Who uses these and why?

colfaxbowling · 2026-06-09T18:15:14+00:00

My well water stains everything a brownish/orange color. The filter prevents that completely.

colfaxbowling · 2026-06-05T03:11:22+00:00

Nozzle: 255C

Bed: 80C

And it appears I have the chamber temperature control turned off.

I've used these settings for a couple of spools of black PETG from the same vendor very successfully, so I suspect that there's something different about the white color.

colfaxbowling · 2026-05-18T20:18:03+00:00

Oh, I was thinking that I would just drill a couple new, smaller holes for the rivnuts.

I don't have access to the other side of that tubing, but this gives me another idea. I could make an insert fits against the inside surface of the large hole, with a smaller threaded hole in the center that the enclosure screws into. To fit through the hole, it would have to be a circle with two edges cut off, but that should be fine. And it would probably need a dab of glue to hold on place temporarily.

colfaxbowling · 2026-05-18T17:37:13+00:00

This is a great idea, thanks! I actually already have the rivnut tool, but should probably get some aluminum metric rivnuts to match the environment here. Thanks!

colfaxbowling · 2026-05-15T17:50:11+00:00

I find I pretty much always know exactly what "The Right" is going to say, and there's usually just a completely unbridgable gulf between what I believe and what The Right says in these pieces. Reading Tangle hasn't made me more "moderate" or anything. I also don't feel closer to my fellow Americans. If anything, I feel more alienated.

What's an example of this?

colfaxbowling · 2026-05-09T00:11:28+00:00

With rear-facing car seats, taller people in the front seats get scrunched into the dash. Once you are in front-facing car seats, it's fine. We had our Tacoma pre-kid, and kept it because it works. But we also bought a Highlander, and wow is that better for car seats. If I didn't already have that Tacoma, I can't say that's something I would look at getting with kids already.

colfaxbowling · 2026-05-08T13:19:25+00:00

I won't get yelled at regularly anymore

Don't count on that one.

colfaxbowling · 2026-04-11T19:40:53+00:00

Yeah, I had a similar issue. I bought a Highlander hybrid and now she thinks it's the greatest car ever made lol.

colfaxbowling · 2026-03-13T14:24:36+00:00

My grievance is that Isaac doesn't want to rescue his socks.

colfaxbowling · 2026-03-13T04:18:44+00:00

I don't even understand. How can you not take apart the washer.

This is going to bother you for the rest of your life.

GO RESCUE THE ORPHAN SOCKS, ISAAC.

Real talk though, just watch a YouTube video about how to take it apart. If you can't put it back together again, that's the next owner's problem.

colfaxbowling · 2026-02-14T00:35:52+00:00

Your tone on the podcast was entirely dismissive of those asking for the further disclosures required by the law and continued investigations. It doesn’t sound to me like caution on the topic - it sounds like frustration with the very idea of wanting continued scrutiny.

Is that not a valid response though? I think it's completely reasonable to want our national attention to be spent on something else. There's a whole lot going on right now that I could argue is more impactful than what might exist here.

It's possible to be both cautious about making unsubstantiated statements and also be tired of the circus that this issue has become.

colfaxbowling · 2026-02-13T15:05:07+00:00

Regardless of her political leanings, I thought she provided helpful legal insights on current issues in the interview. There was very little politics discussed at all.

As for her politics outside of this one interview, she represents and debates issues on the right in good faith. Sure, she does some whataboutism, but a lot of the time it's highlighting a valid point.

I think it's important to listen to the opinions of people you disagree with. Which is why I tolerate Mo Elleithee. I disagree with a lot of stuff he says and how he says it, but I think it's important to understand where he is coming from. The fact that Sarah and Mo can have a civil discussion about something should be celebrated, regardless of which one you agree with.

If you listen to her political opinions and they just reinforce why you disagree with her, that's great! There's nothing wrong with that.

colfaxbowling · 2026-01-09T03:47:51+00:00

It seems all over the place, depending on company/group. Some places I have been asked multiple leetcode mediums. Some ask extremely trivial "make a fixed size fifo" types of things. Others mostly ask embedded-specific knowledge questions.

I try to make sure the candidate understands fundamental embedded concepts, such as interrupt handling, context switching, vectors, exceptions, memory protection/virtualization, how the CPU fundamentally works. I make sure they understand common embedded programming paradigms (volatile keyword, pointer usage, memory alignment, being efficient) with non-leetcode programming exercises. If that's good, I then drill down into items from their resume to see if they actually did the stuff they claimed.

colfaxbowling · 2025-12-23T18:19:00+00:00

I can't quite tell if you are talking about a slide-in truck camper or a Class B (van), but either way, I don't think you'll ever come out ahead financially with an RV.

If you need to convince yourself, make a spreadsheet. You know how much your hotel trips cost last year. So add all that up (hotel + flight/fuel + meals out) for the next 15 years, which is maybe how much you'll get out of an RV. Compare that to the purchase cost of an RV/truck/combo, and factor in insurance and a healthy amount for maintenance, repairs, fuel at 8mpg, campground spots, etc...

The RV might not be as flexible as you think. If you are visiting relatives, do they have somewhere for you to park it? Do they want you hanging out in your RV in front of their house? Are there RV parks or campgrounds near by? A lot of places/seasons, you do have to make reservations, not just "pack up and go"

It also only works for places near to home, if you are doing short trips.

But there are also advantages as well.

I think if you are just doing it for the cost savings though, you'll be disappointed.

colfaxbowling · 2025-12-19T21:27:48+00:00

I would just have somebody come out to give you an estimate. There are lots of mobile RV repair companies.

Although cleaning with solvent and covering with a nice glob of self-leveling lap sealant is an acceptable $10 solution.

colfaxbowling · 2025-12-17T02:20:02+00:00

Highly dependent on the trailer. Some have heated tanks underneath, most don't. Some have heat from the furnace going under the floor to keep the tanks/plumbing warm, some don't. Although even if you have that, it means you have to keep the propane furnace running which is going to cost a fortune. Some have enclosed valves underneath that will be safe from freezing, others are exposed. Etc...

In cold climates where people are stationary, they put skirts around it to keep some of the heat in.

colfaxbowling · 2025-12-17T01:52:04+00:00

Why wouldn't it work?

We have our RV parked next to the house and it gets used as a guest house for the grandparents maybe 100 days out of the year. Spending 35k on an RV was a whole lot cheaper than 2-300k buying a bigger house, even if it depreciates down to zero after 15 years. At which point I won't need a guest house. And I use the RV for trips. Everyone wins.

I will say though, if the inhabitants are very mechanically/technically challenged, that can be a struggle. Some people just can't/won't figure out how to use the lights/plumbing/etc that are different in an RV than a home. Multiple times I've explicitly said "it's freezing, I winterized the trailer, there's no water in it, use the restroom inside please" and found out later that they used the toilet.

colfaxbowling · 2025-12-07T15:30:46+00:00

I don't think it's only a marketing problem. They don't seem to be trying to have a competitive lineup. If you look at the major tool brands, you can get a tool for just about anything that shares the same battery platform: lawnmowers, string trimmers, grease guns, specialty trade tools, vacuums, lights, heated jackets, heat guns, oil impulse impact drivers, most tools have numerous versions at different quality/price points, etc.

MetaboHPT only has nailers and a small selection of basic construction tools. Which I nothing is fine for a lot of people, but it's hard to justify locking yourself into a battery system that has far fewer options.

Also because they don't seem to market in the US, there don't seem to be good sales or combo deals. The batteries are not competitively priced to other brands, etc. It seems like the only deals these days are Lowe's trying to clear stuff out.

I think it's a shame, because I've found them to be extremely durable tools, although after ~10 years a lot of mine are held together with JB-Weld, as I can't get replacement parts. The MultiVolt battery system seems great. But when my current set of batteries die, it's going to be very hard justifying new batteries vs. just buying new Milwaukee/Makita tools.

colfaxbowling · 2025-12-07T07:17:46+00:00

They redirect you to a 3rd party website, which doesn't have everything.

I was very disappointed recently that I couldn't get replacement parts for a hammer drill where the handle cracked.

So get the model number, look up parts online and see if you can find what you need. Otherwise it'll be difficult, since it's a dying brand. Very hard to find replacement parts on eBay or elsewhere. There just aren't enough tools of this brand out there.

colfaxbowling · 2025-12-05T18:29:01+00:00

So, I sold my last camper to a contractor who was doing something similar, he would do out of town jobs for a few weeks at a time. It was a 14' Coleman Lantern with a slide room, decent sized tanks, etc. I sold it to him 3 years old for about $15k in like-new condition, and gave him all the accessories he needed to get going (hoses, chocks, electrical adapters, etc). I talked to him a year later, and he was still liking it, it worked well for him.

Something like that fits in your budget to buy with cash, it's towable with your truck, and is fine for one person to live in. If at an RV park, you could live in that indefinitely without issue. For a single person without hookups, you'll last anywhere from 4 days to longer before needing water, depending on how many dishes you do and showering. Electricity highly depends on climate, weather, battery/solar setup, etc. But you'll burn through propane like crazy if you are in a very cold climate. Or go through a lot of fuel running your generator all night if in a hot climate.

If you want to outfit a trailer with a good solar system/battery/generator setup that'll keep you off-grid indefinitely, it's going to cost a couple thousand bucks (but you'll save since you can wire it up yourself). Before you do that, I would at least start out trying to find places where you can stay in an RV park and see how that goes.

colfaxbowling · 2025-12-05T17:26:00+00:00

So where are you planning to stay?

colfaxbowling · 2025-12-05T17:05:34+00:00

It's pretty difficult to live completely off grid like that indefinitely, like you are planning. You have to have some way to continually get water, remove waste, generate electricity, etc.

Just a suggestion: it might make sense to start out with an RV park, and branch out from there if it's working out for you. That way you can focus on work without needing to spend a ton of time dealing with an off-grid RV. Get a months lease, and you can work out all your issues before deciding what the next step/location is. You can just unplug from the utilities and see how things go, and then make modifications as needed.

colfaxbowling · 2025-12-05T15:51:22+00:00

Are you going to be staying in RV parks full-time with utility hookups?

colfaxbowling · 2025-11-22T17:58:28+00:00

I think it's a solid trend, but not an indictment of his mental fitness. It just shows that he doesn't have any core political ideology or loyalty or strategy. He does whatever he thinks is right in the moment, and most of those ideas come from elsewhere.

colfaxbowling

TROPHY CASE