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I applied for a renewal online on 1/9 and as of now it still just shows "received". I also see they have shut down new online renewals again. They were quoting up to 11 weeks and I hit that on Monday. Gotta love government efficiency.

It is three MONTHS from account opening, not three statement cycles. It may take several weeks for your first statement to close. If you applied today and got instant approval your target date is June 14th - approximately. Not sure if they go by calendar date or 3X30 days. Either way you should complete spend several days earlier to make sure there are no hiccups. I almost lost a bonus recently because I ordered something from Walmart and did curbside pickup. A week later they issued a credit because they messed up and never recorded that I actually picked the thing up. It is a Visa signature card so technically it has no preset spending limit - you just can't carry a balance over your credit limit month to month. Chase likely has a somewha...

They could both be telling the truth, or they could both be lying. It is possible that Honda is not taking orders for the trim you want, or that specific dealer has already booked customers for their limited allocation of upcoming orders. Assume all dealers are lying, always.

homebuyer6426 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 8:14 am Thanks. Bulbs seem like a straightforward thing, but how about swapping the entire headlight assembly? In a case where the lenses are old and cloudy.

Bulbs are not straightforward on many vehicles. In my last truck you had to remove the headlight assembly to get to the bulb. That required removing a plastic panel under the hood, removing the front grill, removing an access panel in the wheel well and releasing a latch to free the assembly. The bulb then twisted out of the assembly. Tools required included a panel/Christmas tree fastener remover, 10 mm socket and a 12" socket extension and skinny forearms. Swapping the assembly would have taken the same amount of time.

New truck has LEDs so no need to do that again.

Thrifty Blue Chip benefits still apply if you use a third party to book. As a member the OP is entitled to a spouse as an additional driver at no charge. The issue is that some third party booking sites don't pass your number to Thrifty correctly, plus poorly trained personnel. I had the same issue with a reservation through Autoslash/Priceline. I only wanted to skip the counter but I could not get the number added through the website or by calling Thrifty. They were finally able to do it at the counter, but I got stuck standing in line. I lost time but saved quite a bit of money since Autoslash found a discount I could not find elsewhere. Social media is the way to get these things addressed these days. I had a months long dispute with an ...

If you go the shop vac route get your bags on Amazon or elsewhere online - much cheaper than big box stores.

There are a variety of shop vacs in the 1.5 to 3 gallon range that you can use with bags, a filter, both, or none if you want to suck up liquids.

I use the haphazard system. Most every piece of paper that enters my house is not necessary so it gets tossed in the recycling bin, maybe I fire up the shredder if it has personal info on it. Most every document I need is accessible online - credit cards, bank statements, credit cards, insurance, etc. My top desk drawer holds the few important things I have - vehicle titles, passports, birth certificate. Those are all replaceable with a little bit of pain. Large packets like house purchase and loan documents go in envelopes or folders and get thrown into the file cabinet bottom drawer. I think I have needed to pull something from this pile two or three times in the last 30 years so the 15 minutes it takes me to dig is much less than scannin...

Do not overthink this. Just rent with one of the major conglomerates (Hertz/Thrifty/Dollar, Avis/Budget, National/Enterprise). Hertz does have a "get the exact model" program, but it will probably cost more. This way you have the entire local fleet available, not the one minivan Bob's Car Rental owns and happens to have blown an engine yesterday. Being in their frequent renter program won't hurt. Being elite in their program might help, and can often be had for free. I have Sixt platinum just because I have a World Mastercard, and status with a bunch of others due to Amex Platinum. Sixt platinum saved me hours in Ireland when they were out of midsize vehicles and were making people wait - I got an upgrade 10 feet from the door sin...

Thank you all for your replies. To add more requested details: 2. However, if I dispute through the CC company (I don't have AMEX) and I win. Will the Rental Agency go to collections? I'm considering buying a house in the near future, and something like that could cost me more than the ~$1000 excess charge. In the event that it does go to collections, what recourse would I have to remove it from my record? Would it be alot of hassle? Your credit card will not report it to your credit report while under dispute, and obviously if you win they will not report it. If the rental agency does send it to collections they will have to go through the very strict process for that. The first step is notifying you of the ALLEGED debt and giving you a c...

I did an online renewal on 1/9/23. As of today (2/22/23) it is still sitting at "received" with no indication they are processing it. From what I have seen on some other forums this is normal and once it moves to "in process" it is within a few days of being complete. I think they were quoting up to nine weeks so it is not past due yet. Your current passport (and passport card if applicable) will be invalidated as soon as you submit an online application, so don't think that you can travel on your current documents even if they are not expired. The website is very clunky and it can take several tries to get logged in, get the one time pass code, or get to what you want. Random errors left and right. Early morning seems m...

Credit card rental insurance is for collision damage and theft of the vehicle - it is unlikely they will cover towing for mechanical breakdown and the other charges the OP details. There are also strict timelines for starting a claim and getting documentation in so that may be blown already. I had a similar issue where an Avis location billed me for a car I never picked up. The receipt actually showed the car was driven over 100 miles against my frequent renter number while I was 2000 miles away. It was not prepaid nor was there a no-show charge (booked through Costco). I won the dispute as I never used the service they charged me for, but they ended up sending it to their collection agency. In the end shaming them on social media got it re...

You have an intermittent connection somewhere. Could be a loose terminal or corroded wire at the camera. Could be the break I mentioned above. Could be a break in a winding in the transformer that expands and makes contact when the attic gets hot and breaks again at night when it cools off. These things are typically not fun to trace.

I doubt driving posts will save much, if any, labor digging holes. I assume SS40 is stainless steel and question that too - galvanized would be much cheaper, stronger (stainless tends to be brittle) and last more than a lifetime. Unless your ground is rocks or solid clay a powered auger can dig a hole in a minute or two. I doubt an auger it is slower than driving posts, for professionals that do this all day. Quickcrete is much cheaper than metal posts. I had about 130' of vinyl fence installed a year ago. All posts except one are concrete. The one exception is where a maple tree had been and they could not dig through the roots. They had to go back to the office to get a big drill, metal post and equipment to drive it. That one post took l...

Doorbell wire is usually solid and small gauge solid wire can break easily if flexed too many times. It is possible there is a break in the wire near the doorbell camera that could be hidden by the wire insulation. Try putting a voltmeter on the wire and moving it around to see if you get any hint of life. It is also possible something got broken in your attic insulation project. Is there a porch light near the door? If so consider replacing that with a camera light. That will save climbing around the attic and getting all itchy with insulation. Ring makes a couple different versions. I have the floodlight camera and the picture is much better than any doorbell camera I have seen. It is also a higher vantage point so you are more likely to ...

If any of your trimming requires a ladder a pole saw is a much easier and safer option. It can also save your back if you are cutting on the ground. I have this electric one and it is fine for the once a year use. https://www.harborfreight.com/65-amp-95-in-electric-pole-saw-56808.html A reciprocating saw with a pruning blade will also work, but your arms may not stop vibrating for hours if you put heavy use into it. I used one to cut up part of a Bradford pear that decided to fall down years ago and regretted it. Ended up borrowing a gas chain saw to finish it up. I don't recommend the Craftsman 14" electric. I bought one last year to attempt to cut out a couple large stumps but it would have taken forever. Ended up paying someone to g...

Lowes credit cards are issued by Synchrony Bank - search for them in your bill pay.

You are correct, that is not what the article says. However, my personal experience is in fact different. I entered a pre-clearance area in a foreign country on my way back to the U.S. I did declare some fruit that I had brought to eat on the plane. At that point, I was escorted by a US customs agent to a room and held there for some time (I think about 15 or 20 minutes) while they decided what to do. They told me that entering the pre-clearance area was essentially the same as entering the United States and that once I entered the area with the fruit that I was in violation. They decided to just give me a warning but the informed me that I could have been fined. Perhaps they were not following official policy or maybe the policy has chang...

Fidelity Cash Management card is my go to solution for cash anywhere for the fee refunds. I use very little cash so only use that account to hold a few hundred dollars that I might need, or more if I'm off to Vegas.

Backup is actually a credit card from Pen Fed - Platinum Rewards. Th It has no cash advance or foreign transaction fees. Interest currently at 13.74% starts from the date of the withdrawal, so 3.8 cents per day per $100. I can push out a payment within a few days so it is much better than what my other bank accounts charge on foreign cash withdrawals.

I typically use Costco for heart worm medication since they have good pricing. For occasional antibiotics and such many pet medicines are the same as human medications and can be filled under the free/$10 program many grocery stores have. GoodRX also has pet medications and can point you to a pharmacy.

Don't waste credit pulls (even though they don't hurt too much) on line increases. You are much better going after new cards with signup bonuses. Also avoid Citi. They have scrapped all benefits on all of their cards except Costco and are whittling those away as fast as they can. It is always a good idea to have multiple cards across different banks and networks in case one gets shut down for fraud or some other issue. Amex and Chase both offer great cards for travel with excellent signup bonuses. Perhaps a card from your favorite airline would make more sense. Check some of the travel bloggers for the latest on the best offers out there. If you get an Amex Platinum or Chase Sapphire Reserve the annual fee is hefty, but the perks can more t...

Only flew them once on a short hop from Australia to New Zealand and I will say their first class is amazing on the A380. Looks like ATH-EWR is a 777 though.

As for miles, Emirates is a transfer partner for Chase. Emirates also is a partner with Air Canada so it may be bookable with AC Aeroplan points. It gets complicated quickly when you start transferring points from Program A to Airline B to fly on Airline C. Check flyertalk or the travel bloggers to learn the details on the best way to use points on Emirates if you want to go down that path.

Another option is a free standing gazebo with mosquito netting. This is the gazebo I have, but I don't have the netting: https://www.costco.com/.product.100395115.html https://www.costco.com/paragon-mosquito-netting-for-santa-monica-gazebo.product.100669787.html It is a bit of a project to assemble, but I managed to do it myself with an extra ladder and some clamps for extra hands on the long supports. It was delivered in several large, heavy boxes directly into my garage. Mine is on a concrete patio and was ordered before the pour actually happened so I didn't finish assembly until the following spring. I ended up having a roof panel with a major crease in it and they replaced it months later with just a phone call and emailed picture. Mi...

I typically wear polarized safety glasses because they are cheap, comfortable and work well.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009I2XM6K
I don't have any problem seeing the HUD in my Chevy.

Another option is a free standing gazebo with mosquito netting. This is the gazebo I have, but I don't have the netting: https://www.costco.com/.product.100395115.html https://www.costco.com/paragon-mosquito-netting-for-santa-monica-gazebo.product.100669787.html It is a bit of a project to assemble, but I managed to do it myself with an extra ladder and some clamps for extra hands on the long supports. It was delivered in several large, heavy boxes directly into my garage. Mine is on a concrete patio and was ordered before the pour actually happened so I didn't finish assembly until the following spring. I ended up having a roof panel with a major crease in it and they replaced it months later with just a phone call and emailed picture. Min...

The VIN will not be assigned until the vehicle is in production at the assembly plant. As noted by others they should be able to provide you with an order number and details of what was ordered.

$24.56. 1.5 Chase Ultimate Reward points per dollar (Freedom Unlimited) are worth more to me than 2% cash. I routinely get 3-4 cents per point transferring to airlines or Hyatt. The Costco card was never that interesting to me since it never had a good signup bonus. I did get it only because I was cancelling a Citi Prestige card and they let me do a product transfer over to the Costco. Now that the extended warranty coverage is gone I doubt I will use it at all, other than as a backup and my membership card. With Citi gutting benefits across all cards I believe it is only a matter of time before the rental car CDW and few other remaining benefits on the Costco card disappear. Would not be surprised to see Costco shop their CC when their agr...

Mio, Crystal Light and the other flavored water enhancers have "energy" versions that have caffeine - you would just need water to add it to. I didn't realize I bought a caffiene version one time and didn't get to sleep until about 4 AM.

There is also Red Bull, Monster and all of the other energy drinks on the market.

Gift cards are usually a poor dollar per point value for redemption. There are much better ways to game the system. The Lowes store card give 5% off all purchases. There is also a 20% off first purchase ($100 max) so if you go that route make sure you spend $500 on your first charge. That is an easy upfront savings with zero hassle. They also give a 10% military discount if you are eligible. Discover and Chase Freedom usually have home improvement as a quarterly category at 5%, but that is capped at $1500 of spend I believe and you have to wait for the right three months of the year to use it. Personally I collect Amex and Chase points as I travel and get the best value by transferring them to airlines for international business class and h...

Thanks for replies. The reoccurring questions was "why a pickup?" Here is what it would be used for and what is it is not required for: 1. Hauling light material such as mulch, leaves and grass clippings, etc. to and from the community composting center. 2. Gardening - I have multiple garden locations and am frequently moving soil or compost or garden tools. 3. Light hauling of boxes, etc. 4. Bike for remote locations. also, lawn mower, snow blower, etc. Not: 1. Heavy towing such as boat, camper, trailer, etc. 2. Heavy aggregate such as gravel, etc. 3. Fashion 4. Off roading My current vehicle - Equanox 2015 has 155k miles and no problems, but it is awkward to do above things at times. Plus it gets quite dirty with transporting o...

I applied for a new Barclays card last month online. Within seconds of hitting Submit on the application, my phone beeped with an alert from Amex that there was a change in my credit report and a new inquiry had posted. Chase emailed me the same notification at the exact same time. Within 24 hours I also had email alerts from Credit Karma and Discover - probably others I didn't pay attention to. I also received alerts a few weeks later when the new account appeared on my credit report. I don't pay for any of these services - you just have to opt in through your credit card accounts, or sign up for free at Credit Karma. They can get annoying though. Some like to send scary emails with subjects like "There has been a change to your credi...

This website seems to stay on top of all of the latest deals from the big box stores and online retailers.
https://toolguyd.com/category/tool-deals/

Slickdeals is also handy and you can set alerts to notify you if you are in the market for something in particular.

A side mount bracket is going to act like a lever and magnify the force applied to the cabinet when it is pulled out. That may be a problem, especially if you accidentally apply too much force while adjusting it. At a minimum I would confirm that you are dealing with real wood or plywood and not particleboard. Sand off the finish where you will be mounting the additional wood and apply some quality wood glue (Titebond) to increase the strength of the joint with the cabinet. Oversize the additional wood to increase the joint area. 2 1/4" thick is probably overkill - I would probably try 3/4 plywood over the entire side of that cavity screwed and glued to basically make the entire sidewall 1.5" Hopefully your TV is a newer model. My...

Definitely get "skip the line" privileges with the agency you will be using. I also like Autoslash, but had an issue with a Budget rental in FL where my Budget Fastbreak number didn't get passed to Budget. I realized it ahead of time and tried to add it directly to the reservation through the Budget website but that would not let me. Tried calling and that was no help. Could not get it done through autoslash/priceline either. I ended up stuck in a 90 minute line for 30 seconds of counter time since all of my information was already in the computer. If you book at a 3rd party site go straight to the rental agency website and verify everything showed up properly, especially that frequent renter number. Make sure your credit card and...

Run rigid from the outlet to the outdoors to about 3 feet from the ground. Then connect 6-8' of semi rigid aluminum duct to make it easy to pull the dryer away from the wall without the vent popping off. Make sure you get some real (aluminum) duct tape to seal everything. I would put a rigid elbow on the end of the flex so it is easy to slide into the dryer outlet and will minimize the dead space behind the dryer. The rigid has the least resistance and smooth interior to reduce lint build up and is also easy to secure without damage while the flexible section makes maintenance 100 X easier. The rigid should be available in 2, 4 or 6 foot sections to avoid having to use tin snips and the flexible can be cut with a utility knife if you need t...

Just because United shows an available award flight it does not mean that all partners will have access to that same flight and award.

Avianca (LifeMiles) is also an Amex transfer partner and part of Star Alliance. I have had good luck booking business class to Europe through them, but mainly on Lufthansa. Their website is a bit clunky and I have read a few reports of transfers not happening instantly like they used to.

Dig through some of the mileage blogger websites or Flyertalk to get a crash course on points transfer. Especially watch the points some airlines charge. It is not an easy game, but can be highly profitable if you can find the right flights.

Give this stuff a try for under $10 before you start taking things apart.
https://blasterproducts.com/product/sma ... e-tune-up/

I wish I had thought to grab my EZ pass on a trip to Pensacola last month. Two $1 tolls to access Pensacola Beach ended up costing me $13.90 since rental car agencies charge a daily fee for the entire rental if you use a toll-by-plate or their transponder a single time on the trip. Even though I don't live in a state with toll roads, I bought it years ago on a business trip to Chicago because I got tired of stopping and digging for change constantly.

A staffing company / contract house would be another option - no idea if it is better financially in the long run, but would be easier. If your company already uses some level of temporary employees or contractors they already have one lined up. You would end up as at at-will employee of the contract house. No reason you can't negotiate your hourly rate with your current employer. The contract house would manage the taxes and you would get a W2 from them at the end of the year. You would probably have to log your hours into a time clock type system. You would probably be stuck with whatever benefits they provide, if any, so make sure that is clear ahead of time. Your current employer would pay them your hourly rate + XX% for managing you. T...

Combination of several bags depending on trip: Main - 22" ebags roller with 3" expansion gusset. Fits all mainline overhead bins if not expanded. Backpack 1 - ebags large laptop backback (can't remember model) Backpack 2 - ebags Mother Lode backpack - basically the same as the 22" roller minus the hardware Backpack 3 - North Face jester (pretty small but holds a 14" chromebook) Backup backpack - don't recall the brand but it is one of the tiny ones that folds into its own pocket. Compresses in a 1 quart ziploc bag. 2-4 day trips is 22" roller with Backpack 3, or Backpack 1 if I need a little more space. Both carried on 7-8 day trips is probably 22" roller expanded and checked with Backpack 1 with 48 hours of ev...

Google flights is great for finding a cheap fare. Search for a one way from any AA hub to nowhere and it will show you all options from there. You can also filter for AA or Oneworld to limit the flights that you can book with the credit. I would pick the Wednesday before it expires to start since that is usually the cheapest day of the week to fly, but also use the price graph to see by day. MIA-ATL is $49 as early as 1/24. Lots of competition on that short route with Delta, SW, Spirit and Frontier also having nonstops.

Won't canceling the flight just refund it to another flight credit with the original expiration date?

Depends on the type of credit.
https://viewfromthewing.com/a-simple-gu ... ift-cards/
https://www.aa.com/i18n/customer-servic ... credit.jsp

If it is for a flight you cancelled then you have to start travel by the expiration.

I believe it is unlimited inbound but only six outbound transfers to/from Savings per month, based on federal regulations. I have my paycheck direct deposited to savings so I start getting the higher interest immediately. When I have bills to pay I move it over to checking. Since most of my bills are synchronized to be due at the end of the month I can usually get by with one or two outbound transfers from savings per month.

I have read positive review of Med Jet in the past but never purchased / used it.
https://medjetassist.com/
Check Flyertalk since the percentage of forum users needing something like this will be much higher than here.

Note this would only cover the transportation, not the actual health care. You should check your existing policies to see what level of international coverage and evacuation insurance you already have, if any.

I don't recall the brand of my jump starter - one of those things that jumps in your cart at Costco. It has only been used once to jump start a stranger's car, plus to recharge a dead cell phone on occasion. If you go for a compressor also make sure you get something from a reputable brand. I tried a couple no name imports from Amazon and they were DOA. Ended up picking up a Dewalt compressor for $100. Quality and features are much better and it uses batteries I already have (also runs off of 12 volt cigarette lighter). The battery makes it much easier to air up the camper tires without having to reach a 12 volt outlet. If I were to consider a combined jump starter/ compressor I would stick with the brands that know how to make motors and b...

You can probably do this with with any smart TV alone. I have not played with it in years, but my first flat panel 10 years ago could play videos from a USB stick. I'm pretty sure there must also be an app on roku/fire/android/webos TVs that you could just point to a URL in a browser to show the content you want. Modern TVs have the computer built in.

… another example; the AMEX Plat gives you the best lounge access, but it's earning rate for regular spend is pretty terrible. so you need to pair it with the Gold so you get 4x on dining/groceries. I keep on running across this myth about Amex Plat giving the best lounge access I have the Plat as well as a form of the CSR, and the CSR gives much better value at most airports because it allows access to participating restaurants, which the Plat does not. Case in point: Yesterday we traveled from SFO. The Centurion lounge (usually way overcrowded) was in another terminal. Instead, we used our CSR-based Priority Pass to have a very good lunch at a restaurant and PP discounted the tab by $56. A much better experience than the CL when typicall...

It appears new grouting would simply be a short term band-aid and not fix the underlying issues. Granted, the contractor who came to take a look at it is well known in the area and is a perfectionist, so he simply pointed out the flaws he saw and could fix. We have a second contractor coming in next week to also take a look and provide some bids. So the remodel, if that's the way we go, is primarily to fix the underlying issues. Updating some fixtures and colors would be extra gravy as part of the job. If it were just cosmetic, I could understand. However, it appears we have some underlying issues beyond cosmetic. CyclingDuo What is the underlying issue? Is the subfloor (OSB, Plywood, cement board, ?) rotted from moisture? Are stains appea...

Get the mesh system. Even in my 1000 square foot single level house it is much more stable with only two access points than a single router ever was. Mine is Netgear Orbi and it has been rock solid for a couple years, but I'm not sure what else is out there these days.

Yes - you must pre drill with the Tapcon. That is why they give you the drill bit with the screws.