AFAIK this is true if you have the various 'plans' on your personal (yellow) card, which comes with additional cost. The 40% discount is there with one of these https://www.ns.nl/en/season-tickets/

Ah, I get you, thanks. I think I've just never met anyone that didn't have a season ticket.

So mobile payments, the blue card and the yellow card without season tickets are operationally identical from the user's standpoint?

You are right, it is identical. I would argue not just from the user's standpoint, but I guess that's not super relevant here.

But then what I don't understand is what's that point of becoming a subscriber and getting a yellow card?

- Being able to use an OV Fiets. This requires putting a free subscription on the card.

- Automatically adding money to the card's balance when it runs low

- Getting back the money on the card when it expires

- Senior discounts for people over 65

- Being able to add a subscription when you do want one for a while

That's super helpful, thank you. I guess for most people not using subscriptions the main reason was the automatic saldo, but now with mobile pay that's not an issue. No need to get your money back either, though I was under the impression that this is now also possible with anonymous cards.

Yes that's what I think, unless of course I missed something

For ease of use, you could also hide a fuel pump switch inside the car that you have to press before going. It's an easy but effective solution for protecting your car and needs basic tools / wires.

Of course, the important thing is making sure the wiring is well done (proper wire gauge) and the switch is actually in a hidden spot.

Magnetic switch hidden under your cup holders. And a magic cup with the right magnet glued to the bottom.

I installed a reed switch just under my windshield to unlock the doors. Swiping a magnet is easier than keeping a key in my pocket. Getting myself locked out is more of a concern than a stranger noticing the switch and finding a magnet. I'll even mention it on the internet, if any of you want to steal my car, please just fill up the gas and return it after. Thanks.

Another item that I've seen gone from Ventura is the toggle to enable a low-power mode in the battery settings. Now, either you have always enabled when on battery, or not.

This is unfortunately the case during peak season (i.e. Italy or Spain in August). On the other hand, during off-season periods, the queue is often in the realm of 15 mins.

The thing I've always found though is that off-season in EU is _way_ cheaper than US. Went to Italy last month, 1 week for a medium sized car was something like 100 euros. And it's not unusual to rent a car for ~6 euros per day.

Or, even better, you could just upgrade the next client to a higher tier (unless the client, of course, disagrees when communicating this upfront or the higher tier is fully booked). I guess the cost of the upgrade to the next client is definitely covered by the sale of the car you had already reserved earlier.

If the argument is that it's unbearable to commute by bike in scorching heat, I would argue you could still bike and ask your employer to install showers at your workplace. That's how it's done in the Netherlands, where most (modern-ish) offices have showers next to enclosed bike parking facilities.

San Francisco has the best weather you can think of for biking: never too cold, never too hot, not that much rain.

Yet the bike infrastructure is mostly bike lanes painted on the road and used as additional parking.

When companies are leasing space and skimping on office walls, major plumbing expansions are unlikely. We can't even get more toilets.

This was a fantastic read. Thanks for sharing it!

Beautiful watch. On top of looking good, it will never be 'outdated'. Your average _insert here smartwatch_ will be outdated in 2 years as technology evolves.

I've a series 2 Apple Watch and it surprisingly still do its job well. I don't except much from it, and it even became better with time with new watchOS releases.

On a more global perspective, technology in cars is by default going to be obsolete in a matter of a generation. German cars built 10/15 years ago, when they came out, had these 4" screen and in-vehichle phone capabilities. Nowadays, you would like to rip off that crap out of cars which are still capable of "being just cars".

The all-wheel drive dual motor car it's going to be around 130k USD. With that amount of money you could easily buy now any Model 3 (which could cover the day-to-day) AND another internal combustion engine car. I mean: okay, you'll have to maintain two cars vs. one but still.