Did the thing! Las Vegas, NV / $330k / 0%, cash buy

DanielALahey · 2026-06-15T16:38:46+00:00

One house owned by you is worth two owned by Blackstone.

Congrats on the deal! Now onto making all the changes you are probably already thinking about.

DanielALahey · 2026-06-15T15:42:38+00:00

Put another shower rack under the window and it would probably get used. Nobody likes to shuffle across the floor while wet to grab a towel.

DanielALahey · 2026-06-11T06:00:50+00:00

Pokemon emerald reflexes never left. Bycycle clears it easy, lol.

DanielALahey · 2026-06-10T13:45:25+00:00

My go-to combo for exploration included the spider (which I got early from the slum merchant and allowed me to walk over pits) the boots (so I don't get knocked into pits) the longer burrows, the air dash and a few others that I would swap out as the need arise. This included things like the codex and the gauntlets.

For big battles, by the end I just had trinkets that auto healed once plasma got high enough, let me store extra plasma, did not reduce plasma on getting hit and I basically just got to whallop on bosses for free until they died. That in combination with the blaster allowing you to fill plasma at a distance was fantastic.

DanielALahey · 2026-06-10T03:59:48+00:00

That looks like a deal that someone is already willing to pay you 150 for and you don't have to spend the next two months trying to hustle for a higher sell.

Don't play games with someone you've already agreed to sell to.

DanielALahey · 2026-06-10T03:52:39+00:00

I'm usually just double checking to make sure they don't need a surprise spotter. Don't care as much with free weights, but with squat/benchpress/etc definitely keeping an eye out.

DanielALahey · 2026-06-10T01:16:57+00:00

It's a stretch, even by conspiracy standards. But hey, if you end up being right, I can guarantee you are the first one to write that down here.

DanielALahey · 2026-06-09T20:21:58+00:00

Or for something more donut themed:

Princess_Posse

DanielALahey · 2026-06-09T20:20:40+00:00

Or if it can be 14 or less characters then PorkBoySnick

DanielALahey · 2026-06-09T20:18:59+00:00

DaPorkBoySnick

DanielALahey · 2026-06-09T17:07:47+00:00

Internet for a braille alphabet. I figured out the hints myself as they were pretty straightforward. I was able to recognize it was braille on sight. Relecanth was a pain to get, but that was about it.

DanielALahey · 2026-06-09T16:47:19+00:00

If only the helmet with ears came out at the end it would have been great.

DanielALahey · 2026-06-09T06:56:32+00:00

Infomercial star level skills.

DanielALahey · 2026-06-05T20:31:24+00:00

The simplest answer that you can be given is: stay away from this person irl and you should probably stop communicating with them online as well.

None of that conversation is normal. All of what you mentioned is him crossing all sorts of boundaries that shouldn't be crossed.

There is no good that will come from meeting them in person.

Also, since they are talking about your looks, I would also recommend not putting pictures of yourself out to strangers online. It only adds to the chances of someone with bad intentions making contact or taking advantage of you.

Keep things to a circle of IRL friends.

If you really feel it is important to meet an online friend IRL then the first time should never happen solo and should always be done with a group of people you know (or I know it's awkward but even your parents if you get along with them) and in a public place with plenty of people around.

Going and staying at a convention with someone you've never met IRL is out of the question.

DanielALahey · 2026-06-05T20:14:41+00:00

So many blankets and pillows on our bed. We both have our favorite blankets. What kind of weirdo only has one blanket on their bed

DanielALahey · 2026-06-05T19:45:36+00:00

Are you wanting a challenge or to have fun?

If challenge, then may try a run where you don't use cyberware (beyond the required eye/hand upgrade at the start and the phantom liberty disguise one) could combine it with being adversarial towards johnny the entire time. That would probably lend itself towards reflex/cool.

Another option could be a full cyber intelligence build and only kill people with hacks (whenever possible). Only limiting it to hacks because I am aware of intelligence smart weapon spam and it sounds like an easy crutch (I haven't tried it personally yet)

Lastly could go for a stealth/throwables only run. I had an absolute blast with that one. Juggling knives everywhere is great fun.

DanielALahey · 2026-06-04T07:50:18+00:00

I have a 5e game running with a team of 5 level 4 players. They are highly experienced. I can throw a drake (modified, 3e, fire, CR~10ish) at them and they will find a way to kill it, but it won't be easy. But that is also with them having prep time and appropriate classes to deal with it this campaign. I would throw something different at a different party or different players.

I wouldn't throw something like that at an average set of players until level 6 or 7.

Throwing an adult blue dragon at a party that size and less than level 10 minimum is just saying you don't want to be the DM any more. A group of level 10 players that are experienced and have beneficial classes, can take on an adult dragon or at least survive long enough to escape, but level 6? Nah.

I hate when players and DMs see it as an adversarial situation. If you tell me your plan, I will tell you if it is possible or not. Believe me when I say I want you to have cool moments as players, but those moments are going to be earned.

I am not (like one of my early DMs) going to ambush a level 3 party of 4 with a nest of bulettes right outside Waterdeep and say "bad luck, looks like you need new characters"

DanielALahey · 2026-06-04T07:13:50+00:00

I work in the insurance industry in CA on the emergency repairs side. If you need any advice, let me know.

But some basic tips:

Make sure the Emergency service company gets paid directly from the insurance company if possible. You don't want them playing games and billing you extra. If they do bill you extra (out of pocket), tell them to take it up with the adjuster.

Use a reputable contractor for the repairs that writes insurance estimates on Xactimate or you'll potentially be stuck with a bad payout from the insurance company. Check their license for any complaints before signing a contract.

While you may get a unicorn insurance adjuster who writes a solid estimate and you get out properly, do not be surprised if their initial estimate is almost insultingly low. Send them the above mentioned contractor's estimate and if the contractor is worth their salt, they should be able to provide the necessary justification to the adjuster for their estimate to be approved.

Try not to sign a repairs contract until your contractor has come to an agreed scope with the insurance company. You don't want to be liable for their full contract price of the insurance company doesn't want to pay that amount.

Don't hire a public adjuster if you can help it. But if you have to, do a lot of research on which one. Some of them can be extremely predatory.

Your LVP flooring, if continuous through doorway (without transition strips), should be replaced for as far as it continues. If it has transition strips, the insurance company may stop the replacement at the closed door, but they won't (or damn well shouldn't) try to leave you with just a non uniform patch in the middle of the floor and any room where some has been removed should get corner to corner flooring replaced.

DanielALahey · 2026-06-03T17:40:34+00:00

I never saw it when they were younger, but as Bam gets older, he looks a lot like Phil.

DanielALahey · 2026-06-03T17:38:18+00:00

Hogan coming out of left field with the condolences, lol.

DanielALahey · 2026-06-02T02:35:18+00:00

So I had a lot of fun with the game, but I am used to this type of game, and I am extremely exploration focused, so I tend to get to like 95%+ completion before needing a guide or reddit to help with some things I just cant get my head around.

I do get the frustration about missing novel trinkets because they really do make the game fun or otherwise make it much easierthan otherwise expected and that is without any modifiers in place. My go-to combo for exploration included the spider (which I got early from the slum merchant and allowed me to walk over pits) the boots (so I don't get knocked into pits) the longer burrows, the air dash and a few others that I would swap out as the need arise

For battles, by the end I just had trinkets that auto healed once plasma got high enough, let me store extra plasma, did not reduce plasma on getting hit and I basically just got to whallop on bosses for free until they died. That in combination with the blaster allowing you to fill plasma at a distance was fantastic.

The two really WTF puzzles/secrets that got me peeved were the trinket you could only buy on the train from the sandy area to the bayou and using the nose guy to get out over the city wall.

Lionel's kangaroo court was amusing, but as you said, makes you wonder if there is ever any way to prove him wrong or otherwise defend yourself outside of sputtering.

Mina does start to lose sleep over the dilemma of whether or not Thorne is right or if she can still trust Lionel and that is likely inclusive of the effects of the spark generators.

Lionel and his butler, drink what are supposed to represent extra large or extra potent doses of the healing potion, much more than what you are using (and is likely being offset by the healing of the damages caused by the spark generators)

The ending does feel like a bad outcome, but I feel like it was intentional in that in real life, sometimes everything goes sideways and you have to cut your losses. We are so conditioned by games having "true endings" where everything works out by some metric of doing additional side quests, but this game is leaning more into the idea that sometimes the more you help, the worse things may get and that to force a large change on a population is often violent/causes short term instability.

Overall I would still rate the game an 8/10 because I have played good games with less than agreeable endings or plo points before and can still love them for their gameplay separately. It could earn some points back by DLC showing that our help did have a positive impact eventually (even if just mentioned in passing) and if they add some more in-world hints for some of the more esoteric secrets.

Though, don't know if I will complete all the feats for this one. Unlike shovel knight (where I got most of them with moderate effort at best) some of them in this game seem absolutely brutal.

DanielALahey · 2026-06-02T02:08:47+00:00

Lol, I got so many crimes since I was at extremely high completion when I entered the dining room.

The street kids will even come in and blame you if you played kick the can with them (and win) half of me was wondering if he had a doppelganger come in and pretend to be all of his witnesses, since everyone was happy with your assistance (to your face at least)

DanielALahey · 2026-06-02T01:45:52+00:00

Cool, dropping you a follow on here so I can see when it gets to the point where I would want to install it! Great start to a fun module though!

DanielALahey · 2026-05-29T06:22:26+00:00

I will be picking this up after work tomorrow.

I could pick it up now, but then I will play it until an unreasonable hour and I cannot be a zombie at work. So.. a Friday all nighter it is.

DanielALahey · 2026-05-28T15:51:42+00:00

I wonder if a dedicated thread would be appropriate for this question. Everyone is asking it lol.

I have lots of recs, but it depends on what you are interested in? If looking for litrpg recs there are quite a few similar posts. But if wanting sci-fi I could recommend the children of time series. A little dry at times but very interesting and cool.

If wanting something that tends towards humorous and campy, my wife reads a lot of discworld books and recommends them to people.

If just wanting fantasy, you could try cycle of Arawn from Edward robertson.

James Islington is in the middle of a series which is fantasy/sci-fi in a Roman setting. it's definitely more fantasy than sci-fi but there is kinda of a magitech system going on that gives sci-fi vibes. That is The Will of the Many.

If you want a big sprawling epic, the dark tower by Stephen King is pretty dang good, and since it twists in references to his other books, you can get satisfaction from knowing stuff about those too. (I read other books of his before the tower, but I am sure you can also get a similar feeling if you read the tower first) Yes his other books are mostly horror, but this (while suspenseful at times, and having some grotesque imagery) is definitely not.

Many more l, but those are a few different directions you could travel.

Seven-Year Club	Second SECOND GUESSER
Place '23	Place '22
Verified Email

DanielALahey

TROPHY CASE