u/HappyTuesdayR1S

Hi everyone,

For the past year or so my husband and I have been looking to move form our home in SoCal to Pierce County, WA

we already got a pre-approval with a. lender about a month ago but seeing as how so many lenders/builders/contractors are now essentially telling us that using our VA loan for a OTC construction loan would essentially be impossible - I'm losing hope.

I want to use my renaming entitlement, stay in my current home while new one gets built and im not trying to do anything luxury or high priced. Just a little 2/2 or 3/2 in the country (Graham, Eatonville, etc. areas)

I want to be able to wrap all of the cost into the loan but am having trouble find ANYONE that can help with any portion of it - one builder said we needed to buy the land first, another builder says "the lender/bank will not allow this"

Has anyone out there had luck? - Where do I go from here? - Is this possible?

We're even okay with just installing a new manufactured home but just need someone to approve it.

Looking to wrap in the land loan, sign development, home build, utility connections.

I want to start by explaining that I haven’t had regular dental visits for almost 2 decades. Lots of depressive episodes in the time etc etc.

Let my oral health sit on the back burner since it was always been a cost i can’t afford in addition to this irrational anxiety that I have about visiting the dentist.

Recently, I was referred to a specialists and finally have good enough insurance that I just can’t pass it up. At a better point in life and wanting to take care of my health.

Was scheduled for deep cleaning they wanted to split it unit two appointments (left top and bottom and then right top and bottom)

Sadly, today they were only able to do the top right just because of had bad it really is. The whole hour was spent in just that portion but she was working constantly so i feel good that they put in the work I needed.

My blood pressure was high the whole time (even though i felt fine - I had two Valiums and the nitrous gas as the only way I can sit there is to be sedated even lightly)

I guess this post is just a little push for those of you who like me, have this crazy fear to just do it. Find a place that will work with you and that understands the anxiety our brain tells us to have etc.

I’m excited for the next appointment, so badly do I want to have this done and not be in pain anymore. Almost 20 years I’ve felt like this.

I originally got my Gen 1 glasses in August 2025, and within the first week I couldn’t get them to charge. I tried keeping the case plugged in, turning the glasses off before putting them in the case, and pretty much everything else I could think of. I even bought one of those little charging stands from Amazon, but that didn’t work either. The light would just stay green like nothing was connected.

I started a warranty claim, but I was initially worried because I had prescription lenses and Ray-Ban states that they don’t cover those. I had ordered the glasses through LensCrafters back when they were still in network with my insurance, so insurance had covered almost the entire cost.

During the claim, Ray-Ban kept saying they couldn’t find or verify the serial number for my case, even though they could match the glasses. I’m almost positive the problem was actually the charging pad on the bridge of the case.

They eventually told me to go into LensCrafters and gave me a letter stating that they would cover a replacement up to the amount I had paid out of pocket. That was good enough for me. This was around the time the Gen 2 glasses came out, and LensCrafters couldn’t find the Gen 1 version anymore, so they ended up swapping them for the newer version. They moved my prescription lenses over, and I was good to go. The entire process was honestly very seamless and easy.

About three weeks ago, I started having microphone issues with the Gen 2 pair. I usually call my sister while I water my garden in the mornings, but over time the call quality started getting worse and people were having trouble hearing me. I eventually went back to using my AirPods. Since I had paid for extended coverage and the Gen 2 glasses were still within their one-year warranty, I decided to file another claim with Ray-Ban.

This time, they had me send the frames in. They told me to remove the prescription lenses first since I would be keeping them for the replacement pair, and then they sent me a prepaid shipping label. I followed the instructions and mailed the frames out.

It took about a week for them to arrive, which was honestly the most stressful part. I kept thinking about what would happen if they got lost, damaged, or stolen along the way. They finally arrived, though, and Ray-Ban support had previously told me to contact them once the tracking showed they had been delivered to the warehouse. I did that, and within a few hours they emailed me a discount code to order a brand-new pair directly from the Ray-Ban website.

I had seen another person post that they accidentally ordered a “custom” pair by clicking the option to choose the lenses and frame, so I made sure not to do that. I wanted to avoid anything that could delay the order since I would rather get them sooner than later.

I also noticed that there was an option to pick them up from a local LensCrafters, so I chose that since they will need to put my prescription lenses into the new frames anyway. I’m scheduled to pick them up this Friday or Saturday.

I also had what looked like the matte-black finish bubbling up slightly near one of the corners. I think that may actually be what they approved the claim for, since the glasses were otherwise in great condition. I’m extremely gentle with them. Honestly, the creaking noise they make is enough to make me slow down every time I open or close them.

I just wanted to share the full experience for anyone who is wary of filing a claim or unsure about the steps involved. Both of my warranty experiences have worked out, and the process was much easier than I expected.

I ordered the Luna Ultra bundle for my husband and everything on the website said delivery in 3–5 days. I even chatted with a rep beforehand specifically to make sure the timeframe was accurate, and they told me they would “expedite” the order.

It’s now been over 7 days and there has been absolutely no movement.

They did the annoying thing where they created the shipping label a day or two after ordering, so at first it looks like it’s moving, but it has now just been sitting at “label created” for the full 7 days.

From what I’ve been able to find, shipping seems extremely hit or miss, but most of the Reddit posts I found are 7+ months old.

Has anyone ordered one recently? Is shipping still taking this long?

Also curious if anyone else has had a rep tell them they were “expediting” an order and then literally nothing happened. At this point it honestly feels like they just told me what I wanted to hear.

I’m just posting this as a feeler. We’re ready to get out somewhere more rural. I love my house, I know someone out there is looking for something like this.

Im looking for a full trade - sale opportunity

My house;

Built in 2021
2,500sqft
1hr center or San Diego and Los Angeles
45 mins east of Lake Forest
4 bed, 3 bath

Looking for;

Something in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, maybe Montana?

Single story (my husband is a disabled veteran and stairs are a big problem for us now)

Not looking for anything fancy but would like some space to spend our time outdoors. An acre maybe even 2?

I know, I know this might be wild but, free will?

We have a VA mortgage so if you do as well we can both just assume each others mortgages.

Our neighborhood has always used Facebook groups for local buying and selling, but lately it feels like it’s gotten harder than it needs to be.

Posts get buried, people miss updates, comments get messy, and half the time it turns into the same “is this still available?” back and forth.

Biddie is a new local auction app that keeps buying and selling inside your neighborhood instead of throwing everything into one giant marketplace.

Everything starts at $1, auctions run for 24 hours, and neighborhoods are approved so it stays local.

It’s still new, but it feels like a cleaner way to handle the stuff people already sell in neighborhood groups.

Curious what people think, especially anyone who uses Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp, or local buy/sell groups.

https://preview.redd.it/pds2gy0i240h1.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=25a48f26df3a8d4bc21a1cb5e8e8b85a979f7b93

Hey everyone, I built an app called Biddie.

My neighborhood has been using a Facebook group for local auctions, but Facebook keeps changing how the app works and it has caused nonstop headaches. So I decided to build something made specifically for neighborhood auctions.

Each neighborhood gets its own auction group, items start at $1, and auctions run for 24 hours.

It’s meant to be simple. No shipping, no random far away buyers, just local neighbors bidding on local stuff.

Tech Stack

Biddie is built as a native iOS app using Swift and SwiftUI.

For the backend, I’m using Firebase for things like accounts, app data, images, notifications, and crash reporting. I’m also using Google Analytics so I can better understand how people are using the app and what needs to be improved.

The app uses Google AdMob for ads, and MapKit for the location and neighborhood side of things. I'm hoping that the ads are non-intrusive enough to make people okay with them. I don't want to riddle the views with Ads

For building, testing, and releasing updates, I used Xcode, GitHub, TestFlight, and App Store Connect.

Development Challenge

One of the bigger challenges was making auctions feel simple in the app, while still keeping everything working correctly behind the scenes.

When someone places a bid the app has to update the auction, show the current highest bid, and keep things clear for everyone looking at that item. I also wanted to keep witht he spirit of how our local group already runs (on Facebook) Every item starts at $1 - or really $0 but minimum is $1 sale price and runs for 24 hours, so there isn't a lot for users to figure out.

Another challenge was making sure the app felt local. I didn’t want it to feel like one giant marketplace. One of the biggest reasons I never use Facebook marketplace for example.

The whole point is for neighborhoods to have their own auction groups, so people are bidding on stuff near them and dealing with real neighbors instead of random buyers far away.

AI Disclosure

I self-built with AI help!

While I did build and design the app myself I did use AI to help me with things like brainstorming, bug diagnosis and, writing copy.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/biddie/id6758863986

U.S. only. This is my first app and was difficult enough so I’ll try tackling other local/countries in the future.

I know my biggest hurdle will be marketing it - im not very good at it but I'm just doing word of mouth including sharing a post on Facebook groups in different neighborhood groups in my area. I don't want to spend anything on ads but I was looking at the admob advertising as I have never seen that as an option.

I have spent about a year maybe a little more on this, if you count all the months of brainstorming and discussing with people in my community. I also want to thank Kavsoft because I have been watching the videos for years and practicing, playing around till I finally did it!