New York Renovator

Remember the old days when companies in the United States wanted to build things bigger and better? Ever upward! Remember? EVERYTHING was “new” and “improved”!

American companies built products with exceptional quality, just because THEY COULD do it!!

I’m not so old that I can’t remember those days. It seems like a million miles away, now. How on earth did we get to where we are right now?

Stuff just doesn’t last anymore. It seems that companies are now backtracking. Instead of building products with better and better quality, they are making them as cheap as they possibly can and still get paid for it.

Our sump pump died last week. It was only FOUR MONTHS OLD. It’s the third pump we’ve been through in two years, and all those died in a matter of months. These aren’t inexpensive pumps, either– these babies cost hundreds of dollars. But they are made in China and they contain plastic parts. Needless to say, we were grossly disappointed when another pump failed this week and the basement flooded again. It was only a few inches so it’s manageable. But SHEESH.

Because we are in “winter preparation mode,” I’m having to buy expensive things, things beside the regular cheapo pair of $10 Chinese-made sneakers or the $5 cheapo umbrella that fails after one gust of wind. No, I have to buy snow tires! $500 for snow tires, that we use for only half the year! The time my husband got snow tires, they only lasted half a year. The treads wore down very quickly.

So I don’t get it. Why are products more and more expensive and less and less durable? I can only conclude that the companies are skimping on their manufacture. And what can the consumer do? Can we petition the companies, perhaps? Think they will listen? Hmmmm…

Maybe this is a sign of getting older, LOL. I’m remembering the “good old days” when stuff lasted, sheesh, at least a year or two or more…..

I would think that the “green” movement would help with this situation, but it has been strangely silent. You’d think that someone would protest the rising junk dumped into landfills, as Americans clog the land with discarded, broken junk. It would be more productive to pressure companies into making more durable products than forcing Americans to use one toilet paper sheet at a time. Weird.

What do you think? Do you think products are better made today, worse made or no difference? Am I alone in thinking that we CAN manufacture better, more efficient products at affordable prices? We did it once before! Why can’t we do it again?

When I was a kid, I remember seeing TV show episodes in which the characters would burn their paid-off mortgage papers in a “mortgage party.” I remember thinking “Wow, this must be something very significant!” and then also thinking, “What the heck is a mortgage?” Hoh boy, do I know what a mortgage is, now. :-p

With the current economy crunch, there’s no time like the present to reduce money outflow and work toward eliminating debt. Even though we have done all the home renovations ourselves, we have had to borrow money to pay for the materials. Home products are horribly expensive, did you know that?! I really don’t see how people can afford both materials AND labor costs. I managed to slash the labor costs, but still, the debt is relatively large. We refinanced the debt into a home equity loan, but eventually we may refinance the entire mortgage together with the home equity loan. Of course, that will take a LOT of planning. I know very little about the financial aspects of this and will have to rely heavily on advice. That site has some great information and updated news about the current status on mortgage interest rates. Honestly, I’d rather be installing light switches than wading through all the complicated financial puzzles. Ugh.

Have any of you refinanced your mortgage? Was it worth it? I have heard (from Clark Howard) that a refinance should ALWAYS be with a fixed, and not variable, mortgage rate. That makes sense. Any of you have any advice or personal testimonies to offer?

Well, this makes me feel better.

Courtesy of New York Times

Sometimes I could kick myself for buying a 155 year old home. Especially when I have to try and install square sheets of drywall on VERY unsquare ceilings and walls. NOT fun.

The New York Times has a cost calculator at nytimes.com/interactive/business/buy-rent-calculator.html, comparing rental pros and cons with ownership pros and cons. Looks like buying a home gets you ahead in the finances than renting.

But not by much. :-p

Part of the reason for the less than stellar return rate, I think, is the severe drop in housing values and the severe rise in property taxes. I purchased my home for $62,5 over 13 years ago. It is now valued at $87,0 for taxation purposes, but I could never get that amount should I sell it right now. The market is bad, and no one wants a fixer upper. I do renovate it with the expectation that the market will improve, but I renovate mostly because the house needs the improvements, and we want to live comfortably and efficiently. Still, even though I have no intention of selling, it would be nice to know that my home is increasing in value as I improve it….

This is the final post in my How to Start a Compost series. You can read Part 1 and Part 2 to get up to speed. I’ve already covered the essential compost general guidelines, some sage compost advice, and instructed you ow to build a simple Wire Bin. Now, I’m going to throw some lists at you.

What to Do When Your Compost is Ready:
• Your compost should be ready in 12-14 months. This can really vary a lot, depending on what you put in there, how often you turned it, how wet the weather has been, etc. But 1 year is a general estimate.
• I always start a new compost pile in the spring, so that when I am ready to start next year’s garden, the compost is ready. You can add the compost to your garden beds either at spring tilling time, or fall tilling time. (I don’t do fall tilling, by the way).
• Prepare your garden beds: pull out the weeds, the rocks, etc.
• Grab your shovel and wheelbarrow and shovel out the compost from the bin. The humus should be loamy and rich-looking.
• Dump the compost into the garden. Spread evenly. Roto-til or hand turn the garden soil. Water lightly.
• That’s it! Plant your garden when you’re ready.

The composted compost (called humus) is dark, rich, and loamy.

What to Add to a Compost Pile:
• Any household vegetable food waste, such as: carrot tops, discarded vegetable peels, wasted vegetables that the kids refused to eat, etc etc
• Eggshells
• Coffee grounds, leftover tea, or coffee
• Dryer lint
• Hair. Yes, hair! Spread it out well so it won’t clump in the pile. You can even add your fingernail clippings… if you want…
• Grass clippings. Make sure the grass is not loaded with pesticides or chemicals.
• Leaves, they are full of nitrogen.
• Earthworms. Have the kids dig them up and plop them in. Earthworms love coffee, by the way. They are wonderful critters!

What NOT to Add to a Compost Pile:
• Meat waste
• Newspapers (some ink has chemicals may disrupt the happy bacteria revelry)
• Dog and cat food (contains meat and preservatives)
• Corn cobs (they take FOREVER to compost!!)
• Peach pits (see corn cobs)
• Weeds! (They will germinate in the rich soil and you will wind up planting them in your garden next year)
• Milk products– no cheese, yogurt, milk, nothing.
• Oils (vegetable, grease, etc)
• Bones
• Silverware (can you believe that we actually find forks and spoons in the compost pile?! All the kids say they have NO IDEA how silverware gets in there! :S hmm)

So there you have it! Composting can be pretty fun. Sure, you’re getting your hands dirty. But just think of how happy you are making the worms, the bacteria, the garden plants! And think of happy you will be when you sink your teeth into those luscious tomatoes that thrived in such rich soil.

Humus is tilled in to the bed, bed is weeded and raked, and ready for seeds.

Thanks for reading! Happy composting.

Starting a new garden? Got a limpid garden? Do you have weak, impoverished soil? Boy oh boy, do I have news for you! It’s time to play in the dirt! Compost is fun, folks! In case you missed the riveting Part 1 in this series, go ahead and read it.

This post is going to be How to Make a Wire Bin, and will be filled with tips and stories of what’s worked for me these years. First, you’ve gotta getta bin.

The Wire Bin
WHAT YOU NEED
Hammer
Shovel
Heavy-duty gloves
Tin snips or cable cutters
Four metal garden stakes or 2 x 4 posts**
Chicken wire, about 15 feet length or so
Twine or heavy-duty garden twisty ties for stakes, or metal staples for posts

Your Wire Bin will probably look a lot neater.

Of course, you can go much fancier, but don’t you really want to get a compost going right now? Sure, you do. Throw together a quick bin and get the compost going. Then you can start constructing your St. Peter’s Basilica of Compost Bins later, and take your time at it. Compost takes about a year to get ready, so time is of the essence.

1. Stake out an area in your yard that receives sun for at least half the day. Hammer the four stakes in the shape of a square. If you have a large yard with a lot of leaves and grass clippings to add, each side of the square should be approximately 4 to 5 feet, with a stake at each corner.

2. Starting at one stake, take the twisty tie and secure the chicken wire to the stake. Or, if you are using wooden posts, tack the wire onto the post using the staples. Go all the way around the square.

3. Now, you can leave the front part of the square open, as I do, or you can loosely secure the wire to the front for easy access later. Just keep in mind that in a year, you need to get all the stuff OUT of the bin.

4. Dump in your waste. Experts say it’s best to try to layer the stuff: leaves, then grass clippings, then food waste. etc. I do not layer. I just dump *whatever* in. It’s been working so far. This is nature we’re talking about– it’s well able to what it needs to do without much pampering from a human.

5. You can add stuff like compost starter to the mix, if you want. But a shovelful of garden soil or cow manure will do. The purpose for this is to give the compost a little kick-start with that wonderful aerobic bacteria that will be making your waste into humus (prepared compost). I have never added anything, and have done fine. The garden soil is a good idea, and I’ll be trying that this year.

**Do not use pressure-treated wood. PTW is coated with chemicals (such as arsenic) that will leach into the soil and into your vegetables.

Tips for a Really Good Compost Pile:
• Add earthworms to your pile. Earthworms are marvelous for compost. They help aerate the mix and their, uh, poop, is a great addition to any compost pile!
• During dry spells, water the compost pile. Just a little.
• Every month or so, turn the mix over, or stir it up best you can. I actually NEVER do this, because the pile is so heavy. My compost turns out OK. But turning may help make the compost decompose quicker. Use a shovel or pitchfork to mix the waste. Watch out for innocent earthworm bystanders.
• Add only vegetable matter to the mix, never meats, fats, or grease. This will disrupt the bacteria revelry going on. And meats and grease may attract skunks, raccoons, and rats.

Gardens love compost!

In the next and final installment is this series, I’ll talk about what to add to your compost bin, and what NOT to add, and what to do when you finally have your compost ready for adding to the garden. Thanks for reading!

There are days when I feel a very strong urge to just start pulling down walls here. We’ve managed to live with the lack of electricity upstairs, and the endless strings of extension cords throughout the house. But when it comes to this kitchen, I sometimes go tilt. Last week was like that.

Our kitchen was not the original room for the existing kitchen. I think this area may have been the housekeeper’s quarters. This area became the kitchen probably sometime in the 1940s or so, and then a very shabby remodel was done in the late 60s. It’s a dark corner of the house, and the kitchen is shoehorned between the dining room and the living room; so half of the small kitchen is a hallway and a stairwell and there’s a big (unused) chimney taking up space. And did I mention that it’s ugly as all get-out? Dark brown cabinets, bright orange laminate countertops, ugly yellow-brown busted tiles, a drop ceiling… and multiple paint jobs of bright pink, powder blue, dark brown wall paneling, and green paint? I detest this room. We’ve thought about getting new countertops, but I stubbornly resist. The kitchen is falling apart; to place new countertops in this crumbling kitchen is like putting a new paint job on a rusting Model T.

I am making serious plans to totally gut this room next summer. I just can’t stand it anymore. LOL!

Well, what started my desperation all over again was when we had to fix a plumbing leak under the sink. [...]

We homeschool, so it goes without saying that we use our computers a lot, and we print a lot of documents. HOLY COW what IS IT with printer manufacturers and their outrageous cost of ink?? It’s evil! A printer may be $40 or so, but then the cost of ONE box of ink is $50!!! I bought a very nice Canon Pixma All-in-One a few months ago (it was a clearance model, what a steal!). I have already paid 6x the cost of the printer JUST to load it with ink four times. That’s ridiculous, really ridiculous.

The Big Box stores are (so it seems) in cahoots with each other. I mean, shall I pay $60 for a set of cartridges, or $58.99 for a set of cartridges? :-p The selection is just stunning.

Weeeellll… seeing as I have to buy the ink (we just can’t print without it!), I’ve been shopping and shopping around for the best deals. The best price I have found is– you guessed it– Buy.com. They have the printer ink I need for just under $43 (with free shipping). It’s STILL a lot of money for a month’s worth of printing jobs… but every single penny counts, and Buy.com has the best deals around!

I do love Buy.com. I’ve gotten various electronics and accessories for my camera from them, and after seeing their prices on everyay stuff (vacuum cleaner parts, cookware, small and large appliances, tools, and health and beauty aids), I’m definitely a devoted shopper. Buy.com has free shipping on a lot of stuff, charges no sales tax for me (in NY), and has superior customer service. Plus, the prices are GREAT! Buy.com has a weekly sale page and it’s worth checking out every week. And they offer daily deals as well as the general, everyday savings.

It’s worth going to Buy.com for your stuff– big stuff or small stuff or stuff inbetween. Check them out! I love Buy.com!

I was reading the blog Back2theLand, in which Bonnie discusses all the great deals she finds for her home on Craigslist online, for her local area. It was a “I shoulda had a V-8!” moment! What a terrific idea!

When we first bought this house, there were a few salvage stores in the area. They have since closed. The nearest one is in Madison, NY– a long haul if we’re getting large stuff like doors, porch posts, etc. It’s not unusual to be driving down rural roads (like I did recently) and see something like this:

There’s a lot that can be found at a salvage barn, I think. And it’s kind of fun sorting through things. It’s like walking back in time. I wonder how old this sink is, and where it was used? It’s still in good shape.

Well anyway, because the salvage areas nearest us had closed, I pretty much gave up on finding anything recycled for our house. But after reading Bonnie’s post, it was like “Oh yeah!!” There’s a LOT to be found online, at Craigslist or with online auctions. So I’ll put that bug in your ear, too– if you’re looking for cheap materials and don’t mind cleaning it up or hauling it home, check out the many places online to find salvage materials. Oftentimes, the salvage stuff is in excellent shape for a tiny fraction of the cost of new stuff. It can really help the budget!

So thanks, Bonnie! I’ve never tried out online auctions or anything– I think I will, now!

I got a little comparison cleaning kit a few weeks ago. The kids and I finally decided to try it out. I love these kinds of comparison reviews! I feel just like those ladies on TV with the taste tests!

OK, so we got a box of the Mr. Clean Magic Erasers. They have “powerful foaming cleanser” and come with the Febreze Meadows & Rain fresh scent. I actually didn’t realize why the sponges smelled so good until I re-read the box and saw the Febreze label. The smell is very nice. I hate the stench of bleach, so I have to say I was immediately turned off by the “leading brand” stuff. (It’s a Clorox tub & tile cleaner, if you really want to know). I have a fiberglass bathtub (a very old one) and it is a PAIN to clean. The soap scum really builds up. I have tried a lot of various tub cleaners, but none ever really worked. We relegated ourselves to scratching off the soap scum with a plastic spatula. YES, believe it or not, that’s how we cleaned it. Back breaking! *sigh* My daughter got the bright idea to use Cascade dishwashing detergent, and that worked better than any tub cleaner, but she still had to scrub the surface somewhat. So we have been eager for something that cleans our tub and doesn’t send us to the hospital.

So this kit came with two pre-dirtied tiles. lol. You can see my little fingernail scratches on the tiles. My son, Sniffy, assisted me with our experiment.

A checklist had some recommendations for us.

The first thing we did was squirt the “Leading Brand” (gosh, I feel so professional when I say it that way) on a dirty tile and scrub it off with a paper towel.

Hm. Nope. Not very good. Kinda reminds me of those painful tub-scratching days. We tried the Mr. Clean foamy erasers.

Wow! I was surprised at how quickly it scrubbed off. And my young son was unusually exuberant about it, too. Hm, I think I may have another poor, unsuspecting slave handy helper to wash the tub!

The next thing we tried was crayon markings and marker scribbles. THANK GOD my kids are too old for scribbling on walls with crayons (I think so, anyway). Both cleaning products performed the same. They wiped off the crayon and the marker very easily.

The next thing on the list was to make chili and use the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to clean up the baked disaster. I didn’t do that part (didn’t feel like cooking, lol), but I probably would just stick to tub cleaning for the Magic Erasers. I was very impressed with the tile scum removal.

My daughter decided to test out the eraser in the scummy tub. Not too bad! She said the foaming stuff inside the sponge was very effective; and scrubbing was “like washing a blackboard with an eraser, just a little bit harder.” So I think we’ve finally found our tub cleaner! This means we can finally throw out all those old plastic spatulas! Hurray! I didn’t have to worry about her breathing in chlorine fumes, either!

For your information, the Mr. Clean Magic Erasers come in packs of two. I saw them at Walgreens for $3.99. The sponges can really be used only once for a big job, maybe twice for smaller jobs. The Clorox cleaner is also at Walgreens for $3.99, but it doesn’t smell as nice as the Mr. Clean, and the liquid tub cleaner is just not effective on my tub. You can read more about Mr. Clean products here. I hope this little review helps to eliminate evil scum from all the recesses of the world!

P.S. This is not a paid post! Consider it my service to mankind and the quest for the perfect tub cleanser.

I was reading headlines yesterday and saw a few news stories reporting 2.6 million American workers lost their jobs in 2008. This is just stunning, and I even thought the numbers low. I did a quick search on how many New Yorkers lost jobs in 2008, and couldn’t find an exact number (just percentages, which are meaningless, IMO). And those figures represent unemployment, not employees who have suffered reduced hours or wages. New York has been hemorraging jobs AND residents for decades. It’s shocking; and still the government acts like nothing is really wrong, judging by their actions. Even Governor Paterson, who claims that New Yorkers need to tighten the belt, isn’t making any big spending cuts– and especially no cuts for wealthy government employee salaries, jobs, or pensions.

I found this table at the NYS Labor Department website. YIKES!

Do you see what I see? Taxpayer-funded jobs (education, government, services) are growing at a phenomenal rate, compared to the massive losses of private sector jobs (jobs that PAY into taxes– the everyday people’s jobs). There is NO WAY this kind of economy is sustainable, NO WAY. It’s simple, simple arithmetic. What is it with idiot politicians? How can they be missing this?! Things do not bode well for the future, if things continue at this present rate. Unless, of course, things are completely turned around and it is government/education/service jobs that pay taxes to us in the private sector jobs…