Chad Fabry

They're really stupid. In the winter, they burn natural gas because they're stealing heat from the conditioned spaces. In the summer, they make basements clammy. And as Jim stated, they're also bad at their primary purpose.

I have nothing to add except that I suspect the cards represent a succession of wood suppliers, each hung on the same nail over the previous supplier. And, at one time I had a candlestick phone w/o a dial. I don't remember what happened to it (I may still have it) but, I remember the patent date was 1904. The builder living in the structure while building the house may or may not be true. The premise does not preclude the possibility that others occupied the structure after the house was built.

That's really cool. I would have loved that floor as a kid. It's game-ready.

Arlene Puentes subjected herself to 24 hours of CE at my little school. As a thank you (or maybe it was like offering a breath mint to someone with bad breath), she sent me a book titled, "On Writing Well" by William Zinsser. Throughout the text, Zinsser preaches that to write well, one must pare down, then pare down again, and then pare down more during the final edit. Her inscription said, "Jim Katen told me about this book; I thought you'd like it. Thanks, Arlene".

Wear rubber-soled shoes at all times.

I have a very good friend whose kid is under contract in San Antonio. Does anybody know somebody who can help?

Guys, Geez, I'm sorry to hear about your health problems. Marc is right about your ability to contribute and your legacy of contribution. You'll all have to find some way to contribute. My career focus changed to litigation support, and I now spend the time I used to spend here with my nose buried in manufacturer's instructions or code books. I've been coming back lately, and it feels the same as my childhood neighborhood. When I started, I would have paid any of you to review my reports; if you can't stand that idea, create a collaboration to write good books- nobody's interested in that effort. There is a dearth of valuable information available for beginners and those who want to improve their skills. Start a "dollar comment" where you can sell item comments individually. Nick's group has an absolute idiot writing shit for sale and he's killing it You guys have all that knowledge AND the ability to share it so others understand. It's a super rare combination in this profession. 40 WPM, that's such a burden. Wait. On a good day, I type 35, and there aren't that many good days. Thank God for speech-to-text engines.

Hi Mike, It's a good thing I built it, or we couldn't afford to heat this beast.

Thank you, everyone. The support from this group means more to me than any other. It's a great house, designed and built by others. Despite how rough it was when we bought it, it was easy to restore because all we had to do was make it the way the designer/ builder intended it to be. (to be honest, we added the balcony- prior, there was a 4'x4' personal viewing platform above the front door and below the tower windows on the adjacent side) I bought terne-coated steel for the balcony floor/roof in the late 90s for the project and didn't build it until 2016? Follansbee stopped selling terne in the US around 2010. We may be the last in the US to install a soldered seam terne roof. Kibbel helped with Tin O Lin's paint info for the project. We also deviated slightly by adding plumbing, electricity, and central heat.

I met Charlie at Jim's wedding. I don't remember anything specific except his smile and that he was fun, funny, and gracious. What a nice tribute to a good friend. Proof of a life well-lived.

That was beautiful.

I didn't stop back for a few days... I'd gladly have taken Mike, Les, Jerry, or Bill. Raymond followed directions and called me. Next round, guys, I'll expect you to step up to the plate. I'll invite you personally.

I'm looking for one person who would like to participate in an upcoming subject matter expert session in San Antonio to write quiz questions and review submissions for our new resource guides. We pay all travel and lodging expenses and provide a per diem for travel days. We're holding the session from October 19-22. Send me an email at InspectorRoadshow@gmail.com or call or text 585-465-8591 We usually have very good food and very nice hotels.

Did you even look at your math? 5x500=2,500. 10x250= 2,500. I'm curious why you'd want twice the liability and twice the work for the same money?

John, Many people helped me get started in this gig, and all of them were from TIJ. People eager to learn are few and far between. That attitude is the essence of excellence. I didn't invite you to be an SME for what it would do for you-it was for what you had to offer. We have plenty of cookie-cutter inspectors in the world; we need more thinkers and learners. Like you.