What did you do today?

[Spicoli43]

@Spicoli43 The service of the big box stores just keeps doing. I used to be a faithful HD client back when they pretty much always had the best prices and great costumer service. Then I caught them charging much more that other places several times and I started going to Lowe's and they have great prices (on _some_ things) but their costumer service was always bad... Trying going back to HD but their costumer service has also gone downhill big time. They don't care because there is almost no competition, and frankly it is our fault, for letting ourselves get trapped with only those few choices... Anyway, removing bad reviews is simply corrupt on HD's part. Thanks for sharing.

Try a ACE hardware or Tractor Supply if there's one close to you? Best of luch

Yeah.... Lowe's CEO, Marvin Ellison, is a former Board Member or an executive of HD. He went from HD to burn JC Penney's to the ground and then to Lowe's, where he is burning it as well. It won't be to the ground, but the differences are noticeable. Lowe's used to have a 10% Military discount on everything, no limit while HD had it on a few things with a max discount of $50.

Now, Lowe's eliminated Lumber and Wiring and everything else to do with construction as well as appliances from the discount program. HD gave me a 10% discount on the Toro mower I just bought, maybe the discount is this weekend only, but I'm good with that.

Lowe's also went from a 3 Year extended warranty for mowers at $274.97 to a 2 Year extended warranty for $364.97!
HD sold me a 3 Year warranty for $314.

HD corporate was horrible for years, and the local HD was like dealing with absent minded children. I haven't been there for a couple of years, but somebody straightened it out. They are running smooth, at least at the customer service desk. One thing that always drove me nuts was the bizarre way they ran their store (See something for X price online, it's Y price at the store. Can't buy it in the store, have to order online to pickup at the store for the online price)...

The problem with hating them is they have the best equipment. It's not even my opinion, it's the senses we all have called sight and touch. HD's Husky brand obliterates Kobalt and makes it look like Fisher Price, while HD's Makita obliterates pretty much everything Lowe's has. I had to grit my teeth to order two of the biggest Husky tool chests they make at the local store because it was almost impossible to communicate to them that I wanted THAT particular model. After I ordered them, didn't receive them, called them and they said I couldn't order that at the local store. Even though I did.

Sorry for the ramble, had to illustrate their customer service back then compared to now.

Maybe Lowe's CEO is a HD plant. It would make sense.

As far as Ace, there is two here, and I would drop everything to only shop there, but their prices can get creative and they lack a wide selection. The people have brains, though, unlike some "Managers" at Lowe's.

 

[zannej]

How recent was the elimination of the military discount from construction stuff at Lowes? I got military discount last time I bought stuff (although they won't do the discount on stuff that is already discounted). They did stack a military discount with damage discount for a butcherblock countertop that had a big chunk taken out (we used that as underside) and some gouges. But that was awhile back. If you register as military you can purchase stuff with discount online. HomeDepot doesn't do that.

That really sucks about the problems with the riding mowers but sounds like the kind of luck I would have with stuff. I ordered something from Lowes in January that was supposed to arrive in February but then they said it is delayed until June. I hope it will be intact. I've had problems with both of them. You might have better luck with Tractor Supply Co. I just bought feed from TSC. Cow was circling my truck like a shark and all excited. I'd be pretty ticked off about all those issues though.

Still have ear irritation and felt cruddy today. Met my friend at the gas station and spotted him some gas and filled my truck up. Grabbed a new dog toy for the pups so maybe they will stop trying to eat DVDs.

I wanted to do some cleaning in my room but I looked at it and couldn't figure out where to start. I'll have to work on it when I'm feeling better. Right now I feel bleh. I'm always exhausted the day after going to Samsclub for some reason.

 

[Spicoli43]

Corporate wide, the Lowe's change was in the last couple of months. I have seen Reddit posts that date back to when the new CEO took over in 2019 I think.

I bought the mower online today and got the discount at HD, $400 worth. Their website says that's the max allowed per year. I'll find out if I try to buy something again. They have never had a discount online before, or at least they didn't when I bought that mower last year.

The thing that bothers me most is the pandering. I don't want them to say "I love you so much" as we sing Kumbaya around the campfire. I want to know if there is a discount on blank product or not. They should have a discount or don't. I spend far more at Costco than any other store, and there's no Military discount there.

Several TSC stores in the State, none close though.

 

[Flyover]

When it comes to buying tools and stuff like that, I think of Lowes/Home Depot/etc. as a last resort, if I can't find what I need on Craigslist or at auction or those types of places. (As for lumber...well, they give that away for free at the construction sites around here, as I've noted.) There aren't many (maybe any) tools where it matters if I get them brand spanking new, and the cost of a warranty + risk of needing one is mitigated by the low price I pay for buying it second-hand or at auction.

Some people, I guess also overlapping with the ones who buy brand new cars and those new cookie cutter houses whose dumpsters I'm pulling lumber from, seem to care a whole lot that whatever they buy is squeaky clean brand new with zero operating hours on it, and are willing to take on the headache of dealing with the incompetence, backsliding, inflated prices, and crappy service of the big box stores. (But not so willing that they don't complain about it.)

I'm of the mindset that a high quality used tool is better than a crappy new one.

Of course I am also just a hobbyist/DIYer who lives in suburbia. If I was a pro who needed a new mower for my landscaping business today because I was down one, or a builder who needed a new jobsite saw because my old one crapped out and I had to finish framing a customer's house by the end of the weekend, or had a small farm and needed to repair my chicken coop today, etc., then having the convenience and speed and support that comes with buying new would make more sense, especially since I could write it off later as a business expense. (Complaining about it would still be a little weird but hey we're only human here.)

 

[Eddie_T]

Then I'm guessing you don't drive a $50K F-150 pickup with the high performance interior (whatever that is) to haul new stuff home either.

My BIL had a F-150 to pull his boat but an old USFS surplus Dodge pickup to haul a drum of diesel fuel (for his backhoe) to the jobsite. I guess he didn't want spilled diesel in the bed of the F-150.

 

[BuzzLOL]

I usually bought used USA-made tools at local flea markets, but most of those have recently closed and the ones still open have few tools... or same price as buying new...
3 years ago I spotted a Sears Professional Cordless saw for $35... while I stood looking at it, the seller dropped it to $25, so I bought it. When I got home and looked it up I was shocked to see it sold for $500.00 new!

 

[Spicoli43]

I usually bought used USA-made tools at local flea markets, but most of those have recently closed and the ones still open have few tools... or same price as buying new...
3 years ago I spotted a Sears Professional Cordless saw for $35... while I stood looking at it, the seller dropped it to $25, so I bought it. When I got home and looked it up I was shocked to see it sold for $500.00 new!

Can't buy USA made old school stuff here unless you're extremely lucky because everybody else knows that. People will try to flip the stuff on Craigs, but the prices are to the point I don't even make an offer.

 

[Flyover]

Then I'm guessing you don't drive a $50K F-150 pickup with the high performance interior (whatever that is) to haul new stuff home either.

That would be a very good guess.

A couple weeks ago I was climbing the big tree in my back yard, using the rock climbing holds I'd installed about a year ago, and when I'd climbed about 4 feet up I found I was suddenly standing back on the ground with a scraped up arm. Looking down I saw one of the holds lying in the grass; it was the one I'd been standing on. I picked it up and inspected it; both of the 3.5" screws that had been securing it to the tree had shorn completely in half, and appeared rusted.

So today (or sometime this week as I get time) as a precaution I'm going to remove all the other holds from that tree as well. Don't want to get sued!

 

[BuzzLOL]

I picked it up and inspected it; both of the 3.5" screws that had been securing it to the tree had shorn completely in half, and appeared rusted

42 years ago I bought house I'm in with fairly new looking unitized concrete front steps... occasionally salting them in winter to melt ice disintegrated them in a couple years... so I built wooden steps out of Wolmanized wood... they've held up fine the past 40 years but the drywall screws I used to hold the flooring on have rusted to nothing and some flooring board ends are curving up a bit... then irritatingly bang down when I step on them... guess I go to the home center and put out a little more for some stainless steel screws... as a boater, I've always had a love for S.S. stuff... although not on kitchen appliances... that looks 'commercial' instead of 'home'...

 

[Flyover]

@BuzzLOL Yeah I didn't quite get the craze for stainless steel appliances, prefer just plain black, but I guess they don't bother me. I do love stainless steel counters, but I know that is an unpopular view unlikely to help me with resale value later. This house has granite counters and now having lived with them for a couple years, I've decided I do not like granite counters.

Today's going well. A meeting with my boss ran way over but we were discussing some upcoming travel which I am looking forward to. And despite weightlifting hiatuses stemming from my kid's recent health problems and my grandfather's death a week ago, I was able to get back to full weight at the gym today (actually maxed out my adjustable dumbbells). And my daily planks are up to 2m15s!

Got a lunch date in one hour with Mrs. Flyover too, that'll be nice.

 

[Eddie_T]

Dried some spent coffee grounds for shop use as a wood filler. I have tried sawdust mixed with wood glue but didn't like it. I have read where some have had a good experience with coffee grounds. What I will probably try first is on one of my paneled front doors that has small cracks where a couple of inset panels were glued up. The fix is to rub dry coffee grounds into the crack then apply krazy glue.

Another method is to mix grounds with wood glue to make a filler. One woodturner mixes grounds with clear epoxy to fill cracks in bowls he is turning.

I also worked on my sawhorse table which I left out in the weather too long and one crosspiece rotted. Basically it's a 2x4 (70") spine with two cross pieces (32") and metal folding legs. I cut a new cross piece for a half-lap joint to the spine. I'll try to remember to post pic when it's on its legs again. I had planned to just purchase a couple of 2x4s and make a new one but not at today's prices.

 

[Eddie_T]

The sawhorse table repair is complete. It's not pretty but is a real workhorse (pun intended) and stores easily.

 

[Flyover]

Nice idea, Eddie.

Are those just lap joints?

 

[Eddie_T]

Nice idea, Eddie.

Are those just lap joints?

Yes, I put some glue plus a screw from the bottom to hold it together. I originally purchased the legs for a hollow-core closet door I found at the dump. When the luan veneer finally failed due to washing window screens on it I got the idea of a simple frame.

 

[Flyover]

Our four baby dinosaurs turned their noses up at me today when I asked them nicely for a photo. Little bastards.

 

[Spicoli43]

I have been looking for a good Herbal detox program and one found me. It's a 7 week course in which I will learn from one of the best teachers, Dr. Karta Purkh Khalsa. I have read articles about him, by him and heard lectures as well in the past. He's basically a Sensei in Indian Medicine, AKA Ayurveda, is a Chief Scientist at Yogi Tea, and is a founding faculty member at Bastyr University in Seattle, which I know to be the Rolls Royce of Natural Medicine Universities. Students from all over the World go to Bastyr to learn from the best.

I'll pay $297 plus the cost of Herbs and will have the entire course for life so I can go back to it and do a detox every 6 months or whatever I feel like. I can also teach those around me to detox.

The way I look at it, most people have had a LOT more screen time, exposure to indoor toxins, stress, not eating the best etc. since the Pandemic started. Everybody needs to detox unless you live in the mountains of Ecuador or something like that. Modern United Statesians are wickedly bloody toxic. I have MUCH more Brain Fog than in the past.

In the webinar the Dr. held tonight, he went over the toxin overload in our bodies and why that exists and herbs that are powerful in helping to detox. I have been studying Herbal medicine / Natural medicine for 17 years, but apparently not good enough because most of the stuff he said tonight I had never heard of. Like I said, Sensei.

Even if I wasn't completely convinced about the program, I could justify it because I need to spend $1000 on a credit card to get a $200 cash back bonus, so it's almost a wash for me. As I grab my belly and realize it will be gone soon with all the toxins and garbage that festers inside me, I look at my Bowflex that's a clothes hanger and say... "Get ready, I'm coming back"... I need a Headband and a Joe Esposito cassette tape.

https://herbaldetox.thesacredscience.com/7-week-herbal-detox-course

 

[Flyover]

As I grab my belly and realize it will be gone soon with all the toxins and garbage that festers inside me, I look at my Bowflex that's a clothes hanger and say... "Get ready, I'm coming back"...

That's exciting. Will you report back when you see results?

 

[Spicoli43]

That's exciting. Will you report back when you see results?

There are no results with a Bowflex. It's a placebo. Without free weights, it's simply a way to get back to where you were when you left off.

 

[Flyover]

There are no results with a Bowflex. It's a placebo. Without free weights, it's simply a way to get back to where you were when you left off.

Oh, you mean the thing with the bench and the long bendy things. My adjustable dumbbells are made by Bowflex so for some reason that's what I was picturing in my mind. Oops.

I'd take just a set of 35lb dumbbells and a bench over a Bowflex (the one you've got) any day, but I'd take the Bowflex over nothing. If you start using it regularly, I'd bet you will see results. I hope you'll tell us how it goes.

 

[Spicoli43]

I have had Bowflex versions since they were actually good. The Ultimate 2 was a great machine and I did get results that were inline with my free weight bench numbers. The current Bowflex I have is the PR3000, which comparatively is garbage. Everything has been downhill since Nautilus bought them. With the current machine, unless you have never lifted weights of any kind, it's easy to max out a lot of the exercises.

I bought Dumbbells during the pandemic, but they smelled like a chemical factory so I took them back and got a gallon milk jug and filled it with rocks!