What's Your New Shiny?

Space Grey iPad Air 2 64GB arrives Wednesday. Just in time for vacation.

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It is far from shiny, but it is new to me!

1983 VIP 16’
Craigslist find. I got it really cheap, like the trailer is easily worth what I paid for the whole package, and the motor worth many times more.
It needs a lot of work - the interior is shot and the steering control is seized at the wheel - but it should be fun to work on and later to go fishing on! :fish:

Now I have to get my buddy to drive down and drag it back to his country place, out east of Dallas. That will make it somewhat inconvenient to work on, but I don’t have anyplace to store it nearer to me, and we can work on his little john boat at the same time, plus go fishing at one of the nearby lakes when we decide we’re done working on them.

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I has boat envy.

That looks like it be good for tooling around some too, not just sitting in one spot all day.

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Yup, I’m pretty sure it pulled skiers earlier in life. The motor’s cowl says 90 hp, although the title says 125. Gonna have to look at that & see what’s what, but either way, plenty of power. The hull is rated for 135 max.

Not allowed to say why, just yet, but splurged for a new watch / toy.

Casio Smart Outdoor Watch WDO-F10

It’s an Android smart watch, with sensors for outdoor use (compass, barometer, etc) plus it’s military spec vibration proof, and waterproof to 50 m.

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Update for @moufassa…
So, I’ve had the Moto 360 for over a month now and I still really like it. I remember people bitching about the battery life when it first came out and I don’t really understand why. On Mondays, when I have 5AM meetings (ugh, early mornings are my mortal enemy), I still have over 30% battery available by the end of the day. I charge my bluetooth headset every night (it generally stays on all day), so why would I not expect to do the same with another piece of compact personal technology that uses a radio ALL FRIGGIN DAY?
Anyway, other than the phone sometimes getting moody and not wanting to talk to the watch while the the headset is connected (really only noticed the issue for weather updates because I use the watch face with three smaller dials for date, weather and battery status), I don’t have any complaints.

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Sounds like a good piece of kit then - might have to look into that one. Thanks for the update :smile:

I’m not wearing my Gear Live much at the moment - the main reason being that the plastic band is (a) very hard to close up one-handed, and (b) doesn’t breathe at all so my skin reacts quite badly if I wear it every day. Thinking I’ll just buy a standard metal band.

You what now? Who has 5am meetings?!

I used to have 5AM meetings all the time. The other attendees were in Switzerland, Singapore, and India.

Rest assured, I’m not a fan of the timing. The leadership meetings for my men’s BSF class are Mondays at 5AM, except for once a quarter when they’re moved to 6AM on a Saturday. The Saturday ones are a mixed blessing… we have less time to prepare :frowning: … but we don’t have to get up so freakin’ early on Monday :smile: … but I don’t get to sleep in and catch up on sleep Saturday :frowning:

Edit: fixed typo

I just picked up a new computer. The Dragonlady had sent her laptop in for reformatting because it was behaving poorly, and I went to pick it up. I was playing with this bad boy and the dude let me know that they were getting rid of it because it was just taking up space.

Okay, good enough for me. $350? Yeah. I can find that somewhere.

It’s a CeleronĀ® M575 2.0GHz with 4Gb of RAM and a 42" touchscreen monitor built in. It takes everything I have to lift it, but I have to say it’s pretty damn cool. I just couldn’t resist. I’ve since taken the mount off the back and turned it around so I can run this beast in landscape mode.

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It took 12 hours for the Windows Update to complete its check and another couple to install the critical and optional updates. It is now fully functional.

Heavy, though. It’s about 80 pounds, mostly because of the display and the FULL METAL FRAME.

Now, I’m wondering if I should just go all out and install Windows 10 on it. I was originally thinking of taking it to craft shows and the like as an interactive display, but I’d have to shell out another $150 for the pro version so I could set it up in kiosk mode. It isn’t worth the hassle at this point. It’s still a pretty sweet machine, and if nothing else I could unload it for a bit more than I paid, I imagine.

Looks like the internals of the machines they use here in busy branches of McDonalds to McOrder and McPay for your McMeal. If it is, then it’ll probably last because those things take a pounding day in and day out.

I just heard back from the manufacturer when I tried to contact them for a copy of the installation disk, and it originally shipped with XP Pro. So … not new.

I was thinking of setting it up at craft shows and such as a branded Instagram opportunity for people to take pics, and share location info which is good for the show and possibly get me invited to more places with lower booth fees. However, I’d have to constantly man the thing because Boaty McBoatface.

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So, this is a bit of an older ā€˜new shiny’, however Mrs. Guido and I took the leap into adultness back in the fall… got us an abode of our very own!

It’s been an interesting experience figuring out home maintenance and what I’m capable of fixing, versus when I should call in a professional. Biggest accomplishments of the last few weeks - replacing the fill valve in our main bathroom’s toilet and fending off an incipient ant invasion… now it’s on to patching up some of the brickwork/grout on the chimney and replacing stairs to the front porch.

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Hey, another member of the average dude with cute wife club!!!

Sometimes the hardest part for me is figuring out when it’s something I could do, but shouldn’t either due to time or reliability. Sometimes it’s nice to call a professional so if it breaks it’s their fault.

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True on both counts. We’re almost 7 years in, and I’m still pretty sure she’s just got weird taste in dudes.

The chimney and stairs work, I’m definitely leaving to professionals. I spent enough time on roofs during my last job to know that I don’t want to carry the tools and stuff up there to get the job done… not that I’m in any way capable of masonry at this point. The stairs, I’m thinking will be just ordered and dropped off with a truck. Fingers crossed that it’s that easy.

Should be if you are just going standard concrete stairs. I’d double and triple check your measurements, especially if its an older home. My front stairs have sunk about 2 inches, and instead of fixing them they just filled in the gap, so the top stair is a death trap.

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Egad. That’s a good thing to consider. I’m not sure if the ones we have now are custom or not, but the concrete is coming apart on the ends of a couple of steps… so its got me worried that someone will step on that section and go down hard.

Congrats!

I’d extend you an offer to come and help, but Kitchener is a fur piece.
But ask here - we’re sharing how to stuff all the time.

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Seven letters, starts with B, ends with a lot of huffing and puffing when I can’t pedal any more. Or at least, it will once I take it out for the official first ride this weekend.

I had plans to stop in at about three different bike shops to see what they had since I couldn’t figure out what the different classifications meant on the websites and wound up getting some good and knowledgable advice at the first place. Only took one test ride on one model of bike and it was comfortable enough that was the one I bought. I saved a little bit of money because the helmet, kneepads and elbow pads I bought a long time ago for rollerblading are still in good shape and up to code. I’m looking forward to taking this with me on my next camping trip.