AsktheBuilder.com Issue #1219 (I think)

February 5, 2023

Dear ,

The past two days were bitter cold here in central New Hampshire. Friday morning at sunrise it was 8 F with the temperature falling. A gale was blowing. The bitter wind from the north was whipping up the icy water of Lake Winnisquam just below my house.

As Friday progressed, the wind ate up all the ice on the east shoreline by just before 1 PM. Hundreds of feet of thin ice had extended out from the east shoreline the week before, but the large waves gobbled it up like I might eat two cheese coneys with no mustard and heavy onion. By dusk, just about all the ice on the west shoreline was gone.

As darkness fell across the lake on Friday, it was -6F, a stiff wind was still blowing, and my Trex Transcend deck was popping and cracking like a bag of microwave popcorn. Understand that plastic and vinyl have a large expansion/contraction coefficient.

Just after 5 PM it was -41.9F at the summit of Mt. Washington just 50 miles north of my house. The sustained wind speed was only 92.2 mph. The highest gust in the previous 15 minutes was only 105 mph. Hours later a wind chill of -108/9F was recorded at the summit. I've been up there quite a few times, but not in winter.

Here's an album I created containing some videos and a few photos over the past days. Once again, if you go there and see nothing or some message, too many folks like you are trying to access them at once. Come back later.

Yesterday morning, February 4, 2023, it was only -15F just before sunrise. Be sure to watch some of the videos I shot yesterday morning. You'll see two crazy loons having breakfast and lunch in the icy water!

I'm glad the WX was not as cold LAST weekend. Watch this interesting video I shot showing my outdoor winter field day radio adventure with two buddies. My friend Clayton had to plow for hours over three days to get up to the site allowing us to set up our tent and equipment. I think you'll LIKE this video!

I do like winter, the white snow, the brilliant blue skies, but I'm weary of bitter cold. These are the days I long to be on a Caribbean island beach sipping a mojito or two. PRO TIP: Do not drink a mojito fast.

Let's get started.

🌲 in January - PRIZES!!!

On two different days this past week I received unexpected prizes in the mail. It felt like Christmas morning all over again.

CJ sent me deluxe golf balls that will come in handy in just two months. I've been taking indoor lessons on a simulator and I'm happy to say with the help of PGA pro Kevin Goddu I've exorcised the slice from my game! This means I shouldn't lose any of the Pro V1s you see in the sleeves below. 

CJ knows quite a bit about golf as it's his business. He shared, "I think you will really like the Tour Soft, but why not play what the big boys play…the V1s are what Max Homa played this past weekend and so why not you, the Building Alchemist?"

If you want to try the Tour Soft balls in the blue sleeve, CLICK HERE.

Myra was kind enough to send me the interesting finance book - The Great Transition. She didn't include a note, but I suspect her inspiration came from my request last Sunday for input about my daughter's car loan. 

Thanks CJ and Myra! It's always fun to get prizes. If you remember, I received quite a few old dictionaries a few months back. I really enjoy looking up the definitions of words in those noble books!

Prepay Loan Sage Wisdom

Last Sunday I asked for input about my daughter's car loan. You may have been one that responded with excellent advice.

I collected the best advice and curated it on a new page on my website. Wait until you see the page I link to with unbelievable calculation worksheets and forms. HOLY COW!

Then, you're in for a treat when you discover the trick Rob shared to cut the cost of your loans in HALF.

I URGE YOU to go look at this page. There's a good chance the information there will save you THOUSANDS of dollars.

I also urge you to SHARE THIS URL with your friends, co-workers, children, grandchildren, and strangers to help them save money too.

Flooring Fool

Several days ago a young woman Kathy and I know from church reached out to me. She's our cantor and was desperate for plumbing help. All of a sudden a leak occurred in a lower-level ceiling of her condo.

Knowing how to prioritize leaks, I asked, "Is water dripping constantly?"

"No. It's just a water spot that appeared that wasn't there a few days ago."

I knew it was not an emergency as a pinhole leak in a water supply pipe would cause a stream of water or a constant drip. I texted her, "I'll be there tomorrow at 11:29 AM."

That's the train conductor in me. Oh, you've never seen me in my conductor hat and uniform? Go here.

Once I arrived at the woman's condo and looked at the stain, it was time for questions.

I asked, "What happened here in the past few days that was unusual? Have you had strangers in the house or contractors?"

She responded, "Oh yes, just a few days ago a flooring contractor finished installing a new laminate floor upstairs."

We climbed the flight of steps and I walked over to the spot just above the the water-stained ceiling below. I was standing inside a half bathroom.

The young woman added, "The flooring contractor took off the toilet and put it back down after he installed the flooring. He said everything would be fine."

The flooring contractor was a liar and/or a fool.

He broke the all-important gasket seal and buried the toilet flange with the new laminate flooring. Now, each time the toilet is flushed, water splashes around under the toilet and some was leaking out around the toilet flange. It would then pass through the hole cut in the sub-flooring for the drain pipe. Gravity then placed the water on the drywall fastened, for the time being, to the bottom of the floor joists.

GO HERE to see what the flooring contractor should have done. 

Now I have to fix his buffoonish mistake.

What's YOUR takeaway from this situation? 

When you hire contractors, do you know all the SECONDARY consequences that might happen when they do work in or at your home? Do you know what might happen if they don't know what they're doing?

My guess is NO. 

I later sent a text to this young woman with an angelic voice, "Please do me a favor in the future. Always CALL ME before you think about hiring a contractor. I'll help you develop basic instructions about what needs to be done so you don't have to pay EXTRA to fix their mistakes."

You should do the same. You should have me HELP YOU over the phone. 

But if you have an unlimited supply of MONEY, you can ignore the above advice.

There's NO NEED for you and I to talk on the phone if you have scads of $$$$. 

If anything in this newsletter helps save you time or money, maybe you want to reciprocate and buy me a popover & a cup of coffee? That would be appreciated!

Moen Store HUGE Coupon Code

While I was at the young woman's condo, I also diagnosed a problem with her kitchen faucet. She needs a new cartridge.

The previous owner GOOFED UP. He/she didn't put the faucet owner's manual in a zip-lock plastic bag and tape it to the inside wall of the sink cabinet.

You do this, right? What? If not, HOW DO YOU REMEMBER THE MODEL # of the faucet? How do you have a parts list at your fingertips????

I reached out to Moen. I had taken a photo of the faucet while I was at her home and sent the photo to Moen using their Help page. In less than 24 hours they emailed my back with the faucet name, model number, AND the part # for the cartridge. WOW!!!! What great service!!!!

They also emailed me a coupon code that expires in SEVEN DAYS. They said to SHARE IT if I had no interest in it.

You could save HUGE MONEY using it. Here's the code:

CLICK HERE to go to the Moen store to save BIG MONEY. I get NOTHING from Moen for telling you about this. They deserve your business in my opinion.

I have great Moen faucets of my own so I know they make great products.

Have you had enough for today? 

I'll be back next week. Do you NEED HELP with an issue at your home? If so, GO HERE.

Alright, you know how I feel.

That's all.

Tim Carter

Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com

My Pronouns: Told/You/So

Winter Field Day Man - www.W3ATB.com

Do It Right, Not Over!

P.S. Do you believe in UFOs? Have you seen the topic in the news in the past few months? Trust me, they exist and we're making them. Many don't focus on the meaning of the first word.

Unidentified Flying Object

Just because it's unidentified, doesn't mean it comes from Mars, Uranus, or from a galaxy far far away.

A subscriber friend of mine, Wayne, thought I'd enjoy reading a book about the Skunk Works. He was right. I'm about halfway through it right now. The Skunk Works in Burbank, CA specialized in making UFOS decades ago.

Days ago something happened in the news that made me LOL. 🤣

The Chinese sent at least one (maybe more) spy balloon over the USA but said officially, "So sorry - it's a weather balloon that strayed off course."

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA

The author of Skunk Works noted that exact same line/excuse was used multiple times by the USA government to Russia and China back 50-60 years ago when the U-2 spy planes made by the Skunk Works were flying unaccosted over those two nations taking thousands (millions?) of high-resolution photos of their military prowess.

The Russians and Chinese were beside themselves they couldn't shoot down the U-2. It took a few years for their engineers to accomplish the goal and the only reason Francis Gary Powers was shot down was because the ego of a top DOD official got in the way. You'll read about that in the book.

Here's what my biggest takeaway is after reading just HALF the book:

There's NO DOUBT we have hidden and hoarded technology that has created flying machines that appear as if they're from outer space.

You have to realize that back in the 1960s the Skunk Works wizards created the SR-71 Blackbird for goodness sake! It still holds all the speed and performance records for airplanes that we are allowed to know about.

It was unthinkable all those years ago to create a plane that could travel at Mach 3. The Blackbird flew at or above 89,000 feet! The Chinese balloon was reported to be at 60,000 feet. The U-2 used to fly at 70,000 feet.

Have you ever heard the LA speed story? 

Are you SERIOUS, you've not heard SR-71 pilot Major Brian Shul tell the story? 

It's short but quite remarkable. GO HERE and be amazed at what the patriots at the Skunk Works created.

What plane/UFO does the US military have now that's not public knowledge?

I urge you to CLICK that image above and read the book. You'll then start to believe everything in this episode of X-Files. WATCH THIS SHORT VIDEO and realize all of us conspiracy theorists are batting close to 1.000 right now. We're starting to run dry of new theories! If you have one to spare, share it with me.

What STUNS me the most are the comments made two days ago in the press conference by the blue-suit Air Force/Pentagon spokesperson about the Chinese balloon. How arrogant he was! Telling all of us to sit down and SHUT UP.

Are you SERIOUS? Why wouldn't you send up one of our planes - UFOs - to CAPTURE the silly balloon so we can get a peek at the Chinese technology when it was floating over Alaska? Our satellites saw the balloon get LAUNCHED over China no doubt! 

The balloon shouldn't even have been in the news for goodness sake! Unless, of course, the Chinese have control of the frame.

It's child's play to retrieve the balloon. We've flown much higher than that for decades. We no doubt sent our own balloons up to spy many years ago and developed ways to get the cameras/film to the ground without damage. Do our Overlords think we're STUPID????
 

STOP BEING PLAYED by what you hear on your TV. When you read the Skunk Works book and ponder what was happening SIXTY years ago and how it was kept SECRET, then you'll wonder what do we now have and who is in control of it for what purposes?

The big problem is you can't believe anything anyone says, especially if they're connected in anyway whatsoever to the political machine at any level of government. Just read Game of Thrones and you'll understand what I mean.

As for the balloon, perhaps China can do what they want because they have blackmail on a certain person/people. If you've read Whitney Webb's book (I have), you KNOW that BLACKMAIL is the modus operandi at all levels of government and big business.

Late yesterday the Chinese obviously gave permission to allow us to shoot down the balloon - assuming you think those reports are true, that it was a Chinese balloon, and not some distraction. 

And as for blackmail, just ask Jeffrey. Oh, we can't. He was murdered...