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We lived at Loring AFB from '79-'82. The KC-135s were loud, but the B-52Gs with eight drat turbojets were deafening.
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Aug 29, 2018 14:36
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https://youtu.be/prMGDlbkD2M Whoa so the VTOL Mirage flew in free flight, with transitions and supersonic flight...I had no idea. And you gotta hand it to the French for turning the thing into a fat pig yet it's still beautiful. E: not during the same flight vessbot fucked around with this message at 16:47 on Aug 29, 2018 |
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Aug 29, 2018 15:38
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SeaborneClink posted:Just use an ATM when you arrive. Most bank rates (exchanging at a bank back home) or exchange shops (airport kiosk, your local hotel, exchange shop on street) will give you a worse rate than pulling the money out of an ATM with your bank card. You think an ATM in Europe will give a better exchange rate/fees using a foriegn card versus doing it before hand? Heck I suppose since we're not talking 20,000 here, for 500 or so euro, even if it's a few bucks in fees it's probably not a huge deal. I'll plan to just do it in YVR before I leave and use an ATM in Munich or Nice when I arrive if necessary.
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Aug 29, 2018 16:45
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slidebite posted:You think an ATM in Europe will give a better exchange rate/fees using a foriegn card versus doing it before hand? This has always been my experience, seconding just withdraw cash when you get there from a regular bank ATM (do not use one of the money changing companies ATM's). If a local ATM or merchant "helpfully" offers to let you withdraw or spend in USD, that's usually a crappy option too, pick Euros and let your home US bank do the conversion on their side.
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Aug 29, 2018 16:47
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SeaborneClink posted:Just use an ATM when you arrive. Most bank rates (exchanging at a bank back home) or exchange shops (airport kiosk, your local hotel, exchange shop on street) will give you a worse rate than pulling the money out of an ATM with your bank card. Just talk to your bank.
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Aug 29, 2018 16:47
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Yeah, our best option wound up buying currency from a /different/ bank in town. They had the best rate, lowest fees and they’d buy back extra at the rate we bought from them originally.
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Aug 29, 2018 16:58
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Usually if you call your bank and give them a like a week notice they'll have euros there for you. If it's a big branch in a metro are or near an airport they might have them there already.
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Aug 29, 2018 17:17
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Plinkey posted:Usually if you call your bank and give them a like a week notice they'll have euros there for you. If it's a big branch in a metro are or near an airport they might have them there already. I tried this once, albeit at my credit union, and the person said "you really don't want to do this our rate will be terrible"
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Aug 29, 2018 17:31
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Check to see if your bank is a member of the Global ATM Alliance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_ATM_Alliance Bank of America is and I generally have no issues getting money out fee-free and at a reasonably competitive exchange rate while in Europe and APAC.
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Aug 29, 2018 19:29
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American banks are a bit weird with debit cards... Didn't y'all just get chip&pin not too long ago? But for Canadian cards, most euro bank ATMs (possibly not 3rd party) will work, just look for the Plus logo. But since you're Canadian, your bank will gently caress you with withdrawal fees, so you want to minimize the amount of times you have to use it to get cash out. Get €100 at a time, not €20. Or just use credit card for everything. That's easiest, unless you absolutely need cash for something. Scotiabank has a card that has zero foreign currency transaction fees which is pretty drat good.
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Aug 29, 2018 20:09
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Yeah, I actually have a Home Trust visa which (other than they seem sketchy as gently caress of a bank) there is no foreign exchange fees... which is literally the only reason I have it. Understand with keeping the transactions themselves to a minimum. I just want to make sure I have cash for either small purchases, tipping, places that don't want CC, etc. My main day-day banking is Simplii which is a division of CIBC.
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Aug 29, 2018 20:18
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Speaking of, uh, loud airplanes and minimum altitude restrictions, yesterday was the 30th anniversary of the Ramstein air show disaster. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramstein_air_show_disaster 70 fatalities, hundreds more injured, worst air show incident ever until 2002. There's video online should you want to watch it. I used to be stationed there and wondered why we never had an airshow until I found out about this - they haven't had one there since.
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Aug 29, 2018 20:21
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Finger Prince posted:American banks are a bit weird with debit cards... Didn't y'all just get chip&pin not too long ago? But for Canadian cards, most euro bank ATMs (possibly not 3rd party) will work, just look for the Plus logo. But since you're Canadian, your bank will gently caress you with withdrawal fees, so you want to minimize the amount of times you have to use it to get cash out. Get €100 at a time, not €20. Or just use credit card for everything. That's easiest, unless you absolutely need cash for something. Scotiabank has a card that has zero foreign currency transaction fees which is pretty drat good. No we got the complete joke of Chip & Signature because american banks are worse than that african financial system based on trading prepaid cell minutes
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Aug 29, 2018 21:13
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shame on an IGA posted:No we got the complete joke of Chip & Signature because american banks are worse than that african financial system based on trading prepaid cell minutes Chip and sign is the dumbest loving stupid thing ever and it enrages me to no end. Lemme Apple Pay for this $10 lunch oh what's that I need to sign A loving PAPER RECEIPT WHAT THE poo poo
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Aug 29, 2018 21:34
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What's really funny about chip and signature is that all the major credit card vendors have ditched the signature requirements on all but very expensive purchases.
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Aug 29, 2018 21:38
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slidebite posted:You think an ATM in Europe will give a better exchange rate/fees using a foriegn card versus doing it before hand? Absolutely, I just went through that song and dance, went to Chase (there's one branch in all of SF that does foreign transactions), I don't actually bank with Chase, I have a local CU, but to get £200 Chase wanted $296. I arrived in Frankfurt, went to a local German bank and pulled £200 out of my account and was charged $234+$1.75. I just pulled £200 out of a convenience store ATM in another German city and paid $266+$2.64. I guess as always "It depends" but in both cases that's a MUCH better exchange rate than I would have gotten in the States. SeaborneClink fucked around with this message at 21:56 on Aug 29, 2018 |
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Aug 29, 2018 21:54
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Finger Prince posted:There will be a CIBC or travelex machine that will dispense euros in YVR. I think all the ATMs in the international area give you the option. rates tend to be gnarly on these
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Aug 29, 2018 22:01
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:rates tend to be gnarly on these Yeah travelex is sort of last resort, but afaik CIBC just charges their normal bank rate. Plus $3 for the privelege of using their machine. Plus the $3 your bank charges you for the slight of not using its own machine. Really though the only way to get anything better than what your bank/cc exchange rate is is to move the kinds of money that require multiple $9999 transactions to avoid undue attention from the money laundering police.
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Aug 29, 2018 22:17
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Finger Prince posted:Yeah travelex is sort of last resort, but afaik CIBC just charges their normal bank rate. Plus $3 for the privelege of using their machine. Plus the $3 your bank charges you for the slight of not using its own machine. Really though the only way to get anything better than what your bank/cc exchange rate is is to move the kinds of money that require multiple $9999 transactions to avoid undue attention from the money laundering police. 2 $9999 transactions will get a far shinier spotlight on you than one $19998 transaction. The banks automatically flag and report that stuff.
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Aug 29, 2018 22:47
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I shopped for banks before I went to Germany, Wells Fargo told me there was no charge beyond their normal conversion fee of 5% or whatever it was and specifically no additional fees for using ATMs, so I went with them, came back to see $350 in fees for having used ATMs abroad. Their response when I showed them the notes I had taken when I had met with one of their bankers was that I should have read the fine print and gently caress me for trusting their bankers, which in retrospect wasn't bad advice
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Aug 30, 2018 00:53
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If you do this a lot the Charles Schwab investor checking account is very good and has no fees other than the requirement to have a zero balance brokerage account with them.
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Aug 30, 2018 03:02
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Yeah, I think I'll just get it at a German (or French when we get to Nice) ATM. Other question: Burner prepaid SIM cards easy peasy to find in Euro airports?
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Aug 30, 2018 03:06
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slidebite posted:Yeah, I think I'll just get it at a German (or French when we get to Nice) ATM. How burner are you talking? You can buy prepaid SIMs in every airport and train station, but you'll have to show a passport in some countries.
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Aug 30, 2018 03:12
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slidebite posted:Yeah, I think I'll just get it at a German (or French when we get to Nice) ATM. Aren't most cell services pretty cheap in the EU now? I just used my google fi and only had like $15 in extra charges for some odd areas (scotland and ireland).
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Aug 30, 2018 03:24
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hannibal posted:Speaking of, uh, loud airplanes and minimum altitude restrictions, yesterday was the 30th anniversary of the Ramstein air show disaster. I think I saw their last successful show. :/ I definitely saw them that season.
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Aug 30, 2018 04:03
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slidebite posted:Yeah, I think I'll just get it at a German (or French when we get to Nice) ATM. Germany seemed like much more of an rear end-pain to find a SIM in than other countries like Spain or the Netherlands -- you had to show a passport and register it with an address (on a German-only website) and all that horseshit. Netherlands was by far the easiest, followed by Spain -- you had to show a passport again, but they took care of everything else for you.
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Aug 30, 2018 04:20
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Italy sells you unlimited data and like million minutes, including minutes to US, for 29$ prepaid, if you are there. From WIND.IT. My plan is like 19€ monthly for that same.
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Aug 30, 2018 11:37
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Lemme switch this one around and recount my experience in visiting my sister in the US: Get prepaid SIM from T-Mo, pay everything with Mastercard on a +2% conversion fee. No hassle.
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Aug 30, 2018 13:46
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I experienced something neat that I've never really come across before. I was out in a wetland just off the approach to Faro and about 1 minute or so after a jet passed overhead there would be this higher pitched "invisible rocket/jet" sound that whooshed past, like someone was firing bottle rockets around. At first I couldn't figure out what it was, then I realized it was the sound of the wingtip vortices/wake turbulence making landfall and hitting the water and reeds. Once or twice one even kicked up a little water spout. Pretty cool!
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Aug 30, 2018 16:30
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Finger Prince posted:I experienced something neat that I've never really come across before. I was out in a wetland just off the approach to Faro and about 1 minute or so after a jet passed overhead there would be this higher pitched "invisible rocket/jet" sound that whooshed past, like someone was firing bottle rockets around. At first I couldn't figure out what it was, then I realized it was the sound of the wingtip vortices/wake turbulence making landfall and hitting the water and reeds. Once or twice one even kicked up a little water spout. Pretty cool! Wow, that's really cool. I bet you could hunt for those and film them.
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Aug 30, 2018 16:35
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hannibal posted:Speaking of, uh, loud airplanes and minimum altitude restrictions, yesterday was the 30th anniversary of the Ramstein air show disaster. A friend of mine, two-and-a-half years out of high school, was enlisted and stationed at Ramstein. He was on the cleanup crew. It scarred him.
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Aug 30, 2018 20:40
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Aug 31, 2018 02:43
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That rules.
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Aug 31, 2018 02:51
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Probably the best up-close video I've seen of one of these, and  to see one with a digital cockpit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAsjobzvH8k
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Aug 31, 2018 03:28
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I forgot I could post this poo poo now. Hispano Buchon (dressed as a ME109) flyover while working on Dunkirk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZPSJ4dtnZ0 Mk1 Spitfire landing on the beach in Dunkirk with the A-Star camera helicopter next to it. I didnt take this clip so excuse the extra long slow-mo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJWWyAyAgpo And a giant RC model of a bomber (I forget what one) taking off being flown by a RC pilot in the helicopter, this took some practice to get right. Caution volume at the start. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI5n76-2yQo D C fucked around with this message at 18:25 on Aug 31, 2018 |
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Aug 31, 2018 18:14
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D C posted:I forgot I could post this poo poo now. Is A-star a company or does the name mean something specific (aside from 'this honkey can film'.) Also having seen the model work that the CBC did when making that Arrow miniseries, I think it is a smart way to do old-timey airplanes
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Aug 31, 2018 23:29
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A-Star is the North American marketing name for the Eurocopter AS350.
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Aug 31, 2018 23:33
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Nebakenezzer posted:Is A-star a company or does the name mean something specific (aside from 'this honkey can film'.) A-Star as in the Aérospatiale/Eurocopter AS350 Écureuil, Im not sure if A-Star is just what the call them in the states or if its everyone outside of French speaking countries that refer to them as the Écureuil (Squirrel). The twin engine AS355 is refereed to as a Twin-Star. Pretty much the worldwide standard for filming.   
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Aug 31, 2018 23:38
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We call them AStars in Canada, I know. Maybe not in Quebec, though? I'm not sure.
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Sep 1, 2018 01:32
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PT6A posted:We call them AStars in Canada, I know. Maybe not in Quebec, though? I'm not sure. Probably “etoile-As”  D C post the Hardy-est pics u got!!
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Sep 1, 2018 04:40
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