OT - NO POLITICS Turn back the clocks edition

[Kate08]

One "hack" and old time electrician helped us with in our old ass house in Marblehead was to just add outlets instead of re-wiring. If you have room in your panel.

We added GCFCI to the Kitchen, under the windows for AC. Then just used the old outlets for lights. He said it safe because our current LED lightbulbs draw so much less than old lightbulbs. You can also replace an ungrounded 3 prong outlet with GFCI. Saved us thousands.

We still have some tube and knob electrical in places. We have room on the panel but it definitely needs to be upgraded.

I love the charm of older homes (we have a classic New England colonial, center fireplace in the living room...rumor has it that the first owners were friends with JFK who enjoyed a few libations in the basement bar), but a new build sounds dreamy.

 

[Gee Wally]

I’m a fan of Breville, but DeLonghi makes some good machines too. The Breville Barista line is pretty good. For me, ease of cleaning is the most important thing to consider. The easier it is to clean, the more they’ll use it.

I use a separate machine for brewed coffee, but both brands make all in one models. If you don’t have a lot of counter space, you might want to consider separate machines….or just drink a lot of Americanos. I hope that helps.

I was happy to live in a house now that doesnt have cast iron. I thought I was being frugal changing my toilet but I ripped off the flange of the cast iron sewer pipe. Did not save money on that job.


I do not have it, but have been kicking the tires on this onw

https://www.amazon.com/Breville-BES870XL-Barista-Express-Espresso/dp/B00CH9QWOU

i’m no expert but got a breville barista express for a wedding gift and use it every day. very easy to use and tastes great.



there’s literally 0% chance of that happening, user numbers have dropped from bots being deleted if anything. i have friends that work there.

Depends on what they want, manual, semi-auto, auto, or super-auto. We will skip manual, because those don't even have a pump.

Semi-auto you have to tamp the beans and pull the shot yourself. Gives the greatest control, but a lot more work.

Auto grinds, you tamp, but just push a button to pull the shot. Both semi and auto can come with a manual frothing wand for milk drinks, which takes a while to learn.

Super-auto does it all at the touch of a button, including models that foam and dispense milk.

For an auto machine, the Breville Barista Pro is my choice, or the DeLonghi La Specialista Prestigio (I own a DeLonghi super-auto, they are built like a tank). The work/learning curve with both is a medium. Tamping and frothing take a little time to learn and are a little more work in the morning (Which is why I changed to a super-auto). But some people like that ritual.

For a super-auto, you are on the lower side of the budget for most brands, but the Phillips 4400 is a well reviewed machine that does milk drinks for around $999. You can also get the next model up, the 5500 for less than $1K on sale (Williams-Sonoma has it at $899 right now). Also, the DeLonghi Magnifica Evo is right at $999. Of the two brands, you will get more options with the Phillips, and better quality from the Delonghi, IMHO.

None of them make regular coffee, and in my experience, combo machines either make bad espresso, or bad coffee. I agree with the other poster that for regular coffee, another machine is needed (or drink Americanos).

Thanks all!

 

[DarrenBanks56]

Our house was built in 1930. A lot of the "guts" of the house are original. We want to update the plumbing and electrical, but we're planning on a fairly sizable renovation within the next 5 - 7 years so we'd rather wait and do it all at once when life is already disrupted.

Neither my husband or I are handy which makes home ownership tough.

you can learn everything on youtube. Im not electrician or plumber but rewired and finished a basement with bathroom during covid. just from watching youtube vids. lol

 

[Kate08]

you can learn everything on youtube. Im not electrician or plumber but rewired and finished a basement with bathroom during covid. just from watching youtube vids. lol

You can, but you need to have a knack for being handy. Neither of us has that.

 

[Bruinaura]

I was against this at my apartment at first but it is honestly the best.

As long as everybody follows the guidelines for when it's supposed to be put out, and don't leave their nasty trash sitting out 24/7, it's great. Thankfully the last couple years my neighbors were good about that, but that wasn't always the case.

 

[Morris Wanchuk]

you can learn everything on youtube. Im not electrician or plumber but rewired and finished a basement with bathroom during covid. just from watching youtube vids. lol

I used to be afraid of electrical until I found Wago nuts. So easy

 

[Bruinaura]

The other day I was telling my friend about all the deer in my area, and said I had just seen the first buck, that usually all I saw were "foes and dawns"

The brain fog is real, y'all

 

[Bruinaura]

We still have some tube and knob electrical in places. We have room on the panel but it definitely needs to be upgraded.

I love the charm of older homes (we have a classic New England colonial, center fireplace in the living room...rumor has it that the first owners were friends with JFK who enjoyed a few libations in the basement bar), but a new build sounds dreamy.

I like older homes as well. The duplex I'm in now was built in the late 70s (which is considered old now I guess) but it seems to be really well built. All brick. The cable guy said the crawl space is a lot nicer than a lot he's had to dig around in lol.

Doorways are kind of narrow, and I don't have an interior room with no windows in case of tornado. So I'm going to have to come up with a plan which I suspect will involve the mattress from my daybed.

 

[Gee Wally]

You can, but you need to have a knack for being handy. Neither of us has that.

Plus be real careful. If something should go wrong, like a fire, your insurance company will tell you to pound sand. Happened to a guy I knew in Arlington. Ended up with no house. Added a couple of outlets on his own. He wasn’t a licensed electrician. Bye bye house .

 

[caz16]

i’m no expert but got a breville barista express for a wedding gift and use it every day. very easy to use and tastes great.



there’s literally 0% chance of that happening, user numbers have dropped from bots being deleted if anything. i have friends that work there.

We will see, a million people went to Bluesky in the last two days. Never say never, there is strong evidence that no one has a clue what will happen anywhere right now since people running things are not exactly stable.

 

[Donnie Shulzhoffer]

We will see, a million people went to Bluesky in the last two days. Never say never, there is strong evidence that no one has a clue what will happen anywhere right now since people running things are not exactly stable.

Opinions vary

 

[caz16]

Opinions vary

About what exactly?

 

[Kate08]

Plus be real careful. If something should go wrong, like a fire, your insurance company will tell you to pound sand. Happened to a guy I knew in Arlington. Ended up with no house. Added a couple of outlets on his own. He wasn’t a licensed electrician. Bye bye house .

We are smart enough to not try. We know our limits. Anything beyond changing a lightbulb is getting outsourced in this house.

 

[Alicat]

As long as everybody follows the guidelines for when it's supposed to be put out, and don't leave their nasty trash sitting out 24/7, it's great. Thankfully the last couple years my neighbors were good about that, but that wasn't always the case.

They enforce it here and it is a $75 fine after your one and only warning. The rules are clear here and we have ample dumpsters outside of the garage as well as trash and recycling shutes on every fkoor. The apartments gives every unit a decent size trash can with a lid when they move in.

I have a fancy trash can with the motion sensor lid from my last apartment so I use that and just transfer the bag into the one the apartment gave me as they are the same size. If I have food scraps or shredding/packing materials, I will throw it away myself using the trash shute.

The best part of valet trash is that they take away all the boxes as long as they are broken down. This was incredible after I moved in. They took them all. If I have multiple boxes, I stack them by size and use packing tape to make a bundle for them. Helps especially when the wind is rocking.

 

[NeelyDan]

Why does knob and tube always make me laugh

 

[Alicat]

We are thinking of getting son # 1 and his GF an espresso machine for Christmas.

The Bride and I dont know anything about them.
What we do know is that it has to grind beans and also capable of making just regular coffee.

We can go as high as $1000-.

Any coffee experts here that can give suggestions?
Thanks.

Make sure to check how the machine gets the water. Does it require a dedicated water line or is there a reservoir they have to fill? I watch too much HGTV/Youtube how to shows.

Not a coffee drinker but I did work in a coffee shop in college and cleaning the grinder and any filters was something they pressed upon us all the time so make sure the machine can be easily cleaned.

Lastly, make sure it has a frother. Can be used to make so many different hot drinks (coco, eggnog, chai, apple cider).

 

[BMC]

I'm not leaving X.

Why? Because I'm just bloodyminded that way.

 

[DarrenBanks56]

Plus be real careful. If something should go wrong, like a fire, your insurance company will tell you to pound sand. Happened to a guy I knew in Arlington. Ended up with no house. Added a couple of outlets on his own. He wasn’t a licensed electrician. Bye bye house .

this was during covid too, when no electrician or plumber, or anyone wanted to do any of the work. So I did everything myself

 

[Mione134]

I'm not leaving X.

Why? Because I'm just bloodyminded that way.

I still have it as twitter. I ain't leaving either. Why would I? It reminds me when all the celebs went to "threads" and then came back.

I joined twitter when it came out. I'll be on there til the end! Haha

 

[Johnny Upton]

Plus be real careful. If something should go wrong, like a fire, your insurance company will tell you to pound sand. Happened to a guy I knew in Arlington. Ended up with no house. Added a couple of outlets on his own. He wasn’t a licensed electrician. Bye bye house .

I had a coworker tell me that I could learn all I needed to know about being an electrician on YouTube and save myself thousands by doing it myself. I told him that watching a video doesn’t make me an electrician anymore than it would make me an airline pilot. He was dumbfounded that I would pay to have a professional do the work.

 

[caz16]

We just finished the kitchen reno and hubby took down the range hood during the install. The idiots who built the house had put the wires in the wrong spot, then used a hammer to bang a huge hole to the other side. Not only that but the wires were too short, so they taped them together and then put the wires across the front of the studs, instead of through. Incredibly dangerous! Fortunately, hubby is very handy and fixed it.

 

[Mione134]

Anyone on here familiar with the town of Andover by any chance?

 

[Gee Wally]

I had a coworker tell me that I could learn all I needed to know about being an electrician on YouTube and save myself thousands by doing it myself. I told him that watching a video doesn’t make me an electrician anymore than it would make me an airline pilot. He was dumbfounded that I would pay to have a professional do the work.

Yep. For me it was the Insurance aspect if anything ever went wrong.

 

[EverettMike]

Yep. For me it was the Insurance aspect if anything ever went wrong.

For me it's the dying in an electrical fire.

 

[Bruinaura]

I had a coworker tell me that I could learn all I needed to know about being an electrician on YouTube and save myself thousands by doing it myself. I told him that watching a video doesn’t make me an electrician anymore than it would make me an airline pilot. He was dumbfounded that I would pay to have a professional do the work.

He probably also uses WebMD and Dr. Google instead of going to an actual doctor

I mean if it's on the internet it must be true!