[QUOTE=HRTKD;21013154]I found the problem battery in my truck. I disconnected the negative cable to the driver side battery and took a voltage reading. The driver side was .2 volts lower than the passenger side. Yellow flag. I let it sit for four hours and redid the reading. The driver side was down to 10.8 volts. Bingo! Ironically, that's the battery that was replaced under warranty in Dec 2018. 36 month 100% replacement, prorated after that. I'm not going to bother trying to warranty it.

I'm going to see if the truck will start on just one battery.[/QUOTE]

....and the result was ????

 

Good morning guys! Happy Taco Tuesday!

Jim, what the heck? Did it start? Did you get new batteries? Talk about leaving a guy hanging...

My MIL was released to the rehab center yesterday afternoon. I'm not certain what is going on, but it must have been a really tough situation because my wife didn't call, but sent a few txts with signs she was struggling a bit. I felt so bad for her. I know how tough it is. I hope they all have a better day today.

Alright tech guys...I'm using SurfShark (thought it was Nord VPN, but I digress). Is the dedicated IP address worth it? Is there a real benefit to having a dedicated IP? I'm only using the service for added online security. I used NordVPN for a year without a dedicated IP and had no issue. My subscription expired and they both had the same parent company (Nord), so I went with the cheaper option. About how much thought went into this decision. I think one of my YouTube subscriptions recommended NordVPN a long time ago and that's why I was using them.

 

today will be day 4 sitting at the tanker base at the airport on standby. we are "scheduled" to start a 7,000 acre burn of scrub oak and manzanita tomorrow. the drone is supposed to start burning in the pines today so we could get a call.
I have read 4 books already, detailed the fuel truck, detailed my '97 and detailed my wife's jeep, probably take my '02 today and detail it. oh well the pay is good. just wish they would put us on 1 hour call back so I could standby at home.

 

 

On our way to Florida, I wanted to stop at a gas station chain called "Buc ees". There are several along the way. Somewhere south of Paducah KY, in a corn field, we saw a sign for one at the next exit. As we were getting off the freeway, it was clear that the exit was new and the only thing at this exit was the gas station. Huge building, pumps as far as the eye can see. The place was packed with people. No parking places left and people were waiting in lines for a gas pump. Turned back around and got back on the freeway. Stopped at the next exit, at an empty station with the same priced gas. In and out in a few minutes. Still have not visited a Buc ees. The story just makes me smile.

Linky

Bruce

 

Andre, I was waiting to see if the other battery would drain down. It's holding OK at 12.5 volts. It's the original factory battery, imagine that.

 

will it start the truck with the one battery? I'd replace them both before winter. Not worth taking the chance in my opinion.

 

The one battery option is short term and more of a, "Hmm, I wonder if this will work?" thing. Replacement Odyssey batteries are on order from a local battery supplier.

 

So you are doing right! My personal brand of choice!

 

With all the internet connected devices, it takes a lot of addresses to service all the devices. A static IP is like having a house address. It never changes. Big and small companies use static IP addresses for their WEB sites. I run a WEB site out of my house, so I have a static IP with my ISP, AT&T. The internet is actually all numbers, my IP address is 99.89.126.213. People tend to like to name things, so www.redshost.com is linked to that IP address. Its easier for me to tell you to go to redshost than 99.89.126.213. Without a static IP address, my ISP, AT&T could change my IP address as they feel necessary. Why? They have to manage thousands of addresses and sometimes re-allocating, and organizing them helps them with the management. If they did this to me, every time they changed my address I'd have to go to my domain name provider (GoDaddy) and enter the new IP address so my hostname, redshost.com would continue to work. There are some older devices, like home security systems (alarm and video) that needed static IP addresses, but not anymore. So unless you know you have a device that requires a static IP, there is really no need to have one.

How did I do with my explanation?

 

David, that explains it perfectly. Thank you! I don't need a static IP address and it doesn't really help with protecting my data at all is what I got out of it. I'm not certain to what degree using an encrypted VPN gives me, but I feel as though it helps.

 

The internet is like a world of its own. To talk to the internet, you need service with an ISP (Internet Service Provider). This can be either hard wired (cable, fiber) or wireless (AT&T, Verizon, Hughes, Starlink). It is this part of the connection, between your device and the ISP that is vulnerable. I have AT&T fiber, so do some of my neighbors, and their neighbors, etc. We are all on the same fiber, so this is where a hacker can enter the network and monitor my data. A VPN requires encryption software to be installed on any device you are using, your tablet, cell phone, or desktop/laptop computer. Using your existing ISP, your data is encrypted and sent through your ISP to your VPN provider, which is directly connected to the internet, This provider does the de-cripting to send data to the internet, and then encrypts the data that is sent back to your device. A VPN provides an extra layer of security to your communication. A VPN can also be used to change your location, or presence on the internet. If your VPN provider is located in Austen Texas, that is where the internet sees you as being, even if you live in Mobile Alabama. If your VPN provider has a presence in London England, and you can connect to that VPN (server), the internet sees this and assumes you are actually In London. This helps bypass some location restricted content, like whats on Netflix.

A video that also explains this:

 

Thank you very much David!

 

I don't have hard proof of this but VPN can decrease your computer's performance and increase the amount of bandwidth traffic. My wife started using VPN on her phone and she thinks both issues happened. To really see these issues you have to be transferring a lot of data. Simple web pages shouldn't be an issue. A 4K TV streaming through the Internet probably would. My wife seems to be always connected to FB so she does use a lot of data.

 

I believe that is correct. It does slow the speeds slightly, but the only time I really get impacted by that is when I'm uploading to YouTube. Other than that, I'm just a regular guy that spends way too much time on FTE.