Chris, you're going to need to decide that the whole siding needs to be replaced. Quit dickering with the insurance. Find the contractor you want for the house and get going. The insurance is going to pay *most* of it. Your choice is either: do it right, and they pay most, or do it 3/4ths *** and they pay all. That's just how it is. Insurance companies do not understand that we pay full premium price for full coverage, yet they think they can get away with paying 60% when the time comes. The best way to cut through the bullshit is to simply tell the insurance guy that this is what's happening, he is going to cover the best he can, and his company will suffer bad press if it isn't good enough. Invoke the media and/or the courts as needed.

 

Not nessarily. That may be how it ends up, but I have yet to play all my cards. I am not to the point yet where I am convinced that I can't have everything replaced on their dime, minus my deductible of course.

 

Chris - You're in a tough position, so is your insurance company. Many variables for you both to consider. Siding doesn't last forever, it weathers, fades, loses some integrity, etc. There's the chance you (they) could consider a fresh paint job on the house w/o having to replace the good siding which remains? I sure wouldn't want to be in your position. Just navigating the timeline of things moving forward is a hassle & it means basically intruding into your everyday life to accommodate everyone's schedule. Argh.

 

X3
I do recall Chris you considering an alternate to direct replacement even if you would offer to be responsible for the offset of a newer/ more durable product developed since the original was installed. Have you found or asked your siding guy about any of these newer innovations
I saw a neat product on a job site the week b4 last that was a "track mounted" faux stone product. Pretty slick. I thought to myself, "self why didnt you think of that"

We're in your corner, Keep your stick on the ice

 

Jim - You smack whitey today?

 

Nope With my arm [fistula] problems, I can barely pick up a coffee pot. If I had any sense, I'd chip and put and when/if I recovered, I'd be a much lower scorer

 

Bummer. My (likely bad) comment was tongue-n-cheek hoping someone resolved your pain/discomfort yesterday you felt well enough to smack whitey. Hope you can get some relief soon.

 

Hi everyone.

Well my friend is gone and I'm in clean up mode. We got the engine/trans out and he's on his way back to Ohio. Man that thing fought us every step of the way. No surprise, since I haven't done that car any favors over the years that I've owned it.

Jamesbo is the fistula not working or just causing pain? I pray you get this licked.

Guess I'll head over to Mom's in a little while. Tiger spent the night over there, no need for him to get all disturbed if my friend got up in the night. And also we had doors open and the fence down in the back yard, so he would have had to be isolated anyway, might as well be where he can relax.

Well Happy Saturday to you all. Looks like rain but a nice temp out. Have a great afternoon.

 

I hope that port gets better, Jim.

I've been thinking about tractors, and tillers, and lawnmowers. Been scanning and shredding more paperwork to reduce the paper load around here.

 

Norm - I appreciate your support and ideas. Tough position for sure. I'm experiencing some burn-out already trying to keep up with things, damage issues and everyday issues. Yes, painting is certainly an option, but to me the least desirable because of the maintenance.

Keith- I certainly appreciate your support and ideas too. I did look up some Siding types that are more hail resistant, they do exist, but that's as far as I got. Definitely more expensive, but how much I'm not sure because I didn't have time to dive into it at the time. I book marked them to look at later

 

I am thinking you got this

 

Thanks buddy, much appreciated!

 

John -

Looking at tractors, what have you been finding? Do you have a Branson dealer in your area? Kubota, Kioti, LS, John Deere,You mentioned a tiller. Are you looking to make a garden or something like food plots for other wildlife to share. Used or new

 

Wasn't necessarily a long day, but it was a long day. There are a host of both boys & girls groups based on age ranges. I believe they range from 8 yrs. to 17 yrs. of age. It was a fun day I enjoyed watching kids of all age groups. Left house @ 11am was home @ 7pm. I guess I'll continue to assist remainder of the summer. I was not aware they were going to feed me each time & today they said they are going to pay me - enough to the benefit of providing me with fuel reimbursement for each tournament. I thought it nice of them. They gave me an official hat (to keep) today & they're going to provide me a new shirt w/ logo. All-in-all a well organized, friendly, energetic group.

 

Norm - Regardless of the newly identified perks, it sounds like a great experience. Good on you for stepping up for what you originally thought was a totally voluntary position.

 

I'm a john Deere guy all the way . After starting off [50 years ago w]ith a Tory built Horse, It now collects dust because I have a tiller on the back of my tractor

 

Hi everyone.

Walmart is done. Cloudy day. Got some laundry going and I'm doing my taxes. I'm actually early this year. Usually I wait till the last minute then file an extension.

I mostly like John Deere as well. Sort of makes me feel like a fink, as Granddad worked for International Harvester. He was some sort of foreman for Farmall in Rock Island, IL. Of course if Grampa was here he'd know that Farmall is now just a glorified Case, and besides John Deere is the hometown tractor(Moline IL).

Chris I had this great idea. Tell the insurance company the siding on the whole house is damaged. Then get Gabe's team to come out and whack some pucks into the rest of the siding.

Not much else. Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend.

 

Jim - You might remember me saying that my Grandparents on my Mom's side put in a very large garden every year. It either wasn't really enough to warrant owning a small farm tractor, or they couldn't afford one, but I remember my Grandpa had one of these David Bradley walk behind 2-wheel tractor. He had a one row plow, disc, and tiller attachments for the rear, and a small snow/dirt plow and brush sickle for the front. The thing would do alot of work, but of course you had to work right along with it by walking.

 

My Azaleas have begun to bloom.

 

Lousy weather here last 4-5 days- BUT could be worse. It is a lot worse about 50 miles north. ******* Mi. had freezing rain and trees down/power out all over. Actually I think freezing rain all the way up to the U P. I got a call from Red Cross to go up and man a shelter at a church. Don't know yet if peoples houses destroyed or just cuz power is out, but they have opened a shelter in a church and asked me if I would go up. So hurry up and wait- took a shower and got gear together now about to fall asleep in easy chair awaiting instructions... this should be interesting.....

 

Already sounds interesting, sounds like it's going to get far more interesting.

 

I bet they're pretty! My Cherry tree has just started to bloom.

 

Greg - Good on you for helping your fellow man! Drive carefully and be safe if you end up going up there.

 

Tons of roadside Wisteria around here. Fragrance from Wisteria is delightful.

 

Chris - Is that a fruit-bearing cherry tree or an ornamental?

 

Norm - To be honest, I think it's some kind of weird cross. It bears a ton of cheeries, but they are small, about penny to nickel sized, and pretty tart.

 

Probably an unfair or incorrectly worded question on my part. I was really wondering if it was the type cherry tree you can eat the cherries. Sounds like yours is pretty tart and unlike a Bing Cherry tree or a Black Cherry tree. Pretty blossoms though.

 

Norm - They are not horribly tart, and I actually think they might make good pie cherries if I could get enough of them. To do that I'd probably have to put some type of fine netting over the tree because the damn birds seem to eat them as soon as they are semi-ripe. Not worth the effort.

 

Went to the new property today, threw a lot of stuff in the bed to go. Gave my friend's kid an army trunk. We set up her garden poles, loaded a horse stall with tools for her use, and tried to figure out water.

This tree is blooming. I like it. I think I can put the house behind it and not cut it down.

I think I will get the tiller in the picture used from a pawn shop tomorrow.

 

John - That looks like a Redbud tree, I've always thought they are pretty when in bloom. We have a ton of them around here.

That tiller looks to be in great shape! 👍

 

Ended up not going up to *******, Boss called and said weather was too threatening so no travel for volunteers. There were tornado warnings all over. So now it is Monday morning and I'll see if I get called. I kinda hate to admit it but I been looking a lot on Facebook lately. I found some of the guys who were on the same ships with me in the Navy. I "friended" them and now I am getting "people you may know" messages and they are more old Navy buddies. Such a blast from the past. Hard to believe almost 50 years ago I enlisted. (August 75)
'

 

I believe Chris is correct - it's a Redbud tree. One of the early tell-tale signs are flowers (blossoms) plus leaves (Cherry trees) or flowers (blossoms) w/ no leaves (Redbud trees). Flowers plus leaves on a Cherry tree while flowers w/ no leaves on a Redbud tree.

 

Greg - Certainly nothing to be embarrassed about, reconnecting with old buddies via Facebook. Good for you reaching out and reconnecting.

Speaking of a blast from the past, I saw a news story a couple of days ago that this year marks the 60th Anniversary of the movie The Sound of Music. I remember it pretty vividly because my parents took my brother and I to a theatrical production of it at the famous (at least locally) Barn Theatre in Augusta, MI, about half-way between Battle Creek and Kalamazoo.

 

Good morning everyone.

Slow going this morning. The company paid these people a million bucks to come in and figure out how to get more production out of our shop. Really just our area because no other area is affected. They came up with some scheme where the robots are running continuously, and two "shifts" work them and stagger their breaks. The way it was explained to us didn't make any sense, and when it was time for the first break, everyone stopped. Then the tire retriever broke and no one did anything for about an hour. We'll probably do this two days then go back to normal.

Chris are those cherry trees like in Washington DC? That's what I want to plant at my house. I also like azaleas. I have grown up I don't know what's around my house that's all getting cut down and taken out. I have to do all my landscaping up close to the house because the utilities are all on my side of the street, and most of my front yard is the drain field for the septic. I wanted to do some sort of brick or stone "gates" at the end of the driveway, but since I live on an airport, I can't have anything too tall that a wing would run into. No one with a plane lives past my house but if anyone ever moved in I wouldn't be happy if I had to take it down. My mailbox is on a hinge so it can be pushed over. Anyway cherry trees would like nice around my house.

Greg I was wondering how you were going to drive up to run the shelter if the weather was bad enough to need the shelter in the first place. Apparently they don't have volunteers up that way? Don't worry, you should be done with winter in about three months.

Errands to run after work, probably gonna rain this afternoon. It needs to wash away all this pollen. Hope everyone has a good day.

 

I used to do theater in high school and college and grad school then quit when I went to work. I have found that, even though theaters have traditionally been leftist, that the last 20 years has moved everything so far left that I doubt I would be able to work in such an environment again; not necessarily because of anything I would say or do, but because of the atmosphere and the assumptions that I would share extreme views on that end of the spectrum. Also, it's hard to find volunteer theater where the technicians and designers are appreciated, most actors view them as "the help." It's sad a little, because I enjoyed harnessing megawatts of light and huge speakers and powerful lifting systems. Maybe when I retire.

 

I already mentioned I was an international exchange student summer 1969. I resided in a family-owned Inn in Götzens, AU, for ten days. It may have been the Hotel Gotznerhof but I really don't know (recall). One of our day trips was to visit the hillsides of Salzburg, AU, where The Sound of Music was filmed. I'll be darned if it wasn't absolutely gorgeous w/ Edelweiss blooming on every hillside. Another day trip we visited the Hohenwerfen castle - we visited lots of castles that summer.

Here's a queer bit of nostalgia for you. In H.S. I acted in H.S. stage productions of Oliver! & Fiddler On the Roof. After H.S. our community put on a theatrical performance of Mary Poppins. I played a chimney sweep.

Chris - Evidently Dawn inspired me to slow cook a pork tenderloin - now in the slow cooker until tomorrow.

 

Norm, The Sound of Music was filmed in Australia?

 

Austria - Did I get the two letter code wrong?

 

Ha! I did. Austria is AT.

 

Just funnin' with ya Norm. I had to look up the Austria code as well. You're funny and I'm funny looking.