busybee

I’ve been experimenting with coffee-based sodas again. Unlike last time, I decided to experiment based on the espresso kola idea.

What I’ve found to work really nicely is to take 1 liter of cola (such as Sodastream’s generic cola flavor, which has a nice blend of sucrose and ace K/sucralose), four pumps of vanilla syrup (such as Torani), and a purposefully-overextracted shot of espresso.

For my most recent batch I did an ultra-long shot, with 18 grams in, 60 grams out, specifically to get as many of the bitter oils out as I could, which helped the coffee flavor really stand up against the sweetness of the cola.

One thing to keep in mind when doing this is that espresso is full of surfactants and particulate, which both conspire to make the soda very “angry,” so caution is advised, especially when opening the bottle for the first time. It’s a good idea to let it rest in the refrigerator for a few hours and then open it carefully in the sink.

An even better idea is to use a much larger bottle than the volume of soda you’re making, so for example a half-liter of cola, and two pumps of vanilla syrup. I’d still do an 18:60 espresso shot with that, though, for even more delicious coffee flavor.

Anyway, now to mop my floor…

I wasn’t planning on getting into VR tonight but I ended up doing it anyway.

The Bigscreen folks suggested washing the facial interface gasket with soapy water, and that seems to have fixed the skin irritation. So there must have just been some residue left over.

I also printed a Vive DAS adapter so now I have a much easier time putting the headset on and setting up the audio and so on. It ends up not sitting on my head quite right, though, and adjusting the fit to my eyes is a little more fiddly. Unfortunately the design of the BSB doesn’t make it easy to put on a top support strap (the DAS adapter has a little dealybop for the DAS’s top strap but I couldn’t get it to stay attached with double-sided tape and I’m not yet willing to use permanent adhesive) so my choices are either off-axis lenses or having it so tight it gives me a headache.

I also ended up removing the lens inserts for now, and I’ll wait for the QC-passing ones to arrive.

Everything is just so sharp now. I like it.

This search engine seems pretty cool. So far the catalog appears to only have human-submitted feeds, though. I’ve already submitted a couple of mine, and hopefully more folks get on board with it.

I find this video incredibly relatable. I’ve not been formally diagnosed with any version of EDS but I definitely have some sort of hypermobility disorder, and it’s definitely related to my fibromyalgia diagnosis. Everything she shares in her story is super relatable. Including the specific experiences with physiotherapists and being doubted by every doctor, and everyone blaming me being “out of shape” or having a “weak core.”

I feel like I need to sing the praise of CarMax, the dealership I bought the Niro at.

First of all: They had amazing prices on things, and a no-nonsense no-haggle policy. You pick out your car online, make an appointment to test drive it, and get some time with it.

They also did an amazing job of getting it ready for me. They performed all necessary service, including replacing the tires, and did a thorough inspection.

The inspection on mine missed two points: It was missing its emergency trickle charger, and there was a small but concerning crack on the windshield. When I pointed these things out, they immediately bought me a new, official trickle charger ($300) and paid for the entire windshield to be replaced ($700) — no questions asked, no proof required.

And with both issues, I’d called their service number outside of their business hours, and their answering service forwarded my concerns along and I got immediate contact, direct from the sales representative I worked with, as soon as they opened!

They also gave me the best offer on my old car by far, and worked really hard to get me every possible tax credit on the vehicle (the best one being the sales tax credit from the trade-in to begin with), and gave me a clear and concise explanation for why the ones I couldn’t get weren’t available. Not that it matters — the original price on the Niro was already ridiculously low, and the fact they’ve paid an additional $1000 to fix the issues mentioned above is a nice bonus on top.

This is 100% my own opinion, unsolicited, and I earn no commission or affiliate fee for saying this.

I honestly feel that CarMax is how all car dealerships should be.

The only thing I disliked about the whole experience is that they still aren’t quite equipped for EV sales, and don’t list things like range specs or show the battery condition on the inspection report. (For battery condition you really should bring an OBD-II scanner and an appropriate app, anyway. My Niro was still at 100%.) This is such an incredibly minor concern that I feel like it almost isn’t even worth mentioning, and as EVs get more popular this issue will definitely go away anyway.

So, yeah. CarMax is such a good experience. They are absolutely the way that car sales should be.

I don’t have any new releases on my bandcamp but if you’re interested in a wide variety of music, it is there for the buying, and during Bandcamp Friday none of the money from that goes to Songtradr/Bandcamp.

This weekend, you can also buy anything in my discography, including my entire discography, for 50% off using discount code TOOMUCHMUSIC.

And as usual I’m also trying to hype up others. This month I’m planning on buying:

• A ska tribute to They Might Be Giants
• Patricia Taxxon’s latest
• Some weird abstract electronic stuff
• All of the music of Aran P. Ink

I contacted CarMax about the missing EVSE, and they pointed me to a hidden compartment for service equipment, thinking it might have been hiding in there. The EVSE wasn’t in there either, but there was the “tire mobility kit,” so it’s good that I have the official one too!

Anyway CarMax is going to order me a replacement EVSE as well. Nice.

I suspect they saw the NACS adapter and confused it for an EVSE, which is easy to do — I’d made the same mistake during my test drive and walkaround!

But yeah so far I am very happy with the CarMax experience.