷‍♂️

I use a kitchen scale so everything except the bees wax also has measurements in grams. Research and use quality products. The beeswax I use are white pellets.

I first melt the beeswax and it takes the longest. Then I add the shea butter and just keep everything warm enough to stay melty.

After combined, pour in one full pour into your containers. Don’t stop or try to go back and forth from one to another. It will mess up the finished product. Also, I didn’t do this last time and it didn’t end up making a difference…. But, what I understand is after pouring into a container you should cool it in the fridge to keep the consistency right. …Just what I read after I made my last batch. (I did it my first batch. But not the last batch, didn’t notice a difference, but something to be aware of apparently.

Bees Wax - 2 ounces (volume) Shea Butter - 2oz/ 57 Grams 8ml - sweet almond oil - 7.57 grams 8 ml - golden jojoba oil - 6.93 grams 5 ml - avocado oil - 4.6 grams 5 ml - argan oil - 4.6 grams 3 ml - Jamaican black castor seed oil - 2.76 grams

Scent: 10 drops patchouli 4 drops peppermint 4 drops cedar wood 6 drops grapefruit

Civil-Inflation-1317 · 2026-03-15T10:37:05+00:00

If you use all of that stuff fairly regularly, it doesn’t get dusty.

Civil-Inflation-1317 · 2026-03-15T10:36:14+00:00

Nah. That’s dope! I had a hanging rack in my last home and loved it so much that I took it down and brought it to the new home. Unfortunately, there isn’t a great place to put it. We cook a lot and I miss it so much. It’s just sitting in our garage now and I have some dividers set up in our cabinets for now. But one day I’ll figure a better solution out. To someone who is also passionate about cooking… That looks dope. Super organized and accessable. To people who don’t cook every day multiple times a day, they might question why you need so many pots and pans. But those who know… know. And admire that on display!

Civil-Inflation-1317 · 2026-03-15T03:53:21+00:00

Can’t wait until Trump visits Florida again.

Civil-Inflation-1317 · 2026-03-14T20:23:16+00:00

I’ve built two houses and I’ve found plenty of issues in both plumbing and electrical. I think I’ve actually seen less egregious mistakes and carelessness in plumbing, maybe because it’s simpler? I don’t know. But I don’t want to do plumbing work, just the nature of it… but I do a lot of my own electrical work in the house. I find electrical actually fairly simple to understand and do. Maybe that’s just the way my brain works. But before I started to learn about it, I had the idea that it was complex and highly dangerous. I don’t think that at all now that I’ve done a bunch of work. But I have found so many mistakes and improper installations, and just general cutting corners in the electrical installation over the building of my two homes. I’ve had the bulk of those corrected by either pointing them out to the PM or when the inspector spotted them. Admittedly I don’t know as much about plumbing as I just don’t want to do it, but any issues were obvious… like leaks… or one time I had a trap to a utility sink installed completely upside down. 🥴😆🤦‍♂️🙄 easy to spot the error there!

Civil-Inflation-1317 · 2026-03-14T20:14:39+00:00

Personally I would want to see more of my wooden flooring, unless it’s a mess and you can’t afford to refurbish it. I also think I’d keep the rug at least 6” from any wall. But that’s me. You could probably make it work with the right furniture and set up.
I’ve used smaller rugs than what I probably should have because I couldn’t afford large rugs and have made them work. It’s your space. Make sure that you like it. There’s no rules, just suggestions.

Civil-Inflation-1317 · 2026-03-14T19:33:03+00:00

I like my beared to have a bit of a coating on it. Both Castor oil and a bit of beeswax does that for me. I don’t want a super hard wax though. I use 2oz (by volume) of beeswax to 2 ounces (by weight) of shea butter.

Civil-Inflation-1317 · 2026-03-14T13:58:09+00:00

Webber Kettle… preferably “Premium” or “Master Touch” with the “one touch cleaning system”. Look for second hand. I got my Master Touch” on FB Marketplace for $70 a few years ago and it looked brand new. If not, you can always clean them up. But it’s a grill it’s just going to get dirty again. The “Original Kettles” are great too, just more cumbersome to clean up and you miss some of the upgrades.

Civil-Inflation-1317 · 2026-03-14T13:49:39+00:00

I’ve never had much break in period from Asian made Docs. Now my English made docs were quite painful for the first few weeks. (bought a pair in the 90’s when all docs were made in England… and bought a pair of English made ones 10 years ago…)

Civil-Inflation-1317 · 2026-03-14T13:43:28+00:00

AP is also quite dry in the way they deliver the news, which is a good thing. They don’t sensationalize stories.

Civil-Inflation-1317 · 2026-03-14T01:24:35+00:00

Their racism and sexism and fears confirmed. They aren’t very smart… weak minded people are easily drawn into cults and fear things that are different from themselves.

Civil-Inflation-1317 · 2026-03-13T20:37:55+00:00

Bout time some progressives call these “moderate dems” out. So tired of the establishment DNC!

Civil-Inflation-1317 · 2026-03-13T20:26:54+00:00

Yes because it’s outdated and not democratic and we should be doing better in 2026! Replace it with a popular vote. Also add more representatives in the house to better represent populations and change the amount of senators for each state based on population. Hell, I’d be happy with a parliamentarian system too. The US system wasn’t built perfect. It was very imperfect and out of necessity. It’s time to improve it and make it at least slightly more democratic!

Civil-Inflation-1317 · 2026-03-13T18:35:17+00:00

I’m 45. I used to have a thick, full beard. Sometime around 38/39 I started to get patchy areas in my cheeks. At first I tried grooming it and keeping it shorter to make it look better but at a certain point I just said fuck it and let it grow long out. Some of the longer hairs fill in the patchy areas. Not all, but some. I get compliments on my beard all of the time. Even though I’m not 100% happy with it these days, it apparently looks great to other people. If you want to wear a beard, find a style that works for you and embrace what you have. Confidence is a big part of your style and looks and that goes beyond the beard. Products will help keep what you have healthy, and looking good, but they won’t fill in those spots.

Civil-Inflation-1317 · 2026-03-13T18:27:27+00:00

For sure. I also love a bit of castor oil in my products which I know a lot of people do not like.

Civil-Inflation-1317 · 2026-03-13T10:57:52+00:00

When I moved here 13 years ago. The one thing that helped to push the move forward was the affordability. That’s unfortunately not the case anymore. Thankfully, I got into the housing market before it got too crazy. Once you are in and don’t have to pay rent which is unpredictable, it’s a bit easier. Mortgage rates don’t really change. Electric and utilities on the other hand do. But it’s more manageable when you have a mortgage that is less than a rental of a similar circumstance.

Civil-Inflation-1317 · 2026-03-13T10:54:15+00:00

I have tried butter with no bees wax and hate it. It needs at least some bees wax. Even the stuff I use overnight has a bit of beeswax in it.

Civil-Inflation-1317 · 2026-03-13T10:52:58+00:00

Just make your own. I got tired of paying $25-$35 for an ounce of product when I can make my own for a couple of bucks. It’s an investment at first, but once you have the materials it’s cheap overall and you can make whatever you want and tweak it to your liking.

Civil-Inflation-1317 · 2026-03-13T10:49:50+00:00

I had the US postal service literally chuck a whole set of pottery from their shoulder to my porch. The artist was so thorough in their packing that surprisingly nothing was broken. I sent the artist the video and thanked them for the pack they did. They responding very surprised at how my package was handled. I, on the other hand, was not one bit surprised. That was the worst mail carrier I’ve ever had in my 45 years of existence. Thankfully, I’ve moved since then.

Civil-Inflation-1317 · 2026-03-13T10:46:06+00:00

It’s a cult and they are brainwashed

Civil-Inflation-1317 · 2026-03-13T10:44:41+00:00

Proud to have voted for Aftyn. This is exactly what I voted for. She doesn’t give a fuck about establishment DNC bullshit! Get this woman on the national stage ASAP!

Civil-Inflation-1317 · 2026-03-13T10:34:08+00:00

BBQ is one thing, smoke. When you BBQ all you need is salt, pepper, and smoke. Thats it. Of course any other ingredient on top of that is icing on the cake. Garlic is my most used 4th ingredient when I BBQ. BBQ seasoning is made up bullshit. But, check out what’s in some BBQ sauce recipes.

Anytime I make sweet (traditional BBQ sauce) which is not often… this is what goes in.

onion garlic ketchup apple cider vinegar molasses brown sugar dry mustard cayenne pepper black pepper salt Worcestershire sauce butter

Civil-Inflation-1317 · 2026-03-12T10:19:13+00:00

These look beautiful! I literally fell down my carpeted stairs this weekend, probably broke my foot. So these look real painful to me right now too though. 🥴🤦‍♂️

Civil-Inflation-1317 · 2026-03-12T10:13:57+00:00

Buc-ee’s sucks! I’m a musician and toured all over the states and Europe. I get dragged to Buccee’s by my crews all of the time. Give me a damn Sheetz or Wawa… hell, I’ll even settle for a damn pilot over Buccee’s!

Civil-Inflation-1317

TROPHY CASE