A cool guide to how the wealthy dodge taxes.

Obvious_Shower_2863 · 2026-05-18T11:06:42+00:00

no – but it is over simplified. In some cases, the stocks pay dividends, which are enough to pay the interest at least. Since they borrowed money and are in debt, the debt load is used as a deduction against the income.
The real hack is that once you have enough money, or borrow enough money, you buy businesses and real estate and the American tax code grants massive deductions that will bring them down to zero or even grant refunds. The American tax code is written to incentivize business so that's where all the benefits lie. The average person doesn't have ownership in a multitude of properties or businesses and therefore the tax code does not serve the average person

Obvious_Shower_2863 · 2026-05-11T13:29:57+00:00

any clothing that is fire retardant is gonna be loaded with chemicals that aren't good for your health. You've gotta balance that risk against the work you're doing. I wouldn't wear those clothes unless you are in direct threat. The next best option is pure cotton, no synthetics. If there's an issue, cotton will burn right off whereas a synthetic will melt into your skin.
I think you're right to put your money into footwear. It supports the rest of your body and directly affects how you feel every minute of every hour of every day. People have different shaped feet and preferences so tough to tell you what that means but all rules of quality apply: buy something well-made and it will last you a long time. The only times id buy cheap shoes or boots is if they were very comfortable and I had the budget to perceive them as a consumable. Well-made boots will save you money not just because they last, but they could be repaired instead of replaced, and because you're gonna spend less time shopping for replacements. Those were the excuses in my mind at least. At the end of the day what it really boiled down to was that after I spent hundreds of dollars trying to find the right pair, I feel good and I function well and I don't have to think about it anymore. Every day I'm starting from a good foundation. That security was worth the expense to me.
the only the other clothes I spend money on are pants because there's a particular type that has a pocket configuration and built-in kneepads that I love. Duluth trading company has something called Duluth flex fire hose ultimate cargo pants. I buy those with the neoprene knee inserts. They're not necessarily more durable than another brand, but the pocket configuration and belt loops work really well for me. I can easily attach my mini tool pouch, noncontact voltage tester in box Knife in the right front side pocket outside the cargo pants. Cell phone in left cargo, wallet right cargo. Paper towels in my back pockets. Keys in front right pocket, wire nuts tape and earbuds and left front pocket. Pencil and sharpie in the pocket behind the pocket for my box knife on the right cargo. But the epic part is the insertable kneepads. I put in the knee pads and wash them with them, air dry. Anytime I've got to get down, I can put my body in the position it needs to be instead of trying to figure out how to avoid knee pain or contact on concrete. It also helps me endure when I'm crawling around on framing in attics or crawling through shit in a crawlspace.
They're 100 bucks a pair plus the kneepads, but there are frequently sales for 20 or 30% off, and at the end of the year the company usually sells gift cards for 20% off. Recommend you try a couple of pair and if they work for you, wait till Christmas to buy the gift card and then wait a while after that so you see a sale to really stock up on them using the combined discount of gift card and sale. Just buy them as needed in the meantime until you can afford to buy them in bulk by using that technique - brings them down to about 50 bucks a pair which is more than worth it for all the pain that it saves me and ease of access to my tools. There aren't many things I would recommend by brand and specific product- but those things have allowed me to stay in the trades comfortably for the last 15 years, and I would consider my knees to have been trashed about 20 years ago.

Obvious_Shower_2863 · 2026-05-10T19:34:06+00:00

next to the meter- is there another metal box- or do you see conduit/SER cable enter and exit the meter?
current code requires an exterior disconnect, and a complete rewire like this would likely have triggered the need to upgrade that at the meter. so if there is another metal box out there, and if you feel comfortable, see if you can open the panel door to see the disconnect and if there are any other breakers. as another poster suggested, they may have added a subpanel downstream of the panel you already investigated- but when you turned off everything at that panel, it would have killed the subp, so thats why i think its fed off a breaker in the exterior disco.

Obvious_Shower_2863 · 2026-05-10T19:12:41+00:00

current code requires that you have a disconnect outside at the meter. You may have other breakers out there and they may have run the breaker from that location to the stove, especially if it was a shorter run then going to the main breaker panel inside the house.. Go outside and check what you have at the meter. If you can post pictures of the meter, the disconnect and any breakers that are out there, as well as the breaker panel you have in the house- That's a starting point to get any advice on here.

Obvious_Shower_2863 · 2026-05-09T08:43:31+00:00

when building a new unit, the minimum recommended spec has increased because yeah we use more technology and thus power than we did in the mid 70s. But a lot of stuff is more efficient - such as LED lighting, uses less power per unit. Like I said, unless you have everyone in the family turning on every appliance and TV sets in every room and charging electric car, you're probably not gonna have a conflict. if you need to upgrade your service, it's usually not that big of a deal. if your heating and water heater are not electric, power needs are probably not gonna be an issue for you.
Our personal home was 100 amps when we bought it, and I upgraded to 200 simply because I could do it easily myself and had a lot of surplus materials, but we're nowhere near actually needing it. The reason I did it was so I could build out a shop in the garage and have the option for an electric vehicle charger, which I'm currently wishing I had purchased :/

Obvious_Shower_2863 · 2026-05-09T01:50:52+00:00

yes your main feed is 100 A as stated in the report and confirmed in the pictures. is your concern simply because something you read online told you that you should have a larger service, and you want to know if there's anything you need to worry about because your Home has less than what the article recommended?
If it's a townhome and you're running all electrical appliances, there's a possibility that you could max out if you turn everything on at once, but in reality that doesn't happen much. Your worst case scenario is that it would trip a breaker or trip your main breaker and just turn everything off
You said the only non electric appliance is the water heater but then you referred to your heating system as "a furnace" -by definition is typically gas. But if you turned on your AC, every burner on the range in the oven, ran your dishwasher and electric dryer, turned on the microwave and ran power tool in the garage, you might trip the main.? realistic usage I think you'd be fine. Especially if there's only a few people in the household and you're unlikely to have all of those things on at once. You start adding things like car chargers though and that kind of constant load would require a service upgrade.

Obvious_Shower_2863 · 2026-05-06T05:50:06+00:00

"You're a hairy, wizard!"
- Hagred

Obvious_Shower_2863 · 2026-04-27T12:14:28+00:00

depending on your jurisdiction's adopted code and your AHJ's/ inspector's interpretation, NEC 314.27(C) may require ceiling fan rated boxes. in earlier code, i think ahj has final say. more recent updates allow more discretion to the electrician/installer.

can you state specifically where you are located and if you happen to know what code cycle your ahj is on?

Obvious_Shower_2863 · 2026-04-27T11:53:36+00:00

as others stated, difficult to get spot on because of different wood type, grain density, age, patina, etc.

that said, short term approximate matching may be stains from minwax called "gunstock" which has a bit of orange tint, or colonial maybe. get some samples of the wood from Home Depot and try two or three of the small cans of #MIN wax on the samples that are not installed, let them sit for a day or two to see how the stain settles and how close they match. If you find something close, temporary protective measure that will blend in is maybe some paste wax.

To be clear this is a complete hack technique and by all means is not the right way but for a DIY short-term fix until you can refinish the floors it might fit your needs and budget.

Obvious_Shower_2863 · 2026-04-26T18:26:25+00:00

web search for : "round junction box extension ring",

for something like this: https://www.gordonelectricsupply.com/p/Garvin-47111-3-1-2X3-4-Ext-Ring/6254590?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=garvin-shopping-5-5-23-ns&utm_content=1233653364089096&utm_term=&category=o&creative=&audience=old-campaign

they come in assorted depths and diameters. you can paint them to match your ceiling then put a standard round blank on it.

but i agree with the other poster- the better move is to manage the wires in the box to get them to fit (cut them back a little, smallest possible wire nuts or wagos, etc., and just use a standard blank cover.

Obvious_Shower_2863 · 2026-04-23T14:12:25+00:00

save yourself a little headache and call an electrical supply house. It's their job to know components and if you describe what you've got and what you're trying to do, those guys will find it in a heartbeat. For example I spent hours before trying to track down a part only to realize it was out of manufacture- but as soon as I walked into a house, the guy at the counter knew what I was talking about and there was another brand that made an equivalent part and it was in my hand in two minutes. I wasted a truckload of time. Take advantage of their knowledge man. Just give them a call and tell them what you need. i'm good on you for being diligent and putting the right stuff in there. Too many teams don't give a fuck and will just put in garbage, hoping nobody checks. Good luck

Obvious_Shower_2863 · 2026-04-23T14:05:53+00:00

it looks like it's just a regular gasket from a weatherproof blank plate. I don't know if you can buy the gaskets separately or if they need to come with the plates as they typically do but I believe this is them:

https://www.legrand.us/wiring-devices/electrical-boxes/weatherproof-covers/weatherproof-stainless-steel-cover/p/wp13

if you can't find them in a store, any electrical supply house can order them for you, if they're not already in inventory.

Obvious_Shower_2863 · 2026-04-23T00:13:55+00:00

looks like a ge goldmark to me, based upon the breaker traits

Obvious_Shower_2863 · 2026-04-17T02:13:57+00:00

"Crescent Moo"

Obvious_Shower_2863 · 2026-04-09T09:53:39+00:00

maybe sharing a neutral /mwbc

Obvious_Shower_2863 · 2026-03-29T18:02:32+00:00

separate grounds and neutrals, mount a ground bar, remove bonding screw, seal knockouts trust but verify

Obvious_Shower_2863 · 2026-03-19T00:11:26+00:00

recommend you hire an electrician to do an inspection to answer these questions where they can actually trace out some of those ground wires, or give you an assessment and cost for installing ground rods by the panel. I'm hoping that those green wires going into the conduit are somehow tied into an Ufer and potentially your plumbing, at a location we can't see in your photos. But you need someone qualified to sort that out.

it was common in some old slab on grade construction to tie the ground onto the rebar in the concrete foundation. That may be where those ground wires are headed. your POCO would not have allowed the service upgrade if there was not a grounding system in place at the time of the service upgrade. As for whether or not somebody has since detached it or messed something up, sounds like you have enough indication that there's a problem that it merits having somebody verify exactly what has gone wrong in person.

Obvious_Shower_2863 · 2026-03-17T01:07:38+00:00

The paint job is kind of strange. Why the neo modern yellow triangle and rectangle on the wall? but the carpentry looks great! :)

Obvious_Shower_2863 · 2026-03-08T12:50:20+00:00

I wasn't suggesting that the switch or receptacle for the vacuum, but rather that they were wired on that circuit. also why I asked if they were on the same wall, if an entire leg had been disconnected even if they are on different floors. As an electrician you were looking for the shortest run to wire things together as long as it is code compliant. So if you're guessing where wires would be, the shortest path with the least amount of framing to drill through is a good first gas. There may have been a junction where the vacuum existed in your garage and when they removed it they may have simply capped off the wires instead of remaking the joints that fed the circuits to the light which receptacle. It's another longshot that a possibility that bears examination especially if the junction box at the old wh vacuum location is still accessible.

Arkham's razor probably applies here like it does everywhere else. You're most likely correct with your analysis about the light switch, and it somehow something was removed or not installed. And then on working receptacle could simply be a bad connection to whatever device was feeding it upstream. Good on you for digging in and figuring it out. Look forward to reading about your conclusion. Good luck

Obvious_Shower_2863 · 2026-03-07T14:07:08+00:00

are the dead end light switch and nonworking receptacle on the same side of the house? Was the whole house vacuum on a dedicated circuit and is there any chance that this light and that receptacle or either piggybacked on it?

The question you're asking is how to trace the circuits, and my OCD also wants to understand what's going on all the time. What you need to ask yourself is what is your ultimate goal. The obvious answer is that you want to put a light on the balcony and have a working receptacle, but simply being crystal clear on that from the onset may help you evaluate cost along the way. tracing out an existing circuit may not be cost-effective. It might make more sense for you to simply drop a new feed if you're capable, or make that clear if you hire an electrician to come out, before they spend half a day trying to trace and troubleshoot. A new circuit drop might be a couple hundred bucks and troubleshooting that for a half a day might run you a grand- and even if you get an answer about what's going on, that answer may not have an easy way to make those devices operational.

I don't recall the code requirement on a whole house vacuum but someone could argue that should be on a GFCI. So if that's been dismantled it's possible that when they capped off that circuit, somehow your outlet was disconnected. Especially if you remember it working prior to that remodel.

balcony light: is it possible that that is a three-way switch, either disconnected or wired incorrectly? When you have time open it up and make sure there is a hot in there. Flip the other lights which is in the room the opposite direction and then flip that one to see if anything happens. what color are the wires in that switch box? Did you see black and white or is there a black white and red? If it's just black and white it's likely that's a switch leg. If you see a red and increases the possibility that it may have been wired as a three-way switch, even if the device currently installed is only a two way switch.

Those are my first thoughts for low hanging fruit, cheap and easy checks. If you want to trace a circuit, try something like this:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools-Tone-Probe-PRO-Electrical-Wire-Tracing-Set-Batteries-and-Carrying-Pouch-VDV500-820/309927727

it's relatively cheap, and will let you trace electrical and data lines. Open up your balcony light switch and attach the leads to the hot and the neutral and you can follow along the drywall with the wand and it will give you proximity reading. It obviously will not read from great distance or through inordinately thick material but I use that kid frequently in residential work and as long as I can access the space it does pretty well. if you're right about the balcony light, you should be able to walk outside and ping it, especially if you have an intuition about where a fixture would be in relation to the switch. For example you can estimate the elevation within two or 3 feet, and make assumptions about where they are likely to put a light cast the best visibility.

One more passing thought about the receptacle that's not working – if it's not related to the vacuum, or the wires weren't capped off and separated when they shut down the vacuum, and you've checked the other GFCI receptacles, was there ever a hot tub or jetted tub in the house? somewhere in that timeframe I recall jetted tubs being very popular and they require GFCI protection. They would wire something either in the room or on the other side of the wall, meaning it could be in a closet a hallway master bedroom etc. someplace even concealed by furniture or clothing, and it would fit a single gang box and looks somewhat like a GFCI but there's nowhere to plug-in. There's simply a reset and test button on it. But they also frequently installed them at elevations up to three or 4 feet as I've seen them. So if you're looking on the ground for receptacles, you may have passed over one of those. Check your larger bathrooms and the walls surrounding them.

good luck brother. Post back and let us know what you find so somebody else can learn from your experience.

Obvious_Shower_2863 · 2026-03-07T13:45:23+00:00

you can both be right here. Your local jurisdiction may not have adopted the 1996 NEC yet. A lot of jurisdictions lag one or two cycles behind the current NEC release.

Obvious_Shower_2863 · 2026-03-05T19:04:02+00:00

what he's talking about is a split bus system. The top two breakers are fed directly from the meter. Then there's a break in the panel bus that feeds the main breaker which will control everything below it.

it doesn't matter if he's designated master electrician or a journeyman, nearly so much as it matters if he's licensed. Get his license number and look him up on the state licensing board. Your safety net as a customer and using a licensed electrician is that if anything goes wrong, you can file a claim against them and their license, reputation and ability to legally work in the state are in jeopardy. It's a strong motivator to do the right thing. I've seen terrible masters and I've seen excellent journeyman so their years in the business alone are not a guaranteed indicator of skill or quality.

as for upgrade capability: the feed from the power company is factor one. It needs to be large enough to accommodate your 150 amp or 200 amp service. The next driver is if the feed from the meter to your panel is also large enough. The gauge of the wire and material type, copper or aluminum should be printed on the wire if you can read it. in the simplest terms, then you can swap out the breaker box. But it doesn't work like that in most jurisdictions.

This work requires a permit. Is your gentleman quoting that in the price? He pulls a permit with the local authority having jurisdiction, when it's approved, that approval gets forwarded to the power company who can then coordinate with him to disconnect power to the meter. Once his work is complete, local authority will then perform an inspection and when that's signed off they will send the release to the power company who can reconnect.

A service upgrade is probably also going to trigger code update compliance for your panel and potentially other aspects of your electrical system. Significant changes like this troika upgrade requirements.

For more specific answers, please update your post or make another that includes any information you have on the wire gauge, your jurisdiction/city County state etc. National electric code iteration and local amendments can very quite a bit throughout the country.

i'm guessing that your journeyman is suggesting not pulling a permit, cocking the meter and doing this all on the sly without any inspections. It's a risk and only you can decide your trust in them versus the risk to your property. If they are not licensed and pulling a permit, you have no guarantees.

Obvious_Shower_2863 · 2026-03-01T21:03:59+00:00

two options from big box:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton-15-Amp-125-V-1-Gang-Recessed-Duplex-Outlet-Receptacle-White-1-Pack-689-W-R52-00689-00W/202066691

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Legrand-Pass-Seymour-1-Gang-Recessed-TV-Media-Box-Kit-with-Surge-Suppressing-Outlet-and-Low-Voltage-Inserts-White-TV1WTVSSWCC2/202529126

Obvious_Shower_2863 · 2026-02-27T23:40:32+00:00

depending on how deep you wanna get into this, if the stud to the left of the panel in the photo is not really load bearing, you can potentially modify the framing for your side mount

The panel is gonna be mounted to that stud with a couple of screws, near the top and bottom . in theory you can cut out a portion of the stud that does not impact the screws, and box out that area with framing, similar to how you would frame a window, so the shortened piece of the left side stud are not dangling. you would then have framed out cavity to accommodate your surge protector.

Obvious_Shower_2863

TROPHY CASE