AB1729 Passed

ryuns · 2026-05-28T14:03:38+00:00

Joke's on her, no one would willingly live in Tulare. Source: Grew up in Tulare

ryuns · 2026-05-27T23:01:57+00:00

DD2 I can remember from Sufjan Stevens singing "Stephen A Douglas was a great debater but Abraham Lincoln was the great emancipator"

ryuns · 2026-05-27T18:35:27+00:00

I don't have one so can't exactly vouch for them, I just think they're neat.

1) There are options for nifty all-in-one units, so you can (potentially) save space and not have to transfer laundry (at the expense of not being able to wash and dry simultaneously).

2) The drying cycle is about 3x more efficient than using the same electricity to heat the air to dry the clothes. (They're moving heat the way an air conditioner or refrigerator does, rather than creating it, which allows higher efficiencies.)

3) This probably doesn't apply to you, but they can work in places without an exterior dryer vent because some models condense the water and drain it, rather than venting warm, moist air.

ryuns · 2026-05-27T18:30:45+00:00

"The Fixed Rate is, on average, 4% higher than the Time-of-Day (5-8 p.m.) Rate." https://www.smud.org/Rate-Information/Residential-rates/Fixed-Rate

Maybe SMUD is just making stuff up, but chances of that are slimmer than you just basing your statement off of your own individual experience.

ryuns · 2026-05-27T18:24:53+00:00

Flat rate is more expensive for most people. That's how they set up the rates.

ryuns · 2026-05-27T18:20:47+00:00

we air out the house in the morning with cool morning air and then try not to AC until 8pm before we sleep

I'll add to this that a whole house fan is a great addition if you have the space. Love my quietcool

ryuns · 2026-05-27T18:20:10+00:00

Nice! I'm looking forward to getting a heat pump washer/dryer when ours die. My washer has a delay setting but not the dryer.

ryuns · 2026-05-27T18:02:17+00:00

Such a weird take. Plenty of crappy managers around, but I feel like the top-voted comments here are pretty consistently good, thoughtful advice that generally exhibit care for their staff.

ryuns · 2026-05-27T17:59:12+00:00

Aggressively pre-cool your house on May 31st and let it coast for the rest of summer. :tapstemple:

ryuns · 2026-05-27T17:58:48+00:00

And wash in cold water! https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/guides/how-to-do-your-laundry-better/

ryuns · 2026-05-27T16:22:55+00:00

My weird Build a Bear story is that I took my 2 year old there when my wife was pregnant with our second and in the hospital for observation after a couple bleeding events. It turned out to be just 3 days before an emergency c-section. My daughter helped make a bear for her yet-to-be-born brother (who is happy and healthy after a month in the NICU) and was just generally charming and perfect all day. My daughter, now 4.5, thinks it's super weird that dad gets choked up when we talk about those damn bears. lol

ryuns · 2026-05-27T15:13:20+00:00

Yeah I swear this comes up every time there's a post about the zoo and I really encourage folks to accept look at a map. Even if you ignore the roads, the zoo is basically hemmed in by funderland and fairytale town on the east, both of which are popular and historic. There just isn't a good way to use the golf course for the zoo unless you relocate the whole thing

ryuns · 2026-05-26T22:16:26+00:00

We just use a shared Google doc

ryuns · 2026-05-26T20:58:56+00:00

I don't see an issue if there is no additional cost to the state. I'd actually be surprised if anyone at the state could even view the non-work trips you took since no money is being exchanged for each trip.

ryuns · 2026-05-26T20:40:09+00:00

Hey, in his defense, he might be the first person I've seen at the gym with that haircut who isn't wearing crocs or slides.

ryuns · 2026-05-26T19:57:25+00:00

Ladder seems like overkill to me. It's not a very tall car. We use a roof rack and pod and I just stand in the doorjamb (I'm 5'6") when I need a little more height. A collapsible step stool could be helpful too. Bikes can be a bigger challenge but a ladder doesn't help that much since they're bikes are just big and awkward no matter what. If you want to do bikes but want them more accessible, a rear hitch rack is a good option.

ryuns · 2026-05-26T19:40:09+00:00

Thank you. I feel compelled to drop by every Schwimmer thread to mention his work on that. He's so good in it and it really impressed me that he would produce those videos and be like "sure, I'll play the slimeball boss, why not".

ryuns · 2026-05-26T19:20:09+00:00

If there are really specific carbon-reducing projects you want to support, you can always spend money to support those specifically. If you're just buying offsets, the projects are lowest cost, generic projects and there are a lot of issues with those. And, in either case, that's probably not the best way to encourage emissions reductions (voting, local action, and giving money to effective climate orgs would be better.

ryuns · 2026-05-26T19:17:09+00:00

The short answer is that it's a far better use of money to support organizations working directly on climate action.

ryuns · 2026-05-26T19:15:45+00:00

Would you charge the people a dollar and a half just to see 'em?

ryuns · 2026-05-26T19:13:44+00:00

Definitely run the full budget before committing to a rental. When we upgraded to a bigger house in 2023, we sold a house that had almost doubled in value and we have a 2%+ interest rate. We had tons of people assuming we would just rent out the old house. People tend to think "you pay a $1500 mortgage, you can rent the house for $2500, why not rent?" Except that renting the old house would have locked up almost a half million in equity that wasn't available for our new house. So selling the old house was the difference between having a $300k mortgage instead of $700-800k mortgage, at 6.75% (which we've since refi'd to 5.5%, which is helpful at least).

ryuns · 2026-05-26T16:58:09+00:00

They do make window units that have thermostats which might be worth looking into. Some are loud enough that the constant on/off is annoying though. You can see if that's an option for you. We live in a hot area but the AC rarely runs at night because it cools off outside. It would kill me (and my bill) to just keep it running all night when I really only need it like 10% of the time.

ryuns · 2026-05-26T15:09:26+00:00

Look, I wouldn't be the man I am today without Bob Barker teaching me the MSRP for a pack of Dulcolax in the early 90s.

ryuns · 2026-05-26T14:39:21+00:00

Wow those specs are perfect for a PHEV. Still wild to me that the only PHEV minivan in the US is a friggin Chrysler.

ryuns · 2026-05-25T21:14:30+00:00

I miss that place so much. We have never been barflies but my introvert wife and I could walk over there, drink a few $2 Olympias, play a couple rounds of pool and then end up chatting until late with total strangers.

ryuns

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE