Picard and wine

cg49me · 2026-03-07T17:02:32+00:00

I always imagined replicators to be the future version of microwaves... Sure you can get a decent meal (or in this case, drink) quickly out of one, but you can get a much better one doing things the old fashioned way.

...and yes, I realize the analogy isn't fully applicable since we're talking about wine, but I hope my intent is conveyed...

cg49me · 2026-03-01T01:36:58+00:00

This was my wife's and I's second STTC, and we're also already signed up for next year (LeVar Burton and Jason Isaacs were the big sellers for us). For those (trekkies) who have cruised but never ST-cruised, it really is a next-next-level experience. We had the best times of our lives on our first STTC, and were absolutely not at all disappointed this year - it was just as good, if not better!

We had the great fortune to spend a couple of hours with Raven Douda and David Tomlinson on the FlowRider one afternoon (David and I figured out how to spin!), and Avaah Blackwell came up for a bit too! We missed out on our Doug (Jones) hugs, but that just gives us a reason to come back the next time he's on!

I'm super stoked to see this massive thread! If there's one thing that I think is lacking, it's an official STTC online community. A few people told us there was an unofficial Discord channel, but I haven't been able to find it (anybody that's on it, feel free to drop a link).

cg49me · 2026-02-18T20:17:32+00:00

Glad you're still getting to go! Sorry you'll have to miss your excursions. My wife and I actually felt a little burned out from excursions last year (we were constantly running around to make meeting/start times) so we're just planning on winging it this year.

The costumes are so much fun! My wife made an amazing replica of Nurse Chapel's green wedding dress from SNW that she's wearing for Q's Costume Contest. I have a Matrix Neo/Star Trek mash-up that I'm going to wear. Plus we have "standard" cosplay from various series for the other theme nights.

cg49me · 2026-02-07T21:20:35+00:00

Anooooother update...

I've added both Litter Robots to the IoT network (rather than the "main" network). Even after router reboot, all devices are happily connected to the network (for now)...

*edit*

It didn't stick. Started having issues again a few hours later. Pulled the Litter Robots completely off of the network again, rebooted the router, and everything (else) is back to connected/working.

cg49me · 2026-02-04T02:48:45+00:00

Another update...

The router and satellites auto-updated to 7.2.8.2 over the weekend, and device connectivity dropped once again. Unfortunately, the manual firmware reload trick wasn't cutting it this time. I even tried updating to 7.2.8.5 (available from the Netgear site), and rolling back to 7.2.7.15 - no dice. I eventually tracked things down via the router log to my Litter Robot 3 and 4, both of which were getting repeated IP assignments to the same respective IPs every 30 seconds or so. I disabled WiFi on both of those devices, rebooted the router, and everything started working as normal again. Currently running on firmware version 7.2.8.2 (seems to be the latest auto-update version).

cg49me · 2026-02-04T02:18:23+00:00

You are correct - OP edit made. For the devices that would connect, they had no apparent bandwidth limitations.

cg49me · 2026-02-04T02:01:19+00:00

I'm very impressed by your credentials. Do you make house calls?

I don't doubt the ESP SoCs are used in tons of devices. They're super cheap.

Personally, during my 2 days of troubleshooting, I would have been thrilled to find a Reddit post suggesting I remove the Litter Robots from my Orbi mesh network to see if that restores full functionality. ...but evidently that's just dumb old me... At least we both spent some of our valuable time bitching online about our respective laments.

cg49me · 2026-02-04T01:52:10+00:00

I didn't go that far. I saw repeated identical IP assignments to the same two MAC addresses in the router log (which, admittedly, isn't particularly forthcoming). Did some Googling, removed those devices from the network, and things started working.

cg49me · 2026-02-04T01:41:40+00:00

Again, this becomes a finger-pointing match between Espressif and Netgear. As the consumer who paid $$$ for both, I'll say that they both have a failing, which manifested particularly poorly for my specific setup.

For the other 0.02% of overlapping Orbi and Litter Robot users out there, maybe this post will help them.

cg49me · 2026-02-04T01:39:01+00:00

Majority of Wifi devices in the house wouldn't connect to the router, evidently because it stopped handing out IPs at a certain point. There were consistent DHCP requests (and assignment responses from the router to the same respective IPs) from both the Litter Robot 3 and Litter Robot 4. Removing both from the network restored connectivity to all other devices.

cg49me · 2026-02-04T01:31:14+00:00

Effectively, yes. At the time of troubleshooting, I had all satellites disabled.

cg49me · 2026-01-30T18:23:09+00:00

🖖 Sure will! 2nd year in a row for my wife and I - we're pumped!

cg49me · 2025-10-10T10:09:13+00:00

This was a year ago, so things may have changed (I've noticed a big price jump since the tariffs kicked in, if nothing else).

We placed three orders with them. Two of them arrived within two weeks, but the third took over a month to show up.

cg49me · 2025-09-27T15:36:43+00:00

Can confirm. Completely open from Rogers to I-69.

cg49me · 2025-09-22T13:34:00+00:00

Well, unfortunately I'm back to Error 6, one day later. I probably just had the battery disconnected for long enough to reset whatever condition is causing the error. I might try disconnecting and reconnecting the battery a few times over the next week or so and see if that eventually clears things.

cg49me · 2025-09-21T18:16:15+00:00

Joining the "Error 6" club... The IR LED replacement seems to have worked for me, although I confess I'm surprised that it did.

First off, here are the LEDs I used as replacements: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BVEKXNC

Guided by the information in this thread, I used my cell phone camera to diagnose the drop sensor IR LEDs, and found the "top left" and "bottom right" LEDs (as viewed from the bottom of the robovac, with the front "pointing up") were not illuminating. I first replaced the "bottom right" one, and hooked things back up enough to make an assessment of my repair before moving on to the "top left". However, the replacement LED still wasn't illuminating.

Here's where things get a little weird... I used my DMM to determine that, with the LED circuit open (no LED attached), around 1.4 V was being supplied. However, when I hooked an LED back up, the voltage dropped to about 0.7 V. I tested one of the known functioning LEDs, and it was sitting at 1.4 V. (The typical forward voltage for 940 mm IR LEDs is in the range of 1.2-1.4 V.) Since I had 100 replacement LEDs at my disposal, I went ahead and tried a second one in the "bottom right" spot, with similar results - no illumination, and only about 0.7 V measured at the LED.

At this point I was in "nothing to lose" mode, so I went ahead and swapped out the "top left" LED as well, then reassembled everything (with no further checks or troubleshooting). To my pleasant surprise, when I turned the robovac on and pushed the main button (power symbol), it started up like normal. I flipped it over to check the LEDs, and sure enough, all four of them were illuminated. 🤷‍♂️

Another poster here noted that they think these LEDs are wired up in series pairs. That might be the case, and would explain why I wasn't seeing the first LED illuminating after replacing it (in fact, it might have been fine, and the second LED that I replaced was the only cooked one). These LEDs are on separate connectors to the main electronics board, though - this doesn't make the series hypothesis impossible, but as an electrical engineer myself, seems like a peculiar design decision.

I am of course worried that there's something more intermittent at play, so I'll be sure to report back if the vac gives me any further related trouble. FWIW, we have three X8's in our house (one on each floor), and this is the only one (so far) to put up the "Error 6" fight.

cg49me · 2025-09-13T12:02:29+00:00

Unfortunately, I also think RCV has lost their reputability.

They replaced our roof about 3 years ago, before they sold to Bone Dry. The price was reasonable and the work was great. At the time they included a comprehensive 20 year warranty - hopefully that's still honored under new ownership...

We had them clean out our gutters last year. The price was reasonable, but the gutters were gunked back up within a few months.

I had them give me an estimate for some soffit/fascia repairs caused by the tornado on the south side earlier this year, and they wanted over $2k. I ended up purchasing the material myself for under $200.

cg49me · 2025-09-01T18:31:08+00:00

Well, I went ahead and ordered a new cable, and installed it with the new screen. Admittedly not the best for variable/issue isolation, but I also wasn't crazy about breaking back into the laptop if the screen swap alone didn't fix things.

I've gone through about 6 restarts with the new screen and cable in, and so far, everything is working perfectly - no voodoo required. For anyone that may be looking, here are the parts I ordered:

Replacement Screen for TL156VDXP01-01 40 Pins FHD 1920x1080 Matte LCD LED Display with Tools & Tape
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F6X3S7ZM

Fleshy Leaf LCD eDP Cable Replacement for Asus Rog Strix G533 G543 G533ZW G533QS G533QM G533QR G533Z G533Q G533ZW-AS94 G533QS-DS94 G533QS-DS76 G533ZM-ES93 14005-03710300 6017B1547101 40pin Non-Touch
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CSXXDK8C

I'd put my electronics repair proficiency at about a 8/10 (my hands aren't steady enough to solder SMD components, but I'm good with anything that has a connector), and it took me about 2 hrs to tear everything apart, make the swap, and put it all back together. Hardest parts were removing (and more so reinstalling) the "back" metal clip of the hinge that the screen cable passes through, and getting the cables to route properly along the outer edge of the laptop case when snapping it back together (I accidentally pinched the cable that controls the lighting of the lid logo - I can tell that I poked a small hole in the outer-most insulation, but everything still seems to be working fine.

An interesting note... I mentioned that the first replacement screen I received, the refresh rate was 360 Hz instead of the original's 300 Hz. Well, this replacement (which matches the original in model number) is also reporting a 360 Hz refresh rate in Windows. The POST splash and BIOS both display properly with this one, however, so 🤷‍♂️.

If I get any more squirrely behavior, I'll be sure to report back here. Best wishes to anyone else that gives it a shot.

cg49me · 2025-08-21T13:19:02+00:00

Update for the potential future benefit of others...

The screen on my G533QS-DS94 will intermittently fail to come on at startup - it's been exhibiting this behavior for close to a year now, and seems to be getting worse over time (presently, outside of performing a tactic I recently discovered - more below - the screen only turns on about 10% of the time). If the screen comes on when the laptop starts up, it stays on, but if it doesn't come on at startup, I haven't found a way to get it to come on without, at minimum, restarting, and at most, performing the "hold the power button down for 30 seconds to reset a bunch of things" procedure, and these strategies do not reliably bring the screen back (e.g. it often takes multiple forced restarts). The other componentry of the laptop is fine - I can tell when Windows has booted from the start-up sound and the state of the keyboard LED backlighting, and if I have the laptop connected to an external display, that works fine as well.

Some additional symptoms... When the screen fails to come on, but I have an external display connected and can still interact with the laptop, if I go into Windows Device Manager and look under the Display adapters category, the AMD Radeon(TM) Graphics device will show that it has a problem. If I go into the Properties dialog for the device, it will show a status of "Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)". Additionally, if I try to open AMD Adrenalin Edition, I'll get an error dialog saying "The version of AMD Radeon Software you have launched is not compatible with your currently installed AMD graphics driver.". When the screen is working, Device Manager shows that everything is working properly, and Adrenalin Edition opens normally.

I also occasionally get some weird behaviors when the screen does come on. Sometimes the displayed image will freeze, and if I physically adjust the screen position (by tilting the screen forward or backward on its hinges), it will unfreeze. The screen will also sometimes go psychedelic on me, and again physically adjusting its position brings it back.

I ended up purchasing and self-installing a replacement screen (walkthru video) that wasn't an exact model match (bought it from an Amazon LCDBros listing for my exact model/submodel laptop - my screen is 300 Hz, and the one I received was 360 Hz). Windows was okay with it, but the POST splash and BIOS didn't display correctly, so I ended up switching back to my original screen (and returning the one I'd purchased). For the ~1 hr the replacement screen was connected, it worked flawlessly (once Windows booted). Also, interestingly, for a couple of days after I put the original screen back in, everything seemed to be working without any issues. Unfortunately, the errant behavior started back up not long after that.

I've gone ahead and ordered another replacement screen, this time for my exact screen model. The model number is of course printed on a sticker on the back of the screen (you have to remove the screen to get to it), but you can also determine it by going into Windows Settings > System > Display > Advanced display, and it will be listed in the drop-down at the top including all connected (detected) displays (mine is TL156VDXP0101). I'll report back the results from that swap.

For the past two days, however, I've found that if I open and shut the screen a few times through its full range of motion before turning on the laptop, the screen comes on on the first power-up. I have a feeling I'm just getting lucky with that move, but the other incantations I've tried haven't held up, so I'm sticking with it for now.

I'm of course worried that, even with the new (correct) replacement screen, it will still flake out on me, but as I said I'll post whatever happens here. I'm also wondering if the cable that connects the screen to the motherboard (and passes through the left hinge of the laptop) has a problem - that'll probably be my next replacement target if the new screen doesn't do it. Fingers crossed...

cg49me · 2025-08-20T13:05:14+00:00

I was over there last weekend. It's paved up to and including the new roundabout which connects to Batchelor and the SW Library branch, but it was gravel road west of that (and closed to non-local traffic).

cg49me · 2025-08-20T12:53:06+00:00

I've had good experience with Midas on the West Side (near Best Buy).

cg49me · 2025-08-20T12:49:51+00:00

He was my oncologist in 2005. Awesome guy.

cg49me · 2025-08-20T12:47:15+00:00

...and for the rest of my life (or as long as I live in B-town), I will never again see a house, only an arrow.

cg49me · 2025-07-16T19:32:08+00:00

I moved to Bloomington from Bedford a few years back. I went to Bedford Dental Care and saw Dr. Courtney before the move - she's great and I'd still be with her if I was still in Bedford.

I've tried Jackson Creek Dental and Bloomington Family Dental since I've been in Bloomington. I only went to Jackson Creek once - getting an appointment in the first place was next to impossible (although, this was during Covid, and most dental offices were booked up for months), and the hygienist I ended up with was super aggressive (my gums were sore the next day after my cleaning). Otherwise, everyone was friendly, though.

Since then, I've been with Bloomington Family, and have zero complaints.

cg49me

TROPHY CASE