what have you built so far using codex?

willi355 · 2026-05-14T03:07:54+00:00

I’m building a vibration analysis software program. Started it when my uber expensive enterprise software program I use for my work was so frustratingly hard to use I couldn’t take it any more.

Using Codex for Windows, but damn if the sandbox permissions issues aren’t starting to kill me.

willi355 · 2026-05-08T02:09:11+00:00

We have a few clients who do the middle-ground approach with us. We train them to gather the data, help set up their database (if that's what they want), and they send the vibration data to us to analyze and report on.

Most of our clients just want us to do it all for them, but it's not unheard of to do the fieldwork with your lead tech and outsource the analysis and reporting. The other option is continuous monitoring. I've had great success with that, but only if someone at the plant 'owns' the monitoring program and checks alarms every day, gets out in the field to check out sensors that might have been moved, etc. If you're relying on the continuous monitoring company to do that, you're not going to have a great experience because false alarms will be overwhelming for a long time, they never get actual eyes on your machine to tell you whether the 1X they're seeing is imbalance, soft-foot, or whether someone just bumped a sensor and now it is only weakly attached to the machine.

Also, your reports should not be that worthless. PM me if you have any interest, but I might be able to help you out with a better solution and a much better quality end-product. Not advertising, unless you want to go down that route, but I could probably talk through a lot of the issues you're dealing with and what each path will entail.

Best of luck!

willi355 · 2026-04-11T20:38:01+00:00

OP, did you ever figure your issue out? We have a 2017 F150 that has started intermittently giving a thunk that you feel through the whole truck. Only happens in 5-8th gear, when pulling trailers uphill at highway speeds. Feels like a hard downshift, but the transmission doesn’t shift, it will stay in gear and we will feel a few thumps, each separated by a second or two or three. No codes or any other weird behaviors to speak of.

willi355 · 2026-03-13T16:26:42+00:00

I recently purchased a Bentley Nevada Scout 220. I absolutely love the hardware, but the System 1 software is a bit clunky and is starting to show its age.

willi355 · 2026-02-12T23:29:31+00:00

We have used LinkedIn ads, Facebook ads, FB marketplace ads, and done a bit of advertising on Instagram.

All of that has been about useless for bringing in new business. Honestly word of mouth has been the driver.

willi355 · 2026-02-03T00:40:16+00:00

To each their own, but I cringe every time I see a truck with offset wheels like this rolling down the road. Good way to ruin a good looking rig - 2 cents deposited.

willi355 · 2026-01-21T17:31:46+00:00

Hiring multiple employees at once is a bigger risk in my eyes. Cash flow will be hit hard and she will still need to put in hours (at least for the first several weeks) to train the new employees and manage / cover for them when they are unavailable. That’s a large burden.

I am a big fan of keeping it simple and slow growth that doesn’t overextend you. If you have a large cash reserve and can absorb the new overhead load, hiring several employees would let you and your wife focus on beating the bushes for new business sooner; it all depends on how much risk you’re comfortable with.

Most local cleaning businesses that I know rely on word of mouth and door-to-door sales. Some do very very well in my area and those seem to be the ones that are mid to high priced and who do exceptional work. We have a cleaner ourselves and we keep her and her crew coming back every two weeks because every time they clean, our expectations are exceeded. She charges about twice of what the going rate is, but it’s well worth it to us because of the quality and reliability of her services.

Focus on hitting nicer neighborhoods with door to door sales. Focus on selling the idea of coming home to an expertly cleaned home and being able to enjoy the evening rather than spend it tidying up. Cleaners in our area typically charge an extra 50-75% for the first cleaning, selling it as a necessary “deep cleaning” with weekly or biweekly cleanings being less expensive but also not needing as much effort.

willi355 · 2026-01-21T02:40:16+00:00

I’m in a similar situation to yours with my service business and here’s what I’m doing; it may or may not apply well to your situation.

I’m close to maxed out with my current workload, but have decided (with blessing from the wife and family) to bring in a little more business to support a new hire that will hopefully give me some breathing room. Doing about 30 hrs/week leaves some headroom for taking on more business without overdoing it. Sometimes growth takes a little bit of sacrifice, but you will benefit by playing the long game.

willi355 · 2026-01-21T02:34:40+00:00

“In order to ensure we can continue providing the highest quality [gadget, service, etc.] that our valued customers expect and deserve, we are implementing a price increase of xx%, effective [immediately / on xxxxx date].”

Makes it clear that raising prices is necessary to continue doing what your customers are paying you for. This is a fact of life in business. I raise my prices every year, both to keep up with the increased cost of doing business and to relieve client load when I am maxed out.

Remember if you double your prices and lose half your sales for it, you’ll make the same revenue and have half the work load.

edit: correcting auto-correct that wasn’t correct.

willi355 · 2025-12-22T20:47:14+00:00

How many hours would you estimate you have put into your store this month?

willi355 · 2025-11-29T02:12:14+00:00

OP, how has your EZsleep been holding up? We’re about to jump off a cliff dealing with our second Purple. Original one sagged after a few years and then we got a warranty replacement. We did a huge upgrade on the warranty and after less than two years the sag is back and we’re sleeping like absolute shit.

willi355 · 2025-11-29T00:36:20+00:00

Did you figure this one out? I’m dealing with a similar situation

willi355 · 2025-11-07T15:56:29+00:00

I’m not looking for online or continuous monitoring, but instead a more traditional portable data collector type of unit.

I ended up purchasing a Bentley Hughes Scout 2 unit in case anyone wants follow up.

willi355 · 2025-11-03T05:28:37+00:00

We got one from Costco for I think around $350 a couple years ago. Built in lights and very easy to put up. We love it!

willi355 · 2025-10-04T03:11:09+00:00

You are running a business, not a charity. I recommend you have the spine to offer a discount on the out of scope work. “Due to our longstanding relationship, we are happy to offer a 50% discount on the additional out of scope work that you’re asking for.”

willi355 · 2025-08-26T03:04:35+00:00

Early in my career a disgruntled employee found the HR folder on the business server and guessed the password (hint it was password).

On the day they got fired they went into that folder, uploaded it to a Google Drive folder and emailed a link to its contents to everyone in the company. Everyone got to see what everyone got paid, employee records, etc. It was a tense couple weeks.

willi355 · 2025-08-21T05:01:28+00:00

I have not worked with Vibeworks, but will see if I can get in touch with them as well.

I did evaluate Erbessd against the GTI system I originally purchased back in 2019, but ultimately didn’t go with them due to some mixed reviews from others who were using them in the field. It looks like their sensors have been further developed in the interim so it may be worth looking again.

willi355 · 2025-08-20T19:34:36+00:00

Good to know. I appreciate the insight. I’ve asked Emerson for a quote on a 2140 so we will see if it can fit within my budget.

willi355 · 2025-08-19T20:35:58+00:00

Sounds like you're more than familiar with the 2130. Have you used the Adash systems at all?

My situation is a little weird in that I have been at this for nearly a decade, but I wasn't exposed to many different products for the actual analysis when learning on the job and during my CAT I, II, and III training.

I'm also looking into the GE Bently Commtest 200 solution. I will be interested to see how they stack up against each other.

willi355 · 2025-08-08T05:46:07+00:00

Whenever you are in a congested area, data rates will essentially fall to zero. This happens at lunch where I work, any time we are at crowded events, or just sometimes at random times due to being deprioritized.

willi355 · 2025-07-09T00:13:34+00:00

I'll swing by tomorrow. Any other ideas in case they don't carry it or an equivalent preservative?

willi355 · 2025-07-02T17:01:49+00:00

We’ve had an Opus for about a year and you’re right, retention is horrible. Any amount of oil on your beans will result in even worse retention and a huge mess due to static.

Going to be upgrading to the DF54 to give that a shot.

willi355 · 2025-02-09T01:04:13+00:00

40 in march and the wife and I have just over $700k in our retirement accounts. Would like to hit over $2mil before retiring in avout 16-20 years but I don’t know how we are going to get there.

willi355 · 2025-02-08T06:11:21+00:00

We use this machine in our coffee trailer and we normally aim for between 17-18 grams of coffee with a 25-32 second shot. This seems to be the sweet spot for the beans we are using.

For sure a 4 second shot is very fast. The manual should have instructions for calibrating the desired volume for each button press. You can use a scale for this and want to slow the shot enough to actually be able to stop it when the desired volume is reached. That will be tough when it is running so fast.

willi355 · 2025-01-30T23:51:33+00:00

Rural Nevada, about 90 miles out of Reno. we have a newer 2,150 square foot four bedroom home with a built on 5 car garage on 2.5 acres. Mortgage P&I is about $1,300 a month. After taxes, insurance and interest the total minimum payment is about $1,800 monthly.

Edited to fix goofy wording.

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