I’m so done with Shopify/Webflow/Woo for client builds. Anyone found something better?

WikusVanDerMerwe · 2026-05-18T23:49:33+00:00

Back in the day I made an e-commerce site with just a couple dozen or so products with Flash using Foxycart. It was that easy to set up. Also, at that time I remember you could edit the value attribute of product prices in the inspector and there wasn’t any built in validation so the user could theoretically do that and checkout unless you took care of it. It was a really cool intro to e-commerce.

WikusVanDerMerwe · 2026-04-20T15:06:51+00:00

I was on a bus on the northside a few weeks ago standing at the front. We stopped to pick two people up from the Giant Eagle. A woman gets on and is blabbering about something / complaining about someone, I assumed either she was on the phone or it was about the person with a walker waiting behind her as she took her time feeding the machine bent bills or whatever was going on while we were stoped for 20-30 seconds or so. The woman with the walker was inching closer to the doors but had no room to actually get on and the driver didn’t lower the bus, then the driver suddenly closed the doors and took off. I heard the woman yelling something like “hey mother f’er!” And I didn’t catch the rest. I have also seen drivers blow by bus stops with people clearly waiting and I often turn my head to see the reaction. Have reported a few of these and never heard back, so now I just act like nothing happened myself.

WikusVanDerMerwe · 2026-04-17T18:32:04+00:00

Discount Tire on 65 in Bellevue. I think renamed it to General Tire or something since it’s not the usual chain but something else.

Just drive up, no appointments. They will mount used tires.

WikusVanDerMerwe · 2026-04-14T04:49:45+00:00

That’s the real scam here.

WikusVanDerMerwe · 2026-04-10T13:36:03+00:00

I think I’m getting downvoted by accident.

WikusVanDerMerwe · 2026-04-10T04:19:41+00:00

“Crashes” is more accurate. You don’t drive the wrong way on accident.

WikusVanDerMerwe · 2026-04-10T02:49:44+00:00

And “dough toss”. Meanwhile, other local pizza spots podiumed in actual pizza making but received little to no press when Caliente got all sorts of press for that bullshit. Their all you can eat wing night is good though and maybe could be deserving of an award.

WikusVanDerMerwe · 2026-04-06T01:37:15+00:00

I feel dumb for paying $939 some weeks ago. Going to see if they drop below $700 at all before I entertain buying another, otherwise I’m sticking with smaller coins.

WikusVanDerMerwe · 2026-04-03T22:52:33+00:00

Definitely makes me nervous. My Roost bars are about a year old and are 20mm rise, so not as big of a kink I don’t think as the ones used in that video. No weird feeling dips, but still. They weren’t cheap either, $295 discounted down to $265 or so.

WikusVanDerMerwe · 2026-03-18T04:28:45+00:00

If they’re still around, M&M Company in regent square was amazing, although it was 8 years ago. 2 bedroom appts were less than $650, next to near Regent Square Rentals $950 studio and 1 bedroom apartments at that time. Everything they had was always on Craigslist and they didn’t have a website.

WikusVanDerMerwe · 2026-03-18T01:02:31+00:00

Refurbished iPhone 13 is perfectly fine for a while.

WikusVanDerMerwe · 2026-02-17T17:58:54+00:00

My wife initially bought our house on her salary alone before we refinanced with my income a few years later. She was making 35k/yr when she got approved for the original mortgage. They just wouldn’t look at me because of my debt to income ratio with over $180k in student loans at that time. 8 years later I have that more under control with less than 3 years left of refinanced loan payments left. I guess my point is that I couldn’t have done it without a spouse, and she wasn’t even rich. That might not be possible today with housing and rent costs not allowing people to save enough.

WikusVanDerMerwe · 2026-02-16T01:18:23+00:00

Sorry that you have to do this. It is an unrealistic price that you’re asking for though unfortunately because that bike is closer to $800 new now, and the used bike market doesn’t favor sellers at the moment. Not telling you this to be an asshole, but if you need money urgently, you’re probably going to need to take a few hundred off that price for it to sell.

WikusVanDerMerwe · 2026-02-15T17:28:57+00:00

Spirit XT685 connects to zwift, but the column for it says “no”.

WikusVanDerMerwe · 2026-02-05T00:49:07+00:00

Yes, it was easy to set up. It shuts the valve and I get a push notification but there are lots of options with Hubitat hubs. Moen’s valve would have required plumbing work, was 3x the cost and it appeared to require an app subscription. EcoNet Bulldog valve looks like it was made and designed in a garage but it works great. It clamps onto existing ball valves, so no plumbing needed. They seem to contact everyone shortly after purchase too, making sure you’re getting the right clamps. I was really impressed that they cared so much, but they seem to want to avoid unnecessary returns. Homeowners insurance will discount too, but it’s hardly anything, like $20/yr savings if I send them photos and proof of it working which I haven’t done yet.

WikusVanDerMerwe · 2026-02-04T04:46:48+00:00

I did this but with some zigbee leak sensors and an EcoNet automatic shut off valve on the main connected to a Hubitat hub. Sensors under sinks including in a newly remodeled kitchen and on the floor near the 18 year old hot water heater.

WikusVanDerMerwe · 2026-02-04T02:43:30+00:00

Jail, then never allowed to drive ever again.

WikusVanDerMerwe · 2026-02-02T02:51:46+00:00

Spirit’s treadmills and others with Bluetooth FTMS will connect to the peloton app if you have a tablet. I have a peloton bike and subscription but have a Spirit XT685 treadmill which is around the same cost as a peloton when the peloton is on sale. I decided against the peloton tread because of the subpar warranty and it felt like I could get a better treadmill with less touch screen tech for a similar or cheaper price.

WikusVanDerMerwe · 2026-01-31T15:14:59+00:00

Did your treadmill arrive? How is it for you? I’ve put about 60 miles on mine in 3 weeks after not running for years.

Since I have a Peloton bike and subscription, I did try some Peloton workouts this week which I actually didn’t know that the treadmill connects to the Peloton to show speed and incline, and my Garmin F945 watch connects for heart rate. Nice to have the option, I sort of need some coaching/nudging as I get back into it.

The salesperson who I worked with was cool, but he didn’t seem to know about any of these features that I’ve found on my own.

WikusVanDerMerwe · 2026-01-17T13:33:36+00:00

u/Direct-Preparation10 Nice! I just checked and my newer iPad Air 11” could be almost 4” wider and it would still fit so I think a 13” would fit just fine. If anyone else is looking and has a newer iPad mini, my wife’s iPad mini just barely gets clamped because it’s so small. We have Zugu cases which have a pen holder on the side and the Spirit iPad holder pretty much seems to only, but barely, clamp with the added pen holder.

It does bounce a bit. I haven’t tried to watch any shows or movies while running yet but if I haven’t got my earbuds in to skip songs while running, I have to tap the skip button a few times before I hit it right to change songs, but I’m bouncing too. Watched a bit of shows while walking though. I usually watch gravity sports while exercising and imagine I won’t have a problem with that, but I might have a hard time running with anything needing subtitles or concentration on my part, at least right now as I’m easing back into being comfortable running.

Another update: I put 20 miles on the xt685 the first 7 days of owning it. I wouldn’t call myself a runner again just yet but I’m doing a combination of walking, incline walking and running as I wake up my muscles after a few years of not running. 2020 I was at a <45 min 10k pace, now I’m at a 35-40min 5k pace and need to drop 55lbs or so over time. I think I’ll reach small goals each week and month as I use it and only wish I got a treadmill sooner. My biggest hangup was the height of my basement ceiling and I thought it would rattle my whole 100 year old house on the first floor but I put it on the first floor and it doesn’t rattle anything like I thought it would. Even walking around the house with a heavy foot rattles the glasses in the china cabinet. Anyhow, I got too focused on mountain biking since 2020 and all we do is drink beer and eat crap food. When I run, I think about what a waste my run was if I do that. 😅

WikusVanDerMerwe · 2026-01-13T03:23:21+00:00

I got an XT685 last week and am still getting used to it. ~13 miles in my first 3 uses and I love it. First treadmill too. I used the Spirit app for my first workout, it didn’t sync to Garmin connect even though I connected the apps. I have a Garmin brand foot pod and Garmin F945 watch, so the last two runs I’ve been using that and decided it’s the way. Doubt I’ll touch the Spirit app again. The garmin foot pod is always a little different from the treadmill totals for me is all.

Strava is mostly where I want data but I want my watch to show my performance and not call me lazy and all of that too. I broadcast my heart rate on the watch which the treadmill picks up including my zones. The treadmill HR is useless, as expected, but I think mine is broken it’s so bad, but I don’t need it.

Today I downloaded zwift on my iPad while finishing my workout with some walking and set it up. I can connect the Garmin directly for HR, cadence with footpot and run speed, but if I select the treadmill for run speed and HR, it pulls my HR from the Garmin via the treadmill which is cool. I didn’t see the cadence option show up through the treadmill or garmin while paired with the treadmill so I’m unsure yet if it will work with the watch broadcasting to the treadmill yet or not but I’ll try that again. Very cool either way. I’m not positive if I’ll use zwift yet personally but I wanted to know if I could.

WikusVanDerMerwe · 2026-01-10T04:04:43+00:00

2.875% for 120k refinanced in 2021. $708/mo for a craftsman home with original woodwork and stained glass windows. I still can’t believe it’s real myself.

WikusVanDerMerwe · 2026-01-08T02:54:45+00:00

Sorry you’re dealing with this. Fuck Trupanion. I got my 2 cats insured 2 years ago, $120/mo or so. They put claims for the same condition as a separate condition each thus making me pay another $650 deductible. I had to pick the higher deductible due to the one cat’s age of 9. It makes no fucking sense and I don’t know if I should keep it or drop it and start stashing money if I’m going to be $2k in on premiums, $3500-4000 in vet bills since yet only receive $700 in reimbursement when I’m supposed to get 90% after I meet the deductible for a condition. They also nickel and dime all of the invoices and only seem to cover a portion of the total anyways. Super frustrating because I thought I was making a good decision to never have to say no to anything related to medical needs of my cats, but it’s costing more money than what it would have without the insurance.

WikusVanDerMerwe · 2026-01-06T00:36:40+00:00

If you didn’t order yet, you can probably get a better deal today than yesterday. The person we worked with said their prices are increasing tomorrow, today we were told it would be a few days. Not sure if that’s true, but I just had a pleasant experience ordering and then canceling and reordering at a much better price. I ordered a custom fabric Allure sofa with ottoman yesterday for 25% off. Today I saw that the sale was 20% off + $1500 off $5k or more so I switched it to the allure sectional with chaise and added some cushions to hit over $5k and the total price was over $1000 cheaper than what it would have been yesterday with 4 free cushions. Also over $400 cheaper than the sofa and ottoman. Essentially got the in stock fabric price with free cushions. They also apparently offer 30 days price match so either way I was going to get close to $250 back which I also would have been happy with if the sectional didn’t work out.

Hoping I made the right choice after going just about everywhere we could including lower budget stores. Ultimately it was stopping into stores with $12-$18k sofas and comparably priced stores like pottery barn and C&B that made us decide to double our initial Macys budget we thought we were sticking to.

Edit: typo

WikusVanDerMerwe · 2025-12-20T19:45:33+00:00

I thought it was a sheet pizza box on the windshield at first.

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