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Come on guys, time to open up a bit!
#1
Why not use the forum features and share a bit more of yourself? Maybe upload an avatar photo or at least a unique image to be associated with your posting i.d. Also perhaps include some personal info related to interests, hobbies, investing objectives, etc. in your personal profile area. Over the years I've found that the best forums result when the posters become more personal and share info that goes beyond the investing realm.

On the other hand, IMO, birthdays and exact age, full name and/or address should not be made publicly available.
Alex
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#2
Good spirit, Alex -- I agree. I'll see if I can find a respectable picture to use!
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#3
I think we might appreciate you less "respectable " ones ;-)
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#4
Ok, good ideas. I run a little more on the private side, but found a good picture to use for me that doesn't give away too much. Smile
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#5
The avatars are very easy to upload at this site. On one or two sites that allow avatars, the avatar has to be put in as a very small file which requires photo editing in advance. DGF takes your image and automatically crops it down to the right size.

I'll share a little more into for anyone who is interested.

Retired about 9 years ago. Since then have mostly occupied my time by remodeling house for my daughter, my sister in law, and now our own home. My daughter's house in Greensboro was the repo from hell. We thought that changes would be cosmetic but when we first went into the wall and found loose wire splices with just a little tape, we knew their were problems. There was also a drop ceiling in the sun room, and that was covering significant structural issues. Five years later, we have re-engineered the sun room, which was probably the worst project in the entire house. We have gone throughout ten rooms, stripping everything down to the studs and replacing the wiring and the plumbing throughout. The house had 3.5 baths. The half bath was converted to a walk in closet and the other three baths were totally gutted with everything replaced. My wife, my daughter, and I have tackled almost all of this construction ourselves. It has gone slowly, but the daughter has had long periods suffering from construction burnout, when we didn't really do anything much. Thankfully during the main demolition/construction phase, she was able to live in the upstairs portion and cook in a makeshift kitchen which was also sealed from construction. We have worn so many hats with this project: demolition crew, electrician, plumber, sheetrock hanger and finisher, framing carpenter, finish carpenter, window and door replacement, hardwood flooring installation and finishing, install ceramic tile in kitchen/dining, in baths, over fireplace, construct and install support beams in two rooms, shingle part of the roof,...........The list of tasks is mind boggling. That first year and a half was quite a challenge, especially when having to drive 3.5 hours each way to work for two or three days per week. Now we just go up a few times per year and work on whatever task is ready for attention. All that is left downstairs is to finish some sheetrock, finish a full bath, and lay some flooring in two rooms. Other than that, there is a little finish work to install some trim.

About three years ago, my daughters house was winding down, so we took on my sister in law's house. That was a much easier job which only took 6-8 months. That drive is only about 1.5 hours and we averaged a couple of days per week for most weeks. There we gutted the kitchen and then when from room to room replacing doors, flooring and repainting. We gutted her two baths and completely remodeled them including nice tile flooring.

So both flower gardening and vegetable gardening, combined with pretty ambitious remodeling projects have occupied most of my extra time since retiring. The rest of the day seems to easily get filled with monitoring the market/on line activity, daily house chores, exercise, and light recreation. One thing for sure, there has been little time for being bored.

Here are links to before during and after for my daughter's house, but do not include any recent finished views.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aghenderson...552435188/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/aghenderson...023066876/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aghenderson...953845302/

Wow, didn't realize these were such early reconstruction photos. Will have to take a few shots of the finished rooms in the near future. You wouldn't believe how proud we are of that ceiling in the suns room as it turned out almost perfect.
Alex
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#6
Wow! I wish I had the know-how to be able to remodel like that. Its looking good! Do you own any rental properties? I've looked into it but as I'm not that "handy", I was worried I would be paying out a lot of my profits to fix things.
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#7
I owned a couple of rental properties for several years, inherited from parents on both sides. What a pain in the butt. Being handy held down costs, but it only takes one bad tenant to ruin the experience plus run through several years worth of rental income. Plus taxes are so high on rental properties, about triple or more than owner occupied. It is just not worth the trouble IMO.
Alex
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#8
Like your new picture fiveoh -- are you a car buff?

Alex -- wow, not fooling around there with the remodel. I also wish I had those skills.

You both have given me an idea for a new thread about something I've thought about often. Gonna go post that now!

(Edit: New thread here.)
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#9
(10-03-2013, 02:48 PM)TomK Wrote: Like your new picture fiveoh -- are you a car buff?

Alex -- wow, not fooling around there with the remodel. I also wish I had those skills.

You both have given me an idea for a new thread about something I've thought about often. Gonna go post that now!

(Edit: New thread here.)

I guess you could say that. Having young kids has killed that for now. I still drive a 2011 mustang 5.0(hence the username) but don't get to take it to the track or throw money into it anymore.

Oh and just a forum disclaimer, I am HORRIBLE with grammar and spelling. I apologize in advance.
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#10
Ok, I finally managed to get a picture up, from pumpkin picking with the family this morning. Not sure you can really see what I look like there, but it is actually me!
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#11
There ya go...
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#12
The pics are pretty small -- is that you standing in a lake?
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