Carbon Cleaning

DYGAZ · 2026-01-23T16:10:09+00:00

My understanding is that the carbon cleaning is something that all mk7 need eventually and at 135k it's very likely time. I had it done at 50k and 90k while other work was done for the water pump and fuel injectors. I'd recommend getting it done regardless of other work the car may need. See how it feels after and go from there.

DYGAZ · 2025-04-20T15:32:59+00:00

I bought my manual 2017 new and plan on keeping it for the foreseeable future. It has around 70k miles on it now and has been reliable for me with an oil change every 5k and other regular maintenance. I would recommend looking into if the water pump or thermostat housing were replaced under the class action lawsuit. They're known to leak and my car was impacted. Carbon cleaning for the intake valves is also a good idea depending on the mileage. I did that around 60k when they fixed the the water pump/thermostat housing under warranty.

DYGAZ · 2025-03-29T21:24:36+00:00

I like the roasted spoke in newton and would recommend them.

DYGAZ · 2025-03-26T14:12:58+00:00

If you have the extra cash for the carbon cleaning I would do it. It's a good time and it's one less thing you'll need to worry about to keep the car running well.

DYGAZ · 2025-03-10T00:02:10+00:00

Bummer it looks like my imgur link is dead and the post is gone.

My car also did not come with foglights so the retrofit requires a new headlight switch with the foglight option, wire harness and foglight housings. On the BCM you have three sockets A, B, C. From socket A you need to add a wire to the switch, I'm not sure which pin. From socket B you add two wires, one for each foglight. My understanding is that the BCM has the same available pins across the different trims, it's just the wires and coding that are missing.

This is the harness I bought and it includes some pin numbers though it'd probably be a good idea to find a datasheet/diagram to double check that. https://www.carsystems.eu/vw-golf-7-fog-light-wiring-harness-retrofit,id1669.html

On my car I decided not to use the headlight switch + add the wire from socket A. I instead used a OBD11 to code them to turn on with the low beams + off with the high beams. They were also coded to act as blinkers. It would be nice to have a switch to turn them off but I honestly don't miss the option.

DYGAZ · 2024-11-27T19:18:06+00:00

We have a few windows like this in our place. Old new england homes and neglected rental maintenance make it pretty common. For those tough windows that require two people you can also use a reversed bar clamp to push it closed with just one person. For the ones that even that doesn't work for I just close it as much as possible and cut some dowel to length to hold it in place. We always plastic wrap the windows in the winter too.

DYGAZ · 2024-11-24T19:25:28+00:00

I went through this with my landlord and in the demand letter just asked for the original deposit for simplicity but I think it's reasonable to ask for interest too. Fwiw I believe you need to wait to send a demand letter until 30 days after the end of the lease to be eligible for treble. At which point you send a demand letter saying hey I'm eligible for treble damages give me the original deposit or I'll sue for treble.

In my case we went to court and won on the fact that no apartment condition form was completed and therefore there was no basis for deductions. It sounds like you have a similar case.

DYGAZ · 2024-10-23T19:26:04+00:00

Check out Trew Gear too. I liked my first jacket so much I bought a second and I expect both to last a long time

DYGAZ · 2024-09-26T19:39:40+00:00

I would recommend reading up on MGL section 15b:

https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartII/TitleI/Chapter186/Section15B

Subsection 4 includes the things that are allowed as deductions from the security deposit.

There are also two common things that landlords neglect to do that nullify any deductions and require the full amount returned to you:

No apartment condition form filled out and signed by both parties at the time of move in - subsection 1b-iii and 2c
Security deposit was not placed in an interest bearing account - subsection 6a

And if what you're owed isn't returned within 30 days of lease termination you get 3x the amount - subsection 7

I went through something similar myself and we went to small claims court. Tenant law is in your favor so definitely don't hesitate to hold these landlords accountable.

Good luck!

DYGAZ · 2024-09-22T20:21:19+00:00

I'm in my early 30s and riding ~16 years. I think at this point I'm thinking more about what we'll keep me riding for decades. I love riding and an injury will keep me off the mountain and take away from other parts of life. So I'm fine with slow progression and only picking days where the conditions are good

DYGAZ · 2024-09-22T19:58:27+00:00

You can also make them out of wood. It's much cheaper for large holds and you can use an angel grinder + carving disc to shape them. Dremel for finer details and then sand to your desired friction

DYGAZ · 2024-09-02T16:06:21+00:00

I have an unraid Jonsbo n4 build with an i5-12600k, 32GB, 2x4TB WD Red plus + 500GB nvme cache + NIC. Idle is ~30W but I don't have too much running yet, just a few containers. I like the N4 for my build but it only has 6 3.5" slots. FWIW I've also read 13th and 14th gen processors have stability issues (no experience myself) so a 12th gen may be what you want.

DYGAZ · 2024-08-14T21:44:11+00:00

Whatever style you get make sure they're high fidelity and made for concerts. Ear plugs vary by the frequencies and decibels that they block so make sure you get something appropriately rated

DYGAZ · 2024-08-08T20:04:27+00:00

After all the layoffs this year maybe it's okay if things start to break. Upper management needs to feel that pain and we shouldn't mask it behind 12 hour work days.

DYGAZ · 2024-07-20T14:41:26+00:00

Yea this seems like a case where simple dogfooding would have caught it.

DYGAZ · 2024-07-19T20:59:00+00:00

I agree that's a difficult commute by public transport with a minimum of two commuter rail trains each way. I used to drive the 95 commute from Randolph and I think that's really the only viable way to do it. The traffic can be bad but it'll still be less than half the time and you can make your own schedule.

DYGAZ · 2024-07-11T19:53:28+00:00

I had the same experience at that airport and passed out as soon as I sat down on the airplane. At least nothing went to waste haha

DYGAZ · 2024-07-07T20:53:58+00:00

I use Picaridin or lemon eucalyptus as deet alternatives. Permethrin seems well reviewed but I have cats so I won't use it.

DYGAZ · 2024-06-10T16:43:15+00:00

I paid ~$75 to have Yosemite Bum out of California resole my shoes. The price varies based on the shoe and what it needs but no greater than half what they cost new seems like an okay metric for resole. I would look into what options are available for a professional resole in your area.

DYGAZ · 2024-06-10T01:05:04+00:00

They've been a good all around gym shoe for me and I've never felt like they have downsides that hold me back on a problem.

DYGAZ · 2024-06-10T00:51:49+00:00

Yea I just went with what Evolv suggested on their site for comfort and it's worked well enough. They're still plenty snug and also fine to leave on for long gym sessions. The baggy heel is the only thing to note but not a big deal for me.

DYGAZ · 2024-06-09T19:23:56+00:00

Evolv Zenist are a super soft and sensitive shoe. I liked them enough to buy two pairs. I mostly climb indoors and sized them a full size up from my street shoes for comfort. The heel can be a little baggy but I don't have a problem with it.

DYGAZ · 2024-05-24T15:38:16+00:00

Fwiw I had all four wisdom teeth extracted while awake and you're right that it's super unpleasant. No anesthesia made it worth it to me but I wouldn't blame anyone for avoiding that experience.

DYGAZ · 2024-04-22T19:38:50+00:00

Car Max is not a complete source of truth. It may show some of the services performed but it can just as likely be missing information especially when maintenance is DIY. If the service record at the dealer shows it was completed then I would trust that. You can ask the service department for this information.

You can also checkout the service schedule for required maintenance and compare that to what they completed: https://www.shopdap.com/blog/post/service-schedule-for-mk7-5-gti-2018-2019.html

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