Big Bill

That sort of thing happens alot here. Tree cutters are notorious for this. It's a pet peeve of mine also. Just a couple of months ago, a customer of mine called to get a quote to have her house cleaned. She asked if I had liab. insurance. I told her yes I do. She then asked if I could provide her w/ a cert. of insurance. I said yes I can. Before she even let me roll out a hose, she made a call to the ins. co. to make sure. It turns out that she is an ins. claims lady for an insurance co. Made me feel good. She said that she called several other co.'s, some of them had no insurance. One man told her that he had been pw'ing for 20 years, he didn't need insurance. Well, I've been driving for almost 30 years, never been in an accident, I guess I don't need insurance for driving. I was just told by a HOA that if I wanted to do work for them, I would need workman's comp, even though I am a 1 man operation. Some people around here are getting wise to the games that some of these people play.

I use citra clean, 15% chlorine, but I also add a rinse aid, & a foaming agent to it. I have washed a couple hundered houses/buildings w/ it, it has never failed me once. I blows the minds of my customers. Like Don said, it's the ingredients that make the difference. I have tried the bleach and Dawn, it didn't do near as well as the citra clean. I'm with Cujo, I didn't spend $25k on equipment to wash w/ over the counter bleach & soap. Whatever your choice of chems are, I'll bet most are better than bleach & dawn. It costs me a little bit more $, but I am a beleiver in the ol' saying that you get what you pay for. When I tell my customers that I use professional grade chems, they know that I am for real, not some hack looking for beer money (even though a certain % goes to my love of beer).

A little wind? I have seen the wind guage pegged out at 120 mph more than once. On this particular rig, we broke tow line for over 24 hours in 20+ seas off the coast of Scotland. Thats a pretty scary situation. One of the sister rigs, same design, sank in a storm while under tow from Nova Scotia to Scotland back in 1990. 27 people survived in an escape capsule for over 36 hours.

Had Superior do some leg inspection work for us a couple of years ago. Good little co. They did a good safe job.

How the hell do you think I feel? I am right out in the middle of the Gulf right now, south of New Orleans. We watch these real closely out here. Look's like there is a possibility we could evacuate this weekend. I hate those things, it's a PITA to rig down, then come back and have to rig up everything. Here's a pic of the rig I am on right now.

I have 2 Little Giant ladders along w/ all of the gizmos to go with it. I have a 24' & a smaller one, can't remember the exact size. I also have a 12' Werner step ladder that is fiberglass. The LG is not a light ladder. Werner also makes a ladder now that is almost identical to the LG. I'm a big guy, so I have to have a 300# rated ladder.

I own 2 M5's & 1 of the original x-jets. I have used both of them extensively on both residential & commercial jobs. The original does shoot a bit higher than the M5, but not much. The disadvantage of the original is having to remove the close range nozzle from the tip if you have to spray up high. With the M5, you just twist the adjustable nozzle on it & spray like hell. I used to have 100' of 3/8" hose on it, but cut it in half to +- 50', because the hose is always tangled up in the pressure hose. That is a pain in the ass sometimes, but you get used to it & learn how to untangle the 2 hoses really quickly. I love the M5. A few months ago, I went to a job about 45 minutes from my house. I unreeled about 250' of both supply hose & pressure hose, unloaded my dolly w/ about 20 gal. of housewash, surface cleaner, wand etc. I went to my usual storage place for my M5 & it wasn't there. I looked all over my trailer for 30+ minutes & couldn't find it. I don't use a downstreamer, so I had to load everything back up, drive home to see if I might have left it there. It was there, in the pocket of my overalls that I had worn the day before. On my way back to the job, I got on the phone & ordered another M5, just so I would not be w/o it on any other job.

I use Zatarain's exclusively. It's the original. I use the powdered Shrimp & crab boil, then add about 1/2 bottle of the liquid shrimp & crab boil. I also put about 6-8 lemons, 6 large bunches of garlic, corn, potatoes, & Double D Sausage (all in a 100 qt. pot). If I have left over potatoes, I use those to make potato salad. The crabs are coming in now.......can't wait. I like'm boiled or soft-shell on a po-boy.

Community Dark Roast, w/ carnation hazelnut. I can drink it hot & black also. We have several local brands here that I think are much better than Starbucks, IMO. CDM, PJ's are 2 of them. Anybody know what city in the US consumes the most coffee per capita? Seattle

That's what we call Louisiana Hot Tubbin! I boiled 3 sacks on Saturday, peeled so many that finger tips are almost raw. I can honestly say that I probably eat 200# of crawfish every year. My wife & 2 girls love crawfish. My girls are 9 & 7, they have been eating crawfish since they were about 3. They peel their own now, since Daddy & Mommy refused to do it for them, told them they had to learn to do it themselves if the wanted to eat them. I'm having crawfish ettoufe' tonight! Of course I gotta have the french bread with it too. It dont get no better than this. Shane, I have been getting some really nice sacks for about the last couple of weeks. My best friend owns a restraunt here that does all you can eat on Monday nights for $15.95. He boils about 1500 # on Monday, you can't hardly get a seat in his place. He got me some the other day from Pierre Part that were the best I've had this year. Gotta go, the ettoufe is on the table. Reed, my friend has a boiling trailer that he does big parties with. For the right amount of money, I'm sure he'll travel. How far are you from N'Awlins?

If I found a paper bag w/ money in it, first thing I would think is that it was a payoff to a politician, it's just waiting to be picked up by the money runner. In Louisiana, this actually happened. Our illustrious former governor (4 term) Edwin Edwards (Fast Eddie we call him) was taking payoffs from casino owners for granting them permits. Well, the feds got him. Him, his son, & some of his cronies are now doing time in the federal country club pokey. One of the casino owners ratted him out, got total immunity, didn't do one day in the pokey. In actuality, I'd keep my mouth shut & my ears open. If nobody put the word out that it was missing, I'd keep it. Chances are, the money came from some sort of illegal activity.

Down here in South Louisiana, we have a sandwich that is called a Po-Boy. It is basically a sub, that is made with french bread. They are made in so many different varieties, from luncheon meat to fried seafood. We have a couple of local hole in the wall places that are excellent. My personal favorite place is a place called Bear's Po-Boy's. They make a po-boy called a ferdie that has my mouth watering right now as I type this. It has hot roast beef (w/ gravy), cajun smoked ham, swiss cheese etc. When you eat one of these, you better bring a bath towel to wipe the drippings from your hands & arms. My other favorite is a fried soft shell crab po-boy. Ay-yee, that's some good grocerie's, yeah. Another traditional local favorite on Monday's is red beans & rice w/ smoked sausage. Whew, I'm hungry now. Gonna have to go eat some boiled crawfish right now.

Hey Ryan, give us the details on this Steel Eagle, what swivel you have, how old, price. I might be interested in it.

For the last 24 years I have been in the offshore oil business. I started at the bottom scrubbing the deck, what we call a "roustabout". I have worked my way up the ladder over the years, & have been the Offshore Installation Manager (Toolpusher in oilfield lingo) for the past 6 years. I have worked all over the world, the persian gulf (Saudi Arabia, Oman, Abu Dhabi), Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Singapore), West Africa (Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea), North Sea (England, Scotland, The Netherlands, Norway, Denmark). I am now back home working in the Gulf of Mexico, hope to stay here, had enough of the international flights & airports for awhile. This job has given me the oportunity to see the world, been to 29 different countries, having lived in a few of them. I only work 26 weeks a year, so I have alot of free time (well I used to before I got married 3 years ago). My wife will soon be finishing school to become a school teacher, so doing this pwing thing while I am home from offshore keeps me busy, gives me much needed exercise, and every time she writes another check, I have something to put into the account to cover it. She likes me doing it because "I am not bothering her all of the time".

The Big Easy, N'Awlins, LA

I read somewhere that Wal-Mart's #1 personal injury lawsuits by customers & employees is slip & fall accidents. Of course, I'd bet that most of the lawsuits are frivilous.

I am no painter, hate it with a passion. But, I have read many posts on several bbs saying that using TSP should be used for paint prep. It is supposed to chemically rough up the surface when it is being cleaned. If I am wrong, someone w/ more experience chime in & correct me.

Those are great. I had read the Jack Schitt one before, but never seen the first one that Jon posted. I have been a trivia nut since the first trivial pursuit game came out years ago, so I really enjoyed that Jon.

Sorry, my mistake ! I was kinda ticked off when I read it. My point of the entire post was the prejudice & to drive the point home about that in particular. We are all human, despite our race, religion, or national origin. John, We are a global economy now, heck, even the Chrysler Corporation is part German now, I still like my Dodge truck, even though it's a part German Co., & built in Mexico. I like my Hanes underwear & T-shirt too, even though its made in Haiti. I love the USA, but I don't hate all Muslim countries because of the above mentioned acts. I do hate the people that commited these acts, just as I hate murderers that are Americans too. Again, I am sorry Oneness !

Oneness, do you drive a car or truck? Does it happen to be made in Japan, or maybe in Germany? If you do drive a vehicle, where do you think that the largest percentage of oil is imported from? Just to enlighten you, the U.S. imports over 60% of it's oil, over half of that is coming from MUSLIM countries. Should you not buy Japanese vehicles because they were our enemies in WWII (World War 2). How about German vehicles? I wouldn't dare to think that you would own a Volkswagon, BMW, Audi, Porche, or Mercedes. Hitler killed millions of Jews, tens of thousands of Allied (American, British, French etc) forces & hundereds of thousands of innocent civilians. My point here is, there are many things in history where a select few people of many nationalities & religions have done some catastrophic things against humanity, but that does not mean that the entire world population should destroy & crucify (much less boycott) that specific race, nationality, or religion. I have lived in several countries in this world, 2 different muslim coutries for 7 years, & I can tell you that very few (at least any that I met) are anti American terrorists. This is America! We are a nation made up of so many nationalities, races, religions that there are too many to count. Heck, I'll even put money that you ancestors were some kind of foreigners. Think about this when you buy some of that Muslim gas or oil this week. The way you think, you are probably supporting terrorism. PS: Come on over to Louisiana, there's a guy here named David Duke that would probably love to talk w/ you about your views.

We have been frying turkey's here in South Louisiana for years. First, we inject it w/ the Cajun Injector (a big horse size syringe) w/ either Cajun Injector Marinade or your own marinade. For those of you that have not tried Cajun Injector Marinade's (they have about 5 flavors), you have to get some. It's made by a guy named Reese Williams from Clinton, LA. This stuff has made this guy filthy RICH.....it's that good. If my memory serves me right, Cajun Injector was the largest selling item in history on the QVC Shopping Channel. I don't know if John Madden claims to be the originator of the Tur-Duk-En, But Chef Paul Prudohme was the originator of it I think. For those of you that have never had one, you don't know what you are missing. I have 2 in the freezer right now, that I picked up today from Hebert's (A-Bear for you non cajun speaking) Meat Market in Maurice, LA. I think they have a website & I know they ship overnight (not cheap). A Tur-Duk-En is a de-boned turkey, stuffed w/ duck & chicken. They make several types. I bought one w/ shrimp & another w/ crawfish............yum yum

My guess is that when the electric co. poured the new section of slab, they might have or probably did use rebar & wire mesh, then had CaCl2 (Calcium Chloride) added to the ready mix concrete to speed the curing time of the concrete. CaCl2 is very, very, corosive. You can bet that rain water is seeping through the expansion joint, hitting either plastic or clay mud under the slab, then coming back up to the top of the driveway. It is bringing up the corrosion of the steel w/ it. Generally, when you order ready mix concrete, you can request CaCl2 in 1% or 2% be added to the mix to speed the curing time. Big Bill