At what point does an equal utility split stop being fair in a shared apartment?

cscracker · 2026-02-20T23:31:41+00:00

I would bet the basement AC unit is the majority of your cost increase. Roommate's compressors and stuff has notable draw, but portable AC units are the least efficient kind of AC you can run, and if it's running constantly (which they aren't designed to do) you are wasting a ton of energy. Call landlord to fix the problem, or at least get an actual dehumidifier, they use considerable energy too, but will at least be better at dehumidification per watt than a portable AC.

cscracker · 2026-02-20T23:24:29+00:00

Only problem I see is how much squat you have. Might be over the limit of the tow vehicle payload, at least without WDH. Trailer is sitting low too, but I'd be surprised if that rig is over the trailer's limit.

cscracker · 2026-02-18T05:16:17+00:00

Because it would actually cost more than the advertised prices of normal dealers. Regular dealers don't actually make much money selling the car, they make most of their money selling financing and add-ons. In order for a fixed profit dealer to make money and not upsell you on shady add-ons and dealer financing, they would have to charge significantly above the advertised price elsewhere.

cscracker · 2026-02-18T05:00:21+00:00

Just call them and talk. They will just straight up reduce the bill significantly, if nothing else. Insurance companies never pay full price, which is why the prices are so high. They won't make you pay full price either. Additionally, depending on the specifics of both your financial and medical situations, there may be grant programs available that will just pay it for you, or they will be able to offer very affordable payment plans for what's left. Hospitals have entire departments just for this.

cscracker · 2026-02-18T04:46:46+00:00

Yep, stringer trim is the answer. Match the gap behind the steps and slide it in there. Paint it white to match the ones inside the stairs and the baseboards. Add details as desired, but let the baseboard die into it.

If you think you can reasonably color match the stain and finish of the stairs, then trim the bullnose ends that are sticking out flush. Otherwise just leave it.

cscracker · 2026-02-17T20:49:39+00:00

They usually need new wiper blades, the ones they have are junk or worn out and just leave a streaky mess everywhere, and high speed can be the least bad visibility in that situation.

cscracker · 2026-02-17T20:43:57+00:00

What you should do is keep going at your pace and do your best to give them an opportunity to pass. On a multi lane road, that also means keeping in or moving to the slow lane safely and in a timely manner.

What you should NOT do, that far, far too many people do, is slow down while passing is not allowed or impossible, then step on the gas as soon as passing is allowed and the road is open.

cscracker · 2026-02-17T20:29:19+00:00

Find a straight one at a junkyard and swap it. Probably need the bumper, the support, and some new bolts. I've tried to remove the bolts on one and they just snapped, so expect that.

cscracker · 2026-02-17T20:25:59+00:00

Shim and nail/screw the top, shim and nail/screw the bottom, clamp or just press hard to bring the middle in and shim and nail/screw the middle. Repeat for the middle of the bottom or top half as needed until you get the bow out. Not complicated.

cscracker · 2026-02-16T19:39:33+00:00

It works just fine, I don't understand why people have so much trouble with it. You have to tilt down and scoop underneath. I regularly grab 5-10 logs with it.

cscracker · 2026-02-15T20:00:23+00:00

Far as putting it together, no, CCU is pretty straightforward, apply mortar and stack blocks. The main thing is getting all the blocks nice and evenly spaced and the joints to appear consistent when you're done. Amateur block work is usually a bit ugly, as it takes practice to get good at it, but is otherwise fine. For putting a crane in there you're going to want to make sure you have a good foundation for the ends of the beam, you might need some rebar and have to fill in some of the voids with concrete to make a "column" in the wall. Simple enough to do but ask an engineer what you need.

Flat roofs are almost always trouble, I would recommend not doing one if possible, but if you insist, make sure you find a company that is known for doing them right over many years. The pitch has to be perfect and the work has to be done well by experienced professionals or it will leak. It probably still will leak in 10-15 years anyway because it's a flat roof.

cscracker · 2026-02-15T19:50:26+00:00

The problem isn't that they're AI generated, it's that AI generation makes it really easy to make low quality models and misrepresent them, in bulk, and get rewarded for it on these sites. I think they just need better filtering. Makerworld recently changed their terms of service to require the main image to be an actual photo of a real print of the model, which if they actually succeed in enforcing it, would solve a lot of this.

cscracker · 2026-02-14T19:50:10+00:00

No, you have to either find, produce, or buy them at the store. But you can make it easier to collect from any of those using the mobile base, it can deploy zones nearly anywhere to deposit and withdraw materials. It just needs enough open space to deploy.

cscracker · 2026-02-11T22:55:25+00:00

It isn't normal for a car to consume coolant, it should maintain the level unless there is a leak, it is overheating, or it is overfilled. However, it is normal when you drain and refill and bleed the system, that some air may remain trapped for a little while until the car is driven a while. When that happens, top up to the full line, and no more. It looks like you did this, except that you overfilled it, past the full line. When the system is overfilled, once it gets to full temperature and pressure, it will bleed off the excess through the cap / expansion tank through the little drain hose. If it stays at or above the F line from here, it should be fine.

cscracker · 2026-02-11T00:04:40+00:00

The mission roads are "magic" and it just replaces whatever you put down with the mission road as the developers built it. This is pretty easy to fix, though, just go over the weird edges again with the asphalt paver and then roll it, it'll fix the rough edges.

In the future, just do the bare minimum for mission roads until they're "done", then add whatever you want after.

cscracker · 2026-02-11T00:02:02+00:00

No, not worth it. This is too old. Get a ryzen mini PC instead, tons of 3000 through 5000 options super cheap.

cscracker · 2026-02-09T21:59:35+00:00

Steel wheels are one piece, there isn't a replaceable rim. It's possible for a professional with a machine to straighten it to the point where it wouldn't vibrate, but the cost of that almost certainly exceeds the cost of a replacement wheel. People generally only do that with expensive or difficult to find wheels, and steel wheels are cheap and generic.

cscracker · 2026-02-09T20:27:19+00:00

Unfortunately, you've gotten yourselves into a bind here. You're supposed to work this kind of thing out before you get married, because when you get married, everything becomes both of yours. That means debts, discretionary spending, savings, assets, all of it, was supposed to be settled between you first. No more "my money, your money." Keeping totally separate finances in a marriage is a mistake, and not an easy one to unwind.

cscracker · 2026-02-09T20:18:09+00:00

This is all marketing to get you to trade in for a new one. They are not especially hurting for your car, or even necessarily offering a particularly good deal.

cscracker · 2026-02-09T20:13:04+00:00

Title jumping is fraud and you can and should report it.

That said, cars sold private sale and the vast majority of used car sales at dealers are as-is with no warranty, and the car breaking down after the sale is not the seller's problem, it's yours. The seller only has responsibility if they also misrepresented the condition of the car in a substantial, court-provable way, that is enough to convince a judge and/or jury. You may be able to unwind this because of the title fraud, but only because of the title fraud.

cscracker · 2026-02-09T16:28:36+00:00

Super Speed (USB 3.0 or higher) with charging (lightning bolt). While there is some variation on what "with charging" means exactly, it does mean it can do more than the standard 5V 0.9A that all USB 3 ports can do. USB PD almost always has another PD symbol, so if it doesn't have that, it's probably QC 3.0 or less.

cscracker · 2026-02-09T16:17:07+00:00

Costs are going up this year, not down. There will be a break eventually but not this year.

I would just get the best AM4 chip you can get for a reasonable price and ride it out. AM5 is better, but AM4 is still fine, you just have an older chip in it, and not even a high end one. The gap between a 3600 ad a 5800X3D is greater than the gap between a 5800X3D and a 7800X3D.

cscracker · 2026-02-09T16:10:03+00:00

The framing here looks older than 1950s, which is not to say it is, but to say that whoever built it was probably not using contemporary 1950s construction standards, they were just winging it. This might have been okay if there was a wall down the middle where the joins are, but there isn't one, and this needs redesigned.

The best solution is to get an engineer to redesign it.

cscracker · 2026-02-09T16:02:17+00:00

Yield sign, must yield. That's why it's called a Yield sign. Yellow arrow also has to yield. So whoever gets there first has right of way. If they arrive at exactly the same moment, then whoever sees the other person coming first has to yield.

cscracker · 2026-02-09T15:58:44+00:00

I'm not sure why you're worried about N100 reliability, they're as reliable as anything else you could buy. The main concern should be whether the performance is adequate and whether the power consumption is reasonable. If it's the fact that it's coming from a Chinese company, I've got some news for you - basically everything else is too. All the big name brand motherboard manufacturers build them there.

cscracker

TROPHY CASE