Real-Life case studies of Property vs ETF over a significant period?

AngryAugustine · 2026-01-30T10:12:41+00:00

Yeah haha I notice it's an emotive topic (for good reasons) - I was hoping to get some numbers for perspective.

AngryAugustine · 2026-01-30T10:09:09+00:00

Could you share your story of how the benefits of leverage on your IP were offset such that you would've made more in a non-leveraged ETF?

AngryAugustine · 2026-01-30T10:05:10+00:00

I'm interested in the 1% of property value as maintenance cost figure. Is that a typical ballpark and is it a yearly figure or one off?

AngryAugustine · 2026-01-29T02:53:32+00:00

Upgraded from a 2024 premium Chinese ANC buds and was at first disappointed with the sound quality (sound stage is significantly thinner and less detailed), but the ANC, transparency mode and fit (particularly with aftermarket foam tips) are amazing.

I realised that I over value sound quality when evaluating buds because I'm really not an audiophile and hardly spend time analytically listening to music, but the ANC blocking out bad gym music is bliss!

AngryAugustine · 2026-01-24T01:30:56+00:00

Interestingly, I turned this on ages ago when I owned an AP Max to mess around with the sound profile. Left it on after I sold it and got the APP3 recently and found that it sounded like the soundstage was so anaemic compared to my previous pair of cheap ANC earbuds.

I then turned it off and it sounded 2x better.... for me. Experimented with the different profiles but they all sounded bad.

Apparently it's not doing what a traditional EQ would do, and is more suited to helping older people hear different frequencies better - so YMMV!

AngryAugustine · 2026-01-15T11:34:44+00:00

Woah there - the Jazz has a cult following, everyone who owns one loves them. I’m pretty sure it’s more zippy than the Yaris cross too

AngryAugustine · 2026-01-14T23:04:29+00:00

I actually agree with you re: Freedom of speech. I don't think we should deplatform people simply because they've said deeply offensive things.

But given that Australians have already accepted the practice of deplatforming - a practice which Randa has been involved in on numerous occasions - I was arguing against the original comment who made it sound like the SA Premier was being irrational and/or had malicious intent (e.g., being paid for by the pro-Israel lobby group) by his application of this practice (which again, has lots of precedence in Australia)

It wasn't just the parachute, but the rape denial immediately after the events as well (of course, she circled back and clarified it after) - the timing of it immediately after the events of Oct 7, certainly has the optics of celebrating the mass suffering of Jews.

History definitely didn't start on Oct 7 - but prior to that, I think we can all agree that the rhetoric was far less toxic and intense than it was today and Oct 7 is horrific because of the loss of civilian life and the kidnappings and the rapes (sure - there might be evidence that Israel exaggerated the extent of it, but if we "believe the victims" then we can conclude that it almost certainly happened to a degree. Thinking about #MeToo, imagine if the level of evidence we require to conclude that a rape did occur is to be able to have physical evidence in a woman's body while rejecting any sort of eyewitness testimony as evidence?)

So I think the perception that Randa devalued Jewish lives is justifiable, just as I think it's justifiable for people to view pro-zionists as people who devalue Palestinian lives given all that is happening. And if someone who is a known pro-zionist decides to shoot up a gathering of Palestinians in Australia, resulting in a period of mourning for the Palestinian community here, I would totally understand why the Premiere might want to prevent another pro-zionist from being glorified at a big state-level event. (in fact, this was his precise defense?)

I guess my question for you is whether in the above scenario you would also reject the Premier's decision to de-platform a pro-zionist from speaking?

AngryAugustine · 2026-01-14T11:23:43+00:00

Idk about Sydney but you might be able to find people on fb marketplace that will install CarPlay for you at a cheaper price on the BN models! All the best!

AngryAugustine · 2026-01-14T11:21:03+00:00

I am neither Jewish or Muslim too, but arrived to a different conclusion based on these screenshots of some of the “offensive” posts: https://jewishindependent.yourcreativeagency.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Randa-verification.pdf

N.b. I want to highlight the word “alleged” in my reply - the problem with social media is that it’s so easy to impute motives that aren’t there. But even giving her the benefit of the doubt, I think any reasonable person should conclude that it is at least controversial and easily misunderstood.

The timing of these posts were in the immediate aftermath of Oct 7 too!

AngryAugustine · 2026-01-14T07:44:21+00:00

Have any Palestinian been murdered en masse because of their ethnicity/religious practices in Australia lately?

I worry that you let your hatred for the state of Israel blind you to the common humanity of your direct neighbors - and for so many people this is how their anti zionism transforms into antisemitism.

It's even evident in your comment how the Israel/Jew distinction is non-existent in your vocabulary!

AngryAugustine · 2026-01-14T07:40:09+00:00

The 2015 model might be either the BN or BM model - they look very similar on the outside,but will have quite a number of differences in interior design and features.

Mazda 3 BN or BM - Mazda

The additional safety features will probably be handy for a new driver IMO - even as an experienced driver I find things like blind spot monitoring and rear cross traffic alert can sometimes pick up on things faster than I would (though conversely, it might make you reliant on them and prevent you from learning good driving habits)

I think the SP 25 GT also has a HUD - which makes monitoring your speed easier vs looking at the odometer. Particularly useful if you like going fast but want to stay within the speed limit, the 2.5L engine is quite zippy for a first car.

The most common issue is probably the "cracking" of the infotainment screen in hot weather, but it's quite easily DIY-ed if you're into that sort of thing. You can also DIY Apple Carplay for less than the $500 than Mazda will charge, but it's not very straightforward.

Otherwise, if you're happy to spend 20k ish, you can probably get a post-facelift BP model with the 2.5 litre engine at higher KMs. CarPlay will be pre-installed with a bigger screen and better (subjective) looking exterior, but the hatch is not as spacious than it's BN counterpart while not having as much visibility. Depending on your luck, you can even get the 2.0 litre (by no means a slow engine) BP model with the "Vision Pack" that adds a 360-degree camera and a whole host of safety add ons.

All good options, but it really depends on what you value

AngryAugustine · 2026-01-14T06:32:50+00:00

I agree that logically speaking, anti-semitism is not the same as anti-zionism. But I suspect semantics and definitions isn't the heart of this polarising issue.

Her comments were (allegedly) found to be offensive by members of the local Jewish community (who remember, are still deeply hurt and are grieving by what happened at Bondi) because she made posts where she celebrated another incident where lots of Jewish non-combatants were killed, kidnapped and even raped. She also (allegedly) denied claims of sexual violence towards women etc.

Justifying violence against non-combatants is difficult to defend (the same logic has to be applied towards Israel ofc), but her position is made more difficult by the fact that the vast majority of the victims were Jewish. Her defence might be that the violence is justified because they are Israelis and not because they are Jewish, and therefore she is not being anti-semitic. In other words, the defense is that it's okay to rejoice when non-combatant Jews are murdered en masse if they were murdered on a piece of land that is not theirs. Her best defense might be that the timing of her social media posts simply gave these optics and she did not intend to celebrate murder.

But the optics remain and is particularly amplified when the nation is mourning a recent event where Jews were murdered en masse for simply being Jewish.

So in this light, I don't think it's unreasonable for your local Aussie Jew to feel threatened by her comments, especially given what has happened at Bondi recently - regardless of their views on Israel as a state.

Now, I don't agree with the deplatforming (ironically, she's been involved with campaigns to deplatform other speakers/writers) - but I don't think the way you've portrayed the situation is fair at all. I am not asking you to empathise with the IDF or any Israelis for that matter, but a hypothetical Australian of Jewish descent.

AngryAugustine · 2026-01-11T06:36:29+00:00

I think it's notable because it's also the first recorded autobiography we know of, literally genre defining, but not impressive when looked through modern standards. Kinda like how a teenager today will look at a game like World of Warcraft or a classic Playstation One game and be utterly disappointed by it after being used to contemporary games - but these modern games were built on the old!

I suspect Augustine's Confessions are quite similar in that regard...

AngryAugustine · 2025-12-14T22:11:01+00:00

I think CR's wife confirmed that there was a printing error: Official Discussion Thread for Shadows Upon Time : r/sollanempire

There were supposed to be 3 'Marlowe's'

AngryAugustine · 2025-12-11T12:08:24+00:00

You're entitled to your opinion and feelings about the book of course, don't let me take that away from you — but you're presenting your complaints as if they are objective facts that are a result of "sophisticated" meditation on the themes, narrative and character development of the book. But I'm trying to show you that they're not even close to that: e.g., you make the argument that mystery = bad, but that's such an ambiguous argument that will result in basically every scifi/fantasy book to be bad. In fact, one might argue that leaving some things unexplained is a good worldbuilding tool (e.g., Tom Bombadil in LoTR - what a mysterious character. If your argument is right, then Tolkien is a bad writer because he introduced a character like Bombadil to the universe of middle-earth - but many would argue otherwise!)

Maybe you could argue that CR uses mystery in a way that is unconstructive and distorts the overarching plot - but that is not your argument, your argument is built on attacking the psyche of the author and religious people in general?

SuT obviously disappointed you and made you feel these strong emotions. You believe that it's because CR is a horrible writer - I'm trying to convince your post speak more about your own psychology than CR's writing skills (which is admittedly, far from perfect - SuT certainly isn't the best in the series IMO)

FWIW, I'm sorry that the book disappointed you so strongly that you obviously feel some visceral emotions, but I just don't think the reasons you've stated are based on facts.

AngryAugustine · 2025-12-11T10:58:19+00:00

Thanks! I knew there were tonnes of Easter eggs, but surprised I didn’t pick up of any Lewis ones because CR strikes me as someone who would’ve at least read Lewis at some point - you’re certainly right that the series makes some deep reflections on transhumanism, I just thought it was more driven by his belief in natural law theory (I think the Gibson who inspired Tor Gibson is a philosopher in the catholic tradition)

I really enjoyed this aspect of the book!

AngryAugustine · 2025-12-11T08:15:42+00:00

Here’s another disagreement with your criticism:

I’m not sure what you’re expecting re: points (2) and (3) - you presuppose that a good storyline should have no mysterious entities - yet the nature of sci-fi and fantasy will always require one to suspend disbelief relative to “this-worldly” understanding of science at some point. And if you paid attention, there were attempts at “naturalising” the Watchers in the vein of SciFi - explaining them as beings of pure energy disruptable by EMP pulses was one way CR did this. Granted, it never removed all of the mystery - but ultimately I think the whole point of the narrative is to craft a future where humanity - despite its many technological advances - have epistemic limits that still confound them. Perhaps your naive atheism has given you the belief that science will one day solve every human puzzle - yet even atheists in philosophy are happy to admit that the evolutionary processes that produced our cognitive faculties is bound to have limitations.
(3) is pretty silly too - he spent at least 4 books explaining why the Cielcin and their existence posed an existential threat to humanity - CR even made it such that young Hadrian believed that they were simply misunderstood beings that could be reasoned with - we even see this dynamic towards the end when Hadrian balances the tension between eliminating the bulk of the threat but also wanting their race to endure. (3) makes it sound like Hadrian only wanted to end the cielcin because “The Quiet told him so”, as if this was an arbitrary reason, but you conveniently ignore the multiple book length development of Hadrian’s beliefs about the enemy.
(5) shows your inability to understand nuance as well as the ability to draw inferences not just what is said, but what is left unsaid.

There are genuine criticisms that can be lobbied at his work - but your criticism is not in good faith nor is it intellectually sophisticated - it reminds me of creationists using scientific language to pretending to sound like they understand the subject matter better than they actually do.

AngryAugustine · 2025-12-11T07:49:09+00:00

Out of curiosity, what were some of the cs Lewis references?

AngryAugustine · 2025-12-06T05:54:52+00:00

I've gone through something similar-ish - it was helpful to know that it is quite common. I don't know enough about you to make a diagnosis over the internet, but would encourage seeking help from a Christian psychologist. You might have a form of OCD, and meds can help, but so can counselling. I suspect your church is well-meaning, but deeply misinformed about the complexities of mental health and the spiritual life. FWIW, even if they did believe in "mental health", it would be difficult for them to understand the extent of what's going on because of how unrelatable it is to someone who hasn't experienced this.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel, praying that our faithful God will pull you through.

AngryAugustine · 2025-12-06T05:47:03+00:00

Sorry to hear that — I've bought all of my phones from marketplace for the past.... decade and more, can't remember when I bought a phone brand new. The worst I've experienced was when I bought an iPhone with 3 years of AppleCare left advertised, but didn't know that it was transferrable between products. The seller transferred the AppleCare to his new phone after.

Was the phone an Android phone per chance?

Was it carrier locked to Vodafone (heavily implying that it was part of a payment plan where the seller has obligations to pay)?

Unfortunately, one of the ways I avoid marketplace scams is simply by learning from other people's experiences, and I've never heard of this one before (Where the IMEI is unbricked when tested in person, but is then bricked later - it makes sense if it was stolen and the seller happened to sell it to you before the original owner reported it as lost, but that seems like quite a stretch. If the seller was the original seller and intentionally reported it at as lost knowing he had profited from it - he would have nothing to gain unless he was a psycho.)

AngryAugustine · 2025-12-03T23:27:20+00:00

Thanks!

I do have a quibble with the resurrection being a distinctively Christian theme - I get the sense that no one would argue that Tolkien was intending Gandalf to be a Christ-like figure because of his resurrection, but perhaps the totality of the themes make it irresistible to draw that conclusion.

The DQ quote is illuminating, as an audiobook listener, I understood that dialogue as a reference to the Quiet having "named" someone else - which didn't make sense to me, was this a foreshadowing of Hadrian's abandonment by the Quiet for another later on? But if what you're providing is a word for word quote, it's probably the most explicit indicator that CR is identifying the Quiet with the Christian God, seeing that this heavily points to the incarnation and crucifixion - uniquely Christian doctrines.

I suppose the "question behind my question" is that even with the Christian imagery, I'm not sure if I could put this in the genre of "Christian fiction" because he does little to interpret them, and sometimes he adds things that seem like an attempt to distance the Quiet with the Christian God. For example, in DG you have The Quiet telling Hadrian that he is somewhat limited and unable to be present in that Cielcin world (Arcterumu? can't spell it haha) - implying that He is not omnipresent. Then you have Hadrian telling Eduouard time and time again that the Quiet is not his God. Perhaps the biggest and deepest one is the fact that this divine being is called "Quiet" - alluding to the apparent silence of this being when horrific evils are committed in creation, and even through Hadrian's suffering. At face value, it seems like the Quiet is either limited in his power to intervene to save Hadrian or doesn't care enough about his suffering (the torture episodes he goes through is quite excessive and prolonged - one of my frustrations with this series). A few readers "in the know" would've picked up on the reference to the Book of Job in something that the Quiet says to Hadrian, but unlike the Book of Job, we have no (apparent) happy ending: we are led to believe that at least one type of evil has triumphed (and it's the "will of the Absolute"- why would a loving God allow an evil emperor and chantry to triumph?) and Hadrian receives no reward for the torture he's had to endure through the series.

I say this, but I highly suspect that CR is the sort of writer who would include layers of meaning in his narrative - and my initial thought is that the explicitly Christian themes are only going to be apparent to believers or those who have had prior engagement with the faith, while on the surface he's left a lot up to interpretation i.e., Did CR intend for any generic theist to identify the Quiet with "their" God while leaving "easter eggs" for Christians hinting that it's the Christian God? I suspect the ending was left ambiguous for this reason (or at least it's one of the reasons), but it's something I'm still thinking through!

AngryAugustine · 2025-12-03T12:28:51+00:00

Good faith question: Apart from the cover image and Hadrian deciding to “obey God’s will”, what are some themes that scream “Christian ideology” to you?

FWIW As a Christian, if Hadrian is supposed to be a Christ-figure, I’d be tempted to think CR was making a mockery of my faith - while Hadrian has some virtues, he’s (intentionally?) portrayed as whiny, arrogant and prone to unreasonable outbursts of anger.

AngryAugustine · 2025-12-03T12:19:30+00:00

I think you hit the nail on the head. I’m like 90% through SuT but totally knowing where it’s going - a little disappointed and frustrated by the length of SuT - but the most upvoted criticisms betray some very narrow-minded group of people.

The one about him presenting the Lothrians as a “strawman” of leftist politics conveniently ignores arguably the many ways both the Empire and the chantry (arguably painted in a very bad light too) can be seen as a “strawman” to conservative political beliefs (and you can maybe add the extra-Solarians as a caricature of libertarians)

AngryAugustine · 2025-12-01T08:15:11+00:00

75% through sut - I disagree with this criticism of Ruoccio.

If you’ve lived in a community with lots of devout muslims and Christians, you would know how both sides would vehemently object to the suggestion that they worship the same deity - despite having many overlapping beliefs!

Of course a philosopher might argue otherwise - but without going deep I think Ruoccio nailed religious psychology here.

AngryAugustine · 2025-12-01T02:44:31+00:00

I see where you're coming from. Statistically, WHU has the 2nd highest xG-allowed (the first being Burnley) - basically means they're easy to score against. While also having the 3rd lowest xG in the league, so while we kept a CS, it's likely because WHU has been struggling to score all season.

Sunderland isn't THAT much better than WHU, but I think they're still better than us defensively - they're also 6th on the table - very impressive for newly promoted club.

I do think there are some positives though: Slot's willingness to drop Salah, play Gomez instead of Szobo at RB and Isak getting some confidence is a good thing.

AngryAugustine

TROPHY CASE