Trazz! You didn't want olldtrazz???

Brain fart....

trazz, cool name, love it.

bobbi, carnitas, what is that and in a crockpot, no less. Share? C P loves anything Mexican. I love margaritas. Speaking of margaritas, where is mm?

But I think I'm more qualified for Outrageous Ladies Love Design.... Don't shoot me. You saw how many I missed on the questionnaire. Brady Bunch was more my time frame.

judy, carnitas are a spiced (not spicy) pork dish that cooks 10 hours in the crock pot. Spices are oregano, bay leaves, cinnamon, and a bunch more I can't remember. If you want the recipe I'll get it for you? Super easy, smells so good. Great dish for company.

trazz, I think you could be my daughter. Brady Bunch? hehehe.

@ bobbi- I'd like the Carnitas recipe, too. Do U serve over rice or in tortillas? Corn? Flour? Do U pass condiments? Love to know everything U do with them...

trazz, I think you must be my daughter. Brady Bunch premiered in 1969..the year I got married.

For bobbi and mp, Florence Henderson was a cougar.

Need that recipe, bobbi.

:)

Ha! Florence Henderson was dating her (tv) son!!! Oh, no that wasn't her....it was....Oh God I can't remember...Oh! Shirley Jones, that's it. Never mind.

Carnitas recipe, ok I'll post tonight or tomorrow. Serve with Spanish rice, beans (if you want), corn tortillas, stuff like that. I'll get specific tomorrow. I am desparate to learn how to make chiles rellenos, I love those but they're hard and a lot of work.

Grrrrrrr ........................ I am still so angry at jealous b&*#@ds who try to spoil our fun. Ez, I'm really sorry this gets to you so, but I do understand. We will miss you but I won't be as mercenary as bobbi to mention your research skills. About time we learned too.

Trying to catch up on everything else today,

feeny - I will put a special "snort alert" on my posts in future. Love your son, he is definitely an OLLDIT
(olld lads love design in training). The hilarious part of it is that email addresses are so varied and so crazy these days that no one picked something as obvious at that.

creeser - did my bit for the Indian guy - he is seriously challenged poor guy, why would you put a tall TV unit in front of the window when there was wall space right beside it. I love Dy, he always comes up with fantastic ideas and is always so nice about everything.

tras - not sure about inviting you here now, bit worried we might make you 'OLLD' before your time.

mp - love your promotional idea, you obviously have an absolutely wicked sense of humour to the point of being brilliant!!!! Go for it, I would love to see the outcome.

busylady - we are just as deprived as you when it comes to product choice and we pay through the nose for what we can get. I saw an article the other day that Ikea products here are the most expensive of Ikea products in the world. Initially it was to do with shipping but now the stuff is made in Indonesia, that doesn't apply anymore BUT they have lowered quality. Starting this year they are supposed to be going to reduce prices here, they are trying to get more stores built to be able to do this ............... yeah, right.

Don't worry about judy's quiz, I only got 9 right - you send her a Scottish one and I'll send an Aussie one - heehee.

Astraea - glad your photoshoot went so well. You sound like a real pro. Just hope they don't cut your answers so they don't sound different to what you meant. I didn't think yesterday, I did hear one time that there are ways of answering interviewer's questions that stuff them up with editing. For example if they ask how you coped with something you start by saying "Well there are three things .......... blah,blah" so once you have said that they can't cut one or two out. Also you try to make sentences as long as possible or don't drop your voice so any cut sounds obvious.

R's home, gotta eat! Manana!

Astraea, will we be able to see your interview?

Bobbi, share a quiet evening with R. We all enjoy houzz and each other, but we are strangers who have, for some reason, found each other. But, your life is with R. There must be some other way we can keep close. I am not a computer genius, but maybe, somehow, we share e-mails, thru Emily.

Bobbi – Yes, I saw, “And the Band Played On” years ago, and I remembered Matthew Modine in it. I feel bad when people have a pet & it “misbehaves” .. but they get rid of it, instead of having it checked out medically.

Those cookies sound lethal, with you smashing a finger?

Roo – Some people are only tough online, because they can hide behind their anonymity. This filming effort wasn’t adversarial, so I’m sure they’d just cut out some of the babbling (LOL). Even when you try not to, you wind up saying “um” once in a while.

Judy – They’re going to be traveling around the country filming for about 2 weeks, and then comes the editing process. I’ll follow up with the contact person in about 6 weeks, to see how they’re doing .. and let you guys know. If you want to see the kind of work they do, search on Group Mojo, on YouTube .. check this out:

Aggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Tras NO!!! My God what have we done to you!!!!! Loved your b-f comment, every time I come on here and read about something "OLLD" someone has done I think of that song and that cracks me up even more. Have you all heard it??

Judy, no I wouldn't get another kitty. When we got our second cat two years after our first, we didn't give a thought to them not getting on, I think we felt that introducing a new kitty to the older one would be like introducing a new baby to an older sibling. We brought the kitty home and got the older one and gave him lots of cuddles and petting and then showed him the kitty. He just took off so fast we didn't even see which way he went. Three days later at 2am he came sneaking in my bedroom window (through the 'cat door' he had created in the screen). Poor thing was starving so was a relief he had the sense to come home. I promptly fed him and gave him a warm bowl of milk that he loved and followed it with lots of cuddles and we had no problems after that but it really is a big risk.

Oh my gosh, you just made my day Roo!! That had me cracking up! My mom and dad are going to laugh so hard when I show them this, it's them to a tee!! I have to say it is me also. Especially opening the refrigerator or walking into a room and you have absolutely no idea why you did. Crazy! I do it all the time! Loved it, thank you!!

I assumed you had seen it before by your comment. I like the style of Golf Brooks too. I think any and every senior will relate to it if they are honest enough.

Astraea, pretty interesting video! Are you planning to buy one? Or do you get one free for being in their commercial?

Roo, that's hilarious, that's me, that's probably all of us! Thanks for sharing!

trazz, when you find yourself walking into a room and wondering why you are there? You are an OLLD.

Thanks, roo. Makes me feel good about kitty. Not willing to take a risk. Will just keep her an "only child".

bobbi, nite.

Yes, but when you walk into a room and you don't know where you are, now that's scary :))

Night Judy, sleep tight. Hate this time of day when I am just warming up and you all go off to bed. Then again I supposed it does make me do things I really should be doing.

* WAITT - Who Am I Talking To? Take two and call me in the morning.

If this houzz should not work, how will we keep in touch? Need my OLF fix.

bobbi, yes Florence was dating the t v son…BIG TIME

Night everyone! Sleep tight! Except roo, natch:)

You know what's scary is when you're driving from point A to B and half way in-between you don't remember the drive. Yes, I can admit that.

Hi gals! I've decided that maybe I'll write a couple of msgs to your group instead of just doing the electronic version of impolitely listening at the keyhole. I'm usually on the computer early in the day and again in the evenning so it's always fun to see what you all have been up to during the day.

I have purchased and redone a few foreclosure houses in the Chicago area. I went into business with the guy I originally hired to work on my own house and now we're working on anothersmall older house. We try to do the best job we can on a shoestring budget so I'm always scouting for creative ways to use existing materials or salvage items.

Today's project was installing about 180 sq ft of quarter sawn oak flooring salvaged from a 100 year old home which was demolished. Tomorrow we will install the door thresholds and maybe do the first round of sanding.

Astraea, that was a good video, quality work. Good camera work and editing, yours will look great when done.

Linda, that is something I have been dying to do! I would love to pick your brain down the road.

How was the condition of the wood? How many sandings do you think you will need? That would be fun! I bet it didn't go in like today's wood. They didn't make them tongue and groove back then did they?

Bobbi, you asked me before about the painting. Well, I'm pretty p***d off about it at the moment. BH's moods are so all over the place I have had enough. He has preconceived ideas of what I should be doing each day and gets into a mood if I don't do what he thinks I should be doing, but I'm not allowed any thoughts at all on what he does each day - he does do a lot, I would love half his energy - but he just doesn't get how things have to co-ordinate and just how much we have to work together. I got one coat on the bathroom walls the other day and had to clean up myself as he was too busy with his precious lawn, then the next day I decided to just do the two walls I needed to do for the shower screen to go in, but then decided I would do a third and had an upset tum episode that forced me to terminate quickly and I made a bit of a mess of the wall so will have to do it again. Anyway again the lawn took precedence and with the heat yesterday, the roller, brushes, etc are still in water in the laundry tub. All through the planning everything has been HIS bathroom HIS wants HIS needs etc, etc, but ME PAINT!!! Yesterday I absolutely demanded he put curtain tracks back up for me that he had removed while we painted and honestly you would think I had asked him to fly to the moon. It wasn't on his agenda for that day - the fact I can't go any further with the curtains until it is done is irrelevant, he can't understand how that could possibly be holding me up. Why do I have to measure and fit????

He wants the house finished but he only wants to do the things he wants to do and doesn't stop to think of the big picture and how long it does take to do things. The other day was a classic, told you he went over and got the new light fitting for the dining room which was great so the minute I start painting the bathroom he thought he would put that up but needed me there and then to hold the tape measure while he measured the room otherwise he couldn't do it, did that, went back to the painting and an hour later he calls me again to check on the length the light was hanging and could I hold something else he needed an extra hand for and no he couldn't wait as he was up the ladder. I went back to the painting and got halfway through the last wall and could see I was going to run a little short on paint and things were drying quickly, so I asked him could he bring in the paint tin and stirrer so I didn't have to get down and run outside for everything - totally ignored me. Ended up getting to the end of the paint so dashed outside to be told he was "gunna" get it, he just had other things to do first.

So after your's and Tras' comments the other day, I AM pulling back on the painting, I'm just not pushing myself any more and I am going to do what I want too. I will finish off the bathroom in my time and one wall a day if I choose and he WILL clean up. If I decide to push on with the other bedrooms then it definitely will only be 1 wall a day and he is going to give me every bit of assistance I need but I am going to get quotes first and decide what we can afford.

Linda and Trazz - way too much energy!!!

Good on you Linda though, I love to see people make the most of opportunities. With the American property market being what it is, I can't understand why more people aren't investing. We hear stories that while there aren't capital gains to be made the rental returns are amazing.

Trazz - driving - I hate it when I go out somewhere different but just go off on my normal route totally forgetting where I intended going, and then suddenly wonder why I am on the route I am on.

Roo, I'm giggling because I have done that so many times. Or be going along intending to stop at the bank or whatever and just drive right past it. :) You just have to laugh at yourself, you know...those laughs that are actually cries.

And, um, I can completely understand your situation. I feel your pain. Sometimes it's like pulling teeth. I cringe at the thought of ever moving again. AR's version of moving and my version of moving are on completely different planets. The last time so many things were broken, I was so upset. But, it was no biggie to him. Needless to say, it cost him in the long run. Seriously, get the quotes. Hopefully they won't be as high as you think. It's a shame our friends don't live closer to you. They are very good people and love to make new friends, they both would be right there with you knocking it out.

In regards to our housing market, what a sad deal. If you bought right before the bust then you're pretty much screwed for awhile. That would be us. But, if you were waiting to buy or to invest, now is the time for sure. Rentals are flying like hot cakes because so many homeowners got foreclosed on and can't purchase right now.

Well, I'm off. Have a beautiful day! I hope it's no where near the temperatures you've been seeing. I'm going to take this opportunity to watch a movie that isn't rated G. I don't get to do this very often. The movie better be good. :)

Trazz
This wood was in pretty good shape overall, a few dry spots but nothing too extreme. Very little damage, a couple of small holes and a saw mark and that was pretty much it. We'll fill those and they'll hardly be noticeable. The sanding should be really easy on this stuff - usually it takes at least 3 cuts, 36, 60 or 80 and 100 but this is in good enough shape we might be able to skip the 36 grit.

The old wood is absolutely beautiful. We were doing a 15 foot wide room and almost all the rows were only two boards, none more than three boards. We had boards up to 12 feet long and all #1 wood. This wasn't too much harder to put down than new wood, but it does take a lot longer to lay out the boards. Salvage wood usually has one end cut off so that cut end has to go up against the wall as it did in the original location. Yes, this is tongue and groove and it fits together extremely tightly. One of the reasons I go for the reclaimed wood is you just can't buy that product new; typically new flooring is no longer than 7 feet, typically 3 to 4 feet.

The main problem with old wood is the effort involved in getting it removed and denailed. It's a lot of labor and requires a fair amount of muscle power too.

Night Trazz, you have a good sleep too. We have been stuck around 22 all day today so very pleasant but yesterday still leaves on a little drained.

I blame so much of those stupid things on old age but I hear the young ones complaining all the time too, so I now blame it on information overload. We all just have too much happening in our lives. Of course as you age that information increases which is why we tend to gain weight around the hips, it is all that information overflowing, which makes me a veritable walking encyclopaedia.

The information we are getting here that many Aussies are doing is buying places around the $20-$30K range - Florida was mentioned as one place - on minimum deposit and the rent more than pays the mortgage. They were talking around 35-38% return and the homes are paid for in a couple of years. Here you are lucky to get 6% but need to borrow around $300K. I've been at LA DD to look into it but not making any impression. Trouble is when you aren't on the spot it is hard to know just what risks there are and now big.

@ ROO: I often check house or condo prices on Zillow. Here's link. I have never heard of anything in that low price range. LA is pricey. Things R getting back to normal in RE market, but not there yet except 4 some lucky areas.
http://www.zillow.com/

Thanks j22, I had already checked out some websites but can't remember what they were now. Did find some very cheap properties but problem is you never know if they are on the right side of the tracks or what. There are some agents in the States who have set themselves up primarily to help Aussies find, buy and manage properties but of course there are agents and there are agents too. A guy in Melbourne who started investing for himself has done a lot of promoting, I think he has bought about 40 properties so far.

So as all you ladies awake this morning, I have started a thread called OLLD and Laura. Laura is a Canadian lady I replied to on a thread but her problems got more involved and we were chatting more so I have copied and pasted everything to this thread for you all to join in and so others on the other thread don't get niggly about getting emails about our conversation. Please come and meet Laura.

Bobbi – That just happened to be one of their videos I found online, not that I’m in the market for one! Did you ever walk into another room, then not remember for a second, why you were there?!

Trazz – That’s happened to me driving too; I’d be on “automatic pilot” (mentally), then refocus on the highway & not know exactly where I was for an instant!

Roo – While it would be nice to have a partner who would like to tackle house projects, the one guy I dated the longest, started by saying he “wasn’t handy that way” .. so much for that dream! In a way, I’m kind of glad to be alone now, because I have no expectations of help, but know I can make whatever decisions I want, without having to get consensus or approval from anyone else.

Well, off for a Saturday AM women's group meeting!!

Astraea, we are all OLLS we all walk into rooms and have no idea. Actually, when my ensuite was being done was my absolutely worst time. I had to move a lot of things from my wardrobe and bathroom to the loungeroom at the completely opposite end of the house, so everytime I needed something I was either in the bedroom or the lounge and needed something from the other room. It got to the point that it didn't matter what it was I automatically headed for either room. I even got to the point that I had a bottle of milk out and walked straight past the fridge and down to the bedroom to put it away.

Yeah, partners can be a blessing or a pain. There never seems to be a middle road. I just have to keep emphasising that he can't expect to get more from me than he is prepared to give himself. Once I get that through all goes well .............. until the next relapse but sadly the relapses are taking more and more out of me.

Enjoy your women's meeting - sounds very sane.

I'm starting off very well today! Woke up about 3:30 AM, and thought it was awfully cold in the MBR .. but heat wasn't on. Checked digital thermostat in hall, and screen was blank! Touched it & numbers came up, but when I reset the temperature & went back to bed .. nothing happened. So at 3:45 AM, I was changing the AA batteries in the thermostat .. and thankfully the heat finally went on! Still think I'll have the utility in to check it, because it takes so much longer for that furnace to go on, after resetting the thermostat, than the one on the other side of the house.

Oh, Astraea, nothing worse than having to get out of a snuggly warm bed at that hour either.

I get so tickled hearing about your partners that don't help. When your hubby is a contractor, it's like the old 'thing' with the plumber's house always has stopped up pipes. Projects come to a standstill here. A great start and no finish. The very first thing I told hubby when we built our new house was "I am not moving in until every little thing is finished 100%". Now county inspections guaranteed some of that, but I am still missing 4 drawer fronts in the kitchen and cabinet doors to my linen closet in the master bath. Not bad considering his track record. *L*

Creeser I think it has always been that builders' homes are never finished, dressmakers are the worst dressed, hairdressers have no style. Sounds like you are off to a better start though. Try strike action when all else fails - pile the linen closet contents on his side of the bed. It isn't the lack of help that is getting to me it is the lopsided attitude and expectations, when I am not allowed to expect anything in return from him. This is something I have to beat into him with regular monotony - he just doesn't get it.

I've started 1/19

Linda I am absolutely so jealous! I put in hardwood a year or so ago in my living room but I had to match up to the dining room because they butt up to each other. I would love long wide planks! You are absolutely correct, there were so many 3-4", then average amount of 4-5", butt very few long pieces. I took up the wood in the entry and put in tile. Geez, that would be a job taking out the nails. But I'll get to experience that when $ allows me to do the stairs, I think I might need filler for the landings. I would have loved wide planks also and a darker stain but no such luck since I had to match. Maybe in our future home when I am more Olld. Lol. Have you ever used the wood veneer treads for stairs? Were they fairly decent to put in?

See you all at 1/19

@olldbobbi I did not see this thread until now. I did not see the really bad post you spoke of Friday so I was not sure what you meant this am when we were talking and you said you were not feeling well. I hope the person did not actually threaten you. I dont always get on here everyday b/c I work part time as an RN and yesterday we were having a fun raising for a fellow RN. Anyway, I wish I could help. Have a wonderful eve. It is date night for us - going to get ready.

Aw, thanks so much Carolina! Until this happened I didn't realize what good friends I have here on Houzz. It is being investigated by Houzz and they've told me they have many ways of determining who is starting all this hate stuff against me. I do know of one person who finds me objectional. I guess out of the zillions of Houzzers, I should be happy it's only one!!!

I hope you have a great date night! Where are you going, and what are your plans? I'm a little jealous.....:))

Husbands, can't live with them, can't shoot them. For all the grrrrrrr's they always have our backs.

Astraea, interesting to read your take on being single. My DD is 42, lovely, educated, two very responsible jobs: Navy and surgical nurse, two homes, lots of friends, and no S O. I worry, because I don't want her to be alone after we are gone. I have had a great marriage and I wish that for her. Just not happening. Your feeling?

roo, real estate is starting to recover. If you see something in Fla for 20 or 30,000. there are probably resident alligators in the yard. Some homes were taken over at the expense of the towns because the unattended properties became a haven for wildlife.

olldj22, where are the 4 areas that have survived the crisis? Are they all metropolitan? I am in MA and there are a few areas that never are impacted. Cambridge, for instance.

@ judyg

I was abbreviating. The "4" = "for".

Everything went down, but the following seem to hold value no matter what: Beverly Hills, Pasadena, San Francisco.