AsktheBuilder.com Issue #1313 (Not Sure!)

January 5, 2025

Dear ,

"You look for treasure in the wrong place, Mr. Lovett. Only life is priceless... and making each day count."

(Old Rose - Titanic 1999 Movie CLICK HERE to watch)

"...Best start putting first things first. 'Cause when the hourglass runs out of sand, you can't flip it over and start again. Take every breath God gives you for what it's worth." (Kenny Chesney - Don't Blink CLICK HERE to listen)

"Is...is there a Heaven? 'Oh yeah...it's the place dreams come true.'...maybe this is Heaven. " (Ray and John Kinsella conversation - Field of Dreams CLICK HERE to watch)

2025

It's here. The new year! We've got the Romans to thank for the positive vibes each new year harkens. One of their gods was named Janus. He was the god of new beginnings. How fitting to borrow his name to create January.

I enjoyed Latin so much in high school, I took it in summer school. The Latin word janus translates to the door in English. Walking through a door often exposes you to new things. Those crafty Romans!

What's your new year's resolution? Mine is to make much better use of my time each day. I want to do what Old Rose said above in the Ask the Builder Axioms. I want to make each day count.

Did you read the related axiom below Rose's? The quote from the Don't Blink song?

You can't flip your hourglass over and start again once it runs out of sand.

Digitizing Slides and Negatives

Here's how I'm going to stick to my resolution. I intend to create a simple daily schedule where I spend 45-90 minutes ONLY on a series of tasks.

Think of this as going to a series of doctor and dentist appointments each day. For example, here's what I intend to do tomorrow. I'm now creating a simple list like this for each day:

• create and upload column 1595
• sort through old t-shirts - donate 40% of them
• begin to organize all old photos and slides by year
• start to clean my ham radio shack
• add YouTube affiliate links to 15 more videos

Creating a WRITTEN LIST helps you accomplish the goals. It's the psychological trigger/button of Commitment. You're promising yourself you'll take care of the things on the list.

I have thousands of amazing color slides and film negatives I want to scan. I checked out the services that will do this for you, and the prices are quite high when you have LOTS of things to scan.

I've decided I'm going to get a new slide and negative scanner so I get higher resolution with each scan. I've got my eye on this one. The reviews are pretty solid. CLICK the link just above or the image below and let me know what you think. If you have one of these and like or DISLIKE it, let me know ASAP.

Toxic White Mold?

What do you think this is:

CLICK HERE to see if you chose wisely.

Bogus InterWeb Advice

Bob is a subscriber like you. He sends me lots of things he stumbles across on the InterWeb. I appreciate his efforts.

This past week he sent me this BOGUS column.

The advice at the end of it to "rewire" your house is horrible. The author making an issue of the knob and tube wiring is ridiculous.

The first home I owned was all knob and tube wiring. It had been lived in for over 50 years. It never burned down. 

The wiring is safe so long as you don't install a larger fuse than is required.

The article says if your house is over 40 years old it needs to be rewired. That's hokum.

I feel so sorry for folks who fall prey to articles like this and/or contractors who might use scare tactics to get you to do things that aren't required.

What makes sense is to run NEW circuits to locations where you're using things that consume lots of power. This doesn't mean you rewire the whole house.

I can see dedicated circuits for hair dryers, microwave ovens, refrigerators, kitchen countertop appliances, freezers, washing machines, etc.

If you have questions about electrical safety, schedule a consult call with me.

One of my Christmas Prizes -

You Need One Too

My oldest daughter asked me what I'd love to have for Christmas. She realizes it's better to ask me rather get me something I don't want.

Seven weeks before she made the request I was almost killed, or seriously injured, in a high-speed crash.

Early one morning I was in Massachusetts driving along I-95 during rush hour.

I was in my Ford F-250 Super Duty 4x4 truck. I was in the far-left passing lane on a three-lane section of the freeway. I was passing slower cars while I was traveling at the legal speed limit.

All of a sudden, a sports car BLEW PAST me ON MY LEFT. He was inches from the side of my truck as his left tires were on the tiny amount of hot top (blacktop) between the grass and my lane. His right tires were in my lane.

I gasped as he cut in front of me just inches away. I'm sure the folks behind me were stunned as well.

Fortunately, I didn't lose control of my 6,800 lb. beast.

Three weeks after this happened, I was coming home from my son's house. I was on a similar freeway, the Everett Turnpike (US Route 3) as it passes through Nashua, NH.

There was heavy traffic at the time. All of a sudden out of nowhere, three small sports cars zoomed through traffic like it was a real-life video game of Grand Theft Auto or Mario Kart.

They were racing one another. It was INSANE. I know how fast I was going and how fast they went past me. I estimate they were going no less than 90 mph.

One car cut in front of my truck with maybe a foot to spare. Had I clipped him and put him into a spin, very bad things would have happened to him, me, and other drivers.

I would have LOVED to record both incidents. Perhaps the footage would be clear enough the police could get a license plate number and go visit the SELFISH idiots.

I asked my daughter a good dash camera. She has a tendency to go first class and bought the VIOFO A229Pro dash cam.

I want to have video proof that I'm not the cause of future crazy accidents. Or, if the outcome is bad, I want my survivors to know exactly what happened to facilitate my trip up to Heaven.

Have similar traffic close calls happened to you? Maybe it's time for you to get a simple-to-use dash camera. Be sure you order the recommended micro SD card when you order the camera.

This VIOFO A229Pro is an amazing setup. It's easy to install and the video clarity is stunning. It comes with two cameras - one points through your rear windshield to capture that asshat that rear ends you. The front-facing camera is built into the display you see above.

I'll close with this. Last summer as I was coming home from a round of golf a sports car driven by an older gentlemen turned left in front of me. NO ONE was behind me. He could clearly see this.

He could have waited the five seconds it took for me to go past him. But no, Mr. Idiot Important Man had to make the turn.

I didn't have to slam on my brakes too hard but had I not, I would have t-boned him putting the blue Ford oval in my front grille against his wife's head.

I know how my truck brakes, and when this happens I apply just enough braking power to stop 18 inches from the offending driver. I do this to send a message: "Hey DUMB ASS. I almost HIT YOU."

This man's wife turned white as a ghost and hunkered down waiting for the crash. Instead of FLOORING it into the parking lot, the husband STOPPED in the middle of the road and GLARED at me.

Can you believe that? He acted like it was MY FAULT?

If I only had that on camera... 

Now I will.

PRO TIP: Do NOT turn left in front of a Ford F-250 Super Duty 4x4. If one is loaded with tools, materials, etc. it will weigh in at about 8,500 pounds.

Your tiny subcompact weighs maybe 3,000 pounds with you in it. Do you remember your high school physics?

F = M x A

Force (crash output) equals Mass times Acceleration.

You, in your tiny car, will be the guaranteed LOSER of this battle.

Lithium Battery Explosion

I shared with you a few weeks ago that I'm having fun plinking things with my Ruger 10/22 Takedown rifle. The scope on my rifle is so accurate.

Months ago I had a lithium battery power pack give up the ghost. I placed it out in my yard in the direct sun in a safe place away from the house. I wanted to see if it would overheat and catch on fire as people have claimed. Nothing happened.

A few days ago I decided to shoot the battery pack. I knew this would cause mayhem based on many stories I've read about damaged batteries catching on fire.

I share this story with you only to alert you that you have powerful bombs in your home.

I took the battery pack and placed in outdoors next to a small kiln I had built a few years ago. There was still some snow hanging around. The vegetation nearby was saturated with water as an inch of rain had fallen the day before.

There was no danger of me catching the woods on fire.

I held up the rifle, placed the center of the crosshairs on the lower half of the battery pack, and pulled the trigger. My only mistake was to NOT record a video.

The instant the bullet pierced the battery, it exploded. The battery fell flat on the ground and a fountain of hot gas went 15 feet in the air like the exhaust from a jet engine.

The battery then caught fire. I allowed the fire to burn out and made no attempt to extinguish it.

The internal construction of this battery was fascinating. It reminds me of a jelly roll. There are visible micro-thin layers of metal that are separated by the lithium paste. It's pretty much identical to the way regular alkaline batteries are made.

Everything is fine when the two different metal layers don't touch one another. But when they do, they short circuit creating the intense heat that creates the spontaneous combustion.

In my case, the bullet caused this co-mingling of metals. But you might cause it to happen by dropping a battery. Maybe something heavy drops on one in your garage and hours later an explosion and fire results.

"Yeah, right. That's the way it is. It's down there and I'm in here. I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy livin' or get busy dyin'.

Andy Dufresne just before he escapes from Shawshank prison.

CLICK HERE to see this classic movie scene.

#DoNotComply

Once bitten, twice shy...

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel

The BEST Love Story of all time - well, maybe a close second.

That's enough for a Sunday morning.

Peace out.

Tim Carter (PhD, FullyAwakeology)

Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com

Electromagnetic Adventures: www.W3ATB.com

My Pronouns: Told/You/So

Do It Right, Not Over!