Big Cliff

I was up in White River back in the late 70's apparently it got down to -72°F (I didn't have a thermometer with me) tires were flat on the cars (or nearly) if you could get your car to start the wheels didn't want to turn. That was more than cold enough for me!

Since our water heater decided to quit on us, I now have to get a new hot water heater. The one thing that is a given is that I want propane. Any advice on: Tankless and would I be better to go with a rental program/ outright buying one (I'm thinking that with rental they will be responsible for installing and servicing if I ever have a problem). I do realize that renting is likely going to cost more long term but a service call can add up pretty quickly too and if I buy it then there will be instalation costs. Any idea what a monthly rental should be on a 50 gal. Propane, I tried to find some idea of rates on line but didn't have much luck. Being as we are on a well and have a water softener (I am told this is hard on water tanks) . Our current one is about 8 years old and it is a Rheem. Would you say this is about a normal life span for one of these?

Well, I'd fish (or cook) with you anytime so when you are ready just let me know!

We are lucky here in Lindsay and we usually have gas prices at least 3-4 cents a liter than surrounding areas. Gas this morning was $1.209/L at the Ultramar on Hwy. 36.

Sounds like something every home should have! Sure would have saved me a lot of money and trouble! Guess I'll be going to TSC tomorrow.

Yes, they will be fine, we have already taken steps to make sure they are ok.

According to your wife she got the same things but her's were all too small

Well, from the sound of it there is a lot more damage than they thought originally but apparently the insurance will cover it, quite a mess down there though, they have had to cut all the drywall to about 2' up the walls, rip up all the base boards, the doors are all scrap and the carpeting will all have to be replaced. All the door frames are toast, insulation in many areas will have to be replaced. Oh well, Sue wanted the basement painted now I guess I won't have to worry about doing that LOL. They think they can have everything finished up before Christmas for us though so that is a good thing! I do have to say that Superior Desaster Kleenup have been fantastic to deal with and it turns out that they are approved by State Farm and work with them all the time so they really know what they can do and have to do and that will speed up the whole process. Rod Caster glad to hear that you got your problem sorted out, septic system problems can be a real pain. We had a whole new field bed put in last year because ours was starting to act up. Fishnsled that has to be it; year 2013, house# 313, I was born on Jan. 13 this will be our 13th year in this house The tank started leaking on the 6th I didn't find out until the 7th, 6+7= 13 And here I always thought 13 was my lucky number LOL.

Amen to that one!

There is no sump pump. We do not have any problem with water coming into the house from outside. The ground here drops 8' in just under 40' we are built on the side of a hill so there is plenty of natural dranage and it is all gravel. I guess when they built this place no one planned for water coming from the inside.

No Lew, we have quite a slope to our yard and our field bed is down hill from the house so no pump necessary. I am not sure why there are no floor drains in here other than we have really good natural drainage (except when the water comes from inside the house to start with). Unless the drain had been right beside the tank it wouldn't have helped anyway, everything down stairs is either carpet or laminate flooring.

No floor drain Art, it is a raised bungalow but we are on a septic system and I may see if it can be run to that. I checked and there is a wet monitor that I can get right here. I can assure you I lost touch with my female side long ago Joey, you are right it must be the property No floor draines, I'm not sure it would have helped if there were, the water wicked all through the carpet even up into the drywall. Early estimates from the restoration company are 8-10 grand but judging by the amount of carpet and laminate flooring they have already removed I suspect it is going to cost a lot more than that. I'll be calling the insurance company first thing this morning to see what they can do to help us. Checked my tickets first thing this morning, I don't think the $5.00 I won is going to help much LOL That is a very genorous offer Geoff, thank you so much! I think we'll be fine, about the only thing we are doing without right now is hot water and Sue just told me I needed a COLD shower anyway. It will all work out it was just disheartening when I walked down the stairs and saw the mess. Thanks so much for all the kind words, thoughts, and offers everyone. What a crew!

Never tried it but I'm about too!

Well, our house number is 313! Guess that should have been the first sign!

Thank you but I would never ask anyone to take a drive especially after having a drink! We'll get through it! Just feeling a little down right now.

Nothing any member of this board wouldn't do for a new member! Thanks Art!

There is all this talk about karma! They say you get what you give! All I want to know is who did I piss off and why? As many of you know I have had my share of bad luck lately. Storm ripped roof off of part of house. Storm dropped big tree on garage. Storm droppd big tree with nice new deer stand. Storme destroyed nice new boat house. Wind storm destroyed new ice hut. This morning I got up and went to have a shower, water was SUPER hot. After my shower I decided to go down to the basement to see why. Basement is flooded! apparently my gas valve on my hot water tank has failed causing my reliefe valve to "relieve" all over the floor. Carpet is saturated, laminate floor is actually floating, walls are soaked. Everything is a mess! If good begets good I must have done some really bad things in a former life! And they wonder why drink?

Well, Sturgeon Lake is frozen over as far as the eye can see from our place. Just saw a coyote out on the lake, looks like it is crossing from somewhere around Cameron and heading toward Pleasent Point area. We see several every year but this is by far the earliest I have ever seen one out on the lake. This is by far no indication that the ice is safe!!!!! Proceed with caution!

That does look fantastic! We started using a wet brine on our turkey a couple of years ago. I usually just brine mine over night but the difference is huge, I find they usually cook a little faster when brined too.

That should work just fine! I made something similar a few years back and it did the trick. I did try making one with a wooden down shaft but the wood kept trying to float and it made it hard to keep it pointed straight down the hole. I ended up using a piece of aluminum tube and I drilled holes crosswise through it along the tube so I could set the depth and just used piece of aluminum rod that I put through the tube and rested it on the ice.

LOL, had cataracts, they were removed a few years ago and I was assured they can't come back. I do get my eyes tested every two years (less than a year ago now) all is good there according to the eye Dr.. 95% of the cars are fine, but there are those exceptions where you can tell that the lights either aren't stock or they aren't adjusted properly.

As do I my friend!

I do a fair bit of driving at night on wet or slippery roads too with my part time job and I have to tell you that my biggest problem is with the other drivers having the brightest lights (and perhaps not set up properly). Man they can make it almost impossible for me to see the road. If you think that is "my" problem, just imagine what would happen if your lights blind me and I catch a sholder as we are approching? Oh, and I'm driving a truck, you might see me coming but it will probably be too late!

The water sitting on top of the ice will be almost at the freezing point. Any temperatures below freezing will cause that to form as ice very quickly. It will also saturate any snow that was on the ice and remove it's insulating qualities so this quick thaw is a really good thing in my books. We did have 7" of ice in front of my place as of last week, I'll bet we have 8" by this weekend.

You do have good winter tires I'll assume not all season. Most of my life I didn't bother with winter tires, a good set of all season and a good driver was all I figured I needed. About 5 years ago Sue was having trouble getting out of our driveway, it has quite a slope to it so I went and got her a good set of winter tires (and yes there is a big difference between a tire desigined for snow vs ice. Man that car of hers would go places that 4wds were having trouble especially on ice. The following week I went and got myself a good set of winter tires and wouldn't even consider not having them anymore. Now as for your specific question; I'm not the best person to tell you if neutral could/ should help but I do remember having a car that if you dropped it into neutral would brake better on ice (even shifted it into reverse once by accident, don't do it!!!) 4WD, well if you have it you might as well use it but as far as I know 4 wheels slide almost as easily as 2. It will be interesting to hear what the pros have to say.