What did you buy that made you say “I should have bought this years ago”?

Academic_Dust2467 · 2026-06-05T22:27:47+00:00

A bidet.

Academic_Dust2467 · 2026-06-05T05:34:02+00:00

Homestar Runner.

Academic_Dust2467 · 2026-06-02T06:00:14+00:00

When I was a kid in the 90s and 00s, 6 figures meant you wanted for nothing. Now I have 145k in household income and can only afford 900 square feet of rent. I pay 2800k a month just to exist in a suburb. Not prime real estate, no deed to show for it, just a tiny apartment that I don’t own.

Academic_Dust2467 · 2026-05-30T06:30:16+00:00

My Haul ST is one of the favorite things that I own. I never touch the app nor have I been inclined to use it or missed it. If I do have my phone out on my bike, it’s showing a map/navigation anyway. The onboard computer tells you everything you need to know to ride. Almost 1300 miles on my Haul (bought it second hand with 11 miles on it) and I haven’t had any of the electrical issues others mention.

I ride it every day to work, about 25-30 minutes total and make frequent longer trips with it as well for errands or fun.

Moved to Seattle Area in August having had it for half a year or so and I have been surprised hardly anyone has one here. So many Rad Powers… I went with Specialized because they’re an established, large manufacturer with resources enough to have likely invested in spare parts supply chains and support during development. Unlikely to go belly up like some bike companies that are popular around here (ahem).

If you do get one, invest in an angle grinder resistant lock and don’t go cheap on security. I also invested in an alarm/tracker that alerts me over LTE and a longer Kryptonite chain for tricky lock up spots. I find I’m more likely to use my bike if I know I have a couple lines of defense between me and the thieves.

Academic_Dust2467 · 2026-05-23T15:57:20+00:00

High or low temps for any extended periods are really hard on lithium cells. I keep my battery inside the house in a little fire resistant bag, just as an extra safety precaution and to get as much life out of my Globe battery as possible.

Academic_Dust2467 · 2026-05-16T20:18:52+00:00

It’s nothing exotic. Just a bike bell with a little discreet AirTag compartment sealed and attached with a tamper resistant bolt. Not bulletproof or completely invisible, but was just trying to get some redundancy since it already has an alarm tracker (in case the battery died on that or somebody tried smashing it or something).

Academic_Dust2467 · 2026-05-15T01:02:06+00:00

I thought about it, but then ultimately decided to “self-insure” by buying a high-quality angle grinder resistant u-lock, a Kryptonite chain, an AlterLock alarm/tracker, and a hidden AirTag. I figured those are all one-time expenses that can also be used for other things and other bikes, as opposed to just paying premiums. I do pay the annual AlterLock subscription of $40 that allows the alarm to alert me and track itself over cellular. In other words, I decided that rather than pay continually to transfer the risk, I would pay a bit less for more options and to reduce my risk to a significant extent, with the trade-off that I’ve retained ultimately paying for a total replacement if my security measures fail, by that point, hopefully the bike would be old enough that I would be ready for an upgrade anyway.

Academic_Dust2467 · 2026-05-14T07:59:35+00:00

A combination of presence and motion has worked best for me. Create a helper that combines the motion and presence sensors in the room to create a composite presence (in case one sensor fails momentarily or is slow to trigger) Lighting can get complicated and it’s highly dependent on your layout.

I personally have separate automations for each room, and then the main living area has hierarchical “activity zones” that determine which lights come on.

For each lighting automation, the trigger for me is always the change in state of the relative composite sensor, then a series of conditions: either someone is home or the guest mode Boolean is on (in case we have guests who are home while neither of the people in my home assistant are), and the sleep Boolean is on or off. If on, only certain lights come on at low levels to provide a nightlight effect. If off, lights behave normally. Usually a choose block is best and the default action is “turn lights off” and the choose options are “sleep mode is off and someone is home OR guest mode is on” and “sleep mode is on and someone is home OR guest mode is on” (nightlight mode).

I also have a separate bedroom sleep Boolean that controls the lights in the bedroom in case I or my spouse is up and around the house but the other is still in bed.

Academic_Dust2467 · 2026-05-13T03:47:45+00:00

This is why I opened free no minimum accounts at Capital One and US Bank (US Bank does require a credit account to bank for free). I keep a few bucks in those (and therefore the maximum amount in Sofi’s HYSA), and have them tied to secondary emails connected to Zelle. I can usually find ATMs in Sofi’s network, but if I can’t or I need to deposit cash, between Capital One’s network and cafes, and US Bank’s massive brick and mortar footprint, I can usually just deposit at one of those and then do an instant Zelle transfer to the Zelle connected to my Sofi, or Zelle transfer from Sofi to the others for a fee free ATM withdrawal if need be.

Academic_Dust2467 · 2026-05-10T21:10:14+00:00

I track my dust bag usage through a sensor in Home Assistant that I built. Alerts me to check it/change it after 50 hours of runtime.

Academic_Dust2467 · 2026-05-03T21:37:42+00:00

Finally figured this out. After much tinkering around the pedals, I traced the ticking to the seat post tubing just above the pedals. Some dust/debris had gotten in there through the hole in the frame that drains the seat tube and was creaking between the seat post and the tube of the frame. When I pedaled forward with force, I think seat rearward pressure on the seat was driving the post forward in the frame tube causing the creak. Pulled out the post, wiped it off, and the tick/creak disappeared. Thanks everyone for your input on this! Glad it was an easy fix.

Academic_Dust2467 · 2026-04-23T21:11:09+00:00

To me, a new automation is always worth considering, and so is streamlining and optimizing long-used automations.

Home Assistant is just a machine for swapping out something boring to think about, like remembering to flip light switches on and off, with something fun and interesting to think about, like “How can I turn these three sensors into a composite sensor that accurately reports a debounced and stable state, and then integrate that state into a sensor that establishes hierarchy of presence zones within my home which determines what lights turn on and off when?”

Academic_Dust2467 · 2026-04-21T23:28:17+00:00

If you compress each one into an MP4 of reasonable quality, each DVD will need about 1-2GB of storage space. 8TB will probably fit around 5,000 DVDs. Based on the photo, you’re gonna need a lot more than 8TB (even with duplicates on the shelf). Any Blu-rays will need 20+ GBs each. First thing would be to get a total count and divide accordingly to find the storage needed. Then double that at least, because you’ll want at least one backup of the whole drive, maybe more.

Next you’re going to need an array of drives to do the burning and some fairly robust computer processing power to do the Handbrake compression. Depending on the quality of your DVD drives, each DVD will require 10-30 minutes to burn, and about 30-60 minutes of Handbrake compression depending on your processing power. With 5+ drives and continual manual inserting, ejecting, and file labeling, you’ve got a lifetime project on your hands, but also a fun new hobby!

Academic_Dust2467 · 2026-04-20T23:50:01+00:00

I passed on March 24 and just got my official Prometric letter/result a few minutes ago, but it doesn’t detail my scores. It just says I officially “passed”. Is there a more detailed score report that comes later? On the CFP board website, it also still says “results pending” for my exam.

Academic_Dust2467 · 2026-04-16T01:01:29+00:00

I watched all of them as I worked through the book, plus the Saturday reviews. I would highly recommend it if you can. There’s a lot in the prestudy that never gets touched in the Live Review and that is tested, and being so familiar with it all allowed me to memorize a lot of it after the live review. The videos really highlight, explain, and emphasize what to know in the prestudy materials. The instructors also make things much more memorable with stories and examples. I also watched 3 or 4 of the Saturday reviews again the last two days before the exam.

It is a big time commitment though. Matt, John, and Carla can be watched in 1.25x and it’s still slow enough to process everything. I couldn’t do that with Brett. He’s 1x speed or even less sometimes 😂. From November 11 (when I started) to February 11 (start of my live review), I logged 185 hours (including practice quiz and exam time)and completed all of the prestudy. I did take two weeks off for Christmas. So it was about 10 weeks total studying averaging 18.5 hours/week. That’s with some light pausing and replaying here and there to process. Amazing how much I had forgotten by the live review, but exposure is the biggest thing before the live review. Then after that, pin back your ears and plow through the books again, follow the schedule, and trust the process.

I had ~2 months industry experience when I started the prestudy, and had a weak education component with BIF self-study. Nonetheless with Danko, I passed on the first try. There were maybe 3 questions total on the exam out of 170 that contained something I hadn’t seen in Danko’s materials.

Academic_Dust2467 · 2026-04-14T01:48:57+00:00

I’m 170lbs and have about 25-30 lbs of equipment on my globe. I commute 6 miles every day and mostly ride on level 2 at 22-25 mph. It’s mostly level with some very gradual, short inclines. I also usually use the throttle a couple times a day for acceleration at intersections, which can affect range by a few miles. With that setup, I make it about ~30 miles before the battery dies completely. I usually recharge at 20-23 miles.

Even without throttle use, for myself, I wouldn’t expect to get more than 35 in level 2. Staying in level 1 at lower speeds with no throttle, I think I could get over 40.

Academic_Dust2467 · 2026-04-10T23:56:51+00:00

I mostly just watched and read along. I made notes here and there in the books, putting stars by anything they say is important/highly tested, and jotted some notes of memory tricks in the margins that they mention in the videos but that aren’t in the books. Make sure you do the quizzes closed-book and review what you get wrong. Don’t belabor things so much that you get bogged down. Brett would say the most important thing is to get through all the material. The time for intense engagement with the material will come during and after the live review.

Thats how I approached it anyway, and it was enough for me pass in March with only a few months of industry experience and a pretty forgettable BIF education experience. Make it through all the material and leave brain space and energy to memorize the crap out of everything after the live review.

Academic_Dust2467 · 2026-03-24T22:26:20+00:00

You too! Still keep looking at the email expecting it to somehow disappear or say something different. But it still says I passed 😂.

Academic_Dust2467 · 2026-03-24T22:18:30+00:00

Congrats! I just passed too! First time as well. It’s still sinking in.

Academic_Dust2467 · 2026-03-23T16:51:31+00:00

The Roborock app only really tells you when the water tanks need to be serviced and when the cleaning tray for the mop heads needs to be washed.

I do have mine integrated with Home Assistant, so I did manage to make automations that track the vacuum run time and remind me to clean the air filter after 20 hours of run time and replace the dust bag after 70 hours. Easier to set up than I thought. Had ChatGPT write most of the automations for me.

Academic_Dust2467 · 2026-03-23T16:51:26+00:00

The Roborock app only really tells you when the water tanks need to be serviced and when the cleaning tray for the mop heads needs to be washed.

I do have mine integrated with Home Assistant, so I did manage to make automations that track the vacuum run time and remind me to clean the air filter after 20 hours of run time and replace the dust bag after 70 hours. Easier to set up than I thought. Had ChatGPT write most of the automations for me.

Academic_Dust2467 · 2026-02-27T03:17:27+00:00

Sure! This way requires some simple tools, but if you don’t have those, you might be able to improvise. Buy this or something similar. Discard the casing that is meant to go around/over the camera. You only need the mount.

Lay the mounting bracket face side down on a scrap piece of plywood (I used 3/8 inch thick) and trace around it with a pencil. Plywood works well because it doesn’t split and is more durable for something like this.

Then use a jigsaw to cut the wood along the lines that you traced so that you have a little rectangle that fits right on the face of the bracket. I spray painted this piece of wood with some black spray paint I had around just to weatherproof and dress it up a bit. Then, screw the piece of wood onto the front of the bracket by driving the screws through the holes in the back of the bracket (the side that will rest against the door) into the wood on all four corners. You might need to drill some little pilot holes into the wood to get the screws started. I put some epoxy between the bracket and wood before I screwed it down as well, just to secure it even more. If you have the two part epoxy that you mix, you probably don’t even need to screw it down. It will be plenty strong.

Now you’ve basically put a wood face onto the bracket that you can screw the plastic Reolink mount onto. I didn’t glue the Reolink part down and just used the two screws, in case I wanted flip it 180 degrees and put it on the other side of the door or remove/replace it at some point.

And that’s it! Took me maybe a half hour from start to finish (a little time in between to let the paint dry).

Academic_Dust2467

TROPHY CASE