A month or two back, Elaine mentioned that a couple of the stair treads on the short stairs (from the BBQ deck down to the shop walkway) were cracked and looking sketchy. This whole BBQ deck was a one-day build 10+ years ago. And those stairs were built with two risers, not three. So, maybe … Read More
Braced for a Crash-lection? Might consider it! The early futures were telling us little that we didn’t know after the market fell on its nose more than 500 Dow points Wednesday. As the Fed not only raised 3/4 percent but said another 1/2 percent was baked in the cake – and they will entertain ideas … Read More
I thought it would be fun to roll through an example of how a simple workflow process can be used to tackle almost any home handy-bastard project. Project Planning A number of projects were underway here this week, but they all have something in common: They each went through a planning process where as much … Read More
Two stories have our eye as the sun makes another rerun. One is the Gross Domestic Product. And since we have had two consecutive quarters of declines, we’re in a Recession. Which the National Bureau of Economic Research doesn’t want to admit to, since they argue the metric is wrong. (“When you don’t like the … Read More
The past couple of Sunday’s we have covered how to build a really nice sound conditioned room for your home listening enjoyment. And last weekend, we got into the nuts and bolts of getting a computer equipped with a DAW and learning a bit about that side of things. Today, we will talk about owning continuous programming … Read More
In last Sunday’s ShopTalk, we ambled through some of the construction fine points of building a room suitable for high performance sound. Today, with a converted room at the ready – silent lights, HVAC sound boots, dual airlock doors, and sand-filled walls plus a fortune in Auralex wall coverings – we need to put something in our … Read More
Since one of my (purported) skills is broadcasting, every so often a reader wonders “Why not do an STS article on how to have a super home sound system? Well, OK, this can be really short (“do what sounds best to you”) or really long. Which begins like this: Inputs & Speakers Matter Long ago, … Read More
Plus, some other nifty topics this morning, including my Yaupon Hedge experiment. So, kick back with another cup and let’s think this project called Life through a little deeper… If War Is Coming We sure hope reasonable shows up at the party soon. Because the accounting for this Ukraine War (thanks to maneuvering by the … Read More
With markets in free-fall, we are again looking back at critical lessons to have internalized right now – like today – before we get into the Replay of 1929 any deeper. There are two main ones that come to mind. The first has to do with invention. So, in this regard, we’ll be focused on … Read More
Economics runs in reasonably clear cycles. At the moment, we are at (or just past) the top of a Housing cycle. The bottom, you’ll recall, was the spring of 2009. Prices firmed into 2010 as corporations bet on running rental pools of repossessed homes. Since then, it would be hard to find a better personal … Read More
I’m (wild-ass) guessing son G2 will be back on homestead lands before Christmas. Not that making a boatload of money up north isn’t grand fun, but the fact is the Old Man can’t figure out how his assignment will keep from getting shut down when the world hits the financial skids in the next couple … Read More
Welcome to Fed Day and the afternoon adventure of “How High Will They go?” As we collapse down into the Second Depression (our use of the term ought to be obvious within a year) we spot and tell you how to fix two of America’s dumbest decisions. This won’t be painful, except if you find … Read More
Fascinating historically based rambling-tale of a pseudo-academic logician’s thought processes kicks off today. Sudo apt-get install, shall we? From the top, then. The Vietnam War ended on April 30, 1975. Using this point alone, long wave economics can offer us AMAZING insight into the future of global conflicts. Including a couple of windows for the … Read More