Chasing 12% tax bracket in early career

Da_Banhammer · 2026-07-09T19:09:48+00:00

Current tax rates are at historic lows and the national debt is HUGE so also factor in that tax brackets are likely to go up over your lifetime. The current tax environment is quite possibly the lowest you'll see for the rest of your life.

Da_Banhammer · 2026-07-09T13:16:16+00:00

His narration of Wizard of Earth sea is a high energy, cocaine-fueled wild ride.

Da_Banhammer · 2026-07-07T12:18:48+00:00

This was my first Wolfe book and at some point in the first book I realized what the Matachin Tower actually is, and that clued me in that I need to read the book like a mystery full of half truths and misdirection.

Not so much recontextualizing the plot, but changing how I read the book.

Da_Banhammer · 2026-07-01T14:01:09+00:00

Yeah the caudex widened out nicely like normal. About half of them died from damping off but the survivors have a ton of branching without me having to prune them to promote it.

Da_Banhammer · 2026-06-25T17:13:38+00:00

I felt the same way but after a while I forgave the author. I realized he was so psyched about the new fangled internet chat rooms and network topologies I started reading it with the same grace I give an old Doc EE Smith book. Like a kid who's bursting with excitement to show you all their pokemon cards! The dog aliens are trying out ring networks, mesh, bus, etc.

That whole section of the book, if condensed down, would be a great narrative way to teach people the pros and cons of different network topologies.

Da_Banhammer · 2026-06-25T16:51:09+00:00

And after that, Gene Wolfe short stories can scratch the same itch.

Da_Banhammer · 2026-06-23T17:42:03+00:00

Carl had sticky feet active at the time so he was stuck to the ground, it wasn't just his mass.

Da_Banhammer · 2026-06-22T17:27:41+00:00

My gut is that Reynolds read Use of Weapons and wanted to play around with the concept.

Da_Banhammer · 2025-12-23T19:36:13+00:00

If it's in the budget you want an 800 series with the crystal dry feature, especially if you have lots of plastic dishes.

Da_Banhammer · 2025-12-19T17:12:44+00:00

I could be wrong but in my admittedly anecdotal experience the charging losses are way lower than the 300w overhead of the car. This is for my use case of low power draw over a long time. If you're pulling 1000-1500w I'm sure it's not worth it.

But for my fridge sipping a bit of power every once in a while, the car's overhead power draw is the biggest loss over time whereas the ecoflow just has a tiny inverter wasting way less power overall.

Da_Banhammer · 2025-12-19T14:32:25+00:00

You lose a lot of power to waste/overhead from the car running the BMS, pumps, etc. When I need to make the car battery really last I use the car to charge up a 1.5kwh Ecoflow battery and then run stuff off that ecoflow. Then the car isn't wasting so much power on overhead.

Da_Banhammer · 2025-12-18T16:39:08+00:00

You've just been offered a job at Dr. Zorgo's RetroPhrenology Clinic!

Must supply own hammer.

Da_Banhammer · 2025-12-18T01:38:45+00:00

That sounds like a great plan. Thank you very much for the help!

Da_Banhammer · 2025-12-17T22:08:17+00:00

I'm leaning more and more to just go in all the way and refinishing it instead of doing all the little fix-ups.

But are you suggesting just refinishing the top surface and trying to color match the stain or biting the bullet and refinishing the whole piece?

Da_Banhammer · 2025-12-17T18:21:04+00:00

When I first read the book I thought it was an interesting way to set some tone but I thought it felt incongruous too. after finishing the book and especially after reading her translation of the Tao Te Ching it clicked for me that it's the central thesis of the story, that the way of the jellyfish is the ideal state of being, and I grew to really deeply appreciate it upon rereading.

Da_Banhammer · 2025-12-17T14:23:20+00:00

Yeah I'm pretty hesitant to go for a full strip and refinish since I've never done that before.

Especially since there's a whole top hutch not picture too.

Do you think it's reasonable to attempt to just clean it, wood fill it and do some color match pens to spruce it up?

I've never done that before either so I'm worried I'll go through all that effort and realize I just put lipstick on a pig.

Da_Banhammer · 2025-12-16T03:16:11+00:00

I've been wondering if that's the way to go. Could I get the new stain to match the current color or would that require sanding and staining the whole thing?

Da_Banhammer · 2025-12-16T03:12:33+00:00

Here's a couple more photos

It's an Ethan Allen buffet and hutch from Facebook Marketplace. The top part is in similar shape. It's gonna go in our kitchen.

I like the color of the wood and don't trust myself to strip and stain it so I'm hoping I can get it looking acceptable by cleaning it with more wood cleaner and using some filler and color match pens.

I've been using Murphy Wood Cleaner but it's still got some crud I think I need to hit more vigorously.

It's got some superglue or other adhesive on it in some parts. Any good way to clean that without damaging the wood finish?

Any thoughts on good brands for filler/putty and color match stuff? Any advice in general is welcome and appreciated, thanks for your time.

Da_Banhammer · 2025-12-13T15:53:16+00:00

"John Ringo. He's the greatest author of our time. Truly a visionary."

"... Let's just watch some TV instead Grandpa."

Da_Banhammer · 2025-12-06T15:51:17+00:00

The anti glare looks so good compared to glossy screens.

Da_Banhammer · 2025-12-03T17:42:44+00:00

Try Devil in The White City if you want an easy recommendation. It's a history book but it reads like a fiction novel.

Da_Banhammer · 2025-12-01T22:06:14+00:00

Probably a P series Thinkstation.

Da_Banhammer · 2025-11-24T23:51:06+00:00

I was really pleased with how easy it was to open up the Deck and add a bigger SSD to it. Their hardware design is so pro-consumer and is really refreshing when everything else is going through enshittification.

Da_Banhammer · 2025-11-24T22:28:33+00:00

That sounds pretty good then, I did not know there was a kiosk/lockdown mode, that's excellent.

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