foodonastump - There are technical differences between whole grain (or wholegrain, or whole-grain) and whole wheat, in accordance with the laws that dictate such things, when you talk about commercial "whole wheat" flour and labeling. And to add to the confusion, there is also "whole wheat" flour called whole meal or unbolted flour, and graham flour. Most of these names have been used interchangeably for "whole wheat flour". For all practical purposes, because these commercial flours have a certain percentage of the whole grain in it, by law it can be called "whole wheat". "The original "Definitions and Standards for Food Products" published by the Department of Agriculture specified Graham flour as "unbolted wheat meal" and further described meal as "the clean sound product made by grinding grain." This means nothing added and nothing taken away. Graham flour was also a coarse flour, instead of being milled into the superfine flour most flours are milled today. This definition would exclude the reconstituted whole wheat flour products by modern roller mill factories." Bolted flour (or reduced bran flour) is whole wheat flour that has about 80% of its bran sifted off. Some "whole wheat" flour is nothing more than white flour (bran and germ removed) with some of the bran raked back into it to make it "brown", which occasionally is directed by law to meet these standards, to give the flour longer shelf-life without refrigeration. The wheat germ oil quickly oxidizes once the grain is milled into flour and the oil goes rancid quickly. The bran is the "coat" that protects all of this from happening to grain. Once that bran is cracked/shattered, the oxidizing starts to degrade the oils and the nutrients in the grain within 3-hours of milling. In some instances, commercial whole wheat flour is processed like white flour, with the bran and germ separated from the endosperm. Then bran, germ, and white flour are recombined according to some standard formula. This gives the flour consistent results in baking and flavor. This flour is NOT 100% whole wheat flour. King Arthur and Hodgson Mills mill their whole wheat flours from the whole grain into 100% whole wheat flour, nothing removed and nothing added. This is also known as 100% extraction. Then you can get into speciality flours like Irish Wholemeal Flour, which is a coarse grind of American whole wheat flour. It can often be milled from a soft wheat, or low-protein wheat, which is a traditional wheat variety used for making scones and quick breads, without as much gluten in it as in high-protein hard wheat flours. The endosperm can be milled into a fine flour, but the bran and germ milled into a coarse grind and the 3 recombined to certain specifications. All commercial flours are milled from a combination of wheat with different protein levels to give it a standardized protein level. Within the same field you can have wheat that is 14-16% protein, and in an area where it gets run-off water and sits in too much rain water, or it gets a bit of shade from trees, it might be 8-9% protein. So the protein level is based on a mixture of wheat proteins. -Grainlady

Austin, TX Aug 2021. Quotes for a 300sf room mini-split not incl electric which I would guesstimate to add $500-800: 1) $4900, 2) $5000, 3) starting at $4800. The only more reasonable one was 4) $3400 which I MIGHT give up and just take, meaning paying about $4000. The thing is I would be HAPPY as hell to get the 2nd floor central AC to be exactly like our first floor central AC system and pay $5-7000 for it. The 1st floor's Sept 2020-installed 2-ton HVAC, despite being a single-stage, actually cools at 47 dB directly at the intake, 39dB 10 feet away, most of the time. Then it's like 63dB when it has to cool things down multiple degrees but that's not for very long. The 2nd floor's furnace was installed at the same time and is the same exact unit as the 1st floor's but the 2.5 ton outside is not same brand and not the same coils. When I asked the AC co. this summer to just make the 2nd floor like the first floor - replacing the coils and condenser, he hemmed and hawed and said I can't guarantee you the same situation and static pressure, blah blah blah. He couldn't explain why the 1st floor unit had two fan speeds. Isn't there a way to kind of estimate how the thing would work? Funny thing is the 2nd floor furnace is loud as hell all the time when running - I think 67dB with vibrating noises - and will cycle on and off A LOT at night - literally on for 5 minutes then off for 5, then on again for 5 minutes for part of the night, driving me crazy. It's louder than the previous 30-year system which ironically still worked. The first mini-split estimator to come to the house (the rest I just got ballparks on the phone to not waste anybody's time) - they mostly do full HVACs - when I asked about the 2nd floor, he stared at the grate and said "you need more duct board." Hilarious. Didn't even mention the fact that the intake is too small which I found out on my own but I still doubt that would help because pulling the grate off does nothing except maybe make it louder still. So I don't feel like these HVAC people know much about systems either. One of my installer AC's folks said it's the thermostat - you mean the fancy Honeywell? I called Honeywell without much luck. And when I called the manufacturer to supposedly find a compatible thermostat, the guy said X and it was their $800 thermostat. Um, why? I'm definitely looking at the Mr. Cool unit. Not crazy about learning yet a new skill and taking forever figuring things out which is how I am - I'm good, just slow but willing. I may also just install a Midea u-shaped inverter window AC - I bought my daughter one and it's remarkably quiet - crazy quiet. Luckily the window in question is on the side of the house far from the front. But I can't believe I have to resort to a window AC. $500 window AC vs $4000-$5000 Euro-style system vs $5-7000 new HVAC compressor and coils which may not do what I want and the guy really doesn't want to sell me. Geez.

"No Codes, no inspection, no building science, no engineering doesn't add up to quality in my book." That depends on how old and where the house is located. Some places have had codes for well over 100 years. The poorly built ones are rarely standing after a long time. More important is thing like updated electrical and plumbing. Old plumbing is often still in pretty good shape, but electrical has changed a lot in the last 80 years. A 1915 house may have one receptacle per wall in each room, no matter what the room size, and be wired with knob & tube wiring (and not even have boxes at outlets). While you may find a lead water supply line that should be replaced, lead drain/waste/vent lines are often still working as well as the day they were installed. Drum traps have not been allowed for many years, but they still work (especially for gray water lines). Older houses have things like rough cut joists that are a full 2 inches thick, making them 33% stronger than the same height 1.5 inch joist. Studs are a full 2x4 inches, not 1.5 x 3.5 inches. Since the 16 inch spacing has been around a long time, this insignificantly increases the wall stiffness. Instead of plywood sub-floors where half the layer are not really doing much, you get full one inch thick diagonal planks. Joist are sometimes over spanned, but it is not as hard a problem to fix as it often appears. Those 100 years old houses still standing are liable to out last the new ones being built now.

tibbrix, I couldn't disagree more with what you said. For many who lived through the depression, struggle and going without resulted in many such folks becoming extremely avaricious and stingy when times got better. Others developed what today one might call the financial equivalent of shell-shock or PTSD, they lost the ability to trust anyone and became forever wary of institutions like the government, banks and employers. It would be like saying that serving in combat is a good learning experience for anyone who gets the chance - it is for some and for others it ruins their lives. I think the moniker "Greatest Generation", to which my parents also belonged, is a myth. It could be just good luck, but my own kids and many of their friends we know are smart, generous to others and hard-working. Much more so than my generation and that of my parents. Do they want their 4 week vacations and exotic travel? Yes. Do they want to have weekends off? Yes. For many of my generation, these common feelings of the younger generation set a better example for their parents to follow than vice versa.