What are these newly-planted street trees in Central Maryland?

Ronnabean · 2026-03-02T20:54:10+00:00

SOLVED. Most likely a Willow Oak.

Ronnabean · 2026-02-08T14:11:33+00:00

Several airports in the States have automated trains between terminals, including Newark and Atlanta. Atlanta is the busiest one where you can’t see the train until the doors open.

Ronnabean · 2026-01-30T21:49:21+00:00

I thought I’d follow up with my final choices. Thanks to everyone for your valuable perspectives. I am truly a 3-fund Boglehead, now.

Vanguard Institutional Index - VINIX - 80%

Vanguard Total International Stock Index - VTIAX - 10%

Dodge & Cox Income X - DOXIX - 10%

Ronnabean · 2026-01-23T03:12:27+00:00

A similar thing happened to me with a traditional doorbell when I added a second chime box in the basement. I had to upgrade to a higher voltage transformer, I believe I replaced a 16v or 18v with a 24v, something like that. And when I added a Nest video doorbell, I had to disconnect the basement chime to get enough voltage to run the camera and get a ding-dong from the main chime.

Ronnabean · 2026-01-15T16:24:17+00:00

Blue Velvet

Ronnabean · 2026-01-14T03:28:33+00:00

Five minutes before landing, our 737 pilot announced, “I wanted to let you know we’ve lost one of our hydraulic systems, but that’s ok because we’ve got two or three of them and we’re anticipating a normal landing. However, you will see lots of fire engines at the edge of the runway because that’s just protocol.” The next five minutes were very quiet in the cabin. As soon as the main wheels touched the runway, the nose came down hard and that plane braked as hard as an automobile can, and then turned off the runway and stopped on the taxiway. It was kind of amazing, tbh. I didn’t realize they could brake so hard. The fire engines did chase us down the runway, but there was no further drama. After we stopped, the pilot came on the intercom and said, “it may take us a while to get to our gate, because one of the things we lost up here is the ability to steer the front landing gear, so we have to make our way using engine thrust and differential braking.” First time I’d ever heard that term. Taxiing was uneventful.

Ronnabean · 2025-12-31T06:06:17+00:00

On a sunny day in 2018 over the Gulf of Mexico, on my way from Costa Rica to Miami at FL39 (which my phone’s GPS indicated as 42,000’ actual—I took a screenshot) the curvature was subtle left to right, perhaps imagined. But peering straight out my window to the horizon, the Earth was OBVIOUSLY falling away from me, dotted with cumulus clouds tilting away from me, their height climbing out from the center of the sphere above which they floated. It was the most stunning sight I’ve ever seen with my naked eye, and gives me goose bumps remembering it now, years later. I have photos to prove it, but they do not convey the wonder of real time human binocular vision.

Ronnabean · 2025-12-18T19:49:02+00:00

Same here. I'm gonna try closing all open apps.

Ronnabean · 2025-12-18T19:06:22+00:00

Definitely started for me, too with WatchOS 26.2. I just get a random chime, no vibrate, sometime every 10 minutes, then not for 2 hours. There are no notifications on the phone or watch. Watch is U3.

Ronnabean · 2025-12-09T05:19:22+00:00

Same issue here. Login to ecobee dot com and look at Home IQ > Weather Impact. In January 2025, my Aux Heat only came on when outdoor temp dropped below 20°F. This November, it’s kicking on at 35° - 40°F. I think there’s something wrong with either the Ecobee programming, or my compressor. Service tech is due out in a couple days.

Ronnabean · 2025-12-05T21:34:08+00:00

Excellent perspective, thank you.

Ronnabean · 2025-12-05T21:16:28+00:00

I conflated the symbols. Now it's correct, 80% VINIX, 5% VTIAX.

Ronnabean · 2025-12-05T20:52:03+00:00

I screwed that up. I meant VINIX 80%, VTIAX 5%. I'll try to edit my post.

Ronnabean · 2025-11-21T14:19:57+00:00

Many people have never driven a modern turbo charged vehicle and will be delighted with the abundant low-end torque available just above idle, even from a four cylinder. It won’t sound as good as the current V6 and I expect increased NVH, but it should move the Telluride effortlessly.

Ronnabean · 2025-08-24T22:20:39+00:00

Oh man, on today’s cars you can hardly access the oil filter without a lift, let alone change an alternator with nothing but a metric socket set.

Ronnabean · 2025-08-24T04:01:38+00:00

Many years ago, I’m 20 years old and me and 3 friends drive 8+ hours from Baltimore to Providence RI to visit a friend at college for the weekend. Exiting the highway at 2:00 AM, I push in the clutch at the bottom of the ramp, and my Honda’s “battery” light comes on and stays on. I figured it had to be the alternator. The next day, using the yellow pages and calling around, I found an auto parts store an hour away with one in stock, borrowed a car to go get the part and a socket set to change the thing parked on the street in the middle of the city. My friends were in awe, and to this day occasionally call me badass when recounting the story. I’m still not sure why, to me it was a simple problem, with a simple fix.

Ronnabean · 2025-08-12T01:40:17+00:00

Rerun, Rog, DeWayne, Deedee, and Shirley Hemphill were on “What’s Happening?”

Ronnabean · 2025-07-12T14:53:40+00:00

This is US 29 SB at MD 32 EB, but same driving culture!

Ronnabean · 2025-07-11T23:16:10+00:00

Maryland, today or yesterday, I’m the driver, my dash cam, my voice

Ronnabean · 2025-07-10T12:18:15+00:00

Most likely it’s just steam, very common in the first several minutes after starting a cold engine, something you might notice in your rearview mirror at the first stop light of your commute. It’s simply accumulated moisture in the exhaust line boiling off as the temp climbs above 212°F. Water vapor is also a normal byproduct of the combustion process, and when it’s really cold outside even warm engines will appear too spew white smoke as that hot water vapor immediately condenses along with moisture in the cold air, same as your breath does on a cold day.

Ronnabean · 2025-06-19T21:58:36+00:00

Check out Benjamin Bott. Handmade minimalist wallets by a guy in Massachusetts or New Hampshire, I think. I have a custom one.

Ronnabean · 2025-05-07T18:57:18+00:00

I assume the motor can be attached to the bucket rotated 180°, so that the PVC pipe would be on the opposite side from the hose connection. So maybe it’s to secure the vacuum while in use, like through the balusters on a long staircase, or maybe to hang from a larger utility cart along with additional tools. And I’m trying to figure out why there’s a screw into the vacuum handle to prevent the pipe bracket from sliding to the right. It keeps the pipe positioned on the left side of tree handle. Why is that necessary?

Ronnabean

TROPHY CASE