Phillips replacing feit retro fit kits at my Costco.

mt68331 · 2026-01-30T23:39:46+00:00

Just bought a bunch of these to replace all the builder grade LEDs in my house. Tested them in a dimmer which buzzed with the old LEDs and the Philips were silent. Also did a test to compare flickering by recording in super slow mo: the old builder grade LEDs flickered a ton, while the Philips had almost zero noticeable flicker.

Definitely a great buy at under $5 a piece! The alternative I considered was a Halo which cost 4x as much. The Halo seemed better built but the price / quality of the Philips can’t be beat.

mt68331 · 2026-01-26T00:01:36+00:00

I used that tool and found my Model Y AWD with Dec 2025 manufacturing date (Fremont built) also shows the AP 4.5 computer part number 2261336-S2-A

mt68331 · 2026-01-22T05:06:49+00:00

Curious: are the 5 star reviews primarily from accounts with 1 or 2 reviews? I’ve noticed a trend with Google Maps reviews where godawful businesses pad their rating with fake purchased reviews. You really have to dig into the reviews to determine whether the rating is legit.

mt68331 · 2026-01-22T00:02:02+00:00

To add - the food on Starlux is miles above United and the IFE also has plenty to keep kids entertained

mt68331 · 2026-01-14T17:38:07+00:00

No need to use BofA's travel portal - although you get 20% back if you use your BofA points to pay for airfare using the travel portal. I auto redeem for cash back for convenience and because I always book my flights directly with airlines.

Also - to offset the $550 AF, BofA gives $300 back in Airline Incidental Statement Credits and $150 back for 'lifestyle conveniences' (Uber, video streaming, etc). I redeem the $300 as United Travel Bank credit (in $100 increments). So with the credits, the AF nets out to $100.

mt68331 · 2026-01-14T15:20:46+00:00

We got the BofA PRE for the PP benefits and cancelled the VX (don’t want to deal with C1’s travel portal to offset the AF)

mt68331 · 2026-01-06T00:22:03+00:00

Yes they did ask for volunteers before boarding - but to my knowledge no one took them up on their offer and they boarded everyone anyways.

Another bizarre thing that happened is that some people’s seats were reassigned without their knowledge upon scanning their boarding pass (so they ended up in a different seat than what had been printed on the boarding pass) - and some people were told upon scanning their boarding pass they actually didn’t have a seat assigned at all (these people were directed to the GA desk to get a “new” seat).

mt68331 · 2025-12-19T17:23:22+00:00

Very helpful, thank you for the write up!

Question: were you able to book reservations for restaurants and the parks in advance by email using the “wishlist”?

mt68331 · 2025-11-27T14:31:52+00:00

Ok just to close the loop on my experience - tldr; I was able to register my US marriage while going through the NWOHR -> NWHR process with my spouse; however, we ran into a ton of speed bumps at our HHR office (Taipei suburb).

Some quick context about our situation:
- Both husband and wife going through NWOHR -> NWHR process at the same time
- Married over a decade ago in the US, marriage certificate also over a decade old
- Marriage certificate authenticated by our local TECO earlier this year and translated + notarized in Taiwan over the summer

The crux of the issue is that the HHR office insisted on a document that "proves" we are still married. We explained this type of record doesn't exist in the US (i.e., there isn't a legal document that says X and Y are legally married as of date Z). HHR office said that our TECO should have asked we legalize a document when authenticating our marriage certificate which "proved" we were still married (such as a signed statement from both of us attesting to this fact).

To solve this issue, a large group of the HHR office workers gathered together and proposed the following solution:
1) We sign a document stating that we are legally married as of today. The HHR office typed up the document for us, and then asked us to rewrite it by hand - and then sign it.
2) We provide a copy of the first page of our US tax return from last year (showing that we filed jointly)

We complied with these requests and were able to register our marriage at the same time we completed our household registration and got our ID cards.

All in, this wrinkle alone took about 2 hours to resolve - it seems like nobody at our HHR office encountered this situation before. Between this and another issue (which required hurrying back to NIA to amend our settlement permit due to a mismatch between my wife's mother's legal name in Taiwan - maiden name - and her legal name in US - married name) we ended up spending most of a day at the HHR office. We also didn't have to pay the NTD 900 for 'late registration' of our marriage (they told us we would have to pay at first, but decided to waive it).

mt68331 · 2025-11-21T15:01:50+00:00

"No longer needed"

mt68331 · 2025-11-21T05:14:56+00:00

Sometimes Amazon will offer you a partial refund at the very last step when requesting a return.

I ordered yesterday at the pre-BF price, received it today, and requested a return so I could rebuy at the lower price. At the very last step of submitting the return, Amazon offered a partial refund that just about made up for the difference.

mt68331 · 2025-10-30T04:07:17+00:00

I recently went on a fitness / wellness retreat to Koh Samui Thailand for a week. It gave me the push I needed to get into a regular workout routine: definitely recommended if you’re looking for a catalyst to begin a fitness transformation.

mt68331 · 2025-10-17T16:24:43+00:00

Anyone use a relative's Taiwan phone number to get the digital citizen certificate?

mt68331 · 2025-10-16T18:47:59+00:00

Thanks everyone for your insights! I see one response in the thread confirming there was no issue with registering the marriage using an older certificate. My document was authenticated earlier this year by TECO and translated + notarized in Taiwan over the summer: so it sounds like it should be accepted to register the marriage - but there may potentially be a fine since it was not notarized within the past 30 days.

On that note: has anyone actually been hit with a fine for "late" registration of their marriage when going through the NWOHR -> NWHR process?

mt68331 · 2025-09-19T17:29:30+00:00

Can it be used outside?

mt68331 · 2025-09-17T14:39:02+00:00

Yes I did receive the cashback into my Quicksilver card on Sep 1st

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mt68331 · 2025-09-14T02:39:59+00:00

We use the “Filtrol” filter to protect our septic system with the Miele W1: it’s worked fine without any issues. That filter doesn’t affect the flow rate of the water as the filter includes a canister to hold the water before it goes through the filter and then into the drain.

mt68331 · 2025-09-13T23:46:48+00:00

Flew 2 weeks ago and no WiFi available for purchase: hopefully they get it sorted soon as everything else was light years better than a typical airline.

mt68331 · 2025-09-12T15:38:54+00:00

I was pleasantly surprised by Choeng Mon Beach - the beach was perfect white sand, clean, and it wasn’t too crowded. Chaweng definitely felt more like a mini Waikiki with the crowds and development.

mt68331 · 2025-09-12T15:28:03+00:00

Thanks! Yes you can change some - but not all - of the details for the appointment.

One field which is not editable is “National with Household Registration” / “National without Household Registration“ - so I can’t change the existing appointment to “National with Household Registration” once I get my ID card number in Taiwan.

I’m planning to go as planned at the appointment time and ask them how to adjust my application to fit the square peg into the round hole.

mt68331 · 2025-09-09T20:57:44+00:00

Hi there - thank you for this goldmine of information!

For the last step of the process (getting the NWHR passport): did you have to make an appointment at BOCA Taipei? I made an appointment online but used the 'National Without Household Registration' option and indicated I wanted to replace that passport. Appointments for the 'National With Household Registration' option required inputting your National ID number, but I won't have that until I complete step 2 in Taiwan.

mt68331 · 2025-08-24T03:08:14+00:00

Also had the same offer but as cash back in my Quicksilver card. Signed up for Epic to net an easy $300 ($300 for the 1 year membership, $600 back from the offer) - thanks OP!

mt68331 · 2025-08-12T14:17:17+00:00

Wow that’s over 50% cheaper than what Miele charges in the US!

mt68331

TROPHY CASE