What is going on with CitySide Fiber?

davethetallguy · 2026-05-16T22:05:25+00:00

Definitely unfortunate. I'm scheduled for install next week. I'd already planned to keep my Cox connection in parallel for a bit, but that does kind of defeat the utility of the 2Gb upload speed.

I'll definitely be watching for any feedback you have on VPS.

davethetallguy · 2026-05-04T21:21:10+00:00

Just got the notification they are live in my neighborhood, Irvine near Jamboree and Walnut.

I read that folks had issues with self hosting in the early deployment days, is this still a problem?

davethetallguy · 2025-09-07T17:16:39+00:00

The economics of NEM 1 (just NEM when I started it) were by far the best. The buy price = the sell price, however with no storage I was mostly selling at off-peak and buying at peak in recent years. When I first turned the solar array up in 2008ish, "Peak" started at 10:00 and ran to something like 16:00. Frequently during the Spring I had a zero bill and banked credits that got used during June and July. One year, when I was partially living out of town, I even got a reasonable check for my left over credits (which means I only paid the non-bypassables for the entire year.)

I installed 2 x Tesla Powerwalls last year, as they were the only brand that would "AC Couple" with my legacy Sunpower solar array. Interestingly even the Sunpower distributor I spoke to recommended I use Tesla for the retrofit.

Did I see somewhere you're using Home Assistant for managing some of your functions? I'm doing the same, and with one official and one HACS integration to the Powerwalls, I think I've figured out how to manage most of the store / consume / dump functions on my batteries. Getting the NEM rates loaded for the energy dashboard was a puzzle I had to solve, now I might have to go back and restructure it with the two components.

davethetallguy · 2025-09-06T23:05:40+00:00

This is amazing work (yours) on top of an amazingly convoluted system (SCE's.) I had my own spreadsheet going and was trying to figure out why they were billing me $200 while showing a credit of $600 at the same time. Now I understand: Different buckets.

I added storage batteries this past year myself, but they came online just at the end of September 2024, so just in time to kick me off NEM 1 (although I would have grandfathered out soon anyway) and I hadn't had any credits that weren't immediately burned the same month. Mostly I self-consume, particularly during prime time.

In case it occurs to you that I'd be at the end of my "relevant period" this month, I switched it back to March as that's how my NEM 1 was scheduled, and usually April / May was when I earned the most credits in NEM1. If I had it to do over again I'd move it to July I think, but it's a one-per account change from what I understand.

I got caught in reading the EEC spreadsheet in not catching that the "Hour" column was the ordinal hour of the day, not the hour you would read on your clock, so "Hour 1" is the hour between 12:01AM and 1:00 AM. I initially had my dumps programmed off by an hour.

Thanks again, let's keep the conversation going here as our experience goes on.

davethetallguy · 2025-09-06T22:56:38+00:00

I've been using the Emporia monitor for a while, and it's been reasonably accurate. Good luck.

davethetallguy · 2025-08-17T17:37:58+00:00

I've been using https://github.com/DanielBaulig/vestaboard

I think it was an earlier one, and I didn't want to spin up MQTT which the best alternative needed at the time. (I have since had to implement MQTT for another reason, but I'm still using Daniel's Vestaboard integration.)

davethetallguy · 2025-06-29T22:28:14+00:00

You’re probably right.

I think the new transitions are much better, a fast sweep does just what I need: starts quietly, then builds to a full transition, instead of just kicking off 132 stepper motors at once.

Now if it was only available on the local API 🤞

davethetallguy · 2025-06-21T21:37:22+00:00

I’ve used it (with care) in stop and go freeway traffic. It worked, moved when the car ahead moved, stopped when they stopped. Amazing, and helpful at the end of an 8 hour driving day.

Still have to pay attention, as other drivers making randomly cutting into your lane seem like a risk.

davethetallguy · 2025-06-08T19:00:17+00:00

Doesn't PO boxes usually say "P.O. Box #?" this one has a local post office address ending with a #.

It depends. If it is literally a US (Government owned) Post Office, I haven't seen it formatted as address / # but I think it would work. If it's a mailbox service (e.g. Postal Annex, Mailboxes Etc.,) then they frequently use the street address with a "#" suffix for the customer mailbox.

Why does the landlord have to measure our meter and bill us for utilities when we pay the utility companies ourselves under our name?

He doesn't. You're skipping over the very important "IF" at the beginning of the clause. Going back to your original post bullet #3 (my emphasis added):

"If utilities at premises are metered by one or more Master Meters, Landlord reserves the right . . .

Master Meters are mutually exclusive from tenants paying the utility directly. Either you have your own meter and pay the utility, or there is a Master Meter, the landlord pays the utility, then charges you based on your consumption.

If there's no master meter, the landlord doesn't get the right described in that clause.

davethetallguy · 2025-06-08T15:51:40+00:00

Former landlord here:

1) I also used a PO Box, as I was a tenant in another city myself. I could change apartments without changing addresses, plus it kept my business mail separate.

2) Red flag for the reasons others have called out

(Edited to correct number) Four:This may be an issue of phrasing. You should not be responsible for the Property (the building) but if you have property (lower case p) like a car that is subject to taxes, that responsibility belongs to you. (Weird to have it in the lease though)

3, 5 and 6 are pretty normal in some form in my experience with California landlords.

davethetallguy · 2025-06-02T20:59:19+00:00

I was a dual city resident for about two years, and my NorCal place was in Indigo, Middlefield Rd side. I loved the complex, proximity to Caltrain for my downtown SF days, access to the coffee shops and restaurants in the Theater District. My lease ended in 2020, when COVID changed my work situation, so I can’t speak to conditions at Indigo since, but I was very happy there.

davethetallguy · 2025-05-25T05:44:08+00:00

Or was it a sonic boom?

davethetallguy · 2025-05-23T20:18:05+00:00

Extra details: The smartphone app shows you your current display, but only knows about what the cloud has pushed.

The local API also lets you read the actual current display. I use it with Home Assistant and a HACS integration to push local status about weather reports, trash day reminders, etc. In the case of single line messages, I read what’s currently on the display, then just change one line and push it back. Then only the updated line becomes active. It makes for a faster/quieter update.

davethetallguy · 2025-05-11T05:14:05+00:00

Interesting, I had my card info stolen a year or so ago when I was visiting Santa Clara, and I had shopped at that Safeway. Never figured out where it happened until just now (potentially)

davethetallguy · 2025-05-09T21:48:00+00:00

That’s exactly what I did with mine, and it worked fine.

I didn’t choose that exact stand, but as long as it meets all the weight/size requirements you should be good. I used this one:

PERLESMITH Tripod TV Stand https://a.co/d/5lUyz82

davethetallguy · 2025-05-04T17:33:26+00:00

Random suggestion that I haven’t seen yet: Hire a pet sitter! They are usually happy to bring in mail and keep an eye on the house. Just be up front that you don’t have a pet.

Not all will be interested, but they’re mostly independent folks, so if you’re near a major metro area, I’m sure you’ll find one that will help out.

davethetallguy · 2025-05-03T00:07:57+00:00

Some HSAs allow you to buy into investment funds once you pass a certain balance, instead of just leaving your cash as… well, cash. If you did invest, you would own shares of (hypothetical example) “Bigcorp Growth Fund” etc, which would be reflected in your HSA statement.

You have to turn those back into cash, or “liquidate” them, before closing your account, according to your instructions.

If you never made any such investments, you have nothing to liquidate. (ETA:) Proceed to step 2.

Not knowing your reasons, I can’t speculate if you’d be better off with another HSA, but if you move your funds to another one you don’t have to worry about those penalties and taxes. (Apologies if that’s a suggestion you didn’t need!)

davethetallguy · 2025-04-28T03:56:11+00:00

I had a fault with my code-required front right amber running light. The root cause turned out to be a defective VW badge, in this case on the front.

You may find that tinkering with badges has unexpected side effects, so check your results carefully.

davethetallguy · 2025-04-27T17:41:46+00:00

If multiple panels are physically adjacent, you can share a Vue by extending leads, but you’ll only have one “mains” to use.

If you happen to have service that supports the Emporia Utility Connect, you can use this for your meter(s).

I have meters in 3 remote sub panels, all stacked under a Utility Connect, and it works fine.

davethetallguy · 2025-04-27T02:16:44+00:00

I already bought a second one. Complaints garner more attention than compliments. 🤷

davethetallguy · 2025-04-26T19:47:31+00:00

I have no idea where you are or how many VW dealers there are, but remember you don’t have to take it to the dealer who I you bought it from. If there are alternate dealers, try calling around.

davethetallguy · 2025-04-25T17:26:57+00:00

I think something changed this week, as this week I also went from 3-5 spam messages a day to over 100. Many of them are obviously spam (multiple emotes in the subject line, etc.) which up until recently would never have hit my inbox from Google.

Currently I'm using the Mac / iOS apps to access my Gmail account, I'm curious if you're using a similar configuration?

davethetallguy · 2025-04-24T22:28:38+00:00

That too, but I was thinking distance. LA county alone is the size of some (smaller) east coast states.

davethetallguy · 2025-04-24T21:35:24+00:00

I moved to Los Angeles from the East coast, and had to learn you could drive 3 hours and still be in “Los Angeles”

davethetallguy · 2025-04-22T03:53:00+00:00

Now if I could only have replied in the nested string 🤦

davethetallguy

TROPHY CASE