What You've Done Today - Don't do today, what you can get someone else to do tomorrow

[Malcador]

54 minutes ago, Sarex said:

Bosch gets a down vote from me. My recommendation if you want to spend the money already is either a Liebherr for the EU manufacturer or from the US Subzero (though I don't know if they have mid range priced models).

The new big tech in fridges are the variable speed compressors so take a look if the one you are looking at has that, but the price premium for those is double.

Yah, I remember you spoke ill of Bosch. Turns out the Bosch is too big for the space we have, so guess we'll go with Frigidaire or GE as those are decent (apparently).  Joys of being in Canada (and well dealing with my parents prejudice on vendors and other crap..)

[Gfted1]

Dang 4k is expensive! I usually try to synchronize the models in my kitchen. Right now my fridge, stove and hood / microwave are all the same manufacturer (Frigidaire). Who manufactured the other appliances in your kitchen?

[Malcador]

4 minutes ago, Gfted1 said:

Dang 4k is expensive! I usually try to synchronize the models in my kitchen. Right now my fridge, stove and hood / microwave are all the same manufacturer (Frigidaire). Who manufactured the other appliances in your kitchen?

Rest of the stuff is Kenmore - not sure who actually made it, mind you.  Dishwasher is Bosch.

[Sarex]

27 minutes ago, Gfted1 said:

Dang 4k is expensive!

That is middle of the pack for residential units (talking about the side by side and french door types). The expensive ones are around 13k euros depending on the brand.

40 minutes ago, Malcador said:

Yah, I remember you spoke ill of Bosch. Turns out the Bosch is too big for the space we have, so guess we'll go with Frigidaire or GE as those are decent (apparently).  Joys of being in Canada (and well dealing with my parents prejudice on vendors and other crap..)

Just make sure that if they have an ice maker, it's part of the freezer compartment and not in the fridge compartment.

[LadyCrimson]

Would you guys replace a 13yr old tank water heater just "because it is old" if it has no leaks, makes no loud noises, no rust, has never needed any prior repair, still heats water to scalding (if you were to want it that hot ha) just fine, no other issues? I am of the "replace when obvious problems/broken" sort plus it is simply my nature to be suspicious of overselling but I am no handyman. Is it going to explode just because it's old, or what?   Edit: it's in the garage, not in an interior home closet.

Edited April 19, 2023 by LadyCrimson

[Gfted1]

Im of the mindset of "if it aint broke, dont fix it".

Iirc, you guys are on electric out there, so no, it wont explode. If it goes bad youll know it by no hot water and/or a puddle underneath it.

[Malcador]

8 minutes ago, LadyCrimson said:

Would you guys replace a 13yr old tank water heater just "because it is old" if it has no leaks, makes no loud noises, no rust, has never needed any prior repair, still heats water to scalding (if you were to want it that hot ha) just fine, no other issues? I am of the "replace when obvious problems/broken" sort plus it is simply my nature to be suspicious of overselling but I am no handyman. Is it going to explode just because it's old, or what?   Edit: it's in the garage, not in an interior home closet.

I wouldn't. Newer stuff may be more efficient but that alone doesn't warrant it.

[LadyCrimson]

55 minutes ago, Gfted1 said:

Iirc, you guys are on electric out there

Nah, all the water heaters we've ever had (including my parents house) were gas. I don't know the percentage commonalities here but it just varies by area, age of house, what previous owners did, etc. Most clothes dryers I've encountered were electric, but some had both electric gas hookups, or were gas only. Just depends.

The people double-checking the Bay Area house for rent issues are the ones who said we should replace it. I asked if there was a mechanical or legal issue, they said no, it's just "old", so I said no. I might want to convert/get a tankless for the place at some point, but not right this minute. Anyway, I was a little surprised at this "it's old" thing - no one says "replace your oven after 10+ years" but apparently water heaters get that sorta advice treatment.

[Gorth]

Best water heater I ever had didn't have a tank (a previous place I lived in Brisbane). It was a "heat on the fly" system, where the water would pass through some 's' shaped pipes over gas burners, heating up the warm water on a need basis. Only a tiny pilot flame in use when no water passing through the pipe, then lighting up all the heaters when water was passing through the pipe. No constantly keeping half a ton of water warm 24/7 wasting a lot of energy.

[Azdeus]

I wouldn't change it out unless you're interested in better efficiency or if you're going to get a bunch of solar panels and whatnot and try and get cheaper utilities that way.

[Gorth]

48 minutes ago, Azdeus said:

I wouldn't change it

Sadly, I changed my Windows 10 to a Windows 11. I just kept getting tired of the constant blocking my login, hiding the "keep Windows 10" button with it's microscopic text at some remove corner of my login screen or hit the big flashing upgrade to Windows 11 button in the middle of the screen. I'm sure that guy designing that, read the consumer psychology 101 about dark patterns and every other shady (and often illegal) marketing method...

It took me a bit to get rid of the most obnoxious parts and ended up with the menu's back in the lower left corner, search bar removed etc. Only hiccup so far is possibly linked to the upgrade although it may have happened independently to it. My Kaspersky now regards Steam and the god awful new EA App as virus and blocks any attempt of the two programs to connect to the internet. I don't mind blocking the EA app, as I rarely play EA games (but yikes is that an awful downgrade from the old Origin program). Starts up with Windows and runs as a constant background service. No thanks. Disabled its automatic startup, only to be run on demand. I tried to add both as safe apps to Kaspersky, but it ignores it and blocks them. Time to check support pages I guess.

[Azdeus]

1 hour ago, Gorth said:

Sadly, I changed my Windows 10 to a Windows 11. I just kept getting tired of the constant blocking my login, hiding the "keep Windows 10" button with it's microscopic text at some remove corner of my login screen or hit the big flashing upgrade to Windows 11 button in the middle of the screen. I'm sure that guy designing that, read the consumer psychology 101 about dark patterns and every other shady (and often illegal) marketing method...

It took me a bit to get rid of the most obnoxious parts and ended up with the menu's back in the lower left corner, search bar removed etc. Only hiccup so far is possibly linked to the upgrade although it may have happened independently to it. My Kaspersky now regards Steam and the god awful new EA App as virus and blocks any attempt of the two programs to connect to the internet. I don't mind blocking the EA app, as I rarely play EA games (but yikes is that an awful downgrade from the old Origin program). Starts up with Windows and runs as a constant background service. No thanks. Disabled its automatic startup, only to be run on demand. I tried to add both as safe apps to Kaspersky, but it ignores it and blocks them. Time to check support pages I guess.

My father is trying to get my Vega 64 to work in windows 7 for him, I think I'm going to have him fix the trailer light connector on my car in exchange for sitting down with his computer and fixing it for him.

Atleast my windows install isn't bugging me to upgrade to Win 11, probably because I don't have the TPM. I think there's still a way to get it to install, bypassing stuff, but I don't want more malware.

[majestic]

Negotiations for our new collective agreement are done. This one was pretty good, a 7% salary increase across the board, a 600€ one time payment, a 3.2% increase in overtime payment and the best part - a much needed work time reduction. Decent deal, all in all, particularily for me.

Granted, I guess some workers are going to be unhappy with the so called "10% package" as the reduction in work time amounts to roughly 3% less work time for the same amount of money, but for me, as someone who is paid well above the collective agreement wage, well... a 7% increase on the amount isn't much, but I negotiated for a separate increase. So, all in all, pretty good. Funny to see the companies insist on the work time reduction in the face of our lobbyist-friendly government telling us that a general work time reduction is impossible.

Yeah, we're really living in the end-times when even the lobbies lose touch with the wishes of their clientel.

[Guard Dog]

Had a Dr. appt on Wednesday. Some good news and some not as good. But nothing unexpected.  I've been feeling pretty good recently so I'll take that. I made some business moves and I am officially semi-retired. Still on the insurance plan for six months but after that I'll look for an alternative.

In other news B is graduating from college next month. G & I are going to buy her a new car as a gift. We're getting her a new Nissan Rogue. I'm so happy for her. She has a very bright future.

Also looking at buying this: 2023 Jayco Jay Flight 284BHS #1556 | Interstate RV Sales & Service, Inc. It took a while for G to warm up to the idea spending a few years traveling the US & Canada but she seems to be all in now.  There is just too much of North America we haven't seen yet.

 

[Sargallath Abraxium]

...jus' had ta RMA me second Western Digital Black 4TB hdd in the last 4 years...still 'ave an almost-13 year old 1TB WD Black that works fine; quality o' everythin' these days be crapola compared ta what theys was...

 

 

...yeah, I's gettin' old an' cranky...er...

 

 

...WHO LUVS YA, BABY!!...

[Hurlshort]

3 hours ago, Guard Dog said:

Also looking at buying this: 2023 Jayco Jay Flight 284BHS #1556 | Interstate RV Sales & Service, Inc. It took a while for G to warm up to the idea spending a few years traveling the US & Canada but she seems to be all in now.  There is just too much of North America we haven't seen yet.

 

That looks like a nice floorplan. Don't forget to add a generator to it. What are you pulling it with? Have you pulled large trailers before?

[Guard Dog]

14 minutes ago, Hurlshort said:

That looks like a nice floorplan. Don't forget to add a generator to it. What are you pulling it with? Have you pulled large trailers before?

That will be the heaviest load I've towed. But I had a small pop up  trailer a little while back. Used it quite a bit. My truck is a 2017 GMC Sierra so it's up to it. I have a 10 kw portable gen from the old house. It's stored down in Dyersburg with the rest of my stuff from the house. I really need to do something with all that. I don't want it to end up on storage wars one day.

Edited April 21, 2023 by Guard Dog

[Gorth]

10 hours ago, Guard Dog said:

That will be the heaviest load I've towed. But I had a small pop up  trailer a little while back. Used it quite a bit. My truck is a 2017 GMC Sierra so it's up to it. I have a 10 kw portable gen from the old house. It's stored down in Dyersburg with the rest of my stuff from the house. I really need to do something with all that. I don't want it to end up on storage wars one day.

Having things in storage sucks... I spent 5+ of my life missing 2/3 of my stuff because it was in self-storage facilities... occasionally in a different country or continent

It got messy too when I finally got reunited with my things. A number of things you just can't live without, so I had duplicates (and in some cases multiplicates) of a number of essential things like dishes, cutlery, cups (just about everything you have in a kitchen really), beds/mattresses/linen, furniture, clothes... you name it

[LadyCrimson]

Just thought I'd mention that after switching power outlet strips, my PC (and the PS4 console) hasn't randomly rebooted itself overnight etc. Can't say for certain it'll never, but so far so good.  Sometimes it really is as weirdly simple as that. Could've saved some hours of troubleshooting if it had occurred to me earlier. >.>

[Sargallath Abraxium]

...got two more tats yesterday that finishes off me left arm sleeve...first tats I's got in o'er 4 years...middle aged an' still gettin' ink; not the sharpest axe on the rack...

 

 

...WHO LUVS YA, BABY!!...

[Gromnir]

went max on i-bonds before the april 30 deadline.

is not as if we need the money, but not buying felt like throwing away cash.

HA! Good Fun!

 

[Keyrock]

I dusted off the ol' bicycle and took advantage of the spectacular weather we have here in Cackalacky today. First bike ride in a few weeks so I wasn't sure what kind of riding form I would be in. I felt good out there and pushed the pace for the entirety of the roughly 1 hour ride. It was a good ride save for the one lady that damn near hit me. I don't know if she was blind or what her problem was, but there was no one coming the other way, she had all the room in the world to move over a foot or two while passing me, instead she came within an inch or two of making contact with me, and I was already as far to the side of the road as I could be.

[Hurlshort]

People are blithely unaware of the fact their 2-ton vehicle with 200 horsepower is extremely dangerous.

I swam 100 yards, rode 50 miles, and ran 5 miles today. It felt pretty good, so hopefully I am ready for the Morro Bay Half Ironman in a few weeks.

[Azdeus]

People are woefully unaware of the size of their vehicles aswell. It's very noticeable when people are parking, taking turns or at a meeting spot on a single lane road.

I've watched Cleetus McFarlands youtube all day. Made a playlist of all his drag and drive videos and have been drooling over the view on Rocky Mountain race week. Makes me think about getting American Truck Simulator, and wishing there was a Drag and Drive game

[LadyCrimson]

I'm of the opinion that eventually most people will be driving things like this:

...because everything else on a vehicle will be by subscription/extra fee only. If it's raining, and you didn't pay for a roof, there will be a mount between the seats for a giant umbrella. Official brand umbrella $300 extra.