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March Banter 2021


George BM
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On 3/13/2021 at 7:29 PM, mattie g said:

In the planning stages for putting a big front porch on the house. We’re not going half-assed on this one - doing it all up. Pretty sure we’ve found the contractor to do the work, so the constant back-and-forth has begun. Hoping to have it done by the beginning of May.

Provided the down payment on Tuesday. Contractor submitted the permit paperwork yesterday, and we're hoping to begin work within the next 10 days with an eye to being complete by the middle of May.

To go with the porch, we'll have a new walkway laid down, as well as getting a new roof and gutters, along with a french drain installed on the uphill side of our house next to our carport. The lawn in that area holds standing water after even a moderate rain and has probably contributed to the sagging of our carport towards that side. We may eventually get the footers replaced to lift the carport up a bit, but there are no structural integrity issues as of now.

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20 minutes ago, mattie g said:

Provided the down payment on Tuesday. Contractor submitted the permit paperwork yesterday, and we're hoping to begin work within the next 10 days with an eye to being complete by the middle of May.

To go with the porch, we'll have a new walkway laid down, as well as getting a new roof and gutters, along with a french drain installed on the uphill side of our house next to our carport. The lawn in that area holds standing water after even a moderate rain and has probably contributed to the sagging of our carport towards that side. We may eventually get the footers replaced to lift the carport up a bit, but there are no structural integrity issues as of now.

That's exciting!  Sounds like a great addition to your home - curious to see the end product, too.  Hope everything goes smoothly and finishes on time.  

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24 minutes ago, nj2va said:

That's exciting!  Sounds like a great addition to your home - curious to see the end product, too.  Hope everything goes smoothly and finishes on time.  

Thanks! We're really excited. Definitely the biggest home improvement project we've undertaken since we moved here almost 12 years ago!

I'll take before and after photos for those interested!

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8 hours ago, mattie g said:

To go with the porch, we'll have a new walkway laid down, as well as getting a new roof and gutters, along with a french drain installed on the uphill side of our house next to our carport. The lawn in that area holds standing water after even a moderate rain and has probably contributed to the sagging of our carport towards that side. We may eventually get the footers replaced to lift the carport up a bit, but there are no structural integrity issues as of now.

Good thinking on the french drain to preserve the integrity of your carport. We have a french drain that routes in a U-shape around the 20'x20' addition off the back of our home that ends in the semi-swampy lowest corner of our backyard. It does keep the runoff/moisture away from the addition, although since our neighborhood is built on marine clay (widespread east of I-95, actually), the walls, ceilings and doorways in the addition and rest of the house are always slightly shifting/cracking somewhere.

Doesn't/didn't help that our addition began life as a roofed patio, but which the idiot previous owner of our home (a self-proclaimed contractor) apparently decided to enclose...without upgrading and putting in a proper foundation first. There is one, but it's barely adequate for the structure built upon it, and prone to constant shifting, depending on how dry/wet the season is. Got so bad in the mid 2000s a few years after we moved in that we had to call in a new contractor, who determined that the addition was pulling away from the house altogether. So, nearly $30K later, and after nuked (but restored) side patios and backyard landscaping, we have 10 giant pile-driven "screws" securing the addition. We hope.

Finally, didn't want to be so forward to ask for porch progress/finished product photos...but if you don't mind sharing, would love to see!

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3 minutes ago, nj2va said:

What's up the shortage on major appliances?  Is it just due to everyone renovating during COVID?  I can't believe how many kitchen appliances are out of stock across multiple retailers.

I believe there’s also a semiconductor shortage, that may be part of it? Probably a ton of shortages contribute to it.

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30 minutes ago, nj2va said:

What's up the shortage on major appliances?  Is it just due to everyone renovating during COVID?  I can't believe how many kitchen appliances are out of stock across multiple retailers.

I wish I knew.  But what just happened to me a couple weeks ago is lol.

So our old Kenmore washer(11 yrs old) started leaking when running.  We called a tech and they said $600 to fix.  Well shit.  A newbie costs the same.  So tried to order one from Lowes.  This was summer 2020.  They didn't have it in stock and eventually cancelled the order because demand was stupid.  So I found a work around where we could keep it running and not leak.  Fast forward to last month.  Dishwasher starts leaking again despite my temp fix.  So went online to see if supply was better.  Nope.  The one I wanted at EVERY vendor was backordered 6 months.  

Went online to Best Buy.  Found a close match and ordered it.  They said they had it.  I literally waited all week for them to suddenly email me and say they didn't have it.  But on the delivery day they showed up right on time and dropped it off.  Hooked it up and good to go.

So keep trying every place you can.  Someone might just have it.

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1 hour ago, H2O said:

I wish I knew.  But what just happened to me a couple weeks ago is lol.

So our old Kenmore washer(11 yrs old) started leaking when running.  We called a tech and they said $600 to fix.  Well shit.  A newbie costs the same.  So tried to order one from Lowes.  This was summer 2020.  They didn't have it in stock and eventually cancelled the order because demand was stupid.  So I found a work around where we could keep it running and not leak.  Fast forward to last month.  Dishwasher starts leaking again despite my temp fix.  So went online to see if supply was better.  Nope.  The one I wanted at EVERY vendor was backordered 6 months.  

Went online to Best Buy.  Found a close match and ordered it.  They said they had it.  I literally waited all week for them to suddenly email me and say they didn't have it.  But on the delivery day they showed up right on time and dropped it off.  Hooked it up and good to go.

So keep trying every place you can.  Someone might just have it.

Yeesh, that's crazy, but glad you got it!  We're doing a major renovation starting next week including a new kitchen so trying to figure out the appliance purchase now.  I thought the hardest part would be figuring out the brand but its actually finding stuff that's not backordered until December.  I'll be sure to try every place I can think of, thanks!

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1 hour ago, nj2va said:

Yeesh, that's crazy, but glad you got it!  We're doing a major renovation starting next week including a new kitchen so trying to figure out the appliance purchase now.  I thought the hardest part would be figuring out the brand but its actually finding stuff that's not backordered until December.  I'll be sure to try every place I can think of, thanks!

Def check everyone that sells appliances.  Even off the wall places.  It was by chance I remembered Best Buy sold them

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1 hour ago, WxUSAF said:

MD vaccine phase 2 starts next Tuesday. Everyone 16+ eligible April 27!!! LFG!!!!

 

Good stuff!

Once the ball got rolling, Fairfax County has really done a great job in ramping up capacity. When I got my second shot last week (Inova Fairfax), I was asked one of the people working there how many people they were processing per week. He said about 4000 - 25000+ per week in the whole county - but that there's a new facility about to come on line in Alexandria in preparation for the J&J vaccine that would be bigger than any of the other facilities in the county.

It's really impressive how they crank people through the process. I feel so incredibly lucky to have been able to get it already, but it's really hard to describe the feeling of going through the process. It's a combination of elation and humility and awe at being part of a historical vaccination event - it brings home the (shitty) reality of being on this earth during a truly global pandemic.

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12 minutes ago, mattie g said:

Good stuff!

Once the ball got rolling, Fairfax County has really done a great job in ramping up capacity. When I got my second shot last week (Inova Fairfax), I was asked one of the people working there how many people they were processing per week. He said about 4000 - 25000+ per week in the whole county - but that there's a new facility about to come on line in Alexandria in preparation for the J&J vaccine that would be bigger than any of the other facilities in the county.

It's really impressive how they crank people through the process. I feel so incredibly lucky to have been able to get it already, but it's really hard to describe the feeling of going through the process. It's a combination of elation and humility and awe at being part of a historical vaccination event - it brings home the (shitty) reality of being on this earth during a truly global pandemic.

Yeah I had similar thoughts as to your last paragraph there. When I was in a CVS in Glenmont to get my first shot (10 days ago), I was pretty sure that was the most people I had been in a building with at the same time since prior to March 12th, 2020. And most were there to get the vaccine.

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I tried like 20 times to get an appt on the CVS site. Impossible. Even when there were slots available, after I filled out the required info it then said nothing available lol.

Went to the Walgreens site and it took one try to get an appointment. Getting the first shot on Saturday.

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2 hours ago, WxUSAF said:

I didn’t think there were these subgroups in phase 2 but here we are...

Whatever though, I’ve got my plans for 6-7am on the 27th :scooter:

Yea the sub groups in 2 is new. As of March 30th I will be queuing up. 
 

You do know you can pre-register for the Mass vax sites starting today for group 2A yes?

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13 minutes ago, Mrs.J said:

Yea the sub groups in 2 is new. As of March 30th I will be queuing up. 
 

You do know you can pre-register for the Mass vax sites starting today for group 2A yes?

Nice!

Yes, I saw that but they definitely aren’t allowing phase 3 preregistration because I tried. :P

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So excluding the western highlands, and the far NW burbs sometimes, we basically get no snow in Dec, and it seems the good March run as a winter month has pooped out. And usually much of Jan is snowless in recent winters. It's basically 3-4 weeks where we have a legit chance of winter weather anymore. Sounds more like central NC or SE VA 15-20 years ago. 

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20 minutes ago, losetoa6 said:

Just finished watching DVR 'd Mount Saint Mary's play.( Watched daughters vball game in person 1st) Tough loss.  They looked good at halftime. ..up 30-20. 

 

On to tomorrow.  Birthday tomorrow.  Definitely will get out to the local pub for a few IPAs and March madness. I might hit up LJS in Charles Town for lunch :)

Happy birthday eve!  Hope you have a great day tomorrow....16 college games to watch on your birthday is heaven.  

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