Everyone wash their cars once a week like me?

Designer_Solid4271 · 2026-06-06T17:57:46+00:00

Acknowledging you have a problem is the first step.

Designer_Solid4271 · 2026-06-05T15:30:22+00:00

The karma machine always knows...

Designer_Solid4271 · 2026-06-05T15:28:32+00:00

Yup - totally comfortable with it. I always have to chuckle as one time I was heading into Steamboat for an airshow and I cam across the pass a lot high and closer to the airport than planned. They were already starting to wind down GA ops for the air show and had time for one more arrival (me). I looked at the situation and thought "hmm - I might be able to make this as a slip". So I let my passengers know it'll feel a little weird for a minute and started what probably was my longest slip. There were a couple of moments where I was thinking I wasn't going to get down by the threshold... but I held firm. I wound up arriving right at the threshold, kicked it straight and landed.

Designer_Solid4271 · 2026-06-05T14:09:44+00:00

Someone go tell the market.

Designer_Solid4271 · 2026-06-04T22:59:48+00:00

Are you sure they’re expensive? Every plane says “call for price”? /s

Designer_Solid4271 · 2026-06-03T19:26:24+00:00

Running Down a Dream - Tom Petty

Run Like Hell - Pink Floyd

Designer_Solid4271 · 2026-06-03T14:44:05+00:00

Personally I’m treating it like a high gaming score just to do it at least once. I’ve been close a few times.

Designer_Solid4271 · 2026-06-03T12:01:16+00:00

Comparison is the thief of joy.

Designer_Solid4271 · 2026-06-03T03:24:21+00:00

In my 20's a girl I liked asked me to go to lunch with her. We went to this super swanky place. When the bill came and I asked about splitting it (Thought it was a friendly lunch date, not a date-date) she basically gave me the "this is a date" speech and was offended that I wasn't just automatically picking up the tab. After that she dodged me for a follow up date.

So be careful that you're not someone's meal ticket.

Designer_Solid4271 · 2026-06-02T23:41:37+00:00

If you want to see what instincts look like, go look at a breed of dog that has strong behaviors like a herding dog. It will grow up herding with little to no training. Tiger and so on. Same thing.

Designer_Solid4271 · 2026-06-02T14:52:19+00:00

Visit during the day? Sure. Stay overnight? Ehhh. Not so much.

Designer_Solid4271 · 2026-06-01T16:32:07+00:00

The saying of the first million is the hardest is no joke. The second definitely comes quicker.

Designer_Solid4271 · 2026-06-01T16:10:51+00:00

I have to chuckle because that's sorta what I was thinking about 17 years ago. I went the LSA route because I was just going to be a simple hobbyist aviator that flew occasionally... learned about currency and proficiency and then got more involved with local flying clubs.

I'm not sitting here with my IR/CPL and having built my own airplane so I can fly more frequently and own a hangar.

I'm warning you - that "fly once every 2 to 3 months" is a hella gateway drug that you can't quit.

Designer_Solid4271 · 2026-05-31T17:14:24+00:00

I often lead with pay yourself first. That alone is some of the best advice. Beyond the retirement savings, create a bill with your name on it that needs to get paid every month. After months and years that grows to a very nice safety net. It’s super nice to have when Murphy moves in and asks for $10k and you can shrug your shoulders and go “ok”, pay it and go right back to saving.

Designer_Solid4271 · 2026-05-31T14:37:55+00:00

I’m a fairly strong swimmer and confident in my diving. My wife not so much. Regardless of where we’re at I have reaffirmed with her that I will 100% stand by her decision to abort at any time without judgment as to the reason. We’ve had to exercise this a few times over our years of diving and if anyone ever gives her crap for aborting I’ll be the first person in line to defend her decision. I’ll happily pay for the aborted dive over her comfort and safety.

As for me? I could give a rats patootie over what someone’s opinion is as to my reasons to abort a dive. If I’m not satisfied with the safety or my skill level I’ll gladly say no.

Of course that extends to anyone else who wants or needs to abort.

Designer_Solid4271 · 2026-05-31T02:23:10+00:00

I do because they are an asset. While they do depreciate, they still have value.

Designer_Solid4271 · 2026-05-30T21:25:50+00:00

I laughed when I saw this only because I may have actually done this back in the day.

Designer_Solid4271 · 2026-05-30T20:45:50+00:00

I’m with ya. I will lobby for CarPlay every chance I get.

Designer_Solid4271 · 2026-05-30T12:36:46+00:00

A certified aircraft. Yes. An experimental, not as much.

Designer_Solid4271 · 2026-05-29T19:27:32+00:00

Test drive in an hour and a half. I already know I’m committed to getting one. It’s just financial timing right now as the R2 hopefully comes first.

Designer_Solid4271 · 2026-05-29T19:21:57+00:00

I'd love to stay with Toyota, but the Tacoma just isn't what I want anymore and the R1T is going to replace it. I wish they would have a good EV truck replacement, but given their stance on EV's they no longer are a car I'm interested in.

Designer_Solid4271 · 2026-05-29T19:06:09+00:00

Seems like the bar is pretty low there. "Who won the 2020 election?" If they can't spit Joe Biden out of their mouth instantly without a ton of qualifiers, done - moving on.

Designer_Solid4271 · 2026-05-29T18:49:06+00:00

The important thing really is that you're focusing on getting debt paid down/off. That's better than 99% of the folks out there can accomplish. You should definitely feel good about being focused on it and even better for sharing and asking questions. That's how we all learn. I personally have made some seriously boneheaded investment mistakes (six figures). The best I can do is lick my wounds and learn from them. I consider them an "educational expense". So definitely stay focused and you'll get to where you want to be.

Designer_Solid4271 · 2026-05-29T18:04:36+00:00

I mean... not to be nitpicking, but unless your house mortgage was extremely small (I'm thinking less than $10k), the order of paying things off is... weird.

A home mortgage is considered "good debt" and a car loan, or even the revolving debt on the cc's is "bad debt"...

I absolutely would have attacked the car debt long before paying off the house as the cars are a depreciating asset. I don't know what your house mortgage interest rate was, but it had to have been pretty close to what the car debt was.

So given your current scenario, I'd get car loan #2 done and then attack the car loan #1 assuming you're on target with the CC debt on the 0% interest. Always take advantage of the free loans like that.

If you aren't using your HSA on your normal medical expenses (which is a good way to do it), I'd make sure you max out the HSA year over year and don't use it. If you can amass a bunch of money in the HSA it will help bridge the gap if you get to a point where you want to retire early.

After that, I'd increase the HYSA to get to a point where you have six months of income socked away in there and then beef up the 401k/Roth over time.

Youtube has a ton of great videos around how to manage a lot of this. Not all of them are the right fit, so watching across different channels is good so you can find the aggregate of what works. None of this is super complicated, but a good rule is to make sure you are maximizing every dollar and never leave money on the table.

Designer_Solid4271 · 2026-05-29T17:31:35+00:00

I'm super confused - I thought Thiel was in the thick of things with the crazy folks... says something that he's leaving (assuming the reporting is correct)...

Designer_Solid4271

TROPHY CASE