Bob, isn't it grand to have this weather, and to read about the majority of the country freezing their butts-off? Of course, if the power is out, and there are hardships suffered, I sympathize with those people, having grown-up in the Snow Belt, but as a young adult, having made the decision to migrate to the S.E. coastal FL area. I like the access to the major airports, we've never used PBI, but choose between MIA and FLL (Miami, Ft. Lauderdale) depending upon fares, and we Uber to the airport. The last time I tried using a Yellow Cab, I waited over 40 minutes, I was in-danger of missing my flight, and I called another cab co, and never have used YC since.
One advantage of being in a higher-population area is access to good healthcare, and with my background in fire-rescue (EMS) I have lots of healthcare pros to-whom I can turn for advice. My wife, being Spanish-speaking, has surprised me with her acuity at accessing the healthcare system in a moment of need, though she was an electrical engineer by training/work. She always tells me, "I deal in facts," and her process-oriented way of thinking has helped us to be financially secure, and to be able to deal with health issues as we age (we are both retired).
I laughed at your remark about your in-laws "arguing loud-enough to be heard onshore as they swim the Gulfstream" to paraphrase, reading between the lines, I suspect it wasn't pleasant to be around them.
bj383ss's comment on a Samsung Galaxy S7 barely being of-use, well, I still have my venerable S7 edge as a daily-use phone, bought new. About a year and a half ago, I ordered a new screen, battery, headphone female plug, back, and camera and lens case cover. I replaced it all myself, and while I wouldn't want to try going swimming with it, I haven't had any issues functionally after the repairs. I dropped it and cracked the screen, despite it being in an OtterBox, and I'd noticed that the battery was not as-lasting as it had been, so I decided to spent the $ on the OEM parts, and tackle the work of replacing it. I assumed that if it "didn't take," I wasn't out a lot of $, and if it did restore its utility/functionality, I'd use it until it died or the network forced a change (5G?). I use it all the time to make shopping lists of things to-buy for projects, and taking a pic or two of something I need to buy, before I visit the Ace Hardware is common.
We have three houses for which I need to buy air handler and returns filters for, and opening the phone to see what sizes I need, while standing in the middle of the Home Depot wall of air filters is helpful in preventing purchasing mistakes. On occasion I'll buy a slightly-different size because they don't have the exact size I need. I cut it up to shorten/narrow it an inch, say, to make it fit. It's a good excuse to break-out the hot glue gun. I'm too-
tacano (cheap) to buy those expensive $20 filters, and I try to replace 'em after the first of the month. The bills get-paid, the filter changes are made.
I recently spent a lot of time & effort clearing-out a house and I found a lot of things I'd lost-track of. One of those was my passport, which I'd renewed about a year ago. I also located a couple of interior trim parts for our S2000 which helped restore the good looks as I cruised up the I-95 express lanes to Hollywood yesterday. On the way back to Miami, in the afternoon before the evening rush hour, there was a totally-blocked express lanes accident, and it appears the accident was a bad one, as it made the evening news.
I am always amazed at the grand prix on the I-95 corridor in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties. If you drive the speed limit, people pass you on both sides. Regardless of how-fast you think you're going, someone will always want to pass you. Often as-not, it is a lifted 4x4 or a $$$ SUV on thick gnarled rubber, being driven by a tailgating speeder who never seem to bother with turnsignals, apparently use of them is a sign of low testosterone. If I can, I pull to the right, but if you're in the I-95 express lanes in the 1-lane area, there is nowhere to pull-right. Those are the times I pray, as those drivers are more aggressive than a #45 supporter looking for Pence in the Capitol.
I've been to Detroit for the Grand Prix multiple times, back in the '80's/'90's, and my friend who's retired from GM at the Warren MI Tech Center and I would attend, and swap stories about the drivers we had heard.
Walking around parts of Detroit there are areas you don't want to-be.
https://www.history.com/topics/1960s/1967-detroit-riots I was attending college in MI in the '60's, and I took a trip to Detroit with a friend from campus, and as we got close to his parents' apartment, he told me this was the area where the riots were, several years before, and that if I wasn't with him, it would be very-foolish for me to be there, alone. Apparently different demographics.
Did you have a tough time getting enough straight boards for the workbench top? Are you using white pine? In my experience, Southern yellow pine is straighter, and stays more-stable in-use. Are you using biscuits with the 2X side, or the 4X side flat? I'd assume the 4X side flat. Are you gonna cover the wood with a piece of metal? That makes for an easy clean-up.
, so when you need to fill that pool, they’ll have plenty of capacity.
