Friday, 15 August 2025
The UberSchmarotzer
Wednesday, 9 July 2025
Winter Floor Heating effectiveness report
- Solar Floor heating
- Insulation in floor and Ceiling
- Use of Reverse Cycle AirCon
- Wood burning stove
Its just like the height difference between two points on a hill. The higher the difference the more energy you need. So even though I'm using technology and electricity to move and amplify that heat I'm still taking advantage of the Sun to do that. So only one component would simply not work, but all four parts work together, consequentially my house is warmed (but not 100% of the time, my power bill is much lower) and I burn less than a quarter of the wood. For example the load of wood I bought in 2023 is still serving and I anticipate that it will provide for this winter entirely too. I'm a big fan of
- understanding diminishing returns
- seeking maximum value for money
Saturday, 28 June 2025
Addiesdive (budget) Submariner
Some time back I bought a $15 Sanda Rolex inspired watch to "get free postage" (but actually get something tangible on a purchase of the same cost to me) on an Ali Express order. I intended to use it in the gym to time my training and get a second hand to time HR during training. I was surprised how comfortable it was; which was (I expected) not least because of its weight.
This led me to consider the Addiesdive H3-2QZ which I found quickly enough on Ali for a discounted rate that (including taxes) worked out to AU$50. It arrived on a bracelet (which I took off) and put it on one of my well worn nylon straps (whic was a NATO, but has now been rendered comfortable); as shown below.
Tuesday, 17 June 2025
AI is full of it
So, I wanted to know the specific answer to the following question
but I know what sort of "intelligence" AI has so I thought I'd read that site and see what was said.
The reason for this failure is that AI doesn't actually know anything, all words are just tokens. So when the guy says "its all heat related" he's saying that its resistance NOT impedance at work. Resistance of a metal changes with temperature, while impedance is related to a magnetic field change "impeding" the flow of electrons. Impedance is the combined effect of resistance and reactance in a circuit.
I hereby crown AI as the new King Wang ...
Fools led by fools I say
Tuesday, 3 June 2025
reality
A philosophical post.
Since high school (after over 10 years of punishment by Christian Nuns and Brothers) my philosophy of life has been the search for truth and the "minimisation of distortion of reality.
I have tried to live without hope, not expecting anything (either good or bad) but embracing what comes along each day.
This meme reminded me of that choice made long ago.
Longer term readers of my blog will know that I've spent a lot of time on philosophy; not as an abstract but for the very real psychological and physiological problems that confronted me.
For sure I could have committed intellectual suicide by refusing to think, by believing in a distorted reality where "God" was being merciful and loving, but too much harm was visited on me in quick succession to even remotely allow this to sit. I played no part in this, and especially that my wife was totally innocent of my prior sins so why was she punished (by death) as well as her whole family from her loss?
Christians (and perhaps Muslims and Jews) will say "this is a mystery" ... well where others see mystery I see just reality (genetics, age, illness ...); natural outcomes and statistics. To me the others are trapped in a living hell of an iteratively fictionalised character story built on the lines of Psychopathic narcissism, gas lighting and innate Stockholm syndrome.
I was well acquainted with Stoic views (from my studies of Greek and Roman history at school) but the philosophy of Albert Camus, perhaps this (link) is as good a place to start on Camus if you don't already know his work.
Being Stoic does not mean you don't feel pain, but instead it guides you how to attribute analysis and on how you should direct your responses. I've got a couple of articles on Stoic views here.
So, anyway, maintain your critical thinking, don't devolve into distortions of reality and be Stoic, be Absurdist and be a good human.
Best Wishes
Sunday, 25 May 2025
Widewheel rear motor replacement and general update
So, back in October 2024 my Wide Wheel wouldn't go, the back motor made a lot of noise and felt almost "seized" inside. I suspected rust and I suspected in it where it was found: between the stator and the magnets).
Keep in mind that I've had this scooter since 2019 and its seen a lot of use.
Accordingly there were lots of delays (what, with postage from China, two other motorcycles that needed work and changing tyres on the MX60 so that I still had an electric scooter), but eventually it all came together.
Firstly, I struggled to get the wheel apart. I looked at would I repair or replace the whole thing (after quite a few goes at trying to get it apart. The price of a the price of a whole rear hub wheel ($300 of course with a tyre fitted) vs just a tyre ($50) and a set of wheel bearings ($14 for the pair). I thought "ok, I'm willing to give it a go"; and so I decided that we had to go the hard way of cutting the tyre off.
To achieve this we (it was a two man job) used a good sharp knife, a pair of pliers to pull up what had been cut and some "penetrating oil" (spray can) to lubricate the knife as it cut. You can see the rust stain there where clearly some water (one doesn't need much) had made its way into the motor some how. I have a few ideas on that front, which I can't verify, but either way.
With the tyre off I was quickly able to remove the screws from the "right side" of the hub (sides being usually discussed from the perspective of the rider on the bike or scooter) and it came apart easily and pretty cleanly. You can then see the windings, the steel laminated metal sheets that form and hold the windings.
- just as the stator resisted being removed, it is strongly attracted to the hub, so care and strength is required when inserting the stator into the half with the magnets as it will suddenly and strongly get pulled into place. Be prepared for this and have a good grip and make sure the wheel side is held for this.
- you MUST leave clearance under that wheel side for the axle to protrude through.
- its a real tight fit and I should have used lubricant
- you really need some long screws of the right type to insert into the holes in the steel frame to accurately line up with the screws that you'll replace
- some sort of clamp system (big G clamps will do the trick) to pull the two sides together
- some large washers to form a stack to keep the shaft pulled snugly against the other side and prevent it from moving back up
The motor is now toast :'-(
So, now I have a new 2019 model Wide Wheel (as well as a bunch of spare parts still on my old one) and it feels great to be still riding one. Getting a (basically) new scooter has been interesting to see how much (not much) my scooter has aged and experience a few small differences (such as the controller seems a little different on this model).
Lastly, I've written a lot about Wide Wheel scooters, so rather than list it, everything is here (all articles).
Happy Scootering
Monday, 14 April 2025
SAMDA Tank
One thing seems to be pretty constant in the land of watches, KingWangers (and KingWang loves to watch) people are just filled with snobbery, ignorance, self deception and tribalism. The Chinese watch market is well known for some real bargains and some recent (perhaps ending) movement upwards into high end. The little SAMDA Tank is no pretentious high price watch, it cost me just AU$20 shipped. It is perhaps the very essence of what attracted me to Chinese watches in the first place.
Doing its very best to make a very low priced entry into the almost forgotten valley of the Cartier Tank or the Gruen watch for men (who don't feel they want or need the compensation of a big divers lead weight on their arm at all times) that's stylish, compact and robust. Yes, robust, I bought this little watch back in March 2024, and so I've been wearing it for about a year now.
When it first arrived it was on a dressy little black leather strap with a deployant clasp. The blued hands are a nice touch (but on sunny days they mostly look black).
From the get go I wanted to wear it as a daily driver, so I removed that strap (because it didn't look like it'd stand up to things) and put it on an old leather strap that I've had for 5 or so years (and gets cycled through a few watches). The lug width is 20mm (as is most of my watches) and so its able to join the strap family immediately ..
You may notice between those two pictures (and about a year) that almost no marks have appeared on the watch. This is (IMO) because of the choice to reduce costs by giving the watch a chrome plating (chrome is hard so resists scratches). By not making it out of machined then polished stainless steel costs are kept down and the watch looks bright and attractive. In fact its often worn under my wrist and yet still (despite lots of keyboard and mechanical work) there are no marks.
Its my preferred watch for working on stuff (like my motorbike) because its so thin it never catches on things (when reaching into small spaces).
Even the crown remains looking good (and I'd half expected that jewel to fall off)
So what's not to like?
Well, as I mentioned people in Watch Wanking poohoo anything not mechanical. Myself I'm rather agnostic and have about as many watches with Quartz movements as I do Mechanical ones. Yet because its Quartz this little light weight watch has remained within a minute of time set when I first got it, in fact it may be within 20 seconds (its hard to say as it doesn't have a second hand).
Crystal is harlex (and Wangers seem to demand Sapphire), yet still also has no visible scratches (heads popping in KingWang's empire).
Original strap wasn't to my taste, so there's that.
The style and execution of this watch is not for everyone, but for someone who wants to know the time, doesn't want to spend a lot of money and isn't a Wanger this watch may just turn your mind back to a time when men could wear an elegant and slim watch (rather than apparently needing a big bold statement) such as this one (pic stolen from the internet).
SAMDA or SANDA or something else
Lastly there is the debate about the name of the company referring to the picture of the back of the watch I see a lower case n but with a watch at "ten past ten" on the dial.
Maybe its just like an artwork of letters and nothing more? Whatever, its at least a nice bit of whimsy from a nation (China) where language is pictographic ...
So there you go ... if you can get past your cognitive Wanger bias against Quartz, then this must surely be the low hanging fruit of value for money in reliable and functional Chinese Watches.
Win Win
Thursday, 6 February 2025
FAFO
Good old FAFO ...
Usually this is represented as a linear relationship between fucking around and the "found out" outcome; I don't think this is actually correct and the chance of death increases with the level of "fucking around" people do.
Accordingly I put this together
Eventually (when you reach a level 10 of fuck around) you actually won't find out.
Sunday, 12 January 2025
listening to your inner voice
I decided that I wanted to change the (rather antique style) grips on my SR500 for something more comfortable.
I'm pretty happy with them but unlike the older styles, the ends are "uncovered" on modern grips. This left me the task of attaching end covers for aesthetic and functional reasons. I ended up selecting these:
as (before I'd taken the grips off) I figured they'd be suitable no matter what I found (empty hollow bar end or filled in with something. As it turns out the Yamaha bars had solid steel rod inserted into the bar to assist with damping vibrations. So I had to drill and tap a thread into this.
This task was done by:
- carefully identifying the center and then marking that with a center punch
- drilling a small pilot hole (that was straight and con-centric to the bars)
- successively drilling this out to the final diameter needed for the thread cutting tool
- cutting that thread (there's a technique)
- shortening the supplied bolt
- screwing it in and using light grade thread locker on that
- turning gently (two fingers)
- only turning till it bound
- back off at least one, sometimes two turns to feel for the 'break' of the cutting tool swarf
- backing all the way out to double check the measurements of drill depth
- knowing how far I'd been able to turn the cutting tool into the newly cut thread...
Of course now I haven't fucking got a cover on that side because when you break these off in there, there's just no drilling it out ...
On the place it broke, I'd felt that while the screws had enough thread I did not test that on the many occasions I'd backed out. I should have been doing this to be clear exactly how many turns of thread the cover mounting screw had (and it only needs a few right!!).
Had I done that I may well have saved this issue, had a good looking bar end on the right and maybe just more loctite on that one ... FCK
This is as much a warning to others as an exercise in accident analysis and self punishment
FCK!