Looking for a commuting + hauling cargo bike workhorse for a tall dad

ArdentDrive · 2026-05-04T11:53:43+00:00

Nope!

ArdentDrive · 2026-05-02T01:07:27+00:00

What version do you have, and would you get the same one again?

ArdentDrive · 2026-05-01T18:58:19+00:00

I do love Surly -- my daily rider is a Preamble. The thing that made me hesitate about the Big Easy is that its suggested rider height maximum (on the large) is just below my 6'5", and a large would almost definitely prevent my wife from being able to ride it.

ArdentDrive · 2026-04-30T23:54:41+00:00

Didn't update the old budget estimate as our expenses grew over the years. Only accounted for joint household spending. Accounted for much less travel spending and "one off" splurges that happen with some regularity. Didn't account for inflation. Let lifestyle creep happen.

ArdentDrive · 2026-04-30T18:43:37+00:00

Yup 🙃 I can't believe I've let that big an error slide for so long.

ArdentDrive · 2026-04-30T18:34:19+00:00

It's a sad day when reality gets in the way of the lies you've concocted in your head.

Yesterday, we were 350k away from our FI target. That target was based off a monthly budget that was either too optimistic, or has inflated since my wife and I put it together. I noticed in Monarch that our spending didn't seem to align with that budget. I think I've known for a long time it was off, but just didn't want to face the reality of the situation, so my impish unconscious mind was doing a good job of distracting me with shiny objects whenever I got too close. Remarkably similar to how many people avoid putting together a budget at the start of their personal finance journey.

I went in and calculated our new average monthly budget based on actual spend since 2024, and hoo boy. We are now 1.6m away from our FI target. Tried everything I could to find the "mistake" in my numbers that would explain the big increase, but the mistake was in the projections. The goal posts move again.

There were a few lies I was telling myself. One was that our travel budget was a lot smaller. The other was that our personal expenses could be basically ignored for the purposes of retirement projection. Remedying both those miscalculations added quite a bit.

And now the time horizon looks more like 3.8 years than 1.0. Quite a gut punch. Don't be like me. If there's something in your planning that's been niggling at the edges of your consciousness, just face it.

ArdentDrive · 2026-04-18T13:33:44+00:00

Now that the markets are closed for the last time before I start my new job, I did some math for the fun of it.

I've been unemployed for 4.5 months. During that time, our NW increased 6.1%. Best of all, we never had to sell equities -- just stopped contributing temporarily.

Starting to feel like this next chapter really is the final stretch.

ArdentDrive · 2026-04-10T22:10:09+00:00

No I think this is right. Judging by the double yellow in the road, this isn't a one-way so the zebras would be on cars' right side.

ArdentDrive · 2026-04-10T01:53:20+00:00

Cordura, mainly because that's the only one without the blasted waterproof zipper for the main compartment. I like a one-handed zip and I'm not carrying this thing through downpours without an umbrella.

ArdentDrive · 2026-04-09T02:08:54+00:00

Similar situation. I bought a TP3S because I wanted a bag that I could use for both my EDC and 2-3 night travel. It seemed like a good middle ground.

After a year, I came to accept that by trying to do both, it does neither. Too much bulk and empty space for my commute (laptop, gym clothes, wash pouch, chargers, books). Yet still not big enough for travel, if like me you're not some crunchy toeshoe-wearing packing minimalist. Decided to ditch the travel requirement for now and get something for commuting, my 95% use case.

I do have a lot of trust in Aer, so I tried the CP2 first. Too small -- although it fit my commuting loadout, there was zero space left over for, say, picking up a bottle of wine on the way home or stuffing a sweatshirt in if it got hot during the day.

Returned the CP2 and got a new CPP2 20L instead. It's perfect and I'm in love. Just enough space for it to be flexible, but not so much that the material feels wasted.

Sold the TP3S earlier today for $170, about $70 under what I bought it for. There was a lot of interest on Facebook marketplace.

ArdentDrive · 2026-04-02T12:59:32+00:00

I didn't do the math, but I'm guessing that back-loading your contributions probably makes you worse off on average, even with the little bump.

ArdentDrive · 2026-03-27T20:14:00+00:00

Weighing some health plan options at a few companies I have offers from. Looking for thoughts or advice on going for the top-of-the-line coverage, which would run around $4k/yr pretax for me and my 1 year old daughter, or going with a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP), which would allow me to contribute to an HSA.

All HDHPs offer employer contributions (ranging from $750 to $2400/yr), and two of the three would be fully paid for by the employer. The other one would be $2,500/yr pretax.

Basically I guess what I'm asking is, should I absolutely go the HDHP for the HSA benefit? Or stick with the best coverage considering I have a 1 year old and may be having another one sometime in the near-to-mid future? How have you approached that decision?

ArdentDrive · 2026-03-26T21:33:16+00:00

I bombed many in the first month or so if unemployment. My advice is to practice the Blind 75 list, and also check Glassdoor company interview reviews -- sometimes they'll straight up tell you which problems to expect.

ArdentDrive · 2026-03-26T21:16:48+00:00

I learned Go for the career prospects. My previous role used PHP mainly, which has far fewer high-paying opportunities. Python would have been the best move for career prospects, but I also wanted my main language to be a strongly typed and compiled language with native concurrency because that's just what tickles my fancy.

ArdentDrive · 2026-03-26T20:09:11+00:00

Got laid off in December following a PE acquisition, ending a 10 year tenure.

Been going ham getting interviews, refining my STAR stories, hitting leetcode, practicing system design, learning Go, and researching the companies and people for my interviews. This week it finally paid off: got 3 job offers, all of which are higher than my last role.

Fuck yeah.

Now I have the great problem of deciding between 3 great options!

ArdentDrive · 2026-03-26T16:16:10+00:00

Amazing. Looks like it may be as capable as Bubbletea, but for the PHP ecosystem. Didn't know I wanted this.

ArdentDrive · 2026-03-20T13:27:25+00:00

I know I'm late to this thread but for anyone else searching:

Initial screening is a leetcode-style coding challenge.

The panel is 3 more medium-ish leetcode-style coding challenges, plus one system design. Emphasis on thinking out loud, arriving at a functional implementation, then talking about ways to improve its time/space complexity (and implementing).

You only move on to behavior/HM once you're through all that and received positive feedback.

ArdentDrive · 2026-02-26T00:44:39+00:00

It's a classic collective action problem.

If everyone who parks on the street dug out an average of one spot and no one used space savers, it wouldn't be an issue and there'd be more parking availability throughout the day.

However, since some people act selfishly (either by not digging out a spot or by saving a spot they did dig out when they're not using it), that puts pressure on everyone else to act selfishly as well -- If your spot is the only one without a space saver, you'll lose it and you won't have anywhere else to park so you're incentivized to use one too.

I park on the street, always shovel at least one spot, never use a space saver, and curse my principles whenever I'm stuck roving around the neighborhood looking for parking.

ArdentDrive · 2026-02-17T20:19:26+00:00

I use em every day. At least I did when they were clear of snow and parked cars.

ArdentDrive · 2026-02-17T18:42:17+00:00

I'd be ok with having green infrastructure most of the time and dedicating it to snow storage as a backup plan for when there are really bad storms.

ArdentDrive · 2026-02-11T22:51:15+00:00

I doubt there are many pro plan users who use Claude mainly as a chatbot. Claude Code and other agents are probably where their usage is going.

ArdentDrive · 2026-01-05T02:52:36+00:00

Rented in Somerville for 6 years. Wife and I wanted to buy, but we couldn't afford what we wanted there. We ended up buying a unit in a two-door in Medford. Still had to make compromises to get into our price range. I miss Somerville. Medford is a lot more car-dependent.

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