StrangeSox

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Oct 23, 2015 -> 07:52 AM) This may be way too general, but has anyone ever remodeled their kitchen? We are talking about taking out a wall to make the 1st floor more open, new sink, new cabinets, new counter tops. Possibly adding an island and/or a breakfast bar. First of all, do you need to get a permit for interior work only? We were hoping to get stuff done for around $10-12K. Just wondering if anyone has experience going through it and if that is a reasonable expectation. We don't need super fancy or top of the line everything, we're buying a house in pretty good shape except the kitchen is straight out of 1955. Just curious about other's experience here. Thanks! Edit: We already have a brand new dishwasher and would not immediately replace the refrigerator so those would not factor in to costs. The house we bought five years ago had a kitchen that was literally falling apart. Luckily the dividing wall was already taken down, so that saved some costs. But we did a complete gut of the kitchen and added an island. Replaced all of the appliances but the fridge since it was pretty new. All together it was probably 13-15k including labor. This was with "semi custom" cabinets and quartz countertops, redoing the plumbing and electrical, and removing the soffit. If you're removing a wall, you're probably going to need an engineering evaluation to determine if it's load bearing. This is speaking pretty generically, but a quick way to tell if a wall might be load bearing is to determine if the wall runs parallel or perpendicular to the ceiling joists above and below it. If it's parallel, it's almost definitely not load bearing. If it's perpendicular, it might be and would require someone knowledgeable (and for permitting purposes, probably a licensed Professional Engineer or Structural Engineer) to evaluate it. Edit if you're taking down walls, I'd get a permit. Helps make sure the work is done properly. We didn't get a permit for any of our interior remodeling though, even though they were probably required. Not getting a permit for our she'd could come back to bite us some day because I unknowingly built it over a utility easement, but the village didn't say anything when I turned in the plans for a couple of other permits.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Oct 22, 2015 -> 09:32 PM) This might be the best post of all time. Agreed

Hey guys if you have about $500k I can sell you a bad ass intrusion detection/video surveillance system

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Oct 22, 2015 -> 07:46 AM) The key here is it's a small town...cops in small towns usually have nothing better to do, and these types of tickets are common in those areas. I live in Chicago, and these types of tickets are very rare...almost no cop writes them, and they have NO ticket quotas (this is a perpetuated myth). The cops I know don't write these types of tickets because they DO these things, too...and these sorts of "gotcha" tickets are a HUGE reason why people don't like the police...and what do they care, they won't see any of that money anyway, so as long as it's nothing blatantly dangerous, such as rolling through a stop sign when school kids are milling about, they'd give a warning at most. Just pay it and move on...these violations are created to be small enough that you won't fight them with a lawyer, and odds are it was video recorded that you rolled through so you'd likely lose either way. They're a typical poor/middle class money grab...so believe me, Greg, I understand your frustration with it. It's like their cell phone laws...they ban cell phones, NOT because they're dangerous (they are, but I'll get to this point in a minute), but because a LOT of people use them and it's an easy way to write tickets/raise money. Getting back to the reasoning, note that while they ARE dangerous, it's NOT why they made it illegal...as drinking coffee, checking your makeup, or fiddling with your radio are all just as dangerous, but you can't be ticketed for any of them...cell phones were simply an easy target because they're all over the news these days. A recent study actually showed that eating while driving is MORE dangerous than using a phone, by the way...yet it's not illegal... Also probable cause.

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 21, 2015 -> 04:51 PM) Let's keep arguing against this unsourced fake quote! lol

Why do you think giving money to a police organization should make you above the law?

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Oct 21, 2015 -> 07:43 AM) do you hear that sound? It is the worlds smallest violin playing the worlds saddest song Listen, greg donated money to his church and paid for his car registration. That should make him immune to traffic violations.

As long as we all agree that Rick Bayless owns

QUOTE (CrimsonWeltall @ Oct 20, 2015 -> 09:56 AM) Frontera Grill came here to recommend this, about a mile away

Harper out as Prime Minister in Canada as Liberals get a solid majority. Canada has three main parties, the Conservatives, the Liberals (center-left) and the New Democratic Party (left-liberal). The anti-Harper sentiment coalesced behind the Liberals over NDP, giving them a majority in Parliament and forcing Harper out. edit: this race started 12 weeks ago and saw a 69% turnout. Compare to our 2-now-pushing-3 year Presidential elections and turnout rates.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Oct 20, 2015 -> 06:36 AM) Because the opposite has done us so well in that regard? Experienced legislators simply gain the experience on how to insert sneaky wording and other "pork" into the law without anyone noticing. Maybe the term limits can be longer, but I wouldn't mind term limits imposed on them. They also gain experience on how to craft legislation, build coalitions and actually get things done. Look at the Crazy Caucus that's currently blowing up the house--it's a bunch of people with little or no previous experience and only a few years in the House who don't seem to understand how a legislative body is actually supposed to function. State legislative bodies that have term limits face similar problems. Incumbency bias is a problem in its own right, but term limits are a solution that do more harm than good. For the executive branch, it makes a little more sense. For the judicial branch, I'd prefer some long-duration appointment (20-25 years?) that could be renewed rather than appointments for life.

Term limits for legislatures can be pretty terrible. You constantly have a stream of people with little or no experience and no long term strategy or relationships moving through office.

GOP Congressman Already Floating Impeachment For Hillary Clinton

Businesses have actually been making record profits for a while now.

Using both my ability to evaluate hypotheticals with 100% accuracy and my ability to know the future based on those hypotheticals, I can say for certain that the White Sox would be the 2015 World Series Champions if Maddon had been their manager.

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 19, 2015 -> 02:43 PM) yes, I think this whole "cubs need pitching" thing was just a pre-season diagnosis of the cubs that sox fans have carried over even though their pitching staff outperformed ours. But, for leading the league in strikeouts they don't seem to have those classic power arms that seem to do well in playoffs. They've lost 2-4 and 1-4 so far. Their problems seem to be more on the offensive side of the ball right now.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Oct 19, 2015 -> 09:31 AM) lol @ cubs fans calling the score ripping Theo for not getting another starter. This team is in the NLCS and Theo is a bum now BLOW.THIS.TEAM.UP.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Oct 19, 2015 -> 07:42 AM) In reference to Soler not being big on the cold, I wonder if Soler could be a trade chip for them this off-season (west coast or Texas team). They could move Bryant to RF then. I'm afraid I just prematurely blue myself

Lol cubs

QUOTE (soxfan49 @ Oct 18, 2015 -> 04:18 PM) What? McPhee was dragged down on Johnson's catch. Why would that have been on the Bears? think he's saying that if the situation were reversed i.e. Bears were on offense they would've called holding on them.

Just saw that Golden Tate "touchdown" since I was driving around earlier. What a terrible call to overturn that interception.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Oct 18, 2015 -> 03:56 PM) Fox just awful today since 4th quarter as a head coach He has always been a terrible playcaller in critical situations.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Oct 18, 2015 -> 03:55 PM) Think the refs want out of there? Blatant holding right in front of the ref on the deciding play of the game. noticed that too

welp not much you could do about that

Annoying, but the correct call.