Shopping--What did you buy?

It's been a year of yard equipment shopping for me.

I'm on 51 acres, 7 of which are cleared. For the past 15 years I've cut the grass using a belly mower (under-mount attachment) for my tractor. My neighbors talked me into getting a zero turn mower...they both have one. I bought it in March (0% financing deal.) Man, what a difference! 10x as good a cut as the tractor and it takes less than half the time to do it. Plus it's more comfortable (and fun) than sitting on my tractor for 4-5 hours.

4 months ago I bought a Stihl gas powered pole saw. These are commercial tools used to trim tree branches, which have been encroaching into the yard from the woods. My manual pole saw just wasn't cutting it anymore. I have a rack for my tractor where I can carry stuff like this around the property, and I built one for my zero turn out of scrap lumber.
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Then I bought a battery powered DeWalt pole saw on sale. The Stihl is a heavy duty beast that is absolutely necessary for the thick branches and for stuff way up high. The DeWalt is lighter and easier for all the other stuff. Between the 2 of them I was able to remediate 15 years of backlogged tree trimming in under 3 hours. (We have a break in the cold weather so I'm going to the neighbor's tomorrow to do his place.)

Since I am now into the DeWalt battery line, I've been following their deals. I bought another high-capacity battery and charger for under $100 because it came with a choice of free tools (similar to the pole saw deal.) So I selected a circular saw (retails for $230) for doing miscellaneous stuff. These DeWalt deals are crazy. Charger+battery+saw for close to half the price of just the battery.

I'm tapped out for a while.
 
Ken Anderson said:
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I don't anticipate needing it for Smoke as I hope to have him in the house soon, but I'll keep one on our enclosed porch. It should help as it is, but once I get an electric outlet there, it can be heated.
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Out of curiosity (since we're discussing cats) I went on Amazon and looked at those. Holy Poop!! There are pages and pages of them. I had no idea there was anything other than the insulated igloos.
 
John Brunner said:
Out of curiosity (since we're discussing cats) I went on Amazon and looked at those. Holy Poop!! There are pages and pages of them. I had no idea there was anything other than the insulated igloos.
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I bought a couple of others, one of which is still in the box, while the other is just more of a cat tree or a place for them to hide out. Many of those advertised as outdoor shelters or homes for cats wouldn't survive a single winter in Maine, let alone provide appropriate shelter, being made from pressed-board, flimsy wood, or plastic. This one comes with a heating system, and judging from the dimensions, it will fit in our shed. If I can get an electric outlet in there, I can not only keep the food from freezing but also provide a place for some lucky cat to sleep on a cold winter night. Of course, I might also find a raccoon or a skunk sleeping there, but it looks like it might be tight for most of the raccoons I see around here, who are as wide as they are long. As for the house that is still in the box, my indoor feeding station, which I have had for about 15 years, is falling apart, so I might use it for that.
 
Ken Anderson said:
I bought a couple of others, one of which is still in the box, while the other is just more of a cat tree or a place for them to hide out. Many of those advertised as outdoor shelters or homes for cats wouldn't survive a single winter in Maine, let alone provide appropriate shelter, being made from pressed-board, flimsy wood, or plastic. This one comes with a heating system, and judging from the dimensions, it will fit in our shed. If I can get an electric outlet in there, I can not only keep the food from freezing but also provide a place for some lucky cat to sleep on a cold winter night. Of course, I might also find a raccoon or a skunk sleeping there, but it looks like it might be tight for most of the raccoons I see around here, who are as wide as they are long. As for the house that is still in the box, my indoor feeding station, which I have had for about 15 years, is falling apart, so I might use it for that.
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I wondered about something like that being electrified out in the elements. I guess you've thought of just running an extension cord. They make weatherproof junction boxes for when you string light sets together. These are only $5 at Lowes:
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I keep my truck and car batteries on conditioners, and use those boxes to put the end of the cord in when I'm driving the vehicles. Then I don't have to unplug the cord to kill power, and the thing stays clean & dry (and I won't start any fires.)
 
John Brunner said:
I wondered about something like that being electrified out in the elements. I guess you've thought of just running an extension cord. They make weatherproof junction boxes for when you string light sets together. These are only $5 at Lowes:
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Yes, I used one of those for our Christmas lights last year. This year, I wasn't feeling festive, so we have a tree, but that's about it. The junction box worked just fine. I think I bought it at Lowe's, too, but maybe Home Depot.

Although this one looks, from the information available on Amazon, to be weatherworwthy, it doesn't really have to be; if it fits in our porch, it won't get rained on.
 
Ken Anderson said:
I bought a couple of others, one of which is still in the box, while the other is just more of a cat tree or a place for them to hide out. Many of those advertised as outdoor shelters or homes for cats wouldn't survive a single winter in Maine, let alone provide appropriate shelter, being made from pressed-board, flimsy wood, or plastic. This one comes with a heating system, and judging from the dimensions, it will fit in our shed. If I can get an electric outlet in there, I can not only keep the food from freezing but also provide a place for some lucky cat to sleep on a cold winter night. Of course, I might also find a raccoon or a skunk sleeping there, but it looks like it might be tight for most of the raccoons I see around here, who are as wide as they are long. As for the house that is still in the box, my indoor feeding station, which I have had for about 15 years, is falling apart, so I might use it for that.
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I bought a self heating cat bed for the place Bonneroo liked to sit (in the window of the hay mow). It has a space blanked sewn into the fabric and fleece and is quite comfey. But on occassion, strays would stop by and take it from him so he would beg to go into the barnhouse with the stove.
 
I placed a smallish order with Amazon.

-A camera for my computer, because Social Security now requires Facial ID in order to have an online account. I may or may not comply.

-I read of some folks preferring fountain pens to ball point, and saw Pilot brand as a cheap ($2.50 each) entry-level recommendation. So I bought a 6 pak. Perhaps it will improve my penmanship.

-I have a plug-in adapter that converts metal lamps to touch lamps. It cycles through Low/Medium/Bright/Off. It's gone bad. Lowes stopped carrying them, and online reviews at other sellers say that the quality and lifespan has greatly diminished. So I bought the electronic guts that you wire into the power cord yourself. Two for $10 versus $15 each for the plug-in version.


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I just ordered a new iron for pressing clothes. The cord has gotten a few tears/cracks and has become iffy on my old one. Who would have thought it would be so hard to find a simple basic iron. Like everything else, most of them come with whistles and bells; LED screen display, anti drip, auto shut off, temp control and more. I don't want a rocket ship. I just want a basic iron that gets hot. I don't care about the steam feature. I use a spray bottle.
 
I just googled the facial recognition thing and it seems you just have to do that for the initial setup. It also says you can use your iPhone for the photo so I don't think you need a camera. I guess my account was set up before the facial recognition thing.
 
Krystal Shay said:
Really?? I did not know that. I thought drivers license was sort of a facial ID, which they have a copy of. I will have to go to my SS account on line and see if anything has changed.
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It's part of that rolling SS credentials up into some master Federal System ID. I'm curious what you find.
 
Beth Gallagher said:
I just googled the facial recognition thing and it seems you just have to do that for the initial setup. It also says you can use your iPhone for the photo so I don't think you need a camera. I guess my account was set up before the facial recognition thing.
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Have you tried to log in? They are forcing me to change, and I created my account around 2016.
 
John Brunner said:
It's part of that rolling SS credentials up into some master Federal System ID. I'm curious what you find.
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I had no problem logging into my account. There were no messages about anything new on facial recognition. My husband logged into his as well, and all was good.
 
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