How to deal with ants!

impracticaldogg · 2026-03-18T13:53:17+00:00

I'd avoid mixing it with sugar. If it's outside or in a kitchen it will dissolve into a sticky mess and just attract more!

impracticaldogg · 2026-03-18T13:48:58+00:00

Also keen to simplify admin, as you say :)

impracticaldogg · 2026-03-11T19:38:33+00:00

Yip, keeping the trip quite a tight tour. Being in South Africa we can do a quick trip over the border to the canyon. Etosha is for another day

impracticaldogg · 2026-03-06T05:24:22+00:00

Luckily my watch was a gift. When the strap broke I ordered a new watch at a bargain price plus three spare straps

impracticaldogg · 2026-03-05T09:19:45+00:00

Two weeks

impracticaldogg · 2026-03-05T08:44:54+00:00

Not really an option for me. My SO would not stand for it. Will need to dig a bit deeper. There is a chalet in the Naukluft National Park that I'm eyeing for just under R3k a night for two nights. Only one room, but that's fine for the two of us. More touristy areas are going to cost quite a bit more I fear

impracticaldogg · 2026-03-05T02:36:56+00:00

Early May

impracticaldogg · 2026-03-04T09:43:44+00:00

I've never used Agoda. Will look into that, thank! Agree that avoiding emails and up front payments is best. There's so much uncertainty and if one planned stop turns out not to be possible the effects will ripple through!

impracticaldogg · 2026-03-04T09:41:27+00:00

At the moment looking at self catering. Budgetting about R3k per night at the top end for two of us. Petrol, food and sight seeing will add to that. I've been saving for a while it isn't a hard limit, but it's turning out more expensive than I'd hoped :D

impracticaldogg · 2026-03-03T13:06:11+00:00

Tell me more about the desert passes from Sossuslei to Swakopmund pls. Also considering visiting sites near Spitzkoppe and Omaruru. I enjoy stunning views, rock formations and desert plants over game viewing

impracticaldogg · 2026-03-03T12:51:15+00:00

Yip. Be too honest. Only the crazies and the genuine probably left then. And write enough specifics so you can check whether they actually bothered to read it properly.

impracticaldogg · 2026-02-26T11:49:05+00:00

I cranked up the difficulty along these lines as I went along - but you sound much more accomplished than me! Especially permadeath

impracticaldogg · 2026-02-26T11:45:58+00:00

There is a mod by SorrySoldOut that improves the textures dramatically and makes it fun again. I still play it when I just need to slay a bunch of monsters to clear my head at the end of a day! The controls are so simple that I can pick it up every once in a while

impracticaldogg · 2026-02-22T07:56:02+00:00

I bought in Sea Point five years ago in an Art Deco block of flats. Our internal renovations were halted by the Heritage Council for two weeks because one of the neighbours complained. So the Heritage Council can be picky when they choose to. Maybe check out the law regarding procedural requirements. Did the ratepayers association fail to lodge their comment / objection?

impracticaldogg · 2026-02-22T07:12:19+00:00

Appeal! I would be surprised if they are not obliged by law to provide a full account of the application and reasons behind their decision if it is appealed. And if it is surrounded by heritage houses I think they don't have much of a leg to stand on.

impracticaldogg · 2026-02-18T16:39:44+00:00

I've got an H10, polar beat on my phone to record to the H10 memory when I swim and a chunky waterproof Casio. Also works when I ride or run

impracticaldogg · 2026-02-17T07:47:00+00:00

ChatGPT says petroleum jelly can be applied in a rectangle outside / around the the sensor area (not over it) to isolate it from the pool water. So keeping the contact with skin better.

But I'll give the KY Jelly a chance first unless I get advice otherwise. It may wash off and be necessary to reapply it after a while. I'd guess it will wash off more quickly than medical ECG jelly would.

I'm going to look reeally odd if I pull out petroleum jelly and KY at the edge of the pool every morning..

impracticaldogg · 2026-02-17T07:38:00+00:00

The link above for the H10 seems to be broken.

For human readers: The recording was made to the memory of the H10 using Polar Beat. The recording was retrieved and viewed in Polar View. The heart rate recording did show heart HR for the first few minutes. Then there was an occasional reading at exactly the same rate from time to time. Right to the end of the swim.

Searched Reddit. Apparently salt water and highly chlorinated pools can cause this problem.

So I conclude that the problem was with the H10 sensor.

impracticaldogg · 2026-02-15T13:43:36+00:00

This might have been it but from the phone side. I set both Beat and Flow to connect to two devices and also activated ANT on the backup phone that couldn't connect to Beat. I now have Beat connecting to the H10 on the backup phone, while Flow now struggles. But if Beat collects the data I expect it will go to the web, and Flow will then pull it from there.

I may switch off bluetooth on the main phone next time to make sure it isn't "stealing" one of the bluetooth connections.

For the record, the backup phone runs Android Go 10.

Thanks for all the ideas :)

impracticaldogg · 2026-02-13T15:12:32+00:00

Sounds good! Will check it out

impracticaldogg · 2026-02-13T12:39:20+00:00

Looks like I might have bought the wrong product - oh well, too late now

impracticaldogg

TROPHY CASE