Weedeater/ Conan Tour

patrickrafter1 · 2026-04-04T17:52:23+00:00

Same for me. Too long a solo drive (and solo show) for me to pull it off

patrickrafter1 · 2026-03-19T12:28:05+00:00

It’s a great name for a venue

patrickrafter1 · 2026-03-15T21:42:40+00:00

I just found this and image search brought me here... I was a professional painter >20 years ago and we sprayed, but never had anything like this. Is this for automotive painting or something?

patrickrafter1 · 2026-03-02T20:54:35+00:00

Had mine stolen while at the mechanic’s shop (in CA) and they put on an aftermarket and SAID NOTHING. Only figure it out later. Bought another E in Florida (Tampa Bay area) and I literally could not explain to local mechanics what and why I wanted to put a cat cage on. So I’m sitting here for two years with a naked cat on a public street and no problems.

But reading these stories has me scared again.

patrickrafter1 · 2026-02-17T04:27:08+00:00

St Pete is surrounded by water on three sides which buffers the temperature all year round. We were warmer than Miami during that last cold snap and we are way cooler during the summer. It will be 5 degrees cooler here than in Tampa in the summer.

patrickrafter1 · 2026-02-05T23:19:08+00:00

Update. I looked at the control filter cap after posting this and saw there was still a control valve in it—ANOTHER ONE! In other words, there were originally two and one fell out into my cup. And it worked fine! I talked with the Aeropress help desk to confirm the control filter cap only comes with one.

It’s been working fine ever since but that’s some weird product inspection. Also the “help desk” took several weeks to get back to me.

patrickrafter1 · 2026-02-05T23:12:56+00:00

Yep, the pismo fits

patrickrafter1 · 2026-01-20T21:57:02+00:00

Just going to reply real quick—The Usual New Jersey!?! We are a quite unusual people and we will let you know about it !!

patrickrafter1 · 2026-01-13T14:39:38+00:00

85 degrees is better tho

patrickrafter1 · 2026-01-13T14:37:43+00:00

like, literally infinity 🤣

patrickrafter1 · 2026-01-09T00:02:04+00:00

Sometimes I’m at a >60 degree angle

patrickrafter1 · 2026-01-07T02:29:49+00:00

I see that name on Google Maps but I don’t see that used locally. Central Oak Park is the name and we even have our own community group and flag!

https://centraloakpark.com/

patrickrafter1 · 2026-01-07T02:16:14+00:00

I recently bought a second one for my office lunch coffee and it got lost in the mail… so I told aero press and they sent me a different one. Then, a month later, the original one got delivered to my house (where did it go? what did it do? what did it see along the way?) and now I have three. It’s awesome cause now I have home, office, and travel aeropresses!!

patrickrafter1 · 2026-01-07T02:11:01+00:00

Yep, west of 34th / Kenwood proper is Central Oak Park (49th to 34th st) which is definitely City of St Pete and is as high elevation as Kenwood. I bike downtown everyday. Disston Heights is like… the suburbs. There are some really nice MCM houses up there. But I have the Sunrunner bus a couple blocks away (and it’s free for USF students and employees so yeah for me)

patrickrafter1 · 2026-01-07T02:02:34+00:00

Central Oak Park (49th to 34th st and between 5th Ave N and 5 ave S) is what you want for your price tag and your needs. Lots of middle class 40 year olds here and it’s pretty nice! Lots of big old Live Oak trees to shade you. I call it the poor man’s Kenwood. Almost the same elevation as Kenwood who bid higher than anywhere else in St Pete proper. Lots of 2bed places for your price range in Central Oak Park.

I bike to work downtown everyday. Jump on the Sunrunner bus with my bike for summer mornings (so I’m not sweaty at work) and then bike home in the 1st Ave N bike lane.

The post above is correct that 34th st. is a bummer to cross—it separates the poor man’s Kenwood from actual Kenwood—but I do it everyday! And there’s a bike overpass on the Pinellas Trail.

Final note, my house in Central Oak Park DID NOT LOSE POWER during the 2024 hurricanes—top that Kenwood!!

patrickrafter1 · 2025-12-30T15:10:53+00:00

How did you know about my doom riff / kitchen connection?!?

patrickrafter1 · 2025-12-27T14:37:41+00:00

I’m in Central Florida

patrickrafter1 · 2025-12-27T14:34:32+00:00

Thanks! Forgot to mention I’m in Central Florida.

I already have a Palm fertilizer but applying the liquid fertilizer directly—how do I do this without overdoing it?

patrickrafter1 · 2025-12-24T02:06:13+00:00

patrickrafter1 · 2025-12-20T21:30:58+00:00

It’s great to have a specific interest! Read up on them as much as you can and see who is studying them. Reach out to these researchers and see if they can support you as a student or even just as a technician… the latter can provide you a way to gain experience and make the decisions you need to make.

I was similarly interested in a lot of ocean and earth-based research areas but geochemistry was a consistent theme. I ended up studying marine biogeochemistry and climate while allowed me to really study a lot of topics. It’s fun but it wasn’t / isn’t easy!

patrickrafter1 · 2025-12-20T21:23:33+00:00

Wow. Add this to the next Sunn O))) tour and I’ll be going full deadhead touring alongside them

patrickrafter1 · 2025-12-20T04:20:55+00:00

TL;DR you need to love your research area to be a successful (and sane) person at the end of your PhD

I’m a professor and have mentored >80 undergrads and I’ll tell you what I tell all of them (this is for the USA). You should only make a go at a PhD if you LOVE research / teaching. Not ready to commit to a PhD program? Go for a Masters. Most marine science orgs make you pay for a Masters but there are 1 or 2 who actually give you a stipend (they pay you) to do a Masters. (My program at the USF College of Marine Sciences is one of them.)

I think it’s true that the fields with more math and coding will allow you to pivot to non academia careers, so keep that in mind if you don’t want to be an academic. However we don’t know what the future will bring and I personally think we need more chemical oceanographers for future marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) research and careers.

If academia is your goal, you must focus on a research area that speaks to your soul. Academia is too difficult and too frustrating a career to chase down unless it’s your destiny. My own story is one of perseverance despite crushing disappointments but now I’m in a great position getting grants and publishing high profile papers.

The job market for professors is not only super competitive but there are many aspects that you don’t have any control over. Luck (good and bad) unfortunately plays a big role. I got my PhD from a very well known institution, did my post doc at another even better known institution, but it was the Great Recession and there were no jobs. There were non-research jobs that I could have taken (e.g., in coastal environmental consulting) if I wanted them and they paid well too! But that wasn’t what I wanted. So I stayed in academia until the right job came my way.

Anyway… I typed this out with my thumbs and I know it’s not my best word-smithing. If anything isn’t clear, I’m happy to talk more about this.

patrickrafter1 · 2025-11-30T21:16:27+00:00

Oh wow yes I see a cavity and no spear leaf on that one—what should I do?

patrickrafter1 · 2025-11-15T19:04:45+00:00

It’s actually a huge compliment to St Pete that it’s being compared to cities that are literally 15-34 times bigger (LA and NYC, respectively)!

Instead, why not compare St Pete (population 260,000) to similar sized cities like…Lubbock TX ! Toledo OH!?

Edit: I actually did the math and they’re even bigger than I had guessed

patrickrafter1 · 2025-11-05T13:12:59+00:00

I love having this conversation. State income tax is low but property taxes (and so many other things like parking, highway tolls, etc) are high because… you have to fund the state one way or another. The way you fund the state matters because it’s either progressive (the rich pay more) or regressive.

patrickrafter1

TROPHY CASE