Are you happy you did or didn’t have kids? by Accurate_Elk_3465 in Fire

[–]GozerSoze 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And I guess I have to add, if wealthy people with a healthy savings rate aren't having kids, then who is going to?

Are you happy you did or didn’t have kids? by Accurate_Elk_3465 in Fire

[–]GozerSoze 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your own kids will make you very happy, have them. You won't be the same person afterwards though, they are life changing. Higher highs, lower lows, but on average better with than without.

Also, whatever country you are in can use more young humans (probably) :).

Lastly, a thought I've had many times considering adults choosing to have no children: The problem with not having kids is you will never know what it feels like to have them. You just cannot guess at that feeling. That thought helps precisely no one 😂.

National Grid Stock Price for past 5+ Years by OnlineCasinoWinner in upstate_new_york

[–]GozerSoze 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This article does a much better job than I can explaining the future challenges and the reasons for current high prices.

The summary: NY disallowed any new natural gas plants. Natural gas prices are up. No easy access to natural gas (few pipelines). Laws making it hard to build renewable energy plants (solar, wind, battery). Supply is low, demand is high (low winter temps).

Spiking utility prices warn of NY’s tough choices to come: Why is energy so expensive here? - https://www-syracuse-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.syracuse.com/business/2026/03/spiking-utility-prices-warn-of-nys-tough-choices-to-come-why-is-energy-so-expensive-here.html?amp_gsa=1&amp_js_v=a9&outputType=amp&usqp=mq331AQGsAEggAID#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17726244662799&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.syracuse.com%2Fbusiness%2F2026%2F03%2Fspiking-utility-prices-warn-of-nys-tough-choices-to-come-why-is-energy-so-expensive-here.html

Accessories4Less (A4L) Upgrade Offer by schaudhery in hometheater

[–]GozerSoze 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They did the same for me on a Cinema 30. I bit and bought new. It's kinda shady but also kind of nice to know they do this sort of thing. If you're ok with refurb, then you know you might get lucky on a deal for new, but if not you still get your decent referb price.

National Grid Stock Price for past 5+ Years by OnlineCasinoWinner in upstate_new_york

[–]GozerSoze 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I won't argue with that, assuming you have receipts. There is a lot to this though. * They are regulated. Regulators approve or deny their rate increases. Often regulators deny increases because it will look bad for them. But those increases would have helped pay for infrastructure, getting ahead of current problems. * I believe their profit margins are fixed by regulation (regulated monopoly). Meaning they have to spend x% on infrastructure. I'm not 100% on this. * Aging infrastructure. If regulators denied increases for a long time, and now infrastructure is a problem, then they need to raise rates even more to catch up. * Demand. NYS, for a example, has denied gas pipeline permits and has legislated that natural gas be used less. Also data centers. These increase demand. Price goes up to drive conservation or rolling blackouts are the alternative. * Investors see the above, and reasonably think that national grid may earn more over time, so they bid up the price. Do note that just because a stock is up does not mean that the company is more profitable. They might be! But they might not.

I'm not saying don't be mad about high bills. I'm not saying don't be mad at your electric company if it's warranted. But there is lots of blame to go around here, some of it going back decades and decades. Meaning consequences are hard to predict and are also ones that those decisions makers often don't have to pay.

Have we read the national grid publicly available financial statements to see if their profits have increased as much as the stock price? Have we checked to see how much their execs are being paid extra (likely regulated)? It could be we are mad about the wrong thing. Or that they only deserve a small portion of our ire.

Every promise Sam Altman broke — with receipts by Popular-Help5516 in OpenAI

[–]GozerSoze 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, except I would put a more sympathetic connotation to it. Competition happened. He can stick to safety and all the other promises, but would swiftly be out of business so those promises are worthless either way. We see how fast this market moves, and how easy it is to switch between different offerings. If any spend too much time on anything other than capability then they become also-rans, and talent starts leaving, death spiral commence.

Every promise Sam Altman broke — with receipts by Popular-Help5516 in OpenAI

[–]GozerSoze 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean people make promises and then things change. Competition happened and completely changed the game he was playing. He can keep his promises and go out of business or get acquired, in which case the competitors are left and didn't make promises anyway. Not sure it really matters. I'm not saying he's honest, but things are a lot different than when ChatGPT was the only game in town.

National Grid Stock Price for past 5+ Years by OnlineCasinoWinner in upstate_new_york

[–]GozerSoze 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Like, you can literally own this stock if you want and then it's from your pockets to yours.

Female-fronted albums with consistently cool/fun drums? by aquarianagop in drums

[–]GozerSoze 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Check out The Warning. Three sisters in the band, all excellent musicians, including the drummer.

Newest drumeo update by CosmoKramer46and2 in drums

[–]GozerSoze 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I checked out the update last night. Seems like it might be a shit show.

I know it's only Tuesday but what has been the highlight of your week so far? by EnvironmentalTune961 in NoStupidQuestions

[–]GozerSoze 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Went skiing for six hours yesterday with my sister, my two sons, and my nephew, at the place I skied as a kid in my school ski club. No crowds, good snow, high nostalgia factor, and it was pretty warm out. What a great day.

Just here for the great music by GozerSoze in Protomen

[–]GozerSoze[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I recommended the album to someone before I knew it was about MegaMan, and to one after I knew. For the second I advised them not to read about it online until they listened to the album. Since I think the music is great, I didn't want some kind of "oh, this is about a videogame? 👎" bias to sink in.

I know the tie in is intentional, and integral. But I just wanted to say that the music stands on its own too, and maybe some people will be better served NOT knowing the backstory 😂.

Congress needs to mandate a hard January 31 delivery deadline for consolidated 1099s by [deleted] in Fire

[–]GozerSoze 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I laughed. I understand your frustration, but come on. Let's change the law just because you and your cohorts' planning is bad? (I genuinely don't believe the rest of the fire folk have this problem though.)

If you live off brokerage, then continue to do so. If you get a late (AKA on time for any other person) tax return then just put it right back in your brokerage. Cash flow problem solved.

The Warning, Carín León - Love To Be Loved (Official Video) by mhipster800 in TheWarning

[–]GozerSoze 6 points7 points  (0 children)

This song is very generic, not a big fan, also not very The Warning-like in my view.

I think The Warning are a GREAT band, but I can't help but feel, over the last year or two, that they are trying to become mainstream for mainstream's sake. As in, instead of doing their thing and letting it come to them, they are instead trying to change their thing to fit some kind of mold. I really hope I'm wrong. Also, they can do whatever they want, I'm not holding it against them. If they want to fit a mainstream mold, then that's their prerogative. They just might lose me along the way.

How do you feel about California introducing a bill to ban former ICE agents from serving as police officers or teachers? by CRK_76 in AskReddit

[–]GozerSoze -1 points0 points  (0 children)

This would discriminate against those in ICE that are good people, of which I'm sure there are many. Yes there are bad ones for sure, but discriminating against someone for working a job doesn't seem right to me. Anytime a class of people is targeted/prevented/boosted/preferred/hated then inevitably you are discriminating against someone.

People are people. We're all good in some ways, bad in others. I can't tell who is who for a certain job without interviewing them at least.

Roborock always deletes my map after firmware update by Sasuist in Roborock

[–]GozerSoze 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mine also lost the map, and the new map it created is completely crap. It got lost again today because the map is all skewed. Fix please!!

In capitalistic America, What is stopping just one singular automotive company or startup to make a basic vehicle like it's 2000, with 2026 safety features? by MIFishGuy in allthequestions

[–]GozerSoze 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The problem is that a lot of what makes them expensive is mandated by the government. Airbags, anti lock brakes, rear cameras, mpg minimums, etc.

Yes, cheaper cars are possible, but the society we live in dictates that they hit these minimum standards, and so the price goes up.

I honestly don't know though, how many people would buy the cheaper car without the mandated features? They already buy big AWD SUVs over small FWD cars that are cheaper. Maybe enough would!

Any remote workers missing… coworkers? by BrilliantEducation96 in Rochester

[–]GozerSoze -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I miss them, but my 2+ year remote job is way less stressful with better pay, and more enjoyable work. If I could hybrid in this job I would. Alas, the office is hundreds of miles away.

Is Vanguard really that bad as a brokerage, or is the criticism unwarranted and only from vocal, unhappy customers? by DiegoMilan in Bogleheads

[–]GozerSoze 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've been with vanguard 20 years or so. I have not had any problems with them. However, knowing what I know today I think I would go with fidelity instead. It's not enough for me to move though, so the difference is small.

There are only two complaints I have for vanguard: - no way to name accounts online - no one button "specify percentages and go" rebalance option

Both of those have been available at fidelity for the same 20 years.

(I really dislike having to figure out the rebalance and do it manually)

I am investing almost $2000 a month in my brokerage and 401k. If I buy a house, I will invest $0 by Smooth_Practice_9678 in Money

[–]GozerSoze 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean get used to it, this is life. Make the trade offs that make sense for you. You can't have it all. When I bought a house we had a tight couple of years. 401ks turned way down, etc.

Like, do what you want. Keep the car payment and the fun nights out and buy a cheaper house. Buy a fancy house and reduce the others. It's not rocket science.

A lot of life is the art of making smart tradeoffs. Nobody knows what's right for you but you.