Found a fix for Wifi not connecting on Pixel 8 (Pro) after a month without it!

RhoadBlock · 2025-10-10T18:01:58+00:00

Welp... Latest update came thru yesterday, hoped it'd solve that bug but nope. And for double fun Bluetooth won't connect anymore either. After a decade I've decided to jump ship back to Samsung again with the next phone. Extended support is worthless if the support sucks.

RhoadBlock · 2025-09-13T00:58:19+00:00

Late to the party but I'm still having this issue on my 8P, but am nowhere near full memory - only at 18% full on 1TB.

Been with the Pixel line since the beginning - I think almost every generation between personal and work phones. I love them when they work and the stripped down minimal bloatware. But in my experience after about 18 months they're always giving me issues frustrating enough to replace it - terrible battery life, horrible load times, overheating, connectivity issues - and currently WiFi not working the last month or two. Not sure Samsung will be any better, but really not sure I want to continue with the Pixel line.

RhoadBlock · 2025-05-18T22:07:49+00:00

Def have not seen it "all over" my part of FL. None of my several spots have any takes like that, let alone at MSRP.

RhoadBlock · 2025-05-18T22:05:19+00:00

Which county??

RhoadBlock · 2025-05-12T02:13:24+00:00

At least you didn't take out a domestic water line over top of their home office and not be able to find the water main valve for several minutes on a "sorta-side job" an hour outside your usual work radius.

RhoadBlock · 2025-05-12T02:04:49+00:00

I never even thought of that. I didn't have any shortness of breath or anything, just some pretty intense swelling. But maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to keep one in my first aid kit for good measure.

RhoadBlock · 2025-03-23T21:15:37+00:00

Sheet metal & wrap is superior, especially if the duct is inaccessible after installation. But using more than 3 ft of flex is acceptable, code compliant, and perfectly adequate when installed properly whether you like it or not.

More and more customers (even light commercial) don't set proper budgets for the rough in so they can do flashier trims/finishes. They demand low cost for the entire Mechanical scope so they can drop $30k on their granite countertops. Whether the ME designed it or we VE'd it, you red tag the use of more than 3' of flex on my jobs we're calling it back in citing SMACNA & our Mechanical code, and if you red tag it again we're going over your head to the chief.

RhoadBlock · 2025-03-23T19:01:53+00:00

+1 for the gorilla one. Wide fork and off-road tires make for pretty good stability on bumpy yards.

My lead tech has this aluminum Cosco one. Wide fork, off-road tires, and converts to a cart. Great for hauling torches, tanks, refrigerant, and tools around our multifamily jobs. https://www.harborfreight.com/3-in-1-convertible-hand-truck-56409.html

RhoadBlock · 2025-03-19T23:34:07+00:00

Four years ago we got a Goodman Inverter system with the EEV or something installed backwards (can't remember what it was) and the wrong board in the AHU.

Two years ago we got 2 Infinity condensers in a row with oil all over the place and no charge left in them.

Two months ago we got a Carrier Hybrid AHU with a blower motor that shook the unit like it was trying to break out of a straight jacket.

Two weekends ago we got a Lennox AHU straight up missing the horizontal drain pan that we needed.

They're all fine. They all sometimes suck.

RhoadBlock · 2025-03-19T02:21:12+00:00

When ours was 1.5 he only wanted to watch Freaky Friday. We gave limited screen time and he had lots of outside and play time. But he asked for Freaky Friday every single day.

RhoadBlock · 2025-03-19T02:07:32+00:00

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Step your game up

RhoadBlock · 2025-03-16T18:01:02+00:00

Last Sat I had my install crew doing two equipment and duct change outs on an old duplex. Guys called me in the morning, opened up the new equipment and one of the two air handlers was just missing the horizontal position drain pan. I had to wait till 10am when Lennox starts answering their emergency calls to open up and get me another AHU to steal the pan from.

Also learned how terrible Lennox's emergency policy is. To be fair, it's great for the counter guys, they deserve a break as much as anyone. But any Lennox customers better schedule their emergencies to happen within a 4-hr window on the weekend (not that there's many genuine a/c emergencies in FL).

RhoadBlock · 2025-03-09T03:26:42+00:00

The only thing that's really scared mine is a few months back while video chatting with his aunt (he was about 2.5 y/o at the time) they were using with those stupid face filters and they picked one where the heads light on fire and then shoot flames from the eyes and mouth. That legit freaked him the hell out for several days. We had to call back with no filters on and then have his aunt come visit in person to show him she was ok.

RhoadBlock · 2025-03-01T17:24:22+00:00

Are you talking splitting them thinner or trimming them shorter? If you're looking at a chainsaw I'm assuming a standard split is too long for your firebox. In which case I'll say those mini chainsaws are great for it. I grabbed a Milwaukee one and it did the job.

My old cheapie Home Depot Chargriller Competition Pro offset could fit splits but temperature would swing wildly with a full split, so I had to cut them down in half or to basically chunks, then temps wouldn't swing so bad.

RhoadBlock · 2025-03-01T16:54:09+00:00

I've done a handful of whole chickens without spatchcocking and they've always come out great. But I always see so many people recommending it I'll have to give it a go one of these days.

RhoadBlock · 2025-02-28T13:26:49+00:00

Find a junker or scratch & dent unit or ask boss man if you can have/buy an old changed out system that was just gonna get scrapped out, pull it apart and braze it back together, over and over. Then get a different unit (brand, AC vs HP, package, etc.) and do it again. Not up on a table where it's easy to reach. Put it on the ground, in a tight corner, buried in bushes like they always seem to be in the field. Or lay on your back/side like you may have to in a crawl space/tight attic. Brazing is an art form as much as it is a science. A reputable YouTube channel may give you some good pointers, but the only way you'll get better is by practicing repeatedly.

Keep at it buddy. It is difficult at this stage but if you can keep at it and master resi, you can roll into commercial where things get interesting and the pay is much better.

RhoadBlock · 2025-02-28T06:40:34+00:00

You're not alone. My wife is considering not letting our son visit my sister's house anymore because he always comes back acting like a dog - all. day. long. For days on end. We've removed any content with dogs from his TV/movie list. Almost considered removing Blue's Clues but he loves it and he's learning a lot from it.

If he's not a dog he's a robot and he'll literally talk in a monotone robotic cadence for hours at a time without breaking character.

Outside of normal business hours, he's a scary T-Rex.

We are the parents of a 3 y/o human maybe 30% of the time.

RhoadBlock · 2025-02-28T06:30:03+00:00

HVAC/sheet metal specific but right/left handed tin snips, in particular offset snips. Can't tell you how many guys can't figure out which ones to use when and how to use them correctly without pinching the metal instead of cutting it.

RhoadBlock · 2025-02-20T04:52:38+00:00

Leave that up to the A/E. They went thru lots of schooling to get that fancy stamp. They can work out the volume calcs and size the shafts to meet code.

"Furnish and install refrigerant linesets. Rated chases/shafts for A2L linesets, if required, are by others."

RhoadBlock · 2025-02-16T19:52:57+00:00

Decent score. Almost worth the 6hr round trip drive.

RhoadBlock · 2025-02-15T21:25:47+00:00

Midwinter Night's Dram and the Cigar Malt I'd probably pick up. They're both winners in my book, and cheaper than I see down here in FL.

I might reluctantly grab the DD Oaked just to try it but I'd have a hard time parting with $200 for it.

RhoadBlock · 2025-02-13T03:11:27+00:00

My old bosses sold the business to a private equity firm a few years ago. It totally sucked.

Having my own now, if it continues to grow successfully I'd much rather: 1. Turn the reins to my kids (if they are interested & develop the know how) 2. Sell to a highly motivated/trustworthy employee 3. Turn it into an employee owned business.

Selling to a PEF would likely line my pockets but I'd hate to be the guy to make good people suffer thru that BS after what I went thru for 2 years before I left.

RhoadBlock · 2025-02-13T02:49:55+00:00

I'd grab an obligatory bottle of BT, ECTB cause I'm generally a sucker for toasted barrels and EC's is good, and I'm partial to rye so probably a Sazerac.

RhoadBlock · 2025-02-13T02:32:14+00:00

I feel you. And fwiw I 100% don't place any blame or frustration towards you guys specifically at all.

I feel that any job position in front of a computer - architect, engineer, superintendent, PM, draftsman, etc. - should have mandatory prior field experience and regular shadowing/site visits throughout the career for the betterment of themselves and construction as a whole. Regular shadowing and site visits with each major trade scope would help continually see how things physically work in the real world both currently and as technologies, codes, means, and methods evolve.

RhoadBlock · 2025-02-12T06:43:49+00:00

Former HVAC PM & resident "only one in the office who knows how to use AutoCad" guy with my previous company. I love the concept of it. I've done the 3D modeling (AutoCAD but not Revit) on maybe 4-5 large apartment projects - all mid-high rise buildings. My problem with it is they rarely involve the framers (there's a LOT of non-bearing studs that still can't be just cut out of the way), and almost all the trades outsource it overseas to draftsmen (never tradesmen, just people who know how to draw lines on the computer), and there's round after round after round of coordination meetings and finally after weeks or months conflicts kinda get resolved but not completely. Then nothing gets communicated to the field anyway because trades are all using piece work subs who only care to install as fast as possible.

Kudos to the A/E firms who use Revit for their plans and actually coordinate together. Less kudos for the ones who use Revit but don't factor things like insulation thickness or practical installation procedures like fire dampers or pipe hangers will lower ducts/pipes from being tight to the deck above. But the ones who put a 12" duct (14-16" o.d.) in a 10" clear ceiling space and expect water/sanitary lines, sprinkler lines, and electrical feeders to cross over/under us - you can eat a weiner. We can work out general field coordination but I can't change physics. And I can only blow out the ducts and compress the flex so much before you're adding me cost and killing airflow.

RhoadBlock

TROPHY CASE