[Toshi]

This upcoming weekend is still unbooked, but the Christmas/New Years block is finally booked. $4,321,80 net rent, so will cover about a third of the boiler replacement.



better than nothing, and there's still time for the house to book for this weekend to add an extra grand. (we won't be up because my wife has Fri and Sat concerts, I have a Sat concert, and then we fly out to Seattle on Sunday.)

 

[Toshi]

A helmet to try for my bike commute. Will the GoPro mount feel weird all cantilevered like this?

View attachment 204964View attachment 204965

Tight but fits over my face. Discount code for y’all to use

View attachment 204983
View attachment 204981
View attachment 204982

Tried the new helmet. Bad wind noise. Shall return it

picked up my Baby Aya and used regular helmet plus new balaclava. Better. Fogs up my glasses when the face thing is up

bonus shots of kids in new double ski bag (for transport to Seattle. Of the skis. Not the kids)

 

[Toshi]

Sun/Wed/Sat lifting for me this week.

Toshi Clark (@toshi.clark) on Threads

Lifted tonight after an easy 30 min Peloton spin to get the blood moving. Put on real clothes instead of just my biking bibs for your benefit. 8, 8, 7 reps on bench today: started out a bit sore already. The astute reader will note I’ve been doing Sun/Thurs and today is a Wednesday. Leaving for...

www.threads.net

 

[Toshi]

yes pls

Kia will unveil its new purpose-built EVs next month at CES

Kia is returning to the world’s biggest tech event next month. The automaker will unveil its new purpose-built EVs and...

electrek.co

 

[Toshi]

my friends

I must report to you that I learned something new today

I had thought that the Lexus RX 400h had been introduced at the mid-cycle refresh of the 2nd gen RX, that is for 2008 and 2009 when the RX 330 became the RX 350 but in the same egg-shaped shell. but, no, it was actually introduced earlier pre-refresh, in 2005

TMYK

 

[Toshi]

something arrived

now it is cunningly disguised

 

[Toshi]

Belt testing day for my Mariko-kun

 

[Toshi]

still have clothes to pack up. but ski gear is ready to roll

 

[Toshi]

Rental car review, Seattle December 2023 edition:

1) 2023 Toyota Sienna LE, rented from Avis SEA. 15k miles on odo.

LE is the base trim. Cloth without any heat, lumbar adjustment (or support!), or memory. No moonroof. Like all Siennas of this gen the uncouth sounding 4 banger hybrid powertrain.

I returned it. What I think is poorly calibrated lane assist caused it to feel like it was pulling, and this one had more wind noise from the A pillar than the one we’d had in Reno.

2) 2022 Chrysler Pacifica (non-Hybrid) Limited, exchanged for the Sienna at Avis SEA later that night. 32k miles on odo.

Leather with memory and lumbar adjustment, pano roof, power everything down to power folding of the third row, wireless CarPlay and factory navi alike, and heated/cooled seats and a heated wheel.

As I’ve griped before the current Uconnect interface is actually worse in terms of number of clicks and customizability to that in our 2019 (and 2018 before it), but overall the experience is much better than that Sienna. Cowl is lower, dash less obtrusive, everything familiar, and the airiness of the sunroof, the heated touch points, and the memory seat like will be welcome in the perpetually dusk-appearing Seattle weather.

3) Tomorrow I shall walk my ass on south down to Enterprise West Seattle and pick up a Premium Crossover from them. VW Atlas or similar is what they say, so who knows what I'll get the keys to. I'll have it for a week, to use to head up to skiing even though I have even odds of getting a FWD model, I suppose.

 

[Toshi]

3) Tomorrow I shall walk my ass on south down to Enterprise West Seattle and pick up a Premium Crossover from them. VW Atlas or similar is what they say, so who knows what I'll get the keys to. I'll have it for a week, to use to head up to skiing even though I have even odds of getting a FWD model, I suppose.

Picked up the VW Atlas as promised.

Thoughts thus far:

- somewhat cheap feeling materials but this is probably a low-ish trim (no moonroof, cloth pleather)
- very roomy first and second rows. 3rd is marginal for adults: I hit the ceiling and leg room only passable if the 2nd row is scooted up with its crude manual mechanism
- spongy brakes
- doesn't feel big coming from the perspective of my Land Cruiser
- wireless CarPlay is nice and makes up for many a UI oddity
- overall very vanilla.

Edit: trim is one up from base. SE with Technology.

 

[Toshi]

acoustic biked at Tiger Mountain today

Toshi Clark (@toshi.clark) on Threads

Some footage from Tiger Mountain today and a few random recent shots from my camera roll. Should have scooted the chest harness as high as possible in retrospect: this vantage not the best given the bar in the way if I stay low.

www.threads.net

rootz be slippery, yo

 

[Toshi]

Got myself some new Intraknit long johns at REI. Rode the RapidRide bus down there: had to drive to Alaska Junction to catch it but as the truly local bus runs unreliably on 60 minute headways (! wtf) it was the only non-being traffic option.

lots of new high rises downtown.

 

[Toshi]

the untold story with walking my ass 3.5 miles down to Enterprise on Tuesday was that my phone, 99% in my closed shell pocket during that very rainy walk, managed to fill itself up with vapor and water. the TrueDepth camera for Face ID, GPS, the cameras, then ultimately the cellular modem all crapped out over 24 hours or so. (recall that I had the phone's screen replaced on Monday at the swanky Apple Store at University Village.)

anyway, the resolution to that was that said same Apple Store replaced the phone outright yesterday, waiving the otherwise $99 fee for water intrusion since it's highly likely given the timing that it was their own handiwork that led to this outcome. not having cellular data or voice service on a cell phone is highly problematic.

 

[Toshi]

want

Chicago Urbanist (@chi_urbanist) on Threads

I need to visit Pakistan immediately https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NByVAugdUsU

www.threads.net

 

[Toshi]

Terrible conditions at Crystal. Turned in my extra rental SUV and might ship my ski gear home ahead of me (so as to make the trip through the airport easier, especially with the rental car shuttle here in SeaTac)

 

[6thElement]

I'm no expert, but I don't think the snow is supposed to be brown.

 

[Toshi]

I'm no expert, but I don't think the snow is supposed to be brown.

And those darker areas were sheer ice

 

[Toshi]

Shipping my double ski bag + two boot bags back since not dealing with them on the rental car shuttle, through the terminal on the way to bag dropoff, from baggage claim to home, etc. would be nice

$216 including insurance via UPS.com. would have been $120 in bag fees through the airline + the not insignificant hassle of dealing with them. done and done. shall drop them off at the local Alki Mail outlet down the road tomorrow morning once I figure out how to affix labels to them, probably just involving lots and lots of clear tape.

 

[6thElement]

Shipping my double ski bag + two boot bags back since not dealing with them on the rental car shuttle, through the terminal on the way to bag dropoff, from baggage claim to home, etc. would be nice

$216 including insurance via UPS.com. would have been $120 in bag fees through the airline + the not insignificant hassle of dealing with them. done and done. shall drop them off at the local Alki Mail outlet down the road tomorrow morning once I figure out how to affix labels to them, probably just involving lots and lots of clear tape.

Bike shop bike box and then bikeflights? Planks might be too long I guess.

 

[Toshi]

Bike shop bike box and then bikeflights? Planks might be too long I guess.

For 3 bags with insurance that really isn’t bad imo.

 

[Toshi]

Back to Colorado goes the gear. I walked it the 0.2 miles to the mail shop where I could drop them off, prepaid. (Could have bought labels there but as an independent shop they’d have charged me much, much more.)

edit: scheduled to be delivered in Denver on 1/2. perfect.

 

[Toshi]

Xcel's billing is super confusing

why is the amount due not the same as the two premise charges added together

and why do these net time of use kWh numbers make no sense. Xcel clearly delivered electricity net this past month yet this doesn't seem to reflect that in the net rows at the bottom

y tho, y

 

[Toshi]

Got my last paystub for the year. Made a few thousand more than I did last year, so I guess that's good.

What's truly good about it is that I basically retired from the elective weekend 5-10 PM shift pool and pulled this off, as I replaced that income with moonlighting (which is less stressful and a much better deal in terms of $$/actual effort put into it). Only will have done 12 such 5-10 shifts over the whole calendar year, including July 4 and Dec 31 at slightly better holiday-shift rates.

So I shall be able to continue to pay my various and sundry bills. yay

a year later it is now. did a shit-ton of moonlighting this year. between that, a base pay raise, and a small bonus ended up making a lot more money this year than in any prior year.

this excess work shall continue through next year, for better or worse, as we're 2.0 FTE down as of Jan 1.

much more moonlighting in my future, which is good since I haven't made any progress at all on replenishing my slush fund between the boiler replacement and sundry other one-off expenses for this and that. got to aim for a few normal months in a row and some rental income to get that on track, and as I've posted before the financial headwinds will recede in a few months (preschool tuition done forever in May and my student loans being done forever in 13 months in particular). if the prime rate drops a point or two that'd help the HELOCs quite substantially as well.

 

[Toshi]

one more debt paid off. this one was the Peloton Tread… which I indeed financed (via Affirm) because 12 mo x 0% APR with no fees is something that one simply does not pass up if the product is one that one would have bought in any case.

next up: preschool tuition after May, then my student loan remnants in January 2025.

 

[SkaredShtles]

one more debt paid off. this one was the Peloton Tread… which I indeed financed (via Affirm) because 12 mo x 0% APR with no fees is something that one simply does not pass up if the product is one that one would have bought in any case.

next up: preschool tuition after May, then my student loan remnants in January 2025.

That reminds me - I really need to pay of my...

Wait - I've got no debt to pay off.

 

[Toshi]

美味しい

green curry with brisket

chili oil fried rice with short ribs

crispy garlic chicken

 

[Toshi]

Trying to stay active in this rainy, dark place

walk/jog/walk/run intervals/walk.

 

[Toshi]

if the prime rate drops a point or two that'd help the HELOCs quite substantially as well.

 

[6thElement]

Hope your heating is working to keep the swallow bugs warm @Toshi, the weather says Tabernash is the coldest city in Murica this morning.

 

[Toshi]

Hope your heating is working to keep the swallow bugs warm @Toshi, the weather says Tabernash is the coldest city in Murica this morning.

None of the zones are calling for heat

 

[SkaredShtles]

That's way too many fuckin' "zones" for a house.

 

[Toshi]

That's way too many fuckin' "zones" for a house.

It's nice to be able to control each. mmm warm floors

 

[6thElement]

Our small house is 6 zones, with radiant on the main floor, radiators downstairs in the mud/exercise rooms. I like it as the downstairs is 60, living areas 66 and the bedroom 64.

 

[Toshi]

apparently there is a leak in one of the ceilings at the mountain house

more details as I get 'em.

 

[Toshi]

Ceiling of garage. So the same radiant loop in the master.

 

[Toshi]

Ah, not radiant! New bathroom shower drain.

 

[SkaredShtles]

Ah, not radiant! New bathroom shower drain.

That seems less than ideal.

 

[Toshi]

That seems less than ideal.

it's actually the best outcome. easier to fix, doesn't require we move renters out (house booked solid through Jan 5 with a group moving in as the plumber was looking things over, actually), and since it was one of the renovation lady's subcontractors who made this error the repair will shall be on her.

 

[Toshi]

Back we go. Much easier to pack without the extra ski gear shipped ahead.

Asimov, The Complete Robot

 

[canadmos]

You're allowed to put that electric wagon thing on the plane?