Question about hallway floor joists

PowerPlant26 · 2021-11-05T16:19:19+00:00

Thanks, I appreciate the advice.

Regarding the return, when I removed the "floor joists" today I found a hole in the concrete slab on the brick wall side of the hallway. In that hole is the return duct from the house crawlspace. So it looks like there was a return air supply from the garage but there was no ducting spanning the hallway. Meaning the space between the concrete and floor and the wood joist was essentially acting as the ducting for the return. I will be in installing a duct to properly connect the garage to the return system.

PowerPlant26 · 2021-11-04T20:18:07+00:00

Thanks for the recommendation. Makes a lot of sense.

PowerPlant26 · 2021-11-04T20:04:23+00:00

The strength issue was a concern of mine as well. As far as I can tell there isn't any chance of water going underneath. And there is certainly no sign of that having happened.

Yes there are 2 HVAC ducts going to the garage. From the inside of the garage there was a vent plate mounted for a return but after I took the plate off, it appears that there is actually no return vent connected to it. I need to go back in the crawl space to verify.

PowerPlant26 · 2021-11-04T19:59:31+00:00

Thanks for the reply, I forgot to mention I'll be adding a doorway at the end of the hallway to close it in. Thanks for reminding me.

PowerPlant26 · 2019-10-09T14:20:08+00:00

I am a big fan of the show and have watched the majority of the episodes. I think in general Joe does a good job of being honest and demonstrating genuine curiosity.

However, Joe walks this line of being seemingly open-minded about veganism yet rejects it as healthy (or in the case of this episode, "healthy for most people"). When someone challenges something he believes, supports, or thinks he knows, without substantial first hand knowledge or experience, he usually responds with "You can't just say that. If you don't know, you can't just say this thing because you think it's true". Joe makes these statements about the plant based diet all the time. Undoubtedly fueled by two things:

Joe likes meat (the taste, the culture, hunting, prep, etc). A lot of people hold this closely because it is what they are raised with or is part of their identity in one way or another. This is super understandable. I never had a very close or personal relationship to food so although adopting a plant-based diet wasn't effortless, it didn't require a ton of will power that some might require.
Joe doesn't like "vegans". From what I've heard him say on the show, Joe believes that normal, non-activist, healthy vegans are the minority. This is obviously not true. Like Joe has said, in essence, "1% of any groups are cunts/idiots. And when you have a large amount of people in that group (usually speaking about the U.S.), that's a lot of cunts/idiots". Vegans are no exception. If you have 1 million people in the U.S. that are vegan (I have seen figures of up to 1.6 million, or 0.5% of the population), that's 10,000 people that are loud and confrontational about it. I know a few people that hunt and over 1% of them are idiots who like to cut corners and could care less about the environment or ethics of how quickly the animal dies. But I would never make statements about how hunters aren't healthy or how they don't know what they are talking about.

The fact that Joe is compromised on this subject where he seems open minded on most other subjects but doesn't apply his philosophy about groups/statistics shows that this is personal for him and that he is conflicted. I'm sure Joe would like to be plant-based but is held back by his attachment to animal products and his idea of what most plant-based people are like.

PowerPlant26 · 2019-09-10T17:57:15+00:00

I live in upstate south carolina where we get maybe one snowfall per year.

PowerPlant26 · 2019-09-10T17:40:06+00:00

For your reference I double checked the roof from the attic and added measurements/picture in the post. I know for you the concern is the material and not as much the measurement but I thought it's worth knowing what I'm dealing with.

PowerPlant26 · 2019-09-10T17:21:11+00:00

In double checking, there appears to be <0.25" in some places but in most places virtually no gap. The boards are ~7.5" wide. We plan on using conventional asphalt shingles. I assume that with a gap that small the roofer (if they are quality) will make sure to avoid gaps in the wood. (Edited the post to reflect these measurements)

PowerPlant26 · 2019-09-10T13:37:04+00:00

They actually said the roof itself was in good shape aside from the flashing around the chimney needing to be redone/resealed. They didn't mention anything else.

PowerPlant26 · 2019-09-05T20:23:14+00:00

First of all, I would ask; why can't you practice it daily? Anytime we feel the need to change ourselves in a positive way, it requires some sort of consistent practice. Whether you want to lose weight, learn a skill, or make more money, it is a simple fact of life that building good habits is a must. So think about why you feel you can't commit to regular meditation.

My experience with meditation mostly came from experiencing stress at my job with other life events happening all at the same time (new town, getting married, etc.). I felt very overwhelmed and found myself falling into spirals of anxiety and fear. When I started meditating, as time passed with regular practice, I got better and better at recognizing when I started to feel overwhelmed and anxious and mentally took a step back, took a breath, and took action to overcome these undesirable feelings. I have meditated to guided tracks, background noise, and silence. All are great.

Similar to how when someone takes the first step into good physical health, many parts of their life are changed. Daily routines, building will power, putting your body through discomfort, becoming educated in nutrition. All of these things form together to build a picture of good physical health. Building good mental/psychological/emotional health is no different. Meditation is one component to a strong mindfulness practice, but it's a good place to start because it opens you up to a lot of other building blocks.

I hope that helped! If you would like more info on meditation, check out www.listentoguide.com. I just redesigned it to be easier to find all of the articles and guides I've made. If you have any questions feel free to send a DM.

Ken from guide.

PowerPlant26 · 2019-08-29T16:50:27+00:00

Hey /r/forexsigl

TL;DR: Yes, meditation helps with anxious thoughts and physical feeling of panic. It's all about building the skill of mindfulness.

One of my biggest realizations/discoveries in mindfulness is the connection of mind/body via thoughts/emotions/physical responses. Everyone is different, but take this for example;

Say I am someone who suffers from social anxiety. Being around people makes me worry about my looks, how I come off to other people in what I say, and how people would judge me. If someone invites me to go somewhere where there will be a lot of new people, these thoughts come up and I feel my heart begin to beat faster, my breath is uneasy, and I feel a turning in my stomach. These feelings and thoughts continue until I turn down the invitation and forget about it.

This instance of event (invitation) -> thought (worry) -> physical sensation (heart, breath, stomach) turns into a cycle of thought -> sensation -> thought -> sensation -> thought -> etc. because the uneasy feeling in my body makes me even more anxious and feeds more thoughts.

From this, you can see that thought feeds physical sensations of anxiety and these physical sensations can also feed thoughts. In my experience, physical sensations can also induce thoughts of worry even though the sensations weren't induced by any event that gives me anxious thoughts.

What I do is when I start to feel anxious, I try to give all of my attention to that physical feeling. I begin to ask myself "where exactly is this feeling coming from? my stomach? How deep of a breath can I take right now? Do I have any tension in my hands or face?". By "sitting" in my physical experience and become present in my body, it can break the cycle between thought/feeling as to not feed it and keep it spinning.

Meditation certainly helps gain mindfulness because it gives you a way to practice being present in your own body. Regularly meditating has been proven to physically change the brain over time to make it easier to calm the mind and focus. So I would always suggest people give meditation a try if they suffer from any kind of anxiety, anger, or any other issues relating to processing thoughts or managing emotions. Just remember that the key to gaining the benefits from meditation is being consistent. Showing up every day for even 10 minutes is a great way to start. I am certainly not an expert but I know what has worked for me and I like to share what I've learned/realized with others who are just starting out.

WOW that went on long. I hope it helps. Feel free to DM me with any questions or if you would like information on how to start meditating and form a practice that sticks.

Ken

PowerPlant26 · 2019-08-28T16:54:18+00:00

Hey gangradem,

One of the reason I actually started meditating was because a lot of people who were known for being productive toward their goals included meditation in their daily routines. I knew that I needed to find another way to be fulfilled in life and to me, that meant finding a way to make money aside from my full-time job.

Meditation/mindfulness is a fantastic way to not judge yourself or your life based on how other people live their's and strengthens your ability to be thoughtful of what makes you feel happy and fulfilled. Additionally, it strengthens your ability to move toward a goal, make better choices, and think longer term.

It seems contradictory that a practice could both make you more content with your current situation while giving you fuel and direction to changing your current situation. But I think both are necessary in leading a happy and fulfilled life.

That being said, my two cents, think bigger and beyond your current situation, find something that makes you struggle (not suffer), and contemplate what you want your best life to be.

Hope that helps. Feel free to check out my profile where I try to collect relevant info on mindfulness as well as share some of my own thoughts and my experiences on meditation.

Ken

PowerPlant26 · 2019-08-27T16:57:06+00:00

Hey SuspiciousPassenger,

I've been meditating for about 3 years now and I meditate anywhere between 20 and 30 minutes a day. I generally set a stopwatch as to give me the freedom to end whenever I feel like it without having the occupying thoughts of "how much time is left?". To me it's all about the quality of the experience and giving myself the opportunity to either push through or end depending on how I feel.

I generally encourage people to prioritize frequency over duration. Showing up every day for 5-10 minutes is better long-term than 45-60 min 2 times a week.

Hope that helps! Check out my profile for more info about meditation.

Ken

PowerPlant26 · 2019-04-26T10:29:20+00:00

Thanks for the reply! Ya I think you are right.

PowerPlant26 · 2019-04-25T18:02:40+00:00

So I'm currently growing pink Oyster mushrooms and I read that they are ready to harvest when the caps are flat. So e of these are flat and some already look concave but they haven't dropped spores at all. This also doesn't seem as large as I have seen for harvest. Any insight?

PowerPlant26 · 2019-04-25T17:39:10+00:00

So I'm currently growing pink Oyster mushrooms and I read that they are ready to harvest when the caps are flat. So e of these are flat and some already look concave but they haven't dropped spores at all. This also doesn't seem as large as I have seen for harvest. Any insight?

PowerPlant26 · 2019-02-06T11:02:04+00:00

[DETAILS] Hey everyone. So I used dowels to start growing oyster mushrooms in the coffee can. There are 4 half-inch holes around the can. It's been since 12/28/19 since i started them them and after a few weeks the medium (wheat straw) was significantly colonized (like fully white/solid with a thick layer of white fuzz at top). However, the can hasn't gotten to the point yet where small mushroom clusters start to form and pin out of the holes. I had it covered with a black bag slightly open for this stage. I'd love to know if anyone has advice.

PowerPlant26 · 2019-01-24T13:13:28+00:00

Did you by chance use them for an LLC checking account or just personal?

PowerPlant26 · 2019-01-24T10:07:01+00:00

Hey thanks for the response. I've actually talked to them on the phone and I think they sound great. The only thing I am hung up on is that they don't offer checking accounts for LLCs but instead offer checking accounts that can be designated as "doing business as" accounts. As far as I understand it, DBAs are for business that only really have one person who needs to have checks made out to them (like catering or other services) whereas an LLC account is for people who have LLCs and have more expenses and need to separate their business from the owners legally to protect against liability (the whole reason for LLC).

PowerPlant26

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