*
Dear Andy,
This just blew my way:
::snip::
Dear Fred,
Don’t bother with Alden. He read a few responses on the FHB website,
said he wasn’t interested, and quit.
Harriet
::snip::
Are you boys up to your old tricks? Or (noting her presence on your masthead) is this part of a vast FHb conspiracy?
Typing my fingers off, Fred
Replies
*
Good morning Fred. How ya doing? Joe H
*OH my God!This is a very very scarey scarey day!Helllooooo Freeeeddddd.near the stream,aj
*Dear Joe,Hey to you. The '00s have not been particularly kind to me. I was obliged to have a significant part of my head cut off (melanoma). Sometimes it feels like they took out some brain tissue. For a slight extra fee, they put my face back into a recognizable form. Jack, you old POS. Must be having a mild winter there too as I see you haven't frozen into a stiff pile. Ha Ha HaRegards, Freddy Lu
*My Gawd Fred! Good to see ya! And who the heck is Alden?Andy
*Dear Andy,HA. I can see by your evasive response that this is indeed a foul plot to distract me from my noble task of saving the planet.Harriet hired Alden as a PE to help her with a DP roof code compliance obstacle. Supposedly, he came here, saw yous guys, and bolted. Kinda of funny, except for our friend Harriet. Aside from being a very nice lady, she was a wake up call for me.I want to get with Gene Leger, and anybody else with interest and insight. We need to put together a package of tools to ensure fair code enforcement for home owners. The way I see it, our country is basically at war (again) over petroleum resources. The technical debates are over. I've had it with these stupid/lazy old farts standing in the way of best practice. Rantingly yours, Fred
*It...is.......alive!Good to see you name, Fred. Don't sweat void caused by the missing brain tissue. Simply get a bag of cells, fire up the blower, and...and...and...well...proceed with caution.If you blow it in at over 4 pounds per foot you may end up blowing out a membrane and overflowing into your sinus cavities. Not good.Good thing about a skull full of cells? No more head colds.Better health to you in '02.Regards, Mongo
*Dear Mongo,Good to see you too. Come to think of it, I haven't had a cold since. Hadn't though of that.Don't want to make too much of it. My wife saved my ass by making me go in. (She owns it now.) We caught it as a pup, just a quarter inch red spot on my cheek. So no drugs, radiation, nothing. But they take a LOT of face. I told the surgeons I wanted their best work. Still have to look good for Andy's photo shoots. So they fixed it with just a faint crease. A real happy ending.The funny part was coming back home. I had it done in NYC and flew back to VT the next day. Picture this guy drugged, dragging around La Guardia all beat up with one eye swollen closed, face full of black shoe laces, and oozing. All the tough guys in the john are looking over their shoulders and giving me lots of space. I'd hate to go through security looking like that now.So I spend more time with the clients these days. Lost all interest in hauling bales and bundles. I used to like to show the 20 year old kids how to work. No more. They carry all the freight now. Like I said, a happy ending.Looking forward to spending some time with you, Fred
*Fred, IRC 2000 section R806 sez (as I read it) all attics and all cathedral ceilings b WILLbe vented. I've looked it through several times and I found no alternative mentioned. Did I miss something? Joe H
*Dear Joe,You've got it exactly right and thanks for picking up on that point.Here's how I see it. We need building codes to ensure that low cost housing is habitable. This is all about Minimal Acceptable Practice. I'm ok with that. Until it blows up. I could spend my whole life shredding brand new code compliant houses.But what can we do for the folks who want Best Practice? Maybe they've been burned by owning a minimum standards house before. Maybe it's an old funky place. Or maybe they just think they're worth more than minimum. Whatever the reason, I think we should be able to give it to them. And code officials generally think that's ok too. Every code allows licensed specialists such as artichokes and enginegears to spec alternatives. That's cool. The crux of this issue comes at the point where homeowners want to install better measures that are not pre-code approved.In northern Vt, our code guys are sharp, because we have been whittling on them for years. But in other places, these old boys seem to spend more time with their noses in Penthouse than FHb. I think it would be useful for homeowners to have a packaged online resource that they could use to get approval for a Best Practice insulation measure without having to produce a stamped print.The quest continues, Fred
*Fred,Thought I'd add my words to welcome you back as well. Miss the discussions from '96-'98. Good to hear from you. While you were gone I've finished my house (well, finished may be stretching the truth a wee bit). 1/2 cord of wood/year to heat in St Louis MO, no ducts and no other heat or central A/C. A/C in summer is more of an issue than winter heating, but I'm working on that. Two kids now, so finish construction is at a snails pace.Warm Regards,Steve Wright
*Dear Steve,It's a pleasure to hear that news. Here's my plan: Let the kids grow up, and when they get too embarrassed to have their friends over, they can finish the house. Best, Fred
*Welcome back Fred, It's good to see your name in lights again. So Tim gets to do all the dirty work now? I've just jumped behind a desk full time myself. Hope I don't get fat and lazy! Any thoughts on how best to proceed in creating a resource that we can use to make our case with codes officials? I'm distressed at the number of books and articles still pushing wrapping everything in poly. Did you see the recent one in JLC? Steve
*Steve, my man.Yes, Tim is still with me. Working on his second baby. You know, we still, on occasion, have a chuckle about those cat boots. What a trip that whole thing.Going to write you about the desk gig. And get your current cat count.Writing on crawl spaces is on my mind now. I'm going to make a scene at Affordable on the code thing. Yeah poly, jeess. Like the world needs another serving of that. Just re-upped to JLC as a gratuity. Should have taken the jacket.Ever, Fred
*Fred,Welcome back!Rich Beckman
*Dear Rich,I wrote a note to you, but I think it wound up on another threat. Anyway, thanks for the kind word.How's every little thing? You seem to be hobbling along having fun.Yours, Fred
*> I wrote a note to you, but I think it wound up on another threat.In the "Hall of Fame" thread? I saw that, but I didn't make the connection that FredL was FredL.I am slow sometimes!Rich Beckman