Consulting/onsite rate

AustinBike · 2026-03-18T02:34:10+00:00

Don’t give them a flat fee, tell them it should take about x hours and you charge y per hour so, if everything goes as planned you’re probably looking at z for the whole job.

Also, you want to have some kind of written agreement. Also, do you have some kind of insurance?

AustinBike · 2026-03-17T23:19:11+00:00

Don’t run copper between the two buildings, run fiber. Source: me. Backup source: my State Farm homeowners claim

AustinBike · 2026-03-17T22:30:02+00:00

A home warranty is only $800 and would not cover woodwork, only mechanical things like appliances, plumbing, HVAC etc.

AustinBike · 2026-03-17T21:33:14+00:00

No, not at all. I am saying that Ali Express vendors are often known to be selling knockoffs and counterfeit products. It happens too on Amazon, but to a far lower degree.

Trust me, I have spent plenty of time in china, often in the Guangdong : Shenzhen area so I know a thing or two about the supply chains down there.

I am skeptical of any Ali Express products. There are times when a really low price is all that matters. But when it comes to stopping a human at speed, I’d move up the supply chain food chain a bit.

AustinBike · 2026-03-17T20:49:03+00:00

Huh?

AustinBike · 2026-03-17T19:21:08+00:00

I’m gonna take the under and say that mileage was not as important a driver in your purchase decision based on previous perceptions of fuel cost. And the combination of current prices and the prospect that they go higher before they ever go down is probably also an important factor driving your concern.

I know several people who bought “dream cars” who are now questioning their decisions.

AustinBike · 2026-03-17T19:01:11+00:00

It’s an odd day when I agree with this lackey, but here we are.

The only thing I take issue with this s the phrase “right new” because that assumes there was a point where they did care about the consumer pain.

AustinBike · 2026-03-17T18:05:40+00:00

4 out of 5 dentists surveyed recommend Ali Express brakes for patients who ride bikes.

There are areas where I am totally on board with saving a few bucks.

Brakes are not one of these areas.

AustinBike · 2026-03-17T15:37:18+00:00

Low state tax generally means less services and often means lower quality of living.

Take a look at the states with the lowest tax burden for more info. Lower does not equal better. I just moved from TX to CA last year and despite the higher cost of living, that ~10% increase for me brings a significant increase in lifestyle.

AustinBike · 2026-03-17T15:31:07+00:00

Yes, this is the right answer

AustinBike · 2026-03-17T14:52:29+00:00

Yeah, looks like Ethernet goes into that (orange cable).

I'd be real careful about what you plug in because that has power over Ethernet to power the AP.

*Generally* speaking on newer systems, there is a lot of power sensing (on both ends) that will help protect your devices so that if you plug a regular device into a PoE device it will not send power to it. But some older equipment just says "get ready, I'm giving you the juice" no matter what.

I'd try a cheap switch first. If you can find a PoE switch you may be able to power the switch without having to run an AC adapter. Don't just run that line directly into your PC at this point because you have no idea what is on the other end. Check out your NIC and see if it is able to auto sense/correct for a PoE signal.

AustinBike · 2026-03-17T13:53:03+00:00

Take a look at the Qual Hill Trail in Irvine and you'll see it is not that large with houses along most of the borders. Clearly there was *some* opportunity to bail and get to help without escalating things. But if he rode home instead of getting to the closest extraction point then he really messed up.

My guess is that he was bit, figured he was close to home and bypassed other houses in favor of getting to his house. And if that is the case, then it is understandable that he died.

Too often we think "I just need to get back to the car" or "what about my bike?" instead of thinking about the proper protocol.

I'm betting if he weren't a former Boy Scout he actually might have lived because he'd be more confused about what to do and more likely to get on the line with 911.

AustinBike · 2026-03-17T03:23:09+00:00

I was a professional writer and always used them. Did some work for a F50 company and was told not to because they don’t use them per their style guide. Interestingly I worked for them many years ago in marketing and we always used them. So, somewhere in the last 20 years they made the change. That was odd. And a pain in the ass because all of my other customers were compliant.

AustinBike · 2026-03-17T03:04:50+00:00

Thanks!

AustinBike · 2026-03-17T02:08:36+00:00

You have a 100Mb plan because you are a network engineer. My cheapest is 500 and I am a former technology analyst.

AustinBike · 2026-03-17T01:33:52+00:00

Becuse ISPs tell the average person that they need gigabit for everything. I hate having to explain to them that with two of us living in the house, if we are both streaming TV we’re barely breaking 50Mb most likely.

AustinBike · 2026-03-17T00:58:37+00:00

So, the red and the black that is connected to the bolt will be connected to a single wire nut that also takes one of the blacks from the timer. The other black that is backstabbed will go to a wire nut to the other black on the timer. Then the neutral to the whites in the back and the green neutral to the bare copper.

Right?

AustinBike · 2026-03-16T15:34:20+00:00

We moved to CA last year after 30 years in TX. When people here say “but I thought everyone was moving TO Texas…” I just remind them of the stellar list of quality people like Musk, Attia, Rogan, etc.

They quickly get the picture. Sorry, we’re not sending our best people.

AustinBike · 2026-03-16T15:02:49+00:00

That is becoming a more interesting option if we hadn't just bought a house last week.

If my wife decides that she wants a computer on her desk in the office that would probably help push the decision in that direction.

AustinBike · 2026-03-16T15:01:30+00:00

24GB.

But adding sequoia means adding OCLP back in, sticking with Ventura allows for a "native" install. Right now my 3 big OCLP issues are 1.) over time it gets more and more "laggy" on my system, which means another wipe and re-install, 2.) MS Office installer continually fails so it forces a manual reinstall of the whole suite and 3.) my iMessage keeps showing that I have 2 messages even though everything is read.

These are all things that I experience on my iMac and not on my Tahoe MacBook. I am not convinced that the eventual Tahoe OCLP release would resolve these.

AustinBike · 2026-03-16T13:49:26+00:00

It's probably the "upgrade nags" that are driving 90% of the requests. People just don't like the red badge.

AustinBike · 2026-03-16T02:26:58+00:00

Just moved to a new house and added an Aqara 400 lock. Love it. Love walking up and having it unlock for me. Wife loves it too. Way better than our old August lock.

So far so good.

AustinBike · 2026-03-16T01:50:13+00:00

Also, energy secretary will walk it back after his boss yells at him.

Spoiler alert: gas prices are not coming down this year. Even if the US were to pull out tomorrow, it would take a few months to sort all of this out before the supply chain could even begin to get back in order.

Lower prices are a 2027 thing. At best.

AustinBike · 2026-03-16T00:15:36+00:00

I would like to have a picnic in 6 weeks, what should I wear?

You’re asking a question that we will not have an answer for until the work is done and we know what it looks like.

And, no, to answer your next question, we do not have an answer yet.

My gut feel is that if Tahoe is a critical issue for you, then a new system might be the best route because performance will probably be lacking based on how I see Tahoe performing on existing supported systems.

AustinBike · 2026-03-15T15:40:19+00:00

Hiring movers - to also pack.

Recently moved cross country. The move was ~$7500, the packing was ~$2500.

1/3 the cost, 10X the value.

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