how to prepare for when the toilet does not work
Recently, there was some plumbing work that needed to be done where I live, and it required me to not use the water at all. I had to go without showering for a few days.
That was something I could deal with, since it's easy enough to wash with a wet cloth.
But what really bothered me was...
...I couldn't use the toilet.
This was one of those plumbing situations where running water or draining it into the pipes was an absolute no-go. If it were a situation where I couldn't run the water but could drain it, no problem, just fill the toilet tank manually, get one flush from that, then refill manually again for the next flush. That was not an option.
For the first time in my life, I had to acquire a portable toilet, a.k.a. a camping toilet.
But let's be real here. It's a shitbucket.
Did I actually have to use this thing? Fortunately, no. The plumbers got here, did the work and got the toilet (as well as other things) working again with the plumbing.
However, I was ready to use this thing if I had to.
The 101 on using a portable toilet in the house
In basic form - which is what you're seeing above, one of these toilets is just a 5 gallon bucket with a plastic toilet seat fitted to it. In fact, you can just outright buy the lid alone and use whatever 5 gallon bucket you want. The one I acquired came with both the bucket and lid.
What you need to successfully use one of these is the bucket itself, a kitchen trash bag to line it with (with spares for obvious reasons), some toilet paper or wipes such as Dude Wipes, and a disinfectant spray like Lysol, preferably of the aerosol variety.
And there's one last thing needed. A place to take the bag once you're done with your business, as in outside into a trash bin or dumpster. That bag can't stay in the house.
Better to have this than not have it
Worst case scenario is that you wake up at 2am with an urge to "do a number 2". Two choices present themselves. Either get dressed, get in the car and find somewhere that's open 24 hours with a toilet, or sit on the bucket.
Better to just have a seat, do your business and get it over with.
Again, I didn't have to use this thing. But if I had to, I would have. Better to use the bucket instead of literally having to drive into town just to do a bodily function.
nobody uses windows 11?
According to StatCounter, Microsoft Windows 11 has only commanded just barely over 36% of United States market share per the last three months. I'm being generous, because had I used the last 12 months of data, it would have been barely 31%. I know 36% isn't "nobody", but still, that's pretty low...
I switched to Linux about 500 days ago. No, I'm not telling you to switch, but the fact Windows 11 isn't the main OS on most PCs tells me a few things.
Windows 10 is still #1
From that three months of data I mentioned, Windows 10 trounces Windows 11. You'll see Win11 at barely over 36% and Win10 way ahead at 61%.
The Win10 end-of-life happens October 14, 2025. Some time ago I said to myself yeah, that's going to be when people finally dump 10, but now I'm not so sure.
Win11 was not good enough to make people buy a new computer
A big reason why more people aren't on Win11 is because of that must-have-newer-hardware "requirement" crap just to install that OS. How many people saw that "this computer can't run 11" notice in Windows Update? A lot. And did people run out and buy a new computer just to run 11 when they saw that? Of course not. There was no reason to when the older PC hardware ran just fine with Win10, so people just stayed on 10.
I purposely use an old computer because I'm cheap. But even if I were willing to spend more, why would I bother when I can get refurb Dell PCs for under $200 all day? Some are even under $100. Yeah, they all come with Windows, but I don't care. I'll just wipe the drive or install a cheap SSD and put Linux on it. Job done.
Win10 may stick around for a lot longer than I thought it would
If Win11 was at 50% US market share by now, sure, I could see Win10 being put out to pasture once the end-of-life date comes. But it's nowhere near 50%, which may mean 10 will stick around for a long time, even after Win12 is released for whenever that happens.
How long? If Win10 continues to hold the top spot as the #1 PC OS, years. Maybe to 2027 or even to 2030. Yeah, that long.
The only thing I can see killing Win10 is if both Google and Mozilla stop making a web browser for it. But I don't see that happening any time soon. If Win10 keeps its spot as #1, Chrome and Firefox will continue to exist for that OS.
Windows 10 is a safe bet?
Yes, I think it's actually a safe bet to stay with Win10 if that's what's on your PC currently. I wasn't saying that at the beginning of 2024, but I am now.
From the looks of things, it's highly unlikely Win11 is going to make a miraculous comeback. And as for Win12, eh... we'll see about that one.
halloween is dumb, but it is forever
I consider Halloween to be the weirdest holiday of the year, because I don't even understand why it's called a holiday. I've never known anybody to get October 31 as their day off or be paid time-and-a-half for working that day.
Halloween gets even weirder for the following reasons:
No gifts are given on Halloween
There is no requirement to give nor receive any gifts on this day. It's just a day.
It's "spooky" for the wrong reasons
All Hallows' Eve a.k.a. All Saints' Eve is supposed to be a day to remember the dead, as in to remember saints and passed loved ones, among others. But that's not what happens at all. Nobody does that.
Instead, kids on Halloween eat too much candy, and many adults go and get drunk.
There is supposed to be a feast following Halloween
You know All Hallows' Eve, so is there All Hallows' Day? Yes! It's the day after. It's also called All Saints' Day, Feast of All Saints, Feast of All Hallows and even Hallowmas.
Do you know anybody that holds a feast on November 1? Didn't think so.
Should we reconsider what Halloween is supposed to be?
No, because nobody wants to do that. The kids want their candy and drinking adults want their booze.
What mystifies me somewhat is how October 31 changed from a day of respecting the dead to being about pumpkins, candy, booze and cheap costumes.
I'll probably never be able to solve that mystery.
I'll also never understand why anybody eats candy corn, the grossest candy ever made.
But I can understand buying things like the This Is Boo Sheet and/or I'm Just Here For The Boos t-shirts, because those are funny. The coffin letter board is also kinda cute.
counting steps does work
Counting steps is a form of exercise that does work - conditionally. I say that because whether you can actually do it or not depends on a few things.
Right now at the time I write this is a fantastic time for step counting because it's mid-October. It's cooler outside and humidity is down. The middle of September to the middle of November gives me two solid months where I can go walk for step counting almost every day.
The only thing that would prevent a walk is rain. It's not that I can't walk in rain, but if I do that for 30 minutes straight, I may catch a cold.
Weather is the first and more or less only condition to be met for step counting. The only other thing you need to count the steps is a cheap step tracker, a.k.a. a cheap pedometer, which starts as low as 9 bucks and goes up from there.
This is the one I use, and what it tracked after walking with it for 10 minutes was 1,051 steps. After 30 minutes, 3,152 steps.
Is that accurate? No idea. The more important thing is that I'm physically moving by walking for 30 minutes.
Presuming my pedometer is accurate, I get in a little over 1,000 steps every 10 minutes of continual walking at my pace.
What do I do when I can't walk?
If it's raining, too hot, or too cold (or in rare instances, too windy) to walk, I have two backups.
The first backup is a basic 15 minute low-impact aerobic workout. I use a Casio watch with timer set to auto-repeat every minute. My watch of choice is my W213, although the WS1000H and WS1600H are also both excellent for doing that.
Side note: Yes, I did consider getting the Casio WSB1000 as that does have a step tracker built in (along with the WS2100H and LWS2200H). I passed on it since I already have a pedometer and have other Casio watches that do the timer thing for me.
My basic routine is stretches and squats. I purposely wear flip flops while doing this routine mainly for squats so my feet stay flat to the floor (better to have feet flat instead of elevated slightly from wearing sneakers for that particular exercise).
The second backup is "dumb dancing".
Whenever I get bored of the basic exercise routine, I just put on a video and then dance around the room for 15 to 20 minutes. The "moves" I do are the dopiest things I can think of, which at times gets me laughing at myself.
What's funny, other than the dumb dancing, is that it's actually more difficult to keep dancing without stopping for 15-20 minutes compared to a basic exercise routine. For whatever reason, doing a bunch of fake karate kicks, fist pumps, fake high-fives and whatnot works my body more than regular exercising does.
For now, the weather is good for outside step tracking. When the weather isn't good enough for that, it's back indoors where I exercise or dance and hope I don't kick over a lamp.
garmin 2025.20 map update removes junction view
I was excited to see the new 2025.20 North America map update had been released. Given the giant Garmin nerd I am for automotive models (I own way too many of them), I got to see what happened after the update on everything from the current Garmin DriveSmart 66 all the way down to the old Garmin nuvi 1100LM and a whole bunch of models in between.
I noticed something. Junction View has been removed on some older models. Not all. Some.
This takes a bit of explanation.
Something new Garmin did this time around for North America models is that every single one labeled as "lifetime map" eligible (i.e. if "LM" is in the model name and has been updated in the last 2 years, it qualifies), the full USA + Canada + Mexico map data set is now included instead of just being limited to "lower 48" US or USA + Canada. This of course will require the addition of a 32GB microSD memory card, as many older models don't have the internal space to fit all that map data...
...and that's not the problem since getting a 32GB card is cheap.
On some - and I have to repeat this again so it really sinks in - SOME older models, the Junction View was removed. All the map data is there, but those little images to the side on SOME models aren't there anymore.
I noticed on older models like the nuvi 30LM, nuvi 40LM, nuvi 50LM, nuvi 56LM and a few others that the 2025.20 North America update doesn't include Junction View anymore.
For other models like the Garmin Drive 52 and Garmin DriveSmart 65, yes, Junction View is still there.
I'm totally okay with Garmin removing JCV on the older models
I'm sure some people that still use older models will get a bit miffed that JCV was removed. I don't have a problem with it, because on models like the nuvi 40LM and 50LM that never had a full North America map set before, now it does with the addition of a cheap 32GB microSD card.
I am totally fine with JCV being removed on older models and getting more map data, because that's what counts more.