Recent content by YB88

Just noting that while Xfinity/Comcast is my internet provider, I don't get any TV or any of the other various services that they are eager to sell to me. I want my internet provider to be JUST that, so that I retain the ability to easily walk should they get too expensive, unreliable, or...

I get tempted by this sometimes, but always put off at the prospect of variable and possibly even inconsistent speeds. I too annually re-negotiate with Xfinity/Comcast and get a good price that way, although it always raises my blood pressure a bit to deal with it. Note that earlier the month...

AARP offers a no-fee Barclay's card that's not bad for travel. They've heard of Barclay's in Great Britain. :) OTOH, it isn't true chip and pin; I had hoped it would be, but have given up on that quest.

A good example of how we are all at least a little different. My wife and I typically watch TV at dinner time, and almost always via the DVR. Local news sometimes, international news. Lately she has a trip planned and we've found a lot of content that relates to the country she'll travel to...

Postscript: I just looked at the gases offered at my local welding supply store, and the list includes: "... Medical Gases, Beverage Gases, Wine Production Gases,...". That all sounds hopeful, so I'll call them on Monday to see if next time I have to specify "beverage CO2" or "food grade"...

The debate about food grade CO2 is has been going on for quite some time. Some of the common arguments on both sides are captured here, for example: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/food-grade-co2-vs-industrial-co2.589239/ I used to go to a homebrew shop and get my tank refilled there (or...

Serendipitously, just yesterday I went to my local welding supply store and swapped my not-quite-empty tank for a full one. I can't remember if I have a 15 pound or 20 pound tank --- it's something just short of 30" tall anyway. Cost was $30-something, and will last me well over a year, and...

My wife and I toured a CCRC today; the prices listed above seem quite low in comparison, but I live in a fairly expensive part of the country (Puget Sound, WA state). This was quite a nice facility, type 'A', and overall I could see us living there with the caveat that we're 67 and the average...

My wife and I have just started looking into this, so far we've visited one 55+ community and one CCRC, planning to see a couple more next week. We don't plan to move this year, but we've set a goal to make at least a tentative decision by the end of this year to (a) die in place, but remodel...

Recommended. My wife and I are watching it now too. Sadly, I bought the set of DVDs for this for her for Christmas, as we live in WA state and hiked through Roslyn (the actual town that is called "Cicily" in the show) recently. At that point, this was the only way to watch it, no streaming...

My previous soundbar, while good overall, didn't have an HDMI (Arc or any other type) of input, only headphone type audio jack and optical. The one I bought only works with TCL Roku TV's, but mine is exactly that, and it was trivial to install and the volume is controlled via the TV volume in...

Amazon Recast DVR is another reason to distrust Amazon hardware. They just abandoned that product last year: https://www.techhive.com/article/831720/amazon-fire-tv-recast-discontinued.html I ended up putting mine in a growing collection of no-longer-used tech hardware that I'll take to a tech...

I am just in the process of switching over from Fire TV to Roku. Amazon seems to be giving me a number of "last straw" situations. The last straw for Fire TV was that now before any video will play, I have to click past an initial advertisement. And the user interface for this via Fire TV is...

I'm a bit surprised at how many responses there have been to this question. Nice I guess that so many people have felt themselves in this situation. I did have this issue, though now have "aged out of it". My responses were varied depending on what I was currently engaged in (which changed...

I agree with others about wanting relatively large electrical boxes for light switches and plugs, but particularly for switches. 'Smart' switches take up a lot of space in those boxes, it can be a pain. And I definitely agree with those who suggest running conduit to various parts of the...