Harlan County USA

Saw my dad catch crawdads bare footed with his toes. He could spread his big toe out and catch them between the big toe and the one next to it.

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My brother-in-law hung himself.

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I worked with a guy from Sylacauga AL that hung himself from a tree behind his house. He was distraught about his wife leaving him. White guy.

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12.5-$18K

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I didn't spend that much individually, gutting our bathrooms at our 1st or 2nd homes. By gut I mean tore out down to the studs and subfloor. I did all the demo myself and some of the other stuff. Replaced galvanized steel pipes with PVC in our 1st home. Both homes had that thick mortar bed with reinforced wire mesh behind the tiles.

Messy dusty jobs but so worth it.

I hate people that say "wait what".

Two nights ago I dreamt someone shot me in the chest as I reached for a package at the front door. I heard the shot and everything. It woke me up. Does that count as a nightmare?

I've got a Stihl HSA 56 battery powered hedge trimmer. The only battery powered lawn & garden tool I have. It does good, especially for short bushes. Anything tall you'll need a ladder. Stihl has a good selection of battery powered tools.

Took a call today from a guy stating he was Sergeant Gilmore with the Shelby County Sheriff's Office here in Alabama. He wanted me to go to a private secure place to talk to take down important information he needed to talk to me about. He stated I signed my name on a Federal Jury Duty summons that came to my house in February and sent it back but didn't show up and because of that two "case numbers" had been opened for Failure to Appear and Contempt of Court. I replied that I worked from home and that no package has come to this house for something like that. He gave me two case numbers. I asked if this was a joke, to which he stated no sir this is serious. I asked where are you located and he stated Shelby County Sheriff's Office. I replied, yeah but where, which branch? He wouldn't/couldn't say. That's when my BS meter went off. He said I needed to bring two forms of ID down to an address that his Alleviation Officer was going to provide so they could do a signature verification test.

He connected me to his Alleviation Officer, Officer Diaz with the US Marshalls Service for North Alabama and he needed more information from me. Diaz stated to not disconnect the call to stay on the line. I asked Diaz what his phone number was and he repeated to not disconnect the call. To which my BS meter went to 100% and told him to get screwed and hung up.

Neither of them got to the point of asking for personal information.

I called the Shelby County Sheriff's office right after and they stated it was indeed a scam.

Just warning y'all so you or your elderly parents get suckered.

Just remember that EPS (Expanded Polystyrene) and XPS (Extruded Polystyrene) insulation are both flammable. EPS is white foam. XPS is blue, pink, and green. In case you ever have sparks or an open flame in your garage.

I prefer Polyisocyanurate (polyiso or iso for short) insulation doesn't burn. Big selling point in my commercial/industrial roofing world.

Polyiso can be bought at roofing supply houses. Most big box home improvement stores won't have a good selection of thicknesses.

We have Life360 on our phones. It notifies me when my wife and daughter both leave work or home.

It's the free version so I don't get notified when my son goes anywhere. The free version limit is two people in your circle.

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I wonder where the H1Bs are to fill these necessary skilled roles. Oh, they don't like to get dirty.

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My company brings H1B visa guys in every spring from Mexico to work on commercial roof projects. They supplement our payroll guys through the busy season and go back each fall.

It bothers me to know we can't get people (Americans) to work outdoors like I did in the 90s. I started off making $7 an hour. Seven years into this industry I was making six figures. Along those seven years I went from roofer to service repairman to inspector to estimator to sales to management. I had a work ethic. Many people don't want to work like I did because they're spoiled or lazy.