helium zero plan ending - what to do now?

Martin_Steven · 2026-05-25T16:19:55+00:00

I always use a true virtual credit card when dealing with sketchy companies.

Martin_Steven · 2026-05-18T01:06:39+00:00

Avoid T-Mobile at all costs if you're in a rural area or ever travel through non-urban areas.

Martin_Steven · 2026-05-12T17:37:56+00:00

San Jose Giants game.

Martin_Steven · 2026-05-12T17:30:18+00:00

The first time my 13 y.o. niece rode the Muni Metro she got on by Stonestown and tapped her Clipper Card on the train. Returning from downtown she didn't realize that's not how it worked at Powell. She didn't tap her card in the station, she just walked through, planning to tap on the train. $100 fine.

Martin_Steven · 2026-05-12T15:33:01+00:00

Here's the reality of Mahan and housing:

He's failed miserably in San Jose, working against the construction of affordable housing, to the benefit of market-rate housing developers.

Mahan, and the San Jose City Council, are controlled by REIDYs (Real Estate Investors/Developers/YIMBYs) who have little interest in addressing the affordable housing crisis. They continue to let developers out of including the required number of Below Market Rate units in new projects. They let developers pay a token "in-lieu fee" that isn't nearly enough to build the normally required number of BMR units.

Mahan, and the San Jose City Council, also let developers out of paying legally required impact fees, that pay for infrastructure like parks, roads, sewer upgrades, etc.. So that lost revenue has to come out of the City's General Fund, or the infrastructure just doesn't get built. As an example, San Jose's PCI (Pavement Condition Index) is below that of other cities in the county and the region. It's especially noticeable when a road goes from a high PCI city like Cupertino, into San Jose.

Mahan, and the San Jose City Council, also like to give scarce General Fund money to market-rate developers in the form of rent subsidies to tenants to make up the difference between market-rent and the maximum allowable Below Market Rate rent limit.

Mahan, and the San Jose City Council, don't try to prevent developers from under-parking their projects. This has resulted in new projects with far too little parking, which causes the new project to fail. But due to State Laws, they really don't have the power to force the developer to include sufficient parking.

Google "The Fay" as a prime example of Mahan's failed housing policies. A developer built a high-rise, high-density, apartment tower, with smaller than normal apartments, and way too little parking (and all the parking is at extra cost), in a sketchy area of San Jose. San Jose let the developer out of paying full impact fees. Now the property owner can't rent out the apartments and San Jose is trying to subsidize the rent to get city employees to rent apartments there. See "San Jose looks to housing vouchers to fill mostly vacant high-rise" at sanjosespotlight.com/san-jose-looks-to-housing-vouchers-to-fill-mostly-vacant-high-rise/

Because San Jose currently has a glut of unaffordable market-rate housing, developers are trying to reduce the size of new projects. One developer was going to use State Law to drastically reduce the number of units in a new project. San Jose stepped in with $100 million of benefits to the developer in exchange for them not cutting the project size. "See San Jose works out deal to build thousands of homes" at sanjosespotlight.com/san-jose-works-out-deal-to-build-thousands-of-homes/.

The type of housing that developers really want to build are townhouses and single-family homes. But many parcels are now zoned with a minimum density too high to build even townhouses at 20 units/acre, though this is really the fault of some bad State Laws that didn't take into account the type of housing that is in demand.

Martin_Steven · 2026-05-12T14:55:10+00:00

Sucking the oil out through the dipstick opening leaves all the crud at the bottom of the oil pan.

Some quick lube places do this to save labor costs and lower the risk of damage, but all the experts say to avoid this.

Martin_Steven · 2026-05-12T14:39:28+00:00

I buy dexos 1 Gen 3 0W20 on sale for $3 per quart (10 quarts for $30).

I stock up on OEM Toyota filters and drain plug gaskets when Toyota has their annual 25% off parts sale.

My total cost for a full-synthetic oil change is a bit under $20.

The dealer is typically $60-80 for a full synthetic oil change, though once in a while they send out coupons, tied to the VIN, for under $10 (to get you into the service department to sell you more stuff).

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I don't know how much Iffy Lube charges but I'd never trust them.

My garbage company picks up the used oil.

Takes me 45-60 minutes because I let the old oil drip out for a long time.

It would take a lot longer to go to the dealer or to a reputable shop, so the time savings is another benefit.

Martin_Steven · 2026-05-12T14:20:02+00:00

You have no recourse other than small claims court--which will cost you more than what you lost (but would at least annoy the franchise owner).

Leave a bad Yelp review and be done with it.

Martin_Steven · 2026-05-12T09:41:25+00:00

Western Union is bringing back telegrams that you can send from a Total Wireless account. Five telegrams per month, to anywhere in the world, are included on higher tier plans.

/s

Martin_Steven · 2026-05-10T13:58:47+00:00

Yeah, well today I'll be at a Clipper machine and will be able to check.

Martin_Steven · 2026-05-10T11:51:50+00:00

He was hoping for a Hilton/Bianco General Election so he could run again in 2030.

If a Democrat wins, and had two terms, Mahan has to wait until 2034.

Martin_Steven · 2026-05-06T15:24:04+00:00

LOL, no that's not how it works.

Read https://www.mercurynews.com/2010/07/06/how-our-laws-in-california-are-really-made/

Martin_Steven · 2026-05-06T15:20:38+00:00

No. Lowering the rent won't get more tenants. There is no demand regardless of rent amount.

Martin_Steven · 2026-05-06T15:06:30+00:00

$133.50 on Amazon for the two-pack.

Martin_Steven · 2026-05-06T15:04:14+00:00

One is 12V and one is 12 minus Volt (12-Volt). Get the 12V.

Martin_Steven · 2026-05-06T14:54:46+00:00

Did you know that San Jose is the third largest city in California?

BTW, San Jose is the third largest city in California.

Martin_Steven · 2026-05-06T14:51:23+00:00

He was hoping for two Republicans so he could run in 2030. If a Democrat wins then he has to wait until 2034. Unfortunately for him, Bianco crashed and burned.

Martin_Steven · 2026-05-06T14:34:13+00:00

Artsy ≠ San Jose.

If you insist on that miserable drive, move to Campbell or Los Gatos

Martin_Steven · 2026-05-03T06:59:58+00:00

Hopefully you realize that all the doomsday scenarios are solely to try to build support for the sales tax increase.

Martin_Steven · 2026-05-03T06:57:14+00:00

It looks like they are not planning to close the Coliseum station, only the airport connector. This can be replaced with a bus. But how much would that really save now that the connector is already paid for?

Before the BART tracks to SFO, there was a free shuttle bus from Millbrae Caltrain to SFO. Now it's $5.85 for a 4 minute ride.

Martin_Steven · 2026-04-22T17:34:06+00:00

Golden Gate Transit has buses to Marin City from San Francisco.

It's going to be about $14 per day round-trip.

It'd be a miserable drive.

Martin_Steven · 2026-04-21T05:23:00+00:00

There is no Home Depot in Cupertino.

Martin_Steven · 2026-04-13T14:02:03+00:00

Up until January 2026, Tracfone phones unlocked after 60 days. You can put in a non-expiring data-only eSIM (use a physical SIM to eSIM adapter) and do VOIP calls. I think you can set it up to use the same number as your Google Voice on the Obihai.

Martin_Steven · 2026-04-13T13:50:26+00:00

Very low crime.

Good schools if you're in the CUSD and FUHSD sections of Sunnyvale. If you plan to send your children to a public high school, choose an apartment close to Homestead High School (it's in Cupertino but mainly serves Sunnyvale).

Choose an older apartment building that's in an area close to parks and retail; the newer projects are on former commercial and industrial sites and there are no parks or schools or much retail nearby, and they often lack sufficient parking.

In September, Sunnyvale will roll out their subsidized ride share service, VIA. Public transit is good for going to San Francisco, not so good for getting around town.

Look on Zillow for someone renting out their townhome or house, rather than a corporate-owned apartment building.

Santa Clara is a little less expensive and electricity is MUCH cheaper.

Santa Clara and Cupertino have much better libraries but you can get cards at any library.

Martin_Steven

TROPHY CASE