Yeah, typically I do all my own work. It is rare for me to hire contractors, but it happens here and there. Like when I used Pure Air
HVAC for the complete replacement of the HVAC system and mini-split
install. I also will hire a company to install the inground pool when I
get to that later this year/early next year. There are some stuff I
can't tackle by myself, but thanks for the info.

Icouldn't remember the name of the train station; now I do. It's the defunct Baldwin train station. You can still see the rail bed where the platform was yet, there are no rails anymore.

Did you ever go to the Northern Central RR in Glenco / Sparks area. We used to have a rope swing over the gunpowder there. Baltimore Co. cops came in one night and hemmed use in from both directions. My best friend, Don Fisher, who used to work at the Milton Inn was forced to pour out a vintage bottle of wine he stole from their wine cellar. I had pot but hid it under the railroad track and marked it with a rock. They took our names and addresses just to scare us (they were really older versions of us). After they left I grabbed my weed and, they never called our parents.


<--> The Blood Stone BBS - Telnet & HTTP www.bsbbs.com <-->
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--- WWIVToss v.1.52
* Origin: http://www.weather-station.org * Bel Air, MD -USA (11:1/101.0)

Icouldn't remember the name of the train station; now I do. It's the
defunct Baldwin train station. You can still see the rail bed where the platform was yet, there are no rails anymore.

Did you ever go to the Northern Central RR in Glenco / Sparks area. We
used to have a rope swing over the gunpowder there. Baltimore Co. cops
came in one night and hemmed use in from both directions. My best friend, Don Fisher, who used to work at the Milton Inn was forced to pour out a vintage bottle of wine he stole from their wine cellar. I had pot but hid
it under the railroad track and marked it with a rock. They took our names and addresses just to scare us (they were really older versions of us). After they left I grabbed my weed and, they never called our parents.

I don't think I have ever seen it or been there. That story reminds me of when I was around 15 or 16, and went out in the middle of the night with my neighbor and his friends that were around 4 years older than me. At that time they were legal to buy beer. We ended up at this large abandonded mansion somewhere out in that general area. I just remember drinking beer, walking around it with a flash light and watching so we didn't fall through the floor which was in really bad shape. It was super old and falling apart, but it looked spooky and haunted, so we had to check it out.

That night ended up with the police showing up and each of us got a ride back home in a police car. They never told my Mom, I just got dropped off really late and they made sure I went in the house. It was all good - yes, they were older versions of us. We were not doing anything bad - other than trespassing and under age drinking in my part.

Most of my experiences with the law were very positive. All but one.

- Mark

:.: Weather Station BBS · telnet://bbs.weather-station.org :.: :.: http://www.weather-station.org/bbs · Bel Air, Maryland - USA :.:
      
--- WWIVToss v.1.52
* Origin: http://www.weather-station.org * Bel Air, MD -USA (11:1/101.0)

Hi!

Speaking of HVAC chat, last night I was watching TV and realized it was getting a bit warm inside. I went and checked my Ecobee, it was set to 73 with current ambient at 79. I walked outside and my unit wasn't running. So I turned the system off and back on with my phone, but still no dice. I opened the power box outside and there was some black rectangle thing that looked removable and had a handle with which to do so. I was gonna pull it out to see if it's a fuse, then thought wellllll... maybe I should cut the power at the panel first in case it's not a fuse.

So I get to the panel and the AC breaks are tripped. Now I should know better; if a breaker is tripped and it's not something obvious (like you plugged too much stuff in) one shouldn't just turn it back on without knowing why it tripped. But it was like 1 AM and I wasn't thinking so I turned it back on. Went back to the unit and told the Ecobee to start calling for air. Three seconds later, POP. There was some loud pop/electrical crackle and an orange glow from the unit. Needless to say, I quite rapidly moved back to the panel to turn it back off.

So now I hope I didn't make whatever is broken even worse by letting it short out again. Of course, this happens on a Saturday night so I gotta roast today and call the local HVAC people tomorrow. It's currently 94.5 outside and 81.1 in my living room. Ugh.

I shut down all the servers I could, only left my Active Directory and web server up as my mechanic's shop site is on it. Hopefully that reduces my thermal footprint a bit. I thought about running to Wal-Mart and buying a window unit, but the cheapest I saw is like $180 and what if the part the A/C needs is like a $150 fan or something? I'd feel like an idiot spending the money on the window unit hehe.

I just hope it's something simple like that. I'm incredibly fiscally irresponsible; I have no savings at all and very few assets that are even worth selling to raise cash so if the unit is toast, gonna have to ask my boss for a pay advance. (siiiigh)

Anyway, sorry to ramble, just felt like venting lol

   
--- WWIVToss v.1.52
* Origin: http://www.weather-station.org * Bel Air, MD -USA (11:1/101.0)

I just hope it's something simple like that. I'm incredibly fiscally irresponsible; I have no savings at all and very few assets that are even worth selling to raise cash so if the unit is toast, gonna have to ask my boss for a pay advance. (siiiigh)

Often times it is just one of the capacitors. They hold a large charge to help cycle the unit off/on. They are around $40 each - most units have two of them.
I had an issue with my old AC where it wouldn't run as after replacing the capacitors, everything was back to normal. I think I paid $80 for the parts and did the work myself. Very dangerous however, you want to read up on how to drain and properly handle the capacitors.

- Mark

:.: Weather Station BBS · telnet://bbs.weather-station.org :.: :.: http://www.weather-station.org/bbs · Bel Air, Maryland - USA :.:
      
--- WWIVToss v.1.52
* Origin: http://www.weather-station.org * Bel Air, MD -USA (11:1/101.0)

Very dangerous however,
you want to read up on how todrain and properly handle the capacitors.

Just to second this... those capacitors are designed to help out when the mains doesn't have enough "oomph" - they don't mess about. Very easy to make a "one time mistake".

BobW

→ 
--- WWIVToss v.1.52
* Origin: http://www.weather-station.org * Bel Air, MD -USA (11:1/101.0)

however, you want to read up on how to drain and properly handle the capacitors.

Yes! Heart attack city!


<--> The Blood Stone BBS - Telnet & HTTP www.bsbbs.com <-->
\/ WWIVnet Node 1@707 - Sonoma County California \/
→p ╞"
--- WWIVToss v.1.52
* Origin: http://www.weather-station.org * Bel Air, MD -USA (11:1/101.0)

Often times it is just one of the capacitors. They hold a large charge
to help cycle the unit off/on. They are around $40 each - most units
have two of them. I had an issue with my old AC where it wouldn't run as after replacing the capacitors, everything was back to normal. I think
I paid $80 for the parts and did the work myself. Very dangerous
however, you want to read up on how to drain and properly handle the capacitors.

Yea, caps can really "light up your life" if not handled properly. I used to work on CRT TVs, I'm well acquainted with how bad electricity can make your day, hehe. Sadly, it turns out the compressor is shot. Being that it's R22, they can't just swap it so I'm looking at ~$5k for a new unit.

I hope whatever the new eco-friendly coolant is cools as well as the R22. For now I went on Craigslist and picked up a 15k BTU window unit for $75 bucks. That's cooling my whole upstairs, then a friend gave me a 10k unit for downstairs that is keeping my servers from sweating. The garage that has the rack had gotten up to 84 degrees; I had to go without my infrastructure for a week or so, too worried about cooking my drives heh.

I just shudder at what the next electric bill is going to look like :D


--- WWIVToss v.1.52
* Origin: http://www.weather-station.org * Bel Air, MD -USA (11:1/101.0)

I hope whatever the new eco-friendly coolant is cools as well as the R22. For now I went on Craigslist and picked up a 15k BTU window unit for $75 bucks. That's cooling my whole upstairs, then a friend gave me a 10k unit for downstairs that is keeping my servers from sweating. The garage that
has the rack had gotten up to 84 degrees; I had to go without my infrastructure for a week or so, too worried about cooking my drives heh.

I just shudder at what the next electric bill is going to look like :D

Yeah, and with how hot it has been this past month, the bill will likely be ugly. Mine was a record high of just shy of $600. A combination of how hot it has been the past month and the much higher cost of electricity.

- Mark

:.: Weather Station BBS · telnet://bbs.weather-station.org :.: :.: http://www.weather-station.org/bbs · Bel Air, Maryland - USA :.:
      
--- WWIVToss v.1.52
* Origin: http://www.weather-station.org * Bel Air, MD -USA (11:1/101.0)

Yeah, and with how hot it has been this past month, the bill will likely
be ugly. Mine was a record high of just shy of $600. A combination of
how hot it has been the past month and the much higher cost of
electricity.

Sheez. That is crazy. We keep ours set at 65 here in St. Louis and our highest bill ever was $160. Normally we come in right at $100 or a little below.

-dmxrob


--- WWIVToss v.1.52
* Origin: http://www.weather-station.org * Bel Air, MD -USA (11:1/101.0)

Sheez. That is crazy. We keep ours set at 65 here in St. Louis and our highest bill ever was $160. Normally we come in right at $100 or a little below. -dmxrob

Yeah, I agree. Most people in my neighborhood are paying far more than me since many don't take advantage of shopping for better power rates. I am paying at least $50/month less than most people around here since I'm getting power for .09/kwh vs the current standard rate of .11/kwh.

The most disturbing part is I was paying .0599/kwh in 2020. Like everything, the rates are significantly higher. That is a 53% increase in electricity costs in just 4 years. Combine that with natural gas prices, food, etc, it is a complete economic train wreck.

- Mark

:.: Weather Station BBS · telnet://bbs.weather-station.org :.: :.: http://www.weather-station.org/bbs · Bel Air, Maryland - USA :.:
      
--- WWIVToss v.1.52
* Origin: http://www.weather-station.org * Bel Air, MD -USA (11:1/101.0)

The most disturbing part is I was paying .0599/kwh in 2020. Like everything, the rates are significantly higher. That is a 53% increase
in electricity costs in just 4 years. Combine that with natural gas
prices, food, etc, it is a complete economic train wreck.

It's a complete money grab by corporations. Your electric is no different from my electric - just the company providing it to you.

Ijust received my yearly refund check from the electric company, a Co-Op.

-dmxrob

--- WWIVToss v.1.52
* Origin: http://www.weather-station.org * Bel Air, MD -USA (11:1/101.0)

It's a complete money grab by corporations. Your electric is no different from my electric - just the company providing it to you.

Ijust received my yearly refund check from the electric company, a Co-Op.

In Maryland, the utilities are regulated by the government which basically means they can add a million junk fees on top of the over-priced services. There are at least 6 junk fees on my utility bill for random government crap.

Even if I use no power or water in my home, those bills would be at least $50/month just in "service/junk" fee to have the privilege to overpay for services.

At least we can get electric and natural gas from other states, but we still get screwed on the local distribution charges.

- Mark

:.: Weather Station BBS · telnet://bbs.weather-station.org :.: :.: http://www.weather-station.org/bbs · Bel Air, Maryland - USA :.:
      
--- WWIVToss v.1.52
* Origin: http://www.weather-station.org * Bel Air, MD -USA (11:1/101.0)

Even if I use no power or water in my home, those bills would be at least$50/month just in "service/junk" fee to have the privilege to
overpay forservices.

My parents house when empty was like that. Actual water bill was a max of $5 for 3 months but then came the fee's and $50 later..

And of course theres no way to opt out.

-V

┌─────┐┌──┐──┐ ┌──┐ ┌─────┐┌─────┐┌─────┐ ┌──┐ ┌─────┐ bbs.outpost9.co:2023 │ ┬ ││ │ │┌┘ ┴─┐│ ──┘ ││ ┬ ││ ───┴┐┌┘ ┴─┐│ └── │
│ │ ││ ┘ │└┐ ┬─┘│ ┌──┘│ │ │├───┐ │└┐ ┬─┘└──┐ │ https://outpost9.co
│ ┴ │││ │ │ │ │ │ ┴ ││ ─┘ │ │ ││ │ WWiVNet node @138 └─────┘└─────┘ └──┘ └──┘ └─────┘└──────┘ └──┘└──┘ Maryland, USA

               
--- WWIVToss v.1.52
* Origin: http://www.weather-station.org * Bel Air, MD -USA (11:1/101.0)

And of course theres no way to opt out.

There's always not paying :D. Not sure what the laws are there about shutting off service.
→ 
--- WWIVToss v.1.52
* Origin: http://www.weather-station.org * Bel Air, MD -USA (11:1/101.0)

There's always not paying :D. Not sure what the laws are there about shutting off service.

Nah they'd keep the service on and keep billing you till they could force the sale of the house to repay the bill. Happens quite often around here.

-V

┌─────┐┌──┐──┐ ┌──┐ ┌─────┐┌─────┐┌─────┐ ┌──┐ ┌─────┐ bbs.outpost9.co:2023 │ ┬ ││ │ │┌┘ ┴─┐│ ──┘ ││ ┬ ││ ───┴┐┌┘ ┴─┐│ └── │
│ │ ││ ┘ │└┐ ┬─┘│ ┌──┘│ │ │├───┐ │└┐ ┬─┘└──┐ │ https://outpost9.co
│ ┴ │││ │ │ │ │ │ ┴ ││ ─┘ │ │ ││ │ WWiVNet node @138 └─────┘└─────┘ └──┘ └──┘ └─────┘└──────┘ └──┘└──┘ Maryland, USA

               
--- WWIVToss v.1.52
* Origin: http://www.weather-station.org * Bel Air, MD -USA (11:1/101.0)

Nah they'd keep the service on and keep billing you till they could
force the sale of the house to repay the bill. Happens quite often
around here.

Woah, force a sale? I think there's a similar law here that they'd have to keep the service on, but I've never heard of a house/property being forcably sold for anything. Taken by the city/state is another story :).
 
--- WWIVToss v.1.52
* Origin: http://www.weather-station.org * Bel Air, MD -USA (11:1/101.0)

In Maryland, the utilities are regulated by the government which
basically means they can add a million junk fees on top of the
over-priced services. There are at least 6 junk fees on my utility bill
for random government crap.

I remember Maryland being quite expensive. Montgomery Co. is perhaps one of the most expensive counties in the USA. NY is horrific. I have a cousin who lives near Woodstock and has about 20 acres of land. He says his property taxes are so expensive that he is unable to retire. Yet the private sector is not exempt from goughing either. Verizon is notorious for pulling stuff out of nowhere and putting it on your bill....


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--- WWIVToss v.1.52
* Origin: http://www.weather-station.org * Bel Air, MD -USA (11:1/101.0)

My parents house when empty was like that. Actual water bill was a max of
$5 for 3 months but then came the fee's and $50 later..

And of course theres no way to opt out.

Yes, I wonder if the Amish up in Lancaster, PA are able to opt out of it (power junk fees). They don't have city water, so they don't have to worry about opting out of that.

I had heard some new regulation on life safety that they were being forced to have a power line run to their homes even if they don't use them (which most don't).

I manage the bills for our HOA and I can confirm that the electricity junk fees are higher than our actual power usage (for a few street lights and monument LED lights). The power costs are around $4-5 month, but the bill is $35. So basically $30 in junk fees.

- Mark

:.: Weather Station BBS · telnet://bbs.weather-station.org :.: :.: http://www.weather-station.org/bbs · Bel Air, Maryland - USA :.:
      
--- WWIVToss v.1.52
* Origin: http://www.weather-station.org * Bel Air, MD -USA (11:1/101.0)

Nah they'd keep the service on and keep billing you till they could force the sale of the house to repay the bill. Happens quite often around here.

Same here, mainly with water or property taxes. If either are not paid, the county will force a tax sale of your home. People can refuse to pay credit card debt all day long and nothing happens, but stop paying your water bill and say goodbye to your house.

- Mark

:.: Weather Station BBS · telnet://bbs.weather-station.org :.: :.: http://www.weather-station.org/bbs · Bel Air, Maryland - USA :.:
      
--- WWIVToss v.1.52
* Origin: http://www.weather-station.org * Bel Air, MD -USA (11:1/101.0)

I remember Maryland being quite expensive. Montgomery Co. is perhaps one
of the most expensive counties in the USA. NY is horrific. I have a cousin who lives near Woodstock and has about 20 acres of land. He says his property taxes are so expensive that he is unable to retire. Yet the
private sector is not exempt from goughing either. Verizon is notorious
for pulling stuff out of nowhere and putting it on your bill....

Yes, there is no doubt that Verizon was the pioneer when it comes to junk fees. Everyone else jumped on that bandwagon later. What is really unusual is there are no Verizon junk fees on my Fios bill. I pay $79.99 exactly. No junk fees, no tax, nothing else. Very strange - but not complaining. It is like going to Delaware and paying exactly $9.99 for something since they have no sales tax.

In Maryland, the closer to the beltway bandits area (DC) you get, the more expensive everything gets. All the politicians, lobbyists, and other assorted crooks stay around there. Same thing with northern, Virginia.

It is crazy that there are real people that have been forced out of their own bought and paid for homes because they no longer can afford the property tax in their area. You own the home and property but can still lose it. Totally wrong and shouldn't even be a tax.

- Mark

:.: Weather Station BBS · telnet://bbs.weather-station.org :.: :.: http://www.weather-station.org/bbs · Bel Air, Maryland - USA :.:
      
--- WWIVToss v.1.52
* Origin: http://www.weather-station.org * Bel Air, MD -USA (11:1/101.0)

Nah they'd keep the service on and keep billing you till they could
force the sale of the house to repay the bill. Happens quite often
around here.

All I can say is our government run water and sewer service here costs me $90 a per two months, trash pickup twice a week, yard waste once a week, water and sewer - plus if my sewer lateral ever has issues, the city will repair, free of charge, the lateral to the house.

DIRECTLY BEHIND ME, the neighbors have a private water/trash service (they live in unincorporated county). Their water and sewer bill alone is over $200 a month, then add trash (once weekly, no yard waste) to that and you have another $100 a month.

They came to our city council wanting to be added to our water/sewer/trash rotation. City said "Sure, once you annex into the city". They didn't like that answer - so they whined about it. City didn't care who they whined to, and most of us residents didn't care either. You want our local-run government city provided services, you annex in. Otherwise, you are on your own. not our problem.

So people can complain all they want about the "big, bad evil government". To that I say "bullshit". I have seen firsthand with an efficiently run utility can do when run for the public good. And I'll keep on paying my $90 every two months, while the "private for profit" folks are forking out close to $300 a month for LESS services.

-dmxrob

--- WWIVToss v.1.52
* Origin: http://www.weather-station.org * Bel Air, MD -USA (11:1/101.0)

Same here, mainly with water or property taxes. If either are not paid,
the county will force a tax sale of your home. People can refuse to pay credit card debt all day long and nothing happens, but stop paying your water bill and say goodbye to your house.

You can always call in and disconnect water at any time. I've never lived anywhere that didn't offer that option. If you don't want to pay it, then disconnect it. They will be more than happy to come out and turn the main off I am pretty damn sure.



--- WWIVToss v.1.52
* Origin: http://www.weather-station.org * Bel Air, MD -USA (11:1/101.0)

$90 a per two months, trash pickup twice a week, yard waste once a week, water and sewer - plus if my sewer lateral ever has issues, the city will repair, free of charge, the lateral to the house.

We have city water/sewer which averages around $100 per month. It is much cheaper in some counties vs others. That particular bill was 1/2 as much in price just 4 years ago. I used to pay $150 for 3 months and it is now $300 for three months. People on well water have costs, but that is more of a personal choice as I would much rather have city water.

Trash in our county isn't run by the local government, but is in some other counties. It costs about the same either way. The counties that have trash included pay higher taxes, so it ends up being the same.

I run the HOA funds in our neighborhood and we all got together (107) homes and have a single trash removal contract for the entire neighborhood which is much less expensive than everyone going alone.

On the power side of things, I really like the shop for the best deals and buy electricity and natrua gas from whatever is the best deal at the time. In a perfect world, the infrastructure would be tax payer owned, but you could get whatever service on it. The power companies still own the infrastructure, but are regulated (to some degree). At least I can get power from other states where it is much less expensive.

- Mark

:.: Weather Station BBS · telnet://bbs.weather-station.org :.: :.: http://www.weather-station.org/bbs · Bel Air, Maryland - USA :.:
      
--- WWIVToss v.1.52
* Origin: http://www.weather-station.org * Bel Air, MD -USA (11:1/101.0)

You can always call in and disconnect water at any time. I've never lived anywhere that didn't offer that option. If you don't want to pay it, then disconnect it. They will be more than happy to come out and turn the main off I am pretty damn sure.

I'm not sure how that would work around here since water and sewer are the same service/bill. Even if you turned water off, you are still hooked to the sewer. I much prefer city water and sewer - just not a fan of all the extra junk fees that are not related to the actual service itself.

- Mark

:.: Weather Station BBS · telnet://bbs.weather-station.org :.: :.: http://www.weather-station.org/bbs · Bel Air, Maryland - USA :.:
      
--- WWIVToss v.1.52
* Origin: http://www.weather-station.org * Bel Air, MD -USA (11:1/101.0)