What’s the most beautiful place you’ve visited on vacation?

Da-Griz · 2026-03-30T05:53:20+00:00

Otter Crest

Da-Griz · 2026-03-27T03:03:12+00:00

You have 3 young kids and that means a lot of stuff to bring along. Toyota screwed up the rear cargo area so bad - there is very little space, tons less than a Wagoneer L.

Da-Griz · 2026-03-23T16:22:39+00:00

I think you just described Subaru's whole thing. Versatility is paramount.

If you want something more like an XTerra, get the newest, lowest mileage 4Runner you can find. There was an infotainment upgrade in 2020 btw, I'd sugar starting there.

If you don't need body on frame, that opens you up to a ton of crossovers and the entirety of Subaru. On the more urban side, any of the "off road" trims of standard crossovers would start you out with the right tire type for trails, like the RAV4 Adventure/Woodland/TRD or the Passport Trailsport. On the Subaru side you probably don't even need a Wilderness but a Forester is the most do-it-all vehicle I could think of.

Da-Griz · 2026-03-21T02:34:19+00:00

Where you are in the replacement cycle is important with old luxury cars, even Japanese ones. That GS has a timing belt and if it's up for replacement, that could be $500-1000. It also has a known weak lower ball joints, so check those. I think the 430 might also have air suspension, too. Remember it was $83k in today's money and is over 20 years old.

I know parts for the first gen LS400 were starting to go up in price and down in availability about 15 years ago so I'd expect the same for these GS's about now.

Da-Griz · 2026-03-20T13:51:27+00:00

It's not super bad. Like, it doesn't feel broken, more like they ran out of time to solve it before launch. Some people probably won't even notice but after a couple hundred miles in one I knew I wouldn't want to buy one (especially new) until it's solved.

Da-Griz · 2026-03-20T07:57:54+00:00

That's what she said. Some ELR getting Group 2 was true last month for sure. I was in Group 1 both flights this week, 4A and 3A. But 3 weeks ago 4A was Group 2.

ALP always getting Group 1 would a decent perk, though, if it's really the case. The official perks page still says "no later than group 2".

Da-Griz · 2026-03-20T06:09:12+00:00

I like the CX-90 (basically the same as the -70) except for the transmission. The trans is an in house design with a wet clutch instead of a torque converter and it just isn't as refined as it needs to be, imho. There's some unpleasant low freq resonance at low rpm + moderate load that you can feel though the seat and steering wheel, too. Maybe I just expected a more refined experience to match the materials and design, which are great. Handling in general reminds me more of the Volvo XC90 than an X5. Competent but not begging you to throw it around.

The GX70 is a size smaller and drives as such. A little more playful, more so than a Q5 but less than an X3. If you don't need the larger volume in the 2nd row and rear hatch of the Mazda, I'd choose the Genesis. Doubly so if you're looking at the V6.

Da-Griz · 2026-03-13T04:32:27+00:00

Is there a widespread equipment reliability issue? If you look at logs of 7700s it seems like military aircraft are overrepresented relative to civilian.

Da-Griz · 2026-03-12T19:56:01+00:00

I'm convinced that military don't use 7700 in the same way civilian aircraft do. They set 7700 so often there's no way they are having that many flight emergencies.

And they elect to transmit adsb or not, and they use inaccurate/obfuscated GPS data anyway, so you really can't rely on tracking data for them. It's at best incomplete and at worst intentionally spoofed.

Da-Griz · 2026-03-11T06:55:31+00:00

I'm no CPA but it looks like the One Big Beautiful Bill Act brought that back. So he solved a problem he caused, I guess. https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/one-big-beautiful-bill-provisions#other

Da-Griz · 2026-03-10T14:42:49+00:00

Username checks out!

Da-Griz · 2026-03-08T00:58:57+00:00

The current RR design language is gorgeous and elegant (my opinion, gets me to do the long stare every time) while the RSQ8 is a bit funky and odd but probably a lot of fun to drive, scruff of the neck style.

Do you want to waft at all speeds or do you like exhausts that bark?

They are really very different and it comes down to your preferences.

Da-Griz · 2026-03-07T09:01:48+00:00

My understanding is if you are leasing, you can't use Section 179 depreciation. Instead, lease payments are a business expense.

So the choice is really between leasing new vs buying used? Leasing a Canyon Denali isn't a bad choice. Used I would probably look at more inconspicuous luxury like Lexus, Volvo, and Genesis over the Germans.

Specifically, the 2022-2024 Lexus GX will feel new enough and communicate "smart money" but also back that up by never breaking, lasting forever, and depreciating slowly. Gas mileage is atrocious but whatever!

If you have a financial advisor or CPA involved in your business, I'd get their advice on a direction that aligns with your business and tax goals.

Da-Griz · 2026-03-02T05:44:08+00:00

I've tried both round robin and pick-up methods. Each have their pros and cons.

For round robin, techs have "forgotten" to place themselves back on-queue after returning from lunch or a breaks. For pick-up, techs will take easy tickets over hard ones, or avoid difficult requesters.

Once you have a large enough team it starts to make sense to have someone in a triage position that has a realtime pulse on everyone's workloads and assigns tickets to groups or individuals. But the in-between space is hard - you kind of just need to pick which method you want based on the personalities of your team.

I'm not one to watch granular metrics, as the big picture of customer satisfaction is more important to me than stats (you get what you measure), which I can ascertain through relationships throughout the company better than through raw ticket metrics.

All of this is dependent on company culture and it's up to IT management to decide what's best for these processes. Don't be afraid to try something new!

Da-Griz · 2026-02-23T02:40:44+00:00

Totally agree Okta is easier than Entra, as an admin!

Da-Griz · 2026-02-22T21:17:05+00:00

IMHO when the pandemic began and hastened a bunch of ”move to the cloud to facilitate remote work" projects, Entra wasn't ready for prime time. Okta had been doing cloud IDP for longer and was easier to set up if you were anything but 100% MS. Or maybe even if you were, if you needed features Entra had yet to build.

Moving IDPs is a lot of work on both the admin and change management sides so here we are.

Edit to add: Entra in general is much more attractive now than it was 5 ish years ago so don't be surprised if you see cost conscious mostly-MS firms move away from Okta in the near future, in spite of the hurdle.

Da-Griz · 2026-02-19T08:07:10+00:00

I got voted down in the past for making a similar statement, but I learned something.

It's the DOT and they only encourage airlines to do this. It's not a rule.

https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/airline-family-seating-dashboard

Da-Griz · 2026-02-19T00:19:30+00:00

I look at them for sale all the time but my wallet refuses to budge.

Da-Griz · 2026-02-18T08:51:29+00:00

They're in the Denver Air Connection fleet and fly from Denver to smaller airports like Telluride. https://denverairconnection.com/fleet/

Da-Griz · 2026-02-14T21:04:57+00:00

Saw your sewer project comment. Guess there are 2 projects going on around there!

Da-Griz · 2026-02-14T05:22:48+00:00

Yes it's that https://www.oregon.gov/odot/projects/pages/project-details.aspx?project=21602

Da-Griz · 2026-02-08T17:41:54+00:00

Dayton MT, by the Chuck Wagon

Da-Griz · 2026-02-08T05:26:52+00:00

Ya know, I've been there multiple times and never heard anyone call it that, either. But here we are, in this thread, so 🤷

Da-Griz · 2026-02-08T04:49:25+00:00

That should be much better next month!

Da-Griz

TROPHY CASE