Monday, April 05, 2004
Death and ...
Doing the tax thing today. I'm using Turbo Tax for the first time. It's like the Home Depot of taxes. I can't believe those H&R Block jerks get so much money for what they do. They probably have turbo tax running in the back room. Actually, I saw a version of the same type of software for sale by H&R Block at CompUSA. I guess Turbo is eaten' into their action pretty bad.
I think most service businesses make money by convincing the public that they can't do something. "No ma'am, there is no way an untrained woman like yourself could possibly change a spark plug. Fortunately for you, we are having a sale and it will only cost you $1000 to have one of our experts do the job" I am learning this as I work on our house. If the public really understood how houses are built, they wouldn't be willing to pay nearly as much as they do. A good 2x4 costs about $2.80. I am going to build our carport into a garage in the next month or so and I estimate the material costs at about $2000. And that includes a 16x7 garage door, insulation and two 4x4 double paned windows. It would cost over $10,000 to get some yahoo contractor to do it and he would most likely half-ass the whole thing. Of course I may kill myself with my nail gun but that is beside the point.
I got a framing nail gun a few months back that will drive a 3 1/2" nail in one pop. The first time I fired it I didn't have hearing protection on. That was the last time I fired it without hearing protection on. The thing is a small cannon. It is driven by compressed air which is vented out the back by an adjustable port. And if you don't have the port pointing in the right direction, look out. I switched hands once to drive a nail from the other direction and my head was right in the way of the exhaust. The blast hit me in the forehead and blew my hat half way across the room. And, if you understand the concept of adiabatic cooling, you know that when a compressed gas is decompressed, it cools rapidly. So, the net result of my mishap was an ultra-violent brain freeze without the mind numbing pleasure of a margarita. Of Course...I'm much smarter now! I remember that old quote "What doesn't kill me makes me stronger" If that's true, I am gonna' be the Incredible Hulk when this house is done!
Doing the tax thing today. I'm using Turbo Tax for the first time. It's like the Home Depot of taxes. I can't believe those H&R Block jerks get so much money for what they do. They probably have turbo tax running in the back room. Actually, I saw a version of the same type of software for sale by H&R Block at CompUSA. I guess Turbo is eaten' into their action pretty bad.
I think most service businesses make money by convincing the public that they can't do something. "No ma'am, there is no way an untrained woman like yourself could possibly change a spark plug. Fortunately for you, we are having a sale and it will only cost you $1000 to have one of our experts do the job" I am learning this as I work on our house. If the public really understood how houses are built, they wouldn't be willing to pay nearly as much as they do. A good 2x4 costs about $2.80. I am going to build our carport into a garage in the next month or so and I estimate the material costs at about $2000. And that includes a 16x7 garage door, insulation and two 4x4 double paned windows. It would cost over $10,000 to get some yahoo contractor to do it and he would most likely half-ass the whole thing. Of course I may kill myself with my nail gun but that is beside the point.
I got a framing nail gun a few months back that will drive a 3 1/2" nail in one pop. The first time I fired it I didn't have hearing protection on. That was the last time I fired it without hearing protection on. The thing is a small cannon. It is driven by compressed air which is vented out the back by an adjustable port. And if you don't have the port pointing in the right direction, look out. I switched hands once to drive a nail from the other direction and my head was right in the way of the exhaust. The blast hit me in the forehead and blew my hat half way across the room. And, if you understand the concept of adiabatic cooling, you know that when a compressed gas is decompressed, it cools rapidly. So, the net result of my mishap was an ultra-violent brain freeze without the mind numbing pleasure of a margarita. Of Course...I'm much smarter now! I remember that old quote "What doesn't kill me makes me stronger" If that's true, I am gonna' be the Incredible Hulk when this house is done!
// posted by Chris @ Monday, April 05, 2004
Thursday, April 01, 2004
I heard about a web site on the radio yesterday. I'm not sure the motives of the site so take it with a grain of salt. There is an interesting page with direct quotes from the 5 books of Islam including the Qur'an. Have you ever heard a follower of Islam say that Islam is a peaceful religion and that the terrorists have twisted it's meaning? I think that this may shed some light. It seams to me you wouldn't have to twist much. Following Sept. 11th, this gentleman interviewed Al Quida, Hamas, Palestinian Martyrs Brigade, etc. He then wrote the book Tea with Terrorists. This is one of his "Quotes" pages:
Prophet of Doom
Prophet of Doom
// posted by Chris @ Thursday, April 01, 2004
I have to go to work today. I was able to hold a line again this month. The trips are crappy but it beats reserve. Here's an example: Today I fly to SFO, sit for 2 1/2 hours, then back to PHX, sit for 2 hours, deadhead to Vegas, sit for 1 1/2 hours, then go to San Diego. That's a lot of sitten'! Later this month, I have a trip where I go to Windsor Locks, CT and sit for 31 hours. Oh Boy!
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I have been working on window trim in the living/dinning room. The living room window is 4' x 8'. And the angles are a bit off so I have had to get creative in places. There is a never ending list of projects to do around this house. With Lorna's help the list is getting a bit longer. The other day she was backing out of our drive and managed to swerve into the fence and tear a foot long hole while bending the fence post into an "S". Then she banged into some door trim I recently installed and broke a piece of that off. Let's see...That's a net loss of one project.
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Our cat Yoda had a traumatic evening the other day. He ventured out of the yard and across the street. He went into our neighbor's yard and got cornered by their dogs in a rather violent way. They didn't hurt him thanks to the rescuing efforts of our neighbor but they did scare the shit out if him....no....really. There was crap all over the back end of that cat. He wasn't the same for days. I'm just glad they were all bark and no bite.
I'll be back in a few days.
-C
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I have been working on window trim in the living/dinning room. The living room window is 4' x 8'. And the angles are a bit off so I have had to get creative in places. There is a never ending list of projects to do around this house. With Lorna's help the list is getting a bit longer. The other day she was backing out of our drive and managed to swerve into the fence and tear a foot long hole while bending the fence post into an "S". Then she banged into some door trim I recently installed and broke a piece of that off. Let's see...That's a net loss of one project.
------------------------------------
Our cat Yoda had a traumatic evening the other day. He ventured out of the yard and across the street. He went into our neighbor's yard and got cornered by their dogs in a rather violent way. They didn't hurt him thanks to the rescuing efforts of our neighbor but they did scare the shit out if him....no....really. There was crap all over the back end of that cat. He wasn't the same for days. I'm just glad they were all bark and no bite.
I'll be back in a few days.
-C
// posted by Chris @ Thursday, April 01, 2004
