The holidays are a busy time for everyone and surprisingly that is still true even though I am only working four days per week. Beyond the usual social calendar and trips to the gym I have a couple of winter projects going on at home. One simple housing project always involves five more associated projects, i.e. the Jeremy Clarkson "how hard can it be?" syndrome. For example, I am adding lighting above my kitchen cabinets to illuminate the soffit and while I'm at it I might as well add lighting under the cabinets to light up the countertops. So I need to make room for one switch on the wall--no problem, I will consolidate a separate ceiling fan and light switch into one multi-switch. But to do that I have to upgrade from the existing toggle-type switches to the newer flat paddle type switches. And while I'm buying switches I might as well add the nice dimmer switches now that I am converting to LED recessed lighting. Which means a new wall plate, which happens to be 5mm larger than the old one and requires removing, trimming, repainting and reinstalling the wall moulding to accomodate it. Wow, a simple project made not-so-simple; that's how I roll, apparently.
Among all of the not-done things I did manage to complete a few seasonal projects. Christmas lights and Christmas trees are pretty uncool items to have in February so I figured I might as well get moving on those. Christmas tree up and decorated, check. Christmas lights on house, check. I made a day of Christmas tree shopping with my friends Mike & Marin and Marin's sister Shannon and husband Dave and their children. We went to a tree farm near Placerville that lets you pick out your tree, cut it yourself, then you can hang out and drink hot apple cider and roast marshmallows around one of two firepits. We followed up with a stop at Z-Pie in Placerville and then home to get the tree situated. The tree is now up and decorated and the house smells great between the douglas fir tree smell and the fires I've been running in the fireplace.
Tonight I will pick up some 5x5, 8x10 and 11x17 photos I had printed of my trip to Europe. I already purchased frames and mats so there's another project to add to the list.
The Thanksgiving holiday was wonderful--great food, family and fun. Hope you all had a good one as well.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
cash for.... ???
When life brings you lemons, make lemonade; and likewise, when the economy is in the toilet, take advantage of every stimulus package you can. (Without putting yourself in debt, of course.) I am taking some good friendly ribbing at work for it, so now I've made it my mission to take every one I can. It started with the controversial first time home buyer's tax rebate--I was on the fence about buying a house in declining economic times, and especially after taking a paycut while I was shopping for a home. That stimulus package ultimately gave me the confidence to pull the trigger.
Next was the 'cash for clunkers' program which I certainly would have used had I owned a clunker. You have read about my involvement in Roseville's 'cash for grass' program and that worked out super well for me. I spent just under $300 on plants from the UC Davis Arboretum, $50 on irrigation supplies and $150 on mulch, or around $500 total. The City wrote me a check for $445, covering nearly the entire cost. [Speaking of which--the City did their final inspection last week and they asked if they could come back next spring and photograph my yard (if the plants are still alive, LOL) and use my house in their marketing material--that made me happy.] I would not have initiated this project had it not been for the City program.
Yesterday I took advantage of the 'cash for appliances' program. I had been using an old 18 cu.ft. refrigerator that I bought used from the previous tenant of my east sac house. It was old, small, inefficient and noisy and looked silly in my kitchen. My countertops and cabinets left a hole 11" wider and 7" taller than my old fridge, so it looked like the equivalent of a smartcar parked in a Cadillac Brougham parking spot. I really liked the appearance and features of the Samsung models but I nearly blew a heart valve when I saw the multi-thousand dollar price tag of the counter-depth model refrigerators. I shopped around and found the exact Samsung model I wanted at Sears Outlet--it was new in box, but had a ding in the side that you can't even see. I paid one-half of retail price and it still carries the full warranty because it is new. Throw in another 5% off for the Sears card, plus both the State and City of Roseville energy efficiency rebates and I got a sweet new fridge for way less than the going-rate. I never thought I would be excited about a fridge, but I rather like this one. It's a french door style, full LED-lit interior and control panel, purified water and ice in the door and has a unique dual compressor arrangement (which is nearly silent, btw) so the freezer and refrigerator have completely separate systems. When you open a door and let the cool air out it only has to run one small compressor to cool that side rather than running one large compressor to make up for the lost air. And because the air circulation is separate, the smell of your chicken in the fridge can't pass into the freezer and make your ice taste like chicken. (I like chicken, but chicken-flavored ice is a bit much.) If you need appliances, check out Sears Outlet before you buy anywhere else.
There are two more programs coming up that I would like to be involved in. The Senate is expected to pass a new 'cash for caulkers' program that allows rebates for further energy efficiency upgrades. They will help pay for a tech to come to your house and use FLIR (forward looking infared) to scan your attic and walls for air leaks. I have always wanted to do this because simple and easy to repair air leaks around windows and in HVAC ducting can kill your home's energy efficiency. And next spring the City of Roseville will initiate a new water efficiency program. Their focus is changing out sprinkler heads for new technology that reduces leaks and malfunctions and new sprinkler timers that use a combination of an outside temperature probe and/or soil moisture meters to change irrigation water schedules based on the weather. I would love this since I take extended summertime trips and have to over-water the duration of my absence. The City of Roseville told me that due to this year's cool summer, people's water use was way down over past years. Then we saw three consecutive days over 100-degrees where water use ramped up by nearly 50%. The City staff told me that people never re-adjusted their sprinklers after that event, so water use stayed at those ultra-high levels through the remainder of the summer. The new sprinkler controller technology would prevent such waste.
Beyond the various incentive programs I've been finding that printable online coupons are becoming much more common. I'm talking about coupons for big stuff from places like Home Depot, Lowes, Pier1/World Market, Sears, etc. I'll throw some examples out there--yesterday I used both a sale ad and a 20% off coupon at Harbor Freight to buy a handtruck for moving the refrigerator. None of my friends owned one and U-haul wanted $12/day just to rent one. I paid $31 for a new one at HF. I've been using these coupons at Lowes and Home Depot as well, got nearly half-off on my TV (thanks to a co-worker) and a super deal on photo prints and frames thanks to an online link from my sister.
I know some people disagree with these various economic incentives. I'm going to be one-sided here because I can, but the first time home buyer's rebate likely saved my home from becoming another slum-lord rental house or worse-yet, a vacant bank-owned home waiting to be vandalized. The various energy and water efficiency rebates will reduce my carbon footprint as well as my water and fertilizer use. As energy use rises the utility companies have to make costly investments for new infrastructure, which always have environmental impacts and, as ratepayers, we have to pay for that infrastructure via higher utility rates. I read that if U.S. citizens were to reduce energy consumption by 1% per year, the U.S. could meet its current and future energy needs without building new facilities. These incentives also encourage spending, which helps pump money into the economy that otherwise wouldn't be there.
Next was the 'cash for clunkers' program which I certainly would have used had I owned a clunker. You have read about my involvement in Roseville's 'cash for grass' program and that worked out super well for me. I spent just under $300 on plants from the UC Davis Arboretum, $50 on irrigation supplies and $150 on mulch, or around $500 total. The City wrote me a check for $445, covering nearly the entire cost. [Speaking of which--the City did their final inspection last week and they asked if they could come back next spring and photograph my yard (if the plants are still alive, LOL) and use my house in their marketing material--that made me happy.] I would not have initiated this project had it not been for the City program.
Yesterday I took advantage of the 'cash for appliances' program. I had been using an old 18 cu.ft. refrigerator that I bought used from the previous tenant of my east sac house. It was old, small, inefficient and noisy and looked silly in my kitchen. My countertops and cabinets left a hole 11" wider and 7" taller than my old fridge, so it looked like the equivalent of a smartcar parked in a Cadillac Brougham parking spot. I really liked the appearance and features of the Samsung models but I nearly blew a heart valve when I saw the multi-thousand dollar price tag of the counter-depth model refrigerators. I shopped around and found the exact Samsung model I wanted at Sears Outlet--it was new in box, but had a ding in the side that you can't even see. I paid one-half of retail price and it still carries the full warranty because it is new. Throw in another 5% off for the Sears card, plus both the State and City of Roseville energy efficiency rebates and I got a sweet new fridge for way less than the going-rate. I never thought I would be excited about a fridge, but I rather like this one. It's a french door style, full LED-lit interior and control panel, purified water and ice in the door and has a unique dual compressor arrangement (which is nearly silent, btw) so the freezer and refrigerator have completely separate systems. When you open a door and let the cool air out it only has to run one small compressor to cool that side rather than running one large compressor to make up for the lost air. And because the air circulation is separate, the smell of your chicken in the fridge can't pass into the freezer and make your ice taste like chicken. (I like chicken, but chicken-flavored ice is a bit much.) If you need appliances, check out Sears Outlet before you buy anywhere else.
There are two more programs coming up that I would like to be involved in. The Senate is expected to pass a new 'cash for caulkers' program that allows rebates for further energy efficiency upgrades. They will help pay for a tech to come to your house and use FLIR (forward looking infared) to scan your attic and walls for air leaks. I have always wanted to do this because simple and easy to repair air leaks around windows and in HVAC ducting can kill your home's energy efficiency. And next spring the City of Roseville will initiate a new water efficiency program. Their focus is changing out sprinkler heads for new technology that reduces leaks and malfunctions and new sprinkler timers that use a combination of an outside temperature probe and/or soil moisture meters to change irrigation water schedules based on the weather. I would love this since I take extended summertime trips and have to over-water the duration of my absence. The City of Roseville told me that due to this year's cool summer, people's water use was way down over past years. Then we saw three consecutive days over 100-degrees where water use ramped up by nearly 50%. The City staff told me that people never re-adjusted their sprinklers after that event, so water use stayed at those ultra-high levels through the remainder of the summer. The new sprinkler controller technology would prevent such waste.
Beyond the various incentive programs I've been finding that printable online coupons are becoming much more common. I'm talking about coupons for big stuff from places like Home Depot, Lowes, Pier1/World Market, Sears, etc. I'll throw some examples out there--yesterday I used both a sale ad and a 20% off coupon at Harbor Freight to buy a handtruck for moving the refrigerator. None of my friends owned one and U-haul wanted $12/day just to rent one. I paid $31 for a new one at HF. I've been using these coupons at Lowes and Home Depot as well, got nearly half-off on my TV (thanks to a co-worker) and a super deal on photo prints and frames thanks to an online link from my sister.
I know some people disagree with these various economic incentives. I'm going to be one-sided here because I can, but the first time home buyer's rebate likely saved my home from becoming another slum-lord rental house or worse-yet, a vacant bank-owned home waiting to be vandalized. The various energy and water efficiency rebates will reduce my carbon footprint as well as my water and fertilizer use. As energy use rises the utility companies have to make costly investments for new infrastructure, which always have environmental impacts and, as ratepayers, we have to pay for that infrastructure via higher utility rates. I read that if U.S. citizens were to reduce energy consumption by 1% per year, the U.S. could meet its current and future energy needs without building new facilities. These incentives also encourage spending, which helps pump money into the economy that otherwise wouldn't be there.
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