Interstate battery

Part 52
Glenda Wilmington, Kinda Digging This Whole Cop Gig
"If you hear anything else, give me a call," Glenda said, handing the woman a business card with her cellphone number on it. The woman accepted it and then squinted skeptically at it.
"Cooperation with an investigation is the sort of thing that parole boards like to hear about," Glenda said in response to the woman's look. That seemed to do the trick. The woman slipped the card into her ample cleavage and met Glenda's eyes.
"I will call. I have no loyalty to that man." Her sing-song Norwegian accent, as well as her tall, thick frame and bright, yellow-blonde hair contrasted with the environment; a run-down housing project in the heart of Compton. But housing for convicted felons on parole was limited, and she'd had few choices in this area. Glenda wondered idly why the woman hadn't elected to return to Norway, where they tended to be a bit more sympathetic to ex-cons. The woman, Duke's one-time head channeler, didn't seem prepared to answer any more questions, however.
Glenda nodded and stepped back. The woman took a step outside, careful to keep the foot with the ankle monitor inside the door and took a look around before withdrawing back into the house. Glenda turned and walked down the steps off the creaky wooden porch and back to the rental car, where Jack dozed lightly in the passenger seat, his cowboy hat pulled low over his eyes. She climbed behind the wheel, trying not to wake him, and started the engine.
He woke anyways. Jack had always been a very light sleeper. He turned his head slightly towards her, not adjusting the hat at all.
"Anything?" he asked. Glenda shook her head. "Nobody's heard from him. I think it's safe to say he's not looking to connect with any of his old associates, at this point."
"Ayup," Jack agreed. Glenda pulled away, heading north, towards the 105 that would take them back to the airport. They were done here. As she drove, she couldn't help but note the scowling, suspicious faces that turned to watch them. She took in the low, chain-link fences that separated yards, the equally low concrete block walls that surrounded paved driveways. The odd mix of Spanish colonial and more traditional American architecture was like a sign. It told her that she could find a bag of the white lady, a bag of weed, or a bag of something more exotic here. She could find a gang, beefing with another gang, and maybe convince one side to pay her to make someone on the other side vanish.
It was almost nostalgic.
They passed a tan-painted Spanish colonial house with a faux wrought-iron fence, and she knew right away that a dealer lived there. The child's play set in the front had never been touched by anything more careless than the wind and rain. The SUV in the driveway might have belonged to a small family, except for the large speakers she could see through the rear window. The tint on the windows of both car and home added to the effect. The kicker, though, was the white-haired, middle-aged man stepping out the front door to squint suspiciously around before heading back up the street in the direction of the channeler's home, where Glenda had spotted him walking this way just a few minutes ago.
Without bothering to ask anyone, she could say with confidence that whoever lived there sold mainly cocaine, but he also had cheap weed for those who couldn't afford the prices at the dispensary. He'd have rocks too, but he probably wouldn't sell them to you if you knew where he lived. He'd sell them on the weekends, manning a street corner, alongside a thug from whatever gang he ran with or paid tribute to.
Everyone knew they were cops, of course. Years of living in rural Canada had faded Glenda's tan and affected her fashion choices. Once, she'd have moved through an area like this in gym shorts, sneakers and a faded old t-shirt with the sleeves cut off. Showing off enough muscle to make the usual idiots think twice about harassing her, but not showing off so much skin than people might take her for a street worker with a schtick. Today, she drove in blue jeans, hiking boots and a flannel shirt. Next to her, Jack wore the same, complimented with a denim jacket. Only a couple of cops would dress like that in this neighborhood.
Though that wasn't strictly true -Jack's jurisdiction ended many hundreds of miles north of here- it might as well be. They were private investigators, working on behalf of the federal government, who was footing the bill for Dylan's recapture. Whether or not they were technically considered law enforcement officers depended entirely upon their needs and some paperwork. So far, they hadn't needed any LEO powers.
As she turned onto the 105 and marginally sped up in the dense traffic of the highway, Jack's phone rang. He begrudgingly lifted the brim of his hat up, squinting in the bright daylight at his screen. Apparently satisfied with what he saw there, he hit the accept button and pressed the phone to his ear.
"S'Jack," he said, then he listened for a bit.
"Ayup," he said. He glanced out the window, then covered the tiny mic at the bottom of the phone. "Get off the highway," he said to Glenda. She nodded and put on her turn signal, eyes searching for a chance to get over. A minivan in the next lane, slightly ahead of them, promptly slowed down to pace them.
"Awwright," he drawled into the phone. "We'll check it out. 'Preciate the heads up. Take care, now."
He pulled the phone away from his ear and tapped the screen again before slipping it back into his pocket jacket.
"That was intel. Said that a bank account belonging to one Dylan Boucher just got emptied by a wire transfer to one Derek Garcia. Just a hair over ten grand. Transfer woulda taken place about a week ago, intel didn't pick up on it until it cleared."
"Garcia, that's the one that calls himself the 'Planewalker', right?"
"Ayup," Jack said. Glenda finally got tired of trying to get behind the minivan and sped up to cut him off, instead. Jack could see that it was being driven by a heavily tattooed white kid with dredlocks. He honked and flipped them off, but she ignored him. She'd had her turn signal on, and tried to get behind him, but he had slowed down and sped up to block her.
Out of pure spite, she tapped the brakes a few times.
Jack bounced forward against his seatbelt as she did and gave her a dirty look. She smiled sweetly at him. "What? That's how you drive around here. You used to live in Atlanta, you've got to know this by now."
"We didn't generally make an effort to piss people off in Atlanta," he grumbled. Glenda turned onto the ramp to get off on Crenshaw, heading south.
Glenda scoffed. "Now you're just lying. I've been to Atlanta. Worst drivers in the bottom half of the country by far."
"You sure about that?" Jack said, eyeing the rear-view mirror. Glenda glanced up to see the minivan still behind them, the driver jabbing his finger at them and ranting.
"Huh," she said. "Maybe this fucker's about to prove me wrong."
"Well, we need to get gas anyways, if we're driving all the way down to San Clemente," Jack said. "Might as well pull over at the first station we see and get it over with."
Glenda chuckled, mostly at what the angry man behind her was about to experience and kept her eyes peeled for a gas station.
The minivan never wavered, staying behind her through multiple lane changes, all the way down to Artesia Boulevard, where she finally found a Shell station. She pulled in and pulled up to a pump.
"You wanna have a white knight moment, or is today an 'equality of the sexes' day?" Glenda asked as the minivan pulled in behind them and stopped, blocking the entrance.
"Sheeeit," Jack drawled. "I mean, I guess I'll handle him if ya want..." He unbuckled his seatbelt and opened his door as the irate young metalhead stomped towards them. He made sure to be outside the car by the time the kid got within angry dick-measuring distance.
"What the fuck is your bitch's problem, asshole?!" the young man demanded. Jack didn't answer, he simply strode forward, within striking distance. Normally, Jack liked to deliver a good, bone-chilling threat, followed up by taking a more reasonable tone as he continued to stare through whomever was causing problems and imagine himself blowing their head off as he de-escalated the situation. It was a tactic that had served him well, many times. But today, Jack was tired.
He'd been hunting Dylan down for weeks now, and only just got their first promising lead as this little shit had gone out of his way to stop them from changing lanes for no discernible reason. So Jack simply slugged the kid right in the nose. He caught him off guard and sent the kid sprawling onto his ass. Before he could gather himself back up, Jack kicked him in the chest with the sole of his boot and drew his large revolver. He crouched down, boot still pinning the kid to the ground, and held the gun casually where the kid could see it.
"You know what a turn signal means?" he asked calmly. The kid's eyes went wide as he spotted the gun.
"Y-y-yeah," he stammered.
"Good. Ya had a little lapse of judgement there. Ya might wanna see to that." Jack stood, holstering his gun and walked back over to open the gas cover and insert the company credit card into the pump. He picked the mid-grade and inserted the fuel handle, locking the valve open before he turned back.
The kid was still sitting there, wiping blood from his mouth where his nose was bleeding. "They oughta have napkins inside," Jack told him mildly. "They're usually by the hot dogs."
Jack filled the tank while the kid picked himself up and went inside. A cop arrived a few minutes later, stopping in the entrance that the kid was blocking and turning his lights on. The cop stepped out and walked around the minivan and into the gas station.
Jack waited for the tank to fill, then replaced the nozzle and climbed back in the car.
"You wanna stick around?" Glenda asked. "Shoot the shit with the locals, make sure the kid gets the short end?"
"Naw," Jack said. "Read about the LA cops. Not exactly whom I'd like to consider comrades-in-arms, if you catch my meaning."
Glenda shrugged and they pulled out right as the kid and the cop both emerged back into the parking lot. Glenda thought the cop look pissed and the kid looked dejected.
They got on the 405 and drove it down to California 73, then took that south to Interstate 5, which brought them to San Clemente an hour later. Glenda got off the highway and turned into a neighborhood full of upscale, tightly-packed Spanish colonial homes. Unlike Compton, most of the yards weren't fenced, and those that were tended towards white picket fences. The lawns were universally well-cared for and nobody looked twice at them as they drove through the neighborhood and up to the address highlighted on the GPS.
It was a small, modest-looking home with a distinctly 70's asthetic. It didn't match most of the tile-roofed, square walled homes around it, but it hardly stood out, either. A BMW sat in the driveway, framed by a pair of shaped topiary trees. It looked like something off the cover of some homemaking magazine, Glenda thought.
They parked on the street and climbed out.
"The air is crackling with magic," Glenda said. "He's in there, doing something right now."
Jack walked up and pounded on the door. Glenda held up a hand, fingers splayed. Jack would understand what she meant. The magic was currently at a five, and she'd let him know if it diminished, and by approximately how much.
She kept her hand still for a while as nobody answered the door. Five minutes passed before Jack turned to her.
"Okay, this is your gig, now," he said. He walked back to the car, opening the trunk to reveal the bound, squirming and sweating Caliope there. He yanked her gag down and fed her from a water bottle.
"Been a long drive, ain't it?" he asked, conversationally. Caliope sucked greedily at the bottle, managing to drink every drop that didn't get splashed into the trunk.
"Fuck you," she muttered weakly. Jack smiled. "Looks to me like you're the one what's fucked, darlin'. Guess you shouldn'ta gone and fucked with your sister's collar like that. I mean, if you'd played by the rules, we'd have overlooked the whole issue of you not actually being any help whatsoever, and taken your good faith efforts as enough to fill your end. But ya had to go behind our backs, causing trouble. So now you're stuck in a trunk until we get back to the airport."
"Fuck you," she gasped again.
"'Scuse me," Jack said, reaching past her for an armored vest. He pulled it out and tugged it over his head, getting the flaps velcroed in place and adjusting it. When he was done, he pulled Caliope's gag back up.
"Awright, girl, you jes sit tight while we check this out. Won't be but a little bit, then we'll be heading to the airport."
She tried to say something, but the gag turned it into a muffled wail. Jack smiled as he closed the trunk and returned to the front door. Glenda stood there, watching him, fully kitted up with her armor and a carbine in her hands.
"Ready," Jack said. Glenda turned and, without preamble, kicked the door open with a thunderous blow. She rushed inside, rifle up and leading the way, Jack hot on her heels. Neither made it very far, though.
The living room had been converted into a ritual chamber. The walls were festooned with runes and the twisting lines that connected them. The floor had a large, ornate circle in the middle, runes etched into it and twisting, spiral designs encasing the whole thing. But that wasn't what gave them pause.
In the middle of the circle hovered a shimmering mirage, through which Glenda could see a city. It looked like something out of a sci-fi film, all rounded corners and smooth, off-white concrete. The windows in the buildings were mirrored, or else none of them had lights on inside, because they all reflected a sunrise coming from behind the view.
"What the hell's that?" Jack asked. Glenda carefully felt the magic around the apparition. "I think it's a portal."
"Okay, so where does it go, do ya think?"
"I haven't got a clue. I don't recognize that city."
"Kinda looks like Mos Eisley, a hundred years after they found oil or something," Glenda said.
"Think that's what Dylan was paying for? A trip to wherever that is?"
"Looks like," Glenda mused. "We're gonna need to call this in."
"Ayup. Let's clear the house, first."
They did just that. They found a den set up in one of the bedrooms, an obviously-lived-in kitchen and a master bedroom used for its intended purposes. In the last bedroom, they found an arsenal and storage space. It was full of survival and camping gear, weapons and ammo.
"Missing rifle," Jack said, peering at a gun rack.
"Yup," Glenda agreed. She opened an ammo tin. It was only half full.
"Somebody geared up here," she said.
Jack sighed. "Let's call it in, then. We'll hand over our little helper when the backup gets here."
----
It took two hours to get a team there, mostly because the LA regional office was all the way up in Burbank. But they eventually arrived. Two security officers took Caliope off their hands, to bring her back to prison. They brought another collar, to replace the modified wet blanket spell Glenda had been holding since the riot. It hadn't seemed like a lot of effort to hold the spell in place, but as soon as she finally let it go, she felt a wave of relief.
"Julie sent some extras along," the leader of the relief force told Glenda once Caliope had been seen to. She'd already spotted the two middle-eastern men in different uniforms than the rest. She thought she recognized the older one.
"We'll take all the help we can get. Any of you boys willing to go jaunting across reality with us?" The man chuckled. "No, thanks. Besides, we've got orders to secure this building and wait for the feds. Gonna see if there's anything illegal here, so we can nab this Garcia fellow as soon as he gets back."
Glenda nodded, then looked at the two middle-eastern men. She jerked her head in a 'come here' gesture and they stepped forward.
"Glenda, right?" the older one asked, holding out a hand.
"Yup," she said as she took it. He shook firmly, then let go. "I am Aqib, and this is my assistant, Mateen. We've been running around, helping out where we can for months now. It seems it is your turn to accept our assistance."
"Either of you got any magic?" Glenda asked. Mateen hefted his rifle and then tapped his body armor. "All of our gear is enchanted. We have rings, as well," he held up a hand bedecked with silver bands. "They will help us heal from injuries and allow us to see in the dark and other such useful things."
"Good, good," she said, then stopped. Aqib. That name rang a bell. She squinted at the middle-aged man.
"You were at the Wyrm facility when we took it," she said. "About six years ago." He nodded.
"I was with your friend when she fell. She saved my life," he said. Glenda nodded. "I remember that. I'm glad you're still here, then. Glad you're with us. I, uh..." She stopped speaking before she got choked up and cleared her throat.
"Are you two ready?" she asked.
"We have our gear," Aqib said, nodding at a pair of large backpacks leaning against one of the DCM branded trucks. "Camping gear, food and water for three days. Spare ammo, tools. We were told you had much more supplies yourself."
"Yup. I've got fresh food, enough for a couple of weeks for the four of us. Plus a couple months worth of dehydrated foods, MRE's and other food that'll keep for a while. I've got water and other shit to drink, camping gear, etcetera, etcetera. As long as you guys brought your own tents, we're golden."
"That is good," Aqib said.
"Do you have battery packs?" Mateen asked.
"Battery packs?" Glenda responded.
"Yes, for phones and other electronics. To keep them charged. I have a solar recharger, but it takes a long time, and it isn't always convenient to set it up."
Glenda shook her head. "Nope. Never been much for carrying a bunch of electronics around. Besides, I doubt our phones will work, where we're going."
Aqib grinned at his companion. "No video games until we're done, Mateen," he said. Mateen rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah."
"Mateen is still a child at heart, even though he has children of his own," Aqib explained as he stepped forward to get a good look at the portal, still hovering in the middle of the room.
"As long as he can fight," Glenda said. Jack approached, finished with the field paperwork. He had a backpack slung over one shoulder, and a rifle slung over the other. He still wore his armor.
"He fights like a cornered dog," Aqib said mildly. At Glenda's quirked eyebrow, he clarified. "He is very fierce."
"Good," Glenda said. She turned to Jack and gave him a quick kiss. "We ready?"
"Ayup," Jack confirmed. "All the paperwork's done, we're good to go."
Glenda pushed past Mateen and Aqib as they moved to pick up their packs. "I'll take them," she said. Mateen frowned, but Aqib simply nodded and stood back. She grabbed both packs and sent them to hammerspace, accepting Jack's pack and giving it the same treatment. Mateen shook his head slowly, but Aqib seemed unimpressed.
"Okay, let's boogie," Glenda said and strode through the portal before she could work up any doubts.
----
"None of 'em rotted," Jack said. "They're all mummified. All the plants are dead, but none of them are rotted, either." He stood in what seemed like a small park, a few trees growing in clusters at the four corners, and an open field of dead grass in the middle. Bodies lay strewn about, adults and children alike. Many lay draped over the benches, or slumped in a pile in front of them. One cluster of small bodies had a large, rubber-ish ball laying next to them, as if they'd died in the middle of some sort of game.
Glenda eyed the surroundings. They hadn't encountered a single living being in the hours they'd been moving through this city. "What do you think happened here?" she asked.
"I'll be honest, I ain't got a fucking clue, darlin'," Jack said. They stood in silence for a bit, reflecting on what they'd seen and wondering about it. An entire city, dead. No signs of decay, except for rusted metal. Glenda had seen large piles of rust that she took to be cars, based on the plastic and ceramic components still in them, along with the bodies. An entire city, dead. And yet the bodies remained. They'd held up better than the metal, for sure.
Mateen came around a corner at a jog and made a beeline for them. "Aqib has found something, a fresh body. Recently killed."
"Lead the way," Glenda told him. They followed him back around the corner, two blocks down and then around another corner, where they found Aqib standing over a bloody, headless corpse, resting against a building under a sign written in a language Glenda didn't recognize.
"Sheeit," Jack said as they drew up. "That's certainly out of place. Wonder where his head got to."
"Over here," Mateen said. He gestured to what looked like a bus stop with a trash can next to it. There, fetched up against the trash can was a severed head. A sparse trail of blood led from the body to it. Glenda walked over and crouched down, peering at the head.
"I think this is Garcia," she said. She pulled the photo she had of the man from hammerspace, checking it against the head.
"I think you're right," Jack said, peering over her shoulder. "And the chopped off head. That sounds like something Dylan would do."
"I think we're on the right track then," Glenda said. "But how do we know what direction he went?"
She straightened up as they all looked around. Nothing stood out to them.
A moment later, a terrifying roar sounded from off in the distance. They all turned towards it, weapons rising.
"I do not like that, but I think we know what direction to check now," Aqib said.
"'Fraid I gotta agree with ya," Jack said.

To shorten a really long story, I have a 2016 Mazda CX-5 w/ a 2-3-year-old interstate battery, that when it is below 35-40F, discharges to the point of needing a jump within the span of 10-18 hours sometimes. Above that it seems perfectly fine, and can sit for days on end, no abnormal drain. Have gotten it tested by several different places where it checks out as great condition, outputting its rated 550 CCA. It almost seems like there's something that clicks on to drain it below a certain temperature. Nothing plugged in to the accessories, All that. Even took it to the dealership, left it overnight on a cold night for them to check the draw, it did test as low cranking amps, but same afternoon took it somewhere and it checked out fine.
Given it only happens below that threshold, and those temperatures are all but done until fall I plan to just leave it be until then so long as it keeps working, but any idea what could be causing such a sharp temperature sensitivity, or ideas to diagnose it?

This sub was really helpful during my purchase process so I thought I would share some feedback in case it helps others considering buying one and/or taking a long trip in one.
Purchase/QMerit Installation
For context, we purchased a new Bolt EV 2023 (2LT) with the infotainment package in Feb. Got very lucky, all the local dealers in Memphis who had listed inventory (of EUVs/EVs) had already been spoken for, some of them still in transit and paid for sight unseen, and nobody seemed especially interested in helping me order one - this seemed to be true out to a 250 mile radius, and even further out for most of Jan. I had one dealer in Arkansas close-by that had an EV en route that they had not yet listed, so after finding a used EUV to test-drive, I put down a deposit and purchased at MSRP with no nonsense add-ons when it came off the train a few weeks later. (Very smooth sales process, feel free to DM me if you want more info)!
I had had a mild preference for the EUV, since the plan was for this to be our daily commuter with two kids in car-seats - but in the end, we find the EV is more than spacious enough. Zero regrets, I kind of prefer the EV's look anyway and while the 3 inches of leg-space would be nice, the better efficiency is worth it.
QMerit install process was smooth, it took a few weeks but Level 1 charging was just fine for daily work/school/shopping (20-30 miles), I think it was adding about 48 miles in 12 hours overnight, the battery never really fell below 50%. The installer quoted a $1700 non-standard install at first but once I e-mailed QMerit customer service about it, they said they would cover it completely. I got them to install an Emporia charger that I'm happy with, had it hardwired which is probably a bit overkill but it does indeed charge at around 11.5Kw. The only real use for the level-2 is getting back from a weekend away close to empty and needing a full charge before an unusually busy weekday of driving; I suppose it extends the life of the dual-level charger which is useful when charging at campgrounds or when staying at others' houses.
Road Trip We took our first long-distance road trip in the car last week for spring break, about 800 miles each way to visit family in Florida.
A few observations in case they are useful to others planning to buy a Bolt and/or to take a long trip in one, esp. in the South:
1) A Better Route Planner is very useful: not sure the premium features are worth it or necessary (but I'm happy to support the developer!). I started out quite conservative (requested arriving SoC at 10%) and pushed that down to 5% on the way back: I think it makes sense to keep it higher because it seems to be around 6-8% that the range will drop to "low" and you get a reduced propulsion message, which you might find stressful (we did the first time, but I believe you should still have 10 miles left at that point).
2) Plugshare seems to be the best place to get up-to-date reviews (most of the major charging stations had check-ins within days of us). Seems to be good etiquette to update if things go well (there were some chargers that had not been checked in for weeks or months and I was concerned about depending on them in case there was some issue) as well as if things go poorly. Especially useful if you are in urgent need of charging, as it will turn up wall outlets and level 2 chargers that are not always in ABRP's route plan.
3) Driving in this region (TN/MS/AL/GA/FL) a lot of your stops will be at Electrify America, often at Walmarts. We never had problems finding a working stall but it was typical for 1-2 out of 4 to have some kind of issue (usually already documented on Plugshare). It charges very quickly under 50% (55 Kw), so the ideal situation is to arrive with <20% charge and get to 80% within an hour. EVGo also worked well the one time we used it. It makes sense to get the monthly plan even for a single trip, I think I saved over $8 on one long charge alone.
4) We typically don't drive continuously for more than 4 hours anyway, so the stopping to charge was not generally an issue. The problem is that you are forced to stop at, well, these particular locations - at best, strip malls in the suburbs of big cities (Memphis, Birmingham, Montgomery, Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Ormond Beach etc.), sometimes just a convenience store or gas station. There are usually a few food options but you are limited to what happens to be available if you want to eat while charging. With small kids in particular, you may only have 1-2 options that can be walked to across a parking lot: twice on our trip, I dropped the family off 0.5-1 mile and walked back over, which wouldn't be so bad if there were pedestrian walkways or cross-walks but there aren't in such places. In contrast, on our ICE road trips, we would detour to state parks for a hike and picnic (e.g.) or stop at any restaurant we wanted, whereas we felt a lot of pressure with the Bolt (for time-efficiency's sake) to make our charging stops our only eating/rest-stops because of how long they were. (To be clear, not all charging stops are long.)
5) Plugshare will also generally give you info on hotel chargers (Kayak and other platforms will let you filter hotels in an area by "EV Charging" amenity), typically level 2 ClipperCreek chargers that will get you a full charge overnight. They are not reservable in advance, and hotels don't always enforce a policy not to park ICE cars there. The first time we stayed at one, four Tesla spots and two ClipperCreek spots right by the entrance were taken up by ICE cars, and we arrived late (after 11PM)... luckily while I was unloading, I happened to notice someone come out for a smoke by his car and he moved it to another spot. The second time, there was clearer signage and the EV spots were less conveniently located so the spot was open despite arriving late in the evening. But if two people happened to need a single charger overnight, there is no obvious way to communicate with one another (perhaps through actively checking in on the Plugshare app and DMing there, leaving a note with the front-desk or a sign on your dashboard with your phone number). It worked out for us this time but I would not rely on getting a full charge at such places in the future.
6) We had no problem stuffing the trunk with enough stuff for a week: three carry-on suitcases, plus bags of books, board-games, sports-gear, swimming/snorkel gear, a couple of violins). We could probably pack more efficiently so I don't see cargo-space as the limiting factor for the trip for a family of four.
Tl;dr. Overall, the trip went well - but I don't think we will be taking the Bolt on a multi-day road trip (400+ mi). Its principally the flexibility of being able to take our long stops wherever we would like that I miss about our ICE road-trips, as well as sleep wherever we would like. Everything worked out as well as it could have for us in every other respect, and obviously we saved a great deal on gas even with paid DCFC. So while I feel slightly uneasy about how close we might have been to losing a few hours here or there due to charging issues (waiting, technical issues, not getting a hotel EV spot etc.), I think the infrastructure is already good enough and improving fast enough, that those concerns are not really the constraint.
What I'd love to see across the South are multiple (2-4) L3 chargers at every interstate rest stop, in main streets in towns on state highways/routes that are not interstates, and at local/state/national parks, as well as at more hotels - that is, enough density of chargers that one can be nearly as thoughtless about them as we are as ICE drivers about plotting routes without thinking of gas station. Neither commercial demand nor local/state/federal policy seem to be quite there yet but as EV adoption continues (esp. of non-Teslas!), I feel optimistic.

Hi guys, I’m currently experiencing a really weird problem with my bike. Basically the bike is fine and has been fine with riding in city and highway speeds of below 75mph for the last few years.
Last week, I decided to do a spirited ride and rode for sustained periods going at 100mph and above on the interstate. While it was fine in the early morning before the sun rose, I started to get overheat warnings when riding around noon. Once the lights started flashing, I slowed down to 75mph for a couple of minutes and the warning light would turn off. Riding at that speed would not cause the light to turn on anymore.
BUT Instead of slowing down, I sped up to 85mph and after 10-15 mins the warning light would come on again and I would just repeat it all the way home. Once back in the city, no warning lights nor overheating symptoms observed, even when sitting idle at the traffic lights for long periods.
I noticed there was a small pool of coolant around the rear Tyre area after parking overnight too. Next few days of normal city rising below 75mph saw no other issues.
Something similar happened back in 2020 before covid and I: (1) removed thermostat and didn’t replace it due to parts shortage, (2) flushed the system multiple times, (3) replaced the water pump and (4) replaced the radiator. I didn’t observe any overheating as I bought a fast bike after covid and therefore didn’t use the CB400 for such rides anymore.
I’m planning to: flush the bike again, replace thermostat and radiator cap, swap out all old hoses (they are original) and wash out the radiator. Are there anything else I should consider? Is there an underlying problem im failing to identify?
Separately, I notice my bike taking some effort to crank. Like I have to crank it for maybe 3-5 seconds for the bike to turn. Battery and charging system is new-ish; I changed them as I thought they were the problem. Help!!

This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 93%. (I'm a bot)

In late January, a geothermal power startup began conducting an experiment deep below the desert floor of northern Nevada.
The results from the initial experiments-which MIT Technology Review is reporting exclusively-suggest Fervo can create flexible geothermal power plants, capable of ramping electricity output up or down as needed.
"Welcome to Geothermal Highway," he said from behind the wheel of a company pickup, as we passed the first of several geothermal plants along Interstate 80.
"If we can figure out how to extract the heat from the earth in places where there's no natural circulating geothermal system already, then we have access to a really enormous resource," says Susan Petty, a contributor to that report and founder of Seattle-based AltaRock Energy, an early enhanced-geothermal startup.
Latimer eventually quit his job and went to Stanford Business School, with the goal of creating a geothermal startup.
Today there's only about four gigawatts of geothermal energy in the US. But for future scenarios, the model added between 25 and 74 gigawatts of flexible geothermal capacity to its carbon-free grids, compared to only up to 28 gigawatts when geothermal plants couldn't operate in that way.

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We recently went on a family spring break road trip in our 2018 Tesla Model 3 Long Range, driving over 1,000 miles from Baltimore to Asheville, North Carolina, and back. We traveled on Interstate 81, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and visited Pretty View Chapel in South Carolina. On our return, we stayed overnight in Charlottesville, Virginia, and drove on Skyline Drive before heading home to Baltimore.
Our key observations:

• The Supercharger network is incredibly convenient
• The 250 kW Superchargers charge quickly, especially when the battery is below 15%.
• The Full Self-Driving (FSD) system works well on highways.
• FSD Beta needs improvement on city streets.
• We hope Version 11 software will improve on-ramp to highway transitions, which are currently not smooth.

Lastly, we hope Tesla's new universal smart chargers, which can be used by all electric vehicles, will be installed in state and national parks to make them more accessible to EV owners.
Overall, we had an amazing trip with our Tesla. Although we've taken several road trips since 2018, this one was the best, thanks to the expanded Supercharger network and the introduction of 250 kW charging stations.

2011 328i
Bmw off brand battery replacement brands? I’m seeing a battery that fits my vehicle on Walmart. Any can help me with a good battery replacement is interstate any good.
And also. Where can I find a good ecu or ecm? Thanks

Hello,
So I'm shooting photos for the last 20 something years of my life, last time I upgraded was 2010, then life happened, work, kids, phone camera became better, and so on. Now I started to get back at it more seriously but, on my now 2k and 44k monitors, old cameras just don't cut it. Also, I want to get intro printing some A3 ..A2, or even larger. I also still shot 35mm film, and going for a 4x5 kind of film photography is tempting but definitely prohibitive regarding cost per photo and time.
So in short I want to spend about 2000...2500$ on a :
LE : Sorry messed up my converions 1700$ is my budget.
- Full frame camera
- Weather sealed
- Sharp lenses with better resolution in landscape (forest, brush, detailed terrain)
-Don't mind fixed lenses
And having a hard time deciding between :
-DSLR tank like D800 D810 D780 they all go for about the same amount. ( find it's a great still's camera, not really intersted in video very much, weight thou seems a bit of a problem)
-Sony A7R , even A7RII ( battery life scares me )
-Lumix S5 Lumix is tempting for large compatibility with a lot of lensense, good IS, good af tracking, did not yet find it's draw back.
Please help me decide.

Vehicle Info
Year: 2009
Make/Model: Acura TSX
Engine Size: 2.4 I4 (K24)
Transmission Type: 5 Speed Automatic
Mileage: 149k
So, it's cold out there so we usually start the car like 5 mins before we head out to work. My wife went out and started my truck and her Acura as usual. She loaded up our daughter in her car and then I got into my truck but I saw her license plate light was dimming then bright a couple times. Thought it was weird then she says her car said it was on accessory mode when it wasn't and the next thing you know it won't start. It started just fine about 5 minutes prior (first cold start in the morning) then I guess it died while it was idling? So I tried to crank and it will turn over a few times but will die immediately.
Few odd things I noticed and few facts
-It has had new spark plugs not too long ago. OEM NGKs. Didn't have any starting issues prior to or after. Took few road trips since without a hiccup
-Headlight comes on and dome lights do too but when it even turned over, RPM gauge wouldnt move. Like I think it should shoot up to 1000 then come down to 0 when it dies but it didn't even move from 0 at all.
-All dash lights didn't come on including the little information screen on the speedometer was just blank. There was backlight for the speedometer on but no CEL, any lights came on when it died. Like in accessory mode, I thought battery light, CEL and whatnot suppose to illuminate? but nothing did except the headlight light.
-Oil looks good, registers good level on the dipstick too.
-Battery is new. Only 3 weeks old from Costco. Interstate
Never had this issue and I am not sure where to start. I don't have a diagnostic computer. I have a feeling like it's fuel pump but idk how to check it.

Do Aqara sell or plan to make a stand-alone siren that could be attached to the internal roof )out of reach) of my garage? I know some hubs do, but I would prefer a few standalone (battery) powered ones.
If not, and Aqara read this subreddit, it would be a cool product idea to interstate with the apple Home security system. Thanks.

Abusive Sexual Contact Advocating Overthrow of Government Aggravated Assault/Battery Aggravated Identity Theft Aggravated Sexual Abuse Aiming a Laser Pointer at an Aircraft Airplane Hijacking Anti-racketeering Antitrust Armed Robbery Arson Assassination Assault with a Deadly Weapon Assaulting or Killing Federal Officer Assisting or Instigating Escape Attempt to commit MurdeManslaughter Bank Burglary Bankruptcy Fraud/Embezzlement Bank Larceny Bank Robbery Blackmail Bombing Matters Bond Default Breaking and/or Entering Carrier Facilities Bribery Crimes Certification of Checks (Fraud) Child Abuse Child Exploitation Civil Action to Restrain Harassment of a Victim or Witness Coercion Commodities Price Fixing Computer Crime Concealing Escaped Prisoner Concealing Person from Arrest Concealment of Assets Conspiracy (in matters under FBI jurisdiction) Conspiracy to Impede or Injure an Officer Contempt of Court Continuing Criminal Enterprise Conveying False Information Copyright Matters Counterfeiting Counterintelligence Crimes Credit/Debit Card Fraud Crime Aboard Aircraft Crimes on Government Reservations Crimes on Indian Reservations Criminal Contempt of Court Criminal Forfeiture Criminal Infringement of a Copyright Cyber Crimes Damage to Religious Property Delivery to Consignee Demands Against the U.S. Destruction of Aircraft or Motor Vehicles Used in Foreign Commerce Destruction of an Energy Facility Destruction of Property to Prevent Seizure Destruction of Records in Federal Investigations and Bankruptcy Destruction of Corporate Audit Records Destruction of Veterans’ Memorials Detention of Armed Vessel Disclosure of Confidential Information Domestic Security Domestic Terrorism Domestic Violence Drive-by Shooting Drug Abuse Violations Drug Smuggling Drug Trafficking DUI/DWI on Federal Property Economic Espionage Election Law Crimes Embezzlement Embezzlement Against Estate Entering Train to Commit Crime Enlistment to Serve Against the U.S. Environmental Scheme Crimes Escaping Custody/Escaped Federal Prisoners Examiner Performing Other Services Exportation of Drugs Extortion Failure to Appear on Felony Offense Failure to Pay Legal Child Support Obligations False Bail False Pretenses False Statements Relating to Health Care Matters Falsely Claiming Citizenship False Declarations before Grand Jury or Court False Entries in Records of Interstate Carriers False Information and Hoaxes False Statement to Obtain Unemployment Compensation Federal Aviation Act Federal Civil Rights Violations (hate crimes, police misconduct) Female Genital Mutilation Financial Transactions with Foreign Government First Degree Murder Flight to Avoid Prosecution or Giving Testimony Forced Labor Forcible Rape Forgery Fraud Activity in Connection with Electronic Mail Fraud Against the Government Genocide Hacking Crimes Harboring Terrorists Harming Animals Used in Law Enforcement Hate Crime Acts Homicide Hostage Taking Identity Theft Illegal Possession of Firearms Immigration Offenses Impersonator Making Arrest or Search Importation of Drugs Influencing Juror by Writing Injuring Officer Insider Trading Crimes Insurance Fraud Interference with the Operation of a Satellite International Parental Kidnapping International Terrorism Interstate Domestic Violence Interstate Violation of Protection Order Larceny Lobbying with Appropriated Moneys Mailing Threatening Communications Major Fraud Against the U.S. Manslaughter Medical/Health Care Fraud Missile Systems Designed to Destroy Aircraft Misuse of Passport Misuse of Visas, Permits, or Other Documents Molestation Money Laundering Motor Vehicle Theft Murder by a Federal Prisoner Murder Committed During Drug-related Drive-by shooting Murder Committed in Federal Government Facility Narcotics Violations Obstructing Examination of Financial Institution Obstruction of Court Orders Obstruction of Federal audit Obstruction of Justice Obstruction of Criminal Investigations Officer Failing to Make Reports Partial Birth Abortion Penalties for Neglect or Refusal to Answer Subpoena Peonage Perjury Picketing or Parading Pirating Possession by Restricted Persons Possession of False Papers to Defraud the U.S. Possession of Narcotics Private Correspondence with Foreign Government Probation Violation Product Tampering Prohibition of Illegal Gambling Businesses Prostitution Protection of Foreign Officials Public Corruption Crimes Racketeering Radiological Dispersal Devices Ransom Money Receiving the Proceeds of Extortion Recording or Listening to Grand or Petit Juries While Deliberating Reentry of an Alien Removed on National Security Grounds Registration of Certain Organizations Reproduction of Citizenship Papers Resistance to Extradition Agent Rescue of Seized Property Retaliating Against a Federal Judge by False Claim or Slander of Title Retaliating Against a Witness, Victim, or an Informant Robbery Robberies and Burglaries Involving Controlled Substances Sabotage Sale of Citizenship Papers Sale of Stolen Vehicles Searches Without Warrant Second Degree Murder Serial Murders Sexual Abuse Sexual Assault Sexual Battery Sexual Exploitation Sex Trafficking Shoplifting Smuggling Solicitation to Commit a Crime of Violence Stalking (In Violation of Restraining Order) Stolen Property; Buying, Receiving, or Possessing Subornation of Perjury Suits Against Government Officials Tampering with a Witness, Victim, or Informant Tampering with Consumer Products Tampering with Vessels Theft of Trade Secrets Torture Trafficking in Counterfeit Goods or Services Transmission of Wagering Information (Gambling) Transportation into State Prohibiting Sale Transportation of Slaves from U.S. Transportation of Stolen Vehicles Transportation of Terrorists Trespassing Treason Unauthorized Removal of Classified Documents Use of Fire or Explosives to Destroy Property Use of Weapons of Mass Destruction Vandalism Video Voyeurism Violation of Prohibitions Governing Atomic Weapons Violence at International airports Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering Activity Willful Wrecking of a Train Resulting in Death Wire Fraud

I'm in a transitional point in my life and decided to pull the trigger on building out an Overland CamperVan and to start transitioning into VanLife. Not likely to be full time van lifer for a couple years due to some commitments, but that's the direction I want to aim. I'm already blessed with a job that is fully remote and online and pays really well so that's my base. I live in Colorado and I am an avid Backpacker so my vision is to build a Van that will be the base of operations for my backpacking while letting me do my job. I want to be able to get up into the remote areas of the Rockies and work and play. I also want to be able to roam the Country as I see fit - I've always been a wanderer.
I'm not sure what I'm looking for in this post other than a little Internet support and any ideas or experiences you want to share related to what I'm planning to do. Here's my basic plan:

• Buy a used E-350 Ford van with > 100K miles (years 2010 - 2014)
  • These are everywhere and I should be able to get a solid one for ~ $20K
• Ujoint Offroad 4wd conversion - roughly $25K
  • Some the reasoning for the 4wd conversion is practical, but I'm also a gear head from way back and just think 4wd vans are cool AF
• High Top Roof
  • I'm not that tall so I don't need much, but I think I want to stand upright
  • Anyone with a hightop and a Ujoint conversion: Ujoint Offroad claims they're super-stable with no wobble - how does yours handle on the Interstate?
• Minimalist interior build - I will do myself/with help from my brother (he's an RV nerd and obsesses on RV mods)
  • Bed - some kind of slat/slide out design
  • A few cabinets - just basic storage
  • Stove - not sure I need a built in. I have backpacking stove to quickly heat water and a 2 top Coleman. Is a built-in worth the space?
  • Trelino Origin Composting Toilet
  • Diesel furnace
  • Sink? Same question as stove: is a built-in really worth it?
  • Workstation - this and the bed will be my central design feature as I need a couple monitors for my job.
• Biggest Solar Power system I can manage
  • Not at all clear on what Battery type I should use - It gets cold in the Rockies so not sure I can use Lithium-ion but I like the idea of lighter batteries.
  • Anyone who works online fulltime in a van (network connections, Zoom calls, etc): what size system works for you?
• StarLink Internet Service
  • The Starlink service map shows most of CO as coming in 2023 - anyone have experience with current service in CO?
• Maybe: small Dualsport Motorcycle on a bumper rack to run around town/get supplies
  • The newly US-available Honda XR150L looks interesting
  • Maybe this becomes an E-Bike for town transportation instead of a Motorcycle?

Like I said, no specific questions in this post, just sorta putting it out there for any feedback you might have.
Peace

I know I posted this in here with someone mentioning that since it’s a time loop then it typically has to occur after the events are resolved. Which is fine, but I don’t have it planned out to look like a loop.
The final line(s) is [sorry to spoil lol] is going ti be a reference for dimension hopping I guess you could call it.
Anyways, feedback would be nice! Improvements, comments? I have a few of these chapters written out already but they’re mostly unedited. :)
I live a little over an hour away from my mom. I’m renting a house from her and she needs some house paperwork she got in the mail. I make this hike every week to spend some time with her as well. However, I quit my job last night… well. Technically three weeks ago for me. And it’s the morning after. I’m not gonna get into why I quit, as it’s not relevant. But I think the reason why this is happening is so I can continue to contemplate my life choice where I don’t waste any time. It sound stupid. Utterly ridiculous. But it’s my only source of comfort.
Maybe I’m wrong though, and I fucked with someone I shouldn’t have spiritually and this is my punishment.
It’s never ending though. I get on the interstate from the route 49 from Greenville, and I get on I-70 interstate and it’s straight forward. I go through Huber Heights, I’m in the left passing lane. I always pass the same Old Dominion semi truck. The license plate is for Franklin County Ohio. The same Chevy Equinox, from Darke County. And when I get into the middle lane, right as it splits into three lanes in Englewood, I pass another car in the far-far right lane from Montgomery County.
I don’t know why it’s important to know the counties, but my eyes draw to them. Maybe it’s the boredom. But I always memorize it.
I’ve tried to do different things. I’ve tried to get off in Huber Heights. Both exits. I’ve tried Springfield Enon. I’ve tried Xenia exit I’ve tried Springfield, South Charleston. I tried to get off at route 62. And I’ve tried pushing through, maybe I’ll get to Columbus eventually, maybe Dayton if I hit I-75 — But to no avail. I get jumped back to right where I started.
Getting onto the on-ramp from route 49, a couple miles from Philipsburg.
After a certain threshold it’s like the world rewinds. And it’s always in the same spot, right before my normal exit to get to my moms house.
And before you ask. Yes. I’ve tried crossing the median to go home. I’ve even caused two accidents. But right on impact, I blink. And I’m right back to where I started.
The weird thing though? My feed for my socials keep updating as if I’m not stuck in a loop. But in a weird way; because sure. My clock goes back too, but the only thing that changes is the posts made, but even though the content of the post is different every single time. It’s still always posted at the same time.
And example: a twitter thread about Ukraine can be posted at 2:30pm. But when my threshold hits. I check my twitter, and there is a 2:30pm post, but not about Ukraine, but about some novice YouTuber that no one cares about. It’s from the exact same person though.
Hell, I’ve even struck up conversations with twitter threads in hope that maybe the notification would still be there, and the user simply deleted it. But nope. It’s like it never existed.
I hope that makes sense. Maybe not.
That’s why I’m posting this here. I have my drivers assist on in my car to help me stay in my lane as if it matters.
I’ve read stories here a time loops before , and they’re interesting, if impossible. But now I know. It’s not impossible. It happens.
I’m not too distraught about it though I guess. My YouTube feed updates for something new to watch, which is good. So I have entertainment. My gas tank is still full, my phone battery is fine. And all the stories I’ve read on here seem to get out of the loop eventually.
But sometimes a thought does cross my mind.
What about the ones that don’t make it out, and have been trapped for months? Years? Decades?
My case seems super unorthodox though. Haven’t read one where they’ve had good access to internet.
I call my mom. My roommate, and a few friends and it’s them saying the same thing. In short sentences.
My mom: “hey. I’m busy right now I’ll call you back in a couple minutes.” Call ends.
My roomate: “thanks for waking me up I was gonna be late if you didn’t. But I’m gonna hang up so I can get ready.” Call ends.
And when I try to call back, the line is dead. I can’t hardly ever get a word in.
I’ve tried not blinking, before you ask. But have you tried to not blink for an hour an ten minutes? Haha.
I am hopeful though.
I’ve tried to tuck and roll from the car to end my life, but the doors won’t budge, and the window doesn’t roll down all the way. So… that sucks.
Anyways. I’ll give you an update if anything changes. Suggestions would be nice. Maybe some theories too? I’ll even welcome “Typical day in Ohio.” Jokes.
I’m also giving you these locations because if post might not even stay up after I hit the threshold. I haven’t tried anything like this yet, so, I’m not too worried. Hell. Maybe someone will be driving down the same interstate and see me, and find a way to break the cycle.
Thanks for reading, and I’ll definitely give an update. If there ever is one. . . . .
Wait a second. If this is supposed to be a time loop…
Where the fuck did Speedway go?

From Lionel’s Twitter, here are the status on certain cars: - Nothing atm for a Bubba Wallace Columbia car - Waiting on final approvals for Aj Allmendinger Nutrien and/or Chandler Smith QuickTie - Justin Allgaier Daytona Brandt Platinum car is looking good in all scales - Todd Gilliland’s Gener8tor is short in all scales - Carson Hocevar truck is looking good for ARC, but is at half for 1/64 - Both Noah Gragson Sunseeker & Ty Gibbs Interstate Batteries looking good in 1/64

Help please
I bought a new interstate battery for my SW20 from costco group 35 size. Replacement was all fine until i tried to attach the negative terminal to the new battery. there was sparking and smoking coming from this blue wire associated with the negative cable. Now nothing in my car turns on.
Online search suggests there's a fusible wire link that's blue that I may have fried. Anyone know how I can replace this wire? I'm hoping this is the only broken part and nothing else is damage. I plan to put back in the old battery even though it can only hold 12.2 volts currently. Also confused why this happened as I had made sure the orientation and cables connected the same as the prior battery.
Old battery: https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/premium/battery---accessories/batteries/31624da3221a/super-start-premium-battery-group-size-35/ssb9/35prmj?pos=4
New battery: https://www.interstatebatteries.com/products/mtp-35
My car does have an aftermarket car alarm system so i don't know if that affected the circuit. Any thoughts help?