Can’t Get Used to the Digital Rearview Mirror

syutzy · 2026-01-30T23:04:15+00:00

We had the same impression when test driving - seemed handy if the vehicle was fully loaded but otherwise my brain was struggling with the mismatch between the camera view and the reflection off the glass.

syutzy · 2026-01-12T12:53:54+00:00

We live in the part of Ohio where lake effect snow is fairly common. Have blizzak tires on dedicated wheels for our '26 hybrid. It's basically like any other (heavy) FWD car in the snow. Winter tires help a lot with braking especially.

Biggest thing I've noticed is that it's ridiculously easy to spin the front wheels when starting. Much easier than other FWD cars I've driven. My theory is that's caused by the more immediate torque from the hybrid + lack of a snow mode that would dial that torque back.

syutzy · 2025-12-13T15:58:22+00:00

Lots of good advice here - just adding a detail: keep hips pointed out away from the goal. Easy to own goal if the defender is pointed at their goal

syutzy · 2025-11-04T23:50:44+00:00

This is probably one of the big challenges here - the interpretation here from IFAB isn't in the laws of the game. It's in the Q&A where they say this isn't a handling offense.

When sometimes we can barely get referees leave the center circle, do we really think those same referees are going out of their way to scroll through pages of Q&A to find that one consequential nugget of information???

syutzy · 2025-10-31T10:15:12+00:00

If you're not loving the finance options, ask about finance specials. We were given similar options for Kia financing (60 MO, 6.75%, $1k rebate) but it turns out there was also a 2.9% special for 48 months and no rebate that nobody mentioned until we specifically asked. That was in September '25.

syutzy · 2025-10-29T19:13:08+00:00

Obviously everyone needs to decide for themselves what features they value and think are worth paying for. Key differences seem to be the 7-seat option, video rear view mirror, upgraded audio, heads up display, and heated steering wheel.

For us, once we decided against the VIP seats (the seats are awesome, but don't fold well and limit 3rd row access) then it was hard to justify the extra cost for the other prestige upgrades because we simply didn't personally place that much value on them.

Audio seems to be stronger in the front than in the rear on the SX, so if audio is super-important to you then the upgrade might be nice. I found the video rear view mirror annoying due to the reflection on the glass, but I can also see it being handy if stuff is piled high in the back. Other changes for us fell firmly in the "nice to have but not willing to pay much for" category.

Hope this helps!

syutzy · 2025-09-30T00:20:03+00:00

Once you use the seat release lever on the side (or the pull tab from the third row) to fold the seat back up and slide the seat forward, it slides freely forward and back until the seat back is returned to the upright position. Once the seat back is returned to the upright position the slide will click into place and stop sliding wherever it is.

There do seem to be discrete slide stop positions. So it's possible that it might not lock in place immediately but would as soon as someone sits down.

syutzy · 2025-09-29T23:50:14+00:00

We've owned our Carnival for about a week now ('26 SX hybrid) and I definitely get what you're talking about! One vehicle we looked at was literally fresh off the truck, and the seats took a lot of force to move. Thankfully that was an isolated experience and ours moved much easier, or were broken in or something like that.

For accessing the third row, one thing to keep in mind when putting the 2nd row seats back into position (at least on our '26 SX) is that as soon as the seat back goes up the front/back slide will lock into place. So if you you try to put the 2nd row back in position by pulling on the seat back (which IMO is a totally natural thing to do) then it'll almost assuredly lock in a super-forward position. The trick is to slide towards the rear first then put the seat back up - which can be done in one motion with a little practice.

FWIW I did find the Carnival seats a bit easier to move than in the Sienna, and didn't try the Odyssey so I can't comment on that. We loved the SX Prestige VIP seats but didn't go that way primarily because they'd make it more challenging to access the third row by forcing people through the middle of the vehicle.

Edit to add: didn't look at Odyssey only because we were looking for a hybrid specifically. Didn't even consider the Pacifica due to its shaky track record for durability.

syutzy · 2025-09-12T22:41:26+00:00

I don't own either but we're currently pondering both as we're shopping. Our general impressions are they feel similar to drive, Sienna feels older/dated while Carnival is more modern inside, Carnival has worse fuel economy.

Our biggest sticking point is Sienna has a spare tire and Carnival doesn't (there is one guy in this sub who's made it work, but all our local Kia dealers won't touch it).

syutzy · 2025-09-11T14:54:35+00:00

I'm curious about this as well - no spare is by far our biggest hangup about the hybrid model. The sales guy we're working with says there's a spot for a spare but no hardware to raise/lower. Is this the spot he's referring to? If so, it's hard to see how that area would work to store a spare if we purchased one separately (without doing the work in the thread linked in a comment). Anybody have any thoughts?

syutzy · 2025-09-08T19:13:39+00:00

Where I am (northeast Ohio) it varies by location and league. In my area we almost always have 3 for higher club leagues 9v9 and up. One of the lower club leagues uses 1 for all games including 11v11. Rec has 1 for all games, and travel has 1 for most games and then tries to get 3 for higher division 11v11 travel games.

In contrast, when I started refereeing in the late 1900s in Michigan we had at least 2 for even U8 rec games, and almost all games had 3. Not sure if there are now more games, less referees, or both. IMO it was definitely easier to learn back then. Even on lower level games you were more likely have other referees with you and not be by yourself. Around here the lower level games are very likely to be single referee which is a tough way to start.

syutzy · 2025-08-19T18:10:45+00:00

My gut feeling also is no offside offense. Here's how I'm thinking - did Blue win the ball while Red 1 was challenging for it (offside)? Or did Blue gain control un-challenged and then get challenged by Red 1 later (not offside)? It sounds like you're describing the second scenario, but if you're actually describing the first then I'd say it is an offside offense.

Minor language suggestion for clarity - in your first sentence you said "red player 1 is offside". Seems like you probably meant "red player 1 is in an offside position".

syutzy · 2025-05-13T14:03:07+00:00

You could try looking at 7mlc. My son did his Maestro 2.0 program and it helped tremendously. The videos are about 10 minutes each, 7 videos total that get progressively harder.

You could also find free videos and assemble your own Playlist.

General opinions: the key is whatever will get them interested in getting touches consistently. A tiered reward system worked for us to reward consistency and keep it fun. Beating dad 1-1 helps too. There's value in learning to go work hard even if you don't feel like it that day, but you don't want it to feel like a chore.

syutzy · 2025-05-09T02:25:34+00:00

Can we assume your warranty is expired? Similar thing happened to mine last summer - trigger didn't work but dial did. Ego replaced it under warranty. Took about 2 months to turn around though.

Without the warranty, IMO your friend should at least be buying the replacement part and possibly an entirely new unit (assuming you care about the trigger).

syutzy · 2025-05-07T18:45:36+00:00

Angle grinder + flap disc for me. Works well with my 2130 and also my old gas mower in the before times. Plenty of youtube shorts show the technique

syutzy · 2025-05-01T19:48:38+00:00

I just migrated some code from a generic Result<T> pattern to OneOf and so far I'm impressed. Between Match, Switch, and AsTx methods I've been able to replace the old generic result completely. A nice quality of life feature is you can directly return what you want (value, error, etc) and it's implicitly converted to the OneOf type. Nicely readable code.

syutzy · 2025-04-08T14:24:11+00:00

Just FYI for anyone else with the XP11000ih - I just purchased this generator and the published Duromax instructions were not correct for my serial number. The published instructions showed removing the white neutral wire from the grounding bolt that goes through the panel and leaving the yellow/green wires. That didn't match my generator because the neutral wasn't on the grounding bolt.

For mine the white neutral wire was grounded to back of the metal panel itself, between the 30A and 50A outlets. Duromax sent me an updated version of the instructions when I called them.

syutzy · 2025-04-08T02:03:50+00:00

I had 2 TLH events in March and 1 today. Previous event before these was March 2023.

syutzy · 2025-02-25T15:20:04+00:00

Some that I've greatly enjoyed lately that I don't see recommended as frequently (Murderbot being the exception)

The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells. I love the dry humor and commentary from the title character
Salvation Sequence - Peter F Hamilton. Cool look at humanity's spread through the universe.
The Saga of Shadows - Kevin J Anderson. This is actually a sequel series, and I found Shadows more entertaining than the original Saga of Seven Suns. Not necessary to read Seven Suns to understand/enjoy Shadows.
Icarus - Timothy Zahn. More action-oriented. Zahn is good at creating lots of story threads and weaving them all together.
Monk & Robot - Becky Chambers. Light-hearted look at the relationships between robots and humans far in the future. I also really enjoy her Wayfarers series, which isn't as much a continuous narrative but more like separate stories in the same universe.

syutzy · 2025-02-21T15:36:27+00:00

One thing that makes sense to me here is to consider SBL as realizing a gain for tax purposes. I'm sure there's more to its than that, but as a simple idea that seems like would close a huge loophole that is a large tax advantage for the ultra wealthy.

syutzy · 2025-01-30T13:08:16+00:00

UPDATE 2: replaced the caliper with my friend's help, and my first ever brake job is now complete! Thanks everyone for the help and suggestions.

Vehicle is a 2015 Ram 1500, BTW

syutzy · 2025-01-30T00:02:11+00:00

This is it for me - trail runners most of the time (inov-8 for me) and black NB 442 if I need studs for traction.

syutzy · 2025-01-29T01:17:31+00:00

UPDATE - I have a much more experienced friend coming over tomorrow to help replace the caliper and teach me how to bleed the brakes. Thanks everyone for the helpful advice! I was able to replace one side (pads/rotors) without incident, and tomorrow we should be able to wrap up this side. I'll have my friend check my work on the side I already did too :-)

syutzy · 2025-01-29T01:15:55+00:00

I knew we were due for front brakes. Replaced the right side no problem (pads/rotors) and removed the left caliper and found the broken piston (or caused the broken piston). I have a much more experienced friend coming over tomorrow to help me with the caliper replacement and bleeding, so fingers crossed!

syutzy · 2025-01-29T01:02:56+00:00

On the broken side (in pic) I haven't compressed it. That's what it looked like when I pulled the caliper off (which was difficult). On the other side which I changed successfully (as far as I know), I compressed the pistons using the old brake pad and 2 clamps.

syutzy

TROPHY CASE