Going for Broke

What to choose?

I think the biggest scam going in the tech world isn’t the Nigerian email con – it’s ink jet printers. You can buy a new printer for about the cost to replace the ink. No, I’m not kidding. To replace the two cartridges in my Epson printer will cost me $48.00. The price of a low end HP color printer is $49.99. Apples and oranges, you say? True, the HP replacements would be…
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Going for Broke

Flood recovery.

The last remaining vestiges of the great family room flood are gone. Forty or so square feet of carpet and padding is gone. In it’s place rests brand new, self adhesive, square, fake ceramic, laminate tile. Yes, it is everything it sounds like and more. No, there is no danger of my becoming the spokesperson for Armstrong laminate tile. In a move that was designed solely to shock my wife, I…
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Going for Broke

Can I play too?

Whence the death watch concludes, I’m on my way to nail down tack strips. You too can enjoy the sense of accomplishment that comes from hammering a wood strip into concrete. Think of the aggression you can work out. Think of the cathartic value. Think of how many more ways I can think of to say the exact same thing. If you missed the trimming of wet carpet you won’t want to miss tack…
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Going for Broke

The kid car.

It was necessary to drive my newish car to work this morning. I haven’t driven it for the better part of two weeks, so it was quite the event. My enthusiasm was tempered by the good natured ribbing I got from my coworkers. “John, your daughter’s too young to drive. Why did you buy her a car already?” “John, you’ve got a car just like my neighbor’s sixteen…
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Going for Broke

What costs more than a stick of gum and less than five boxes of laminate tile?

Post plumbing woe life in the Kauffman household (version 2.2) continues. The fan is still blowing on a wall. What, don’t you have a fan blowing on your walls? A single sample of tile is resting in a large space where there used to be wet carpet. Four boxes of laminate, self adhesive tile are waiting patiently in our family room. I have garnered just about as much respect from my previous…
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Going for Broke

Has anyone seen Noah?

There comes a time in the life of every home owner when you wonder if renting is really all that bad. We had one of those experiences this weekend. It started with a puddle. It grew to a small pond. It ended with a large check. “Cheryl, we have a problem. I think our water heater has seen better days.” “Why do you say that?” “There’s a puddle of hot water…
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Going for Broke

Bad blood.

I have made it perfectly clear that I hate Saturn. I have no problems with any of the planets in our solar system, but I do have problems with a particular american auto maker. My dislike is easier to live with now that I am no longer burdened with the lemon formerly parked in my driveway. However, because of this dislike I am happy to share this drive time story with you today. I was driving down…
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Going for Broke

Crunch.

Have you ever noticed the sound that two cars make when they come together in an unconventional manner? Have you heard the sound that a driver makes when her new car gets together with another in an unconventional manner? Have you ever taken a turn and had the back end of your car move out from underneath you unexpectedly? Have you done this after it just starts raining? After regaining control of…
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Going for Broke

I have the answer.

Earlier this year we replaced the outside unit to our air conditioner. Figuring, “what’s a hundred more dollars…”, we sprung for a fancy programable thermostat to go along for the ride to financial ruin. After the installation folks left, we read about all of the cool features of our new thermostat, most of which we could figure out on our own. One documented feature eluded…
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