u/Melodic_Animal_2238

I’m new to recording music, but would like to record outdoor concerts while achieving minimal background noise. I’ve read that the zoom H4N pro has better preamps which I guess means it records sound at a quieter volume level better than otherwise. I’ve also read that the zoom H4N pro can be positioned more directionally in order to focus on a specific set of sounds i.e. the stage, rather than what’s happening behind the microphone.

I will be using the recorder with the microphone on them rather than plugging in to the music system. I know this is less clean, but it is the option. I have right now.

I have also seen the zoom H2N recorder which looks like it records a bit more multi directionally and I’m not sure about its preempt situation.

My question is, which would be better for my purposes? I’m new to this endeavor, so I appreciate anyone with more knowledge than me sharing their thoughts on the two option.

I’m looking at getting a 1986 Honda CT 110, and trying to understand what the needs of it are to be run without sitting too long. If I get it, I’ll be storing it at my in-laws place, which is about 70 miles away from my place. I read that it needs to be run often to avoid getting a plugged up carburetor, a dead battery, or rusty internal parts. Estimates that I’ve seen range from every week to every 2 to 4 weeks. There would be somewhat of a limiting factor of me being to go to where it’s being stored to run it super often.

Curious what people’s experiences are in this area? Do people try to run theirs at least every week, do they run it every 2 to 4 weeks, or do they take longer sometimes? When do you find you get in trouble? Thanks!

They all said aye but the lady said that bill is out?

Would love to hear from other HVAC technicians if this was as I saw it. This morning I had a JR Putnam technician come over to do a tuneup. The company actually called me last week and offered a free tuneup. I know how these tuneups work, they sell you one for very little or for free and once they’re at your place, they use it as a way to sell you more HVAC things. I assumed I would get the sales pitch for maybe an additional warranty or a maintenance plan, but figured their assessment of my HVAC equipment would be honest.

There was a junior technician and a senior technician who came at 8:15am. When they were measuring the temperature split between the return and the supply, it was approximately 67° outside and 67° inside of my house. A few minutes after they both were looking at my outside unit the senior technician turns to me and says that I have a leak in my system. He hadn’t been looking at my unit for more than a few minutes at this point. I asked them why he thought that and he said the Delta T was low at 14-15 degrees. That was his only reason. He said it could be the coils or the condenser. I stated that I just replaced the coils last year. He said Delta T should be closer to 20 to 24°. This would make the supply between 47 and 43°. This seems insane to me. I’m pretty sure that at lower outside temperatures the delta T is expected to be lower. Also, the technician was measuring the supply in one vent a little ways away from the air handler rather than in the main supply plenum just after the evaporator coil.

I figure he didn’t think I knew as much about my air-conditioning unit as I do. I’m very focused on the health of the unit as it can be a lifeline in some of the very hot days we’ve been having. When it gets hot outside, I’ve measured the Delta T in my house by measuring the supply and the return and it’s usually closer to 19 to 21°. Also every year when I have tuneups done in the past, I go out watch them do their work and talk to them about it as well as what they’re seeing and what that means for my unit. While I’m not exactly a technician, I do have a sense for what’s good and what’s bad, and what is generally expected. I always like to hear if the electrical specs match what they should be. In this case they all were in normal range.

This guy seemed like he was just trying to get me to do an un-need repair. Right after that, I didn’t trust him any further than I could throw him. The guy also was leaning and sitting on my outside unit, which I wish I would’ve said more about to him at the moment, but either way it just seems rude, even if it doesn’t hurt the customers unit ultimately.

If there are any HVAC technicians, seeing this, I’m curious of your thoughts. If you thought he was full of it or if you thought I might’ve misjudged. If you thought I misjudged, please explain why.

On the union update from July 24th it was said that the state was not negotiating because of the side letter that we voluntarily agreed to last year, which reduced our pay. What the actual heck? So because we voluntarily agreed to reduce our pay to help with the budget situation at the time, they are using that as a reason, not to negotiate higher pay now? Why in the heck did we ever agree to that? This further convinces me that we should never do another side letter to help the state in a bad situation. This is appalling. I can’t even put into words how crazy this rationale is. All I have to say is “strike!!”.

What internet do folks in the picket area have and are you satisfied? So far, I am not aware of any fiber options. Am I missing something provider?

Ok, so that may be a bit of an exaggeration that’s not quite true.

But hot take here… well warm take… ok maybe room temp take. But anyways, I was a the MU at UC Davis the other day and to park in their parking structure, you must download and pay using their app. There is literally no other way to pay. Cash not accepted, no place to use a credit card, nothing.

This struck me as discriminatory, ableist, stupid and forcing people to share information that they may not want to (or may not even realize is being collected) through the use of the app. Not all folks use a smartphone, nor should the ownership of one be a prerequisite to using the parking structure. Also not all folks have the ability to take the steps to download and use the app to pay. Not to mention those who use exclusively cash because they are not part of the banking system.

This should be unacceptable. Sacramento (and California) should adopt/pass an ordinance/law that if you offer a product/service (in real life rather than just online) you must accept cash as a form of payment. It’s the legal tender for all debts public and private. We should demand it is treated as such.

Anywhere around Pocket area or Midtown/Downtown that has good breakfast fried rice?

That is all.

On today’s version of “What really chaps my ass”, we talk about the need for Sacramento to adopt a requirement that businesses which sell products that cannot be disposed other than through hazardous waste facilities, must accept their products back to dispose of them for free.

The closest Sacramento city hazardous waste disposal site is 10 miles and about a half an hour away from me. While I try to abide by rules for disposing hazardous materials, the distance is a major inconvenience here. Further, even though I might ensure that the products are disposed of properly, the more inconvenient it is to dispose of something the right way, the less people will do so. So I’m sure we have hazardous waste being disposed of in improper ways currently.

We need to put this back on the business businesses that sell product products that are deemed hazardous waste when being disposed. Some paint stores do this, but we need all businesses that sell products that can’t be disposed of normally to do this. They need to accept these products back and dispose of these for free for their customers. In my case it’s a simple can of Sterno which was used to keep some food heated.

Aside from reducing inconvenience, it would most certainly ensure that less people dispose of hazardous waste and properly in Sacramento.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

I can’t get the foreground in this picture light enough without blowing out the sky. Using dark table. Settings are 1/250s, f8, iso 100. Turned on shadows and highlights and turned up shadows brilliance 100%. Masking creates negative effects too. Does anyone have any advice? I generally have trouble capturing a blue sky without getting a very dark foreground.