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Living (Almost) Car-Free

Ok, that “Almost” is doing a lot of the heaving lifting… In 2025 when I got the ebike I tried to ride my bike instead of driving to work, and between August and November I did 50 days (10 weeks worth) of biking to work. I also biked to stores occasionally, and just biked for fun.

There were times I needed to use the car. Days I had doctor appointments, or had to run errands that were farther away or I could not get to safely by bike… and there was a period of a week or two when my daughter’s car was non-functional and she borrowed my car.

So while I am not “car-free” now, and probably won’t be in the foreseeable future, I have been mostly car-free the past few weeks. Once again the Madeline’s car was in need of repair, and I just gave her my car and rode my bike.

I did have to borrow the car back to get to a doctor appointment, but otherwise I tend to just go to work and go back home most weekdays and the ebike does fine for that.

If Dana and I go someplace we take her car. It’s a newer hybrid and gets 36mpg versus my 2010 Subaru that gets about 20mpg when all I do is drive to work most of the time.

But what if it rains!? As the old saying goes “You’re not made of sugar.” I Did get soaked on a ride to work one day. I just dried off when I got there, and changed clothes, which I do anyway in the summer due to the heat and sweat.

What about the winter? I don’t mind the cold. I have winter gear. I should be fine. I can probably handle 30 minutes in the cold each morning and evening. What about snow… and ice? We’ll see. I did get a studded tire for winter riding which should deal with the ice. (Last year a friend wiped out their bike on the ice and broke their leg. Nasty!)

But again, I will have the car for backup on days when it’s too brutal to ride to work. If I get to work and there’s an afternoon snowstorm I can probably bum a ride home if I have to leave the bike.

Ah, yes… I work at a great company that provides indoor bike parking, which is huge, because it means I don’t need to worry about locking up outside when I get to work. My employer has been extremely supportive of my biking to work.

So not car-free yet, might not ever be, but I love having the car as a backup option and biking to work when I can. I pay less in gas, auto maintenance, and there is one less car on the road most days.

Tags bikes, cars

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MIDI Dual Mini Controller

Post author By Pete Prodoehl
Post date 2026-09-09
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I make this controlled I call the MIDI Controller LC (4 Button) and I make a few of them each year, but like anything there’s always someone who wants something similar but not exactly what you have to offer… and that’s okay! I do custom projects all the time.

Someone got in touch with me and wanted a half-sized version, just two buttons (red and green) to control an audio system, with one button pausing play (red) and one button starting play (green) so that’s what we built. It’s basically a cut down version of the MIDI Controller LC.

Instead of trying to remodel the MIDI Controller LC smaller I ended up using some of my OpenSCAD code that I use for generating custom enclosures and already had the objects to create holes for the buttons, MIDI 5 Pin DIN port, USB port, and screw holes. Modeling and printing the parts was fairly easy.

I don’t know if I will add this one to the shop… it’s always hard to know how many items is too many items, and I don’t want to overwhelm or confuse potential customers. But hey… it’s here if I need it in the future!

Tags button, controller, midi, usb

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Custom Controller (Six Connections)

Post author By Pete Prodoehl
Post date 2026-09-02
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I’ve built a lot of USB controllers… sometimes they are for museums, or tradeshow companies, or just individuals. Most of the time what I build looks like a finished product, but that’s not always the case. Sometimes what is needed is just part of a larger system, and maybe the rest of the system isn’t built yet, or someone else is providing it.

This controller allows the client to connect their own pushbuttons, six of them, which they’ve installed into a cabinet. When pressed, each button will send a unique character to a computer via USB.

The client will have a cabinet with buttons, wires soldered in place, hanging down, ready to be attached to this controller. I don’t always love these snap connectors but when things need to move fast, they work. I think this project needed to completed in just a few days, so rather than spec out other connectors, or use screw terminals, these connectors work just fine. I tend to keep a box of them around just in case. (You may remember this one from back in 2022.)

A few more things… the bottom shows two holes, one has a status LED, and the other is a reset hole in case new firmware needs to be installed. (There is a button that can be pressed with a paper clip to put the device into USB drive mode to accept a HEX file with new firmware.) There are four mounting holes for attaching the device with screws inside a cabinet if needed.

I usually like these types of projects. They are not difficult, and give me a little challenge, and I try to make improvements each time one comes along.

If you need some sort of custom controller, let me know!

Tags button, controller, usb

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Cuisinart Indoor Pizza Oven (Mini-Review)

Post author By Pete Prodoehl
Post date 2026-08-21
1 Comment on Cuisinart Indoor Pizza Oven (Mini-Review)

First, I work at a great place, with an awesome boss. I came into work a few months ago and he said “Hey, people were asking about getting a pizza oven for the office…” and I was like “Hell Yeah!” and then I had some comments and eventually I offered to make some recommendations.

And now you’re like “Hey man, you don’t even own a pizza oven!” and you’re right… I do not! I use my home oven. Whatever, man. Someone reminded me I offered to do a mini-review so that’s what you’re reading.

We got the Cuisinart Indoor Pizza Oven at work. It was listed at $284.99 USD.

First of all, it’s small. That’s okay. It can bake a pizza quickly. It goes up to 700° F so that’s a quick bake for a Neapolitan style pizza. My home oven goes to 550° F so baking takes about 5 or 6 minutes with a 1/4″ steel. This oven has a stone. I will say that sliding things on and off of the stone doesn’t seem as nice as the steel…

I tend to bake my pizzas on parchment paper, which works fine at 550° but will probably burn quite a bit at 700°. I did try a 600° bake and definitely got some burned parchment, so I typically just set it around 550°/575° when I use it. Just because that is what I’m used to. If this was the pizza oven I had at home I’d work on baking at the full 700°.

You also get a (foldable!) pizza peel, which is metal (mine at home is wood) and a pan that fits perfectly inside the oven, which is good, because it’s an odd size and they maximize the space with the pan. (I have not used the pan yet.)

One more thing. The oven is loud. It uses fan when running, either to distribute heat, or keep something(?) cool inside while heating. It also uses the fans to cool it down, so when you are done using it you need to leave it plugged in until it cools properly. Maybe it cools the electronics so they don’t cook. I don’t know. It’s noisy, just be aware of that.

Okay, so how are the pizzas? Great! The one thing I need to get used to is to rotate the pizza 180 degrees! I often forget this because I don’t need to do it at home in my normal oven. The back is definitely hotter than the front, so rotate halfway through. I probably baked the one pictured above at 550° for 5 or 6 minutes. Ideally I’d do 3 minutes, then rotate and do another 3 minutes. (If I remember!)

Would I get one for home? I would not, but only because I don’t have room for more specialized appliances, and my home oven pizza game is solid. If you don’t have a home oven that can go to 550° F it might be worth it, but a pizza steel is cheap and a great way to get started making better pizzas. Okay, that’s it. Mini-review over.

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Tags food, pizza

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An eBike for Fitness

I’m going to say something that may be controversial…

An ebike might be better for fitness than an acoustic bike.

We already know that ebikes allow people to ride more. Folks on ebikes tend put in more time riding, and cover more miles, than they would if they were riding acoustic bikes or not riding at all. And we know that they can be assistive devices for people with bad knees, or other health issues. There are a number of online support groups for ebike riders over 50, over 60, etc. I read posts from people in their 70s who are now biking again. This is all good stuff.

So yeah, more people on bikes, riding, being outdoors, that’s all good for physical fitness, and mental health, if we want to get into it.

But I’m here to talk about how I use an ebike for fitness…

When I started riding again in 2024 I rode my acoustic bike, and I enjoyed it, and I was doing it for fitness. Now I ride an ebike (I try to ride to work as much as I can) and if you think I just crank the power up or hit the throttle, you’re wrong.

I actually removed the throttle from my bike. I didn’t really use it. I know some people really like it to start from a dead stop (especially older people, from what I’ve read) but my technique when coming to a stop is to drop to first gear and put the pedal assist to “Turbo” (or level 3 assist, the highest setting). This lets me get started from a dead stop, but gives me a boost in Turbo mode, and once I am across the busy street I drop down to “Eco” (or level 1) pedal assist… or turn off the assist.

Yes, I turn off the assist. If it’s flat ground, or downhill, I don’t need any help if I am already moving.

That said, my bike is heavy. I am heavy. I am carrying a lot of stuff. The bike is slow. In the stock configuration my bike is 67 pounds. I have panniers and carry a u-lock, tools, usually my backpack for work, and a few other bits and bobs that might add another 10 to 20 pounds. I am now pedaling a bike that weighs over 75 pounds. (And I am not a lightweight person!)

My bike has something called Ride Tune, which allows me to dial in the assist for the three levels (Eco, Sport, and Turbo). I’ve dialed down Eco so that it gives some assist, but it just about equals out to what it would be like pedaling my old Trek, which is less than half the weight of my ebike.

So now I’ve got my ebike set with minimal assist in the lowest mode so the experience is similar to a non-ebike. This is perfect.

I’ve still got Sport mode, which I’ve also dialed down, and Turbo mode, which is just under the default settings because I commute to work on shitty roads alongside cars and I want that to last as short of time as possible.

Between the heavy bike, the gears, and the pedal-assist there are a number of changes you can make while riding to create more of a workout, or to make things easier when your legs are screaming. On today’s ride I was in Eco for most of it, turned off the motor a few times and let me tell you, it kicked my ass. I got to work tired and sweaty… and that’s okay.

Also, I am still pretty out of shape because I didn’t ride for 6 months while my spine was not working properly.

Tags bikes