Category: Uncategorized
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Central Air to Heat Pump Upgrade: When Guilt Leads to Questionable Decisions
March-April 2025 If you read my previous post about the emergency boiler replacement, you know that Company PPH didn’t exactly shine during that crisis, while Company NCS stepped up and saved Thanksgiving. You also know that I felt guilty about the miscommunication and decided to give PPH the heat pump job to make it right.…
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Emergency Boiler Replacement: When Your Service Company Isn’t There When You Need Them
November 2024 Planning Ahead (That Didn’t Matter) Our Triangle Tube Prestige Solo 110 boiler had been breaking down occasionally, and each service call was costing a minimum of $1,200. I got so frustrated with service companies that I learned to fix minor issues myself. But every technician told me the same thing: boilers have a…
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This New Old House Part 13: Drywall – The Most Boring Post (But There Are Lessons)
After spray foam insulation, plumbing disasters, HVAC complications, and window decisions I’d come to regret for the next fifteen years, we finally got to something relatively straightforward: drywall. Spoiler alert: this was one of the easier parts of the build. Which means it’s also one of the less interesting blog posts. But there are still…
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This New Old House Part 2: Kit House Dreams – Discovering Connor Homes
Or: How We Learned That “Kit” Just Means All Your Problems Arrive at Once in a Truck Spring 2008 After deciding to build, I went down the research rabbit hole. This was 2008, so the internet existed but wasn’t quite the resource it is today. There was no YouTube showing you every possible mistake you…
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The Gable Epidemic: A Plea to Modern Home Designers
What is going on with all the gables being added to homes over the last 10 years? Seriously, are there tax breaks for the more gables you have that I don’t know about? Or have architects and builders just gotten too lazy to figure out a coherent design plan? The logic seems to be: Design…
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The Quest for the Perfect Hoodie (Spoiler: It’s Harder Than You Think)
Look, I know what you’re thinking. “It’s just a hoodie. How complicated can this be?” Well, friend, let me tell you about my very specific requirements and the surprisingly difficult journey they’ve taken me on. Here’s what I need: heavy weight and 100% cotton. That’s it. Two things. But apparently, in the year 2025, finding…
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The Great Concrete Drain Board Debacle: A DIY Odyssey
When a simple countertop repair turns into a three-week saga involving four molds, toe-damaging weights, and enough failed attempts to question your life choices. The Origin Story: DIY Concrete Counters Circa 2010 Back in 2010, when YouTube had DIY videos but nothing like today’s endless stream of concrete countertop influencers, my wife and I decided…
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Every Job I’ve Ever Had (Or At Least the Ones That Paid Me)
Looking back at the jobs I’ve held, it’s less like a career path and more like a very weird, slightly embarrassing scavenger hunt. I’ve mowed lawns, stacked hay, flipped burgers, wrestled decks into submission, and even played an extra on a Greek island. Somewhere in there, I got a finance degree, which mostly came in…
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What’s Old is New: My Dad Was Basically Elon Musk (Just 40 Years Too Early)
The Original Energy Crisis Dad You know how every family has that relative who hoards plastic bags “just in case”? Well, my dad was the energy crisis version of that guy. The 1970s oil shortage hit him like a religious awakening, except instead of finding Jesus, he found electricity. And boy, did he commit to the bit.…
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DC with Kids: A Winter Break Adventure (Ages 7 & 9)
December 2021 – When pandemic fatigue meets family wanderlust Between Christmas and New Year’s 2021, we decided to escape the Hudson Valley winter doldrums and take our boys (ages 9 and 7) on their first real DC adventure. Because nothing says “relaxing holiday break” like navigating the nation’s capital with two energetic kids, right? The…
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Even that's Odd 