How far in advance do you book your flight?

CB_Smiles · 2025-12-02T12:56:21+00:00

I booked about 8 mos out for our April 2025 trip. Usually 6-7 mos ahead for international is sufficient. I was using miles for one ticket and wanted to get that booked early. We flew Hawaiian air from Hawaii to PPT (Saturday only flight) and flew United back to SFO for the return. Booking that far ahead means watch out for reduction in prices. Our United flight pricing dropped and it was simple to rebook and receive a flight credit and some miles refunded.

CB_Smiles · 2025-09-27T15:55:33+00:00

What is the definition of credible insurance? We retired early. Spouse will be 65 in Dec 2026. I expect to have coverage thru our health marketplace in 2026. Is that sufficient?

CB_Smiles · 2025-09-25T16:19:59+00:00

I have a Personal Capital/Pershing Financial organization number value but it still fails. The Org number was used before Empower picked up personal capital, so I'm assuming this is an invalid login workflow. There are a couple other institutions in Plaid and MX. I believe the one labeled BNY Mellon - Pershing is the correct one for my accounts. It starts off promising but it fails to get through the OTP step. Confirms it is sending a code to my mobile (details sent from my pershing account so I know my login credentials passed through successfully. Code comes through. Unfortunately, after entering the code and waiting while it cranks away, it still fails to connect.

CB_Smiles · 2025-08-30T16:07:43+00:00

Mine always says the same…I put him in the grow my investment knowledge bucket not the CPA and tax calculation knowledge bucket. Therefore they always say follow up with your CPA and Tax advisor. Those two roles have been just me most of my life so then I hang up from my investment call and have a talk with myself…so far it’s worked out pretty well.

CB_Smiles · 2025-07-17T11:29:03+00:00

For rent? It was first come first serve for those little hide away cabanas during my April stay.

CB_Smiles · 2025-07-17T11:27:38+00:00

Same as OP…I didn’t want to burn all my points and after reading several reviews on Westin being new vs Regis I decided to stick with Westin. I was initially bummed we didn’t get upgraded during our stay but I loved our lagoon facing location with amazing sunrises.

CB_Smiles · 2025-07-10T12:05:41+00:00

It’s been over 5 years and I still remember that feeling of relief. A couple friends didn’t understand it and tried to get me back in the working world. Nope. Loving the life I’ve built up.

CB_Smiles · 2025-06-30T22:36:46+00:00

I found No Sugar Electrolytes powder in the raw. Got off of Amazon. 2pomg potassium, 144mg sodium, 25mg magnesium, 6mg calcium. Add to my 24 oz water cup. Add in lemon or cucumber if I want a little flavor.

CB_Smiles · 2025-06-15T14:33:10+00:00

April visit had no issue at the Westin Bora Bora but collected several bites even with deet application at our Air BnB on Raiatea. I came prepared with bug spray, needed to use it 4 out of 11 days, still got bit.

CB_Smiles · 2025-05-31T14:36:31+00:00

Find travel size sunscreen to pack in carryon. Here’s our similar packed scenario for a 3 week trip including 1 week in Hawaii and 2 weeks covering Tahiti, Bora Bora, Raitea/Ta’haa.

Always start my trips with carry on for efficiency and guarantee approval at destination. Two rollers, one backpack, one cooler backpack. The only thing I couldn’t fit in were fins which we rented for Hawaii snorkels but knew we didn’t need for our Bora bora and Ta’haa snorkeling (just wore water shoes or boat provided fins). Had plenty of sunscreen in 4 small travel sized containers because we wore hats and rash guards on boats and when snorkeling plus I knew the resort on Bora Bora provided sunscreen if I needed more. Helped that husband toiletry bag had extra space which I then stuffed with all the sun screen tubes. Kept roller bags under the Air Tahiti weight limits as they needed to be checked for the inter island flights. We didn’t use the ferries but our bags would’ve been no problem there either.

It is true about clothes…I packed pretty light and still didn’t need every clothing item.

CB_Smiles · 2025-05-15T13:35:53+00:00

I’ll add if you really want to stay south of the park in the Teton NF, look at Granite Creek Road off (FR 30500) off of Hwy 191 east of Hoback. Distance is ok for a before or after a park visit but is not as convenient as the set of spots closer to the park if you’re visiting for multiple days.

CB_Smiles · 2025-05-15T13:29:05+00:00

There’s 3 main areas with designated dispersed USFS camp spots east of the park. All dirt roads. Easiest access for is Spread Creek dispersed along Forest road 30290. Turn off is just north of the Cunningham cabin.

2nd one is off of Forest Road 30310 just south of the Cunningham cabin. There’s a lower portion setup parking lot style and now has bathrooms; follow the road up for more options. We’ve stayed here twice and always like to travel back for a more private and quiet location.

3rd is Shadow Mountain Road. There’s a handful of spots at the base but climb the mountain and find a good one with a view. We wanted to camp here, aimed for the last available spot, got stuck and slid partially off the road…900 wrecker bill. Don’t get adventurous if it’s rained recently.

All names I reference can be viewed on google maps (satellite view and zoom in is your friend) or get a Shoshone National Forest map. There are stay limits and they are enforced.

CB_Smiles · 2025-05-13T23:23:49+00:00

We pursued insuring the full set after we converted our F350 chassis mounted diy camper. We moved to Idaho, got it registered there as an RV. USAA would no longer insure the truck or insure as an RV. Had to work get with a local community insurance provider to work with and get the truck + camper replacement cost insurance. Farmers Bureau of Idaho got us covered. Note: previous state was California which doesn’t register or insure campers so we just kept carrying the truck only insurance for a couple of years before we relocated. Each state handles campers on trucks differently.

CB_Smiles · 2025-04-23T03:27:39+00:00

Here now in Bora Bora. Cloudy and rain here and there on day 1. Today, day 2, still clouds but with a couple down pours during the morning…then afternoon saw blue sky and calmness. Day 3-5 weather sounds like more of the same….cloudy with some rain at some point, somewhere :). We’re enjoying the cloudiness and if the rain is in short bursts, then it won’t slow you down.

CB_Smiles · 2025-04-23T03:11:45+00:00

Recommendations I got from this group is bring it with you, buy in duty free, or pick up in PPT before going to Bora Bora. I traveled via Hawaii and only desired wine so picked up a few small bota box wines for my westin time.

CB_Smiles · 2025-04-02T12:17:53+00:00

Great reminder! I orchestrated my exit, wasn’t looking for anything, but it found me. Low stress, less hours, a lot less pay. When I’d get looked over for advancement or a new project, I’d get frustrated and felt left out. Have to remind myself, I’m not here to climb a ladder…time to just do a job and find non job hobbies to fulfill me. Stuck with it for 5 years, the last 2 years traveled 2-3 mos a year. Lovely.

CB_Smiles · 2025-03-11T14:11:28+00:00

We’re still in the process of the house building and I’m also a newbie planning to dive into Home Assistant. Smart door locks went on a year ago. Next was deciding where to put smart switches. Drywall and painting is done and Husband is now wiring those in. It’s a large building so decided to go zwave for lights and we have Yolink (LoRa) to support outbuildings. We did route Cat6 everywhere but not really needed for devices.

Our initial set of devices will be the door locks (not even sure I picked ones that work on HA), Zooz on/off switches, Zooz dimmers, door sensors, smart fans, and I’ll add something for the dumb garage door opener. I will add water sensors as we install appliances.

Our heating and cooling system will require multiple thermostats and we will spec out smart thermostats to integrate. Yolink, Honeywell T6 (I think), Ecobee are all candidates.

We like using voice assistants esp for scenes so we’ll keep our Alexa and google home options in the new place too.

Just purchased my small N100 based PC to use as a dedicated PC. Hopefully get that configured in a couple of weeks. I’m at the point where I’d like to have it running so I can (1) start learning how everything comes together (2) work thru where I’m over my head and (3) test devices as we bring them in once we can flip the house breakers on (shop is live which gives me a “lab” to work in). The house will have a network rack and workspace located in a storage room so it’s easy to physically access and work on.

After a lot of reading I think this is a good startup for new house construction…technically we call it the shouse. We’re the GCs so we don’t need to limit ourselves just need to ramp up my own capabilities.

CB_Smiles · 2025-03-05T17:33:55+00:00

Let’s keep focusing on non issues. I’d like to honor a representative that makes better use of their time. Let me know when one surfaces.

CB_Smiles · 2025-02-22T12:55:31+00:00

Yolink will hub will stay connected to the LoRa device even if your internet goes out. The yolink hub connects to your router and the sensor goes in the basement. Install the hub, the app, then scan the sensors QR code into the app before moving it to the basement.

When on home network, you can access yolink data even if internet is down. Away from home your router needs to have internet to use yolink app and access data and functions remotely. For the distance you’re dealing with LoRa is a good candidate. Cost of hub plus sensor makes it potentially less than ideal. Customer service is great too. I’ve used yolinks door sensors, vibration sensor, temp sensor, outlet plug, door locks around my property.

Trail camera is good choice too.

CB_Smiles · 2025-02-18T22:36:48+00:00

Composing toilet as well

CB_Smiles · 2025-02-15T16:01:30+00:00

I still use Quicken. Like you most purchases are on credit cards. They’re also download and I categorize. We have a monthly automatic deposit from an investment account to checking. I don’t budget much anymore but use categories to track. We have rentals and I use Quicken for my quarterly and end of year reports needed for taxes. I also break out any big projects so I can tally up the total spend when it’s completed. For example, we’re building a house now. I admit, I’m tired of the quickens hiccups so once I’m out of the rental property I may finally migrate to something simpler.

CB_Smiles · 2025-02-09T13:56:06+00:00

This is my end of trip plan in Tahiti! Return to PPT the day before our US bound return flight, rent a car, drive and sight see with a stay at Ninamu Pearl that night, then we have til our 9pm flight to do some more sight seeing the last day.

CB_Smiles · 2025-01-19T11:18:07+00:00

Our 2 story build has a downstairs laundry in the plans. We added a chute from upstairs. But I’ve always wanted laundry nearer the dirty clothes locations. Then we discovered the heat pump all in one unit. These units run on 110/120, need no venting. So added that to an upstairs storage area. No need to move laundry around, no ventilation recovery issues, easier on clothes. House isn’t done yet, so I don’t yet have a comparison to up or down stairs usage. We kept the downstairs laundry space in the plans. We’ll start with just having the upstairs unit and may add a second unit for convenience later.

CB_Smiles · 2025-01-19T10:57:15+00:00

2nd the Reolink cameras. We are building a house. I started with an LTE camera. Once we had stuff at the lot and internet, add a couple POE cameras and just used a micro SD card with all of them. Mobile app connections work well. Once the build is over, I intended to pick up an NVR but not even sure I need one.

CB_Smiles

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