KnowYard Community

I walked out of an interview where the manager bragged about never taking vacation. That's not dedication, that's a warning about what they'll expect from you.

SimpliSafe. No contract, $17/month monitoring, easy DIY install. Had it 3 years and it's triggered twice from actual incidents — both times the monitoring center called within 30 seconds. Would buy again.

Ring Alarm Pro with the cameras. If you're already in the Ring ecosystem it just works. $20/month for monitoring and cloud storage for all cameras. The integration is the selling point.

"Competitive benefits" with no specifics = bad benefits. Real companies list their benefits because they're proud of them. Vague ones are hiding something.

Check the TxDOT project tracker website. You can see the actual contract, budget, and timeline. It won't make you feel better but at least you'll know when to expect relief.

The best part is when they finish one section and it's beautiful for about 6 months before the potholes come back because they used the cheapest materials possible.

Reolink cameras (no subscription, local storage) paired with SimpliSafe sensors for monitoring. Best of both worlds. Camera footage stays on YOUR hard drive, not someone else's cloud.

Texas is at-will employment. They can fire you for almost any reason at any time. So when they say "job security," ask about actual turnover rates. That's the real answer.

I'm remote and I love it but I'll be honest — the isolation is real. I go days without talking to another adult in person. Make sure you have a plan for that.

The fact that he tried the handle and moved on when it was locked tells you everything. Most of these people are looking for easy targets. Make your house not the easy one.

The companies forcing return-to-office are just trying to justify their lease costs. It's not about productivity and everyone knows it.

$200/month HOA and they can't even maintain the common areas? Request a financial audit. You're entitled to see where that money goes.

Check if your TPMS can be reset before replacing the sensor. Sometimes a reset clears the light. YouTube your car model + TPMS reset. Saved me $200.

Left my hybrid job for a fully remote one. Took a small pay cut but the savings on gas, parking, lunch, and wardrobe made it net positive. Zero regrets.

If they won't let you talk to anyone who actually does the job, run. I always ask to speak with a current team member. If they hesitate, there's a reason.

Apartment dwellers are still screwed though. No home charging means relying on public chargers which are slower, more expensive, and sometimes broken. Until apartments have chargers, EVs are a homeowner thing.

I genuinely think some of these projects are designed to never finish so the contracts keep paying out. Call me cynical but 3 years for a highway widening is insane.

Good mechanic red flag test: tell them you're there for an oil change and see if they come back with a list of $500 in "urgent" repairs. If they do, never go back.

The toll roads add up too. My commute is technically 10 minutes faster on the tollway but costs $8/day. That's another $160/month. I take the free road now and listen to podcasts.

I fought a similar violation. Sent a written response requesting the specific bylaw and photos of other houses in violation. They dropped it. They count on people just complying without question.

Show up to HOA board meetings. Seriously. Most boards are 3-5 retired people with nothing better to do. You show up with 5 neighbors who are also sick of it and you can vote them out.

My concern is long road trips. I drive to other parts of the state regularly and charging adds 30-45 minutes to the trip. Not a dealbreaker but it's not nothing.

I bring my own parts and pay labor only. A good mechanic won't care. The ones who insist on using their parts are marking them up 50-100%.

Our neighborhood pooled money for extra private security patrol one night a week. Break-ins dropped significantly. It's not cheap but it works.

The joke is that Texas has two seasons: summer and construction. And somehow they overlap perfectly to make everything worse.