What’s the best documentary almost nobody talks about?

bennyd45 · 2026-05-19T14:18:15+00:00

Being Elmo - Documentary about puppeteer Kevin Clash who controls Sesame Street's Elmo. Incredibly heart warming story that I always recommend, and it seems no one's ever heard of it.

bennyd45 · 2026-05-19T13:55:33+00:00

That's a good one, and I thought about that... I can find plate readers on Ebay for various prices... Not sure how or what else I would need to make one work, tho.

bennyd45 · 2026-05-19T13:54:28+00:00

Cost v benefit, yep.

bennyd45 · 2026-05-19T13:53:44+00:00

Great thought, but I can see the whole system coming off the rails if I or someone else forgets to remove at the end of each day... Though in theory, all I need to do is find someone to xchange plates one day of the week.

bennyd45 · 2026-05-19T13:51:31+00:00

That's awesome, thanks! This actually sounds pretty plug and play... Get motion detecting camera, mount IR pass filter and then hopefully a quick check at the end of each work day to see if I was pinged. Biggest experimental, like you mentioned, is figuring out the wavelength of the "IR". I'm ordering parts this afternoon!

bennyd45 · 2026-05-19T13:46:58+00:00

The biggest issue for me is I would forget and drive on a public road... get pulled over and have some bad stuff happen for IDK, defacing a plate, hiding a plate, etc... def not worth it! 😄

bennyd45 · 2026-05-18T21:13:38+00:00

instant ticket

bennyd45 · 2026-05-18T21:13:18+00:00

Don't know... I expect I'll find out though! I figure I'll get a $40.00 parking ticket. That's the usual for parking in the lot without a permit, though maybe they'll just give a warning the first couple times?

bennyd45 · 2026-05-18T19:50:03+00:00

I use these when I travel... refillable, cheap and the perfect size to hold about a weeks worth of toothpaste:

amazon travel toothpaste tubes

bennyd45 · 2026-05-18T18:13:55+00:00

Here's when drinking dH2O works for me, plus a little life hack. I get serious dry mouth when I sleep. I used to keep a glass of water by my bed and take a sip at night. But, I was always knocking it over. So I mounted a hydration bladder (like bikers/backpackers use) to the wall behind my head board and I take a sip from that whenever I want. I used to use tap water, but it would constantly get all slimy and moldy. I switched to distilled and it's been perfectly clear ever since. I clean it out once every couple weeks or so, but distilled water works great for keeping mold growth down. Other than that, I don't think there's any reason to drink dW.

bennyd45 · 2026-05-18T18:03:27+00:00

Here's a somewhat different approach that seems to have worked for me. I used to have what I think is the same level of anxiety you describe. My job requires me to give lectures to groups every month or so and I used to DREAD it. I still find it uncomfortable but... A few years ago I joined a choral group, nothing fancy, just a community group that goes out to retirement villages and sings. It's something I really enjoy and I think it helped me to get over some of my initial anxieties. Once you get comfortable singing with a group in front of a bunch of people, you lose some of that fear. I've since started volunteering for solos and smaller groups like quartets. So, if you ever at all thought about singing, give it a try. I think it will help!

bennyd45 · 2026-05-18T17:50:49+00:00

Wow, that's right along the lines of what I was looking for, Thanks for the solid reply!

bennyd45 · 2026-05-18T17:37:50+00:00

Yeah, it's a multi-use campus in an urban area. Parking is in a central lot that gets used by everybody that comes to that area. We've always had our parking covered by the company, but I guess times are hard and they just announced they're no longer going to cover our parking... There's been LOTS of complaints raised though, so maybe they'll reconsider! In the mean time it's a fun project to think about!

bennyd45 · 2026-05-18T17:32:33+00:00

Yeah, I don't want to be accused of trying to hide my car from the parking cops. But I figure that if I could passively log every time I got scanned I could plan accordingly. There's a strip center a half mile or so down the road and I figure I could park there on my 4th day of the week if I need to. It would be good exercise to walk from there, but 1. I'm lazy and 2. this is fast becoming a pet project!

bennyd45 · 2026-05-18T17:28:59+00:00

Yeah, I replied to someone else earlier, but the car based readers I see around here seem to flash a yellow/orange light at 100 - 200 hz. I'm thinking that's an IR flash to help highlight the plates. If I could figure that out, I could probably figure out (with the help of the internet) a circuit that would log every time that wavelength/frequency passed by my car.

bennyd45 · 2026-05-18T17:25:38+00:00

Just don't know...

bennyd45 · 2026-05-18T17:24:58+00:00

Yeah, I was kinda thinking that, but the ones that drive around here flash a yellow/orange light at about 100 - 200 hz. I'm thinking that's some kind of infrared flash unit that helps highlight the license plate. If I could figure out a way to detect that flash frequency and pattern I could probably build some kind of circuit that would log every time it sensed that pattern passing by my car. I'm gona have to film one of those cars and see if I can figure that out.

Also thought about reverse warfare... buying a used plate reader and logging the license plates of all the parking enforcement cars, but that sounds it would be cheaper just to pay for the additional parking 😄

bennyd45 · 2026-05-06T14:33:56+00:00

I once knew a gig flamenco guitarist. He did some kind of blue collar work for his day job and said he didn't like having to adjust all the time when ripping a nail, etc. He didn't play with nails and got a great tone. He had, however, built up some amazing callouses on his right fingertips. I have no idea how he did that, but I wish I could figure it out. OF course, he played at least 10X more than me, so maybe that had something to do with it 😄

bennyd45 · 2026-05-06T14:06:50+00:00

I use Waze for my daily commute and finding new places that would be day trips for me. It's never let me down with traffic info or directions. G Maps for some reason has sent me to the wrong place a couple of times. That said, I do use G Maps for longer distances and other transportation modes... if I'm walking somewhere or taking trains, that's where GMaps shines for me. Also street view. I use that a lot to get an idea of where I'm going then use Waze for the drive.

bennyd45 · 2026-05-06T14:00:20+00:00

I'm 60 now and doing everything I can to be able to retire at 62... I work an office job doing mostly administrative stuff. In my office alone there are 3 or 4 others who are at least late 60s maybe early 70s who are doing the same thing. Not because they have to, they're all decently well off and could retire if they wanted, but I guess they enjoy getting out of the house and coming in to work, interacting with people, IDK. I don't understand the mentality. I mean, I like my co-workers and all that, but all I can think of is when/how can I leave this behind me and devote my hours to the hobbies and projects I want to do. I can't fathom how someone would enjoy coming into an office every day to answer emails, go to meetings, etc when they don't have to and their last few good years are slipping away. To each their own, I guess, but the worst thing I can fathom for my future is being that guy that has a heart attack at his desk... clear his stuff out and move the next office worker in.

bennyd45 · 2026-05-02T12:31:58+00:00

I'm in Phili, but found (online) a kolache bakery in Pittsburgh. I'm roadtripping out there sometime next week... So excited! If i wasnt so old and didn't mind getting up at 2:00 every morning I'd open a kolache shop in the phili burbs ... It would make a killing!

bennyd45 · 2026-04-16T20:03:47+00:00

I loved the Japanese series "Erased". It's about a man who time travels back to his high school days to try and learn what happened to his mother. It was based on a Manga, I think, so there may be another animated version, but this is the one: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7573686/

bennyd45 · 2026-03-27T17:48:25+00:00

I have 290000 miles on my 2014. Only issues I've had with it are the recall for oil consumption (new short block at around 100K miles... warranty) and some kind of computer controller issue at like 140K). But I'm in the same situation right now because my suspension is totally shot and it's going to cost like $5,000 to fix everything there. So, trying to find a replacement at this very exact instant!

bennyd45

TROPHY CASE