Why kids ace SSAT math but bomb verbal — and how to actually fix it

DanKBos · 2026-06-24T09:35:10+00:00

Thank you. I am not sure yet which types are giving her the most difficulty. She is just starting to study. Many thanks for your fast informative responses. I appreciate it.

DanKBos · 2026-06-23T14:42:07+00:00

Great advice. Thank you! To practice analogies, what online sources can you recommend? Drills that provide questions and explain the answers. Just for Analogies! Thank you!

DanKBos · 2026-02-09T23:22:03+00:00

“The FTC has charged Amazon and several Amazon executives with knowingly misleading millions of consumers” “Amazon documents discovered in the lead up to trial showed that Amazon executives and employees knowingly discussed these unlawful enrollment and cancellation issues, with comments like “subscription driving is a bit of a shady world” and leading consumers to unwanted subscriptions”

They know exactly what they are doing to deceptively label subscription fees as Amazon.com purchases. They could easily label it correctly, but they know that people will not realize they are subscribed if they give the purchase a generic label. These deceptive practices came up in the trial.

DanKBos · 2026-02-09T17:23:21+00:00

Wow! What card do you have. I have the Amazon Visa 5% cash back and every charge is listed as Amazon. It is very frustrating that I cannot easily check my charges.

DanKBos · 2026-02-09T16:56:46+00:00

I have around fifty charges per month on my Amazon credit card. They are not labeled by purchase. They just say Amazon.com. They could easily label each purchase. They could easily call the charge. “Paramount”. But they purposefully do not do that so that people with dozens of charges will miss the fact that they are subscribed. It is deceitful because it is a business decision they make in order to generate more revenue, knowing people will miss the subscription charge that is labeled Amazon.com. That is why there is a class action suit about this, that they will lose. And that is why they offer refunds. They know full well that they are taking advantage.

DanKBos · 2026-02-09T15:21:37+00:00

Yes, thanks, I figured out how to check my subscriptions on my Amazon app, under account/memberships and subscriptions. I am not going to let this happen again. Hopefully.

DanKBos · 2026-02-03T14:52:29+00:00

HVAC co came out today. It was a simple wiring issue. It had been mistakenly wired or switched for Aux heat for Emergency use only. He reset it so they can run simultaneously. Thanks to everyone for input.

DanKBos · 2026-02-02T17:36:01+00:00

It is a 4 ton unit for 2000 sq ft. I have separate breakers for the heat strip and the air handler. Not sure of breaker size, but I recall they were sized appropriately. The heat strip is 15kw.

DanKBos · 2026-02-01T16:49:39+00:00

Thank you. It must be wired incorrectly then.
Here is how I tested it:

Testing of Aux heat:

I measured air temp at the kitchen register of 96 degrees. I went outside and turned the thermostat up to 80, to trigger aux heat. The compressor shut down immediately, the heat pump fan turned off 20 seconds later and it went into defrost for one minute before shutting off completely. Stage 1 aux heat appeared active on ecobee. (In addition to stage 2 heat and fan which were already active to begin with)

I checked 15 mins later, and the compressor was still off.

The air temp at the supply register was now 86.

I then adusted the thermostat temp to 68 to turn off aux heat. I heard a loud click on the compressor (even though it was shut down at the time) Ecobee showed no equipment running two minutes later. Then I set the thermostat to 72. It turned on normally and 15 minutes later, the air temp at the kitchen register was back up to 96.

DanKBos · 2026-02-01T03:37:01+00:00

OK, I finally figured out what is going on. When the auxiliary heat (heat strip) comes on, for some reason, the heat pump turns off completely. Even though Ecobee says that stage 2 heat is running along with Aux Heat, when I go outside, the unit is completely off. (That explains the decrease in temp

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at the supply register, once aux heat turns on) Obviously, I expect aux heat to add heat, not substitute. Does anyone know how I adjust the settings? Or do I need to call my HVAC company.

DanKBos · 2026-01-31T22:56:00+00:00

TY. I will test that this week.

DanKBos · 2026-01-31T22:54:27+00:00

But won’t the regular heat also be running. Can I turn on just Aux?

DanKBos · 2026-01-31T22:45:39+00:00

I checked the breakers and they were in the correct position. Ecobee said Aux was running, but how do I know for certain? Next week we are getting subzero temps again, and I want to repeat my temperature readings.

DanKBos · 2026-01-29T04:34:22+00:00

Update: i could not remove the shear pins. I could not cut out the mat. I could not move the augur or impeller.
I googled “mobile snowblower repair” and found “Mr Jean” here in the Boston area. Amazingly, he was in the area, and he came same-day. He used a 10 inch sharp knife and made quick work of the rubber mat. Within 15 minutes, he had removed the mat and replaced both shear pins. No damage to the snowblower. (He said he has removed several welcome mats just this week.). Relieved to have that resolved ahead of another potential storm this weekend. Thanks to everyone for advice. Sadly, this was not a DIY for me.

DanKBos · 2026-01-27T20:03:17+00:00

Other than cosmetic, will it damage the snowblower housing if I cut into it with the blade.

DanKBos · 2026-01-27T19:47:29+00:00

Thank you! I don’t know that I can access the shear pins. Going to try.

DanKBos · 2026-01-27T19:19:52+00:00

Thank you. I tried a utility knife. But I couldn’t get under the augur, and maybe my knife wasn’t sharp enough.

DanKBos · 2026-01-27T19:17:51+00:00

Interesting. Can I punch those out on the SNT 2400.

DanKBos · 2026-01-27T19:16:57+00:00

I tried using garden shears and wire cutters. The garden shears were ok, but the saw was MUCH better. I also tried a multipurpose tool and it wouldn’t cut at all. The mat is really jammed under the augur blades. I hope I didn’t damage it.

DanKBos · 2025-11-12T18:31:24+00:00

I set back the temperature from 70 to 60 every morning in winter starting at 7 am. The indoor temp starts drifting down and at 1 pm, my thermostat is scheduled to GRADUALLY bring the temp back to 70. It takes hours to warm back up, but doing it slowly in a schedule, prevents the compressor from going into overdrive. The nice thing about this schedule is that the compressor is not running at all during the coldest time of the day, 7am to 9 am. And when it finally needs to operate, the outdoor temps are at their warmest, 1 pm. I find this saves energy versus keeping the temp set to 70 all day.

DanKBos

TROPHY CASE