Random Questions

Applesauce, yogurt, mac & cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, cottage cheese, soups, scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes (& gravy), pasta w/ pesto or red sauce…

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Thought ice cream, but would a new filling or temp crown have cold sensitivity?

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Soup? Maybe just soft food for 24 hours? I’ve had a million unpleasant dental things and I’ve never eaten anything more exotic than soup for one or two meals.

Definitely eat some ice cream, though.

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Today I acquired fancy mac and cheese, some soup, and yogurt for me (and the dogs…). Didn’t think of scrambled eggs, but we have eggs (for him, I hates them, precious). I actually went to the store specifically for potatoes, and your mashed potatoes are reminding me that’s what I forgot. Damn.

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Jello is a classic

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It’s really cute that your dogs like yogurt!

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I think most dogs do. It’s good for them, just need to make sure it’s plain, or at least absolutely no artificial sweeteners. They love frozen yogurt bites (just dolloped onto waxed paper with a teaspoon and frozen).

The Elder Dane would not eat his plain; it had to have a little cinnamon in it.

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I give my dogs plain yoghurt when they have digestive upset, and it helps.
Probiotics.

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I had no idea! IDK why I think it’s so cute. I guess because I’m imaging them eating a little tzatziki and pita or something :laughing:

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Does anyone know anything about/have any thoughts about buying a manufactured home? I’m feeling the pull to own a home recently, which is pretty new, but it looks like N and I will end up in the Seattle area and it seems like a manufactured home is pretty much the only thing we would ever be able to afford. So just letting the idea percolate in the back of my mind, but don’t want to give it permanent mental real estate if there are huge issues with it.

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Would the manufactured home be on a lot that you rent or buy? I know that for homes in a mobile home park, the house is bought the land is rented. Many owners of these parks are known for super predatory practices and raising the rent too much, etc etc (there’s a John Oliver episode in this). Manufactured homes also tend to not appreciate or maintain their value like non-manufactured homes, and they’re not nearly as safe in extreme weather events like strong wind.

I would also wonder how earthquake-ready manufactured homes are (although of course that’s a concern for any type of dwelling in the PNW).

I personally wouldn’t be looking to buy one, both for the reasons I mentioned above, plus my grandma used to live in one and everything just felt so…flimsy. I imagine that varies based on the quality of the home, but in hers, every step would make the entire floor shake, that kind of thing.

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I think that manufactured homes have improved a lot in the past couple of decades - not as flimsy or cheap feeling, some good energy advances, some good materials advances. Not an expert, but they could be worth more research.

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A couple misc ones-
There IS more fire risk in these homes
As a result, home insurance IS more expensive
Also, mortgage rates are sometimes different and higher

Look up the John Oliver piece on them.

All that being said, my parents own two lol.

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Grabbed a link to the John Oliver- the risks associated with land rental is the big take away, obviously it doesn’t happen to everyone but worth being aware of possible predatory practices.

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It kind of depends on what you mean by manufactured homes too. When I lived in the desert, I knew people who technically lived in them, and they were really nice. They owned the land they had them on. Very easy to “build”, they came in sort of “pieces” that were brought in on giant trucks and assembled on site. Not typically what people think of when taking about manufactured homes (ie mobile home park) but that’s what they are. Much cheaper (at least then) to build than stick built. They were hooked up to regular water and sewer. Zoning may apply though. I don’t know how they last or anything, but in some places it’s the land that is the most expensive piece :woman_shrugging:

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So mobile homes and manufactured homes are not the same thing. Mobile homes (single- double-, or even triple-wide) have axles underneath. Manufactured homes are a closer relation to stick-built homes except large pieces are built offsite, trucked in, and then assembled onsite, usually on a traditional foundation.

My dad lives in a manufactured home, and unless you crawl underneath or look in the attic you would never know.

(the brick façade was added after the pieces were assembled)

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Does anyone know how to evaluate solar panels? I need someone to ELI5 - what to calculate, where to get quotes, what to be wary of. If I’m being honest I love the environmental aspect, but my biggest factors for consideration are lowering energy bills and adding perceived/value to the house (through both lowering the bills and environmental wins). I used to think all solar was a scam because there is so much room for predatory companies but I think it could be worth it for us if done right.

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We just signed a contract so there’s plenty I don’t know yet but:
-in the US the tax rebate is nonrefundable. So if you owe taxes the rebate will reduce them. But if you don’t owe taxes (like because you are low income or a dependent of someone else, etc) then you won’t get a check mailed to you.

  • you should be able to look at your power bill and calculate your average energy usage for the past 12 months in Kwhr. This is the number you want to compare with the system size. I made the company we went with email me the various calculations they made to compare the two because it wasn’t straightforward. Then I did my own calculations.
  • I would be warry of signing anything too quickly and I would get multiple quotes. Even after you sign I’ve had friends who were asked to “pre-approve” panel placement on their roof based on a photo and td they could change it later but when “later” came they were td they had approved the placement and it was a fee to change anything.
  • get referrals from friends if possible and compare pricing. My neighbor and I are using the same company for the same house design and we originally got very different quotes because of a “mistake in the system”
    -ask things like whether it will be internal conduit or if they will run conduit lines along the roof/exterior walls
    -if you finance it, ask to see the full loan documents before you sign and make sure you understand them. Most solar companies will give you some sort of rate sheet with monthly cost and length of loan but they leave out all sorts of important details like initiation fees that are different between the different options
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Oh, you can also use https://sunroof.withgoogle.com/ to estimate how many hours of sunlight per day your roof gets. In California there are state imposed limits (3.8 hrs/day) for the calculations so that people don’t get swindled by a solar company. But the Google app can help set realistic expectations. (That being said, it’s just an algorithm and won’t be perfect. The brightest spot on my “roof” is a gable window that won’t have solar panels on it)

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+100

The first company we talked to had a signing bonus of some amount if we got them a signed contract within I want to say three days, then a reduced bonus if we got it to them within five days. Nah. We talked to another company that’s local and very well reviewed, multiple coworkers recommended them. The second company’s guy mentioned several things that put big red flags on the initial sales pitch we got (not intentionally, he knew we had a prior quote but not any other details about it). You may want to do more than two companies like we did, we’ve had a casual eye on solar for years and have heard consistently good things about the company we chose.

We’re financing it through our credit union rather than through the solar company (we have a HELOC now). Or, I should say, through whoever the solar company uses for financing. The first people we talked to seemed to really be pushing their financing people which makes me really curious about the relationship there.

Oh and for both quotes, the initial meeting was an hour long. Just a heads up in you’re having to squeeze it in your schedule. We had the initial meeting and … one or two follow up meetings? One was for them to draw up a plan, the one we just had recently was a “handoff” meeting that had the sales guy and the guy that would be taking point on the project itself, they looked at our panel, our wiring, looked up in the attic at our trusses, etc. and at that point we signed the final paperwork including forms our local utility requires. I just got an email this morning saying the work is scheduled for February 2023.

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