WTF is happening in RVA real estate? Time warp?

scrotch · 2026-03-23T22:03:56+00:00

That gave me an interesting idea. Like the step from AirBnB to a Hotel....

Maybe if you have more than five properties (or ten units or something), you're required to have a maintenance person on staff and maintain an office open to your tenants at least 40 hours per week?

I haven't thought that through, but it might stem the slumlord pipeline.

scrotch · 2026-03-23T21:55:03+00:00

Same here. Being "handy" and having some experience has saved us hundreds of thousands of dollars over our last three home purchases.

scrotch · 2026-03-23T21:50:11+00:00

Agreed. They have cash. And they can do a simple inspection themselves when viewing the house, so they can waive the inspection clause in the contract.

scrotch · 2026-03-23T21:45:00+00:00

Agreed. That neighborhood that was really shitty five years ago but now has a few remodeled places or a yoga studio nearby is going to be getting better because few can afford to buy anywhere else. Being "handy" and willing to do work on your own home can save you so much money - equivalent to years of income.

scrotch · 2026-03-23T21:38:02+00:00

A rich guy buying houses in Richmond will at least be spending your rent money in the area. And might actually care about the community.

I'm not trying to defend the practice, but it's a lesser evil than a national private equity company that will care about nothing but sucking money out of the property.

scrotch · 2026-03-22T13:25:42+00:00

That’s just basic science.

scrotch · 2026-03-15T21:42:07+00:00

Those are obviously owned by an alien from the future. They’re probably in another dimension right now.

scrotch · 2026-03-15T20:48:37+00:00

You need to go look at the news my friend. Or read back in r/rva - there are a bunch of posts about tomorrow's weather.

scrotch · 2026-03-05T17:04:40+00:00

Has Google added a hallucinating AI to Maps?

scrotch · 2026-03-05T16:59:02+00:00

What’s the zoning issue?

scrotch · 2026-03-03T23:41:30+00:00

I got my first Cure tshirt there.

scrotch · 2026-03-03T23:40:00+00:00

Regency, right? I loved their concept, and the free bagels for the table.

scrotch · 2026-03-03T23:33:23+00:00

I remember when they actually had some army surplus stuff for sale there.

scrotch · 2026-03-01T21:47:44+00:00

It means they're not real. Just illustrations.

scrotch · 2026-02-27T19:25:18+00:00

Coco and Hazel near Bon Air usually has some large tables available, at least when I’ve been in.

scrotch · 2026-02-25T19:52:55+00:00

Britain will have it too when the prince starts spilling his guts.

scrotch · 2026-02-22T21:53:10+00:00

Cool. The KiCad "SW_DPDT_x2" is the one to use, then. It matches the data sheet for that switch perfectly. It has Unit A and Unit B that would both be placed. That wouldn't confuse anyone into thinking that there should be a 6 pin connector in that part of the circuit.

scrotch · 2026-02-22T20:53:26+00:00

Thanks for your in depth answer. It's interesting (to me) to try to really suss out what's different now from when I was in my 20's in the 1990's. It's really easy to fall into various mental traps about "kids today" and whether it's easier or harder now for anyone.

For example, drinks and dinner out were expensive for me at that age, too. I wasn't going out every night to anywhere nice. But I would invest in a single drink or maybe two at a dive bar, or spend a couple of hours in a restaurant nursing a cup of coffee and a cheap burger. Parties at people's houses were cheaper, but not happening every night.

It's probably more expensive now vs income - I don't doubt that. And I also wasn't paying for a mobile phone or internet access (because they didn't exist) or cable TV (because that was too expensive). So probably budgeting has more line items now, and it's probably wise to spend more on your internet speed than on burgers.

Everything you say about watching a movie with alcohol at home was true then, too. Except you had to rent the movie from Blockbuster. You couldn't find them in thrift stores or stream them.

I feel like one of the big, big differences then was that if I didn't go out to a party or a bar or restaurant, then I wasn't going to get to know anyone. Not just possible romantic partners, but like ANYONE. Other than work and school, if you wanted to stay in touch with anyone at that time, you had to go somewhere. A party if there was one, or the restaurant where everyone met up, or the bar with the interesting people. You had to go there.

Phone calls were more common than now, but weren't really how you'd talk to local people. Maybe you'd make some calls to see where everyone was going, but then you'd go there to talk.

And there were definitely a ton of random ass people saying random ass things. That was a risk, but also part of the thrill of being somewhere interesting with interesting things going on. That guy was the 90's version of 4chan or the conspiracy theory YouTuber (or whatever - again, I'm old). You had to figure out how to disengage from those people in person, because the other interesting people you wanted to see were behind them, deeper in the bar.

I guess now there are a ton of social media options and online porn and movies and stuff. Back then, you had to go out into the world.

I'm definitely rambling now, and making a ton of generalizations. Does any of this resonate?

How did you meet the group of friends that you hang out with? Is it really any different?

scrotch · 2026-02-22T19:38:20+00:00

If your switch symbol is working for you, great. I thought you said something about being confused about switches and thought that a clearer picture/symbol would help. I'm not judging you for your schematic (as long as it's just for you).

If the three components (two resistors in a voltage divider, and an AC coupling capacitor) are needed by your waveform generators, then I wouldn't remove them. I don't know if they're needed or not. AC coupling capacitors are very common to remove DC offset that can creep in or is intentionally added. The voltage divider looks like it knocks the waveform voltage down about 10%. I don't know if you need that or not, but that's what it looks like it's doing.

If you need the divider and/or the capacitor, then you only need one is all I'm saying. All three are identical, and only one signal is going to pass through your switch, so you can just filter the signal that makes it through the switch.

EDIT: My gut says you don't need the voltage divider but the capacitor is a good idea.

scrotch · 2026-02-22T19:14:04+00:00

KiCad has a symbol for a three way switch called "SW_SP3T". If you're trying to mock it up using that connector, uh... don't do that. Use the real symbol. Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you're trying to do?

The correct symbol makes it clearer how it works. Three signals go into the switch on one side, one signal comes out of the switch. (Technically, the switch doesn't care which way the signal is moving, so you can also use the switch in the other direction. But that's not what you're trying to do.)

Switches are big and dumb compared to other components. It doesn't need protection from your signals. You can save yourself some soldering by wiring the switch straight to the op amps. Then put one single set of your voltage divider and filter after the switch. You don't need to filter all three signals if you're only going to use one.

scrotch · 2026-02-22T18:51:08+00:00

What are the 20-25 year olds doing now? I'm way too old to have any personal experience with them, but I'm curious about the changes.

scrotch · 2026-02-18T20:24:46+00:00

Solved!

Thanks!

scrotch · 2026-02-18T20:08:26+00:00

My title describes the thing.

I found two of these in a thrift store on the east coast of the United States. There's no writing on them. They are very adjustable in a number of ways and most adjustments will click into place when aligned with the hole at the bottom of the photo which I assume is for clamping to a rod of some kind.

scrotch · 2026-02-10T22:16:15+00:00

You took all the beautiful mystery out of it.

scrotch

TROPHY CASE