HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: patter@dasher.uucp (24224-guthrie)
Subject: Re: suggested weapons (was: Killing burglars.)
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 92 15:57:14 GMT

In article <mjc.714864001@NL.CS.CMU.EDU> mjc+@cs.cmu.edu (Monica Cellio) writes:

>So, what specific weapons and ammo do you folks recommend for home 
>protection?  Assume it's for an adult with no previous firearms experience
>(bows and crossbows aside) and a willingness to learn.  (Of course, no weapon
>gets into my house under *my* power before I've been properly trained with 
>it.)  Goals are to maximize effectiveness (shooting to wound is stupid) while 
>minimizing both risk to others (pass-through on walls) and property damage.

Playboy magazine did a short article on this years ago. Their recommendation
was a 12 gauge shotgun loaded with 00 buckshot. They pointed out that most
large pistols put out a muzzle flash that will blind you at night, making
them one-shot weapons. You also have to worry about the slug going to far -
walls won't stop a .357 magnum. Pistols *are* easy to handle, however.

Playboy pointed out that the 12 gauge 00 buckshot shell contains nine pellets,
each of which is essentially a round .38 caliber bullet. Quote - "It is
the originator of the phrase 'He was here just a minute ago'". I have a
12 gauge myself and concur with their choice. The muzzle flash at night is
considerable, but not blinding. Walls will stop the shot or slow it down
enough to render it fairly harmless, but you'll have a lot of sheet rock
work to do. At typical in house range, the hole will be a couple of inches
across.

One thing I've found is that, if you're on the wrong end of a double barrel,
it looks like you could drive a VW up one barrel, make a U-turn, and come
back out the other. If you're holding one and say "freeze", your would-be
burglar or prowler freezes. My personal sample case did, at least.

The jewelry couriers in Atlanta are fond of using double-barrelled guns,
sawn off to the legal limit (barrels must be at least 18"). I wouldn't
opt for this myself.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                    |
George Patterson -  | If you always tell the truth, you never
                    | have to remember what you said.
                    |                        Samuel Clemens
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: nick@socrates.umd.edu (Nick Lemberos)
Subject: ARGH! Crickets!
Organization: University of Maryland University College
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 23:50:17 GMT

Its that time of year again...I can hear them outside just 
waiting to sneak just ONE into my bedroom behind an
unmoveable piece of furniture.  3AM you hear it, track it down,
begin to close in..and it stops chirping...you emtpy half
a can of raid in the general direction....

I seem to remember the best way of getting rid of them is to
get them while they are still outside....does anyone know/remember?

nick

-- 
Nick Lemberos					nick@socrates.umd.edu 
   Academic Computing				     ^ sew-crates
      "Doing life with no chance for parole"       -L. Anderson
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: doshay@ursa.arc.nasa.gov (David Doshay)
Subject: Re: Anything before siding??
Organization: NASA-Ames Biocomputation Center
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1992 17:06:17 GMT

In article <1992Sep3.090715.3558@wvnvms.wvnet.edu>, un026217@wvnvms.wvnet.edu writes:
|> Hi,
|> 
|> We just bought a old house and I like to put up siding
|> before the weather gets cold. My questions are: 
|> 
|> Is there anything else I should do before I start siding?
|> (I will replace windows first; I also want to rebuild 
|> kitchen and bathroom). Do exhaust fans for kitchen and
|> bathroom go outside the house? Should I put in those fans
|> and then start siding? 
|> 


Wrap the house in Tyvek (tm DuPont) or something like it. It makes a huge
difference.

David		doshay@soma.arc.nasa.gov

The thought police insist I tell you:
my thoughts, not NASA's
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: macrakis@osf.org (Stavros Macrakis)
Subject: Re: Exterior House Trim Painting
Organization: OSF Research Institute
	<1992Sep2.202534.19256@meaddata.com>
Distribution: usa
Date: 3 Sep 92 11:33:30

In article <1992Sep2.202534.19256@meaddata.com> richt@meaddata.com (Rich Thompson) writes:

      Could someone please tell how to go about painting the trim on
      my house?   In my  case,  there is  no damage  or wear  to the
      current paint.   My wife and I  just bought the  house  and we
      would like to  change the color.  The  areas that  need to  be
      painted are the gutters, metal porch posts  as  well as wooden
      shutters and  a  wooden garage door.   The garage door is  the
      only area that is showing any wear at all.

Follow the instructions I gave for old houses, deleting unnecessary
steps.  In particular:

You should _still_ inspect all gutters, etc., to make sure you're not
going to have problems later.  You should also check the caulking
around vertical seams.

Scrape whereever there is flaking or peeling.  The goal is to make
sure the substrate is solid.  Use primer only where you're down to
bare wood.  Power washing can't hurt, but you could also just wash
with a bucket of TSP solution.  The goal is to get rid of the grease
and dirt that prevents paint adhesion.  Rinse with a garden hose.

Gutters should be thoroughly cleaned and oiled on the inside (if
they're wooden) before painting.  Kyanoil 21 is a superior substitute
for boiled linseed oil.

For metal areas, instead of scraping, you can use a stiff metal brush
(don't use this on wood, because it will gouge it).  Where you get
down to bare metal, spot-prime with an appropriate primer (there are
different primers for different metals).

As with the old house, 100% acrylic latex from a good brand should do
the trick.  Only use two coats if one coat doesn't hide well.

	-s

Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: bill@gaza.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu (William J. King)
Subject: Question of Kitchen appliances, Are there small dishwashers, etc
Organization: University of Hawaii
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 02:55:18 GMT



	Does any company make smaller dishwashers, and 
	clothes washers for under the counter installation?
	(Are there front loading clothes washers?)
	I prefer not Sears, but only if none of the 
	major brands make the desired small size.

	Thanx, in advance.
	Bill

--
    bill@uhunix.bitnet 
    bill@uhunix.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu 
    21.19 N.LAT by 157.52 W.LONG          
    Fish on the Byte
From: jeske@src.dec.com (Steve Jeske)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Hardening the Target (was Re: Killing burglars.)
Date: 1 Sep 92 00:34:15 GMT
Followup-To: rec.guns
Distribution: na
Organization: DEC Systems Research Center

In article <1992Aug28.181532.1803@sdc.com> kenk@sdc.com (Ken Konecki) writes:
[about guns]

This has nothing to do with housing.  Please continue the discussion
on the rec.guns bboard.  Thanks.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: gkj@cbnewsh.cb.att.com (girish.jain)
Subject: How to Clean STUCCO Exterior on House
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: na
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1992 19:10:59 GMT
Keywords: Cleaners, Stucco on Outside Wall, Black Spots

I have STUCCO on the exterior in the front of my home (white). It
has become dirty at many places, with some spots being really bad
and greasy, partly from the rain water splashing, or otherwise.

Any recommendations on Cleaning Solvents/Solutions or Methods I
can use. I tried the standard Kitchen and Bathroom cleaners like
Fantastik or Mr. Clean etc., they are probably too mild or are
not meant for a rough surface like stucco. Please post on this
network, or email at gkj@wmsa.att.com. Thanks.
From: meltsner@crd.ge.com (Kenneth J Meltsner)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Question of Kitchen appliances, Are there small dishwashers, etc
Date: 31 Aug 92 18:10:02 GMT
Reply-To: meltsner@crd.ge.com
Distribution: usa
Organization: GE Research and Development Center



In article <MACRAKIS.92Aug31112238@next4.osf.org>, macrakis@osf.org
(Stavros Macrakis) writes:
|>As for front-loading washing machines, again White-Westinghouse made one.
|>Production has apparently been suspended as they redesign it.  Consumer
|>Reports found that it worked well when it worked, but that it had a very
|>poor reliability record.  W-W dealers say a new model should be out any day
|>now.

My apartment building has White-Westinghouse appliances, and, with a
few exceptions, they seem to be mediocre, but OK.  The exceptions: the
dishwasher is noisy beyond belief and the washing machines
(front-loaders) were absolutely terrible.  They tended to spin and
knot your clothes, the front seals leaked, and they broke constantly.
The redesign is warranted, since the product is essentially unusable.
They were replaced with Maytags, by the way, which appear to be the
machine of choice for serious commercial use.

W-W is probably (judging from other design decisions in the building)
very cheap for builders, but isn't all that good.  We went with GE
appliances (I get an employee rebate) for our new-to-us house, except
for the Kitchen-Aid washing machine, which is substantially quieter.

===============================================================================
Ken Meltsner                        | meltsner@crd.ge.com (518) 387-6391
GE Research and Development Center  | Fax:  (518) 387-7495
P.O. Box 8, Room K1/MB207	    | Nothing I say should be attributed
Schenectady, NY 12301               | to my employer, and probably vice-versa
================ Materials and Manufacturing, World O' Stuff ==================
From: egreen@east.sun.com (Ed Green - Pixel Cruncher)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: suggested weapons (was: Killing burgla
Date: 1 Sep 1992 17:57:38 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems, RTP, NC
Distribution: world
Reply-To: egreen@east.sun.com
NNTP-Posting-Host: laser.east.sun.com

In article 4913@henson.cc.wwu.edu, n9020351@henson.cc.wwu.edu (James Douglas Del-Vecchio) writes:
>
>Revolvers are just aim and fire, no fiddling with safties, etc.

Which you may want to consider if you have children around.  A pistol
can be stored with a full magazine (clip) nearby, even if a separate
drawer or whatever, and is almost completely child-proof.  With
practice, the magazine can be inserted in the grip and a round jacked
into the chamber, quickly and in complete darkness.

By the time your kids develop the cognative reasoning and hand-to-eye
coordination and strength necessary to accomplish this task, it's time
to teach them about gun safety.

---
Ed Green, former Ninjaite |I was drinking last night with a biker,
  Ed.Green@East.Sun.COM   |and I showed him a picture of you.  I said,
DoD #0111  (919)460-8302  |"Go on, get to know her, you'll like her!"
 (The Grateful Dead) -->  |It seemed like the least I could do...

Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: doshay@ursa.arc.nasa.gov (David Doshay)
Subject: Flame Wars ( was Killing Burglars )
Organization: NASA-Ames Biocomputation Center
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1992 17:23:07 GMT


Hey everybody, somebody was out of line ... so what. Lets all drop it.

David		doshay@soma.arc.nasa.gov

The thought police insist I tell you:
my thoughts, not NASA's
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: patter@dasher.uucp (24224-guthrie)
Subject: Re: wood floor or carpet?
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 92 15:40:55 GMT

In article <696@aardvark.Rain.COM> shawn@Aardvark.Rain.COM (Shawn Allen) writes:

>I/we have a dillema, we are buying a house that presently has a carpet
>throughout the living space. (LR, MBR, 2BR, hall.) but underneath the
>carpet is a hardwood floor (oak, maybe?)  The question we have is do we
>remove the carpet and refinish the woodfloor OR do we replace the
>carpet? I understand that this is more of a subjective problem, but it
>would help to refer to someone who has had this type of experience
>before. What are the chances of the woodfloor being trashed?

Only fair to middlin'. Covering a defect with carpet is a good way to take
care of it, but carpet is also preferred by some people. The odds are that
the floor is in acceptable condition.

>How do you find out (any easy tricks?) 

You take the carpet up and look. As far as I know, there are no easy tricks.

>How much should it cost to have the floor refinished?

I don't know.

>HOw hard is it to refinish it yourself?

Fairly difficult. The part that takes the most skill is in properly raising
and lowering the sander to the floor at each end to start a sanding run.
Amateurs almost always get round trenches in the floor at each end about
four feet out from the wall. If you try it yourself, I wish you luck.

>Do the marks from the carpet strips show very much and what is the best way
to deal with them?

No, they don't show much. In my living room, I just left them. They're only
obvious if you look for them.

How much work do you want to do? The best way to make them disappear is to
fill them with small pieces of oak, but that's a real pain (it's a trick used
in cabinet work, not floors). You can also fill them with Elmer's wood putty.
If the floor is oak, the putty will be a fair color match once the varnish is
on the floor. If you want an exact color match, fill the holes *after* the
floor is varnished and touch up the filled places with a varnish/stain
combination. Another cabinetry trick is to save some of the sanding dust
and mix it with wood glue to make your own wood filler. This would be used
before varnishing.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                    |
George Patterson -  | If you always tell the truth, you never
                    | have to remember what you said.
                    |                        Samuel Clemens
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: jeff@bradley.bradley.edu (Jeff Hibbard)
Subject: Re: Security Alarms
Organization: Bradley University
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 92 19:56:25 GMT

kunda@hanuman.Eng.Sun.COM (Ramachandra P. Kunda) writes:

> Does it really deter the burglars or is it just a peace of mind
> type of idea?

> Do you know of anyone who were robbed and got a security alarm
> after that?  (Obviously I am not looking for names, just yes or
> no type of answer)

My house was robbed twice before I got an alarm.  Once after I got the
alarm, someone kicked the door in, but the siren apparently scared him
off and nothing was taken.  This happened while I was out of town for
a few days, and the call from the alarm company was the very first
message on my very first answering machine (a great start, eh?).  After 
getting the message remotely, I arranged for a friend to secure my house.  
Otherwise, I would not have known the door was kicked in for several more 
days, which perhaps would have lead to me losing some property.  This
was about 10 years ago, and nobody has tried to break in since.

> Do you know of anyone who were robbed even though they had a
> security alarm?

Yes.  They (like me) had an alarm that depended on the telephone line
to notify a central monitoring office.  It didn't occur to them that
turning off their telephone service while on vacation also crippled
the alarm system.

> Do you really get 10% off on your home insurance?

I do, from State Farm.

> Does the sign "Security Alarm" on the window of the house deter
> the burglar?  Do they check and see if there is an actual alarm
> system?

Every so often, somebody from the alarm company comes around and
tries to convince me to put such stickers on my windows.  I refuse,
on the grounds that all such stickers do is warn burglars that they
need to cut my phone line before trying to open any windows or doors.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: cab@col.hp.com (Chris Best)
Subject: Re: Killing burglars.
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 20:12:06 GMT
Organization: your service

> Once word spreads that your house is rigged to blow up 
> in case of intrusion, I doubt you'll be seeing anymore burglars.

----------

Once the word spreads???  By what mechanism?  The Burglar Weekly 
newsletter?  Or maybe at the NAB annual convention?  

The only one who'd be likely to 'spread the word' is now dead.

Okay, a little sarcastic.  But come on.  Do you think that all
burglars are pals, and have regular meetings?  Even if it made
the paper, I doubt it'd be front-page material.

And how often would you be willing to blow up your own house?  
Wouldn't that eventually be more expensive than just giving 
your VCR and jewelry away?

Whew.  I feel better now.  Back to the bickering...
From: andrew@frip.WV.TEK.COM (Andrew Klossner)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: 12 gauge vs 14 gauge wiring price
Date: 3 Sep 92 00:13:19 GMT
Reply-To: andrew@frip.wv.tek.com
Organization: Tektronix, Wilsonville, Oregon

[]

	"The ultimate would be every room (especially bathrooms) has
	its outlets and lights on its own 15A circuit."

When I built my house, I specified that lights be on dedicated
circuits.  When the electric pencil sharpener trips the breaker, I
don't want the room plunged into darkness.

Then I got caught by a frugality of GFI breakers.  It seems that the
outlets in all three of my bathrooms were wired to a single GFI,
meaning they're all on the same 15amp circuit.  When my daughters
become teenagers and try to run 12amp hairdryers in different bathrooms
at the same time, there will be a lot of complaining.  :-(

  -=- Andrew Klossner  (andrew@frip.wv.tek.com)
                       (uunet!tektronix!frip.WV.TEK!andrew)
From: myjak@titan.ksc.nasa.gov (Michael D. Myjak)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Security Alarms
Date: 1 Sep 92 17:40:30 EST
Organization: NASA, Kennedy Space Center

jeff@bradley.bradley.edu (Jeff Hibbard) writes:

>> Does the sign "Security Alarm" on the window of the house deter
>> the burglar?  Do they check and see if there is an actual alarm
>> system?
> 
> Every so often, somebody from the alarm company comes around and
> tries to convince me to put such stickers on my windows.  I refuse,
> on the grounds that all such stickers do is warn burglars that they
> need to cut my phone line before trying to open any windows or doors.
-- 

If your alarm is anything like mine then there is a small blue strobe
light mounted under the soffit of your house. It serves as a pretty
good calling card for the alarm co. to any interested prowler. 

If he (the burglar) wanted to disable the phone line or power (for
that matter) on houses with alarm systems, all he has to do is look
for the light.  IMHO, the light just doesn't provide the company with
any additional *free* advertising.


- Michael D. Myjak			
  Senior Technical Specialist, Systems Analyst
  McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Company - KSC
  MYJAK@TITAN.KSC.NASA.GOV

Fea'ture N.  Distinction; Characteristic; Perculiarity (!)
             A bug with documentation.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: wb8foz@skybridge.SCL.CWRU.Edu (David Lesher)
Subject: Re: vacuum cleaners - which one?
Reply-To: wb8foz@skybridge.scl.cwru.edu (David Lesher)
Organization: NRK Clinic for habitual NetNews abusers - Beltway Annex
Distribution: na
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 92 01:23:54 GMT

I built my own.

I got a 3 hp 12 gallon Sears shop vac on sale for ~~$90.00 or so.  Then
I ordered a motor-driven beaterbar from their catalog.  They wanted
$100.00 for the hose, so I went to Home Depot and bought a swimming
pool hose for $15.00.

The combination will suck the nails right out of the floor.  Only one
problem. All that air going down that narrow pipe; it's SO noisy that a
friend says it is good competition for a Boeing 727 :-] I wear my B&K
hearing protectors.....


--
A host is a host from coast to coast..wb8foz@skybridge.scl.cwru.edu
& no one will talk to a host that's close..........................
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433
From: brooksp@hpcc01.corp.hp.com (Peter Brooks)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: HELP! Does anyone own a shed?
Date: 2 Sep 92 17:14:05 GMT
Organization: the HP Corporate notes server

OK, I built one shed (metal kit; approx 5 x 8') that went up quite
easily, even though it was a solo installation.  My current shed (new
(to me) house) is a large 8 x 12' ply wall/fiberglass roof affair.
it was essentially scratch built from random bits, including an
*interior* grade door, which has now fallen apart.  I'm gonna
take the termite-infested thing down and build a proper one
one of these days, but other projects take precedence.

All sheds are reasonably water tight, though my 'glass roof has
worn away, and some of the nail holes are leaking.  BTW, in CA,
the corrugated glass panels seem to last about 10-15 years before the
glass fibers get exposed.

I dislike the sliding doors in metal sheds.

I did a platform floor for the old metal shed; 2 x 4 frame, well supported
on 4 x 4 posts set in concrete.  (the joists are small, but for the small
shed, they were plenty adequate.)  I have a concrete pad for the current
shed, and my folks did a pad for their shed, some years back.  They are
nice *provided* you don't ever want to relocate the shed.  We were doing
some other concrete work for my folk's house, and I was able to get
reinforcing steel really cheap (worked for a steel company...), wo
we put 6 x 6 x 10ga mesh in the slab.  It worked perfectly for the 13
years my folks kept that house.  (I used lead anchors drilled into the
slab to hold the shed in place.  My brothers built the shed since I
was at school at the time.  It was fairly easy.  This was a Sears "Red Barn"
type shed.)

Pete Brooks
From: edwards@world.std.com (Jonathan Edwards)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: 12 gauge vs 14 gauge wiring price
Date: 31 Aug 92 14:22:45 GMT
Organization: IntraNet, Inc.

In article <1992Aug31.093455.3278@titan.ksc.nasa.gov> myjak@titan.ksc.nasa.gov (Michael D. Myjak) writes:
[ 12 guage is better than 14 guage, and not much more expensive]

My contractor indicated that going 12 guage would cost a lot, I didn't ask
how much. Claims that copper prices are going through the roof.
He also deprecated the need for 12 guage. As no runs are more than 100',
there should not be noticeable voltage drop. I am specing 20 amp circuits
for my computer and my shop, so I am not worried about the 15 amp limitation
elsewhere.



-- 
Jonathan Edwards				edwards@intranet.com
IntraNet, Inc					617-527-7020
From: brooksp@hpcc01.corp.hp.com (Peter Brooks)
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1992 22:28:30 GMT
Subject: Re: California Mandated Earthquake Insurance - Would you pay it???
Organization: the HP Corporate notes server
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house

The morning paper had an article stating that the insurance program was
repealed.  The fund will be dissolved as of jan 1, 1993.  I'd presume
any balance (they were expecting *maybe* 4 million left) would go into
the general fund.

Pete Brooks

P.S.  source, SJ Mercury News, 9/2/92.  The bill passed and was
signed on Monday.