New York Renovator

Short answer: YES.

Long answer: Depends on what state you live, and depends on the outcome of new bills coming through the U.S. Congress, as they seem to making up new and stupid ones every day….

From what I have ascertained so far, it is illegal to collect rainwater in the following states:

• Utah
• Washington State
• New Mexico
• Colorado– although I JUST saw a news story published this week that says this has changed. BUT it appears that city dwellers who rely on municipal water cannot collect rainwater.

I also heard that in 1998 the UN past a resolution that all water on the planet is to be commercial, to be bought or sold like, you know, an XBox or something. GRRR. Now I have not confirmed this, but if anyone has any input, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll check it out. Also, there was a “water war” in Bolivia after the country privatized their water resources, and then a company from the U.S. (Bechtel) won a contract for the resources. Immediately, the company had the collection of rainwater outlawed because they wanted a complete monopoly on the resource. People colecting rainwater cut in to their profits.

Now, some of the water laws, especially for the western states, go way back– back to when the area was owned by Spain. Water is a precious resource over there. BUT, this law is being stretched. The laws state that you can’t divert streams or suck lakes dry for your own use. Sure, I understand that– evil people were crooks and stole the water resources. Bad. OK. But some states are suddenly interpreting this to mean that people can’t collect rain in rain barrels?! That’s dumb. The government does NOT own the rain. It’s ridiculous for the government to PRESUME to be able to CONTROL the rain and it’s diversions, as well. If those old water laws are now being interpreted so as to place more restrictions and heavier burdens on citizens, and line the pockets of Big Business and their Government Buddies, that’s tyranny. That’s all there is to it.

You know, we Americans ARE the government. We abide by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Dare I say that we do not have to obey de facto laws and we have the right to redress the government for grievances. These things are really going waaaay too far in this country.

In October, my darling husband purchased a Tempurpedic mattress set to help alleviate my back pain. I did an initial review (you can read that here), and I wrote an update after a few weeks when the split box springs, or “foundation set” started to squeak like all get-out (you can read that here). (Tempurpedic calls the box spring set a “foundation set” since there are no springs in the “box springs” set, btw.)

I am inspired to write another quick update after reading a comment on my blog:

I was just searching for information about noisy tempurpedic box springs when I found your review. Ours is a king size mattress with a split box spring that groans every time you get on it!
I would like to see what your results are with customer service…

After reading this comment, searching around for others’ experiences, and after my own experiences, I have determined that there is a defect with the split foundation set for the tempurpedic mattress…

Last month, I finally called the furniture store where we purchased our mattress set. I complained about the horrid noises the box springs were making. A customer service guy (sporting what looked to be some very nice north face walking shoes, btw) was sent out to inspect our foundation set and take photos. I was with the representative while he inspected our foundation set. Since the Tempurpedic mattress and  foundation set are brand-new (only a few months old), and since the squeaky noises are all around both split foundation boxes, it was determined by the company that the foundation set was defective. We received our two new split foundation set two weeks later, and they were installed by the furniture company again. I have no complaints with the furniture company (a local business, Joe Tehan’s, out of Rome, NY). They were professional and courteous.

It was GREAT sleeping on a quiet bed once again. But, two weeks later…. the squeaking has begun again. I CAN’T BELIEVE IT! We paid over $1,300 for this mattress set (and that was a discount) and while I LOVE the tempurpedic mattress, I HATE the foundation set. It’s awful. I am going to have to call the furniture company again and have them re-inspect the foundation set.

Apparently, the foundation set is constructed with cheapo plastic strips all around the top perimeter. These strips are adhered (I don’t know if it’s stapled or glued) to a wooden rib construction along the sides. The plastic strips bend and warp with any movement, rubbing against the wooden ribs and causing that horrid squeaking sound. I have a Queen-size split foundation set, my commenter here who I quoted above has a King-size split foundation set. I have no idea if this is a foundation set defect or a split foundation set defect. But I would think that for $1,300, I could get a quality split foundation set.

Anyway, that’s my update. I have a 10-year warranty on our mattress set, so if this has to go on for 10 years, then so be it. I just hate waking up to the horrid squeak everytime one of us rolls a little on the bed, or gets out of bed. Some people have ditched their foundation set and use a flat board, which is a great idea. But we paid for a foundation set, so unless we get our money back, that’s what I’m going with…

If you missed my other post called Find the Kitty, click the link. Every once in a while, my little Tabby Point Siamese kitten finds a little hiding place in our house. I think it’s so cute, so I snap photos. Then I blog about it, making you suffer, too. Hehehe! Well, she IS a very cute kitty. So it’s not too painful enduring another cat post. It’s better than hearing another commercial for top rated auto insurance, though!

Without further adieu, Find the Kitty.

Yeah, well, she made it easy on us this time.

I bought her a little kitty cube to hide in when company comes (Siamese are notoriously one-family critters). She never really used it much until I tucked it under my work desk, where I sit most of the day, working (I’m a WAHM). Now, she loves it. She’s still my baby… gotta be close to the mommy, I guess.

Oops, she’s waking up. She’s very familiar with the sound of the camera shutter.

Streeeetch. Look at those claws. Imagine our agony…

She crawled out and plopped onto the carpet. Isn’t she purdy??

Tabby Point Siamese are gorgeous cats, and they have the best of both breeds– they’re pretty like the Tabby, and elegant and sleek and personable like the Siamese. I love this baby to bits. She talks to us, too. I have got to compile a video of it, it’s hilarious!

OK, so there’s the cat post!

One of my favorite blogs is Electrician’s Notes, and blogger Sparky has had some really good posts lately. He’s been showcasing some of the nightmares discovered in homes concerning their electrical wiring. I am closely associating with the posts (and photos), because my home is a nightmare, too!

My house was built in 1855, and has remained largely unrenovated since then. But there have been a few additions throughout the decades, one being electrical wiring installed in the 1930s. Believe it or not, until two years ago, 98% of my electrical system was running through those 80-year old, knob-and-tube wires. I had no idea how horrible the system was until 2006, when I completely gutted the living room. This is an example of one of the ugly blackheads I discovered when I pulled down the ceiling.

Apparently, the previous owners had ripped up the floorboards on the second floor above, installed the wiring for most of the house in between those floor joists, and closed up the floor again with the old floor boards. (See how close some of the nails are to the wiring between the joists). The owners in the 1960s slathered the second floor flooring with glue and installed this disgusting-looking yellow lineoleum in the bedrooms, making it impossible to see the damage done.

So last year, when I pulled down the ceiling in the living room below, I found this massive wiring disaster: open wires, spliced wires connected ONLY with black electrical tape. A disaster. A lot of the “improvements” are disasters. The previous owners had insulated the attic floor in the 1980s, where more of this black-cloth knob-and-tube wiring was located (it’s against codes to insulate on top of this kind of wiring).

Actually, most of this house is completely against codes– not just the electric. The plumbing had no vent system, no u-traps or vent for the washing machine… no cold air return vents for the furnace…. fiberglass batting is stuffed in the kitchen cabinets to plug the gaping holes in the walls…. a true DISASTER. You can read some of my past posts about my venture into DIY electrical– what a harrowing ordeal! I have details here and here and here and here is my successful Inspection Day! I passed!

What blows my mind is that all this work was done without any inspection at all, obviously. I know the house is old, but… I’m stunned that all of this stuff was done without the homeowners consulting the codes and building inspectors.

I have had to disconnect a good deal of my electrical system– half the house– because after I saw the condition of the wiring and the way it was installed, I was absolutely terrified. So we are without electricity until I can gut the remainder of the rooms to wire them.

My plea to you homeowners is this: PLEASE get your work inspected. PLEASE resist the urge to slop something together just to “get it done,” and then seal up the walls. Do it the CORRECT way and the SAFE way– for your own sake, but also for the lives of the people who will live in the house after you.

This snow machine vehicle, a hybrid of a tractor, automobile, and steam-roller, designed in 1924, is fantastic! I want one! I think we could use some of these in Upstate New York!

Armstead Snow Motors from Seeking Michigan on Vimeo.

From the site:

In January 1926, Time magazine reported: “Having used the motor car for almost every other conceivable purpose, leading Detroit automobile makers have now organized a company entitled “Snow Motors Inc.,” to put out a machine which will negotiate the deepest snowdrifts at six to eight miles an hour. The new car will consist of a Ford tractor power-plant mounted on two revolving cylinders instead of wheels—something on the order of a steam roller.

The auto performance parts for this monster must have been easy to find- just grab parts from your old John Deere or something! As neat as this is, the snowmobile became the snow vehicle of choice, didn’t it? Although I don’t think snowmobiles are nearly as cool as this snow vehicle. And the guy makes it look so easy to manuever!

I found this at Kewl Stuff I Found. So funny, and SO true!!

This is what your house looks like….

…to you:

…to your buyer:

…to your lender:

…to your appraiser:

…to your county tax assessor:

more animals

You know it’s going to be “one of those days” when you’re on the phone, making a VERY IMPORTANT phone call looking for employment, and the cat decides to choose THIS moment and THIS room to hack up her hairball. Yep.

So I’m on the phone, exchanging pleasantries with the secretary, and Livvy saunters in. Suddenly and without warning, she starts that HORRID retching sound. I’m trying to remain cool on the phone, but am franctically signalling for my son to GET THAT CAT OUTTA THE ROOM. His eyes grow big as he realizes what’s going on, then starts calling loudly, “Livvy! LIVVY! You got a hairball? Come here!! Come on!”

I finish the call and hang up the phone (seems that the only jobs available around here are sales and franchise) and all is quiet. Preoccupied, I call the next telephone number in my list. Lo and behold, the cat walks back into the room and STARTS UP again! GAH!

And I don’t know if it is the bizarreness (is that a word?) of the moment, but my cockatiel then starts a huge commotion, squeaking and clacking in his cage…. ????

I’m doomed to be unemployed… the animals are against me….

I found this very cool photo site devoted entirely to houses of old: 50s Pam’s Photosets on Flickr. This one startled me, because it looks something like my kitchen here… well, before the cabinet doors fell off and the drop ceiling came down… and before the orange laminate countertops warped from age (yes, we really need a new kitchen!).

Pam has loads and loads of really neat photos, not just kitchens! There are photos of older houses, old promotional items, vintage appliances, old advertisements, and more. It’s a fun (sometimes scary) trip down memory lane.