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I lived in LA and commuted to Berkeley by plane to save on rent

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Re: I lived in LA and commuted to Berkeley by plane to save on rent

#111

Post by CactusOnFire »

prepend wrote: post #109
atleastoptimal wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think some people on here default to a highly comparative/competitive mindset. When they see titles like the one here, they assume there's a subline reading And because I found this hack and executed on it, I'm more resourceful, capable, and smarter than you, and if you can't keep up with me its your fault if you don't succeed Not saying everyone here thinks it but the emotional reaction to these kinds of things ma…

I agree with part of your assumption, but, for me, the second half is more “and here’s how I can learn from it, internalize, and improve my processes to be better.” So it’s not so much competitive to exceed others but competitive to improve methods to improve self.

Yeah. The title is a misdirect. The unspoken promise of the article that this is about a more cost-effective/practical/efficient process of commuting.

Re: I lived in LA and commuted to Berkeley by plane to save on rent

#112

Post by j7ake »

ynniv wrote: post #89
tbrake wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's with the indignation over this on HN? I didn't see them suggesting anyone/everyone would be able to do it, or that it was practical. It was just a funny set of cirucmstances that allowed for an attention catching headline and a mildly amusing tale. Yeeeesh.

It's a cool story, but the headline is bullshit since they didn't include the value of 576k frequent flier miles. That more than doubles the cost.

While you’re at it, why don’t you throw in the real cost of living “rent free”, which is a huge reason why it works.

Re: I lived in LA and commuted to Berkeley by plane to save on rent

#113

Post by uoaei »

refurb wrote: post #106
uoaei wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also a grand waste of resources, not to mention quite a tasteless flaunt of the enjoyment of a level of privilege that very few have access to. If you saw an article about how Bezos bragged openly on the internet about how much he spent a day on gourmet food flown in on private jets from faraway countries, do you think you'd respond any differently? Why or why not?

What do you mean "very few have". They are a Berkeley student, that's 45,000 students who can afford to live in Berkeley which is more expensive than what this guy did. Seems the opposite of "privilege few have". Get off your high horse.

You are aware, of course, that the human population is larger than 90k people, right?

Re: I lived in LA and commuted to Berkeley by plane to save on rent

#114

Post by uoaei »

khazhoux wrote: post #97
uoaei wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Clearly they could have afforded housing on campus if they just saved all the money they had spent on that credit card. The luxury of affording your credit card bill every month as a college student, and living a lush life on all the things that money affords, then attending a prestigious school with a near guarantee of stable high income in perpetuity, is not a chance many get. By definition, privilege is the enjoym…

> Do you have a point to make Yes. It's ridiculous to accuse somehow who put themselves through this insane, sleep-depriving, patience-punishing, tarmac-sitting schedule, of flaunting their privilege. He has more money than many, but (evidently) not enough to live in the same city as his classmates. Just enjoy a crazy-hilarious story, man.

That's exactly it. He put himself through it. It was completely unnecessary and it was his choice to do it this way. That doesn't justify any of what he did, if anything, it points out the absurdity of your response. If someone had no choice but to do this your defense would make more sense, but this dude just planned his life poorly and used capital to make up for his mistakes. Rent is free, that means he has parents who own a home and let him live there after reaching adulthood. He has a good credit card, that means he had parents who helped him with financial literacy and likely paid his bills for the first few years to help him build his credit score. Exploiting the people and resources (especially carbon emissions) around you for such cockamammie plans is dumb and antisocial and this person deserves to be ridiculed.

Remarkable, the sycophancy on this site. In what world is wasting a massive amount of other people's resources to save a couple thousand dollars in your pocket anywhere related to the "hacker spirit"?

Re: I lived in LA and commuted to Berkeley by plane to save on rent

#115

Post by kennethrc »

tsuujin wrote: post #50
tempestn wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess it's not necessarily a poor use of time if you can study in the airport and/or on the plane. Or if you just enjoy flying.

I genuinely can not imagine enjoying flying. Airports are a form of living hell.

I used to commute (weekly) SoCal/NoCal for a while and still fly quite often. Between airline status and perks like PreCheck and CLEAR and lounge access (all of which one of my CCs gives me for "free") flying is a lot less hassle than it used to be; I can usually show up at the airport only 5 mins before either bag cutoff, or boarding start nowadays, with the biggest hassle usually getting to/from the airport(s).

Re: I lived in LA and commuted to Berkeley by plane to save on rent

#116

Post by ac29 »

labster wrote: post #87
zamnos wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://buildhsr.com/ is tracking the progress (ie, we are capable, if slow). First up, Bakersfield to Fresno.

What a stupid section to start on. They should have done LA-Anaheim-San Diego or SF-San José or Sac-Stockton and started making money on shorter routes. Instead, they’re building a longer stretch between less populated and less wealthy cities.

SF to San Jose is almost completely electrified now with support for HSR and electric Caltrain. Electrified Caltrain testing starts this year with the new service opening to the public in 2024.

The new Caltrain service should be faster and more reliable, so even if HSR is never completed, the Bay Area will get a nice upgrade in its regional rail system.

Re: I lived in LA and commuted to Berkeley by plane to save on rent

#117

Post by dragonwriter »

labster wrote: post #87
zamnos wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://buildhsr.com/ is tracking the progress (ie, we are capable, if slow). First up, Bakersfield to Fresno.

What a stupid section to start on. They should have done LA-Anaheim-San Diego or SF-San José or Sac-Stockton and started making money on shorter routes. Instead, they’re building a longer stretch between less populated and less wealthy cities.

> Instead, they’re building a longer stretch between less populated and less wealthy cities.

Environmental clearance was known to be quicker there, which met the priority for shovel-ready projects in federal funding being distributed as part of the 2009 stimulus, and the fact that it was in a more economically precarious part of the state was also in line with the funding concerns. It didn’t hurt with the state or federal politics of funding that that was in a more Republican area of the state, either. At the same time, the Bay Area and LA basin were getting a lot of the initial investment for “bookend” projects to improve existing transit systems both for the independent value that produces and as eventual HSR feeder systems.

Sac to Stockton was never even part of the Phase I plan anyway, but part of the distant idea of a Phase II extension after the SF-LA run was complete that would add Sacramento and San Diego.

Re: I lived in LA and commuted to Berkeley by plane to save on rent

#118

Post by rsync »

labster wrote: post #55
bhl wrote: post #17

My takeaway from reading about the person's experience is that we need better high speed public transportation in California. It would unlock a lot of economic and non-economic opportunities if people can move across the state within an hour. Imagine if Berkeley was a commuter school for people in Los Angeles, or UCLA was a commuter school for people in Bay Area.

I voted for California High Speed Rail when I was in university. I’m middle-aged now. I hope that one day, my grandchildren will be able to take that train.

No, you didn’t.

You voted for California rail but nothing high speed was ever proposed.

The proposed rail line you are referring to was a normal speed train and didn’t even complete the SF to LA trip in two hours.

Which is to say: we would have achieved, in 2030, what most of the world achieved in 1990.

Re: I lived in LA and commuted to Berkeley by plane to save on rent

#119

Post by refurb »

uoaei wrote: post #113
refurb wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you mean "very few have". They are a Berkeley student, that's 45,000 students who can afford to live in Berkeley which is more expensive than what this guy did. Seems the opposite of "privilege few have". Get off your high horse.

You are aware, of course, that the human population is larger than 90k people, right?

You are aware that Berkeley isn’t the only college in the US right?

Saying a 20-something college student is among the “very few” is just silly.

Re: I lived in LA and commuted to Berkeley by plane to save on rent

#120

Post by asdff »

inferiorhuman wrote: post #83
ehnto wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Brightline Rail Company gets it. They are predominantly a real estate play, buying up land surrounding their "higher" speed rail services. They have a Cali project currently though it is to connect to Las Vegas. Buy the land, build the rail connector and enjoy the boost in land value you created. It feels like everyone wants rail, benefits from rail and advocates for rail, but no rail gets done.

Brightline rail has the worst safety record in the country. They're too cheap to even put up fencing around their track. The only thing Brightline gets is sacrificing a few lives to make a buck. https://www.npr.org/2020/01/29/799962246/brightline-nations-...

If you see some of the videos that often end up on reddit it is absurd how many cars end up stalled on the tracks in front of an active crossing in Florida. I wouldn't blame bright line really, the odds of having a car break down right on a rail crossing are so astonishingly small that at least a few of these incidents are probably outright fraud. People also sometimes ignore the gates and drive around thinking they can beat the train. Maybe they are used to a miles long freight train going a few mph where that idiotic move hasn't burned them yet.

Either way, in socal the metrolink trains operate at grade going pretty fast up to 80mph and you don't see so many accidents. I'd blame some other factor over the fact the train runs on the surface behind a gate.

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