Recently I've been paying more attention to how limited the inventory is for homes in Costa Mesa. Everything that goes on the market moves into escrow really fast.
I know that's the story in a lot of places right now but this feels like there's a true shift happening, despite interest rates people are regularly buying in at $1M - $1.5M+ and renovating.
Probably because all Newport neighborhoods have become insanely overpriced. $3M+ just to get a modest home in dover shores these days if you're lucky.

Hey all. I work at a neighborhood market and we're due for a remodel starting sometime this summer. Any tips on what kind of extra fuckery to expect??

I'm looking for my first ebike mainly to use for riding around the neighborhood to get outside a little each day and an occasional 10-12 mile city trail. Looking to spend under $1500 ish.
I came across this and it seems "okay". Any red flags or onions? I've owned traditional Schwinn road bikes in the past and they've held up fantastic.
Schwinn 700c Armature Unisex Electric Bike, Black and Red, Large Frame https://www.walmart.com/ip/963385352

Hi everybody! I'm looking for a roommate for the master bedroom (with private bathroom) in my house in Noe Valley starting ASAP (flexible on date) for $1,950/month plus utilities (only gas and electric;water and trash are already included in rent).
The apartment: Photos here: https://imgur.com/a/PImgbOKIt is a 2.5B2BA and you would be living with one other person (me, 27F) and my super sweet dog, Mishka (no other pets please, sorry!). The extra "half" bedroom is used as an office/storage space/guest room. The room available for rent is the master bedroom with its own private ensuite bathroom and a large closet with sliding mirror doors. There is a washedryer and dishwasher in unit, and each room has it's own private heateradiator so you can set the temperature to whatever you like in your room. The living room and kitchen are fully furnished (65" TV!), so you only need to bring things for your own room! There's tons of natural light all throughout the unit and it is recently renovated with recessed lighting, hardwood floors, new appliances. It is a 2 unit duplex and my unit is on the first floor. The upstairs neighbor is a super sweet older gentleman who doesn't make any noise. A great part about it is that it's a back unit duplex so the front door to my unit does not go out onto the street, which means it's safer and gets no street noise. There is a main door (shared with the other unit) which leads to a common backyard space (where I have chairs and a table set up for hanging out) and then a second door leading to our actual unit.
The location: 5 second walk to the J-Church muni metro line which takes you straight downtown/FiDi and to BART, 5 second walk to Sanchez slow street (best slow street in the city), steps away from a park/tennis and basketball courts/recreational area, next door to a produce market, tons of fantastic restaurants and cafes, EXTREMELY safe and quiet neighborhood, easy access to the freeway (280 entrance is only a few blocks away, 101 only a couple blocks further), good parking, sunniest and warmest neighborhood in the city, close to the Mission and Dolores Park (20 min walk, or the metro line takes you straight there).
About me: I work in biotech, grew up in Sunnyvale, and have lived in Israel and Denmark as well. I love traveling and visiting new national parks and backpacking. During the week I spend my evenings walking Mishka, at hot yoga, getting dinner with friends, painting, reading or just being lazy on the couch. I prefer to keep the place pretty mellow on the weekdays. On the weekends I love to go out hiking or to the beach or the park, get brunch, go out for drinks, live shows, go visit family, cook meals and cocktails and host dinner parties, etc! It is really important for me to keep my home tidy and clean, especially in common areas. I'm super friendly and social and love to be around my friends/family and am usually out of the house the entire weekend and hope to find a roommate to spend time with as well! PS. Mishka is a super mellow, quiet and sweet 8 year old boy who lounges in one of his beds most of the day. I get him professionally groomed monthly so he barely sheds at all and smells like mangoes. He is very well-behaved and doesn't bother anyone, and just loves to just hang out!
About you: I'm looking for someone similar in age, who is a full-time working professional, responsible, likes dogs, likes to keep common spaces clean and organized, and wants to be friends! Females only please 🙂
Please DM me if you're interested!

Grubhub, Doordash and UberEats are basically dead right now. But I'm getting a ton of grocery orders from Instacart and Walmart Spark. It's best to have as many apps as possible and then you can pivot into whatever is profitable at any moment in your market.

I need advice

Hey All - I recently left Walmart after 16+ years. I started as a stocker at 15 and left the company as Head of Innovation. I was fortunate to get promoted 15 times in 16 years. I worked all the way through store roles, market roles, regional role and Home office roles. I'm thinking of building a development accelerator program with all my experiences to provide a NO BS approach and advice on how to navigate your career. Right from an entry level role and from someone who has actually done it. Not a HR program.
Thinking Online course - (NO CBL or E/Learnings though lol)
$1 per week
$4 a month
$52 a year
Thoughts and votes below?

Hi lovely people,
We just came back from our first trip to Japan and it was truly a memorable trip. We spent over 3 weeks in Japan from 07th May until 30th May. WE LOVE JAPAN! Can't wait to come back.
A little bit about us: We are both ~30y olds and enjoy a mix of urban, outdoor and culture during our holidays. We are foodies, but not hard-core as in we don't specifically organize our trips around restaurants. There are so many restaurants in Japan, it is hard to get a bad meal. We enjoy just wandering around neighbourhoods. Mostly low/mid-budget stuff with a splurge once in a while.
Our travel itinerary can be found here
General comments

• Time period of travel: We arrived 7th of May which is the last sunday of Golden week. We specifically wanted to avoid Golden week, as we heard it can be crazy busy due to domestic travels. And we also didn't want to go too late in May because June is rainy season in Japan. We were pretty lucky with the weather overall as we only had a couple of days of rain, most days were sunny and we even had some days of sweltering heat :O
• Like other people suggest, try to get in shape before you go! We are both in average shape. Almost every day we walked around 20.000 steps or more. The only rest days we had were the days where we were switching between cities, i.e. sitting in trains for longer periods of time. No complaints ;). I brought two pair of shoes: water-proof hiking shoes and one pair of light-weight running shoes. Switching between shoes was nice, I didn't have any blisters during my time in Japan luckily. All the walking compensated all the eating though!
• Check whether region specific JR passes might work for you. We decided against getting the nationwide JR passes as they didn't fit our needs and were expensive and instead opted for a regional JR Setouchi area pass. It was perfect for the Shimanami Kaido. We could travel from Osaka to Onomichi -> Hiroshima/Miyajima -> Kyoto. And it also gave us access to Nozomi shinkansen (fastest) and a great ferry ride between Matsuyama and Hiroshima.

Japanguide has a nice overview of all the passes : https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2357.html

• Be flexible (That's how we like to travel). I mapped out most of the sights beforehand according to must-see's and mapped out what other interesting sights there would be in those areas. The day before or in the morning, we would decide what we would do roughly, sight-see according to neighborhood and just wing it a little bit. We just love to wander around and see what we come across, mixed with some google maps + "explore" function. Some days you are just tired and just want to hang out in a park, or you have temple-fatigue and want to do something entirely else. Same with food/restaurants, we usually just used google maps to see what kind of great restaurants were near us at that moment. We haven't lined up more than twice our whole time there and still ate wonderfully. We do tend to avoid overly hyped stuff anyways. I do keep in mind that everyone has their own ways.
• Buy e-sim if possible, it is the cheapest and easiest way. My partner bought an e-sim and it was so convenient! My phone unfortunately didn't support it and I had to buy a sim. I opted for getting one at BIC camera, which was the cheapest I could find. 10GB for 30 days for 3200 yen.
• Keep plastic bags for trash. Buying food from conbini, and eating it somewhere? say yes to that plastic bag, because you will need it to stash your garbage until you are back at your hotel where you can throw it away or you find a garbage bin at the train station per chance. I read about this a lot on this subreddit, but still I found it astonishing the lack of trash cans. Fascinating how the streets of Japan are so damn clean.
• Try Pokari sweat. :) I tried it for the first time there and I was hooked immediately. It is awesome! Best electrolyte drink ever and it definitely saved me during those hot sweaty days there. CC lemon is also great!
• Go for a haircut or some other beauty/massage treatment. The hospitality is amazing in Japan. You won't regret getting pampered in Japan. They have all kinds of crazy treatments. I got the best haircut of my life for 4400yen.

Trip report

PS. I am not mentioning everything we did in this post. I will just mention highlights. It is still a long read though ;).
D1 - D2 Osaka
We landed at Kansai airport. Before our trip, we also bought train vouchers for Osaka online (https://www.howto-osaka.com/en/ticket/). Best decision ever, because the journey was rough and we were exhausted by the time we landed. We only had to exchange our vouchers at the station and off we went.
Osaka was nice city to start with as it is a more manageable "smaller" city whilst recovering from our jetlag. Despite being smaller, I do think it is worth a visit. Osaka is so iconic at night. We stayed at a spacious Airbnb near Kuromon Ichiban market.

• Takoyaki :) We had our first try of takoyaki at Takotako King instead of one the places at Dotonbori to avoid the crazy lines. You can sit down, have a beer and yes the takoyaki is amazing. It should be crunchy on the outside and deliciously goeey on the inside, doused with sauces and katsuobushi. Man, I wish I could go back and eat it again. It is true, you can't get great takoyaki outside of Osaka, at least I didn't get that same crunchy gooey combo again in other cities.
• Discount sushi from Takashimaya department store. For the budget-minded, this is a no-brainer. Around 7PM, an hour before closing time, you can get delicious fatty tuna maki at discount prices in the basement of takashimaya. Other foods at the department store food floor such as the fresh mochi are delicious also. Takashimaya is my favorite department store for food I think!
• Osaka castle - Our first castle in Japan. The green roof and the golden ornaments are beautiful and unique!
• Dotonbori - iconic :) fun to walk along. The queues are long there. We avoided eating at Dotonbori.
• Shitenno-ji - beautiful pagoda with buddha statues inside. Do pay the fee to go inside and see the garden. You can also go into the pagoda and walk up.
• Huge fan of Shotengai's, Shinsaibashi-Suji Shopping Street. They are so quintessential Japan.
• Ramen Tendo, the first ramen joint that we tried in Japan, so it has a special place in my heart. They specialize in chicken broth with lots of umami katsuoboshi flavor. Noodles were great too, very bouncy. Delicious! Little did I know that this ramen joint was really one of the best we would have this trip. It set the bar high for sure!
• Visit a local grocery store. Maybe it is just me, but I love to browse at local grocery shops (KOHYO namba Minatomachi) and be fascinated by all the different things they sell. It is also a great place to buy food souvenirs, like miso, green tea etc. Lots of pre-cooked meals/ fried stuff. Just a wider selection than your typical conbini. And again discounts if you go ~1hr before closing time.

Skip Shinsekai: We visited during the day and it felt very empty to me. More like a tourist-trap, the eateries didn't look appealing to me. Maybe during the evening this area is more fun.
D3 Nara
We did Nara as a day-trip from Osaka.

• Yes, to feeding the deer. It is touristy, but it is so much fun to be chased by cookie-crazed deer. One more thing: deer's fart a lot. We were wondering where this weird high pitched sound was coming from, those are actually deer farts.
• Todai-ji is very impressive, definitely a must visit.
• Just wander around in Nara park, it's very lush and beautiful and has many more shrines and interesting sights, such as manyo botanical garden. I wish we had one more day to explore Nara but oh well maybe next time :)
• We ate lunch at Magura Koya, a small restaurant run by a lovely elderly couple. Delicious tuna dishes. I had a tuna sashimi bowl and my partner the fried tuna set meal, so fresh!
• We had the best pork bun at Hourokutei at the end of the Higashimuki shopping street. It's a small hole in the wall, but omg the squishy-est juicy-est porkbuns ever.

D4 Onomichi
After staying in Osaka for 3 days, we headed west for the Shimanami Kaido. We decided to stay in Onomichi (Hotel Beacon Onomichi) for the night before we started our two day bike trip. For this part of our trip, we picked up our 7-day Setouchi area pass at Shin-Osaka JR station. I just want to mention that I really love the hospitality of the staff in Japan. The JR office people were so nice and helpful. We reserved our seats for the shinkansen and off we went to Onomichi. Onomichi is a lovely little seaside town to just stroll around and take in the views. I really recommend spending at least half a day here. Don't skip it!

• Senkoji park observatory - we walked up to the observatory (ropeway available), please walk up as there are lots of nice alleyways, shrines and cats along the way :). The view is amazing, especially at sunset.
• Cat alley: honestly, every alley is cat alley.
• Onomichi Shotengai - very retro, lots of cute shops. We bought a nice poster from a little granny there.

D5 & D6 Shimanami Kaido -> Matsuyama
The next day, we picked up our reserved cross bikes from the general bike rental and off we went. Honestly, biking the shimanami kaido was the highlight of our trip. We took two days to bike the whole way, one day would definitely be too rushed for us. We stopped at Ikuchi island (Shimanaido NEST) for our halfway stay.
The sights along the way were great! It was so much fun to go down-hill, the uphills were do-able. We had great weather also, not too hot and no rain. Everything was clearly indicated, we just followed the blue lines. I felt very safe biking in Japan. PS. My butt did hurt from the saddle, so be warned! Bring some cushioned pants if you want to be safe side.

• First pitstop after the first bridge was Hassakuya. You have to stop here! They have delicious strawberry and citrus daifuku! The citrus had a bitter aftertaste, but they are famous for their citrus so its definitely nice to try.
• Just enjoy the views, stop everywhere to take pictures. There are lots of things to explore along the way.
• Stop at roadside stations such as > tatara shimanami park and yoshiumi iki-iki-kan. Especially before you take on the last bridge just do a little pit stop. It's a nice place to take some pictures of the insanely long bridge and have a citrus/vanilla soft cream.

https://shimanami-cycle.or.jp/ for more info and bike rental
We decided to bike one-way from Onomichi to Imabari and we have no regrets. I liked that we ended the bike trip with the longest bridge (4km!!). Imabari is very industrial, but after the fun long way down from the last bridge and being exhausted from biking you just want to get to the station and stuff yourself with pastries from the bakery at the station and go on to your next destination. Thus, we immediately took the train to Matsuyama. Originally, the plan was to enjoy the famous onsen in Matsuyama, but we didn't have enough time and we were also pretty tired. After checking-in at the hotel, it was already 4, we made our way to Matsuyama castle but unfortunately, we were too late to go in. It was still nice to view it from the outside and walk around the park. We planned to do sightseeing in Hiroshima the next day, so there was no more time to explore Matsuyama further.
D7 Hiroshima -> Miyajima
After Shiminami Kaido, we headed towards Hiroshima/Miyajima. We took an early ferry from Matsuyama. The ferry was included in the setouchi JR pass, so we gladly took advantage of that. It's a nice way to get to Hiroshima, just one last view of the Seto inland sea. One remark: if it is not JR serviced transportation, you do have to obtain separate tickets. Normally, just showing your setouchi JR pass is enough to get onboard the train, but for the ferry you do have to go to the ticket desk and show your JR pass to obtain the ferry tickets.

• Peace memorial museum - a history we must not forget and do not want to repeat
• We tried another Hiroshima speciality for lunch: Hiroshima Tsukemen. This tsukemen is GREAT. One of my favorite dishes. We ate at Tsukemen Karabu Tokaichimachi. The spicy umami dipping sauce is very addicting!

Surprisingly, it was very hard to find affordable good accommodation in Hiroshima. It was the weekend and two weeks before G7, so maybe that was the reason why it was harder to find accommodation. In the end, I found a nice simple hotel on Miyajima island and it was a good decision after all! After a long day in Hiroshima, we made our way to Miyajima to stay two nights. Staying on Miyajima island is lovely especially when all the day-trip tourist leave.
D8 Miyajima
Honestly, Miyajima is truly magical. Another highlight of our trip! We started the day early to get ahead of the crowd and that made it all so much more enjoyable. Seeing shrines and temples without a crowd is truly 1000x better! If you can stay at Miyajima island, do it! You don't have to splurge on expensive ryokan (although it would have been nice). We stayed at Sakuraya, which was very budget-friendly.

• Itsukishima Jinja - Nice but Daishoin and surrounding nature were the highlights for me.
• Daishoin - it is the most beautiful shrine complex I have seen in Japan this trip. I think it's because it was so quaint and it was embedded in the hill, surrounded by lush green nature. There were multiple complexes. There was a pathway studded with Jizo statues, buddist cave, prayer wheels and much more. While we were there, a ceremony with a monk was ongoing and everyone could participate in helping burning the origami peace cranes made by children, to make their wishes come true. We bought a little peace crane made from the ashes to remember this moment.
• Mt. Misen - we hiked up from Dashoin. It was ~2hrs? of steep stair climbing, 500m elevation gain. A challenge for sure but we definitely earned our way going down by ropeway :P. Views are great! go go! There is a bus to the ropeway so you don't have to suffer if you don't want to.
• Momijidani park - If you don't like Momiji trees, you can't be my friend.
• Snack along the Miyajima ometesando street. Crowded, but the cakes are great!

One remark, our hotel didn't include dinner and all the restaurants on the island close quite early. Luckily, with our setouchi JR pass, we could take the ferry for free, so went to the mainland for dinner. Just keep this in mind, when booking your stay.
D9 - D13 Kyoto
We took the early train to Kyoto and checked in at Tokyu stay Sanjo-karasuma. We had 5 days to explore Kyoto and by this time we had lost our FOMO a little bit and also decided to take it a bit more slow. We still ended up walking a lot anyways but at least we were sleeping in.
The day we arrived,15MAY, was supposed to be Aoi matsuri so we headed to Kamo river to see the festival. Unfortunately, the festival was postponed due to the slight rainfall and we had no clue! but we were next to Kyoto botanical garden and we decided to visit that instead!

• Kyoto botanical garden: it is a lovely garden with a huge variety of plants and trees to see. Really well maintained and during our visit there was a great rose garden in bloom. I recommend going there! It has a nice japanese garden section too with momiji trees and moss. A greenhouse with orchids. Lot's to see here. Only 200 yen.
• Arashiyama area - I really loved this area, not just for the bamboo forest. Togetsukyo bridge and Katsura river were the highlights for me. You can walk along the both sides of Katsura riverbank. A nice way to get to the bamboo forest and bypassing the busy beginning at the start of bamboo forest is by walking along the katsura river bank into Kameyama park and following the signs to Okochi sanso garden. You will end up at the backside of bamboo forest, which is the nicest part. We went more north to visit Pottery Tanuki, this area was very nice and quaint to walk around; bamboo, shrines and traditional houses everywhere.
• South kyoto - Fushimi Inari + Uji day trip - We visited fushimi inari around 9am and it was already very busy! If you hike deeper into the Tori gates, it gets more quiet. We decided not to hike to the top, but instead do a little loop and we stumbled upon some lovely fox shrines. After Fushimi Inari, we took the train just a little bit more south to Uji. If you like matcha, visit Uji. It is a scenic little town with lots of matcha specialized cafes. We ate at Torikiku, famous for their matcha soba and udon. I had the best matcha icecream dessert at Nakamura Tokichi Byodo-in. Again, the river views are beautiful! It's a great daytrip from kyoto. On the way back to kyoto, we spontaneously decided to visit the Gekkeikan Sake museum. It's a small museum, mostly about the history of Gekkeikan, but for 500 yen entry fee, you also get 3 small sake tastings. Fun for an hour or so. I wouldn't go all the way here just for the museum, but for us it was a nice stop on the way back to Kyoto.
• Gion - visit Gion in the evening and just wander around the little streets. Hanamikoji street is one of the more famous streets there.
• We ate amazing gyoza lunch at Gyoza-dokoro Sakemasa. Best gyozo of our trip.
• Higashiyama area - Heian jingu shrine, visit the attached garden for a fee, definitely worth it! We ate amazing mazesoba and ramen for lunch at Menya Yamahide. We also visited Kyoto handicraft center in this area where we bought an ukiyo-e painting. There was also a vintage antique market at that day. We just browsed a bit around the market and honestly that was a day worth of exploring :).

I didn't mention everything we did in Kyoto here. We also had so much more planned for Kyoto, but didn't get around to it, which was totally fine! We were also a bit temple-fatigued by that time and needed a slower pace. Hopefully next time, we can visit some of things we skipped. Furthermore, some days were incredibly hot (30 C degrees and humid) or we had whole days of rain. On those days, we decided to go shopping instead.

• Sanjo Meiten-gai shopping arcade , Compasso teramachi. One long shopping street between Omiya and Kyoto-kawaramachi station. My favorite shops were: Standard products, Tokyu hands and Loft.

D14 - D15 Takayama
After spending 5 days in Kyoto, it was time to leave the city and head for the Japanese alps. We took the shinkansen to Nagoya, where we changed to a limited express to Takayama. It took around 3 hours to get to Takayama, but we didn't mind. Train travel = resting time for our legs! Also, the views from the train were great!! I really enjoyed this train trip to Takayama. We arrived around noon and immediately checked in at our hotel (Hotel Kuretakeso Takayama). We had two nights in Takayama to explore the town.

• Hida beef - it's the wagyu of this area and I found my favorite place to eat it: Ajikura Tengoku. We went there twice for lunch, because it was that good. It was our first time in Japan to try yakiniku and sukiyaki. I really do appreciate the taste of wagyu but only in small amounts. I couldn't eat it everyday, because it's really so rich and yes paying for the premium cuts really does make a different in taste and texture of the wagyu beef.
• We really loved Takayama. Again, if you have time, stay overnight and wander around the streets during the evening when all the daytrippers leave. The town has such a nice vibe and it still has a very local feel to it.
• Miyagawa morning market. Fun to stroll around
• Hikaru museum - we stumbled upon this via google maps. It's a mayan temple-inspired building, very unique. You could visit the place just for the architecture itself, really impressive. It has a very nice collection of art. When we reached the top floor, there was a whole exhibition dedicated to a specific religious person. We didn't know beforehand but this museum is connected to a cult. Suddenly, it all made sense why this museum was so unique. We didn't mind, but it definitely puts the whole experience in a different light. It's a 1-hour walk from downtown, there is no direct bus connection unfortunately.
• Hida folk village - Open-air museum with nice re-builds of traditional mountain houses. We spend over half a day there. You can see local craftsmen doing their thing and you can also participate in pottery for example. There is a lovely pond and it is just pleasant to walk around. it's only a ~10 min. busride from Takayama bus station. You can buy combined entryfee+bus combo tickets at the bus station.

D16 Kamikochi -> Matsumoto
After checking out of our hotel in Takayama, we took the 7am bus to Kamikochi. We were only going to spend a day here, and then continue our way to Matsumoto to stay overnight.After ~1 hour of bus, we finally made it to Kamikochi. The Japanese alps are amazing. I wished we stayed longer in this area, but just the bus ride alone to Kamikochi was already a great with the views. We decided to hop off at Taisho pond bus stop and walk along all the major sights in the park. We had no specific plan. Just hike around as far as time allowed. For lunch, we stopped at this cute teishoku restaurant, where we ate katsu curry, a big lunch to fuel our walking. We also saw wild japanese macaques and lots of wildflowers where blooming during our time there.At the local shops, we bought some yummy pastries to snack on. I had the tastiest baumkuchen with cheesecake center and my partner had a chocolate ganache cookie. I really regret not buying more kamikochi pastries to take home while we were there.After spending the day walking around, we hopped on the 4pm bus towards Matsumoto. Checked in at Tabino hotel lit Matsumoto, where I relaxed in the onsen.
Tips:

• We were only carrying backpacks, so we hiked with them until we reached the kamikochi bus terminal, where you can drop off you bag at the storage for a small fee.
• Reservation is mandatory for the bus Kamikochi -> Matsumoto, you can do it online or while you are at the busstation before hiking.
• Transportation in the Japan alps is mostly by bus, do reserve ahead if you go at peak times. Main bus company is Nouhi bus: https://www.nouhibus.co.jp/english/.)

D17 Matsumoto Tokyo
After sleeping in, we did some sightseeing in Matsumoto before we moved on to Tokyo. We really liked wandering around in Matsumoto. Lots of cool shops with local crafts. We didn't know but the biggest national crafts fair is held in Matsumoto. Unfortunately, we were only able to stay for one day, but next time we would love to visit this crafts fair!
Matsumoto Castle - I really like the interior of the castle. It has been renovated, but still contains that castle feel. It is 5 story castle and you are allowed to climb all of it. It also included a pretty extensive gun/weaponry exhibition. Do arrive early because you do have to line-up within the castle to get from one floor to the other. This is due to the steep stairways, on which they allow only one-way traffic at a time.
Matsumoto city art museum - There was a nice exhibition from Yayoi Kusama. We didn't know but Yayoi Kusama was born in Matsumoto. It is a good replacement exhibition if you aren't able to snatch up tickets for Yayoi Kusama museum in Tokyo.
Nakamachi street and Frog street - street with persevered houses with craft shops, cafes, brewerys. What more do you want.
After spending the day in Matsumoto, we took the train to Tokyo, our last destination of our stay. We decided to stay in Ueno (Hotel resol ueno). This hotel was located close to Ueno JR.
D18 - D24 Tokyo
Last 7 days in Tokyo. By this time, we were just enjoying everything at a much slower pace. Tokyo is huge! Staying near the JR line is indeed a must like everyone said. I could go on hours about Tokyo, I am just going to mention some highlights here.

• Anmitsu at Anmitsu Mihashi. My favorite dessert! It contains agar jelly, mochi balls, red bean paste, fruit and a scoop of matcha icecream.
• shopping in Ginza - It's nice to go during the weekends when they close of the streets for cars. We liked visiting flagship stores of Muji, Uniqlo. Go to Itoya if you are a stationary freak.
• Ueno park - Museums, shrines, Lotus pond. Have a look at their website, there are almost always events in the park. :)
• Tsukiji market - very busy, but fun to have a look. Lines everywhere. Look for sushi restaurants that open around 11am, line up at one of those places. I don't think it has to be the one with 4.5 rating and 1000 reviews. Why? There are so many good restaurants in Tsukiji area. We went to Tsukiji Kagura Sushi.
• Hamarikyu gardens - Bonsai pine trees pruned to perfection. Ponds filled with sea water, thus there were seabass, little sardines and jellyfish in the water. Very special! You also had a nice skyline view from the park which is a cool contrast! It was nice and quiet.
• Tokyo Skytree - best view :) it also has a great shopping complex attached to it.
• Asakusa area - Senso-ji
• Yanaka Ginza - we went during the weekend and there was live music, little stalls and just very lively in general. Really nice to spend a morning. Largest preserved cemetery, which apparently welcomes visitors a lot for flower viewings. It is a preserved neighborhood with traditional houses and lots of shops selling crafts, gifts, souvenirs, and unique snacks.

That's it!
For 24 days, we spend around ~2500 euro p.p. (excl. 1000,- flights). This amount includes food, transportation, entrancefees and shopping/gifts. so average is ~100 euro/day. We didn't track every cost. Hotel costs were 900,- pp, which ranged from 50,- to 120,- per night accommodations. The conversion yen/euro is also great at the moment, so it might have contributed!
I hope you enjoyed my trip report. Let me know if there are any questions.

I (37M) will be visiting my 70 year old mother for the last week of July. She’s single, pretty active (yoga, pilates, neighborhood walks), and loves going out to eat (no dietary restrictions). She doesn’t drink and likes to keep things relatively cheap and cheerful. We haven’t been particularly close in my adult life but I’m trying to make a solid effort to spend some time with her (I live on the west coast). I plan on helping her with yard/house work while I’m in town, but I’d love to get some suggestions for daytime activities as well as restaurants for dinner. She loves places like Malone’s, Windy Corner Market, and chain places like Cheddar’s (is that still around?). Any help would be much appreciated! TIA

Hey y'all. I'm a Charleston local living abroad and I've been feeling a tad homesick. A way I cope is by looking for homes for sale on Zillow, especially in my old neighborhood and I noticed that there aren't any homes listed for sale. A LOT of condos, though. I know it's the summer season and with the housing market being what it is, I know things are getting snatched up quick, but usually there is at least a house or something. I've lived in Savannah, too and looked there. They also had the same issue. Is this a new trend in the market or is this just a coastal tourist town trend? I'd love some insight from people still there!
Cheers from Norway! Missing sweet tea and fried chicken.

Just bought a Nike SE 1st Gen to be a standalone for my daughter so she can roam the neighborhood.
Setting it up, I expected it to get WatchOS 9 per the compatibility charts I've seen. But it is downloading 8.7 instead. Any ideas?
I do have another Watch for myself, an old Series 3 non-cellular, tied to the same iPhone. Is the Series 3 preventing the Watch app from allowing WatchOS 9 to be installed on my daughter's new watch? That would suck :(

I am born and raised Californian, I may not be California Dem, but I ain't Alabama Red by any means. I legitimately DO NOT understand how the man has not been recalled or treated like the damned tyrant he is. He feels he has the MORAL AUTHORITY to hurt companies and other states by weaponizing California's economy. You do what I want or I will rip government contracts or ban you from our markets! (He has been told plenty of times he can't fucking do that, but he keeps doing it anyways!) He lets our fucking prisons LITERALLY rot, continuing the Ultra Dem (this is a different beast from normal Democrats and I feel is California bred...willing to literally break laws and human rights to get voters to do what they want.) plague of above and beyond cruel and unusual punishment of prisoners, while he buys billboards in OTHER STATES with our tax money to denounce those states policies, and tries to make laws to force compliance from other states, and corporations for how they conduct business in other states...
He is basically using his state size to bully the country to follow HIS views. I am not usually one to say this, but California needs to be split up. Either in halfs or thirds because Newsom is using tax payers money that is supposed to be used HERE to force his demands elsewhere. He has admitted in interview that our state has the size of 21 states combined, and he plans to continue throwing that economic weight around. The man BANNED flavored vape products without a vote from Californians. He shut us down for damn near a full year. People were RIGHTLY pissed off at him and a recall got greenlit AND he was forced to put the ban on the Ballot. You know what happened? Tax payer money spent to hammer his narrative. It's JUST the tobacco companies and making sure no one heard the other side.
I am so tired of him. If I could afford to leave I would, but everything is so fucking expensive I am trapped in this hell hole state...we have so many problems HERE that need to be handled! Out of control wildfires annually now, a collapsing Electrical grid, record numbers of Homeless taking over whole neighborhoods and overwhelming the safety networks. Prisons that are literally jammed to 137% capacity or more depending upon surges of crime or not and rotting around inmates. Medi-cal being such crap that it is nigh on impossible to find medical care if you are poor, with some poor being expected to drive 2+ hours from home to get basic medical attention. Our money should be going to solve THOSE situations, not billboards in other states telling people if you want/need an abortion come on over to California we'll take care of you and shit like that.
And yes I know partisan blah blah blah, stupid idea to split up California, whatever. California is too big and has too many problems that are being ignored. Newsom was elected to fix California NOT to run national campaigns centered on other states not being Dem enough for him.

I am a pretty new collector with just about a year of collecting unconsciously and about 3-4 months of focused collecting. I have done a little research so I am not blindly collecting but I do have a few questions.

1. Are Goodwills and other thrifts as bad as they are where I live?

I have been told by many people on this sub and in other places that thrifts are the best for collecting CD's and while I have found some gems more often than not there is nothing and if there are good things they are always the same. Is this just me getting unlucky or is it usually this bad. I live in a lower middle class neighborhood, are they better in richer areas? Also is there a specific thrift that is best like Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc. Are local generally thrifts better or worse for you? Also are there any other ways to get as good a bang for you buck online so there is no chance my stores just suck?

1. Do different versions of a CD sound vastly different like they can with vinyl?

I am not a vinyl collector but I know a bit about them because collecting CD's is in the same realm. I know with vinyl people say there are some pressings not even worth buying because the audio quality is horrible. I assume this is not a problem with CD's because it is digital but I am not sure. I kind of feel like this is a stupid question.

1. Do you collect very specific things or do you collect everything?

This is not really a right or wrong question but I was just wondering if me being someone who only collects stuff I really like (for the most part) is normal or not. It amazes me when I see people with thousands of CDs. Is that a very tailored collection or do people with that much sort of buy whatever they can? I try to avoid a couple of things like digipaks, best-ofs, compilations, alternate cover arts and albums I only like a song or two. Is this normal, do you also have a more combed through approach to collecting?

1. Is buying online as hit or miss as people portray it?

I have been on eBay and Discogs recently and people have said that both of these can be hit or miss. For those who have bought from both what is your success rate and how was your experience? Does it follow the basic online purchasing rules like don't buy if it's too good to be true and only buy from people with a lot of good reviews?

1. What price should I be spending on an average CD?

I really want to support local record stores but I am really worried I am getting ripped off when I go to them. I buy second hand basically 100% of the time and depending on the cd and record store I have spent between 3 to 11 dollars on a cd (the 11 dollar one was a special edition though). Is this par for the course or am I getting ripped off? Also I have seen some people say they get CDs for like 25 to 50 cents at thrifts. Every thrift I have gone to it is almost always 1 dollars. Is that regional or do most people spend less than a buck per CD at thrifts? Also what should I be paying online for cds?

1. What makes a good cd player?

I am in the market for a beginner cd player but I want a good one and I am wondering what makes it good. Are there specific brands I should look for? I was told by some people that just buying one from thrift is good but I am weary of that. Thrifts in my area are pretty bad and I think most of the electronics at them are horrible. Are good speakers a necessity when you start out and if so what makes a good speaker. If someone has a recommended beginner's set up for around 150-200 USD.

1. Is it bad to store you CD's horizontally?

I currently store my CD's in a short crate because I don't have a ton of space to put up shelving. I see pretty much everyone storing their CD's in shelves. Is this because it is better for the CD's or just for aesthetics?

1. Is there an easy way to see if a remaster is good or bad? (General Music Question)

I am someone who likes to hear music in it's original form generally. I do consistently run into the issue of trying to listen to an older artist on Spotify and the only version of their album I can find is the remaster. I am not anti-remasters but I know there are some that completely change the sound of the music. Is there an easy way to find this b/c right now I am just looking up on good and usually find a forum that is completely 50/50 and doesn't really help.
Sorry that this is a long post, I appreciate the time of anyone who reads through and responds. I appreciate answers to any of my questions cause right now I am just trying to learn more as a collector.

TLDR: Selling my first 'dream home' and returning to renting feels like such a step backwards. I know it's the right choice for me mentally to move to an area that's better for me, but personal development wise I feel like I kinda failed. This was supposed to be my forever home. This was a new construction home. No one else lived here, this was all mine and I had the freedom to do as I pleased. Now I'm going back to being at the mercy of someone who can remove me from 'my home' whenever they want. There's always going to be that sense of "this is home, but not really MY home." For those of you who went from home ownership back to renting, did you experience this?
Below is a bit of a rant and all the things I went through. A bit of a wake up call about homeownership:
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2 years ago I went through the building process with one of the big corporations that does home builds, and it was a NIGHTMARE. The construction manager was an alcoholic and eventually go arrested when many of us in the neighborhood kept reporting him to the police for driving drunk like a madman through the neighborhood. I lucked out and got a 4% interest rate...BUT, it would have been 2.9% but the office lady "forgot to submit my work order" for MONTHS so my property sat with no activity while others who went under contract months after me were already living in their homes when mine was still grass.
While all the outstanding issues in my home are cosmetic, it took years off my life having to come here every weekend to see what the construction crew was messing up this time or what trouble they were getting into. Things like drinking parties, yes, legit all of them blasting music pounding down beers in my unfinished kitchen with the manager, having their kids draw pictures in the concrete with rocks that took me forever to sand away, doing everything wrong and constantly having to remind the manager, it left such a bitter taste in my mouth. I reported it to the director of construction for that company in my region. He even came down, apologized and then ghosted me. No one was ever fired or anything.
When I finally closed on the house and moved in I was so bitter towards the house, which sucked cause before even moving here I would visit this neighborhood and just be like "one day! One day I'll own a house in a neighborhood like this!" and even though it was stressful visiting most weekends to find bad things going on, there was still some hope and excitement that "that's my house! No one lived in it ever, it's mine and I can do whatever I want whenever I want". That sense of freedom.
Eventually I took off my rose tinted glasses and realized the neighborhood wasn't all that. No sidewalks here meant hot blacktop ground, and taking my puppy on walks was going to be difficult and I'd have to get him used to just playing in our yard. I'm like 2 minutes from the beach in a beautiful town, #goals right? but... I'm far, super far from everything. If I were married, retired and settling down this would be a dream come true. Going to the beach every weekend and just living the life. In reality, I'm the youngest dude in my neighborhood by 20-30 years. I'm not a bar kinda guy and pretty introverted, but other than the beach any kind of outdoor activities or even shopping (besides groceries) is a 40+ min drive. It's very lonely and isolating. Not to mention a very very strict HOA that makes me feel limited on what I can do in my back yard. (can't plant a small garden for some fresh herbs to cook with etc).
I found a neighborhood in a town that's perfect for me. Not crazy busy but lots of shops, dog parks, outdoor events like farmers markets, all kinds of vendor events like food truck festivals and things of that nature on the weekends. Plus, only 15 min from the beach still. However, with the current interest rates, there's no way I'd be able to afford buying in that location. The specific neighborhood I fell in love with has all the things I was hoping this one would. A pool, sidewalks, a community of all ages, etc. The rent prices are almost = to the mortgage I'm paying now, and there's always a handful of houses there available for rent.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/amazon-talks-offer-free-mobile-123703089.html
Amazon.com Inc. has been talking with wireless carriers about offering low-cost or possibly free nationwide mobile phone service to Prime subscribers, according to people familiar with the situation. The company is negotiating with Verizon Communications Inc., T-Mobile US Inc. and Dish Network Corp. to get the lowest possible wholesale prices. That would let it offer Prime members wireless plans for $10 a month or possibly for free and bolster loyalty among its biggest spending customers, the people said, who requested anonymity to discuss a private matter.
The talks have been going on for six to eight weeks and have also included AT&T Inc. at times, but the plan may take several more months to launch and could be scrapped, one person said. Dish shares jumped 14% Friday in New York since a deal with the retail giant could help the struggling satellite-TV company as it transitions to become a national wireless carrier. Meanwhile, T-Mobile fell 8.4%, AT&T dropped 5% and Verizon slid 3.5.%. The big three national carriers could see their own subscribers flee to a cheaper option at Amazon. Deutsche Telekom AG, which holds a majority stake in T-Mobile, fell 5.7% in Germany. “We are always exploring adding even more benefits for Prime members, but don’t have plans to add wireless at this time,” Amazon spokesperson Maggie Sivon said in a statement. Verizon and Dish declined to comment.
Amazon’s US Prime subscribers pay $139 a year for privileges like speedy free delivery, video streaming and access to 100 million songs. Analysts say Prime membership has stagnated in the country since Amazon boosted the annual price from $119, a sign that a subscription is less attractive to consumers struggling with a stubbornly high inflation rate. About 167 million Amazon shoppers had Prime memberships as of March, unchanged from a year earlier, according to Consumer Intelligence Research Partners. Amazon is competing with Walmart Inc., whose $98-a-year Walmart+ membership is emerging as a lower-cost alternative offering many of the same perks as Prime and free grocery delivery on orders of at least $35. Amazon in February increased its free grocery delivery threshold to $150 from $35. For the wireless industry, an Amazon deal could be seen as a welcome boost to wholesale revenue and a way to attract more traffic to newly expanded 5G networks. But Amazon’s entry could be detrimental if Prime wireless becomes popular and starts to chip away at the big carriers’ customer base.
A deeply below-market price from one of the world’s largest retailers could easily undercut the pricing power of the big three national carriers, making it tempting for subscribers to go to Amazon. Unlimited plans start at $60 a month at Verizon and T-Mobile, with AT&T starting at $65. Anytime Amazon enters a new market, it sends shivers through the industry because the Seattle-based retail giant has shown it’s willing to absorb billions of dollars in shipping and movie production costs to fuel Prime membership growth. Wireless service could be just one more item that Amazon’s willing to take a hit on if it gives the company a leg up versus Walmart.

https://awfulannouncing.com/apple/eddy-cue-mls-season-pass.html
I've been insanely curious to know about their numbers, not just nationally, but locally. Some game nights, I walk our dog during halftime on a one-mile loop around our neighborhood, and in every home where I can see the tv from the sidewalk, the game is on. I know that anecdotes don't equal data, but I can't imagine our neighborhood is different from others around the region.
Even if Apple didn't want to give full viewership numbers, it would be cool if they released a Top 10 Markets for Subscriptions or whatever metric they want to use. I guarantee we'd be near the top, and I bet we'd beat out KC too!