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		<title>8 yards of soil</title>
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		<pubDate>Sat, 19 May 2012 11:00:05 +0000</pubDate>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>			I posted about it in my blog.  It took 2 of us working our butts off about 5-6 hours to move all of it.</p>
<p></p>
<p>			Where did you get the soil? Is it comppst mix or just straight top soil?</p>
<p>8 yards sounds like a lot (and it is when you are moving it by the wheelbarrow load) but once you are done it&#8217;s like &quot;Where the hell did it all go.&quot;</p>
<p>Looks good by the way.<br />
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<div style="font-style:italic">Where did you get the soil? Is it comppst mix or just straight top soil?<br /><span id="more-1015"></span></p>
<p>8 yards sounds like a lot (and it is when you are moving it by the wheelbarrow load) but once you are done it&#8217;s like &quot;Where the hell did it all go.&quot;</p>
<p>Looks good by the way.</p></div>
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<p>It&#8217;s primarily a compost mix. I did 4 yards of one, and 4 yards of another.  They mixed mostly, but there are spots where you can clearly see sawdust. I bought it from Pacific Topsoil, it was about $300 OTD. Here&#8217;s the company&#8217;s description of what they are</p>
<p>A RECYCLED PRODUCT. A dark composted yard and garden waste that is very high in fertile nutrient elements, processed through a 1/2&#8221; screen. Excellent soil amendment or top dressing. Will also help to retain moisture.</p>
<p>Composted sawdust and cow/steer manure processed through 1/2&#8221; screen. Initially dark in color lightens to a light brown color. Excellent as a top dressing or soil amendment. Very high in nutrient elements and will assist in water retention.</p>
<p>I actually have a big pile of extra that I&#8217;m still not sure what to do with.  I filled my little raised bed, and don&#8217;t expect to be doing too much filling.  After a couple weeks of rain I&#8217;m sure it&#8217;ll compact and I&#8217;ll be able to fill in areas.  Now I need to get like 11ty rocks to build another bed and edge the lawn after reshaping it.<br />
		</p>
<p>			Does it &quot;float&quot;?</p>
<p>A lot of that mixed stuff has so much sawdust and wood chips in it that when you water it it all basically floats away. I&#8217;m considering doing raised beds this year and that&#8217;s my fear. I&#8217;ll be curious to hear what yours turns out like.<br />
		</p>
<p>			Side note but do you compost with your old grain?<br />
		</p>
<p>			I&#8217;m much happier with the appearance of the pacific garden mulch, the one without the sawdust. Neither appeared as though they&#8217;d float away.  We got some rain last night and and everything appears to have settled.  </p>
<p>With raised beds you should have excellent drainage (I have basically pure sand, being that we live on a hill, so I mixed it into the compost mixture for my raised beds).  We haven&#8217;t had a crazy intense rain that might cause things to &quot;float away&quot; for quite some time though.  This mixture seems to interlock fairly well so I don&#8217;t think that erosion will be an issue.</p>
<p>If you&#8217;re doing raised beds (for veggies) you better get on it, peas and carrots need to be basically by now, and tomatoes/peppers/everything else can go in at the beginning of June.  There&#8217;s a compost place in Renton(i think) that Sky Nursery gets their compost from and I&#8217;ve heard its&#8217; the best in the area, unfortunately, they charge a hefty delivery charge and high prices to start with for their products and it would have been almost double what I spent for this stuff.<br />
		</p>
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<p>
I certainly do.  Well, I make doggy biscuits that the pooch goes nuts for (when I get one out of the baggie he starts shaking, whining, jumping, etc), and everything else goes into the compost.  I don&#8217;t have a reliable source of carbon so pretty much everything in the bin is nitrogens, I&#8217;m sure the spent grain adds a helpful amount of carbon to the mix.<br />
		</p>
<p>			Nice. </p>
<p>I am going to try the doggy biscuit thing with my stout grains. How do you bind the grains, with peanut butter?</p>
<p>A friend of mine who brews a crap ton once dumped about 100 pounds of grain into his yard. By the end of the month it was gone. </p>
<p>Either the dogs or the garden consumed it all.<br />
		</p>
<p>			My pooch went nuts for the grains by themselves, I&#8217;d bet on the grains. </p>
<p>The recipe for spent grain biscuits is:<br />
4 cups spent grains<br />
1 egg<br />
3-4 cups flour<br />
1 cup peanut butter<br />
(I added 1/2 cup canned pumpkin, the dog likes it and it helps regulate poo consistency)</p>
<p>Mix thoroughly, spread on baking sheet (I used a silpat on mine), and score all the way through.  Bake at 425 for 20 minutes (I baked for 35), then break apart and put in oven at 200? for several hours (or dehydrate on highest setting overnight, like I did)<br />
		</p>
<p>			Thanks </p>
<p>Do you mind if I post that recipe on my homebrew&#8217;s club web site?</p>
<p>Speaking of grains and dirt, I have to dump some really old grains today. They were already milled so no good for beer (in theory I could still use them but who wants to risk making a crappy beer). Going to just compost them since they are not spent.<br />
		</p>
<p>			and here is the result:</p>
<p>not as epic as Laurel&#8217;s soil but it is enough to feed my hop plants.<br />
		</p>
<p>			Go for it, my dog goes nuts for them.  I&#8217;m not sure how they&#8217;d do without a nonstick mat on the baking sheet, and I didn&#8217;t try to dry them in the oven, but according to the recipe online, it should work.</p>
<p>Your grain compost looks disgusting&#8230; hopefully it turns into black gold!<br />
		</p>
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<div style="font-style:italic">My pooch went nuts for the grains by themselves, I&#8217;d bet on the grains. </p>
<p>The recipe for spent grain biscuits is:<br />
4 cups spent grains<br />
1 egg<br />
3-4 cups flour<br />
1 cup peanut butter<br />
(I added 1/2 cup canned pumpkin, the dog likes it and it helps regulate poo consistency)</p>
<p>Mix thoroughly, spread on baking sheet (I used a silpat on mine), and score all the way through.  Bake at 425 for 20 minutes (I baked for 35), then break apart and put in oven at 200? for several hours (or dehydrate on highest setting overnight, like I did)</p></div>
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<p> same recipe we use.. I&#8217;ve never tried the pumpkin though, I might this weekend when we make them again!<br />
		</p>


<p>Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://www.nicecookies.com/bonsai-tree-kits/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: bonsai tree kits?'>bonsai tree kits?</a> <small> ......</small></li>
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<li><a href='http://www.nicecookies.com/does-anyone-have-a-good-bran-muffin-recipe/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Does anyone have a good bran muffin recipe?'>Does anyone have a good bran muffin recipe?</a> <small> ......</small></li>
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		<title>Pygmy &#8211; Chuck Palahniuks new novel &#8211; Anyone reading?</title>
		<link>http://www.nicecookies.com/pygmy-chuck-palahniuks-new-novel-anyone-reading/</link>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 16 May 2012 23:00:06 +0000</pubDate>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>			just started it, seems real interesting so far<br />
		</p>


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		<title>Insulation / Air Conditioning &#8211; DIY and other Options</title>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 15 May 2012 23:00:07 +0000</pubDate>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>			We bought a house in southen California in January, and have been in it for four months now. When we initially moved in, we had ceiling fans installed in all of the major rooms to try and offset the cost of installing air conditioning. We could then wait thru this summer and see how painful it is, and prioritize air accordingly.</p>
<p>Well, its not even to the hot season yet (if there is such a thing in cali) and we&#8217;re finding ourselves having heat issues already. We have two factors that is pushing me to consider moving air conditioning up the prioritization list;<br /><span id="more-1013"></span><br />
1) Wife is finding that the fan dries out her eyes (she wears contacts 99% of the time) frequently, so its hard to turn on the fan to a speed thats doing much good.<br />
2) Im extremely sensitive to heat for prolonged periods of time.</p>
<p>Its an older house (&#8217;64) and still has its original metal frame windows. Im pretty sure the insulation in the attic is need of an overhaul/redo. Our heating ducts appear to be the newer, larger, ducts, than can handle air as well as our heater.</p>
<p>Im a little concerned installing air conditioning while the rest of the house seems to leak efficiency. Should I be prioritizing windows/insulation over the air unit? Will just one or or the other be enough to provide enough of a benefit to put off the more expensive units? Are there other options availalbe?</p>
<p>Cliffs; Need <br />
1) New windows (~10-12 new windows, one large bay window), <br />
2) Insulation in Attic (and walls?)<br />
3) Air Conditioning Unit</p>
<p>and not sure how to prioritize/what will give me the most bang for my buck. Have the money for all three, but would rather not spend that much all at once with the extra expenses of the new house still being new. I havent been able to find anyone in the area that is helpful in the realm of all three, that isnt trying to simply sell me on their product, damn the truth. Conflicting statements from local professionals brought me here instead.</p>
<p>Been doing as much research as I can online, but having a hard time making common sense out of it all. Any suggestions would be amazing.<br />
		</p>
<p>			The air conditioning is going to cost much more to run without new windows and insulation.</p>
<p>The cost of the windows should be offset partially by some sort of tax incentive or rebate if you get HE windows.</p>
<p>Insulation if you do it yourself can be fairly inexpensive, you can just get the thickest fiberglass stuff you can find, or have some sprayed up there which will probably be more even.</p>
<p>
Installing new windows and insulation won&#8217;t do much to keep your house cool without the AC running.  </p>
<p>I have contacts and my eyes get dried out quite easily too, if I put in eye drops (they have ones especially for dry eyes) a few times a day it seems to help.  </p>
<p>Personally, I&#8217;d do the AC and insulation, then when it&#8217;s financially feasible, put in new windows after doing some research regarding energy credits.  Hell, CA might even have some sort of incentive for an efficient AC unit.<br />
		</p>
<p>			Insulation if you do it yourself can be fairly inexpensive, you can just get the thickest fiberglass stuff you can find, or have some sprayed up there which will probably be more even.[/quote]</p>
<p>The blown-in insulation is going to be your biggest bang for the buck. You can rent a blower (often for free with a couple hundy worth of insulation) from Home Depot /Lowes and go to town. I shot a good 2ft thick in mine for around $300 total.</p>
<p>The next will be to do weathstripping to minimize airloss in doors, windows, and other leaks. You can have an energy efficiency audit done with a blower door and IR camera that will help you target you trouble spots.<br />
		</p>
<p>			I was reading in a magazine where they did an energy audit on one of the editor&#8217;s homes and they had 3% leakage, which apparently is what you want.  It kinda blew my mind.<br />
		</p>
<p>			A few thoughts/questions.  You&#8217;ve said that the house dates to 1964.  If roofed with asphalt/fiberglass shingles, you&#8217;re likely on roof #2.  Was a ridge vent installed?  Do you have soffit vents?  If so, are they free of blockage?  What color are the shingles?</p>
<p>I&#8217;m asking because an unvented, improperly vented, or poorly vented attic is a huge heat trap which radiates downward, into the living space.  The ridge vent together with soffit venting (forget gable vents-they&#8217;re useless) will drop attic temperature without making your meter spin.  Reflective insulation installed under the sheathing, or across the rafters can help to reduce thermal gain in the attic during the day.  If your shingles are dark, that isn&#8217;t helping, either.</p>
<p>You can always go with central air, and SEERs are rising with new technology.  Variable speed compressors and blower motors are great at wringing maximum efficiency from the system.  Just make sure you hire a competent designer who does a full and complete load calculation, instead of just measuring square feet, looking at your climate zone, and throwing out a SWAG of: you need 3 tons of cooling.</p>
<p>Another option exists if you don&#8217;t use all of the house most of the time, and that would be the mini-split AC system.  Outside compressor/condensing unit, and an inside evaporator with quiet fan.  Their SEERs are getting very good, and you&#8217;re only cooling what you want to cool.  Most units have programmable setback for maximum comfort and energy savings.  Plus, heat vents are typically located on or near the floor, which is bad for AC, as cold air sinks.  Mini-split interior units are located typically ~6&#8242; AFF.<br />
		</p>
<p>			The insulation will help with heating efficiency as well. Typically your heating costs are higher than cooling, even where I live in Texas because I have electric heat.  </p>
<p>Adding insulation, improving windows and sealing the house will help to reduce you usage period.  Get the AC if the lower temps make you comfortable.  You can always turn it off when you don&#8217;t want it.</p>
<p>Something to consider with blown in insulation, if you have any leakage from the attic down to the living space, like can lights, electric j-boxes etc, it will create dust that will be drawn down and settle in your house.  </p>
<p>It is more expensive and labor intensive but reflective lay in insulation is your best bet for efficiency and air quality.<br />
		</p>
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<p>We had a completely new roof (full tear-down) done when we first moved in. Unfortunately, the wife went with black asphalt shingles, which I&#8217;m sure made the problem slightly worse. I was edging for a light grey why may or may not have been much better. I dont believe either soffit or ridge venting was installed when the roof was done. The only venting that was there prior were small 1&#215;4 openings around the base of the attic (which im sure are doing nothing but letting small insects in). We have one turbine exhaust vent, which we will likely be increasing to 3 in the near future due to the size of the house.</p>
<p>I had an insulation company (Eagle Shield) come in this weekend who gave us a basic free energy audit (IR gun, but no blower, strange).  They pushed for a fiberglass-batt installation, and their product is a reflective alumininum blanket (radiant barrier) that is set on top of the fiberglass to &quot;reflect&quot; the heat back up and out the roof. The demo was allright, but $6000 for fiberglass and a blanket didnt seem to make much sense. Im sure I could find a similar product and do it myself much cheaper.</p>
<p>It was definitely worth the time, as they gave us a bunch of things we can do for $0.18-$40 to cut down on our house inefficiencies. After which, it turns out I may have to hold of on insulation until I can update some of the older recessed lighting, and verify the wires/boxes in the attic are in good enough shape to apply insulation over. I think I&#8217;d rather do a blown-in product.</p>
<p>Another company gave me an estimate of $1480 (.90/sqft) for Cellulose R30 with the SoCalGas rebate (.15/sqft), and then there&#8217;s the 30% tax credit next year.</p>
<p>Every comment above was excellent, and I appreciate every one of them. </p>
<p>Looks like its back to doing some more homework before moving forward. Luckily, with new sprinklers installed this weekend, I have a few weeks before Im ready for the next big undertaking, if anyone has any other suggestions.<br />
		</p>


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		<title>does CLR really work on shower heads?</title>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 15 May 2012 11:00:06 +0000</pubDate>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>			I&#8217;m at home visiting my mommy, and one of the bathroom shower heads has lots of (hard water) deposits on it, making for a less than enjoyable shower.<br />
Does CLR work?<br />
does anything work better?<br />
		</p>
<p>			Yes, it works, and don&#8217;t get it on your hands, it fucking burns.<br />
		</p>
<p>			CLR is perfect.  Take small bowl, place showerhead in bowl, fill to a few inches and let it sit.<br />
		</p>
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<div style="font-style:italic">I&#8217;m at home visiting my mommy, and one of the bathroom shower heads has lots of (hard water) deposits on it, making for a less than enjoyable shower.<br /><span id="more-1012"></span><br />
Does CLR work?<br />
does anything work better?</div>
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<p>CLR works great for that.</p>
<p>We use it at work on boats/engines that have large deposits on there. CLR seems to be the only thing that works well consistently.<br />
		</p>
<p>			Just get a new shower head.  It&#8217;ll probably be cheaper anyway.<br />
		</p>


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		<title>So I just finished Terminator Salvation &#8211; From the Ashes</title>
		<link>http://www.nicecookies.com/so-i-just-finished-terminator-salvation-from-the-ashes/</link>
		<comments>http://www.nicecookies.com/so-i-just-finished-terminator-salvation-from-the-ashes/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 14 May 2012 23:00:07 +0000</pubDate>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>			DAMN IT!  </p>
<p>It was a fucking badass book and all, but they kinda left me hanging with Kyle and Star. They finished with Orozco, the Conners but they left Kyle and Star are running from a t-600. </p>
<p>I hope the movie picks up on this. But judging by previews, I&#8217;m going to say no. </p>
<p>Has anyone else read it?<br />
		</p>


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		<title>Some extra kitchen lighting</title>
		<link>http://www.nicecookies.com/some-extra-kitchen-lighting/</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 14 May 2012 11:00:07 +0000</pubDate>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>			stupid easy home improvement&#8230;.</p>
<p>using the gfci as the &quot;switch&quot;  </p>
<p>two 2 foot T5 bulbs on each side.</p>
<p>Just the regular lighting:</p>
<p>
Just the new lights</p>
<p>
Both</p>
<p>
Total cost&#8230;   $38</p>
<p>$14 per light fixture (instant $10 city of austin rebate on each!)<br />
$10 for a cord and some twists<br />
		</p>
<p>			Too easy. </p>
<p>You needs to hide those wires in the wall and run a circuit back to your switch box and install another switch. <br /><span id="more-1010"></span></p>
<p>It&#8217;s just a lil hard sometimes<br />
		</p>
<p>			Hard to tell how many code violations exist, there. Using the GFCI as a switch is a violation of its UL listing. If the fixtures were furnished with cord and plug connections, then the cable may remain exposed. If the fixtures were meant to be connected to romex or other approved wiring method, then that&#8217;s a similar violation, as well as substituting flexible cord for branch circuit wiring methods.<br />
		</p>
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<p>He needed to use a GFCI/switch combo like this one. You just lose the ability to plug anything in but the light fixture unless you hard wire it into the back.  </p>
<p></p>
<p>			I&#8217;m fully aware of what he should have used.  He could also have fed the circuit to another switch, but that would have meant increasing the wall case by another full gang.</p>
<p>This is the problem with electrical violations.  Doing it to code takes too much time and effort, in the eyes of some.  Then I get to review their work when the house burns and a cause and origin report is filed with the fire marshal.<br />
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<div style="font-style:italic">I&#8217;m fully aware of what he should have used.  He could also have fed the circuit to another switch, but that would have meant increasing the wall case by another full gang.</p>
<p>This is the problem with electrical violations.  Doing it to code takes too much time and effort, in the eyes of some.  Then I get to review their work when the house burns and a cause and origin report is filed with the fire marshal.</p></div>
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<p>I see the violations before they burn down the house</p>
<p>You see what happens when you don&#8217;t correct the violations </p>
<p>Pictures<br />
		</p>
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<div style="font-style:italic">I see the violations before they burn down the house</p>
<p>You see what happens when you don&#8217;t correct the violations </p>
<p>Pictures </p></div>
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<p>I see them all ways, as a contractor, as an inspector, and as a firefighter.</p>
<p>One of my favorites was a service call for flickering lights when the dishwasher or garbage disposal ran.  A five gang wall case with switches for disposal, kitchen wall lights, kitchen ceiling lights, family room lights, and a non-GFCI duplex.  The homeowner did the work himself when remodeling.  The coverplate was very warm to the touch.  Once I started to remove individual devices, everything started blinking.</p>
<p>Not a single screw terminal had been utilized.  When he ran out of backstab holes, he stuffed wires into the backstab release holes.  Some wiring was #12, some was #14, and two switches physically fell apart, their cases having been made brittle from repeated interior charring.</p>
<p>Problem was, the money he saved by not hiring a professional wouldn&#8217;t pay for the flowers for his family if the house had burned down, which was only a matter of time.<br />
		</p>
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<div style="font-style:italic">I see them all ways, as a contractor, as an inspector, and as a firefighter.</p>
<p>One of my favorites was a service call for flickering lights when the dishwasher or garbage disposal ran.  A five gang wall case with switches for disposal, kitchen wall lights, kitchen ceiling lights, family room lights, and a non-GFCI duplex.  The homeowner did the work himself when remodeling.  The coverplate was very warm to the touch.  Once I started to remove individual devices, everything started blinking.</p>
<p>Not a single screw terminal had been utilized.  When he ran out of backstab holes, he stuffed wires into the backstab release holes.  Some wiring was #12, some was #14, and two switches physically fell apart, their cases having been made brittle from repeated interior charring.</p>
<p>Problem was, the money he saved by not hiring a professional wouldn&#8217;t pay for the flowers for his family if the house had burned down, which was only a matter of time.</p></div>
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<p>plug n prays  You can always tll when a shitty contractor has been in. I always wrap screws, saves on later warranty work when the switch burns out from being back stabbed. </p>
<p>My recent favorite recent story was the house I did a trouble shot on. Customer was extremely vague on what was happening. &quot;lights blink and things don&#8217;t work&quot;   So I get to trouble shooting and I smell burning from one of the rooms, investigate and smell the TV burning. No biggie, I unplug it and stick my colt meter in the socket. I go around a check a few more outlets and BAM lights get super bright and my volt meter reads 300vac neutral to hot  I haul ass back to the main to get everything shut down. Found the sub panel neutral just landed in the lug without being tightened down which cause 220v to be backed thru everything attached on the sub panel whenever a load was place on the panel.  Turn everything back on and check for damages. $5,000 worth of brand new appliances  Needless to say the home owner was pissed. Tried to blame me even thou I didn&#8217;t wire the house or ever previously open the service panel. They still didn&#8217;t understand how that lil problem would have burnt down their home<br />
		</p>
<p>			Neutral shifting is an often misunderstood topic.  My first home (when I bought it) had SE cable with parts of the exterior woven fabric gone, exposing the aluminum neutral, which was corroded.  My Dad, an engineer for a power company, explained the consequences of not dealing with that.</p>
<p>We did a 200A service upgrade and panelboard replacement shortly thereafter.  For overkill-I installed an ITE Pushmatic&#8482; panelboard, because I liked the positive threaded connection between breakers and power busses.<br />
		</p>
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<div style="font-style:italic">Neutral shifting is an often misunderstood topic.  My first home (when I bought it) had SE cable with parts of the exterior woven fabric gone, exposing the aluminum neutral, which was corroded.  My Dad, an engineer for a power company, explained the consequences of not dealing with that.</p>
<p>We did a 200A service upgrade and panelboard replacement shortly thereafter.  For overkill-I installed an ITE Pushmatic™ panelboard, because I liked the positive threaded connection between breakers and power busses. </p></div>
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<p>Bulldog panels?  I&#8217;ve seen a few of them pretty rare in this area. I&#8217;ve seen two in 6 years. </p>
<p> I love the screw down square D breakers you see on commercial panels.<br />
		</p>
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<div style="font-style:italic">Bulldog panels?  I&#8217;ve seen a few of them pretty rare in this area. I&#8217;ve seen two in 6 years. </p>
<p>I love the screw down square D breakers you see on commercial panels. </p></div>
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<p>True, dat.  NQODs are nice panelboards.  That&#8217;s what I wrote into the spec to replace the crappy 40 year old Wadsworth panels we had at the fire station.</p>
<p>Heh-I still run into FPE Stab-Loks now and again.<br />
		</p>
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<div style="font-style:italic">True, dat.  NQODs are nice panelboards.  That&#8217;s what I wrote into the spec to replace the crappy 40 year old Wadsworth panels we had at the fire station.</p>
<p>Heh-I still run into FPE Stab-Loks now and again. </p></div>
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<p>Thankfully we don&#8217;t see too many FPEs out here. </p>
<p>We do have 11ty billion zinsco/sylvanias that virtually all of them are in some sort if failure  I make a lot of money replacing those cans.<br />
		</p>


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		<title>Where Would I Obtain Modern Handpainted Art?</title>
		<link>http://www.nicecookies.com/where-would-i-obtain-modern-handpainted-art/</link>
		<comments>http://www.nicecookies.com/where-would-i-obtain-modern-handpainted-art/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 13 May 2012 23:00:07 +0000</pubDate>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>			I&#8217;m going to ask around the art department on Tuesday and I&#8217;d like to purchase something that displays a little more taste than just a poster. I live in LA if that helps.</p>
<p>There is some places on line but I&#8217;m not so turned on by the fact that I won&#8217;t be able to see what I&#8217;m purchasing in person. An abstract painting that might look ridiculous on the internet might look great on canvas in real life.<br />
		</p>
<p>			try local art schools?  I bet a student would love to share his/her portfolio and get a commission<br />
		<br /><span id="more-1009"></span></p>
<p>			i suggest just buying some canvas&#8217; at an art store, and painting them yourself.  its really not that hard to paint some squares circles and splashes on a canvas.<br />
		</p>
<p>			A Rothko knockoff would be an easy low-skill undertaking.  Buy canvasses online and get some cheap oil paints.  It will cost you much less and you have the added benefit of having painted it yourself.  You could also do something in the style of Mondrian if that&#8217;s the style you&#8217;re looking for.  That type of painting eliminates all artistic ability and it&#8217;s just measuring and masking things carefully.<br />
		</p>


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		<title>Anyone have experience buying a side of beef?</title>
		<link>http://www.nicecookies.com/anyone-have-experience-buying-a-side-of-beef/</link>
		<comments>http://www.nicecookies.com/anyone-have-experience-buying-a-side-of-beef/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 13 May 2012 11:00:14 +0000</pubDate>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>			seems like a good way to get quality aged meats&#8230;i&#8217;ve been cooking a lot of steaks lately. thinking about getting a half side and trying to find some people to split it. only thing is that&#8217;s a lot of ground beef which i dont use as much. any experiences? what did it end up costing you?</p>
<p></p>
<p>			I&#8217;ve not done it but I have friends who have. It does save you a lot of money but you need a good amount of room in your freezer or yeah, friends to split it with.</p>
<p><span id="more-1008"></span><br />
At the moment I just by primals at costco and cut them into steaks. Not as great of a value but still better then getting it precut.<br />
		</p>
<p>			We go to a butcher that does this also but there is no kil, cut or wrap charges that are additional.  I am sure it is all worked into the price though.  It is like 2 bucks a pound handing weight.</p>
<p>We dont do it cause to me it really is no bargain.  look at the example in the link.  33 pounds of meat that is NOT ground meat and the then the rest is waste which is alot.  280 dressed and  and 160 take home.  To me, I prefer to eat my steaks a few days after purchasing them to avoid freezing.  and ground beef for me from this butcher is like 2.25 a pound and a .20 savings when buying 5 pounds or more.  so I get (5) 1 pound bags and just toss them in the freezer and pull out what I need and the ground beef is cheaper, plus I dont need to have a ton of space on hand for it, plus I like going and shooting the shit with him for a while.</p>
<p>Not saying this is not advantageous and can save some money, just saying make sure it is right for you.  I knew someone who bought a whole pig and was still buying pork at the supermarket cause when he was hungry to eat it, it was frozen<br />
		</p>
<p>			Yeah not sure what you would do with all those steaks.<br />
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<div style="font-style:italic">We go to a butcher that does this also but there is no kil, cut or wrap charges that are additional.  I am sure it is all worked into the price though.  It is like 2 bucks a pound handing weight.</p>
<p>We dont do it cause to me it really is no bargain.  look at the example in the link.  33 pounds of meat that is NOT ground meat and the then the rest is waste which is alot.  280 dressed and  and 160 take home.  To me, I prefer to eat my steaks a few days after purchasing them to avoid freezing.  and ground beef for me from this butcher is like 2.25 a pound and a .20 savings when buying 5 pounds or more.  so I get (5) 1 pound bags and just toss them in the freezer and pull out what I need and the ground beef is cheaper, plus I dont need to have a ton of space on hand for it, plus I like going and shooting the shit with him for a while.</p>
<p>Not saying this is not advantageous and can save some money, just saying make sure it is right for you.  I knew someone who bought a whole pig and was still buying pork at the supermarket cause when he was hungry to eat it, it was frozen</p></div>
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<p>The origianal poster likes aged beef.  This means that eating it within a few days of purchase is not usually the goal, unless it&#8217;s already been aged before purchase.  When you age beef, it doesn&#8217;t bleed as much when it&#8217;s sitting on a plate in your fridge.  It tastes better, and is much more tender.  Even beef you&#8217;ve bought at the grocery store has been aged SOME, otherwise it&#8217;d still show signs of rigor mortis.  All beef that you would actually want to eat is in some stage of decomposition.  Eating it fresh off the cow isn&#8217;t an apetizing thought.  It&#8217;s not fish, which is best served fresh.   Beef is best served old.</p>
<p>As for buying a side, if you find someone who sells sides, he may also sell quarter steers.  Or, he&#8217;ll be able to set you up with other families who want to whole or half steers into smaller groups.  That&#8217;s the way it works, many times.  A side is a great cost-savings, but you will need a lot of freezer space.  Depending on your family&#8217;s needs and what other meats you use, you could make a side last at least 6 months.<br />
		</p>
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<div style="font-style:italic">The origianal poster likes aged beef.  This means that eating it within a few days of purchase is not usually the goal, unless it&#8217;s already been aged before purchase.  When you age beef, it doesn&#8217;t bleed as much when it&#8217;s sitting on a plate in your fridge.  It tastes better, and is much more tender.  Even beef you&#8217;ve bought at the grocery store has been aged SOME, otherwise it&#8217;d still show signs of rigor mortis.  All beef that you would actually want to eat is in some stage of decomposition.  Eating it fresh off the cow isn&#8217;t an apetizing thought.  It&#8217;s not fish, which is best served fresh.   Beef is best served old.</p>
<p>As for buying a side, if you find someone who sells sides, he may also sell quarter steers.  Or, he&#8217;ll be able to set you up with other families who want to whole or half steers into smaller groups.  That&#8217;s the way it works, many times.  A side is a great cost-savings, but you will need a lot of freezer space.  Depending on your family&#8217;s needs and what other meats you use, you could make a side last at least 6 months.</p></div>
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<p>I am a bit confused by your first paragraph.  Aging has nothing to do with buying a bunch and freezing it for later use vs. buying and eating before freezing.  The aging process occurs in primal cuts, not in finshed retail cuts.  putting a steak in the freezer does not age it.  plus there is the type of aging.  most local butchers will dry age while most slaughterhouses who sell to grocery stores will wet age chemically so the meat can be aged during the shipping process.  Beef unless you buy the entire side and hangit in your house, is already aged.  The big reason why thawed beef does not seem to have the blood associated with fresh meat is cause freezing cause water to expand.  In beef, it is the liquid in the blood as well as the fluids that are in the cells that make up the beef.  This expansion will cause cells to burst from overexpansion.  This is why you are told to never freeze beef 2 times.  The second round of expansion will cause enough bursting to actually make a change in the texture of the meat, making it more soft, and not in a good way.<br />
		</p>
<p>			My in-laws always buy a whole cow each year and they usually give us a portion.  The meat is amazing, about as lean as it can get.  All pieces come off the grill the same size as they go on.<br />
		</p>
<p>			Yeah, going back and re-reading it, I don&#8217;t know what my first paragraph was about, either.<br />
		</p>


<p>Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://www.nicecookies.com/how-can-i-dry-age-my-own-beef/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: How can I dry age my own beef?'>How can I dry age my own beef?</a> <small> ......</small></li>
<li><a href='http://www.nicecookies.com/roast-beef-good-cuts-of-beef/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Roast Beef: Good Cuts of Beef?'>Roast Beef: Good Cuts of Beef?</a> <small> ......</small></li>
<li><a href='http://www.nicecookies.com/homemade-jerky-using-ground-beef/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Homemade jerky using ground beef'>Homemade jerky using ground beef</a> <small> ......</small></li>
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		<title>Lets say I need to completely clean up my house.. what should be on my to buy list?</title>
		<link>http://www.nicecookies.com/lets-say-i-need-to-completely-clean-up-my-house-what-should-be-on-my-to-buy-list/</link>
		<comments>http://www.nicecookies.com/lets-say-i-need-to-completely-clean-up-my-house-what-should-be-on-my-to-buy-list/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 11 May 2012 11:00:07 +0000</pubDate>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>			Looking to get my brothers and myself together at the start of summer and clean up our entire house (pretty much every room&#8230; restroom.. kitchen.. etc.)&#8230;.</p>
<p>Anything certain I should have on my to buy list?<br />
Such as certain candles/scents/odor removers&#8230;<br />
Just really trying to figure out what works best.. since sometimes whenever I buy stuff to try out.. it never does the job.<br />
Etc..</p>
<p>Some current problems I have are&#8230;<br />
-Stains on carpet (blame it on my 2 yr old sister)<br /><span id="more-1007"></span><br />
-Roaches in the kitchen (Asian cooking I guess? Or maybe my parents leaving food out all the damn time)<br />
-Asian food smell&#8230;.<br />
-Need to replace the air filters.. any suggestions on brands?</p>
<p>Yeah pretty much just need to do a complete makeover on the house. </p>
<p>Feel free to give any type of advice.. even if it doesn&#8217;t concern what I listed</p>
<p>Thanks<br />
		</p>
<p>			Look into getting hepa filters. </p>
<p>For roaches, I&#8217;m not sure, never had them, but be sure to pick up everything as soon as you&#8217;re done eating.  Also, wash dishes or get them into the dishwasher right away.  Once you get the kitchen super clean, you&#8217;ll be more likely to keep it that way.</p>
<p>Get some Mr. Clean Magic Erasers.  They work great for getting smudges and crap off of stuff, also great for removing sticky oil residue from cabinets, top of refrigerators, etc.  Also, get a canister or two of Clorox Wipes (or similar antibacterials).  They&#8217;re awesome.  My favorite is the orange scent.  Anyway, use them for everything, I wipe down my kitchen counter with them before and after cooking to keep it clean, wipe the top of my stove off with them(followed by a dry kitchen towel to remove any marks), wipe the rim of the toilet where pee and lint collects, etc.  They&#8217;re great, I keep a canister in each bathroom, and the kitchen to make them convenient to use (convenient = more likely to CONTINUE to use them).</p>
<p>Consider getting some small stackable plastic storage tubs to help organize stuff.  I have 6 of them in my pantry for pasta, beer and cheese chemicals, sauce packets, microwave popcorn, candy, etc. They&#8217;re also great for in bathrooms to organize toiletries that you don&#8217;t use often (for me, as a girl, nail polish, jewelry, rarely used makeup, hair products, lotions, creams, pedicure stuff, etc).  Be sure to either get clear ones or label them so you don&#8217;t have to go through them constantly.</p>
<p>The asian food smell is probably a result of the oil and whatnot, try wiping down cabinet doors, vent hoods, stoves, top of fridges, etc regularly and see if that helps, if it&#8217;s not enough, always try to leave a window cracked  to get some air flow.  Febreeze helps, but it won&#8217;t completely kill smells, just help them to become more subtle.</p>
<p>If you&#8217;re going really crazy, clean the walls.  Just use soap and water, or maybe a chlorox wipe.  </p>
<p>For cleaning the floors, you&#8217;re going to need to rent a rug doctor.  Be sure to THOROUGHLY vacuum the floor prior to doing this.  Make sure the vacuum bag/canister is empty before vaccing, it&#8217;ll help it produce more suction and clean the floors better.  Move furniture to vacuum too, you&#8217;d be surprised at how much crap accumulates under stuff you can&#8217;t reach with the vacuum.<br />
		</p>
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<div style="font-style:italic">Look into getting hepa filters. </p>
<p>For roaches, I&#8217;m not sure, never had them, but be sure to pick up everything as soon as you&#8217;re done eating.  Also, wash dishes or get them into the dishwasher right away.  Once you get the kitchen super clean, you&#8217;ll be more likely to keep it that way.</p>
<p>Get some Mr. Clean Magic Erasers.  They work great for getting smudges and crap off of stuff, also great for removing sticky oil residue from cabinets, top of refrigerators, etc.  Also, get a canister or two of Clorox Wipes (or similar antibacterials).  They&#8217;re awesome.  My favorite is the orange scent.  Anyway, use them for everything, I wipe down my kitchen counter with them before and after cooking to keep it clean, wipe the top of my stove off with them(followed by a dry kitchen towel to remove any marks), wipe the rim of the toilet where pee and lint collects, etc.  They&#8217;re great, I keep a canister in each bathroom, and the kitchen to make them convenient to use (convenient = more likely to CONTINUE to use them).</p>
<p>Consider getting some small stackable plastic storage tubs to help organize stuff.  I have 6 of them in my pantry for pasta, beer and cheese chemicals, sauce packets, microwave popcorn, candy, etc. They&#8217;re also great for in bathrooms to organize toiletries that you don&#8217;t use often (for me, as a girl, nail polish, jewelry, rarely used makeup, hair products, lotions, creams, pedicure stuff, etc).  Be sure to either get clear ones or label them so you don&#8217;t have to go through them constantly.</p>
<p>The asian food smell is probably a result of the oil and whatnot, try wiping down cabinet doors, vent hoods, stoves, top of fridges, etc regularly and see if that helps, if it&#8217;s not enough, always try to leave a window cracked  to get some air flow.  Febreeze helps, but it won&#8217;t completely kill smells, just help them to become more subtle.</p>
<p>If you&#8217;re going really crazy, clean the walls.  Just use soap and water, or maybe a chlorox wipe.  </p>
<p>For cleaning the floors, you&#8217;re going to need to rent a rug doctor.  Be sure to THOROUGHLY vacuum the floor prior to doing this.  Make sure the vacuum bag/canister is empty before vaccing, it&#8217;ll help it produce more suction and clean the floors better.  Move furniture to vacuum too, you&#8217;d be surprised at how much crap accumulates under stuff you can&#8217;t reach with the vacuum.</p></div>
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<p>
Laurel for President </p>
<p>Thanks!<br />
		</p>
<p>			I don&#8217;t know what your personality type is like, but I&#8217;m a compulsive list maker.  I feel like I&#8217;m accomplishing more if I can scratch each item off of a list.  They also help me to brainstorm and stay organized.  If you write up a list of every room in your house, and then make a list of the stuff that needs to be done in each room, that will help to ensure you get everything that you REALLY want done completed.  Here&#8217;s an example</p>
<p>BATHROOM <br />
scrub toilet<br />
wipe toilet rim<br />
wipe lid, seat, back of toilet<br />
clear off counter and wipe down<br />
clean sink out<br />
rinse soap residue from soap dispenser<br />
clean and polish faucet<br />
windex mirror<br />
sweep and mop floor<br />
wash bath mats<br />
scrub out shower<br />
clean shower door</p>
<p>BEDROOM<br />
sort, wash, dry, and fold/hang laundry<br />
clear crap off of tables<br />
dust<br />
vacuum<br />
move furniture<br />
vacuum again<br />
switch out summer/winter clothes (put winter clothes in a flat plastic storage box til it cools off, then switch summer/winter clothes)<br />
go through closet and think about the last time you wore each item, if it&#8217;s been a while, put it in a big garbage bag for good will<br />
use attachment to vacuum around the edges of the walls<br />
wash and dry sheets<br />
wash and dry covers<br />
wash and dry pillows (use bleach)<br />
febreeze room<br />
leave window open for a few hours<br />
		</p>
<p>			I use baking soda a lot for smelly stuff or bad stains. Bleach too, though be careful with that.</p>
<p>The foam bathroom scrubbing crap works awesome and smells great for a long time. If you have costco near you, can buy it in a huge 3 or 4 pack. </p>
<p>I have to second making a list. Makes it easier and will probably push you to do it more. We have our list tacked up in the bathroom.<br />
		</p>
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<div style="font-style:italic">Looking to get my brothers and myself together at the start of summer and clean up our entire house (pretty much every room&#8230; restroom.. kitchen.. etc.)&#8230;.</p>
<p>Anything certain I should have on my to buy list?<br />
Such as certain candles/scents/odor removers&#8230;<br />
Just really trying to figure out what works best.. since sometimes whenever I buy stuff to try out.. it never does the job.<br />
Etc..</p>
<p>Some current problems I have are&#8230;<br />
-Stains on carpet (blame it on my 2 yr old sister)<br />
-Roaches in the kitchen (Asian cooking I guess? Or maybe my parents leaving food out all the damn time)<br />
-Asian food smell&#8230;.<br />
-Need to replace the air filters.. any suggestions on brands?</p>
<p>Yeah pretty much just need to do a complete makeover on the house. </p>
<p>Feel free to give any type of advice.. even if it doesn&#8217;t concern what I listed</p>
<p>Thanks</p></div>
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<p>Is that Yamamoto in your Avatar?<br />
		</p>
<p>			You can sprinkle plain baking soda on the carpet and let it sit for awhile and then vaccuum it up. It helps remove smells. They sell scented baking soda to do this, but I find it to be too powerful.</p>
<p>I have a friend that used to work in the carpet cleaning business and he doesn&#8217;t recommend the rug doctor because, in his opinion, it doesn&#8217;t do that good of a job of getting soapy water out of the carpet. When it leaves soap in the fibers, it attracts dirt later. But he used to be salesman so take that as you will. </p>
<p>You can make a lot of household cleaners yourself and save money. They often work just as well as the store-bought stuff and don&#8217;t smell as bad when you&#8217;re done cleaning.<br />
		</p>
<p>			find a good wall-cleaner for your type of paint to help with the food smells.. and like laurel said, the cabinets and stuff, it can get on the inside of the cabinets and if those aren&#8217;t finished you&#8217;ll get a lot sunk into it</p>
<p>the people I live with keep the house pretty damn dirty, leave food and dishes out like crazy, I&#8217;m used to being the messy one but not in the kitchen/living area so much, unless I live alone and nobody&#8217;s over</p>
<p>renting a carpet shampooer would be very nice.. or some sort of quality extractor, when you vacuum get some of those little packets of stuff you can put on the floor or baking soda and vacuum it up after letting it sit for a bit</p>
<p>use bleach on a lot of things that it&#8217;s safe for (countertops, etc) and scrub well.. take stuff out of cabinets and dust/clean through there very well, pull out your stove and fridge and give those a good wipedown/scrub, hood over the oven, etc</p>
<p>check backs of appliances as a lot of the time heat will be there to amplify smells</p>
<p>as far as the roaches, if you can leave the house for a bit and do a &quot;bug bomb&quot; that&#8217;s the best thing, but be prepared to wipe down EVERY surface, clean out every crevice, rewash every dish/container/utensil, etc after doing this</p>
<p>you&#8217;re going to be buying supplies in bulk so hit up a warehouse store or somewhere cheap and buy more than you think you&#8217;ll need<br />
		</p>


<p>Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://www.nicecookies.com/indoors-crew-help-me-out-v-got-a-house-fresh-out-of-college/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Indoors crew help me out v. Got a house fresh out of college'>Indoors crew help me out v. Got a house fresh out of college</a> <small> ......</small></li>
<li><a href='http://www.nicecookies.com/how-do-you-clean-your-potspans-pics-v-mine-suck/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: how do you clean your pots&amp;pans? **pics v. mine suck'>how do you clean your pots&amp;pans? **pics v. mine suck</a> <small> ......</small></li>
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		<title>LED Lighting for style</title>
		<link>http://www.nicecookies.com/led-lighting-for-style/</link>
		<comments>http://www.nicecookies.com/led-lighting-for-style/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 10 May 2012 23:00:07 +0000</pubDate>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>			I want to add some colored LED lights to a few rooms. I&#8217;m googling and it all seems over complicated. Is there not a simple solution to this? Do you have to get inverters and crap? You can&#8217;t just plug it in and mount it?</p>
<p>Anyone here done this before?<br />
		</p>
<p>			What type of lights are you talking about?  LED lightbulb replacements, colored LEDs to cast colored glows?  There are a number of LED strips that can be purchased, recessed, and plugged in, I believe the plug has the inverter built in.  A friend of mine bought a &quot;behind-the-tv&quot; kit from Costco several months ago.<br />
		<br /><span id="more-1006"></span></p>
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<p>Colored LED to cast glow. One for behind TV and one for under a painting.</p>
<p>Costco eh?<br />
		</p>
<p>			While you&#8217;re at it, install some rack lighting and put white LED bulbs in them. You will seriously be amazed how bright LEDs are nowadays. I have a (slightly modified) single-LED flashlight running on a single CR123 lithium battery, and it&#8217;s brighter than the 4-D-cell Maglite being held by the cop I talked to tonight. And it only runs at 6 watts!<br />
		</p>
<p>			I&#8217;ve installed a few LED fixtures, I haven&#8217;t been impressed yet. They work great for art work or illuminating something in specific, but for flood and area lights the results I&#8217;ve seen have been horrid. </p>
<p>Myself I&#8217;m going to wait a few more years for the technology to mature before diving in.<br />
		</p>
<p>			Slightly off track here, but have any of you guys ever seen any LED flower lights? </p>
<p>While I was in Mexico recently I came across a store that sold &quot;LED plants&quot;. They basically looked like a vase full of twigs with very small LED bulbs at the end. They had wire wrapped around the twigs with colored tape so that it blended in. Very cool looking, and I wanted to make some myself as I still have a bag full of LEDs from previous car projects, but I don&#8217;t really have any design ideas besides that one.<br />
		</p>
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<p>Yeah, basically like the yellow and red flowers in the first picture. I was hoping there were some tutorials somewhere online from someone who had made them before.<br />
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<p>Well, the one on the right is an Instructable. I&#8217;m guess the one on the left just has more lights, and possible lighting glass/plastic flowers.<br />
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<p>Instructable?</p>
<p>The ones that I saw in Mexico used fabric flowers and placed LED bulbs right in the middle of them.<br />
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<div style="font-style:italic">I&#8217;ve installed a few LED fixtures, I haven&#8217;t been impressed yet. They work great for art work or illuminating something in specific, but for flood and area lights the results I&#8217;ve seen have been horrid. </p>
<p>Myself I&#8217;m going to wait a few more years for the technology to mature before diving in.</p></div>
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<p>yeah that&#8217;s the nature of the lighting</p>
<p>hence why they&#8217;re more often used for ambience or direct illumination<br />
		</p>


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