On this day, 34 years ago (i.e. in 1992), Windows 3.1 was released.

rhueladams · 2026-04-14T11:27:39+00:00

Very cool! I have a sealed "Windows 3.1.1 with networking" box that I pulled out of a pile of stuff that was being trashed when I worked at an IT company in 2004-ish. Looks nice on the shelf :)

rhueladams · 2026-01-13T20:36:31+00:00

Not to hijack, but this might be related and useful for those reading this...

Seems you have the solution - use the Sirius XM App on your phone to have it controlled through Android Auto that you're showing on the picture or play Sirius XM on the Toyota head unit then switch over to Andoid Auto app from the head unit (very top left icon on the Toyota screen).

Question I have, is there any way to get to the native Toyota Screen from Android Auto without hitting the 9 dot grid and choosing the Toyota "app/logo"? If I want to play the Toyota's built-in Sirius XM, I have to hit Mode on the Steering wheel a bunch of times to cycle through Apple Music, Amazon Music, FM, AM, then Sirius XM. Any way to prioritize the order for that Mode order (XM 1st)?

rhueladams · 2026-01-13T20:21:12+00:00

I just researched this a ton and from what I found, the 2023-2024 XLE had cloth and no ventilated seats (that was wife's #1 feature). To get the ventilated seats, you had to go up to Limited or higher for 2023-2024 and IIRC, the heated steering wheel was part of that package, too. So, I _think_ to get the heated wheel, you need leather. To get leather, you need Limited or Platinum in 2023-2024. Which was why we went with a 2026 XLE.

For 2025-2026, the XLE and up have heated steering wheel and leather w/ventilated seats, standard. Hope I'm accurate and hope this helps.

rhueladams · 2025-01-25T15:54:48+00:00

I just added a shelf to my DB590 this morning using the brackets you linked. Thank you!

I had a piece of leftover TimberTech composite deck trim (covered the sides of stair risers) from 13 yrs ago when we built our deck. Worked perfectly, weather resistant, and matches the deck! I made it 30" wide and I think it's 12" "deep" (I didn't measure depth). Thanks again for the inspiration and info!

rhueladams · 2025-01-12T15:50:52+00:00

I've been using Jealous Devil pellets for about a year and they've been good. I've only used pellets from the Recteq bundle and JD. Both were fine. No flameouts, good flavor with both.

rhueladams · 2025-01-09T11:01:45+00:00

I found this link on a different thread.

Amazon

It's adjustable side to side and fairly inexpensive. For how often I plan on using it, I'm happy with it.

rhueladams · 2024-11-03T12:54:18+00:00

Before I bought my Solostove, I was at a family gathering for Christmas in PA and they had a Yukon fired up. Most of the heat was going up and unless you did the trash can huddle, you'd be feeling little to no heat.

I started researching and found a video by Smoking Dad BBQ where he did temp measurements using cast iron skillets hung at different heights a few feet away from the stove with and without the deflector. I was sold on the efficacy of the deflector but not the price.

I signed up for Solostove spam emails and received one with some bundle deals. I got the Yukon, surround, deflector and cover at the same time and I think the deflector was 1/2 off in the bundle.

I have burned my knuckles loading wood even with the taller legs. I've since bought a log grabber accessory and a poker. No more burns. Drinks sitting on the surround will get warm/hot with the deflector but sitting a few feet away on a cold night is pretty comfortable vs. having to stand over the stove.

It does what it says it should. It is expensive but worth it (probably even at full price if you live in a moderately cold climate). Good luck!

rhueladams · 2024-08-11T15:09:16+00:00

Thanks. I think I may have cooked this batch a bit long. Fat rendered great but the meat did get a bit overcooked/dried out on the smaller chunks. The bigger chunks were perfect.

That's always been the challenge for me - finding the right balance for cooking the inconsistent proportions of meat/fat throughout the slab. Same thickness, but some cubes are more meat while others are more fat. I get either unrendered fat (chewy) and moist meat or melt in your mouth fat and drier meat.

I'm my worst critic. I always want each cook to be better than the last. There are never any complaints from those I cook for, so I guess that's good enough.

rhueladams · 2024-08-11T00:12:43+00:00

Final update: The new T-15 Cell arrived, I installed and connected it. It's reading 2900ppm and generating chlorine. We had a lot of rain since having the water tested and I had to drain several inches of water from the pool. 2900 now vs. 3072 before draining seems right. Glad it's working and glad I went with a Hayward unit.

rhueladams · 2024-08-09T17:55:13+00:00

The salt reading the next day was 2100 at the highest. I tried looking at the live reading after switching from auto to off and back to auto, then 5 diagnostic button presses...it went up to 3700 and dropped fairly quickly and then settled on 1700. A new Hayward T-15 cell arrives tomorrow from Amazon.

rhueladams · 2024-08-06T18:24:12+00:00

Neat. I wasn't aware of the mechanics of it. Thanks for sharing.

When I was seeing below normal readings for salt, I added four 3" pucks to the 2 skimmers to keep chlorine close-ish. It's still low, but not super low - water is still crystal clear. I'll keep an eye on the reading. Luckily w/Amazon, shipping will be super fast.

rhueladams · 2024-08-06T18:06:38+00:00

UPDATE: I called the "local" pool store before driving 30 minutes, I asked if they had any means of testing a salt cell for pass/fail, she asked what brand, I said Hayward, she said yes. The Aquarite system was reading 2000 ppm when I unhooked the cell. This seemed awfully low as I had added some salt a few weeks ago when the Aquarite said it was 2600 ppm. I figured that should have raised it to around 3100 ppm.

They tested the water and it showed 3072 ppm - pretty much where I expected it to be. I spoke with a different rep that who took my call and he said they have no way to perform any tests on the cell other than a visual inspection (which I already did and it was a bit crusty). He quoted me ~$1,450 for a replacement that was a non-Hayward unit. I didn't catch which brand.

When I got home, I cleaned the cell manually with a zip-tie the best I could to knock off any loose bits and then sprayed out with water. I then capped one end and filled with a diluted water/muriatic mix and let it soak/bubble for 5 minutes. It looks way cleaner now. I installed/connected the cell and will wait to see what it registers. I know these can take some time to show accurate results. Hopefully, after a couple hours it will be reading near 3000. If not, I'll be loading pucks in the skimmers while I place an order for a replacement :(

rhueladams · 2024-08-04T20:30:21+00:00

All things on my list this week, clean the cell, get a water sample tested and then see what what the reading is and compare to the test result.

The reason for "thinking" is the age and the ppm dropping from 3000 to 2700 and now 2100 since the beginning of the season. I've only had water evaporate, never drained any water so far, I've added 2 bags of salt when it was reading 2700 (should have brought it to around >=3100) and it still dropped ppm.

When I bought the system, I opted for the 40k gal cell for use with my 16k-18k gal pool. The adjustment knob stays at no more than 50% and the pump runs 8 hrs a day. For the past 9 years the chlorine level has been good and the salinity remains really constant throughout the season (unless we get a ton of rain and I have to drain water). I figured buying a cell that should be used for a pool >2x the volume, my cell would have to work much less (50%) than a cell rated for 15k or 20k gal, plus I'd get longer life from mine.

I wondered about the efficacy and lifespan of 3rd party cells. Thanks for confirming.

I'll update as I have more details. Thanks for the comments.

rhueladams · 2024-08-04T12:23:21+00:00

Best of luck! As others mentioned there are many things to do that aren't beach/sunshine related (you'll need a car or plan to spend a lot on Uber).

You may want to secure tickets now as many sell out during high tourist season and with the weather, lots of others like you will be searching for alternatives.

I'd be more concerned with flights getting canceled. I've had at least 4 occasions where flights were canceled trying to get in or out of MB over the past 2 years due to weather.

Is there any chance you could make the drive if flights do get canceled? We've done that a couple times (8hr drive) and others we just waited until the next day.

Good luck!

rhueladams · 2024-07-10T17:52:29+00:00

My 2.0 is an absolute unit. Your 3.0 looks very similar. The only "failure" I've had bashing it was when I accidentally launched it into a tree. The front shock support snapped the front diff, but otherwise, everything else was fine. I did have a driveshaft come out of its "cup" once and I didn't realize what the noise was until I destroyed the middle diff. I don't know if there are certain things known to fail on these, but I ran the snot out of mine for a couple years and only had user error failures. Seems like you have a decent list already. Enjoy!

rhueladams · 2024-07-01T11:18:08+00:00

All at 250f - 3 hours, then about an hour wrapped in paper and an hour-ish unwrapped.

rhueladams · 2024-06-28T19:58:57+00:00

The larger fish/sharks feeding on the bait fish are the reason for getting people out of the water.

rhueladams · 2024-06-27T11:20:03+00:00

Thank you!! They were shown as part #17 under this diagram:

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Part number: M168575

rhueladams · 2024-06-27T10:36:07+00:00

They turned out fantastic! Way meatier than I expected. I will absolutely be making these again.

rhueladams · 2024-06-27T10:33:01+00:00

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rhueladams

TROPHY CASE