u/Xyzzy_plugh

Professional roofer here, but with a framing(decking) question.

We just tore off the roof on a house that has a 5:12 apron around the perimeter, then transitions to a 10:12 pitch. But the 5:12 portion is 5 feet on the rake measurement. The decking is 4x8 7/16" OSB which is the standard here in Texas, and is laid with the long axis perpendicular to the rafters (so each sheet spans 4 rafter bays (24"OC). But that ends up leaving a 1' x 8' strip to fill the gap between that bottom sheet and the pitch transition. Those 1' strips are a pain, quite literally, if you forget momentarily and step on one especially when carrying a loaded belt and some materials.

There is no blocking under the joint, and no clips (I'm guessing because the clips break when bent and if they don't break then when one piece is stepped on and deflects, it just pulls the clip off the other piece.

I don't want to leave it this way. It's not safe or nice for the next guy. But I also really don't want to do all the blocking (it is a very large rambling ranch, so several hundred feet of this transition to deal with.

5x10 [re-]decking would be perfect, but it is astronomically expensive (i.e. 10x-15x the price). My initial thought was to replace the current setup with nre 4x8 but turned 90 degrees, so that the long axis runs parallel to the rafters. Each sheet would span two bays, so it would be nailed to 3 rafters. But I was told that code requires the sheets to be run perpendicular to the rafters (or floor joists, etc.) because the strands/chips are actually oriented that direction to give better strength (at the cost of weakening it if laid in the other (parallel) direction.

You guys should know this one, I figure. Can I run 5 feet of a 4x8 sheet vertically up the rafters (24"OC) ?

I didn't get my OctaPharma annual express pass early this year because their huge system glitch in 2024/2025 lost thousands of my points. But I finally got it mid-winter and it has been really great. i could never get a straight answer about how it works after this, though. After talking to a center manager, I redeemed some of my points for gift cards and dropped my points down close to Zero. Supposedly, I would lose Platinum status and then when I hit 10k again, I would regain Platinum and get another express pass.

Now, I finally managed to talk to someone who seems more knowledgeable and was told that is wrong. She said you only get one annual pass (at 10K) and then you can get a lifetime pass at 50K. Sigh. I've "blown" nearly a year's worth of points on gift cards, and at 125 points per donation, it will take me 4+ years to get up to 50K and the lifetime pass. By that time, I will be almost aged out OctaPharma. I'd prefer to not start at a different company at that point, as I've tried several and this company and location are by far the best.

So, folks, if you are a frequent or max donor at OctaPharma and have a lot of years left before hitting age 70, don't blow your points. Save them up, get that lifetime pass, and enjoy the no-line life for a long while. 😄

Only recently did I begin paying attention to the exact schedule on which the 4-month arrives.

I thought I had figured out, and that a center manager had verified, that the nominal date is 4 calendar months after your last successful sample, [potentially] MINUS 6 days. That would land the actual date on your first visit of the week when your nominal 4-month date falls.

I asked last week because I came in a bit low and wanted a reminder of how long I had to work on it before the sample date popped up. The screener told me it would be the nominal date minus 13 days. That's a big difference.

If you actually know (i.e. you're center staff and pay attention, or you're a serious donor who tracks this stuff) how this works, I would love to have my confusion cleared up.

Edit to add: I should have pointed out that this is at an OctaPharma center, in Texas. I've read the gov't regs about the regular samples and it doesn't include this level of detail so this is something that is part of the center's policy. Octa may be different than BioLife which may be different than CSL, etc. Thank you u/schannoman , for the reminder.

Last year, my wife got a CSR-B for the URs (200k), because the $30k biz spend was going to be no problem (the "busy season" for our small business). I already have a CSR, and use quite a lot of the perks and credits on that, so I'm fine with keeping that one even at the full AF. On her biz card, we only used travel credit and $200-$300 of other value so it wasn't a bad deal all cthings onsidered but I think we can do better.

She's about to hit the CSR-B renewal in a month and we are considering dropping it (she has no-AF Inks for business use) and upgrading my Boundless card (just renewed on 7/1) to an RC card for the lower AF, similar if not as great travel credit, slightly better hotel perks (we don't do much hotel-ing), and I could get her a no-fee authorized user card on the/my RC for lounge access, etc.

She does not do the type of biz spend (marketing, hiring, etc.) that would really maximize the CSR-B, the perks and credits for her use scenario seem to be almost a wash w.r.t. the RC card,

I don't really see any big downsides to making this effective swap, but I might be missing or ignorant of something.

I have had PPS through my CSR card for a long time. I have no issues with it, and use it several times each year, in the USA and abroad.

My wife has a CSR-B card, which also has PPS membership. However, as we usually travel together, we have never entered on her account but only on mine.

Until now.

She is travelling on wed. this week, and we are trying to get her activated on the PP+ app on her phone Apparently, Chase customers in particular no longer have any online browser access to their PPS account, and absolutely positively must use the mobile app.

We called PP, the rep asked for her full number (which the initial voice greeting says will absolutely NEVER be asked), and he brought up her account. He says that it does not show him the username or if there is a username, but that we can use the "forgot my username" button on the app.

Here's the circular problem. He says that the account info also shows no Email address tied to her account. The "forgot my username" button will only send the username to the Email address on file with the account. But there is no Email address on file with the account info. He says that Chase also has access to this PPS user info database and that CHASE must add the Email address to it.

It is late at night, so we sent a Secure Message to Chase. I do not have high hopes for that, as even when the Secure Message team is able to solve a problem, it usually takes 2 or 3 message round trips to get it done.

My guess is that if we call Chase tomorrow, we will be shunted off to the Benefits Administrator and that the Benefits Administrator will not have access to fix the Chase/PPS database. Hopefully I am wrong, though, and they can fix it. And hopefully we will never ever ever ever have to deal with a PP phone rep again.

Is anyone here familiar with this process? Does this sound correct to you?

My wife and I both have nearly-simultaneous flights out of DFW next week, hers is domestic and mine is to the U.K. (via LGA/JFK). I am Plat Pro, she does not have any AA status.

As I read the lounge rules, although I can use the Flagship lounge and the AC lounges, she can not be my guest because she would need to separately meet the eligibility requirements (because we are not ticketed together).

Are these lounges at DFW sticklers for the guest rules? Or will we need to be content with The Club (Priority Pass) ?

I want to take my wife for a day (mid-week, next week) in Dallas and a nice dinner and then stay overnight near DFW airport to get her to an early flight the next morning. (rather than make another 2.5 hour RT)

I still have one 50K FNA (almost ready to expire) and that will get us a decent room in most if not all of the Marriott-family hotels near the airport, and a few miles to kick in if needed.

What I am looking for, ideally, is a property with a reliable airport shuttle to take us to the airport (5:30 or 6:00am) so I can leave the car at the hotel, and likely to give me late checkout so I don't have to rush so much to get back from the airport.

An alternate might be if the hotel would allow me to go ahead and checkout early in the morning, shuttle to/from the airport, then collect my car at the hotel.

It looks like there are Marriott, Fairfield, Sheraton, Westin, Four Points, and several other brands all near the airport. I will call to ask/verify shuttle info, late checkout, etc. but I am hoping that some folks here can give me personal-experience info (The best kind).

Why do I never see the 20% effective reduction in AF on these cards that we get by using the 1.25X special rate for Pay Yourself Back on the AF transaction? Am I just not seeing those posts? Or is almost nobody using this perk?

I order 4 DD orders each month, to use a Chase credit card perk. I always order the same thing, and there is always a merchant special involved as well.

$24 order - $8 merchant-special discount - $10 Chase discount per order = $6.00 + $0.50 sales tax (.0825 x $6) = $6.50

The checkout screen just prior to finally committing the order shows it this way, with the sales tax applied to the final discounted subtotal.

However, when the order actually processes, the total rises to $7.32 (instead of $6.50). That $1.32 tax ($7.32 final - $6 subtotal) is 0.825 x $16, meaning that DD in the end is not applying the sales tax rate to the the merchant's special discount, but *IS* applying it to the Chase discount.

They know enough at the previous screen to get it correct, so why don't they do that? Based on my career experience, it has to be just sloppy programming. But it's frustrating because I don't always remember that they are going to change it in this way so I expect one result but get another. It is only an $0.82 difference, but it is annoying.

I just booked an AA flight for myself and my wife, using a Companion Certificate I got from Barclays last year. I wanted to pay the bulk of the cost with my AA Citi card, and a token amount with my Chase CSR to get the Chase travel coverage. I have done this in the past, but not with a Companion Certificate. Frequent-flyer sites around the web indicate this is fine, since you have to do the Companion Cert booking over the phone anyway. But the phone agent told me that it not only can't be done for the Cert, it can't be done at all for any AA booking (even over the phone).

I don't know if this is a change from the past, or is just a Companion Cert rule that she wrongly assumed was universal.

She also gave me a different answer about a flight on hold w.r.t. booking with the Cert. I called in last night to try to book it then (had to do it today instead b/c I needed to plan around blackout dates). The agent last night actually asked me at the start of the call if I already had a flight on hold that I wanted to use. Tonight, when I told the agent that I had a flight on hold she told me that it didn't matter because she was not able to use that held booking. Either one of the two agents gave me wrong info, or the answer is a lot more complicated than she explained.

I have an open homeowners' claim (hail, roof replacement) with Nationwide. HO-B policy, RCV coverage.

The date of loss was 3/25/2025.

The date of claim filing was 3/19/2026.

Due to a rookie adjuster / claim-handler, there have been several corrections/supplements to the claim, but they appear to all be fixed now.

The date of the last claim correction by Nationwide was 5/22/2026. (because I had to get the state Department of Insurance to lean on them)

I know I can ask the claim handler, but they still have the same lady assigned and it is like pulling hen's teeth to get useful information from her. At this point, I would prefer to have only one more interaction with Nationwide on this claim, and that is when I request the release of depreciation after the repairs are done.

I would like to hold off on the roof replacement until the end of summer when the temperatures cool down. The reason for the wait is that we are in Texas and the hot days don't play well with asphalt shingles (scuffs and boot prints in soft Class 4 asphalt is not a good look).

I have been told many different and conflicting things about the the deadline for claiming depreciation, including that the clock starts when the claim settlement report is finalized, mean that it restarts whenever there is an adjustment to the claim. I don't know if this is true.

Can anyone provide a solid answer re. the deadline (specifically w.r.t. Nationwide, in Texas)? Or am I going to have to bite the bullet and deal with this nightmare of a claim handler again?

Does anyone have any info or experience with this? It supposedly covers deductibles and ACV-only policies.

Does anyone have any info or experience with this? It supposedly covers deductibles and ACV-only policies.

I bought a gift card through GiftCards.com (reservebusiness.giftcards.com) back in the fall, and now would like to do another. When I try to add my (Chili's) card to the cart, I get the

"This item could not be added" error message. The same happens if I try to select various other gift cards as well. Is this a general problem for everyone, or am I the problem? :-)

This was just the latest, but it is the one that irks me the most.

My wife and I needed rides to and from our one-night hotel stay in Athens (Greece) from the ATH airport. From the airport to hotel, we took Uber. (on the return, we took Lyft) The reason we opted for that Uber ride was that I had some Euros in my wallet that I needed to use up, and the Cash-pay option was 45 Euro (which I had). We arrived at the hotel, and I paid the driver with cash including a tip. The app estimated the ride at about 12 minutes, but it actually took over 20 minutes. Generally, though, all good.

Two days later, a charge hits my credit card (default payment method on my wife's Uber account) for an additional 9 Euros. We accepted a ride from a specified origin to a specified destination, for 45 Euros. The route would have been known to Uber the moment the ride request was entered. So, my wife requested a refund for the unexpected, not-agreed charges.

When she inquired, she was given 3 different explanations in 3 separate responses.

First, " some account activity that conflicts with our safety guidelines., so we can't refund". No idea what this about, and no explanation offered. We just opened the app, entered our ride info, and accepted the offered cash ride.

Second, "unable to approve a refund at this moment due to some policy inconsistencies we spotted." Again, we've no idea what this means and no further explanation has been given.

When we were able to see the itemized detail for the charge, it shows:

4.30 Meter fare

2.50 Booking fee

0.05 Rounding

2.55 Tolls Attiki Odos - Koropi (Airport)

Cash: 9.40

------------------

If they intended to charge us extra for all of these things, they should have made it known in the ride price up front, or at least a really close estimate.

This really, really, really, ticks me off. To make it worse, as far as we can gather from the Uber messages, there is no way to actually talk to a person about this. We just have to chat in the app with an entity that I am not convinced is a person.

Arrrrrgggghhh!

Is this the normal way things are done with Uber? Are we just ignorant country bumpkins here?

My wife and I stayed at the Moxy in Athens (Greece) on an FNA during a long layover between flights. Everything was fine, 1 comp'd drink each at checkin, room was clean and very comfortable, stopped off at the desk on the way out to be sure we were all good.

Nobody ever mentioned the 5 Euro per night local "climate impact" tax that later got charged to my credit card. Now, 5 Euros isn't going to break the bank, but I never saw any mention of this charge (I could have overlooked it, of course) and nobody mentioned it at reservation time, checkin time, or checkout time.

Why be tight-lipped with this information? It is silly. Almost like Uber wrote the manual for them.

I have never been to the AMS airport, and have only used PP lounges (have PP Select via Chase CSR card) at other airports. (for int'l, they have run good to great for me)

My wife and I have a 13 hour daytime layover (but will likely be too tired to go out of the airport), transferring from AA to Etihad, flying on award tickets booked through AA

The connection to Etihad in AMS is throwing me, as I don't know what arrival/departure airline requirements the various lounges impose.

I am thinking that I will (or will not) have access as follows:

Oneworld - Yes (both of us? Wife has AAdvantage #, but no status)

Flagship/Admirals-Club - No (bc, after a quick look, I think AMS doesn't have these lounges)

Etihad - No (not the right ticket, plus I am only Etihad Guest Silver, CSR access but only at IAD airport)

Sapphire - No, no int'l lounges (boo! hiss!!)

PP - Yes (definitely, but no experience with PP at AMS)

Any corrections or elucidations?