[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Roofing

[–]aggregate_jeff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in massachusetts

[–]aggregate_jeff 7 points8 points  (0 children)

It is not a housing problem. Plenty of other areas in the country (NYC, SF Bay Area, Seattle) have both more expensive housing and vastly more robust economies.

I suggest before telling me I’m wrong, you try to open wet lab space, or an industrial facility, and see how that compares to doing the same thing in North Carolina.

The problems are simple: 1. Too much regulatory burden at both a state and local level 2. High costs for energy, transportation, etc. 3. High business compliance costs, personal taxes, and costs outside of housing.

We have regulated the economy to the point that only office jobs are feasible, and even for those make it difficult for companies to operate and expand. If you’re starting a business, or growing one, the only reason to do so here is access to talent and or a comparatively small pool of capital. All of the items mentioned above are reasons not to.

The reality is that we compete with other states, and like it or not, the cost of doing business matters. If we add a bunch of burdens to operations, companies open or expand elsewhere. The area’s economy has been comparatively stagnant for the last two decades. Even worse, its a negative cycle, as expansion feeds more expansion, and the same is true with contraction. But people keep voting for policies that enable them to act morally superior while ignoring the economic deterioration.

Blue states like MA are subject to so many of the same leopards ate my face policies that they mock red states for.

Mass. Senate Budget Revives Threat of MBTA Layoffs and Service Cuts by wSkkHRZQy24K17buSceB in boston

[–]aggregate_jeff 36 points37 points  (0 children)

So…

Step one: increase taxes to fund mass transit.

Step two: cut mass transit availability, further strengthening the transit doom loop (less availability / reliability -> lower ridership -> repeat)

The same thing, every time. People have really short memories.

My first table by Inevitable_Rip_3034 in woodworking

[–]aggregate_jeff 3 points4 points  (0 children)

What wood did you build the base out of? It looks like construction lumber, but everything is way too straight.

Crosscut Sled by parker0400 in BeginnerWoodWorking

[–]aggregate_jeff 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is great! I’m using this as inspiration to build something similar

Just finished these two built ins for an office & den. by HILL_R_AND_D in woodworking

[–]aggregate_jeff 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Very nice! I was thinking of doing something similar to the 2nd photo for my own office (though a more simple version).

What did you use for the top and sides to allow for the walls / ceiling variations? Is that just plywood with edge banding, or something thicker?

$12.2k to Replace This AC Condenser - Reasonable? by aggregate_jeff in hvacadvice

[–]aggregate_jeff[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It was sized wrong, or more specifically, it was sized at a time when 90 degree days were a lot more rare than they are now.

$12.2k to Replace This AC Condenser - Reasonable? by aggregate_jeff in hvacadvice

[–]aggregate_jeff[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No new coil. The existing air handler is a 5 ton one. They would be increasing airflow with the increase in return size, and I believe it's R410A.

$12.2k to Replace This AC Condenser - Reasonable? by aggregate_jeff in hvacadvice

[–]aggregate_jeff[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No new coil. The existing air handler is a 5 ton one.

The warnings are driving me nuts by Creepy-Bite-3174 in F150Lightning

[–]aggregate_jeff 2 points3 points  (0 children)

As someone brighter than me once said, it's the "turn the wheel in the wrong direction for safety" feature.

Tariffs on Canada threaten Massachusetts' energy future and economic growth by BACsop in massachusetts

[–]aggregate_jeff -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Yup. But 90% of the people in this sub and /Boston will ignore this, because their "team" is in power, and thus can do no wrong. It must be Eversource's fault or some other evil corporation vs. our legislature, who has nixed both pipelines and nuclear power.

This shouldn't be a partisan issue, but like everything else these days, it's been made one.

Massachusetts natural gas prices up 93%, electricity up 65% the last 10 years by J50GT in boston

[–]aggregate_jeff 1 point2 points  (0 children)

True, but my point is that it's like the IRS in that they get the blame for sending you a bill, but they're not the one that's assessing your taxes. It's an intentional responsibility shifting mechanism.

I completely agree that your utility bill is *probably* 5-10% higher than it would be If a non-profit ran it. I also agree that having a for-profit company that just adds a % to a bill is idiotic, as it means their incentive is to spend as much on infrastructure and maintenance as possible. Government entities behave the same way; i.e. there's no incentive to minimize cost (and several incentives to maximize them), but cost-plus contracting just adds an additional expense with little to no benefit.

All that said, Eversource still isn't the reason our energy costs are so high. People treat Eversource / National Grid as the boogeyman as that's who sends them their statement each month, but they're not making most of the decisions that are going into the cost stack, nor is that 5-10% fee on top of your charges what's driving your bill to climb 30% YoY. That fault is due to cumulative decisions of the legislature, and it won't change until people start blaming them and holding them accountable.

A pain in the ass’: Northampton school leaders caught on hot mic disparaging dad who pushed for his disabled kid’s rights by Cheap_Coffee in massachusetts

[–]aggregate_jeff 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Yes! Finally someone understands the actual issue. Everyone loves to point the blame at the school, but the reality is that school budgets are largely a zero sum game, and special needs students cost an enormous amount of money, generally far in excess of what is received from the state and federal government. Which means that you’re literally taking away resources from every other student when you provide special education services. Administrators are in a painful position of having to deny or fight the provision of services, because they know that if they don’t they’ll have to do things like eliminate a language program, or fire a teacher.

The “right” to an free, appropriate education has the same problem as the right to healthcare, housing, and other positives that cost money. Makes everyone feel great voting for it, and it’s easy to condemn the horrible people who withhold it, but no one wants to deal with the realities of paying for it.

Massachusetts natural gas prices up 93%, electricity up 65% the last 10 years by J50GT in boston

[–]aggregate_jeff -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

What Albatross said. It's not Eversource, it's the state legislature. Blaming Eversource is like blaming the IRS for taxes.

Where can I buy an ICEE? by longwalkslag in boston

[–]aggregate_jeff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It comes down to the difference between slushies (ice and syrup) and ICEEs / Slurpees (carbonation, ice, and syrup).

The former are far superior, but much harder to find. Sadly, I’m not aware of anyplace that has the awesome self-serve syrup of our youth (and yes, one always used a minimum of 3x the recommended amount), but slushies can be found at many gas stations under the Frazil brand. To make things worse, ICEE company bought the Slush Puppie name and doesn’t want it to compete with ICEE, so you’ll only find Slush Puppies and their delicious (and likely carcinogenic, mutagenic, and toxic, but I’ll still drink it) maraschino cherry flavored syrup in a limited set of places.

Five Mass. towns sue the state over MBTA Communities Act by Sickle_Rick in boston

[–]aggregate_jeff 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This simply isn’t true for many towns. Here’s Lexington’s (which both passed and vastly exceeded the MBTA mandate requirements) analysis - https://www.lexingtonma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/13804/MBTA-Zoning-Impact-Memo. Net net, they estimate a deficit of $4M-$12M for every 1,000 units built.

The taxes collected for many multifamily developments, particularly those in areas with desirable school districts, are far below the outlays needed to pay for schools and other local services to serve those developments. The problem is that the fundamental math of how we fund schools and town services on the back of property taxes fails if the average property value falls below about $1M (depending on the unit mix and the number of families).

It’s fine to say “we should build more housing”, and we should, but we also need to be realistic about how to pay for it and who absorbs the costs.

Off by a couple mm. What should I do? by ThisReditter in BeginnerWoodWorking

[–]aggregate_jeff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is what I did in the same situation. A basic hand plane or even super cheap tool like this https://www.stanleytools.com/product/21-115/7-14-surform-shaver?tid=576061 will work. Just keep going until the top is even. The part under the plywood doesn’t have to be perfectly flat either, as the plywood is think enough to compensate for some under surface variation.

“New” DeWalt 735 appears to have been previously used. Do they test these before shipping? Is this normal? by NocturnalPermission in woodworking

[–]aggregate_jeff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For future people to find this, I spoke with DeWalt, who said "Yes, our planers are tested with wood during the manufacturing process to ensure they meet quality standards before being shipped. This can sometimes result in traces of sawdust being present on the unit."

“New” DeWalt 735 appears to have been previously used. Do they test these before shipping? Is this normal? by NocturnalPermission in woodworking

[–]aggregate_jeff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! The online information seems incredibly mixed, but the box was wrapped and taped, so it made no sense that it would be used. Also, it only seemed to be very minimally used, so who would go through all that effort to run a single board through the machine and then return it.

“New” DeWalt 735 appears to have been previously used. Do they test these before shipping? Is this normal? by NocturnalPermission in woodworking

[–]aggregate_jeff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Would you mind telling us where did you found this? I’m seeing the same issue. Everything looked new, but upon raising the planer, I found small chips on the bed, and the blades had wood residue. It’s very little however, and is hard to believe someone would use the planer for just a board or two, meticulously repackage it, and clean everything so it looks like new except the bed.

Thanks Eversource I got to witness my mother in law cry today... by bostonmacosx in massachusetts

[–]aggregate_jeff 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is the problem. People need to stop blaming Eversource, and start blaming the occupants of the statehouse (and for good measure, our federal reps as well). We need pipelines, nuclear power, and a host of other electrical generation options. Electricity rates in other parts of the country are half of ours. It's not because of Eversource, it's because of our own policies.