Random Thoughts IV

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00clone

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Apr 12, 2011
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Iowa City area
The 800 years ago versions of Mrs.00 and Cowgirl were all "Yeah, those printed books are nice and all, but I like the feel of a stone tablet in my hands."
 

cowgirl836

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Sep 3, 2009
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I finally gave in a few years back and got the Kindle. I got the old style non-back lighted that was pretty easy on the eyes and easy to read in bright light. I used to get lots of shared books, hand me downs and pass arounds, but when my sis and BIL both went Kindle the pipeline of free books dried up so it was Kindle time. Added advantage of being able to select the font size is a plus. If my old man eyes get tired after hours of lazy vacation reading I can bump the size up one.


if I ever travel much more or find the desire to read away from home more, I'll have to think about it again. So far it hasn't been an issue to drag books around. Although, it seems my library has a lot of e-books so it may be a good option to get books that aren't at the local branch.
 

jcyclonee

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Apr 12, 2006
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Minneapolis
some of you people must have cordless drills, right? We need to get one to install blinds. Also probably for other stuff. DH is going to procrastinate on looking so I am going to help! He mentioned he wants one that has a battery that could be used on other tools? Is that a thing?

I did a little googling and I feel like I see DeWalt everywhere IRL.

any suggestions?
Here is my knowledge from when I was buying this stuff for a construction company and doing work around the house:

If you can find Panasonic tools they offer a very nice combination of light weight, quality and price. This is the brand our work crews tended to prefer but you won't generally find them at Menards, Home Depot or Lowes. If you have a Grainger or United Rentals nearby they would carry them.

DeWalt was good. The tools could be a little bulkier than others but the price was good. Bosch tools tended to be similar to DeWalt.

Milwaukee and Makita tend to be a bit better quality but you probably pay a bit more. For certain specialty tools these were the preferred brands.

I would tend to agree with Boxster that for most household projects Ryobi and other house brand (e.g. Craftsmen) tools will work fine. However, a 9 volt drill would really limit what you can do. I would recommend a 12 volt drill at the minimum.

You should probably get a spare battery. Don't get both batteries with the lowest amperage possible (if there is a choice). These will die quickly. Also, you would want spare drill bits. Installing blinds all over the house takes a lot of drilling, the bits tend to get pretty hot and snap.

I hope this isn't information overload. It got a bit more wordy than I expected.
 

BoxsterCy

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Sep 14, 2009
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Last drill thoughts. If you use a drill infrequently there is nothing wrong with having one that has a cord. Radical as that may seem.

And, if you ever get a 1/2 inch hammer drill, DO NOT loan it to your tool destroying neighbor. Just sayin'.
:mad:
 

jcyclonee

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2006
23,283
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Minneapolis
Last drill thoughts. If you use a drill infrequently there is nothing wrong with having one that has a cord. Radical as that may seem.

And, if you ever get a 1/2 inch hammer drill, DO NOT loan it to your tool destroying neighbor. Just sayin'.
:mad:
Truth. Also, if you build a deck you will definitely want one with a cord.
 

Stumbles

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Feb 17, 2012
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Cleveland Heights, OH
Got married. Went on honeymoon to Iceland. Bought 90 year old 3000 sqft center hall colonial in Cleveland Heights. All in a span of 3 weeks. All the life changes.

Wait. Set myself up for one.
 

cowgirl836

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Sep 3, 2009
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we have a patio, so no deck stuff, but definitely the possibility of insulating and drywalling the garage sooner than finishing the basement. I have no idea if drywalling requires a drill, probably. Was definitely planning on two batteries, good to know on drill bits. The DeWalt ones I was perusing on Home Depot are 18 and 20 volt. Think DH said he was figuring to spend about $100.
 

cowgirl836

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Sep 3, 2009
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Got married. Went on honeymoon to Iceland. Bought 90 year old 3000 sqft center hall colonial in Cleveland Heights. All in a span of 3 weeks. All the life changes.

Wait. Set myself up for one.


I bet that house is gorgeous! Is there a lot of work to do or is it fairly updated? I love that look. That and plantation style, love love.

How was Iceland, that is a very unique choice!

Congrats on allllll the changes!
 

stormchaser2014

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Mar 12, 2012
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Wisconsin
we have a patio, so no deck stuff, but definitely the possibility of insulating and drywalling the garage sooner than finishing the basement. I have no idea if drywalling requires a drill, probably. Was definitely planning on two batteries, good to know on drill bits. The DeWalt ones I was perusing on Home Depot are 18 and 20 volt. Think DH said he was figuring to spend about $100.

Not unless you want to use a screwdriver
 

cyrevkah

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Apr 12, 2008
9,925
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Ames, IA
Got married. Went on honeymoon to Iceland. Bought 90 year old 3000 sqft center hall colonial in Cleveland Heights. All in a span of 3 weeks. All the life changes.

Wait. Set myself up for one.

Is it strange that made me wonder if a kiddo was on the way too?

Congratulations! Tell us about Iceland.
 

cyrocksmypants

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Dec 29, 2008
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Washington DC
That's not too bad then if you get to go home on weekends. Will you be doing lots of work like this? I know the tech guys at Epic travel all the time for clients. So a Kindle may be worth it if you will be doing that as well. If this is just a rare thing, maybe not.

And I'm probably the most old-fashioned person ever, but I like having the real book. When we went on vacation last year, half my suitcase was books.

I used to say the same thing. Loved the effort of actually going out and finding the book. Then there was a book that I just couldn't find, even online to buy. Got a Nook for Christmas and I was reading that book within minutes. I literally had searched a year for this book before. I'll never go back. A Kindle would be better, but my Nook still does just fine and I couldn't live without it.
 

jcyclonee

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2006
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Minneapolis
we have a patio, so no deck stuff, but definitely the possibility of insulating and drywalling the garage sooner than finishing the basement. I have no idea if drywalling requires a drill, probably. Was definitely planning on two batteries, good to know on drill bits. The DeWalt ones I was perusing on Home Depot are 18 and 20 volt. Think DH said he was figuring to spend about $100.
18 volt will do almost anything you need. You will need a drill for the drywall. You should also probably get a drywall bit for that. Depending upon how long it takes to recharge the batteries and how quickly DH works, you may want a corded drill for drywalling. A cheap one would work fine.
 

jcyclonee

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2006
23,283
26,194
113
Minneapolis
I finally gave in a few years back and got the Kindle. I got the old style non-back lighted that was pretty easy on the eyes and easy to read in bright light. I used to get lots of shared books, hand me downs and pass arounds, but when my sis and BIL both went Kindle the pipeline of free books dried up so it was Kindle time. Added advantage of being able to select the font size is a plus. If my old man eyes get tired after hours of lazy vacation reading I can bump the size up one.
I didn't think I would ever give up reading books. However, about a year ago the kids gave up their first generation Kindle Fires to get Ipads. I decided to give the Kindle a chance and love it. Being able to change the font size and brightness is nice and it is really easy to check out books from the library online. I've noticed that the readers tend to work a little better with books downloaded from the "regular" library rather than the 3M Cloud library. I have no idea how the libraries decide which books are downloadable from where. Purchased books tend to work even better.
 

cowgirl836

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Sep 3, 2009
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18 volt will do almost anything you need. You will need a drill for the drywall. You should also probably get a drywall bit for that. Depending upon how long it takes to recharge the batteries and how quickly DH works, you may want a corded drill for drywalling. A cheap one would work fine.


yeah the I'm assuming whatever we get now is what we would use for the garage at some point, but may not be what we have when we start fiddling around with the basement. I think based on window and outlet location, cordless definitely sounds best for our immediate needs. My guess is we will be slow drywallers, ha.
 
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