{
"type": "entry",
"published": "2025-03-12T17:23:17-07:00",
"url": "https://beesbuzz.biz/blog/11125-More-bathroom-woes",
"category": [
"bathroom",
"renovation",
"shower"
],
"name": "More bathroom woes!",
"content": {
"text": "Okay so back in 2021 I had my bathroom redone, and the contractor did an awful job of it, and in particular the plumbing for the shower itself failed a bit over a year ago because the person who did the plumbing was super fucking incompetent.\n\nSo, I had to get the wall partially opened up to get the plumbing corrected, and the plumber was only able to do so much without completely demolishing all of the tilework, and was just hopeful that the fix would be long-term but said that the correct fix would have been very different.\n\nThe tile work itself wasn\u2019t great either but it was Good Enough\u2122 and I didn\u2019t want to spend even more money to get it redone.\n\nWellp, today I noticed that I\u2019m getting more leaking behind the shower wall! So that means that the proper fix needs to happen, which means the tile needs to come down, which means I\u2019d might as well get all the tiling redone.\n\nI\u2019ve reached out to my usual good contractor to see if I can get an estimate for the retiling and the plumbing fix, and hopefully it won\u2019t be too outrageous, but, jesus christ I\u2019m so sick of dealing with this.",
"html": "<p>Okay so back in 2021 I had my bathroom redone, and the contractor did an awful job of it, and in particular the plumbing for the shower itself failed a bit over a year ago because the person who did the plumbing was super fucking incompetent.</p><p>So, I had to get the wall partially opened up to get the plumbing corrected, and the plumber was only able to do so much without completely demolishing all of the tilework, and was just hopeful that the fix would be long-term but said that the correct fix would have been very different.</p><p>The tile work itself wasn\u2019t great either but it was Good Enough\u2122 and I didn\u2019t want to spend even more money to get it redone.</p><p>Wellp, today I noticed that I\u2019m getting more leaking behind the shower wall! So that means that the proper fix needs to happen, which means the tile needs to come down, which means I\u2019d might as well get all the tiling redone.</p><p>I\u2019ve reached out to my usual <em>good</em> contractor to see if I can get an estimate for the retiling and the plumbing fix, and hopefully it won\u2019t be <em>too</em> outrageous, but, jesus christ I\u2019m so sick of dealing with this.</p>"
},
"author": {
"type": "card",
"name": "fluffy",
"url": "https://beesbuzz.biz/",
"photo": "https://beesbuzz.biz/static/headshot.jpg"
},
"post-type": "article",
"_id": "44231333",
"_source": "2778"
}
{
"type": "entry",
"author": {
"name": "Jared White",
"url": "https://jaredwhite.com/",
"photo": null
},
"url": "https://jaredwhite.com/links/20250316/preliminary-look-at-segway-max-g3",
"published": "2025-03-16T22:22:41-07:00",
"content": {
"html": "<blockquote>\n <h2><a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OxJ1VJonWs\"></a></h2>\n\n <p>The brand-new Ninebot Segway Max G3 is here, and Jimmy is giving you his <strong>first impressions</strong> along with the <strong>top 10 things he loves</strong> about this latest electric scooter! This is just a teaser for our full review, which is coming soon\u2014but we ran into an unexpected delay\u2026</p>\n\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I\u2019ve been a huge fan of <em>Freshly Charged</em> for a long time\u2026basically my go-to channel any time I want to learn more about the latest e-scooters and e-bikes. I\u2019ve been eagerly awaiting their coverage of the latest slate of Segway scooters, and here\u2019s a ride-along with initial thoughts on the MAX G3.</p>\n\n<p>I wasn\u2019t actually shopping for this much scooter to replace my trusty ol\u2019 F30\u2014I\u2019ve been considering the F3 or F3 Pro\u2014but now that I\u2019m seeing this one in action and what it\u2019s capable of\u2026<em>da-y-um</em>. \ud83d\ude05<br /><a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/tag/micromobility\">#micromobility</a></p>",
"text": "The brand-new Ninebot Segway Max G3 is here, and Jimmy is giving you his first impressions along with the top 10 things he loves about this latest electric scooter! This is just a teaser for our full review, which is coming soon\u2014but we ran into an unexpected delay\u2026\n\n\n\nI\u2019ve been a huge fan of Freshly Charged for a long time\u2026basically my go-to channel any time I want to learn more about the latest e-scooters and e-bikes. I\u2019ve been eagerly awaiting their coverage of the latest slate of Segway scooters, and here\u2019s a ride-along with initial thoughts on the MAX G3.\n\nI wasn\u2019t actually shopping for this much scooter to replace my trusty ol\u2019 F30\u2014I\u2019ve been considering the F3 or F3 Pro\u2014but now that I\u2019m seeing this one in action and what it\u2019s capable of\u2026da-y-um. \ud83d\ude05\n#micromobility"
},
"name": "Link: Freshly Charged\u2019s First Look at the Segway MAX G3",
"post-type": "article",
"_id": "44224475",
"_source": "2783"
}
{
"type": "entry",
"published": "2025-03-16T09:49:49-07:00",
"url": "https://beesbuzz.biz/blog/6775-Jinxfexxor",
"category": [
"fibromyalgia",
"vertigo",
"chronic pain",
"ADHD",
"anxiety",
"medications"
],
"name": "Jinxfexxor",
"content": {
"text": "Wellp, as usual, saying anything vaguely optimistic about a new medication has angered the side effect gods, as over the course of yesterday I noticed over the course of the day I was having progressively more trouble breathing and swallowing and a feeling of swelling in my throat, which is on the list of Effexor side effects to watch out for and to immediately contact your doctor about. So, I\u2019m pausing the Effexor for now (hopefully having been on it for only three days at the lowest dose will minimize the withdrawal effects, ugh) and have sent a question to my doctor about it.\n\nIf dopamine regulation is so great, why doesn\u2019t my brain just do it on its own?",
"html": "<p>Wellp, as usual, saying anything vaguely optimistic about a new medication has angered the side effect gods, as over the course of yesterday I noticed over the course of the day I was having progressively more trouble breathing and swallowing and a feeling of swelling in my throat, which is on the list of Effexor side effects to watch out for and to immediately contact your doctor about. So, I\u2019m pausing the Effexor for now (hopefully having been on it for only three days at the lowest dose will minimize the withdrawal effects, ugh) and have sent a question to my doctor about it.</p><p>If dopamine regulation is so great, why doesn\u2019t my brain just do it on its own?</p>"
},
"author": {
"type": "card",
"name": "fluffy",
"url": "https://beesbuzz.biz/",
"photo": "https://beesbuzz.biz/static/headshot.jpg"
},
"post-type": "article",
"_id": "44218453",
"_source": "2778"
}
{
"type": "entry",
"published": "2025-03-16T00:03:13-0400",
"url": "https://martymcgui.re/2025/03/16/refurbished-a-game-boy/",
"category": [
"making",
"workshop",
"games"
],
"name": "Refurbished a Game Boy",
"content": {
"text": "I'm trying to do things that get me out of the house and reduce the amount of time I look at torture rectangles (aka screens with internet). This Refurbish a Game Boy workshop from Craftsman Ave. felt like a perfect opportunity. Not only would I get some quality time in a (quality!) makerspace and get my hands dirty doing some tinkering (with expert guidance and few opportunities to truly mess up), but I'd also get to bring home a joy rectangle to improve the joy-to-despair ratio of rectangles in my life.\nSelfie at the workshop. I'm wearing an Eternal Caturday t-shirt and masked up in an N95. Behind me in a gray button-up is my buddy Hunter, seated and not looking at the camera because I did not tell him I was taking this photo!There were a lot of things to like about the workshop. The Craftsman Ave space itself combines super functional with \u2728aesthetic\u2728. Or, to paraphrase how they put it, \"we foster the illusion that beautiful things are made in beautiful places, when we know better.\" Workshop instructor Zach was super prepared, knowledgeable, and patient. Helping out was Chris who was so nice and humble, but did so much so smoothly behind the scenes, it felt like we were all his guests.\nDid I mention prepared? Here come a bunch of photos about how prepared!\nMachined plywood stations with milled-out tray areas for tools and for individual parts of the disassembled Game Boy units.Soldering stations for transferring the speakers from the old units to their new media controller boards.A Fender amp was perhaps overkill for testing Game Boy headphone output, but then again we were Very Sure when things worked.The workshop accommodates up to 6 units being refurbished, either on your own or with a partner. We drew lots to determine the picking order from the set of available Game Boy units. (I keep writing \"Game Boys\", disliking it as a term, and replacing it with \"Game Boy units\". What is language?)\nAnyway, here were the pickings for the evening!\nA wooden table with 7 Game Boy units in various states of wear, tear, and aging. In the background are 5 clean shells, for any participants who want to skip the scrubbing steps.I chose this sad boy which had very little sign of aging plastic but a lot of signs that it had probably been through a flood, with grit on the surfaces and in the holes, major signs of water damage on the screen, and all that was obvious before looking inside.\nFront of pre-restoration Game Boy. Signs of grit and water damage.Rear of the unit. Original stickers are quite worn, and there are more signs of grit.Looking inside gave me some bad feelings...\nRear of the unit with battery door cover removed. Green corrosion covers the battery terminals.Exposed motherboard of the unit after removing the back. Blue corrosion covers the copper heat sink.Zach had us examine the media daughter boards of our units, which indicate when it was manufactured.\nThe exposed media board. This one is from 1989, indicating it is a first-revision.We used tri-wing and Phillips screwdrivers to separate all the electronic parts from all the plastic parts, then put our initials on the plastic bits in Sharpie before giving them a soap bath and scrub-down to remove grit and grime.\nDisassembled unit, with various screws and internal parts in their trays.Cleaned case parts after soaking in soapy water and scrubbing with a toothbrush. Also pictured: the new media board soldered to the original speaker.With the electronics disassembled, we took turns using the Fender amp to test whether our Game Boy motherboard worked, using a 6-volt power supply and alligator clips to the power terminals. Mine, unfortunately (but not unexpectedly) did not produce the signature \"bling!\" sound indicating a successful boot. So, it was taken away (for recycling or a viking funeral, I don't know) and I received a known-good working one.\nAfter motherboard testing, we took turns at the soldering stations, removing the little mono speakers from the original media boards and attaching them to the new boards. Comparing the new sleek black PCB to the old crusty speaker had me pretty convinced the speaker wouldn't work.\nThere were even more things happening in parallel. Our new media boards were part of a full screen replacement, upgrading these units to crisp, backlit IPS displays, with brightness controls and many more features. Critically, the new screens are bigger than the originals, requiring some alterations to the case.\nThis is where Craftsman Ave's X-Carve machine comes into play. A custom jig holds the front of the Game Boy case in place, while a router bit removes two screw support posts, some space on the side for the new LCD's control toggle, and carves back the edges of the screen.\nA short loop of the X-Carve machine removing a plastic post from the Game Boy case.At some point, Zach gave us a little demo of removing corrosion from the battery terminals using vinegar. The acid eats away at the corroded bits in a bubbly reaction. These parts were too far gone to use, but Zach had plenty of spares.\nA bubbly solution of corrosion and vinegar with a bluish tint.Some time later, the solution has taken on a darker blue color.I didn't take many photos of the actual process. Re-assembly went pretty quickly, with a few key pointers from Zach about tricky placements and order-of-operations. I appreciate the care taken to make sure our new front \"glass\" and screens were installed free of dust and fingerprints!\nFinally, it was time to put in the batteries and put in a test game. While Zach had a lovely collection, I had made sure to bring my own.\nFront view of the restored unit. A crisp black and white display shows a screen from The Legend of Zelda: Link's AwakeningRear view of the restored unit. The original stickers are long gone, but so is the grime! Shiny and off-white.There's definitely more I could say about the workshop, the people, the space. All were excellent! But for now, I'll leave you with an abrupt:\nFinished Game Boy held in a hand. The screen shows in all caps \"THE END\".",
"html": "<p>I'm trying to do things that get me out of the house and reduce the amount of time I look at torture rectangles (aka screens with internet). This <a href=\"https://craftsmanave.com/refurbish-and-upcycle-a-classic-game-boy/\">Refurbish a Game Boy workshop from Craftsman Ave.</a> felt like a perfect opportunity. Not only would I get some quality time in a (quality!) makerspace and get my hands dirty doing some tinkering (with expert guidance and few opportunities to truly mess up), but I'd also get to bring home a <i>joy</i> rectangle to improve the joy-to-despair ratio of rectangles in my life.</p>\n<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/d2/4e/e6/c1/b412e831a4f0ec978848ae3bcdad6aee2a843e7f4e702be1316a8947.\" alt=\"\" />Selfie at the workshop. I'm wearing an Eternal Caturday t-shirt and masked up in an N95. Behind me in a gray button-up is my buddy Hunter, seated and not looking at the camera because I did not tell him I was taking this photo!<p>There were a lot of things to like about the workshop. The Craftsman Ave space itself combines super functional with \u2728aesthetic\u2728. Or, to paraphrase how they put it, \"we foster the illusion that beautiful things are made in beautiful places, when we know better.\" Workshop instructor Zach was super prepared, knowledgeable, and patient. Helping out was Chris who was so nice and humble, but did so much so smoothly behind the scenes, it felt like we were all his guests.</p>\n<p>Did I mention prepared? Here come a bunch of photos about how prepared!</p>\n<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/21/4e/b3/c6/ecd6b2deeaa6af37d44b87cf358758806b25bfdcb4d0bf6b12afa2a7.\" alt=\"\" />Machined plywood stations with milled-out tray areas for tools and for individual parts of the disassembled Game Boy units.<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/a6/4f/cc/4b/2e4c74c764360d229cd8cd3336acc7f0030d47fccca9edb0cc09e973.\" alt=\"\" />Soldering stations for transferring the speakers from the old units to their new media controller boards.<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/52/0f/62/2e/98bec6c872fe2754aa0b7f5d4cf059da5a8a9d839b18a08aa3913d4b.\" alt=\"\" />A Fender amp was perhaps overkill for testing Game Boy headphone output, but then again we were Very Sure when things worked.<p>The workshop accommodates up to 6 units being refurbished, either on your own or with a partner. We drew lots to determine the picking order from the set of available Game Boy units. (I keep writing \"Game Boys\", disliking it as a term, and replacing it with \"Game Boy units\". What is language?)</p>\n<p>Anyway, here were the pickings for the evening!</p>\n<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/d4/3d/47/5e/002ba0d120b8d47e276837340629861a3b5232bcbc494483307eec71.\" alt=\"\" />A wooden table with 7 Game Boy units in various states of wear, tear, and aging. In the background are 5 clean shells, for any participants who want to skip the scrubbing steps.<p>I chose this sad boy which had very little sign of aging plastic but a lot of signs that it had probably been through a flood, with grit on the surfaces and in the holes, major signs of water damage on the screen, and all that was obvious before looking inside.</p>\n<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/11/37/bb/c0/f3bc70acb7df80e68e51219bec210f22051ec083e39158e0cc504e9a.\" alt=\"\" />Front of pre-restoration Game Boy. Signs of grit and water damage.<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/4a/39/56/2d/28c8f9dc392e0bee629187ed84c09df0c177d4034d587151e0326e3e.\" alt=\"\" />Rear of the unit. Original stickers are quite worn, and there are more signs of grit.<p>Looking inside gave me some bad feelings...</p>\n<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/de/cc/60/7a/64147e917acd3cd3fd2e5336dab79452edfc5ec213d4fd160814e8fa.\" alt=\"\" />Rear of the unit with battery door cover removed. Green corrosion covers the battery terminals.<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/d4/34/25/3e/141819f9bb69181ad2b1c8abf9e7649795ab90a6981adc9c690f899c.\" alt=\"\" />Exposed motherboard of the unit after removing the back. Blue corrosion covers the copper heat sink.<p>Zach had us examine the media daughter boards of our units, which indicate when it was manufactured.</p>\n<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/df/ba/f2/76/36465eb630f31f897af232fa9eab9f352af3db1d5be76ac748b0a6b7.\" alt=\"\" />The exposed media board. This one is from 1989, indicating it is a first-revision.<p>We used tri-wing and Phillips screwdrivers to separate all the electronic parts from all the plastic parts, then put our initials on the plastic bits in Sharpie before giving them a soap bath and scrub-down to remove grit and grime.</p>\n<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/66/d9/2d/2a/bb8f7c0890df10eedeed76b591e21d1c880f67a0fbc9828a79627d64.\" alt=\"\" />Disassembled unit, with various screws and internal parts in their trays.<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/ed/bc/53/af/62e7bef180d66c00257a752bd54b5038caf3c7de51b3d409a63210f7.\" alt=\"\" />Cleaned case parts after soaking in soapy water and scrubbing with a toothbrush. Also pictured: the new media board soldered to the original speaker.<p>With the electronics disassembled, we took turns using the Fender amp to test whether our Game Boy motherboard worked, using a 6-volt power supply and alligator clips to the power terminals. Mine, unfortunately (but not unexpectedly) did not produce the signature \"bling!\" sound indicating a successful boot. So, it was taken away (for recycling or a viking funeral, I don't know) and I received a known-good working one.</p>\n<p>After motherboard testing, we took turns at the soldering stations, removing the little mono speakers from the original media boards and attaching them to the new boards. Comparing the new sleek black PCB to the old crusty speaker had me pretty convinced the speaker wouldn't work.</p>\n<p>There were even more things happening in parallel. Our new media boards were part of a full screen replacement, upgrading these units to crisp, backlit IPS displays, with brightness controls and many more features. Critically, the new screens are bigger than the originals, requiring some <i>alterations</i> to the case.</p>\n<p>This is where Craftsman Ave's X-Carve machine comes into play. A custom jig holds the front of the Game Boy case in place, while a router bit removes two screw support posts, some space on the side for the new LCD's control toggle, and carves back the edges of the screen.</p>\nA short loop of the X-Carve machine removing a plastic post from the Game Boy case.<p>At some point, Zach gave us a little demo of removing corrosion from the battery terminals using vinegar. The acid eats away at the corroded bits in a bubbly reaction. These parts were too far gone to use, but Zach had plenty of spares.</p>\n<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/e1/b1/9f/58/54fd62414bd8e54361dafdb1f3b1aaff8d400a25e9ad9eeea0c4a091.\" alt=\"\" />A bubbly solution of corrosion and vinegar with a bluish tint.<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/ae/94/97/8a/e0025b6d34883920c7a503a9a99ac73e2e2bc0f4bc5229f41e49f5df.\" alt=\"\" />Some time later, the solution has taken on a darker blue color.<p>I didn't take many photos of the actual process. Re-assembly went pretty quickly, with a few key pointers from Zach about tricky placements and order-of-operations. I appreciate the care taken to make sure our new front \"glass\" and screens were installed free of dust and fingerprints!</p>\n<p>Finally, it was time to put in the batteries and put in a test game. While Zach had a lovely collection, I had made sure to bring my own.</p>\n<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/ae/a0/f4/4e/3590da01f5767a61dc9eabd357a791516a84bea6e070110046cea033.\" alt=\"\" />Front view of the restored unit. A crisp black and white display shows a screen from The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/29/4c/20/03/15c8a5140a082039e4e88655cea4cff6c379c256d9967f0713ced1a4.\" alt=\"\" />Rear view of the restored unit. The original stickers are long gone, but so is the grime! Shiny and off-white.<p>There's definitely more I could say about the workshop, the people, the space. All were excellent! But for now, I'll leave you with an abrupt:</p>\n<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/0e/e8/04/c7/e245dd87028255c5f236a99f360eb14cf188fd377eb6a2901375164f.\" alt=\"\" />Finished Game Boy held in a hand. The screen shows in all caps \"THE END\"."
},
"author": {
"type": "card",
"name": "Marty McGuire",
"url": "https://martymcgui.re/",
"photo": "https://martymcgui.re/images/logo.jpg"
},
"post-type": "article",
"_id": "44215177",
"_source": "175"
}
