I’m not really a tech guy at all and I let these nerds talk me into trying Linux Mint, I haven’t bothered with Windows 10 for several months now. There was some frustrating troubleshooting at first but once the settings are tweaked how you like them, the updates don’t negate your tweaks like with Microsoft. I’m sure there’s a lot of functionality I’m not maximizing but I don’t feel the need to. I got my productivity stuff figured out, my game stuff figured out, the last thing I really need to get sorted is why my printer is being such a wiener but I use it so sparingly that there’s not much motivation to mess with that. I did dual boot for a while so I wouldn’t feel overwhelmingly stupid when it came to Linux, so I was able to familiarize myself with the new setup at my pace and that helped quite a bit I think. No harm in going that route, then you can see what happens with Warzone before fully taking the plunge

• I would add keeping a jug of sand or cat litter along with a couple 12"+ 2x4s in the vehicle to help with getting some traction if you or someone else ends up stuck.
• i dunno about EVs but if you’ve got an ICE vehicle give it a minute or two of just idling and warming up before going anywhere
• When I start driving on snow I tap the brakes a couple times if nobody’s around just to get a feel for how good my traction is. Am I sliding a little bit? A lot? Not at all? That helps set the tone for what to expect on the roads.
• Don’t accelerate through turns if you’ve already got momentum, and if the weather’s REALLY suspect I prefer to coast on overpasses as well since those ice over first.
• Respect the possibility of black ice. If you live in a mountainous area then assume anywhere in the shade is black ice
• If the house is on a crawlspace make sure any ductwork and copper piping are properly Insulated, keep the crawlspace vents closed during the cold months.
• Use ice melt sparingly if you have to use it at all (sand is preferable) because it’s caustic to concrete.
• if you’re somewhere that gets an absolutely stupid amount of snow, follow your neighbors’ lead if you see them shoveling snow off their roofs. I saw a lot of roof collapses in a luxury mountain town where rich people’s second (third? Fourth? Ninth?) homes were left vacant during a pretty nasty snowstorm

JustWatch has some choices, I’d be partial to Pluto unless you wanna rent/buy it

My dad’s the same way, he hasn’t pleaded with me about my vote but that may only be because I don’t talk to him.
Have you seen “The Brainwashing of My Dad”? I think that’s what it’s called, a friend recommended it to me and I need to make some time for it, sounds like it covers the impact of garbage like fox news on old men

I grew up in the eastern half as well and they’ve talked about that merger for decades, seems it’s little more than another talking point to keep people angry and give them another thing to be complain about regarding all those godless communist child-eating liberal coasties

Turns out I can unmute my phone when I realize it’s a person I want to talk to. It’s just crazy how tech has improved over the years

I answer unknown calls and then immediately mute my mic. Most of the time it’s a bot that might call back once more, occasionally it’s somebody that gets an explanation of why i just made things weird. been doung that for years and now I only get spam calls maybe once or twice a month tops, if even that much

It might be a few hundred to scope the main sewer line but you could probably find promos to lower the cost. There’s a “one stop shop” in my area that’s advertising scopes for $30, but they do plumbing, electrical, and HVAC and I haven’t heard of them doing any of those particularly well. If you find a company like that just be ready to put up with their sales pitch and then keep the video to run it by a different plumber for a dimebag or a case of beer or maybe even some real money.

Do you have many big trees on the property? That’s usually the biggest cause for backups like what you’re describing: roots sneak into the sewer line, then keep growing/expanding and catching all the toilet paper flowing by and then just turns into this big dumb obstruction that constipates the whole line

This is the best way of doing it. I’d recommend some paint thinner and paper towels to help clean up the silicon. Even people that have been doing this work for years can get enthusiastic with caulking stuff in and silicon can get messy fast. Plus make sure to give the whole space enough time to fully cure and be good to go against water exposure. I’m also surprised at the apparent lack of retention screw or something in there, pretty strange

That crack isn’t bad at all, especially if it’s following a mortar line. Are there doors/windows nearby, or is it close to a corner? Insurance will almost certainly tell you it’s nothing. My area had a quake a few years ago and I got a bigger crack (maybe 1/4") above the basement walkout door, also through the mortar like this one. If you wanna seal the crack then you’d have better luck with caulk, mortar would have a hard time taking to such a small crack; and sealing it would make the area more difficult to monitor. Just keep an eye on it over time and bone up on the water management around your house to make sure it’s all flowing away from your foundation, not loitering. I really don’t think you’ve got something to worry about right now based on what I see, and I’ve worked on or evaluated hundreds of houses. Rest easy, friend

It cracks me up how true this is. I managed a theater for a while so on weekends after close (1a-ish) the managers on duty would go unwind at the nearby WH, got to know the staff there and they’d be vocally profiling people to us as groups were coming to the door. One time the cook made a dick shaped pancake for one in our group, but cut off the end and sprayed a bunch of ketchup all over the plate. They were good people, some of my favorite.

Serial reposter

Friend of a friend’s basement flooded so friend and I are gonna go help demo and see how far we get on putting it back together. Sunday will be for soccer and gaming and general lethargy

You’ve got a few options

I always left mine in neutral but when I’d take it to a shop they’d leave it in gear and I’d lurch forward like an amateur when I left. I’m not convinced there’s a difference between the two but I’m no mechanic

I installed Mint this past spring and fiddled around with it briefly every once in a while but I’m not a tech guy so there was a little bit of a learning curve on stuff like getting a second monitor to work, stuff like that. I’m sure you’ve already found out that there’s TONS of documentation and forums for questions, it’s just a matter of feeling kinda dumb for a little while as you troubleshoot. I switched over to Mint full time a few months ago and haven’t looked back. I’ve still got Win10 on an extra hard drive just in case but I think more and more of reclaiming that space for Steam now, I don’t miss Windows at all

Helping a buddy replace some windows tomorrow and then sizing up someone else’s flooded basement to see what all needs done. Beyond that I expect it’ll be nothing but the remastered Age of Mythology

I’m enjoying it, tried a few different rogue builds and doing a sorc right now, fireball then probably switch to lightning spear when I get the right gear. Doubt I’ll be playing this season for much longer though since it’s shorter and I don’t wanna burnout right before the expansion. Plus I’m a simp for Age of Mythology so that’s gonna be my September.

I also finally beat Lilith and all the tormented bosses, I’ve really been enjoying the changes since season 4 and the reworked uniques for this season

Looks fantastic! And now you’ve inspired me to make myself one

This is something the wife and I have looked at doing for our next house but is clover less resilient to dogs than grass? We were figuring on natural stuff for the front yard but keeping grass in the majority of the backyard because of our pets