What did you do today?

[HyperPete 416]

2 minutes ago, Wayne0 said:

I agree, btw,

How many caps would you need for that?

 

Had a teacher in electronics class in HS who liked to lob charged caps to unsuspecting students.  Great fun!

Imagine the repercussions these days...

[adsm08 2,556]

13 minutes ago, Wayne0 said:

I agree, btw,

How many caps would you need for that?

 

Not sure I follow.

 

You can stop someone's heart with as little as .1amps, as long as the heart is in the direct path.

[Achto 28,577]

Back at my tree removal project. Monday after work I spent about 1.5hrs splitting some of the wood that was piled in the drive way and added it to the existing pile. Work has us on 4 tens with a rotating day off, today was my day off so I decided to reclaim my parking spots. This was the scene that I had to start with this morning.

 

Ran the splitter until I had a trailer full. Not until the wood was cleaned up,

 

Unloaded and stacked this first load.

 

On to the second load for today. My brother took some wood & I told him where to put any brush that he accumulated, well instead he drug it to the front lawn of my neighbors yard. Not happy, but oh well. Figured I better clean it up before the neighbor got upset. Cleaned that pile up and also raked up as much saw dust as I could out of my yard.

 

Unloaded that mess at my nephews place and moved back to splitting up more of the pile that was blocking my parking spots. Low and behold, I was able to fill the trailer once again. Load number 3 for today. 

 

When this load was finished I was just out of "me" for the day, so it got parked and unhooked but not unloaded. Being a 1 man show today, I was happy to accomplish my goal and regain the parking spots for my 3 vehicles. 

 

@WHX?? took one trailer load off from this tree, my brother took 1 load, and I took 2 loads today. I'm guessing that there are 2 more loads on this pile that is already split.

 

More than likely 3 to 4 more loads still laying in my neighbors yard, and I need to get equipment to carve up the 60"+ across trunk.

 

Hopefully I can put a big dent in what is laying in my neighbors yard this weekend.

 

Edited Wednesday at 02:03 AM by Achto

[Beap52 1,127]

Spent past few days at the farm.  One issue was a pond that washed out 25~30 years ago.  The 6" pipe used to drain the pond was buried 15 inches under dirt.  We dug it out--not easy as the pond dam had some 50 trees of various sizes, and their mass of roots, that we cut down and removed. I put an elbow on the original metal pipe and then added an upright of 15 inches or so.  We also utilized the cattle panel dad installed 30 plus years ago to make a ramp out to the drain.  I'm going to order a screen to cover the open hole.

[Beap52 1,127]

The additional 55 foot pipe installed in the washout to help the pond to drain. It was an power line or light pole that the man who is doing the work had purchased for these type of situations.  Of course he installed an anti-seep collar. The washout, represented by the blue line, drops a good 4 feet and get as deep as ten feet. With the 6" pipe now being restored to use, the water level is about a foot lower than the washout that is represented by the blue line.  The pipe size is about 13" at narrow end to a couple of feet at the large end. 

 

Clay was packed around the new drain pipe.  The excavator stripped off the black dirt and dug the hole pictured probable 6 feet deep.  He will use muck from the pond to fill the hole. 

 

[Beap52 1,127]

Bonus picture.  Sink hole we found while driving across the field.  Probably 32" across and 18~20" deep.  That's a new one for us.  Mom said the man who witched for water when they drilled the well 50 or 60 years ago said there was an underground river and that there was sufficient water available to use for irrigation.  My brother filled the hole in and we'll keep an eye on it.

 

It wasn't all work.  We caught a nice mess of bass and crappie.  My sister-in-law fried them up for supper.  Happy fish swimming after a bright lure and couple of hours later, happy Phil digesting said fish.  

[HyperPete 416]

Today I had my shop door adjusted so it closes properly. 

Talked to my money guy and got the "OK" to proceed with a big addition to the house.

(Wouldn't you know it; 3 years ago we moved into a house 1/2 the size of our old one to downsize.  The family dynamics changed, and now we have 15 - 30 people here for regular family dinners.). Next life I'll know better! 😂

 

Took apart a dead laptop for parts and ordered a new one.  I'm getting sick of my phone screen for web browsing and document viewing.

 

EDIT:  Also measured & drew up "plans" for the new garden.  DANG wood is expensive!  I hope the new tariffs don't make it worse.  Supplies & soil & $55 rototiller rental comes to just shy of $700, not including mulch. 🥺

Edited Wednesday at 08:51 PM by HyperPete

[Achto 28,577]

1 hour ago, HyperPete said:

The family dynamics changed, and now we have 15 - 30 people here for regular family dinners.).

 

Sounds like you need a good size heated garage, say 24' x 36'. Move the big stuff out on entertainment day, useful work space all the rest of the time. 

[HyperPete 416]

21 minutes ago, Achto said:

 

Sounds like you need a good size heated garage, say 24' x 36'. Move the big stuff out on entertainment day, useful work space all the rest of the time. 

 

Already have one, but my wife wants more house.

Happy wife, happy life!

[Achto 28,577]

24 minutes ago, HyperPete said:

wife wants more house.

 

More house, more for her to clean. More garage, more for you to clean. Just bringing up a selling point in your favor. 

[HyperPete 416]

Ok, another point in MY favor:

More house, more room for wonderful *COUGH* annoying *COUGH* ankle-biters, menstruating teens, and in-laws.

While I sneak out to my shop to work *COUGH* hide *COUGH*, she gets to enjoy *COUGH* distract *COUGH* them so I can relax.

 

She can have as much house as she desires - I have 3 outbuildings to peacefully enjoy while she entertains!  The big shop is heated / air conditioned, too.

[ebinmaine 70,317]

6 hours ago, HyperPete said:

.

 

She can have as much house as she desires - I have 3 outbuildings to peacefully

HIDE IN

while she entertains!  The big shop is heated / air conditioned, too.

 

Fixed it for ya. 

[ebinmaine 70,317]

The BBT got some accordion doors hung to divide the bathroom/laundry from the utility & storage area in the new basement apartment.

 

 

She will finish up the last foot or so on the right hand side there by hanging some 1x10 pine or whatever is handy.

Just to the left of the washing machine in what is now a blank space, there's going to be the utility sink going back in.

[Pullstart 64,362]

I got my taxes in to the CPA yesterday, about 14 days early from my norm.  They should be ready to sign today.  Woo hoo!

[Ed Kennell 40,236]

5 hours ago, Pullstart said:

I got my taxes in to the CPA yesterday

We spent 3 hours getting ours and my MILs filed this AM.     AARP has a program where CPA volunteers file taxes for free for anyone.   The only payment is a donation to the non profit facility that sponsors the event. Usually a local church or fire company.  It is by a prescheduled appointment.  There were probably 20 CPAs working there this AM. 

 I may have to start using my Grandson. He just got his CPA license.

[Wayne0 849]

I use Turbo Tax, but it's getting expensive.

[Pullstart 64,362]

Having the farm land, my personal business, and momma’s job, along with YouTube, tractor shenanigans (yes, that’s an entity of the business)l etc, paying a CPA roughly $800 takes the unknown stresses off the top.  It’s hard enough for me to simply get him the information he needs to sort through!

[SylvanLakeWH 27,176]

54 minutes ago, Wayne0 said:

I use Turbo Tax, but it's getting expensive.

 

Me too... for years.

 

Agree on expense, but past history is all there with a couple clicks... fast and easy.

[Ed Kennell 40,236]

53 minutes ago, Pullstart said:

tractor shenanigans (yes, that’s an entity of the business

A non profit business or an addictive debilitating illness.

[wallfish 17,385]

9 hours ago, Pullstart said:

I got my taxes in to the CPA yesterday, about 14 days early from my norm.  They should be ready to sign today.  Woo hoo!

What kind of wizardry magic is that?

Got mine submitted to the accountant way early this year on Feb19 and just got them back. Plus that with paying for a bookkeeper as well.

[MainelyWheelhorse 919]

I got asked to work this morning on my day off and then had a dentist appointment…I did look around and get a few things at Harbor Freight and Home Depot for a bit after my appointment as my father was looking for drawer slides and brake pads for my mothers car.

Edited 16 hours ago by MainelyWheelhorse

[Beap52 1,127]

We've got two set of taxes to do.  Ours which is simple and done on Turbo tax and I have to agree it's getting pricy.  We also do mom's but through CPA.  Moms is more complicated.  Her nursing home insurance reimburses her for the nursing home expenses.  The reimbursement is "tax free" but affects her taxes. She paid estimated taxes and the tax preparer said her costs of the assisted living really saved her taxes and she was getting a refund. When I reviewed her tax papers, I saw that the preparer forgot to include the reimbursements from the insurance company.  Low and behold no more refund. 

 

Yesterday I noticed that the nursing home insurance didn't reimburse the same amount each month.  The assisted living charges a specific amount each month.  The insurance pays a specific daily amount.  Therefore, the insurance company paid about 215 dollars less for Febuary (28 days) than for January (31 days).  This will cost mom about 640 dollars this year.  How about them apples?

[953 nut 57,471]

4 hours ago, Ed Kennell said:

 AARP has a program where CPA volunteers file taxes for free for anyone.

We have the same deal here, I used it once and found that I could do it myself in the time it took to drive to the library and back. Our taxes are very simple, Social Security and IRA RMD (Required Minimum Distribution) is about it. With the standard deduction being as high as it is we never owe anything most years.

[Ed Kennell 40,236]

7 minutes ago, 953 nut said:

Our taxes are very simple,

We also use the standard deduction, but my MILs is quite involved with insurance premiums, hospital bills, and long term nursing home expense.

[ebinmaine 70,317]

Here's the final product of the basement apartment bathroom divider door installation.