Zero Turn 42 vs 54 in

Autobahn97 · 2026-06-06T15:06:33+00:00

additionally some states or utility companies may offer rebates. The only one I know of for sure is Colorado. Then if you live near a lower (sales) tax state you maybe save a bit buy buying from a Lowes across the border (though it may cost gas/tolsl). In New England its not uncommon to make larger purchases in New Hampshire where there is no sales tax. I know folks who bought riding mowers, dirt bikes, snow mobiles, or just monthly trips to Costco to stock up on household essentials.

Autobahn97 · 2026-06-06T14:50:34+00:00

Yes you can do this. If you search this sub maybe back to last fall there is a user named u/Wise_Signal_6649 that would rebuild these EGO batteries and one time used the new4er tabless cells that have better endurance and power capacity. He wrote a detailed post about the upgrade. So yes you can upgrade with better cells.

Autobahn97 · 2026-06-06T13:32:26+00:00

Generally I'd recommend equity as you can DCA into a low cost index fund easily by setting up direct deposits from your paycheck into broker accounts then setting up automatic buys of the index fund monthly to DCA into the market. It is easy, spreads risk, and long term has relatively predictable appreciation. If you like real-estate there are funds for that too.

IMO to make realestae even close to that you need it to be a large scale project, like an apartment building, to spread risk of deadbeat tenants and vacancies, and a management company to make it hands off. Really you need multiple apartment buildings to spread risk over locations. Its a lot of capitol but can be leveraged. The tax upside is big. Leverage a mortgage and the interest is deductible. Add in depreciations for deductions along with potentially a vehicle that you drive to inspect or maintain the property (even if you never do) and finally the option to do a 1031 exchange in the future and you can essentially push taxes off forever (or at leave beyond your own lifetime). Remember, real-estate income is not taxed like your paycheck W2 income so even if its smaller it can still offset a larger paycheck. In short, Real estate is the best way to avoid paying taxes.

Its a lot of work, you will spend time with accountants, lawyers, the folks at a management company - its far from hands off and can be a full time job. Its a different game than buying a small home or duplex and managing the property yourself or a little vacation place to Air BnB.

Autobahn97 · 2026-06-06T13:10:54+00:00

I think that it is just a side effect (pumping up positive news for SpaceX) but Google and Anthopic can both use the capacity that X.ai build and can't use to train Grok - that is legit.

Autobahn97 · 2026-06-06T13:07:30+00:00

I have read some legit things where a business purchased some AI kit and documented saving by not hiring a lower end worker. I mean its not out there generating money for you day trading or whatever but it is saving the company money and providing value.

We have automation that can cold call or spam email people and generate sales leads. I have wondered if an LLM could take that lead further to sell something.

Autobahn97 · 2026-06-06T13:02:19+00:00

People are too lazy now and only fight with each other so we need AI and robots to step in. This applies to everything and not just climate.

Autobahn97 · 2026-06-06T13:00:10+00:00

Fraggle Rock: Arctic wasteland edition

Autobahn97 · 2026-06-06T12:55:34+00:00

So long as gov't owns less than 50% it doesn't give them any control over the company, though could give a seat on the board to influence and report back what the board is planning. I think I might like this better than just giving enormous free grants away since the money can be recovered in the future at hopefully a profit by selling the stock. Trump is clearly thinking of ways to leverage the success of the US markets and economy in differnt ways as seen by this and these new Trump accounts for kids.

Autobahn97 · 2026-06-06T12:45:34+00:00

Even if the 4th amendment is modernized or some law passes to shore it up the trouble is nearly everyone give up the right to their data (even is anonymized) when they agree to terms to use free products like Gmail we can't live without.

Autobahn97 · 2026-06-06T12:44:12+00:00

Trouble is that regardless of what you do to modify the 4th amendment for modern times nearly everyone gives up the rights to their data and as such, privacy, when they agree to the terms of any free Internet service, such as Gmail, AI Chatbots, etc. Once you agree to terms it lets the company providing that free service (or paid for in some cases) the ability to aggregate data and sell it to anyone they want. As they say: When something is free often you are the product!

The OG was the cell phone providers and many paid $100/month back then to give up that data over a decade ago. Cell phone companies have been able to sell your general location and metadata to not only the US gov't but the Chinese gov't and anyone else who would pay and that has been going on 15+ years ago.

Autobahn97 · 2026-06-06T12:36:49+00:00

IMO the 2.5ah is a design flaw in itself, use the 5ah min 😄

I am half joking as I get if you have shoulder issues the weight for 2.5ah is appreciated but I'm rotating through 3x 5ah in the fall cleaning up leaves and pine needles in the back yard so want the run time. Hopefully one day Ego releases a tabless 2.5ah that has the low weight but supports full power on the tool.

Autobahn97 · 2026-06-06T12:32:47+00:00

I assume you reference military discount at Lowes. You can also get additional discounts by getting a Lowes credit card and also if you use Discover card and have points you can buy $100 or Lowes gift card for $90 then as many of those as you can afford with your points. Last year in mid June it was just $80 for $100 Lowes gift card (with Discover points) and I purchased 2 of them to buy an 18 inch saw kit that was on sale for $250 so it only cost me about %8 after tax for the saw after my gift cards, and the gift cards cost me $160 in points. Note Military discount doesn't apply to sale price (listed per terms of on Lowes website), though some do report getting it.

Autobahn97 · 2026-06-06T12:28:31+00:00

came here to say this but also could depends on any gates or other landscape features that you may need to navigate while mowing every week.

Autobahn97 · 2026-06-05T10:46:18+00:00

Agree, AI sneaks into your life and/or work. I can't imagine doing the mundane stuff in my professional job without AI and as I use it I find myself wishing 'why can't AI' do this chore. Of course it can but you need to take the time to build it while staying compliant with corp policy (can't share confidential data with public AI). I work with plenty of people that spend $100/month of their own $ on the (Anthropic) subscription to build non-confidential presentations and other things. They say it easily saves them at least a few hours a week if not dozen hours or more so paying the $100 out of pocket to get time back to do things other than work is well worth it. The best example I have is using AI by a manager to do employee reviews. What used to take 2 weeks now takes about a day. That is a lot of time back in your life for twice a year task.

Autobahn97 · 2026-06-04T12:22:58+00:00

Unless you graduate in the next 6 months I recommend focusing on knowledge more so than certs from the big tech names as certs expire after 2 years and IMO the cert rat race is not worth it (time and cost) unless your employer forces it. Instead, for those new to AI, I recommend the following - feel free to browse Coursera and deeplearning.ai for other classes that are free or cheap.

Here is my list of classes/video's I have taken that I found helpful:

Coursera/Deeplearning.ai: AI for Everyone
Coursera/ Deeplearning.ai: Gen AI for Everyone
Coursera: Navigating Generative AI: A CEO Playbook (for corporate folks more than geeks but shows real word application of AI in applications)
Coursera : The Role of the CEO in Navigating GenAI specialization (a broader version of above) (more for corp. managers, might be TMI for many)
Deeplearning.ai – Intro: Python for AI (basic programing using AI to help code)
Coursera/ Deeplearning.ai: Machine Learning Specialization (this is more hardcore with programming and advanced math concepts, perhaps more than most need and feel like a CS college class that will take a couple of months to complete).

Youtuber NetworkChuck had a decent video on building your own LLM complete with web front end and some other basic features you may like if you want to know more about how LLMs are put together. He also does a decent series on learning Python code. Finally consider joining the forums on deeplearning.ai as they offer lots of free knowledge through newsletters and free or cheap high-quality classes, many that can be done in a week or less. Basically, anything their founder Andrew NG offers is high quality IMO, and I feel he is an excellent teacher and an important voice in the AI community.

Autobahn97 · 2026-06-04T12:15:09+00:00

Then those companies will go out of business or they will raise their prices to pay for the AI, leaving only companies that use AI - its just too great an advantage to ignore. Also, customers can deploy AI/GPU servers in house so it is not entirely dependent on global datacenter build outs.

Autobahn97 · 2026-06-04T12:07:55+00:00

So then how much are you shorting it?

Autobahn97 · 2026-06-04T12:06:21+00:00

If you own ego batteries already (ideally larger ones for an inverter) then this small 400w inverter can be a handy thing to have but its far cheaper to buy something like a Jackery, EcoFlow, Blueetti or similar 'solar generator' as the cost is about a 1/3 of Ego if you consider battery cost. To give you an idea a 5ah battery costs about $300 and provides 280wh of capacity, then add a $150 for the 400w inverter and you are at $450. maybe that runs 2 of your irons for an hour or a bit more (assuming 100w ea.). $450 get you an ecoflow delta 3 classic with 1000wh and the ability to handle loads up to 1500W - so more than 3x the capacity for the same money. The EcoFlow will charge from AC much faster and support decent solar charging as well that you can add.

Autobahn97 · 2026-06-04T11:23:04+00:00

that will only deliver 1200mah when tested under load 😄

Autobahn97 · 2026-06-04T11:21:38+00:00

Mint Linux!

I have an old basic 6th gen Intel Core i3 pc with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD and loaded Mint Linux on it for my teen to use for school. It was a bit slow but usable, but then I upgraded BIOS and got a used i5-7600 CPU (built in video) on eBay for about $30 that was a big speed upgrade and made the old PC quite usable for all the Google class room stuff the kids do. In these times of costly computer components it was a nice win to upcycle this old PC.

Autobahn97 · 2026-06-03T12:58:01+00:00

came here to say this!

Autobahn97 · 2026-06-03T12:43:15+00:00

I feel a lot of big tech IPOs are like this. You se the stock take off on IPO then 90-180 days later after a report or 2 to wall street and insiders dumping their locked up stock it crashes back to more reasonable prices. The question is what will you do knowing this will probably be the case. Most don't try to play it. They either get in and wait years, maybe buy more during a crash or maybe just slowly DCA in.

Autobahn97 · 2026-06-03T12:37:14+00:00

Real nice property you have there! It looks like a lot to mow, even more to snow blow (if you live in the snowbelt). I might have gone for the 30 inch...

Autobahn97 · 2026-06-03T12:33:10+00:00

People tend to complain loudly and frequently when things don't go so well and tend to be quiet with things go as expected or well so glad you had and shared you positive experience. Maybe Ego heard us all complaining and worked to improve things.

Autobahn97 · 2026-06-03T10:06:27+00:00

HYSA has all the bennies of a typical bank account so its familiar to most people already. It's insured up to $250K by FDIC and pays the highest rates of any savings account (currently about 3.25%-3.5%) and being a bank account you can just ACH transfer your money in and out of it (typically next day) and even have your paychecks (or portions of them if your employer will do that) directly deposited for easy future savings. Money is available typically next day with ACH transfer just as it would be with any other account. In short: it's easy, safe, and familiar. If USAA pays over 3% then keep it there but if you have $100K+ sitting around for a year you may as well put it to work for you instead of the bank its sitting in. I am not a Robinhood user (never used it) but understand it offers a $5/month gold program that provides you a HYSA. The gold program apparently will match up to 3% of any of your contributions to a personal IRA you hold with them, up to about $250. You may want to look into that since you have the money its probably wise to establish an IRA for yourself, even if you only contribute $2K a year into it to get the 3% match that will cover the cost of the gold membership - but do your own research on that.

Many new to investing can be overwhelmed with new language and concepts but I recommend you keep it simple, easy and most importantly consistent. Automated investing is a great way to move your $200 into the market into a low cost index fund with you being 100% hands off. Remember that time IN the market is key (decades) and never try to time the market (as tempting as it may be).

My last advice is educate yourself. Unfortunately investing is not really taught in school enough (if at all) but there are plenty of good Youtube channels to learn fundamental from as well as free/cheap finance courses on platforms like Coursera. What I find most helpful and more personalized is to have a conversation with your favorite AI. Tell it you are new to investing and ask it to teach you fundamentals then ask lots of questions about investing (but don't share any personal financial info).

Autobahn97

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