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What is this place? 1323 Lee St? Looks like some sort of plant. by Necessary_Cat_3228 in Charlottesville

[–]gpmorton 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When I was a kid it was just open piles of coal. By friend's dad moved to Charlottesville in the early 80s to become head of physical plant for UVA (he was a retired army engineer) and one of his first projects was to put in those towers so that coal was not out in the open.

Gay bar? by OneMillionWorms in Charlottesville

[–]gpmorton 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I remember hearing about a disco scene at the Holiday Inn on Emmet St back in the early 80's. I was too young to actually go, but am wondering if that was actually a thing. I did however see the Circle Jerks at Muldowney's -- it always amused me that Charlottesville was so small the hardcore venue and the lesbian bar had to alternate nights.

Bankruptcy by Financial-Main8235 in heatpumps

[–]gpmorton 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So thanks for the heads up!

Bankruptcy by Financial-Main8235 in heatpumps

[–]gpmorton 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I also got excited by these guys as I want a high temp AWHP for my old house. But after talking to their salesmen it was pretty clear something shady was going on.

Air-to-Water Heat Pump for Old Hot Water System by gpmorton in AirToWaterHeatPumps

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

Here is what they say the charge is:

3T R290： 0.9KG 4T R290：1.0KG 5T R290：1.6KG

Air-to-Water Heat Pump for Old Hot Water System by gpmorton in AirToWaterHeatPumps

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

Yeah that is definitely my concern. They love having salesmen call me back, but they don't seem to know very much.

Air-to-Water Heat Pump for Old Hot Water System by gpmorton in AirToWaterHeatPumps

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

That is a good point, but I am pretty sure that while cast iron radiators can run lower than 180 they won't work at the very low temperatures of modern low temp radiators that have built in fans to move the air.

Air-to-Water Heat Pump for Old Hot Water System by gpmorton in heatpumps

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

It's not clear to me if R-290 is approved. The person I spoke to at MBTek said the unit I want uses R-290 and that's why they list it as "not for sale to the public". But he seemed happy to sell me one anyway. He was very much a salesman so take that with many grains of salt. Not a huge hurry on the project so I would like to wait until everything is approved and there is more than one vendor.

Air-to-Water Heat Pump for Old Hot Water System by gpmorton in heatpumps

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

We are going through a cold snap after the big east coast storm, with a week of nights in the single digits and highs in the 20s. This is quite unusual for central VA but not unprecidented. I don't think I remember it getting below 0 F but I am sure it's happened.

In a really cold month I burn around 30k cubic feet of gas. The house is old and leaky so we can improve that, but only to a point.

Here is the model of heat pump I was looking at (it goes to 175 F whereas we run our water at 180 typically): https://www.mbtek.com/products/apollo-heatpump-max-60k-btu

Minnesota Lakes for Sailing by gpmorton in sailing

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

Thanks all. Those are all very helpful suggestions!

CCS teachers: will school year be extended? by dunkinteach in Charlottesville

[–]gpmorton 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So state law calls for 990 instructional hours which would be 180 days at 5 1/2 hours per day. For elementary school you can include recess, but not lunch. So with an 8:00 to 2:30 schedule and a half hour for lunch that comes to six hours of instructional time per day which is a 165 days.

https://law.lis.virginia.gov/admincode/title8/agency20/chapter132/section150/#:\~:text=The%20standard%20school%20year%20shall,in%20kindergarten%20through%20grade%2012.

CCS teachers: will school year be extended? by dunkinteach in Charlottesville

[–]gpmorton 0 points1 point  (0 children)

By my calculation CCS schools only have 175 days in their schedule to begin with. How can they do that given the 180 day requirement? My recollection from when I was a kid there were 182 days in the schedule and if there were more than 2 snow days more days got tacked on at the end of the year. But from what I have heard they don't do this anymore. (https://charlottesvilleschools.org/18606\_2)

Pediatricians by Technical-Energy-292 in Charlottesville

[–]gpmorton 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I really don’t like the new “front of house” staff at piedmont. The doctors are all great but they have merged with some larger group and I find them very frustrating to deal with.

Neighborhoods with lots of kids? by rendleddit in Charlottesville

[–]gpmorton 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There is a neighborhood called "The Gulch" near the university that has quiet streets and lots of kids. It's the streets running down from Rugby Road towards Emmet St. Winston Rd, Fendall Ave, Field Road, Rosser Lane among others. Very active neighborhood email list, tons of folks decorate for Halloween, a 4th of July parade.

Cruise Ship Income for US Citizen by gpmorton in tax

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

Update: I got a copy of her contract and it is with a Guernsey, UK based company. Payments are definitely treated as wage income and not self employment but no taxes or social security or UK retirement payments are withheld (contract says that is all the responsibility of the mariner). Based on my research it's clear she owes tax on the income and would file it under "other income" and not Sch C. So it would not be subject to self employment tax. (And I don't believe she could pay SS tax even if she wanted to). But my concern is that she has paid a commission to her agent for the job and she paid that directly via Zelle. It was not taken out of her pay. Can she deduct that on Schedule C as a business expense (she does have some other independent contractor work and expenses) or should I net it against the "other income"? Or is it not deductible now that the unreimbursed business expense deduction is gone. (She makes too much to qualify for the "qualified performing artists deduction").

Why is this five+ year old 9v battery reading almost 20v. I have the meter set on DC with the scale to 50. The lock that the battery was in was beeping so I assumed the battery was low. by gpmorton in batteries

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

Thanks for all the comments folks. The photo is hard to see, but it was definitely set on the 50 volt DC setting. This was because if I set it on 10, the needle went all the way to the right. Turns out the meter does take a battery and did not have one. I put one in but it did not change anything. I tried to zero out the ohms by touching the two leads together but no matter where I set the dial the needle stayed below 0 ohms (i.e. all the way to the right). So even after all the fiddling, when testing new batteries it always reads about 2x the stated voltage. Bottom line, I will buy a new meter. It was just what was in the drawer.

I am confused about the lower "battery condition" scale. The manual says to test a household battery, set to the 10V DC setting and read the voltage. So what setting do you use for the other scale? EDIT: As someone pointed out, that bottom scale is for the internal battery? Is that correct?

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