HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: rainerm@oakhill.sps.mot.com (Rainer P. Mueller)
Subject: Re: First time home buyer tax credit?
Keywords: alive again?
Organization: Motorola Inc., Austin, Texas
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 21:08:29 GMT

peterson@CS.ColoState.EDU (james peterson) writes:

>In article <l7g00kINNn77@yoakum.cs.utexas.edu> cmkuo@cs.utexas.edu (Chin-Ming Kuo) writes:
>>From today's paper, the finance committee passed the tax package which
>>includes, among others, the $2,500 tax credit for first time home
>>buyer.
>>So is it alive again? Why is it $2,500 instead of the proposed $5,000?
>>
>>

>I read the same thing.  It was added that the president intended to sign
>the bill. If true, does anyone know the details?  Will it be retroactive?

>james sends

>-- 
>james lee peterson				peterson@CS.ColoState.edu
>dept. of computer science                       
>colorado state university		"Some ignorance is invincible."
>ft. collins, colorado  (voice:303/491-7137; fax:303/491-6639)


I just read in todays Wall Street Journal that the bill is for 
homes purchased between July 28 and Jan. 1.

The bill must still pass the Senate and the House.


Rainer Mueller
Motorola, Austin, TX
M88000 Development
rainerm@rpm.sps.mot.com
Tel:(512)891-3548

From: dougl@hpdmd48.boi.hp.com (Doug Leno)
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 17:03:23 GMT
Subject: Re: Advice sought on Spa/Hot Tub Purchase
Organization: Hewlett Packard - Boise, ID
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house

in hpdmd48:misc.consumers.house Denise DiGiovanni writes:

>I wouldn't buy a spa from CalSpa even if it only cost $1.00. The people
>I dealt with here in Oregon were, as you put it, slimely car-salesmen
>type. They had no interest in helping me, as I wanted to test out the
>model I was interested in buying. I'm not going to spend $3-5K without
>testing it first, and they said they would not "go through all the bother"
>for me to test.  I told them that I wouldn't bother giving them my money.
>I also know of someone who bought a CalSpa and could not get any help 
>from them in how to take care of it, how to run it, etc. Their only
>interest appears to be $$$.

I saw a news article in a local Spa Store recently stating that the California
DA has filed suit against CalSpa, apparently over high pressure, deceptive
sales techniques used at shows and fairs. 


>My Oregon Hot Springs was the Jetsetter model, which is a two-person

Would that be the "Hot Spring" (brand) "Jetsetter" model, sold by "Oregon Hot
Springs"?  Hot Spring spas are very good, no nonsense spas.

In case it matters, the manufacturer's name is "Watkins Manufacturing" and
their factory and offices are is in Vista, CA.  They manufacture Hot Spring
brand spas and distribute them via a world-wide network of retail dealerships.

>We use bromine now. I like it better than chlorine, as it doesn't smell
>like chlorine does, it can be used in a floater device where you fill
>it once every two weeks or so, and it doesn't dry out my skin and make
>it itchy. I have noticed, however, that my black bathing suit is now
>brown. Not sure it that's a function of the bromine or cheap material :-)

I second the use of bromine, though I myself do not use a floater.  I use
ordinary (granular) 63% available Chlorine "Sodium Di-chlor" for use in spas
and simply add Sodium Bromide to the water from time to time which converts
the water to bromine.

>We did not get the ozination system. The dealer (of all people) talked
>us out of it. I honestly don't remember the reason why.

I've seriously considered ozone because of its potential for a reduction in Cl
usage.  However, ozone is so strong that (in a freinds spa) the shell has a
big metal stain at the ozone discharge port.  He probably wasn't using 
enough stain inhibitor (he had no metal stains when using Bromine).

Doug Leno


--
Doug Leno                                    Hewlett Packard Company
Manufacturing Engineering                    11413 Chinden Blvd
Heads and Media                              Boise, Idaho  83714
Disk Memory Division                         (208) 323-3693
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Internet: dougl@hpdmd48.boi.hp.com        dougl%hpdmd48@relay.hp.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------
X.400: AD=ATTMAIL  PD=HP  CC=US  ON=HP  OU1=CORP  OU2=UNIX  OU3=X400
  SN=LENO  FN=DOUG  DDAT1=HPMEXT1  DDAV1=dougl@hpdmd48.boi.hp.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: nuge@newport.med.ge.com (James A. Nugent)
Subject: Re: ADVICE WANTED:  Changing house outlets from 2 to 3 prongs
Organization: GE Medical Systems, Milwaukee, WI
	<1992Jul28.011319.14616@porthos.cc.bellcore.com>
	<DRAND.92Jul28134807@spinner.osf.org> <1992Jul29.083446.9248@osf.org>
Distribution: usa
Date: 29 Jul 92 14:50:30 GMT

In article <1992Jul29.083446.9248@osf.org> neilson@osf.org (Peter
Neilson) writes:

> There are circuit testers, and there are circuit testers.  Only some
> can test the efficacy of a ground.  The one you have handy is not
> necessarily the right kind.

	What kinds of ckt testers are available to test the efficacy
of a ground?

> Old BX cable (without the added ground wire) is notorious for
> producing poor grounds because it easily pulls loose from the
> connector (the clamp that holds it to the box).

        Are you talking about the thin 'bonding strip' that you wrap
around the lip of the clamp at the connections, or a actual ground
_wire_? I've seen the former, but not the latter.

--
Jim Nugent

nuge@med.ge.com

nugentj@med.ge.com
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: dalessio@rtsg.mot.com (Mario D'Alessio)
Subject: HELP: Mildew and Soap Scum
Summary: HELP: Mildew and Soap Scum
Keywords: HELP: Mildew and Soap Scum
Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Group
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 15:51:55 GMT

There have been many discussions about mildew, and
recommendations of using bleach to get rid of it.  But what
is safe to use on colored grout? Is bleach diluted in water
safe?

Also, what works best at removing soap scum from a plastic
shower door (or any other surfaces)?

Thanks in advance.

Mario


************************************************************
* ******************************************************** *
* *  __________________           __                     * *
* *  \_________________|)____.---'--`---.____            * *
* *                ||    \----.________.----/            * *
* *  __/\__      __||____/ /_    `--'                    * *
* *  \RUSH/     |___         \   Mario D'Alessio         * *
* *   |/\|          `--------'   dalessio@rtsg.mot.com   * *
* *                                                      * *
* *    Work: (708) 632-2323  9am to 6pm Central Time     * *
* ******************************************************** *
************************************************************
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: jmcging@ssa.gov (John McGing)
Subject: Too shadey?
Summary: Its real dark, what will grow in backyard?
Keywords: shade grass ground cover
Reply-To: oss2cc!jmcging
Organization: Social Security Administration
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 12:27:25 GMT


The new house we're buying has a real nice backyard, very very
wooded.  It's so shaded that grass won't grow, although neighbors
have planted a lot of ivy, which thrives.

Does anyone have any recommendations about a groundcover that would
work in such forest-like conditions?  I've got 2 kids, and would prefer
something else besides plain dirt for them to play in in the yard.

Ivy looks nice, but the kids..... I think it wouldn't survive :)

We're gonna open it up a bit, get a little more light in, but are
at a loss.  A frined suggested we grow moss.  We're not sure he was serious.

-- 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
John McGing                My opinions are my own
jmcging@oss724.ssa.gov       no one else wants them.....
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: dlehman@banditos.rtp.dg.com (Donald Lehman)
Subject: Re: skunks are digging up my lawn, help!
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 92 03:01:49 GMT
Distribution: na
Reply-To: don@loki.ceo.webo.dg.com
Organization: Data General Corporation, Westboro, Ma.

In article <4961@transfer.stratus.com> btarbox@sw.stratus.com (Brian Tarbox) writes:
>Title says it all...how do I discourage these critters?

This came up in my gardening class.  Like someone else said, the skunks are
after grubs.  To control the grubs you can use Milky Spore Disease.  This
infects the grubs and should last forever (provided you don't kill the
Milky Spores) but will take awhile (3 to 5 years) to be fully effective.
You can also use Diazinon or Dursban, but these are nasty chemicals 
that may kill more than the grubs (read the labels).  I think
these chemicals kill Milky Spores, so you can't do both.


Don Lehman			Standard Disclaimers Apply
Data General Corp.		(I speak for myself only)
don@loki.ceo.webo.dg.com
From: meltsner@crd.ge.com (Kenneth J Meltsner)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Newbie question: How to stay abreast
Date: 31 Jul 92 19:56:49 GMT
Reply-To: meltsner@crd.ge.com
Organization: GE Research and Development Center



In article <92212.205321JGROVER@MAINE.MAINE.EDU>,
JGROVER@MAINE.MAINE.EDU (John Grover) writes:

|>I'm looking toward a new home in the near future (next couple years) and
|>would like to be able to make informed decisions along the way. So I'd
|>like to stay more or less abreast of the new technology in the field.
|>Not only what's there, but an idea of its cost and efficacy. I find
|>this kind of info keeps the sales sharks at bay (at least a bit) and I
|>end up with what *I* want, and not what they want me to want.

There's a new magazine that my wife and I like called "Practical
Home(something -- owner ?)" published out of Northern California.
It's filled with useful and practical (no $70K kitchens or $100K
family room renovations) refurbishing, design, and renovation
articles.  It appears to be distributed fairly widely since we got our
copy at a local drug store.

And we like the Northern California bias in design, since you
can get really bored after looking at twenty thousand variants on
"Colonial" houses.

HOME magazine runs periodic "drool"/survey issues which are
essentially advertorial.

_Mechanix Illustrated_ may now be called _Home Mechanix_, or was that
_Popular Mechanics_?.  I also always enjoyed the stuff in _Popular
Science_.  Best to check these out in a big stack from the library and leaf through a year or two at a time.

All of these magazines share one significant problem: after about 2-3
years, they repeat articles and topics*.  A ten-year old stack is
probably as useful as a new subscription, just as long as you skim the
contents at the checkout stand.

Ken


*[All tip/article magazines (Parents, Psychology Today, Consumer
Reports, Scientific American...) do this.  So do Usenet newsgroups,
but on a vastly shorter time scale.]

===============================================================================
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 ==================
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house,misc.taxes,misc.inv.real-estate
From: sgh@dazixca.ingr.com (Satyen Harve)
Subject: Tax Break for Home Sales At A Loss?
Followup-To: misc.inv.real-estate, misc.taxes
Reply-To: satyen@dazixca.ingr.com
Organization: DAZIX, An Intergraph Company
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 02:39:12 GMT


There was a report in today's Wall Street Journal (July 29,, 1992)
that mentioned briefly that some legislation was passed by the
House that favor people who sell their homes at a loss.

Does anyone have any more information on this?  If you do sell
at a loss can you deduct that from your taxable income?

Any info appreciated

Satyen
satyen@dazixca.ingr.com
From: cv0q+@andrew.cmu.edu (Chad R. Vizino)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Deer-resistant Foliage Recommendations Sought
Date: 21 Jul 92 06:06:12 GMT
Article-I.D.: andrew.oeP1bIK0hXu802q7Z4
Organization: Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

I need to plant some ground cover (other than kudzu) on the side of a
hill in our backyard to prevent erosion.  Deer are a big problem in the
area, so I need something that will take hold of the soil and that will
resist deer.  What kind of ground cover do you recommend?

Thanks for your feedback.

Chad Vizino
Western Pennsylvania Homeowner
From: gchin@ssf.Eng.Sun.COM (Gary Chin)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: toilet water level low
Date: 21 Jul 1992 23:26:32 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems
Distribution: world
Reply-To: gchin@ssf.Eng.Sun.COM
NNTP-Posting-Host: ssf
Keywords: toilet


There is an unusual toilet in this house.  It is an Eljer brand.
The water level in the "bowl" is very low.  After you flush, the
water level is normal, but after ~30min, the water level way down
to almost the bottom of the U-trap.

The flushing is also quite weak.  It is a "low flow" toilet.

Is this normal?

Gary
From: jms@vision.sarnoff.com (Jerry Shapiro x2420)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Escrow, PMI, etc.
Date: 21 Jul 92 13:35:13 GMT
Reply-To: jms@vision.sarnoff.com
Organization: David Sarnoff Research Center

PMI seems like one of the worst deals possible. We were told it was 1%
down at closing and 0.035 % per year added to the mortgage payment for
a refinance. If you consider the fact that its only for the difference
between 80% and 90% of the appraisal, its outrageous interest. For
example, if the property is worth $100,000, and you want to obtain a
$90,000 mortgage, you have to pay $900 dollars at closing and $315
dollars a year in addition to the regular interest just to borrow the
extra $10K.  That amounts to *9 points* and an extra 3.15% per year
non-deductable interest on top of the regular interest rate. We just
lived off of our credit card for 3 months and saved up the extra
money.  Sure I paid 16% interest for a few months, but it was cheap
compared to the PMI.



Jerry Shapiro
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house,misc.legal
From: hubcap@hubcap.clemson.edu (System Janitor)
Subject: Re: What about alarm systems (was Burglars and dogs)
Organization: Clemson University
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 14:04:31 GMT

andy@SAIL.Stanford.EDU (Andy Freeman) writes:
  
  **     Well, I missed the start of the Burglars and dogs and snakes 
  **discussion so someone may have brought this up -- but why not get
  **burglar alarms?
  
  *And, what does that buy you?  You know that he's there; now what?
  
Sadly, this is all a dog will do for you some of the time (probably, 
the most important times). A pro will come prepaired to quickly kill or
capstun your dog. The dog will let you know he's there all the time, the
alarm will let you know he's there some of the time. After you know he's
there, it is up to you to do something about it. So it seems to me like the
dog's still the best bet.

-Mike
From: richard@adpgate.UUCP ( ADP OPuS)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Bionaire Corp. address???
Date: 24 Jul 92 16:36:37 GMT
Article-I.D.: outland.1462
Organization: ADP Dealer Services R&D, Portland, OR


   I am trying to locate a company that manufactures/distributes 
   air cleaner - ionizers - conditioners called Bionaire Corp.  If 
   anyone out there has one of their products, could you check the 
   unit or documentation and let me know?   Advance thanks!!!
From: jeff@claw.clearpoint.com (Jeffrey J. Griglack)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: fixer-upper advice
Date: 21 Jul 92 14:12:14 GMT
Reply-To: jeff@fang.clearpoint.com
Organization: /home/jeff/.organization


The only advice that I have is that you shouldn't do it unless you
have someplace else to live during the restoration.  

I have been working on my house for the last 4 years while se are
living there.  It is hell.  You do not know what new problem will come
up when you remove some panneling or wall paper.  I have had to re-do
almost every wall in the house.  

We are currently using the dining room as a living room (the dining
room set is in the garage) while I wall-board over the existing
plaster in the living room.  The rest of the house is a mess and I
have not reached the sanding stage yet (probably this weekend).  The
master bedroom is half done.  I will finish it as soon as we can move
out of it and sleep on the hide-a-bed in the living room.  This is the
last that I have to do.

Cost has been low because I have done all the work myself.  I built
all the kitchen cabinets for less than half the cost to buy them
(including the tools that I had to buy).  And I have done all the
drywall work.  I did hire an out of work friend to help with the
drywall in the living room.  The living room will cost me about $200
including what I payed for help.  This compares to $600 to have it
done.  Even so, I would rather have had the money to have it done.

If you have small children it is even more fun because they like to
play with the tools and, at the right age, eat the supplies.  It makes
it harder to finish a project when you have to stop every 10 minutes
to pick up the 10 month old and carry him back into the other room.

This Old Sham makes things look easy.  Don't believe it.  There is
nothing fun about renovations.  I would not have taken it on if I knew
what I know today.  On top of everything else, after four years in the
house, it is getting a little small for us.  Next year, maybe an
addition....



--

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|Jeff Griglack             |"Hey, you talking to me or are you just practicing|
|jeff@claw.clearpoint.com  | for one of those performances you do?"           |
|jeff@fang.clearpoint.com  |                          -- Lori Anderson        |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: macrakis@osf.org (Stavros Macrakis)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Painting Baseboards
Date: 24 Jul 92 22:19:01 GMT
Organization: OSF Research Institute

In article <1992Jul24.140157.20823@ncrcae.ColumbiaSC.NCR.COM>,
cooper@endeavor.ColumbiaSC.NCR.COM (Bob Cooper x7429) writes:

   Do you normally paint the baseboards first and then the wall?

All else being equal, starting with the walls makes sense, since
rolling can spatter a little bit (not much if you're careful).

When you cut in between the two colors, you can overlap a little bit
on the first coat, unless the colors are transparent.

If one color is significantly more transparent than the other (e.g.
pure yellows and oranges are typically quite transparent, pure reds a
bit less), then you must cut in the opaque color accurately, but you
can be sloppier on the transparent color (which you put on first).  If
both colors are very transparent and significantly different, you just
have to do accurate cut-ins on both coats (and have a good white
primer coat).

Try for a clean cut-in, but if you can't be precise, as a general rule
it is better to have a dark color go slightly beyond the cut-in (on an
inside corner) than a light color.

The usual off-whites are pretty high-hiding (in good brands).

If your baseboard caps and crown moldings are very elaborate (egg and
dart etc.), you may want to spray them.  In this case, finish ALL
coats on the moldings first, then do the walls and ceilings.

	-s
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: goldberg@eldyn.gsfc.nasa.gov (Patti Twigg)
Subject: 1/2" drill reccommendations
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.4-b1  
Organization: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center - Greenbelt, MD, USA
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 19:47:00 GMT

Hi all! My husband finally killed our 3/8" drill (a fiery death, at
that!), and he is using our neighbor's 1/2" drill right now. He
wants to buy a new 1/2" drill, so I was wondering if anyone has
any opinions about which brand is better - or are they all pretty
much the same? Thanks for any help or ideas!
                                 Patti Twigg
From: egreen@East.Sun.COM (Ed Green - Pixel Cruncher)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: What about alarm systems (was Burglars and dogs)
Date: 31 Jul 92 15:05:17 GMT
Reply-To: egreen@East.Sun.COM
Organization: Sun Microsystems, RTP, NC
NNTP-Posting-Host: laser.east.sun.com

In article 17760@CERIS.Purdue.EDU, jheath@CERIS.Purdue.EDU (Jim Heath) writes:
>
>NRA stickers and signs about the house being guarded by Smith &
>Wesson may very well attract burglars, indeed the stupid vicious
>variety. 

They "may very well," but the fact is they don't.

Surveys of convicted burglers consistently indicate that they will
avoid a house they know to contain armed residents.

---
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...
From: clewis@ferret.ocunix.on.ca (Chris Lewis)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: grounding subpanel in detached garage
Date: 26 Jul 92 05:48:32 GMT
Organization: Elegant Communications Inc., Ottawa, Canada

In article <1992Jul24.234509.16416@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> sgs8r@kelvin.seas.Virginia.EDU (Steve Strickland, sgs8r@virginia.edu) writes:
|I brought this up over a year ago but I'm about to finally do it. But I'm still
|not clear on how to handle the ground and neutral. 

|1. Do I need both ground and neutral (along with the 2 hots) in the feed from
|the main panel in the house to the garage panel? Or can the ground serve as
|both the 110v return as well as the ground? The run is around 30 feet and I was
|planning on using USE 6-2/G cable. 

|2. Can I then connect neutral bus and ground bar together in the subpanel? This
|is sort of treating the subpanel like a service equipment except that the
|ground runs 30 feet to the main panel grounding electrode, as opposed to having
|a grounding electrode right at the subpanel (in the ground outside).

This is in the wiring FAQ.

Both the NEC and CEC require that the ground and neutral are separate,
and not connected together in the subpanel.  There are apparently
some situations where you have to have a separate grounding electrode,
but they probably don't apply here (are you building a milking barn? ;-).

|What are the conceptual issues here? It seems like you don't want seperate
|grounding electrodes at the main and subpanels since you could develop a ground
|potential which could become a problem if something connected in the garage
|contacts something connected in the house. 

That's one possibility.  The other is that if somehow the subpanel's incoming
neutral failed, you'd be pumping *many* amperes thru the subpanel's ground
electrode, and probably eventually make all grounded equipment hanging
off the subpanel go live as the electrode fails.

The FAQ suggests asking the inspector in this case.
-- 
Chris Lewis; clewis@ferret.ocunix.on.ca; Phone: Canada 613 832-0541
Psroff 3.0 info: psroff-request@ferret.ocunix.on.ca
Ferret list: ferret-request@ferret.ocunix.on.ca
From: miller@lclark.edu (John Miller)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Humming Water Pipe
Date: 22 Jul 92 17:48:13 GMT
Organization: Lewis & Clark College, Portland OR

Seems like I have experienced humming pipes caused by a very slow leak in
toilet causing a somewhat faulty toilet-valve (the valve operated by the
float) to vibrate while letting in a tiny stream of water.

-- 
"What's ahead?"
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house