The Advice Thread

[Biff Mayhem]

On 1/4/2025 at 3:06 PM, Deleterious said:

Americans need to embrace the bidet. We bought one during COVID and it's over of the best purchases we ever made.

Can confirm. Also, after exercise, it’s the best tool, short of a shower, to eliminate swamp ass. As previously said, using a restroom away from home is the pits. The solution is dude wipes (or a similar product). Don’t flush them though. They are a nightmare for waste treatment and septic systems. 

[oblong]

Anybody have a lead on a quality cheese grater?  For home use. We’ve started naming some things over the last few years that requires us to grate cheese and I’ve already gone thru two of them.  Damn things break on me. And it clogs up.  She gets pampered chef stuff thru a friend but I’m ready to spend decent money.  

[romad1]

42 minutes ago, oblong said:

Anybody have a lead on a quality cheese grater?  For home use. We’ve started naming some things over the last few years that requires us to grate cheese and I’ve already gone thru two of them.  Damn things break on me. And it clogs up.  She gets pampered chef stuff thru a friend but I’m ready to spend decent money.  

You want better than Pampered Chef stuff?  

 

[oblong]

I want something that doesn’t feel like it’s going to snap because I’m grating cheese. It’s the “nice cheese from the back of the store” as they said in Bridesmaids. 

[gehringer_2]

1 minute ago, oblong said:

I want something that doesn’t feel like it’s going to snap because I’m grating cheese. It’s the “nice cheese from the back of the store” as they said in Bridesmaids. 

Porter-Cable router?

[Deleterious]

46 minutes ago, oblong said:

I want something that doesn’t feel like it’s going to snap because I’m grating cheese. It’s the “nice cheese from the back of the store” as they said in Bridesmaids. 

Not sure what style you want.  But go to any restaurant supply store for more industrial stuff.

https://www.rewonline.com/category/5709/Graters/s/pd

https://www.restaurantsupply.com/graters

 

[Screwball]

Cheese is one of those thing where it matters what you want to do with it. I'm only a few hours from the Amish country in Ohio and they have some kick ass baby Swiss. I like that sliced thin to put on sandwiches, but it comes in a wedge. I have a hand slicer that does a slice about 3/32 (guessing, would be interesting to put a caliper on it) thick and 1 3/4 wide that works great.

Grating is another story. Cheese likes to gum up, and temperature matters. But we all know that. I would go with horsepower. I've still got one of these and it works like a charm. This is manual, and I'm sure there are electric as well.

Can be found on Amazon.

Edited January 7 by Screwball

[oblong]

10 minutes ago, Deleterious said:

Not sure what style you want.  But go to any restaurant supply store for more industrial stuff.

https://www.rewonline.com/category/5709/Graters/s/pd

https://www.restaurantsupply.com/graters

 

Thanks.  I’m after the rotary style. I see a few there that look promising. 

[chasfh]

On 1/5/2025 at 4:49 PM, oblong said:

We went on vacation in 2021 and the condo had them. Before unpacking my suitcase I ordered the same model from Amazon. I got one just to make sure I could do it.  The. I ordered the rest.  I’ve convinced several friends since to get them.  I have no idea why they didn’t take off sooner here.  
It’s not just cosmetic.  They are healthier in terms of both the “ick” factor and for our shoulders and back as we age. My wife recommends for her patients who have shoulder surgeries.  
 

think about it.  You are changing a diaper.  You get **** on your wrist or arm. Would you just wipe it with a dry towel and carry on?  

Meaning we don't have to reach around and wipe? I don't know about you or anyone else here, but that's not exactly true, because I still have to dab the water off my butt afterwards. But it's not as though I am smashing the **** back onto my butt.

I still have to dab because the air dryer that came with mine still leaves me wet, so I don't even bother using it anymore.

[oblong]

34 minutes ago, chasfh said:

Meaning we don't have to reach around and wipe? I don't know about you or anyone else here, but that's not exactly true, because I still have to dab the water off my butt afterwards. But it's not as though I am smashing the **** back onto my butt.

I still have to dab because the air dryer that came with mine still leaves me wet, so I don't even bother using it anymore.

You can do that from underneath instead of reaching back. And you could use a towel if necessary if the pain is too much.

If you have no shoulder issues now then it's fine.  But if you had a shoulder replaced or otherwise have limited mobility...

Or you can just be damp for a little bit.

 

[CMRivdogs]

One of my prescriptions occasionally has a nasty side effect and I'm thinking that a bidet would be helpful in the cleanup process. It would save on using much more TP or Dude Wipes as well as pay for itself in a short period of time. I'm really not worried about the temperature of the cleaning process.

Now to convince tie CFO 

[oblong]

8 hours ago, CMRivdogs said:

One of my prescriptions occasionally has a nasty side effect and I'm thinking that a bidet would be helpful in the cleanup process. It would save on using much more TP or Dude Wipes as well as pay for itself in a short period of time. I'm really not worried about the temperature of the cleaning process.

Now to convince tie CFO 

When I did my colonoscopy prep that side of things was a piece of cake because of the bidet.

[Hongbit]

There’s some serious **** talk going on in this thread. 

[smr-nj]

What’s the best silent mantra to chant when you want to rip the eyes/ears/nose off of patients/clients who manage to be both rude and nasty, when neither reaction is in any way warranted?

Asking for a friend.

…

Ok, me. Asking for me. 🤬

[chasfh]

When you get into a crash with another car, do not get hit by a guy who has a suspended license and no insurance.

I signed up with a new insurance company in 2023, car was $1,513 for the year. We had a bang up with a stationary object that year and car went up to $2,291 for last year, a hike of +51%. We felt that seemed fair given the circumstance, so we went with them again.

After getting hit by the guy (who has already skipped two court dates on it and now has an FTA warrant out against him), a crash the police has confirmed on record was his fault and not ours, now the insurance company wants $4,035, a hike of +76% since last year, and +166% over two years. Yes, our insurance had to pay for the accident because of the guy who hit me, but again, it was established as not our fault, so really, we should not be considered an elevated risk because of it.

So, in essence, they are asking for almost triple the premium they asked for just two years ago.

In the meantime, one of the other majors just gave us a quote of $1,239 for six months, which works out to $2,479 for the year if we can get them to do 12 months with us, which is much, much lower.

I hate the idea of leaving the new insurance company after they were so cool about handling our two crashes, but I gotta tell ya, the difference in cost is too compelling to just ignore. Plus, if I establish that I am willing to pay an elevated insurance rate for my car now, it's never, ever, ever going to come down to anything resembling a normal rate ever again. After all, there's a good business reason insurance companies work off a black box quote system and not a rate card.

I'll give my current company a chance to respond, but I see practically zero chance they bring the quote down.

 

[CMRivdogs]

On 1/4/2025 at 3:06 PM, Deleterious said:

Americans need to embrace the bidet. We bought one during COVID and it's over of the best purchases we ever made.

I bit the bullet so to speak and made the leap. An EBTULF portable, a bit price but nice reviews. I picked it over the Tushy because it was electric, rechargeable and I wasn't sure I would be able to squeeze enough liquid out of the Tushy to make it worth my while.

We've got a couple of trips coming up between now and the end of March, so it will get a good testing. Early reports are promising, just getting used to the operation.

[oblong]

On 1/28/2025 at 12:47 PM, chasfh said:

When you get into a crash with another car, do not get hit by a guy who has a suspended license and no insurance.

I signed up with a new insurance company in 2023, car was $1,513 for the year. We had a bang up with a stationary object that year and car went up to $2,291 for last year, a hike of +51%. We felt that seemed fair given the circumstance, so we went with them again.

After getting hit by the guy (who has already skipped two court dates on it and now has an FTA warrant out against him), a crash the police has confirmed on record was his fault and not ours, now the insurance company wants $4,035, a hike of +76% since last year, and +166% over two years. Yes, our insurance had to pay for the accident because of the guy who hit me, but again, it was established as not our fault, so really, we should not be considered an elevated risk because of it.

So, in essence, they are asking for almost triple the premium they asked for just two years ago.

In the meantime, one of the other majors just gave us a quote of $1,239 for six months, which works out to $2,479 for the year if we can get them to do 12 months with us, which is much, much lower.

I hate the idea of leaving the new insurance company after they were so cool about handling our two crashes, but I gotta tell ya, the difference in cost is too compelling to just ignore. Plus, if I establish that I am willing to pay an elevated insurance rate for my car now, it's never, ever, ever going to come down to anything resembling a normal rate ever again. After all, there's a good business reason insurance companies work off a black box quote system and not a rate card.

I'll give my current company a chance to respond, but I see practically zero chance they bring the quote down.

 

Don't feel guilty.  It's all in the underwriter's hands, not the local rep.  The whole concept is crap.  "Here, pay for this in case you need it."

 

"Cool, that seems fair.  Bit of a risk but I get it"

"Oh, you needed it?  We have to charge you for that now"

 

It's like paying for a reserved parking spot in a downtown city but then they charge you if you actually park in it.

 

[chasfh]

I figured this one out ten minutes after setting it up and less than an hour before I returned it to the Best Buy. 

 

[gehringer_2]

1 hour ago, chasfh said:

I figured this one out ten minutes after setting it up and less than an hour before I returned it to the Best Buy. 

 

Yup. Repeaters aren't going to do what most people are looking for, which is not just signal but more speed and bandwidth. If your house wireless coverage is poor because your router is stuck in a bad place (for instance because of where your service entesr your house  - say the basement.....) - the one thing that may work which is cheaper than a mesh system is just buy a single WiFi6/7 wireless access point - put it in the center of your house and hard wire it to your router. Then turn off the wireless from your service provider's router and use the wireless access point. This only works if the problem is where your router is now and if you can get a cat6 to a better location, but if you can it's a cheaper solution than doing a mesh.

Edited February 27 by gehringer_2

[Dan Gilmore]

My use/needs probably are not the norm, but the extender works okay for me. Modem is in main house, needed wifi in the converted, detached garage. I was able to locate the extender so it beams fairly directly and I don’t have the need for max speed. I know it’s not giving me the full speed. 

[oblong]

Anybody have experience with dash cams?  I was thinking of getting one.  No particular reason for it and I know very little about them.   I don't drive that much but I thought it would be fun, especially on road trips.  

[chasfh]

I need the help of some tech geniuses here because I am flummoxed. This started out of nowhere maybe Thursday or Friday.

All of a sudden, Bluesky posts are not being embedded in MTF posts on my iPad only. It doesn’t matter what browser it is—Firefox, Chrome, Edge, Safari—bsky posts are a no show. On my laptop, though, they show up just fine. But the weird thing is, on my iPhone, they also show up just fine.

For a couple of days, I would turn off my VPN on the iPad and the bsky posts would show up. But starting this morning, they do not show up even with the VPN off. But again, on iPhone, they show up no problem, VPN on or not.

I tried restarting my iPad, and no dice. Both the iPad and iPhone are on 18.3.1, so that’s not the issue. I have no Internet security programs like Norton antivirus or firewalls on it (that I know of), and I don’t have any Adblock programs running on the iPad.

My last resort was copy the URL from the bsky app and paste it into the address field, and again, it was a no go only on the iPad:

but perfectly fine on the iPhone.

I am simply completely flummoxed and I have no idea how to diagnose this beyond this. I don’t want to do any as drastic and reformatting my iPad. Any suggestions anyone can give t further troubleshoot this?

 

[lordstanley]

On 2/28/2025 at 5:49 AM, oblong said:

Anybody have experience with dash cams?  I was thinking of getting one.  No particular reason for it and I know very little about them.   I don't drive that much but I thought it would be fun, especially on road trips.  

We bought one when our daughter started to drive. Simply there in the event if an accident, so we have a record instead of a he-said she-said. It’s not a distraction, easy to remove anytime, and automatically records over old footage once full.