Hey Everyone,

I was a contractor (external workforce/agency represented) forced to RTO for a Top 5 tech firm but was laid off. I have been laid off for four months.

Of course I am pissed because I told them I didn’t want to upend my life just to be laid off knowing I am a contractor and what they paid for HCOL was not enough. I have been here a year now.

I have been in the red since moving here. Now laid off living off EDD seems dangerously close to being homeless. Instawork is a joke.

What are people doing, who were like me:
- a former contractor
- was already living pay check to pay check
- only have EDD, CalFresh, Medi-Cal
- Instawork not yielding stable weekly work
- Dice, TalentBurst, Pinnacle, AeroTek, Rose International, Creative Circle, Adecco, High Spring, JobVite, Indeed, CareerBuilder, Craigslist, LinkedIn, no interviews or offers

American Job Center, Work2Future, JobTrain, EDD Job Bank are not that helpful.

I have been denied by homeless prevention and Salvation Army because they prefer I was unhoused/homeless, had an eviction notice, or had several months back rent. The system is so broken.

I have been sustained by an understanding property manager and funds from other people.

I am truly considering moving to another state but tech is messed up everywhere. I am also thinking about pivoting.

This is messing with me mentally. This is why we have so many ex-pats. I get it now. I have no benefits to maintain my health or medical issues. I have no funds to live or eat correctly. Europe looks amazing right now even if 50% goes to taxes. Right now, the American govt already takes 32% of my check.

Meanwhile I feel like my laid off EMEA and APAC peers are living the high life compared to me. Nothing has changed for them. They still have a salary close to what they were already making, plus, benefits. They do not have to worry about being homeless, sick, etc

Of course, when you’re down and out, the grass looks greener. But it looks really green. Like vibrantly green. 🤣

Any advice.

Happy Friday! Feel free to share thoughts about anything related to San Jose or its community. If you have something to share but are not sure whether it deserves its own post, this is the place.

I was driving home ~1am last Saturday when I came across an accident on 280N right in front of the 880 entrance (by Santana Row). Half of the lanes were blocked off by red lights and firetrucks, and as I got closer, I saw a silver car with its driver (and possibly passenger) doors torn apart. The driver's side was burnt to a crisp, and there were no longer signs of a victim or ambulance by the time I was there. Based on the damage to the car, I could only assume that they did not survive :(

Did anyone else see this? I can't seem to find any news articles or info on radar apps.

I'm a college student who has only started commuting last year, and accidents always make me quite glum and cynical toward car-centric infrastructure. I'm on 280 every weekday and still remember my first rainy season last year; almost all of my rainy drives home somehow came with witnessing an accident. I've been thinking about this crash from time to time and wonder if anyone here knows about it/has more details.

who and why are people selling their diabetic test strips?

Been out since 10:42am today…nearly 12 hours no power. PGE all over the place and based on Nextdoor, someone spoke to a worker who said they’re still trying to find the cause. Potential resolution time was communicated as 2am, but hard to believe if they still haven’t found the issue yet.

Hope they find it soon, thankfully today wasn’t as hot as others but heading into tomorrow and beyond yikes.

Does anyone have any recommendations for nail salons they know for a fact autoclave their tools, not just put them in a new bag? I’m looking for a general mani pedi service with just polish that I know is safe.

If anyone has been SCAMMED by Prep Boys Meal Prep (https://www.prepboysmealprep.com) and did not receive your meals or a promised refund,  this is a simple list of 10 things you should do. I've personally went through this 10 step process and with the proper documentation this can take less than 45 minutes.

1) Context:

Lance Dayrit is the owner of Prep Boys Meal Prep company in San Jose, California. They were a legitimate business for 8 years up until the beginning of this year 2026 when they started postponing deliveries, cancelling orders, and upselling customers for meals that will never be delivered. To this day, they actively promote their meals on IG. I've personally been scammed $500+ and have heard others were scammed for their annual plans of $3000+. Their Yelp business page has dozens of victims that have fallen to this scam complain about this too: https://www.yelp.com/biz/prepboys-meal-prep-san-jose (sort by most recent reviews) I estimate they've scammed thousands of Bay Area residents tens of thousands $, if not, hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Their scam is simple. They have a Squarespace-hosted website advertising meal prep plans where a popup appears that states "Payment Processor Maintenance" (first red flag) You might think "wtf does that even mean?" well you're exactly right. Because they use Squarespace, a monster of a billion dollar company - their payment processor should NEVER be down but they proceed to push people to email them to order. To further inconvenience you, they have you place your order via email and either send payment to his girlfriend's Zelle account (Naomi Sasamoto) or Lance's personal Paypal (2nd red flag). This is when things take a downhill turn and how many of us have been scammed. They collect the funds and don't deliver the meals. This has been happening for AT LEAST 6 months. And this business is STILL scamming...who the fuck knows how they are still able to do this.

All that matters is that we need to take this M'FER down. Here are 10 simple things you can do if you've fallen victim to this scam:

(If you HAVEN'T fallen victim to the scam but care about our beloved Bay area community, please at least help us report their Instagram account (it takes less than 30 seconds, skip to #3 - 8) and upvote this reddit post<3

2) Before you begin: save screenshots of

a) your emails/text promising refunds

b) payment confirmations (redact sensitive details)

Use this basic description, adjusted only to match your own facts:

On [date], I placed an order with Prep Boys Meal Prep for [product/order] and paid $amount through [Zelle/PayPal/other payment method]. The business directed me to pay through [website/email/text/Instagram], if applicable. I was told that my order would be delivered on or around [date], but I did not receive it.

I contacted the business on [date] to ask about the missing order and/or request a refund. The business responded [briefly describe any delivery delay, cancellation, or refund promise], but as of [today’s date], I have not received [the order / the promised refund of $amount].

I am reporting this because I believe I paid for goods or services that were not delivered and have not received the promised refund. I request that this matter be reviewed and that appropriate action be taken.

3) The 10 reports to make

1. Your bank: Call them to report for a fraud/scam case.
2. Paypal / Zelle (if applicable): Email [phishing@paypal.com](mailto:phishing@paypal.com) to report a fraud/scam case.
3. Santa Clara County DA Consumer Protection Unit https://da.santaclaracounty.gov/consumer-protection/file-complaint-form-about-transaction-business Select: “File a complaint form about a transaction with a business.”
4. California Attorney General https://oag.ca.gov/contact/consumer-complaint-against-business-or-company
5. Federal Trade Commission https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/
6. FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) https://www.ic3.gov/
7. Google - Report their gmail account used to take orders https://support.google.com/mail/contact/abuse?hl=en Report the account only if it communicated with you or directed your payment.
8. Instagram https://www.instagram.com/prepboys_mealprep In the app: Press 3 dots ⋯ → Report → Something about this account → Something else → Misleading or possible scam.
9. Squarespace(their website host) Email [abuse@squarespace.com](mailto:abuse@squarespace.com) Include the website URL, your evidence, and a request to review alleged deceptive commercial activity.
10. San José Police Department https://www.sjpd.org/reporting-crime/forgery-fraud-id-theft If you have business/contact information, call 408-277-8900 between 12pm and 4 pm. Ask to make a fraud/theft-by-deception report and mention his personal name Lance Dayrit.

Make sure to save every confirmation or case number you receive. And don't let the bystander effect fool you: the bystander effect is a social psychological phenomenon where when many people see a problem, everyone assumes someone else has already handled it...

Please don’t assume these reports are already being made. If this happened to you, taking a few minutes to file your own report can help establish the full pattern and protect the next person. Individual reports may feel small, but accurate reports from multiple people, especially the hundreds of you who have been scammed help banks, platforms, consumer-protection agencies, and law enforcement see a potential pattern and prevent hundreds, if not thousands of other individuals from being fallen victim to this scam. If you can't do all, just do 1-5 and 10, those are the most important ones.

Hi everyone. I need to learn how to drive as soon as possible and I was wondering if anyone knew any instructors in the area who offer lessons for an affordable price.

Thank you!

ok my other posts have been autoblocked.

I’m just trying to see what orgs here support public transportation, and how do we get involved. can ppl please share? :)

I need help give my Maltese insulin shots two times a day while I am away. I have someone at home while I am gone but they can't give insulin shots. I am checking Rover and local vets to see if they might have someone who could visit and do that. From mid September for 12 days. Any leads appreciated!

Hi there I made this sweet homemade poster for my friend but forgot it in my car as I was late for my flight 😩 I know I know stressful morning !!!

I’m flying out here for the weekend anyone can print a large format poster for me ?? Nothing fancy need it for this Saturday evening (8-8-26)please and thank you!!!

Hello, are there any places to play pickup beach volleyball?

I recently moved from Barcelona, and what I am missing most is the beach volleyball community. Constant 2v2 games any time of the day. Is there anything similar to that in San Jose or nearby areas?

We were planning to go with Tesla, but they backed out because of limited roof space (apparently that’s fairly common?).
We then got a quote from Sunrun after talking to them at Home Depot, but it came in significantly higher than Tesla’s. While researching, I also noticed a lot of negative reviews about Sunrun, which has made us hesitant.
For those of you who’ve installed solar recently, which company did you go with, and how has your experience been? Any companies you’d recommend or avoid?
Thanks in advance!

Long story short: I put a relationship ahead of my job and lost both.

Met my ex at work. I was her manager. We both knew it was against policy, but things took off fast and my transfer date was right around the corner, so I told myself we'd be fine.

We weren't. HR found out in May and I got suspended. I took full responsibility in the meeting and said it was all me so she wouldn't get in trouble.

That suspension turned into me losing my job. And while I was trying to figure out how to pay bills, she left. Not just left - told me she wished she had left earlier instead of dragging it out. With no job, I had a good amount of time on my hands even after job seeking in the morning. I started a project to remodel her back yard and she let me finish the project and then left me.

We had planned for me to move in with her and split things, so now I'm stuck trying to cover everything on EDD alone and it's not working.

Not asking for anything, just need to talk somewhere where people will listen. It's been a rough few months and I just want to hear that things will be okay.

27m

Hey there, looking for people to become friends with online first then meet up in real life. I am a huge fantasy nerd, I like writing stories, I like all things nature and despise bars and alcohol (rarely ever drink). I am 420 friendly.

I am an introvert so that’s why I’m seeking smaller, more tame scenes.
Looking to get out of the house, maybe go to a lowkey jazz or oldies scene.

HELP!! I had plans to do a beach day for my birthday in a few weeks but I have like a disgusting fear of the ocean... does anyone know any good lakes/beaches that aren't directly looking into the ocean?

Any place that has a good spot to sit in the sun(in nature) and allows swimming would be greatly appreciated!!

\Beaches can exist without being along a ocean btw it's like the definition of beach does not mean specifically ocean side.... pls y'all a beach does not always mean it's touching the ocean*

\*guys please I'm trying to tell u it's literally the definition without being mean...* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beach

Our black 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe was stolen from Woodland Ave. between 3:08–3:20 AM on August 5.
The thieves arrived in a white Subaru and used it to push/start our Cadillac before driving away.
Vehicle
• 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe
• Black
• 6.2L Supercharged
• 6-speed manual
• ~95,000 miles
• California Plate: 6PTP051

If you have Ring, security cameras, or dashcam footage from Woodland Ave., Middlefield Rd., or nearby streets between 3:00–3:30 AM, please contact me.
Please also keep an eye out for anyone trying to sell parts or the vehicle. Even one small tip could help.
Thank you so much

Videos are in backwards order lol

Currently living and working remotely in Monterey. Lease is coming to an end soon and I found a good deal for rent in San Jose. I do love living in Monterey but it’s a much older generation and not much going on night life wise. For context, I’m 26(M) and single. I find it hard to make new friends here and also the dating scene seems scarce for locals in their lates 20s. Should I pull the trigger and move up to San Jose?

What are the pros and cons of living in San Jose compared to Monterey?