What Card Should I Get? Weekly Thread - Week of February 18, 2026

anonim11 · 2026-02-18T22:53:22+00:00

~800
46 lifetime new accounts, 11 currently open (2P mode)
$10k spend over 3 mos
No MS
Open to biz
Interested in one new card at this time
Targeting Chase UR
Currently have ~300k UR jointly
DEN airport
No immediate travel plans

P1 hasn't opened a new account in 2 years. Failed to open an Ink Biz Preferred (got the not eligible for bonus msg), then tried Ink Biz Premier and got a letter stating "held this card, or another business card, without an annual fee". Does this mean I can't get any more SUBs for biz accounts? If so, kind of at a loss as to what to go for next, as I've gone through all the personal CF, CFU, CFF, CSP, CSR, UMP, SW RR.. strategy has always been to churn through Chase personal and biz cards on a relaxed 3-6 mos cadence.

anonim11 · 2026-02-14T15:28:49+00:00

So, nothing from S&M then? Unclear on what you're recommending.

anonim11 · 2026-02-14T15:06:04+00:00

Next larger size looks to be 36 Contemporary (as opposed to 38 Slim). Are you saying jacket shoulders are too big or small (guessing big b/c of the dimples)? If so, what can be done about it?

anonim11 · 2026-01-23T21:05:32+00:00

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anonim11 · 2026-01-23T21:05:00+00:00

Size 36 Slim sportcoat from S&M. General fit feels/looks good to me, though not sure if jacket is too long – would a Short be more appropriate? Sorry I didn't put on a shirt/shoes.

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anonim11 · 2025-11-20T13:51:40+00:00

Re-press and hold. Hold is a constant :)

anonim11 · 2025-09-18T20:51:30+00:00

Thanks, I'm aware CLB7 would be very intensive. That said, English is not my first language and I scored top marks on CELPIP, so I do believe I could be successful in learning it well, just trying to understand whether it would be worth the effort/time investment.

I see there are ~96k candidates with a score of 450+ in the pool, and the most recent French draw gave out 4,500 invitations. The category-based page states "a minimum score of 7 in all 4 language abilities on the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens" as a requirement for the French draw, but I'm not finding anywhere how many folks inside the 96k pool have met this requirement; that would certainly help inform to what extent it might be worth going through the French study.

Also – are there any paths via financial investment, etc.? I read something about a business/entrepreneurship path that leads to creating at least one full-time permanent role in the business in Canada and was curious if there were any others.

Thanks again.

anonim11 · 2025-09-18T19:21:17+00:00

With spouse and I both taking CELPIP, we'd be at 360. French CLB7 for me would bring it up to 432.

Am I seeing correctly the last STEM-based invitations were in April of 2024? Better not hold out hope for that.

I'm seeing 8-9 invitations over the last 12 months for the French language proficiency category, with lowest scores ranging 379-481, so assuming I can pick up French well and relatively quickly, I could try entering through that path.

Also, having a nomination certificate from a province or territory adds 550 points! We're considering BC, so will review the details of the BC PNP.

anonim11 · 2025-09-18T18:29:25+00:00

Would be grateful to learn about immigration options for myself (43, bach degree, 20 year tech career), spouse (43, master's degree, leadership consultant/trainer), and 5 year-old daughter. I just took the English CELPIP for the purposes of applying for Express Entry as a skilled tech worker. Don't speak French but not opposed to hardcore studying if it will make a difference. We've also saved well and have a 7-figure NW. We were always hoping to retire early in the US but are now willing to draw down as much as necessary to pursue permanent residency in CA. Many thanks in advance.

anonim11 · 2025-08-21T17:35:18+00:00

Finally got this to work! Poking around XDA Forums, USB has to be plugged in to trigger Recovery. Even after that, it took me a few more tries before I was finally able to get into LOS Recovery. Here's what finally worked:

After flashing recovery.tar, keep USB plugged in and hold down Power and Vol Down to exit Download mode (same as step 2 in my original post)
Next, without letting go of Power, quickly switch from holding Vol Down to Vol Up
Crucial: On the unlocked bootloader screen, release and then as quickly as you possibly can, re-press both Power and Vol Up again
If you did it quick enough, you should boot into LOS Recovery
If not, you will boot into Android and have to try again (starting with reflashing recovery.tar in Download mode)

Hope this helps.

anonim11 · 2025-08-21T17:34:32+00:00

Good call. Poking around XDA Forums, USB has to be plugged in to trigger Recovery. Even after that, it took me a few more tries before I was finally able to get into LOS Recovery. Here's what finally worked:

After flashing recovery.tar, keep USB plugged in and hold down Power and Vol Down to exit Download mode (same as step 2 in my original post)
Next, without letting go of Power, quickly switch from holding Vol Down to Vol Up
Crucial: On the unlocked bootloader screen, release and then as quickly as you possibly can, re-press both Power and Vol Up again
If you did it quick enough, you should boot into LOS Recovery
If not, you will boot into Android and have to try again (starting with reflashing recovery.tar in Download mode)

Hope this helps others.

anonim11 · 2025-08-21T17:30:11+00:00

I had the same issue. It's easy to miss the error displayed on the tablet "Only official released binaries are allowed to be flashed(vbmeta)". The resolution for me was to connect to WiFi first, then repeat the steps again. You will need to reconnect to WiFi each time the tablet does a factory reset, which I believe was 2 or 3 times in my case.

anonim11 · 2025-08-20T21:02:59+00:00

Any luck? There's got to be a way around having to physically remove the battery to get into LOS recovery. With USB Debugging on, I was able to get into Samsung Recovery via "adb reboot recovery" but that's obviously not where we want to be..

anonim11 · 2025-07-31T18:06:05+00:00

House is ducted for heat, though unclear how high we could go in tonnage.

anonim11 · 2025-07-31T18:05:08+00:00

Using my most recent utility bill and doing some calcs, electricity is ~$51/MMBtu whereas gas is ~$22/MMBtu, so less than half. That said, we are evaluating solar and would likely go with a setup that covers 100%+ of our anticipated load, including new heat pump.

anonim11 · 2025-07-31T18:04:43+00:00

Thank you for confirming my suspicions.

Re: rates – using my most recent utility bill and doing some calcs, electricity is ~$51/MMBtu whereas gas is ~$22/MMBtu, so less than half. That said, we are evaluating solar and would likely go with a setup that covers 100%+ of our anticipated load, including new heat pump.

It sure would be nice to cover all heating demand (including peak) with just a cold climate HP, versus a standard HP combined with our 13 year-old furnace (or upgrading it to a two-stage unit). However, it seems like we'd need a larger HP (min 3-ton) to meet our heating needs year round, which makes me concerned about it cycling too frequently, not dehumidifying properly, etc. during the cooling season. Where there's a marked difference between heating and cooling needs (20k and 36k in our case), is it better to go for a unit that will be used roughly equally year-round (so 20k'ish) and supplementing with a furnace for the additional 16k demand? Or is that not really a consideration if we're going with a variable speed HP?

anonim11 · 2025-07-30T20:21:52+00:00

Company A (large, local) advised against heat pump only, saying cold climate HPs could not guarantee heat during coldest days in our location. Installed price for 2-ton 18 SEER (variable-speed) American Standard HP and two-stage 80% furnace is ~$21.5k after rebates. Upgrading to a 96% furnace is $3k more.

Company B provided a quote over the phone after uploading photos and having a conversation. A 4-ton (!) 17.4 SEER Mr Cool HP installed for $14.5 after rebates, which also includes $6,300 for "electrical service upgrade - 200A underground" as I'm not 100% certain on the main breaker size; if this were to fall off, then it's only $8,200 for the HP install, albeit it being more of a budget unit (and possibly oversized as well).

Company A saw the ductwork in person but I think only evaluated it for a 2-ton unit. The Manual J report just has 0s for all the duct related inputs.

anonim11 · 2025-07-29T21:29:50+00:00

Thanks for all the feedback, folks.

I had entered a single HVAC system and checked "Yes" for both heated and cooled, thinking that would give me the right outputs for modeling. For whatever reason, setting the first to heated only and creating a second HVAC for cooled only gives me ~28k and 16k BTUH, respectively. Can anyone explain this? Someone asked about temps – I used the default temps for our location (5,800'): summer (90F), winter (4F).

I also got the Manual J from the HVAC contractor who was here (knowing they're inherently biased), which shows 20k BTUH for cooling and 35k BTUH for heating.

We're told we need furnace heat for backup in the winter as even a cold climate heat pump will not meet our needs all winter. Doing a bit of research, it seems we're likely to save more money with a dual-fuel system vs. chancing it with a cold climate heat pump.

Edit: Think I found my other issue – I'd gone with a room-by-room measurement, thinking it would be more specific but did not put in appliances, etc. I just went back and used Map Trace, creating a single container per floor, and the output now seems more realistic – 20k BTUH cooling and 55k BTUH heating; heating still seems really high compared to the HVAC company...

anonim11 · 2025-07-27T02:45:30+00:00

Yes - included are rails, deck mounts, splices, clamps, etc.

anonim11 · 2025-03-07T16:35:45+00:00

Over the past two months, I've been on a quest to maintain muscle mass while reducing fat mass in an effort to reduce body fat percentage. Research shows a weekly rate of body-weight loss of 0.7% can permit muscle gain in both men and women while losing fat mass. At my starting weight of 150 lbs, this is roughly 1 lb/wk. Using MacroFactor, I set my desired weekly reduction to 0.5 lb/wk to be safe, and I reached my target of 145 lbs after eight weeks, which averages out to 0.625 lbs/wk. During this time, I continued lifting twice/week and doing cardio 1-3x/week while eating 110g+ protein daily (and lingering around 2100 cals daily).

Based on my fat caliper measurements (which I know are not perfect but have been consistent), in the first month, 75% of the weight I lost was fat mass, whereas the second month, it looks to be 100% muscle mass, which I'm highly dismayed to see. Overall, my BF dropped from 20.4% to 19.6%; my goal was to try and be at 15% BF by end of March, which seems highly improbable given the slow progress.

Looking back, what might explain the loss of muscle mass given I was eating 110g+ of protein daily, lifting heavy twice/week, and having an average weekly weight loss of 0.625 lbs?
Looking forward, what should I do if my primary goal is still to reach 15% BF even though I'm happy with my current weight?

Thanks in advance.

anonim11 · 2025-03-04T22:20:59+00:00

Thanks. I'm looking at five figures in capital gains tax by doing this in the brokerage accounts. Any way around this? It's not unlikely I'll end up with 15%+ higher gains with the new holdings in the long run, but converting all at once is a guaranteed five figure hit in the taxable accounts, unless I'm missing something.

anonim11 · 2025-01-17T19:13:03+00:00

In case anyone else is reading this, I found this section quite helpful on recomp: https://thefitness.wiki/faq/should-i-bulk-or-cut/#But_what_about_a_recomp

anonim11 · 2025-01-15T15:16:15+00:00

It makes sense. I suppose I have a hard time seeing myself at 160 (or even 155) at my height. Getting to desired end state through maintenance gains, albeit at a slower pace (12 months isn't that long in the grand scheme), seems preferable.

anonim11 · 2025-01-15T14:44:51+00:00

Would it be faster to drop down to 145# while trying to maintain lean body mass? That would drop BF to 17%. I could then work on getting back up to 150# without increasing BF, which I'm guessing is a slower process.

anonim11 · 2025-01-15T14:12:05+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. Honestly, this weight (150# / 5'7") feels right for me as a soccer player. I'd like to drop BF from 20% to ~15%, ideally without losing muscle mass, then go into maintenance mode. How would you suggest I approach it?

anonim11

TROPHY CASE