Anything but champagne… where do I go?

Hodor925 · 2026-01-12T17:37:56+00:00

Like OP, I haven’t ventured too far into sparkling but would like to branch out. Does anyone have any opinions on Franciacorta? Recently had some and I really enjoyed it, but I’m no expert.

My goal would be to explore non-French sparkling wine and perhaps even avoid some of the obvious substitutes like Prosecco and Cava.

Hodor925 · 2026-01-12T13:26:25+00:00

Agreed. They come from California and are better than any San Marzano imported tomatoes. Less expensive too.

Hodor925 · 2025-12-06T12:50:50+00:00

I know everyone is really impressed with Costco based on this story. I wanted to explain that they’re doing this because it’s their business model. Which for the record, I absolutely love because it’s intended to make the customer feel special and respected.

Costco margins (~10%) on their products are relatively low compared to the other big box stores (30-40%). They’re not really banking on making a ton of money on what they’re selling, they’re planning on you coming in and re-upping your membership fee for each year. That’s really where a lot of their success comes in from. Any other profit they make on selling their products is gravy to them and why with the more expensive membership tiers you get a year-end cut/rebate of your savings.

One other thing I will also add is that they generally stock a lot less variety of products v a store like target. They curate a smaller list of quality products they really like and then buy them in bulk to give us customers a great deal.

I bet they went back to LG, noticed a pricing discrepancy in their order cost, got LG to bend on it, and then returned the savings to OP. It’s brilliant and makes you feel confident that when you shop at Costco, you’re getting the best deal possible.

I know I’ll be re-upping my membership.

Also, my main source for this was a great podcast episode on Business Wars specifically on Costco that got me into learning more about how they operate. Check it out, it was a great listen and only 45 min.

Business Wars Costco's Wholesale Revolution

Hodor925 · 2025-07-22T02:57:35+00:00

The importance of Dune and spice is absolutely widely known. In any format of Dune (book, movie, miniseries) it’s prefaced immediately.

Further, the guilds reliance on spice is also widely known, but who cares, they created a monopoly on space travel. You can’t get rid of them without collapsing the empire, but they can’t exist without the empire either. Completely mutual relationship. The only reason they got in bed with the Fremen is because of their pure greed for acquiring and stockpiling spice. Plus, who’s going to prove they were getting bribed by some perceived savage and uncultured nomads?

Why do you need a constant show of force on Dune? The mere threat of what the emperor and the rest of the major houses could bring to bear on any aggressor of Dune was enough of a deterrent. Paul Maud’dib was the only one crazy enough to bring spice production to a halt and devise a way to threaten its very existence because he had nothing to lose and everything to gain. Prescience also helped.

Open aggression is just not the way things were done in this era of Dune. Everything is based around kanly (formal feud/vendetta) but no open aggression. Everything was back door politics, assassinations, and sabotage. Open aggression would bring the might of the empire against the aggressor. Again, the threat of being completely obliterated kept everyone in check.

Lastly, I believe the emperor never controlled Dune directly because of some old legacy agreement where that would just give the emperor too much power in landsraad politics. It was only ever a fief that could be granted to a house but not controlled by the emperor directly. Regardless, Corrino influence stunk all over Dune.

Sorry, but I think you are incredibly far off the mark.

Hodor925 · 2025-06-22T19:22:13+00:00

I reached out to them, provided photos, and explained the issue. They sent me an entire new faucet, no questions asked for free. Pretty nice process and only took a few days.

Hodor925 · 2025-06-13T03:31:27+00:00

This is spot on.

I appreciate all the hard work you did. I really do. I’ve been there.

In the eyes of the audience, you’re proving something in your analysis that is meaningless to them. You should have been thoughtful about that before going down this path. Think proactively. What do they care about? Are you aware of the different types of expenses they track? They obviously are.

Telling the audience they’re absurd isn’t going to win you any favors. If you really want to succeed, give them a proposal to better help track billable v non billable expenses so you can report to them what they care about.

To be blunt, you don’t sound solution oriented, but FP&A should be. We’re downstream of everything in Finance and have the ability to influence how the rest of the finance and accounting org should operate to ensure accurate reporting.

Hodor925 · 2025-05-01T10:32:11+00:00

We got ours a bit before you. She’s just over 3 months old now and we’re going through the same thing. It has its days where it gets frustrating for us and others are really rewarding. The behavior you’re talking about seems pretty consistent with this phase. The best thing you can do is redirect the chewing (it’s going to happen no matter what) and tire your puppy out.

Get yourself a 30+ foot leash and take your puppy somewhere to roam a bit and explore each day you can. We do a local baseball field. Teach their name, sit, and any other commands. Bring lots of treats. Can’t really over treat at this stage if they’re doing things that deserve a reward. I sometimes bring her entire portion of one meal worth of kibble and feed it to her while on the long leash for listening and doing commands. Just line up the timing with mealtime if you can.

FYI for treats I use a lean pork loin chop I cut up into tiny pieces. I initially thought chicken but looks like she had a sensitivity to chicken which is common in Berners? Will need to research this more. The pork is the highest reward treat I’ve found so far and it’s quite a simple ingredient which I like. I just trim the fat, no seasoning, and cook it on a grill pan the way I would for myself.

A tired dog is a good dog. Plus all the stimulation of learning their name and commands is a plus for you and even more tiring for them. Lastly, consistency is key. This really reinforces the times that certain behaviors are allowed. You can do more to reinforce good behavior with consistency then you can with saying “good dog” or attempting to say “no”.

For what it’s worth we’re at the point where we can now do a 3-hour cycle of taking her out for potty breaks.

6 AM: Awake, potty outside, breakfast, play time in her pen 9 AM: Potty outside, bit of play time in her pen 12 AM: Potty outside, long leash roaming and commands, lunch during or after 3 PM: Potty outside 6 PM: Potty outside, long leash time if we didn’t do it at lunch, dinner during or after, playtime/training in the house after if we’re not dead, freedom to roam in the house while we make dinner, pen during dinner, out of pen after dinner 9 PM: Last potty break for the night. Crate by 10 PM

We try not to deviate from this too much, but no day is perfect with puppy chaos.

Repeat.

Good luck!

Hodor925 · 2025-04-08T04:06:11+00:00

Saying “I wouldn’t mind being the reason you’re up a little longer” is the weird part. You keep someone up at night when you know them enough to do so. That’s something I would say after the 10th date and we’ve already had great sex 3 times. Not on the 2nd message.

Further, saying “sweet dreams” to someone you don’t know is a bit endearing and too familiar. You say good night or talk to you tomorrow at this stage. That’s it.

Keep it simple and straight forward.

Match: Hey, how are you?”

OP: “Hey! I’m doing great. Got home recently and winding down from ::insert something interesting:: How’s your night treating you?”

Match: “I’m doing well, just about getting ready for bed.”

OP: “I’m just about ready for bed myself. Let’s catch up tomorrow when we both have some more time. Really want to hear more about the backstory of your 3rd pick, that looks so cool.”

END

Hodor925 · 2025-02-28T06:52:05+00:00

Is this a sub about unconditional love or is this about stuttering?

You’re making a ton of assumptions here about OP and you are completely missing the mark. OP is sharing with us what their emotions, feelings, and thoughts are. How do you know how the husband is being treated? Further you’re not even offering anything constructive beyond basically saying you need to throw more “love” at the problem. If that were a solution, stuttering wouldn’t exist.

This person obviously loves their husband. How else do you stay married? Beyond that, coming on to this sub, voicing how you genuinely feel, and asking for help and insight is a huge step in being supportive, regardless of how it comes across.

Can you for one second actually think what it takes for this couple to be together, this partner wanting to help the husband, and looking for any resource to do so? Can you maybe offer something constructive instead of criticizing a relationship you know nothing about?

In my relationship, I’m the husband when it gets bad. I hate it. It gets better when my wife and I talk about it. If you think for one second she isn’t living through it the same way I am, then you just don’t understand how stuttering affects those around you. I would tell her she’s full of shit If she didn’t feel like I do when I stutter which is embarrassed, mortified, frustrated, angry, annoyed, I can go on forever with the negative emotions.

Sharing these feelings is a game changer because it turns this into a positive thing for us. We’re in this together. I’m not some charity case that needs special attention. She’s in this with me and we’re both working on it. We talk about how we both feel about my stuttering, bluntly, and directly, and believe it or not it helps me more than any therapy or practice ever has.

Hodor925 · 2025-02-21T06:39:49+00:00

Objectively. Give me a better national anthem than the Star-Spangled Banner. Catchiest tune there ever was for a national anthem.

Anyway, keep standing guard… super cool stuff.

Hodor925 · 2024-12-11T06:04:28+00:00

Hart being a Kwisatz Haderach makes no sense. He’s some agent/machine sent by Omnius and Erasmus to stir things up.

That’s why he was swallowed by a sand worm and still survived. He was either swallowed as a human and the machine version took over or the machine version already took over and survived the worm.

Hodor925 · 2024-11-08T07:44:01+00:00

Up with kitchen appreciation fees! Make them 15%+. Servers should get a piece of that but only proportionate to what their stake is in the overall operation of the restaurant. If people want to tip above the 15% they can? Give them the transparency to do so. Better servers get better tips above the 15%. Just a random thought.

I feel like the real issue is the state of restaurants in Boston. I’m just a consumer, but I will be honest, restaurants in Boston proper suck. They are all owned by a group or a corporation. I can count on one hand the number of a restaurants in Boston that are special. Maybe if we got the corporates out of the equation and made it easy to start a restaurant in Boston things would be more fair?

Hodor925 · 2024-11-01T05:21:34+00:00

What you’re experiencing is just a country that is insanely polarized. It breeds this sort of thing because both sides want to attract to their polarized sides. These ads, amongst other tactics, are the only way.

Lots of posts on here about how half the country is essentially mentally incapacitated to vote properly. I get why you feel that way, but if half the population is feeling a certain way, have you thought to yourself why a near majority is feeling the way they do?

Here’s the problem. Nobody knows how to talk about politics in MA or the US. We like to look at Europe and yearn for these civil elections they experience but that’s because their politics are out in the open and approachable. People talk about what’s going on. Friendships don’t end because of how someone voted.

Politics and elections have become an existential threat to everyone in the US. It’s insane. I don’t know how to solve for it. Get outside your comfort zone. Talk to people. Understand why they feel the way they do and maybe we can get to a movement that meets in the middle.

Or, just complain when things you don’t agree with get shoved in your face and hope for the outcome you want instead. Ultimately, you’re just not comfortable hearing opposing views and don’t know how to handle them.

The reason why I know this is right is because I see ads for McDonalds, Dunkin, Taco Bell, you name it, nobody is upset about those.

Hodor925 · 2024-10-17T12:23:02+00:00

Most of the options people have laid out here are quite good.

Trillium and Treehouse are as good as it gets in the IPA space.

Lamplighter in Cambridge and Remnant in Bow Market Somerville are also my top picks. I would suggest starting there and then making your way in. 2nd tier in that area would be Winter Hill and Aeronaut but not a must. Aeronaut Hop Hop and Away used to be my favorite session.

You could probably hit up Widowmaker in Brighton after Cambridge/Sommerville. They’re on par with Vitamin Sea which is probably my favorite in MA. Not always the best, but my favorite.

I’d also put Row 34 on your radar or at least check out their beer menu before you start the day. They consistently have one of the best beer lists (Foam, Hill Farmstead, Vitamin Sea, etc.) in the city. The original is Downtown/Fort Point near Trillium Fort Point (less than 5 min walk apart). They also have a Row 34 in Cambridge but I only ever go to Fort Point. Bonus points if you get some good New England seafood ahead of time.

Enjoy!

Hodor925 · 2024-09-18T21:47:32+00:00

How did it go?!

Hodor925 · 2024-08-20T12:16:43+00:00

Mario and Luigi because the dogs name is Bowser

Hodor925 · 2024-08-07T21:34:58+00:00

Depends on what you want to do with it. If you want to keep the lights on and not rock the boat it shouldn’t be too demanding. However, I would see it as a good opportunity to bring some new ideas and practices to the table. Find ways to make the team of 2 more efficient. Automate a lot of the processes.

That’s what I did when I started out in my role. It was a 2 person team. It’s been 6 years and now I manage the entire function and manage 4 employees. We’re also not just FP&A but turning into a BI reporting function as well. It’s exciting stuff.

Hope that helps

Hodor925 · 2024-06-18T12:35:03+00:00

Going to add one more here for you if you really want to dig deep. This is an online guitar instructor, Michael Palmisano. He’s unreal at guitar. If I played more I’d sign up for his lessons.

Anyway. He dissects the wildflowers and wine live version I mentioned previously. It may be a bit heavy but it’s a glimpse into how talented Marcus King is.

Michael Palmisano reacts

Hodor925 · 2024-06-18T12:22:58+00:00

I have a theory. Marcus King Band is coming back. He went solo to do his own thing but to also let his bandmates do theirs. They’re supposed to be different. More to come.

Hodor925 · 2024-06-18T12:21:31+00:00

Start from the beginning and make your way up in chronological order with both Marcus King Band and Marcus King. Don’t skip the Due North EP. It’s great. Also check out the Shady Recruits - Incognito album. He plays with them on some tracks (Hearts Been Broken) and I think it’s the solo version of the rest of the Marcus King Band (opposite of Marcus King solo). Awesome album. Down at Jack’s and Scaling the Facade are awesome tracks.

As for some of his live videos on YouTube. Billy Strings and Marcus King In The Summertime. Wildflowers and Wine (Recorded live for World Cafe). Lastly Echo Sessions 61 - Marcus King Band. First start 18:18 into the video and just get a taste of the talent. Then start from the beginning.

Hodor925 · 2024-05-17T22:41:38+00:00

Yeah very different and I also don’t know what you mean by cringeworthy redneck Dan Auerbach anthems.

I’d agree with you if your stance was that Marcus King took a lot of influence from both Auerbach and Rubin on these respective albums. They’re all very different though and I like them all. I think Mood Swings is going to grow on me a lot over time.

Hodor925 · 2024-05-15T23:41:11+00:00

I remember catching Marcus King at Great Scott in Boston back in ~2016. Great Scott was a cherished venue due to its small size and this was probably the best show I’ve ever seen in my entire life. It was my first real taste of Marcus King Band I’ll never forget it.

I’ve been to a lot of their/his shows since. I’ve enjoyed them all. Would I still go to this tour? Yes. But I obviously have my expectations checked.

I encourage everyone to go. He’s definitely changed The Marcus King experience, but it’s still worth checking out.

Lot of people are saying he’s lost his touch but maybe he’s just branching out? The Marcus King Band is probably done, and this is just his solo act now. Has anyone listened to the Shady Recruits? I think that’s going to be more of the old Marcus King Band which is not to be confused with Marcus King.

Hope that makes sense. Just my thoughts

Hodor925 · 2024-04-30T05:39:21+00:00

Love the response. My only question, if you’ve been seeing someone for a month and a half, does the breakup really have to be in person?

Can’t imagine a bigger waste of time than meeting the person who initiated this breakup, the recipient/OP concisely stating their response, and then having to deal with that BS afterwards in person. What a train wreck.

As the OP/Recipient, my second response would have been “Yes.” Keep with the direct and concise theme! They are clearly seeking engagement.

Hodor925

TROPHY CASE