AsktheBuilder.com News - November 13, 2022

Issue #1207 (I think...)

Dear ,

There's a good chance this is your first Ask the Builder newsletter. Welcome!

Veterans and Remembrance Day

Two days ago we celebrated living military veterans both in the USA (Veterans Day) and in Canada (Remembrance Day). If you're a USA veteran, I thank you for your service from the deepest depths of my heart.

Your sacrifices allow me to enjoy a large degree of liberty and to share all of the thoughts I choose to share in this newsletter. In a vast majority of countries across the world, people are not free to speak or write what they believe.

My dad was a veteran. Here's his Bronze Star. Below that is his WW II Victory medal.

Go here to read about what my dad did to get his bronze star.

Courage is a driving force in everyday life. When you see it in friends or co-workers, you might call it confidence. A person that exudes courage is confident by default. They've analyzed a situation, made choices, and then act on the choices usually with a positive outcome.

Without courage you cower in fear and waste away your days or possibly your entire life. 

When you're consumed and frozen by fear, you almost always make very poor, or no, decisions. The past two and one-half years have been a master's class of how fear caused many to make very bad and misguided decisions at a very high cost.

Because fear on the battlefield can mean the difference between defeat and victory, bravery is something that's stressed in boot camp. With what I see on the news, I'm not so sure today it's a mainstay of current boot camp indoctrination.

Bottom Line: Be brave...because the alternative is unacceptable and hateful.

If you remember the open of the 1970 movie Patton with George C. Scott as General Patton, he zeros in on bravery and courage. Go here to watch it if you've forgotten this powerful motivational speech. Pay CLOSE ATTENTION to what he says between 3:37 and 4:17 of the video.

I copied the last minute of his speech this past July when I addressed my team of amateur radio operators at the New England Forest Rally. In return, I was the only speaker that got a round of applause.

My Past Week

The past few days I've spent battening down the hatches here in New Hampshire. We've had a very unusual string of warm days at the start of this November.

I decided to take advantage of them and got the long rear deck ready for snow by storing all the deck furniture.

I also put the gleaming Honda Shadow motorcycle up into the shed and brought down the three snowblowers. One of them spends the winter on the rear deck. You can see photos of it being used here during the peak of Winter Storm Gail.

Although a little windy, it was a perfect time to blow leaves into the woods on the edges of the yard with my wonderful Husqvarna backpack blower.

I also used my Sun Joe pressure washer to clean the underside of my lawn mower before I put it to bed for the winter. You always want to get the caked grass from under the mower deck to prevent premature rust failure.

If I get one more warm day, I'll spray paint the underside of the mower deck to keep it in pristine condition. Have you priced lawn mowers lately? WOWZA!

PRO TIP: Read my Small Engine Care column to see what I did to my lawn mower to make sure it starts on the FIRST PULL next spring.

While I had the pressure washer out, I also cleaned two dog crates that had been stored outside for too long. 

My Sun Joe electric pressure washer has served me really well for the past six years. All you have to do is drain it well to ensure freezing weather doesn't ruin the pump. You also have to disconnect and drain the high-pressure hose that runs from the machine to the wand.

I also got out and played what might be my last round of golf for the season. I made four pars which very likely is a record for me. I play at Lochmere Golf and Country Club. Here's a short video I made about it a few years ago. It's pretty funny.

In the second half of the video I do commentary on my play of some of the hardest holes after I finish them out. If you're a golfer, you'll really enjoy the frustration that coats my excuses.

As for how I finished this past Wednesday, my net score was a 67. You calculate net score by subtracting your handicap from your actual score. A 67 on a par-72 course is pretty good for me!

I was also busy last weekend and this past Thursday making 156 contacts on the radio in just over three hours. I did three Parks on the Air (POTA) activations. Go here to see some stunning photos and read about what a POTA activation is all about.

Lake Erie at Sunrise

A little over two weeks ago, October 25, 2022 I was standing at the edge of Lake Erie in Presque Isle State Park in Erie, PA. I had arrived at the park about twenty minutes before sunrise.

If you've never been to Presque Isle at this time of day, I highly recommend it. It's comfort food for the soul.

I don't know that there are many better places to collect one's thoughts. I needed to be mentally prepared for my arrival in Cincinnati. If all went according to plan, I'd be there by 3 PM.

This stretch of sand that goes for miles lures me to it like pollen attracts hummingbirds. Anytime I pass by Erie, PA in good weather, I make sure I can visit the beach at or before sunrise.

Each time I've been there early in the morning, the beach has been deserted. There are some people that use the beach access roads to walk for exercise, but I saw no one at water's edge weeks ago. It was just me, my thoughts, and the gently lapping water.

I've never vacationed at Presque Isle, but I know people that have. I've always wondered what it's like to walk for a few miles up the beach to the end of the peninsula on a warm summer morning at sunrise.

By the way, what did you do this past week to make each day count?

How Long Do Asphalt Shingles Last?

Do you know how long asphalt shingles lasted years ago? Do you know why? Do you know you can make new asphalt shingles last up to 40 or 50 years?

You better read my column about how long asphalt shingles CAN LAST if you do what you see in the photo above.

That copper strip in the photo above is blind nailed so it won't blow away. If you need to know how to blind nail things, you can study the above photo using your deductive reasoning skills or I can discuss it with you over the phone.

BTW, those turbine vents in the above photo are the absolute best way, in my opinion, to ventilate an attic space. Read all about them here.

Getting Bids

I talked with three people this past week who had trouble getting bids for jobs. Are you in this situation?

The market is tight but it may be loosening up because of the looming recession and raging inflation.

It's actually BEST to talk to me on the phone BEFORE the contractors come to bid the job.

Go here to set up a phone call.

Why should you and I talk? 

Because I can share with you HOW the job should be done and what products to use. Without this vital information, you are HOPING the contractors are going to do the job right.

It's such a sad mistake to HOPE for things.

Go here and fill out the form if you want to get bids from local contractors.

Once you get the bids, did you know I offer a service to help you decide which one is the best one? Go here and tell me if you don't think this might be a great way to relieve your anxiety about getting taken to the cleaners.

If Only

Yesterday Kathy and I volunteered at our church's annual Christmas fund-raising festival. 

Just feet away from where I was working, a woman collapsed with a heart attack. We had an off-duty EMT in the gym as well as several nurses. They provided first aid until Laconia NH's finest arrived minutes later.

The woman was still alive as the life squad raced out of the parking lot but as of me writing this I can't tell you if she's still alive.

It was a very stark reminder to me that you, me, and every other living human being is going to die. We're all on the same train. It's just that some of us get off at stations along the way a bit earlier than others.

It's possible I could die next week when a semi-tractor trailer blows over on a windy day, without warning, and crushes me as I drive past it. You could suffer from a burst brain aneurysm next week and be at the Pearly Gates explaining that crazy stunt you did as a teenager.

I'm still trying to craft a believable story for why I had to throw that 10-gallon aluminum pot into the Mill Creek one night after we exploded an M-80 in it earlier in the day when I was working at Skyline Chili. 

That's why I asked you above what you did last week to make each day count. 

If you could do anything you wanted...could have a wish?

What would it be? If that woman who collapsed in front of me knew she was going to almost die yesterday afternoon, what wish do you think she would have made come true yesterday morning?

Did you know that you can often make your dreams come true? It's just a mix of positive attitude and the three Ds: diligence, determination, and discipline.

Stop hoping for your dreams to come true. Do something this week to MAKE ONE OF THEM COME TRUE.

Think about that until we meet again next Sunday.

Tim Carter

Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com

500+ Contacts in 14 Days - www.W3ATB.com

Do It Right, Not Over!