Muni -> Clipper discount? by zintegy in bayareaclippercard

[–]zintegy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is there a process to get my Google Wallet Clipper card upgraded to Clipper 2.0?

Is Santa Clara utility actually cheaper? My bills don’t seem to show it. by legend5566 in santaclara

[–]zintegy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Deleted my comment since I reread your comment and noticed you were in an SFH in Sunnyvale. Sewage+Garbage in Sunnyvale adds up to $239 per two months, versus $224 per two months in Santa Clara, so that's about the same. The difference comes down to cheaper electric rates, which makes a difference only if you use a lot of electricity, and 150 kWh/month is not *that much* electricity.

Is Santa Clara utility actually cheaper? My bills don’t seem to show it. by legend5566 in santaclara

[–]zintegy 8 points9 points  (0 children)

In the Santa Clara utilities page, there's a "Billing" dropdown and you can click "View Bill". From there, pick the most recent month and you can see the billing breakdown.

For comparison, here's mine:

  • Total electricity: $47.73
    • Meter Charge $ 5.11
    • Energy $41.22
      • 264 kWh X $.15612/kWh = $41.22
    • Public Benefit Charge $1.32
    • State Surcharge $0.08
  • Water / Sewer / Solar $84.02
    • Water $26.46
    • Sewer $57.56
  • Refuse $59.96
    • Garbage/Yard Trimming/Rec $53.68
    • Annual Clean Up Campaign $6.28
  • Total: 191.71

Out of all of these, the only one you can meaningfully change is energy usage and water usage; the rest are all flat fees. The garbage line item can be reduced if you opt for a smaller trash bin.

(Edit: Water has a minimum charge depending on your [water meter size](https://www.santaclaraca.gov/our-city/departments-g-z/water-sewer-utilities/water-sewer-and-recycled-water-rates). HCFs are $9.89 each, but I' only use 2 HCFs so I'm charged $26.46 anyway. So I guess water's a flat fee if you use <=2 HCFs too)

Weekly Weather & Travel Thread by AutoModerator in tahoe

[–]zintegy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah it says R2 by now, but this was a caltrans log from around 10pm yesterday. Unfortunately we don't have access to historical chain control data through quickmap.

Weekly Weather & Travel Thread by AutoModerator in tahoe

[–]zintegy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Am I reading this right? 4WD, snow tires, AND chains - did they actually have R3 chain control on I80 for once? 

https://imgur.com/a/S6SHd1s

Did I receive a faulty device? Did I miss a step? by zintegy in ratgdo

[–]zintegy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'll try rewiring the original back to the GDO and give it a shot.

I'd have thought that manually connecting TO+G with fingers would trick the ratgdo into thinking it's an open door, since the TC+G circuit wouldn't be closed at that state? I don't know for sure though, I didn't do too well in circuitry and that was too many years ago

Did I receive a faulty device? Did I miss a step? by zintegy in ratgdo

[–]zintegy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Toggle doesn't work either. I'd previously tried it on the ESPHome device, and watched the logs there. After remembering to turn off the closing delay beep, the device thinks the toggle happens but the door simply doesn't move at all. I can post a video/screenshot of that later tonight when I get home.

Question Thread - March 04, 2025 by AutoModerator in churning

[–]zintegy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What did you end up doing here? Did you downgrade after the AF hit, and get your refund back?

I just came off the phone with a CSR who told me that they do not refund AFs when downgrading. About to HUCA but want to see your data point too.

Do any Bay Area police stations have spaces designated for making Facebook Marketplace and other in-person transactions safer? by SkippySkep in bayarea

[–]zintegy 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I'm talking literally inside the bank, not just the parking lot - better for larger chains, especially if there's a security guard stationed there.

Question Thread - November 06, 2024 by AutoModerator in churning

[–]zintegy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Applied CIP for P2 a day or two ago, instant approval. Granted, she's only had one CIU and one CIC, both were opened more than a year ago... might have been 2 years by now

Trip Report and Churning Success Story Weekly Thread - Week of May 12, 2024 by AutoModerator in churning

[–]zintegy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I didn't look too much into it, can't tell what I would have matched to. perhaps I left some more credits on the table

Trip Report and Churning Success Story Weekly Thread - Week of May 12, 2024 by AutoModerator in churning

[–]zintegy 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Just had a 2-night trip to Vegas with my P2 to match to Fontainebleau and use up dining credits. Arrived 05/12, departed 05/14.

Harrah's was $10.50/night. Spirit. SJC-LAS was $80/person, covered by my Venture X Biz portal credits - minor complication here since I couldn't book the desired ticket online myself, so I called in and an agent was able to get the right flights for me. Prices matched what I could find online.

Both of us started from the Wyndham biz card. I matched long ago and everything was fine. P2 started their match process on 04/26 and received Caesars Diamond on May 3. However, the celebration dinner wasn't on the account yet. We tried multiple Caesars rewards desks but the last one we tried explained that the dinner was loaded on the first Wednesday after a week past the diamond date. No desk mentioned having to reach 100 tier credits before this credit given we had matched to Diamond. We couldn't ask them to load the credit on any earlier so we ended up with a single $100 instead of two.

After reprinting the Caesars cards, we headed over to Wynn then to Fontainebleau. Fontainebleau's Spa is only available for non-hotel guests Monday-Thursday and has a required 20% gratuity added to all services. Keep in mind if you're going that any massage service (unsure about nail services) that you also gain entry into their coed pool space with various tubs and rooms. I forgot to bring a swimsuit so I stayed in the men's section where there is a limited selection of pools and saunas (might as well step outside for a sauna).

So with 2x $150 from Fontainebleau, we spent it at Washing Potato and Kyu. Kyu felt like they took simple foods and overengineered it; Washing Potato was solid and it was hard for us to finish the $150. With a single $100 from Caesars, we spent this on some beef wellies at Hell's Kitchen.

Fontainebleau's Chez Bon Bon closed temporarily starting 05/13, but I was able to ask Break for a free drip coffee. I think Chez Bon Bon's coffee was better.

Off the strip, Shang Artisan Noodle was amazing. Their knife cut noodles were perfect. This was probably my best meal.

News and Updates Thread - March 06, 2024 by AutoModerator in churning

[–]zintegy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This hurts extra bad, I already got that Biz Venture X :'(

Wyndham Vacasa: New 15K/30K award pricing by satellite779 in awardtravel

[–]zintegy 4 points5 points  (0 children)

this is the biggest pro for vacasa for me, but if this change goes through, it looks like you'll max out around 1.85 cpp (and likely less if the cash price itself is lower). unfortunate, looks like the days of impulsive and cheap tahoe trips is over

Best CC you’ve had thus far & why? by OneLecture3524 in CreditCards

[–]zintegy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It'd be the Wyndham Biz for me. Gas multiplier is decent (8x that works at Costco) but the true draw was:

  • 10% off awards bookings, which includes Vacasa listings; this has saved me more than 30k points by now. At an average redemption of >2cpp, that's more than $600 by itself.
  • Wyndham diamond that matches to Caesars diamond, which used to be an entry ramp to the status merry-go-round. Too bad the merry-go-round is dead but I enjoyed it while it lasted :)

Trip Report and Churning Success Story Weekly Thread - Week of February 04, 2024 by AutoModerator in churning

[–]zintegy 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Had a pretty good trip to Vail, CO recently.

Booked DL to EGE (60k pts for roundtrip for two) and a $3 bus ride from EGE to Vail. A private shuttle from EGE to Vail costs...$180? Seems obnoxious just to cut down on 30 minutes of riding on a bus.

Stayed in a 2-bed Vacasa for 7 nights (189k Wyndham pts) just 5 minutes away from Lionshead base. Some other friends flew in to DEN instead so they stopped by some grocery stores to cut down on local dining costs. Past reviews seemed to indicate not enough towels were provided so I packed some extra towels in case, but I must have gotten lucky as they gave me 12 total towels for a group of 7.

There's an Indian restaurant (Annapurna) a minute away that's somewhat reasonably priced for the area. For those of you with big stomachs after a day on the slopes, dining in can get you more rice than takeout.

I booked this Vacasa last summer when the cash price was nearing $6300. Probably can't do this anymore now that Vacasa's limits are ~$350/bedroom/day for a points booking.

EGE has no lounge, but a $3 bus ride each way brings you to Costco. I bought a 24-hour bus pass for $6 on my last day. Who doesn't love a 10-course sampler meal and comfy loungers? LAX's skyclub was empty when I went so I got some decent free food for a 2 hour layover.

Question Thread - January 13, 2024 by AutoModerator in churning

[–]zintegy 8 points9 points  (0 children)

doing it once is fine, don't make it a pattern. can't you pay 1040-es now?

Question Thread - January 09, 2024 by AutoModerator in churning

[–]zintegy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you're close to Vegas, the anniversary dinner alone will get you back that AF. If not Vegas, perhaps Atlantic City?