u/M-Men-and-Gleaners

I want to order a backup pair of glasses so I don't have to go back to readers if I damage or lose my new progressives. The prices at Zenni are too hard to ignore $67 for some backups vs $300 for my new ones, but they won't let me enter a different NV Add for each eye, just one for both.

On my progressive lenses that I got for work required eye protection all day and so I don't have to keep grabbing readers has +0.25 Sph +0.50 Cyl and 68 Axis on the right eye, Plano Sph +0.25 Sph 51 Axis left eye. With that prescription I have 20/15 distance vision with both eyes and very low astigmatism (Toric IOL) which is pretty nice after 30 years of myopia with horrible astigmatism.

If I kept the +0.25 Sph on the right eye, Plano on the left with a +2.50 NV Add on both (has to be just one NV Add number) Will that small difference give me problems at close reading / viewing, or should I just bag the +0.25 Sph on the right eye and keep the NV Add at +2.50, losing a bit of the tasty crispness in my right eye for the inexpensive backups?

Hi all. First time post here.

Just wanted to share my experience with two different sanded papers from Amazon. My wife and I both work in pastels and have been for about 12 years, coming from about 50 years of doing oils and watercolors.

We usually work on Pastel Premier or UArt sanded papers but have been away from our studio for over a month and needed some paper so we tried MAIMOUFIN and Fuyoooo. Some weird sounding and spelled "brands" on Amazon for sure.

https://www.amazon.com/MAIMOUFIN-12%E2%80%91Sheet-Pastel-Sandpaper-Heavyweight/dp/B0GJ5DWZD4

https://www.amazon.com/Fuyoooo-Sanded-Artists-Painting-Neutral/dp/B0GF17LJ6N

I was expecting the Maimoufin to be the better of the two, but the grit was too coarse for us, plus the sheets were not actually 9x12, but about 9 1/2 by 11 7/8ths. No go for us. I did sand down the grit with some 180 grit sandpaper and ended up with a really nice texture, but that was a hassle.

The one that I didn't think was going to be worth much, the Fuyoooo, ended up being some of the nicest paper we have used and it is very inexpensive at $1.67 to as low as $1.51 per 9x12 sheet! Very heavy stock, doesn't curl up like UArt and holds up well to water, alcohol and OMS. Just keep the liquids away from the cut edges. Alcohol for us was the hands down winner. No buckling or separating of the suface even when left wet for several minutes. It does have a sort of linen pattern on it, unlike the UArt and Pastel Premier but it fills in fast if you want to hide it and looks pretty nice with contrasting color passages giving it an almost fine linen look.

The multi tones are nice but we will probably stick with black and white as we like to choose our own tones using pastels and alcohol on white, using the black for when you want a very dark ground to show through. It stays nice and flat the entire time from alcohol / pastel washes to block in the darks and mid tones, with just some artists tape holding it to a board. I was able to remove a passage of at least 6 layers with a pice of pipe insulation foam and start over with almost as much grit as the untouched paper.

I would suggest going straight to the Fuyoooo unless you like super coarse papers. The Fuyoooo is about 500 grit.

Here is a little test sketch done on a 2" wide strip of the black Fuyoooo.

https://preview.redd.it/2tybsnml4vjh1.jpg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7980683b5a4557ca9c7efe72ae1f7b707abf4dbd

Just curious what the "approved" amount is with Medicare for new glasses after cataract surgery. All I could find on the web was it pays 80% of the approved amount......

This has been bugging me for years. Nothing I have tried as worked.

I do NOT want to have to change from the default of pixels with every new image, I want Gimp to always use inches for rulers, image size, canvas size, and anywhere else that makes sense. The only time I care about pixels is when looking at the resolution of the image like pixels per inch.....

If there is a way to do this so I never again have to change to inches a thousand times a week, please let me know! Every search has gotten me bupkis!

Hi all. First time visit and my first post - Now on 3 years with an AirSense 11 running two different nasal pillow masks.

My wife knew I needed something to reduce the sleep apnea but I didn't believe I had a even a minor apnea problem.......

I convinced myself by reading about O2 levels, that I could test that on my own with a simple, inexpensive O2 monitor hooked up to my phone. I was looking forward to proving to my wife that I was not experiencing low O2 levels at night......but that plan went out the window when I read the readings the next morning. Multiple drops in the 70% range, several at 71% - 73%.

I despised the sleep testing / study. Was supposed to wear the C-Pap for several hours for the first live test in the lab, but couldn't stand it after about an hour and a half. The technician said they had WAY more than enough data to prescribe the machine, so they sent me home! Hooray! When the machine arrived I was committed to the 4 hours a night no matter what until I passed the min amount to get insurance coverage and keep the machine.

Well, the first night at home with a nasty full face mask (soon replaced with nasal pillows!!! Yay!), I slept for over 9 hours with zero waking up instances. Normally I would wake up 5-8 times a night. I had not slept that well in 15 years or more. I was sold! Going on 3 years now, O2 levels are great, despite my living at almost 9000 ft elevation. No morning headaches anymore, increased energy. I never go less than 6 hours a night on the machine, usually 8+. On a camping trip, I chose not to take it with. I learned that I can sleep fairly well through the night for a day or two without the machine, but bad stuff starts to happen the longer I go, so I made an iron phosphate? lithium battery DIY power supply package with a 12v car plug on it and use an aftermarket 12V adapter the Air Sense 11, so I am never without it. The battery lasts all night and is quite light weight.

My only complaints of any substance:

• Why in the heck did they make the tank so small on the AirSense 11. I can NEVER get through the night without having to refill the Tank. Yes, I read about changing the settings, but my settings are perfect for me and I should not have to dumb down the functions to go all night! I am working on adding capacity to an older tank by gluing some expansion cylinders on the end of the tank. I will let you know how that goes. In the mean time if someone knows of a an over sized tank for the 11, please let me know. The only one I have seen is $300.
• Even with the humidity settings at max, I still get very dry nasal passages (High Desert Living) and sometimes need to squirt saline in the nostrils to get the last two hours of sleep I need.
• I also get stuff stuck in my throat most nights, but usually sleep through it, coughing it up when I wake in the morning. Last night I had 8 1/2 hours of non stop sleep. I rarely go less than 6 1/2 hours before something wakes me up. Hoping to solve that with the tank expansion DIY.

I came here for a while ago for info on re-gluing the rag top to the cross bars on a Fiat 500c. One fairly common suggestion I saw on the web was to remove the old adhesive. That seemed like such a chore with no perceived benefit in my view, so I decided to try it on just the rearmost bar with just cleaning the contact points on the cross bar and the fabric top really well with a rag and 99% isopropyl alcohol. I noticed that as I was applying the 3M 08001 yellow adhesive, it was dissolving the old adhesive and blending in with it so I went ahead without bothering to remove it. There wasn't enough on the fabric to matter.

• One bar at a time looks like the easiest way to do it.
• Just open it enough for easy access to the rear bar and put something in the opening to hold the fabric up. I used a long box about 12x6x20 as my top was broken free from all cross bars. A helper is nice to have.
• Clean and apply the glue to the cross bar and the fabric where the old glue was.
• Let the glue become tacky per instructions
• Press the fabric in place firmly, pushing it towards the front of the car, starting in the center and working to each side.
• Once attached, quickly close the roof while the glue is still somewhat flexible.
• Once closed tightly, again firmly press the fabric down onto the cross bar all the way across several times
• EDIT: Be aware that as you glue the fabric to more crossbars, eventually you may not have enough space under there to apply the glue to the crossbar AND the fabric. Very tight for the last two if working from back to front when all are loose. On the last bar or two at the front I don't see how I can get the glue on the fabric and the bars, so I am going to try a bit of extra glue just on the cross bar strips, press the fabric down and close the top / add weights and hope it holds when cured. If those last two bars eventually fail I may have to remove the whole top and redo it later.
• Though the instructions say nothing about clamping or weights being required, I laid some 1 pound lead bars all the say across the support bar to keep the two pieces in good contact while the solvent fully evaporates.
• EDIT: The instruction on the box as well as on the 3M website say nothing about how long after gluing before putting into service, which I found strange. If you click more information on the 3M website it says to let it cure 24 hours.
• So far so good on the one bar. I will do the next one in line moving from rear to front, waiting a day for it to cure then do the next one until all are done

I had one of the silver metal fingers that was loose in its plastic slot, so am considering gluing that in with CA glue so I could remove it later if I needed to with acetone. Is there a better method that still allows disassembly or can you take the roof completely apart without undoing those metal spring pieces?

Have used Happy Jack and TorkLift tiedowns for 20 years but the set I currently have doesn't fit my 2020 Chevy 3500 HD. Need to restrain my 2018 Arctic Fox 990 . Anything as good or better than the Torque Lift I should look at? Their website is kind of confusing, not saying whether I need 4 identical units or different sets for the front and the rear.....assuming the latter, doing the research now.

Any help on which model / models to choose would be appreciated. 8 ft bed, single wheel, factory towing package.

Thanks in advance for suggestions. No hurry so I may look for something used which is how I got my other two sets for about half the price of new.

I don't completely understand all the details as to how this makes the process faster / easier, but the temple we attend part of the year was given authorization from Salt Lake to start doing proxy confirmations before the proxy baptism has been completed. My friend works in the baptistry and he said this was a new thing for them that he had never seen before. I am curious if this is being done at all temples, or just those like the one we go to, that have a huge amount of youth coming to the baptistry early every morning on weekdays as well as Saturdays. They do this in small groups of friends, on their own before going to school when school is in session. Pretty awesome!

On the off chance that someone here has had the framework exposed in the cabover bed area of an Arctic Fox 1150 all season. I think it is a 2018 but will check tomorrow.

If someone can give me the spacing and location of all metal frame pieces that are supporting the bed deck I would appreciate it. I need to put some additional screws into metal on a fiberglass siding repair I am working on. Hoping there is more than what I have found.

What I do know of so far is:

• Metal tubing on both sides
• Metal tubing running front to back at 15 1/2" from each side
• Metal tubing down the center from front to back.
• There is no other front to back metal tubing I could find between the ones at 15 1/2" and the center one.
• Couldn't find any left to right tubing, but there was limited access as the fiberglass had only come loose on the drivers side.

Destroyed an almost new tire on our beat up but still running 2014 Forester XT Premium that ate a large metal bolt that punched a giant hole right through the middle of the tread.

We are giving the car away to a family member for errands around town and were not too keen on buying 4 new tires to get the same height all around. I put the new tire in the rear (Lowest recommended pressure), set it at the placard listed pressure, and added a bit more air to the other three until they were all within 1/16th of each other in height. None are more than a few pounds over the recommended and not anywhere near the max on the sidewall.

My main goal was to be able to drive it to my sisters house without having to use the temp spare which is over an inch shorter than the shortest of the other 3 tires. And letting her decide what to do with the tires.

It seems to be driving fine. In fact with the adjustment, all four tires are closer in height than the ones on there have been for quite a while. If we can keep them all the same height down the road with this hack what are the odds that it will ruin the transmission? Logically if they are the same size within 1/4" which these are by quite a bit, it should be fine. I did record the cold pressure for each tire so we can match it if one loses air in over the next few days, and we can check the height periodically as needed until it is delivered to my sister

The car is not worth fixing if the tranny goes, nor is it worth 4 tires so this is basically the only option instead of selling it for scrap. I could not find a used tire of the same size anywhere in the area or I would have gone that route.

Arctic Fox 11 ft Camper - Fiberglass covering under the cabover part now sagging. I am pretty sure this had already started when we bought the camper used 10 years ago but I was totally ignorant about how crappy this cardboard and thin wood laminated fiberglass covering is. You would think camper makers would at least use something completely water proof....oh well. Never did find any leaks but we are completely redoing all the caulking this month.

I am not going to tear it off and replace it, nor am I going to inject the space with epoxy and clamp it in place as seen on YouTube. With a close inspection with a digital "endoscope" and with the naked eye where it separated along the left side, there is no evidence anywhere in there of any mold. It looks like whatever caused it to separate did not stay in there long - dry desert climate. The aluminum structure and insulation all look good. No cracks anywhere on the fiberglass covering.

I have not seen this done, but I know I would be plenty happy with the look of some white or silver metal strips laid left to right full length, screwed into the support deck for the bed every 8 inches or so, making sure the screws don't go all the way through to the inside of the bed platform. Thinking one strip every 10 inches all the way back to there the separation ends plus one more for good measure. Considering RV type strips with the plastic screw covers, but I am leaning more towards more rigid stuff like these from Home Depot as they would not sag as much as bendable RV aluminum stuff.

I was going to do a giant piece of aluminum diamond plate stuff but I think it is too heavy. Maybe a thinner material than what I have on hand? Any suggestions of a better solution that is not more complicated than mine or much more costly, would be appreciated.

https://preview.redd.it/nz2cwpa4si8h1.png?width=615&format=png&auto=webp&s=6d82cf7c654698b69c59daca335b104e585ff54e

This isn't worth $80 to me, but I would buy around $40 tops. Several USB out and 120V out adapters on Amazon for the 18v Ryobi batteries starting around $19, but none of them will ALSO charge the Ryobi 18v battery like this one will. The only place with them in stock is the Ryobi factory website.

I can do without the 120V outlet. Mainly wanting to be able to charge the Ryobi battery plus the multiple USB outputs.

The RYi150CBT has:

• 3 USB out ports
• 1 of the 3 USB C ports is out and in for charging 18v Ryobi Batteries with unit.
• Built in small LED flashlight
• Comes with 120v / USB charging adapter for charging the Ryobi batteries
• 120V inverter - 150W

https://www.ryobitools.com/products/46396041494

https://preview.redd.it/01kugxsskl0h1.png?width=1000&format=png&auto=webp&s=9c9ad5385abf5ec05042b7275cfe19730860695c

This cut used to be one of the cheapest out there. Too trendy now I guess. At the local grocery store this afternoon - Sirloins $6.99, Tri Tip $10.00, chuck roast $7.99, NY Strips $12.99 and Flank Steak $13.99 / pound.

An old add from when I was a kid....

https://preview.redd.it/7pm8xmjsagyg1.png?width=194&format=png&auto=webp&s=98f75cba94f521de04dd0d6d38cbf22f6757bee5

SHORT VERSION

Current shoe most like the K-Swiss 06989 Bigshot Light 4

If you have worn this now discontinued shoe and it was one of your favorites, maybe our feet are similar! What have you found that you like just as well as or better than the K-Swiss 06989 Bigshot Light 4?

More stuff if you are bored....

This has been my shoe of choice since I started playing pickleball and started caring about my shoes. After trying several brands and styles, I found this shoe made me happy for 3 years. Great support, comfortable fit for my wide toe box wanting feet and they lasted well. I bought 3 pairs on closeout for $34 each, and stopped looking at other shoes. I just started wearing my last pair this winter spring, indoors on wood courts and it is still in like new condition. Not wanting to eat it up this summer on the outdoor courts without finding a few replacement pairs at a decent price, preferably under $45.

I do not want to start over trying a bunch of different shoes. I want the exact same shoe, but of course, it is discontinued with no "Light 5" or "Light 6" to replace it. ChatGPT says these two models are the closest to it:

• Ultrashot series → more durable, higher performance
• Hypercourt Express series → lighter, more comfort-focused

Three shipments, all from Japan. All three were UPS Worldwide Expedited with UPS handling the customs brokerage.

Shipment A - 3 day Delivery once it left Japan - Including customs clearing in Ontario, CA.
Left Japan on 2/17 Japan time
Delivered US Destination on 2/19 USA time

Shipment B - 29 day Delivery once it left Japan - Including customs clearing in Louisville, KY
Left Japan 3/31 Japan time
Arrived UPS Louisville, KY on 4/1 USA Time - Held for 24 days
Departed UPS Louisville, KY on 4/25
Delivered US Destination on April 28

Shipment C - 2 Day delivery once it left Japan - Including customs clearing in Louisville, KY
Left Japan on 4/23 Japan Time
Delivered to US Destination on 4/24 USA time

These were my first ever shipments from Japan, handled by UPS. All previous shipments for more than 12 years were handled from Japan to the USA by my customs broker and none of them ever took more than 4 days to clear US Customs. Shipped air freight on various airlines, not through UPS. BUT the cost was many hundreds of dollars more that way and the entire process usually took 6-10 days. On the advice of a trusted broker I decided to try UPS instead on Shipment A, and was very pleased with the results. Half the time to reach me and a huge savings in importing and shipping expenses. GREAT!

Stoked to try it again - The next one, Shipment B was a nightmare. Almost daily emails from UPS saying my shipment was "On the way" then another email saying it was delayed, or worse, it was going to be returned or destroyed. ($100K US value). ALL needed documents were uploaded the moment it arrived in the USA. Now I was getting emails every few days saying they didn't have my EIN, or they didn't have my POA or they were using the wrong HTS code for entry, then a few days later, emails requesting the 3rd or 5th time for the same documents I already sent them multiple times. I was ready to fly to Louisville or hire a broker to go get them from UPS, when FINALLY I got the email saying the shipment had cleared customs and was on the way to me.

Shipment C - Too late to change the shipping / clearing method, I was preparing for another nightmare just like Shipment B, but I dodged the proverbial projectile and it arrived faster than all three of them, in only 2 days. What the heck?

The cost and time savings are substantial WHEN it works, but I just cannot deal with having my shipment held for a MONTH in customs, so I am planning to go back to the tried and true method from years past. Pretty sad deal overall. I just cannot stomach having another "Shipment B" disaster. The same thing happened to a friend of mine, but his was stuck in customs with UPS for almost two months and they over charged him on the tariff by 100%. At least the tariffs were applied correctly on two of my 3 shipments. Still waiting for the tariff total on Shipment B. I was surprised that they delivered it without me having to prepay the tariff as was the case with the other two.

Wish me luck!