The Home Ownership Thread

[Texasmade]

Pay yo bills deadbeat.

I'm up to date now.

 

[venividivicibj]

I get my water bill for this month and it's nearly $200. Normal monthly bill is just under $40 and I'm like wtf, I didn't use that much water. I go online and check my water usage and it turns out the City of Houston turned off autopay. I haven't paid my water bill in 4 months and this is my 5th bill. There's no option to turn autopay back on.

Don’t pay? They turned down the money.

 

[Texasmade]

Don’t pay? They turned down the money.

They didn't turn down the money. They turned off auto pay which directly debited my bank account.

 

[venividivicibj]

They didn't turn down the money. They turned off auto pay which directly debited my bank account.

sounds like a 'them' issue!

 

[Gibonius]

Porcelain fixtures are notorious for cracking when tightening down on that type foam donut gasket, called the spud, especially urinals. I just rock the tank side to side and tighten the bolts with my fingers until it won't rock any more then snug them with a wrench a half turn. Better to just tighten a bit more if it leaks than crack the bowl.

.

The part that cracked was plastic, looks like it was just old.

I just Googled it and came up with a Reddit thread with the exact issue with the exact same model of toilet. Apparently it's a known issue for that model?

 

[Gibonius]

I get my water bill for this month and it's nearly $200. Normal monthly bill is just under $40 and I'm like wtf, I didn't use that much water. I go online and check my water usage and it turns out the City of Houston turned off autopay. I haven't paid my water bill in 4 months and this is my 5th bill. There's no option to turn autopay back on.

Reminds me: when we moved in to our place, the default billing option with the gas company was something that took the average of your monthly bills and just charged you that, instead of your actual usage. I guess to smooth out the bills for people with tight margins?

Thing was, we moved in in January, so that was the only month in the average. When spring came around, we were still paying the peak winter monthly amount. They wouldn't adjust the average amount until the next year. So we would have been overpaying by thousands of dollars, then eventually getting a refund check.

They were extremely hesitant about letting us stop the stupid program. What a stupid program.

 

[Texasmade]

sounds like a 'them' issue!

Until my water gets shut off then it becomes a me issue.

 

[jcman311]

Until my water gets shut off then it becomes a me issue.

Just think of it as preparation for the inevitable shutdown of Texas infrastructure.

 

[double00]

the other evening I was on the porch medicating with a doobie when a commotion caught my eye in a neighbor's yard .

I look over and an enormous bird is sort of unfurling itself on the lawn , maybe a 6' or 7' wingspan and then it slowly rises up and smashes into the front window of the next house over before managing to flutter off . the neighbors ended up coming out to investigate the sound and explained that they had a bunch of owls living in the back . i didn't know owls got that big tbh

 

[Fueco]

the other evening I was on the porch medicating with a doobie when a commotion caught my eye in a neighbor's yard .

I look over and an enormous bird is sort of unfurling itself on the lawn , maybe a 6' or 7' wingspan and then it slowly rises up and smashes into the front window of the next house over before managing to flutter off . the neighbors ended up coming out to investigate the sound and explained that they had a bunch of owls living in the back . i didn't know owls got that big tbh

This explains so much…

 

[HRoi]

the other evening I was on the porch medicating with a doobie when a commotion caught my eye in a neighbor's yard .

I look over and an enormous bird is sort of unfurling itself on the lawn , maybe a 6' or 7' wingspan and then it slowly rises up and smashes into the front window of the next house over before managing to flutter off . the neighbors ended up coming out to investigate the sound and explained that they had a bunch of owls living in the back . i didn't know owls got that big tbh

Are you sure that was actually a doobie

 

[double00]

Are you sure that was actually a doobie

i'm reasonably sure it all happened . def interesting to get a real good look at a giant owl and very surprising to see it fly smack into a window . I guess this area is full of em .

in other news the backyard continues to develop . 11 cubic yards of hardwood chips so far , probably 20 more to go lol , paths are in and the deck is half done and the focus for this week . ordering some loam to fill low spots and develop some raised planting areas , visiting the nursery to check availability and negotiating final planting specs and preparing the work section by section , getting pumped to have a backyard .

 

[Gibonius]

i'm reasonably sure it all happened . def interesting to get a real good look at a giant owl and very surprising to see it fly smack into a window . I guess this area is full of em .

in other news the backyard continues to develop . 11 cubic yards of hardwood chips so far , probably 20 more to go lol , paths are in and the deck is half done and the focus for this week . ordering some loam to fill low spots and develop some raised planting areas , visiting the nursery to check availability and negotiating final planting specs and preparing the work section by section , getting pumped to have a backyard .

It's really satisfying, isn't it? I didn't expect to get so much fulfillment out of it.

30 yards is a lot of mulch, damn. You spreading all that yourself?




Nurseries are all doing fall clearance and it's a great time to plant stuff, so I've been filling in some holes. I had this hillside that hasn't made my priority list (it faces the neighbor's house and I don't get over there much). Planted a few shrubs last weekend and put in a new bed on that hillside. Went back to the nursey today and got a few other things that came to mind as I was digging and spreading mulch. Mountain laurels, rhododendron, some ferns. Hopefully the stupid rabbits don't immediately murder them (this time).

 

[venividivicibj]

30 yards is a lot of mulch, damn. You spreading all that yourself?

+1 That's gotta take you like a month unless you have help... (even with help it'll be a massive pain)

 

[double00]

It's really satisfying, isn't it? I didn't expect to get so much fulfillment out of it.

always a pleasure to see a drawing come to life . I started working as a designer for landscape architects in my early 20s but this is the first time i've owned the project .

30 yards is a lot of mulch, damn. You spreading all that yourself?

no . I have a terrible back . this is very clean hardwood chips so it's really pretty light for volume but it does take a bit of time .

Nurseries are all doing fall clearance and it's a great time to plant stuff, so I've been filling in some holes. I had this hillside that hasn't made my priority list (it faces the neighbor's house and I don't get over there much). Planted a few shrubs last weekend and put in a new bed on that hillside. Went back to the nursey today and got a few other things that came to mind as I was digging and spreading mulch. Mountain laurels, rhododendron, some ferns. Hopefully the stupid rabbits don't immediately murder them (this time).

yes indeed . they had some Japanese pine shrubs in dat clearance section . i'm pumped .