Protect Your Belongings When Using a Hand Truck

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Illustration borrowed from American ProfileI ran across this tip in American Profile.  “Clayton Beggs of Kelseyville, California, pads his hand truck with foam pipe insulation to prevent damage to whatever he happens to be carting around.”  

This is something we have done for years.  It’s one of those things that seems obvious and makes you wonder why hand trucks don’t come this way…  You can pick up pipe insulation in various sizes at your local plumbing supply store.  (We actually have some here.)  Select the size that will fit your hand truck rails.  Slit it lengthwise with a packing knife and fit it around the rail.  Generally it will stay in place on its own, but you can glue the joint back together with adhesive made for this or you can use a few zip ties to hold it in place.  I wouldn’t recommend gluing it to the rails as you may want to replace it when it begins to wear.

You can read the American Profile article here.

Excerpt from ABC Construction Economic Update 3-1-13

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NONRESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION SPENDING FALLS 3.3 PERCENT IN JANUARY
NONRESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION SPENDING FALLS 3.3 PERCENT IN JANUARY

As further evidence that the nation’s construction industry continues to struggle, nonresidential construction spending fell 3.3 percent in January, with outlays decreasing to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $572.1 billion, according to the March 1 report by the U.S. Census Bureau. Year over year, total nonresidential construction spending is up only 0.8 percent (unadjusted for inflation).

Both private and public nonresidential construction spending were down for the month. Private nonresidential construction spending fell 5.1 percent on a monthly basis, but is 4 percent higher compared to one year ago. Public nonresidential construction spending declined 1 percent in January and is 2.7 percent lower than January 2012.

Basu Quote 3-1-13“January’s construction spending decline was particularly alarming because the loss in momentum spread deep into privately financed categories,” said Associated Builders and Contractors Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “In previous months, decreased spending in a number of public spending-oriented sectors like sewage and waste disposal and public safety was roughly counter-balanced by increased spending in intensely private segments, such as power and manufacturing.

“That changed in January, with privately financed segments like power and manufacturing reversing course and experiencing substantial monthly declines in construction spending” said Basu. “The upshot is that nonresidential construction spending is virtually unchanged over the past year.

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No Range Cord! Arghhh!!!

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Image borrowed from Galesburg Electric website
6 foot range cord

We’re installing some appliances for a client today.  The client purchased the appliances at a reputable appliance store.  You would think they would include everything necessary to install the appliances, but nope!  No range cord.

Now I understand why they don’t come attached as there are sometimes issues with the type of existing outlet.  What I don’t understand is why an appliance store would sell you a range that you can’t install… They sell the cords.  Wouldn’t you think they would ask?  Wouldn’t you think they would try and sell you a cord so you could do the install?

I KNOW they don’t come with cords and I still forget sometimes.  And I’m thoroughly tic’d with my supplier when it happens.  They shouldn’t forget.  I would be much happier knowing that charge up front and receiving what I need to do the work.

Letter to the Editor

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I shared some of my rants regarding the changes to the zoning boundary with Jeff Kenney of the Culver Citizen and he suggested that I send him a letter to the editor on the subject.  I am a little freer with my writing here in the blog since I know my audience is different, so I wrote a separate Letter to the Editor and cleaned up my prose a bit.  Hopefully it will encourage people to get involved and do some of the research themselves.  My earlier piece included all of the links and drawings, so I’ve made it easy for anyone to follow my research.  What do you think?

PS – If anyone can tell me why I lose my paragraph breaks on text I cut & paste into a post, let me know!  Drives me nuts!  It looks right in the editor and then loses the spaces between paragraphs when it posts…  I guess I’ll go old-school and add indents…

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Jeld-Wen Pet Doors

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Jeld-Wen Integral Panel Pet Door

Jeld-Wen has a line of doors with integral pet panels, but recently I ran across their option for a pet panel integral to a sliding glass door which I found intriguing.  In general I encourage the use of French doors in lieu of sliding glass doors in our area.  The seals are much better, security is better and the mechanisms hold up better over time.  That’s not to say that sliding doors don’t have their place.  I have two at my house opening up to our deck.  They are hard to beat when you want maximum glass and have limited floor space which makes a swinging door an issue.

One of the major down sides of our sliding doors is that we use them to let our dog Theo out.  We lose AC in the summer and heat in the winter every time we open that door for him.  A couple of weeks ago when we had all the wind, it didn’t take much time with the door open to kick the thermostat on again.  This system has a passage flap that is held closed via magnets and a second locking window similar to a single hung window that provides a secure and weathertight seal the rest of the time.  I don’t think I will be changing out our existing doors for Theo, but this would be something I would consider when the existing doors fail.  It is definitely something I’ll point out to pet owners when we talk about remodeling projects!