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Green Home Improvement Ride

Green Home Improvement Ride published on 10 Comments on Green Home Improvement Ride

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What is the most fuel efficient cargo van out there for DIY home improvement buffs? That looks cool? Is inexpensive? And is easy to drive and park on NYC streets?

A few years ago my husband bought a pick up truck. I said “You’ll regret it. A van will be more useful.” But he didn’t listen to me and as always, I was right. To make matters worse, he wanted the best fuel efficiency. No, that’s not a bad thing! But he bought a small 2WD manual transmission.

1. Small= Too small to fit many items. Even if he throws a few pieces of 2×4’s in the back, they hang over the tailgate and he has to bungee them down. Forget fitting more than one large piece of furniture.

2. 2WD= Rear wheels. A pick up doesn’t have much weight in the back. He has to weigh it down with sandbags if it’s snowy. There goes the good fuel efficiency!

3. I can’t drive stick. He tried to teach me but I freaked out. So I have to rely on him for picking up big items.

4. We’re not about to throw the dogs in the back of the truck. On weekends when we go down to Brooklyn and we need to pick up large materials, guess what? We have to take 2 cars! That’s 2x the gas mileage.

I’ll cut him some slack. When he bought the truck a few years ago we were in a different situation. Now I’ll be needing a larger vehicle than my RAV4 since I’ve started this salvage/antique business. My car fits my dogs, small pieces of furniture and any camera equipment I need to schlepp (not all at once). The gas mileage is not bad, so I’m not giving that up. He has a little Scion that he uses every day that gets awesome gas mileage, so that’s a keeper.

We need to lose the pick up.

Here’s the search criteria:

  • I can’t be scared to drive it.
  • Fits dogs plus…
  • Not too big, but big enough for a 4×8 piece of sheetrock.
  • Good gas mileage (or as good as a van can get)
  • Not too expensive. We’re looking at used.

This is what I’ve come up with so far:

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Here’s what I really want. An old VW Bus that I can paint any color! I’d love to pimp this thing out! The husband works in heavy construction and has to maintain a semi macho image, so I’m “not allowed” to go with something like this. (Yeah, I know. Scion?) I’m sure the gas mileage is horrendous anyway, even if the engine is new.

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The Chevy Astro is probably the most realistic option. It’s among the highest rated for fuel efficiency in vans and we can get a newer model at a price we can afford. Plus, there are many used Astros to choose from. The down side is that a 4WD is less efficient and the 2WD seems to be rear wheel.

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The VW Eurovan gets about the same mileage as the Astro. The big plus here is that this is a front wheel drive vehicle. The downside is that we’ll be paying more money for an older van. But look how cute it is!

Whaddya think? Any other options we’re missing? I’d rent one as needed, but I’ll be using it every weekend come April when I start doing the Brooklyn Flea.

F You, Walmart!

F You, Walmart! published on 2 Comments on F You, Walmart!

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Walmart has been talking about going green since 2005. They say they’ve improved gas mileage on their trucks, they “score” their suppliers on packaging and now they’ve supposedly improved energy efficiency in some stores.

Last week Walmart opened an “eco friendly” store in Romeoville/Chicago. The high efficiency store is the first of a series Walmart plans to build.

Bollocks! Look, Walmart, you’ll never get my business. I don’t care how much you pretend to jump on this green bandwagon. You’re not fooling anyone. Do you think your fat ass Red State customers really care about your efforts? No, they want cheap disposable shit from China, as long as they can afford it. And you’re not gaining any new treehugging customers. Trust me on that one.

So why bother? You really want to make a difference? GO AWAY!

Chicago Tribune
Sun Times

Options for the Lazy Pet Owner

Options for the Lazy Pet Owner published on 2 Comments on Options for the Lazy Pet Owner

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Solutions for the busy pet owner! Sounds better than “lazy pet owner”. Pooch Potty claims to be the orginal dog potty…in business since 1994. This product requires real sod that needs to be replaced once a week. It is not meant to replace exercising Astro regularly, but we’ll get to that shortly. The company gives a helpful tip: “Many customers who are too busy to clean their Pooch Potty boxes will ask their housekeepers or dogwalkers to do it for them.” If you have a dogwalker, why would you need to….? Ok, if you’re too busy to walk your dog AND too busy to clean up the indoor potty, maybe it’s time to consider getting a fish instead.

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Here we go. Let your dog poop on the sod then exercise him/her on the treadmill. No need for you to leave the house! I’m wondering if I can fit my fat ass on this along with my dog. It might get more use than my Elliptical/Clothes Dryer sitting in my office.

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If you haven’t seen “Envy” with Ben Stiller and Jack Black, please, I urge you to at least click on this link. It’s the “VaPOOrizer“! Poop Freeze is an aerosol freeze spray that, upon contact, forms a frosty film on dog or cat poop to harden the surface for easy pick-up. The company maintains it’s an environmentally friendly product. But it’s an aerosol. Hel-lo?

Anyway, here’s what you do. Set yourself up with the sod and the treadmill. When the dog goes, just freeze it so you don’t even have to pick it up. Get yourself one of those timed feeding bowls and you’re set for days!

North Forge Metal Creations

North Forge Metal Creations published on

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Crazy Leg Crate Table: $220

Here’s an Etsy find that deserves it’s very own post. Dan Ryniak is an artist-blacksmith from Berkley, MI who specializes in custom metal designs composed of architectural railings, entry gates, furniture, and accessories.

Remember that cool Reestore bathtub couch from London? Well, here’s a chair that would only cost a mere $220 to ship from Michigan!

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Bathtub Chair: $580

Weekender: Bucks County, PA

Weekender: Bucks County, PA published on

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Photo: Doug Picadio

Forgive me. I’m lumping one big county together here in a pretty vague post because 1) I’m not really up on the geography of Bucks County, 2) I haven’t visited in a few years and 3) Pennsylvania is doesn’t count as the tri-state area so you’re lucky you’re getting this at all.

Way back yonder when we were living in Park Slope and started looking for a country place, our first stop was Bucks County. We had a friend who moved from Hoboken to an old farmhouse on 7 acres and we loved visiting. This was pre-internet (we are so F*in old!!) and I remember driving around with a big MLS book looking at homes. There was nothing for under $300k and our range was more like $100k so we gave up the dream.Continue reading Weekender: Bucks County, PA

To Buy Or Not To Buy

To Buy Or Not To Buy published on 4 Comments on To Buy Or Not To Buy

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That is the question. Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the rental until prices further drop
Or risk losing an outrageous fortune,
To take a chance on buying a sea of troubles
Or by opposing, bring prices down?
To buy; To wait…..

A friend of mine is looking for a house and he’s getting cold feet. All of his buddies are telling him to hold off. There’s a recession a comin’. Prices will drop. He asked for my opinion.

After I told him that I’m not a friggen mind reader (although I sometimes claim to be), I advised him to look at the big picture. Too many people only think about the price of the house. Well, my friends, mortgage rates and taxes are every bit as important. Think of it this way: You pay for the house once. You will be stuck with those interest rates for 30 years. Same with the taxes. And they keep going up.

You have to do the math. If you wait, you may save an extra $50k on a home, but it’s not worth anything if the interest rates are at 8%. Right now they are below 6% and may drop even more at the end of the month.

The market has already softened. It could go down even more and it certainly won’t be going up any time soon.

My opinion? I’d hold off and see if the feds announce some good news at the end of the month and then cautiously hit the pavement.

PS: I should give a shout out to the ever so fabulous mortgage broker who alerted me to the fact that it might be refinance time for me if rates drop any more. Give a big hand to Jonathan Meadors of Preferred Empire Mortgage! He kicks ass! jmeadorsATpemconlineDOTcom


			
		

		
		
	
	




	
		
	

		
					
			
You Gotta Love Uncommon Goods

			
				
		

			
			You Gotta Love Uncommon Goods published on 2 Comments on You Gotta Love Uncommon Goods			
		

	

	
			
		

			
			
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I check the Uncommon Goods online store all the time, but I’ve never written about it because it’s not some fresh new thing that I’ve just discovered. Well, let me just do this for myself so I can move on….


Some of my favorite handmade recycled items:


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 Patchwork Cube: $590


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Stave Back Storage Bench: $400


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 “Walk Don’t Walk”: $3700

			
		

		
		
	
	





	
		
	

		
					
			
Sales!

			
				
		

			
			Sales! published on 			
		

	

	
			
		

			
			
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Select Salvage Warehouse Liquidation:

Saturday, January 26th from 11am-5pm.

341 West John St.  Hicksville, NY 11801 exit 41 off LIE south.  516-470-1960


1885 Barn coming down in Greenwich, CT. Weathered beams, lumber and flooring. Listening to offers.

Deep Discount Demolition


Moving sale now though January 31:

Bathroom cabinet manufacturer, LIC.

All display cabinets sold as is: $100.

Call Andres to schedule appt:  (718)361-5918

			
		

		
		
	
	




	
		
	

		
					
			
Housing Slump

			
				
		

			
			Housing Slump published on 4 Comments on Housing Slump			
		

	

	
			
		

			
			
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Author: Brett


We have not been out house hunting since we lost the last one. It’s not that we can’t bring ourselves to look even though we are practically in mourning. While buyers all over the country seems to be getting great deals on homes, we have yet to see any houses we want to buy come down in price enough to be in our reach.


We have narrowed our search to two towns: Port Washington, NY, in Nassau County, Long Island, and Westfield, NJ, in Union county. Nothing new seems to be coming on the market since the end of last year (ok, last month if you’re an optimist). We flip between listings in each town. My MIL ponders whether the “new” listing in the New York Times is actually new to the market, or if it’s just new to The Times (every week I tell her that I think that it is new to the paper, but she still asks me anyway). She gives me scraps of paper with MLS numbers scribbled on them. It may or may not have a basement. I am to check it out if I feel like it. Later, she will ask me, did I find out about that house, the one she told me about a mere 6 hours ago? I think back to the last 6 blurry hours of solitary poopy diaper changes and sweeping far-flung cheerios from the recesses of the kitchen, cleaning running noses, rinsing dropped pacifiers, laundry washing, naptime orchestrating, clapping hands to “This Old Man” and “Itsy Bitsy Spider”. Huh? Listing? Which listing?Continue reading Housing Slump

			
		

		
		
	
	




	
		
	

		
					
			
Uhuru Got Me Now

			
				
		

			
			Uhuru Got Me Now published on 1 Comment on Uhuru Got Me Now			
		

	

	
			
		

			
			
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“Beam Table”: $ 3800


Uhuru was founded in 2004 by Rhode Island School of Design grads Bill Hilgendorf and Jason Horvath.


The two honor the Shaker belief that “beauty rests on utility”. Most of the pieces they fabricate in their  Red Hook, Brooklyn shop are from salvaged materials.


The “Beam Table” pictured above is made from reclaimed timber from early 1900’s buildings in NYC that were being demolished.


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 “Stoolen”: starts at $2000


The Stoolen side table/stool is crafted from strips of wood saved from local Brooklyn area shops. See the rim around the piece? Bike rim.


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 “Fenced In”: $ 3800


The “Fenced In” coffee table is made from repurposed cast iron fence pieces and 1/2″ tempered glass.


Uhuru is currently working on some deals with local showrooms. For the moment contact them directly via their website for all inquiries.

			
		

		
		
	
	






	
		
	

		
					
			
Sustainable Wallpaper

			
				
		

			
			Sustainable Wallpaper published on 1 Comment on Sustainable Wallpaper			
		

	

	
			
		

			
			
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In doing a search for recycled wallpaper I came upon Graham & Brown. The paper isn’t 100% recycled but I prefer their collections to some of the “greener” stuff out there.


Approximately 50% of an average roll of Graham & Brown wallpaper is made from renewable resources. If not recycled, the paper comes from FSC managed forests.



Recycled rainwater and a state-of-the-art drainage system is used in production. The company also uses non-acidic inks & coatings. Pollution is burned off on site and used for energy to run the plant. 


Prices seem to average about $40 per roll. Retailers include Lowes and Janovic.






			
		

		
		
	
	


		




	
	

		
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