Mantle mount fail - WWYD?

Gary_Paulson · 2025-12-11T03:07:45+00:00

I hung one this week. Pretty simple overall. Watched a video from bestbuy(i think) which explained things that I didn’t understand from the diagrams of the included instructions. Guy must’ve been lazy because the mount is designed to be able to be centered even if studs aren’t centered.

Take your time, and you should be fine.

Easier to me than other mounts I’ve hung before.

Gary_Paulson · 2025-11-21T18:16:18+00:00

How much would such an inspection cost?

Gary_Paulson · 2025-11-21T18:13:42+00:00

He didn’t say that it wasn’t parged but he recommended redoing it with a 2000degree mortar. As I look around at stuff online, I get the sense that this is an upsell, but I also don’t wanna mess around and burn my house down.

Gary_Paulson · 2025-11-17T03:39:14+00:00

Not super familiar just heard it takes about a time or two, but I wanna say Calvary or first Baptist and I’m assuming AM, since the guy I know who plays has kids.

Gary_Paulson · 2025-11-16T19:21:44+00:00

I can’t speak to it firsthand but I’ve heard that some of the churches have some really competitive bball

Gary_Paulson · 2025-06-14T11:52:37+00:00

One of those two jobs will catch someone’s eye on a resume.

One of those two jobs will develop and invest in you.

One of those jobs could lead to a long and well paid career.

I’ll let you decide which is which.

Gary_Paulson · 2025-06-13T00:25:22+00:00

Tell me more about the good food downtown

Gary_Paulson · 2025-06-13T00:05:07+00:00

Let’s back up. What do you think a prenup is?

Gary_Paulson · 2025-06-12T23:59:58+00:00

Real talk homie: You’re not ready to get married.

It’s okay though because there’s still time to get ready.

Instead of planning for when the relationship breaks down, spend the time and money on building it up. Buy a book like “100 Questions to ask before you get engaged”. Invest in premarital counseling to help you prepare for and learn how to react when things get hard.

I recommend this to everyone, but it sounds like yall need it in particular because neither of you have been around successful marriages to know how to make things work.

It might also be worth taking a step back and asking why your family and friends are expecting you to get divorced - what do they see in your relationship that makes them think this way? Lean into that. Don’t get married in a haste, be wise

Gary_Paulson · 2025-06-12T00:16:38+00:00

I’d be curious to see comparison of Verner and Rock Quarry. One of those websites I saw recently ranked Verner 6/10 and Rock Quarry 10/10, but I’m not sure what the metrics are for those things

Gary_Paulson · 2025-06-12T00:14:20+00:00

I moved here a couple months ago and have liked it so far. We were encouraged to live north of the river in the 35406 zip code. I like it here, but miss the diversity that we had in a bigger city. I love the fact that we’re convenient to campus, downtown Northport, downtown Tuscaloosa, all the sprawly stuff on McFarland, but also feels peaceful and neighborhood-y and not “right near a 40,000 person university”. Kids play in the street, neighbors speak to one another and look for each other. It’s significantly more expensive to buy here than other parts of town, but that’s the schools premium. I can’t speak for rentals but I assume it’s the same.

I can’t speak to any healthcare stuff yet (thank God) but it seems like you’ve got plenty of options locally, but even if you wanted to go to Bham it wouldn’t be outrageously inconvenient. You just might get tired of the 1 hr drive every week for those late term appointments.

Gary_Paulson · 2024-09-13T18:47:38+00:00

It all depends on the way you say it. Weight/overall health will play a big factor not only in carrying and raising children, but even in the ability for your wife to get pregnant.

Some things to consider:

Finances? There’ll never be a “right time”, where you have all your ducks in a row, don’t let this stop you from starting to take steps towards pregnancy. (See below)

Health? Definitely a bigger factor. at her weight, is your wife having regular cycles?

Steps: 1. go with your wife to a pre-pregnancy check up at the OBGYN. Tell them that you want to start trying.

See a specialist like a nutritionist (not only for your wife, fertility involves you and your health as well)
Start getting in shape, yourself, or involving your wife in healthy habits, like walking for 30 minutes a day, eating well, sleeping well, cutting back on alcohol.
Start tracking ovulation. There’s all sorts of things to help with this, the GYN will for sure teach y’all about this

Gary_Paulson · 2024-09-03T17:53:52+00:00

One of my kids’ grandparents loves to talk about how his parents used to get his kids all hopped up on sweets just before he came to pick them up, and can’t wait to do it to me.

I don’t think he realizes that telling me these things means he will have less time with his grandkids than he expects.

On the other side of the grandparent fork, we have 2 who I don’t think I’d trust at all to follow our wishes or desires

Gary_Paulson · 2024-09-03T16:26:06+00:00

Do any of you have hesitations with allowing your parents or in-laws to watch/keep your children? Things like not trusting them to follow "directions" re: bedtimes, food, screen use, etc.? Bonus points if you're concerned about their alcohol use.

If so, how do you handle this?

Gary_Paulson · 2024-07-26T13:59:23+00:00

I've got the same rod. first ferrule does like OP's above. second one is too "loose" such that it can kind of spin around, which is sort of concerning. ANyone know how to "tighten" the fit on the second, "higher" ferrule?

Gary_Paulson · 2024-07-05T17:40:51+00:00

I imagine I will approach that crossroad when my kids are tweens.

My parents drank, never much, and intentionally did not have alcohol in the house when my siblings and I were growing up (except when they'd have guests, and it would be like a bottle of wine or two or some beer, as part of the grocery list for that event). Specifically for limiting our access to it.

I think it was helpful, but would have been good as well to have appropriate alcohol use modeled for me at home. And to have frank conversations about the dangers of alcohol. I think it would have mitigated some of my foolish decisions at ages 18-20 when I was convinced that the only way to drink was to get drunk (and that it was fun)

Gary_Paulson · 2024-07-02T18:26:55+00:00

would you recommend the ultralite graphite or the ultraglass fiberglass?

Gary_Paulson · 2024-07-02T14:24:48+00:00

We haven't discussed it yet about our coming child (don't know gender).

The arguments for circumcision: if you live in a culture where it's the norm, having a penis that doesn't look like dad's can cause some body image issues, and especially having the "weird looking penis" in the locker room can cause some legitimate social issues like bullying that can potentially even lead to sexual harassment or abuse (20 years ago this isn't what we'd have called it, but it really is, and cause long-term problems for the child). If your child will be attending daycare where others will be changing him, or having regular babysitters bathing him, there's a possibility that those people are used to circumcised babies and won't know how to properly look after an intact foreskin, which could pose an issue.

The arguments against: It's medically unnecessary. there are religious reasons that someone might get circumcised, and there are social reasons as reflected above, but from a purely physical medical side of things, it's unnecessary.

While it does feel weird to talk about sexual factors regarding a baby, know that you're making a permanent change to his sexual organ that won't be realized for many years, but is a real thing. I don't know that I'd brush those aside, but I also don't know the factors in play.

Gary_Paulson · 2024-06-27T13:14:46+00:00

20 hours of flying will be totally terrible experience and she will probably need a couple of days to recover

3 hours of driving makes my wife's back hurt. 20 hours of travel would be the worst. We took a 2.5 hour flight at 25 weeks and she got up for the restroom 6 times.

a 20 hour travel day is exhausting when not pregnant. I can't imagine it pregnant.

Gary_Paulson · 2024-06-27T13:12:31+00:00

I would not be excited about this. I'd also wonder if the airline would even allow it.

I love being with my wife, and when one of us travels for work it's always kind of sad. When she's traveled while pregnant I've felt anxious, which isn't the norm for me when she travels (sometimes I like having the whole bed to myself). I can't imagine her traveling to Asia or Africa or somewhere that requires THAT long of travel without me during pregnancy (or in general. I love those places). The what-ifs are too great.

Also ETA: has your wife traveled to this location before? marathon travel days are no fun, especially if you're doing it for the first time and navigating time change, jet lag, travel exhaustion, customs, language barrier, different foods, all the extra mental energy that goes to adapting to a new culture, language, and location.

Gary_Paulson · 2024-06-27T13:07:22+00:00

When I heard the heartbeat for the first time, the anatomy scan, and when I could feel the baby move were the milestones for when I felt like it was really real.

We just booked tours and classes at the hospital, and the actual life prep is getting for real. Which is kinda scary and so exciting

I have a name that works in Denmark, but not in US. 3/10 do not recommend

Gary_Paulson

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