So, in my 2 story house my internet modem is in the family room in the back of the house. The internet comes over coaxial cable by Comcast xFinity 1Gbps. There is a security camera at the front of the house facing the driveway. Every now and then, the security camera would go offline. To spread wifi all over the house, I have the tp-link deco M9 plus AC2200 mesh wifi router (3 wifi access points). The backhaul between access points is wifi, unfortunately. I can’t have a wired ethernet backhaul between access points because running ethernet cable would require opening up walls which is a lot of work. Fortunately, however, there is existing coaxial cabling throughout the house. So, I can use MoCA (Multimedia over Coax Alliance) adapters to bridge ethernet over coax so I can have a wired coax backhaul between access points. This allows the wifi signal at each access point to be much stronger than with a wifi backhaul. There are many diagrams and tutorials online but none that I found were clear enough hence this blog post. Below is my setup with a diagram which should make it clear what goes where.
The continuity tester doesn’t work through splitters. Once you’ve tested all cables, you can label them in your junction box like I did below. As you can see, there is a 1 – 2 splitter where the one input is the coax cable from xfinity. The two outputs each go to the master bedroom and family room.
I added a new coax cable to go to the garage but it’s not connected in the picture because I need to add another splitter or replace the existing splitter with a 1-3 (or more) splitter. For MoCA to work, you need a splitter that
is not amplified
goes up to at least 1.5 Ghz (1500 Mhz)
GE Digital 4-Way Coaxial Cable Splitter, 2.5 GHz 5-2500 MHz
Before and After
BeforeAfter
Powerline Adapters
You can also bridge ethernet over your home’s existing electrical wiring using Powerline adapters, e.g.
However, these adapters don’t work if there’s a surge suppressor. Also, there’s a lot more activity in your home electrical wiring that could interfere with the signal, e.g. from the refrigerator, hair dryers, air conditioners, washing machines, and other appliances.
At one of my rental properties, I had some really ugly grass on the on both sides of the property and a jungle of weeds in the back. The space was wasted because not could or wanted to use it.
The previous owners (investors) didn’t want to / know how to maintain the property so I was able to buy it from them at a discount.
I decided to replace most of the grass (weeds) with concrete indicated in neon green below. I wanted the grass at the remaining areas indicated in dark green to be removed at a depth of 3 inches to place 3/4″ Ginger rock / Sonoma Gold rock. I also wanted to plant ten 15 gallon Italian Cypress trees along the eastern fence.
Here’s how the project went from start to finish.
Day 1: Hauling and Dumping Garbage
Loading debris into trailer using a wheelbarrowCutting old fence with a chainsawPreparing to cover the trailer before going to the dumpOn the way to the dumpAt the Lovelace dump in Manteca
Day 2: Removing Grass and Dirt
Before removing grass and dirt Removing grass and dirt Removing grass and dirt Moving grass and dirt to trailer After removing grass and dirt Loading dirt in the back of the house into a power wheelbarrow Moving dirt from the back to the front Moving dirt from the back to the front Loading dirt into trailer Loading dirt into trailer Loading dirt into trailer
Day 3: Removing Grass, Dirt, and Old Concrete Slabs
Removing old concrete walkway Loading trailer with pieces of old concrete
Day 6: Compacting Gravel and Installing Rebar and Weed Fabric
Compacting the gravel The wood form in which the concrete will be poured Laying down rebar (not done yet) Added weed fabric under wood borders so that weeds won’t grow along perimeter of concrete slab
Day 7: Finishing Rebar Installation & Watering Yard
Installing rebar in the front yardInstalling rebar in the side yardWatering the yard
The instructions below are for migrating a WordPress site on GoDaddy’s Managed WordPress service to a GoDaddy Linux Shared Web Hosting server that uses cPanel. Nevertheless, the instructions still work elsewhere.
Step 1: Back Up (Download) Your Site’s Files
To easiest way to download all your site’s files is to archive (zip / tar) all files into one large file and then download it. You can use a free FTP / SFTP tool like WinSCP to do this or Godaddy’s File Manager or cPanel’s File Manager. Just connect to the server, select all files, right click and choose “Archive and Download”. A file named archive.tar.gz will be downloaded.
GoDaddy’s File Manager
WinSCP SFTP Client
If you are unable to archive all files due to the connection timing out, you can SSH into the server and archive the files from the command line. On Windows 10, you can open Windows Powershell, SSH into the server, and run the command tar -zcvf all.tar.gz *.
When downloading the archive, you may want to connect over ethernet instead of wifi to increase speeds. When I did this, I was downloading at around 23 MB/s.
You can also download files from the command line using the following SCP command if you are on Linux or MacOS.
The easiest way to do this is by connecting to your MySQL database using PHPMyAdmin. Then, click the Export tab, ensure SQL is selected, check the “Save as file” checkbox, and then click the Go button. The database will then be downloaded.
Step 3: Upload Your Site’s Files
On this step, you can use the same tool as in step 1, e.g. WinSCP. If you are going to host the migrated site on GoDaddy’s Shared Linux server, you can just create a new folder on the destination server, e.g. at /home/javanigus/public_html/mysite.com/ where mysite.com is the name of your site.
Make sure to upload the archive (one large file) archive.tar.gz. Don’t unarchive it locally and then upload a million separate files. After you upload the file, you can unarchive it. If you’re using GoDaddy, you can use cPanel’s File Manager to select the archive.tar.gz and extract it.
When you’re done extracting the archive, you can delete the archive.tar.gz file.
Step 4: Import (Upload) Your Site’s Database
For this step, you’ll need to create a new database and a database user who has full permissions. If you use cPanel, you can easily to this step from the control panel.
1. Create a database (e.g. mysite_db)
2. Create a database user (mysite_db_user)
3. Add user to the database
4. Assign permissions to the user
Now that you have a database, you can connect to it using PHPMyAdmin, select the database, click the Import tab, choose your database SQL file from step 2, leave all other defaults, and click the Go button. Your database tables and records will all be created.
Step 5: Edit Your Site’s wp-config.php File
In the step, you can use an FTP client to download, edit, and upload your site’s wp-config.php file. If you can cPanel, you can also use its File Manager to edit the file in the browser. You’ll need to edit the values for 4 variables:
In many cases, like for GoDaddy’s Linux Shared Hosting service, the value for DB_HOST is “localhost”.
Step 6: Add Domain and/or Change Your DNS
You can update the DNS records for the domain to use values pointing to the new host. After DNS has propagated, you should see the same site but being served from the new host instead of the old one. At this point, you can delete the old site.
If your new host is GoDaddy’s Shared Linux hosting using cPanel, you can use cPanel to create a new domain with a root folder path that matches where you uploaded the site’s files in step 3 above. When you do that, if your domain is also hosted with GoDaddy, then GoDaddy will auto-update the DNS for that domain automatically. You could then delete your old site.
So, the other day I went to Quizno’s and had this Chipotle Steak and Cheddar sandwich. It was mighty delicious so I had to try to recreate it.
Here’s how it came out.
It was actually really good so here’s the recipe. Note: I substituted steak with pastrami. You can also use roast beef.
Ingredients
Pastrami (from Costco) – may substitute with roast beef
sliced green bell pepper
sliced onion
cheddar cheese
Chipotle mayonnaise (substitute with hummus for healthier alternative)
Francisco Gourmet Sesame Seed Rolls
Instructions
Slice the bell pepper and onions into slivers.
Heat up some pastrami in a microwave at 50% power for 2 minutes. If the bell pepper and onion are cold from being in the fridge, heat them up along with the pastrami.
Spread some Chipotle mayo on both sides of the bread
Spread pepper and onion evenly on bread, add pastrami, add cheddar cheese and toast in over until cheese has melted
Let’s face it. Garages have been storage spaces rather than places to park your car. Here’s one approach to organizing your garage so that you can still fit your car in it.
1. Build a shelf
You can buy shelving, including heavy duty restaurant-grade ones with wheels which are expensive, or you can just follow the instructions at this YouTube video on how to make a simple set of shelves out of 2x4s.
2. Buy transparent plastic containers
These clear boxes from IKEA are great. They’re also cheap. You don’t need to buy the lid.
3. Buy zip loc slider bags
Slider bags are better because they are more secure. I use a few different sizes.
2.5 gallon1 gallon1 quart12″ x 12″ bag – 6 mil thickness
Twist ties are very useful for tying up cables. Available on Amazon.
5. Place related items together
For example, the picture below is of a bin labeled “Fasteners” which includes nails, screws, bolts, etc. Loose items are placed in appropriately-sized bags. Others are just placed directly in the bin unless their box or plastic container is mostly empty in which case I’d transfer the contents to a bag to not waste space.
In the photo below, the bin is label “Plumbing”. Not everything needs to be in a bag, like the PVC glue. Loose items or small parts that go together with larger parts are bagged so they don’t get lost.
6. Label bins
You can label bins using a label maker. I wanted larger labels so I printed category names on white paper, laminated it, and bolted it to the bins.
By now, your garage should feel a lot bigger and you won’t keep buying things you already have and you won’t spend forever looking for things.
UPDATE: July 29, 2021
Instead of laminating printed sheets of paper, I found a simpler, more flexible solution. Just buy clear sheet protectors for 3 ring binders. $5.00 on Amazon for thin ones. $20 on Amazon for thick, 5.5 mil vinyl ones (preferred). Just drill two holes in the plastic bins where the 2 outer sleeve holes are and fasten using a small bolt with a washer. Then, print your labels and insert them from the side.
Increase your credit score as quickly and as high as possible (minimum 680)
Eliminate as much debt (credit cards, loans) as possible, e.g. monthly payments for a fancy car, etc.
Save as much money as possible (minimum $20,000)
Buy a used duplex (2-unit property) preferably with existing tenants where at least one tenant is paying the market rate for rent
Kick out the lower paying tenant and live in that unit
Slowly fix up the property as money becomes available and time permits to increase its value
After a few years, the home’s value will have appreciated and you will have more equity in the house. You can remain in that living situation or you can sell the duplex, take the profit, buy a single family residence or a better duplex or triplex.
Introductory Facts
Homeownership is the number one way for people to move from the lower class to the middle class and to build wealth.
People who own homes are almost always better off financially than people who always rent.
Real estate (e.g. houses) always increases in value over the long term (see graph below). The only exception was between 2008 – 2012 which was due to mortgage fraud and greedy banks which led to a global recession. It is now illegal to commit mortgage fraud which should prevent significant depreciation from occuring again.
The average rate of appreciation of real estate in California is about 6.77% annually. That means if you buy a house for $300,000, then in one year, the value will have gone up by $300,000 x 6.77% = $20,310. You will have made $20,310 in one year for doing nothing but living in your own home. In 10 years, due to compounding appreciation, your home’s value will have increased by $277,582.
On the other hand, cars always lose value as time goes on. As a matter of fact, they lose an average of 15% per year.
When you rent, your entire monthly rent payment is spent and you get none of it back. However, when you buy a house and pay a mortgage, you get some of your mortgage payment back in the form of equity in the home. For example, if you borrow money from a bank for $300,000 at 3% interest fixed for 30 years (360 months) with a 3.5% down payment ($10,500), your monthly payments during the beginning and ending years will look like this:
Month
Principal & Interest
Principal
Interest
Principal Remaining
1
$1,221
$497
$724
$289,003
2
$1,221
$498
$723
$288,505
3
$1,221
$499
$721
$288,006
….
358
$1,211
$1,211
$9
$2,434
359
$1,211
$1,214
$6
$1,220
360
$1,211
$1,220
$3
$0 (loan paid off)
As you can see in the table above, in the beginning years, even though you pay $1221 per month for your mortgage, you are getting almost $500 back in the form of equity which is like a savings account but in the form of home value instead of at a bank. Your interest payments in the beginning are around $720 but it’s not money completely lost because mortgage interest is tax deductible which can lower your tax bill.
Rent always increases whereas mortgage payments never increase (on a fixed loan). As a matter of fact, nationally rent prices have increased an average of 8.86% per year since 1980, consistently outpacing wage inflation by a significant margin.
Between 2008 and 2020, annual wage increases for hourly employees maxed out at just above 3.5% which is less than both
the annual rate of rent increase (8.86%) since 1980
the annual rate of California home value appreciation (6.77%)
This means that your income growth is less than your housing expense growth. This also means that if you live month to month, as time goes on you will have less and less money as rent increases faster than your income.
Never buy a manufactured / mobile home. Though they are cheap, you will have to rent the land and if the landowner increases the rent on the land, you will most likely have no choice but to pay the increase since it would be difficult and very expensive to move your mobile home somewhere else. Even if you own land and buy a manufactured home to put on it, you will not be able to get a low-interest home loan to purchase a mobile home.
Condos and Townhouses
Condos and townhouses are cheaper than single family residences but you will have to pay an HOA (homeowner’s association) fee which can be very expensive, especially if there is a swimming pool. Also, you are limited in what you can do to your own home, e.g. you can’t paint the exterior, you can’t move walls, build additions, etc. You are better off not buying a condo or townhouse.
Single Family Residence
This type of home is ideal for a single family. However, unless your financial situation is good, it would be difficult to afford one.
This type of property is usually purchased by investors. However, anyone can buy one and live in one of the units and rent out the other units. Of course, the more units, the more expensive. Therefore, for first time homebuyers with a limited income, it is recommended to buy a duplex. The strategy recommended in this article is to live in one unit and rent out the other unit and let the rental income pay for some, most, or all of your mortgage.
Commercial (5 units or more)
This type of property is usually purchased by big investors or companies who have a lot of money. Most people cannot afford this type of property.
Number of Bedrooms and Bathrooms
Most houses come with either
2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom, a.k.a. 2/1
3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, a.k.a. 3/2
To keep costs low, focus on duplexes where each unit has 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom.
Potential Rental Income
Since the recommended strategy is to buy a duplex and live in one unit and rent out the other, you need to know the potential rental income you will get to offset your mortgage expenses. To determine this, you can go to Rent-o-meter.
For example, the 2/1 duplex at 8420 Don Ave, Stockton, CA 95209 has an average rental income of $1493 for each unit. Therefore, if you buy this duplex, you could potentially get $1493 per month from your renter to help pay for some or all of your mortgage.
Determine Costs
As a first-time home buyer, you are entitled to the FHA First-Time Home Buyer program. This program allows you to borrow money to buy a house and only put a down payment of 3.5% as opposed to 20% for non-first-time home buyers and 25% for investors. However, if your down payment is less than 20%, you will have to pay private mortgage insurance (PMI).
For example, for a loan with the following numbers:
Purchase Price:
$300,000
Down Payment:
3.5% (10,500)
Loan Type:
30-year fixed (always choose this type)
Interest Rate:
3%
your total monthly mortgage-related expenses would be $1734.
However, since your rental income will be on average $1493, then your net monthly mortgage-related expenses will be
$1734 – $1493 = $241 per month
In other words, your monthly housing costs become ONLY $241 per month! But, that depends on
whether you can find a 2/1 duplex for $300,000
whether your credit score is good enough that you can get a loan with a 3% interest rate
whether you can actually rent out the other unit for $1493 per month
Interest Rates
Interest rates on your loan make a very big difference in your monthly mortgage expense and your lifetime loan cost. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the federal government lowered interest rates to almost zero to stimulate the economy and avoid a recession. In doing so, interest rates on home loans have been very low. As a matter of fact, interest rates have never been lower than now as indicated in the graph below.
Therefore, now is THE BEST TIME to get a home loan because the interest rates are at the LOWEST they have ever been. If you wait 2, 4 or 6 years from now, interest rates may go back up to 4 or 5% which means your monthly mortgage payments will be much higher.
Credit Score
Your credit score has a VERY BIG impact on the interest rate of your home loan. The higher your credit score, the lower the interest rate, and the cheaper your monthly mortgage expenses. Therefore, you want your credit score to be as high as possible.
To determine the interest rate you can get for different credit scores, you can go to Zillow > Home Loans > Mortgage Rates https://www.zillow.com/mortgage-rates/
For example, for a loan with the following numbers:
Purchase Price:
$300,000
Down Payment:
3.5% (10,500)
you will find the following interest rates for different credit scores.
Credit Score
Interest Rate
560 – 599
No loans available
600 – 619
No loans available
620 – 639
No loans available
640 – 659
3.5%
660 – 679
3.25%
680 – 699
2.75%
700 – 719
2.75%
720 – 739
2.75%
740 – 759
2.75%
760 and above
2.75%
The rates above were valid on July 4, 2021. Interest rates change daily and throughout the day.
As you can see above, if your credit score is below 620, you can’t even get a loan. Also, the higher your credit score, the lower the interest rate.
In order to improve your credit score, sign up for a free Credit Karma (https://www.creditkarma.com/) account, enter your information, and under “Credit Scores”, you will see your score for Transunion and Equifax followed by ways to improve each score.
Notice that there are 6 factors that affect your credit score, 3 of which are high impact.
Factor
Impact
Description
Payment History
High
Percent of payments you’ve made on time
Credit Card Use
High
How much credit you’re using compared to your total limits
Derogatory Marks
High
Collections, tax liens, bankruptcies or civil judgments on your report
Credit Age
Medium
Average age of your open account
Total Accounts
Low
Total open and closed accounts
Hard Inquiries
Low
Number of times you’ve applied for credit
From here on, we will assume you have increased your credit score to 680 and since interest rates change all the time, we’ll assume you can get a rate of 3%.
Interest Rate VS Loan Cost
Interest rates affect the cost of a loan and your monthly payments. Following are monthly mortgage costs and total loan costs for a $300,000 home loan at 30-year fixed at various interest rates.
Interest Rate
Monthly Mortgage Payment
Total Loan Cost Over 30 Years
2.5%
$1,190
$123,000
3%
$1,227
$151,000
3.5%
$1,307
$180,000
4%
$1,389
$209,000
4.5%
$1,474
$240,000
5%
$1,562
$271,000
5.5%
$1,652
$304,000
6%
$1,745
$337,000
As you can see, the interest rate makes a big difference in your monthly payment and loan costs. For example, for a 5% interest loan, you’ll be paying an extra $335 per month and an extra $120,000 over 30 years compared to a 3% interest loan for $300,000.
Mortgage-to-Income Ratio
Lenders require that in order to give you a home loan, your mortgage expenses (PITI) must not be more than 28% of your gross monthly income before taxes. PITI stands for
P = Principal
I = Interest
T = Taxes
I = Insurance
Let’s say that your total monthly income is $3000 per month before taxes. That means your PITI may be no more than 28% x $3000 = $840 per month. However, if you buy a duplex, then your total monthly income will increase by the rental income of, say, $1400 per month, which would bring your total monthly income to $4400. Therefore, your PITI for a duplex can be no more than $4400 x 28% = $1232 per month.
Debt-to-Income Ratio
Lenders also require that your total debt (including mortgage expenses) be no more than 43% of your gross monthly income before taxes. For example, if your monthly income is $3000 per month and your fancy car’s monthly payments are $350 per month and you are looking at buying a house with an estimated PITI expenses of $1000 per month, then your debt-to-income ratio is
Debt-to-Income Ratio = Debt / Income = ($350 + $1000) / $3000 = 0.45 or 45%
Since 45% is greater than 43%, you would not qualify for a loan.
Calculations
To help see all important numbers in one place, you can create a spreadsheet similar to the one below.
Loan Type
FHA – First-Time Home Buyer
Purchase Price
$300,000
Minimum Credit Score
680
Down Payment (%)
3.5%
Down Payment ($)
$10,500
Interest Rate
3%
Term
30 years fixed
Mortgage – Principal
$497
Mortgage – Interest
$724
Mortgage – Insurance (PMI)
$236
Property Tax
$170
Insurance
$105
Total Monthly Cost (PITI)
$1,732
Property Type
Duplex
Income – Work (Annual)
$60,000
Income – Work (Monthly)
$5,000
Income – Rental (Monthly)
$1,300
Total Gross Monthly Income
$6,300
Max Monthly Mortgage to Income (%)
28%
Max MonthlyMortgage Allowed ($)
$1,764
Max MonthlyTotal Debt to Income (%)
43%
Max MonthlyTotal Debt Allowed ($)
$2,709
Finding a House for Sale
As mentioned above, the strategy is to buy a “used duplex”. To find these, go to Zillow and do a search.
The color is ugly but maybe that’s why no one has bought it. You can always paint it.
Rental Income:
This duplex may already have renters in both units. If you buy it, you can kick out the renter who is paying the lower amount and then live in that unit yourself.
If the duplex isn’t rented, you can check Rent-o-meter to determine average rent. After entering the address in www.rentometer.com, we see that the average rent is $1686.
Mortgage Expenses:
Now, we need to calculate our mortgage expenses by going to Zillow’s mortgage calculator. For a loan with the following numbers:
Purchase Price:
$449,000
Down Payment:
3.5% ($15,715)
Loan Type:
30-year fixed (always choose this type)
Interest Rate:
3%
we get the following
This means that your total monthly housing expense will be $2596.
You net monthly housing expense becomes
$2596 – $1686 = $910 per month
$910 / month is very cheap for 2 bed 1 bath housing in Stockton and is much cheaper than renting. Also, as time goes on, the value of the property will go up on average 6.77% per year.
To reiterate, for the example above,
your net monthly housing expense would be
$910 per month
you need a down payment of
$15,715
you need a credit score of at least
680
you will need to pay for loan closing costs in the average amount of
$5000
Get Pre-Approved
Before making a move to buy a house, you increase your chances of success by first getting pre-approved. Don’t simply get pre-qualified because that doesn’t carry as much weight as a pre-approval. A pre-approval will verify your financial situation so you can feel confident you will be able to afford a house at a particular price. When the time comes, you can and should include your pre-approval letter with your house purchase offer so the sellers know you are serious and can afford to buy their house. When getting pre-approved, mention that you are interested in buying a duplex and renting out one of the two units so that the rental income is accounted for.
Since you are new to buying a house, you’ll want a real estate agent to guide and help you. You can easily find a real estate agent by searching Google for “Stockton real estate agent”.
Once you agree to work with an agent, you can tell them the type of property you want to buy (used duplex) and give them your pre-approval letter. You can then tell them which active listings on Zillow (or Redfin – www.redfin.com) you are interested in. The agent may also have pocket listings / off-market listings that meet your criteria.
Make an Offer
Once you decide to put an offer on a house, you need to decide how much you are willing to pay for it. In a hot market, there could be competition driving up prices. If Zillow estimates the house to be worth $360,000 and the seller is asking for $360,000, then you may want to offer $370,000 to beat the competition. Note, however, that in a hot market, values can go up quickly. I offered $30,000 above the asking price and I still got outbid by someone who bought the property for $40,000 above asking.
Your agent can help you determine the value of the house and draft up a purchase offer. You will review the offer letter for accuracy and then sign it. Your agent will then submit the offer to the seller’s agent and wait for a response. If the seller accepts your offer, then you’re locked in and the seller cannot change their mind and sell to someone else.
NOTE:
For tips on buying a house, read my article titled House-Buying Tips.
For strategies on competing with other buyers in a hot market, read my article titled House-Buying Strategies.
Get a Loan and Fire Insurance
Home Loan
I have not purchased a home using the FHA First-Time Home Buyer program. However, I have found LoFi Direct to offer very competitive rates for home loans.
For fire insurance, I recommend using a broker to shop around and find a deal for you. They usually can offer lower rates than if you go directly to the large insurance companies. Just search Google for “home insurance broker”.
Close Escrow
Once everything is in order, you will “close escrow” which means you finalize the deal. It takes about one month from when your offer is accepted to when you close escrow. Once you close escrow, you become the legal owner of the property and you can move in. Just make sure you pay your mortgage payments and property tax so the lender and government don’t take your house from you.
I’m bad with plants, and you probably are too. Whatever I plant just seems to die. And even with Home Depot’s 1 year return return policy, who’s gonna wanna dig up and return a plant with its roots and all and dirty up their car to take it to the Home Depot for $50.
There is one plant (or tree, actually) that anyone (in California) can plant without worry of it dying. This set-it-and-forget-it tree is the Italian Cypress. There are so many great things about this tree, it’s no wonder it adds value to your property.
Fast Growing Tall trees are expensive. You can buy this tree short and the regular Italian Cypress tree will grow up to 3 feet per year.
Very Hardy The Italian Cypress tree is hardy (will survive) down to 10° F. Obviously not a problem in California where it seems to just get hotter and hotter every year.
Drought Tolerant With increasing temperatures and less rain in California by the year, water is becoming less available and more expensive. Some locations may even prohibit watering your lawn or garden during certain periods. This is not a problem with the Italian Cypress tree. I stopped watering mine and they still look alive and green.
Evergreen, Non-deciduous The Italian Cypress tree is an evergreen tree meaning that it’s green forever (all year long). It is non-deciduous meaning that it doesn’t lose its leaves for part of the year. This is great because it’s low maintenance. My neighbor’s trees are deciduous and every winter, their leaves dirty up my front yard and I have to clean it up. With the Italian Cypress tree, there’s nothing to clean up and it looks alive all year long – no temporary death!
Fertilizer The Italian Cypress tree doesn’t even need fertilizer. Just dig a hole, put the tree ball in, back fill, give it some water, and you’re done.
Readily Available The Italian Cypress tree is readily available at the Home Depot all year long. It’s also available at Costco for about half the price but Costco only has it in early Spring 🙁
Most places sell the regular Italian Cypress tree but there’s also a dwarf version. Here are the specs for each.
Dwarf Italian Cypress
Italian Cypress
Botanical Name
Cupressus sempervirens Compacta
Cupressus sempervirens
Deer Resistant
Yes
Yes
Drought Tolerant
Yes
Yes
Mature Height
7-9 ft. in 10 years 25-30 ft. at maturity
35-40 ft. in 10 years or Trim to Desired Height
Mature Width
2 ft.
5 ft.
Sunlight
Full Sun
Full Sun
Growth Rate:
Slow
Fast
Grows Well In Zones:
7-10 outdoors
7-11 outdoors
Hardy
Down to 10° F
Down to 10° F
Planting and Care for Dwarf Italian Cypress Trees
1. Planting: First, select a location with well-drained soil and full sun – any area with 6 to 8 hours of sunlight is ideal.
When you’re ready to plant, dig a hole that’s about one and a half to two times the size of your plant’s root ball, place the Dwarf Italian Cypress in the hole, back fill the soil and water to settle the roots.
2. Watering: Once established, your Dwarf Italian Cypress is moderately drought tolerant, but it’s important to have a regular watering schedule for the first couple of growing seasons. Water about once weekly or check the surrounding soil near your Cypress – if the surrounding soil is dry about 2 or 3 inches down, it’s time to water.
3. Fertilizing: Apply a well-balanced, general purpose fertilizer to your Dwarf Italian Cypress in early spring, before new growth begins.
Planting and Care for Regular Italian Cypress Trees
1. Planting: Italian Cypress Trees are drought tolerant and like to be on the dry side, so choose a location with full to partial sun (4 to 8 hours of sunlight daily) in well-drained soil.
Then, dig a hole that is just as deep but twice as wide as the root ball of the plant. Place the plant in the hole to check the depth. If the soil of the root ball is below the level of the soil of the surrounding ground, pick up the tree and add more soil to the hole. Fill in the hole with the same native soil you removed then water the tree by counting to 20 or by giving it five full watering cans full of water.
2. Watering: Irrigate your newly-planted tree twice a week for the first month, once a week for the next two months and every two weeks after the first three months. Water your Italian Cypress if you have warm, dry, and windy weather during the winter in your area.
3. Fertilizing: This tree isn’t fussy about soil. It grows equally well in clay, loam, or sandy soils. It also does not need routine fertilizing.
a long-established custom or belief that has been passed on from one generation to another. of customs or beliefs from generation to generation
a doctrine believed to have divine authority though not in the scriptures.
(in Christianity) doctrine not explicit in the Bible but held to derive from the oral teaching of Jesus and the Apostles.
(in Judaism) an ordinance of the oral law not in the Torah but held to have been given by God to Moses.
(in Islam) a saying or act ascribed to the Prophet but not recorded in the Koran.
Many people uphold and follow tradition as if it were some sort of law. Many traditions have nothing to do with religion yet people continue to follow them. Some traditions don’t have negative consequences if not followed, but others can be outright ridiculous and even life-changing. Following are some outrageous and even deadly traditions that still happen today.
Based on caste system in India Dalit is a name for people belonging to the lowest caste in India, characterized as “untouchable”. They are discriminated against on many levels and even murdered.
Killing Babies and Infants
In Ethiopia Children born out of wedlock and children with perceived and true physical abnormalities are considered ritually impure. These children are disposed of either through drowning, putting soil in their mouths and strangling or leaving infants in the forest.
In India Baby girls are being killed in the Tamil Nadu area of India, so their poverty-stricken parents can avoid paying large dowries when their daughters marry.
Face Mutilation
Marked The Documentary In Nigeria, the Yoruba tribe scars the face of its people, including babies.
Foot Binding
Foot binding was the Chinese custom of breaking and tightly binding the feet of young girls in order to change the shape and size of their feet; during the time it was practiced, bound feet were considered a status symbol and a mark of beauty.
Leblouh (Arabic: البلوح, romanized: lə-blūḥ) is the practice of force-feeding girls from as young as five to nineteen, in countries where obesity was traditionally regarded as desirable.[1][2][3] Especially prevalent in rural areas and having its roots in Tuareg[4] tradition, leblouh is practiced to increase chances of marriage in a society where high body volume used to be a sign of wealth. The practice is being done in several African countries, such as Mauritania, Niger, Uganda, Sudan, Tunisia (specifically Jewish people), Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa.
Dowry deaths are deaths of married women who are murdered or driven to suicide by continuous harassment and torture by their husbands and in-laws over a dispute about their dowry, making the women’s homes the most dangerous place for them to be. Dowry deaths are found predominantly in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Iran.
Bride burning is a form of domestic violence practiced in countries located on or around the Indian subcontinent. A category of dowry death, bride-burning occurs when a young woman is murdered by her husband or his family for her family’s refusal to pay additional dowry. The wife is typically doused with kerosene, gasoline, or other flammable liquid, and set alight, leading to death by fire.[1][2] Kerosene is often used as the cooking fuel for dangerous small petrol stoves, so it allows the claim that the crime was an accident. It is most common in India and has been a major problem there since at least 1993.
Let’s say you want to do some home improvement somewhere besides your, e.g. at one of your rental properties. You may be tempted to just bring a few tools related to the job you’re going to work on. What often happens, though, is you end up realizing you need another tool that you didn’t expect to need. Once you do that a few times, you then realize you need a way to just bring ALL your tools so you don’t waste time going back and forth. But how can you bring all your tools? Below is how I bring most tools to a remote worksite. I find this setup works very well.
Heavy Duty Stackable Tool Boxes with Wheels
There are many toolboxes on the market but some are overpriced. I went with the Ridgid ones below.
In the photo above, I have stacked four boxes. The problem, though, is the handle is below the top-most box and it tends to hit your hand which is painful. So, I just stack 3 boxes and the small parts box is lightweight enough to carry by hand.
Following is a description of each box.
Small Parts Box
Unlike other small parts boxes, this one has a robust locking mechanism so when you carry it around, the latch doesn’t accidentally open and spill all your parts everywhere.
and for items specific to a particular task, e.g. if I’m building a new fence, I put string, plumb level tool, knee pads, etc.
In the toolbox below, I put various small tools grouped by category in 12″ x 12″ 6 Mil Zip Lock clear bags. These are relatively thick plastic bags so they don’t puncture easily. In the tray, I put things that don’t fit into the other categories, e.g. because they are too long. The categories of items are
Every now and then I come across a documentary that shows extreme poverty in many places around the world. I can’t help but wonder why many of these countries don’t appear to be progressing whereas others that used to be poor, like China and Singapore, have become rich in a relatively short period of time. This article examines some of the reasons that prevent countries from growing.
Inclusive vs Extractive Institutions
In the book, “Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty”, the authors argue that nations fail because of their institutions (judicial, economic, political, etc). A given country’s prosperity is determined by its economic institutional landscape – the systems and regulations that direct economic behavior within its borders. That landscape includes property laws, the strength of public services and access to finance.
Inclusive economic institutions stimulate economic success and are designed to encourage participation in economic activities. They also nurture economic freedom. Examples of countries with inclusive institutions are the US and South Korea.
Extractive institutions derive incomes from groups within society for the benefit of other groups. Examples of countries with extractive institutions are North Korea and Sierra Leone.
The main characteristic of inclusive political institutions is pluralism. This means that various groups in a given society are politically represented, therefore power is shared between them. For institutions to be truly inclusive, it’s also essential that they are centralized. Centralization of power results in the rule of law being upheld; there is no need for these different groups to fight each other for superiority.
This 544-page book is available on Amazon. You can read a summary of it in 30 minutes on Blinkist.
High Levels of Corruption
According to Transparency International, there tends to be less corruption in rich countries and more corruption in poor countries. This makes sense since growth would be limited if governments steal their people’s money.
The problem with corruption is if you elect a new leader / president who isn’t corrupt, they will have a hard time eliminating corruption if other government officials are used to being corrupt. You likely need to sack all government officials and hire new ones who hopefully aren’t corrupt.
No Access to Education
According to this UNESCO study, it’s clear that there’s a correlation between poverty and education.
Pupil-to-Teacher Ratio
If we look at the countries ranked by primary school pupil-to-teacher ratio, we find, unsurprisingly, that there tends to be a smaller percentage of teachers in poor countries than in rich ones.
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (http://uis.unesco.org/)
Literacy Rate
Another interesting metric is literacy rates. According to this map, we see consistent results showing poorer countries tend to have more illiterate people.
Another issue is the cost of education. While most countries offer free primary school education, most require tuition for a college education. Many rich European countries offer free college education and some, like in the U.S., offer very affordable college tuition. U.S. students can also get free money (grants) and low-interest loans to help pay for college.
High Population
In high-population countries, there aren’t enough resources (jobs, schools, teachers, etc) to support the large population. This situation becomes one of supply and demand where there is a large supply of unskilled workers and a short supply of resources. This results in a large percentage of the population becoming poor because, for example, they are unavailable seats to a nearby school or they are unavailable jobs.
According to this article by the World Economic Forum, there is a correlation between population size and a country’s wealth. In rich countries, people tend to have fewer children whereas in poor countries, people tend to have more children.
There is also a correlation between population size and education. Education leads to lower birth rates and slows population growth. This makes it easier for countries to develop. A more-educated workforce also makes poverty eradication and economic growth easier to achieve. Of course, economic growth brings with it another problem: increased consumption.
In one study, it was found that uneducated Malian women gave birth to almost 7 children whereas educated ones only gave birth to 4.
In order to slow population growth, some countries have tried to limit the number of children born. However, when China did this, it just turned a problem of population growth into one of an aging society.
According to an article on the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health website, fertility rates tend to be higher in poorly resourced countries. In developing countries children are needed as a labor force and to provide care for their parents in old age. In these countries, fertility rates are higher due to the lack of access to contraceptives and generally lower levels of female education. When children are put to work, e.g. by selling water or tissue at busy intersections, they are not in school and end up following in their parents’ footsteps, i.e. having many kids to make them work. Also, couples don’t expect help from the government when they’re old so they have kids who they expect will take care of them later on in life.
Human Capital
Human capital—the knowledge, skills, and health that people accumulate over their lives—is a central driver of sustainable growth and poverty reduction. More human capital is associated with higher earnings for people, higher income for countries, and stronger cohesion in societies. Unsurprisingly, the developed countries tend to be the ones with a high human capital index (HCI) value. Here’s a subset and the ranking.
Rank
Economy
HCI Value
1
Singapore
0.88
2
Hong Kong
0.81
3
Japan, South Korea, Canada, Finland, Macao, Sweden
Low tax revenues means that a government can only fund basic services such as policing, the courts and the armed forces. In order to provide universal healthcare, education, and a social safety net for all of a country’s residents, higher tax revenues are required. According to the UN, this can be achieved if a country’s tax revenues are at least 20% of their GDP [1]. If achieved, this would result in an increase in a society’s quality of life. The Human Development Index (HDI) [2] is a ranking of a society’s quality of life by country. The index groups countries into 4 categories. Following is a 2016 listing of those categories with a sampling of countries. The listing also shows each country’s 2015 tax revenue-to-GDP ratio [3]. Each country’s estimated 2017 GDP per capita per the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is also listed to give an idea of the average individual’s annual income for that country [4]. In addition, I note whether a country is an Islamic country.
Interestingly, the top 10 countries with the highest quality of life are the countries that collect the most tax from their residents.
If we take the average tax revenue as a % of GDP for all countries in each category, we get the following table.
Country Group
Average Tax Revenue as % of GDP
Top 10 Very High Human Development
36.75
Very High Human Development
31.92
High Human Development
22.08
Medium Human Development
17.09
Low Human Development
15.08
Based on the two tables above, it appears that, in general, the more taxes a country collects (higher tax-revenue as % of GDP), the higher the quality of life of its residents.
In addition to higher taxation, tax policy should be progressive such that the poor do not may as much or more as middle and upper-class people. Also, corporations and rich people should not be able to evade taxes using loopholes.
GDP Per Capita From 1960 to 2020
Below is a graph of the change in GDP per capita of a few countries. Singapore was able to catch up to the US in a short period of time. China and India have many similarities, e.g. two of the most populated countries. Both countries started growing around the same time but clearly China grew rapidly whereas India barely grew.
China has 1.4 billion people. 1/5th of all humanity. Chinese was successful up until the 17th century when China closed its doors and decided it didn’t need Western gadgets. Many people ended up dying due to starvation. 14 million Chinese people died in WWII. Mao Tse Dong ruled China and closed all universities. Deng Xioping had a vision to make China prosperous. His slogan was “To be rich is glorious”. Like Mao, he believed that to ensure stability and to prosper, you needed one-party rule. When Mao Tse Dong died in 1976, Deng asked to be in charge of China’s education and science. Deng allowed everyone to take university exams for free. The first exams started in December of 1977. 5.7 million people applied for exams but only 5% could be admitted. In 1978, Deng emerged as preeminent leader. In 1978, Deng went with a delegation of 30 people to Europe. He witnessed how advanced Europe was and how far back China had fallen behind. Deng then went to Singapore and Japan. He noticed that trains in Japan could travel at 210 kph whereas those in China could only go up to 60 kph. He saw robots making cars in Japan. Deng wanted Chinese people to see how people in Japan and Singapore lived so he showed them on TV. Chinese people were in shock to see Japanese people work and have their own refrigerators at home. China embarked on an economic and social experiment – mixing the Communist command economy with the energy of capitalist enterprise. Chinese students were sent to foreign universities. There was a concern that Chinese students may not want to return to China. There was a huge investment in primary and secondary education – especially for women. By the early 80s, the signs of reform were everywhere from the schools to the cars on the streets where there were once only bicycles. The rural population of China had been moving to the cities at a rapid pace. In just 4 years, China’s agriculture, education and industry were reformed. Private business was allowed to flourish. China’s low production costs offered huge opportunities to the outside world. With its fast, expanding urban workforce, China’s GDP would increase nearly 70 times in 40 years. The Chinese way was a marriage of one-party rule with capitalist enterprise. China didn’t want to be dependent anymore on outside people for technology.
