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We talked to the clerk at probably quarter to 10 and then came back and picked them (with the new stiff plastic cards) up at 11:45am same day. Which annoyed me to no end because then I had to go drive 6 hours back to NC. So they can do fast turn around. I have no idea why the passport office is so consistently garbage at being efficient to the point of everyone having to go in person for expedited bullshit.
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May 24, 2023 18:54
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Hadlock posted:We talked to the clerk at probably quarter to 10 and then came back and picked them (with the new stiff plastic cards) up at 11:45am same day. Which annoyed me to no end because then I had to go drive 6 hours back to NC. So they can do fast turn around. I have no idea why the passport office is so consistently garbage at being efficient to the point of everyone having to go in person for expedited bullshit. Demand is up 30% this year over last year.
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May 24, 2023 19:02
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Has anyone spent more than a week in UAE, like 6 weeks to 3 months? What's that like for westerners. Is the ~12 hour time difference when phoning home to the US HQ as brutal as it seems
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May 24, 2023 21:46
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I spent a week in the UAE and I think my going rate to be there any longer would be in about the 400k/mo range
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May 24, 2023 22:05
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Based on CoL, or that's the number you'd need to ever go back there again?
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May 24, 2023 22:29
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Eleventy billion dollars. Also I don't enjoy the desert that much anymore.
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May 24, 2023 23:06
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Hadlock posted:Based on CoL, or that's the number you'd need to ever go back there again? That’s the number I need to ever go back there again for more than a day or two.
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May 25, 2023 00:14
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NYTimes - My Husband Flies First Class and Puts Me in Coach. Is That Fair?
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May 25, 2023 00:53
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Hadlock posted:Has anyone spent more than a week in UAE, like 6 weeks to 3 months? What's that like for westerners. Is the ~12 hour time difference when phoning home to the US HQ as brutal as it seems I have family doing the expat thing over there (well Qatar but it's not that different). He's not going to be there forever, it is a weird life, but it's not totally unbearable. He also used to be in a small town in the US, so sees it as an improvement in quality of restaurants, museums, cultural events, so that helps. If you're from a major metro it's going to be a downgrade - there are museums, restaurants, etc. but it's all chains/bought stuff, not much legitimately novel or super well done. Your social circle is going to almost entirely be other expats - the Gulf folks are happy to work with foreigners, but often keep socializing to themselves. And if it really is a 12 hour difference (US west coast?) it's annoying, because the best call tone is their 8am your 8pm, but that's not unbearable once a week or whatever. If it's every day that'll be rough.
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May 25, 2023 07:19
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Thomamelas posted:Demand is up 30% this year over last year. Yeah isn’t it something like 500k/week some weeks? Also to agree, the Emirates is brutal for an extended period of time.
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May 25, 2023 16:31
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sellouts posted:Yeah isn’t it something like 500k/week some weeks? Apparently that is the average. There is a ton of pent up vacation demand. Last year the State Department did 22 million passports both new and renewals. And this year they are expecting to blow past that by a few million more. I am grateful that my renewal was in 2017.
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May 25, 2023 17:03
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Thomamelas posted:Apparently that is the average. There is a ton of pent up vacation demand. Last year the State Department did 22 million passports both new and renewals. Twenty two million? In a year? It's too bad a national ID card is such a deeply divisive topic. I always thought if more people traveled internationally we'd end up with less wacko conservatives. Apparently the wacko conservatives have passports too they just don't talk about it
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May 25, 2023 17:41
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They also trialed online renewals (with uploading your own photos) and I’m guessing that didn’t go so great. quote:On March 8, we paused our limited release of the online renewal service, so that we can introduce improvements based on customer feedback. Or maybe it went really great and just exceeded their capacities?
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May 25, 2023 17:51
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Hadlock posted:Twenty two million? In a year? It's too bad a national ID card is such a deeply divisive topic. I always thought if more people traveled internationally we'd end up with less wacko conservatives. Apparently the wacko conservatives have passports too they just don't talk about it 2017 to 2019 averaged about 20 million passports a year. More Americans have passports than most people realize with about 56% of Americans having a valid passport. With the usual demographic spread that you'd expect in the US.
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May 25, 2023 18:04
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Hadlock posted:Twenty two million? In a year? It's too bad a national ID card is such a deeply divisive topic. I always thought if more people traveled internationally we'd end up with less wacko conservatives. Apparently the wacko conservatives have passports too they just don't talk about it lmao I beg you to travel more and get out of the big cities abroad
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May 26, 2023 21:23
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Also those foreign countries have their own wackos.
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May 26, 2023 21:29
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I vaguely recall some guy in central Europe with a funny toothbrush mustache, Heimlich or something
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May 27, 2023 00:46
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Hadlock posted:I vaguely recall some guy in central Europe with a funny toothbrush mustache, Heimlich or something 
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May 27, 2023 01:08
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Jesus christ Graz is a pain in the rear end to get too flightwise it seems, double lol if trying to stay SkyTeam. Flight times just seem to suck in terms of getting something back to SEA -- anyone travel to Austria often enough to have suggestions? Will be coming from Paris and then returning back to Seattle.
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May 27, 2023 01:36
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movax posted:Jesus christ Graz is a pain in the rear end to get too flightwise it seems, double lol if trying to stay SkyTeam. Flight times just seem to suck in terms of getting something back to SEA -- anyone travel to Austria often enough to have suggestions? VIE is your only reasonable option. Driving to Graz is easy from there and the flight schedules will suck less. SZG can also be used if the timings work but I wouldn't count on it.
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May 27, 2023 02:46
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Any tips on flying in and out of Albany
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May 27, 2023 03:25
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Hadlock posted:Any tips on flying in and out of Albany No but I'm sorry you have to go to Albany.
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May 27, 2023 04:07
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Thomamelas posted:2017 to 2019 averaged about 20 million passports a year. More Americans have passports than most people realize with about 56% of Americans having a valid passport. With the usual demographic spread that you'd expect in the US. How is the state department such poo poo at issuing passports then
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May 28, 2023 20:40
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I assume they didn’t get the normal renewal levels in 2020 and 2021 and are still catching up.
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May 28, 2023 21:05
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Hadlock posted:How is the state department such poo poo at issuing passports then Staffing cuts followed by record spike in demand tend to produce this effect. But the backlog has gone from 18 weeks as a worst cast to 13 weeks as a worst case scenario. It was down to 11 but then spring break happened and everyone decided they needed to get their passports at the last minute. For comparison, the worst case was 8 weeks in the before times.
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May 28, 2023 21:39
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I'm finding myself needing to move from SF to Seattle for work in the next few weeks. What is the thread's opinion on best options to find temporary/limited-duration housing? I don’t know if doing an AirBnB or long-stay hotel or whatnot is the better option while I look for permanent housing. I'm assuming there are folks here who have been on limited deployments to other areas/regions for projects or contracts.
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Jun 5, 2023 04:10
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I did a joint in SF for like ten weeks or so and used an outfit called Blueground. Nice corporate short term places without feeling too depressing, but you’ll pay market+ for the convenience. They were great though, when there was a water leak they were on the ball and generally helpful about other things too.
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Jun 5, 2023 04:20
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How temporary? As was pointed out SF has no shortage of furnished short to medium term stuff Getting a good rental in SF is still as competitive as ever, and you're entering peak competitive rental season, good luck. Neighborhoods here vary dramatically block by block so 90 days in a furnished place is a good idea We did an Airbnb in Oakland it was pretty unpleasant. We had pets though and Airbnb that allow pets on short notice are pretty hard to find
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Jun 5, 2023 04:38
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Maybe I'm the one reading it wrong but aren't they saying they're moving to Seattle from SF?
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Jun 5, 2023 04:39
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FreshFeesh posted:move from SF to Seattle Blueground is in Seattle as well as SF so this advice is valid: KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:I did a joint in SF for like ten weeks or so and used an outfit called Blueground. Nice corporate short term places without feeling too depressing, but you’ll pay market+ for the convenience. They were great though, when there was a water leak they were on the ball and generally helpful about other things too.
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Jun 5, 2023 04:50
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FreshFeesh posted:I'm finding myself needing to move from SF to Seattle for work in the next few weeks. What is the thread's opinion on best options to find temporary/limited-duration housing? I don’t know if doing an AirBnB or long-stay hotel or whatnot is the better option while I look for permanent housing. AirBnB is actually great for this—with longer stays there's usually also a monthly discount, but this is dependent on the host listing. You also bypass all the tenancy/rental law BS (deposits, insurance, etc.). Extended stay hotels can also work, but often times they have lovely locations. With longer stays you'll always need things like a kitchen, laundry, etc. but this is dependent on your personal lifestyle
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Jun 5, 2023 04:56
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I did a week at a Sonder-owned apartment in Orlando, it was fine. The main benefit was it was literally across the street from the sold-out hotel that was hosting a convention that I was attending. They appear to have other locations throughout the country.
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Jun 5, 2023 04:57
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Correct, moving to the Seattle area. My thought is to get housing for 1–3 months while I a) test the waters and make sure the new job is a good fit, and b) look for more permanent housing. I'll still have my current place in SF to fall back on if it doesn't work out, until I finalize the move North. I'll definitely look at Blueground and AirBnB; thank you for the suggestions!
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Jun 5, 2023 05:06
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via bloomberg, "The Best Carry-On Luggage, Tested" https://archive.ph/ccwvJ quote:Best Value this reminds me I need a new travel suitcase soon, my current one is beat to poo poo after like a decade what are the goon recs? prefer something that can carry a week of clothes in 737 (or similar) overhead carry-on format. big bonus for 4 rollers, I've grown too accustomed to give that up.
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Jun 6, 2023 22:39
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Tumi or death. Join the cult.
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Jun 6, 2023 22:44
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I got a B&R based on this thread's recommendations and love it. The ratchet system is great. edit: vvvv yeah that's the one I have it's great. Residency Evil fucked around with this message at 22:55 on Jun 6, 2023 |
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Jun 6, 2023 22:45
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hardshells are stupid imo unless you are actually carrying fragile gear in which case get a pelican or a rimowa or a zero just get this and move on with your life: https://www.briggs-riley.com/collections/carry-on-luggage/products/essential-2-wheel-carry-on?variant=39998874386474 if you do a lot of foreign travel you can get the 21"
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Jun 6, 2023 22:48
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:hardshells are stupid imo unless you are actually carrying fragile gear in which case get a pelican or a rimowa or a zero If you're getting a pelican, get a pelican not a knock off. There is such a world of difference in ergonomics and how well they roll. Also spring for the laser cut foam, not the perforated poo poo.
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Jun 6, 2023 22:53
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Thomamelas posted:If you're getting a pelican, get a pelican not a knock off. There is such a world of difference in ergonomics and how well they roll. Also spring for the laser cut foam, not the perforated poo poo. i dont care about hard cases so this is probably good advice
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Jun 6, 2023 23:04
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I got a B&R https://www.briggs-riley.com/products/carry-on-expandable-spinner-zxu121spx I was on a Lufthansa flight recently and they started weighing and measuring all the carry ons, but mine they just looked at and said it was fine.
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Jun 6, 2023 23:21
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