u/xtiansimon

I've started to feel the anxiety of finishing this wonderful series. Then I found your great sub-reddit. Joy! I can continue for a little bit more. Ha-ZAAAY!

I'm not Navy. So, I fell into the series from a plan I hatched last year to visit Boston for the 250th. During last year's 4th I realized the significance of the anniversary and decided my 250th must have actual cannons. I found this video on Youtube, "2025 USS Constitution", and could think of nothing better. The Age of Sail theme got into my head and one thing lead to another and I discovered the Aubrey Maturin Series. Well met.

Here's my own viddy (OC) of the USS Constitution 2026. I shot this with Insta360 5x (8k and 30 fps). Note, I'm not sure what's going on with the image quality--does it have to load first? For what it's worth, the original quality of the export is perfect. Any artifacts are post-upload to Youtube. I apologize in advance.

It was after The Far Side of the World (#10) that I decided to rewatch the film with Russell Crowe. Good timing. Without exposure to the the book series I didn't like the movie the first time. After 10 books (audio versions narrated by Patrick Tull and later Simon Vance), I found the film a lovely visual representation. As you might know US's 250th celebration is being celebrated with the Tall Ships in the Sail250. Here are some of my favorite IG viddies (Other People's Content) of the Sail250: sunrise and squall. If you're like me, then you may find these visuals very moving.

Of course, the "algorithm" see's I'm into ships and gave me this gem, and some instructional animations.

I have a denier bag with a waterproof coating. it has a bottle pouch which is too small for my kit. I want to open it up by a small amount (25-30mm).

I‘d prefer to alter the bottle pouch itself, without putting any more holes through the lining into the main bag.

i can easily imagine increasing the diameter of the tube (a). but I can’t figure out is how to enlarge the bottom of the tube/closed end (b). The bottom needs to be enlarged for the bottle to fit to the bottom.

The flat edges are all sewn to the bag. I’d prefer to not have to open those edges, and put more holes through the waterproofing into the larger bag this bottle pouch is attached to.

my alterations are hands sewn.

any ideas?

I've used a version of a script with this code for the past three years every month. Last month, no problem. This month it's borked [1]--but only the date parameterized version:

sql_prod = textwrap.dedent("""
    sp_report
        ProfitAndLossStandard
    show
        "AccountNumber",
        "Text",
        "Label",
        "RowType",
        "Amount"
    parameters
        DateFrom=?,     <<<<< HERE
        DateTo=?,       <<<<< HERE
        ReportBasis='Accrual',
        SummarizeColumnsBy='Day',
        ReturnRows='All'
""")

cursor.execute(sql_prod, (START, END))
df1 = pd.DataFrame.from_records(cursor)

Script uses pyodbc which works with the Windows driver qodbc which gives you SQL syntax for accessing Quickbooks via their SDK/qbxml. The SQL-injection version using f-string works:

start_iso = datetime(2026, 5, 1).date().isoformat() 
end_iso = datetime(2026, 5, 31).date().isoformat()

sql_prod = f""" 
  sp_report 
    [...]
  parameters 
    DateFrom={{d'{start_iso}'}}, 
    DateTo={{d'{end_iso}'}}, 
    [...]
"""

Looking for suggestions how to troubleshoot this chain: my script, pyodbc, qodbc, qbxml, so I know what to look for and where.

[1]: Borked, which is to say the parameterized version is supposed to return a P&L with as many columns as there are days in the request. My example is 5/1-5/31, so 31 columns (plus the furnature). The error code only produces the first date 5/1, as if I only asked for 5/1.

If I used the string representation in the SQL `{d'2026-05-01'}` and `{d'2026-05-31'}` I get all days. Since I do get the first date the parameterization is not completely borked. Using a different report request with parameters also worked as expected. So why this report with these parameters?

If I speculate, I don't expect pyodbc to suddenly stop using datetime objects correctly. Since I can get other reports, qodbc is working and by extension qbxml. I also created a jupyter notebook and tested a whole array of different date representations as strings and objects. I don't know what to test next to narrow down where its breaking specifically. There's nothing in the QODBC logs or QBXML logs. Frankly, I'm a little surprised I didn't solve the mystery myself.

I'm making a few Aramid straps with ladder locks for use with my motorcycle. Is there a strap finishing stich for this kind of thing?

I could buy one of these strap ends, but they suck. Stiches are cool.

If you're running a bakery which also sells sandwiches (think Panera Bread), then you're dealing with a menu full of taxable and non-taxable sales items. For some reason it's proven difficult to setup both the POS and data export --API integration with our ERP (Restaurant365)--to share accurate data.

The business I'm working with signed up for Toast mid-February, and the export from Toast still is not accurately exporting taxable and non-taxable sales. We're approaching four months.

Toast says its the ERP. The ERP says it's Toast. I know the integration with R365 sends complete individual sales records (as pictured). I'm having a difficult time believing neither Toast nor R365 includes/reads meta data in the API/integration to handle taxable/non-taxable items.

Speaking to a colleague they suggested taking all of the sales categories, and append `*-taxable` or `*-non-taxable`:

• food-taxable
• food-non-taxable
• hot-beverage-taxable
• hot-beverage-non-taxable
• cold-beverage-taxable
• cold-beverage-non-taxable
• juice-taxable
• juice-non-taxable
• etc.

Effectively, every sales category has to be doubled so the ERP can recognize the taxable status of the sale, which to me is a completely inelegant hack.

Did a little mountain trip last weekend and decided to try a mountain dirt road shortcut. Oh the mud. Bridgestone A41 were not helpful in this brown snot. I was going as slow as first gear and light breaking would permit. I was almost through it, but went down like a light switch and trapped under the moto. It's Ok. I enjoyed the rest of the trip, but damaged the right pannier. I guess it's time to get a new bag.

After that roadside rigging of the pannier I'm thinking about how handsomely the OEM case broke--the hook on the side case just snapped (ABS), but the Side Case Bracket (also ABS) was undamaged. This left me with a perfect loop. Ran an extra strap I had and was good for the 150 mi ride home.

Now I'm looking at the construction of each carrier/frame/rack (or whatever you call it). How might that break, and could I fix it on the side of the road?

• SW-Motech Pro Side Carrier
• Givi Side Frames
• Bumot Pannier Rack
• LoneRider Rack

My first reaction is to favor one of the latter racks which seem very strongly built. Though it's not how tough something is built only, but will it break gracefully. Which reminds me about something my mechanic was saying about farkles which you mount to the frame. Something like a frame slider will tweak the frame, because the frame may not be designed for the force in that place and in the other direction. Not entirely the same place, but just making we weigh the design qualities of these racks with more discernment for show-crash forces I experienced last weekend. (and actually, my foot is still swollen, and my back could use a heating pad for another week. boo-hoo).

If you're still reading this then you might think similar to me about lessons learned from riding versus shopping. Have you good road repair experience with one of these products? Or Have a story to share about a road repair of your luggage?

Seems I have a leak where the drain line meets the sink. Which parts are replaceable (A,B,C)? Do I need to find something made for the sink, or are these universal connections?

How should I evaluate the success of these stainless steel rivets? I'm thinking I'd like something in between the two, but this is what I have. Should I choose the middle or the outer two?

I want to rivet this RAM track into my Top Box, but the business end of the rivet gun is too wide to get to the bottom of the track.

What other options will have a low profile on both the inside of the box and and the bottom of the track? I’m showing blind rivets, but I do have access to both sides, so I could use a different product. (the simple solution is a bolt, but I’d prefer a permanent solution, and they don’t tend to be as flat on both sides as a rivet.)

How do I figure out what electrical farkles I can put on my 2014 VStrom DL1000A?

For example, say I want to add this charger for my iPhone to the cigarette lighter. I know this circuit has a 3A fuse.

Type-C and Type A 2-Port Cigarette Charger
input voltage: 12-24VDC
power output: 48W Total (30W for Type-C & 18W for Type-A)
output current: 3A max

What's the first thing I should do to calculate:

1. Does this product draw too much power?

2. If not, then how much power is remaining for other farkles?