Propane does not, natural gas does
1 Like
Our Propane does.
2 Likes
Mine just smells like propane! I guess Iām thinking natural gas smell, that they add stuff to to make smell
1 Like
Thatās because Natural Gas has no odor. Propane does so itās obvious when itās leaking, without the added Sulphur or whatever they add to it.
3 Likes
Wellā¦. I replaced the fan motor and capacitor on my R22 outside unit today. Really easy actually. Under 2 hours including cleaning out the unit itself and cleaning the coils from the inside out.
Glad I did it. There was a ton of play in the shaft, more than 1/4 of an inch. Thing was ready to goā¦
$280, all in, including the fan puller and capacitor. All OEM parts.
Hoping to get a minimum of 5 more years out of it. Filters changed religiously. Outdoor unit covered from Nov-May with a breathable cover.
Itās running nice and quiet now. Iām sure my neighbor thatās like 6 feet away appreciates it as well.
PS - her new unit is working well, so it looks like that $4500 nightmare is over for her. Our AC guy found one of the last 407C units in the area, which works with her indoor unit.
6 Likes
Totally off topic but nobody I know has gotten good home grown tomatoes this year, including us and I have the same drip irrigation system going as I always have. 2X a day. No drought here either. Pretty avg rainfall, although it was mostly from a couple large rain events.
Somethings up with tomatoes beyond the weather. Very strangeā¦.
3 Likes
Yep; even in New Jersey (famous for great tomatoes), for much of the summer it was mainly Mexican tomatoes. Only late in the year did I start seeing Jersey tomatoes that didnāt look terrible (and DAMN, theyāre good!)
Hopefully, now that the tree in the backyard had to be taken down, Iāll feel up to doing a bit of gardening next year and grow my own. Nothing beats a home-grown Jersey tomato.
(on a related sad note, I learned a few years back that one of the varieties of Tomato I grew years ago, the āRutgersā tomato (developed in NJ, as you might guess by the name), is now considered a ālostā variety. Hard to believe that what was one of the most popular non-hybrid tomatoes just 50 years ago is now lost).
5 Likes
When we grew our own tomatoes up until a few years ago Rutgers was one of the varieties we grew.
The seedlings are still sold up here. Or were until recently, I suspect your supplier of seeds or seedlings has just told you a story to avoid saying they made a decision not to offer them.
3 Likes
Nope; read about it on a news site. Of course, doesnāt mean that they werenāt wrongā¦(and a quick Google search shows that they were; although Rutgers no longer sells them, which may be the confusion). Good to realize that I heard fake news.
Iāve never had good luck growing tomatoes from seed, and typically buy my tomato plants from the town garden club (actually next town over). Never know what varieties they might have. Grew a nice beefsteak type about 10 years ago that was incredible; took one to a party; 8 people ate off of it, and even the person who doesnāt like tomatoes went back for another slice. We threw away the other half of it. Smallest one we got was still over 2 pounds. But I donāt remember the name of the variety, and never saw it again during the time that I remembered it. Plus got some yellow tomatoes from them; regular size, and incredibly sweet. Of course, they havenāt had them sinceā¦
I havenāt grown anything more than a few herbs in about 10 years; the trees started creating too much shade. But the neighbor cut down all the trees on his property, then the lone tree that was in my yard broke in a storm (I think losing the surrounding trees made it too weak). Didnāt plant this year due to recovering from COVID, but I might give it a try next year. Biggest obstacle is that Iāll have to invest in new fencing; as I didnāt keep the old stuff, since it was, although serviceable, not in very good shape. Otherwise the groundhogs eat EVERYTHING.
5 Likes
Recommendation Alert
For the last 19 years, every 12 hours, our plants on our steps get watered automatically, 7 months of the yearā¦.
As you might imagine, not great for steps or decks or whatever. Stumbled on these trays that you can pipe the drained water away from whatever the pots are sitting on. You do need to buy your own PVC pipe / fittings to finish off the project but these are a very cool invention and not a drop of water will spill where you donāt want it.
Link below. They come in various sizes / colors. Not avail in stores sadly. And much more expensive on Amazon / Walmart. Direct they require signature which is crazyā¦. So HD is where I ordered ours from. 4 trays, and the 8 fittings, plus the pipe were ~$80. PVC pipe needs to be cut to size. I used a chop saw so they would be perfect and all the same length because Iām crazy like thatā¦
Every 5 years or so, I need to point the brick on that side of the steps only. No more!
6 Likes
I did something stupid with 1 of the cars that I should have just junked instead of fixingā¦ It was almost half the spendā¦
Butā¦. Itās the car I got engaged in (after our dinner reservations got cancelled on us in 1999), and the last car that anyone in the family still has that my late Mom drove.
Iāll work a little harderā¦.
9 Likes
And then thereās the garage queen of the fleet, for all those car peeps hereā¦. 
$4500 Ebay car bought in 2006, sight unseen from California. Good investmentā¦.
My dream car when I was in HS. And now I have itā¦ (Anyone remember that line from American Beauty)? haha
1988, 68K miles now.
7 Likes
We are always impressed by those who take pride in and keep their cars in a clean and working condition ā¦ well done ā¦
But now back to the thread topic ā¦ tariffs ā¦
2 Likes
Yup. Sorry. I always do this.
4 Likes
Canāt park that there. LOL
3 Likes
First car was a 1964 1/2 red mustang 289 fastback 2+2 on the floor with white leather interior. Got it for $325 in 1972 (senior in high school). There isnāt a day that goes by that that car isnāt missed. Should have keep it. Sold it in 1974 for $375 after we blew the engine while bracket racing.
3 Likes
That sure would be worth something todayā¦.
And thereās the first car component. My first car was a 1985 Buick Lesabre 4-door. Put a system in it, tinted the windows, better wheels, and air shocks in the back.
Parents gave it to me (was theirs) when it had 65K miles on it. My Dad borrowed it to move something and someone smashed into him. At that point, the car had just under 300,000 miles on it. Odometer rolled twice. I would probably still have it today.
Bought the same car in 2005 off Ebay (old man tan though - first one was very dark red). Had 5,000 miles on it. Someone bought it and died. Just sat in a garage for 20 years. It just wasnāt the sameā¦ Sold it for more than I paid for it in 2013.
I beat the hell out of that first one and the engine never had a single problem. It had 3 or 4 transmissions over the years.
That Olds 307 5.0 V-8 was bulletproof. They donāt make cars like that anymore.
ETA - My Impala has a system that would blow your ears outā¦ 3000 watts, 14 speakers - installed by the place that was doing all the rap guys cars from the 90ās in NY. I will NEVER grow upā¦ Done in the 90ās and it all still works. I have a USBC wire connected to the RCA AUX port so I can use my phone in it. Thanks Amazonā¦.
Add 2 doorsā¦. Grand Nationalās Big (slow) brotherā¦
5 Likes
Not my first car, but I had a Mustang; 68 convertible. Bought it for $3k. Drove it until it literally broke (the shock tower went through the fender). Not realizing how bad it was, took to to the Ford dealer. They looked and offered to tow it to the body shop; not drive. The body shop was about 100 yards away.
Didnāt fix it, brought it home, and sold it. Guy that bought it ran a body shop; he told me that his plan was to fix it up to be ready to give to his daughter when she turned 16. But it took him longer; next time I saw him, he told me he had just finished it, but daughter had already totaled 3 cars, so she wasnāt getting it. He sold it for $20K, after putting about $12K into restoring it. And it was beautiful.
I sorta miss it, but glad that it got so well taken care of. (and I donāt think my back would let me sit in it today anyway).
5 Likes
That problem existed for decades with Mustangs. The first questions anyone ever asks thatās looking for a 64 1/2 -93 Mustang - āHow are the shock towers?ā
1 Like
I think there were several things that hung around for years.
At one point, my Mustang made a grinding noise when I turned left. Took it to my regular mechanic; he scratched his head, then took a look. Turns out that the bolts holding the starter to the mount were a bit loose, and the starter would shift and rub against the flywheel when turning left. By the time he figured it out, he had fixed it. Only charged me $10.
A few years later, my best friend had an '82 Mustang that was a few years old (thatās 14 years a a complete design change since mine). Started making a grinding noise when he turned left. He looked at me like I was crazy when I suggested checking the starter mount bolts. But sure enough, that was the problem!
5 Likes