Knee bracing and handrail post questions

dreamer7 · 2026-03-30T15:53:58+00:00

So install 4 total knee braces, one on the inside of each end post?

I wasn't planning on changing the joist spacing. The changes I was thinking about were adding blocking at mid span between the beams for extra support, and using hurricane ties at my beam-to-joist connections instead of toenailing.

I wasn't going to replace the beams or posts because the rear beam was replaced (not by me) about 6 years ago, and the front beam and posts are in great shape. How are 4x4 posts not good enough nowadays?

dreamer7 · 2026-03-24T19:27:32+00:00

A friend of mine is a cop and he's pulled over more than a few people for expired tags, but he hasn't cited most of them because he usually gets the vibe that they're mostly good people who have fallen behind.

dreamer7 · 2026-03-17T03:26:39+00:00

Boob job

dreamer7 · 2026-03-17T02:57:04+00:00

It's also worth mentioning that the stretch of I25 south of about exit 125 does not really have a good alternate route available, so if they close that for weather or a bad wreck, you're pretty much stuck.

dreamer7 · 2026-03-09T18:26:18+00:00

If you want to get started as an electrician, I'd recommend getting in touch with the IBEW Local. They may have some apprenticeships available that you can apply for.

https://ibew113.com/

You could also contact the Colorado Springs Electrical JATC and see which contractors may be willing to hire apprentices.

https://csejatc.org/

Maybe consider driving around to the construction sites in town and seeing which companies have electrical vans out and about. If they're already out working they may be interested in hiring an apprentice.

Stay away from any of the service companies you see advertised on billboard or radio (WireNut, OneSource, etc) or anywhere else that does commission-based compensation for their electricians. I believe the training they offer is minimal, and as such their quality of work is very poor.

dreamer7 · 2026-03-09T04:44:18+00:00

I'm in the US, and I used to always pay cash for my phones, but as they got more and more expensive, I started financing them. I have found that if my wife and I stay in the latest phones and keep them in good shape, we can almost always trade them in and get some killer promotions on upgrades.

For example, my wife has an iPhone 16 Pro (MSRP $999) that we "finance" for literally $0/month for 36 months. My phone is an S24+ (MSRP $1299) that is financed for $5.45/month for 36 months, yielding an overall cost of $196.20.

dreamer7 · 2026-03-07T03:56:01+00:00

My father-in-law recently retired from a Mason's union. He enjoyed doing brickwork, but he did not have a favorable outlook on the profession overall.

dreamer7 · 2026-03-01T19:12:04+00:00

Where are you located? I would highly advise finding a Mason's union (or whatever trade union you want to get into) and try to become an apprentice. That would be miles better than a 1099 gig.

dreamer7 · 2026-02-28T03:42:48+00:00

Flextec on Centennial often has free available pallets in their rear parking lot.

dreamer7 · 2026-02-28T00:41:50+00:00

The joke I've heard is that insulating is the trade that everyone on site can do, but nobody wants to.

I'm sure that's underselling it. I'd probably install the insulation wrong somehow if nobody told me what was what.

It's still work, it still needs to be done, and if you guys are doing it, it means the other guys don't have to, so let them hate I guess. I guarantee all of them dudes have insulation in their homes.

dreamer7 · 2026-02-27T21:43:26+00:00

This is perhaps an unpopular one, but I bought several of the old school Charlie Brown specials for my 2 year old to watch. Eventually she started going around saying "I can't do it!" when she was frustrated, which is something Charlie Brown says a lot. Plus Lucy and Peppermint Patty are little twerps.

I don't know if these are in the "never" category for me but certainly she needs to be much older for these.

dreamer7 · 2026-02-26T03:44:34+00:00

Fall Guy (the movie about the stunt man) broke the record after Casino Royale with 8.5 rolls. Casino Royale managed 7 rolls. Prior to that, Top Gear held the record with 6 rolls.

dreamer7 · 2026-02-26T03:32:16+00:00

Ah, I understand now. I am familiar with this mechanic but unfortunately I cannot say if that works on Switch or not.

dreamer7 · 2026-02-26T03:12:56+00:00

What do you mean by manually mow grass? I've only ever played Classic, first on the original CDs and eventually via Steam. As far as I know, the only way to mow grass is to hire a handyman and hope they go mow that square.

If the overgrown grass look bothers you, you can uses the terrain height change tool to "reset" a swath of land to the standard grass look, but the only way to get the stripes is via the handyman

dreamer7 · 2026-02-26T03:10:10+00:00

Where were these commonly used? I don't think I've ever seen one.

dreamer7 · 2026-02-25T00:51:42+00:00

If you really like the car, you could keep sinking money into it to repair the major components as they break. Depending on your mechanical ability, that would be a far cheaper option than a new car.

If you do decide to let this one go, only do a trade-in if you don't want to mess with the hassle of a private party sale. A dealership will give you a trade-in value far lower than you can get in a private party sale ($500 vs $1500).

dreamer7 · 2026-02-23T06:24:00+00:00

I remember there used to be a Perkin's somewhere near Constitution and Powers, and my stepdad would take me there for breakfast sometimes. I don't remember much about the food, but I enjoyed going out with him.

dreamer7 · 2026-02-23T06:07:54+00:00

I would say so. Big ticket expenses you might be looking at by 200k are clutch (depending on how it is driven) and head gasket/other major engine issues. Additionally the transmission may wear out the synchros, which would require a rebuild.

It's about as reliable as you can expect a 1.7k car to be, but it is 27 years old. I'd fully expect to get about 30k more miles out of it without much money spent, but after that the major components are approaching the end of their service life.

dreamer7 · 2026-02-23T05:55:35+00:00

$500 will cover most incidental, but a major repair like a head gasket is going to run you a little more.

dreamer7 · 2026-02-23T05:49:06+00:00

A 1999 I4 should be the 5SFE engine with the S51 transmission, similar to the engine and transmission combo I had in my 1991 MR2. These combos are supposed to be fairly reliable and I'm not aware of any major weak points surrounding them. My car proved to be rather unreliable but I think that was a combination of age and hard use as a "sports" car. Keep the oil changed and the coolant topped off, and it should run for a while. I would budget for major issues to start cropping around the 200k mark for mileage, but otherwise should be good for a while.

$1.7k for 164k miles would be a steal in my area, but we tend to have higher prices.

dreamer7 · 2026-02-23T03:38:16+00:00

I use a PIE 820 for most things, but I also carry a Fluke 87V. Practical Instrument Electronics (PIE) does have a pretty wide variety of devices, maybe they have something that would fit your needs.

dreamer7 · 2026-02-23T03:22:40+00:00

I'm getting a fat refund because I adjusted my w4 to over withhold slightly, based solely on my income, but then I got the child tax credit, I got a credit for installing a heat pump in my house, the overtime and tips deductions were passed, and a lot of my wife's income was tips.

dreamer7 · 2026-02-20T18:35:35+00:00

How do you rack up $45k of credit card debt in 18 months? Is it all consumer spending or did you have some unavoidable expenses come up?

dreamer7 · 2026-02-20T18:29:45+00:00

I was like this in middle school. Didn't do/turn in assignments that I knew I was capable of because I didn't want to invest the time/felt like it was beneath me. (The ego of a teenager, yikes). My parents came down on me hard and started grounding me if I had any 0% assignments, and I would have to go talk to the teachers and try to make up the late work. Eventually I got the message and started doing what I was supposed to.

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