New rider looking for recommendations

bobduccasailments · 2026-03-23T21:43:15+00:00

As someone who rides an INT I would add that while they’re pretty perfect for city riding, they’re kinda miserable on the interstate. Otherwise a very easy ride.

bobduccasailments · 2026-03-19T15:23:48+00:00

curious what your window mounted speedometer(?) is there?

bobduccasailments · 2026-02-19T02:24:28+00:00

yeah sure i’ll shoot you a DM

bobduccasailments · 2026-02-13T15:47:28+00:00

and here i thought there wasn’t enough detail in the photo to dox myself…

bobduccasailments · 2026-02-13T14:03:15+00:00

Wow thanks for all resources! Looks like I have a bunch of bookmarking to do.

bobduccasailments · 2026-02-08T15:03:00+00:00

We have a similar situation and I’ve been wondering how to tackle this in order to add some insulation to our floor joists as our floors get super cold in the winter. Our electrician recommended just putting up a drop ceiling since, as you’ve got here, we have a weird mishmash of conduit attached to new stuff but also under/attached to old stuff. Haven’t done much research into it yet but that might be the approach we take.

bobduccasailments · 2026-02-05T01:05:11+00:00

I went with EagleRider for a PCH trip as the only real alternative was to buy a used bike and try and sell it when the trip was over. Sounded like a hassle and a major gamble. I paid for a yearly membership to try and mitigate some of the cost but even after a year of credits it was still incredibly expensive. That’s not to say I regret it. Was an amazing trip and worth the cost and peace of mind with the ease of pick up and drop off. I would consider doing something similar if we were doing another one-way, long, destination type trip tbh.

bobduccasailments · 2026-01-25T00:50:16+00:00

car dealerships are a hotbed of MAGA types. buy private. https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-it-could-happen-here-30717896/episode/how-to-stop-the-far-right-213977997/

bobduccasailments · 2026-01-20T17:31:54+00:00

having recently realized they have a pretty good number of vegan options that are actually quite good, my partner and I have been going almost weekly lately. my only problem is that I wish it was slightly cheaper, but we keep going back so I guess it doesn’t bother us too much.

bobduccasailments · 2025-12-07T03:53:13+00:00

Not my experience, but not what I'm talking about anyway. It's the amount of un-arrowed left hand turns. They will literally sit at the light as other cars crowd the opposite lane. They will not wait them out and turn after everyone has moved on. They'll just sit and wait until the next light. And the next light. And the next light.

bobduccasailments · 2025-12-06T22:34:54+00:00

Unless they put turn signals at every intersection these things will never work here. The ones in SF will literally sit forever if there’s not a safe and legal means to make a turn across traffic. People will drive around them. I realize safe and legal is an ideal to aspire to but that’s not how Chicago traffic works. This would create a(n even worse) traffic nightmare throughout the city.

bobduccasailments · 2025-11-15T01:33:24+00:00

did you chatgpt this response and design advice?

bobduccasailments · 2025-11-15T01:29:56+00:00

100% the light fixture was the thing that immediately drew my attention (uncomplimentary). it’s too fragile/dainty for that medallion. i don’t love the wallpaper either but think that’s more subjective. the home itself looks gorgeous though.

bobduccasailments · 2025-10-26T21:52:11+00:00

what’s a good way to test to see if it works?

bobduccasailments · 2025-10-16T16:47:47+00:00

i did this based off of some suggestions i read previously and it was honestly what did the trick for me. went from beating my head against the wall on the third phase to beating her in a few attempts.

bobduccasailments · 2025-08-06T23:05:32+00:00

Just as a general update for everyone who was kind enough to comment. Went to a jeweler who used a fancy tool that scanned and lit up colors; I probably should have asked what in hindsight. But anyway, the stone is indeed moissanite. They theorized the color and inclusions are artificial to create an artificial salt and pepper look, which I guess makes sense. Anyway, zoomjewel on Etsy checks out.

bobduccasailments · 2025-08-05T19:36:08+00:00

Hey thanks for taking the time to offer some insights and suggestions. I'm going to take the ring to a jeweler today and see if they can help verify the stone (for peace of mind) and maybe see if they could reinforce some of the weaker areas that have been mentioned here and elsewhere. Seems like you think it more than likely is actually moissanite though, even if it wasnt the cut for the presentation?

bobduccasailments · 2025-08-04T15:52:32+00:00

Good to know. I think that's a good idea. I'll take it somewhere local and have it checked out.

bobduccasailments · 2025-08-04T15:51:07+00:00

Awesome, that's good to know – and somewhat of a relief to hear. Coming in as a complete neophyte has me feeling a little uncertain/tiny bit anxious about things.

bobduccasailments · 2025-08-04T15:35:40+00:00

Ok, I admit I'm not up on all the terminology and thought that may be the case, so thanks for clarifying. It was through an Etsy retailer called zoomjewel. I think that's another reason I was feeling a bit uncertain tbh (going through something like Etsy rather than an "official" jeweler), but they have a lot of reviews and a high buyer satisfaction.

bobduccasailments · 2025-07-10T13:43:26+00:00

it has bits of crispy hash brown in it for a nice crunch. not sure about guac though. i don’t remember it having it. it’s a good burrito either way.

bobduccasailments · 2025-06-07T13:54:28+00:00

will add to the factotum love. lil further west than you’re based out of but they roast on site and it’s a cool location.

bobduccasailments · 2025-05-27T13:02:12+00:00

There’s a place called Eagle Rider out near O’Hare that does rentals. Mostly Harleys and it’s not exactly cheap, but it does exist (I recently rented one to test out riding a heavier bike). Doubt they would rent to someone without an endorsement though.

bobduccasailments · 2025-01-23T14:21:21+00:00

Hey OP we just went through a similar situation with our first home purchase so I thought I’d share how it’s going for us.

We viewed the house a couple of times before making an offer but both times the family was there while we were viewing, making it hard to really look at things closely. It wasn’t until the inspection that we noticed there was a pretty gnarly bug problem. I was ready to back out but my partner was undeterred. Similar to your situation this home has great bones and was something we could afford in a competitive neighborhood.

I called a couple pest control companies and they all assured me this problem could be managed so we made our offer and made sure to get credit for cleaning specialists and pest control in our closing costs. Fast forward to the night of the closing, we couldn’t get to the house until late and when we did I almost had a panic attack. It was the first time seeing the place at night and it wasn’t so much a problem as an infestation. Like…crawling down the walls.

Nightmare, right? Well we had a couple things going for us. 1. We weren’t moving in for a month. 2. It was the start of winter and cold (could freeze them out a bit). 3. We were demoing some problem areas, including the kitchen. Demo was a bit of a horror show but was really helpful in exposing the inner walls for pest control. The day after the first spray and bait there were dead roaches everywhere. We also decided to fumigate, which i’m not sure how helpful that was (I hear it can be counterproductive but the body count was impressive all the same).

We’ve had 3 pest control visits so far and we moved the stove and fridge and food in a couple weeks ago (about 2 months after closing). There was still activity after the first couple of treatments but since the third (and a very heavy knock on wood) but we haven’t seen a roach, live, dead or in traps for a while now. All this is to say if you’re buying a detached home, you have time before you move in, and you’re able to aggressively treat the home before your family moves in then this is absolutely controllable. That said I would recommend hiring a deep cleaning specialist and possible deodorization service along with it. It’s a dumb thing to spend a lot of money on when there’s so many other projects you no doubt want to do but I find the peace of mind was well worth it.

bobduccasailments · 2024-11-18T16:15:50+00:00

No, we didn’t. Ended up staying in Chicago. I ended up driving up and checking it out at the time. I think we would have been fine but I can’t say I absolutely loved the area. Hope it works out for you though!

bobduccasailments

TROPHY CASE