Mass-IMO

Pachinko Restoration: Sankyo Update #2

noreply@blogger.com (Mass) — Wed, 21 Aug 2024 03:04:00 +0000

Ball Out Light

In this update, I tackle the ball out indicator light, which illuminates when the pachinko machine is running low on jackpot balls. The problem I'm having is that the ball out bulb is merely sitting in place, and it appears that the rubber grommet that holds it in place has dried out over time (it is almost 50 years old).

To solve this issue I added a plastic surround to hold the bulb in place, I also purchased a new bulb holder that has an outer lip that holds it in place.

So this is what it looks like now...

...and when it's illuminated (with LED bulbs, 9 volt battery)

Pachinko Restoration: Sankyo Update #1

noreply@blogger.com (Mass) — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 15:38:00 +0000

Just a little Pachinko update...

I haven't had much time to devote to to the Pachinko machines, as I've been out of town.

I've concentrated my attention on what I believe to be a 1974 Sankyo "Pinwheel" machine. It would appear from my research, that while my machine resembles the "Pinwheel" machine, it has some modifications (like the JET center target, and other unique targets).

The play mechanism has also been tampered with, as I noticed the addition of a solenoid activated target.

So as you can see, I have removed the locking plates that hold the machine closed. I have also secured the Pachinko machine frame to the display frame. I was initially worried that removing the locking plates would cause the machine to open, but it's actually such a tight fit, that it requires some force to open, so no need for any securing mechanism. I have also started the process of converting the machine to 9 volts, as is evident by the 9V battery.

The 9v battery poses a problem, in that it's not powerful enough to activate the solenoid. So I'm stuck on deciding whether to stay at 9 volts and remove the solenoid, find a solenoid that works on 9 volts, or move to a larger power supply.

That;s it for now, leave me a comment on what you think I should do regarding the solenoid.

Pachinko Restoration: Intro

noreply@blogger.com (Mass) — Fri, 07 Jun 2024 20:02:00 +0000

For those wondering, I'm doing very well post 4x bypass open heart surgery, the last few years have been a journey, but things seem to be settling down and I'm getting back to doing the things I like.

But enough about me, does this mean I'm back? Possibly, it's more about documenting my DIY adventures rather than having an online presence.

Pachinko Restoration: Intro

So I purchased 2 pachinko machines years ago off craigslist. The first is a Mizho I paid $60 CDN for and

Mizuho

the second is a Sankyo that cost me $80 CDN.

Sankyo

I got my father-in-law to build me display cases for both pachinko machines, which allows the machine to be beautifully displayed. A bonus feature of this wall mount display is that the Pachinko machines can be played on indefinitely, with lost balls collected at the bottom of the display (This was not my design, I found it somewhere and don't remember where. If this is your design and want credit contact me).

I am going to start by restoring the Sankyo machine first, and the main issue I have with this display cabinet and these Pachinko machines is that I can't open the machines to service them. Normally you could reach around and lift the lock mechanism, but once inside the wall cabinet that isn't possible. I don't have the original keys, and obtaining a key is impossible apparently. I originally wanted to replace the lock, but these locks are integrated into the machine and removal would damage the Pachinko machine. So my solution is to remove the tabs that lock the machine closed, so I can swing the machine open to service. With the tabs removed I then run into the problem of how to keep the machine closed when in use. My thought is to install some cabinet door close magnets (Hoping they will be strong enough to keep the door closed).

Here is the lock mechanism

This is the lock tabs.

That's it for this post, next post I will have hopefully obtained the parts needed to solve my Sankyo opening and closing issue.

EX475 Update

noreply@blogger.com (Mass) — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 17:35:00 +0000

Its early into 2023, so why am I posting about 15 year old technology? Well its bittersweet, in that I am finally saying good-bye to my HP Mediasmart Servers. They have served (no pun intended) me well, but I have obtained some newer hardware, which I will write about in the future. So before completely powering down these servers for the last time, I want to discuss the final, non documented upgrade I did to them.

Just so as to bring everyone up to speed... In 2008 Hewlett Packard released the "HP Mediasmart Server" line of home computer servers. A collaboration with Microsoft and it's Windows Home Server software to make servers available for the home consumer market, a somewhat failed venture that I believe was years ahead of the market. Regardless of my beliefs, over the years I managed to acquire 3 HP Mediasmart EX475 units, 2 of which are still working, and 1 that I keep around for spare parts. In addition to these I also have a non functioning HP Mediasmart EX485 which I have never gotten around to fixing. Along the same theme I also have a now retired Acer H340.

The problems with these servers, besides the obsolete software and 15 year old hardware, is that the power supply in these units is non standard, and replacement units are hard to come by and expensive (not really worth the investment).

I have already documented all the hardware upgrades I've made to my HP Medismart Servers in previous posts (which can be found following these links. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 ).

As I mentioned earlier, Microsoft developed the Windows Home Server operating system based off their Windows Server 2008 business platform to exist in the home consumer market. Windows Home Server was a great introduction for PC enthusiasts and general consumers to store large amounts of personal data, but it just didn't seem to catch on. In 2011 the second and final installment of Windows Home Server was released. By 2013 Windows Home Server was dead.

While there are many operating systems which will install on the HP Mediasmart Servers (Linux, FreeBSD), for my recent install I decided to try Windows 11 on my HP Mediasmart Servers. Please be aware if you're going to try this please obtain a VGA adapter, as it makes the installation process so much easier and possible. Also take into account that my servers have been upgraded so your mileage may vary, for those interested in trying this out. One last item to mention, when upgrading the operating system, installing anything other than Microsoft Home Server will cause all notification lights to stop reporting, a function you can no longer use.

I came across a project called PhoenixLiteOS that has a Windows 11 distribution that was stripped down so as to enhance performance, something the EX475 was going to need help with. I was surprised to see that it did in fact install, and it was quite responsive, considering it was running a modern operating system on such old hardware.

In addition to the PhoenixLite Windows installation I also installed Stablebit Drivepool, which is hard drive pooling software with data duplication that I have been using for years. For me it works much better than Microsoft's Storage Spaces.

The last crucial bit of software I installed was TightVNC, a program which allows you remotely log in and control you server. Seeing as the EX475 runs as a headless unit, this software is a must to setup and maintain your server.

I have been running this setup for a number of months now, and everything works as it should. For those with HP Mediasmart servers still in operation, this might be a way to keep them going for a few more years.

Also for those wondering, I also attempted this software upgrade on the much more underpowered Acer H340, with success, however while possible...I honestly wouldn't recommend this as a daily driver. While similar in hardware to HP's mediasmart server, Acer's 2GB ram maximum cripples this machine, which becomes abundantly clear when running a more modern operating system.

If you enjoyed this little update, let me know, and I will document my more modern equipment.

An Update for 2022

noreply@blogger.com (Mass) — Sat, 10 Dec 2022 20:32:00 +0000

My last post was over a year ago, and things weren't looking so good.

Today, I am officially back, but at what capacity I'm not sure.

Facebook has removed me as administrator of the Mass-IMO Facebook site, so I wont be able to make posts available over there anymore.

I am recovering very well, and I am striving towards having a healthier lifestyle.

I am starting to miss blogging, in that I like the ability to look back at what I've done.

So I've decided that I will attempt blogging again to document ongoing projects and experiences.

I will try to begin having more routine updates to this blog, however I am unsure what the content will look like.

Going forward, my emphasis will be more on the process of documenting, and no longer concerned with monetization, advertising, reach and numbers.

Send me an email if you have any comments...

Merry Christmas

Happy Holidays

and

Happy New Year

Where have I been?

noreply@blogger.com (Mass) — Thu, 02 Dec 2021 19:13:00 +0000

Dear family, friends, and acquaintances:

For those wondering why I haven't been online lately, and haven't been posting to my blog. this is my reason... Four days before our (Nadia and I) 3rd wedding anniversary, on October 2 2021, what was suppose to be a weekend planned celebrating completely changed. While we hadn't planned a huge celebration, what we were looking forward to was an intimate dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Tasty Indian Bistro, in Surrey.

Where we ended up was the emergency room of VGH (Vancouver General), for what I believed was Covid19 related symptoms. You see all week long I had been suffering from mild heart burn and this annoying little cough, which I just couldn't get rid of. We went to the emergency room hoping they would rule out COVID-19, which they did, however their diagnosis was much worse than we had suspected.

When I mentioned COVID to the emergency receptionists, she asked if I was vaccinated, and I responded yes with both doses, and she rolled her eyes and said, then you don't have COVID. I replied, well I need to have someone look at this pain, and I point to my sternum. referring to the heartburn.

I was quickly brought to the ECG station, within moments I had a bunch of wires hooked up to me. This is the point when things took a turn, as I could see panic in the eyes of the doctor/nurse administering the ECG.

I was brought to a private area, asked to strip down and wear a gown, and a whole team of doctors came to see me. I remember thinking that this was a bit much for a case of heartburn, I was informed that my blood pressure needed to be immediately stabilized. And I wondered.. for covid? Well it wasn’t Covid. Some Of you reading might be able to guess what it was... according to the ECG machine I was having a heart attack.

Ok hold up, STOP, wait what!!

I want to go back in time briefly to two days prior. I was working in my garage fixing the bbq when I felt chest pains similar to heart burn, which I dismissed. On a scale of 1-10 , the pain level was maybe a 3. The following day the same situation happened and once again I dismissed it as heart burn. I had been struggling all week with this mild coughing, which I was beginning to think I may have contracted covid (even though I’m double vaccinated).All week, while dealing with this irritating cough, I never once displayed any of the common signs associated with a heart attack.

1. Elephant lying on your chest NOPE

2. Pain that spreads to the arm NOPE

3. Dizzy/Lightheaded NOPE

4. Throat or Jaw pain NOPE

5. Exhausted easily NOPE

6. Sweating NOPE

7. Nausea NOPE

Ok back to turn of events...

Based on my symptoms, the resident cardiac doctors believed I had a blockage in one of my arteries. They immediately insisted I be rushed into an emergency angiogram (A process where ink is injected into the heart and the heart is photographed to determine what the problem may be and how severe it was). Only local anesthetic was used as the doctors inserted the ink dispensing tool through my wrist, up my arm, around my shoulder, along my chest and into my heart. I was then admitted to the cardiac unit, and debriefed on the diagnosis of the angiogram.

The angiogram revealed I would need invasive open heart surgery, a triple bypass, if I were to survive. The bypass surgery would require removing viable veins from my forearm and shin, and replacing my hearts bad arteries in my chest. A cardio team was brought in to discuss next steps and they determined that I was a good candidate for the surgery and that within 24-48 hrs I would be operated on. I was placed on nitroglycerin and was eventually stabilized.

While I was scheduled for surgery within 48hrs, it actually took 4 days before I would go into surgery as it was a long weekend, and I was bumped for more serious patients.

All went well, according to hospital staff, and a few days after my operation, I was returning home. My recovery will take 6 months, as the bones in my chest need to heal, and to let the scars on my arms and legs heal.

To all I believe this will be my final post, as recovery is making continuing to hard.

Thanks to all

Echo Dot (3rd Gen) Ceiling Mount

noreply@blogger.com (Mass) — Tue, 31 Aug 2021 17:50:00 +0000

Alexa, play my playlist...

My goal has been to have music easily accessible while hanging out on my front patio. I'm aware of all kinds of stereo's, Bluetooth speakers/devices that could accomplish this, but I wanted something that wasn't tied to my smartphone, as well as something that wouldn't involve a major renovation (my front wall is brick). Now before people start to comment that I could have run stereo speakers in the soffit and into my house, that was already more work than I had planned as the soffit doesn't seem to be removable without using destructive force (I'm not sure how it was installed). I also wanted something that would be relatively permanent, in that I didn't want to have to charge something, or turn it on and off.

My solution was an echo dot mounted to the soffit, where my echo dot would be sheltered from the elements and provide music upon verbal command. So I turned to the world wide web for solutions, and there are a few great ideas out there. However none that lent itself to my situation, so I borrowed from some and built my own.

Material List

Echo Dot (3rd Gen)
RC Screw Pins (10-15mm long)
4" Ipex ABS/PVC end cap
1 or 2 Wood Screws

Tools List

Drill
Drill bits
Pencil and Ruler
Ladder
Allan Key/Phillips Screwdriver

I began by sourcing the parts I needed, Lowes had the 4" End Cap (I don't think it matters if its ABS or PVC). I selected black to match my echo dot, but they also have white.

I now needed a solution to hold the echo dot, while it's being suspended up-side down. For this I would use Traxxas 5145 Screw Pins (4mmx15mm). I have so many replacement remote control parts for my Traxxas T-Maxx, that this was an obvious choice and they are quite cheap. I would only need 3, so a $5 package would do 2 mounts.

My first step was to draw a + sign on the back of the 4" end cap. Referring to the diagram below, at positions "A","B","C" I would be drilling small holes using a drill bit slightly smaller than the 4mm screw pin (make sure the holes line up to the middle of the echo, when it's sitting inside the end cap). At position "D", I drilled 2 larger holes that I would use to pass the power cable through (and optionally the auxiliary output if needed).

With the echo dot inside the 4"end cap, carefully screw in the 3 screw pins until they clamped the echo dot in place (do not overtighten). You should be able to carefully turn the 4"end cap over, and have the echo dot remain securely in place.

Loosen the 3 screw pins, and remove the echo dot. I drilled 1 hole for the wood screws that will be secured to the ceiling (position "O", you can use 2 screws if you would like). Secure the 4"end cap to the ceiling, now run the power cable through the "D" hole and attach to the echo dot, seat the echo dot into the end cap, then snugly tighten the screw pins, and I was done

When I build stuff, I often forget to document as I get all caught up in the designing and assembling, I need to learn to slow down. With that said I wish I had taken pictures of the process, if I make another one I will better document it.

This project cost me about $10-$15 CDN in parts.

The conclusion... I just love that whenever I go out I can have Alexa play me music. It's been up all summer, and the downward facing buttons allows me to program the echo dot if needed. My only regret is that the soffit is some type of metal and it vibrates with the music and produces a distorted noise. I may be able to dampen the soffit so as to eliminate its resonance, but we will see.

If you have any questions, just ask

Update: Rize Side View Mirrors

noreply@blogger.com (Mass) — Mon, 23 Aug 2021 22:21:00 +0000

About 2 weeks ago I posted about installing side view mirrors on my Rize Liberty. I've had the opportunity to venture out a few times and test them out, and my results are pretty much inline with my predictions. These things suck! No, they are really bad. **Please no one consider buying these**

What makes them so bad...

CONS

For starters the actual mirror part is curved in a way that distorts whatever image is being viewed, it's also not that clear. While you can still make out if something is passing you, whether that object is an 18 wheeler, a car, or another cyclist you wont be able to make it out.
It's made of plastic which is brittle, so they probably wont last long. Also the plastic doesn't grip the bar end very well, and they move quite easily (great when setting up, not so great when riding).

PROS

Cheap!
Nice adjustability, as the mirror moves 360 degrees around, can flip to the right or left, and the bracket also swivels around 360 degrees.

I have to say these were really disappointing. I had a similar pair, with a round mirror that I had purchased for my scooter. They were purchased on EBay years ago, unfortunately not in my history anymore. I really liked those ones, I'm hoping I can source them again. Anyone have any suggestions for a better pair to try?

Thanks for reading

Rize Side View Mirrors

noreply@blogger.com (Mass) — Wed, 11 Aug 2021 16:46:00 +0000

I've never been one to have side-view mirrors on any of my bicycles, and personally I really resent the look of them.

So? Why install them?

Well, life in the city has changed. While bike lanes have been around for a while, motorists haven't evolved nearly as quickly to adopt them (present company included). Thumb acceleration on the Liberty as well as its overall speed, can easily propel you into unsuspecting traffic. I learned this when I had a heavy modified Yamaha BWS-50, where the general motorist public, saw someone on a scooter, and immediately assumed they were slow. Motorists tryied passing me all the time, many times resulting in them cutting me off as I was quicker than they anticipated. It was at this time I learned to love side-view mirrors.

So, in a nutshell, I'm installing them for safety, but we will see.

I ordered 2 pairs of side-view mirrors from AliExpress for a total cost of $17.85 CDN, shipped to my door. One pair is for my Liberty, the other for the wife's Bolt-X.

I want to say that these mirrors are horrible junk, and while I don't recommend anyone buying these, here is the link anyway.

One mirror arrived broken, managed to still use it.

Interestingly these mirrors are made with a brittle plastic, which just doesn't grip the bars very well (most bar ends I've ever used are nylon or rubber, which when tightened forms a nice seal) not these.

The quality is sub-par, but really what did I expect for under $5CDN/each. The design is actually quite good, with full articulation in every axis.

Installation

Slide a flathead screwdriver between the endcap and grip, and twist. After some twisting and prying, the endcap should come loose and be removable.

I added a strip of sandpaper around the mirror so it would grip the bar better, probably not needed, but I didn't want to attempt overtightening, as these mirrors are very brittle.

Slide the mirror into the bar end, and tighten with the supplied Hex key.

Repeat on the other side, and done.

Here is my Liberty

Here is the wife's Bolt-X

The wife and I will try these mirrors out, and see if we like them, we'll probably invest in a better pair.

Hope you enjoyed this post.

OMG

noreply@blogger.com (Mass) — Sat, 07 Aug 2021 18:20:00 +0000

Oh my goodness...

My blog story continues as follows, when I first started blogging (11 years ago) it took me almost a year to get 500 views a month. If my memory serves me correctly, it took about 3 months to go from 500 to 1000 views a month. Things were getting exciting as more and more views were coming from around the world, and not just friends and family. To put it into perspective, 500-1000 unique views would generate between $3US and $5US dollars a month. This is not the kind of money someone brags about, however it was steady, residual, and covered the operating costs ($10US a year for the domain name).

By the forth year, I started to see my blog steadily hit $10 a month. Not only was this a great sign for my blog, my writing, and my wallet (I don't actually carry a wallet, it's more a bill fold) but I was satisfied in knowing people might actually enjoy what I have to say.

2016...

In 2016 the European Union passed the "General Data Protection Regulation" which was a way to control what data is kept when you visit a site. I am all good with this, but it completely changed everything, for the worse. You see, this is the part I don't understand. I wasn't personally collecting users data when they visited my site, that was Google. It was also Google, that was using this info to place advertisement on my site through AdSense. I was merely getting a piece of the commission from ad sales. However, since the GDPR, I was instructed to bring my blog up to code or suffer the wrath of the EU.

It's 2021 and I still haven't complied with the EU and as of yet the EU has not contacted me, or put out an arrest warrant. However since 2016 my blog has been completely demonetized. I continued to post articles, advertisement continued to be displayed, and I'm sure Google has continued to make money, but I haven't.

Demoralized by the lack of monetization, in 2018 I attempted to comply with the EU's GDPR, but every attempt I made to bring my blogs code up to compliance, by copying and pasting code into the template, were all unsuccessful. I just don't get it, the code is Googles code, sure I have modified the generic template to resemble something closer to my likings, but it's built off a template provided by Google. The data collection is done by Google, not me, they provide me with all the statistics. The placement of advertisement, also done by Google, I can accept or deny vendors, but that's the extent of my involvement. I have repeatedly attempted to contact Google regarding this, and I get vague, run around responses which eventually end up not working.

To put things in perspective, at least from my point of view, I'm currently getting about 5,000 to 7,000 unique views a month (this is after taking the last 2 years off, previous view numbers were higher). If I was making $3 for 1,000 views, I can only surmise I would make $21 for 7,000 views. Now lets not get things twisted, and lets be honest, after 11 years and only making $21 a month, seriously this really isn't worth the headache. While money isn't what motivates me, knowing that, the harder I try to make this blog successful, the less compensation I get, really sucks. But seeing as Google is still probably making money off my blog, I should get something to at least cover operating costs.

What I find rather amazing, is that some articles written 8 years ago, are still getting constant views every month. I would like to continue to writing articles like those, but not for Google to make money on, and me make nothing.

So my realization is as follows

Give up the www.mass-imo.com domain, so as to eliminate any costs associated with running this blog, write basic articles
Move off Blogger, spend some money, and do things right
Give up entirely
Start something completely new

I think I know which one I want to do

Anyone have any comments?

Liberty Handlebar Upgrade

noreply@blogger.com (Mass) — Sat, 31 Jul 2021 19:36:00 +0000

This may fly in the face to many who like the chopperesque look of the 2020 Rize Liberty, but for me, I wanted a more motocross inspired look, similar to the 2020 Rize Blade, but with suspension. I also wanted a bar going across the top so as to mount my phone, or camera. In my goal to achieve such a look and feel I opted to change out my Liberty's handlebars for a set of BMX handlebars that I had on hand. I may very well change these out when I find my perfect Liberty bars, but until then I'll test these out.

Here is what I came up with.

* If you are going to attempt upgrading your handlebars, be sure of the following...

Make sure the handlebars you choose are the same diameter of thickness as the stock bars, or you will need to add shims, or replace the headset stem.
Make sure the handlebars are wide enough to fit all the controls

**(In all honesty, I found out the hard way about the tips mentioned above, as this is the second set of bars I used, as the first weren't wide enough for all the controls to fit on)

Step 1.

Starting on the throttle side, I removed the grip, throttle, brake and ebike controller

Step 2.

I proceeded to remove the display screen

Step 3.

I then removed the grip, brake, gear selector and bell off the opposite side.

Step 4.

Remove the handlebars, or remove the stem if your upgrading that as well.

(The 2020 Rize Liberty comes with 25.4mm handlebars and a 25.4mm x 28.6 stem, my BMX handlebars were 22.2mm, so I used shims to make up the difference. Another option would be to get a stem that was 22.2 mm x 28.6mm or you could go larger with MTB stem and handlebars combo which is typically 31.8mm x 28.6mm)

Step 5.

Pick your handlebars!

(Generally you want handlebars that have 7.5" or 190mm of space from the bend to the end of the handlebar. The first pair of handlebars I used were cut down and didn't have enough room for all the controls)

These are the bars I had on hand and went with. They are Haro BMX handlebars

Step 6.

Install you bars!

As my bars were 22.2mm I used shims to get the 25.4mm needed

Step 7.

(Basically go in reverse from step 3 to step 1)

Done.

My Thoughts.

While this is all subjective, I really feel more comfortable using BMX handlebars, as that's what I'm used too. Making sharp turns seems much easier with these handlebars, compared to the standard Liberty bars. In the future I'll change out the stem, and get handlebars that are a bit taller as these are short at 8.5" high. Also need to do some cable management work.

Hopefully this post has been helpful to those looking to change their 2020 Rize Liberty handlebars.

Hastings Park, Vancouver (2021-07-26)

noreply@blogger.com (Mass) — Wed, 28 Jul 2021 16:38:00 +0000

Took the Rize Liberty (2020) out for a short little ride today and decided to document the trip. I'm finding it difficult to document my trips, as I wear a camelback, helmet, and gloves. My phone is tucked away in my camelback, and so I have to remove my camelback to access my phone, and remove my gloves because the screen wont respond with them on. I'm thinking of getting some sort of sports camera to attach to my Liberty. Anyone out there have some suggestions on a cheap, small, and decent sports camera for this application?

I'm also worried about having someone make off with my stuff, maybe I should enable the LCD lock on my Liberty, any fellow e-bikers use this feature?

Anyways, this trip is to my favorite local spot Hastings Park which hosts the Pacific National Exhibition, Hastings Skatepark, Leeside Skatepark, Pacific Coliseum, Italian Gardens and Japanese Gardens, Empire Bowl, did I miss anything?

Leeside Skate Park

Momiji (Japanese Gardens)

Now I'm known for being extremely critical of our Vancouver Parks Board, but I have to admit, what's been done at Hastings Park is truly amazing.

I'm hoping to better document Hastings Park in the future.

Let me know what you think.

Mass

Liberty Headlight Bracket Mod

noreply@blogger.com (Mass) — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 21:42:00 +0000

Not sure if this is considered a mod/hack or what have you, but it is what it is, take it or leave it. The stock 2020 Rize Liberty comes with the headlight mounted at the top of the triple tree forks as seen in the picture below.

While this is fine, I was concerned that the frame stops might move, and thought a solution would be to mount the headlight below the frame stops, so that the headlight would hold up the frame stops no matter what.

First I measured what I thought would be the perfect height for the frame stop. On my bike it seemed 3.25 inches down from the bottom of the top triple tree was a good number.

I then removed the headlight

and it's brackets, and repositioned them below the rubber frame stops.

** This is where the mod/hack comes in**

My headlight seemed to move every time I bumped into it, so when re-assembling the headlight brackets, I added a small nut in between the two bracket halves. I don't know the nut size, only that they were .25 inch in diameter. I'm sure you could use just about anything you wanted that was .25 in in diameter.

As you can see in the following picture, the nut is placed between the two headlight bracket halves, and prevents bending the brackets when tightening.

This is what the bracket looked like before adding the nut

Now you can tighten your headlight, without worrying about bending the bracket, and it wont move. Also if you followed my suggestion by placing the headlight below the frame stops, you wont ever have to worry about smashing your forks against the frame. This is what it looks like now...

Let me know what you think?

Is this a helpful post?

Should I continue documenting future upgrades to my Ebikes?

Rize: Bolt X - Manual

noreply@blogger.com (Mass) — Tue, 20 Jul 2021 21:57:00 +0000

For those who have a 2020 Bolt X as well, like we do, here the manual for that...

2020 Bolt X

Rize: Liberty - Manual

noreply@blogger.com (Mass) — Tue, 20 Jul 2021 15:02:00 +0000

As many of you may know, I own a Rize Liberty (2020) electric bike. I thought it would be cool to offer others, who also have a Rize Liberty a place to get the PDF manual. I know they have the manual on the Rize website, but it's kind of hidden.

Rize Liberty (2020) Manual

MOD Pizza

noreply@blogger.com (Mass) — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 18:50:00 +0000

I was over on Vancouver Island this past weekend visiting my wife's sister and her husband. It was my sister-in-laws birthday, so a big Birthday shout out to her. Also a big thanks to them for allowing the mainlanders to stay over for a few days.

It was late afternoon and the ladies had gone out to do some shopping, the men were left home to watch the Euro Cup final. As both of us weren't football fans, the game for us was a bit of a snooze fest, so we decided to grab lunch. My brother-in-law, Ryan, suggested we try out MOD Pizza.

I'd never heard of MOD pizza, but Ryan went on to described it as Sub-way style pizza.

Ok it's bad enough that both of us being first generation Italians, aren't into football(soccer).

Second, it's the Euro Cup final, and we're ditching the game to grab pizza?

Then you suggest a Sub-way style pizza?

WhatTheHeck!

I'm surprised we didn't get shot down by lightning or something.

I know a little something about eating pizza, as I've been to Italy and had authentic Neapolitan style pizza. I've been to many a restaurant and tried all kinds of pizza, and Vancouver has some pretty good places, but come on now, Sub-way style pizza, this can't taste good. Can it?

So we drive (10 minutes) out to Langford, BC which is the first and only Canadian location.

Photo by: THE CABBIE IN THE #YYJ

Photo by: Bill Smithwick

So here I am, and low and behold, I'm at a pizza place that's set up like a subway.

You pick your dough (6",11" or 11"thick crust)
You select your sauce, as many or as few as you want (BBQ Sauce, Garlic Rub, Olive Oil, Pesto, Red Sauce, Spicy Calabrian Chili Red Sauce, White Sauce, No Sauce)
You select your cheese, as many or as few as you want (Asiago, Dairy-Free Cheese, Feta, Gorgonzola, Mozzarella, Parmesan, Ricotta, Sharp Cheddar (Limited Edition), No Cheese) (
You select your meats, as many or as few as you want (Anchovies, Back Bacon, Bacon, Grilled Chicken, Ground Beef, Mild Sausage, Pepperoni, Salami, Spicy Sausage, Taco-Spiced Sausage (Limited Edition))
You select your Veggies, Herbs & Good Stuff, as many or as few as you want (Artichokes, Arugula, Basil - Fresh Chopped, Black Olives, Broccoli - Roasted, Cilantro, Corn - Roasted, Garlic - Chopped, Garlic - Roasted, Green Bell Peppers, Jalapenos, Mama Lil's Sweet Hot Peppas, Mushrooms, Oregano, Pineapple, Red Onion, Red Onions - Pickled (Limited Edition), Red Peppers - Roasted, Rosemary - Fresh Chopped, Salt & Pepper, Spinach, Tomatoes - Diced, Tomatoes - Sliced)
Once your pizza is cooked you can add the following finishing sauces (Balsamic Glaze, BBQ Swirl, Hot Buffalo Sauce, Mike's Hot Honey, Pesto Drizzle, Ranch, Ranchero Sauce (Limited Edition), Red Sauce Dollops, Sri-rancha)

So you can pick as many or as few items as you want, the price of the pizza stays the same with the mini 6" being $10.87, the MOD 11" being $13.87, and the Mega Dough 11" thick crust being $15.87.

My pizza went as follows... Mega Dough with red sauce, oregano, mozzarella, dusting of asiago, salami, peperoni, back bacon, artichoke, tomatoes sliced, green bell pepper, drizzled with hot buffalo sauce.

As you can tell, I jumped around from one area to the other, and the server was totally cool, he laughed at my scattered combination, but gave my creation a final nod of approval, as he placed it in the oven. It took about 10 minutes and the pizza was cooked.

My verdict...

Firstly, you need to do some research online to know your selections. In-store they didn't have labels on any of the offerings, so you would have to point or ask, which could be frustrating if it was busy.

How do you even judge this?

Well, is it the best I've had? No

Is it the worst? Far from

I would honestly say it's mountains above a Little Cesare or Domino pizza and that's all I can compare the concept too, in terms of speed.

It's not as good as a specialty Neapolitan style pizza place, and just slightly below a Famouso pizza chain.

However the concept, speed, and price give it a leg up in some areas, if that makes any sense.

Would I go again? Definitely

The quality was really good, and the infinite amount of toppings, makes it great, specially when your with groups of people with dietary restrictions.

My only let down was they didn't offer Parma cured ham, which is my favorite topping on pizza!

Also posting this was a total after thought, and I didn't take any pictures. I would have loved to photograph my pizza because it looked and tasted really good.

The location was a typical strip mall, with the vibe being sort of skate boarder inspired.

All in all, a cool place to chill with friends and have a good quick bite..

OMG, Completely overwhelmed (Part 2)

noreply@blogger.com (Mass) — Fri, 09 Jul 2021 16:16:00 +0000

So it seems I may have corrected my non-compliance issue with the EU, yay I can start making money again!

(EU issue was that my site was listed as www.mass-imo.com/ instead of www.mass-imo.com, I don't even know where the / came from, as this is a Blogger template)

Now Google AdSense doesn't seem to work.

I'll gone through the code a dozen or so times this week so I'll dumb it down, as I really don't understand it all to well myself.

Google places advertisements on my site, based on who is visiting (they listen to you phone calls)
Google can only place advertisements , if my site allows it (which is what I want)
hidden on my site is a file (ads.txt) that gives Google permission to place advertisements
Google AdSense claims the ads.txt file is missing, so they can't place advertisements
in my attempts to fix this, I completely re-designed my website (as you may have noticed)
to test functionality, I'm instructed to type in www.mass-imo.com/ads.txt
if my publisher id comes up (which it does), then everything is working

YET GOOGLE STILL SAYS THERE ARE ERRORS

WHAT THE HECK!!!

How am I using Blogger (a Google product)
To advertise AdSense (a Google product)

And I'm still not able to get it working, this should be a simple turnkey process.

The best part, is that this was working perfectly from 2010 to 2015. Then the EU compliance issue came into effect and I've stopped making any money since then. Listen it's not a lot of money to begin with (about $100 a year), but the viewership of this site has gone up considerably in the past 6 years. As a side hobby, making some $$ would be nice.

I end up spending so much time just maintaining the website, instead of actually blogging.

Anyone else run into these issues?

Is it time to pull the plug on Blogger?

What are some alternatives to Blogger?
Is it easier to move to another platform, or should I solve these Blogger issues?
Is there anything else out there for advertisement revenue besides AdSense?

Happy Canada Day

noreply@blogger.com (Mass) — Sun, 04 Jul 2021 23:37:00 +0000

This post is a little late, as the weekend got away from me.

The artwork pictured above hangs in the front hallway of my house, a memory of my late father. My father was an avid outdoorsman, who spend many a weekend up in the Lytton and Lillooet area fishing it's many lakes for Rainbow and Dolly Varden trout.

So the story as I know it goes like this...

The artwork above is an oar/paddle carving of a salmon/eagle. It's carver is unknown to me, (there is a signature on the back, but I had never thought of having it researched) who lived in the Lytton-Lillooet area.

It was on one hot summer day, during a weekend, some 35ish years ago. My father was driving the lonely dirt roads of the Lytton-Lillooet region to his favourite fishing spots. During his drive, my father came across a stranded car facing the opposite direction. I suspect most people, minding their own business would just drive by. That wasn't my father, a mechanic, he would often find himself pulling over to assist stranded motorists. The story, as I remember it, was that the stranded vehicle had overheated, caused by a blown radiator hose. A common enough problem, remedied quite simply at a shop was made ever so much more complex at the side of the road. While not a complete fix, my father managed to sufficiently repair the vehicle enough so as it's driver was no longer stranded and could safely make his way to the town garage.

The vehicles driver was an indigenous artist from the region, who, in a token of appreciation offered my father the oar/paddle as thanks. Regretfully mentioning that the artwork had little to no value as it was an unfinished piece, something he was currently working on.

I know my father wouldn't have wanted any momentary reward, and was probably hesitant to accept the artwork and did so more out of respect, to the artist.

I am so proud of the man I had as a father, even though we seldom saw eye to eye, he bestowed a great deal of wisdom in me. As an Italian immigrant, my father fell in love with Canada and it's inspiring beauty. It's forests which provide us with clean air, the melting mountain snow which provide us fresh water that fill our lakes and rivers, perfect for trout fishing. My father went on to become a Canadian citizen, put down roots, and has been placed to rest, in his new home...Canada. My father taught me that being Canadian meant respecting wildlife, nature, and your fellow man, values many of us born here take for granted. He taught me to treat people, as I want to be treated, and to always look out for those less fortunate. He taught me to always do my best, and have patience for those who weren't as capable.

I choose to celebrate Canada Day this year, not because I am insensitive to the hurt felt by our fellow indigenous brothers and sisters, but because of the bonds formed. In light of mistakes we may have found in our past, we as a nation are far from perfect, but we can always strive to be better.

Because we are Canadian.

Netflix and chill, no seriously just chill it's hot out there

noreply@blogger.com (Mass) — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 18:03:00 +0000

Netflix and chill, no seriously just chill, cause this weather be crazy hot here in East Vancouver. I think I might have to put off blogging for a bit.

Anyways Black Summer Season 2 just dropped on the 17th of June, so last week, and I finally got to watch it. It's such a crazy show.

For those of you into the zombie genre, which might be getting a bit played out, Black Summer is another strange take on post pandemic life. It's like the walking dead on adrenalin!

If you're at home trying to stay chill then why not throw this show on to kill some time.

OMG, Completely overwhelmed

noreply@blogger.com (Mass) — Mon, 28 Jun 2021 18:10:00 +0000

It's been a while since I was blogging on the regular.

It's been even longer since I started this blog.

Well, it seems I've neglected a bunch of stuff over the years, and it's time to fix everything.

Fun Facts

#1. European laws dictate you need to have security imbedded into you domains through a DNS service?

- I honestly thought I had done this when I click ok.

Well here is the problem, I started this blog (and other blogs) as a free service from Blogger (google). I later went on to purchase this (and other) domains from Blogger (google). Blogger (google) purchased the domains (on my behalf) from GoDaddy.

So now when I need to do an update, I use the Blogger interface which send me to the Google interface, which redirects me to the GoDaddy interface, which lets me make changes. Well, somewhere along this chain, I lost access. Normally I just use the auto-password and auto-login from site to site, but I lost a password, or changed it, or changed my user name or something happened. I now use safeincloud which helps tremendously (I am not sponsored by them, purchased it and use it).

I'm stuck, I can't seem to make changes, Oh well F*it, I'll suffer the wrath of the EU.

This non-compliance has been going on for some time now, and some people have even reported to me that mass-imo.com, no longer works in search engines, and that they can only get to my site using www.mass-imo.com, of which I am truly remorseful.

I want to give blogging another chance to monetize (to earn some money, since I retired from my day job), and tie in Facebook/Instagram monetization and maybe start vlogging (we will see). Monetizing is no longer as simple as it used to be, in that there is so much tax info needed, oh and you also have to be EU compliant!

WhatTheHeck!

This EU compliance is going to be the end of me.

I'm currently wading through all the interfaces and re-submitting for access, trying to determine which username is associated with with which domain, which password is associated with that username, and getting them all to communicate in harmony.

My plan is to...

Resolve this EU issue
Possibly host this blog on my own server (not sure how to do it, so it's learning curve).
Get this blog re-monetized through Blogger (google)
Get this blog monetized through Facebook/Instagram
Bring vlogging to this site.

If anyone has any suggestions or help, drop me a line.

Retirement

noreply@blogger.com (Mass) — Fri, 25 Jun 2021 17:39:00 +0000

So this just happened...

Not to long ago I received a package in the mail from the United Food and Commercial Workers union local 247. Inside the package was the certificate shown above,

this letter,

and this watch.

This is such a nice and thankful thought, a big thanks to the UFCW staff and members world wide.

So this might come to some who frequent www.mass-imo.com as a shock, but I recently retired from my "life defining" job of 31 years as a retail worker/cashier/attendant. I say life defining, because I have always found it somewhat comical how, when you meet people, they almost always ask what you do for a profession. You're answer to this question, will ultimately somehow determine your worth to them, or your overall worldly worth. I was always at a loss because there is so much more that I've accomplished in life, and more to me than merely my cashier status.

Anyways that chapter of my life has closed, and we will see what the future holds.

Dear Retailers, (Part 2: Self Serve)

noreply@blogger.com (Mass) — Mon, 21 Jun 2021 16:31:00 +0000

Self-scan, U-scan, Scan N Go, whatever they want to call it, it's basically self serve.

(Full Disclosure: I may be somewhat bias when discussing this post, as it's the job I've done for the past 8 years. While my comments towards my former employer may seem harsh, keep in mind that I was contracted to do a job as they requested, and they compensated me. There is no animosity or ill will on my end, just my interpretations of what I observed)

To begin my post I want to address that the implementation of self serve machines was handled completely wrong by the retail industry, and Ill explain why.

The first problem...

We all know why retailers brought the machines in, and that's to kill off jobs and shrink their labour costs, despite retailers trying to tell consumers it was about "making their shopping experience better". The retail industry had a new weapon in the fight against labour costs, and it was the machines. They were so determined to undermine and shrink labour costs that they would stop at nothing. When I first began training to work with the machines, I witnessed as my former employer, purposely short staffed the regular checkout lanes, in order to force customers to use the machines. As you can expect there was tremendous pushback from the customers. This was the first, politically driven tactic in ringing in the robot invasion. I say politically driven, because this idea of shrinking the labour force, and cutting labour costs is an accounting decision. For those outside of accounting room, it makes no sense to anyone, besides investors. A case point is that in sports like... let's say our Canadian pastime hockey, you wouldn't listen to the accounts and fire all the goalies just to make your budget. That would make no sense, you need the goalies to play the game properly. Just like you need staff to provide a pleasant retail shopping experience. In the boardroom, a true great leader realizes these accounting tricks, and makes decisions that complement and streamline the business, not hinder it.

Another politically motivated tactic, used by my former employer to promote self serve, was to remove the express lanes. So for those whom were merely buying a few last minute items, or maybe you forgot something, you had two choices wait in line behind buggies full of groceries or use the machines. You can just imagine the overwhelming level of resentment and backlash we received from customers.

Two attempts and two complete failures at getting "customers" to embrace the rise of the machine robot apocalypse (and we thought it would be to Arnold Schwarzenegger ).

Do you know why they really failed, because this new modern retail industry is run by a bunch of entitled brats who are merely educated by academia, with no regards for common sense, wisdom, or knowledge (I have worked for both Galen Weston Senior, and Galen Weston Jr, know which I preferred). While it may seem as if I'm bitter, I assure you I'm not, it's merely the frustration of spending 30 years learning the art of interacting with customers, only then to be told by a recent college graduate (with no real world experience) that I'm doing it wrong (OK, but I'm still being paid right?)

What should they have done...well I'm glad you asked. As with other industries, if you want your customers to embrace something new, you need to give them an incentive. Let's look at gas stations, they successfully moved away from full service, by offering a discount for those who choose to pump their own gas, or a premium for those who still want the service. This would also prevent the line jumper people, who want full service but demand it from self serve (which is an entirely different topic altogether). It seems, at the gas stations, the customers interest in saving money far exceeds their social beliefs of gainful employment for the attendant.

My former employer, and, I imagine the whole industry, could have easily kept the status quo, brought in the machines, and offered a 5%-10% discount to those willing to scan their own groceries/items. Sooner rather than later, I'm sure the demand for machines would begin to outstrip the need for cashiers or attendants and the retail environment would naturally evolve. What happened at the gas pumps could very well happen at the brick and mortar retailers, but I don't have a college or university degree, so why listen to me.

Now, brick and mortar retailers are offering the premium service of home delivery, if you want to pay for it. I'm not sure about this, as I'm old enough to remember that a Milk person or Post person, used to do home deliveries too (don't see that much anymore).

Problem number two

Lack of consistency!

There is no consistency, in that, some retailers have no attendants helping, some have attendants that step in when there are problems and some where only an attendant operates the machine. Depending on the store, the retailer, and even the industry, policies around "self service" differ. It's complete anarchy, and it's only frustrating the consumer. In my very own experience self serve policies would change weekly, and could change based on store manager, district manager, or even regional manager. It seems everyone in the organization had a say as to what the policies and procedures should be, except the consumer.

I'm curious if anyone else dealt with this, let me know?

Problem number three

The Machines.

The machines, which are really just computers, are fundamentally flawed because of the software. Now I can only describe my experience as it pertains to my working environment, so bare with me. When we first started out, using self serve, the software was decent but the computers were vastly under powered. It was 2012ish and we were using computers built in 2005ish era. If you know anything about computers it's that a computers lifespan is about 5 years, so you can see why there were so many initial issues. The first self serve machines were very slow, and this was the biggest aggravation for the consumer. It made no sense, and I heard it all the time, why should a customer use a self serve machine, when a cashier is easier, friendlier, faster, and costs the same? They wouldn't...unless there were no cashiers available.

As time has marched on, the self serve machines have had major improvements in processing power, which really improved the self serve experience. All the emphasis, however, was on upgrading the computing power of self serve machines, and as a result the software fell behind. You ever see people row a boat and they only row on one side, and the boat goes in a circle. This is how my former employer treated self serve, they just wanted the machines to move forward, but put 100% budget resources in software. When the software failed because the hardware couldn't keep up, then 100% budget resources to Hardware.

Instead of moving the machines forward towards a more pleasant shopping experience, my former employers machines were in a constant state of moving in circles. It was comical to most of the staff, as "big improvements" always meant a worse shopping experience. In all honesty though, I will say, when the machines first launched, the software was rather amazing (for the time). We had complete remote control of the machines, full real-time display of on going orders. We as the self serve attendants had the ability to start/stop/hold/reverse/suspend/recall the machines, add/subtract items, all remotely, which made it very simple to assist in a pleasant shopping experience. This no longer exists, it must all be done physically, at the machine now, which is tremendously slow, and creates anxiety for the customer and attendant (specially during the pandemic).

My former employer even thought it was a great money saving idea to remove the phones from self serve, because machines don't need to make phone calls (so who is going to call for price checks, security, first aid, unwanted items to be returned). Honestly I sometimes wonder if management even knew what running a grocery business even meant.

This is my take on the retail industries self serve machines, do you think I missed out on something?

Let me know what you think.

Mass

Dear Retailers,

noreply@blogger.com (Mass) — Fri, 18 Jun 2021 18:59:00 +0000

Dear Retailers,

So having spent the past 31 years working retail, for a major national (Canadian) grocery/supermarket chain, I think I know a thing or two about retail.

Regardless, of my retail background, I believe that I'm a fairly prudent shopper.

Ok, with that out of the way, I want to discuss this trend by all retailer to do away with staff. Hey big corporations, I get it, you want to save money, and lets face it labour is your biggest cost. This is nothing new, it's been going on since the inception of capitalism, and all industries seem to go through this. Heck, I get it, however...

This is what I don't understand, and I'm trying my best to understand. Marketing!!!

Companies spend all this money on TV ads, Flyers (print and online), endorsements and promotional signs. Just to get the consumer to choose them over the competition. Each and every one of these strategies has it's own team and staff, dedicated to getting people to spend money with them. This I can understand, I mean you want people to remember you when they shop...

I just don't get it, and it makes no sense to me. How much does it cost to make a TV commercial, or create a flyer, make posters, endorse a sports team? All this is done, in the name of Marketing, to stir an emotional bond with you and the retailer.

Psst... You want in on a secret, I'm actually motivated to shop by my last shopping experience. Yup it's true.

Case in point. The other day, I got an email from Canadian Tire, about some clearance items. Now I don't really want to pick on Canadian Tire, because I actually like them, but a point has to be made. So I saw they were clearing out portable power banks ( used to charge your phone on the go), I like having these when I'm travelling as you never know when you'll run out of power. Anyways, this power bank was on sale for $15.99 down from $59.99, something I just couldn't pass up on (I thought). I looked online, and my local Canadian Tire has 60 units available, sweet.

I'm gonna buy two, I really don't need them but, it's always better to have something you don't need, then need something you don't have. Am I right?

So I go to Canadian Tire, I just love this place. It has everything you could want, except food, but you know what I mean. So I cruise the whole store, make it an adventure, look for other cool stuff to buy, and that's the trick right? That's what the marketing is about, get you in the store, make you feel good, so you spend your money. Sign me up, I'm all in the marketing is working.

Then I find the power banks, and sadly they are locked up behind glass. Like Orcas at the Aquarium, I can sense the sadness in these power banks, all they want is to be free and in the wild. Don't worry power banks, I'm here to save some of you.

Canadian Tire conveniently places a buzzer, which when pressed magically summons staff who will release captive items into your care. So I press the button and anxiously wait, but no magic, WhatTheHeck. Press the button again after a few moments, that seem like an eternity. No magic. Am I being punked? Um, hey, when I press the button, magic is supposed to happen, and I free captive items. This is not how this is supposed to work. Another eternity goes by, and I press the magic button again, while holding my hand to the glass (ok that didn't happen, but I thought a visual could help).

So, giving up, I decided not to buy the power banks.

Come to think of it, I'm not in a rush, if I willing to wait a month, I can order online, and get a better deal. That's probably what I'll do.

You know what I wont do, is buy that power bank from Canadian Tire.

So back to the point... I understand marketing and it worked, but marketing is useless without providing for a successful transaction. These big box, brick and mortar retailers seem to be intentionally sabotaging themselves by undervaluing the shopping experience that well trained staff provide.

In conclusion while I would love nothing more than to shop locally and support local, sometimes it's not my fault, despite all attempts.

Have an opinion about this post?

Let me know.

Mass

noreply@blogger.com (Mass) — Thu, 10 Jun 2021 13:38:00 +0000

Sh....

Somethings stirring...

Stay Tuned

On Hiatus

noreply@blogger.com (Mass) — Mon, 27 Jan 2020 17:31:00 +0000

Hey everyone, I've decided that it's time to officially announce, that this blog is on hiatus. Life is wonderful, yet forever changing, and for this reason it's time for me to also make some changes.

Blogging has been so personally rewarding, and I appreciate all the support. However I can no longer find the time required to put articles together in a timely manner. As such going forward updates will be few and far apart, if any.

I want to give a big shout out to all those that have supported me, and who knows what the future may hold...