Our year in review

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Ashful

Minister of Fire
Mar 7, 2012
19,959
Philadelphia
I guess it's been a few years since I posted one of these, but here's our 2022 in a nutshell. Please feel free to add your own memories.

The year started rough, with @begreen losing his brother due to injuries caused by a house fire. The whole hearth.com family mourned with him.

@Nealm66 gave us all a lot of continuing education on tree felling.

@woodgeek became a techno-optimist, and taught us how to fight climate change... for reals.

@bholler argued with @Highbeam, about... everything. ;lol

@Poindexter spun our heads on indoor air quality.

We lost @BrotherBart, a true anchor to the attitude and direction of this forum, and a dear friend to many.

@stoveliker pissed in @switepine's cornflakes, when no one was looking. :)

@peakbagger taught us about battery desulphination, much to the alarm of a few other members.

@Ashful ranted about student loan forgiveness. Bah humbug.

We all ruminated about severe weather, and bragged about how "square" our fireboxes are, or aren't.

@Don C couldn't get enough heat out of his BK, sparking a surprising debate over "minimum burn time" in a BK.

@powlette showed us what a proper wood stove restoration looks like, while @Enzo's Dad challenged us on the economics of woodburning.

@paredown rebuild his Jotul F600... again.

@Isaac Carlson asked if anyone makes their own shakes, and a few people thought he was talking about ice cream.

@Sophie_Soapstone terrified us all with plans for a 5hp off-road wood hauler.

@shoot-straight did is first brake job, and @WiscWoody showed us why wood stoves cause depression.

5000 viewers tuned in to read us tell @boomfire how many cords of wood he'd need this winter, proving conclusively that this crowd has no life outside the home.

@begreen told us that EV sales passed diesel in Europe, for the first time, then got excited about Mass's sweeping climate law.

We spent much of January arguing "skid steer vs. compact tractor", thanks to @Gearhead660.

@30WCF asked us all if he was "being silly", and 2000 people tuned in to see if it was true. An equal number read about @cbscout's personal problem, his splits being too long.

@Seanbear took a public beating for trying to K.I.S.S. Wrong crowd, I guess!

Someone started a "cat vs. non-cat" debate, but I refuse to hunt it down.

@Oildeliverynomore asked everyone for the "best place to drop three cords of wood." Everyone replied, "in my yard", some even providing an address/directions.

@Max W scared us all enough with his oil tank leak, that some of us went out and replaced our home heating oil tanks.

Everyone wanted to ask about @nspasic's avatar... but no one did.

Our beloved old friend @Nick Mystic popped back in, and told us about a near-death experience.

We all learned about volunteer Firewood Banks from @John Ackerly.

@BKVP wasted time hunting deer, while @Ashful told the group how he got those dents in the tailgate of his new truck.

@Woodcutter posted something about his "night load", but half of us were afraid to click on the topic.
 
All very accurate but highbeam was arguing with me first. Lol
In fairness to you, I should have added, "@bholler helped another 1000 people avoid chimney catastrophes". We can debate the numbers, but I had no intention of reducing your contribution to the forum to arguing with @Highbeam. That just happens to be the contribution that amuses me the most. ;lol
 
In fairness to you, I should have added, "@bholler helped another 1000 people avoid chimney catastrophes". We can debate the numbers, but I had no intention of reducing your contribution to the forum to arguing with @Highbeam. That just happens to be the contribution that amuses me the most. ;lol
Oh I know that I was amused. And I do enjoy arguing with him.
 
I learned I’m not the only person who reads @stoveliker as stovelicker.
 
To each his own, I conclude :p

I don't lick everything I like...
 
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Nah, I'll keep it at "I like my stove and I am cool myself" - don't know why I hear my kids snicker now...
 
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I finally got that mini split installed so I can cut my hours per year burning down and maybe get more than two years from a cat! Does that make me a “part time burner”?

Woodsheds are great!
 
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@Caw was trying to show off skiing moves to his kids and fell on a flat trail, breaking his shoulder.
 
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@Caw was trying to show off skiing moves to his kids and fell on a flat trail, breaking his shoulder.
It was the bunny slope and I was pizza-ing with my 7 year old watching him go!🍕🤣

It's true though...I shattered in 6 places. Womp Womp.

Quick update on the topic while I'm here - it's healed quite a bit, I'm mostly able to live life, but it's still not right and hurts more than I'd like. Going under the knife in Feb to have it cleaned out and scoped. We'll see what happens.
 
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Quick update on the topic while I'm here - it's healed quite a bit, I'm mostly able to live life, but it's still not right and hurts more than I'd like.
Broke my scapula about 23 years ago, and I hate to tell you this, but I still have some shoulder problems to this day. As with all things, there's more to the story, but it all started with that one break. It doesn't slow me down much anymore, except waking up in pain every morning, which subsides pretty quick after I get moving. A lot of folks older than me will probably say they wake stiff and painful every morning too, so nothing exceptional, other than mine started in my early 30's and it's always in the shoulders.

Once in awhile it will bind painfully when doing overhead work, feels like someone jabbing a knife into it for a few seconds, but that always passes quick if I reposition, only leaving a slight soreness afterward. The jury is out on how it will behave in old age, I'm still on the better side of 50, today.
 
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Broke my scapula about 23 years ago, and I hate to tell you this, but I still have some shoulder problems to this day. As with all things, there's more to the story, but it all started with that one break. It doesn't slow me down much anymore, except waking up in pain every morning, which subsides pretty quick after I get moving. A lot of folks older than me will probably say they wake stiff and painful every morning too, so nothing exceptional, other than mine started in my early 30's and it's always in the shoulders.

Once in awhile it will bind painfully when doing overhead work, feels like someone jabbing a knife into it for a few seconds, but that always passes quick if I reposition, only leaving a slight soreness afterward. The jury is out on how it will behave in old age, I'm still on the better side of 50, today.
Yeah that's the unfortunate reality of the situation. I don't expect it to ever be the same I'm just hoping for a little better than it is now.

I think my issue is that because it was such a bad break it's healed but the ball part of the bone healed larger than it used to be causing friction in the socket. So it catches randomly sometime and gets sore doing certain things. The plan is to clean up any edges, resize it appropriately, and search for any issues that didn't show up on the MRIs.

If this is my reality for the next 50 years so I'm be it. It's livable. I am just hopeful for a little improvement.
 
peakbagger broke his ankle in Nov 21, finally got it taken care of in January. That slowed him down for a week, til the boiler needed loading.
 
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Electric rates started making some big jumps, most notably in New England, with an unfavorable forecast for the rest of us.
 
Electric rates started making some big jumps, most notably in New England, with an unfavorable forecast for the rest of us.
Never been a better time to own solar! I have an 11.84 kWh system on the roof. My house is 100% electric and it typically covers 80% of my usage, including summer AC, shoulder season heat pump, and maybe 10 hours annually of backup resistance heat.

With the rate hike I'll probably just light small fires this year during the rest of shoulder season and wake up early and reload the stove during cold snaps below 10 degrees instead of letting the back up heat carry the final 1-2 hours. It's more work for me and I'll use more wood but wood is a much cheaper resource right now.

I don't expect to change our AC habits. We only keep it on 75 to take the edge off and lower the humidity. My wife and I grew up without central AC so we don't need much, just to sleep. In fact we use it mostly for the dog, he can't breathe well when it gets hot and humid.
 
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Funny, I just posted about solar in another thread, not 30 seconds ago.

We keep our AC even warmer than you, 76 - 77F in various parts of the house. I don't need to wear long pants and a sweater in summer, I just want to knock our insane humidity down a few pegs.