I am Leaking Money Again

I had received a nice note from the HOA (seriously - it was actually polite) saying that we needed to paint our garage door. This is true without doubt. The garage door in question was carefully examined. It is the original from 1981 and the wood veneer was starting to lift which caused me to pronounce, "Talk about putting lipstick on a pig! I think it needs to be replaced." I contacted three garage door places. 

One never returned any calls. Another came and looked. I said I had a couple of questions since I wanted to know how much I needed to move for them to be able to do their work. He asked if was in a hurry and I responded "kind of" but I was getting one more quote. He told me to call him after I get the quote. I said I had some questions. He said call me after you get the quote. I expect he was going to try to shop the price. I do not care to operate this way and told him I had something I wanted to show him. He was escorted to the front door where I pointed to his vehicle and told him to leave as we were done. He did not even seem to care. I won't mention the name of company.

I will mention Overhead Door Company of Tucson. They were responsive and quoted a fair price. The work was scheduled and completed as promised. No muss or fuss. Nice job.

Remember the title about money? The refrigerator we have in the garage died while waiting for the garage door to arrive. Lowes had something on sale that would work and was delivered the next day.

I have been concerned about the water heater as it is the original from 1981. That must be a record for longevity. I can only think that it lasted that long because soon after we moved in, I replaced the drain valve on the unit with a full throat ball valve so that it would drain properly. This was done once or more a year. We decided, since there was a nice clear path after reorganizing the garage, to have it replaced. I tried to get three prices. Again, one never returned calls. The second was questionable. 

The third was from Just Water Heaters. The price was fair, and they were ready, willing, and able to come about any time you wanted. The man that replaced the gas unit was done in 1 hour and 35 minutes including putting things away and paying the bill. He did a nice job.

My better half commented that this should be about it for a little while since these things come in threes you know. I commented that the water heater was elective and wasn't sure that it counted, I really don't believe in the thing of threes.

The next weekend we heard water dripping after the AC turned off. The old coils were not dripping where they should be and was running down the side. The 23-year-old split unit has now been replaced with a SEER 16 unit. I figure that difference in the electric bill might pay for the unit in about 9 years or so. By the time the new was installed there was a nice stain in the ceiling downstairs I waited for it to dry and used some Kilz before spot painting. Looks OK for now.

My better half stated that this should be good as that is about everything. I said, "Don't say that! There is still the washer, drier, kitchen refrigerator, dishwasher...."

I could have purchased a guided elk hunt with all the services and a new rifle/scope combination of choice for the money that has been spent! Maybe two trips! Aaah, the joys of home ownership.

Tales of Reloading

 Mid last year I purchased a MEC 9000 in 12 gauge from a gentleman at lodge who had no further use for it. I had quit reloading 12 gauge a decade of better ago as there wasn't much to be saved in that gauge or the 20 gauge due to lead and component costs rising. I had sold my MEC Jr in 12 and 20 back then. I had told my friend that I wasn't really interested. He said there were thousand hulls and wads to go with it and named a price that could not be refused.

A couple of the guys at work could not find much in shells coming up on dove season. So the reloading started. We could find more once fired hulls, wads, shot, and occasionally some primers. We had enough powder of various types to keep us going. I reloaded  over a thousand hulls for the guys at work. I received some shot and powder in exchange. It was a good barter. More was loaded for them for this year's season. I put some up for myself. The long term plan is to sell the press and about a 1000 hulls/wads later this year. I really don't use 12 gauge for much. When I chase pheasants with the boys and dogs, I use my side by side 16 gauge. I use the 410 or the 20 gauge for dove season.

Some #4 and #5 shot loads are being loaded for the 16 gauge in preparation for pheasant hunting this fall/winter. I don't need a lot of these so 5 boxes of each will last for a few years.

You cannot find the Remington wads anymore that I like since they broke up the company. The SP20 and the SP16 wads are extinct. This means that there are few good 1 oz loads for the 20 gauge out there. Winchester used to have an equivalent but that has been discontinued. I did find one 20 gauge load in 1 oz using a BP Wad and W572 but the pressures are kind of high for what I like to load.

I put up 3 cases of 20 gauge 7/8 oz loads. Looks like I will switch to Cheddite hulls after the Rem STS and WinAA are worn out as there are components available with that hull for 7/8 and 1 oz loads with reasonable pressures.

Now to the 410 shells. I had always saved my WinAA hulls and had bought some once fired. I figured since I was on a roll, it was time to load 410. I had all the components for some time but did not realize that I had saved 1600 hulls. I loaded them all! Watch out doves - here I come!