running a garmin drive 53 with traffic reporting
I've been using Garmin GPS automotive receivers for over two decades, own a pile of Garmins spanning from 2005 all the way to current models, know how to make my own maps from OpenStreetMap data, and so on. I know a lot about these things.
Something I do wonder is how a flat earth believer thinks GPS works. Do they believe orbiting GPS satellites just circle around the top of the dome? Probably.
My daily driver is currently a 53. For a few weeks or maybe a month by this point I've been using traffic reporting via the GTM36 charger+traffic cable.
For the United States specifically, Garmin did offer a "53 & Traffic" model for a while. All that meant was that it came with the charger+traffic cable. The 53 is still for sale, but now it's only available as a no-traffic model, and that's the one I own. However, since I already have a GTM36 cable, using that puts back in the traffic reporting.
I had avoided doing this for a while just because I wanted to run the 53 as-is. Then I said screw it, I own the cable, it wasn't cheap to buy, and this is probably the cable the 53 needs for traffic reporting. I was right, traffic reporting was enabled, and have been running the 53 that way since.
To be clear, this is not traffic data acquired via internet because the US model 53 has no ability to connect to a phone or wifi. All traffic data received is over FM, and the traffic reports are mainly for highway travel through major cities.
Does the traffic reporting work? Yes.
Does that make the drive any better? Debatable. And this can be said for anything that reports traffic aside from Garmins. Infotainment, phone app, whatever.
Complications are bad
The whole point of GPS assisted navigation is to make driving easier by knowing where the hell it is you're going.
Any complication that's added into the mix tacks on stress to the drive. Traffic reporting is a complication. Pairing a smartphone to the navigation system (which I don't and won't do) is a complication. Anything that adds in bleeping, blooping, notifications, needless animated crap and so on are all complications.
Something that is within my ability to do is get everything back to the basics. I could take one of my old nuvi models, purposely use OpenStreetMap maps that I make myself, and have a total no-frills setup. No speed limit displayed (meaning no nag for going 1mph over the limit), no lane assist animations, no junction view, no traffic reporting, purposely use a basic voice with no text-to-speech, no voice control. Just a dirt simple A-to-B navigation system. I could daily that, and it would work just fine.
There's been no wonky crap going on with the 53's traffic reporting, so I'm sticking with it for the time being. If things get weird, the traffic feature can be disabled. Or I can just go back to an old model like I described above.
It wouldn't be a bother to drive without traffic reporting if that's what I have to do. I drove without traffic reporting for the first 13 years I used GPS navigation, so it's not like I'm inexperienced navigating that way.
google has started to delete accounts
Google said if a Google account is inactive for two years, it will be deleted...
...back in 2023. Now it's 2026, and it's finally happening.
I have a few really old email accounts, which includes Yahoo. I get this email from Google saying hey, better login to your Google account or it's getting whacked. I thought it was spam at first, but no, legit. Except there's a problem. I never signed up a Google account using that Yahoo email. I thought okay, fine, I'll just do a "forgot password" thing, Google will send an email, I'll login, delete the account, done deal. Try to do that, but nope, can't. Google system says it doesn't recognize my location as normal for that account. Fine, whatever. I gave up.
Four days later, I receive this:
This was confirmation that I definitely never signed up a Google account with my Yahoo address. The Gmail account listed was a ridiculously long username that I'd obviously never choose, and someone or some bot somehow managed to get my Yahoo address listed there as the backup address, even though I was never notified about this until these emails.
It is normal and almost routine that I get emails from Google for accounts I never signed up for to my Yahoo address. I get between 3 to 5 of these a year, all for different accounts. But this is the first time I've seen an account outright whacked by Google for non-use.
Chances are pretty good this Google account had been dormant for well more than two years, and only now am I seeing real deal account closure notices.
As for whether the associated YouTube channel also gets deleted when a Google account gets whacked for dormancy, Google said, "[...] we do not have plans to delete accounts with YouTube videos at this time."
Again, that was 2023 and it's 2026 now.
As far as I know, Google won't delete an account if it has a YouTube channel with videos.
I think it's best practice that if you have a crusty old YouTube channel with a few videos, but haven't logged into that Google account for a while, go login now. Even if you don't have any videos, you probably want to keep the YouTube username you have, so again, login if you want to keep the account alive.
i am so jaded when it comes to guitars now
So I tried out a brand new Fender Player II Stratocaster limited edition in British Racing Green.
I've said before I do not like Strats in green and that if you're going to go green with a guitar, get a Gretsch. See Gretsch's Cadillac Green and you'll understand why I say that. When Fender does green, it's always awful. However, this is one of those rare greens from Fender that actually works on a Strat. It's dark with a small amount of metallic flake, so they get a pass on this one. You can watch me pluck around on it if you like.
Even though I actually liked the color, that wasn't enough to win me over.
I have a 2025 Squier Affinity Telecaster. Butterscotch blonde with maple neck, maple fingerboard and black guard. It works. It's fine.
I also have a pair of 1989 Squier II Stratocasters, both Torino Red with maple necks, maple fingerboards and white guards. The first one is my first guitar that I still have, bought new in 1990, and I don't play it very often. The second was bought much, much later, and play that specifically so I don't have to play the first one. It works for the most part, but does need new tuners and a new pickup selector switch. It's fine otherwise.
After not getting along with that Fender, I went online instead and ordered a 3-pack of my preferred strings (which is still Ernie Ball Super Slinky) and a new cheap leather guitar strap for my Squiers. I've actually never owned a leather strap and always use Polypro since those are inexpensive and genuinely good, but wanted to try something different.
Any story of how some dude found That Perfect Guitar is bullshit
Typical to whenever I play anything in a guitar store, absolutely no guitar feels correct out of the gate. I've never had that magic moment in the store where an electric guitar just felt and sounded 100% perfect, and doubt I ever will.
You'd think by now after playing all these years that I would have found my "Number One". Nope. I've been in many guitar stores, tried many guitars, owned many guitars. What ultimately what ends up happening is I just buy whatever agrees with me that I think looks nice or nice enough.
One of the few things I've not tried is constructing my own guitar. Recently, I was really close to buying a Leo Jaymz DIY guitar kit. Stupid cheap and stupid easy to put together. There's the choice of Strat, Tele, Explorer, Les Paul solid body, Les Paul semihollow, Rhoads V (like what Jackson makes), JEM (like what Ibanez makes) and Iceman (Ibanez makes that too).
One thing I know for a fact is that electric bass players construct their own basses a lot. Bass players fight with off-the-shelf basses so much that they just say to hell with it and make their own. And yeah, Leo Jaymz has electric bass DIY kits too, even for stuff like a Rickenbacker 4001 shape.
It is totally doable, and honestly fairly easy, to piece together something from a kit and create That Perfect Guitar. At this point in my guitar playing life, I know enough about how electric guitars work to craft such a thing.
Right now I'm good with what I have, but whatever I get next will probably be a DIY kit since I know what's in the guitar store will never completely agree with me.
angelfire and tripod, gone
This is on the front of Lycos today:
To our users of Angelfire and Tripod. We apologize for the service interruptions. Unfortunately we will be shutting down in the next 30 days. Please move your hosting to another host as soon as possible.
...and probably won't be there next week since Angelfire and Tripod will be closed down on April 5, 2026. Or at least that's what the internet tells me.
It's funny how I found out about this.
I was looking up email providers just to see if any of the really old stuff was still in operation. Excite Mail still exists, but only as another Gmail since the Excite-run version was closed down August 31, 2021. This does make me wonder if you can actually sign up a Gmail account and have it end in @excite.com. Probably not, but it would be cool if you could.
Lycos still does offer free email addresses. I wouldn't get one because the service could get shut off at any moment. But when I went to the Lycos site, there was this huge notice that Angelfire and Tripod were shutting down.
What the hell are Angelfire and Tripod? Free web hosting services from forever ago, as in late '90s forever ago. These were places where you'd sign up and make some web pages.
I did use both Angelfire and Tripod in that forever ago era, but quickly dumped them once I got my own web site.
The Angelfire/Tripod closure is happening pretty much the exact same way AOL Hometown and Geocities closed. A small notice given, no easy option presented to back up your stuff at all, and then BUH-BYE, deleted...
...which is the way of things on the internet. Take this as a warning that if there's anything you care about at all that you posted online, download a copy right frickin' now. Get some USB sticks and download everything. In fact, make two copies on two separate sticks just in case one of the sticks bugs out on you. All your photos, all your videos, all your journal posts if you made any of those, all your social media posts, all your contact lists, all calendar schedules, all documents, all spreadsheets, whatever. Download EVERYTHING.
If you don't do it, you will lose it.
rider back poker cards are amazing
A fond childhood memory I have from when I didn't have a care in the world is Saturday nights at my grandfather's house. Dad would drive me over there, he and grampy (that's what we called him) would play cards at the kitchen table, and I went into the living room and played Intellivision video games.
Sometimes I would watch dad and grampy play, but not all that often. My favorite part was watching dad shuffle the cards, because he was a master at it. He had big hands, could shuffle lightning quick and bridge a deck like nobody's business. His skill at doing this was most likely acquired when he served in the Navy. A faded memory tells me that's what he said when I asked how he became so good at it. I'm pretty sure he also said he was usually if not always chosen as the dealer whenever a game got together in the days he served because of his skill at handling cards.
Funny enough is that I never played a hand with dad. Do I regret that? Somewhat, but not really because I am no good at cards whatsoever.
What I do have is the cards dad would have played with, Bicycle Rider Back playing cards; they are amazing.
The decks I have aren't the ones dad actually used in the early '80s. While I would cherish those if I possessed them, I know it's best that I don't. Dad and grampy would thoroughly use a deck until the cards became unplayable. First the cards would get frayed edges, then the edges would start tearing, then the corners began folding, then once creasing started and the cards couldn't be shuffled anymore, they were thrown out.
I remember handling a well-used deck just out of curiosity a few hands before it was trashed. The cards were discolored and had some printing worn off from being played so many times, and they would bend so easy that they almost felt like cloth. Any firmness the cards once had was totally gone, which is how they naturally would wear over time.
Not that I'll ever be able to go back in time and get one of these, but if I could, it would be great to have a deck dad and grampy used that was well played and with some wear, but not to the point of being one hand away from the trash.
The design
The Rider Back is officially design no. 63, but everybody knows these as the 808. On the Ace of Spades in every deck, BICYCLE 808 is printed right on the card and only that one.
The entire reason for the name Bicycle is because at the time - and we're talking in the 1800s here - bicycles were all the rage. Every Rider Back has two images of cupid on the back riding a bicycle. Between the two cupids is a bar, which I assume is supposed to represent bicycle pedals.
Rider Back cards come in red or blue and I have both. They also come in several other colors with special editions aplenty, but the classics that have been around forever are always red or blue. I prefer the red.
The box for a deck of Rider Back cards always shows the same two cupids art on the back, just like the cards.
Some versions of the Rider Back are made specifically for magic tricks, as in short deck (cut slightly shorter) or stripper deck (slight taper for easier handling).
I love the two cupids art. It's very distinctive, very much old world, and is the fundamental reason I prefer Rider Back decks over Standard.
There really isn't any difference between Rider Back and Standard as far as playability is concerned, except when it comes to the box. Rider Back boxes always have the two cupids art on the back while Standard does not.
Does the Standard have the two cupids art on the cards? Yes. Do they have the 808 printed on the Ace of Spades? Yes. Again, it's pretty much the box that is different.
To me, the Rider Back box matters. I love that the art alone instantly identifies what they are. If you saw a box of these cards face down on a table, you automatically know it's Bicycle Rider Back. If it was your first time seeing that art, you will remember that design the next time you see a box. That art, in such a beautiful way, says, "these are poker cards", and does so without saying a word.
Other colors... maybe?
I might pick up some other Bicycle playing card colors in the future just to have something different, but nothing crazy. I learned the hard way by getting the Cypher deck that crazy designs aren't really something I care for. Definitely different, but too different for my taste.
The Standard in black is cool. Tough to find in stores, but thankfully easy to find online. It's not the Rider Back box, but absolutely is the 808 card.
Purple and gold Rider Back. I like those, and they do have the proper box.
Nice surprise: Rider Back Prestige
A Prestige Rider Back deck was gifted to me recently. I was glad to receive this because it's something I never would have bought on my own. Technically not an 808 deck, and when you see Dura-Flex and "plastic playing cards", it might want to make you run away screaming.
Color me surprised when I handled these cards and it felt like a properly worn-in deck brand new. This is a tastefully done deck made of modernized material that feels right and can really take some punishment.
Unlike regular Rider Back cards, if you spill a drink on a card, it's not ruined and you can wipe it clean real easy. And far as I can tell, they should easily survive in places where regular cards wouldn't.
The traditional Rider Back is still my favorite by far, but Prestige Rider Back surprised me in a good way.
Go vintage?
I'll end on this because it's interesting info to know.
When you start diving down the rabbit hole of Rider Back cards, you learn about the whole Ohio vs. Kentucky thing.
Bicycle cards were made in Ohio, but then that factory closed and a switch was made to a new factory in Kentucky that opened up in 2009.
It is easy enough to hop on eBay and find pre-2009 sealed never-used Bicycle Rider Back decks. And I might go ahead and buy some that since what dad and grampy used were absolutely Ohio-made cards.
However, for that absolute vintage casino card style look and feel, that's not Bicycle. That's Bee playing cards. Bicycle had something similar with their no. 19 "Club" card that ran from 1917 to 1969, but why bother with that when you can get the Bee cards new now for cheap?
I'll put it another way. When actors in movies and television played cards where you could see the card backs with that crosshatch pattern, it was probably a Bee card.
My preference is the Bicycle Rider Back because that's what my dad and grampy used. But for anyone else that wants that old style casino card, get Bee instead.