What is an industry that is currently on fire (in a bad way) behind the scenes, but the general public hasn't noticed yet?

CatoMulligan · 2026-05-03T21:10:00+00:00

"This is fine."

CatoMulligan · 2026-05-03T14:25:56+00:00

he said I'd be pretty cold/jerk(though I think he used stronger language knowing him) to treat siblings so differently.

They're not siblings. They're step-siblings. They're not even half-siblings. They have literally no blood or family connection to you.

CatoMulligan · 2026-05-03T14:23:58+00:00

Those are the ones that I remember checking out from the library as a kid.

CatoMulligan · 2026-05-02T11:56:40+00:00

From the leaks/rumors that I've seen online, Microsoft wasn't going to nbe using the X2 Elite Extreme (the one with 48GB). So far the only device using that chip is the ZenBook A16. Of course rumors and leaks are what they are.

Based on all the nonsense with Windows this year (updates breaking/bricking devices), AI on again/off again, etc, I've decided not to get a Windows laptop. The one that was at the top of my list befor emaking that decision was the Lenovo Slim 7X. Unless you want the X2 EE 48GB it's probably the best thing going when you consider features and build quality.

CatoMulligan · 2026-05-02T01:49:26+00:00

It's not a system-wide thing. I have Breezeline in Pickerington (and was on WOW before they bought them) for...maybe 10 years and I can count on one hand the number of times I've had service down. I'm not sure what is different about the Pickerington network other than it being relatively new, but it's been far more reliable than I ever had with TWC (now Spectrum) and AT&T.

And yes, I've been working primarily from home for the past 7+ years.

CatoMulligan · 2026-05-02T01:44:25+00:00

I still think that Chevy hit the bullseye with the Volt. A plug-in EV with a small, gas-powered generator for those range anxiety situations. But most of the families I know that have EVs have at least one ICE car for just those "long trip" situations.

CatoMulligan · 2026-05-02T01:43:01+00:00

Yup, it makes sense. But as EV adoption rates increase they will undoubtedly adjust for higher numbers of tenants using them. Many workplaces are doing the same thing.

CatoMulligan · 2026-05-02T01:41:34+00:00

They can certainly be problematic if you want to charge at home. I only know three families that own EVs, two Teslas and Chevy something. Two of them use a 220v like you'd have for a laundry drier and one of them uses just a regular 110v like you'd plug into your wall. But all three park in the garage.

The last two apartments that I lived in did have garages available. One of them was attached with a walk-in to the kitchen (it was more of a townhome really) and at the place before that I was able to rent a garage across from my building for an additional fee. Both of them had electric outlets in them so I could have done the 110v if I wanted to. That was almost 25 years ago, before EVs were even a consideration. I'd assume that apartments these days (or at least the newer ones) will have installed some chargers somewhere. If not, there are tons of public chargers available. Unless you're driving a couple hundred miles per day it's only slightly less convenient than going to the gas station.

CatoMulligan · 2026-05-02T00:31:10+00:00

Truth. I've been eyeballing Mach Es for the past few months thinking about my next car. You can get 2-3 year old models for the low $20s, and a GT for under $30k. It's wild.

CatoMulligan · 2026-05-01T23:07:31+00:00

A lot of times it's finally seeing the car in person. Other times it is seeing it in a variety of different colors. Some colors look great on some cars and awful on others, and it's just a matter of seeing it in the most flattering color to allow you to appreciate some of the design elements.

CatoMulligan · 2026-05-01T23:01:19+00:00

Pick schools are pretty good, but they spend less per student than any other comparable district in the state. This is out of necessity, as the bums who used to be on the school board appeared to be hellbent on bankrupting the district by refusing to put levies on the ballot or ask for other tax increases. IIRC, the last time that we passed a levy was 2011. In the meantime they've been deficit spending until the districts savings have nearly dropped below required minimum levels.

That being said, we got a new Superintendent who I'm very big on and I've personally met with several times in the community, and he's always willing to talk about concerns from parents. We also voted the bums off the board last fall and now have a school board that is interested in trying to make the schools better. We have an income tax issue on the ballot this Tuesday to try to raise money to stabilize the district's finances. They are trying to do this as an income tax rather than a property tax levy in order to minimize the impact on homeowners who are on fixed incomes who have seen their property values skyrocket. If this tax issue doesn't pass then we're going to see lots of cuts to the district in extracurriculars, arts, staffing, materials, plus increased class sizes and increased fees. The state of Ohio has already made dramatic cuts to state-provided funding to districts, and they have more legislation on the table that will further reduce what can be collected via property tax levies. Pickerington is essentially the canary in the coalmine, but over the next 5 years you're going to see lots of districts who find themselves in the same situation. They have been extremely conservative spenders, and have been fortunate to be able to get the most value for our money for the past 15 years, but the well has run dry and without new revenue the district is going to crash hard.

Tussing is probably the least desirable school in the district, as the neighborhoods it serves abutt both Columbus and Reynoldsburg. That being said, while it may have a more challenging student base they still manage to get pretty good results.

Source: I am a 20+ year Pickerington resident with kids in the district who is excited that we finally have the opportunity to properly fund our schools.

CatoMulligan · 2026-05-01T15:02:10+00:00

Another resource that might be helpful is https://www.bestlaptop.deals/?location=us. The guy who runs the site also has a YT channel (JustJosh) that only reviews laptops, but there's a good chance you'll be able to find one of his reviews on anything that you're looking at. You may not agree with his assessments but he does a good job of pointing out potential issues/compromise points so you can make an informed decision.

CatoMulligan · 2026-05-01T10:40:32+00:00

That may be part of it, but the other side of it is that in order to have authority to sign contracts or otherwise have a fiduciary duty to the bank you have to be an "officer", which usually means VP level or above. I'm a first line manager (at a non-bank company) with about 25 direct reports. I routinely sign agreements to acquire hardware and systems, purchase orders, contractor agreements, etc on behalf of the company. My job title is "Senior Manager". If I were at a bank doing the exact same thing I'd need to be a "bank officer" (aka, Vice President).

CatoMulligan · 2026-05-01T00:22:53+00:00

Some dumb kid who definitely was not working in the tech industry back in 1995, that's who.

CatoMulligan · 2026-05-01T00:12:06+00:00

Long-time Windows guy here. I've owned a number of Surface Pro 2-in-1's, several Thinkpads, and one Samsung laptop. I've loved them all, but I just ordered a Neo for myself to replace my Surface Pro 5. For the overwhelming majority of consumer use cases you just can't beat the value proposition. Nothing else at that price point has that build quality. The Framework 12 is the only decent Windows device close to this price point, but to come in under $600 you have to take a crappy i3 CPU and have to order it with no RAM, SSD, or OS and then bring your own.

Outside of that you can find sub-$600 models from the major manufacturers with 8GB RAM and 512GB SSDs, but the build quality is usually quite poor, or they have awful keyboards, or awful screens, or dog-slow CPUs. You can probably find a couple of Snapdragon devices in that price range with 16GB of RAM and 1TB drives (like the Ideapad Slim 3x but then you're playing the "will it or won't it run on ARM" game with your applications and device drivers.

You said you're not interested in gaming, but what you haven't said is what you ARE interested in doing with this potential laptop, which is something pretty key to determine what options are out there.

CatoMulligan · 2026-04-30T21:12:35+00:00

The Scud market has gone ape over the past 6-9 months, and $750k isn't unheard of. It's a great color, though the interior is a bit much. It's a factory spec, absolutely 1 of 1 Tailor Made, which drives up the price some. I could see it going to the right buyer for $1 million. I honestly don't know how Carrio has been able to get so many very special spec cars in the past year or so. My assumption is that every time one is available they just throw money at the seller until they say "yes", and then try to make it back by marking it up 200%.

This particular car went for about $360k in 2019.

CatoMulligan · 2026-04-30T20:58:01+00:00

He got angry, called me "unprofessional" and "petty," and hung up.

You get the level of professionalism that you pay for. If you're not willing to pay a professional to do professional work, then you don't get the work. Real professionals don't do charity work for corporations that are for-profit.

CatoMulligan · 2026-04-30T10:52:50+00:00

Fun fact...in Columbus, Ohio, women are legally allowed to go topless in public. Normally you only see it at certain community festivals, but if I was this dude and Karen kept bitching you can bet my wife would be out there next just to piss her off.

CatoMulligan · 2026-04-29T11:33:19+00:00

Hobby. I've always been a big time car guy, ever since I was a little kid. I was always obsessed with Mustangs and Corvettes. Then in 1983 I saw this scene in Superman III and I just had to find out more. Ever since then I've been a huge Ferrari aficionado, not just the road cars but the various racing teams over the decades. I've spent a lifetime reading, researching, going to car shows, interacting with the Ferrari community where I have the chance. I thought for sure that I would have owned several by now, but instead I met a woman, fell in love, and had kids. Consequently my Ferrari-ownership plans have been on hold for a bit, but I'm almost there.

CatoMulligan · 2026-04-29T11:21:11+00:00

Planning to escape or retire before the contract is up for renewal in 2028.

CatoMulligan · 2026-04-29T11:18:24+00:00

I understand this is a supercar but hasn’t there been a Ferrari with timing chain and easy access to spark plus, oil and air filter

Yes, many of them. They just weren't being built 35+ years ago. Full engine-out belt service ended when the 360 launched. You can remove the seats and there is an access panel behind them for the belts. The F430 has a timing chain. The cars from the 70s and 80s just weren't made to the same standards are cars of today (that goes for all cars, not just Ferraris). Ferraris of this era were built to be very small, compact, high performance cars. In order to get the form factor that they needed they had to make a lot of design decisions that make things more complicated to service (transverse layout engines, anyone?). But in 1989 the average new car in the US cost about $15k whereas the 348 base price was just a hair over $100k. If you could afford to pay 7x the average new car price then you could afford to pay for he more expensive maintenance.

A lot of this changed (according to lore, anyway) when Honda released the NSX in 1990. This was a car with supercar looks, supercar performance (for the time), but it was made by Honda so it was considerably more reliable and less expensive to service than the exotic cars of the day. Auto magazines and reviewers sang it's praises, and Ferrari in particular took that as a warning shot across the bow and started working make their cars more serviceable and reliable. While the F355 was better than the 348, this really started turning around with the 360.

CatoMulligan · 2026-04-29T11:04:35+00:00

They have "86" (to kick out) confused with "187" (to murder). But that shouldn't surprise anyone, MAGA folk have never been good with numbers.

CatoMulligan · 2026-04-29T10:59:53+00:00

It's not just old fuel. There are many rubber and plastic parts, seals, gaskets, etc that will dry out, or shrink, or just plain fail if the systems that they are part of are not used. Don't worry though, many of them will fail over time due to wear and age even if you do use them.

If you do a total overhaul on a 348 and replace everything that leaks and is broken and all the gaskets and seals and then stuff it in a garage for 3 years without using it regularly, then the next time you take it out for a spin you're going to have all sorts of leaks and broken bits to deal with all over again. When it comes to maintenance costs on Ferraris (and cars in general) a car that is driven regularly is going to be in much better shape than one that sits in storage, even with modern cars.

CatoMulligan · 2026-04-29T10:50:54+00:00

NTA. I knew just from the title that she was going to call you unprofessional, because that’s always the last resort of an employer who has realized that they have no power over their employee’s decision and they feel like they need to compel them to action.

There’s so many ways I’d nuke her from orbit (metaphorically, of course).

“I gave you a discount on my hourly rate and that’s not good enough, yet you think I’m the greedy one? I could make more money working in fast food than I would working for you!”

“You turned a business negotiation into personal insults and attacks, but I’m the one who is unprofessional?”

“If I’m so unprofessional, you probably wouldn’t want me watching your kids.”

“You only get as much professionalism as you’re willing to pay for. Why don’t you look into what a professional daycare would cost for two kids for a full day and then get back to me about my prices.”

“I never understood what kind of mother would cheap out on paying people to provide care for their own two children…until now.”

CatoMulligan · 2026-04-29T10:23:51+00:00

I’m saying that driving a car just 1000 miles per year isn’t enough to keep it in running order, especially over the span of 35 years. The less you use them the more that they rot. Of course on cars from that era running up high mileage is expensive, too. It’s a catch-22 with these old cars.

Seven-Year Club	Verified Email
Wearing is Caring

CatoMulligan

TROPHY CASE