Refrigerators

Refrigerators

Comments 0 Comment

Cassidy got this GE French Door 28.7 Cu. Ft. refrigerator (PGE29BYTBFS) for free and gave it to us summer of 2023. We kept in in the garage. Only lasted a year. Just before the year warranty was up it stopped cooling and GE replaced the condenser. A month later it stopped working again. I had purchased a service contract with Assurant for only $270 for 3 years! They replaced a unit that directed the cool air between the 3 sections. It did not take. When we tried fixing it again, Assurant after a visit by a technician decided it was not repairable because we were violating the T&Cs having it in the garage. I cancelled the contract and got a partial refund. Posted the fridge on NextDoor (for free) and someone picked it up a day later.

The refrigerator in our kitchen is a small 21 Cu. Ft. Whirlpool (WRS571CIHZ01). This size is the only one that fits our kitchen.

The following week we purchased this 2nd refrigerator which is “Garage-ready”. Speced to work in temperatures between 32-110 degrees.

Bidets

Bidets

Comments 0 Comment

Let’s go there. Living with a septic system and recently calling a plumber to help with a clog, we decided to give a bidet a try. I was a little skeptical. Would it work well? Would I like it? The answer to both is a resounding YES! Previously it was recommended we start using one of 2 brands of toilet paper made for septic systems. The latest plumber said the best thing we can do is not put ANYTHING down the toilet except what comes out of our body. So besides the health benefits, using toilet paper only to “dry” and disposing of it in the trash is what the bidet allowed us to do.

Wanting Jane to be fully onboard, I chose the Toto Washlet C2 Bidet (SW3074). It came with all the bells and whistles the top ones are:

  1. Adjustable temperature heated seats
  2. Adjustable Water Temperature
  3. Adjustable temperature air dryer
  4. Automatic air deodorizer
  5. Auto-clean wand
  6. Auto slow seat lowering

We paid $333 on Amazon for it. The heated water & seat and air deodorizer really makes a difference! I say this because we bought a 2nd one but a more basic brand with no heating.

The Tushy 3.0 bidet was $125 on Amazon. You can adjust pressure and angle. It works fine, you just may get a bit of a cold water jolt, will use more toilet paper for drying and you’ll still have to have an air deoderizer in your bathroom. We installed it downstairs in our “basement” bathroom.

75in Hisense TV

75in Hisense TV

Comments 0 Comment

Our Samsung 75in blew up last night. Right in the middle of playing Gears of War Horde there was a very loud mini-explosion and the TV went dead. Does not turn on. Something blew! I looked into having it repaired but a visit to determine the problem was $180 and labor to replace any parts would be $120 so before ordering parts I would be in $300. I was told parts could run between $300 & $1000! I passed. I ordered this Hisense 75in (75U7N) on sale at Best Buy for Black Friday. Got it for $900. For $65 I am having the Samsung hauled away. The 75U8N model is better and brighter but I decided it wasn’t worth the extra $400 since I’ll be using it in our dark media room. The Hisense has a 144Hz refresh rate! The Samsung was 120Hz which was actually enough for gaming.

Gammon & Backgammon

Gammon & Backgammon

Comments 0 Comment

A gammon occurs when you remove all your checkers from the board before your opponent has the opportunity to remove any of theirs. You are awarded 2 times the current bet.

A backgammon occurs when you remove all your checkers from the board before your opponent removes any of theirs, AND your opponent has at least one checker in your home or on the bar. You are awarded 3 times the current bet

Editing out bad frames in Video

Editing out bad frames in Video

Comments 0 Comment

My Osmo action camera (Go Pro clone) started recording poorly. Black frames showing up at various parts of the video. Sound was missing. I’m hoping it is the micro SD card I was using. It was a Speed Class of 10 (min write speed 10MB/s), UHS Speed Class of 1 (again, 10MB/s write speed). I switched it out for a micro SD card rated UHS 3 (30MBs write speed).

I use iMovie and though I edit my video to try to remove the black segments, I often miss some short black segments or even a single black (bad) frame. I movie fails when I save with the message:

Share Failed
Exporting ” has failed.
Error: RequestCVPixelBufferForFrame returned 3 for absolute frame: NNNN

To locate where in the timeline the bad frame occurs I used this website to convert frame to timecode. The calculation is not difficult. You just need to know the frame rate of the video. You can check your project settings but if it does not report the FPS, just advance the video 1 frame at a time from the beginning and count how many frames until the timecode reaches 1 second. I shoot in either 30 or 60 fps.

Take the absolute frame reported in the error message and divide it by the frame rate. This is the number of seconds into the video where the problematic frame exists. Now divide the number of seconds by 60 and that is how many minutes into the video you’ll find the bad frame. Multiply the full number of minutes by 60 and subtract this from the total number of seconds to get how many seconds after the full minutes where the problem occurs. Removing the few frames around the problem will fix the issue.

Don’t know why iMovie doesn’t offer the option of removing these bad frames for you.

Generation Names

Generation Names

Comments 0 Comment

2010 – ? Generation Alpha. Most technically savvy. Don’t know when social media did not exist

1997-2010 Generation Z or iGen. First to be live in completely connected world

1981-1996 Millennial Generation / Generation Y. Boomers accuse of being self-centered and entitled due to excessive use of technology. Community-oriented and environmentally conscious.

1965-1980 Generation X. Slacker generation. Lived through AIDS, MTV culture. First to use helicopter parenting.

1946-1964 Baby Boom Generation. Gen Z think they are their out-of-touch grandparents (“Ok Boomer”). First to consider kid’s perspective of growing up, started “family meetings”

1928-1945 The Silent Generation. Conformist. Silent through the MacCarthy era when the fear of Communism swept the country.

1901-1927 The Greatest Generation. Lived through the Great Depression and then went off to fight in WW2. Popularized jazz and swing.

The Tale of the Swans and El Gato

The Tale of the Swans and El Gato

Comments 0 Comment

(KlR) The Water was so warm as I swam in the creek full of minnows and swans. I jumped in the water and…

(KB) the swans started to chant my name. I was in awe of the hospitality & kindness of my new friends.

(CK) I jumped into the pond to swim with the swans. Suddenly, a thunderstorm came into view

(KK) As the storm approached I gathered all the swans to save them.

(JK) Swans being swans, they scattered willy-nilly throughout the park. I gave up and sat down and had a Coors Lite

(DK) The Coors Lite pushed me over the edge, I’m DRUNK. I grabbed my salt gun, put on my shoes, and began the hunt.

(NS) It was so itchy in my bumhole! Suddenly, it was just so itchy!

(AK) Anyway…

(JcR) Then a big gato started crawling out of my bumhole and it started meowing at me. I offered it a Dos X Equis and we chilled on the porch in Uvalde on the Las Nueces River for the next 30 days and we lived happily ever after.

(JsR) The gato started to become unfaithful. I would wait at home for them to come home, praying that they weren’t out on the town preying on the young puss of Uvalde.

(SR) The gato was in fact preying on the young puss of Uvalde…but she was just providing for her young gatos.

(KrR) By morning the gato was found drinking the leftover wine and was super drunk

(KlR) El gato had an intervention, with his feline cousins & Apache who has intervened with his master family and told him to start dipping & smoking cigars and do less drinking & do this.

Outdoor Items

Outdoor Items

Comments 0 Comment

Feb 6, 2022. Google Net 4 pack 399.99

Nov 22, 2021. 55″ Hisense TV $499.99

Mar 24, 2020. Suncast 33 Gallon Hideaway Can Resin Outdoor Trash $39.00

Aug, 2020. Suncast 33 Gallon Hideaway Can Resin Outdoor Trash $39.00

June 13, 2020. Lowes. 6.75-in W x 30.125-in H Wood Work Bench $55.48

May 30, 2020. Lowes. 52-in L x 29-in 124-Gallon Java Deck Box $149.00

May 30 2020. Lowes. 5-cu ft Poly Wheelbarrow $59.98

Apr 20, 2020. Chaise Lounge Cushion, 2-pack, Red $169.99

Mar 24, 2020. Suncast 33 Gallon Hideaway Can Resin Outdoor Trash $39.00

Suncast 90 gallon Storage? Not Costco, Not Amazon