# First time for everything..........



## paratrooper (Feb 1, 2012)

I bought one of these yesterday @ Home Depot. Regular price was $338.00. On sale for $199.00. Used my Veteran's ID card and got 10% off that price. OTD price still under $200.00 

1.25 hp, belt drive (extremely quiet), battery back-up, and LED bright lighting. Gonna have it installed within the next week or so. First time I've ever had a garage door opener. My wife was really getting tired playing the part of one.


----------



## pic (Nov 14, 2009)

Garage door opener is a must have for me. 
I hit the button five houses away,,,drive in like Batman,,,and close the door before I get out of the car.
I can avoid all neighbors at my discretion, lol


----------



## paratrooper (Feb 1, 2012)

I was so sure long ago that I'd never want or need one. 

Then again, I never thought I'd live long enough to see age 65. I'm kind of thinking I just might make it...........


----------



## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

The house in which we live today came with our very first garage-door opener.
Actually, it has _two_ of them: One for coming into the garage, and one for coming out from the other side.

Garage-door openers are wonderful devices...except when we have one of our once-or-twice-yearly, island-wide power outs.
Power-driven, and therefore unbalanced, garage doors are heavy-really, really heavy-and I haven't gotten any stronger as the years go by.

But while the electricity is working, they're absolutely wonderful!
.


----------



## RK3369 (Aug 12, 2013)

My father in law never had one, and he lived until 90. Of course, he left the garage door open all the time too.


----------



## paratrooper (Feb 1, 2012)

Steve M1911A1 said:


> The house in which we live today came with our very first garage-door opener.
> Actually, it has _two_ of them: One for coming into the garage, and one for coming out from the other side.
> 
> Garage-door openers are wonderful devices...except when we have one of our once-or-twice-yearly, island-wide power outs.
> ...


The one I purchased has a battery back-up for those times when the power goes out. We bought our home new in 1988. It had a very light-weight garage door on it. Light weigh as in cheap. It was some kind of a translucent fiber-glass. If you really wanted to, you could use a good sized knife and cut right thru it. Not secure at all.

Anyways, I made do with it for many years. Initially, it was white, As the years went by, it turned an ugly light yellow. In 2010, I finally decided to go buy a real garage door. I bought a commercial-grade door. Aluminum skin on the exterior, 2" of sprayed in insulation, and a heavy gauge steel skin on the interior. All of the hardware is commercial grade as well.

It's a much heavier door. It requires two springs to raise it. Most doors can get away with just one. The new door cut way down on outside noise, and made it much more comfortable inside, in regards to temperature. The exterior paint on the door is powder-coated.


----------



## paratrooper (Feb 1, 2012)

I called a garage door install company today to check on a quote to have my opener installed. I spoke to the owner on a job-site. He said that he was just finishing up a job and could possibly drop by today and do the install. I said that would be great.

He and his son are here now, and he totally likes the opener I bought. He said that he bought two from Home Depot last week, and it's the best price he's ever seen on this particular brand and model.

He also quoted me the lowest price to install the opener. $85.00. Most of the quotes I got were pushing $200.00. 

Anyways, here it is, going on 10 years later and I finally got an opener for my garage door.


----------



## pic (Nov 14, 2009)

85$. Great deal !
You have an outside code pad, what numbers are you gonna use?
Don't let them leave until you set up the code


----------



## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

If we had an outside-the-garage code pad, pretty soon the raccoons would learn to use it, and they'd have access to the food supplies we store in our garage.

That's why we don't have an outside code pad.
Instead, we have a locked, walk-in door.
The raccoons haven't yet learned to use keys, even though they stole our spare set once.
(They brought the keys back, in frustration.)


----------



## paratrooper (Feb 1, 2012)

My new garage door opener is now installed. All went very well and is a good, clean install. My garage ceiling already was wired for the inside remote. That made the install even easier. 

It's so quiet when the door is being raised, you have to glance over to make sure the door is rising. When it's being closed, it has a "soft close" feature so the door doesn't slam down.

The outside wireless remote has been programmed and works great. It's high enough off the ground so that raccoons (which we do have occasionally) won't be uninvited guests. 

The inside wired remote shows the time and temp. It also has a back lit display.

It came with two portable remotes. I attached one of them to the dash on my m/c. There was a space perfect for it. Now when I return home from a ride, my wife won't have to go out and into the garage and risk hurting herself trying to lift the door up. Supposedly, I can activate the garage door opener from 1300 ft. away. 

It also has a feature that I wasn't aware of. It has a motion-sensor that will automatically turn on the LED lights if you go into the garage. It took me a while to figure out how to disable that feature. We have a cat that sleeps in the garage at night. I don't want him turning them on and off when he's walking around.

All in all, I am very pleased with the opener and how very quiet and smooth it is. The DC motor and drive belt has a lifetime warranty. The battery back-up keeps itself fully charged and regulates itself according to need.


----------



## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

Sounds great!

I guess that now we're gonna need new garage-door openers, just to keep up with you.
.


----------



## pic (Nov 14, 2009)

The neighbors are probably gonna be wondering why your garage door keeps opening and closing all week. 
( paratrooper playing with his new toy )


----------



## paratrooper (Feb 1, 2012)

pic said:


> The neighbors are probably gonna be wondering why your garage door keeps opening and closing all week.
> ( paratrooper playing with his new toy )


I gotta admit, it's fun to use it. I can't believe that I waited so long to get one.


----------



## pic (Nov 14, 2009)

Within the last ten years (approximately) many vehicles already have programmable buttons installed that can be used instead of the remotes that came with the unit 

Couple Advantages to using the vehicles buttons to open the garage door.
One is,
If you're parking in the driveway, nobody can operate the vehicle buttons to open the garage without the car keys.


----------



## paratrooper (Feb 1, 2012)

pic said:


> Within the last ten years (approximately) many vehicles already have programmable buttons installed that can be used instead of the remotes that came with the unit
> 
> Couple Advantages to using the vehicles buttons to open the garage door.
> One is,
> If you're parking in the driveway, nobody can operate the vehicle buttons to open the garage without the car keys.


I know this is going to sound weird, but cars don't get parked in my garage / shop. They stay on the driveway. My garage is set-up like a shop / man-cave. My m/c's are in there. No cars or trucks.

Once in a blue moon, if we are expecting a hail storm, I can shuffle things around enough to get my wife's Honda Element in there. It's tight, but I can do that.

Other than that, it's my refuge. I go in there to clear my head. It's as nicely finished inside as any house inside would be. Not drafty at all. Warm in the winter, and cooler than outside in the summer.

31 years in our home and I think I can count on one hand how many times it's actually had a car in it.


----------



## pic (Nov 14, 2009)

I was figuring you parked in the driveway, with all the crap ( good crap) lol .
Motorcycle , etc. 
people sometimes keep a remote opener in their cars just for the convenience of entering through the garage with groceries or just by habit , even though they don't park in the garage. 
Not sure if you have an attached garage. 
Keep those garage door wheels greased up,,,we don't want to put any unnecessary strain on the new door opener . 

The wifi ?? You can open the door from an installed app??


----------



## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

pic said:


> ...The wifi ?? You can open the door from an installed app??


Years and years ago, Jean's father was the first on his block-and, for that matter, maybe the first in all Los Angeles-to install an electronic garage door opener.
The high-school whizz kid who lived across the street almost immediately figured out what frequency the opener used, and he kludged-up a remote transmitter.
Whenever Jean's father closed the new garage door, this kid would push his own remote's button, and open it up again.
This went on for a couple of weeks, which included several visits from the installer, hoping to do something about the, um, fault in the system.
Finally, Jean's mother spotted the kid in mid-prank. After she shared a quiet word or two with him, the pirate transmitter was disassembled, and the "fault" mysteriously disappeared.


----------



## paratrooper (Feb 1, 2012)

pic said:


> I was figuring you parked in the driveway, with all the crap ( good crap) lol .
> Motorcycle , etc.
> people sometimes keep a remote opener in their cars just for the convenience of entering through the garage with groceries or just by habit , even though they don't park in the garage.
> Not sure if you have an attached garage.
> ...


Our garage is attached. I don't have a smartphone, so I can't use it to open / close the garage door. I was told by the installer, that with an app, you can control the garage door from anywhere in the world. It would even tell you if the door was left open.


----------



## pic (Nov 14, 2009)

Gotta have my smart phone. 

Some apps are only mobile, tablet compatible. 
You might be able to put the app on your computer. 
Just to see the app perform. Not positive though


----------



## paratrooper (Feb 1, 2012)

My wife and I are really enjoying our garage door opener. I made a couple of small tweaks to it, making the install even a bit cleaner. Re-routing some wiring and the unit's power cord. 

It's programmable even more than I had thought. Some features I'll never use. But, it's nice to have them available. 

Anyways, I'm very happy with it thus far. We weren't even looking for an opener. We just happened to stumble across it and it was on a great sale. 

Looking back, I should have invested in one years ago. Better late than never, I suppose......


----------



## pic (Nov 14, 2009)

Get yourself a smart phone, 
Hook up the myq app, then changeover your thermostat to wifi download that app, place a few wifi 30$ Security or status cameras and download that app. 
I have two properties that have wifi thermostats, with cameras also.
I watch the grass cutters come by the house, had a neighbor kid knocking on the door and running away, lol. 
I adjust the temperatures when I'm away, or just lying in bed, lol. 
You would get a kick out of those .


----------



## pic (Nov 14, 2009)

Oh, BTW, If you do explore the world of smart phones,, it's either the iPhone iOS or Galaxy S android.


----------



## desertman (Aug 29, 2013)

paratrooper said:


> *I know this is going to sound weird, but cars don't get parked in my garage / shop.* They stay on the driveway. My garage is set-up like a shop / man-cave. My m/c's are in there. No cars or trucks.
> 
> Once in a blue moon, if we are expecting a hail storm, I can shuffle things around enough to get my wife's Honda Element in there. It's tight, but I can do that.
> 
> ...


Not mine, whenever I'm not using them they are always in the garage. The sun beats the sh*t out of anything that is left outside in Arizona. You see a lot of vehicles with the paint just baking off. It also does a number on the interiors, tires and vinyl trim as well.

I've got a detached oversized three car garage in which I keep my two antique cars and truck in. It also doubles as a shop/man-cave. I could easily fit a coupla' motorcycles in there as well. My only regret is that it's not air conditioned. It is finished off in the inside though.

Unfortunately for me the over 80 year old original radiator started leaking in one of the old cars and I just had to replace it as I can't stand to leave anything broken. Otherwise I would have waited till the fall to replace it. It was hotter than all hell working on that car. Working on the car outside would have been worse. With all the doors open in the garage and a fan going I'd say it was about 10-15 degrees cooler.


----------



## paratrooper (Feb 1, 2012)

desertman said:


> Not mine, whenever I'm not using them they are always in the garage. The sun beats the sh*t out of anything that is left outside in Arizona. You see a lot of vehicles with the paint just baking off. It also does a number on the interiors, tires and vinyl trim as well.
> 
> I've got a detached oversized three car garage in which I keep my two antique cars and truck in. It also doubles as a shop/man-cave. I could easily fit a coupla' motorcycles in there as well. My only regret is that it's not air conditioned. It is finished off in the inside though.
> 
> ...


Yes, the AZ. sun can and does do a number on vehicles. My 2002 Chev. 1500 HD Silverado is white. It holds up pretty well. My wife's 2006 Honda Element is a bright orange, and it is beginning to show signs of the clear coat coming off.

We are still house hunting. So far, we've not seen the one that is just right for us. The hunt continues......


----------



## desertman (Aug 29, 2013)

paratrooper said:


> Yes, the AZ. sun can and does do a number on vehicles. My 2002 Chev. 1500 HD Silverado is white. It holds up pretty well. My wife's 2006 Honda Element is a bright orange, and it is beginning to show signs of the clear coat coming off.
> 
> We are still house hunting. So far, we've not seen that is just right for us. The hunt continues......


White is an excellent color under the Arizona sun. Maybe that's why a lot of the county owned vehicles including the sheriff's department are white? I never really thought about it until you brought it up. I haven't had an issue with any of our vehicles since they've always been garage kept with the window blinds closed. But then again we've been self employed working from home for the past 23 years and don't have to commute. So our truck hasn't been sitting out baking in a parking lot 5 days a week.

No kidding a 2002 Chev. 1500 HD Silverado? I've got a 2001 2500 HD Silverado that still looks like the day we bought it new. It's our daily driver, it will be 19 years old come November. It's almost getting to the point of collector status. But then again I've always been a fanatic when it comes to vehicles. It's a car guy kind of thing. Same with guns. We worked hard for the things we own. I can't see letting any of it go to sh*t. I'm lucky that I do all of my own mechanical work whether it's vehicles or just about anything else for that matter. If something breaks I'm sure as hell going to try and fix it. I hate like hell having to hire anyone for anything. For the most part all they care about is 5:00 PM quitting time.

Good luck with your house hunting. I hope you're not planning on leaving the great State of Arizona? Our house wasn't everything that we wanted either, but it is what we could afford and we've never lived beyond our means. We haven't had any debt for well over 20 years. But we do like our home and love our neighborhood, that and we have great neighbors and friends. Come to think of it I've yet to hear of too many people complain about life in Arizona. If there are any then they probably don't belong here anyway? Screw 'em.

By reading your posts it sounds like we're both in the same part of the state? I call it the "Goldilocks zone". As much as I love both the Sonoran and Mojave Desert's I wouldn't want to live their during the summer. The Sonoran Desert is only about an hour's drive from us and you'd better believe that September thru May we'll be wandering out into the middle of nowhere as we always do. Hikin', shootin' and minglin' with the Saguaro's, lizard's and rattlesnake's. That's one thing about the Sonoran Desert, it's iconic and screams *ARIZONA.* There's no place like it on the face of the earth.






























We almost ran him over, leaned out the window and took this picture. That's about as close as I'd want to get.


----------



## paratrooper (Feb 1, 2012)

desertman said:


> White is an excellent color under the Arizona sun. Maybe that's why a lot of the county owned vehicles including the sheriff's department are white? I never really thought about it until you brought it up. I haven't had an issue with any of our vehicles since they've always been garage kept with the window blinds closed. But then again we've been self employed working from home for the past 23 years and don't have to commute. So our truck hasn't been sitting out baking in a parking lot 5 days a week.
> 
> No kidding a 2002 Chev. 1500 HD Silverado? I've got a 2001 2500 HD Silverado that still looks like the day we bought it new. It's our daily driver, it will be 19 years old come November. It's almost getting to the point of collector status. But then again I've always been a fanatic when it comes to vehicles. It's a car guy kind of thing. Same with guns. We worked hard for the things we own. I can't see letting any of it go to sh*t. I'm lucky that I do all of my own mechanical work whether it's vehicles or just about anything else for that matter. If something breaks I'm sure as hell going to try and fix it. I hate like hell having to hire anyone for anything. For the most part all they care about is 5:00 PM quitting time.
> 
> ...


We're planning on staying within our community. We just want a larger house that will be our forever home.

I'm looking for at least a three-car garage and my wife wants a larger room for her sewing needs.

We have discussed moving out of state, but since both of our parents have passed, there's no real need to move back to the PNW. My wife no longer wants to be where it gets serious when it comes to winter.

Her adult son and his family lives about 1.5 miles from us. We now have grand-children, as well as great grand-children. So, it looks as if we are here to stay.


----------



## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

That saguaro has funny-looking fingers.


Serious question: Do saguaros put out fruit? And if they do, is it edible?
.


----------



## desertman (Aug 29, 2013)

paratrooper said:


> We're planning on staying within our community. We just want a larger house that will be our forever home.
> 
> I'm looking for at least a three-car garage and my wife wants a larger room for her sewing needs.
> 
> ...


That's great!

Yeah, I too would love to have more garage's but then again I'd probably have more cars and more vehicles to maintain. Three is enough for one person, maybe four? I had four at one time and it was doable. But one vehicle had to stay outside with a cover on it. I didn't want to do that for too long so I sold that one vehicle. The other 2 old cars I've had for 40 and 30 years respectively and put a hell of a lot of work, time and money into. They sure as hell weren't going outside and neither was the nice brand new truck that we'd saved up for over the years in order to buy outright. So one old car hadda' go.

I've been through 21 different states, 6 times by rail and a cross country drive. I've never flown, EVER. We have relatives in the Northeast and Colorado. My wife also has relatives in Florida. Why they would want to live in any of those places is beyond me? I've never been to the Pacific Northwest and don't know whether I'd like it or not? Same for Florida. Arizona is where I belong and I have no desire to go anywhere else. As far as I know much of the PNW resembles Flagstaff and Show Low as far as the landscape and mountains go? Except the winters are probably not as bad in the PNW? Not only that but the PNW is getting more Liberal. Arizona tends to swing back and forth as we've had both Republican and Democrat governors and senators. I don't think that we'll become another California though at least not in our lifetimes? However the way things are going and if the illegal invasion continues unabated the entire country will become the giant cesspool that California has become.

My cousin was stationed at an Air Force base near Spokane, he described it as dismal, dank and dreary? But what the hell do I know, I've never been there? That was only his opinion. From what I understand Oregon gets a lot of rain but the winter's are not that bad as far as snow goes? I sure as hell wouldn't want to live in or even visit California even though I'd love to go up the Pacific coast. But since I have such contempt and disdain for California's government I don't want to spend a dime in that God awful place. I know plenty of Ex Californians as I'm sure you do and have heard all of the horror stories ad nauseam. Why the good people of California put up with all of that crap is beyond comprehension? My guess is because it's too far gone and beyond repair?

The only part of California I've ever been through was the Dead Mountains Wilderness and Needles on 95 south from the Hoover Dam. Since I've never had any desire to move out of Arizona, I've never really looked into any of those states or any other state for that matter.


----------



## desertman (Aug 29, 2013)

Steve M1911A1 said:


> That saguaro has funny-looking fingers.
> 
> Serious question: Do saguaros put out fruit? And if they do, is it edible?
> .


A lot of people have mentioned that the Saguaro's are giving people the proverbial finger. Maybe because they have lasted for so long in such a harsh environment? It takes them about 50 to100 years to develop their arms. Their roots are shallow, spread out over the desert floor and are as long as the cactus is tall.

Indeed they do produce fruit and it is edible but you'll have to go and get it. Climbing a Saguaro is something that I wouldn't want to do. Unless you don't mind the spines and picking glochids out of your skin. But all kidding aside you can use a real long pole depending on how tall the Saguaro is keeping in mind that some are 40 feet tall, and then have another person catch the fruits in a bucket as you don't want to handle them until the glochids and spines are removed. Some are laying on the ground as the birds often knock them off. You can pick those up with a pair of tongs. The fruit also contains thousands of seeds. The same applies for the fruit of the Prickly Pear cactus except that you don't need a pole, only a pair of tongs to remove the fruit from the cactus. The fruit of both cactus is very sweet, tart and tasty but is time consuming to harvest and prepare. You certainly don't want to consume any glochids that's for damn sure.

The best way to remove glochids is to spread Elmer's glue on your skin, let it dry and then peel it off. They are so tiny that you can hardly see them. Tweezers are useless. Glochids are a skin irritant which can cause a rash and about the only people that I'd want to see in contact with them are the Democrat members of congress and the senate along with members of their respective state legislatures.

There are all sorts of plants out in the desert just waiting to prick ya' and stick ya'. Some of the worst are Goat's Head Weeds. Usually you'll just step on them and not realize they're stuck to the bottom of your shoe. Then you'll drag them into your house where they fall off and you end up stepping on them in your bare feet or socks.









The school crossing guard. Come here children.









How'd you like to shimmy up that bad boy?


----------



## paratrooper (Feb 1, 2012)

desertman said:


> That's great!
> 
> Yeah, I too would love to have more garage's but then again I'd probably have more cars and more vehicles to maintain. Three is enough for one person, maybe four? I had four at one time and it was doable. But one vehicle had to stay outside with a cover on it. I didn't want to do that for too long so I sold that one vehicle. The other 2 old cars I've had for 40 and 30 years respectively and put a hell of a lot of work, time and money into. They sure as hell weren't going outside and neither was the nice brand new truck that we'd saved up for over the years in order to buy outright. So one old car hadda' go.
> 
> ...


That would have been Fairchild AFB. I lived in Grants Pass, OR. for almost four years. I liked it there, but you have to not mind the rain. It also has some of the thickest fog I've ever experienced. I'm talking stuff so thick, you can't see the end of the hood on your vehicle.

I was pretty much raised in Spokane. I was born in Idaho. Spokane has become very big with a lot of crime issues.

If we had the money, I wouldn't mind living in extreme N. CA. Maybe somewhere around Mt. Shasta. In land a bit, close to the OR. border some.

Anyways, it looks as if we'll be staying in N. AZ. We just have to find that right home.


----------



## pic (Nov 14, 2009)

Old Indian tale, ,, " Stay in desert to long, turn into cactus "
Signed,,,,,,,Buffalo Brave.


----------



## desertman (Aug 29, 2013)

paratrooper said:


> That would have been Fairchild AFB. I lived in Grants Pass, OR. for almost four years. I liked it there, but you have to not mind the rain. It also has some of the thickest fog I've ever experienced. I'm talking stuff so thick, you can't see the end of the hood on your vehicle.
> 
> I was pretty much raised in Spokane. I was born in Idaho. Spokane has become very big with a lot of crime issues.
> 
> ...


The way things are going, I don't think you could pay me enough money to live anywhere in California. I don't expect it to change anytime soon if ever.

My cousin was a career Air Force man. Spokane was just one of the places he was stationed at, including Japan and Colorado Springs. The worst was Shemya, in the Aleutian Islands it's, I think the second to last island out on the Aleutian chain? About 1500 miles west of Anchorage, four square miles of frozen hell as he described it. He was there for 2 years.


----------



## paratrooper (Feb 1, 2012)

I purchased a brand-new Chamberlain one button garage door remote off of EBAY. It arrived today. $10.00 shipped! It works great and took about two seconds to clone the frequency code. Very easy peasy!

The two remotes that came with the opener are three button. With gloves on, it can be a bit touchy trying to hit the right button. 

The one button remote I purchased has a top to bottom touch bar (button) and is very easy to hit. Removed the three button remote from my bike and added the one button. 

Damn life is good..............


----------

