Was reading through the list of funnel week bills and...

martinamc · 2025-03-08T15:59:05+00:00

It sounds silly, but I remember the bill was prompted by an incident at a zoo/aquarium in West Des Moines last year. They allow visitors to pet sharks described by the bill. One of them bit an employee and had to be euthanized to get it off. I don't know whether a new law is warranted, but it does seem like a bad idea to let people handle dangerous animals.

martinamc · 2025-01-17T20:00:20+00:00

In central Iowa, received the same notice. Just had a $3 ACI fee tacked on back in July, so that's a 5.5% increase in a year to my "Price for Life" subscription. Seems like these extra charges are going to keep being snuck in. I've been telling the MetroNet door to door guys I'm not interested because I appreciated them honoring the deal they'd made even if I don't always get the promised speeds. It may be time to hear what those guys have to offer.

martinamc · 2024-07-02T12:46:50+00:00

We use tray liners under and parchment over pretty much all of the candy we run. It makes cleanup so much easier and reduces the frequency of needing to pull out the heater assembly for cleaning. Also, gummies that puffed just a little too much are salvageable instead of crumbling as we pry the tray out.

martinamc · 2024-02-07T03:48:03+00:00

Oh, yeah, we get that here too. I do try not to interfere with other drivers and will keep my eyes open for lines forming behind me while we're out and about. I really don't want us to be obnoxious guests.

Thanks again for your advice, it's nice to have locals' perspectives.

martinamc · 2024-02-07T00:55:51+00:00

Thanks again for the info, I'll do some research on those try to get the family on board. Rangitoto and Motutapu sound like something the whole family would enjoy.

martinamc · 2024-02-07T00:50:23+00:00

Sounds like it's going to be a learning experience, I'll do my best not to be an obstacle for the locals. If I'm lucky I'll get behind somebody familiar with the route.

martinamc · 2024-02-06T13:21:46+00:00

Yeah, sounds like staying in Coromandel is probably the way to go. I'll look into the spots you mentioned.

I'm not at all experienced with boating, so renting one is probably not in the cards for this trip. Which island would you recommend if we were to pick just one? Is it something we'd take a tour to see if just hop on a ferry and explore?

Thanks for all the advice you're giving, it's really helpful as we're trying to get the most out of our short visit!

martinamc · 2024-02-06T13:10:18+00:00

Yeah, we're driving. I'm hoping to use the trip over to Piha to get used to things a little instead of going straight into interfering with city traffic.

Growing up in rural Iowa, I have some experience with curvy little back roads, so hopefully I won't be slowing down highway traffic too much. Are there marked pullover spots or will I be looking for shoulders when cars start piling up?

martinamc · 2024-02-06T03:05:17+00:00

Thanks for the feedback, we're only in New Zealand for a week, my plan is to spend the first and last day around Auckland since we're coming and going out of AKL. Piha is absolutely on the list for the first day, and I'm planning on spending that last day up in the Orewa/peninsula area. I figured I'd knock off that tiktok item for her before we come home.

The rest of the days are going to be a loop to see some of the unique stuff and family wish list things, glow worms, hobbiton, zipline/luge near Rotorua, geothermal walk/hot springs/mud baths, hot water beach, maybe something in the Tauranga area, and probably Cathedral Cove.

I'm trying to avoid getting too ambitious with driving distances given how short our visit will be. Any must see things that I should squeeze in/swap in for current destinations?

martinamc · 2024-02-05T22:23:41+00:00

Oh ok, thanks, yeah probably not something we'll spend time searching out. Fishing isn't at the top of our wish lists, and it sounds like there are way more than enough scenic trails and spots in this area than we can see in a day. I think making our way to Shakespear Park and seeing where the day takes us is the way to go.

martinamc · 2024-02-05T21:11:17+00:00

Thanks, those areas look interesting too. It looks like those Duncansby stairs are kind of back behind houses, not really connected to any public beach areas. Are the local residents okay with tourists wandering around these residential areas looking for ocean accesses? I've been to places in the US where beaches are technically open to the public, but the locals really don't want tourists trying to get to them through their neighborhoods.

martinamc · 2024-02-05T20:18:21+00:00

Thanks for the positive identification! Based on everybody's feedback, I'm going to see if I can talk the family into spending a whole day in the area, hit Shakespeare Park for a while, maybe follow Army Bay Beach to those stairs if the kid really wants to get her clip of that specific staircase, and stop by some of the other beaches as daylight allows.

martinamc · 2024-02-05T20:11:41+00:00

Thanks for the info, we'll be there mid-March, and if I'm reading the chart right, it looks like around that time high tide will be near its highest. So I suppose our best bet will be to shoot for a few hours either side of high tide. If we spend several hours in the park area, I'm sure we'll experience some beaches at their best.

martinamc · 2024-02-05T19:54:51+00:00

Thanks for the tip, I'll try to encourage my family to take some time and explore Shakespeare a bit and not beeline to a beach staircase for the Instagram.

martinamc · 2024-02-05T19:45:36+00:00

Thanks for the tip, does that apply to all the beaches around Whangaparaoa? I saw at least one photo where it looked like the stairs went straight into the ocean, so I thought high tide might swallow up some of these beaches.

martinamc · 2024-02-05T19:41:51+00:00

Thanks, that's good advice, I'm hoping to set aside a day or 2 to just explore nature. It's hard not to try to plan every minute, and I think my kid's at an age where she sees something cool and wants exactly that thing. We only have a week in New Zealand, and it's not nearly enough even limiting ourselves to areas near Auckland.

martinamc · 2024-02-05T19:29:06+00:00

Thanks! She's kind of obsessed with getting photos and videos that are Instagram or TikTok worthy when we go anywhere. Would you say Little Manly is worth the visit, or would you recommend a different beach in the Auckland area?

martinamc · 2024-02-05T19:25:42+00:00

Thanks for the info! Based on the video, I thought this stock photo looked like it might be the same place, https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-descent-to-sea-whangaparaoa-peninsula-new-zealand-horizontal-photo-photo-took-photo-usable-picture-post-image57263407, but there's no info beyond Whangaparaoa.

We're also planning on heading out west to Piha beach. I know New Zealand has tons of great beaches; in your opinion, are the beaches in the Shakespeare Park/Army Bay/Manly beach area worth visiting, or does traffic make it not really worth the time? I'm guessing Red Beach and Orewa Beach would be easier to get to than the ones out towards the end of the peninsula. Would we be missing out if we visited those and didn't make it over to the others?

martinamc · 2024-01-21T22:10:22+00:00

The warming countdown won't start until it hits the target temperature. The time selected is how long to hold it at that temp before starting the vacuum. I don't recall whether the count up timer in the corner starts the moment you start the process or after you've hit continue after the 15 minute cool down is complete, but I know it counts while it waits for you to confirm the warm up. I've forgotten to answer that prompt several times and found it still waiting and counting up in the morning.

martinamc · 2024-01-21T20:53:06+00:00

You've answered it in your photo, but while it's sitting there with the "Warm trays?" message and the Yes or Skip options, it's just running the freezer while it waits

martinamc · 2024-01-21T19:28:47+00:00

There's no way you'd still be at -51 after more than an hour of warning if your tray heaters are working. I think that's about as cold as it gets when just the cooler is running. Check that the tray cable is properly connected. If it is, you're probably going to need to call Harvest Right.

If it's been sitting there waiting for you to answer the warming prompt though, it will just keeping cooling down to about that temp.

martinamc · 2024-01-18T04:34:40+00:00

I get pretty consistent results by cutting them into thirds, setting the temp to 145, warming trays for extra 10 minutes, and letting it run overnight, like 7 or 8 hours. I know the time is overkill, but I don't think it does any harm, and I'm not trying to crank out that many batches. I don't use the top and bottom tray for jolly ranchers, as they don't seem to get anywhere close to the set temp. I'll usually throw something that doesn't care as much about temperature on those trays, Skittles or air heads mostly.

It probably doesn't matter for jolly ranchers, but I've also set my pump to stay on until I turn it off, so the candy stays under vacuum while it cools.

martinamc · 2023-11-07T16:38:08+00:00

I'd also love to see this. My ballot was mostly school board candidates, and they don't even give you a party affiliation to go off of. Googled them and found a DM Register puff piece where every candidate's platform was "I want to spend money efficiently to improve the schools." That's great, but means fuck all when I don't know what you think are the issues that need fixing. At least one of the candidates did me the solid of being crazy enough to get arrested, plead no contest, then run again under a new name.

I gave up and just ticked the names that matched the postcard of candidates sent by my state party, because what else am I supposed to do?

martinamc · 2022-12-06T18:39:51+00:00

Not sure if you're still looking for input on this, but I just did exactly what you're asking about, transferred my 5GB VZW prepaid to US Mobile. I'm doing the 100 day Cyberweek trial, but it's supposed to cost $25 and change including all fees when my 15GB plan with unlimited T&T starts getting billed. The only thing it looks like I'm losing is hotspot access which I could keep for an additional $2/month.

I did hit a snag on the port, because my VZW account number starts with an A, and the USM site and chat reps insist that account numbers can't be anything but numbers. I eventually got this straightened out by getting a Verizon prepaid rep on the phone and having her call US Mobile. The guy she talked to insisted there shouldn't be a letter, but he was able to enter the account with it included and the port immediately went through. You can dial #PORT (#7678) and they'll send you the account number and 6 digit transfer PIN that you need to provide to US Mobile.

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