[Doca]

Just waiting for my order from Autoharnesshouse, they sent it right away but Canada Post seems to be using Covid as an excuse for poor service. It was cleared by Montreal customs 7 days ago. Meanwhile, my other two orders from Toronto and Grimsby arrived in a few days. Can’t say I’m surprised. My phone lived at customs in Mississauga for four weeks weeks before arriving. Two for processing and 2 to mail it from 5 hours away.

I’m trying to figure out how it gets stuck after customs but only have one solution: guy “A“ works a few days then they close for three days to ensure any lingering germs have died before guy “B“ starts. Dumb, I know, but it’s all I’ve got because the last time they hand carried parcels in a place like a major shipping center was before they invented the conveyor belts, scanner, bin, truck and forklift.

I still hope it’ll show up before the weekend but I doubt it. While waiting, I flashed the iDatalink Maestro SW for the 18 Impreza. I still have no idea if it’ll work but I think it will.

 

[SubieSubieDo]

Just waiting for my order from Autoharnesshouse, they sent it right away but Canada Post seems to be using Covid as an excuse for poor service. It was cleared by Montreal customs 7 days ago.

It's odd because the couriers were working overtime like it was Christmas time at the height of things here. With the reduction in passenger flights you think a couple of extra freight flights could be snuck in. The Covid Coma strikes again. 🐨

 

[Doca]

It's odd because the couriers were working overtime like it was Christmas time at the height of things here. With the reduction in passenger flights you think a couple of extra freight flights could be snuck in. The Covid Coma strikes again. 🐨

For us, its mostly freight trucks, not planes. The exception being those that enter on one side of the country for a reciepeint on the other side.

Talking the triangle between Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal, the first and last being primary international mail/parcel hubs, it's usually a 3 day delivery once something clears customs. Day 1 overnight to Ottawa, sorted and sent to my nearby town on day 2 and delivered on day 3.

Don't get me wrong about it, I understand the slowdown but that only goes so far. At least it's not like I'm waiting for a new heart or some critical hardware.

 

[SubieSubieDo]

For us, its mostly freight trucks, not planes. The exception being those that enter on one side of the country for a reciepeint on the other side.

Yeah. I guess we're too dependent on overseas manufacturing down here. Sydney was the only customs/capital mail sorting centre operating at the height of COVID. I'm waiting on a book to come from Ireland but Australia seems to have suspended economy deliveries from a number of countries. When we were in Canada, we were amazed at the number of trains transporting freight across the country.

 

[Cutlass]

I work for the US Postal Service. We're mostly doing OK. But there are exceptions. What I hear, the Detroit processing facility is fucked, and has been for months. And that's a huge one. So a lot of the Midwest is fucked with it. A few other of the regional facilities have had problems. But for the most part things are going through almost as fast as normal.

 

[Doca]

Train is the way to go here. We’re too wide and too tall to truck and fly so much weight over long distances.

I guess my main issue comes down to lack of information which has caused frustration for the situation. There’s a gap between tracking reports but only for those packages I’ve ordered from other countries.

I can follow everything nice and easy all they way until it gets though customs. There it dies until it suddenly shows up at the door. It‘s supposed to the scanned leaving customs, entering and exiting the Ottawa distro center and again when arriving at the local post office. So a week or two without updates and I’m like, where tf is my stuff, Norway?

However, it doesn’t matter anymore, the harness showed up at 9am. So yay, it’s going to be a new head unit kind of weekend!

 

[Doca]

The Harman is dead. Long live the Pioneer.

It took longer than I wanted it to but I had to run out to the hardware store and my buddy came by for a bit. I also cleaned up the original installation and worked casually. Then I had to recalibrate the amp. Sounds great but the LC7i remote didn’t work in the Alpine amp. I don’t think I need it but I’ll still test it out so I can rewrite the existing jack.

Sadly, I broke the Pioneer USB adapter so I ran out and bought a proper cable but I’ll put it in tomorrow.

The Maestro SW has a delay, worse for when using Bluetooth audio, but it works for all steering wheel controls except the phone for some reason. It could be the secondary function that I programmed so I’ll flash it out tomorrow when I put the new USB C cable in.

The Autoharnesshouse Subaru and Pioneer harness worked great but as suspected, and was told, their USB adapter didn’t.

I haven’t played with it much yet and can’t seem to get the voice control to work, except for when using Amazon Alexa but I’ll spend some time with it tomorrow.

Hello Mr. Turtle.

Turns out that it has a permanent screen protector and it wasn’t noticed until someone tried to take it off at the top left corner. It lifted easily lifted but then flaked off. I’m pissed about it but there’s nothing I could have done.

 

[AstroKats]

Looks like you gained a cubby, too!

 

[Doca]

Looks like you gained a cubby, too!

Actually, two.

The one you can see has my USB cable run through the back of it and my phone fits on shelf. I took it for a drive yesterday and the phone didn’t move at all, so yay.

The larger cubby is behind the screen and totally useless. Maybe I’ll figure out something but I suspect I’ll be using it to store dust.

Metra 99-8908HG

 

[Doca]

Only 1 payment left to go but I’ve already installed my self-gift so I’m a little sad. The good news is... any excuse for an ice cream cake, right? Haha

I still haven’t figured out why the Maestro SW won‘t work with the steering wheel’s phone buttons, but yesterday I opened it all up again and installed a permanent USB cable so I can reprogram it whenever I want and without removing it, the radio or trim.

I also checked out the LC7i‘s remote for use with my PDR-V75 amp. The remote uses pins 1 and 2 but I couldn’t figure out what pins the amp uses. I don’t know why. It seems like it should have been an easy thing but I binned the concept and just bought Alpine’s rux controller from Crutch. Hated spending the $60 when I know I could figure it out but grew tired of waiting while I have to go into the Nex’s setting to adjust the sub, on a regular basis.

I’d planned to do my first at home service package, and even acquired a brake fluid tester so I don’t have to pay them $120 to replace perfectly fine fluid, but I’m still a 3,500 km away from my next cycled change. Guess I’ll move it to a regular weekend job next month.

I still haven’t been able to figure out why my phone refuses to work hands free. It’s fu ing ridiculous. Press the buttons on the screen and Bluetooth audio? That works just fine. Fkng google. You would think that someone, somewhere has a list of settings required to make it work but nope. I’ve been looking for weeks and found nothing but rambling repetition of the things that anyone who owns a phone already knows.

 

[AstroKats]

LOL, still sleeping on the cat perch? 😸

I think something got screwed up with a recent Android update. I drove our other car yesterday for the first time in a month and AA worked but no sound because Bluetooth wouldn't connect. It worked the last time I drove it and nothing has been changed in the car since I installed the Pioneer. A project for later today. Not sure how many beers it will take...

 

[Doca]

LOL, still sleeping on the cat perch? 😸

I think something got screwed up with a recent Android update. I drove our other car yesterday for the first time in a month and AA worked but no sound because Bluetooth wouldn't connect. It worked the last time I drove it and nothing has been changed in the car since I installed the Pioneer. A project for later today. Not sure how many beers it will take...

I have no problems with Bluetooth, just offline voice control. I can’t even get it to work without the car being in the process. Thought it did before but I still had WiFi on.

Beer for an AA/Google Assistant (henceforth known as GA) project? I‘m guessing two before you even hit the door. Lol.

Only if Sterling let s me on it but the look in his eyes says that his toys are there and I’m not welcome.

 

[AstroKats]

Ha, ha, yes, that's the stay the f away from me look...

 

[SubieSubieDo]

Only 1 payment left to go but I’ve already installed my self-gift so I’m a little sad. The good news is... any excuse for an ice cream cake, right? Haha

I still haven’t figured out why the Maestro SW won‘t work with the steering wheel’s phone buttons, but yesterday I opened it all up again and installed a permanent USB cable so I can reprogram it whenever I want and without removing it, the radio or trim.

I still haven’t been able to figure out why my phone refuses to work hands free. It’s fu ing ridiculous. Press the buttons on the screen and Bluetooth audio? That works just fine. Fkng google. You would think that someone, somewhere has a list of settings required to make it work but nope. I’ve been looking for weeks and found nothing but rambling repetition of the things that anyone who owns a phone already knows.

Did someone say ice cream cake ???
That's quite an ambitious project and very clever.
Agree re hands free phone. A list of settings would be most excellent. I even started to create one based on what I'd read, changed and seemed to change after an update but my brain melted. Every time I accept a Google update for my phone, it's a whole new world of pain. I'm tempted to stop accepting the updates but then I think "this might be the 'fix' " so I update. Now I've been thrown back into the "Phone connection error unplug and replug your phone" loop. SIGH
Without any schadenfreude, I'm comforted that someone as technically adept as you is also becoming befuddled. 🐨

 

[Doca]

Without any schadenfreude, I'm comforted that someone as technically adept as you is also becoming befuddled. 🐨

I know! You’d think it would just work by opening all the permissions, enabling the various controls and having downloaded the offline dictionaries. I’m thinking I might have to make a new Google account, removing my existing one from the phone, so I can get a clean slate to figure it out. What a pain but in the five minutes between when I wrote the first three words of this sentence and got my plane shot down (Heroes and Generals), that’s exactly what I’ve decided to do.

 

[SubieSubieDo]

What a pain but in the five minutes between when I wrote the first three words of this sentence and got my plane shot down (Heroes and Generals), that’s exactly what I’ve decided to do.

The loss of your aircraft is also unfortunate.
I never realised that the RAF/RCAF/RAAF had Committee of Adjustment Officers that would go through the barracks/rooms to gather the flight crews personal effects to return to their families when an aircraft was MIA/shot down. It was meant to be very discreet. Rather it was very obvious to the air crews upon their return that their room mates had not survived.
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln....nal/871/10140/EYeatsAFHobbsK440316-0001.2.jpg 462 Squadron RAAF

 

[Doca]

The loss of your aircraft is also unfortunate.
I never realised that the RAF/RCAF/RAAF had Committee of Adjustment Officers that would go through the barracks/rooms to gather the flight crews personal effects to return to their families when an aircraft was MIA/shot down. It was meant to be very discreet. Rather it was very obvious to the air crews upon their return that their room mates had not survived.
https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln....nal/871/10140/EYeatsAFHobbsK440316-0001.2.jpg 462 Squadron RAAF

Yeah, that was normal. The idea was to prevent:
1. Theft of personal articles for return back home or distro as instructed;
2. Fights amongst the surviving aircrew; and
3. To free up the space for a replacement as quickly as possible.

In other news; my Alpine sub remote came in and works great. I also have voice control between the Pioneer and the phone, I guess it was the update that fixed it. Now I just have to figure out how to get rid of the “not connected” (or whatever it is) notification and maybe bring back the acknowledgment beeps.

edit: hands free only works within AA for some reason. I can’t regular BlueTooth hands free without the cable being plugged in, autoloading AA.

 

[SubieSubieDo]

edit: hands free only works within AA for some reason. I can’t regular BlueTooth hands free without the cable being plugged in, autoloading AA.

Yes. Incoming calls on my work phone auto answer (via BT) hands free otherwise I have to start an outgoing call with my fingers and opposable thumb. S'ok for me. I usually have to start my work calls when I get back in the car anyway. 🐨

 

[Doca]

Oh joyous day! The bank has confimed that my adoption fee is paid on full and Toyota Financial Services can bugger off.

I'm now off the Subaru service packages and wil be doing all I can from my garage. I have delayed my oil change as I'm still a couple thousand shy of the 10,000 km gate but I have acquired a few extra tools to ensure I can cover what I would have been paying them way to much for. For example:

My current mandated package includes a brake fluid flush. When not part of the $700 package, by itslef it's $120. Well, for $34 I got a brake fluid test meter (tetsing tor water) and me peepers can tell good brake fluid from contamined brake fluid so I cerified that I don't need a flush.

Anyway; I've pushed back my oil change to Thanksgiving weekend (thats in October for us) and I have the list of the services I'd be getting at the dealership shop. It seems that 80% is regular inspection, which I'll do when I swap out Stamford's shoes for winter, and a bettery test; I have a better tester,

I think I've dropped my $700 service down to about $85 and thats just for oil ,on sale (as always for about $25), an oil filter, which I get from Subaru for about $8, and air filters (roughly $20 X 2) which I may or may not need both of. I don't even run my cabin fan in the summer expect for a couple of hot and humid days.

 

[Doca]

Yes. Incoming calls on my work phone auto answer (via BT) hands free otherwise I have to start an outgoing call with my fingers and opposable thumb. S'ok for me. I usually have to start my work calls when I get back in the car anyway. 🐨

I've since read that that is becomming the norm. Apparently it has something to do with the phone and/or Android programming. I have no idea if it plagues Apple products as well but if they don't mind dropping $800-$1600 on a phone, the can just buy a new car that'll work with it. Lol, Jobs.