run_atalanta -> beige.party

Moving to run_atalanta@beige.party. This pgh.social server is will be retired in the new year.

I joined the fediverse when Elmo bought twitter, however that instance shutdown due to overwhelming abuse heaped on the admin.

Last Notes

2024-11-18 15:45:48 UTC

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As a serious car enthusiast/collector of (old & slow) vehicles, and lover of muscle cars, my opinion is that no one needs more than 200hp on a commuter/family car. Most people have no idea how to actually handle vehicle dynamics and hurt others.
I love that the Hellcat and Demon _exist_.
I have been quite fortunate that every time I've seen one in my area, the driver is painstakingly driving at neighborhood friendly speeds.
But the AMG "entitiled" driver? murdermobile.

2024-10-19 01:52:00 UTC

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I read multiple mentions of one-use to fail, for units bought for the recent hurricanes.
Some really recent purchase/use/fail reviews, and a couple "mine caught fire" made me close all the tabs, and stop thinking about a cheap small unit to run a heat tape in an outbuilding by solar power...
That said - a good thing to note in reviews were the companies that had valid customer support, vs the ones that had none.

2024-10-19 01:44:20 UTC

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I went down the rabbithole this afternoon checking reviews of the smaller solar powerbanks, and noticed a lot of the product descriptions called out operational "details" that were reported in the negative reviews talking about fast failures.
Many small units self-discharge (on purpose, apparently) and need to be cycled frequently, not charged and stored for emergency. And many seem to allow the battery to discharge completely, at which point it won't recharge. :toast:

2024-10-18 20:17:56 UTC

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Honestly - this article itself covers a large range in sizing, and I found it informative when I started looking to see what was out there.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/adventure/outdoors/g37295464/best-solar-powered-generators/

2024-10-18 20:14:49 UTC

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I guess the MicroHouse, Van, and RV folks, have really embraced solar power so there are so many smaller and midrange products geared for "away from power" vs the hard core "off-grid" users.
Look for something with the newest battery technology too - they're a bit more "shelf stable."
lithium iron phosphate battery vs the older lithium-ion batteries.
A lot of the older battery models are being sold off with deep discounts too.

2024-10-18 20:00:21 UTC

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A couple of months ago I made the jump to purchasing a solar generator for the house, which is a LOT more than what Doomsdays was discussing.
But in shopping around for something to run a couple of appliances for a couple days, I found that the market is *filled* with a huge range in size of power stations that can be recharged by portable solar panels, as well line current when the power is on, and even recharged from your car.

2024-10-18 19:59:28 UTC

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I echo Hippy Steve on seeking a power bank that you can recharge from detachable solar cells. I'm going to emphasize the powerbank aspect, vs something smaller like a cellphone charger/extra battery.
While those are getting better batteries these days too, driving a PC with a DVD will take a lot more wattage than just running a tablet to stream media. Obviously without power, you likely won't have network/wifi to stream from.

2024-10-03 22:16:52 UTC

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Hope the groind water isn't frackingly contaminated.

2024-09-27 21:02:58 UTC

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Sending strength vibes and positive mental reinforcement.
May next time you just sail through the blockage yelling "COMING THROUGH!"
🤗

2024-09-27 18:00:49 UTC

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I was told my entire like I'm too arrogant and abrasive. I took that as an honor, because it's what they said about Bella Abzug and Shirley Chisolm.

2024-09-19 23:07:18 UTC

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The French have had some of the best revolutions.

2024-09-13 17:17:43 UTC

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This is why the expression "I know how the sausage is made" means something. 🤔

2024-09-06 14:13:47 UTC

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Lovely image. Perfect mood.
Drives like that used to be therapy to calm minds and see beauty outside ones' troubles. At least for me.
Sadly, suburban sprawl has relocated that potential nice drive to 2-3 hours outside any mildly urban area. That's just to get past MallLandia and McMansions. The wooded areas area now golf course Luxor housing developments, and the farms are fracking platforms and strip mines, or subdivisions plus compressor stations.

2024-08-21 22:26:52 UTC

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perfect. 😻
of course it made me wonder if there was a stop sign involved. Those old VW Microbuses... "0-60 in 11 minutes!"