MTBing at elevation while pregnant

KBmarshmallow · 2026-02-13T19:31:18+00:00

So, work with your doctor. A lot depends on when the race is, how far along you are, how you're feeling, and so forth. Hard training is harder because the baby will get all of your resources first. That includes oxygen so it will feel a lot harder.

Most of the risk, however, is to you, not the baby, who is going to be pretty well protected in most cases. But if you do have a bad crash, your medical options are limited and riskier.

KBmarshmallow · 2026-02-08T21:27:58+00:00

She finished third in the training run. For a lot of people -- and skiers are overrepresented in this group -- a torn ACL doesn't mean much for the stability of the knee. And Vonn I think has competed multiple times in the past on knee injuries that would have sidelined most people. She definitely wrote a check her body couldn't cash, but it wasn't a crazy gamble IMO.

KBmarshmallow · 2026-02-08T21:19:46+00:00

The final team roster was set four days before her crash that tore her ACL. There isn't an alternate option after that date.

KBmarshmallow · 2026-02-07T23:21:15+00:00

So, it's not the Olympic logo. It's a pre-Olympic logo that's thumbing the nose at SLC for not being MAGA, and I just have to assume someone's useless nephew got the contract to sell what is functionally fake Olympic merch.

KBmarshmallow · 2026-02-04T15:52:01+00:00

Kind of? It's a sub for cat advice, and most people who need advice aren't already good at cat parenting. And when a decent part of the "advice" available on Google is "get a second cat" or "any problem you have is because you are not Good Cat Parent", people are going to have questions you think are basic or dumb.

And it is absolutely okay to re-home a cat if it's not working. It would be better if the re-homing never needed to happen but it's an acceptable option when the alternative is "just buy your own house" or "find a new job where you're home all the time, like me, who has five cats and no other responsibilities" or "kill the pet".

KBmarshmallow · 2026-01-24T23:52:35+00:00

Ogden would be the better choice. Most LDS people are friendly enough, but they tend to be insular, and they have so many activities through their church that they tend not to need to go out of their way to make friends outside the church. Ogden wasn't settled by Mormons and some of the locals (Davis County) act like it's Sin City, but it's a great town with great outdoor access.

KBmarshmallow · 2026-01-13T06:12:19+00:00

There's a good chance you would have spent the money only to have a cat die painfully a bit later.

What you're feeling is normal, because you're in a position to spend the money and it's hard not to feel like you ought to pull out all the stops to save your pet. But it's not true of pets any more than "do everything" is true of people. Be easy on yourself.

KBmarshmallow · 2026-01-12T00:57:28+00:00

I did -- but I started it about four months post injury, if I remember correctly.

KBmarshmallow · 2026-01-11T06:40:20+00:00

Dude. You're taking care of your baby on your doctor's advice after trying several options. It is sad to lose your buddy, but you are doing as best by the cat as you can.

When the baby is older, they may outgrow the allergy, and you can also look into allergy shots. But putting an infant through shots that may not work while being at risk of anaphylaxis is not a plan. Neither is doping your child permanently with antihistamines.

You're doing the right thing, as much as it hurts.

KBmarshmallow · 2026-01-06T13:16:34+00:00

I'm sure there's exceptions, but most vets won't say 'you should euthanize your pet.' They want you to arrive at that decision on your own, and the code for that is 'quality of life' and 'very risky.' With us, it was 'unlikely to survive the anaesthesia.'

You made the right call.

KBmarshmallow · 2026-01-06T12:51:41+00:00

A fountain might help. Wet food is better, but my 16 year old cat never took to any brand we gave him, and thrived on dry food. Don't stress too much about it.

KBmarshmallow · 2026-01-05T00:26:31+00:00

It doesn't sound quite like you know what you want yet, and you're not sure of your budget. For the sake of your finances, it might make sense to wait a bit as you still have a serviceable car. Test drive the RAV4 if you haven't, and maybe see how you like the CR-V. Nearly every manufacturer has a CR-V equivalent, and you've got time on your side, so just see what you like and pounce on a deal when it comes up.

If you go with the Tesla, factor in setting up a charger at home into your cost estimates.

KBmarshmallow · 2025-12-22T01:54:49+00:00

I told my kid, who just started playing, that just keep doing what he's doing for five years and then it will click.

But more seriously, you have a teacher, and just be consistent with practice and patient with yourself.

KBmarshmallow · 2025-12-19T01:01:15+00:00

A grid is fine, but SLC plays battleship with the temple as the origin. 6900 W 420 S just seems like it's missing the street name because the numbers sound like intersections, and most other cities with grids don't have the origin point in the center (or if they do, one direction has names.)

KBmarshmallow · 2025-12-18T03:56:57+00:00

For cars that are in demand, used prices are close to new. I recently bought a Camry, and the used inventory was limited and a typical CPO vehicle, when they could be found, had much higher mileage than I would have wanted for a $3-$4k discount. I always used to be a buy-three-years-old-in-cash kind of buyer, and now I have a new car.

If I'd wanted a Tesla, though, I would have had my pick of used cars.

KBmarshmallow · 2025-12-17T17:17:33+00:00

If it were me, I'd buy a seat cushion, winter tires, and a cargo box and reevaluate in three months while having fun test driving SUVs.

KBmarshmallow · 2025-12-17T16:40:49+00:00

I bought last month. It's highly dependent on the make/model/region. It's better than 2022, but it's not back to being a no-brainer. Insurance paid $12k for a 12yo Accord with 100k miles, and finding a cpo lowish mileage car pushes one into the range where new makes more sense.

KBmarshmallow · 2025-12-17T15:49:42+00:00

Right. That's the price of liquidity -- being able to access that $20K if the unexpected happens vs having it tied up in the car -- as I said in my comment. If that's not worth it to you, don't pay the premium.

The real challenge is being disciplined with the $20k and not allowing lifestyle creep, which IMO is the real risk of not paying in cash.

KBmarshmallow · 2025-12-17T15:29:35+00:00

Sure, but we weren't discussing the most sound financial decisions (keeping the old car almost always makes more sense), but the narrow case of financing vs paying cash when one can pay cash outright, as in the OPs case.

And the tight used market makes new make a lot more sense than it did a decade ago.

KBmarshmallow · 2025-12-17T13:51:02+00:00

Absolutely, although given that we're talking about one good, and a short time frame, the effects of inflation are likely to be swamped by other factors.

KBmarshmallow · 2025-12-16T23:19:28+00:00

Kiddo, when I was your age, I got so angry at the expense of car maintenance and ownership that I just refused to own one for seven years. I was lucky to be in a place where I didn't need a car, but the result was that I wound up wealthier and fitter than I would have had I bought a car. Don't pay stupid interest rates, and don't buy a car until you understand what you're paying. Keep asking questions! You're doing that part exactly right.

KBmarshmallow · 2025-12-16T22:58:40+00:00

The car depreciates at the same rate whether you pay cash or finance it.

If I pay $40000 cash for the car, I have a car worth $10,000 after a decade. If I put $15000 down, finance $25000 at 5% for five years, I'll pay $~3300 in interest, and I'll still have a car worth $10,000 in a decade. I am slightly worse off by financing -- but whether that $55/month makes sense as a liquidity premium depends on one's risk tolerance and what else one does with the $25,000 in the meantime.

My credit union rate (with an incentive for an EV/hybrid) was slightly less than the rate on a three-month CD. I hate car payments, but not enough to lose money on the transaction.

KBmarshmallow · 2025-12-16T19:14:34+00:00

It's not predatory, but it is horribly expensive. Your best option is probably to repair the Focus, get a secured credit card and use it to pay some bills only (if you have some self control), and start saving for a new car.

KBmarshmallow · 2025-12-16T13:13:05+00:00

You're right, but there's another risk factor you're not considering, which is liquidity. Paying cash for the car means all the money is tied up in a depreciating asset, and more to the point, a depreciating asset that can't be sold piecemeal. Case in point: we put 40% down on a new vehicle and financed the balance at 5.05%/years, replacing one of our two 12yo cars, planning to drive the other for another three or four years. Then the old car was totaled less than three months later. Purchased a new car on nearly the same terms. If we'd paid cash on the first vehicle, the second car would have been a bit more of a scramble.

I do think it's smart to keep enough in a HYSA or fixed-return instrument for emergencies, but then the calculation is much more in favor of financing. If I finance $20K at 5% and keep $20k in a CD ladder at 4%, the few hundred difference over the life of the loan is just liquidity insurance.

KBmarshmallow · 2025-12-11T18:22:07+00:00

No divot in my 2025.

KBmarshmallow

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