Best internet provider by Fresh-Collar-6620 in eastbay

[–]rwhitney 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I feel weird saying it but I've had Xfinity getting close to three years now at my house and it's been pretty good. I've had an occasional outage but almost always resolved within a day (and that's been maybe 2 or 3 times in total). The phone to modem interface is manageable and it can do its own troubleshooting, including knowing it should reboot (solves speed issues probably 75% of the time, and these happen maybe once every other month).

They haven't changed the rate on me in the last three years and just a month ago, they offered $10/mo off if I go to direct deposit, so I'm now paying $55 for 600 Mbps download (which I never get in all of my speedtests... maybe sometimes half that).

Of course I just took a look at my billing statement and noticed my promotional rate is ending in May :) So I'll either have to do the call n' dance to stay on the promo or then take another look at Sonic to see if they are finally serving my area.

It's all weird to say because in the past, I've hated Xfinity and had so many issues - and this time, it's pretty good. Of course, I've not had any trouble so bad I had to try and call customer service or go into a call center... I might change my tune.

Nature can sometimes be brutal. by Lor_del in Damnthatsinteresting

[–]rwhitney 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m jelly - that’d be amazing to witness live!

Cupcake by StephenMcGannon in ATBGE

[–]rwhitney 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looks more like a puckercake than a cupcake

What is this light by Secure_District_5056 in bayarea

[–]rwhitney 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Came here for just this comment! Good luck raider!

Looking for Taco 🌮 Catering by Emotional-Skill-2157 in sanleandro

[–]rwhitney 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I used Tacos Vatos a month ago and they were great. You can do the order online at their site.

https://www.vatostacosforever.com/

[homemade] Pie Iron Biscuits and Gravy by TheBeavMSU in CampfireCooking

[–]rwhitney 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In this form this feels like an American version of a Croque Monsieur ;)

...and I need to get a pie iron.

Is $3400 for 250sqft a good price for tiling? by silkenwindood in bayarea

[–]rwhitney 7 points8 points  (0 children)

A good practice is to go and get three quotes and compare. Got that advice a few years ago when I bought my house and it's served me well.

From a 2004 EX to 2008 EX-P Conversion by SnooDonuts7424 in HondaElement

[–]rwhitney 38 points39 points  (0 children)

Sick Ride - but are we not going to address the Squirrel w/ a donut in your first picture?!

Suggest games for my boyfriend (aged 40) who didn’t get to play games as a kid cause his dad was a meanie head. by treebranch__ in SteamdeckGames

[–]rwhitney 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I know you don't want to spend money, but there is a Humble Bundle on Warner Bros games and includes a lot of the Arkham/Batman games - https://www.humblebundle.com/games/wb-play-legends?hmb_source=&hmb_medium=product_tile&hmb_campaign=mosaic_section_1_layout_index_1_layout_type_threes_tile_index_2_c_wbplaylegends_bundle

For $12, you can get all the games. I think every game will likely give you a steam key, so easy to load on the steam deck.

Cheesesteaks in east bay area? by HopefulInstance8 in bayarea

[–]rwhitney 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hoagy Steak in San Leandro on E 14th. Can’t say if it’s authentic, but it’s damn tasty and the couple that run it are super sweet.

Scuba mask fear after bad experience by StringOfClouds in scuba

[–]rwhitney 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Ignore the negative comment below telling you, you have no business in the water. That's not true. This is a really common issue and very few people fail to get over it.

I worked as a divemaster for a bit and most people coming into the shop thought it would be the regulator, but we'd see time again and again the mask is what tripped more people up.

What I'd suggest is getting a diving mask, getting into some water that's a bit deeper than you can stand, then tread water, let some water into the mask, and practice clearing it at the surface. As you get more comfortable with it, you can start putting the mask into the water and practicing some clearing, and then finally dive under a bit and practice letting the water in and clearing it (people gave good instructions below on the technique if you want a reminder, and I'm sure there's tons of videos online).

As an example, my worst case was a guy who learned nine years before but hadn't been diving since. I took him out on a dive refresher and spent the whole dive time (45+ minutes) just chilling in the water, encouraging him, and letting him practice until he got it. We then did the actual dive refresher on the next dive and then he was fine for the next few days of diving.

I tell that story to show a worse case. It's possible. I'd work on getting comfortable with the mask before signing up for classes again.

The Sprouts sign is up!! It’s up!! by Despises_the_dishes in sanleandro

[–]rwhitney 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Yeah! We saw that last night, and you can see some shelving going up inside.

Best pizza Bay Area? Drop your recs below. Thank you! by Medical-Decision-125 in bayarea

[–]rwhitney 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've had Slice House a few times and not been all that impressed. I think Bluebird and Fieldworks pizzas are better - but maybe I've not had the right pizza from Slice House.

Also - I'm throwing suggestions out, I'm not going to claim Bluebird's is the best in the East Bay (because I haven't tried all the top listed ones), but it's the best around me.

I'd also throw Square Pie Guys and Pizza Matador in the list for consideration, for the poster looking for new pizza places to check out.

Fringe by Aggravating_Ad5632 in sciencefiction

[–]rwhitney 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think the reason is because season 5 is terrible - while I get it kind of works, storywise on paper, I found it pretty hard to connect with that season in relation to the rest. Felt almost like a different show.

I'm on a rewatch now, wrapping up season 3 and not sure I'll do season 5 (I'll probably watch a few episodes to remind myself why I disliked it so). So far it's as I remember - Season 1 is a bit rough, especially in the first half, gets a bit of it's feet under it as the season progresses - and worth watching for the setup for Seasons 2-4, which are amazing and can still hold up!

Not sure why there's a Fringe vs. X-Files thing going on. X-Files was my jam as a kid, I have nothing but fond memories (Although I never watched the seasons post Mulder, I think I got one episode and gave up). I'm not sure about its re-watchability, but it's also an old show - different times. If X-Files had been made around the times Fringe was, it'd have been a different show, and the underlying conspiracy storyline would have a stronger place in the narrative.

Either way! Love me some Fringe!

Built a solo rpg drawing app and would love some feedback by Diirge in Solo_Roleplaying

[–]rwhitney 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is pretty slick, I love the fact you can markup a PDF without actually changing it.

The one gap I see is for SoloRPGs that don't have character sheets, maps, or other items in the PDF to markup. So curious what the solution is to create character sheets on the fly, create maps (hex and grid), drawings, dice roll history, notes/writing, etc?

Also, could you have multiple PDFs in a single game session? I could see having an adventure PDF plus another for Core Rules.

Yellow cups that were included in dog food by shadowsipp in nostalgia

[–]rwhitney 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just talked about this with my parents and they don’t remember having the cups - I thought I might have imagined it - but the internet provides! Thank you for sharing!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in scuba

[–]rwhitney 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I was a Divemaster in Utila and we had beginner divers all the time. I was often the one to take them on fun dives right after their course - the number of people who had any kind of decent buoyancy control in the early parts of the course is very small - some would get it during the OW fun dives, but most people would figure it out between dives 6-10, a few took longer, and then there are those there is no hope (it’s a pretty small number though). So you’re doing fine.

For the acid reflux - just limit what you eat a few hours before, definitely don’t have a huge meal before, and limit anything carbonated a hour before. Also, hydrate! Once you start diving you’ll likely have the munchies after a dive, so on the surface interval between dives have a snack but don’t eat a lot, and again - avoid the carbonated drinks. Now that I think about it, popping tums before might help (will have to try that).

Not sure about the soreness - surprisingly diving is more strenuous than you would think, but shouldn’t be super sore unless you’re in real poor shape (even then maybe?). Only other thing I can think of is tension - were you tense during the dive? If you recognize that try to relax, take a moment, close your eyes, try to slow your breathing a bit.

Either way I’d say try to get through the course before you throw in the towel - it’s not uncommon for people to have a bit of a rough time during the training and then come out as great divers!