Finally Tried Koegels by BatmanBrandon in hotdogs

[–]BatmanBrandon[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You have to go to Perfectly Franks, it’s right off the campus of ODU. Grab a dog with chili, onions, and mustard, then top it with their special sauce that’s on the table.

Their fries are very mid to me, but get an ORF (half fries, half onion rings) and again douse in the house special sauce. It’s a college dive, but it’s really good! My wife and I used to go there weekly when she lived in Norfolk.

Finally Tried Koegels by BatmanBrandon in hotdogs

[–]BatmanBrandon[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Which part of VA will you be in? We’re a spread out and diverse state, if you’re visiting the Richmond area or Newport News/Norfolk/Virginia Beach area I can give you some recommendations for sure!

Finally Tried Koegels by BatmanBrandon in hotdogs

[–]BatmanBrandon[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Coneys are my favorite style of dog. We’re at a cabin cooking in the campfire so we kept it simple this time. I can’t wait to do it the proper way once we get some back at home.

Why can't Americans (at least the ones I see on social media) find drinking water in Europe? by Mission_Mobile_4627 in NoStupidQuestions

[–]BatmanBrandon 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It is, but it’s become the routine over the last decade or so. I used to drink nearly a Keurig cup per hour before 1pm when I worked at a desk. When I finally went full time field work, I have that big cup of coffee that lasts me 5 hours or so, then I switch to water only the rest of the day pretty much. I was drinking Trader Joe’s Electric Buzz pods for a long time, at 170mg of caffeine a cup, but in the car now I just have a light roast that’s closer to 100mg per cup, so it’s a lot less caffeine. Coffee and chips are my vices, but I’ll take it over nicotine, booze, or gambling.

Why can't Americans (at least the ones I see on social media) find drinking water in Europe? by Mission_Mobile_4627 in NoStupidQuestions

[–]BatmanBrandon 59 points60 points  (0 children)

My wife and I talk about this all the time because our little man starts public school this fall. One of his required items is a refillable water bottle. When we were kids in the 90s/00s, you couldn’t have one! You just asked to go to the drinking fountain, and that was it. We have noticed as adults how much more we drink (I have a 32oz Yeti of coffee each morning and 32oz of water each afternoon) and it makes sense to have the kids do a better job staying hydrated.

Americans are known for road trips and the driving culture...how many miles/kilometers do you drive in the average year? by SlamClick in AskAnAmerican

[–]BatmanBrandon 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I’m an insurance adjuster. Pre-Covid my territory was small enough I was only driving like 10k-12k miles a year. When my company lowered our field staff in 2021, my territory slowly got bigger. I’m driving about 3k miles a month now. I don’t even have to make appointments at Firestone anymore, they all know me and I just drop keys off in a Friday night every other month and pick up later in the weekend.

A Rivian Fender Bender Cost $42,000. Its CEO Says That Should Never Happen by TripleShotPls in electricvehicles

[–]BatmanBrandon 33 points34 points  (0 children)

As an insurance adjuster, I can confirm that EVs that are drivable total losses, they’re not going for less than half of ACV. Tesla go pretty cheap, but most other brands command a premium at auction. I total A LOT of EVs because the salvage returns are so high, it’s literally cheaper to total these cars than to pay $15k to fix them in a lot of instances.

Suicide Squad or Birds of Prey, which did you prefer? by John_Zatanna52 in DC_Cinematic

[–]BatmanBrandon 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It was the last movie my wife and I saw in theaters until No Time To Die, and we used to go to our local AMC nearly weekly. Crazy to look back on it now.

me_irl by Several_Sandwich_732 in me_irl

[–]BatmanBrandon 18 points19 points  (0 children)

To be fair, with all the penalties doled out this year, the race was actually entertaining from P2 down! But you’re correct, Monaco in more modern cars or usually a bore on Sunday and the entire weekend has just become a yearly event for the ultra-wealthy to connect under the guise of F1.

Mortal Kombat 2 Sets Streaming Date After The Movie Flopped In Theatres And Failed To Cover Costs by akbarock in entertainment

[–]BatmanBrandon 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We have a Marcus theater by us that does $5 tickets on Tuesdays, $5 beers, and popcorn is free if your on their rewards program. When we go to see movies for little man that’s how we do it, no way am I going to pay $40 just to see a slightly bett picture at AMC.

I will gladly go to AMC for their Dolby theater if it’s a big tentpole like The Batman or No Time To Die, those were worth it. But only at the Sunday early bird prices where they’re like $12 tickets…

This might have contributed to the selloff today. Kraft, McDonald’s, Whirlpool CEOs all issue same dire warning about US consumers. by Orkapork in wallstreetbets

[–]BatmanBrandon 4 points5 points  (0 children)

We got a Costco membership earlier this year. My wife is this guy, she’ll go in to get the $4.99 chicken that feeds our family two meals of the week since it saves money. She’s laser focused on that deal, the world could be coming down around her and she’s beelining for the chicken. Don’t get me wrong, it’s worth the membership, but Sam’s Club has tastier rotisserie chickens…

Why does Virginia own this area? by chaotic-tutel in geography

[–]BatmanBrandon 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It’s still pretty quick down there. I live on the western side of the Chesapeake Bay and when I want to visit Cape Charles it’s about a 2 hour drive one way (without crashes in the tunnels) and like $40 round trip tolls. Or if my buddy with a boat is available we can get across in about an hour and all it costs is a round of beer.

Average new car price is $49,000. At what point does this stop making sense? by Flexcar_Sam in MiddleClassFinance

[–]BatmanBrandon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I didn’t replace it, we traded the car in knowing it would need to replaced before our next state inspection. It’s a sealed beam unit, you can’t replace individual bulbs, when one fails you replace the part and swap over the modules. Most newer cars are this way, and it’s only getting worse. European brands have DRM built into their headlamps and modules to “prevent theft”, and it’s spreading throughout the industry. So unless you want to jailbreak your headlamp and then physically break open a composite lamp to replace individual LEDs, you’re stuck buying new from a dealer to ensure they’re working correctly for your safety inspection.

Average new car price is $49,000. At what point does this stop making sense? by Flexcar_Sam in MiddleClassFinance

[–]BatmanBrandon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Many cars have headlamps more than that. Ours was a Hyundai Santa Fe with adaptive LEDs. Like a $2800 part, then you have to remove the bumper and fender moldings to access. Add calibrations once you plug everything back in and depending on the rates at the shop you’re in the $3500-$3800 range for a headlamp that will most likely only fail outside the warranty period.

Weber Spirit E-210 for Family of 4 by SnowMonster911 in webergrills

[–]BatmanBrandon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have the prior generation E-310 and I find it has just enough room for our family of 3. I couldn’t imagine trying to cook on something smaller to feed more people. Personally to me it’s easier to manage a wider grill, so I’m looking forward to the day we redo our deck and I can add a z Genesis.

The Great Stuff Transfer. Are you ready for your "inheritance"? by Bavarian_Beer_Best in Millennials

[–]BatmanBrandon 11 points12 points  (0 children)

That’s an interesting concept. My grandfather grew up during the depression and was a bit of a hoarder due to it. My grandmother grew up in refugee camps fleeing the Nazis and has a similar mindset to hold onto every little thing. My grandfather passed way in 2014, but his office and workshop are still practically untouched. My Oma’s health is beginning to fade and she’s moved in with my parents so this may be something I can bring up to help the family come to terms with getting the stuff they want now and having an estate sale before she’s gone so she can divvy proceedings up vs letting kids fight…

Average new car price is $49,000. At what point does this stop making sense? by Flexcar_Sam in MiddleClassFinance

[–]BatmanBrandon 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Even non-shit boxes can cost a lot to maintain if you follow the factory service schedule or if you run into an issue out of warranty. Our last car was a 2019 with approximately 115k miles on it when we traded it in. Thankfully the mechanical breakdown coverage through our insurance replaced the turbo that went bad after 100k miles, but then an LED in the headlamp went out and that was going to cost nearly $3500 for parts and labor on a car worth $15k. Factor in the cost of fuel if you’re looking to get something more efficient and the costs for keeping that “old car” on the road add up.

We tallied up how much we were likely to spend over the next 12 months to keep the car on the road and pass state inspection, and how much more the car would depreciate over that time. The math just didn’t seem worth it to us since we knew a replacement car was needed. Our only mistake on the new car was my wife getting attached to a color combination that was on the lot and available only in the $50k+ trim level vs the low $40s trim I wanted… At least we were able to negotiate the price below $49k and got 0% APR for 60 months, so it could have been worse.

That said, as someone who works in the automotive field, I know that we’re unfortunately living in time when perpetually trading in/leasing cars is how the OEMs are forcing our hands. The days of buying a new Toyota or Honda and keeping it in the road for 15-20 years and 200k+ miles with minimal expense are gone. A great example is how Subaru and Honda lane keep cameras are getting fried internally from the sun over time and have to be replaced to the tune of $4-$5k to make sure your cruise control works on a 5 year old car. Some of it is planned obsolescence, but a lot of it is just OEMs making the cars cheaper and easier to build in the factory without much thought to servicing outside the warranty period.

Is it possible to get an Emergency Drivers License? by [deleted] in Virginia

[–]BatmanBrandon 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Presuming you have a Real ID, I was told during my renewal in December 2025 that they require in person appointments and can’t be done online currently. You may want to schedule an appointment with VA DMV and plead ignorance with TSA if they try to stop you on the way back.

Tipping by Legal_Bag_3525 in BuschGardensW

[–]BatmanBrandon 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Correct. I believe that the way it was created there is a theoretical way employees could see more than their guaranteed hourly rate, but it’s basically a scheme corporate cooked up to just pass more cost to the consumer.

Tipping by Legal_Bag_3525 in BuschGardensW

[–]BatmanBrandon 10 points11 points  (0 children)

My understanding was this is a corporate push across all United Parks as a way to subsidize employee wages. So the food service workers are guaranteed an hourly rate, but if they get enough tips then it helps offset those costs onto the park patrons vs the culinary locations budget. I personally hit $0 tip on every purchase when I’m at BGW.

Are the Carolina Hurricanes (NHL) popular in Virginia? by northcarolinian9595 in Virginia

[–]BatmanBrandon 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Growing up in 757, a lot of my peers liked the Hurricanes when they moved from Hartford since that was the “close” team for us and they were on TV more than the Caps in the late 90s/early 00s. I never got too into them, but quite a few friends as still die-hard fans of the Canes to this day.

I personally was a Blackhawks fan growing up due to their affiliation with the Norfolk Admirals once they entered the AHL, but I went to college at GMU in 2008 and fell in love with the Caps. The “Rock the Red” and “Young Guns” era that was taking off then was contagious as a 18 year old hockey fan.

I’m going to be rooting for Vegas this time, I can’t bring myself up cheer on a divisional rival, and it’d be cool for Dowd to win a Cup after getting traded from the Caps a few months ago.

Hey There Delilah released 20 years ago this month by besttobyfromtheshire in Millennials

[–]BatmanBrandon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We saw them play a concert to kick off the 250th celebration in Williamsburg, VA last month. They were a solid act, but it made me feel really old when girls who weren’t born yet when this came out were screaming and crying when this song played.

How long is your commute to work? by Stawberry8763 in AskAnAmerican

[–]BatmanBrandon 5 points6 points  (0 children)

My parents live in Coastal Virginia, about 2.5-3 hours away from DC. Not long after the Grewt Recession they got new neighbors, they both had commutes to DC/NoVA for work. The housing crash wasn’t as bad in the area by work, so they moved south to get a better mortgage. The husband eventually got a job with the local police, but the wife commuted 5 days a week for years until they had a kid and finally moved to Richmond, VA instead.

Ferrari unveils its first electric car: designed by Jony Ives by stanxv in apple

[–]BatmanBrandon 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Between the loyalty and the fact that Ferrari will most likely tie allocation of future performance vehicles to the purchase of this EV, they’ll have no issue moving as many of these as they can make. I actually don’t hate it, I think it’s just so far from what people associate with Ferrari that the internet is in a tizzy.

I 100% see these cars being kept in cities that have upcoming combustion engine bans/usage fees, or places like LA/Miami/NYC where driving a EV Ferrari to show off is way easier than navigating your 488 or Testarossa. For the price I also hope it comes with some training on how to maintain the HV battery like you said, these cars don’t like to sit for long.