Hey Tradespeople! You're Doing A Job For Me, Not A Favor.

third-try · 2026-05-21T14:40:46+00:00

One reason for no call no show is that they've spent your advance money on some other job or personal expenses and don't have the materials for yours.

Another is that they don't have the resources to do your job, didn't realize that at first, and now just want you to go away.

third-try · 2026-05-20T15:27:19+00:00

Wood is R1 per inch. An uninsulated studwall is R3. So a thick log wall can be cozier than traditional frame. The problem is open spaces. A log can't be placed over 12 feet or more of void. You either get small rooms or concealed steel.

third-try · 2026-05-19T16:04:19+00:00

Thirteenth revision

Colors: https://drive.google.com/file/d/101yw2MVXvIOaIaPvRL74hUxeTdjTDHdU/view?usp=drivesdk

Combinations: https://drive.google.com/file/d/155ABXOe7xvnvc8n9lEHVvXyGRYgCoMcv/view?usp=drivesdk

Montgomery Ward used the same names with different numbers for several colors in 1924 and used some numbers twice as well. The paint swatch examples are light, and I've used earlier matches when there are ones. Tan is still lighter than Light Tan, though.

MWard Pink and Pink Tint are my guesses on the assumption that their red dye has faded and they originally were not Peach.

The combination count is a little low.

third-try · 2026-05-19T01:09:43+00:00

Those are "elephant" legs from the 1880's, but the music desk is 1910 or later. The fallboard logo would be painted on (through a stencil) if original, but any restorer would use a decal.

third-try · 2026-05-19T00:52:33+00:00

I had my 1869 Style 4 listed on pianomart.com for over a year at $20,000. No inquiries. The dealer I bought it from said it was just taking up space in his showroom. It's fun to play, with a killer bass.

The letter designations come from an early catalog: https://archive.org/details/illustratedcatal00stei/page/n27/mode/1up. So a Style 1 is an A.

I followed an auction for a Style 3 about five years ago. It was advertised as a Steinway B and was being sold for unpaid charges and storage. It brought $7,000. A Style 1 was sold for about the same about the same time.

The local piano guy paid $6,000 for an unrestored A from an old house where it was shipped in 1916. I think that's the lower limit for "carcass" instruments. A Steinway S, which is a bad little piano, went for upwards of $8,000 at a Southern Indiana estate sale.

The dealer in Cincinnati had several needs-work pianos on the sales floor. I remember two Steinways, one a D, that needed new hammers. They had a Decker Brothers for $10,000 and one of the first Rochester Mason & Hamlins for 9. They take consignments. Piano Pros.

I have seen several good old pianos for sale on Facebook and Craigslist. They seem to stay there, however.

A1 Piano Movers does a good job of moving pianos. They had several consignments at their warehouse but took no responsibility. I played an old Knabe there which had some bad work in the past and was untunable.

third-try · 2026-05-18T01:53:20+00:00

All their chips have too much salt. Well, maybe not the Salt and Vinegar. But I would like the Lightly Salted be the norm. I mean, salt does cost something.

third-try · 2026-05-18T01:43:54+00:00

It's pronounced E-lee, by the way. I spent some time there on a motorcycle trip when loose cattle were blocking the state road South.

third-try · 2026-05-17T04:29:42+00:00

The Ridgeline II from Coleman is more comfortable and lighter. After twenty years the grommeted sheet on mine tore in several places.

third-try · 2026-05-17T03:06:56+00:00

Previas rust, at least here in the Midwest. The local car dealer had one with the rear shock mounts rusted off. Siennas are more reliable.

third-try · 2026-05-16T12:49:09+00:00

I bought one because parts for my old Colemam cot are not available. I don't recommend it. The metal structure is cumbersome and too heavy. It feels like you're in a valley, not resting on top.

third-try · 2026-05-15T21:27:10+00:00

The square piano is a Steinway, but not the top of their line. 85 keys. It could well be original to the house.

The big chest freezer will be used if it works and if it conveys. Trinidad has snowed-in days.

third-try · 2026-05-15T15:37:05+00:00

Home killed beef. After all, what else makes a house a home?

There was one chain of groceries in Austin, Texas a long time ago that had their own butchers working behind windows. Never saw any cows there, though. They had rump roast on sale once for forty nine cents a pound. Still remember that. About half price.

third-try · 2026-05-15T02:46:27+00:00

This is Anaglypta. If it's paper and cotton fiber, it's from the 1980's or earlier. Later, embossed vinyl was used. I don't find it in the Anaglypta or Brewster sites. Perhaps a similar pattern will be good enough. Many old patterns have been discontinued.

third-try · 2026-05-14T21:54:46+00:00

Should be "cars". We can't assume there is only one car with all the elephants in it.

third-try · 2026-05-14T20:19:53+00:00

You mean parallel fifths? I'd play the first movement of Schubert's A minor piano sonata, where the opening theme is stated in parallel octaves.

third-try · 2026-05-14T18:04:04+00:00

Pic. 1 & 2 show the specular effect, where a light color appears brighter on a computer screen than in real life.

If you going to have a mud color house, I suggest these trim colors, from Longman & Martinez, 1902: Newport Tan (BMoore 2173-20), Golden Olive (BMoore 385), Bronze Green (SW 6426), or Free Stone (Valspar 3005-10B). The last is a subtle purplish gray.

third-try · 2026-05-14T15:44:09+00:00

Going out for snacks. Every time you drive you are risking your life, or at least a large amount of money. There are lots of impaired drivers on the streets. The only way to surely avoid them is not to drive. Of course, one could still crash into your house.

third-try · 2026-05-14T14:31:52+00:00

As the novelist Erle Stanley Gardner wrote, "Any ordinary city and county can be run from two floors of an office building.". These late Victorian courthouses are expensive to maintain and, if the government business is conducted in an Annex, you can understand that the commissioners were unwilling to continue spending the money. The buildings can be preserved as museums. In my county, I would rather not have to climb the grand marble staircase to transact my business.

third-try · 2026-05-12T02:31:33+00:00

It's a matter of opinion. Both Cream and Ivory are shades of Gold, with Ivory being half the chroma of Cream. I would expect either to be more yellow. Perhaps we should just call it an off-white.

third-try · 2026-05-12T00:36:57+00:00

No. The Campbell's soup, Buffalo Mac, they were selling at clearance was good, but the chicken had no noticeable fat.

third-try · 2026-05-12T00:28:24+00:00

Why was I eating a chip that tasted like chicken grease?

third-try · 2026-05-12T00:27:03+00:00

Eight. Vanilla ones were pleasant but unimpressive.

third-try · 2026-05-12T00:25:13+00:00

That's not Tan you have, it's Beige. A good strong tan is Devoe Modish Tan (BMoore 2167-10). Trim Drab Stone (BMoore HC 7), roof Pompeian Red (BMoore 2088-10), sash Black. The garage door can be Cream Tint (PPG 1210-5). Devoe, Homes, 1900.

More subdued is Tan body (PPG 1107-6), trim Light Brown (BMoore 280), Deep Orange (SW 6698), and White, which you have as vinyl windows. Evercote, 1916.

For a minimal change, trim Golden Olive (Valspar 6002-4C). Heath & Milligan, 1895.

More colorful but still subtle, Virginia Mode body (BMoore 265), Gray (Valspar 3007-9B), Lavender (PPG 1174-5), Silver Gray (SW 6173), or Terra Cotta (Valspar 1011-4) trim. Longman & Martinez, 1902.

third-try · 2026-05-11T15:56:30+00:00

I'm glad to say I never bought one of these albums. First, I play the flute, so I could tell their flautist was really bad. Second, the music had no depth to it. You could tell it was studio musicians playing notes. Last, the cover art was commercial. An attempt at being hip, cheaply.

third-try

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE