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Orale

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Posts posted by Orale

  1. I've joined the club (suck it never-covids!). I flew late last week. I mask in terminal and until the filtration system kicks on around take off. But who knows. I woke up with a mild cold and light cough this morning. Took the test just in case and sure enough. It sucks because I'm still on that trip and now I'll be isolating in a hotel room all week (with some masked walks in nearby parks). After a round of DayQuil and Vitamin C I feel pretty good. I'm vaxxed/boosted so I'm glad for that. Hopefully I don't get the up and down recovery some experienced. Onward!

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  2. On 6/18/2022 at 9:47 AM, Homercles said:

    Yeah didn’t mean given on outbound, but many countries expect you to have the other half of that customs form they stamp when you arrive.  That’s what I was wondering about.  

    I went to Mexico City a couple months ago and was given that torn off piece of paper. When I flew out there was no immigration check. Just went through security like any airport in the U.S. without anyone checking my passport. Weird. 

  3. I can't understand why municipalities don't just go all in on either fully allowing them or outright banning them. Aren't zoning codes supposed to be about building rights rather than restrictions? Why are Texas cities allowing STRs to operate in residential neighborhoods? That's what is happening in Dallas right now. Years ago our city attorney basically said that STRs are not residential or hotels and can't be regulated. They still ask the operators to pay HOT but most are calling the city's bluff. The council just needs to say "zoning for SFH doesn't allow short term rentals so cease and desist that behavior immediately" but they're dragging their heels. One council member even says that restricting STRs is racist (no CR plz).
    Also I don't buy the BS that most STR operators are mom and pop. That's definitely not the case in Dallas
    They passed a law here in Oahu three years ago cutting the STRs from 12,000 on the island to about 1,800 with the bulk of those near Waikiki and resort areas. The idea was to increase housing stock for LTRs. Not sure if it's achieved that. They just passed a new law increasing the minimum rental period from 30 days to 90 days.

    If you can swing it, Hawaii is a sweet spot to invest in real estate as appreciation is pretty much guaranteed, there's always renters, and property taxes are less than half a percent.

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  4. Kind of Mexico City related.  Thinking about making a trip to Cabo or Puerto Vallarta,  but flying out of San Antonio on a Mexican carrier which has a change of plane at Mexico City.   How is the transfer process at the Airport from an international to domestic flight?   The fares are fairly good right now vs US based airlines, but thinking is it worth the headache if connecting is mess.  
    I can't speak to the actual transfer process, but I flew out of Mexico City weekend before last and that airport is a mess. Poor confusing signage, staff without answers, and a generally unpleasant ambience less the ability to buy and consume beer from the little stores. All that's to say that a transfer may be perfectly easy, but I'd leave plenty of time in between flights just in case it's not.

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  5. I didn't mind it so much, but I sure was glad I had an automatic when dealing with super narrow roads with two way traffic.  Just a little too much to worry about, shifting opposite hand and all.
    This. I was doing a semester abroad in Paris and did a week trip driving around Ireland on Fall break in November 2007. I rented a small standard car, but the kind lady there said I could have their automatic small car at no additional cost.

    Bless her for that kindness because the roads are often very narrow and there are tons of round abouts. As others have said, driving on the wrong side of the road is unusual enough. Don't add driving stick backwards to it. I ended up having to pay to replace the hubcaps because I scraped the shit out of them on the narrow roads.

    If your schedule is flexible, going in November was really nice because there was not a single tourist bus the entire trip. I had most of the popular sights to myself and still with all the scenic beauty of the fall leaves everywhere. It was sometimes balls cold, but not uncomfortably so. I suspect there will still be a lot of crowds in September and still fairly warm. At the very least I'd suggest mid October. But you really can't go wrong whenever you go. Enjoy!

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  6. I've been wanting to do an Asia trip having done Japan, Vietnam, and Cambodia a while back. I was thinking Thailand but thought covid might make it dicey. How long would be a good amount of time? Any recommendations appreciated. I've been thinking of a two week trip from Honolulu so it would be a 9 or 10 hour direct flight. 

  7. Still catching up on this thread but about to pull the trigger on the JW in Guanacaste in June. Only reason I’m hesitating is the rainy season. Any concerns here? I can handle late day rain but not 24/7 rain.
    I have family that lives near Tamarindo. I visited in the rainy season and the rains could be intense but usually of short duration then bright clear skies. I wouldn't let it deter you.

    Renting a 4x4 is highly recommended though to access rural beaches and other remote and mountainous places. The roads are pretty rough in many places.

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  8. Did those who recently went have to do a covid test within a day of returning? Any other covid related issues coming/going and in country? I'd like go for a long weekend leaving Wednesday from SA. 

  9. 16 minutes ago, gmr548 said:

    Just scanning Wikipedia, there are six other 80+ senators (excluding one retiring member) and 16 75+ by my count.

    Unfortunately this will be a somewhat regular occurrence in the coming years as these folks hang on too long.

    Unfortunately? 

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  10. You're either very very rich. Or you have roommates. Or you unethically take advantage of having a spouse who earns below a certain amount (think school teachers) and get affordable rental prices from that. 
    For families, yeah you keep moving further out. When I first moved to Oakland about 10 years ago it was already seen as an outpost for people escaping SF. Then a few years later it's to some of the communities around Oakland, south of Berkeley, north of Berkeley etc. I have a co-worker that bought an "affordable" home in freaking El Sabronte. The commute down to Cupertino for her is nuts. 
    We visited some friends who bought a house in Oakland 15 years back for $600k. I remember thinking back then that was crazy. Ha!

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  11. I consider myself pretty well traveled. From my anecdotal experience, Prague and Sydney had the most numerous beautiful women and bodies than any other cities that I've traveled to. Prague is number 1 in my book.
     
    Buenos Aires.

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  12. We each only take one guess a year, so $5 over 12 years is $60.
    It gets exciting when the ice starts to go around your time.  Like I said my wife missed it by 2 minutes one year.  Very intense.
    John Oliver show did a bit on this last night.

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  13. 7 hours ago, Cement said:

    I'm so glad I didn't get my kids vaccinated and I feel just awful for you parents who ignorantly listened to the CDC. 

    Anybody defending or listening to the CDC at this point is being willfully ignorant.

    But disinfomation from Joe Rogan is the problem, right?

     

    Wat?

  14. I went around Christmas and stayed in Lahaina Airbnb. That was a fun town. There is an app you can buy that tells you about Hawaiian and Maui history as you reach certain points along the Road to Hana. It was really interesting and made the winding drive more interesting.

    Sunrise at the volcano was really cool. You'll need to reserve your spot if I remember correctly. We did a sunset cruise from Lahaina that was fun. There are lots of companies doing them so just look for one with good reviews. We had a couple hours to kill when we landed before our rental was open and had lunch at Maui Brewing Company that was enjoyable if you're a beer person.

    I didn't notice anything being closed due to Covid and that was when Omicron was going strong.

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