joshlittle

In 2019 I literally almost died from Shigella. It caused a 105° fever and I am grateful for my Spencer for rushing me to San Francisco General Hospital, and to them for saving my life. This is not a bug I would ever want again.

ATM- not worth it!

It has been cancelled.

Please don’t bring it to their attention.

At $0.60/kWh, I cannot afford a new excuse to hike my electric and gas bill.

I cannot stand this company. I don’t agree with the practice where people in San Francisco have to pay for mismanagement and neglect of this for profit corporation’s infrastructure in far flung rural areas - places that I have never been before - and have no connection to. If we forced PG&E to breakup after the last bankruptcy, and San Francisco had purchased the wire infrastructure and transmission lines that give us light in the City, we would be much better off. Proceeds would be reinvested… Municipal ownership is the only proper solution. Just a thought.

The start of the SF Bay Area shelter in place order was sandwiched right between the sudden loss of my boyfriend (completing suicide), and then two weeks later my best friend (cancer), all in March 2020. As the pandemic resulted in a loss of work at the same time.

It really was a incredibly lonely, isolating experience.

To top it off, many friends left the Bay Area. I fortunately was not grieveing alone as my boyfriend’s cat inherited me, his next human.

The things that people normally get help with, or support- couldn’t be done. I was pretty alone cleaning out my boyfriends’ apartment, didn’t get to have any kind of service for either of them; and I had nothing to occupy my time except “what if” thoughts - but few people willing to discuss with me.

What would be most helpful for the grieving?

- If you can be with that person, be with them.

- Do share stories, photos, memories of the deceased if you knew them.

- Let them manage the conversation.

- If they want to go through the “what if’s” with you, entertain them! This was the most healing interactions I had.

- especially don’t tell a suicide loss survivor anything regarding them being at fault or not. They don’t need to hear it; and indeed they have been thinking about these what if’s constantly when alone. “It’s not your fault” can be interpreted as a sign that your support has boundaries and you don’t wanna discuss. Better to LISTEN to everything they want to discuss. If it was a suicide, gently tell them “I hear you,” and suggest even if they, the bereaved, intervened in the situation that ended their loved one’s life; they may have changed the outcome that day; but every day to the deceased was challenging. It takes professional help to pull someone out of a suicidal mindset; and even then it’s not a guarantee they wouldn’t have been successful eventually.

- Finally, check in with them around the anniversaries of their passing. One month, six months, one year, 18 months. Trust me, they won’t forget the date, they really need extra support then.

- Boys do cry. Anyone who told me that “Boys don’t cry” bull**t, I immediately found untrustworthy to confide in and share my grief with. Even though I had only one person tell me that, it was completely not what I needed. Don’t judge anyone’s reactions to grief. Do let people feel.

- My boyfriend Spencer, age 32, was a loving person who had a wonderful soul. I still like to discuss him to keep his memory alive; I find those who are not afraid to bring him up also, to be my closest friends.

- You/everyone else around the grieving will probably get tired of hearing about the deceased over and over again. There is no timeline or end date to grief. I still feel their loss as heavy today as previously.

I hope this helps.

Ahhh yes. I loved BeOS. I remember how exciting I thought it was when it came to Intel x86, for free. As a 12 year old, I was an early promoter of platform agnosticism.

I installed it on a hand-me-down emachines, aside from figuring out some voodoo magic to get my 33K modem to work; it was a good OS. I do miss technology in the 90s.

Elon, enjoy Texas (or Nevada...) Hope it goes well for you. Tip: Don't tell them you are a California transplant.

I'd personally consider Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, or Ontario; they're much more supportive of the auto industry - and ample manufacturing and tooling expertise resides there.

With lots of soon to be idled property next to Warm Springs BART & near the Dumbarton, 237, 580, 680; time to build more housing.

For me, iCloud would be worse.

While I’d be sad to lose my Google Voice number in use since 2010; I’ve been using my iCloud account since the day it was launched as iTools. I have had my @mac.com email for 20 years.

Would the Underwriters Laboratory even certify this nonsense?

It makes me question the methodology Tesla uses for refurbishing and reselling a lemon.

It would’ve been pretty easy to restore non autopilot software (as this event shows) before they sold it.

After seeing the way this is handled, I for sure wouldn’t be willing to spend $8K on a feature that can be removed so easily if I was configuring a new Tesla - regardless of whether or not private party sales have different policies.

The SAAS model is less appealing when it comes to durable goods.

Indeed, maybe we shouldn’t allow software features to be rolled back after the car is delivered.

I decided against Tesla in 2017 when I bought my first EV. I wasn’t into the complete lack of control in ownership - no ability to order parts or do my own repairs, vendor lock in for onboard DC fast charging equipment, cars made on “beta test” like production lines in tented parking lots, the chance of nefarious software updates from Tesla (or others) bricking functionality the car; or causing security issues.

Maybe the buyer should’ve done more homework, call Tesla before purchase and verify features?

It’s a bad situation for the buyer; and another reason I have added to the growing list of reasons not to buy a Tesla.

It’s a shame.

One only has to look at San Francisco‘s current zoning map to understand why this bill was important to solving the housing crisis in the state.

https://sfplanning.org/sites/default/files/resources/2019-02...

In San Francisco, most of the city is zoned RH-1 or RH-1(D). Areas not zoned RH-1 (Essentially residential areas that allow the construction of multifamily apartments and other larger condominium projects) are seeing an explosion of growth and change; mostly in lower income minority neighborhoods where developers can affordably purchase property.

It’s incredibly unbalanced; and senate bill 50 would have balance the scales to favor more housing options in some of these areas with stringent zoning for only residential single-family homes.

Even though Senator Wiener is from San Francisco, the city council itself came out against this bill. San Francisco is the densest large city in California, with a larger ratio of the population living in apartments then most other cities in the state. Sen. Weiner is pretty safe from backlash as a majority of San Franciscans understand that other cities around the state need to do their part in building housing just like San Francisco has over the last century.

For other politicians around the state, senate Bill 50 is Kryptonite. Like everywhere else in America, Politicians are elected by residents. The largest constituencies of voters tend to be those in single-family homes because mostly California lives in single-family homes. Very expensive single-family homes.

People do not want to change the neighborhood to drastically in a way that would alter the equity they have accumulated in their home.

The best way to not be reelected is to support this bill. Why support multi family apartment construction for people who do not live in their district? Very much the “I got mine“ attitude.

There is no panacea here. It’s going to take a ballot referendum, which is not likely to pass for the same reasons. Or change to the fair housing act. In the 50s and 60s, California zoning was indeed complicated with racial bias and exclusion. Above all else, it is the epitome of Systemic racism for the time period; and the biggest flaw in the fair housing act. As it turns out, the system is still working as originally intended. Fixing the fair housing act to cover residential zoning might be more achievable then anything California can do on it’s own.

Sounds very promising; but my guess is limited used in vivo. If it works as explained, would be wildly successful at limiting the spread of HPV if used in condoms and lubricants. In Vivo, to cure viruses like HIV, it would also need to wake up and destroy infected T-Cells that make up a person’s viral reservoir. Without that, the infection persists. however, would be very useful for people who have to overcome multiple forms of resistance to several HAART drugs before they can become undetectable.

Everything in this article is correct, at least for me.

I got fired for performance at my last job about 2.75 years ago. The first two years of working there I had great performance reviews, things went well. It was a high performing YC-backed success story, and I felt just as successful. I was promoted to Lead QA Engineer, and oversaw several projects going at once that I was interested in.

About two years in, it started going south when I lost my Adderall prescription. Eventually I got fired. It was devastating, and the best job I ever had.

I guess after some change at Kaiser Permanente, my primary care doctor was no longer able to write me Adderall. He sent me to psychiatry, which at Kaiser is less than stellar.

Psychiatrist said that unless I can provide proof from elementary school or doctors from my childhood, he’s going to have to reevaluate me; from the looks of what he said I might not get a diagnosis. Offered me Wellbutrin. The entire visit was a slap in the face. He thought I was there to get stimulants because I have a drug problem.

Indeed! I do have a drug problem in that no longer am being prescribed the drugs that make me function. I never abused drugs.

Even after talking to a manager, Kaiser refuses let me switch psychiatrists. This was about 2.5 years ago. It took me two months even get an appointment with that Dr; only to have him tell me get lost.

Meanwhile, I’ve been doing the best I can given the situation. ADHD Affects me greatly and I’ve lost so much since then.

For one, disorganization resulted in me missing out on exercising my stock options. I thought I had three months, it was 90 days. Missed it by a day!

This was problematic because the company was purchased by Autodesk about a year after I got fired. Would’ve been a nice liquidity event. ($600K)

I’m still falling incredibly short. I have a lot of trauma around getting fired and feeling like I am insufficient. I have not even applied for a job since leaving. Once unemployment ran out I started ridesharing; i’m doing that off and on for about two years. It barely pays rent but better than being broke and homeless in San Francisco.

Today, it’s a struggle to stay relevant. I have pretty much given up on finding a psychiatrist in San Francisco as they all appear booked for months. I have found success in self medication although it’s harder to find therapeutic pharmaceuticals then street drugs; not a viable alternative for me.

I’m sort of losing interest in tech. I find enjoyment in many things technical but cannot seem to get myself together. Thinking without finishing my college degree, no relevant work for the last 2 1/2 years, and no treatment for my condition; nobody will want to hire me. Even if they did I am not sure I’d be able to be successful.

Where am I at now? Still ridesharing, trying to make ends meet. My resume is almost rewritten, I have looked at some jobs but not applied for any yet. My world has gotten a little bit smaller than I would like.

Absolutely I need some more structure than what I have.

I have been using X10 and Insteon devices for years. I have no plans to upgrade the system to newer zigbee/zwave hardware; though I have added some IP Based devices too for things like smart bulbs such as Lifx.

I control everything with a Universal Devices ISY-994i controller and have set up a Polyglot node server to tie it all together. This gives me flexibility because I can always expand the isy-994i to support Zigbee or Zwave; and polyglot node server is open source.

It’s very nice to be protected against forced IoT obsolescence due to cloud API Reversioning, Company failures and mergers, etc. some of my smart home IoT devices are over 20 years old; no plans to upgrade them. Best of all, nothing requires the Internet to work.

Fully agree on understanding users.

I usually strive to develop a strong working relationship with users. Working with them 1:1 is even better. I like to set clear expectations upfront about what I’m capable of helping with to manage my time well.

When I take the time to observe users working - understanding their concerns, figuring out their pain points, gathering feedback - it gives customers a sense of ownership, and they will probably stay customers for a while.

I got into software development after a long stint at Apple Retail during college; a good place to weather the storm from the terrible 2008 recession.

The experience I got working as a Mac Genius at Apple has benefited me more than anything else I did for my career in software engineering.

The deep empathy for users I have developed from observing dozens of people use their devices for 8 hours a day, 8 years is the biggest asset of all my skillsets. I don’t claim to be an expert at how users feel and think; but it’s sure thorough enough to be a positive influence on my work.

If I feel a user is ”doing it wrong;” a simple practice for me in being empathetic is to ask myself “how can we do better?”

Regardless of any environmental reasons, lower maintenance costs, better performance, and ride improvements; for most Californians who buy passenger cars, electric cars mitigate personal risks of potential petroleum shortages and price spikes caused by geopolitical conflict.

I have no control over oil crises' in Saudia Arabia; and what it does to our gas prices. Neither does California.

The president can and will release more oil from our national reserve to alleviate any potential supply instability; but it won't make the price of gas tomorrow be any less unpredictable.

I can, however, raise my concerns with the California Public Utilities Commission about how unhappy I am with any electric rate hikes. People are appointed to the commission by the governor. The governor is still elected by the people.

We may not be able to easily import U.S. crude into California; but any power plant in the Western interconnection can sell electricity to California over high voltage transmission lines.

Buying an electric car means more money upfront, though it removes the risk out of car ownership and makes costs predictable.

If a disruption of production or distribution causes a major spike in oil prices, or a long term shortage - consumers will certainly change habits. Most drivers will just pay a higher gas price; some will have to cut in other areas. Few drivers won't have to make any changes at all.

If anything, we can realize incidents like this are a good wake-up call that our reliance on gasoline is dependent upon a fragile system. It just doesn't seem wise to commit to a petroleum lock-in for years. They can charge whatever the market dictates; and lack any oversight by the CPUC.

Long range EVs are now the norm. A new Tesla can be bought for under $40k. Many other EV manufacturers still have plenty of time before their Federal consumer tax credits expire - such as Volkswagen, Hyundai, Jaguar, and many others. A used 2017 Chevrolet Bolt with years left on the powertrain warranty costs less than $20K. Even if the federal rebate has ended for a manufacturer, California still offers an additional $2500 state rebate, HOV Carpool Access decals; and PG&E has a $900 rebate for new battery plug in cars.

The cost to operate is low even conpared to lower gas prices. My car (a Bolt EV) costs about $0.12 a kW to charge overnight at home and I don't foresee that rate changing soon. It equates to about $0.035 - $0.04 cents a mile. Prior to installing an outlet at home, fast charging while at whole foods once a week did just fine for my needs.

This will not change the mind of people who have the "I don't wanna stop on my way to LA" mindset.

Sure, nobody wants to stop for a $6 recharge at any one of several dozen DC Fast chargers between SF and LA for 30-45 minutes of time. The point is that's at least predictable, readily available, and repeatable at a similar lower cost; for years to come. How often do they make that journey anyways?

To me, these are minor reasonable tradeoffs when considering how many times a driver stops for gas in a month while commuting in their area, combined with how much control that driver has over avoiding a conflict between two geopolitical foes in the Mideast - electric is a good way to mitigate the risk of buying a car. What does the petroleum energy sector look like in the future? Hard to say.

U=U is fantastic science; though it hasn’t been enough to totally remove the stigma of HIV, even in San Francisco. I believe it comes from not enough dissemination of information regarding the nonexistent risk of contracting HIV from an undetectable partner.

I’m also concerned that by focusing on HIV as a manageable, chronic condition - we discount the need for a cure.

A dystopian future possibility that’s come through my head is the cure is a century away despite progress, and U=U doesn’t do enough to remove the stigma faced today regardless how much the public is informed of the science.

I believe that a cure is required to truly remove the stigma of HIV.

I can scream “I am undetectable” from the rooftops and what that entails It’s never going to matter to the people that find creative ways to cancel plans, get out of dates, etc. when I disclose my status as HIV+ to them.

I’m at least thankful for the people that tell me it makes them uncomfortable to consider kissing or any sexual contact - even with this knowledge. And even with pre exposure prophylaxis / PrEP.

Add electrify America too. Pricey, but still cheaper than gas. Competition is good though!

I did a lot of research when I went EV shopping. So many considerations!

For high speed DC Charging for trips, Tesla definitely got this right the first time; and still has the advantage for now. They’ve been the best for long road trips. That advantage is narrowing.

CCS or Chademo (the high speed charging standards everyone else use) equipment are catching up fast, being deployed in a similar fashion along interstates by Volkswagen; through their “electrify America” subsidiary.

And EVgo and Chargepoint have been extremely focused on Whole Foods, Walmart, Local Shopping malls, parking garages, etc.

I live in San Francisco and mostly drive my car in the Bay Area, with a few long trips here and there. I wanted to make sure that all my use cases were covered. I did a lot of homework.

I noticed that in San Francisco proper, not a single supercharger for Tesla has been opened yet - the nearest one is in Daly City. Anything available in SF currently is slower “destination charging.”

Seems that if one has the convenience of garage charging at home or charging at work, get a Tesla M3. One won’t need an abundance of superchargers available to them unless on road trips. Local coverage will be less important.

If one will be proudly parking their new Tesla M3 mostly on the street, can’t charge at work, and Will have to rely solely on public infrastructure, making sure there is a supercharger nearby that can fit into one’s routine is crucial.

In San Francisco, M3 owners will have to get used to shopping at Serramonte Center in Daly City until the San Francisco supercharger opens. The queue can be a pretty long from what my friend tells me, but they do have a nice Target.

One can charge a Tesla M3 at any low speed AC level 2 charger with the Tesla supplied J1772A adapter - adds about 11 to 30 miles of range every hour. These are pretty ubiquitous at this point.

In a pinch I am comforted by the ease of DC Fast charging everywhere; CCS on my Bolt EV gives me that. Since I know I can charge In all corners of SF and the Bay Area at high-speed, anxiety is nonexistent.

I maybe go on long trips (Los Angeles, etc.) only every six months or so with my Bolt EV. That’s been a pretty easy experience so far. Lots of ccs/chademo charging on 101 and 99. The 5 is getting up to speed as well. More importantly the daily convenience factor locally is key for me.

If one buys a Tesla model S or X, this problem can be alleviated with a $450 ChaDemo adapter; and can charge pretty much anywhere - Tesla Supercharger or not. This is probably ideal. Note this adapter is not compatible with the m3.

I would love a Model S if I could justify it. I would consider a long range model 3 when it DC fast charge on non Tesla hardware in the US. (European M3 have this connection instead of the supercharger connection.)

99% of the time I get by with overnight charging at home. Doing my “Buying an electric vehicle” homework suggested I take a look at my local Charging infrastructure by downloading the PlugShare app. Knowing what’s available where I usually go really made it easy to integrate EVs into my routine.

I grew up in Cincinnati. I finished college at the start of the Great Recession. As career opportunities in Tech were (at the time) nonexistent there, I couldn’t find a future for me in Cincy. I moved away in 2009 to Chicago; and then to San Francisco 5 years later. I feel a little bit guilty for leaving my childhood friends and family behind to move on with my aspirations.

It’s been hard to listen to my parents complain about how terrible the region has become; yet I am grateful for their continued encouragement to pursue my own goals - even if elsewhere.

It’s easy to say “why don’t they move?”

It’s a question I bring up all the time to myself. As it turns out, it is really hard to relocate an entire family once roots are put down - my aging grandparents, my sisters and their families, my fathers’ business, and my mothers‘ career in commercial banking all anchor them to Cincinnati.

+1 to CA FTB. My federal tax return was 30 Pages long. I decided to use TurboTax small business to keep it in check - I had a promotion that gave it to me for free ($119 value) but it was extra for state efile ($59.) I went to the franchise tax board website and filed state for free using my federal 1040 in about 10 minutes.

Not gonna disagree; the treatments are good and getting better for PLWHs - side effects are nearly nonexistent on the day to day and better than they were in the long run. And PrEP / nPEP are miracles at reducing seroconversions in high risk groups/persons exposed.

We do need a cure. The damage done to the body of an HIV positive person who’s undetectable, on HAART/meds is progressive, permanent, and irreversible. Even on treatment, chronic inflammation of the immune system adds a lot of undue stress to the body. While I’m not at risk for any AIDS defining illnesses/cancers, I’ve still got a very high risk of other cancers compared to someone who’s HIV-negative. I’m grateful for laws protecting people like me with pre existing conditions - which forces my insurance company to fully cover my $6000 US/mo in HAART treatment. (Symtuza/Tivicay if curious)

What’s the amount of money big pharma will make over the course of my life alone? Millions if they can keep this up.

How great could life be without HIV in it for good? I’d like to find out, or at least maybe get my doctor to stop asking me to fill out an advanced care directive.

I’m thankful otherwise that at 32 I’m fit, in perfect health, and undetectable. Someday I hope i’ll change my status to “cured.”

I can throw a rock and hit Sutro Tower - San Francisco’s very omnipresent TV transmission antenna.

That being said, the convenience of watching broadcast TV for free on my iPad and not investing in hardware I have to manage for sure has me interested.

Love my Chevy Bolt EV. I like that Chevrolet has adopted a lot of standards - J1772A/CCS Combo Charging, android auto and carplay in the infotainment system. Surround vision and rear view camera are amazing.

Model 3 is ok, but there are few things to consider about that Tesla.

- The lack of the free Tesla supercharging perk for m3. Without spending any additional money, that car is locked into only having support for Tesla's proprietary standard "out of box." There is no other hardware included with the car which make it compatible with other technologies. (CCS/Chademo)

- And that proprietary built in charge port requires a $500 Chademo adapter if you want to use a different network for fast charging. Even that standard is being replaced by SAE/CCS - No support at all by Tesla, but is the standard used by Volkswagens upcoming Electrify America EVSE Network.

- Are you a do it yourselfer? You won't be buying Tesla parts - they don't make them available to customers. Whatever their service charges - that's what you pay. I find the right to repair my own equipment is a must for something I'm spending over $30,000 on.

I don't wanna have to teach a lesson to anyone on how to open my car doors. Emergency exit handle is in a bad spot... Yep. Right where you expect it to be - In the face of a normal handle on any car! If someone in your car uses the emergency exit handle which is right on the door, the infotainment system present a warning message telling you not to do that again as the window trim can be damaged. Humans are going to always look for the handle on a car door...

Only one camera is actually useful - rear backup camera. But there are a lot more cameras for the autopilot feature. What's the point of having all these cameras if you can't do anything with them?

- Even $35,000 is a lot to spend on a vehicle that was assembled inside of a circus tent in Fremont.

Typical John Kass... slow news day at da Trib?

Nevertheless after half a decade in The City, people from my hometown of Cincinnati stated I had picked up a bit of the Chicago accent. After another half decade in The (other) City, it’s disappeared.

A few best friends of mine grew up in Beverly, fwiw.

Probably.

I had the advantage of moving into a place where the previous tenant had the service and panel upgraded / house rewired for their cannabis business.

Really glad too. There’s lots of Hazardous Federal Pacific Electric panels in operation around here.

Smart landlords would hopefully require a standard 50A NEMA 14-50R outlet. Those are compatible with almost all EVSEs.

This rule is a lifesaver.

I’m renting a single family home in San Francisco. I drive a Chevrolet Bolt EV.

Using a little known SF electrical code that allows DIY electrical work in a fully detached house, I installed a 50-Amp 250v NEMA 14-50 outlet in my garage. I did 50A service for room to upgrade the stock EVSE in the future. My landlord is fine as I’m insured, followed all National Electric Code guidelines and laws. It cost me $100 in parts/wire.

I then created a NEMA 14-50P to a NEMA 5-15R adapter to plug the GM stock EVSE in at 250v.

It’s a little known fact about the Chevy Bolt that the included EVSE charger supports 250v - by wiring each blade on the NEMA 5-15 plug to a 125v hot lead; then wiring the ground pin to neutral. I then locked the NEMA 5-15 plug/receptacle extension cord in a lockbox clearly labeled.

While a normal 40A EVSE Gives 7.2kW, this setup- still limited to 12A due to GM/Clipper Creeks firmware - gives me around 3kWh. That’s perfect for my use. I am not tempted to really upgrade this set up a time soon, but can if I want to. It’s also easy enough to take with me.

Total installation of level 2 charging in my San Francisco rental? $150ish.

(Please don’t try this at home if you have no idea what you’re doing when it comes to working with electric. this is only informational, not an endorsement!)

Easy fix: Require, maybe also supply in-car cameras and require footage as evidence for reimbursement. A very inexpensive fix to a burgeoning problem.

True, but my legal obligation has been fulfilled.

CA Government doesn’t require me to cover every use case for the recording law as it applies to every camera recording the public.

I forgot add- I only keep recordings for me.