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[#] Tue Dec 30 2014 19:02:31 EST from Sig

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We still use our Wii quite a bit. But right now the kidlings (and a neighbor kidling) are playing Halo 2 on the original XBox.

[#] Wed Dec 31 2014 08:45:00 EST from dothebart

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sounds interesting, tnx the_mgt



[#] Wed Dec 31 2014 10:21:07 EST from IGnatius T Foobar

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I ordered lots of games there, even used once. I never had a problem
or bad discs or something like that. And they are all PAL, only the
northamerican, japanese and australian ones are NTSC.

Really? In the 21st century with HDMI and Digital Everything ... games and game consoles are still shipping in multiple international video formats?

That's ridiculous. Get with the times, people.

[#] Fri Jan 02 2015 07:17:37 EST from fleeb

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My Wii went poof. Inexplicably, it won't start anymore. This same fate has happened to other electronics in that area of the home, so I don't feel comfortable blaming the Wii, but my shitty decision not to protect my electronics better there from our terrible power grid.

[#] Fri Jan 02 2015 12:02:50 EST from IGnatius T Foobar

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You should make power conditioning the number one objective of the homeowners association. Nothing else is important.

[#] Fri Jan 02 2015 13:11:35 EST from vince-q

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The "number one objective" should always be elimination of the homeowners' association. HOAs are the ultimate communist totalitarian evil.

My universal response to such an entity would be "you want me to do what? Sure, the day you start paying my mortgage for me."

Every single purchase offer I have ever made always contained (among other things) a contingency: NO HOAs; NO CC&Rs; NO restriction on outdoor antenna structures other than on safety/engineering reason(s).

[#] Fri Jan 02 2015 14:23:56 EST from IGnatius T Foobar

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homeowners' association. HOAs are the ultimate communist totalitarian

evil.

No, the ultimate communist totalitarian evil is computers preloaded with Windows. You know that.

Anyway, fleeb lives in a town house. Good luck finding one of those without an HOA, pretty much anywhere.

[#] Fri Jan 02 2015 14:39:26 EST from the_mgt

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Wed Dec 31 2014 10:21:07 ESTfrom IGnatius T Foobar @ Uncensored
Really? In the 21st century with HDMI and Digital Everything ... games and game consoles are still shipping in multiple international video formats?

That's ridiculous. Get with the times, people.
 
 
In the case of the Wii, even with the exact same hardware! There were cds you could boot in order to switch the output prior to starting a game.
Even the original PlayStation didn't care about that, as long as your TV could handle it.


[#] Fri Jan 02 2015 16:46:53 EST from vince-q

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Anyway, fleeb lives in a town house. Good luck finding one of those

without an HOA, pretty much anywhere.



1. Philadelphia - most of the city - we call 'em Row Homes.
2. Georgetown, DC - see #1
3. Baltimore, MD - see #1
4. Sacramento, CA - see #1
etc.

[#] Fri Jan 02 2015 18:49:10 EST from IGnatius T Foobar

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Nope. Row Homes don't have common areas that require shared upkeep. The only thing in common between any two units is a wall. Town houses have private parking, lights, lawns, maybe even recreational facilities like a pool or tennis court that have to be maintained by an association.

Insurance underwriters make a pretty clear distinction between the two.

Your point is well taken though, and I agree: I'd never buy a home that came with deed restrictions empowering anyone other than the individual homeowner to make decisions regarding the property. HOA's governing detached single family homes on individual lots deserve a special place in hell.

[#] Fri Jan 02 2015 20:22:40 EST from vince-q

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2015-01-02 18:49 from IGnatius T Foobar @uncnsrd
Nope. Row Homes don't have common areas that require shared upkeep.

The only thing in common between any two units is a wall. Town houses

have private parking, lights, lawns, maybe even recreational facilities

like a pool or tennis court that have to be maintained by an
association.


I spent the first 12 years of my life growing up in a row home in Philadelphia.
IG, with all due respect you are wrong. You perhaps are confusing town houses with condominiums.

All throughout New Jersey there are townhome communities. No pools; no parks in common; sometimes an HOA sometimes not.

Parking is on the street or in your driveway - same as in Philly.

Lighting is out at the sidewalk, provided and maintained by the city (in Philly) or the local municipality (in NJ).

[#] Fri Jan 02 2015 22:54:56 EST from fleeb

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Anyway, fleeb lives in a town house. Good luck finding one of those

without an HOA, pretty much anywhere.

It's much worse than a town house. It's a condominium.

I can't really imagine how a condominium would work without an HOA of some kind, since we have a lot of common elements that need repair occasionally (e.g. roof, fire extinguishing system, lights, walls, parking lot, trash area, etc).

But, yeah, if I lived in a single family home, I'd be all over getting rid of the HOA.

[#] Sat Jan 03 2015 11:07:53 EST from IGnatius T Foobar

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In that case, there seem to be an awful lot of condominiums that are marketed as town houses, particularly in northern Pennsylvania which is where I see them.

How about we instead focus on the privately-owned utility pole my neighbors have in their yard, with a support wire planted in my yard with no easement listed on the survey or in the deed. It would be a shame if that wire suddenly came loose one day and the pole fell down...

[#] Sat Jan 03 2015 11:10:21 EST from zooer

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Apparently the HOA argument killed the video game star.



[#] Sat Jan 03 2015 12:47:41 EST from vince-q

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How about we instead focus on the privately-owned utility pole my
neighbors have in their yard, with a support wire planted in my yard
with no easement listed on the survey or in the deed. It would be a
shame if that wire suddenly came loose one day and the pole fell
down...



I don't know how the law treats this in New York, but here in California if that pole is carrying electric or telephone lines then it has a statutory public utility easement, as do the guy wire(s) required for its support.

Also, in California, tampering with a public utility delivery system is a felony with mandatory minimum state prison time. Word to the wise: don't screw with that guy wire.

[#] Sat Jan 03 2015 14:46:40 EST from IGnatius T Foobar

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There's that word ... "tampering"

I've never seen it used in a context where someone was not trying to manufacture an accusation of wrongdoing.

Anyway I have no intention of cutting it. But if it were to go on its own, for example if corrosion from the elements eventually ate away at it, I would certainly challenge it being replaced in its current location.

The pole on *my* property (which is privately owned) has its support guy wire *on* the same site as the pole. To be honest though, I'd have preferred if the original owners simply accepted an easement instead of constructing a privately owned pole; I'd prefer not to be responsible for its replacement a few decades from now.

[#] Sat Jan 03 2015 23:37:47 EST from vince-q

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Back in New Jersey it is more or less the same as here in CA.

If you buy a property that is not improved (vacant land) then go about getting all your approvals and permits to build a house, and if there is no power on the property, but there is power "at the curb line" then it is *your* responsibility, at *your* expense to erect a utility pole near the building to be serviced to serve as the "drop point" for the electric company.

In that scenario you are actually getting off easy.

If there is NO power "at the curb line" then YOU have to pay for every pole, and sometimes even the wires, to bring power to your property. And worse, you do NOT own those poles (except for the drop-point pole on your land). AND... the electric company gets to charge you time and labor for the installation of the poles and wires.

You do have a choice. Don't go on-grid. Today that's actually quite feasible in many locales.

Back in 1981 (Chatsworth, NJ - the first Contest Station site) the power was already to the house so none of this applied when *I* bought the place. The people right before me had to do it! <evil grin>

Here on the Mountain I am in the same situation as you, IG. Power pole about four feet from the house. Mine. Light pole in front to illuminate the entire parking area, garage and guest house - mine. Just the way it goes when you want to live on your own mountain.... :-)

--K2NE

[#] Mon Jan 05 2015 10:35:38 EST from IGnatius T Foobar

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Mine's weird though; they put the pole about 200 feet from the curb, and then went underground the last 50 feet to the house. I don't know why they didn't just go underground the entire route when it would have cost around the same as the installation of a private pole.

[#] Mon Jan 05 2015 13:14:29 EST from zooer

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Gives the kids something to stick their tongues on during the winter. (yea I know it is wood)

[#] Mon Jan 05 2015 13:37:17 EST from vince-q

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2015-01-05 10:35 from IGnatius T Foobar @uncnsrd
Mine's weird though; they put the pole about 200 feet from the curb,

and then went underground the last 50 feet to the house. I don't know

why they didn't just go underground the entire route when it would have

cost around the same as the installation of a private pole.



My guess is that it had something to do with the power company and the rules they have to follow.

Or perhaps the municipality requires a mountain of paperwork and approvals to let the power company dig (since at least part of that underground "run" would *not* have been on what is now your private property).

Or maybe a relative of Somebody With Authority in the power company owns the subcontracting firm that installs utility poles.

When in doubt, follow the money!

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