You guys are all nay-sayers. Danger, smanger. I totally think I could dig myself out of an avalanche. Where there's a will, there's a way!

Anyone else listening to the debate? I wish that Hillary, Barack and John Edwards would morph into some sort of politician transformer and then run as one "Optimus Prime" super-Democrat. They all have good ideas and are debating them very honestly. Good for them.

the poor guy has been a resident of kitty heaven for eight years. i have no digi pics of that wonderful cat...

, New Zealand

Aww vado. Sad to hear when your wonderful 16lb kitty has been in kitty heaven for 8 years. Big cats have always had a special place in my heart. Right now I cohabitate with one that is also 16lbs. He's the rock star of the trio.

DubK - I just turned on the debate. Forgot that it was on. An "Optimus Prime" Super Democrat? I could get into that.

That avalanche was amazing! I like how the one main flow of it "inspired" other banks of snow around it to join in the fun. Beautiful.

Sort of like the Archinect discussions while you're at work - one person makes a snappy comment, others start joining in, and suddenly across the globe billable hours are cascading downward...

well that video certainly makes it clear that i have no understanding of how an avalanche works. you know, you just kind of assume you know and then...

i spent 10 years living at the base of the japanese alps. people die there every year.

me, i almost drowned once. don't imagine an avalanche would be much more fun. quicker maybe. but i'd rather die doing other things.

actually i may very well die writing my frickin dissertation. am pretty sure this whole thing is a circle of hell that got loose when no one was looking. sheesh.

good luck with the operation lig. that whole insurance thing is super scary. can't imagine living in the usa.

but you know what is really weird? i watch the american political scene every day and read about and know 152.6 times more about us politics than i do canada's, and many times more than that in comparison to japan's...and yet i have nothing to do with the whole deal. and here is where it gets spooky. ALL my friends are the same. so sad. why in the world should i know who huckabee is? my wife is always making fun of me.

for anyone who thought it would be fun to find the 13 'steven ward' references that googlefight found: you've probably figured out by now that none have anything to do with me except the archinect pages that come up. yep.

That avalanch looks like a mud slide. I feel like mudslide would be a worse way to go between the two.

wow, Steven, you were bored yesterday, huh?

why? googling yourself takes, like, 5 seconds.

Well, I guess I thought too indepthly about it. I was thinking of googling, then clicking on all 13 links, and reading each page. Yeah, I over think things, and tend to do them the hard way.

i liked stevenwardhair.

the thrilla in vanilla

work apparently does not deem google fight appropriate for in office viewing. =(

Hey, Vado, you cheated. If you put quotes around your name, like you have around Steven's, then he wins by 13.

Well, I was actually able to track down the surgeon I originally saw about this problem in 2004, and he's in my insurance company's network. My records are still on file at his office, and I have an appointment scheduled for the 31st.

Your original surgeon is in NYC? I thought you just moved there.

I was living here in 2004 when I first injured my shoulder.

hell if i fought fair i'd always lose.

Some things I'm pondering today:
Pimpanzee is obviously an alter-ego screen name for a typically nice regular who has a little selfish fun riling people up every now and then. Who can he be? (I'm certain Pimpanzee is male but would laugh if I found out I was wrong.)

I had wondered for awhile if puddles is also le bossman, but I think I had that cleared up for me yesterday. Two separate people.

I still don't know who Andune Losseheln (spelling?) is - it's on the tip of my brain, and I can't quite figure it out. Damn Elven name generator!

Isn't the Engineering Judgement website currently advertising on Archinect really just a service that finds a "plan stamper", an activity we architects are told is actually illegal? Why can engineers do it if we can't? (Not that I want to.)

If I wrap my entire house in fiberglass insulation will I be able to get the indoor temperature above 64 degrees?

When will Steven catch up to me...he's only 8 or so posts behind, maybe I need to post fewer long posts that cover a lot of ground - like this one - from now on.

LB is your house really that cold? That sucks. How long has it been since you guys changed the filter?

We keep our thermostat set to 59 degrees at night, but then again, I am fat and pumped with 2.5 times the normal blood volumn.

LB- avoid fiberglass, go spray foam. batts have vapor problems/wind blows through them. but all insulation looses r-value as the temperature drops, mostly this is a problem with foam. also try to seal every crack and block the thermal bridges. air leakage is the biggest cause of heat loss.

also try sealing off unused rooms & the fireplace. Better ask wK for more tips.

our house is about the same. good news: since we got a new bed this past weekend, one with a headboard instead of just a frame, the headboard blocks the wind that comes through the wall and i feel much warmer in bed. old houses are great.

Wait, wind come through your WALLS? How is that possible? I could see the window frames, or the electrical outlets, but the walls? You should invest in tapestries.

i havent even been running my heat. just a space heater and it was like zero this weekend. also, wear a sweater have a warm vermont made wool throw handy and a cat. my new duvet is super warm as well. just walked to lunch very brisk out there.

believe it. brick over wood frame house built in 1910 with NO insulation, wood lath and plaster. you can feel air movement, definitely.

the windows, well, they're a different story altogether. they might as well be open. those are on the list for replacement right after the rebuilding of the soffits, fascia, and replacement of the roof and gutters.

the walls may take a little longer to address.

Yeah Steven how does that work? On really cold nights I heat up a rice bag and throw it at the bottom of my bed as I also turn my thermostat down to 60 degrees. It works wonders.

TK - How would one go about sealing off the fireplace? I have a gas one that is no longer in use, but I don't necessarily want to block it visually.

Please excuse for the lame questions, my head still is a little foggy.

Vado - why don't you turn on your heat?

Anyone know the r-value of a cat?

18,000!

Tuna, closing the damper, if you have one helps. I guess you could just stuff insulation into the chimney, but be sure to make it obvious in case you ever wanted to use it again. You certainly wouldnt want to forget flamabale materials were up there.

Oops. (sheepish grin)

I spent a summer in Alaska backpacking, kayaking, and ice-climbing. Some nights it was well-below freezing so we would boil snow into water, stick it in our endless supply of nalgenes, and throw it in the bottom of our mummy sleeping bags (similar to tuna's rice bag idea). The generated heat saved us on many a snow storm nights.

we are having wine and cheese at the office at 5pm!

cats have a btu/hr = of 181, not an r value.

for the fire place, one of those sealed modern glass fireplace doors seem to work. also look at furring over the brick (if exposed) with insulation and wallboard...

think I recall from tv that the gap between the chimney and joists can be a major source of heat lose - so look into sealing this zone with firesafing/high temp insulation... don't just fill it with spray foam cause that's a code violation.

I would think that that r value/ btuh value would be dependent on the kind of cat, weight, fur coverage, etc?

@Tuna congrats on the return of tuna-kitty. I know you didn't let on, but I could imagine many a teary moment there wondering if they were okay. I'm supposed to be puppy-sitting in a few days for my SO; and whilst I'm really looking forward to the time with the puppy I'm also quite worried about the unexpected.

Ouch! I just burned the crap out of my hand on the space heater under my desk. It really hurts! I guess I should have a cat there instead...

57 days til spring. I'm ready.

BTW, I've been on the planet 14,896 days.

I love the internet.

cats don't burn very well. but hairballs do with the pleasant odor of smoked salmon.

I imagine you'd get a pretty good R value if you stuffed your wall cavities with live cats.

But would it be worth the constant noise from clawing, purring, meowing? And what if they went into heat - thats a song no one likes to hear.

I was brushing the puppy - with just my fingers and was left with a pile about the size of her tail. She's not a hairy dog by any means. But I thought the stuff would be great for insulation, though I suspect there would have to be some cleaning method and a measure of its decomposition lest it turns to a pile of dust come your first winter

That's a little gross Techno.

our huskies shed enough to insulate a small two story home.

I'm thinking about building another cat with all the hair my cat sheds.