My Deck Is Sinking!

Power washing our Big Red Deck for a season of grilling and chilling and I noticed that it's sinking.  Sinking at the house. Which is unusual. Most decks that I've seen sink do so either in the middle or at the front or on one end.

 

Obviously, the footings are settling. Hopefully just the footings that are holding up this middle section of the deck. I have to get in there to see what's going on with the joist hangers. Are there any? Are they failing? Is the sill plate moving? Tough to tell from these pictures just how steep the incline back to the house is. Whoops, the dog just rolled over without trying.

Come to think of it, last winter I had noticed an inordinate amount of "ponding" on the deck after it rains. I just shrugged it off. Sort of like when you go to the doctor and he gives you a grim diagnosis. You had noticed all along their was blood in your urine but you just thought it was something you ate. "It'll pass", he said.  

I spoke to a deck guy who also thought it odd the deck is sinking at the house. Here we can see the worst point of the sinking; we're down about an inch or so. Doesn't sound like a lot but you really notice the incline when you walk across the deck from one of the two sides that flank the middle.



This is a beautiful deck when its freshly stained. We had a deck in Connecticut that was "stained" white. White next to a brown house. Beautiful when the paint or stain is is fresh; not so much when it gets a little old. Yeah. "Little old". Like a week into it. Decks are a maintenance headache. I'm an engineer at heart. I build. I don't maintain. This coat of stain is just two years old. It started looking like crap last summer. Someone say, "Trex?"

 

My plan this weekend is to pull up enough boards to be able to make some sort of diagnosis. These are hard to get up, though. If I can get any traction on the screws, most times I snap off the heads. Lovely. There's also plenty of nails in this thing. Poor thing was not taken care of it seems and when it was it was hatcheted. We're the third owners of this house that was built in 1998. The people we bought the house from were divorcing. Note to self, don't buy a house from folks who are splitting up. They don't keep up their assets.

Good news is I had been planning on adding lighting to the deck and that would require me to pop up a number of boards to gain access underneath. Bad news is, this project might be a lot more than I had bargained for. Cheers.  

 

To Lease Or Not To Lease...THAT is The Question

Manage Your Life Like It's a Business
 

Who should lease as opposed to buying a car?  Well, "The Rich" lease their cars because it's believed best to buy appreciating assets and lease depreciating ones. With rare exception real estate appreciates, particularly in the long haul. Automobiles always depreciate. That $300,000 Ferrari-Lamborghini-Maserati "What's Their Name Celebrity" is driving?  Leased.



Leasing also makes sense, to some degree, for those who have limited financial resources. Leasing an inexpensive automobile can be an affordable way to have reliable transportation. A cheap lease being easier to find than a good, cheap, used car. If mom and dad have children who drive a cheap lease buys peace of mind. At least for the term of the lease.

Now, depending on the terms or length of the lease, usually between 24 and 36 months, your monthly lease payment is driven by the predetermined value of the car you're leasing at the end of your lease. That's what's known as the residual value. The higher the residual value the lower your monthly payment. Put cash down on the deal (not recommended) or a trade in and that monthly payment goes down even lower. Figure $20 per month for every $1,000 cash or trade in value you put down. Get $3,000 for that old Taurus plus another $2,000 cash and you've driven that lease payment down $100. To the monthly cash flow conscious buyer that's a deal maker.

 

One of the problems with leasing is the end of the lease. Let's skip the drama about damage and mileage overage fees for now but keep in mind they can be significant. At the end of the lease, you have three choices; lease again, buy the car at the residual value or buy another car (new or used). For the record, I've never seen a residual value that could be negotiated lower for a customer buy out. So, in most cases leasing amounts to little more than renting. Oh, and that old Taurus you traded in and the cash you put down? That value is all gone at the end of the lease. Unless you buy out the lease then you can rationalize, to some reasonable degree, that what you put down initially still holds water. If you don't buy out the lease then you have to make yourself comfortable that not only is that $5,000 gone but it went for nothing more than to give yourself an affordable monthly payment on something you rented. You also don't have anything at the end of your lease. My recommendation is that you hold onto your cash and make the higher monthly lease payment. More on this in a second.

What to do? First, look at the residual value and shop it around in the marketplace to see if buying the car out is an option for you. If the retail value is above your buyout (or "balloon payment"), then buying out your lease is a viable, efficient and wise option. If the balloon is larger than the retail price then it doesn't make sense to buy the car.

Next, look at buying a car and getting off the leasing-go-round. When buying a new car buying it with today's ridiculous rates with payments spread out over 60 months will have your monthly payments come in around the same amount as lease payments over 36 months. Sure, that car at the end of 60 months will be 60 months old but you're in a great position for months if not years of no payments if you keep the car. Older used cars with low mileage can be tricky to finance. Many lending institutions are either hesitant to loan money on older cars and charge a high APR. Others won't loan you money at all because they think the car too old. Best to shop banks as well as cars.

Another option is to purchase a gently used car. The values are incredible. Get a good APR over 36 months and you've bought wisely. I'm a car guy too and I'd love to drive a new car every two years if not sooner. Thing is, I love saving money more than I like new cars.

To Lease Or Not To Lease...THAT is The Question. If  you're focused on making the best business decision you can, you're probably going to make a good decision. Best of luck!

Corvette Emblem Is Finished

 

It's done and I'm disappointed in the way it came out. I appreciate you thinking differently, if indeed you are and I run the risk of sounding falsely modest when I say I thought it was going to come out better. Instead of looking authentic, like something General Motors would sell, it looks like what it is. A well intentioned but ultimately half baked facsimile.

 

 

 

It's not for a lack of trying either. Actually, I may have tried too hard. Here's the actual emblem I projected onto my office's projector screen. My tracing was not what it should have; that process lends itself to a lot of work after the fact. With an image as "flowing" as this emblem, I had to make some tough choices; go with the flow or make something that was, honestly, easier for me to make.

 

 

In the end, my emblem is closer to what the emblem looks like on the 1977-1979 C3 steering wheel as opposed to the emblems on the nose or gas door.

 

 



 

Not sure I'm going to be doing any crafts for a while now, sadly. I have to turn my attention to our slowly collapsing deck and ongoing problems with my car's anti lock brake and traction control systems.

Aston Martin Rapide - If James Bond Was A Family Man

 

  

It's not everyday this two door loving man finds a four door sedan that grabs his attention. Yesterday was one of those days and this 2012 Aston Martin Rapide, pronounced "Rah-peed" was one of those cars. I found it not in a lot of exotic, high performance cars in Southern California but, oddly enough, in the parking lot of a Giant Eagle supermarket near my home on Cleveland's "West Side". That "2012" sticker on the upper right of the windshield, or "wind screen", as they call them on that side of the pond, a tell tale that this silver bullet is for sale. A brief local check on cars.com confirmed that notion.

 

 

That search informed me this car is for sale with an asking price of just under $144,000. That means it's depreciated nearly $80,000 in just two years. With a drop like that, this car should be called a "Rapide Depreciation". I sure hope it was leased; anyone who purchases a car costing this much that depreciates like that has me wondering how they got themselves in the position to purchase a car costing this much in the first place. If you've ever wondered how those who've made millions suddenly go bankrupt, here's an example of how and why. Lottery winners, professional athletes and shopping carts, beware. 

 

 

With my Sunday donuts and bagels in hand, I was first taken back by that I couldn't tell what this thing was. Was it one of those new high end electric cars like a Fisker? Tasker? Tesla? Electrolux? Sorry, I'm not up on those cars. I'm clueless on hybrids or "eco-assists" too. Gee whiz, imagine spending the better part of a quarter of a million dollars on a car and then no one knows what you have. You wouldn't be the first person to think that the front end of this car looks like the front end of a Ford Fusion.

 

 

I love this picture because of juxtaposition. See that little red Camaro in the background? That's my beloved, "Old '96er". Up against the Rapide, it illustrates frugal yet fun purchasing vs. whatever you would call the purchase or lease of a Rapide. I guess if you have the money why not. But spending that much on this thing? What is a Rapide anyway? Well, a Rapide is a high performance "sports saloon" made by British luxury marque, Aston Martin. Introduced in 2010, the Rapide is powered by a 550 horsepower, 6 liter, 48 valve, double overhead cam V-12. 0-60 takes just 4.7 seconds. Pretty quick. However, there are faster cars out there for much, much less money. 

 

 

Those cars also aren't Aston Martins.

 

 

This car is chock full of little design elements that are really interesting. Take the door handles for instance. I guess this handle pops out when the driver gets near it with the key fob in tow or hits a button? What happens if the battery goes dead? I didn't touch it knowing that the person driving it (extended test drive, perhaps) could come out of the Giant Eagle and hit me with their English Muffins if they saw me tinkering with it.

 

 

This aircraft inspired interior is also out of this world. Isn't it funny how car design emulates aircraft? When was the last time you saw the cockpit of an airplane and it reminded you of a car? Hint: never.

 

 

I can only imagine how these beautiful discs and calipers stop this porky, 4400 pound dream machine. Hint: very well.

 

I wish I was a James Bond fan so I could drop in clever isms from the movies while describing this car. After all, Mr. Shaken, Not Stirred is a Aston Martin fan although not of the four door variety. If he had a family, then maybe he'd drive this.

The bottom line is this car will shake and stir your bank account and have you reaching for a Martini or two (or ten) when you come down off the high that comes from reckless spending. This is just a car after all albeit, a gorgeous one. One that I wouldn't mind tooling around in for an afternoon or two then return the keys or key fob. I'd return with a full tank of gas from Giant Eagle too because that's just the kind of guy I am.

 

 

 



 

1975 Chevrolet Caprice Classic Convertible - Family Sized

The very notion of a family sized convertible always seemed contrived to me. Afterall, convertibles are vehicles of passion, fashion statements if you will. Combining said passion and fashion with family in one package may have seemed like genius on paper but in reality, it was akin to a sporty, high performance mini van, or classy diner. One or the other design ethos is going to over power the other. Sorry, you can't have it all.

 

There's something special about a convertible. Most romantic automobiles over the years have been convertibles and these 1971-1975 GM "B body" convertibles where no exception. No exception either to the rule that like most if not nearly all convertibles, the romantic notion of one far exceeding what they were like in reality.

 

The GM "B" body convertible isn't easy to like but it is hard not to love. For starters, it's not a very good convertible. The wind gusting up and over that huge hood and windshield creating an F5  vortex that sucks anything and everything out of the car that isn't properly lashed down. That's why most of the time when you'd see one of these the top would be up. Even with the top up, these jiggly tin cans, sans a major part of their body structure, left much to be desired. Hard top and fixed roof versions of these cars get derided too for their loose structure. So if you start with something shakey, imagine it without a roof. My driving impression of these cars has always been, "was this thing in an accident at some point?"
 

 

The added structuring and buttressing in an attempt to make up for the lack of a roof also added significant weight to the car. Weight that the little Chevrolet 350 2 barrel, making all of 145 horsepower for 1975, had to yank around. Acceleration was "deliberate". Fuel economy, never good in the lightest versions of these cars, was, not surprisingly, atrocious.   

This car does handle surprisingly well given its size. Certainly not sporty but in a straight line on smooth roads the experience from here was pleasant. The brakes were excellent considering the times and rear drums as well. However, when it got twisty or when roads got full of pot and chuck holes, things got decidedly worse.

Then again, these cars were not performance cars. They were all about leisurely grand touring. Leisurely grand touring the whole family could enjoy. Really? Sorry, but I can't imagine too many families dropping the top on their family sized convertible that often. Once in a blue moon? Perhaps but families like their privacy and junior's Etch-A-Sketch becoming air borne with the top down would get old. Fast. Top up and this car is a noisey, jiggling mess would have Mom and Dad scratching their collective heads as to why they're paying a premium for the car in the first place.

 

GM stopped production of the B body convertible after 1975 claiming safety concerns. Not to mention weak sales. With the advent of ventilation systems and air conditioning, convertibles became all but unnecessary except to those who just had to have one. These cars made better weekend and Sunday drivers than they ever did as daily drivers. One of the reasons that prices for pristine examples, like this one, command the prices they do today. This triple white beauty sold at auction for just under $21,000. Figure considerably more for a retail transaction. Rarely loved for what they were when new, these big "family sized" convertibles have found new life today.

Drop the top, let's go. Oh, and don't forget the gas card. We'll need that.

 

Corvette Emblem Update

Sometimes I get so into a project that I actually forget to catalog what I'm doing for this blog. It's not like I do projects to blog about, mind you. There should be more documentation here but I feel sometimes that I will jinx myself and ruin the project by taking too many pictures.

 

This project has gone reasonably well although I see only problems with this so far and not, ultimately, how nice it is. Should I have worked harder to make the flags wave? Should I have done more research on blades to get ones that don't flex as much? Again, I'm not a carpenter and a "half empty" kind of person when it comes to my handy work. I'm sure, once it's done, it will be spectacular. I'm off to a good start.

 

 

Once more, I find the actual planning of these projects to be a lot more fun than actually doing them. The tedium of the cutting, in particular, I find quite boring. When I'm bored I make mistakes. When I make mistakes I get frustrated and projects either don't get completed or end up being started over. No such bad luck this time. This project is small enough where I can see it's end almost from the moment I started.

 



 

After I transferred the image to the board and spent a couple of hours reworking the image to something that I knew I could cut out, I drilled pilot holes where the checkers for the flag will be. I then began the fairly painstaking (boring) process of cutting out the 15 checkers with my trusty, $29 hand held jig saw.  

 

 

My 15 year was most impressed with the checkered flag cut out. "How did you DO that?" he asked emphatically. He didn't take me up on my offer to join me out in the garage for instruction. That's our Corvette, the inspiration for this whole thing standing majestically in the background of this shot giving it's oily nod of approval of my work to this point.

 

 

My previous projects where cut from 3/4 inch plywood. This is cut from white pine boards that are soft, cut easy and what's more, my jig saw blade, the very narrow, slim kind, moves around very easily in. I can't imagine doing this kind of jig saw carving using a harder wood. Still, I'm a little frustrated with the flex of my jigsaw blade. I can't have it both ways it seems; a blade that I can move around like a razor blade inside the wood while giving me smooth, straight cuts. This project is way to big for the scroll saw.

 

 

My original plan was to cut the top and bottom of the emblem at the same time. Of course, when I cut out the top, I forgot to reattach the bottom board so I ended up cutting them separately. The advantage to cutting them together was that the top and bottom would have the same cuts. Not so sure the blade would have flexed the way that I would've wanted nor do I think it was long enough. In any event, I did an outline of the top onto the bottom board. It's 90 percent there. Some additional shaving and sanding and it will be pretty good to go.

 

 

My wife went through my phone and came across these pictures and she was quite impressed with my handy work. Can't say that I'm not as well. I love that I've found a new hobby at this point in my life. A hobby that's fun, leaves me with something tangible and is quite cheap. Unlike golf or the inspiration for this particular project, our 1977 Corvette.

 

 

Much to be done. I plan on painting this upper part all chrome. Hopefully I can find a glossy rattle can silver or chrome. This way it will look like metal when it's all done. The back will have to be hand painted; the checkered flag of course being a bit tedious to do but doable. The Chevrolet logo and fleur de lei, that go on the left, will be cut with my scroll saw.

 

 

 

 

 

C3 Corvette Emblem Project

My next wood working project for the man cave will be a woodified version of our 1977 Corvette's emblem. No small feat, I might add, given my primitive abilities and humble, albeit much improved of late, collection of wood working tools.

It all starts with a template. Just like I had done with my Jets logo project, I projected an image of a "C3" Corvette logo onto packing paper I had attached to the conference room movie screen at the office. A steady hand while tracing the image gave me a good working outline.

Two hours of straightening, redrawing and general massaging of the image resulted in my deciding that this project should become a reasonable facsimile of a C3 logo as opposed to the actual logo. Again, my wood working skills are modest at best and while I appreciate you thinking better of my work than I do, I know there's only so much I can do. I know what I can and most importantly what I can't do. I promptly straightened out any soft curves from the template to make this "easier" on myself.

I cut my stock to size, twice, for the upper part of the emblem and the lower or back of it. My C3 Corvette emblem "facsimile" will at the very least have terrific three dimension. Then I cut the much refined template out of the packing paper and transferred it to the top board.

 

I will screw the boards together so that when I cut this with my jig saw the top and bottom of the logo will be the same. The tough part will be transferring the checkered flag to the top board and then cutting the fifteen, count 'em, fifteen boxes for the checkered flag. I will cut the flag out with my jig saw first before I cut the actual logos out. This will give me more of a base to work from and will minimize flex in blade. I plan to all or most of the cutting this coming weekend. No sense in rushing things.