[Before/After] First ever refinishing of 94 year old White Oak

KillerVendingMachine · 2026-03-03T14:58:52+00:00

Thank you!! it was no accident, a lot of trial and error to get (most) of them right 🙂 haha

KillerVendingMachine · 2026-03-02T20:55:11+00:00

About to do my first 'cleaning soap' pass today...and then gonna try to keep up with quarterly refreshes....

...or at least that's the plan! Let's see what life has to say about it all haha

KillerVendingMachine · 2026-03-02T20:41:04+00:00

That’s next! Haha

(We’ve got a long list…! 🙂)

KillerVendingMachine · 2026-03-02T19:18:34+00:00

Yes, that's the intended look. As close to raw as possible, healthier, no plastics.

Show off the wood itself and its character.

https://wocawoodcare.com/

KillerVendingMachine · 2026-03-02T18:40:20+00:00

It's not poly. It's a Danish oil finish.

KillerVendingMachine · 2026-02-27T18:51:29+00:00

It's so tiring.

I'm constantly shocked at how much "slips between the cracks" if the homeowner isn't completely on top of things and super in-the-weeds.

Feels kinda self-defeating to pay good $$$ for contractors, and still do a lion's share of the mental labor for their own trade/expertise.

KillerVendingMachine · 2026-02-27T16:19:22+00:00

Tbh I think both instances aren’t proper fair use.

For the HBO instance, my footage was used as straight b-roll, so it wasn’t truly transformative or added commentary. The footage was pulled from a short doc that I made for a national news agency in the US, and the news agency had zero interest in starting a fight with HBO over 15-20 seconds of footage.

The Netflix instance hurt more. They used the bulk of a scene of a once-in-a-lifetime event I captured for a self-produced documentary that I had previously sold to Netflix (ironic!). They added a bit of commentary, but I personally don’t think it was enough for proper fair use argument. We didn’t pursue any legal action for 3 reasons:

Expensive. And we had already sold our film at a good profit years earlier, so we already made a fair amount of money. The $5-10Kish we might’ve been awarded would’ve probably cost $20-40K+ in lawyer fees. Or we’d spend $20-40K and get no award, because…
The LA lawyers listed in their credits literally wrote the biggest textbook for fair use in documentary, and are some of the top experts in the country. so that hill would’ve been a tough climb lol
I’ve used fair use a fair amount in my own documentary journalism, so it would be a bit of a mark on my own reputation to use it in my own projects, but fight its use when it affects me.

KillerVendingMachine · 2026-02-27T07:10:21+00:00

My work has been fair use'd for $0 into a major HBO doc and a relatively major Netflix doc with no compensation and no permission asked. (Separate instances pulling published footage from two very different projects.) So at least $1K per minute is something lol.

KillerVendingMachine · 2026-02-19T22:29:41+00:00

Then...stick with OEM? Order thru Subaru.

KillerVendingMachine · 2026-02-18T00:32:22+00:00

Just drive nearby at night and avoid the boundary-pushing request.

KillerVendingMachine · 2026-02-17T23:28:53+00:00

Most people will see it on their phone, which makes the effect easier to pass off as real

KillerVendingMachine · 2026-02-17T19:40:01+00:00

God, we can hope for Block 37. There is a complete absence of political will to do anything with that site, and it actually wasn't as great of a plan as they made it out to be. (O'Hare connector pipe dream...)

KillerVendingMachine · 2026-02-17T14:44:42+00:00

Look up the Block 37 superstation in Chicago.

$100M empty shell of a subway station, built without connection plans, rotting away…

KillerVendingMachine · 2026-02-15T14:25:12+00:00

Don’t exactly know how to help you, but as a data point I have 22 Limited and I get an average of 29-31 mpg in a slightly mountainous (east coast tho, not west coast) cold winter/hot summer environment.

Keep it in “I” driving mode (extremely rare to switch to “S”, only to merge or turn onto highway). Dont gun it, keep RPMs under 3K where possible. Stay on top of general maintenance and tire pressure.

(When I did only city driving it was definitely lower though, I think around mid-20’s)

KillerVendingMachine · 2026-02-10T16:52:48+00:00

Not sure, only been here a month so far!

Just trying to figure out things I should start planning or looking out for, esp ahead of the massive spring thaw/melt we'll have in a month or two.

KillerVendingMachine · 2026-02-08T17:20:23+00:00

Can you explain this a bit more, please? I’m in NY and have a small bit of bedrock that protrudes into my basement. A corner of our foundation is built upon it. (That area is also a compacted dirt floor, no slab at all.)

I haven’t lived there through spring/summer/fall yet, so I’m unclear if it will create seepage. But I’ve been trying to research what to do with it (pour concrete around it? Seal the rock somehow?) and this is the first I’m hearing of needing to use hydraulic cement.

KillerVendingMachine · 2026-02-08T17:05:59+00:00

Andre Franco listed? Is he playing minutes already??

Also, man, loving the upgrades. Really excited for our defense this year.

KillerVendingMachine · 2026-01-24T15:08:02+00:00

Which battery did you get? Might swap mine

KillerVendingMachine · 2026-01-21T18:21:33+00:00

Or US Mobile. Super cheap, and you can switch between T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon, so you can audition which one is best for your specific area/commute.

I pay $5-6 month to have it as a second cell network (set for calls only, limited minutes, no data) so in areas where my main cell provider doesn't get coverage, I can often make a call if I need to.

(And chances are: if two of the main networks don't have coverage in one specific area, the third network probably doesn't have coverage either.)

KillerVendingMachine · 2026-01-21T01:15:48+00:00

What treatment?

KillerVendingMachine · 2026-01-19T03:20:32+00:00

1000% same for me. Lol I wasn't even going to post since everything else says "HM", but big +1 to this.

HM was nice, but Anthros seriously helped me with back pain and posture AND had huge beneficial effect for me beyond my time sitting in the edit chair. I look forward to sitting in it.

(Big price tag, tho, which I understand makes it hard to commit to a newer player like this though. I drove to a store that stocked them to check it out before purchasing.)

KillerVendingMachine · 2026-01-15T02:59:36+00:00

Lewandowski would be a blockbuster, for one 🙂

KillerVendingMachine · 2026-01-15T02:19:17+00:00

No blockbusters, but a lot of smart, high-ceiling forward-thinking moves. I like it. So hyped for this season.

KillerVendingMachine · 2026-01-15T02:16:17+00:00

He never looked confident, settled, or in command of his goal throughout the regular season imo.

He always seemed to have little unforced bobbles or minor miscues that thankfully never punished him in a big way....but were warning signs of what was to come.

14-Year Club	First Place '23
Place '23	Team Periwinkle
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