The Swamp

Thank you. 😁

Great news, Johnnie!

Congrats, John.

This stuff is so stressful. Congrats, Johnnie.

It's monsoon season in southern Arizona. So it rains. A lot. My backyard turned into a pool today. Here's an album!
.
. .
.
That is actually a zoomed back image from my phone and it really looks worse in person -- especially when you move around to the side of the house. It isn't draining.

For scale, I haven't done a full measurement, but it's 65 ft from the concrete to the base of that hill. It's probably 80 ft across. It's conical and opens larger as you walk out. We have the largest usable plot in the entire development.

Luckily tomorrow is the 21 day inspection so the guy coming by gets to see it in person. 48 hours is the threshold for it to recede, but this shit isn't evaporating in 48 hours.

Pretty annoying, but thankfully this happened now instead of after a time when the backyard is landscaped and not under warranty. And there's no water damage to the house. So that's good.

But yeah! Weeeeee!

if it slopes at all to the front yard a french drain/surface drain would be a really easy ask since there's no landscaping

Brontoburglar wrote: ↑Wed Jul 27, 2022 8:53 am if it slopes at all to the front yard a french drain/surface drain would be a really easy ask since there's no landscaping

Yeah, now is the time for that sort of thing. Total pain even with just sod, in my experience.

Yeah, it’s super important to manage the slope of your yard, to the degree possible. (Voice of experience).

You did a pun.

Thanks for the tips!

Luckily, I'm still under warranty (we closed less than a month ago) so this will be an endeavor for the home builders to figure out.

Here's where we are this morning:
.
. .
.
It has receded a bit, but the reflection makes it seem like there's significantly less water. It's still substantial.

As I look at all the dead lawns in my area, I can't believe I'm jealous of a flooded yard in Arizona.

My advice John is to quickly put in a dock and then sell the property as waterfront. Make some $$.

The Sybian wrote: ↑Wed Jul 27, 2022 11:25 am As I look at all the dead lawns in my area, I can't believe I'm jealous of a flooded yard in Arizona.

You can probably sell your house in NJ, buy 2 homes here, and still come out ahead cash-wise if you feel like moving. Just sayin'.

Johnnie wrote: ↑Wed Jul 27, 2022 11:54 am

The Sybian wrote: ↑Wed Jul 27, 2022 11:25 am As I look at all the dead lawns in my area, I can't believe I'm jealous of a flooded yard in Arizona.

You can probably sell your house in NJ, buy 2 homes here, and still come out ahead cash-wise if you feel like moving. Just sayin'.

Trust me, I am painfully aware. I'd probably pay less in property tax, too. Once my kids are out of the house and my in-laws sell their house, I can't imagine we stick around.

Johnnie wrote: ↑Wed Jul 27, 2022 11:54 am

The Sybian wrote: ↑Wed Jul 27, 2022 11:25 am As I look at all the dead lawns in my area, I can't believe I'm jealous of a flooded yard in Arizona.

You can probably sell your house in NJ, buy 2 homes here, and still come out ahead cash-wise if you feel like moving. Just sayin'.

Part of the reason we're most likely moving to western Illinois hopefully sooner than later.

Phrases like "western Illinois" remind me I know very little about this country outside of the northeast and major cities.

mister d wrote: ↑Wed Jul 27, 2022 1:18 pm Phrases like "western Illinois" remind me I know very little about this country outside of the northeast and major cities.

It's easy to remember western Illinois because that's where East St. Louis is.

Giff wrote: ↑Wed Jul 27, 2022 2:01 pm

Exactly what I thought of. 30+ years later, the only thing I think of when I hear East St. Louis. Had no idea it was in Illinois!

A_B wrote: ↑Wed Jul 27, 2022 1:42 pm

mister d wrote: ↑Wed Jul 27, 2022 1:18 pm Phrases like "western Illinois" remind me I know very little about this country outside of the northeast and major cities.

It's easy to remember western Illinois because that's where East St. Louis is.

No. That’d be southern Illinois.

Southern Illinois University is still two hours further south than East St. Louis. (Not trying to be pedantic, but spending as much time as I have in STL, I've heard the IL suburbs around STL referred to as both "southern Illinois" and "western Illinois" (or obviously "southwestern Illinois")

brian wrote: ↑Wed Jul 27, 2022 3:05 pm Southern Illinois University is still two hours further south than East St. Louis. (Not trying to be pedantic, but spending as much time as I have in STL, I've heard the IL suburbs around STL referred to as both "southern Illinois" and "western Illinois" (or obviously "southwestern Illinois")

It gets even more complicated when you consider there's roughly about 10 million Illinoisians who live in metro Chicago who consider everything further south than Joliet "southern Illinois". ETA: STL Steve will absolutely back me up on this.

What do they call the Quad Cities?

Giff wrote: ↑Wed Jul 27, 2022 3:23 pm What do they call the Quad Cities?

That's Western Illinois by any measure.

Can't wait for the eventual occasion when Giff and Zipper meet up.

We'll see. Sounds like the option of her keeping her job and working there is out. She's meeting with HR tomorrow to see what the minimum amount of time she has to spend in Texas to keep her job.

A conversation we should all be having

Amen.

They have broken ground and poured the foundation. Estimated time of completion is 5-7 mos.

Found out that the new rookie center for the Ravens is living across the street from me.

brian wrote: ↑Wed Jul 27, 2022 3:24 pm

Giff wrote: ↑Wed Jul 27, 2022 3:23 pm What do they call the Quad Cities?

That's Western Illinois by any measure.

We call that “Iowa.”

It’s funny, I lived in Illinois 23 years, went to the U of Illinois, but I’ve never heard anyone use “Western Illinois” or “Eastern Illinois“ to refer to any particular geographical area. There’s just Chicagoland and Southern Illinois.

Giff wrote: ↑Wed Jul 27, 2022 3:23 pm What do they call the Quad Cities?

So ironically I just interviewed with a company based in the Quad Cities and I think they're going to offer me the job so I might be spending a lot of time there in the future.

brian wrote: ↑Mon Aug 29, 2022 2:08 pm

Giff wrote: ↑Wed Jul 27, 2022 3:23 pm What do they call the Quad Cities?

So ironically I just interviewed with a company based in the Quad Cities and I think they're going to offer me the job so I might be spending a lot of time there in the future.

Are they still running harness races at Quad Cities Downs?

So, the rainy season is over but the home builder is taking its sweet, sweet time in getting my backyard fixed.

But that's not what my post is about today. I just want to say there are too many people trying to sell me solar panels. I want to get it eventually, but jeeeez ussss. The relentlessness of these people to try to get me to sign into a big money 25 year contract is nuts.

Each year it gets cheaper and every solar guy I interact with looks like a smarmy douche so I feel like I'd be taken for a ride going through any of them. (My friend who lives up the street even caught a dude on her doorbell camera talking shit because she has a "no soliciting" sign and he said something like "Oh these are the exact types of people that you can get" when the guy he was with pointed it out.)

So does anyone have the definitive info on solar?

We have our pre-drywall meeting this week. House is rolling along nicely. Should be done around February if all goes to plan with weather and supplies, etc. So it will be done in March.

bfj wrote: ↑Tue Nov 01, 2022 12:33 pm We have our pre-drywall meeting this week. House is rolling along nicely. Should be done around February if all goes to plan with weather and supplies, etc. So it will be done in March.

Hopefully 2023.

Steve of phpBB wrote: ↑Mon Aug 15, 2022 9:23 pm

brian wrote: ↑Wed Jul 27, 2022 3:24 pm

Giff wrote: ↑Wed Jul 27, 2022 3:23 pm What do they call the Quad Cities?

That's Western Illinois by any measure.

We call that “Iowa.”

It’s funny, I lived in Illinois 23 years, went to the U of Illinois, but I’ve never heard anyone use “Western Illinois” or “Eastern Illinois“ to refer to any particular geographical area. There’s just Chicagoland and Southern Illinois.

Catching back up on this thread and this was my thought. Though, not as close coming from MI and with grandparents in Chicago.

Johnnie wrote: ↑Wed Oct 26, 2022 8:28 pm So, the rainy season is over but the home builder is taking its sweet, sweet time in getting my backyard fixed.

But that's not what my post is about today. I just want to say there are too many people trying to sell me solar panels. I want to get it eventually, but jeeeez ussss. The relentlessness of these people to try to get me to sign into a big money 25 year contract is nuts.

Each year it gets cheaper and every solar guy I interact with looks like a smarmy douche so I feel like I'd be taken for a ride going through any of them. (My friend who lives up the street even caught a dude on her doorbell camera talking shit because she has a "no soliciting" sign and he said something like "Oh these are the exact types of people that you can get" when the guy he was with pointed it out.)

So does anyone have the definitive info on solar?

I echo these concerns -- It'd be great to have solar panels on our house, but everything feels like it's a multi-level marketing scheme

Brontoburglar wrote: ↑Tue Nov 01, 2022 6:52 pmI echo these concerns -- It'd be great to have solar panels on our house, but everything feels like it's a multi-level marketing scheme

That's exactly how I feel talking to those people. All of them seem ridiculously suspect to me. Even the nicest ones with the most polished pitches. If this is such a worthwhile purchase why is it being sold in such a weird way?

Since I made that post, we've encountered another 3 people. I'm waiting on the no soliciting sign in the mail.

on the energy efficient front -- I'm definitely going to take advantage of a lot of the $14K in IRA rebates available sometime in the near future for energy-efficient upgrades. will happily replace our traditional AC unit with a heat pump for basically free if and when that time comes and will also probably have the house re-insulated and get that tax credit too.