Mildly related - I vividly remember back in the 90s on my drivers test in Florida, it was illegal to have a screen facing the driver. Period. Now, what they were aiming at was making sure the driver wasn’t watching a portable TV while driving. But the center console screen in modern cars would 100% qualify. Heck, mounting your GPS or cell phone to the dash so that it’s hands free would still be illegal by that law. So I have to assume something in Florida’s driving laws changed. Always been curious what, but I moved away shortly after then, never bothered to follow up.

FWIW, I bought a new Ender3 as a kit not too long ago, it was $150 IIRC. And by being forced to assemble it, I learned a good bit too. It might be worthwhile to watch their store & see if they put it up for sale again.

The only upgrade I’ve done that I really felt made a difference was buying an enclosure for it. Nothing fancy, it’s a fireproof bag over an aluminum frame. Even more than controlling the temperature, it also keeps it dust free when not in use - that’s probably the biggest win for me.

As for buying the used one - these things do wear down. Start by checking the feed gear & the PTFE tube. If the filament feeds well, then also check the belts, rollers, & nozzle. Those are really the common wear items imo. Perhaps obvious, but make sure the seller gives you a copy of the slicing software (should be free on their webpage) and also the little USB-A to Sim card doo-hickey that you need to move files back & forth.

I have a second hand little portable vacuum cleaner - we used to call them Dust Busters, not sure if there’s a more generic name for them these days. Anyway, because it was second hand, it didn’t have any of the attachments. Was able to buy a bunch on eBay that were sort of close, then 3D print an adapter to make them fit.

I like to believe I’m not the only one, so I figured I’d share.

What is split tunneling:

Split tunneling is a computer networking concept which allows a user to access dissimilar security domains like a public network (e.g., the Internet) and a local area network or wide area network at the same time, using the same or different network connections.[1] This connection state is usually facilitated through the simultaneous use of a LAN network interface controller (NIC), radio NIC, Wireless LAN (WLAN) NIC, and VPN client software application without the benefit of an access control.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split_tunneling

I’m at the very bottom level of management, so I’m not invited to these meetings. But I get to hear the story afterwards. The basic jist is that all the old employees are fine to work remote, however, the new employees are largely getting lost. There’s no water cooler meetings or impromptu hallway discussions or ‘hey Jim, I heard you screaming next door, what dumb thing did your customer do?’. The transfer of tribal knowledge isn’t happening when the new folks are remote. As much as I will make fun of the above, I will admit that I learned more of how to do my job through those impromptu ‘meetings’ with my coworkers than I ever did from any formal training.

So, to your point, how do we get back to working from home again? I’m not sure, but I would starting thinking about how to encourage more connections with your coworkers. Not the forced meetings where you talk about why the wiggly line isn’t going up, more like, “hey bob, whacha been up to today? Oh yeah, that system doesn’t work for me either, the trick is you have to log-in through the other portal…”

This is probably a “me” thing, but it works so I’ll post. I go out for ice cream.

Yeah, I know that sounds incredibly simple, because, well, it is. The eat/sleep/work cycle just to survive America really wears on me. This breaks me out of that mental rut, even if my reality is still the same. And “fat & happy” is a cliche for a reason, there’s something about putting sugar in our bodies that helps lift my mood.

But of course, this isn’t a “fix”. This is more like hitting the pause button. What you do in that hour is up to you. For me, giving myself that time out to reflect can be enough to salvage the day, if not the week.

I should add, I had two Italian grandmothers who absolutely stuffed us with treats. So there’s almost certainly a mental connection for me that “sweet food” = “good memories”. Not everyone is going to have that connection. You may have to dig a bit more to find what gives you that happy trigger.

This has always made me wonder, why aren’t US insurance companies getting in on this. It would be cheaper for them to buy the plane tickets & fly their patients to another country.

As much as that sucks, you clearly already know the fix and are working on it. Grats to you for having the skills bro. Please work safe, 2 phase electricity doesn’t play around.

Depends on your expectations. Realize there’s roughly 3-4 guys for every girl. If you don’t standout in some way it will be a very quiet experience outside of the initial joining period (and immediately after the subscription ends if you paid).

Just remember, companies exist to make money. If you’re using the app for free, you’re not the customer, you’re the product.

At the risk of sounding silly - Instead of focusing on burning the solids, boil the water. Water boils at 100C, at which point the water vapor should separate and leave all the solids behind. Then capture the vapors and condense it back down into clean water. Now, if you later want to incinerate the leftover solids, sure, go for it, fire’s always cool in my book.

I’ll add, simply boiling water is energy intensive. What you are proposing probably won’t work at any scale.

I believe it’s a combination of what others here are saying. We live in a world of near instant gratification, getting going on something that requires effort without an immediate payout feels too much like work.

FWIW, I find it helps tremendously to schedule a day / time in advance. For example, I spend the whole week looking forward to “Wrenching Wednesday” so I can go play with my cars. And I actually go do it now, which is something I couldn’t always say before.

I was blown away when my die-hard Republican boomer dad said he thinks climate change is real. There’s a pond behind our house, and he can remember how big it used to get in the rainy season and how small it used to get in the dry season. Now, during the rainy season it comes up to the backdoor, and during the dry season it’s not there at all. If he can still trust his own eyes over what the TV tells him to think, maybe there’s still some hope for the world.

Came here to mention mincemeat. Good stuff.

For those of you who have never tried it - it’s mostly dark brown sugar, cinnamon, & raisins. But it has that fatty aftertaste you normally associate with bacon as well.

That actually happened this year to the Punxsutawney Phil from… Tennessee I believe? Not the main one, but another groundhog event on the same day.

(A few moments later)

Looks like it was Kentucky. Link is pay-walled, but here it is if anyone is curious: https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2024/02/05/kentucky-groundhog-dies-groundhog-day-2024-major-second-chances-wildlife-center/72477815007/

$4.30 / dozen. Atlanta, GA.

Steam has free voice chat as well. Hardly open source though.

Could you point me to a good place to start learning how to troubleshoot? I added Unbuntu as a dual-boot to my gaming rig a while back, and when it works, it’s great. But as soon as I hit an error, I drop back to Windows because I know how to fix shit there.

Maybe 10 or so years ago, was a real push to convert old malls into apartments or low income housing. Turns out it’s not that easy. Those buildings were built with minimal plumbing, just a few public restrooms and limited water service for the food court. There’s just not enough water/sewer to supply more than a small handful of apartments. You’d have to tear up significant portions of the building to run all new plumbing for all the kitchens & bathrooms. And that assumes the underlying city infrastructure that runs to the mall could even support the new water & sewage demands in the first place.

I’ll grant you, it is a cool idea. It’s just not nearly as simple as it sounds.

Funny, I’ve asked this exact question multiple times, and the answer I always get is that you just get fucked. You pay full price for the first vehicle, and then 90% of full price for every extra one.

Maybe it’s Georgia? I carry the minimum for the state (Liability + Collision), but then bump the Liability because I now live in a high cost of living area. So if I’m in a wreck, I get nothing, but the other guy gets a nice check for his car and his medical bills are covered.

My car insurance would be WAY cheaper for me to just drive one of my shitboxes 100% of the time than it is to split my mileage across four vehicles. But I make it up by being pretty handy. When one of them breaks, I have multiple other cars to drive while I wait for parts in the mail. So I’d still say I come out slightly ahead as far as costs go, but most of my ‘savings’ go straight to the insurance company.