Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

old.reddit.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 123 posts

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

#91

Post by usui »

limitedfrom wrote: post #82
aripickar wrote: post #62

For full context, this is someone with a wife and two kids[1] who had a couple of semesters and just needed a temporary solution, not a 20 year old kid. Different then the title might suggest. [1] https://www.berkeleyside.org/2023/05/15/uc-berkeley-la-plane...

Doesn't seem so. The article talks about a person getting a sociology degree, while the Reddit post talks about someone working on an MEng degree. Given the poster's extensive posts on Flyertalk and his comments saying that there are two of them[1], I think there actually might be two different folks doing this. edit: Found an older post where the poster says they're doing an MEng Civil Engineering program[2] [1] htt…

Correct, but you don't even need to search the post history. The difference in the major is already noticeable in the original post. These are two different people. Just imagine, these two could have been commuting together and syncing up.

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

#92

Post by zamnos »

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.

On the other hand, because it's the less populated and poorer cities, mistakes (which are going to happen) will be cheaper to fix. This translates to not making those mistakes on the more expensive parts of the project.

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

#93

Post by sfmike »

tbrake wrote: post #39
akiselev wrote: post #28

Key quotes: > I was living in LA, rent free. > I love flying and I have a lot of frequent flyer miles/points from credit card sign up bonus/flying over the past few years. > I booked all my tickets for Fall 2022 back in April and May 2022. Then I booked all my tickets for Spring 2023 back in Nov 2022. Most tickets were booked using Alaska miles or Southwest points > I have elite status with Alaska and Southwest, both…

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.

agreed the true hacker spirit is to sometimes do something completely overzealous and over the top just in the spirit of what if or I can. This person was essentially load balancing their life to play with time and finance variables a true hacker spirit.

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

#94

Post by vivegi »

It is creative. I'll give the writer that.

Can't say I have the stomach for such a grueling travel schedule and I have done my share of frequent travels, including intercontinental long-hauls.

Nevertheless, it solved a problem for the writer and made for interesting reading.

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

#96

Post by akiselev »

tbrake wrote: post #39
akiselev wrote: post #28

Key quotes: > I was living in LA, rent free. > I love flying and I have a lot of frequent flyer miles/points from credit card sign up bonus/flying over the past few years. > I booked all my tickets for Fall 2022 back in April and May 2022. Then I booked all my tickets for Spring 2023 back in Nov 2022. Most tickets were booked using Alaska miles or Southwest points > I have elite status with Alaska and Southwest, both…

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.

I guess predictable HN click bait leads to predictable HN criticism leads to predictable HN meta-comment leads to predictable HN meta-rebuttal.

It's the circle of life :-)

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

#97

Post by khazhoux »

uoaei wrote: post #63
khazhoux wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, the elite, priviledged lifestyle of waking up at 3:30 three days a week, to spend 8-10 hours on a plane and public transport, because you can’t afford housing on campus. Just rich kid things!

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.

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

#98

Post by fuzzythinker »

tpmx wrote: post #84
fuzzythinker wrote: post #52

Alternatively, drive to Bakersfield and take the Amtrack to there/Oakland. It's a much more eco-friendly and enjoyable ride. They sell 10-packs and monthly passes too. https://www.amtrak.com/stations/bfd

That's a ~9 hour trip including the drive and 30 minutes safety margin.

Yes, much longer time, but net work/read/sleep time should be same or greater.

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

#99

Post by fuzzythinker »

aidenn0 wrote: post #66
fuzzythinker wrote: post #52

Alternatively, drive to Bakersfield and take the Amtrack to there/Oakland. It's a much more eco-friendly and enjoyable ride. They sell 10-packs and monthly passes too. https://www.amtrak.com/stations/bfd

Is that more reliable than the one that runs along the coast? Bay area to coastal SoCal Amtrak is notoriously late.

I took it 20-30 times 15 years ago, I don't remember it being late.

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

#100

Post by fy20 »

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-...

Many parts of Europe do not have fencing around railways, yet this isn't an issue here?
Post reply on HN