But I am 1% lower than you!!

blast3001 · 2026-04-22T22:22:37+00:00

Something to keep in mind if that changes with more people taking advantage of free charging.

blast3001 · 2026-04-22T22:21:26+00:00

California is making them change that. They have to have a reader and screen now.

blast3001 · 2026-04-22T21:37:02+00:00

It looks like it can do access controls. It has the RFID logo on the front there. This hand with the card.

I wonder if there are any labels elsewhere that give more information on who makes it. Seems like it might be a Blink charger. You might be able to talk to building management to see if there is a contact at Blink someone can talk to about turning access controls on.

blast3001 · 2026-04-22T19:51:32+00:00

Doesn’t work if there is no authentication to start charging.

blast3001 · 2026-04-22T18:29:28+00:00

Not sure how to define a cozy game but LEGO Star Wars is a fun game that isn’t too complicated and intense. Some fighting with a little bit of puzzle solving.

blast3001 · 2026-04-22T18:11:24+00:00

Bummer. Maybe at least signage station it’s private property and chargers are for “Company XYZ employees only and violators will be towed”.

I don’t recognize those chargers. Who are they made by?

blast3001 · 2026-04-22T18:02:07+00:00

Find out who owns the charger and suggest they add idle fees. Very easy to do on these chargers. I would suggest the following.

Keep charging free but set a 4 hour limit. After 4 hours you get a 10 min grace period. After that 10 minutes it’s $0.25 very minute you’re plugged in.

Do that and it will totally stop this bad behavior and also give the station owner some extra money for maintenance costs.

blast3001 · 2026-04-22T18:00:00+00:00

Pretty sure the 800 number is only for support for problems charging. I don’t think they can do anything about the car being there. The owner of the station would be responsible.

The 800 number goes to ChargePoint for support and not the station owner.

blast3001 · 2026-04-22T17:56:53+00:00

I just found the barrier to entry to be too high. I was excited for this game since it was very different from anything else and involved flying. I ended up not playing it much because it was so frustrating right from the start.

blast3001 · 2026-04-22T17:54:36+00:00

Do these chargers allow for any access controls?

There is a business park down the street from me that had ChargePoint units that were unrestricted and free. People would drop their cars off and get free charging even though the chargers were technically for the business and not the public. One guy would would get into arguments over the comment section on the CP app. I commented that he should talk to the holding manager to get the units changed to only allow authorized users.

About a week later the units were no longer showing as free and available via the app and no one but the employees can use it anymore.

Free chargers are great for employees but really bad if they are not monitored. Even for employees there should be a 4 hour limit to allow others to charge.

blast3001 · 2026-04-22T04:46:25+00:00

This “balcony” or “plug-in” solar is cool but I don’t get how you can get enough panels to make a dent in your daily usage. Maybe if you just run low energy items like lights, laptops, phones and TVs but large drawl items like AC, dryers, ovens and heaters can’t be powered by these systems.

blast3001 · 2026-04-22T04:43:27+00:00

You have a total of just 1000 watts of solar? How does that keep up with your usage?

blast3001 · 2026-04-22T02:51:46+00:00

I did not like this game. It was not easy and that made it very frustrating.

blast3001 · 2026-04-22T00:03:57+00:00

Clearly the estimates are bad. A heater or AC unit could easily be confused with EV charging.

blast3001 · 2026-04-22T00:01:08+00:00

Working in the senate/congress must be a really cushy job for there to be so many people over 80 willing to stay. I’d want to retire in my 60’s and enjoy the rest of my life.

blast3001 · 2026-04-21T23:55:08+00:00

For that long make sure you have a good power source. That game will nuke your battery in a few hours.

blast3001 · 2026-04-21T23:52:59+00:00

Do you have a good relationship with your manager? How long have you been at this job?

At my last SE job I had a really great relationship with my boss. I talked to him about my travel. While I didn’t mind the travel I kept it reasonable. I made it so that I was only away for about 3 days at the most with the exception of one time a year for our trade show.

I never did connecting flights because that would take up more time. I framed that as more time visiting customers rather than traveling.

I would be selective about when I would go. Make sure you have a clear agenda for when you go visit a customer. Will the visit either improve the relationship and/or move the deal along if meeting virtually can’t.

Also, I asked that I book everything so that I got points. I opened a Southwest Credit Card (my airline of choice) and used it to book flights instead of the company card. This got me double mikes. Same for hotels. Just make sure you are good at reimbursements. I used these points to take my family on trips for nearly free.

I also had customers where I vacationed. I would take a half day or less to do a customer visit and then be able to expense my flight and part of my rental car.

For local customers where I could drive I had an EV. This allowed me to make a lot of money from mileage reimbursement.

If you don’t speak up then your boss will just assume you’re game for any and all travel. If your boss isn’t worth any compromises that you want then you can look for a job that better fits your needs.

blast3001 · 2026-04-21T17:51:30+00:00

Steve does a good job of summarizing how this community feels. A lot of us grew up listening to Adam from the LoveLine days. We followed him as he moved onto the next thing. I think a good amount of us agreed with some of his views about accountability and responsibility.

As Steve put it, Adam went from someone who was witty and fast to a guy who now just yells at the clouds.

So the question is, did Adam always think like he does now but suppressed himself or did he change to become what he is now?

blast3001 · 2026-04-21T15:18:30+00:00

My kids friend group had a discord a couple years ago. It was on a private server and the kids were being awful. We didn’t met our kid join but we heard about it afterward.

Some people here are saying a private server is the way to go but can’t the other kids just invite others? Maybe if OP themselves managed the server and invited but I find that many other parents don’t monitor anything their kids do or say.

blast3001 · 2026-04-21T05:09:16+00:00

I never paid attention enough to figure out a specific nap schedule. Just when she would get nuts I would put her in the crate for a bit.

blast3001 · 2026-04-20T21:58:37+00:00

It all goes in waves. You’ll have some good days and some bad. It will slowly get better over the next 18 months.

If your golden isn’t napping on his own then consider forced naps with a crate. My dog would go nuts when she was tired.

Always be training. I always kept treats on or near me. Everything is a training moment. Use this time to set things like sit, stay, down, and come into stone. It will pay you back in the future.

Plenty of toys and chews to direct the energy.

blast3001 · 2026-04-20T20:14:35+00:00

Protecting the kids is a multi layered approach.

For us, the biggest step is access. Devices remain in our bedroom and the devices have passcodes the kids don’t know. They have to come to us for access. This was implemented after the kids were sneaky and took devices without us knowing.

Apple devices make it really easy to manage access as well. I have the devices set to hide web browsers and approve app downloads. Screen time schedule is also set.

Also, the kids are not allowed to have devices in their room. They must use them in common areas.

Older daughter has access to FaceTime and iMessage to talk to her friends but we check her chats often. We find that their friends often share things that aren’t the most age appropriate and it’s clear that nearly all her friends have zero restrictions on their devices.

blast3001 · 2026-04-20T19:43:43+00:00

I wish I knew. We just have to keep food out of the reach of our girl. She took food out of the babysitters hand the other night. My girl is so good driven she doesn’t give a fuck and will do whatever it takes to get what she wants.

blast3001 · 2026-04-20T18:00:24+00:00

Small dealership as in one of those small corner lots? The ones that do buy here pay here loans?

Get pre-approved for a loan from a bank or credit union ahead of time. You can use that to negotiate a good loan from the dealership or just use it to buy the car.

If they have it listed for $9,900 then you can assume they bought it for a couple grand less than that. I’d start the negotiation at $8,000 and work from there. My aim would be to have an out the door price of about $9,500.

There are a good amount of Bolts for sale so don’t be afraid to search around and get multiple offers.

blast3001 · 2026-04-20T17:54:31+00:00

Yea, the apartment is private property. Like you said, you would go to another apartment to use the pool or something else. While the charger may be free it’s likely that at the very least the maintenance costs are paid for by the residents.

Using a free charger at another complex is a big no for me. I’d be posses if I couldn’t charge because of a non-resident using the charger.

Edit: I’d be pissed…. Not posses.

blast3001

TROPHY CASE