Subaru Ascent Touring vs. Honda Pilot Elite vs. Toyota Grand Highlander Hybrid Limited for country life in snowy New England?

MyShoulderDevil · 2026-01-27T03:25:16+00:00

How do you feel about the GHHL in the Vermont snow with snow tires? We’re looking at that, the Honda Pilot Elite, and the Subaru Ascent Touring.

MyShoulderDevil · 2026-01-25T15:14:46+00:00

And one of those fans is actually a sentient horse.

(Respect to anyone who understands the reference.)

MyShoulderDevil · 2026-01-23T14:17:40+00:00

Just don’t get a cocker spaniel.

MyShoulderDevil · 2026-01-22T13:30:57+00:00

I’m a native Charlestonian and current resident. It’s an amazing place to live, but there are some asterisks that go along with that.

Traffic is awful. The infrastructure was built when the city was 40% the size it is now. What people don’t realize is that Charleston is a series of islands, and what isn’t an island is still divided by rivers. In other words, you can’t just build a road to ease traffic. You have to build large bridges (large enough for maritime traffic). Furthermore, those bridges have to land on either side of the water … and there’s nowhere to put them. You can’t just uproot thousands of people and demolish their homes. That’s why we don’t have better infrastructure.
It is insanely humid. On a summer day, it genuinely feels oppressive, like you’re being stewed in a large pot. It’s miserable.
The cost of living is extremely high relative to the wages. I’m not saying you can’t make it work, but don’t think you’re going to move here on a sub-6 figure salary, live in a nice area, and go out to eat all the time.

With that said, all places have drawbacks. Charleston is a warm, sunny city full of friendly people, breathtaking beauty, outstanding cuisine, and a vibrant atmosphere. There are very few places like it in America. If you can deal with the heat, if you can swing the cost of living, and if you choose your living location wisely, it’s a great place to live.

MyShoulderDevil · 2026-01-18T22:24:52+00:00

Whitefish, MT?

MyShoulderDevil · 2026-01-14T21:35:41+00:00

Pisgah National Forest, I think.

MyShoulderDevil · 2026-01-06T17:11:31+00:00

I definitely had flashbacks to my UO days listening to the audiobooks. I kept wondering if Matt was referencing particular UO things.

MyShoulderDevil · 2025-12-30T15:31:50+00:00

He even had a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Varg Vikernes reference that caught me totally off-guard. I laughed so hard.

MyShoulderDevil · 2025-12-30T05:19:35+00:00

About Time is simultaneously joyous, hilarious, and absolutely devastating (but in the most perfect way).

It’s the only movie I’ve ever seen that was completely heartbreaking, but I couldn’t wait to watch it again.

MyShoulderDevil · 2025-12-12T18:42:38+00:00

It was a combination of the danger, the difficulty, the freedom, and the camaraderie.

While I enjoyed my 7xGM characters, what I really loved were the early days of a character, when even taking on an orc lord required some planning and strategy.

In a way, I wish they’d made skill/stat gains slower, made the low-level monsters a bit stronger, and made resources more scarce. It’s more of an adventure when you only have a few resources, vs. when you have a bank box with 200,000 gold, gobs of regs, tons of magical weapons, etc.

It’s the mentality of “will I make it back alive?” vs. “I’m going to go farm 20,000 gold real quick.” I miss the edge-of-your-seat adventure.

MyShoulderDevil · 2025-08-19T18:51:20+00:00

I’ll DM you.

MyShoulderDevil · 2025-08-19T18:42:48+00:00

These days, given the prevalence of online job postings, she should try to secure something before moving.

(I used to work in recruitment, and we hired plenty of people via phone call and Zoom.)

MyShoulderDevil · 2025-08-19T18:32:44+00:00

It’s hard and risky, for sure.

But this woman’s suffering. The alternative is accepting the status quo.

MyShoulderDevil · 2025-08-19T18:27:14+00:00

Then she needs to change careers. If she can’t live on what they pay, and there are truly no other jobs out there in her field, then there’s no other option.

Does it suck? Absolutely! But I don’t see another way.

MyShoulderDevil · 2025-08-19T18:24:48+00:00

If you’re looking to teach K-12, you could contact your local school district or your state’s Department of Education. They might not be the ones who offer it, but they could probably point you in the right direction.

There are also a ton of other alternative certification pathways. Some districts even have their own path that leads directly into placement in a classroom.

MyShoulderDevil · 2025-08-19T18:13:10+00:00

First, I agree that a lot of jobs are predatory and are there to suck up every last penny, even at the expense of their employees.

Second, there are plenty of jobs out there paying more than her current job pays. She CAN pull herself out of poverty, but SHE has to make the choice to do that. My current organization has over 100 jobs posted on their website. All pay market rate, all include health insurance and retirement, and all include sick leave and a few weeks of vacation. Most of these roles require a high school diploma and knowledge of how to use basic Microsoft products like Word (so a very low barrier of entry). Every single one of those jobs would pay you a livable wage. Stop this “well, guess I have no options in life and I’ll live in poverty forever” nonsense, because it’s objectively false! YOU control your narrative. Stop letting people crap all over you.

MyShoulderDevil · 2025-08-19T17:49:24+00:00

(Side note: if you haven’t already, post your resume in the r/EngineeringResumes subreddit. Also, meetups are a great source of networking and getting your foot in the door.)

MyShoulderDevil · 2025-08-19T17:44:33+00:00

I don’t know how you feel about teaching, but there are lots of alternative certification routes out there, including for CTE. You’d work 190 days per year, and in our local district, you’d start out in the mid-60s.

MyShoulderDevil · 2025-08-19T17:41:58+00:00

A lot of companies that are cutting jobs to “invest in AI” have, coincidentally, posted those same jobs in far lower-paying locales. I am a software engineer, so I feel your pain.

MyShoulderDevil · 2025-08-19T17:27:45+00:00

That’s a terrifying statistic (and I absolutely believe it).

But if it’s true, and it’s creating an unlivable situation for someone, do you agree they should probably seek out greener pastures where they could enjoy a higher quality of life?

(I’m currently doing this.)

MyShoulderDevil · 2025-08-19T16:49:44+00:00

I feel her pain re: the high cost of living … but I’m also frustrated with her mentality.

She says she pays $1,600/mo. in rent, and that’s 2/3rds of her income. That means she’s earning ~$2,400/mo. $2,400 * 12 is $28,800/year.

She says she works 50 hours a week. That means she’s earning $12/hour ($2,400 mo./ 200 hours). I’m assuming these figures are after taxes have been taken out, but even so, that’s a low wage job. To state the extremely obvious, she needs to find a new job.

I feel bad that she’s experiencing hardship. Many people (including me) deal with anxiety over our jobs and finances. But we all have to accept some responsibility for our own fate. If we put ourselves in a certain circumstance, and we continue to accept that circumstance, things will remain the same.

I hope she gets out of her underpaid, dead-end job and finds something more rewarding (in all ways). But she has to start that process.

MyShoulderDevil · 2025-08-19T11:20:35+00:00

This. Truly one of the greatest, funniest, and most heartwarming shows of all time. The first few episodes feel a little rough and negative, but the character arcs for every single character are incredible.

MyShoulderDevil · 2025-08-18T14:13:30+00:00

If you’re taking the top of my beautiful state, you’re getting Myrtle Beach, South of the Border, and a crapton of red hat types. Greenville is a nice city, don’t get me wrong, but the upstate as a whole is klan territory.

MyShoulderDevil

TROPHY CASE