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horn4life

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  1. If in America the person who got the most votes won the Presidency think of how different for example the Supreme Court argument jury might be?  For example there would not have been a Republican Elected President since President George Herbert Walker Bush.  Now this is not absolute and you could argue that there might have been some other Republican that could have won the popular vote.  But the only Republican to get a majority of the  vote that was an incumbent George W. Bush.  But Bush would not have been an incumbent. So you can suppose and propose dozens of "what ifs" but the bottom line is Republicans simply do not win Presidential elections if we are a Democracy instead of a Republic.  So it's easy to understand why the Republicans stacked the court when given the opportunity by hypocritically changing the longstanding traditions regarding Supreme nominations, not once, but twice.  But Trump would not have been in office... because he could never win more votes than the opposing party.

    But when you think about the War in Iraq, and the trillions of dollars spent and the added instability that was created by a naive President who attacked a sovereign country with bad intel?

    When you think about healthcare, you need to understand that Obamacare was based on a plan previously endorsed by, (hold your breath) The Heritage Society.  If we had democratically elected Presidents broader more affordable healthcare would have been implemented decades ago.

    You can also look at the Iraq War and think of whether Al Gore's administration would have paid a little bit more attention to an August Presidential Daily Briefing and perhaps 9-11 never happens?  Think of the trillions of dollars that could have been spent on something else?

    Would we be in the same situation we are today regarding Climate Change?  If we had had a President concerned with the warming of our planet who received more votes was President that the guy who sold his West Texas Oil business to Saudi Arabia interestingly enough.  

    I could scroll out a shit ton about Trump.  Hell, Jared Kushner would be a couple billion dollars lighter to start. But I'll let other folks address their musings.  The Supreme Court made me think about Democracy, and how our country isn't actually one.

    your Thoughts

  2. Sort of just typing cathartically. Lots of pluses and some real lows of helplessness on Dad's pain.

    Overall I have to say that both of them are "better" in that there are periods my Dad is basically pain free, and Mom is much improved.  She had a UTI, and it is quite frankly mind boggling the cognitive toll it was taking on her.  I was questioning the costs between nursing home and memory care, she was so unresponsive.  She's never going to be who she was, but with dementia you just have to enjoy the moment while you still have it, IMHO.  I know it's only downhill for both of them, but damn I haven't been around them this much in years, and it's beautiful that they still love each other so much.  They really were a good example for me.

    Dad was actually pain free the whole afternoon, when I came back Sunday.  Then he tried to poop on their low ass toilets... and he caused the nerve to flair and fucked up his night.   Next day he was in periodic pain, but also good pain free periods, and more mobility when pain free.  Today was day one of 4 days of Doc appointments which all require and in and out of the car that I can't help but think is not helpful to the back pain.  But now I also believe that a concern is that his aortic aneurysm has gone from 5 to 5.5 mm in the last 6 months. They expected more like .1 per year.  And I just looked up "size of aortic aneurysm" and looks like they feel you need to operate at 5.5mm or above. So now I think that there is going to be a real fear of the second epidural shot, as his I think his blood pressure was like 200 over 130?  Memory is so foggy now, but it was as crazy high.  So the pain could actually kill him is sort of where I see the concern going.

    Post op appt today, vascular tomorrow (today in 10 minutes), Joint/pain Wed and Primary on Thursday.  It's an ordeal to get them both fed, straightened up, and into the car with enough lead time for me not to be stressed about the getting them out of the car and to where we need to go at the hospital/clinic.  But at least I hope I have a better picture of what is what.

    Unfortunately I got to witness basically almost two straight hours of agony tonight.  No position sitting or standing could relive the pain.  Basically constantly puffing in pain like giving birth, to the point of exhaustion.  I finally convinced him to try to lie down as if he could ever find a spot lying down where he wasn't dying he might be able to get some rest.  Just gnarly ass continual pain with even winces beyond that level.  It was tough to watch, and while we have been trying to keep the opioid use as low as possible, thank God for hydrocodone, as it is now finally allowing him some respite from the agony.  

    I was about to write that tomorrow is a new day, but now today is tomorrow... On the bright side Dad's been asleep in pain free for all of today's 8 minutes.  Gotta keep hope!

    • Like 6
  3. On 1/31/2024 at 1:37 PM, ROFL BOX said:

    Mom is having an L2 ~ L3 Xlist / Laminectomy on Fridsy.

    I took her to the pre-op clearance yesterday. Serious business for a neatly 79 year old lady.

    Doc says she needs 1:1 assistance for 3 days post discharge, yet this is only an overnight stay in the hospital & unless you're IN the hospital for 3 days, a rehab type "nursing home" facility is not approved.

    Hell, when she had her knee replaced she was able to get approved for that same type of rehab stay... & this one is spine related.

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    I'm Sorry.

     

    I'm now in the middle of this in a way that is cascading pretty damn quickly.

    Dad has been a rock physically and mentally. They have been fiercely independent, but something changed at Christmas and my Dad starting having severe back pain.  Of course he didn't communicate with me the severity beyond "it's still bothering me."  I call him about two weeks about and he is in screaming agony when I called.  Apparently this level of pain is what "still bothering" meant.  But now instead of a few minutes of  white poker pain it's sometimes hours.  He is also my mom's caregiver as she has dementia but was in decent physical shape.  The decline in her is clearly observable physically, because as Dad's pain became unbearable, his care for her declined precipitously.   Got him in last week to bone and joint doc, got the MRI, he got an Epidural shot, and I went home for a day.  Next day mom fall's apparently upstairs and neighbors come over he tells me.  I say "I will be back in A&M."  He then calls me about 9:30 that evening (I had dinner with my sis to talk about the future with them).  Explains to me that "I need to write this down his blood pressure  is 92 over 65, and his heart rate is 177!!!  I am telling him shut up, and call 911.  

    I talk with EMS during all the commotion and they are explaining to just take it easy coming up, he is stable and heading to ER.  I then ask, "What about my Mom?" You cold hear the incredulity in his voice, "Your Mom is here?"  She had her hearing aids out and the commotion did not register for her at all.  So the problem is trying to juggle Dad in the hospital (soon to be released) and Mom who is out of it a lot and sleeping a LOT apparently since Dad. So she has declined markedly and getting her as close to what she was a month ago is now my primary goal.  As that is something I can influence.  Dad's out of the hospital, actually the first epidural did give him a little relief, but not much.  In the hospital he was feeling pretty good, but IV pain meds may have had something to do with that.  Good news was he got into the wheel chair to leave, which is something that caused him writhing agony previously.

    My lovely wife has found a memory care bed for my Mom that we have 30 days to move into here in Austin.  That's step one to getting them both closer.  My life is basically on hold, but thank God that I don't have a boss to answer to telling me what to do with my time.  The goal is to get mom moved to memory as healthy as I can make her, and get my Dad into an independent or assisted living depending on how this back pain issue works out.  I walked into the hospital and he was talking to a doc and intern and he was completely breaking down.  Watching his wife deteriorate over the last couple years, and now his ongoing extreme back pain, combined with a lack of sleep (has not laid down prone in over a month) just had him sobbing.  But he needs to talk to me or somebody, and I think he doesn't want to "burden me" with his problems.  But they are my problems too!  And we all need to have somebody to talk to in stressful time.  Just talking about it and crying can help, it really can.

    The great news is Dad's brain is still there, and they have financial means to get them in a good situation once all this shakes out.  But once all this works out I will end up the point guy on a remodel of their place on Lake Belton.  As a bonus Dad has an aortic aneurysm that I think they said was 5.5 centimeters, that he had declined to have surgery on before.  But I think he is reconsidering and might get the surgery if he can get this back pain to a manageable level. But that is a long way out right now.

    So I am in the beginning of what may be a long journey. But if I can get them both closer to me, it will be a lot easier to get them support and more importantly be able to visit with them both and bring a little joy into their lives.  Right now this is more important to me than anything else.  And while mentally and physically the travel, stress and lack of sleep are taking their toll on me, whatever the cost to me, they we great parents and deserve the best from me now in their greatest time of need. I am lucky that at least I have a sister who will help some.  But most of the actual work and time is gonna fall on me.  

     

    • Like 6
  4. I think what happened with Ketch was he was contemplating how to write a hit piece but didn't have the logic in place... 

    Then he reached fo the ketchup, got grease on his arm from the burger, recoiled from the grease, hitting the corner of his big gulp, which began to wobble, and with those two paws resembling a beef patty surrounded by little smokies, reached forward and steadied the wobbling cup!

    ... and one of those little smokies accidentally hit post on his keyboard.

    • Haha 1
  5. What the GOP simply wants is white minority rule.  That is why they hate democracy and voting, and instead prefer to restrict voting as much as they can legislate.  And since there are so few elected republicans with any principles at all, they can lie about the truth, and have no shame at all about it.  here is a great example of the GOP's fear of people voting legally and freely.  A completely hypocritical ruling to do one thing, restrict voters from voting.  Ohio attorney general rejects voting-rights coalition's ballot petition for a 2nd time

    The GOP has managed to put a majority of judges on the Supreme court, who were appointed by Presidents who did not get a majority of the popular vote when first elected.  So Minority rule is already what we have on the highest court.  Democracy is not in the GOP's interest, it simply isn't and the link above proves it.

     

     

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  6. Work at golf club part time.  

    Get your bartenders license and work events like ACL.

    Crosswalk guard at elementary school.

    Start you own consulting business in your field.  Find a way to leverage your IT experience?  Might be tutoring?  That's mostly evenings but plenty of time for golf and daytime activities.

    Maybe "Mr. Wrinkles" on OnlyFans.

    Volunteer helping young people do something or learn something.  Very rewarding emotionally, and being around younger people keeps you young.

    Odd one here, but I know a retired gal that does this and likes it... Hearse Driver for funerals.

    But if you are a risk taker the answer is obvious...

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  7. 1) Check with your Health Insurance.  A LOT of insurance companies will subsidize the watch purchase with some sort of stipend for meeting your activity goals.  Look there first as you may find out you can get an unreal deal.

    2) If you are cheap, buy an older model, I think the 8 is where you get O2 sensing.

    I love mine.  Only thing I wish was that it would stay charged for a week.  But it's awesome for fitness, but only if you give a shit.  You can also share data, so you can "compete" with family and friends if that appeals to you and motivates you.   I guess the best way it helps you achieve fitness goals is by giving you more data to evaluate your training recovery.  The only thing that makes you more fit is recovery.  If you don't get enough rest, good diet and hydration that will show up in AM resting heart rate for example.

    It really depends on how much you want it to help with your fitness goals?  If you need someone to say, "get off your ass!" It is wonderful at that!  But the heart rate and sleep data are probably the best tools from an evaluation of progress and training planning.  But for you it may just be gradually raising your goals, and having the watch prompt you to complete them daily.

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  8. The problem is at this point the interest expense on the cards is bleeding you out.  Seems like the access to the $49K is the relief pressure valve you are looking for.  As has been said pay off highest and work diligently on the remaining balance.  I might even do a little research seeing if there are transfer offers on some of your cards and not others.  So maybe pay off a card in full that has a slightly lower rate to shift a balance to some promotional rate? Usually the fee to move the balance is a couple percent, so unless the rate is super low probably not worth it, but I would look for anything that could buy me some breathing room.

    Sorry to hear about the issues with your son, I can only imagine the emotional toll it has taken on you past the financial toll.  

    Past the $49K I guess I say go full austerity, as it's the only way to dig out.  Make a two year plan if you are dead set on not pulling from your home equity.  I am not a big proponent of bankruptcy, but if that's the path to your getting whole you have to consider it.  It sounds like you guys are just trying to hang onto the house, and be reasonably secure 10 years from now.  Bankruptcy could get you there conceivably?

    As others have said a credit union might give you options beyond what you have now.  Having the wife go full time for two years, since she is the most adamant about no refi, it's not an unreasonable ask.  Good luck, hope the ball bounces yall's way!

     

  9. Just looked at one of the Longhorn draft rankings and interestingly enough Houston has the #59 pick, and T'Vondre is ranked as the #60 pick in this ranking.   I would love to get me some T'vondre Sweat on our DL, then Anderson could really feast.  It was interesting to me that they had Byron Murphy before Sweat in the rankings.  Anyhow I could see how maybe we might get some burnt orange blood for the Texans. I can always hope!

    IMG_4923.jpeg

    TEXAS LONGHORNS 2024 NFL DRAFT PLAYER RANKINGS

    RANK PLAYER POS COLL WEIGHT HEIGHT 40YD AVG POS RANK AVG OVR RANK RATING SUMMARY
    36
    Adonai Mitchell Texas Thumbnail - NFLDraftBUZZ.com

    Adonai
    Mitchell

    WR
    Texas   Mascot
    196lbs 6-4 4.50 9 43.8
    87.1
    Adonai Mitchell, Wide Receiver, Texas Adonai Mitchell's journey began at Cane Ridge High School, where he was rated a 3-star recr...
    43
    Byron Murphy II Texas Thumbnail - NFLDraftBUZZ.com

    Byron
    Murphy II

    DL
    Texas   Mascot
    308lbs 6-1 5.05 9 52.6
    86.6
    Byron Murphy II from DeSoto High School was rated a 3-star recruit by ESPN and handed a 4-star grade by 247 Sports. After high sc...
    45
    Xavier Worthy Texas Thumbnail - NFLDraftBUZZ.com

    Xavier
    Worthy

    WR
    Texas   Mascot
    172lbs 6-1 4.29 6 34.6
    86.5
    Xavier Worthy from Central East High School was rated a 4-star recruit by ESPN and handed a 4-star grade by 247 Sports. After high...
    55
    Ja'Tavion Sanders Texas Thumbnail - NFLDraftBUZZ.com

    Ja'Tavion
    Sanders

    TE
    Texas   Mascot
    243lbs 6-4 4.56 3 57.5
    86.0
    Ja'Tavion Sanders from Ryan High School was rated a 5-star recruit by ESPN and handed a 5-star grade by 247 Sports. After high sc...
    60
    T'Vondre Sweat Texas Thumbnail - NFLDraftBUZZ.com

    T'Vondre
    Sweat

    DL
    Texas   Mascot
    362lbs 6-4 5.05 14 62.1
    85.9
    T'Vondre Sweat from Huntsville High School was rated a 3-star recruit by ESPN and handed a 3-star grade by 247 Sports. After high...
    62
    Jonathon Brooks Texas Thumbnail - NFLDraftBUZZ.com

    Jonathon
    Brooks

    RB
    Texas   Mascot
    207lbs 6-0 4.45 5 69.4
    85.8
    Jonathon Brooks emerged from Hallettsville High School as a multi-faceted athlete, excelling in both football and basketball. In f...
    173
    Jaylan Ford Texas Thumbnail - NFLDraftBUZZ.com

    Jaylan
    Ford

    LB
    Texas   Mascot
    242lbs 6-3 4.76 17 153.5
    79.7
    Jaylan Ford from Lone Star High School was rated a 3-star recruit by ESPN and handed a 3-star grade by 247 Sports. After high sch...
    190
    Christian Jones Texas Thumbnail - NFLDraftBUZZ.com

    Christian
    Jones

    OT
    Texas   Mascot
    321lbs 6-6 5.21 41 166
    78.5
    Christian Jones from Cy Woods High School was rated a 3-star recruit by ESPN and handed a 3-star grade by 247 Sports. Following h...
    210
    Isaiah Neyor Texas Thumbnail - NFLDraftBUZZ.com

    Isaiah
    Neyor

    WR
    Texas   Mascot
    215lbs 6-3 4.49 63 470.5
    77.9
    Isaiah Neyor from Lamar High School was rated a After high school, Neyor opted to join Wyoming.In 2019 as a freshman Neyor saw a...
    263
    Jordan Whittington Texas Thumbnail - NFLDraftBUZZ.com

    Jordan
    Whittington

    WR
    Texas   Mascot
    204lbs 6-1 4.47 53 375.7
    75.0
    Jordan Whittington from Cuero High School was rated a 4-star recruit by ESPN and handed a 4-star grade by 247 Sports. After high ...
    334
    Keilan Robinson Texas Thumbnail - NFLDraftBUZZ.com

    Keilan
    Robinson

    RB
    Texas   Mascot
    188lbs 5-9 4.32 50 515.5
    72.0
    Keilan Robinson from St. John's High School was rated a 4-star recruit by ESPN and handed a 3-star grade by 247 Sports. Following...
  10. Plenty of needs still but finally the team seems to be building a sustainable base that offers a likelihood of an upward trajectory.  Damn.  Writing that makes me feel like I personally may have jinxed the team.  Hopefully just Oiler PTSD!

    I think if you get Stroud better protection, all receivers will see improved numbers.  So I am hoping a little more O-line help.  I know that it's not flashy, but better protection giving another 1/2 second for routes?  I think that could be a nice return on investment.  They definitely struggled versus Baltimore, so it's an area that could use some shoring up, if for no other reason than to allow dinged up guys to get some relief?  Strong arguments for CB, WR, DL as well.  We are pretty good one deep, not great, but pretty good.

    Maybe we can work some free agency magic, and another year of draft magic to make 2024 another playoff year.  Just keep putting good peices into place and good things will happen with Demeco and Stroud I am truly starting to believe (despite my Oiler PTSD)

  11. 7 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

    Right and this is a reason I don't think they are going to give Trump immunity.  It puts the executive too far above the judiciary.

    In other words...Thank God we can rely on the Republican controlled raw desire for personal power at the Supreme Court level to make the correct decision, rather than rely on the integrity and principles of the court.  5-3 GOP  So, for the most politically corrupt Supreme court ever, desire not to cede power is our best hope.

    God help us...

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  12. 35 minutes ago, DalTxHornFan said:

    I use a pipe heat cable on mine.  Something like this.

    image.png.c3f2fe5ddc200ba287021ade0fbdc9c8.png

    I think I have some sort of hillbilly rig for my RV from the prior owners that looks pretty similar.   OF course the fucking outdoor plug near the heater wasn't getting any juice.  Maybe a GFCI somewhere, need to test it and see if that's the case or not.   

     

    36 minutes ago, Jkwellborn said:


    I need to figure out where the lines actually froze on mine. There’s only one spot it’s not insulated. I don’t know that I need to go this route just yet.

    That was why I didn't try my heat gun is with so much exposed pipe you could just not be hitting the right spot.  I guess it's great that it freezes so often now in Austin, I get an immediate chance to see if my wrap saves it this go round.

  13. 23 minutes ago, HouTex said:

    Correct, no power no hot water.  But yes, I love my tankless water heater.  We never run out of hot water and we did all the time with a conventional tank heater (very long showers by my wife and two daughters).

     

    23 minutes ago, Jkwellborn said:

    I love mine. I’d do it again every time. I don’t know that I’d want one that ran off of propane or electric. Mine just uses 110v for the igniter, so power wasn’t an issue.

    My thought was this Spring to potentially flip the conventional water heater into the garage, to free up the space.  But a tankless would actually solve all my garage configuration issues with electrical and plumbing for the washer and dryer in the garage.  In fact the one area of vulnerability during the snowpocolypse was that the feeder water line for the water heater is not insulated (or well insulated) in the garage wall.  And the hot water froze up on those garage lines that were inaccessible.  Tankless might be actually the simplest solution from a space and plumbing routing perspective to grab that closet space.

    So how many GPM are your heaters?

  14. 21 hours ago, shakahorn said:

    This wouldn't work for me.*  My heater won't kick in unless there is a 'significant' amount of water flowing through the hot side.  For example, in my guest bathroom, the hot water in the sink will never kick in, unless the hot water in the bathtub is turned on first.

     

    *I don't have this specific problem

     

    21 hours ago, HouTex said:

    Same for my tankless hot water heater.  Mine is in my attic and so far it has been fine throughout the last 3 major freezes.  The neighbor next to me (similar patio home design and construction) lost her tankless heater during the 2021 freeze.  

    I was wondering about this?  Simply as at some point I did some research, and it seemed like the flow of water was what kicked on the gas units I was looking at way back when.  With the better insulation maybe just turning on the hot water for a couple minutes every couple hours will do the trick?  I'll go measure the space for the future cover, and do a little research on the model they installed.  I could pretty easily make that utility closet additional interior storage space, with such a change.

     

    SO DIFFERENT QUESTION- Those of you commenting, do you like your tankless water heaters?  The reason I am asking is that I am seriously contemplating moving the hot water heater from the interior closet (it used to also house the air handler before it was moved to attic) behind the closet wall and into the garage.  I could flip the water connections from the back wall of the utility closet, onto the back wall of the garage pretty easily actually.   Assuming the current vent would meet spec on a tankless gas heater.  But no power, no hot water, right?

     

  15. Yeah once it got some sun on the black insulation yesterday it started to work.  Still has a little bit of a drip, but apparently it's pretty minor.  Yes,yes,yes, drip the hot water!   I will likely just go ahead and build a box out of foam and some 1/4 ply, as an extra layer of protection.  

    Still I will never understand why folks are such fuck ups on simple installations.  The way the flex connections are forced up against the bottom of the unit because they are too damn long makes them impossible to insulate properly.  It just takes a fucking second to do shit right, and so often it's just fuck it up, and move on...

    Thanks guys for all the input!

     

    Oh and it faces East, so catches the morning  sun

    • Like 1
  16. 1 hour ago, YGIFS said:

    If she's gonna be there awhile in the rental, tell the fucking landlord to install a recirculating pump if he's gonna install them outside like an asshole.  But I get that some builds don't have the setup for them.  

    At this point since we have a few more nights of freezes and possibly more on the way in February.  First make a hot roux and let simmer.  

    But drain all the remaining water out of it.  Wrap what you can, at this point, splitting open a few pool noodles and using them is just as easy as anything else.  You're not gonna get him or a sub to come out at this point and properly insulate the thing and your daughter is looking at at least 3 more nights of freezes, with more likely down the road.  So honestly, Macgyver the shit out of this.  Drain it and all the lines first (hit any line that won't budge with your heat fun or even a hair dryer), wrap the pipes in pool noodles or if you can get proper insulatory wrap from the hardware store used that, but I bet they are sold out.  And then get crafty.  I'd go buy two large moving boxes and fit it over the tankless.  take a few measurements, cut out what you need to and then duct tape packaging styrofoam from a shipping store or hardware store or even a couple remnants off an insulation roll.  And affix them to the inside of the box and drop it on over, snug as can be.  Again, get all of the water of the unit and her lines as can be.  Then tell the fucking owner to put in a recirculating pump between now and the next freeze cycle, if she's gonna be there awhile-she should insist or at bare minimum a proper insulation shell for the unit that includes a 3-6" enclosure below the ground.  If it has a solenoid, be careful as fuck with it.  Those things are just waiting to break in exposed weather like this.  

    You're a nice dad, when you're done---pour yourself something warm to drink

    The maintenance guy came out and broke off two of the valve handles... so there's that.   I think it's gonna start leaking like a mofo, one it warms back up.  But hopefully not.  I mean they have the fucking temp setting that should be inside the house dangling on the about 8 feet of wire curled up underneath the thing.  That's the LED small square panel you see.  But they have Flex water connections that are way too long and thus are crimped  in the forcing the connection process and impossible to get insulation around.  But hillbilly before and after dad... I did have several bits and pieces of insulation I grabbed from the garage that I hung on to.  But I had to cut some strips to fill the gapping as I duct taped up all the water lines.  

    Isn't that electrical line supposed to come into the bottom? Or does a watertight fitting negate that?

    Oh I did get a nice pour of a couple of tasty Tequila Ocho top shelves at Eldorado Cafe on the way home.

    waterheaterbefore.thumb.jpeg.e79891821e75ec716a4856d52ec8d09a.jpegwaterheaterafterdad.thumb.jpeg.d382479a8d4bd36adfd1e8ba9254cc3c.jpeg

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  17. My daughter lives in a newer neighborhood off MLK and they have an outside tankless system.  She's renting, and the bottom line is the install was shitty, and the insulation was non-existent. So she ended up with no hot water.  I saw a little water leaking but with so much pipe exposed, I figured hitting it with my heat gun might not work and that I should just wrap the pipes as best I could. Forty five minutes later I did about as good a job as can be expected.  So maybe next freeze the thing survives.

    But do any of you have outside gas tankless heaters?  IF so how do you insulate them?

    I was thinking of going over and rewrapping, when my fingers aren't frozen, but I was also thinking about maybe building an insulated box to hang on the wall to further protect the system?  

    Anyhow wondering what some of you do in this situation. I searched for another thread so if this is a duplicate I appologize.

     

  18. 17 minutes ago, DalTxHornFan said:

    Maybe there is not enough money at stake to go crazy about, but make sure that the severance agreement uses the same language about the departing employee that is used about the company (Joe Blow and XYZ jointly agree....yada, yada) they shouldn't be able to talk shit about the former employee also.  Future job references should be addressed, as well.

    I said any agreement should include a glowing reference as well. As that's something you can simply require them to do that is fair play in my mind.

    And I also think that if the guy hasn't been thinking about business cards, websites and manufacturers he doesn't want to compete.  So take the money and move on, but stipulate the glowing reference letter that I would write.  

  19. 22 minutes ago, immamac said:

    Was he fired for cause or just fired so they could shaft him? 

    He was sort of the technical brains of the operation with an older owner. The older owner he thinks either wants to sell the business, or give the business to one of his kids as an income source. But that's just speculation.  But not for cause.  He's been there for like a decade

    21 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

    It’s standard. Non-competes do have to be pretty narrow to pass muster, but you’d have to be willing to fight that out in court if you get a new job and they sue for breach of NC.  I think Texas does not like them in general as a right to work state. 

    Yeah the non-compete is bullshit.  And would be dismissed as no specificity at all. And yeah the concern is he could get money whipped in court, regardless of the merits.  IMHO that's the main reason for most companies to do a non-compete as fighting deeper pockets as in individual is(should be) a concern when signing anything quite frankly.

    Personally if I thought I could make $25K by competing with the old scrooge, I would be getting after it out of a burning desire to fuck that mofo over.  I got fired one time, and I was the sales guy keeping the fucking lights on with my high profits and prompt payment fro customers.  The guy that fired me went belly up in less than 6 months.  It was funny that he thought he could take my accounts.

    Anyhow that's the path I would go.  Fuck him.  To me it's either that, or just sign the agreement and move on.

     

  20. Luckily it's not me, but a friend of a friend found himself in this situation getting fired when he was expecting a bonus.  Then the owner comes back and offer 3 months pay to sign the non-compete and sort of NDA, where he agrees not to speak badly of the owners.  Like I said the story is second hand, but that's the gist of it.  It sounded like the agreement was some internet cut and paste stuff.

    I know that Non-competes are basically worthless unless specific geographically and specific time period are included.  So I am pretty sure that part of the agreement isn't worth the paper it's printed on.  However, I have no idea about whether or not the NDA/speak no ill might actually have some teeth even if signed after the fact?  Even if duress may be a factor, it's something I just know nothing at all about.  My understanding is the "severance" would be around $25,000, and includes returning a laptop that was a combo work/personal computer.  The guy has young kids and that cash would be important to a less panicked work transition.  My first thought is just sign, take the cash and move on.  As I don't think he really wants to compete with the owner, former boss, as he hasn't been researching and planning to do so the past two weeks so for me that is a moot issue.  So what about signing an after the face NDA?

    My suggestion was to run the cut and paste document he is being asked to sign by an attorney.  Just for peace of mind. Then sign the thing and take the money.  I think the only concern is that if he signs he might face getting sued, and have his former boss try to bleed him out with legal maneuvers on the NDA.  I would feel better about signing and netting $24K with $1K going to the attorney, rather than simply signing.  (If I had any thoughts about potentially competing or using my former contacts.)

    Anyhow just wondering your thoughts since some of you guys actually have brains that are useful! 😉 And no he is not gonna post pics of his wife!  Like I said this is a friend of a friend so I don't have a lot of details, just looking for your general thoughts.

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