RyanH

Stripped paint from a customers wooden window frames. I didn't want to do it, I warned him that it would damage the wood and that not all of the paint would be removed. I told him that the results would make me look unprofessional (if the premise is that I, as a pro, should not damage materials I set out to clean). I only agreed to do it with a written understanding from him of what would happen. Being the money slut I am, I took my pressure washer and went to town, virtually destroying some sections of wood that were rotting. In hindsight perhaps I should have looked a little harder for a stripper to apply first, but it was regular outdoors paint, so I didn't think I'd fund much that would be quick. In the end, the job looked like crap but he was happy. He was going to sand it down and repaint and he said that sanding would be easier after this. "Never again" I told myself as I pulled out of the drive.

This gadget helped me noticeably: http://www.thegrimescene.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1886&highlight=tornado+air

Did they not move the van for you?

Just wait 4 weeks after the video is released and go to Blockbuster. They can be had used for about $8. That's MUCH better and cheaper to me than renting and burning. 90% of the DVDs I now own came from used bins.

While it may sound comforting, "hanging in there" won't put food on the table. What was your FT job? Are the skills transferrable? Perhaps we can think of alternatives to consider. Since you are asking for something in a seemingly desperate manner, I'm guessing you don't have a huge reserve of cash to float on until you can gain the contract work necessary to cover the loss, so maybe you can quickly move into another FT line that will provide you with the minimum income until you are able to secure something better. And hey, if you can do design work (using AutoCAD type systems), I may could help get you something good in GA. Plenty of good pressure washing real estate around here too if you look for it for weekend supplement.

Hey, just put $25k with the bookies on the notion that they won't get that first touchdown. Then, either way you get $25k!

Wear your logo shirt and talk try and talk to the upper-ups about landing a contract with the stadium if it is near your area. Congrats! Our new home is sucking the life out of us. If I had only sat down to consider the costs of a new home I would have bought used without hesitation! That $50k will certainly be useful.

Bill, Awhile back I had a company after me to sell chemical products for them. Check out http://www.nalco.com and read what they do and see if you think that is a field you would enjoy or be able to grow into. They take applications on line but they really never look at them. You have to know somebody. I have all of the contact information for the managers there and the recruiter who was trying to bring me on. If you think this may be something you want let me know and I'll forward his information to you. They seem to be nice guys and move quickly (won't leave you hanging for weeks waiting for a call). I just decided that pure sales wasn't my bag.

My play area is our basement. I just finished putting up the garage door in it myself (builders didn't want to touch it). You should have seen the look on my wifes face when I went to town with the sledge hammer taking out the studs. Then when the sawz-all came out and I started chewing through the siding, she had to leave. Looks cool John. Every man needs a working area.

I saw something similar to this years ago and was sitting around with some guys at work today and reworked it (yeah, we're just goofy like that). Most people will say that Time = Money Most people will also say that Knowledge = Power The more technical definition of power is Power = work / time So, if Knowledge = Power , Then knowledge = work / time And if time = money , then knowledge = work / money So basically, the more money you have, the less you know! or money x knowledge = time So, even if you are really dumb and work very hard, you can have money! Of course, if you are really smart and don't have any money, you must be wasting your time.

http://www.snopes.com/photos/bugs/camelspider.asp camel spider

deft hands will ultimately be your best bet, but until you develop a better manual technique you can use a painters shield (3 - 4' wide paddle) with an extension handle.

with all the sewage in the water, I guess they were fishing for crappie!

A little more detailed shot. I had one hanging around outside my window one morning. This one measured around 4" from tip to tip of the legs (front to back).

I was at a friends house today and looked at his gutters. The roof is entirely tin (oooolllldddd roof) or aluminum (whatever they used many years ago). The gutters are more than large enough to handle the hardest of downpoors without overflow. There is no tar/asphalt within 500 yards of these things (large pasture). I'm thinking I may look into my electric current theory. Has anyone noticed streaks on vinyl gutters? I've never noticed them on non-metallic surfaces surrounding gutters (fascia, siding, etc.)

They pressure washed my basement before we moved in. I don't what the hell the guy was smoking but somehow he got the water high enough to trip our GFCI outlets and ruined the bottom 3' of wallboard in the areas where they had it. Also, humidity was so stinkin high that I ran a dehumidifier for two weeks straight and still could not get it below 85% (relative). If you don't want to go with a sump pump or a shop vac, consider renting a carpet cleaning extractor. They have wands and good vacuums on them and can hold from 5 - 20 gallons depending on the size and are very versatile. I used one solely for this purpose when cleaning a kitchen in one of my janitorial customers' facility.

How's this for a stretch..... when to dissimilar metals contact each other, they generate an electric current. The magnitude of the voltage is related to the temperature (hotter temperatures = higher voltage). Could it be related (and I'm really stretching here) to the fact that gutters typically are made of aluminum and the nails are tyipcally galvanized, and the current in the metal is electrically attracting particles from the air? Kind of like those machines that use electric plates to clean air (Ionic Breeze is one type I think, Oreck makes another)? Trailers use rivets and sheet metal or aluminum....are these metals different (I wouldn't think rivets are aluminum just because the tensile strength isn't that great). Now, for the SUUUUUPPPPEEERRRR stretch..... I'm not much into how electricity flows, but doesn't it have a wave pattern associated with it? With highs and lows? Could this periodicity or frequency be related to the spacing in the black streaks? Or could the metal possibly have nonuniform thickness along the length causing a difference in the current (more or less resistance at thicker or thinner spots) affecting the amount of particles captured? Whew! hows that for a bowl of BS cereal for breakfast?!

I used to think it was oils from the shingles as well. I usually don't see the problem on ranch-style houses where the roofs are not very steep. Common building practice has become to have very steep roofs and very small gutters (typically no larger than 4 inches wide). With the steep roofs, small gutters, and even smaller and fewer downspouts (common now to have on on either side of a house up to a 100' span), it doesn't take a heavy rain for the gutters to fill up and flow over the egde (I've seen this on many many many houses around here). BUT, phillip brings up an interesting point: I've also seen these on my parents' motorhome and a friends enclosed trailer. Motorhome is parked on grass, trailer is parked on asphalt. And every white enclosed trailer for sale at home depot around here has them (very bad). I'm beginning to wonder if he may be onto something. Perhaps it is aluminum oxide bleeding from a fastener, or something from the anodizing process. I'll look deeper into this and do a few tests around the house. We've found an answer for the myococaphelia or whatever the hell that algae on the roof is called, we should be able to give a qualified answer for the gutters as well!

You have to thin it down to near the viscosity of regular diesel fuel otherwise you'll clog the unit.

Sodium ions are completely soluble in water. Calcium ions are not easily dissolved. The result of this is when you use calcium hypochlorite as a house wash, you will notice white streaks on the windows, siding, brick, etc. unless you use hot water as a rinse. With sodium hypochlorite, it will completely wash off with cold water. I tried calcium for awhile...bought it in 50 pound buckets and mixed in barrels but stopped quickly after I realized the mess it was making. Also, the calcium hypochlorite will sludge up your mixing barrels with a clay-like material over time.

I've been thinking about a coating to put on the gutters after they are cleaned. The gutters were just put on my house about 5 months ago and already have pretty bad streaks and I intend to keep them clean but, like Rod said, I don't want my paint to be gone in the next two years after cleaning. I wonder if regular application of WD-40 will work for this too? It does everything else......

:lgbugeyes wtf??? Say it ain't so!!!!

I'm hoping to take advantage of this type of situation. I'm looking for a slightly used Jeep Wrangler. I've got my rig stripped down to be absolute necessities and will be able to pull it with no problem for the short distances I will now be traveling to do my washing. Plus, I want to go blast some trails after a few mods! Anyway, Jeeps aren't exactly known for their fuel efficiency, so hopefully some people will buy into the hysteria and be in a position to "get what they can" out of their vehicle. As the demand for jeeps goes down, the price will also go down. I hope.

It's refreshing to read from the logical people here. I get soooo frustrated reading some of the posts made by people who live in my county (we have a local utility-sponsored message board). There may be 1 in 20 people on there who share my beliefs that a free market society is best and will prosper. The others may claim to be conservative or intelligent or whatever else, but when it gets down to brass tacks they advocate socialist issues (i.e., stamp out "price gouging," businesses should forfeit profits for the sake of helping others, etc.). Actually, I don't even think this is considered socialism. What is the term when the majority of a society adopts apathetic views and wants to give up reason for "enlightenment?" My fear is that our country will ultimately fall to the same demise as the Roman Empire; at the height of their prosperity just before the fall, their people became solely occupied with spreading arts and entertainment and social enlightenment and held less regard for reason and responsibility.

It was between the ages of 4 and 8, so I was pretty much getting paid in Snickers and pizza! My granddad owns a place on a river and we would go there as often as I could as a kid. My favorite memories are of that place. He had a little wooden boat he built and we would pull it out every season to clean the barnacles off it. If I did a good job he let me ride the motor scooter around the yard and down the road ( a Honda trail bike, 70 cc, 1972 model I believe). I'd love to have that same scooter now. Its amazing the things you recall when you stop to remember them. That was before the internet and computers in every home and those were the best years of my life.