Dr Copa » Home Improvement

Security issues

Copa — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 23:26:10 +0000

When we lived in New England, I had a video security system hooked up at the shop. Since the shop was left unattended for hours at a time, Iwanted to be able to see who was on the property in the event anything turned up missing or vandalized! I had a lot of expensive equipment on the grounds, and expensive tools and equipment inside.

Before I bought that system, I asked Joe for some tips about what kind of system he liked the best. He’s had several different systems in the past, and I trusted his judgement.

Joe actually gave me one of his used systems that he didn’t need anymore, and he helped me with the installation of the system too. When we moved down here and sold that shop building, I brought the system with me. I haven’t hooked it up yet; I haven’t decided whether to hook it up to the house or to the storage shed out back!

Fire

Copa — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 03:51:05 +0000

This last weekend I was happy to finally be able to burn the brush pile that I have been building for months. There has been a drought in the area, which resulted in a burning moratorium. We’ve had a few days of rain, and they lifted the moratorium, so I burned the pile and got her done.

I was truly in my element, out there, rake in hand, tending the fire. It burned high and quick. My wife was nervous about sparks setting the nearby woods on fire, or even our roof, but I had everything under control. She is such a worrier! It’s all good!

Yard Work

Copa — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 23:00:03 +0000

Today was a great day to get the much needed yard work started. There is always so much to do this time of the year, but it’s all good. It feels good to outside with the sun shining, along with a nice breeze and absolutely no humidity to deal with even though we hit the 80’s. You just can’t beat that!

Signage

Copa — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:28:04 +0000

I’ve noticed that whenever my wife tags along with me to a home improvement store that she heads over to the department where they have address plaques on display. She’s been wanting to buy a new address plaque for our place ever since we moved here. The address sign that was already on the house was very old and corroded and my wife gets aggravated about how bad she thinks it appears to people who come to our front door.

I try to reassure her that most people don’t even notice address signs when they go to someones house, but she naturally disagrees with me. She would like to get a customized one that has our name on it as well as the house number. I’m not so sure that I want our name on it. In this day and age, sometimes a little bit of anonymity is a good safety precaution to take. What do you think? Name, or no name?

The big blue vs the big orange

Copa — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 01:18:38 +0000

My wife and I are trying to do a little bit of repairs around the house. Money is tight, so we have been doing some comparison shopping between the two biggest home improvement stores in the area. You know the ones I’m talking about – the big blue and the big orange. We frequently get coupons in the mail from the big blue, and we are frequently seeing commercials on television that claim that the big blue has the cheapest prices. Yet when we went to compare the prices of 2×4s we found that the big orange price was almost $1 lower per 2×4. When you have to buy 100 of them, that makes a big difference! So my advice to all of you out there – don’t believe the hype. Use your head, and your phone and call around for prices! You’ll be amazed at how much money you can save with some shopping savvy!