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Hi, I'll take a stab since I'm in the bay area and have dealt with rats while trying to deal with rats in a fixer-upper house. This is still an ongoing problem outside of the house within the neighborhood, although the number and severity of the problem is significantly less than before. To deal with rats in the house, the first thing that you must do prior to catching rats within the house is isolating and preventing access to the house. This means covering every single entrance/hole into the house with steel mesh that is at max 1/4 inch in size. This needs to be done everywhere, and you will also need to ensure a 3-5 feet distance between any tree and the roof of your house as well, to decrease the probability of them getting into the attic. A couple of things: Mice really love the attic. To stop them from getting into the attic, non-spanish tile roofs are the best, IE simple asphalt roof shingle. If it is done properly, there will be few entrances into the attic, except for vent location. Make sure they do not enter the crawl space under the house as well. Once you have dealt with rats entering your house, you then need to trap the mice within the house. The best way this is done is snap traps. By isolating them, they will have fewer sources of water and start to look around for food and drink. At some point they will bite, and the best food is probably peanut butter. This may need to be done a couple of times before successful. How to get rid of mice outside of the house: actually the real answer is that it is impossible without a strong integrated pest management solution that includes decreasing the counts + removing food sources, and in the SFBA and probably entire west coast, that may not be easy to do. Actually, rat poisons that are type 2 and banned from CA/Oregon are really the best way to get rid of rats permanently, but as you see they are banned. There are ways to acquire them since they are legal in most other states (hi ebay), but these type 2 poisons are legitimately probably the best at truly getting rid of rats, since rats have adopted immunity to type 1 poisons. Note that the reason they are banned are environmental, you may want to research that  .
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Aug 12, 2021 08:32
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Bought some gutter guards and put one box (30') on to see how they work before I install the rest. They're the metal mesh type and seem to keep the needles out already which is nice. We haven't had any rain yet so I'll be curious to see how they work then. The loving cottonwood tree behind the house constantly spews leaves and sticks. It should really help with that. 
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Aug 12, 2021 08:45
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That looks like it should work really well, assuming that's 50-micron stainless mesh like what we use at work in a similar application in paper mills (give the water somewhere to go while the pulp stays out of the drainage system and gets shoveled/swept back to the recycling tanks). A good rain should push those needles and leaves right off the roof if you mounted that with a downward angle toward the outside of the gutter (if not, it may pile back against the roof as the water drains out, and then you'll have a clog on top of the gutters until enough water comes along to push things over the edge).
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Aug 12, 2021 12:38
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Something else re: rats and mice is that you need to make sure your neighbors aren't attracting them. Do you have a neighbor raising chickens in their yard? If they're not securing their feed properly there's nothing you're going to be able to do to keep vermin away. Worse is elderly people who like to feed wildlife. My grandmother's next door neighbor (a lady in her 80s) puts literal piles of peanuts out to "feed the squirrels" and their block had a terrible rat problem as a result. I believe the county had to get involved. Similar story at a condo I rented in the 2010s. The guy living next door put out food for the squirrels (wtf is it with old people and squirrels by the way?) and while I never saw rats we had an insane mouse problem. He refused to believe that there was a connection between the mice and the squirrel feeders. He died, the food source dried up, and the mouse problem went away like loving magic. Unfortunately there's limits on what you can do if your neighbor thinks that wildlife needs a buffet in their backyard. You might be able to do like my grandma did and get the county involved if that's a thing where you live, but that's also going to start a fight with the neighbor if they find out.
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Aug 12, 2021 13:40
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My condo association is replacing the roof, siding, and gutters on all buildings in our complex. My building is on the end of the list, so I've only been hearing horror stories about balcony railings not being reattached properly (apparently one was held on with just tape? Or maybe they mean there was some caution tape put up) and A/C and cable lines being cut. I don't have a balcony, so I'm unlikely to die, but I'm wondering what other things should I be looking for, that maybe aren't as apparent. Something that would result in a leak later on.
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Aug 12, 2021 13:58
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So for all the whining and bitching I'm doing about the porch, I figured I owe y'all a progress pic that ISN'T hyper-focused on the minutia (as of last night):  I mean, yeah there's been some difficulties, and yeah there's some questionable stuff being done, but overall it's going well enough and I'm sure in 5 years time we'll still be happy with it (probably happier once we forget all the little bullshit). Before anyone asks: yes, there's still a bunch of trim, caulking, painting, etc. etc. that still needs to be done. For the ceiling stain we're thinking of this Benjamin Moore semi-transparent:  Initially thought whitewash, but IMO that's too white. The tan will keep it in the "brown" family, because honestly I'm kind of digging the unfinished pine look. A bit too raw as-is, so a vaguely-brown semi-transparent seems like a good option. It'll inject a wee bit of brown, and darken it a little bit, but overall we like the light color on the ceiling to avoid closing in the space. DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 15:11 on Aug 12, 2021 |
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Aug 12, 2021 15:09
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No haint blue? Looking real good Dave, thanks for sharing. Looks hella relaxing.
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Aug 12, 2021 15:21
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Good porch, would sit and drink.
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Aug 12, 2021 15:27
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DaveSauce posted:So for all the whining and bitching I'm doing about the porch, I figured I owe y'all a progress pic that ISN'T hyper-focused on the minutia (as of last night): Looks nice.. Longingly waiting for my patio next year at this point. Other news.. Fired concrete contractor sent me what I assume to be drunken text at 12:30 on a tuesday night "you do realize your gunna pay three times as much, but thanks okay". I have a guy that's charging $300 less so... guess He's right there.
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Aug 12, 2021 15:28
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DaveSauce posted:So for all the whining and bitching I'm doing about the porch, I figured I owe y'all a progress pic that ISN'T hyper-focused on the minutia (as of last night): I am personally not a fan of the white plastic trellis (but I also just in general have always disliked it), but think the rest looks really good. I'd probably just put transparent stain on that beadboard, it looks great as-is.
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Aug 12, 2021 15:39
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thank yall for the ratchat
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Aug 12, 2021 16:52
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Inner Light posted:No haint blue? Pilfered Pallbearers posted:Good porch, would sit and drink. Thanks! We've been waiting forever... missed firefly season, but it should be done soon so we'll really get to enjoy the fall weather (and I can stop grilling in my driveway like a weirdo). The haint just didn't appeal to us... too distracting. tater_salad posted:Looks nice.. Longingly waiting for my patio next year at this point. Other news.. Fired concrete contractor sent me what I assume to be drunken text at 12:30 on a tuesday night "you do realize your gunna pay three times as much, but thanks okay". Wow... I mean, it's one thing to half-rear end your job, but to send drunk texts to customers is pretty telling. Bullet dodged right there. Sirotan posted:I am personally not a fan of the white plastic trellis (but I also just in general have always disliked it), but think the rest looks really good. I'd probably just put transparent stain on that beadboard, it looks great as-is. Eh, the the lattice is something we thought would look good in our heads, but doesn't seem to have turned out. We're a little disappointed as well. To be sure, they used some cheap looking stuff, but I'm not sure it would have ever looked great now that it's up. I mean, I can see ways to improve it simply by not half-assing the install... rotate panels 90 to eliminate the bit on the bottom, and/or start in the center instead of the side to get some symmetry, but I don't think that'd save it. That said, I'll reserve judgement until the porch is finished. Having screen up and all the trim complete and painted will drastically change how everything looks together (simply painting the posts completely changed how it all looks/feels). Worst case we can paint the lattice brown to match the fascia, or maybe get some climbing/vine type vegetation over it. All that said, it's a minor detail that we're not really stressing over. (edit: to be sure, we specified PVC for maintenance reasons. But I don't think wood would have been much better looks-wise.) Re: ceiling, I think we've more or less decided. Like I said, even though I kinda like the unfinished look, it still looks a bit raw to me. Worst case, we hate it and have to re-do it... so that probably just means we'll learn to live with whatever we put up. DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 17:42 on Aug 12, 2021 |
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Aug 12, 2021 17:05
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Inner Light posted:No haint blue? That's kind of a minefield depending on the reason you do it if you don't have Gullah/Geechee ancestry. EDIT: The location of the home may be more important there. Definitely don't want to do it around communities that have that ancestry if you don't have it yourself, though.
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Aug 12, 2021 17:06
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You never hear from the "they were here first" people when you talk about rats. Peanut butter works great, but seems to work better than other stuff at attracting ants, and also skilled rats and mice can lick it off of the classic wooden trap without triggering it. I'd use bacon or something in one of those, or buy the Victor Power Kill or the Tomcat ones that look like alligator jaws. They have a big plastic platform for the rat to step on and trigger the trap, and hold a variety of baits better. If you know what the rats have been eating, try to bait with that. Additionally, rats are really skittish and afraid of new things in their environment. You may want to leave the traps out with bait but unset for a week or so, so that the rats get used to it and learn that it is a feeding station. Then set the traps and enjoy your killing spree. Do not use glue traps they are inhumane and tragic.
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Aug 12, 2021 17:12
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Having a cat or two would also thin them out. EDIT: Assuming you don't spoil them with tuna or something first.
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Aug 12, 2021 17:42
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I'm jealous of that porch, I post from my screened in front porch that I really wish had outlets so I could sit out here with my laptop. But that's hopefully happening in a few weeks, along with some ceiling fans out here as well.
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Aug 12, 2021 17:52
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ceiling fan on a porch is a strong, strong reason to get out of bed in the morning. S tier
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Aug 12, 2021 17:55
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The Saucer Hovers posted:ceiling fan on a porch is a strong, strong reason to get out of bed in the morning. S tier That and a cup of coffee while watching the sunrise.
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Aug 12, 2021 18:16
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Really feeling that thread title today. That's all to report. 
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Aug 12, 2021 18:21
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For mice, I had really good luck in the past using electrocution traps. Snap traps worked well, but more than once only maimed the mice and some were clever enough work around them. I cleared out an entire infestation in a weekend with an electrocution trap, and no mess and a 100% kill rate.
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Aug 12, 2021 18:23
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Our GC finished our flooring, countertop, and wall/shower tile reno work and we're prepping to clean up before moving our stuff in. Our neighbors who did the same said it's a good practice to do air particulate testing first like they did, which seems unnecessary. I asked about cleanup in one of the threads and am just doing the wipe down of surfaces and HEPA air filters/shop vacs as recommended. It looks like the two main concerns would be asbestos and silica dust, which I am not an expert on but have a little knowledge of. For asbestos, house is 1989/1990 construction, and had large square ceramic/porcelain floor tiles (and some carpet) with thinset on top of concrete. I wasn't present for the demo but have a bunch of pictures of the aftermath and didn't see anything standing out as concerning like old vinyl tiling. Black mastic, etc, especially with the age off the house:    There's nothing else like vermiculite/popcorn ceiling/pipe insulation/ductwork in the house either. For silica, it looks like it settles pretty fast and it's just something we wipe up and will be good to go, especially if we aren't sitting in a haze of it while cutting is being done. After cutting quartz/grinding concrete were done we ran our HEPA air purifiers and a MERV 13 filter in our central AC for 24 hours. Are they too overly cautious, out am I not treating this seriously enough? I'm ready to be done after 4 months and move back in so I might be biased but don't want to rush into a bad decision, and I don't see any major red flags before we do our own cleaning... PageMaster fucked around with this message at 19:24 on Aug 12, 2021 |
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Aug 12, 2021 19:02
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DaveSauce posted:So for all the whining and bitching I'm doing about the porch, I figured I owe y'all a progress pic that ISN'T hyper-focused on the minutia (as of last night): Looking good and seems like it would be really nice to chill on. For the ceiling, I'd personally go with a mid-tone warm stain (we put golden oak on our pine floors and are very happy with the results - that could be a good color for beadboard if you're remotely interested in an old school kind of look). Honestly not keen on the tanwash - there's a house down the block from me where they did white and tan together on the porch/trim and it doesn't look particularly good. White + stained wood is pretty much always a good combo, though. As for the lattice, eh, it's a bit stark and I would have gone for the square type in wood (for the ability to paint/stain to a darker color and get it to blend into the surroundings a bit better, and I guess the squares over diamonds is a subjective personal preference), but this is otherwise very easily remedied by planting some shrubs and stuff around the base to soften the lattice-ground transition. I must say that this project has shown me why my dad has been harping so hard on being extremely exacting about material specs in our upcoming projects, like to the point of sourcing and supplying materials ourselves to make sure they are correct. Glad you worked it out and got the right stuff in the end, but it didn't sound fun.
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Aug 12, 2021 19:08
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To be perfectly honest, I'm still waffling over the stain color, but I'm trying to just be done with it. We thought we were going to go with a golden oak, but we couldn't find the exact "golden oak" we wanted in exterior stain. So we started looking at benjamin moore, and the closest they had just looked like it'd be way too dark. They have a "natural" translucent stain, but again it looks like it'd end up too dark, so that's why we settled on the semi-translucent tan. I am vaguely concerned that it'll look like a failed whitewash or something, but it's really hard to choose with just swatches or small samples to look at. I will say that the Wilmington Tan looks better in the printed literature:  Top is from their website, and bottom is from an old brochure I found kicking around online. The paper brochure we have on hand appears to be actual stained birch chips, and it's closer to the bottom picture. My experience with interior paint is that it's better to err on the side of lighter, since from what we've seen paint will generally end up darker. I dunno how this translates to stain, but on a ceiling in particular we're worried about going too dark. edit: and yes, this was a massive learning experience for us with regards to specifying things. Thought we were asking for what we wanted, contractor had different things in his head, and he didn't bother to reach out and clarify. I suspect if you have a contractor who communicates better, lots of this could be resolved up front. Ours prefers to make assumptions and then bitch about us not being specific enough... edit again: and on the lattice, we're very meh on it. We wanted lattice to screen the under-deck area, but we never put a ton of thought in to how it would ultimately look. Unfortunately the design was almost entirely on us (color/style), so we have nobody to blame but ourselves. But of all the things, this is probably the easiest to fix on our own if we decide we hate it, so we're not too concerned. DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 20:11 on Aug 12, 2021 |
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Aug 12, 2021 19:44
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When the locksmith installed my Schlage lock, is it possible he used some kind of bonding agent to seal it to the door? I've tried to remove it and followed the installation backwards, and the front part just seems absolutely stuck to the door and won't budge. I need to replace it now anyway, so might just take a hammer and give it a whack and see if that will do the job but if he's bonded it somehow then that isn't going to end well...
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Aug 12, 2021 19:55
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ScooterMcTiny posted:In my experience I’ve found spending money on sprinkler issues to be the best money spent. Parts are cheap, the problems are usually quick to fix, and I don’t have to spend hours on YouTube figuring out what could be broken. Following up on this, it was 100% the right call the get a guy to come out. The problem was a station wire that snapped when we pulled some dead bushes out of the side of the house. His hefty wire tracer sourced the break in 30 seconds, then he only needed a few minutes to dig it out, splice the wire back together, replace the soil and river rocks, and validate the station was back online. It would have taken me hours of time and substantially more effort/digging/money spent on tools to replicate the fix.
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Aug 12, 2021 20:08
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EL BROMANCE posted:When the locksmith installed my Schlage lock, is it possible he used some kind of bonding agent to seal it to the door? I've tried to remove it and followed the installation backwards, and the front part just seems absolutely stuck to the door and won't budge. I need to replace it now anyway, so might just take a hammer and give it a whack and see if that will do the job but if he's bonded it somehow then that isn't going to end well... It's possible but unlikely. What are you talking about here? A deadbolt? Can you get the back of it off and use a punch/drift pin through the back with a hammer to tap it out? It's probably just a tight interference fit.
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Aug 12, 2021 20:21
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Motronic posted:It's possible but unlikely. What are you talking about here? A deadbolt? Can you get the back of it off and use a punch/drift pin through the back with a hammer to tap it out? It's probably just a tight interference fit. Yeah deadbolt, i'll try attacking it from all directions! Thanks
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Aug 12, 2021 20:23
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Democratic Pirate posted:Following up on this, it was 100% the right call the get a guy to come out. The problem was a station wire that snapped when we pulled some dead bushes out of the side of the house. His hefty wire tracer sourced the break in 30 seconds, then he only needed a few minutes to dig it out, splice the wire back together, replace the soil and river rocks, and validate the station was back online. It would have taken me hours of time and substantially more effort/digging/money spent on tools to replicate the fix. That’s amazing, glad it worked out for ya!
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Aug 13, 2021 00:51
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Our handmade kitchen table, closet doors, and murphy bed have all arrived and been installed! They look great but I cannot for the life of me figure out how to post photos.
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Aug 13, 2021 01:49
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DaveSauce posted:To be perfectly honest, I'm still waffling over the stain color, but I'm trying to just be done with it. lmao I'm bad at this. So I had to hit a couple stores to get the samples I needed. Saw the in-person display of the Wilmington Tan and had second thoughts. Had planned on just getting a pint of that and a pint of the "Natural" translucent, but that store only had gallons of the "Natural" and didn't have the right base for the tan. Went to the next store (same chain, guy called and checked stock) and ended up getting 5 pints total: Transparent Natural Transparent Cedar Translucent Natural Translucent Cedar Semi-Transparent Wilmington Tan This was because when I got to the store, they had all these options that I was unaware of and I got confused... being that I want to get this settled, I just bought a bunch... who needs $50 anyhow. ONLY TO FIND OUT that "Transparent" isn't really a thing anymore for Benjamin Moore? Looks like "Translucent" has effectively replaced it (hence my confusion). Can't find it referenced anywhere on the ben moore site so I guess it's obsolete? Thanks, paint store guy, for not having any clue what the difference was... but also there was quite a bit of solids settled on the "transparent" cans so that kinda makes me think it's old stock they haven't got rid of yet. So all 5 are drying on a piece of scrap right now. Dunno if I didn't let it sit long enough before wiping (maybe a minute or two), but they're not nearly as dark as I thought they were going to be (even pre-wipe while they were still wet). I mean, the store display for the translucent stains was pretty drat dark, but they didn't tell you what wood they were on so it's kind of a guess. And the Wilmington Tan was... barely noticeable. Which is kind of why we were looking at it, to be honest, but since the translucent stains weren't too dark we'll probably stick with those. Maggie Fletcher posted:Our handmade kitchen table, closet doors, and murphy bed have all arrived and been installed! They look great but I cannot for the life of me figure out how to post photos. https://www.imgur.com is a popular free host, and my go-to. IIRC you don't even need an account. DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 02:07 on Aug 13, 2021 |
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Aug 13, 2021 02:05
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Maggie Fletcher posted:Our handmade kitchen table, closet doors, and murphy bed have all arrived and been installed! They look great but I cannot for the life of me figure out how to post photos. If you use the app there is a shortcut to upload anonymously. [bb] insert imgur, and choose photo. Yeah that's right I'm gonna post a cat. 
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Aug 13, 2021 02:08
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DaveSauce posted:
Thank you--I can get things onto imgur but I can't seem to figure out the code for SA, and I don't have the mobile app for either. I'll even copy the URL from imgur with identical tags that some of you guys have used, and it doesn't show up in the preview. I'll try again--if you see some weird posts from me in the near future it's my dumb rear end trying to figure out technology. There's a reason the wife doesn't let me touch the TV or her computer. I don't blame her. StormDrain posted:If you use the app there is a shortcut to upload anonymously. [bb] insert imgur, and choose photo. Excellent cat. This cat may have convinced me to download the SA app, even though I can't remember my password.
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Aug 13, 2021 02:35
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Maggie Fletcher posted:Thank you--I can get things onto imgur but I can't seem to figure out the code for SA, and I don't have the mobile app for either. I'll even copy the URL from imgur with identical tags that some of you guys have used, and it doesn't show up in the preview. I'll try again--if you see some weird posts from me in the near future it's my dumb rear end trying to figure out technology. Thanks! What happens if you make your wildest dreams come true? Is that the end of your posting career?
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Aug 13, 2021 02:46
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StormDrain posted:Thanks! What happens if you make your wildest dreams come true? Is that the end of your posting career? My SA PW is such nonsense I have to reset it every time I log out, which means it's perpetually up on one of the several dozen tabs I have open. One reason the wife won't use MY computer, and again, I don't blame her. So if I get the app it just means I'll have to change it to some other nonsense password I'll never remember.
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Aug 13, 2021 02:56
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The most secure password is one you don't even know.
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Aug 13, 2021 03:00
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Maggie Fletcher posted:Thank you--I can get things onto imgur but I can't seem to figure out the code for SA, and I don't have the mobile app for either. I'll even copy the URL from imgur with identical tags that some of you guys have used, and it doesn't show up in the preview. I'll try again--if you see some weird posts from me in the near future it's my dumb rear end trying to figure out technology. You can just post the raw links from Imgur and someone will properly embed them for you in a quote. The quick and dirty is the link from Imgur needs to have .jpeg or .whatever at the end of it. You can get that in your browser by right clicking on the image and hitting “view image” which should show you the raw link. Then that raw link needs to go in between like this code:
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Aug 13, 2021 03:16
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Thanks for the imgur help guys! I probably won't try tonight but I'll try again in the next few days to see what works, so if you see some weird nonsense posts from me just assume it's my 42 year old non-tech-savvy rear end trying to figure out the most basic code in the world. Once I figure it out I'll make up for it with cat pics!
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Aug 13, 2021 04:37
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 Edit: drat, it didn't work. That's the "link" from imgur. When I try "embed" it says I've been "BLOCKED FROM SA" in very large, threatening letters. Anyway, try this: Murphy bed (excuse the wall hangings that are currently on the floor): https://imgur.com/a/41HXsQJ Closet doors (holy crap that's a big closet): https://imgur.com/a/UDyH3Dq Table from Etsy (at the warehouse with the leaf in): https://imgur.com/a/XSQqtbd Maggie Fletcher fucked around with this message at 04:48 on Aug 13, 2021 |
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Aug 13, 2021 04:41
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Maggie Fletcher posted:
Yah you're linking the album not the photo url. You should right click and chose copy picture Url. Or if it's the app you can use copy image url from the sharing options after long pressing. 
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Aug 13, 2021 04:47
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Maggie Fletcher posted:
 If it doesn’t have .jpeg at the end it’s the wrong link. Everything else is right.
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Aug 13, 2021 04:48
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