I saw that. Unfortunately, I think their methodology is flawed. I think (and this is based on a *very* quick skimming) that what they did tends to overstate the value of blocking radiative transfer.

I'm pretty skeptical that there is a significant reduction in heat transfer for most cellular shades. Any hard data from controlled studies?

I do not have any licenses as an engineer. I am a certified Program Management Professional (PMP).

I get paid double to determine what problem you really need to get solved, and then I solve it. Engineer + consultant FTW!

Yeah, it's the little shops that have the problems. The big ones have staff to pay and are much better about it (though not all are good at paying their subs). I do maybe 20% of my work through architects, and the rest directly for owners and contractors. It good not to be beholden to a limited number of clients.

There's a lot of good stuff here. I learned early on: if they don't have enough money to front the cost of all my services, they will never, ever fund their project (I'm an engineer, and usually get between 1 and 7% of the total project budget depending on multiple factors). Once I realized this, it became very easy…

Many locks are, indeed, fail secure. They also may not be considered egress doors if they are though - it's against the building code in every state which follows the IBC model codes (which is every one I'm aware of). That's the technical definition of egress, "A continuous and unobstructed path of vertical and…

As for where to sit: Avoid the aisle seat, which gets touched by people when they walk by, and if you're within a two-seat radius of someone coughing or sneezing, try to get your seat changed or at least turn on the overhead vent. While there are germs everywhere on a plane, at least we don't have to worry about…

Questions like, "Who are your top five NBA guards of all time?" could be an interesting conversation starter for a group of colleagues. It explores the reasoning behind opinions, and can be a great primer for you to explore athletes and their stories further. Better yet, it requires little maintenance from your end.…

Yeah, but can they convert existing business card images to business card notes, and does it actually work better than just having a scan. I've been scanning business cards in for a year or two now, into a single notebook, using a small scanner / dropbox / IFTTT recipe. It makes cards easily searchable, but the…

I use a group for my band. We have a public page, of course, but also a private group. It lets us share events, repertoire ideas, rehearsal planning and a bunch of other non-critical but non-public discussion. It's like a mailing list without all the inbox clutter or mail-label hell.

Yeah, nothing says "get me some of that" like comparing it to prescription medication. O.o What I never got about history when I was younger is that it's a bunch of stories, and the stories happen to be true. The problem isn't with the history, necessarily, but that the writers simply suck - well, most of them do, at…

Yeah, but who really needs a dozen cans of the same thing in every row. And your shelf height will be limited by (what looks like) 3x the largest diameter can you'll need to store. And it does limit you to a single can size per slot (or a can-size multiple, like the tuna or cat food which is doubled - but then you've…

Something in the back of my mind says PVC is bad for use with hot water - leaching of the chemistry. It's been a long time since I even considered it for domestic supply (and, when I did it was well before I knew any better, and someone pushed me to CPVC as the easy alternative at the time). I'm 95% certain that my…

Heh, I just finished removing all the galvanized from my house last year. Replaced it all with copper, except one difficult new run for a hose bib that got pex. I don't really see HDPE except for source lines (exterior), I haven't seen much new-install CPVC in the past 10 years, and I'm not sure I've ever seen (hard)…

I once knew a builder (the owner of a medium sized company) who switched to all-pex about 6-7 years ago. I asked him about it and it was nothing but praise for the simplicity and value of the stuff. About a year later I helped him with some parts of his new home he was building and I asked him if he was installing…

This only verifies that the phantom draw is between your meter and your breaker box, though. If someone has tapped your line, or if you have a breaker installed which does not feet your unit, it wouldn't show any effect. OTOH, if someone asked you if the power is out after you shut your breakers off, that would…

" I feel like I am forcing myself to do something I don't want to do"

Actually, almost all of it is accurate for someone who is new to carrying a handgun, or for someone who has their handgun improperly or insecurely stowed.

Not sure what the actual terms are, but Chase has never once held me responsible for fraudulent charges on my Ink business card in ten years, and when the number has been stolen in the past they've always overnighted me a new card.