GettingOut Messaging and Video Visits Refunds

 Getting out is a predatory company that handles inmate communications. Their system is designed to take your money, charge bogus fees, and never let you get any stored value back out.

It is next to impossible to find out how to get refunds online, so I’ve documented it here for everyone stuck in this nightmare of having a relative in jail and not being able to get their money back once they’re out.

Calm their Customer Service Line

Press 1 for English or select a different language as necessary.

Listen to a minutes-long disclaimer and give your rights to your stored value away after 180 days.

Press 1 to accept.

Press 1 to go into the deposits message.

Press 0 to be transferred to a hold queue.

When you ask for a refund, you will be told you need your contact information and the inmate number. That number should be in the app for GettingOut Messaging under your contacts, but it was not for me.

Once they discover this, you will need to send a note to the parent company ViaPath to get a refund.

Send To: customerservice@viapath.com

Phone number of your account

Name on the account

Facility name

Inmate name

PIN (4-8 digits)

This is how refunds are done in 2026. Email. To a third party. I’ll let you know if it actually works.

If you try pressing zero at the big menu before deposits, you will be presented with “That option is disabled” message because they know the easiest way to frustrate people is to remove it and hide it in a sub menu. No matter how deep.

Regardless of what you think about people in jail, the families of these people are being taken advantage of by this company, and they are keeping money they are not entitled to if they built a better system.

The disclaimer ensures ViaPath can keep your money after that time of you can’t get it back within the time frame which is not allowed for other stored value like gift cards.

The queue staff are unhelpful as a rule. You should encourage them to unionize to improve conditions so they will not be yelled at by frustrated families.

Everyone on this line is trained to send your concerns with the system not being operational or easy to their tech support department to be looked at. They know they are hard to contact, so this statement is bullshit.

Everyone is trained to say that your concerns about the usability of the system will be sent to their supervisor. This is bullshit. It is hard on purpose.

Everyone on the line has the same regional accent, so the call center is not in the US. That jurisdiction has laws for consumer protection. If you figure out where, I will work with you to ensure the company pays.

Ender 3 v2 + Cura + Professional Firmware - Setup

For my future reference, here are the things I had to do to get an Ender 3 v2 tuned and ready after an extensive rebuild. Thanks past-me! Future-me appreciates you writing it down somewhere that you’ll be able to find.

After a spate of nozzle replacements and struggling with adhesion, I added a runout sensor, a new hot end, and a CRTouch. This sent me down a rabbit hole of software upgrades, and it is MUCH easier to use as a result.

I installed the Professional Firmware by mriscoc on GitHub. The features he collects are impossible to find in a better package.

I upgraded my screen firmware for which I needed to track down an 8GB SD Card formatted in a specific way. They’re becoming super rare locally, but photo stores should have them if you’re Amazon-averse. The firmware is in the source zip for the mriscoc firmware above for multiple different models. Use the test GCode included in the how-to before you move on. You want to make sure you have it right as the slicer setup is cumbersome.

Follow the recalibration steps to tune the hot end and bed PIDs. Then do the extruder steps calibration and maybe even zsteps. Then set your bed mesh and do Bed Tramming calibrations to get the perfectly level bed. This should resolve most calibration issues with your prints.

Now you're ready to work on your slicer.

The CRTouch requires gcode to be added to the beginning of the printer profile right after G28, auto home. Add “G29 L0 J” to test the bed level just before starting a print.

Was also able to get thumbnails on the new firmware and screen combo. This takes a script for your slicer to be placed in a specific spot, and your pc must have Python installed (on Windows, in a terminal, type “python3 -v” to see if it is installed; then follow instructions) along with supporting libraries (“pip3 install Pillow” if needed; I think this might only be needed for Prusa Slicer). The final step to view thumbnail jpgs is to change your filament color in Cura! If it is black (like the Pro PLA I was using from 3D Fuel) it will look like it is not rendering anything!

While I still am struggling with elephant foot and getting my calibration cubes to be strictly dimensional, this Professional Firmware got me printing fewer leveling passes with fewer problems overall. I level once a session now instead of after every print. I'll update if I get those last few issues handled. Wish me luck!

SOLIDWORKS PDM Database Server Errors in Event Logs

 Event Viewer is a great source of logs to show that something is wrong with your setup. Here is one esoteric error and how they were resolved:

Credentials are stored in multiple places and multiple tools. If an error appears in the Event Viewer every 10 seconds from SOLIDWORKS PDM Database Server with a message like Connect to server <ServerName>' Failed: (null) Unknown error 0x80040200 (null) or Login failed for user '<username>'. Reason: Could not find a login matching the name provided. [CLIENT: <local machine>], this means that the Database Archive Server connection is using the wrong account or the wrong password.

Launch the "Database Server Configuration" utility from the Start menu and correct the login to your SQL Admin user. The errors should stop.

How I Juice Limes in My Countertop Cast Iron Citrus Juicer

 Got a question on Reddit as to how I juice limes using my generic countertop cast iron juicer. I picked this up from a McMenamins bartender in Kalama, WA. Speeds up the juicing, gets more juice out, and makes it easy to press every last drop out.

First, cut a coin off one end:

Then add a small slice across the line about a quarter of the way into the lime. This opens it up a bit:

Stand your lime up on the juicer plate and crank it:

That’s it! You can also press the lime shell a bit to make sure all the juice gets got. I’ve only ever observed a teaspoon or so left behind, however.

Edit: I tested the above remaining juice on several limes. Between 1/6 and 1/3 oz Lime juice is left behind on thin skinned limes. Thicker varieties leave almost nothing.

Patchwork Board Overlay - Workflow and Testing Ideas

BGG user panicz1982 asked if there was a board frame for Patchwork, and I could not find one. Therefore, I made one. This simple project shows my workflow from 3D printing idea to reality. The key is to test your ideas in reality!

First, I pulled out a ruler and collected the board dimensions:

• Board with 9x9 grid is 191mm
• Play area grid as printed is 181mm
• With a 2mm margin around the entire board, the frame is 195mm
• Board thickness is 2.5mm. Doubled that makes the overlay 5mm thick
  

Tinkercad is my next stop. A few rectangles, some whole, some hole, made the basic shape. It exports directly to an STL as well.

Then I loaded it into Cura. Checked that my printer could handle the large object, and printed a test run. I printed it upside down so the lip was facing upwards. No supports needed. Only 20% infill, and maybe that was too much.

This is where I ran into a problem. The play area required to hold 9x9 is larger than the printed play area grid. How much larger? Well two single-row pieces like the 1x5 are substantially wider than a 2x2 piece like the square. It's even more of a discrepancy over 3, 4 and 5 squares. And since play dictates fit and not the other way around, it wouldn't do to just leave the board with less room while also satisfying the need to keep panicz1982's pieces on the board after a bump or two.

To fix this, I found a measurement that worked for even the most generous arrangements by fitting as many single row pieces and patches together so the bottom faces (sharp corner) of each cardboard piece was aligned across the board. This is a worst case scenario fit. Most players would be fine without the extra room, but the added safety factor would mean any arrangement would work across all 9 columns. Then I measured the overlap and added it to my overlay. Turned into a really tight 2mm margin between board size and playing area. Fortuitously, this matched the 2mm margin for overlay to board.

Missed it by that much

I expanded the play area to fit this new width and printed it again.

 

Bottom row is all singles

 

The new measurements are:

• Board with 9x9 grid is still 191mm
• Play area grid as printed is now 187mm
• Frame is still 195mm
• Overlay thickness is still 5mm thick

Et voila! A simple board game overlay. With a straightforward path to reality, testing helped me fine-tune the initial idea into something that works. And as a bonus, I discovered the overlay also fits in the box fr my printing! Now to see if it actually helps keep pieces in place by playing it a bunch. See you at game night!

BGG User Link dvhill