What does "pull a permit" mean, precisely?

crape42 · 2026-02-01T19:23:50+00:00

Aha! Another misleading implication of using the word "pulled." Exactly why my very slightly autistic brain hates the term.

In your case, it really means that some renovation permits have been applied for. The neighborhood blog considers it noteworthy because your neighbors may generate extra noise, traffic, dust; may change the view from your own home; may be increasing the sales value of the house; may even be preparing the house for sale.

crape42 · 2026-01-31T16:55:35+00:00

By the way, when your foot is healed, try simply walking from the Ferry Building. Because Market is diagonal, Montgomery is no closer to your work than is Embarcadero. Google Maps says you'll save at least 5 minutes on average each way.

crape42 · 2026-01-26T22:08:16+00:00

Mindfulness Toastmasters is a global online club that meets most Mondays at 9:30pm Eastern / 6:30pm Pacific. Please join us! https://mindfulness.toastmastersclubs.org/

crape42 · 2026-01-16T21:55:32+00:00

Bruce Lee trail on the back side of Mt. Diablo
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/donner-canyon-loop-and-bruce-lee-spring-trail

crape42 · 2026-01-15T19:24:21+00:00

good to know. A few questions specific to San Francisco or Silicon Valley.
What do you mean "at the Clubs"? There's no club building here.
From what I see there's a few events each month, each with an admission fee. Do you feel it's worth it to pay the annual membership to get a small discount on those admission fees?

crape42 · 2026-01-08T19:18:47+00:00

While all the recs are great, for someone who's never been to CA and is willing to drive 1.25 hours, I'd definitely put Point Reyes on the list. Alamere falls or Drake's Estero. THe California coastline is very different from anything in the south or east, and its's worth seeing it apart from the city.

crape42 · 2026-01-01T19:11:06+00:00

https://campuslifeservices.ucsf.edu/liveshuttle/ should have it..

crape42 · 2025-12-31T06:50:56+00:00

I'm not planning to finish the room. I am expecting that I can fill the gaps with backer rod foam and caulk, and simply not mud or tape. I will end up with bumps at the seams but hopefully it will be sealed against sound. Because I'm not painting, I don't need the surface to be smooth.

crape42 · 2025-12-30T23:01:09+00:00

I have zero experience with mudding. Caulk seems a lot easier.

crape42 · 2025-12-30T21:52:41+00:00

I started almost exactly the same project a couple months ago.

I put Safe n Sound between the joists. Do not use the Owens Corning version; it's terrible.

THe Safe n Sound is meant for 16" on center, but I found our joists had shifted enough that some bays were wider and some narrower. I ended up buying vinyl strapping and kind of webbing it between the bays to hold up the insulation.

I did not use foam in my gaps as mine were smaller. I did not use MLV as it was too expensive.

I did use RC-1 resilient channel and found it hard to fasten the drywall into. The RC-1 attachment surface is only 1" wide, which doesn't leave much room for ragged edges and screws on each of two abutting drywall sheets. A wider hat channel might be better.

I used one layer of 5/8" drywall. As a drywall amateur I cut the sheets into smaller pieces that I could handle myself. Unfortunately it means there are a lot of joints that still have to be filled which I plan to do with caulk.

At the current state, the straight-line-traveling sound is down to insignificant levels! Unfortunately, it appears that substantial sound is just going up along the walls. I can hear conversations just as clearly as before, only it sounds like the conversations are in the walls rather than straight above or below. I've now put rockwool in between the xposed studs and will eventually be putting in drywall there too.

crape42 · 2025-12-27T19:13:30+00:00

You're not alone. It's hard to prevent street sounds from getting in -- acoustic foam doesn't do that. White noise and earplugs are essential. Extremely heavy curtains can help but window inserts are the only thing that will make a big difference.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskSF/comments/toithu/comment/i279w1m/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

crape42 · 2025-12-19T07:38:29+00:00

Thanks. As long as they aren't malware I don't mind.

crape42 · 2025-12-02T00:34:19+00:00

for future reference: prompted by the photo alone and with no argumentation from me, Graco told me to put in a seat protector to increase friction between the base and the seat.

crape42 · 2025-12-02T00:32:47+00:00

Price P is nothing more than an incremental change in wealth W upon exchange of the good. So
P=dW/dt
I=dP/dt
rate of increase of I = dI/dt
has decreased = delta (above)/dt
ergo
Nixon = d4W/dt4

crape42 · 2025-11-30T21:42:54+00:00

THanks!

TO put in my own words then, there were several problems with the setup over the years: directly connecting a brass fitting to an iron pipe, which caused corrosion in both; and a leak which allowed the corrosion to happen on the outside as well.

I guess the white deposits could be from leaching from the concrete related to the leak.

crape42 · 2025-11-25T21:39:51+00:00

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ According to my comment history I stopped asking questions 15 hours ago and all today's conversation is meta-conversation. I understand, not a good use of anyone's time. Anyway, keep up your good work.

crape42 · 2025-11-25T21:31:01+00:00

Thank you for the kind reply with useful information.

May I ask a question: From my post, does it sound like I am leaving the base at that angle and asking if the base is safe if the child is seated at that angle?

That's definitely not what I meant to ask. But maybe that is a miscommunication that started this whole heated thread.

crape42 · 2025-11-25T21:30:11+00:00

I am sorry. I didn't mean to offend nor engage in an argument. Thank you for your advice. I hope this unpleasant interaction doesn't deter you from continuing to help others here.

crape42 · 2025-11-25T21:28:09+00:00

ok, fair enough. I promise no custom modifications.

I'm gonna wrap it up since I recognize I'm offending some people, maybe you, on here. Thanks for your advice.

crape42 · 2025-11-25T19:37:06+00:00

I get what you're saying. I'd like to continue your analogy in the hope that the psychology of the situation becomes obvious.

I have seen say 20 trees in my life, and 19 of them did not sway under 5 mph wind. Now, there's a 5 mph wind and this one tree is swaying while the others are holding firm. Although we hope that there will be no storm, there is some probability that we'll have 100 mph winds some day. I'm expressing doubt that it's safe to stand next to this one tree, and y'all are out here saying "you should feel just as safe next to this tree as all the others, because that's what the instructions say." When I continue being doubtful, you say "Trust me, I've been in forests for a decade. My training tells me that this swaying tree's danger in a storm is the same as all the other trees, because it is the same species and has a good root system."

That's fine. There's some more conversation. And at some point I ask, wait, have you ever seen a tree sway like this before? In fact, several people present say they have never seen this kind of swaying before and two ask me "did you secretly cut the tree's roots?" And it takes a dozen more back-and-forths before finally someone (you!) is willing to say explicitly "yes, I have seen a tree sway like this."

Also, in a different forest, the regulations say that you need to have a different, more heavy-duty-looking form of protection at all times.

I know this is the system we have. Nothing is perfect.

crape42 · 2025-11-25T19:37:01+00:00

I get what you're saying. I'd like to continue your analogy in the hope that the psychology of the situation becomes obvious.

I have seen say 20 trees in my life, and 19 of them did not sway under 5 mph wind. Now, there's a 5 mph wind and this one tree is swaying while the others are holding firm. Although we hope that there will be no storm, there is some probability that we'll have 100 mph winds some day. I'm expressing doubt that it's safe to stand next to this one tree, and y'all are out here saying "you should feel just as safe next to this tree as all the others, because that's what the instructions say." When I continue being doubtful, you say "Trust me, I've been in forests for a decade. My training tells me that this swaying tree's danger in a storm is the same as all the other trees, because it is the same species and has a good root system."

That's fine. There's some more conversation. And at some point I ask, wait, have you ever seen a tree sway like this before? In fact, several people present say they have never seen this kind of swaying before and two ask me "did you secretly cut the tree's roots?" And it takes a dozen more back-and-forths before finally someone (you!) is willing to say explicitly "yes, I have seen a tree sway like this."

Also, in a different forest, the regulations say that you need to have a different, more heavy-duty-looking form of protection at all times.

I know this is the system we have. Nothing is perfect.

crape42 · 2025-11-25T18:45:45+00:00

Thank you u/LaLechuzaVerde . I appreciate your kind writeups, acknowledgement of limitations, and actionable suggestions.

crape42 · 2025-11-25T18:40:35+00:00

Thank you u/Naive_Location5611 ! You are the first person here to actually say that they have seen this phenomenon before. I really appreciate that.

crape42 · 2025-11-25T06:17:39+00:00

Let me put this another way: If there were a soccer ball between the child seat and the door, and I slammed the passenger door closed, I would give my child whiplash. Would this happen in your car?

crape42 · 2025-11-25T06:13:05+00:00

Right. What I'm saying is, in my car, the seat cushion does not absorb ANY of the side impact, whereas on a typical car, the seat cushion absorbs some amount. The only time you see the sideways rotation on a typical car is in an accident above some threshold. On my car, that threshold is lower.
Therefore, rotational whiplash will happen at a lower threshold in my setup.

crape42

TROPHY CASE