++ ATOT official NEF thread part IV ++

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MotF Bane

No Lifer
Dec 22, 2006
60,801
10
0
Not sure what loom is?

The plants are all new plants and will grow and fill in the areas. You can't crowd them at this stage. My wife also planted a bunch of bulbs which will pop up next year. What you can't see is that there are 4 evergreen trees behind the hot tub (the tall, skinny kind) that will grow and block the neighbors. We're restricted on what we can do there and we generally only use the tub at night.

Dark mulch > cedar for our house. Cedar wouldn't look good given the trim colors.

Loom would be a dark fresh dirt, excellent for growing things. In a picture, loom and dark mulch look nearly identical.

I couldn't see enough of your house to tell how that would go, so I'd been thinking cedar for a nice contrast (plus I think cedar smells better :p). As is, the dark mulch goes well with the hot tub paneling, which I'd assume is deliberate.

So you're all set for plants then, that's good.

Enjoy your new backyard! :awe:
 

alfa147x

Lifer
Jul 14, 2005
29,307
106
106
I had a dream I could buy my way to heaven
When I awoke I spent that on a necklace
I told God I'd be back in a second
Man, it's so hard not to act reckless

To whom much is given much is tested
Get arrested guess until he get the message
I feel the pressure, under more scrutiny
And what I do? Act more stupidly

Bought more jewelry, more Louis V
My momma couldn't get through to me
The drama, people suing me
I'm on TV talkin' like it's just you and me
 

MotF Bane

No Lifer
Dec 22, 2006
60,801
10
0
Lighting is on the agenda for next year too. We had electrical dropped out to the mulch bed on the right (which is home to the willow tree) and will line the outside of the patio walkway with lights.

Excellent. I'd also suggest you consider those disguised rock-speakers, if you want music out there.
 

MotF Bane

No Lifer
Dec 22, 2006
60,801
10
0
Yard work sucks. Big time. I could never have done that patio myself -- not enough time, patience, or skill, not to mention the tools involved.

I agree on playing with plants, but building stuff is pretty awesome.

There's a patio behind my house, well, two of them, linked by a retaining wall and limestone stairs, plus the two mega retaining walls for the garage. Everything was done by us... My father, who was the only one with the skills to build the wall, and strength to lift the blocks; my mother, who largely helped him arrange the patio blocks; me, digging and carrying patio blocks; and my sister, picking out the patio blocks and pegging the walls. Four of us, and it took the entire summer, or maybe two summers. I don't even know when/how my parents worked their normal jobs during that. (I was 9 or 10 at the time.)

The patio itself (twice the size of yours) was a matter of a few weeks, I'd guess mostly on weekends. It's not easy, and this one was made better by having two children to fetch blocks and bring them over, rather than standing up and crouching down over and over again. Tools... chalk line, level, tamper, wet saw, mallet, pry bar, trowel, spade, shovel, wheelbarrow. Not all that much actually.
 

MotF Bane

No Lifer
Dec 22, 2006
60,801
10
0
If this were any other subject, except for a select few English books, I'd be screwed.

Instead, I'm sitting here neffing happily.
 

MotF Bane

No Lifer
Dec 22, 2006
60,801
10
0
Because I literally can skim the book, a page per ten seconds, and I'll refresh my memory on what I've known for years. Apparently, this guy likes essays, and the idea of getting the connections behind stuff. LOL too easy!
 

MotF Bane

No Lifer
Dec 22, 2006
60,801
10
0
If it were minutae, I'd be reading right now, not neffing. But understanding... you only need a rough outline of what happened, and the rest of it will click right together.
 

MotF Bane

No Lifer
Dec 22, 2006
60,801
10
0
"MotF Bane 2,533
alfa147x 2,450
sdifox 1,527
IndyColtsFan 1,104
eldorado99 853
zzuupp 825"

Bring it on alfa!
 

MotF Bane

No Lifer
Dec 22, 2006
60,801
10
0
Back to looking over the list....

iPod/MP3 integration.

I saw a recommendation on G35driver - don't buy those things, just save the money towards a new radio, because the stock HU's are reportedly prone to dying.
 

zzuupp

Lifer
Jul 6, 2008
14,866
2,319
126
The straw is gone now, however:

6239668670_8b55cf140e_b.jpg


This picture is probably about a month old.

Looks great!:cool:
 

MotF Bane

No Lifer
Dec 22, 2006
60,801
10
0
The adapter is around $120. It lets you use steering wheel controls and see your song on the HU... but only if you have an iPod. If you use standard MP3 input, no such luck.
 

MotF Bane

No Lifer
Dec 22, 2006
60,801
10
0
I won't use my phone for that either, since it already has enough trouble with battery life, the sound quality isn't all that great, and the music playback is a little balky.
 

MotF Bane

No Lifer
Dec 22, 2006
60,801
10
0
It's... this....

A CD can be produced with MP3's. This CD shows "CD1 - mm:ss" on the HU, and it can be controlled via the steering wheel.

So all I need is another way to provide MP3's. USB can do that, but I don't know how to set that up, nor the more difficult part of letting the USB be controlled by the steering wheel.