ballskicker

joined 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 day ago (3 children)

I'm not really a tech guy at all and I let these nerds talk me into trying Linux Mint, I haven't bothered with Windows 10 for several months now. There was some frustrating troubleshooting at first but once the settings are tweaked how you like them, the updates don't negate your tweaks like with Microsoft. I'm sure there's a lot of functionality I'm not maximizing but I don't feel the need to. I got my productivity stuff figured out, my game stuff figured out, the last thing I really need to get sorted is why my printer is being such a wiener but I use it so sparingly that there's not much motivation to mess with that. I did dual boot for a while so I wouldn't feel overwhelmingly stupid when it came to Linux, so I was able to familiarize myself with the new setup at my pace and that helped quite a bit I think. No harm in going that route, then you can see what happens with Warzone before fully taking the plunge

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago
  • I would add keeping a jug of sand or cat litter along with a couple 12"+ 2x4s in the vehicle to help with getting some traction if you or someone else ends up stuck.
  • i dunno about EVs but if you've got an ICE vehicle give it a minute or two of just idling and warming up before going anywhere
  • When I start driving on snow I tap the brakes a couple times if nobody's around just to get a feel for how good my traction is. Am I sliding a little bit? A lot? Not at all? That helps set the tone for what to expect on the roads.
  • Don't accelerate through turns if you've already got momentum, and if the weather's REALLY suspect I prefer to coast on overpasses as well since those ice over first.
  • Respect the possibility of black ice. If you live in a mountainous area then assume anywhere in the shade is black ice
  • If the house is on a crawlspace make sure any ductwork and copper piping are properly Insulated, keep the crawlspace vents closed during the cold months.
  • Use ice melt sparingly if you have to use it at all (sand is preferable) because it's caustic to concrete.
  • if you're somewhere that gets an absolutely stupid amount of snow, follow your neighbors' lead if you see them shoveling snow off their roofs. I saw a lot of roof collapses in a luxury mountain town where rich people's second (third? Fourth? Ninth?) homes were left vacant during a pretty nasty snowstorm
[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago

JustWatch has some choices, I'd be partial to Pluto unless you wanna rent/buy it

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 week ago (5 children)

My dad's the same way, he hasn't pleaded with me about my vote but that may only be because I don't talk to him.
Have you seen "The Brainwashing of My Dad"? I think that's what it's called, a friend recommended it to me and I need to make some time for it, sounds like it covers the impact of garbage like fox news on old men

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago

I grew up in the eastern half as well and they've talked about that merger for decades, seems it's little more than another talking point to keep people angry and give them another thing to be complain about regarding all those godless communist child-eating liberal coasties

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago

Turns out I can unmute my phone when I realize it's a person I want to talk to. It's just crazy how tech has improved over the years

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I answer unknown calls and then immediately mute my mic. Most of the time it's a bot that might call back once more, occasionally it's somebody that gets an explanation of why i just made things weird. been doung that for years and now I only get spam calls maybe once or twice a month tops, if even that much

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It might be a few hundred to scope the main sewer line but you could probably find promos to lower the cost. There's a "one stop shop" in my area that's advertising scopes for $30, but they do plumbing, electrical, and HVAC and I haven't heard of them doing any of those particularly well. If you find a company like that just be ready to put up with their sales pitch and then keep the video to run it by a different plumber for a dimebag or a case of beer or maybe even some real money.

Do you have many big trees on the property? That's usually the biggest cause for backups like what you're describing: roots sneak into the sewer line, then keep growing/expanding and catching all the toilet paper flowing by and then just turns into this big dumb obstruction that constipates the whole line

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 month ago (1 children)

This is the best way of doing it. I'd recommend some paint thinner and paper towels to help clean up the silicon. Even people that have been doing this work for years can get enthusiastic with caulking stuff in and silicon can get messy fast. Plus make sure to give the whole space enough time to fully cure and be good to go against water exposure. I'm also surprised at the apparent lack of retention screw or something in there, pretty strange

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

That crack isn't bad at all, especially if it's following a mortar line. Are there doors/windows nearby, or is it close to a corner? Insurance will almost certainly tell you it's nothing. My area had a quake a few years ago and I got a bigger crack (maybe 1/4") above the basement walkout door, also through the mortar like this one. If you wanna seal the crack then you'd have better luck with caulk, mortar would have a hard time taking to such a small crack; and sealing it would make the area more difficult to monitor. Just keep an eye on it over time and bone up on the water management around your house to make sure it's all flowing away from your foundation, not loitering. I really don't think you've got something to worry about right now based on what I see, and I've worked on or evaluated hundreds of houses. Rest easy, friend

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago

It cracks me up how true this is. I managed a theater for a while so on weekends after close (1a-ish) the managers on duty would go unwind at the nearby WH, got to know the staff there and they'd be vocally profiling people to us as groups were coming to the door. One time the cook made a dick shaped pancake for one in our group, but cut off the end and sprayed a bunch of ketchup all over the plate. They were good people, some of my favorite.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago

Serial reposter

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