Pams Pressure & Clean

Scott... You are killing me dude...ROFLMAO.. Don't feel bad tho.. The webs don't bother me much on the way in, just when I feel 'em crawing down my neck some time afterward.. Usually right about the time I'm starting to lock in at the top of the tree.. Just for kicks.. here's a shot of a pair of creepy crawly things that our boys in Iraq live with..

Adrian, As mentioned above, getting rid of the water in the basement is really not too hard.. A shop vac w/ auto pump out, a sump pump, or similar device could answer the call for not much cash.. The larger issue is do you really want to introduce that much moisture into the home? Interior mold is a very real concern and perhaps you may want to rethink your liability on such a concern..... I'm in the Metro area and would be glad to give you any tips, thoughts, or suggestions if you want to give me a call.. Cujo

From what I have read and been told, the used veggie oil from a restaraunt fryer for example, is essentially the correct viscosity. According to what I'm told, all that is necessary is to filter it and burn it.. (well, keeping it warm in cooler applications or climates is also required) My brother has a diesel Volkswagon that burns veggie and he's having no trouble at all.. Pulls up to a local restaraunt that he has an arrangement with, picks up some used veggie oil from out back, pours it in (on board filter) and zooms away.. Absolutely a laugh riot to talk about, but he's paying hard costs of less than a nickel a gallon to fuel his ride... :eek: He says smelling like a Whopper with cheese is only a minor thing :)

Veggie is pretty big time, especially in northeast states.. Fairly simple and low cost too. Do a search for veggie conversions. I see no reason why the burner would not fire with it.. If it'll run diesel, it should run veggie..

Just wanted/needed to share this with you all.. Today started like many other Sundays for us. Sleep a bit late, eat a homemade breakfast with the kids (french toast...mmmm), Church and then Sunday brunch at El Charros (best mexican food north of the border). A trip to Home depot to go look in the toy department and to get a couple of things for the house. Home in time for a short afternoon nap in front of the golf game on the tube. Many of you probably do much the same thing. It's a normal Sunday in America and even better becasue tomorrow is a holiday. :) This day though, we ended it a bit different.. Tonight we loaded up the truck and went back to church to meet up with the youth/teen group and make a short drive to the Georgia FFA camp here in Covington, Ga. which has been turned into a refugee camp for Katrina victims. Currently there are 346 people housed there with fully 1/3 of them being kids. We took about 25 or 30 teenagers and a few grownups with us, loaded the vans with coloring books, arts & crafts, some footballs, kickballs and just regular kid type stuff. We had an AMAZING time. What did we do? Nothing really spectacular, we just PLAYED. A great game of catch, a game of kickbaseball, we made some cool stuff with the little ones in the arts and craft area and pretty much just listened. We heard stories of despair, stories of devastation, families looking for lost loved ones..Stories of lost ones found. Even one story about a woman who got out, but lost her whole family back home... But we also heard a bunch of thank you's. Not becasue we brough any kind of donations..but becasue we brought something far more valuable.. Our TIME. So simple, so easily forgotten, so easily buried under the magnitude of it all. These folks, while having lost all they ever have known back home, have all their living needs filled right now. They have food, clothing, shelter, medical care, social workers like ants running around, and all the rest. What they are lacking is just human contact from the rest of the world. Even some of the grownups came to color and do arts and crafts. One grandmother told Pam how nice it was just to take her mind off of the situation and get lost in a coloring book for awhile. It is just incredible how precious a bit of time and a smile can really be to these stricken people. For the kids, just being able to cut loose for awhile and do something so simple as toss a football seems like it's a whole new beginning. I sat and talked with some of the teens and the level thinking, maturity, and acceptance of the situation is staggering. I got called "the old man" and just sat there grinning..(The 'old man', it seems, can still boot a kickball with some authority..:) )These guys will be survivors..They WILL make it. Some are already planning a new start, some don't know where to start, but every single one of them... from the little 3 yr olds all the way to the high school seniors...asked us the same simple, yet overpowering, question... Are you guys coming back to play tomorrow ?? When you come back can we play some football ?? It was emotionally euphoric and crushing at the same time. I cannot begin to put into words all that was rushing through my mind.. We take it for granted every day how good we really have it. Every single one of us NEEDS to get down on our knees and tell the Good Lord above thank you. Thank You God for letting me pay more for gas, Thank You God for giving me the strength to stand in line at the grocer, Thank You God for allowing me to have my family, my home, and my business. Thank you God for sparing me, through your Grace alone, the tragedy that has befallen the victims of Katrina. It could have just as easily been any one of us, through some tragedy yet unknown, but you spared me God, and I thank you. I hope some of you reading this will try to find some time in your busy, busy schedules to help in some small way. Even if you take a coloring book down and help a kid find a few moments to escape the new reality they now live. Thanks for letting me get this out... Cujo

:cheers: Brilliant !!! :cheers:

Philip.. did you see on the late news the Shell station that went to $8.00 last night? The dude actually volunteered to go on camera camly explaining, through a rather sterotypical 7-11 type accent, how people were only byuing gas. No Lotto, no cigarettes, no beer, no nothing. So he had to make money somehow..... The camera panned around the lot and guess what...not a car in sight...he had brought the price down to around $4.00 but by then the sales damage was done...:):) All this over some stupid e-mail rumor...

For the ultimate in cost effective, yet fabulous protection and stunning looks, you might be well served to look into Ready Seal. It costs no more than any other quality product to apply. In fact, due to all the others having to reformulate for VOC compliance it is actually less expensive. The protection is top notch and looks great. You can generally go 2 years before maintenance and becasue you don't need to strip each time, the cost of maintenance is generally significantly lower. All that's generally needed is a gentle percarb wash and a light application stain. Ready Seal does not contain Linseed or Tung oil. Both are natural vegetabe type oils that provide a great food source for mold and mildew. Ready Seal is manufactured from parrafinnic oils (crude) that will not support the growth of mold and mildew. Ready Seal is and has been VOC compliant without having to undergo massive reformulation. (Except in California where it seems that even the oxygen is banned :) ) Ready Seal contains added mildewcides and fungicides to further retard the growth of mold and mildew. Ready Seal penetrates the wood instead of forming a film on top of the wood. Ready Seal looks great, has no runs, drips, or lap marks after application. Ready Seal CAN be easily removed, because it is oil based, at a later date if desired. As you can see there are many advantages to Ready seal vs. much of the competition. As much as this sounds like a Ready Seal infomercial, I am not a Ready Seal rep, distributor, or salesman.. I am a contractor who uses Ready Seal almost every day. My clients love it, we love it, and we think that everyone who uses it should love it too.. Good luck in your search... Cujo

Michael, Never did the shots... just eat my body weight in Aleive and Goody's about every day.. :) I'm going to have to agree with you.. The pain was like a bullet in the lower back.. burned and hurt for a whole day after that..damn near didn't walk for 30 minutes...

Mirage, Neat handle... As far as whether the deck needs stripped before staining, it is sometimes impossible to tell from a photo. Next to choosing a quality product, preparation is EVERYTHING in proper wood care. If not done correctly, the stain will most assuredly suffer premature failure or look like crap, or perhaps both. While your deck does not appear to have a stain, the fact remains that there was one applied at one time and one really needs to perform a physical test to verify the presence or lack thereof of any stain that may remain prior to re-treatment. Further, the absence of knowing what was actually installed leaves enough doubt in the mind as to seriously consider a strip, mild as it may be. If we knew what was there, the formula for proper deck care would be much easier to suggest as it then becomes a known quantity. Perform a spash test in several areas of the deck. Simply dip your fingers in a glass of water and sprinkle it onto the wood. If it beads or shows signs of non-penetration, there is a film or barrier of some type that will have to be removed before a stain can be applied. If the water instantly absorbs into the wood, it is generaly safe to assume that there is nothing there and a simple percarb wash, brighten, and stain can be performed. Some advocate the use of chlorine bleach, and show incredible results, but this style of work is NOT suggested for DIY'ers. If you see beading, standing water, or other indication that the water is not absorbing, the wood needs to be stripped, neutralized, brightened, and then finished with your product of choice. It could very well be that the strip is minimal, but nonetheless it needs to be done if there is something there. Again, this leads back to not knowing what was/is there from the beginning.. fast examples: Ready Seal, Excellent product and no need for stripping on maintenance coats or for recoating.. Thompson's, It's cheap, but you gotta strip it.. SealMaxx.. I understand that it is crazy expensive..and you gotta strip it too... Hope this helps, Cujo

Mel, You really swear by it?? My back is pretty much a mess and I'm one of those who does not have a second go by that my back does not hurt..It's a chiropractor's dream :) I tried one of the inversion tables for about 10 minutes over the 4th of July holiday (my buddy has one for his back) and lemme tell ya.. It hurt like hell... I guess I either didn't do it right, or my back is WAYYY more messed up than I already thought. I might be willing to go another try, but jeez Louise..I hafta know that there's light at the end of that tunnel.

Oh... uh... sorry... I guess I read it wrong... :):) Are you seeing the bogus certs more now than in the past or is it more a regional thing???

Denatured alcohol works wonders, but be careful where you use it...

There is no reason for any legitimate company to NOT have W/C......

I'll also add that in some cases wood replacement can be a cost effective option as compared to continued stripping efforts.. Especially when it comes to balusters.. They are very inexpensive (relative to the cost of the time and materials involved in continuing to attempt to strip). If you have a select few boards that are an issue, or a cap rail that won't come clean to your specs, consider replacing the wood. Cujo

I would guess then that the 8 gpm is the reason becasue, thanks to the fine folks at Sun Brite Supply, we were sold the proper X-Jet(s) for our rig(s). Thanks, Cujo

Rod, I'm an M-5 fan as well. We own 2 M-5's and 1 original.. Anyway, how do you get draw at the end of a 24' wand?? I have had success as high as perhaps 10' or so, but 24' would be pretty awesome !! Are you using a pump to assist at that height? Cujo

In the Metro, new home P/W ing for smaller tract style homes (1500-2000 sq ft) generally goes for anywhere from $75.00 to $100.00 per unit. For this price you will be expected to power wash the home, the drive, the walks, and the garage. All mud, dirt, and debris (sheetrock mud, paint, etc) needs to be gone when you are done. You will need hot water, good soap, acid, a surface cleaner, and incredibly honed skills to be fast. You will then need to wait anywhere from 2 weeks to 30 days for your money, depending on the builder. You will need CGL and Work Comp, or you will have to pay the builder 15%-20% of what you earn for him to cover your comp. If you are willing, there is more than enough work out there at these rates to drive you to bankruptcy in fairly short order.

Jim, thanks for the lead.. I'll call John tomorrow am. Cujo

Beth, Air conditioning condensers sometimes get clogged with dirt, pollen, gunk, goo, and all types of stuff. When this happens, the A/C system overheats/overpressurizes and generally will go into a thermal overload shutdown to protect itself. Because the unit will no longer turn on is the most logical reason the electrican was called out...(Either that or the nice lady on the phone just figured "it doesn't work...call an electrician"...No comment on why one would call an electrician instead of an HVAC tech...) Cleaning the condenser and resetting the system will restore proper operation, all else being equal and good.

Mike, It is going to be pretty hard to get true numbers without the test equipment. One thing you could do is experiment with an inline pressure guage and different nozzles to know what the machine is doing right at the nozzle and then atttempt to extrapolate pressure ranges from there...

If you are going to repiant, then a full strip of 3 or more coats probably isn't necessary (or possible if staying in any realm of sane spending) Remove what is loose; clean the rest very, very well; and use high quality primer and paint.. Job done

Yupper... what he said...

The pressure begins to drop the instant it leaves the tip. The amount and rate of drop is in direct proportion to the degree of spray being used. I would venture to say that water volume may also play a role there based on the initial water mass and velocity. That is to say that a zero degree nozzle will lose pressure more slowly than a 40 degree nozzle, all else being equal. (It stands to reason that a higher GPM would retain velocity longer, based on what my somewhat foggy memory tells me about physics class) To calculate the amount and rate of pressure decrease of a given nozzle over a given distance would require some pretty nifty equipment and also would require an incredibly steady hand during normal operation. Much easier to take a ride over to Pete and Tracy at Sun Brite Supply in Lawrenceville (right around the corner from you) and pick up a few different size nozzles to keep in the tacklebox. Cujo