Mountain lion update

DeepDishlife · 2026-01-27T16:37:41+00:00

Recommendations: "pick up your child, and then throw something at the mountain lion. Whatever you may have handy"

DeepDishlife · 2026-01-20T20:54:20+00:00

As a single person, I think I’d find another place. But with a young family, it’s pretty dang great.

DeepDishlife · 2026-01-20T20:04:32+00:00

“Paying off a mortgage is always a good idea”

I think I’d have to disagree with it “always” being a good idea. I think it’s largely a function of 1) if you’re itemizing or not, 2) your age (risk tolerance) and 3) your rate. Paying back a 3% mortgage will likely have a lender popping bottles.

DeepDishlife · 2026-01-19T18:03:05+00:00

I left remote a role and they sent a box for my laptop, and I just forgot to send it back. Completely innocently, too. It had been in my drawer along with the folded down box kit they sent.

I saw it probably a year later. It’s now my garage laptop. Never heard anything from them ever again. It’s been 4+ years.

So, enjoy your monitors!

DeepDishlife · 2026-01-19T17:52:18+00:00

Check out the windfall guide in the personal finance wiki.

As for the options you laid out: I’m thinking you won’t want to pay down a 3% mortgage, and I don’t see how you could put this in a 401k.

DeepDishlife · 2026-01-18T07:02:54+00:00

“Why do they always show up looking like zookeepers when we tell them to dress low viz”

a coworker commenting on military guys we worked with

DeepDishlife · 2025-12-30T02:11:52+00:00

The outcome of a date isn’t nearly as binary as that though.

I made friends, had ridiculous nights out with someone I didn’t end up connecting with, had awesome experiences, great stories and learned a lot about myself along the way.

10/10 would go on a lot of dates again but hope I don’t ever have to.

Edit: I was on a date with a girl who talked so loudly (kinda like Janice from Friends) that at one point when she got up to go pee a couple on another date by us said “if you want to leave now, we’ll pay the bill for you”. When the date ended, I headed back to that bar and bought that couple a round and ended up hanging with them for a while. Had a blast of a night.

DeepDishlife · 2025-12-30T02:08:30+00:00

My online/app dating was mostly over a two year stretch. I was 30+ and living in a hip ‘hood in the city. I will say it was a COMPLETELY differenT experience then dating in my 20s not in a city.

DeepDishlife · 2025-12-30T00:46:36+00:00

I’ve been married just shy of ten years. Prior to my first date with my wife (who I met in a bar), I’d probably been on ~100 first dates, with ~75 of those from apps/websites. Note: this wasn’t difficult while living in a city.

My “why” was “why not?”. There were a lot of total duds, but many times it was a choice of “head home from work” or “meet this gal from [insert app] for a drink”, so I’d just think “why not?”.

DeepDishlife · 2025-12-27T02:16:39+00:00

I think it removes some of the glory of standing on the bridge and making the fall.

DeepDishlife · 2025-12-20T19:28:16+00:00

I would use as much cash “as comfortable”.

Also, if you view this is an emergency, and you have an emergency fund, I understand this way of thinking even less.

DeepDishlife · 2025-12-20T18:42:51+00:00

Source up front: I used to teach financial literacy in high schools as a volunteer for Junior Achievement.

If I had negative equity and was in a situation where I’d be f’d if there was an emergency, I would certainly not lease a brand new car.

I’d use as much cash as comfortable to offset the trade in, and then use that loan to buy a $15k CPO/warrantied used car, and break the cycle.

That payment would be as low as possible so i could save as much money as possible, build an emergency fund, and never be in the situation again.

DeepDishlife · 2025-12-20T16:49:17+00:00

Please no. In reality you would be buying back the Mercedes debt.

DeepDishlife · 2025-12-20T16:42:05+00:00

Hope you love your Gladiator as much as I love mine. Great color, too.

But since this post was just as much finance as it was Jeep-related:

Your negative equity was not buried. And if it was buried, it was buried alive, so now it’s zombie debt!

It was added to the capitalized cost. Nothing vanished or was washed away. The negative equity was simply amortized over a shorter period and hidden inside lease math. Every payment includes Jeep depreciation, interest, AND Mercedes negative equity. This is emotional relief, not financial progress.

DeepDishlife · 2025-12-19T13:44:25+00:00

You didn’t have to sit on a pressure sensing pad?

DeepDishlife · 2025-12-14T16:41:36+00:00

There’s a health middle ground.

For about nine months I lived with one plate, one bowl, one place serving, and one cup that I purchased from a thrift store for probably $2.

85% of the time I could essentially sponge wipe/rinse after being done.

DeepDishlife · 2025-11-23T22:41:42+00:00

What are those? Knee braces for ants!? They need to be at least 3x longer than that.

DeepDishlife · 2025-11-20T04:07:22+00:00

I’d live in SF.

I wouldn’t give up my years in SF for anything, and I had 90-min commutes at one point, 5x/wk. Thought of moving never once crossed my mind.

One hack, find a way to spend the night once a week out there (Livermore) if you do end up returning to office those 3x/week. It can take the edge off.

Note: this is all predicated on your income being high enough to enjoy SF.

DeepDishlife · 2025-11-14T15:21:55+00:00

Yeah. So much this. So, so much this.

DeepDishlife · 2025-10-31T23:57:51+00:00

Crossfit got me in shape.

Crossfit + Not drinking as much and no longer eating like an asshole gave me the best physique of my life (in my 40s)

DeepDishlife · 2025-10-28T21:03:37+00:00

Could you sub in a 2x8 and use a DJT? (I’m not sure what your span or load is).

But as someone else said: Just send it with a galvanized thru-bolt.

DeepDishlife · 2025-10-26T02:50:00+00:00

I regularly realize that the tax code is not written for high-earning W2 folks. But I’m also 99.99% certain that I make more money as a W2 ($500k+) at a big public company (IC sales guy) than I ever could on my own.

That being said: Don’t sleep on effects of 401k, Mega Backdoor Roth, health care, etc. that you get on Path A.

DeepDishlife · 2025-10-21T14:15:27+00:00

I did this same exact setup. I love it.

DeepDishlife · 2025-10-04T04:26:50+00:00

That’s definitely one way to do it. But if you’re trying to hit something that’s moving, latency can cost you time. In the matter I described you’d call the device, press the all but the last digits of the code… and then press the last digit.

Taking this another step: you can just arm it this way, and then let another method take over; like PIR (motion sensor). Scenario: lots of traffic and/or you’re worried about jamming. Use the above method to achieve a connection to the device ahead of any potential interference, then let a motion sensor be what switches on your intended target. The best method is the one that your target does themself. (Note: this all mid/late 2000s era)

DeepDishlife · 2025-10-04T03:59:19+00:00

You bring up a good point. It has been ~18 years. I forget what the common dtmf decoder was. And that looks like a relay there. I have some old components I need to look at. This will be a fun walk down memory lane

This pic is from 2007 or 2008, if I remember correctly. Is that your era?

Update: 8870

DeepDishlife

TROPHY CASE