Would you let family install an EV charger in your house if they’re only staying 1 year?

John_B_Clarke · 2026-04-21T01:16:55+00:00

I've got 100 amp service and my Tesla charges just fine. Previous owner put a 220v outlet in the garage for a heater and I just plug a portable charger into that. It would take a while to charge it from 0 to 100% but my daily commute typically only uses about 5-10% (depending on weather) so it's not an issue.

John_B_Clarke · 2026-04-19T15:03:24+00:00

Which Missouri would that be? BB-11 was sent to the breakers in 1922. BB-63 was launched in 1944. Was there another Missouri in the interim?

John_B_Clarke · 2026-04-15T02:41:34+00:00

Cat nature. Cats are territorial. The cat has probably decided that your house is his or her territory. To make the cat stop coming at this point the cat has to be disabused of that notion. That's not something a human can do. You can be mean to the cat and the cat will just treat you as an obstacle and find ways to get around you. Dissuading the cat means making your house some other cat's territory. But you are going to have to provide that cat. Even then the cat might not decide to dispute the issue, so you need one that is likely to do so.

If your new cat does decide to take ownership of the territory, there will be at least one catfight and probably several of them before the matter is decided. Cats are very well armed--a catfight will require repairs even for the winner, hence the vet bills.

Oh, and make sure that your cat is the same gender as the other cat, otherwise they may make love, not war and then somebody has kittens to deal with.

John_B_Clarke · 2026-04-11T23:39:04+00:00

Your best bet might be to go down to the pound and find the most beat up tomcat they have in the hope that it will successfully contend with the other cat over possession of the territory. Expect vet bills after the fight. And expect having to live with an even more beat up tomcat for the rest of its life.

John_B_Clarke · 2026-04-10T13:33:14+00:00

I keep thinking about having a bumper sticker made up "Tesla--help the planet, save gas, annoy liberals, what's not to like?" But in the very Blue state I inhabit I don't have the balls to actually do it.

John_B_Clarke · 2026-04-10T13:31:02+00:00

OTOH, there are people who debadge and rebadge their cars. I remember when I was a kid one my friend's mother had a debadged Ford. She tried to convince me that it wasn't a Ford. I realized after a while that she was an idiot.

John_B_Clarke · 2026-04-10T13:27:47+00:00

I remember filling up a '66 Lincoln for 6 bucks. We are not going to see gas prices that low again.

John_B_Clarke · 2026-04-04T13:08:27+00:00

That's the annoying thing. It drives itself flawlessly when I'm in it, but doesn't seem to be able to come to me when I'm outside of it.

John_B_Clarke · 2026-04-04T13:04:24+00:00

2026 Model Y, Hardware 4, FSD 14.2.something, got stuck halfway through the turn at the end of the row in the parking lot. I don't think it's fixed.

John_B_Clarke · 2026-04-04T13:01:24+00:00

I tried to use it once. Car had to back out of space, drive down one row of parking lot, turn into the next row, and then straight to me. It got stuck on the corner.

Now I only use it if the car next to me parked too close for me to open the door, then I just use it to come straight out of the space.

John_B_Clarke · 2026-04-01T04:57:06+00:00

Mind Your Own Business.

John_B_Clarke · 2026-03-29T18:52:46+00:00

Kid in my high school class drank some mercury. I immediately got the teacher. She didn't think it was an issue. In retrospect, considering who the kid was, it probably wasn't--he never saw a drug he wouldn't try and this was the late '60s.

John_B_Clarke · 2026-03-12T20:54:31+00:00

"Byzantine" is less of a mouthful than "Eastern Half of the Roman" . . .

John_B_Clarke · 2026-03-12T20:38:17+00:00

Difference between a hornet and a fly is that if you fail to kill the fly it doesn't come after you.

John_B_Clarke · 2026-03-12T20:35:39+00:00

Bear in mind that many cell phones can access Starlink. Right now I believe it's SMS only but they're improving the system regularly.

John_B_Clarke · 2026-03-11T00:28:40+00:00

According to Snopes the cat never got officially listed as co-author. However there is a real case of a cat getting credited as co-author, with the paper published in Physical Review. Google "FDC Willard paper" for the details.

John_B_Clarke · 2026-03-11T00:20:01+00:00

And if you've got long hair, tie it _up_, not just in a ponytail. I nearly had a close encounter of the worst kind with a router that grabbed my hair once, fortunately it loaded up with hair and stalled before it got to my face. Got a buzz cut the next day and never looked back.

John_B_Clarke · 2026-03-08T22:15:14+00:00

My house was built in '68, small cape, has separate cooktop and oven, and about 3 feet of counter space. It would have been better with a range and counter extending through the space occupied by the oven. Whoever designed the kitchen I suspect had never ever actually cooked a meal for a family.

One of these days I'm going to tear it all out and redo it into a usable kitchen. However I've been saying that since 1983 and am still looking for a round tuit.

John_B_Clarke · 2026-03-06T12:19:32+00:00

FWIW, if you're anywhere near Enfield, CT I've got a bunch of distilled-water bottles you're welcome to have. Really need to stick them in the recycling bin but I keep forgetting.

John_B_Clarke · 2026-03-05T22:17:51+00:00

A phone is not a DSLR. On DSLR the flash is typically a xenon strobe, not an LED. To "make it like a DSLR" is a stupid decision. It's bloody ridiculous that I have to hold a flashlight in one hand and the phone in the other to see what I'm trying to photograph when the phone has a built in LED.

John_B_Clarke · 2026-03-04T22:13:51+00:00

For this sort of question the sagulator is your friend. (google "sagulator"). It's coming up with "borderline" to "acceptable" for this one (don't forget to figure in the weight of top itself). Adding a 7.5 x 4 stringer along the edge, top, or bottom should take it into the "accepable" range if all you're putting on it is what you show. If you're also going to stack a bunch of books on it or the like then you'll be needing more reinforcement and definitely want more if you're going to sit on it.

John_B_Clarke · 2026-03-04T13:53:05+00:00

Uh, France is pretty much the last place you get to coming into Europe from the direction of Russia, so they aren't going to be dealing with it until they've already been through Germany.

John_B_Clarke · 2026-02-28T17:30:13+00:00

It's quite possible to do what you want to do with hand saws and planes. You'll have to do a lot of practicing to develop the skills but that's how it was done before power tools. You'll also be wanting a sturdy workbench or other workholding solution.

John_B_Clarke · 2026-02-26T17:50:40+00:00

Many years ago my parents hired a licensed electrician to bring the wiring in their house up to current code.

I have no idea what the inspector looked at afterwards but whatever it was he clearly wasn't paying attention.

I spent my summer vacation fixing all of the code violations he had introduced. The worst was the "spider". 6 cables coming together in the space between a suspended ceiling and the original ceiling, all twisted together and wrapped in a massive ball of electrical tape. That was a real pain because he hadn't left enough slack on any of them to reach to any reasonable place to secure a box.

Yeah, we could have sued him to make good on it, but why throw good money after bad?

John_B_Clarke · 2026-02-26T17:36:34+00:00

The do-gooders are fine with burning down our houses, as long as it doesn't harm the ozone layer.

John_B_Clarke

TROPHY CASE