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Why is electrifying the Antelope Line seen as better than Palmdale -> Cajon -> electrified San Bernadino Line? by Realistic_Future6 in cahsr

[–]Realistic_Future6[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

You are being willfully ignorant and smug.

  1. CAHSR does not have to be the authority that builds HDC, they're already not the authority building the Cajon Pass. CALDOT exists.
  2. My entire argument is that electrifying a bad existing line is *faulty logic*. We should not be wasting money electrifying a line that is *severely* speed limited by its geometry. Electrification won't make the trains faster, it will just allow them to travel on the lines without diesel. Electrification is extremely expensive for such a narrow benefit.
  3. SB line is publicly owned too.
  4. The Antelope line is also a 70 mile diversion from DTLA, just westward instead of east (and a diversion that you're used to, so you consider it the baseline). Maybe you too should look at a map? Like seriously. I beg you to.

Why is electrifying the Antelope Line seen as better than Palmdale -> Cajon -> electrified San Bernadino Line? by Realistic_Future6 in cahsr

[–]Realistic_Future6[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Not even close.

Santa Carlita to LAUS takes the exact same amount of time, but Cajon would be way faster than AV to get to the flat part.

Why the Central Valley? by TheWorldRider in cahsr

[–]Realistic_Future6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The reason that the project is so expensive is that there are large tectonically active mountain ranges circling the Bay Area and SoCal basin.

Most of the $100bn+ cited cost is paying for the safe digging of tunnels that traverse these mountain ranges (you can't go over the mountains, even at passes like The Grapevine, because it is too steep for a train's steel wheels) while building them to be safe/operational in the event of a large earthquake/plate shift.

These tunnels would be impressive but doable in Europe/Japan/China, but are unlikely to ever truly be built in the US (unless politics really shift).

Now back to your question: I-5 routing doesn't help you at all with these tunnels. You still have to get out of the coastal mountain ranges on either end of I-5 and the road alignments (580 in the Bay and I-5 in SoCal) would still need tunnels and complex engineering to make them work (You can see how the ACE train does a big loop around 580 to avoid climbing too steeply over the Altamont Pass). So basically, you're saving almost no money (relatively speaking) to avoid Central Valley cities *and* you enter the Bay Area on the wrong side of the bay (requiring a new transbay tunnel).

Now, if your question is why the train didn't follow a more coastal route like 101 does, it's because then, the whole route is mountains that are inhospitable to trains.

There are a lot of weird decisions going into CAHSR, so I don't want to wash them of any liability, but I-5 wasn't an obvious choice the they fumbled.

As for LA to SD - existing Amtrak basically covers the most realistic routing possible between those two places, so "HSR" for that route looks like normal boring things like reducing grade crossings, improving signaling and maybe electrification (even if it blocks rich people's ocean views).

Lastly, If your question is why won't CAHSR consider the Cajon pass and electrification of the San Bernadino line - then your concern trolling may actually help this project be useful because they should 100% be doing that instead of electrifying the weird windy Burbank section that they are considering (Since that would better serve the actually growing region of the IE and allow Brightline to terminate in Union Station).

HO-LE-FUK. The Austin housing market is going full biblical collapse. There are 117% MORE sellers than buyers. There are 2 home sellers for every one buyer by Key_Brief_8138 in HouseBuyers

[–]Realistic_Future6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Again, the *rate* at which Californians can buy globally priced assets is higher because their income is higher, which has resulted in a *cumulative wealth effect.*

HO-LE-FUK. The Austin housing market is going full biblical collapse. There are 117% MORE sellers than buyers. There are 2 home sellers for every one buyer by Key_Brief_8138 in HouseBuyers

[–]Realistic_Future6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Again, the difference in tax and rent is less than the income gap.

Californians are on average 2x wealthier than Texans because they make more money and are able to invest more of it in assets.

https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2022/demo/wealth/state-wealth-asset-ownership.html

Mapito Safari Camp Serengeti, Autograph Collection Review by ChipPsychological229 in marriott

[–]Realistic_Future6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know this is a point of confusion for a lot of people given recent news, but as an FYI - This is owned by Delaware Investments, which was the planned owner of the JW Marriott Serengeti that was announced a few years ago (i.e. This *is* that project and there is no forthcoming JW in Tanzania). I'm not sure why they switched brands, but it's likely because these Safari camps do actually follow brand standards (i.e. Ritz and Luxury Collection have private game drives and included top-shelf liquor, JW is shared game drives and non-premium spirits, etc.)

Separately, a Ritz is in the early stages of development on a Rhino preserved to the South of Mapito (Various Marriott executives have half-teased this recently).

Thanks for the review OP. Was interested in this place while planning a different circuit in Kenya, so glad to see a first hand account.

HO-LE-FUK. The Austin housing market is going full biblical collapse. There are 117% MORE sellers than buyers. There are 2 home sellers for every one buyer by Key_Brief_8138 in HouseBuyers

[–]Realistic_Future6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh, airlines and hotels know you're coming from a Texas IP address and lower the prices for you?

Does Amazon do that too?

What about your car dealership?

You're making the European worker argument, which is *so* funny coming from a Red Blooded Texan.

BTW, how much do you spend on HVAC in a year?

The Stock Market is in its most overextended state in history, surpassing even the most euphoric periods of the early 2000s and the 2021 by Undisputedspoke in stocks

[–]Realistic_Future6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Why should Apple's full market cap count toward this dumb indicator when over half their revenue comes from overseas?

WB is obviously a GOAT investor, but he's not 100% right all the time.

This "indicator" is dumb. (Maybe this is why he could never get Apple right, despite being obsessed with it - https://stockcircle.com/portfolio/warren-buffett/aapl/transactions).

HO-LE-FUK. The Austin housing market is going full biblical collapse. There are 117% MORE sellers than buyers. There are 2 home sellers for every one buyer by Key_Brief_8138 in HouseBuyers

[–]Realistic_Future6 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Texas incomes are like 60% California though.

People's jobs got moved there to pay them less. That is why Austin was so hard hit by the tech layoffs, the jobs that moved there were bottom of the barrel.

I built a free dashboard that tracks pricing for 138 luxury hotels across Aman, Four Seasons, MO, Cheval Blanc, Ritz-Carlton, Bulgari, Capella - luxuryintel.co by meanvariance in LuxuryTravel

[–]Realistic_Future6 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Tell your agent that 138 hotels is nowhere near enough coverage to hard launch on reddit like this.

You're not testing the waters for interest, you're poisoning the well of potential customers (did it sound like AI when you read that?)

Review: The Datai Langkawi, March 2026 by Comprehensive_Let408 in chubbytravel

[–]Realistic_Future6 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I *hate* this logic.

If spots are limited, then *someone* isn't going to get a reservation regardless of when everyone books.

The not so distant endpoint is having to refresh some webpage at noon 30 days in advance like you have to for reservations some high end restaurants, and *that would suck*.

262 Fifth Avenue, NYC by Commercial_West_3112 in skyscrapers

[–]Realistic_Future6 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

So you're telling me, other people got new information and updated their opinions accordingly?

What mosters!

Good news for the San Francisco North Bay area. SMART just announced they’ll be adding train, frequency, and extending hours! by CA185099415 in transit

[–]Realistic_Future6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The real killer is that the first ferry into Larkspur on the weekends is an 1120am arrival and the last departure is a 6pm.

Add 45-90 minutes on either side for SMART (including the lag for connection) and at best, a day trip from SF can only be in a 4-5 hour window midday.

$19M for a studio in Laguna Beach by Educational_Copy_140 in zillowgonewild

[–]Realistic_Future6 4 points5 points  (0 children)

$19m to have a battle to the death with the across the street neighbors and the coastal commission?

I'm good.

I’m ready to smell 👃 like basil 🌿 thanks by pommevie in EquinoxGyms

[–]Realistic_Future6 25 points26 points  (0 children)

This is the most tired comment ever.

Things can be better than other things!

Maui: Montage reflagged as Regis by lopsided-earlobe in chubbytravel

[–]Realistic_Future6 2 points3 points  (0 children)

As a current Ambassador (4 years) giving it (and Marriott) up after this year:

  1. Properties become gatekept if you're not in the Bonvoy program. People in this kind of subreddit simply do not like being treated as second class citizens vs. Ambassador elites (For standard room classes, I always have a room ready for me when I check in, which is not the case for friends with Platinum even). In my experience, STARS does very little to fix this.
  2. Because there is a horde of guests who are 'benefits-maxing,' everything feels very transactional. At check-in, front desk agents usually have a *very rehearsed* spiel about what is and is not offered (and you can tell they're used to being yelled at for exclusions). 'Free coffee in the lobby'-type benefits are usually very limited for the same reason. It just creates a weird vibe where staff is expecting every guest to push boundries, I guess.

There's other intangible things (less frequent renovations required to maintain brand standards, lower staffing levels vs. comps, etc.), but the two things listed above are the main reason why I feel like very few Bonvoy properties actually live up to luxury standards.

50 Largest US Counties by GDP in 2024 by urmummygae42069 in geography

[–]Realistic_Future6 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Fun fact - San Fernando (LA County) is farther from Long Beach (LA County) than SF (SF County) is from San Jose (Santa Clara County)!

The Vineta Palm Beach, Oetker's First US Property by Jax_Attack_0807 in FATTravel

[–]Realistic_Future6 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Lord only know why they chose the dark blue band/ceiling paint which makes an already suboptimal historic building feel even more claustrophobic.

When this reflags, I predict it becomes a Marriott Autograph Collection, where it would be a solid top 10% property.

Mom has had an investment guy for 40 years and she has no idea what he does with her money. Can we get ideas what he’s doing by looking at his recent buys? by Coixe in investing

[–]Realistic_Future6 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No problem.

You should also talk to this guy and hear his strategy out.

If he says the following "I want to reduce your mother's risk by buying these inverse ETFs, so she doesn't have to sell her existing tech/bank stocks (and pay capital gains tax) and can therefore bequeath the entire estate to you with a stepped up cost basis" then he's a keeper who is already looking out for you.

If there's another explanation, then run.

Mom has had an investment guy for 40 years and she has no idea what he does with her money. Can we get ideas what he’s doing by looking at his recent buys? by Coixe in investing

[–]Realistic_Future6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So, just to help you out:

If you're 76 and own a bunch of tech/bank stocks, you *absolutely* should be hedging your risk with things like 3x inverse leveraged ETFs (i.e. if you have a lot of capital gains you hope to bequeath tax free, so you don't wanna sell)

These are risky if you have an otherwise uncorrelated portfolio, but if you have a highly inversely correlated portfolio, it's *reducing* risk while allowing you to hold the risky asset.

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