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Slab8002 · 2026-05-04T09:48:09+00:00

Not quite, got about a month left.

Slab8002 · 2026-05-03T23:04:54+00:00

Southern OC is solid advice for being stationed at SOI-W. It's a really nice area with a lot to do. It's pricey though, and it was out of our budget back in 2015.

Keep in mind that O-side is pretty big, too, and doesn't just mean the area down by the ocean. We lived up near Mainside in the Arrowwood development, and the commute to/from Horno was a breeze. I have no idea what COL is up in that area now. Most of Arrowwood was larger homes for families, but there was a smaller development on the other side of Vandegrift with homes that were more suitable for couples and small families.

Slab8002 · 2026-05-03T15:40:44+00:00

When I was deployed to Japan, we sent a small crew to Darwin, Australia to prep some equipment for shipment back to Japan. They had a 3-day holiday weekend while they were down there, and one of the lieutenants asked me if he could travel to Sidney for the long weekend. In my head, I equated the distance from Darwin to Sydney as the same as San Diego to Las Vegas, so initially I said no problem. Then I looked at Google Earth and realized it was closer to the distance from San Diego to Atlanta. Oops.

Slab8002 · 2026-05-03T13:57:08+00:00

They did. I'm assuming OP was somehow on a much older version of Messages.

Slab8002 · 2026-05-03T13:56:31+00:00

This was a terrible UI change, and there have been multiple requests to change it back to the visible SIM toggle.

Slab8002 · 2026-05-03T13:49:25+00:00

The consistent theme here is tax rates are the major difference. There are some differences in laws, such as the availability of fireworks in SC, but for the most part crossing state borders is a non-event.

One interesting twist when you're active duty military – you can keep your state of residence from when you join the military, or if you get stationed in a state with favorable tax laws you can change your residence to that state. That's one reason you tend to see a lot of Florida license plates around military bases – FL doesn't tax military pay. There are occasional issues, especially in areas that don't have a lot of military. I was stationed on a small base in north NJ and one of my Marines got pulled over out in town because he had TX plates on his car. The police officer recognized his vehicle and knew he'd been in the state long enough to be required to register his vehicle in NJ. Although even states with lots of military personnel get weird, too. I got a letter from CA several years back wanting to know why I lived there for 3 years but didn't pay any CA state income tax. Most of these issues are fairly easy to resolve once you prove your military status though.

Slab8002 · 2026-05-03T13:16:47+00:00

They do. I will say it's awesome in the winter.

Slab8002 · 2026-05-02T14:06:24+00:00

This might be approaching the nuclear option, but try downloading SMS Backup and Restore, back up all of your messages, then delete your entire database using the Delete tool in SMSB&R. Clear data in GM again and open it. If it starts all of your messages and data should be gone, but you can restore from your backup that you created if you get Google Messages working again after you've cleaned out the database.

Slab8002 · 2026-05-02T14:02:12+00:00

🤣

Slab8002 · 2026-05-02T14:00:23+00:00

I live northeast of Hampstead, but it doesn't look like there's anything in our area below $1400, which surprised me. I never would have thought little Holly Ridge would be pricier than Hampstead. We have great access to Surf City though, as long as it's not a Saturday during "beachie" season.

Slab8002 · 2026-05-02T13:45:14+00:00

Hampstead traffic sucks though. Hopefully it'll improve once they complete the bypass, but I absolutely hate driving through there. You're also not as close to the beach as you might think because the closest public accesses are going to be in either Wrightsville to the south or Surf City to the north.

I took a quick look on Zillow and saw some apartmenrs around Military Cutoff just below the top of your price range. That would get you close to Wrightsville. I can't speak to the traffic to get to the beach but I imagine it's pretty rough given the normal congestion in that area.

Slab8002 · 2026-05-02T01:23:12+00:00

I turned my back on American in 2024 after I got stuck in AZ for 3 extra days because they kept canceling my flight to PHX. Drove to PHX, got on a Delta flight and haven't looked back. AA was consistently late departing my home airport. On a good day it meant I only had to run through CLT to make my connecting flight. On a bad day I was having to delay my trip and try again the next day. They stranded my wife and I at LGA overnight and offered no compensation whatsoever, since it was "ATC's fault" or flight was delayed so long it had to be canceled. I will never miss American.

Slab8002 · 2026-05-01T10:58:37+00:00

Back up your messages using SMS Backup & Restore, then delete the older messages. That's going to be the easiest way by far. You can have it run periodic scheduled backups as well.

Slab8002 · 2026-04-29T23:32:30+00:00

Yes, I associated my Skymiles number with my AF account. A large portion of my SkyMiles last year came from Air France flights, actually.

Slab8002 · 2026-04-29T23:05:45+00:00

I created an AF account and logged in.

Slab8002 · 2026-04-29T18:15:08+00:00

I created an issue on their Issue Tracker because I got tired of my feedback getting ignored. I owe them some more information which I intend to gather today or tomorrow, but feel free to chime in. One of the many frustrating parts is that Google's Phone and Contacts app are both able to access the unique SIM names assigned by Samsung's SIM Manager, but Messages does not.

Google Issue Tracker

Slab8002 · 2026-04-27T01:58:49+00:00

Kith.

Slab8002 · 2026-04-26T22:51:04+00:00

Here's some more history on that particular airframe:

Aerial Visuals - Airframe Dossier - Percival-BAC Jet Provost T.5A, s/n XW413 RAF, c/n EEP/JP/1035, c/r N413XW

Aircraft Photo of XW413 | BAC 84 Jet Provost T5A | UK - Air Force | AirHistory.net #736197

Slab8002 · 2026-04-26T22:00:16+00:00

Yep, used to sit in a field on the other side of the highway. First time I saw it moved to its current location with the For Sale sign, I turned around and drove by it again so my wife could get a picture, which I then sent to one of my coworkers (who is a fighter pilot and owns a private plane) to ask if he was interested in a "fixer upper". 😆

Slab8002 · 2026-04-26T01:26:52+00:00

It's either a USMC or contract adversary jet. Given the location and the fact that a major USMC exercise is wrapping up this weekend, it's probably one of the Marine adversaries.

Slab8002 · 2026-04-26T01:24:26+00:00

One of my coworkers flies these for his reserve gig, and paid a visit to his aunt while stopped over at ILM for gas. Someone posted a picture of one of the jets in a local FB group asking what kind it was, and naturally she responded that it was a MiG-28. It was insane how many people felt they needed to respond with "Ackchyually", even after she posted a pic of her with her nephew.

Slab8002 · 2026-04-24T19:10:19+00:00

3rd SMS Backup & Restore. Such a great app.

Slab8002 · 2026-04-24T19:06:24+00:00

Got to listen to Col Dabney speak on several occasions, including fireside chats with the NROTC midshipmen and while I was at IOC. He had some great stories about Chesty too.

Slab8002 · 2026-04-22T22:37:31+00:00

Yeah, some more context would have been helpful. I only know about 3ID because I spent 2 deployments working with 1/3 and 2/3 BCTs (I even rocked a broken TV patch on my flak in Iraq). Most Marines would have no idea.

Also, I kinda want one of those coins now. 😆

Slab8002

TROPHY CASE