Titan Network
Community => General Discussion => Topic started by: Aggelakis on September 19, 2013, 04:06:11 AM
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Well, a condo. But it's final! We get the keys tomorrow (technically our realtor already has our keys, but she's recovering from surgery - we'll let it slide a day). Ya'll have no idea how much effort, frustration, and heartache went into this mess. We've been looking since February. We've had bids in three times (plus twice we went to put a bid in and one had already been accepted). We were so close to buying at one point that I started packing our books, video games, movies, etc. and they've been sitting on our balcony for two and a half months now. (Thank god for Netflix - seriously!)
Word for future home-seekers: if you're in an area with tough competition, like we were in Seattle (where a well-kept home averages 3-15 days on the market), put your bids in sight-unseen. You can always revoke your bid after you see the place and find you don't like it. But you'll lose out repeatedly if you wait for a perfect day for you to view this new place on the market.
I'm going to be pretty much gone for the next week (hurray moving....anyone in Seattle wanna help? lol) so if you have issues a mod needs to take care of, send Eabrace a message! He's more tactful than I am anyway; he probably (probably!) won't call you an idiot if you do something stupid. >.>
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WOOT!
Now it's time to set up the turret guns, and the slow field, and the... oh... real life, not a new base...
Congrats.
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Grats. Word of advice from personal experience. Start saving $50-75 a month in a "stuff breaks" fund. Things like water heaters every 5 to 10 years, the garbage disposal, faucets, toilets, those exhaust vents in the bathrooms, etc. This doesn't cover major appliances but you didn't say it came with any or are you buying them now.
At least you don't have to worry about a lawn with a condo.
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Congrats! It's great to have a place that is yours!
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Congrats on entering the realm of home improvement projects! Lowe's and Home Depot await you with open arms.
if you have issues a mod needs to take care of, send Eabrace a message! He's more tactful than I am anyway;
I suppose if locking or deleting something and just moving on without so much more as a "how do you do" is tactful, that might be true. :)
he probably (probably!) won't call you an idiot if you do something stupid. >.>
Well, I won't put it in writing on the boards, but my dog might hear a few choice words spoken out loud. :D
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Everyone head to Agge's...he's buying us all pizza!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Grats. Word of advice from personal experience. Start saving $50-75 a month in a "stuff breaks" fund. Things like water heaters every 5 to 10 years, the garbage disposal, faucets, toilets, those exhaust vents in the bathrooms, etc. This doesn't cover major appliances but you didn't say it came with any or are you buying them now.
At least you don't have to worry about a lawn with a condo.
Yes, all of this right here. The things you'll discover after you've been in there too...... oy! Also, start looking at your local home improvement store's credit line for good deals (Lowes offers a choice of 0% interest for x months or 5% back on purchases) that can help address those sudden appliance emergencies.
Congratulations and welcome (or welcome back) to home ownership!
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It's our first home, so it's crazy. I'm direct depositing $50 from each paycheck into a high-yield savings account at a credit union that I don't carry around the card for, so I can't access the money unless I dig that out. lol Started it a few months ago. We got a pretty thorough inspection so we know there's a few things we need to take care of sometime within the first year of living there; none of them are super pressing.
Half our shit is in a UHAUL right now. It is AMAZING the amount of JUNK you build up without realizing it. There will be a giant donation to Value Village sometime in the next couple weeks! LOL
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Isn't it amazing to see how much stuff you ACTUALLY have when you move?
(https://i.imgur.com/hlwfd3b.jpg)
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Isn't it amazing to see how much stuff you ACTUALLY have when you move?
(https://i.imgur.com/hlwfd3b.jpg)
I hope they don't hit a speed bump. Their truck might flip over.
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I hope they don't hit a speed bump. Their truck might flip over.
I hope they do, I need free stuff!
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How were you doing your house search? Did you let the real estate agent present you with choices and then bring you around?
This is too late for you now, but might be of interest to others:
When I bought my house last year, I did the 95% of the search by myself. I spent about a year browsing zillow.com and virtually eyeballing the properties with both Google maps and Bing maps. Zillow has interior photos, listing history (it's morbidly fun to see how much the previous owners paid for their properties during the boom time and are now hoping for the short sale) and tax history. Later on when I settled on an agent, I checked their website also where I discovered that they had other properties not yet showing on Zillow. Google maps was very helpful for showing bus and train stops (I need to commute to work). It's actually gotten better since then because now it even shows you what bus lines are at those bus stops. Bing maps offers rotate-able views of all 4 compass directions of the property, as opposed to Google maps' fixed view. And sometimes these 4 images are at different times of the year, so a winter shot can give you a better view of the lot because the trees are bare.
Of the hundreds of properties I checked out online, I only actually physically visited 3, one of which was the house I bought. I didn't have a lot of time to window shop, so I figured it would be more efficient to find a few the piqued my interest in the same general area, then have the agent arrange access to check as many as possible in a day. Unfortunately, for the first dozen or so, she kept coming back telling me that they had already accepted an offer. Like you, I didn't realize how many buyers there were out there. I was running under the impression that with the foreclosure crisis (I was most active just after freeze on foreclosures, due to the robo-signing scandal, was lifted), there were more people trying to unload their houses than buyers to absorb them. Zillow shows how many days the listing was on the market, so I figured I had time for those that had been around for a several months, ie there must be lack of interest. I was wrong. I see now Zillow has a new listing status of "pending offer" to help out.
Anyway, congratulations on the house!
Try to rebuild your cash reserves for emergencies. And while you're doing that, try to add a little extra principle to your mortgage payments. Even just rounding up will help cut a year or two out of your loan.
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Congratulations! I can understand the pain of the waiting game all too well. We were in a short sale (note, it's a misleading name) for over 9 months before the deal fell through. We're just now closing on our first purchase and do our final walk through on Tuesday.
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How were you doing your house search? Did you let the real estate agent present you with choices and then bring you around?
No, we brought house listings to our agent. We used Trulia, JohnLScott, and Zillow to find our potentials. We visited most of them we found through there. Our needs and budget meant we had a very small number of candidates (and which meant the competition here was even worse on us). We actually put in our bid for this place before we visited it, because pancake's so competitive around here. Luckily we had the best offer and it turned out to be a good fit for us.
Yesterday we loaded up the UHAUL and today we unloaded it, then loaded up most of the random leftovers. I am soooooooooooo over moving. I'm not helping nunya! lol
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Congratulations! I can understand the pain of the waiting game all too well. We were in a short sale (note, it's a misleading name) for over 9 months before the deal fell through. We're just now closing on our first purchase and do our final walk through on Tuesday.
Good luck! The last week or two are the worst. lol
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I bought the house I still live in 24 years ago, and owned little enough that my house move involved loading all my worldly possessions into a taxi.
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I bought the house I still live in 24 years ago, and owned little enough that my house move involved loading all my worldly possessions into a taxi.
My first move after high school fit into a Ford Taurus wagon. My second move fit into two trips (second trip was half empty) of the same Ford Taurus wagon. My third and fourth moves, I left most of my stuff at my mother's because they weren't perma-moves. My fifth move (which was to Seattle) took about 1/2 of my husband's (then boyfriend's) mother's 15' trailer (I had acquired a loveseat, an armoire, some chairs, and a TV at this point, five years ago).
We have, like, actual adult furniture and stuff, so there's no way we can fit this crap in tiny spaces like a car lol. Also, my husband is a packrat. :(
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"Also, my husband is a hoarder. :("
fixed for you...muhahahahahaha
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Every time I've moved I needed a bigger truck. Last time the moving company that hauled my stuff from TX to OH brought a semi trailer and filled it.
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Every time I've moved I needed a bigger truck. Last time the moving company that hauled my stuff from TX to OH brought a semi trailer and filled it.
Next time, are you going to need a C130? :o
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I might.
(https://images.weserv.nl/?url=cdn-usa.gagbay.com%2F2012%2F12%2Fdo_you_even_generate_lift-195561.jpg)
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I might.
(https://images.weserv.nl/?url=cdn-usa.gagbay.com%2F2012%2F12%2Fdo_you_even_generate_lift-195561.jpg)
Flown on a C-130, tad noisy. Only walked through a C-5 at an air show.
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Never actually been on either, myself. I did get to fly a C-5 simulator when I was helping out on the AMP, though.
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Never actually been on either, myself. I did get to fly a C-5 simulator when I was helping out on the AMP, though.
You need a simulator for a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_C5 ? this was my initial thought on reading your post.
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Grats on the new home!!! Do start your "emergency fund" for all those home repairs that will crop up, not to mention the car, accidents, yadda yadda yadda.
Feels great to have a place of your own, doesn't it. I'm not going to share the secret of how cheap houses are in the South and how many are on the market. Noooo sir. Not this little wabbit. (We can't count south Florida as part of the South now, lol.)
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Yeah, Seattle's housing bubble reformed a lot faster than the rest of the States. It's a huge hub for industry/shipping/tech/travel, so it bounced back super easily. What I paid for a 2BR/2bath condo here could have bought a 2-storey house on a decent plot of land back home in IA. *sad sigh*
We actually saved up a couple thousand more than necessary for the down payment, so we've kept that back for an emergency fund. (We were going to put it toward the down payment ANYWAY but it wouldn't have made much difference in our monthly payments so we'd rather keep the emergency fund!) Plus I'm putting $50/paycheck aside (so 100-150/mo) into that, *and* it has an incredible interest rate, so things are looking great right now. We're in our "freebie" month so we get to skip paying the mortgage and instead do some necessary repairs! It's excitingly adult. And boring. lol
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It's excitingly adult. And boring. lol
Ha!
Yeah, the first few fixer projects you do are usually pretty boring (unless something goes horribly wrong - then there's all kinds of the wrong version of excitement). Once those are out of the way and you start looking at things you want to do instead of the ones you have to do, that's when it gets to be fun.
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Yeah. Unfortunately, since we're in a condo, we're sorta limited on what we can do. But at the same time, since we're on the first floor, we're not as limited as the folks on the other two floors (for instance, we can put in hardwood floors since no one is below us to listen to the herd of elephants walking around that tends to sound like).
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Do you have your own washer & dryer?
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Yes, it is AWESOME!!!! lol
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Closed on my house on April 2 this year. Unlocked the doors that day at 1130 and by 0030hrs the house was completely gutted. All that stood was the studs. 28 days later interior of the house was completed, all work done by myself, and finished the move in. Next year will be landscaping this I will hire someone for.
Congrats on your new house !!
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Closed on my house on April 2 this year. Unlocked the doors that day at 1130 and by 0030hrs the house was completely gutted. All that stood was the studs. 28 days later interior of the house was completed, all work done by myself, and finished the move in. Next year will be landscaping this I will hire someone for.
Congrats on your new house !!
We have a Emo lawn at my house. It cuts itself around 11am every Monday. kind of sucks when you get home from work at 8am though.
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Grats. Word of advice from personal experience. Start saving $50-75 a month in a "stuff breaks" fund. Things like water heaters every 5 to 10 years, the garbage disposal, faucets, toilets, those exhaust vents in the bathrooms, etc. This doesn't cover major appliances but you didn't say it came with any or are you buying them now.
At least you don't have to worry about a lawn with a condo.
The flip side is that homeowners insurance is a bit more tricky with condominiums.
Here's an oddity I discovered one day. A water pipe in my home burst and proceeded to flood the house. My homeowners insurance covered the water damage to carpets, floors, kitchen cabinets damaged by water, etc. But because the insurance policy did not cover "normal wear and tear breakage" it ironically did not cover the actual pipe breaking. In other words, the insurance company would pay to replace all the stuff the water damaged, but I had to pay out of pocket to repair the water line that broke. Strange, but understandable.
If I had lived in a condo rather than a house, life would get more complex. My homeowners insurance would likely cover the damage to contents, but because the cause was due to something within the structure of the condo itself, my insurance company might have punted and asked that the condo association cover it. Which their insurance would, but then you have to deal with the condo association, and some are notorious for being glacial in processing such things.
Here's another home owner trick I learned during that experience. The insurance company would only cover replacement costs for the things damaged, but when it came to things like kitchen cabinets my insurance adjuster told me that I was not actually required to replace them exactly as they were before. If I wanted *better* things than what the house originally had, I was free to take the money and buy better things, paying the difference out of pocket. The insurance company only wanted to make sure I was replacing what was damaged with stuff that at least replaced the original value, or better. So in effect, the insurance company paid most of the costs for a kitchen remodel, which was something I was thinking about doing eventually anyway. Always nice when your insurance adjuster is willing to sit down and explain all the tricks of the trade.
The next step Agge is to start that countdown clock to when that mortgage disappears. Recently, mine crossed the 1400 day mark. Just a couple of Star Wars sequels to go, and then I'm going to party like its 2017.
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The next step Agge is to start that countdown clock to when that mortgage disappears. Recently, mine crossed the 1400 day mark. Just a couple of Star Wars sequels to go, and then I'm going to party like its 2017.
Um. Way more days than we're going to be living here, tbh. With a 30-year mortgage, we're looking to move into a "real house" in 10ish years when we've put enough behind us to qualify for something more than a condo. (Seattle's housing market is ridiculous. We couldn't even qualify for a shack on a postage stamp of land.)
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If you have a townhouse style condo with a front door to the outside, guess what?
Trick or Treat!
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Sadly, it's not a townhouse style :( I was pushing so hard for one (actually several different ones) but they go really really fast.
We do plan on leaving our patio light on with all our decorations (we're on the first floor) to indicate "happy fun candy time here!" but where we are situated makes it unlikely to get any kiddos. Sad face. But it means more candy for me! Happy face!
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I plan on running a video projector hooked up to the PS3 and Darkstalkers on the garage door for Halloween. Any kid that can beat me gets candy.
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Sadly, it's not a townhouse style :( I was pushing so hard for one (actually several different ones) but they go really really fast.
We do plan on leaving our patio light on with all our decorations (we're on the first floor) to indicate "happy fun candy time here!" but where we are situated makes it unlikely to get any kiddos. Sad face. But it means more candy for me! Happy face!
Some of my neighbors just sit out in the driveway around their portable fire bowls, fire blazing away, drinking beer, and handing out candy to kids that walk by (and occasionally beers to the parents.) You could do that. :)
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Back when we had Sandy two years ago just before Halloween, door to door trick or treating was canceled due to down power lines and tree limbs, some folks in a neighboring town did Trunk or Treat. They set up an accessible, cleared of snow and safe parking lot (church or school) and did a tailgate version of Halloween. They dressed up their trunks or rear hatches with traditional spooky stuff and pumpkins and the kids went from car to car.
I thought it was very clever.
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That is VERY clever! How resourceful :) Bet the kids loved it
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Making the best of an unfortunate situation. Very well played.
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It was a great idea for emergency situations like this. Unfortunately some choose to do this every year as sort of a private Halloween event instead of general Trick or Treating. So it's only parents with kids who would be participating rather than the neighborhood or the town.
I don't have any children but for the past few years I've dressed up and sat on my front porch, freezing my buns off while handing out candy (or cookie packs for the little ones). I think this year I'm toning down the costume because I was freaking even tweeners out.
It would be sad to replace the door to door with an invite only Halloween event due to parental paranoia that I or others might actually be the monster we dress up as.
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It was a great idea for emergency situations like this. Unfortunately some choose to do this every year as sort of a private Halloween event instead of general Trick or Treating. So it's only parents with kids who would be participating rather than the neighborhood or the town.
I don't have any children but for the past few years I've dressed up and sat on my front porch, freezing my buns off while handing out candy (or cookie packs for the little ones). I think this year I'm toning down the costume because I was freaking even tweeners out.
It would be sad to replace the door to door with an invite only Halloween event due to parental paranoia that I or others might actually be the monster we dress up as.
I was never really into the monster costumes. Halloween, and Renaissance fairs, are my opportunity to dress up in my medieval outfits. This year, I'll be dressing up as a Musketeer. Last year, I was a security guard, because I had to work. The year before that I was a pirate. Bowling in the pirate outfit was fun. I might have to try that in the musketeer outfit this year. Next year, I might dress up as a Steam-punk airship captain.
Many years ago, I used to be a part of a group that had mock medieval-ish battles. So, I got to dress up every week at practice, along with the other 200 or so people that would show up. I still have that tunic too, which I've worn to Medieval Times on a few occasions. I guess you can't tell that I really get into those dinner thingies. :P
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It's not that I do scary costumes per se. Most are based around a grim reaper robe with a mesh panel to hide my face. What scares them is the old, act like a stuffed decoration and simply move, not jump, not lunge, not shout BOO!, just move a little when they get close.
Of course last year I did spice it up some with four flickering lights between my face and the mesh so I look like some large four eyed jawa. And two years before I was rushed so I simply threw on a hockey mask I had and pulled a hoodie up around my head and act as a lump wearing that.
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Do to health reasons, I didn't get my animatronics show set up, this year. Next year, with the new designs , on which I am working. I design, build, and program all of my own stuff. Very fun and cool hobby. I love it , anyway.
Happy Halloween, everyone! :)
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It's not that I do scary costumes per se. Most are based around a grim reaper robe with a mesh panel to hide my face. What scares them is the old, act like a stuffed decoration and simply move, not jump, not lunge, not shout BOO!, just move a little when they get close.
Of course last year I did spice it up some with four flickering lights between my face and the mesh so I look like some large four eyed jawa. And two years before I was rushed so I simply threw on a hockey mask I had and pulled a hoodie up around my head and act as a lump wearing that.
I have always threatened to get a hockey mask and a machete for Halloween some time and go dressed up as...well, my namesake.
Hello, My name is Jason. ;)
I just don't have a machete...or a hockey mask. :roll:
Do to health reasons, I didn't get my animatronics show set up, this year. Next year, with the new designs , on which I am working. I design, build, and program all of my own stuff. Very fun and cool hobby. I love it , anyway.
Happy Halloween, everyone! :)
I will quote some posts I recall reading on the old CoH forums way back when...
"Pics or it didn't happen!" :P ;D
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I have always threatened to get a hockey mask and a machete for Halloween some time and go dressed up as...well, my namesake.
Hello, My name is Jason. ;)
I just don't have a machete...or a hockey mask. :roll:
I will quote some posts I recall reading on the old CoH forums way back when...
"Pics or it didn't happen!" :P ;D
I don't believe I've ever mentioned this before. Didn't join this forum until August of last year. I've had major issues with my RA for 3 years, now. This time last year I could barely move. I may have posted I was hoping to set things up this year.Sadly, that didn't happen. I will post pics.
The three months we had to get to play before the end, I got to spend about half of that not being able to play. If my wishful thinking has mislead anyone, I do apologize.
[EDIT: fixing quote block ~Agge]
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I don't believe I've ever mentioned this before. Didn't join this forum until August of last year. I've had major issues with my RA for 3 years, now. This time last year I could barely move. I may have posted I was hoping to set things up this year.Sadly, that didn't happen. I will post pics.
The three months we had to get to play before the end, I got to spend about half of that not being able to play. If my wishful thinking has mislead anyone, I do apologize.
[EDIT: fixing quote block ~Agge]
I believe you, honestly. I would just like to see some of the fun you've help build. I mean, your show would have HAD to have been photo-documented, right? :)
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(https://scontent-b-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/q85/s720x720/1381515_10151674712787793_213643207_n.jpg)
The "dining room" is slowly (very slowly) coming together. Almost done! One more shelf up top, two more shelves under the left side... almost ready to put up the books! Need to find appropriately geeky bookends. *sage nod*
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I believe you, honestly. I would just like to see some of the fun you've help build. I mean, your show would have HAD to have been photo-documented, right? :)
Don't worry can't wait to show it . Yes, I will be filming. Everything is still in prototype stage. Too crude to show, yet. Currently, I working on head and eye movement. I'm also working on a small scale, so the design is a bit tricky. Pico servos are too large, so I'm working with ninetenol( a metametal). This is the stuff they use in higher end prosthetics. A lot of trial and error. Very close to converting from balsa wood to stainless and delrin. This is just one of my weird avocations, when I'm able to do it. Love building gadgets!
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Don't worry can't wait to show it . Yes, I will be filming. Everything is still in prototype stage. Too crude to show, yet. Currently, I working on head and eye movement. I'm also working on a small scale, so the design is a bit tricky. Pico servos are too large, so I'm working with ninetenol( a metametal). This is the stuff they use in higher end prosthetics. A lot of trial and error. Very close to converting from balsa wood to stainless and delrin. This is just one of my weird avocations, when I'm able to do it. Love building gadgets!
Everyone needs a hobby. :)
(https://scontent-b-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/q85/s720x720/1381515_10151674712787793_213643207_n.jpg)
The "dining room" is slowly (very slowly) coming together. Almost done! One more shelf up top, two more shelves under the left side... almost ready to put up the books! Need to find appropriately geeky bookends. *sage nod*
Are you telling me that you have crumbly food and liquids near that electronic lifeline? :P
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Heck no, there's a reason it's in quotes! The "dining room" was never intended for dining - since we started looking, we were looking for a "dining room" so that we could have a dedicated computer & book space!
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Heck no, there's a reason it's in quotes! The "dining room" was never intended for dining - since we started looking, we were looking for a "dining room" so that we could have a dedicated computer & book space!
My house has three libraries, one of which also happens to have a bed and a TV.
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My house has three libraries, one of which also happens to have a bed and a TV.
Sadly our bedroom isn't big enough for bookshelves/wall shelves for books. You betcha there'd be some in there if it were bigger!
The second bedroom ( game room) will have more shelves on the N/S walls for more books, in addition to the game shelving units already in there!
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My house has three libraries, one of which also happens to have a bed and a TV.
Sounds like my house. Every room in the house has bookshelves, except the bathroom. Although, you can find the occasional paperback.
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(https://scontent-b-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/q85/s720x720/1381515_10151674712787793_213643207_n.jpg)
The "dining room" is slowly (very slowly) coming together. Almost done! One more shelf up top, two more shelves under the left side... almost ready to put up the books! Need to find appropriately geeky bookends. *sage nod*
Glad everything is coming together for you guys! Lucky you get to start with a blank slate and not having to remove things. Good luck!
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Congratulations on your new home! I hope the ordeal of moving is over and that you're settling in and enjoying!! :)
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The workspace is really coming together now.
(https://i.imgur.com/uO2z2uz.jpg)
My new network admin says he has a lot of experience with "The Web." Seems legit.
(https://i.imgur.com/GeI4UhM.jpg)
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We recently finished the kitchen. The OCD in me wrestled between centering the wall shelves between the cabinets or centering between the counters. It still looks kinda wrong centered between the counters, but it would look MORE WRONG centered between the cabinets because it's harder to ignore something closer to the object in question. I can mostly ignore the cabinets being the wrong distance apart. :p
(https://scontent-b-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/q84/s720x720/1391677_10151701639057793_1768692412_n.jpg)
(click to embiggen)
The stool is there for our tuxedo boy, Zow. He must help/supervise all kitchen activities. (How else will he get scraps!?) It's better to give him his own stool instead of tripping over him constantly underfoot!
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We recently finished the kitchen. The OCD in me wrestled between centering the wall shelves between the cabinets or centering between the counters. It still looks kinda wrong centered between the counters, but it would look MORE WRONG centered between the cabinets because it's harder to ignore something closer to the object in question. I can mostly ignore the cabinets being the wrong distance apart. :p
Maybe put different sized artwork on either side of the shelves as a distraction.
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That's.
That's actually a really good idea.
I even have a couple pieces I could try it with!
EDIT: We're also looking to put a pan-hanger bar thingy underneath the bottom shelf to hang our two most-used pans and our boilin'-pot (we make soooo much pasta). That will also change the 'weight' of the shelves so I think I'll actually wait until we put that up before going crazy on the art.