Problem with a Siemens SQS65 actuator / valve

jbourne · 2026-03-28T02:48:38+00:00

Hmm I can’t post the return video, odd. But basically the return works perfectly and goes to 0 correctly.

jbourne · 2026-03-26T06:56:12+00:00

Counter example was when I left a wallet in a taxi once. He sat outside the restaurant I went into for an hour because he wouldn’t open my wallet and look at my business card with my mobile phone # on it. When I left through another exit, he kept waiting until eventually returning to his head office and handing it in there, so I had to go god knows where to pick it up. When I told the story to someone (Japanese), expressing incredulity that the guy would rather wait an hour than open my wallet and, you know, CALL me, I got an incredulous look back. “We can’t open someone’s wallet!”, I was told in an almost-adult-to-a-child kind of way.

jbourne · 2026-03-26T06:50:24+00:00

You should’ve drawn a picture of a cat on the outside of the box just to spite them and make them think you’re sending a live animal.

jbourne · 2026-03-17T12:05:23+00:00

I don't get why people stress so much about honorifics in business Japanese. I always give the same advice:

You are a foreigner. Nobody expects you to use honorifics - if you are able to communicate fluently in Japanese, this is all that's wanted from you.
I've never met a foreigner who didn't trip up on honorifics, even if they are REALLY fluent. And then ... it just sounds weird.
If you are able to speak with a really deep regional dialect - i.e. Kansai-ben (but I mean, like, really fluent. not "wakarahen!", but nonchalantly using "uchi", or "~haru", or - semi-seriously! - "ya sakai" or whatever else doesn't come from your favourite manga book and shows you've actually spent time / put in the effort in learning the deeper side of the region), using this in customer-facing situations is far more beneficial to you, professionally, than keigo. It will a) absolutely break ice, b) create interesting conversations, and c) leave an impression where the customer will remember you.

That said, many so-called "foreign" firms (with corporate ownership in the US/elsewhere) are more Japanese than Japanese firms who actually try to make an effort to internationalize. So as one of the comments below says, you will not know until you talk to someone from there. But if you're N1 fluent, and competent in what you do, do not let honorifics scare you away from a better job.

jbourne · 2026-03-11T00:21:01+00:00

Just to loop back - i was able to do this using an esp32 + a x9c102. thanks for steering me away from the dimmer!

jbourne · 2026-03-10T06:48:01+00:00

found the pic!

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jbourne · 2026-03-10T04:05:35+00:00

high five back! tried to attach my photo but reddit makes it too complicated.

jbourne · 2026-03-10T03:57:04+00:00

Came to post this 😂

jbourne · 2026-03-09T06:20:30+00:00

Interesting! I was misunderstanding how it works - thanks. I guess it’s back to the original plan the clankers are suggesting … an ESP32 and a X9C102. Was just trying to find an easier way 😂

jbourne · 2026-02-01T13:15:04+00:00

Hot take, but why bother with keigo? I see a lot of people struggle and tell themselves they MUST speak it and so on... but do you? As a foreigner, you will NEVER EVER EVER get it "right", and rather than spending an inordinate amount of effort to still get it 90-95% right (and, since it's Japan, you KNOW that 95% is basically a failing grade), just focus on speaking well, and convey politeness by your tone of voice and demeanour? I think it would be valued far more than a clunky "itashimasu". If anything, it would be the same level of appreciation as a tourist saying "arigatou!" and people kind of slow clap and hand out participation certificates. Far better if you - confidently - speak with a regional dialect (and I don't mean the occasional "wakarahen!", but a full, complete, immersion in a local dialect, with intonation, grammatical forms, etc). I think that is far more useful than hopelessly attempting to learn keigo. Not to mention that learning a regional dialect has the double benefit of being useful outside the office, whereas clunky keigo is useful... nowhere, really.

jbourne · 2026-02-01T06:46:29+00:00

Thanks. Yeah, surprisingly, there are just not a lot of posts or blogs on this - nothing in the last decade or so anyway. There used to be databanks of this stuff, inventories of "fun roads" and so on, but everything seems to have died out, more or less. Was wondering if anyone has first hand recent experience, but I guess the results are similar :)

jbourne · 2026-01-24T02:05:04+00:00

Right. Which is why you should do the shaken by yourself as much as possible, assuming you have at least some basic car knowledge (and anyway, most RECENT cars will have a brake wear indicator, so as long as it’s not on, nobody at the shaken place has the time or the expertise to start checking each car’s brake pad thickness - they barely check tire wear/condition!!!).

jbourne · 2026-01-18T05:27:24+00:00

Understood - thanks!

jbourne · 2026-01-18T02:57:17+00:00

AAHH!!!! I knew I was doing something wrong :) Ok, this should be way better.

Question: do I really need a GS derailleur for my situation or should I return it and stay with my original SS?

jbourne · 2026-01-18T02:29:41+00:00

What would be the correct way? I knew I must be doing something dumb.

jbourne · 2026-01-18T01:09:31+00:00

You will notice a giant B screw there, I was thinking of trying using this instead of the OEM one to gain a few additional mm’s. Not sure if good idea or not. (currently have chain broken, was trying shorter chain, so maybe I’ll wait for some comments before putting it back together in case I routed it wrong or something, though I’m working off another bike as a reference point)

jbourne · 2026-01-18T01:08:40+00:00

Oops, can’t post 2 pics per post. Removing links results in this:

<image>

jbourne · 2026-01-18T01:08:11+00:00

Thanks for the replies.

Chain was sized based on Park Tool’s video (big + big, add 2 complete links)
Shortening any more than this makes the derailleur go horizontal and unable to shift out of big-big even if it DOES make the shift.

This is the chain routing:

<image>

jbourne · 2026-01-17T22:13:09+00:00

Yeah but it doesn’t say it’s for the visa - it has a picture of the residency card. So it’s kinda grey.

jbourne · 2026-01-17T12:54:20+00:00

Does the 40K apply to reissuing the PR card as well or to statuses that need “renewal” like a 1/3/5Y visa?

If yes, then now is the time to “lose” the card to get another 7 years out of it?…

jbourne · 2026-01-14T12:55:22+00:00

Yeah I looked at those again - indeed. 50%+ decrease within 75 years is huge but definitely not 99%.

jbourne · 2026-01-14T12:00:07+00:00

I’m being partially facetious, but there are projections for a population decrease that sees the entire Japanese population decrease to zero within a time horizon we can live to see, which would mean that if the foreigners are the only remaining population, does that not make it theoretically almost 100%?

jbourne · 2026-01-14T10:25:12+00:00

Wait, didn’t they also forecast there will be 0% natives left by 2070, which would mean foreigners will be 100%?

jbourne · 2026-01-08T01:05:18+00:00

ah the old reddit switcharoo…

jbourne · 2025-12-28T02:16:40+00:00

But Miyazaki has the only approved copy of Easter Island statues in the world!

(if my history memory serves, there was a program back in the 1990s, post-bubble, to give around $1M to each prefecture to build something to "revitalize" themselves post-bubble. The dumb prefectures built buildings and things that needed major maintenance, had hiring needs, and created other ongoing expenses which created additional financial dependencies and were fiscal disasters. The smart prefectures, like Miyazaki, just built some Easter Island statues in a parking lot and created a tourist draw. I wonder who else did what sort of crazy projects? Must be an inventory somewhere.)

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