The middle agers group. (Upper 30s,40s & 50ish folks)

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Replies

  • Christov42
    Christov42 Posts: 5 Member
    42, but still feeling young! Fee free to add me.
  • hurstclan
    hurstclan Posts: 1 Member
    Looking for accountability friends. M 41 220lbs
  • epangili
    epangili Posts: 818 Member
    I'm 44 and on the last leg of my weightloss journey to lose 10 lbs per doctor's goal for me. When I started in April I was obese on the Asian American bmi chart. I just found mfp in October. Today, I'm now in the high end of the normal range of the Asian American bmi chart (this was my range from high school to age 34). I'd love some accountability friends to support and encourage so feel free to add me.
  • drmwc
    drmwc Posts: 1,041 Member
    edited January 2020
    My weekend was fun. Winter diving is variable, but can be superb.

    https://youtu.be/ZzPIuiQiduo
  • estherpotter1
    estherpotter1 Posts: 141 Member
    I turn 50 in September.Feel free to add me.
  • lil_emmy83
    lil_emmy83 Posts: 2 Member
    Hi I’m Emma from Scotland....2nd week of being good. Hoping to lose some weight over the next few months...good luck everyone 👍🏻
  • lil_emmy83
    lil_emmy83 Posts: 2 Member
    Hi all, im Emma, nearly 37 🙊 and want to lose some weight. Second week of trying so here’s hoping. Good luck to you all 👍🏻
  • mcemino2
    mcemino2 Posts: 427 Member
    mtaratoot wrote: »
    AliNouveau wrote: »
    AliNouveau wrote: »
    kimber0607 wrote: »
    Hey old timers

    what a day...running around doing errands/appts...for those who aren't aware of my eye problems..they are itching like crazzzyyyyyyy,,,,,but they don't look too bad..so who knows what's going on?!

    My 2 teen agers and plotting their Friday night..so looks like ill be a taxi service....might come back here to hang out

    have a good one!!

    Those darn eye problems. Blame the teenagers!!!

    We woke up to another furnace issue. The pump was broken so after that was repaired we went to the science centre since the boy had a day off today. Tomorrow we're supposed to get a snowstorm. It's a wintry weekend

    I'll take snow any day - down here in eastern WV, we're under a freezing rain warning for tomorrow. Snow I can handle; ice I want nothing to do with, especially freezing rain that coats everything!

    Ugh freezing rain is the absolute worst. It's so dangerous

    The good news was that they over-shot the forecast, and the temps didn't drop low enough and the rain was slow enough getting here that it was only partially freezing for a small amount of time and then switched to regular rain, so the roads were fine. Which worked out well for me, because I was then able to take my '06 Honda CR-V to Autozone in the county seat 20 miles from my home to get the check engine light code read (because apparently, Walmart garage is unable to do it *rolls eyes*) it just confirmed what I was already suspecting - I need a new thermostat.
    Thermostat. Easy and cheap. Oxygen sensor - not so much. Note to self: If you ever DID go to Walmart, don't go anymore. Doesn't apply to me; I don't go there. For anything. Certainly not auto repair. I looked hard to find a good independent mechanic when my last one retired. He is honest and proficient. He charges by actual hours, not book rate. If I ask him to do something and he doesn't think it needs to be done, he tells me. When he gives me the bill, he warns me it might be a lot.... it never is based on what I asked him to do. Ask around; you might find a good independent wrench turner near you closer than 20 miles.

    I am the original owner of a 22 year old Tacoma. I told my mechanic I was looking at new trucks. He told me why I shouldn't. It's not just to support his business, so I believe him. Keeping the old truck!

    Hate to disagree, but finding a reliable and competent independent is very hard to do. I work in a dealership and I always tell people to go to the dealer-they now your car better than anyone. They also have the right tools and equipment to fix it. Most of the time the dealer is no more expensive than an independent, many times they are less because they don't hang as many parts trying to fix it. You wouldn't believe how many people we get that have been somewhere else and finally come to us to get their car fixed.
  • TomFit18
    TomFit18 Posts: 2,585 Member
    Good morning peeps! Have a great day!
  • lisamacphee30
    lisamacphee30 Posts: 2 Member
    Hello, I'd like to join this group. I'm not quite upper 30's yet, I'm 34 but but identify more with this age group than a younger one.
  • bmeadows380
    bmeadows380 Posts: 2,981 Member
    mcemino2 wrote: »
    mtaratoot wrote: »
    The good news was that they over-shot the forecast, and the temps didn't drop low enough and the rain was slow enough getting here that it was only partially freezing for a small amount of time and then switched to regular rain, so the roads were fine. Which worked out well for me, because I was then able to take my '06 Honda CR-V to Autozone in the county seat 20 miles from my home to get the check engine light code read (because apparently, Walmart garage is unable to do it *rolls eyes*) it just confirmed what I was already suspecting - I need a new thermostat.
    Thermostat. Easy and cheap. Oxygen sensor - not so much. Note to self: If you ever DID go to Walmart, don't go anymore. Doesn't apply to me; I don't go there. For anything. Certainly not auto repair. I looked hard to find a good independent mechanic when my last one retired. He is honest and proficient. He charges by actual hours, not book rate. If I ask him to do something and he doesn't think it needs to be done, he tells me. When he gives me the bill, he warns me it might be a lot.... it never is based on what I asked him to do. Ask around; you might find a good independent wrench turner near you closer than 20 miles.

    I am the original owner of a 22 year old Tacoma. I told my mechanic I was looking at new trucks. He told me why I shouldn't. It's not just to support his business, so I believe him. Keeping the old truck!

    Hate to disagree, but finding a reliable and competent independent is very hard to do. I work in a dealership and I always tell people to go to the dealer-they now your car better than anyone. They also have the right tools and equipment to fix it. Most of the time the dealer is no more expensive than an independent, many times they are less because they don't hang as many parts trying to fix it. You wouldn't believe how many people we get that have been somewhere else and finally come to us to get their car fixed.


    @mcemino2 That's been my experience in the past, especially when dealing with the imports. I'm in a rural area and there aren't that many local places anyway, and no one around can give a good recommendation for anyone. The guy closest to me I trust to change tires and that's it - he's the guy who when the care overheated back in the summer, just put coolant in and and said it was fine without trying to figure out where the coolant went, and then when the check engine light came on, when I had him read the code to figure out why, he tells me "I reset it and it didn't come back, so you're good to go!" without even bothering to find out what the code meant or knowing that when a check engine light on this model CR-V is reset, if the condition still exists, the light will come back on in 3 days - which it did (information that I found online in about 5 minutes while trying to figure out what the code meant since he just gave me the description and not the actual number; and boy are Honda codes hard to find!) In fact, I'm a little doubtful to even have him change tires! Frankly, its been my experience that the local guys are about as good as the Walmart guys.

    I do know, though, that if you can find a competent independent, they are worth double their weight in gold. I did have a very competent mechanic when I lived near Greensburg, PA - he was from Taiwan and he specialized in Japanese model vehicles and he was the best; honest, reasonable, and did not do anything that was not necessary. I'm not sure if he's still open these days; he was getting close to retirement when I left the state and moved south, but I sure wish he was around here!

    When I moved back here, I did ask around, but no one knew of anyone they'd recommend; the guys I work with all said they just do the work themselves, or could tell you who NOT to take a car to.
  • AliNouveau
    AliNouveau Posts: 36,287 Member
    mcemino2 wrote: »
    mtaratoot wrote: »
    AliNouveau wrote: »
    AliNouveau wrote: »
    kimber0607 wrote: »
    Hey old timers

    what a day...running around doing errands/appts...for those who aren't aware of my eye problems..they are itching like crazzzyyyyyyy,,,,,but they don't look too bad..so who knows what's going on?!

    My 2 teen agers and plotting their Friday night..so looks like ill be a taxi service....might come back here to hang out

    have a good one!!

    Those darn eye problems. Blame the teenagers!!!

    We woke up to another furnace issue. The pump was broken so after that was repaired we went to the science centre since the boy had a day off today. Tomorrow we're supposed to get a snowstorm. It's a wintry weekend

    I'll take snow any day - down here in eastern WV, we're under a freezing rain warning for tomorrow. Snow I can handle; ice I want nothing to do with, especially freezing rain that coats everything!

    Ugh freezing rain is the absolute worst. It's so dangerous

    The good news was that they over-shot the forecast, and the temps didn't drop low enough and the rain was slow enough getting here that it was only partially freezing for a small amount of time and then switched to regular rain, so the roads were fine. Which worked out well for me, because I was then able to take my '06 Honda CR-V to Autozone in the county seat 20 miles from my home to get the check engine light code read (because apparently, Walmart garage is unable to do it *rolls eyes*) it just confirmed what I was already suspecting - I need a new thermostat.
    Thermostat. Easy and cheap. Oxygen sensor - not so much. Note to self: If you ever DID go to Walmart, don't go anymore. Doesn't apply to me; I don't go there. For anything. Certainly not auto repair. I looked hard to find a good independent mechanic when my last one retired. He is honest and proficient. He charges by actual hours, not book rate. If I ask him to do something and he doesn't think it needs to be done, he tells me. When he gives me the bill, he warns me it might be a lot.... it never is based on what I asked him to do. Ask around; you might find a good independent wrench turner near you closer than 20 miles.

    I am the original owner of a 22 year old Tacoma. I told my mechanic I was looking at new trucks. He told me why I shouldn't. It's not just to support his business, so I believe him. Keeping the old truck!

    Hate to disagree, but finding a reliable and competent independent is very hard to do. I work in a dealership and I always tell people to go to the dealer-they now your car better than anyone. They also have the right tools and equipment to fix it. Most of the time the dealer is no more expensive than an independent, many times they are less because they don't hang as many parts trying to fix it. You wouldn't believe how many people we get that have been somewhere else and finally come to us to get their car fixed.

    I don't go to the dealer because I have a good garage 1km away that I can walk home from. I hope they're ok now
  • AliNouveau
    AliNouveau Posts: 36,287 Member
    Raise your hand if your workout on the weekend was shovelling snow. 🙋

    Now our teachers are in strike today so we're going to have fun outside in the frigid temps and explore outdoor skating rinks. I do enjoy winter
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 14,278 Member
    mcemino2 wrote: »
    mtaratoot wrote: »
    AliNouveau wrote: »
    AliNouveau wrote: »
    kimber0607 wrote: »
    Hey old timers

    what a day...running around doing errands/appts...for those who aren't aware of my eye problems..they are itching like crazzzyyyyyyy,,,,,but they don't look too bad..so who knows what's going on?!

    My 2 teen agers and plotting their Friday night..so looks like ill be a taxi service....might come back here to hang out

    have a good one!!

    Those darn eye problems. Blame the teenagers!!!

    We woke up to another furnace issue. The pump was broken so after that was repaired we went to the science centre since the boy had a day off today. Tomorrow we're supposed to get a snowstorm. It's a wintry weekend

    I'll take snow any day - down here in eastern WV, we're under a freezing rain warning for tomorrow. Snow I can handle; ice I want nothing to do with, especially freezing rain that coats everything!

    Ugh freezing rain is the absolute worst. It's so dangerous

    The good news was that they over-shot the forecast, and the temps didn't drop low enough and the rain was slow enough getting here that it was only partially freezing for a small amount of time and then switched to regular rain, so the roads were fine. Which worked out well for me, because I was then able to take my '06 Honda CR-V to Autozone in the county seat 20 miles from my home to get the check engine light code read (because apparently, Walmart garage is unable to do it *rolls eyes*) it just confirmed what I was already suspecting - I need a new thermostat.
    Thermostat. Easy and cheap. Oxygen sensor - not so much. Note to self: If you ever DID go to Walmart, don't go anymore. Doesn't apply to me; I don't go there. For anything. Certainly not auto repair. I looked hard to find a good independent mechanic when my last one retired. He is honest and proficient. He charges by actual hours, not book rate. If I ask him to do something and he doesn't think it needs to be done, he tells me. When he gives me the bill, he warns me it might be a lot.... it never is based on what I asked him to do. Ask around; you might find a good independent wrench turner near you closer than 20 miles.

    I am the original owner of a 22 year old Tacoma. I told my mechanic I was looking at new trucks. He told me why I shouldn't. It's not just to support his business, so I believe him. Keeping the old truck!

    Hate to disagree, but finding a reliable and competent independent is very hard to do. I work in a dealership and I always tell people to go to the dealer-they now your car better than anyone. They also have the right tools and equipment to fix it. Most of the time the dealer is no more expensive than an independent, many times they are less because they don't hang as many parts trying to fix it. You wouldn't believe how many people we get that have been somewhere else and finally come to us to get their car fixed.
    mcemino2 wrote: »
    mtaratoot wrote: »
    The good news was that they over-shot the forecast, and the temps didn't drop low enough and the rain was slow enough getting here that it was only partially freezing for a small amount of time and then switched to regular rain, so the roads were fine. Which worked out well for me, because I was then able to take my '06 Honda CR-V to Autozone in the county seat 20 miles from my home to get the check engine light code read (because apparently, Walmart garage is unable to do it *rolls eyes*) it just confirmed what I was already suspecting - I need a new thermostat.
    Thermostat. Easy and cheap. Oxygen sensor - not so much. Note to self: If you ever DID go to Walmart, don't go anymore. Doesn't apply to me; I don't go there. For anything. Certainly not auto repair. I looked hard to find a good independent mechanic when my last one retired. He is honest and proficient. He charges by actual hours, not book rate. If I ask him to do something and he doesn't think it needs to be done, he tells me. When he gives me the bill, he warns me it might be a lot.... it never is based on what I asked him to do. Ask around; you might find a good independent wrench turner near you closer than 20 miles.

    I am the original owner of a 22 year old Tacoma. I told my mechanic I was looking at new trucks. He told me why I shouldn't. It's not just to support his business, so I believe him. Keeping the old truck!

    Hate to disagree, but finding a reliable and competent independent is very hard to do. I work in a dealership and I always tell people to go to the dealer-they now your car better than anyone. They also have the right tools and equipment to fix it. Most of the time the dealer is no more expensive than an independent, many times they are less because they don't hang as many parts trying to fix it. You wouldn't believe how many people we get that have been somewhere else and finally come to us to get their car fixed.


    @mcemino2 That's been my experience in the past, especially when dealing with the imports. I'm in a rural area and there aren't that many local places anyway, and no one around can give a good recommendation for anyone. The guy closest to me I trust to change tires and that's it - he's the guy who when the care overheated back in the summer, just put coolant in and and said it was fine without trying to figure out where the coolant went, and then when the check engine light came on, when I had him read the code to figure out why, he tells me "I reset it and it didn't come back, so you're good to go!" without even bothering to find out what the code meant or knowing that when a check engine light on this model CR-V is reset, if the condition still exists, the light will come back on in 3 days - which it did (information that I found online in about 5 minutes while trying to figure out what the code meant since he just gave me the description and not the actual number; and boy are Honda codes hard to find!) In fact, I'm a little doubtful to even have him change tires! Frankly, its been my experience that the local guys are about as good as the Walmart guys.

    I do know, though, that if you can find a competent independent, they are worth double their weight in gold. I did have a very competent mechanic when I lived near Greensburg, PA - he was from Taiwan and he specialized in Japanese model vehicles and he was the best; honest, reasonable, and did not do anything that was not necessary. I'm not sure if he's still open these days; he was getting close to retirement when I left the state and moved south, but I sure wish he was around here!

    When I moved back here, I did ask around, but no one knew of anyone they'd recommend; the guys I work with all said they just do the work themselves, or could tell you who NOT to take a car to.

    Yeah, it isn't always easy to find a good independent mechanic, but it is SO worth the trouble. I've had good fortune. It does take a while, and I look for recommendations from friends and neighbors. I know for a fact I get high quality work for reasonable rates. One time I was in the shop and a couple drove from several hours out of town to get my mechanic to diagnose a problem that nobody else could, including multiple dealers. My experience with dealers is they like to swap parts, and they charge book rate. My current mechanic was a Toyota Master Mechanic before going out on his own. He only charges actual hours, and often he will do some work on my truck gratis. He hires another mechanic that is a Subaru specialist. Last time I changed out timing belt and water pump (plus a few other routine things), he warned me when I came that the bill was going to be "kind of a lot." It's true I was shocked when I saw the fee. It was really small all things considered. I told him that I had asked him to do a lot. He also sometimes does NOT do some of the work I bring the truck in for because in his EXPERT opinion, it doesn't need it. The dealer would, for sure, do it and bill me whether I need it or not.

    My previous mechanic also worked for Toyota, and then he taught high school auto shop before starting on his own. He was competent and affordable, approachable and friendly.

    With an independent, you actually get to talk to the mechanic rather than the service writer.

    Before I had my truck, I had a '77 Celica GT. I had an independent mechanic that was old enough he knew what a carburetor was, and he did a great job with my car. He advised me NOT to get a V-6 when I bought a truck, not because of the engine, but because there was so little space under the hood for him to work. The first few years I had the truck, I took it to the dealer. I finally realized the errors of my ways and found a good independent.

    Back when I lived in other states, I always found good independent mechanics to work on my Celica. They were all competent and friendly, and they often would do little jobs without charging. They knew they did good work, and I was always an advocate for them.

    Go find yourself a good independent. You'll be glad you did. If you have one that's not very good -- well, yeah, then you are going to pay twice. Once at a discount for poor quality work, then you will overpay at the dealer. I've never found a dealership who's mechanic work was what I'd call a good value.
  • IAMGREATBEARD
    IAMGREATBEARD Posts: 126 Member
    Morning all my name is Ben I’m new here, I’m 32 and have finally woken up from my laziness to get back into shape I’ve been going for about 3 months now am have lost nearly 10kg I feel lighter stronger and I’m about to push my body to the limit to reach my goals, looking to meet people who have the same ideas and want to motivate and push each other 👌💪
  • bmeadows380
    bmeadows380 Posts: 2,981 Member
    it figures. My pellet stove decides it doesn't want to work tonight - when the overnight temps are going to be in the low teens. If I can't get the thing to run, I'm going to have to depend on my backup, which are baseboard heaters (ouch!) I"m going to try vacuuming it one more time, and I ran a brush up the flue; hopefully, that gets it going!

    I've got a service man coming out on Thursday; but I could really use the thing tonight!
  • TomFit18
    TomFit18 Posts: 2,585 Member
    Good morning peeps...another Monday in the books! Have a terrific Tuesday!
  • bmeadows380
    bmeadows380 Posts: 2,981 Member
    dad-burned pellet stove would not work last night, so the baseboard heaters are carrying it for now. And it dropped to 8F this morning, so I'm already cringing on what my power bill is going to look like in February. Figures; it was working just fine until this week! The darned thing will go into startup mode, even get to the point where its fired and burning merrily, but it won't finish the start-up cycle and instead errors out on me and shuts itself back down.

    This is one of those hindsight things; if I had known anything about pellet stoves back when I bought this one 2 years ago, or knew of anyone else who knew anything about them, I would not have bought this particular brand or model. And I wouldn't have gotten it from the local hardware store. I found out months AFTER I bought the one I have that there were other dealers in the area with much better units; more expensive, yes, but far less headaches than this one has given me!
  • AliNouveau
    AliNouveau Posts: 36,287 Member
    dad-burned pellet stove would not work last night, so the baseboard heaters are carrying it for now. And it dropped to 8F this morning, so I'm already cringing on what my power bill is going to look like in February. Figures; it was working just fine until this week! The darned thing will go into startup mode, even get to the point where its fired and burning merrily, but it won't finish the start-up cycle and instead errors out on me and shuts itself back down.

    This is one of those hindsight things; if I had known anything about pellet stoves back when I bought this one 2 years ago, or knew of anyone else who knew anything about them, I would not have bought this particular brand or model. And I wouldn't have gotten it from the local hardware store. I found out months AFTER I bought the one I have that there were other dealers in the area with much better units; more expensive, yes, but far less headaches than this one has given me!

    What is a pellet stove? Like a cast iron stove?

    On Friday it was super cold and we woke up to the Pump having broken on our boiler. So the rads were getting enough water to heat a little bit but not enough foe our liking. I thought maybe it was just because it was so cold out. Sadly no. But now it's repaired. What's with heating and this winter??
  • I had a woodburning stove when I was married to my first husband, and we avoided getting a pellet stove for just those sorts of reasons. We had a conventional that burnt split logs, but we were also in an area where split firewood was readily available and not too expensive.
  • kimber0607
    kimber0607 Posts: 994 Member
    Hey all

    Hope everyone had a nice weekend..had some snow here in the NE but not too bad
    kids had a 3 day weekend now back to the grind :)

    Kim
  • bmeadows380
    bmeadows380 Posts: 2,981 Member
    AliNouveau wrote: »
    dad-burned pellet stove would not work last night, so the baseboard heaters are carrying it for now. And it dropped to 8F this morning, so I'm already cringing on what my power bill is going to look like in February. Figures; it was working just fine until this week! The darned thing will go into startup mode, even get to the point where its fired and burning merrily, but it won't finish the start-up cycle and instead errors out on me and shuts itself back down.

    This is one of those hindsight things; if I had known anything about pellet stoves back when I bought this one 2 years ago, or knew of anyone else who knew anything about them, I would not have bought this particular brand or model. And I wouldn't have gotten it from the local hardware store. I found out months AFTER I bought the one I have that there were other dealers in the area with much better units; more expensive, yes, but far less headaches than this one has given me!

    What is a pellet stove? Like a cast iron stove?

    On Friday it was super cold and we woke up to the Pump having broken on our boiler. So the rads were getting enough water to heat a little bit but not enough foe our liking. I thought maybe it was just because it was so cold out. Sadly no. But now it's repaired. What's with heating and this winter??

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pellet_stove

    A pellet stove is a stove that burns compressed wood or biomass pellets to create a source of heat for residential and sometimes industrial spaces. By steadily feeding fuel from a storage container (hopper) into a burn pot area, it produces a constant flame that requires little to no physical adjustments. Today's central heating systems operated with wood pellets as a renewable energy source can reach an efficiency factor of more than 90%.

    Where I live, the heating options are fuel oil, propane, wood burner (including pellet), or electric. Natural Gas, unfortunately, is not available. The two most economical are wood first and pellets second, but I don't have a ready source of firewood or the time to go cut it. My parents have a wood burning furnace, but they are having difficulty sourcing the wood since they are getting to the point where they can't physically cut it themselves or have a ready source to cut themselves. The locals who sell firewood aren't cheap either. My parents try for around 8 chord (the best I can estimate since they cut it using a wagon and a pickup and don't stack but just throw the wood in), and if they bought it, they'd be looking at at least $1000 a season. Some people buy logs and cut it up themselves, though I'm not sure the price on that and besides, my folks are getting on in years and just are losing the stamina needed. Plus there's stacking it, keeping it try, dealing with smoke, and all those things.

    Fuel oil easily costs $2500 a year - my grandmother heats with fuel oil and that's what she puts back each year. Propane is cheaper than fuel oil but definitely tops $1000, and probably closer to $2000. December 2 years ago when i was still remodeling my house, we had a big cold snap that I had to rely on the baseboard heaters for, and the power bill for that month topped $600; If was heating with the electric baseboards alone, I'd expect to spend $3000+ for a single season. Heat pumps are much more efficient when the temps are mild, but once they drop below about 30F, they kick on their auxilliary heat which is nothing more than a baseboard heater, so in January and February when the overnight temps are routinely below 30F, heat pumps lose some of that economical edge. Besides which, I can't afford to put in a heat pump right now; there is no ductwork available in my house, so they'd have to run that too, and I'd be looking at a minimum of $7500 for installation.

    The pellets come in 40 lb bags. I've found that I'm average a little under 4 ton a year, and Lowe's sells them at a $250 a ton if I use the Lowe's card discount, so I can heat my house for an entire season for around $1000. I still have to store the bags and they can be a hassle since my stove runs through a bag in a couple of hours, and it is dusty (though I have yet to find a heating source that isn't dusty), but the pellet stove was the most economical option I could afford at the time. It does heat well, but if I had known then what I know now, I wouldn't have bought mine where I bought it. I didn't know there was a local shop that sold better quality stoves that held more pellets at at time, and now I can't afford to trade out, so I'm stuck with what I got for a few more years.

    For me, working like I do and being single with no significant other or children or siblings to depend upon for some help, the pellets were the easiest route for me. I don't mind dealing with the pellets and the type of heat it provides, I just wish that my stove had better heating control and that I could circulate the heat through the house better than I currently can. That and I wish the darn thing wasn't so cotton-pickin' contrary!
  • doubleplay_643
    doubleplay_643 Posts: 152 Member
    I could really use some friends to help me stay motivated and keep on track. I am here to do the same back to all you fitness fanatics! Please add me!
  • GrumpyDumpty
    GrumpyDumpty Posts: 234 Member
    I'm back again. Looking to lose 2 stone (12kg. 28 pounds) in 100 days. Former member of the 100 pound club. Struggled with motivation hence the period off here.

    Back with a bang, it's now or never. I'm not getting any older. I need to do this for me. And my family.

    The buck stops with me. Drop me a friend request to see if I can achieve my goal
  • AliNouveau
    AliNouveau Posts: 36,287 Member
    AliNouveau wrote: »
    dad-burned pellet stove would not work last night, so the baseboard heaters are carrying it for now. And it dropped to 8F this morning, so I'm already cringing on what my power bill is going to look like in February. Figures; it was working just fine until this week! The darned thing will go into startup mode, even get to the point where its fired and burning merrily, but it won't finish the start-up cycle and instead errors out on me and shuts itself back down.

    This is one of those hindsight things; if I had known anything about pellet stoves back when I bought this one 2 years ago, or knew of anyone else who knew anything about them, I would not have bought this particular brand or model. And I wouldn't have gotten it from the local hardware store. I found out months AFTER I bought the one I have that there were other dealers in the area with much better units; more expensive, yes, but far less headaches than this one has given me!

    What is a pellet stove? Like a cast iron stove?

    On Friday it was super cold and we woke up to the Pump having broken on our boiler. So the rads were getting enough water to heat a little bit but not enough foe our liking. I thought maybe it was just because it was so cold out. Sadly no. But now it's repaired. What's with heating and this winter??

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pellet_stove

    A pellet stove is a stove that burns compressed wood or biomass pellets to create a source of heat for residential and sometimes industrial spaces. By steadily feeding fuel from a storage container (hopper) into a burn pot area, it produces a constant flame that requires little to no physical adjustments. Today's central heating systems operated with wood pellets as a renewable energy source can reach an efficiency factor of more than 90%.

    Where I live, the heating options are fuel oil, propane, wood burner (including pellet), or electric. Natural Gas, unfortunately, is not available. The two most economical are wood first and pellets second, but I don't have a ready source of firewood or the time to go cut it. My parents have a wood burning furnace, but they are having difficulty sourcing the wood since they are getting to the point where they can't physically cut it themselves or have a ready source to cut themselves. The locals who sell firewood aren't cheap either. My parents try for around 8 chord (the best I can estimate since they cut it using a wagon and a pickup and don't stack but just throw the wood in), and if they bought it, they'd be looking at at least $1000 a season. Some people buy logs and cut it up themselves, though I'm not sure the price on that and besides, my folks are getting on in years and just are losing the stamina needed. Plus there's stacking it, keeping it try, dealing with smoke, and all those things.

    Fuel oil easily costs $2500 a year - my grandmother heats with fuel oil and that's what she puts back each year. Propane is cheaper than fuel oil but definitely tops $1000, and probably closer to $2000. December 2 years ago when i was still remodeling my house, we had a big cold snap that I had to rely on the baseboard heaters for, and the power bill for that month topped $600; If was heating with the electric baseboards alone, I'd expect to spend $3000+ for a single season. Heat pumps are much more efficient when the temps are mild, but once they drop below about 30F, they kick on their auxilliary heat which is nothing more than a baseboard heater, so in January and February when the overnight temps are routinely below 30F, heat pumps lose some of that economical edge. Besides which, I can't afford to put in a heat pump right now; there is no ductwork available in my house, so they'd have to run that too, and I'd be looking at a minimum of $7500 for installation.

    The pellets come in 40 lb bags. I've found that I'm average a little under 4 ton a year, and Lowe's sells them at a $250 a ton if I use the Lowe's card discount, so I can heat my house for an entire season for around $1000. I still have to store the bags and they can be a hassle since my stove runs through a bag in a couple of hours, and it is dusty (though I have yet to find a heating source that isn't dusty), but the pellet stove was the most economical option I could afford at the time. It does heat well, but if I had known then what I know now, I wouldn't have bought mine where I bought it. I didn't know there was a local shop that sold better quality stoves that held more pellets at at time, and now I can't afford to trade out, so I'm stuck with what I got for a few more years.

    For me, working like I do and being single with no significant other or children or siblings to depend upon for some help, the pellets were the easiest route for me. I don't mind dealing with the pellets and the type of heat it provides, I just wish that my stove had better heating control and that I could circulate the heat through the house better than I currently can. That and I wish the darn thing wasn't so cotton-pickin' contrary!

    Interesting. I just assume all areas have access to natural gas. Are you in a rural community?
  • bmeadows380
    bmeadows380 Posts: 2,981 Member
    AliNouveau wrote: »
    Interesting. I just assume all areas have access to natural gas. Are you in a rural community?

    yup; rural WV. Gas is available on the eastern end of the county but not where I am on the western end, and there's not enough population thus incentive for the gas company to expand, either. And even if they did, there would be so much stupid opposition (mostly from outside the state) that I doubt the gas company would want to bother *rolls eyes* this coming from experience: people in this state and especially this county fight anything that might be considered a "change". then they wonder why WV's #1 export is our young people and why their kids all have to move out of state to find decent jobs......

    I had really hoped that they'd put a station in for residental sales when they started building the big gas pipeline through the area, but they didn't. The pipeline is just an expressway from the marcellis shale fields up north to VA and NC in the south. They're just piping it through and only building individual stations for large paying customers who request it.
  • URaGoddess_2020
    URaGoddess_2020 Posts: 8 Member
    Hello all, feel free to add me. I welcome the positive energy. :)<3
  • annliz23
    annliz23 Posts: 3,752 Member
    I could really use some friends to help me stay motivated and keep on track. I am here to do the same back to all you fitness fanatics! Please add me!

    Good luck
  • melerwin80
    melerwin80 Posts: 2 Member
    I'm about to turn 40 and actually legit looking forward to it. I've used mapmyrun and mapmyfitness apps off and on for the past 8 or 9 years but just added myfitness pal a few months ago. My previous job was super physical hard labor often 12-18 hours a day for 6-7 days a week, and my new job is equally as intense but about half as many days and after I made the transition I didn't realize I needed to readjust my diet accordingly. Tracking my calorie intake on here has been really helpful in getting ahead of the "middle age spread" that seemed to be imminent. Hiking is my main jam and living right outside of Austin, TX in Hill Country is awesome for getting in some mileage on the trails. I also partake in yoga and have started doing bodyweight HIIT routines at home while I procrastinate on joining a gym again, ha! I work at a local brewery that is also a large farm and we cover a lot of ground hauling kegs, cases of bottles, and giant bags of ice all over the property. For a small female I'm pretty tough but I would like to be strong enough that some things I used to lift easily weren't such a struggle.
  • potmen69
    potmen69 Posts: 14 Member
    great value unsalted tops soda crackers. guess i didnt cut a paste my intro. everyone who can should add me as id like to be more involved in this community. i will like ur good things and try to make u laugh about everything else