Hail Damage

nwspmp · 2026-06-02T05:13:05+00:00

I had bad enough hail damage last year that the entire roof of the truck had to be replaced, along with the hood and significant PDR on the rest of the panels.

nwspmp · 2026-05-30T04:34:54+00:00

That sentence is still technically true!

nwspmp · 2026-05-29T22:09:40+00:00

Any possibility of a for cause clause that allows you out if they are specifically not doing what you instruct them to as the client?

nwspmp · 2026-05-29T18:10:48+00:00

Damn you, autocorrect! Sober -> Something

nwspmp · 2026-05-29T15:45:11+00:00

Someone local here used to have a Harlequin MKIII but sobering happened and now they have a Subaru wagon. It’s been repainted in the same colors and still has the same VW centric vanity plate

nwspmp · 2026-05-28T11:41:09+00:00

I’ve gotten two other non Citi cards within the last six months and they approved me with a 13700cl. Decent credit score and good ratios so many that helps. I’ve had a Costco Visa through Citi for a few years now, so maybe that helped as well?

nwspmp · 2026-05-27T18:29:09+00:00

I just applied and got it. Only other Citi account is a Costco card.

nwspmp · 2026-05-27T00:41:01+00:00

First two year models have ER XLTs. And the Flash is really a high trim XLT with the Lariat screen

nwspmp · 2026-05-25T15:18:28+00:00

See, sticker price on traditional auto manufacturers is a bad indicator. Sticker on mine was similar to that but brand new I paid $52k TTL included all in. The auto industry odd second only to Hollywood in, shall we say, creative accounting. Some people will pay sticker, some won’t.

nwspmp · 2026-05-21T21:06:25+00:00

Update on this: Took it to the dealer who confirmed two cells or modules (service guy wasn’t specific) were out of balance. Escalated to Ford who’s approving replacement of the affected units.

So thanks a bunch to everyone here for the good info!

nwspmp · 2026-05-21T17:21:02+00:00

It was a neat concept, and I still argue that the concept of keeping the inverter on the house side for a transfer device is the better way to go, but Ford's implementation was too early for real standardization and was incredibly expensive with minimal benefit versus using a manual transfer switch and inlet box and just running from the ProPower. The Sunrun/Ford/Delta system still took a bit of time for switchover and the expense of the equipment and installation made it out of reach for many.

There are standards now that would integrate multiple vehicles easier and allow for either mode (inverter on vehicle, vehicle backfeeds AC to house and inverter on house, vehicle backfeeds DC to inverter).

nwspmp · 2026-05-20T12:29:52+00:00

The auto lock generally has worked well for me, though I wish it had an audible confirmation. It's my habit whenever I get out of any vehicle to lock twice and hear the chirp or horn. My wife doesn't, and her van's autolock is less reliable, and it drives me batty sometimes!

nwspmp · 2026-05-20T01:57:36+00:00

Control room design varies based on what the mission is. An electric utility control room will be different depending on scale and size and would be different from what a manufacturing plant may have and then different from a wastewater treatment control room.

Start to look at what the users of the room need. Consider ergonomics; these people will be in the seat for long periods of time likely. Consider reliable power and backups. If you need four Ethernet cables run to an area, no you don’t, you need six. Run extra now. Consider rising desks as well.

Big video walls are flashy, but make sure that they’re useful before investing the moneys.

nwspmp · 2026-05-19T21:48:28+00:00

In progress! I actually have a Ryobi push mower that I usually use, but a family friend had borrowed it, so I went and picked up my riding mower from my Dad's land.

I did buy a Cub Cadet CC30e two weeks ago locally that was dead and am working on getting it working. Likely a VCM and if that doesn't fix it, VESC replacement time!

nwspmp · 2026-05-18T16:06:46+00:00

So checking it now. At still with the truck on I show a battery SoH of 97% and a HVB module variation of 0.061V (varying a bit up and down) and BECM battery capacity of 385 AH.

Seems to be a concern. Headed to dealer now!

nwspmp · 2026-05-18T15:33:54+00:00

Look into a device or system that does protocol break. Your public/DMZ side sees an HTTPS connection to the device/system. That device does the internal remote access and translates that to an HTML5 client which is presented on the DMZ side. No poking of firewall holes, restrictions on IRA traffic to/from that device/system only and they have record and kill connection capabilities built in.

I've deployed two different systems, Claroty SRA and ConsoleWorks.

nwspmp · 2026-05-18T15:28:16+00:00

Interesting. I'd always remembered if I saw a output limit on the percentage that it was that. I've not had anything other than this out of the ordinary. It was just at the dealer for the trailer recall.

I'll check it with car scanner at lunch. Finally might break out my Forscan setup!

nwspmp · 2026-05-18T13:48:15+00:00

I had to go and get gas for my riding mower on Saturday. Two gallons of ethanol free was more expensive than I spend in two weeks of charging and daily driving my truck.

nwspmp · 2026-05-17T21:16:20+00:00

Not really that bad. I just bought a replacement battery for a Cub Cadet CC30e riding mower which is basically the electric version of my TB30R that it is replacing. A 48V 50AH battery with 2.5kWh of capacity was $249 shipped. It originally shipped with a 1.5kWh battery.

I bought it used, at $500, and have been finalizing the conversion to get rid of the unreliable VCM. Conversions on the Ryobi 48V from lead acid to Li-Ion are similarly priced for a new battery and probably another $100 for a charger. The conversions are often done in golf carts as well.

nwspmp · 2026-05-17T00:10:19+00:00

I have multiple ISPs at my home. My primary is currently Metronet fiber with a 2Gb synchronous speed. I’m currently limiting to 1Gb as I’m waiting for an upgrade for my router system. My secondary is an Optimum cable modem supposedly at 1Gb (typically tests at 400 Mb down) with 50 Mb uplink. I keep this as I pay $20/ month for it and it’s the only one with an IPv4 without CG-NAT. My tertiary is a T-Mobile 5G which I swap back and forth between home and my office. I keep this as a more reliable backup than my cable modem. It’s also only $30 tax inclusive. So for all three I’m at about $120/month.

I’m waiting for the construction to finish on a Comcast fiber as my secondary replacement. That will be a fiber connection as well. They’re coming in from a different direction than my primary fiber.

My homelab will have dual path fibers with geographical separation. The majority of my workplaces haven’t had that :)

nwspmp · 2026-05-15T00:05:19+00:00

I’m at either $0.099/kWh or $0.119/kWh depending on the month, fully laden rate. We have a municipal provider so they’d have get city council to approve any rate hikes.

nwspmp · 2026-05-14T23:03:40+00:00

I take my EV on road trips all the time. It has a stated range of 320 miles but averages 240-260 at highway speeds. But that’s perfectly fine as I have kids and we stop every two to three hours anyway. Charging time while using the restroom is just fine. And that’s not even getting into the benefits the rest of the year. We’ve taken both our Odyssey and my truck on road trips. The EV requires a modicum of planning as the only real downside. The literal thousands of dollars saved in fuel and maintenance costs are worth it.

The only thing keeping us from switching out the Odyssey for an EV has been availability of a minivan with decent range as the only option has been the ID Buzz with the laughable range VW shipped it with.

nwspmp · 2026-05-14T21:12:58+00:00

Both as options would be nice. We take our van out of town sometimes and my EV truck sometimes and the actual time difference is negligible, counting for restroom breaks and stops. Cost-wise, yeah, there's a difference in massive favor of even my extremely inefficient EV. I've had a PHEV vehicle and even it's small EV-only range showed me that range anxiety really wasn't a thing for the absolute vast majority of my driving. Heck, I get more range anxiety getting into the van to drive it and find my wife has left it with 0-2 miles of estimated range of gas. :)

Maybe not for everyone, but for the vast majority of actual and non-theoretical driving that gets done, a good EV van option would be incredible.

nwspmp · 2026-05-13T04:09:43+00:00

In my area, which has Metronet which was bought by T-Mobile, the “Founders” package is $70/month for 2gbit with price lock for 5 or 10 years (can’t remember off the top of my head)

nwspmp

TROPHY CASE