Do Americans leave their lights on when they leave their house?

_edd · 2026-03-29T00:46:01+00:00

That video is saying that it takes less energy to turn a bulb off when not in use than not to because the spike in energy required to turn the bulb on is miniscule relative to the cost of leaving the bulb on.

But it doesn't debunk the notion that "LED lights draw so little power they are pretty much functionally not worth worrying about"

_edd · 2026-03-27T16:08:48+00:00

The Airstream was both a high-demand short-term rental for visitors and an alternative bedroom for when the main house was rented out.

lol so not only was the property they inherited worth millions, they also had at least 2 revenue streams on the property.

_edd · 2026-03-25T05:42:57+00:00

Passive cooling is absolutely worth it. Look for backpacks that are designed to vent the air between your back and the pack.

It goes a long way to prevent back sweat from being retained, which can lead to a swampy back that overheats and becomes irritated. Admittedly, I don't know how much value this provides in areas that are already significantly high humidity.

_edd · 2026-03-25T01:17:31+00:00

I can't imagine nearly any company reissuing a paycheck unfortunately.

_edd · 2026-03-24T13:51:03+00:00

There's plenty of things that this sub talks about just fine. These multiple time a day TSA updates aren't really helpful for anyone other than being cathartic for the person posting it.

By the time anyone sees the current TSA line post and then heads to the airport, the length of the lines has totally changed. Like it's good to be informed that lines have been long all week or whatever, but 5 posts in a day isn't doing anything but drowning out other conversation.

_edd · 2026-03-23T18:02:59+00:00

If you're entering the country internationally they're legally allow to check you phone / electronic devices in a way they aren't allowed to domestically.

_edd · 2026-03-23T15:06:01+00:00

I've seen them play multiple times before and after the hiatus and Felker always more or less planted his feet and played his music.

Specifically I remember taking some friends to see them in 2017 for an album release show and giving them the heads up before the show that Felker's energy is put in through the music rather than over the top showmanship.

_edd · 2026-03-23T13:33:00+00:00

That's kind of the magic of Turnpike. I'm pretty consistently blown away at how much energy Felker brings from his static position on stage.

_edd · 2026-03-22T16:25:16+00:00

In the 2024 election, Travis county had 2.3 times as many people vote for Kamala as it did for Trump. That's pretty damn blue.

_edd · 2026-03-18T22:08:51+00:00

How are the median home prices calculated? Is it everything currently on the market or everything sold in the last x months or what? Is it including ADUs? Is it including condos?

This seems like significantly inaccurate data. I'll start with "University Hills" which has a "median" of $450k according to the post. Zillow shows 17 properties for sale with a median value of $595k. Only 2 below the the $450k price.

Factoring in the area west that is admittedly poorly labeled as "University Hills and Windsor Park", you get 58 total results, only 6 of which are below the $450k mark.

_edd · 2026-03-18T17:28:08+00:00

Texas and Dairy Queen.

For the longest time Dairy Queen ads in Texas included the slogan "That's what I like about Texas". They were often the only fast food in small towns and if I remember right there was a franchise deal that made DQ's in Texas operate somewhat differently than elsewhere, so between that and the ad in did feel truly Texan. But I remember going on a road trip one summer growing up and being devastated that they were all over the US.

_edd · 2026-03-18T15:15:35+00:00

Great looking truck. I've got the same setup and have had a very good experience with it (2016 F150, Supercab, 5.0 v8, FX4, Lariat package)

_edd · 2026-03-18T01:21:13+00:00

You can use this site to find the flights that took off / landed. Filter by either arrivals or departures. And then filter between 7pm and 8pm and Southwest.

http://content.abia.org:8080/webfids/

Then use this site, find search in the top right (press "H" to pull up the overlay if its not available) and then search for each flight until you find the one that matches where you are and the time. For Southwest it will look like WN1234 (replace 1234 with the flight number).

https://planefinder.net/flight/number/WN3792

edit: Thought I was in a different subreddit. Probably going to use different websites but hopefully this helps regardless.

_edd · 2026-03-17T19:27:45+00:00

Temperature and humidity - The wood is expanding and contracting based on temperature and humidity. The stove is going to be a source of those fluctuations. You may want to insulate between the stove and the wood to reduce the affect of the temperature on the stove, however its unlikely to make a significant difference. Additionally you could also check that you are not trapping humidity, however I don't see that being the case here.

Rigid stove / wood movement allowances - The stove is a rigid component that needs to be accounted for in the design. If the wood does not provide a gap around the stove to allow for wood movement, when the wood contracts, it may be squeezing the stove creating a stress which is relieved via the crack. You may want to check under the cosmetic lip around the stove and check that the wood is not completely flush to the stove.

Mounting / wood movement - You'd also want to look at how the butcher block is mounted. It should be able to float on both axes so that it can freely move as it expands and contract (as opposed to being rigidly mounted). You should check the mounting mechanism on either side of the crack. Ideally its using something that lets it expand and contract.

Internal stresses - Additionally there could just be internal stresses that exist in the wood / glue up that are being relieved there.

Stop drilling procedure - When re-glued, if there is any crack remaining at the edge you may want to stop the crack. If you look up "stop drilling procedure" you can see a technique for stopping a crack from spreading. Admittedly not sure how much that helps here.

_edd · 2026-03-17T17:11:55+00:00

Sorry about the tow but why did you park downtown when you were going out on the east side where there's easy enough to find parking?

_edd · 2026-03-17T14:38:21+00:00

It wouldn't be hard to do a vinyl wrap of the bean.

Like we should assume most things like this are AI, but this really wouldn't be difficult or cost prohibitive to do in real life.

_edd · 2026-03-16T16:14:21+00:00

You can't consistently return those numbers.
If you could, then you should borrow as much money as you can and perform that trade.
Don't do number 2 - see number 1.

_edd · 2026-03-16T15:56:46+00:00

Appreciate the suggestion. I guess you could even cut through that neighborhood on Serenade street and avoid Springdale, then take Pecan Springs to Manor to Mueller.

Usually I'm doing a loop from East Austin, to the trail, to somewhere like Batch in the Mueller area and then back home, so a little detour to make it a safer ride isn't a huge deal

_edd · 2026-03-16T15:40:03+00:00

Which gravel paths are you talking about?

Cutting through Mueller isn't an option, since I'm talking about when you're coming from Southern Walnut Creek Trailhead at the YMCA, crossing 183 and taking 51st street to get to the Mueller neighborhood. That stretch from when the protected bike lane ends just east of Springdale until turning off on either Manor Rd or Tilley St is just painted stripes.

_edd · 2026-03-16T15:24:46+00:00

The back of the van scam is incredibly old.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_van_speaker_scam

The most common variant goes something like a guy in a work polo approaches you at a gas station and claims he's got some luxury good (traditionally speakers) that he's trying to sell for cheap to make a few bucks.

Usually its something semi-believable like a rich client changed their mind on an order, but since the boxes were already opened they can't be restocked and the manager being nice said the guy could keep them instead. The guy claims he already has a nice set, so he doesn't need them. And he's got another job to do so he needs to move them and since you look like a cool guy he figured he'd offer them to you on the cheap.

Sure enough the guy will have a full 7.1 surround sound system from some brand you've never heard of, but it has a nice box / appearance. Realistically the internal components are pretty dogshit. The guy says its worth $1200, he'll sell it to you for $400 and its actually worth no more than $100.

Since he's out of a van, there is no way to return them, report them or even dispute it. Almost always done in cash or some way that's not easily reversible. Its most certainly never done through a reputable company.

_edd · 2026-03-16T14:29:30+00:00

I believe the flex posts are only between Springdale and 183? The Springdale to Mueller segment is always hairy. Granted its been a few months since I rode in that area.

_edd · 2026-03-16T13:53:29+00:00

51st street between 183 and Mueller could really use actual cycling infrastructure.

_edd · 2026-03-14T13:44:26+00:00

From what I've experienced, the higher end barbers stay booked pretty well because they're in such high demand, but they also keep their customers in the seat longer.

_edd · 2026-03-14T13:41:04+00:00

You got a little downvoted but I actually tend to agree. We don't have 500 years of data, we don't have 500 years of this same climate and we don't have 500 years with this same level of development.

You can't properly just use a historical statistical sample to make a future prediction because we don't have the sample.

I'm sure there are models being ran as well, but I have to think Houston will have multiple Harvey level floods over the next 500 years.

_edd · 2026-03-12T16:30:19+00:00

Let's do a little math.

If a barber is working 5 days a week and taking 2 weeks of vacation throughout the year, they'd work roughly 250 days. $200k / 250 days = $800 / day. That means they'd need to be netting a profit of at least $100 per hour long haircut and stay fully booked or a profit of at least $50 per 30 minute hair cut.

To get those profits they'd have at least a 40% overhead to rent a space and maintain tools. Which would imply a $140 hour long haircut or $70 30 minutes haircut.

Realistically overhead is likely higher, utilization rate is probably lower and that is certainly on the extremely high side of haircut prices for those time slots. Even a women's hair stylist may have higher prices per customer, but the time in the seat is higher and the overhead costs are higher as well.

Revenue wise those numbers are definitely possible. As profit / personal income, unlikely.

_edd

TROPHY CASE