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DOH.......
For a few weeks now I've been stumped as to why my ku motorized dish would only see between 83w and 103w. Anything else, NOPE........
So tonight it was COOL out. It's the time of year where we finally begin to get little tastes of fall like weather now and then.
So I decide to go see what's up with my stuff. For days now the dedicated dish on 123w has been MIA. No signal, nothing. Hmmmmm...
And the motorized dish as well.
So I pack up my new S10 tuner and assorted tools and head out to the back yard.
I put the S10 on the 1.2m dish and BOOM! FSTV is there loud and clear..
So at that point I am assuming the 22k Ecoda switch has gone bad.
Then I go over to the motor and put the tuner on it. I go to the menu and tell the motor to move to 125. It moves but no signal.
Basically, I spend an hour loosening everything up and wiggling everything around, tipping the dish up and down, you name it. Still can't find 125w.
So I tell the tuner to put the dish to zero. I look on dishpointer.com for true south. I check the motor and it is indeed pointing to true south as best as it possibly can. Google has a very high resolution picture of my backyard (They take new pictures after every hurricane) and you can see not only the individual dishes but can even see the LNB's on them! So once I was sure I had the motor pointed the right way I got a square piece of metal and put it against the side of the motor and the back of the dish mounting plate so that I know with 100% absolute certainty that the dish is aligned properly with the motor.
And being that I made this dish from spare parts left over from other dishes, it's a Frankenghetto dish all the way.
Back and forth, back and forth. I also discovered that some of the satellites had their coordinates in backwards, for instance 85 and 79 were reversed, if I selected 79 it would go to 85 and 85 would take me to 79. Huh? How did that get in there??
Finally I was ready to admit defeat, again, when it dawned on me at 2am in the morning sitting outside on a stool in the dark to check the level of the pole. DUH......... I go get a level and TADA!! Ms. Dumby discovers she went to school without her thinking cap, again!
So yeah, the pole is waaaaay off from east to west, it tips a lot to the east and a bit to the north as well. The bubble is all the way to the side, it's not even remotely close to being in the middle of the lines. With the pole all cattawhampus like that I can see why it's not working right!
This darn drought has dried up the ground so badly so I guess that's what's going on.
There's not a lot I can do about it tonight but tomorrow I'm going to Lowe's to get gardening supplies and I'll pick up a new pole and cement. The pole that's there now is in a bad spot and it's too short. I bolted some goofy rig onto it that I found on the side of the garage to make it taller and I really don't think it's the right answer. So a new pole would be best. I'll dig it deeper and put more cement and maybe that will help with the drought. Maybe if I plant it while the ground is all dried up it may hold tight since the ground is already shrunk up as much as it can be.
Oh and tomorrow my dad is going to put a new power cord on my S10 and a fan. He found an itty-bitty fan on an old mainboard from an old pc (packrat is the family middle name).. I'm hoping that will cure the heat problems.
If I can get the kooky pole problem fixed so that I can tune in ALL the satellites, I will be so much more happy with things. My pc will not get the LPBS channels at all so that leaves it to the S10 to pick up the slack. Adding in the C-band 87w will also make me a a happy girl too, then I can record several things off 87 at the same time or record one, watch another.
With fall coming those stupid trash trees will defoliate soon and I should be able to pick up HOT TV. I just don't understand how the big dishes can't see 118 (HOT) but my smaller dishes right next to them can see 123 and 125 just fine? Can just a few feet make that much difference? I guess it can but it really messes with my head. All I know is, those trees have to come down. One way or another. They are only there because birds sat on the fence and pooped seeds and previous property owners were too lazy to take them down when it would have been very easy. Idiots..
Oh well. I'm getting closer now to getting things ironed out..
For a few weeks now I've been stumped as to why my ku motorized dish would only see between 83w and 103w. Anything else, NOPE........
So tonight it was COOL out. It's the time of year where we finally begin to get little tastes of fall like weather now and then.
So I decide to go see what's up with my stuff. For days now the dedicated dish on 123w has been MIA. No signal, nothing. Hmmmmm...
And the motorized dish as well.
So I pack up my new S10 tuner and assorted tools and head out to the back yard.
I put the S10 on the 1.2m dish and BOOM! FSTV is there loud and clear..
So at that point I am assuming the 22k Ecoda switch has gone bad.
Then I go over to the motor and put the tuner on it. I go to the menu and tell the motor to move to 125. It moves but no signal.
Basically, I spend an hour loosening everything up and wiggling everything around, tipping the dish up and down, you name it. Still can't find 125w.
So I tell the tuner to put the dish to zero. I look on dishpointer.com for true south. I check the motor and it is indeed pointing to true south as best as it possibly can. Google has a very high resolution picture of my backyard (They take new pictures after every hurricane) and you can see not only the individual dishes but can even see the LNB's on them! So once I was sure I had the motor pointed the right way I got a square piece of metal and put it against the side of the motor and the back of the dish mounting plate so that I know with 100% absolute certainty that the dish is aligned properly with the motor.
And being that I made this dish from spare parts left over from other dishes, it's a Frankenghetto dish all the way.
Back and forth, back and forth. I also discovered that some of the satellites had their coordinates in backwards, for instance 85 and 79 were reversed, if I selected 79 it would go to 85 and 85 would take me to 79. Huh? How did that get in there??
Finally I was ready to admit defeat, again, when it dawned on me at 2am in the morning sitting outside on a stool in the dark to check the level of the pole. DUH......... I go get a level and TADA!! Ms. Dumby discovers she went to school without her thinking cap, again!
So yeah, the pole is waaaaay off from east to west, it tips a lot to the east and a bit to the north as well. The bubble is all the way to the side, it's not even remotely close to being in the middle of the lines. With the pole all cattawhampus like that I can see why it's not working right!
This darn drought has dried up the ground so badly so I guess that's what's going on.
There's not a lot I can do about it tonight but tomorrow I'm going to Lowe's to get gardening supplies and I'll pick up a new pole and cement. The pole that's there now is in a bad spot and it's too short. I bolted some goofy rig onto it that I found on the side of the garage to make it taller and I really don't think it's the right answer. So a new pole would be best. I'll dig it deeper and put more cement and maybe that will help with the drought. Maybe if I plant it while the ground is all dried up it may hold tight since the ground is already shrunk up as much as it can be.
Oh and tomorrow my dad is going to put a new power cord on my S10 and a fan. He found an itty-bitty fan on an old mainboard from an old pc (packrat is the family middle name).. I'm hoping that will cure the heat problems.
If I can get the kooky pole problem fixed so that I can tune in ALL the satellites, I will be so much more happy with things. My pc will not get the LPBS channels at all so that leaves it to the S10 to pick up the slack. Adding in the C-band 87w will also make me a a happy girl too, then I can record several things off 87 at the same time or record one, watch another.
With fall coming those stupid trash trees will defoliate soon and I should be able to pick up HOT TV. I just don't understand how the big dishes can't see 118 (HOT) but my smaller dishes right next to them can see 123 and 125 just fine?
Can just a few feet make that much difference? I guess it can but it really messes with my head. All I know is, those trees have to come down. One way or another. They are only there because birds sat on the fence and pooped seeds and previous property owners were too lazy to take them down when it would have been very easy. Idiots..Oh well. I'm getting closer now to getting things ironed out..
24 Replies
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3705 views
preventative maintenance ?
It may be naive to ask, but since it is the drying that causes the problem...
...would it be possible to lightly water the dish farm once a week in these conditions to prevent it happening?
...or use one of those soaker-hoses, or even a drip watering system?
I suppose next you're gonna say there is water rationing, so you'd be arrested for watering your yard.
... not to mention the inconvenience of having to mow under the dishes.
edit:
Okay, what about a big sheet of plastic under the dishes to hold in the moisture?
It may be naive to ask, but since it is the drying that causes the problem...
...would it be possible to lightly water the dish farm once a week in these conditions to prevent it happening?
...or use one of those soaker-hoses, or even a drip watering system?
I suppose next you're gonna say there is water rationing, so you'd be arrested for watering your yard.
... not to mention the inconvenience of having to mow under the dishes.
edit:
Okay, what about a big sheet of plastic under the dishes to hold in the moisture?
It may be naive to ask, but since it is the drying that causes the problem...
...would it be possible to lightly water the dish farm once a week in these conditions to prevent it happening?
...or use one of those soaker-hoses, or even a drip watering system?
I suppose next you're gonna say there is water rationing, so you'd be arrested for watering your yard.
... not to mention the inconvenience of having to mow under the dishes.
edit:
Okay, what about a big sheet of plastic under the dishes to hold in the moisture?
I have been thinking about watering the area, to be honest. So far, my town isn't under rationing, yet. All the surrounding towns are though so we will probably be as well before long.
One advantage for me, I keep very strange hours and my neighbors are used to me being outside in my back yard at ALL hours of the night. So I could drag a hose out there and no one would take notice.
I have considered burying a garden hose out to the dishes and putting a weeper hose around the poles then set a timer to run in the early hours.
Another thing I have considered and will probably end up doing is to build a flower bed around the area, fill it with top soil and potting soil then a thick layer of mulch and plant a lot of wild flowers in it. Combined with the weeper hoses it would probably keep the ground moist enough to keep the dishes tight.
But doing that would be a huge undertaking and if I did it it would have to wait until spring.
I guess for now I'll just sneak out at 3am and water it manually. It shouldn't be too much longer before we start getting damper weather.
We have a little cool front coming in tonight so I guess I'll get back out there soon and see if I can figure out what the heck is up with this alignment issue.
Cool weather is a huge motivator to me. I plan to get a lot of things done the next few months...
It may be naive to ask, but since it is the drying that causes the problem...
...would it be possible to lightly water the dish farm once a week in these conditions to prevent it happening?
...or use one of those soaker-hoses, or even a drip watering system?
I suppose next you're gonna say there is water rationing, so you'd be arrested for watering your yard.
... not to mention the inconvenience of having to mow under the dishes.
edit:
Okay, what about a big sheet of plastic under the dishes to hold in the moisture?
Ha Ha Ha! Oh my... this has me giggling with a really fun smile!!!
Anole, I LOVE your comment! And don't take this the wrong way, but just step back and ponder the humor in your advice for a moment. We have all sorts of advice about how to care for our DISH FARMS, now we have to "WATER" them, too? Ha Ha! Oh, this is so classic!
Yeah, I knew what you were stating right off and it made sense, then I thought about it a little more and it struck me that there was some fun humor in there, too! Whether you intended to or not, thanks for the SMILE!
RADAR
Cool weather is a huge motivator to me. I plan to get a lot of things done the next few months...
Dee, believe me, I know EXACTLY how you feel. There's another, stronger cool front coming down for the middle of next week!
Dee, believe me, I know EXACTLY how you feel. There's another, stronger cool front coming down for the middle of next week!
Being in the NOLA area you experience pretty much exactly the same weather we do here, around the clock heat and humidity that's almost unbearable...
And a "winter" that's a joke. Winter here consists of a two week period in February where the temperature dips into the low 30's and MAY touch freezing one or two nights. The rest of the so called winter is T-shirt and shorts weather. I like it when it's in the mid to high 40's. Almost the entire winter I don't run the heater and will have the house wide open from sunrise to sunset. Patio doors opened so the dog can wander freely in and out and the house gets a good airing out. And my electric bill gets a huge break.
Once it starts to drop down into the low 70's during the day time I get it in high gear and get a lot of things done. This fall/winter I have big plans, lots of house cleaning.. I do my "spring cleaning" opposite of tradition.. I also start all my major gardening projects as well. I'm very seriously considering a flower bed around my dishes. But first of course, I need to get them all working properly. And replant a few of those poles. I think what I should do is dig a few of them up and spread them apart because several of them are touching one another or overlapping one another, dig new holes deeper and put new poles in with more cement THEN put the flower bed down to help keep the area from drying out as badly as it does now.
Yep..... I have big plans, big goals and big ambitions for this upcoming season of coolness...
Pub Member / Supporter
I collect and play vinyl records regularly. A friend of mine told me about a record stash located inside an antique mall. So naturally I had to go go check it out.
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3 views
Staff member
HERE TO HELP YOU!
Cutting Edge
Sometimes a thread gets so many posts in it that is can cause issues for the server so that why today we introduce The Song Name Game Part 3!
So let the game continue!
The last song was added by Bobby who posted...
One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters
CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!
Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game
Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.
Example:
Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow
Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio
Another example:
Ride the Lightning -- Metallica
Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne
Get it?
An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....
So let the game continue!
The last song was added by Bobby who posted...
One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters
CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!
Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game
Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.
Example:
Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow
Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio
Another example:
Ride the Lightning -- Metallica
Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne
Get it?
An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....
68604 Replies
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2677721 views
Who says dinner or lunch has to be the only good meals of the day?
Honey butter grits with scrambled eggs and grilled boneless pork ribs on flakey biscuits washed down with cranberry juice.
Honey butter grits with scrambled eggs and grilled boneless pork ribs on flakey biscuits washed down with cranberry juice.
6632 Replies
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379959 views
Breakfast Quesadillas. Grilled flour tortilla filled with scrambled eggs, hash browns, chopped green chile, cheddar & Jack cheese and bacon. Coffee.
Pub Member / Supporter
America’s Fastest-Growing EV State Isn’t California—Not by a Long Shot
New data shows electric vehicle adoption is increasingly driven by state policies, electricity prices and charging access—not federal incentives
www.autoweek.com
The number-one US state for EV growth, according to the June 22 Yardi report?
Oklahoma.
It has no ZEV mandates and "minimal" incentives, Yardi says, but also has cheap electricity, high multi-car household rates (so, for example, a non-Lightning Ford F-150 pulls their trailers), and a consumer base willing to switch.
116 Replies
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1038 views
tomwellborn3rd (@wellborn.net)
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bsky.app
Never realized that Tesla is losing to BYD at manufacturing too, which IMO is Tesla's biggest accomplishment and area of innovation. Nice writeup about the state of play and how we got here though. I have no faith that we're moving any productive direction though sadly, most changes and efforts feel reactionary rather than rooted in making use of the time being bought by tariffs, with few exceptions.
So: how are the cars so cheap, and what is being cut to get there? The best public accounting comes from the Rhodium Group, which compared BYD, Geely, and Leapmotor against Tesla's Chinese operation, a fair comparison because it removes labor costs and shipping from the equation entirely. Their estimate is that BYD builds a car for about $4,700 less than Tesla builds a Model 3 in Shanghai, roughly 15 percent of the Model 3's price. The breakdown is the interesting part. Direct government grants account for about $292 per vehicle, which is 5 percent of the gap. The biggest single factor is vertical integration: BYD makes about 80 percent of its top-tier components in-house, against 37 percent for Tesla, and that eliminates roughly $2,369 per vehicle in supplier markups. Lower overhead, meaning cheaper engineering talent and administrative cost spread across enormous volume, accounts for another $1,719. And BYD pays its suppliers on 155-day terms, against Tesla's 60, which is worth about $214 per car in float. When people say the Chinese advantage is subsidies, the per-vehicle number says otherwise. When people say it is slave wages, the Tesla Shanghai comparison says otherwise too. The advantage is mostly that BYD decided, twenty years ago, to make its own batteries, its own motors, its own power electronics, and its own semiconductors, and Western automakers decided the opposite.
US EV sales are rising again. Here’s why the recovery is set to last.
Even though sales tanked last year after the end of federal incentives, the American EV sector is on the mend as drivers face sky-high gasoline prices.
www.canarymedia.com
GM Is Coming for Tesla, Rivian, and China, on Your Phone and in the Car
GM’s latest tech preview details autonomous highway driving plans, AI-powered OnStar features, and new LMR batteries for future EVs.
GM said its next-generation vehicle architecture will provide 40 times more computing power and 30 percent less wiring than before and will expand from the 2028 Cadillac Escalade IQ to its high-volume SUVs, trucks, crossovers, and fourth-generation EVs, which will be powered by lithium manganese-rich (LMR) prismatic batteries
Despite the politicization and perceived consumer pivot away from EVs in America, GM needs to remain globally competitive, so it's doubling down on its fourth generation EVs, with energy-dense, cheaper-to-manufacture LMR batteries, more efficient motors, and state-of-the-art centralized computing architecture. With a stated goal of cutting the traditional four- to five-year concept-to-production time in half, GM is clearly challenging the concept of "China speed," which in the Chinese automotive industry can be as quick as 18 months from design to start of production. In the AI space, GM is smartly collapsing all of its marque-specific apps under the familiar OnStar brand, while providing more features—both on the phone and in the car—than it ever has before.
T
That's how Ford did it- vertical integration. He even set up a rubber plantation in S. Americatomwellborn3rd (@wellborn.net)
This author has chosen to make their posts visible only to people who are signed in.
Never realized that Tesla is losing to BYD at manufacturing too, which IMO is Tesla's biggest accomplishment and area of innovation. Nice writeup about the state of play and how we got here though. I have no faith that we're moving any productive direction though sadly, most changes and efforts feel reactionary rather than rooted in making use of the time being bought by tariffs, with few exceptions.
So: how are the cars so cheap, and what is being cut to get there? The best public accounting comes from the Rhodium Group, which compared BYD, Geely, and Leapmotor against Tesla's Chinese operation, a fair comparison because it removes labor costs and shipping from the equation entirely. Their estimate is that BYD builds a car for about $4,700 less than Tesla builds a Model 3 in Shanghai, roughly 15 percent of the Model 3's price. The breakdown is the interesting part. Direct government grants account for about $292 per vehicle, which is 5 percent of the gap. The biggest single factor is vertical integration: BYD makes about 80 percent of its top-tier components in-house, against 37 percent for Tesla, and that eliminates roughly $2,369 per vehicle in supplier markups. Lower overhead, meaning cheaper engineering talent and administrative cost spread across enormous volume, accounts for another $1,719. And BYD pays its suppliers on 155-day terms, against Tesla's 60, which is worth about $214 per car in float. When people say the Chinese advantage is subsidies, the per-vehicle number says otherwise. When people say it is slave wages, the Tesla Shanghai comparison says otherwise too. The advantage is mostly that BYD decided, twenty years ago, to make its own batteries, its own motors, its own power electronics, and its own semiconductors, and Western automakers decided the opposite.
Pub Member / Supporter
Lifetime Supporter
Love this guy's channel. Looks like Walmart has thrown in the towel when it comes to conventional car batteries.
I bought a new AGM battery from Walmart about a year ago, it is already needing replacing. I thought about just buying a regular battery but from what I've read, that might not be a smart move. Might check my Forscan program and see if I can change the battery type from AGM.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awe7kY5nvdU
I bought a new AGM battery from Walmart about a year ago, it is already needing replacing. I thought about just buying a regular battery but from what I've read, that might not be a smart move. Might check my Forscan program and see if I can change the battery type from AGM.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awe7kY5nvdU
14 Replies
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102 views
The guy in the Video, REALLY needs to TAKE a Breath ...
If he'd Slow down, you could figure out What he's testing and on what.
If he'd Slow down, you could figure out What he's testing and on what.
TWiT Tech Podcast Network
Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!
View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Ss1UyXltsvw
Direct YouTube Link - Cryptographic Certificate Flaw Triggers Cleanup Bigger Than Heartbleed #shorts
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Ss1UyXltsvw
Direct YouTube Link - Cryptographic Certificate Flaw Triggers Cleanup Bigger Than Heartbleed #shorts
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
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5 views
Supporting Founder
Pub Member / Supporter
Apple Fall Hardware Event takes place today, September 9, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. PT / 1:00 p.m. ET. It marks the debut of new CEO John Ternus and the expected reveal of Apple's first foldable phone.
129 Replies
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1399 views
It seems the phone gets locked into Sat mode. A software patch is coming to avoid that pitfall, but it comes too late for those who already fell in.
Apple confirms iPhone 18 Pro Max AT&T cellular issues, affected devices require hardware replacement - 9to5Mac
Apple has confirmed an issue causing a “small number” of iPhone 18 Pro Max devices on AT&T to lose cellular...
9to5mac.com
Daisy Ridley to Star in New Take on 'Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea' at Paramount+
I'm not usually a fan of remakes but the description provided in the article does intrigue me.
I'm not usually a fan of remakes but the description provided in the article does intrigue me.
8 Replies
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148 views
Pub Member / Supporter
Lifetime Supporter
Now right up front....this is NOT intended to devolve into a "pot is good" vs "pot is bad" thread. The whole point is to make you aware of a potential problem that a person can develop when they start smoking pot at a young age. Not that they WILL, but CAN. Kinda like getting lung cancer from smoking cigs....some do, some don't. The purpose of posting this news story is to keep anyone from paying an outrageous emergency room bill......knowledge is power.
While this may not affect you, you might run into someone who is experiencing these symptoms and can share the info. Fortunately, it looks like stopping smoking is the cure and isn't a permanent condition.
www.dailymail.com
While this may not affect you, you might run into someone who is experiencing these symptoms and can share the info. Fortunately, it looks like stopping smoking is the cure and isn't a permanent condition.
Woman's health in ruins after she began doing cannabis aged just 15
A Michigan teenager who began using cannabis at 15 has been hospitalized twice after developing a debilitating illness that causes uncontrollable vomiting and agonizing stomach pains.
1 Replies
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27 views
Season 2 order already in hand:
'Star Trek: Starfleet Academy' Renewed for Season 2, Tatiana Maslany to Guest Star in Season 1
I've not been optimistic about this show based on what I've read so far. Seems to be aimed at a younger audience. Interesting though that Tatiana Maslany will have some sort of role.
'Star Trek: Starfleet Academy' Renewed for Season 2, Tatiana Maslany to Guest Star in Season 1
I've not been optimistic about this show based on what I've read so far. Seems to be aimed at a younger audience. Interesting though that Tatiana Maslany will have some sort of role.
90 Replies
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3641 views
I don't know, but I still don't like her walking through the station or the academy with out her shoes. It looks unprofessional and very "hippy like" for someone of her status and I personally don't get off to feet, so there is that.
Stay out of my office. I rarely have shoes or socks on in the office. My office and business is at home thoughI don't know, but I still don't like her walking through the station or the academy with out her shoes. It looks unprofessional and very "hippy like" for someone of her status and I personally don't get off to feet, so there is that.
Say, I don't wear socks or shoes in my house either. But for a captain in Star Fleet it looks bad to be walking around the academy with no shoes. Gives off 1960 Hippie vibes.Stay out of my office. I rarely have shoes or socks on in the office. My office and business is at home though
You say that like it's a Bad thing or something ...
For a whole generation of adults it was in the 1960s and 1970s.You say that like it's a Bad thing or something ...
