Thank you both. These are the first-hand stories I was hoping to gain from my post. The hot water tank is my biggest concern and likely the most costly appliance I'll need to replace. It is past its lifespan. My current plan does include haul away fees and the cost of the tank. I'll have to check on flue modifications, expansion tanks, etc. Very helpful!

My two experiences with local contractors assigned to past service calls were really positive but I realize those may have been outliers. Each contractor averaged 4/5 stars but as you mentioned, I wasn't able to choose them. It was also a plus to get a service call to my door within 24-48 hrs after repairs were needed. Over the summer, I scheduled some home repairs (not covered by warranties) that took weeks to months to get someone on-site. Most users are right to assume these companies are fraudsters, but in some cases they do benefit the home owners.

I honestly didn't know so I went looking-- definitely going to be lots more downed trees and power outages as this front moves through.

Remind them that it's 5 trans shooters, 3000 cis shooters in the past 5 years, and the overwhelming majority of those are male.

Thanks for adding that. I just saw the image on Twitter without mention of a wind gust speed that would go with the extreme category, but I was kind of thinking it would be 60 or even higher.

Looks like a repeat of or even worse than last Saturday.

I get what you're saying, but if you find a solid portrait artist, this won't be an issue so long as you provide a high quality photo of your pet and exactly what you want in the tattoo. A great portrait artist isn't going to screw it up.

Wish I could better answer your question, but all great artists I know don't do it this way. They're too busy and too talented. My advice is to spend the time finding the right artist, even if it isn't local.

A single call to a single school is terrorism.

Calling many is basically an attack on national infrastructure. Possibly state sponsored.

This blows.

Now military grade police will be present at all schools 10x more than before. The US is a police state.

Appreciate the kind words. Definitely a little shaken up. I feel the worst for the teachers. They looked like ghosts and shouldn’t have to be in charge of things like that. Rumor has it some were pinned to lockers and held at gunpoint since they weren’t in a classroom and had to be treated as suspect

My next door neighbor mowed today. Always the first one, he can never just be chill. And he’s the oldest guy in the neighborhood, over 80 years old.

And to contextualize: current forecast discussion is calling generally for 50-55mph wind gusts with 75mph winds expected in the "ridges of eastern Tucker County WV"

JA Sauer did my whole new home build and they are and were excellent!

I missed you at the convention.

Yinzers arguing about bbq now? Too many regional variants. Let’s just stick to ketchup.

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This has been ongoing nationwide for months.

Only in America.

Agreed. It's the same argument as with phasing out gas stoves/water heaters etc. The ecological cost of a brand new one is higher than continuing to use the one you have, but new ones should all be electric (hence the ban on gas appliances in new construction in a some states/cities). I suppose this also depends on how the old equipment is up/downcycled (stripped for parts, etc)

You're probably fine to continue using the old one but if/when replacement becomes necessary electric is definitely the way to go

Just thought I'd give everyone a heads-up, about the upcoming weekend weather. I would imagine areas in the extreme area could see a high wind watch and or warning.

Planning on doing beginning of season mower maintenance this weekend. 50/50 whether I’ll squeeze in a quick mow or save it for next week. Have a few spots that are starting to get overgrown.

I live in a neighborhood with a bunch of retired people obsessed with yard and garden maintenance, all day, every day, the entire summer. At least 3 of my neighbors already mowed their lawns this past Saturday. I'm holding out until there's something substantial to mow.

Turf grass grows best between ~60-80F. We've had a mild winter and multiple days in that range. It's also species-dependent. Our shitty lawn / dog bathroom has grass that grows 1" in a few weeks and others in a few days.

Sorry for piggybacking on this but I’ve been exhaustively looking for a remote position too. Can I also send you a DM?

Well, whenever my neighbor is gonna do it, it'll be on my day off. And way too early.

I've struggled to reckon the ROI on continuing to use my second-hand gas mower vs buying an electric mower. When do the emissions of my existing equipment outweigh the emissions of manufacturing something new?

If you are a first-time buyer, I totally recommend electric. I borrowed my buddies to test out and it worked perfectly fine, although it was a bit over 10Ah of batteries for about 1/10 acre.