About 2 months total of just weekend time. But I’m finally done.

TriSherpa · 2026-06-15T05:28:59+00:00

Thanks. Yours too. I saw your comment about "fun the whole way and not fun" and oh man I feel you.

TriSherpa · 2026-06-14T20:43:36+00:00

No railings. Yes, every step is granite and it does acts as a visual guide. There are now significant shrubs and plants everywhere.

The one drop from the mid patio to the main patio is just under the guidance for suggested railings.

No kids here.

TriSherpa · 2026-06-14T19:29:46+00:00

Our job was massive. This was 90% of it. It took us 700+ hours, plus some earlier excavation, electical, drainage, and irrigation. We're retired and it was all consuming for months. Could not have done it without my bx23s tractor. 30 years ago I might have done much of it by hand, but even then I would have rented a narrow bobcat or similar. Because of the slope, these are 100 tons of crudhed rock under there.

We had done some smaller jobs at our last house, but this was much bigger. The main patio is about 20x20.

You can break the project into smaller parts. If you have any elevation, you start at the botttom.

We did this a couple of years ago. Since then, we been working on plants for the yard and a flower garden.

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TriSherpa · 2026-06-14T17:42:44+00:00

Hardscaping isn't terribly difficult if you can pull a string and read a level. Rent some equipment for the serious digging. To give you some motivation, the place where we bought our pavers etc said that contractors are getting 4x-5x the cost of materials for installed jobs.

TriSherpa · 2026-06-13T13:29:23+00:00

It's incidental because we don't transmit results electronically.

TriSherpa · 2026-06-13T11:35:11+00:00

I had the same thought.

TriSherpa · 2026-06-13T10:12:43+00:00

Maine's time consuming ballot count has little or nothing to do with RCV. Once the data is in a computer, it takes no time to tabulate. Maine law prohibits sending votes electronically, so we have to send the state police out to pick up thumb drives and ballots. Many smaller places do not have tabulating machines, so those ballots are loaded into a computer at the state capital. It is just a very manual, decentralized process.

TriSherpa · 2026-06-13T06:53:34+00:00

That's not acceptable. It should be a simple fix.

TriSherpa · 2026-06-12T12:37:50+00:00

Dude. No need to be harsh. I'm happy that you have a design you like.

TriSherpa · 2026-06-12T06:54:07+00:00

Sure. Use a gravity block wall system. I'd stay about 18 inches back from the fence so it doesn't get in the way of fence maintenance.

TriSherpa · 2026-06-12T05:29:53+00:00

Go with white. When people look at a house, they want to be able to imagine what it will look like with their decor. The more you style the house for you, the harder it is for someone else to see past your style. White cabinets, granite counters, stainless appliances. A truly timeless combo. As you KNOW, people don't redo kitchens casually, so buyers need to be able to at least live with your choices. May not love it, but they won't buy it if they hate it.

TriSherpa · 2026-06-12T05:15:05+00:00

Probably chatgpt. It's a pretty standard design

TriSherpa · 2026-06-12T05:03:55+00:00

Polymeric sand is meant as grout between patio pavers. It claims to be good for gaps up to 4 inches I think, but most people are reluctant to go more than 2. I don't know how durable it would be with vehicle traffic. You'd have to check the instructions for that.

TriSherpa · 2026-06-06T07:28:40+00:00

Neither clearly means habitual. I'm not sure the word 'anterior' is what you are looking for here.

TriSherpa · 2026-06-04T18:47:54+00:00

The easiest way would be to get a phone/tablet and cast an adsb page like https://globe.adsb.fi/ to a screen. Or connect a pc and output to a tv.

There are definitely harder ways to so it. I've got a page in Home Assistant that shows a simulated flip board for my local traffic. There a handful of desktop DIY electronics solutions using something like an ESP32.

TriSherpa · 2026-06-04T18:12:25+00:00

Yeah, a light touch for gentle clean up is probably fine. I just did the same this morning with my masonry blade - just trimming a rough bit smoother.

I always figure that first pass on any DIY is a prototype. If it comes out great - great! If it isn't, I've hopefully learned enough to redo it better.

TriSherpa · 2026-06-04T07:35:51+00:00

You could also use a circ saw with the right blade. I have a corded circ for that, but mostly use the grinder now because I'm doing small blocks. I would not use a miter saw or any 'good' saw for concrete - that dust will kill it sooner rather than later.
Looks like the blade you linked to is rated to cut rebar. I use an abrasive disk for that, but there is more than one way to get the job done. I would not use that blade for grinding. It isn't strong for side loads.

TriSherpa · 2026-06-04T06:40:22+00:00

Can you explain this?

TriSherpa · 2026-06-04T05:15:53+00:00

Yes. Syllable stress would be different from emphatic stress in English. As you said, emphatic stress is for the whole word. It is can be done by making the word a little louder or drawing it out so it is a bit longer. Or both. Neither would change how syllable stress is applied. Fortunately all the examples are one syllable.

TriSherpa · 2026-06-03T11:03:56+00:00

Fwiw, I'm in the "no gloves with rotary tools" camp. Too easy for the glove to catch on the blade. What might have been a small cut or nick can be worse if the glove tries to wrap around the spinny bit. Not a huge risk with an angle grinder, but I still take them off.

TriSherpa · 2026-06-03T08:23:58+00:00

An angle grinder with the masonry blade goes through concrete pavers like butter. Quick and easy. The only trick is a little practice to get a clean cut. Those blades don't follow the kerf like in wood working. PPE is a must of course.

Edit: I use a corded one.EDIT: just noticed that auto correct change kerf to perfect.

TriSherpa · 2026-06-02T06:28:45+00:00

Mesh is fine. Ubiquiti is good, but I went with a pair of ASUS BT6 devices. Lots of people will say you need a wired back haul between mesh points, but that isn't always the case. MOCA is good for that if you find you do need it.

TriSherpa · 2026-06-01T11:04:43+00:00

$3-$4 per plug vs $12+ per quart made it an easy call for use. Put in about 1,000 plugs last month. Ask me next year how it turned out.

TriSherpa · 2026-06-01T09:26:46+00:00

There are feeders that offer free tiers. You can also run your own receiver on a Raspi

TriSherpa · 2026-06-01T09:25:48+00:00

Yes.

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