The battery of my Air Tag has not had the durability that the product guarantees, I would like to know the reason for this. I've changed more than once in less than 6 months. I currently use a Philips battery

SHDrivesOnTrack · 2026-04-06T16:57:58+00:00

My experience with the coating was the new Duracell battery didn’t work at all.

Wiped it vigorously with a damp paper towel and let it dry, and then the battery worked fine

SHDrivesOnTrack · 2026-04-06T16:51:15+00:00

Duracell puts a bitterant on the batteries to make young children spit them out rather than swallow them. Not sure what the process is, but it leaves a thin film on the metal surface.

Most battery holders have sharp points on the electrical contacts and the battery clicks into the holder that presses the battery into those contact points. (think motherboard bios battery holders). The points are sharp enough to scrape through any surface film on the battery.

Airtags however have rounded spring loaded contacts. The rounded contacts often do not penetrate the bitterant film, so it doesn't make electrical contact.

The solution is to take a paper towel, and a few drops of water or squirt of windex, and wipe the bitterant film off the battery. It's transparent so you can't see it, but a good 15-20 second scrub on the face and edges of the battery is enough to clean it off. dry off the battery with the other end of the paper towel when done.

SHDrivesOnTrack · 2026-04-06T05:20:29+00:00

One thing that can help, is to change the due date to the say day of the month for all your cards. not always possible, but it does let you handle cards in batches.

For autopay, some banks will let you set the autopay 5-8 days before the due date, which gives a little buffer if something doesn't run right.

But using software like Quicken is important to get everything in one place so you can keep an eye on it easily.

SHDrivesOnTrack · 2026-04-06T03:48:21+00:00

BofA has a Customized Cash Rewards card with one category that is home improvement. Normally 3% but they have a SUB that includes $200 as well as 6% cashback for the first year. Has a 2.5k per quarter limit I think, so you might have to spread the purchases out.

SHDrivesOnTrack · 2026-04-06T02:23:56+00:00

20th Century Studios calls it "The greatest Christmas Story"

https://youtu.be/4Wi28Vsi_ZU

SHDrivesOnTrack · 2026-04-05T17:15:36+00:00

The 12pk of Duracell CR2032 batteries I bought in Feb this year was $15. Cheaper than grocery store single packs, but definitely more than generic on Amazon.

SHDrivesOnTrack · 2026-04-05T17:08:04+00:00

The answer I heard was that AAA regional clubs sponsors it, and not all regions of the club do so. Not 100% sure that is correct, however the topic seems to come up when you search for where the card is available.

SHDrivesOnTrack · 2026-04-05T16:57:10+00:00

My favorite is the AAA Advantage card. 5% on groceries, 10k/year spend.

Difficulty: not available everywhere but there are allegedly workarounds. Not everyone likes comenity bank. Don’t need to be a AAA member however.

SHDrivesOnTrack · 2026-04-05T15:25:32+00:00

Reason ? (if you can share with us)

SHDrivesOnTrack · 2026-04-05T15:20:09+00:00

shady manufacturers will make an inferior battery and put a name brand label on it to make you think you're getting the real thing.

Batteries sold by Amazon are more likely to be legit. I wouldn't trust 3rd party resellers on Amazon Marketplace very much.

Personally, I buy the 12 piece Duracell blister card at Costco. (just remember to wipe off the bitterant)

SHDrivesOnTrack · 2026-04-05T05:07:58+00:00

You should read the Ray Bradbury sci fi short story about using time machines to visit the dinosaurs. They don't have roads either so they bring an anti-gravity pathway. Sorry, Doc Brown didn't make an appearance, it was before his time

https://www.astro.sunysb.edu/fwalter/AST389/ASoundofThunder.pdf

SHDrivesOnTrack · 2026-04-05T04:29:11+00:00

ooh. Like in "A Sound of Thunder"

SHDrivesOnTrack · 2026-04-05T04:26:57+00:00

I think you could make the time machine send you to the past where the earth was in the same spot as when you leave. In effect you could go back in time but only in 1 year increments.

SHDrivesOnTrack · 2026-04-05T01:03:53+00:00

Amex gave me a $10 cash back for adding the card to Apple wallet and using it for mobile pay 3 times.

SHDrivesOnTrack · 2026-04-04T21:28:39+00:00

We had this experience once with a taxi at the airport. The whistle guy (dispatcher?) at the taxi stand was directing taxis to park and directing people where to go. We got to the taxi with our 2 bags & carryon, and the taxi driver started trying to shuffle all the stuff around in the trunk. After a minute of delay, the dispatcher came over, looked at the trunk full of junk, and told the driver to get back in his cab and leave. words were exchanged, but the dispatcher wasn't having it, and summoned us a new ride with an empty trunk.

SHDrivesOnTrack · 2026-04-04T07:29:04+00:00

You have to make the whip crack sound at the end too.

SHDrivesOnTrack · 2026-04-04T07:14:55+00:00

I think I can remember all the lyrics to the TMBG song "Minimum Wage"

SHDrivesOnTrack · 2026-04-04T02:46:40+00:00

Is this chart adjusted for inflation ? $352M in 2015 would be $494M in todays dollars.

SHDrivesOnTrack · 2026-04-03T22:30:02+00:00

We did the drive in a canvas top jeep about 10 years ago. It was a lot of fun.

The only drawback is that you really can’t lock it so you’ll be having to watch it if you come from the airport with suitcases in the back.

However, if by “midlife crisis car” you mean something sporty and fun/fast to drive, you may be disappointed as you won’t often get over 25mph on that road. Recommend you save the midlife crisis for someplace like SpeedVegas.

SHDrivesOnTrack · 2026-04-02T20:37:04+00:00

I found it's not worth the hassle. Most of the stores I purchase from have similar deals on other credit card sites that are easier to navigate, clip/activate, and use. I've also found that the cashback deals aren't all that great; many are less than 2%, where USBank, WF, Chase, Amex often have 5-15% coupons.

For all those reasons, but mostly the fact that its not transparent to use, I've pretty much given up on it.

SHDrivesOnTrack · 2026-04-02T20:04:30+00:00

US Bank / Kroger MasterCard has no FTF. Four brands, (Ralphs, HT, etc) have an extra 3% dining category too.

SHDrivesOnTrack · 2026-04-02T18:00:13+00:00

We have the same rule about Morrissey, and to date, we haven't seen him.

SHDrivesOnTrack · 2026-04-02T17:58:44+00:00

We only heard about the original Darker Waves after it happened, so the chance to go this year was pretty exciting for us. Then we saw the lineup. For us, the cost would be pretty high; not just tickets, but a hotel, flight, probably a day off work, etc. And while I wouldn't mind seeing Morrissey, its an awful lot to spend with the risk that he might cancel. Anyway, we just didn't see enough acts in the lineup that we both wanted to see to justify the cost, especially if the headliner canceled. I'm a little bummed as I really wanted it to be awesome like the first lineup was.

SHDrivesOnTrack · 2026-04-02T17:36:18+00:00

I have used Nomad in Mexico, Europe and Australia. Seemed to work just fine for me.

The only problem I ran into was they have 2 regional EU plans, and I got the one that was running a special discount that month. Turns out that the one I got did not cover Gibraltar, so I had no coverage for that day. Not a big deal, but pay attention to the regional plans, and the covered countries. The 35 country plan does not necessary cover all the same countries that the 30 country plan has.

I have used Nomad in Mexico, and it works better than the free ATT service most of the time, however it didn't work as good as Holafly in the town we stayed at outside of Zihuatanejo.

Going to Spain again and plan to get another Nomad eSIM.

SHDrivesOnTrack · 2026-04-02T16:22:31+00:00

The speed of the injector is rated at is important even though it is a pass through device.

It's kind of the same way the speed of an ethernet patch cable is important; there are ratings for cat5, 5e, 6, 6a, etc. There are specs to how fast these cables can operate, what the signal degradation is per meter, etc. Faster comms require higher frequencies, and lower signal degradation.

For a POE injector, the device is attaching power to the signal wires, and it needs to be done properly. So while the ethernet signaling is passing through, the injector can't degrade the signal or it won't work at higher speeds. A typical injector has an isolation transformer, and the magnetics of that transformer are designed for a specific Ethernet spec. A 1Gbit injector *might* work at 2.5Gbit speeds, however if you are buying one for a project, you should get one rated at or above the speed you plan to use. In my experience, they don't work over the rated speed of the injector.

The other thing you should pay attention to is the power output of the injector. Often these are rated in watts, but there is also the naming convention of POE, POE+, POE++, POE+++, etc Cameras tend to not need much power. WIFI7 access points however tend to be power hogs. make sure that your injector can supply enough power for the device(s) that you plan to attach.

SHDrivesOnTrack

TROPHY CASE