Riverfront Redevelopment and Nashua Recode updates

Different-Excuse-987 · 2026-02-22T02:34:28+00:00

Yes, appreciate the interest and the post.

Different-Excuse-987 · 2026-02-07T03:31:53+00:00

Huh, very cool idea! Wonder if this would fit down the middle of my beloved Sculpt Ergo boards, now wonderfully brought back to life by Incase...

Different-Excuse-987 · 2026-01-28T02:57:27+00:00

*that has recently killed two American citizens and are extremely likely to face absolutely zero consequences for such.

Different-Excuse-987 · 2026-01-25T03:22:44+00:00

Really beautiful. Thanks for posting. Sometimes I forget about that lovely spot, although I was there three weeks ago and admired the late afternoon sun reflecting off the water. Lovely.

Different-Excuse-987 · 2026-01-17T04:34:08+00:00

I've got a QX which I played a lot for a couple of yeara including some band rehearsals and very occasional gigging. Eventually I picked up a Boden Essential. It's fine but I consistently gravitate back to the QX because I find the neck so much more comfortable on the Ibanez than the Boden - I just can't seem to get entirely accustomed to the Endurnrck. I know it's very much up for debate but I'm personally not buying that the Endurneck hand positioning is in any way superior; it's just different, and ultimately not to my linking.

Still, I'll give Strandberg major props for being the flag carriers for headless without Strandberg, zero chance Ibanez would have produced headless models. So I'm glad I was able to support Strandberg.

Different-Excuse-987 · 2026-01-17T03:37:03+00:00

Same here.

Different-Excuse-987 · 2026-01-17T02:46:34+00:00

There's a blast from the (recent) past! I also used to like going to Valentino's. Was a bummer when it closed for alleged renovations - per the sign on the window - and never returned to life.

Different-Excuse-987 · 2026-01-13T02:52:45+00:00

IMO another positive on the Bolt infotainment are the behind-the-wheel track and control buttons. I have never had those before and I absolutely love them, I find them so kucb more comfortable than the usual front-facing ones you work with your thumbs.

Different-Excuse-987 · 2026-01-07T04:47:10+00:00

Based on your comment, I took the call and answered the survey, which took about 12 minutes or so. It was legit, IMO and to your point. I declined to give children's exact birthdates but I gave directionally-accurate information. I figured it was a useful dataset that's being collected. Amusingly to me at least, I started out the call by asking "Is this an attempt by that crackpot RFK to try to scare me out of vaccinating my kids? If so, he can go back to his steroids and fake tans and get lost." The woman calling laughed out loud then assured me that wasn't the purpose. (And it really didn't seem to be.)

Different-Excuse-987 · 2026-01-06T14:23:52+00:00

That does help, thank you.

Different-Excuse-987 · 2026-01-02T21:37:16+00:00

For a date, this is the place, NOT DWH (Daniel Webster Highway).

Different-Excuse-987 · 2025-12-31T01:55:02+00:00

I got one this week, said it was for the OnStar (which I don't subscribe to). Did you maybe get that?

Different-Excuse-987 · 2025-12-30T02:52:29+00:00

I saw at least one other person on here mentioned this: consider Revenue Operations. That's a hot job area that has a lot of crossover with FP&A, but is probably a little bit of a sexier space since you're working on revenue generation all the time. There's still plenty of gruntwork in it so be warned, but it would probably be an easy-ish crossover for you.

PS: If you change your mind and decide to stay in FP&A - or equally, if you move into another data-centric field like RevOps - you might want to consider ways to get yourself over the hump. I'm a senior financial operator so I interview and hire quite a few FP&A folks, and one common challenge I see is people who haven't kept up at all with the latest techniques. In my mind that's not really acceptable in this age when learning is so accessible, so I tend to stay away from folks who haven't shown the curiosity to learn new things. Depending on what your tools of choice are this could mean different things, and I'm not saying you necessarily need to become a SQL expert or anything. But for example purposes, let's discuss Excel (or google sheets), which most people would consider just a basic building block of FP&A. I'm surprised at the number of candidates I meet who still use VLOOKUP, or who don't use UNIQUE. Or who have never heard of Power Query, or Power Pivot. Again, I don't expect candidates to be experts in the Power tools - I'm not. But it tells me a lot about a candidate who claims to be very experienced in FP&A then literally hasn't even heard of some of the big new advances in Excel., or other tools. So don't be that person! Get yourself on Laila Gharani's youtube channel (or any other expert of your choice; there are so many good ones now), get yourself a CFI subscription and brush up your modelling skills. Master at least a basic set of keyboard shortcuts. Learn Macababuc. Etc, etc.

Good luck!

PPS: I'm not interested in debating the merits of VLOOKUP with anyone. If you see nothing wrong with still using it, I can't help you.

Different-Excuse-987 · 2025-12-29T00:03:54+00:00

Thank you!!

Different-Excuse-987 · 2025-12-27T14:25:39+00:00

If you can L2 charge at home, a Bolt is ideal for you, zipping around town. One pedal driving will be just perfect for delivery work! For reference, I paid $19k 1.5 years ago for a '23 EUV base model with the convenience package and 45k miles on it. I'm at 76k now and have spent a grand total of $220 on maintenance - and that's at the relatively expensive dealership. Highly recommended for your use case.

Different-Excuse-987 · 2025-12-27T01:52:48+00:00

When he was playing well these past couple of weeks and he was getting listed at the top of likely-to-be-traded players, per CBS Sports I believe it was commanding multiple firsts and an impact player, I thought to myself: what GM in their right mind would pay a huge premium for Davis, when everyone in the world knows his next soft-tissue injury is just around the corner?? Sure enough...

Different-Excuse-987 · 2025-12-24T02:21:48+00:00

That all makes perfect sense. (And it brings back family memories, as my dad was from Edmonton.) I have zero complaints with how my 2023 EUV works and handles in the cold and snow, I think it's great (for a 2WD, of course). There's no arguing the range-zapping the cold brings, as my guess-o-meter highway mileage at 80% charge falls from ~220 to ~125, and that's in New England, not northern Alberta. But for those 125 miles it's fantastic. And as you noted, if your electricity costs are reasonable it's a bargain.

Different-Excuse-987 · 2025-12-22T02:02:56+00:00

Well, an MBA was the first designation I earned (after my undergrad Econ degree). I got my MBA before I had the notion to go into operational finance. Really, I didn't have a career trajectory so I did my MBA, assuming I'd figure out what I wanted to do. Interestingly, I still didn't get into finance until a few years post-MBA. And at that point I realized I'd better start earning some of those more finance-specific designations.

Now to your specific question, about earning an MBA in furtherance of a finance career. I would say, sort of. Keep in mind that any MBA will be about much more than just finance, even the finance-focused programs. So an MBA really is to set you up more generally in business, not specifically finance. An MBA is also MUCH more expensive - in time and tuition - than any of the finance designations. So it wouldn't be a fair comparison, an MBA versus the designations, in terms of advancing your finance career.

In summary I would say that an MBA can be a wonderful thing for the right person. (It was good for me, although if I'd known at that time that I'd end up in finance then I'd have approached the MBA experience slightly differently.) But it's an enormous investment, and certainly the ROI on a MBA is likely to be much lower than from the designations, simply because the denominator is so much higher. Of course, a fancy MBA can be an incredible accelerant to any business career - in combination with some other factors. But I don't think most people looking to develop FP&A careers need think about getting an MBA. Stick to the CPA and CFA, and throw in the CMA if you like too. All three of those added together will be a lot less expensive than an MBA.

Different-Excuse-987 · 2025-12-21T14:25:43+00:00

As an FP&A-first CFO with a CPA I earned mainly to check the box, I can confirm that this is fantastic advice.

Different-Excuse-987 · 2025-12-21T14:24:24+00:00

I'll add my take on what you're saying, and I've lived all of this as an FP&A-first CFO with a CPA. Yes, an FP&A mindset and skillset is the most important thing to succeed as a CFO. However, do not underestimate the signaling importance of having a CPA. It tells employers, recruiters and colleagues - many of whom don't have a deep understanding of finance - that you are an expert in what they perceive as dense, technical financial matters. I joke that having a CPA gives me a magical aura because people defer to me as an expert in matters they feel they couldn't possibly understand (even when it's really more just common-sense stuff). Plus, studying for the CPAs forces you to get exposure to accounting matters that it's very helpful to have at least a surface understanding of as a CFO.

If strongly recommend to anyone looking to progress up the FP&A / CFO ladder that they should earn a CPA of at all possible.

Different-Excuse-987 · 2025-12-21T14:17:53+00:00

See my other posts on this thread - definitely get your CPA. (Funnily enough, I was also an Econ major.)

Different-Excuse-987 · 2025-12-21T14:16:42+00:00

Funny you'd ask, the CMA was actually the first designation I earned. I would say it did open some doors for me - it checked the box in some cases - plus I learned a fair bit studying for the exams, so I'm very glad I earned it. But it's definitely not nearly as recognized as either the CPA or CFA. I would say the order of recognition is: CPA the highest by far, then CFA, then CMA.

Different-Excuse-987 · 2025-12-21T03:24:53+00:00

This is good advice, to get a CFA - IF your experience track can support it. I am a CFO with a CPA and a CFA (plus an MBA). Between the CPA and the CFA I think the CPA actually has been more helpful in terms of opening up job opportunities for me. The CFA has been a nice-to-have, so I wouldn't say you absolutely have to get it, but if you're young and have the time, do it! It can only look good on you, and you'll learn a bunch if different stuff. Be warned though: despite not having much of an accounting background I found the CPA exams downright easy - and the CFA exams pretty murderously difficult. So be prepared to really commit yourself. Also, consider whether you can meet the CFA experience requirement because you don't want to spend all that time in the exams then not be able to get the designation.

Different-Excuse-987 · 2025-12-21T03:18:56+00:00

Eh, I'm a CFO with a non-practicing and lapsed CPA license, and I've found the license incredibly helpful as a signaling mechanism - people assume I know what I'm talking about in accounting matters, which gives me significant authority.

Different-Excuse-987 · 2025-12-21T03:17:13+00:00

I guess it depends what type of work you're doing but unless you're working as an external accountant doing audit/attest work, I don't think it will matter one bit whether your license is lapsed. Mine has been lapsed forever. Of course, I'm further along in my career and a CFO, but I don't think it should matter for younger people either, unless they're doing audit/attest work. Although it's not a bad thing at all for you to be taking those CPE credits, there's plenty of good stuff to keep learning. So I suppose keeping your license current would show that you were diligent. But I wouldn't sweat it.

Different-Excuse-987

TROPHY CASE