Count the legs and divide by four?

> "diversitility"

That's totally not a word. But I can see how it could be. I can just imagine Frigidaire or General Electric or someone coming out with a whole ad campaign about the diversitility of their products.

Against that stern countenance and upright posture, the wriggly bastard of a fish had no chance.

It is very possible my first mudding job looked about like that. But the learning curve isn't too steep, and plaster is pretty forgiving.

Knock down high spots and paper any junctions or corners where you haven't yet. Then just keep on going, smoothing rough spots, and working toward an overall skim coat. I always prefer a good flexible 6" knife for most of that. One trick is to use a worklight at a steep raking angle, so you can see all the imperfections.

Don't be in a hurry and it will eventually get done, and you'll probably be half-decent with a mudding knife by then.

> Not a big issue

It is a big issue, really. A home inspector would usually follow the code and look for a maximum difference of 1/8 in all the risers. That tends to be followed pretty strictly, as too much difference between stair heights increases the likelihood of someone falling on the stairs. It might sound silly, but anyone in the business is used to having to follow the rules pretty closely there.

If you can slip the gear off the bar, then maybe do that, mix up some JB Weld and slather the inside of the gear and the bar and slide it back on. That will usually stick well enough. I fixed a sewing machine gear that way about fifteen years ago, still holding fine.

I loved Emily the Criminal, thought she was excellent in it. Watched it twice. I haven't actually seen any of her other movies, just Parks and Rec.

I still remember working at a car dealership when an older lady was at the counter paying for an oil change, and the salesman told her how she could buy a package that would cover her oil changes for the next five years. She just laughed and said "do I look like I've got five years left? Not likely!"

Well, per-person with roommates, maybe.

The four I use in all kinds of projects are basic drywall screws, 1 1/4 and 1 5/8ths. Then Torx-head deck screws in 9 x 2 1/4 and 10 x 3 1/2. Very rarely do I need other stuff. I never liked nails, and the deck screws work really well for framing and sheathing work..

Not the OP, but I've done plenty of fence work myself, and really avoid just sinking posts in concrete like everyone seems to do. That piece there isn't one I've seen before, but good to know it exists. Thanks for the tip!

If someone from here, which was once a thriving city in a forested wetland, stopped by to let us know what happens when you abuse the environment, maybe someone would listen?

But the problem is people trash what they have, and don't listen until it's too late. People not caring is the real problem, not the people who have made mistakes and who try to educate others so not everyone has to screw up.

Feeling "abandoned and angry" now, but then all that clears up every election day when they vote the same nitwits in every damn time. The kind of guys who run on "the government is the problem", and then proceed to demonstrate that after they win by not doing jack shit to fix anything whatsoever.

It's hard to imagine living without a decent water supply, but man, those guys need to wake up or something. Reddest state in the country, the most conservative state (the "let's not change or improve anything"-style conservative), and last fucking place in just about everything else.

Really, I'd take a good look at the whole structure and try to see if that "weird gap" isn't there for a good reason. Sometimes things like that are designed in to allow for drainage or independent movement. I've made the mistake in the past of "fixing" things that didn't look right to me, and then later finding out exactly why they were the way they were.

Remember to shut off the water first, usually at the water main. Shouldn't need to be said, but...

> I would purchase a full set of prefab plans that suited my needs

Worth saying, asking at a county planner about local permits and standards is really basic. When I was looking at building a carport in my area I asked about permitting at the county office and they gave me the pre-engineered plans for a standard carport, which suits our local soil and weather conditions.

That makes their job easier too if people just use their boiler-plate plan instead of guessing and improvising, then having to have an inspector come out and puzzle out the loads and forces for every randomly built thing.

Check the foundation?

I have a front door like that as well, and I know it's because my foundation on that corner wasn't deep enough or sound enough for the soil type, and is sinking. I braced the framing up a couple of years ago to square it, and it took about a year to go back to the same problem. Which means some excavation and concrete work. Maybe this summer I'll get to it.

From previous experience I expect it to take a few weekends with a shovel, and about $500 in materials, but it should work out fine. It's a fairly common problem in older houses in my area.

That looks pretty nice. I've done a couple sets of dining chairs. The first I just added a layer of 1/2 close-cell foam under the existing pad, and new chenille fabric. Looks very nice, and better than they were as far as comfort.

The second set I bought without any seats at all, and had to make a seat template from scratch. For the cushioning I had a couch that was going to the dump, but had pretty decent 6" thick foam cushions. I cut them in half to make 3" thick chair pads, which wound up being perfect; not too thick, but almost luxuriously comfortable. That sort of thing isn't as hard as people think, and is pretty rewarding.