u/reasonable_mayhem

While I have several Apple devices, my wife only has her phone. I know if I were to lose/damage/destroy my phone, having a back-up device where I could respond to push notifications would probably help get up and running again. I have been considering getting an iPad for my wife so that we would have this backup device if she were to smash her screen or something. I always keep our security settings up to date, print out the backup codes, I'm the recovery email on her account. Is there any more benefit to be gained by having an extra device already signed in to her Apple ID?

Assuming you recommend having a backup device, would an old phone serve the same purpose? Can you disable the sim and just log into the phone and keep it online as a backup? What is the best practice?

I have a 2013 Avalon hybrid. A while back I started getting a rattle when going slowly (<25 mph) over bumps. It sounds like it's inside the cabin coming from the steering column.

I took the car to a local mechanic that I trust. He said it's the steering dampening bushing. Some research on Google and YouTube confirm this, it fits the description exactly. However, the mechanic said he didn't want to do the job and told me to take it to the dealer.

I took it to the dealer today. They obviously didn't listen to me or drive the car because on the estimate it says the problem is "knocking when turning wheel left/right" and they want to replace the intermediate steering shaft for $800. It does not make any noise when turning the wheel left or right, only when going over bumps at low speed. I should add that when I called the dealer to make the appointment, he claimed he had never heard of the steering dampening bushing, he asked two other people who said they had never heard of it, and then said he would have to call me back, which took 2 days. Obviously I did not approve the repair at the dealer but now I'm looking for options.

My research suggests that the steering dampener bushing is a very common repair on these cars. The fact that it took the dealer two days to even figure out what it was (when you can search on the dealer's own website for the part and it comes right up) makes me completely mistrust the dealer and I feel stupid for even taking it there in the first place. But if local shops don't want to bother with the repair, what options do I have?

If anyone knows of a shop in Indianapolis that will do the repair without jerking me around, I would appreciate it.

I kayak on a smallish reservoir (~2000 acres) and while there are some speedboats, pontoon boats, etc... out and about, I've never had a bad experience with them. On weekends I generally hit the water about 7 am and I'm out by the afternoon when it gets busy.

Anyway, this morning, there was a wake surfing boat on the lake and it passed fairly close to me, maybe 75 yards away. Since it approached me from behind, at first I thought it was just a fisherman going fairly slowly and I didn't pay much attention. When it got a bit ahead of me though (it was only going maybe 10 mph) I realized it was leaving a huge wake, which at that point was right on top of me. I ended up burying the bow and getting a few gallons of water in the kayak. I was able to make it back to the dock safely.

I have never seen this kind of boat before, despite kayaking and boating on this reservoir for 15 years. I looked it up and apparently they have ballast tanks on the stern that take on thousands of pounds of water so they ride really low and make a huge wake that someone can surf on. He passed by me a couple more times and it was weird to see the guy surfing behind the boat without holding on to a rope of any kind. Since I was prepared for those waves I didn't have any more problems.

Do you encounter these boats while you're paddling? Do you have any strategies for dealing with the wakes? My research suggests that they are getting more common and some smaller lakes are banning them. I can see why they would really bother even other speed boats or pontoon boats. To his credit, he was doing it very early in the morning when there was hardly anyone else out, but there were a few fishermen and other kayakers that had to deal with his waves.