Things that make you smile

[Touchofevil]

Being retired, I often wake up confused but always happy, since I don't care what day it is.

Things that make me smile.

Thinking about being retired.

 

[1mach1]

Things that make me smile.

Thinking about being retired.

That makes two of us [emoji14]

 

[GHT]

Being retired, I often wake up confused but always happy, since I don't care what day it is.

Being of retirement age, (72) and still working. And loving it. Times I've been told: "You'll be the richest corpse in the cemetery."

 

[Touchofevil]

That makes two of us [emoji14]

Powers would've said something along the lines of, "that's nice of you to think of me retired." He would have put it more obnoxiously humorous than that, but I am no Powers.

 

[1mach1]

Powers would've said something along the lines of, "that's nice of you to think of me retired." He would have put it more obnoxiously humorous than that, but I am no Powers.

No one is.

Well, he is [emoji14]

 

[Touchofevil]

Sitting on the back deck with good music, good ice chilled beer, and a good book.

 

[1mach1]

Tonights thunderstorm

 

[Trenchfriend]

If the ladies want something from you...

Good night.

 

[1mach1]

Mini version of Hungry Hungry Hippos

 

[1mach1]

When your girlfriend is at a photography exhibit and thinks of you.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

 

[Fading Fast]

Our "joint custody" Springer Spaniel (long, good story, but we effectively share custody with a good friend) turned 10 today and he got to do all his favorite things. Swim in the lake in Central Park (we risked a fine and had to bath him off really good - it's slimy water but he loves it - which is why he's usually not allowed in), plus he got a scrambled egg for breakfast and will have chicken and rice for dinner with a little ice-cream for dessert (no stinkin' dog food today).

 

[EstherWeis]

I was walking and saw these.

My first thought was that these must have been a real pickle installing.

Harv, I blame you [emoji12]
Put a big smile on my face though.

 

[Fading Fast]

I was walking and saw these.

My first thought was that these must have been a real pickle installing.

Harv, I blame you [emoji12]
Put a big smile on my face though.

Also, probably very expensive. A few years back, we did a partial restoration of our 1928 apartment and were stunned at how expensive things like doors, radiator covers, etc. are. We had no experience before, but quickly learned that nearly everything is expensive. We had to buy one grill (a simple 2.5' by 10" cover for a air vent), but it had to be custom as none of the standard-sized ones fit and it had to be an exact fit.

We shopped around - a lot - and finally found a "reasonably" priced one direct from a manufacturing firm for (from memory - a lot was going on then) about $600 which was less than half of some of the other quotes we received. I remember walking into a Citibank branch a few weeks later and noticing that they had recently renovated and put in about (again, from memory) 10 or so of those same vents. Assuming they paid half of what I did (I assume they get much better pricing), those grills had to cost them at least $3000 - hence, it wasn't hard to see why one bank branch renovation can cost several hundred thousand dollars.

Having now done this restoration, like you, I notice these things all the time. I'll walk by a building putting in new handrails or something and think, my God, that is probably thousand and thousand of dollars in materials and man-hours.

 

[1mach1]

Our "joint custody" Springer Spaniel (long, good story, but we effectively share custody with a good friend) turned 10 today and he got to do all his favorite things. Swim in the lake in Central Park (we risked a fine and had to bath him off really good - it's slimy water but he loves it - which is why he's usually not allowed in), plus he got a scrambled egg for breakfast and will have chicken and rice for dinner with a little ice-cream for dessert (no stinkin' dog food today).

View attachment 120507

Thats a great picture of a very nice looking Spaniel. Sounds like a good day!

 

[1mach1]

I was walking and saw these.

My first thought was that these must have been a real pickle installing.

Harv, I blame you [emoji12]
Put a big smile on my face though.

Don't look at me. All my stuff is made in the USA. You know, where we have conditioned air [emoji16]

 

[1mach1]

Also, probably very expensive. A few years back, we did a partial restoration of our 1928 apartment and were stunned at how expensive things like doors, radiator covers, etc. are. We had no experience before, but quickly learned that nearly everything is expensive. We had to buy one grill (a simple 2.5' by 10" cover for a air vent), but it had to be custom as none of the standard-sized ones fit and it had to be an exact fit.

We shopped around - a lot - and finally found a "reasonably" priced one direct from a manufacturing firm for (from memory - a lot was going on then) about $600 which was less than half of some of the other quotes we received. I remember walking into a Citibank branch a few weeks later and noticing that they had recently renovated and put in about (again, from memory) 10 or so of those same vents. Assuming they paid half of what I did (I assume they get much better pricing), those grills had to cost them at least $3000 - hence, it wasn't hard to see why one bank branch renovation can cost several hundred thousand dollars.

Having now done this restoration, like you, I notice these things all the time. I'll walk by a building putting in new handrails or something and think, my God, that is probably thousand and thousand of dollars in materials and man-hours.

Its amazing how much things like that cost today, not to mention custom orders. I used to build a lot more cool custom doors 15-25 years ago. Sadly, the market for that is now very slim. Making the smallest changes "off standard" these days makes a huge difference in price, as you know. Sad, isnt it?

 

[Tukwila]

Seeing kids laughing and having fun always makes me smile.

 

[Fading Fast]

Its amazing how much things like that cost today, not to mention custom orders. I used to build a lot more cool custom doors 15-25 years ago. Sadly, the market for that is now very slim. Making the smallest changes "off standard" these days makes a huge difference in price, as you know. Sad, isnt it?

It's true of almost everything today. With automation, digital technology, supply chain focus, etc., companies / competition / efficiency has driven down the price of "off-the-rack" items / standardized things / etc., but custom is the opposite as it seems much more expensive than it used to be.

If what you want is "commoditized," chances are it's cheaper (at least in inflation-adjusted terms) than it was ten and twenty years ago (obviously, there are exceptions), but if you need something specialized / built as a one-off, it's brutal.

Why do you think your custom order business is down? Is it just too expensive or have the standardized options increased to where most people can find what they need at Home Depot, etc.?

 

[2jakes]

Hose water...
best tastin' in the whole world!

 

[1mach1]

It's true of almost everything today. With automation, digital technology, supply chain focus, etc., companies / competition / efficiency has driven down the price of "off-the-rack" items / standardized things / etc., but custom is the opposite as it seems much more expensive than it used to be.

If what you want is "commoditized," chances are it's cheaper (at least in inflation-adjusted terms) than it was ten and twenty years ago (obviously, there are exceptions), but if you need something specialized / built as a one-off, it's brutal.

Why do you think your custom order business is down? Is it just too expensive or have the standardized options increased to where most people can find what they need at Home Depot, etc.?

I do commercial and industrial doors, no house doors. Believe it or not, doors for residences, different animal. I believe the decline in the custom orders is not due to only price, but longer lead time and everyone wants to look like everyone else. Boring storefronts etc. Home Depot and the like can't compare to what I can do. Not even close.