Currerbell, very kind of you.
HGTV is a distracting bane for modern America. You watch the home and garden shows, get dissatisfied with what you have and set out to keep up. Problem is, the Joneses on TV have professional designers, skilled tradespeople and bigger budgets. And the benefit of editing so you don't see a lot.
We had this home built in 1996, so it did need some updating. Being retired and having some skills I figured why not. Problem is, the "professionals" who we paid to build this place cut a lot of corners. I can't imagine how they passed code inspections. My guess is they didn't. Plumbing that runs uphill, an electrical box laying on the floor behind the jacuzzi, compromised joists/studs, improper vents, walls not plumb, floors not level, blah, blah blah.
The satisfaction/pride of accomplishment is tempered by months of frustration and irritation. So many other things I would have preferred doing other than expensive correction of sloppy/dangerous work done by people trusted enough to pay good money. Instead of simply installing a new look, I often had to tear out bad structure and rebuild. Doing some finishing work on the master bath, I said to my wife, "you know, over 90% of the work we did on this will never be seen by anyone." And the 90% is without doubt a gross underestimation--probably closer to 99%.
My wife would say, "just hire a professional." And I would point out some crap and say, "a professional did that. No thanks. The next one will too." Even when I brought a skilled guy in to help, he kept wanting to do it "contractor style," meaning sloppy work that the customer will never see because you can cover it up--or "no one will notice". He'd been doing this for over twenty years, and my cuts were more accurate and my caulking more precise. I kept having to redo what he'd already done. And he has his phone loaded with impressive projects he's done for people. Apparently, doing things right is simply too time-consuming and expensive.
Sorry for the rant. Think a caldera just blew a vent.
But, yes, we all love how things turned out. The new tub is deep enough to soak at chin level without becoming a contortionist. The tile is a work of art.
(And at least now we know a toilet isn't going to fall through the floor some day --one would have eventually the way they screwed it up.)
As for the games, am loving all the new boards. Sure seem to have missed a lot in the last 6 months. Am playing at about 60% of the skill level I left with, so it'll be a while to get the rust removed and remember all the weird words and word combos. Plus, learning a new keyboard.
Since garden season has begun, will probably miss another couple of months, but....
Just love the iris and dahlias and being outside.
-
Guest repliedI played for at least a year before I got up the courage to give myself a username. Nothing counts if you aren't logged in. You are a ghost. So, Naboka, please get yourself back on the grid! Congrats on the house, must be amazing, both in looks and feeling of accomplishment. Looking forward to seeing your name around a lot.Leave a comment:
-
As far as I've seen, if you're not logged in nothing counts at all. No, you're not counted in the average. The scores are simply discarded, and if you get the best/longest word those are tossed as well (because I've set both and had them ignored).Leave a comment:
-
Off the grid
So, I just spent six months remodeling the house and didn't have time for computer games. Amazing how much skill you lose in a few months.
Since I'm mostly playing off grid, I became curious about what happens to the high scores, most words, longest words, best words of someone not registered/logged in. Are these scored but not credited? Are the scores factored into the average? Are the longest and best words displayed thereafter but left uncredited?
Leave a comment: