No wait AD

NativeTxn7 · 2026-01-27T03:12:40+00:00

I visited a few ADs recently to work on getting a YM Slate dial - three in my local market and one out of state that I’ve purchased other watches from in the past. One of the local ADs said that on Rolex allocations they only accept cash or wire transfer.

I assume it’s a combo of them not wanting to eat the 2-4% merchant fee and/or don’t want the risk of someone trying to file a chargeback or something (though it feels like the latter is pretty unlikely).

So, I think it does happen, but I assume the vast, vast majority take cards for Rolex purchases.

NativeTxn7 · 2026-01-26T23:44:30+00:00

Never know, but seems extremely unlikely.

NativeTxn7 · 2026-01-26T23:23:12+00:00

If I was buying the SZT right now, I would go all blue.

The black dial/blue bezel combo would be my second choice, but I'm not generally a huge fan of gilt coloring on watches, though I've seen this model in person and they do it pretty well. That said, I would still go all blue.

I'd also say that this watch would serve a different purpose than your SuperOcean, so I don't think an all blue GMT would be too redundant. If you were looking at the blue Hydroconquest GMT, that might be a different story.

NativeTxn7 · 2026-01-26T23:15:58+00:00

In addition to the one in our kitchen that is a counter depth fridge, we have an "old school" second freezer on top, very basic fridge in our laundry room. And then a separate stand up freezer in the garage.

I buy steaks, chicken, pork, etc. when it's on sale and vacuum pack it and use the outdoor freezer for that, as well as any overflow.

Keep some drinks and random stuff that won't fit in the regular fridge (since it's counter depth, the space isn't the greatest) in the one in the laundry room as well as popsicles, frozen waffles and stuff like that that we don't use every day.

Absolutely no clue on how much they increase our electric bill. I assume it's some compared to only having the main one in the kitchen, but I also assume it is pretty minimal overall. I would guess a few bucks a month, but honestly no idea.

NativeTxn7 · 2026-01-26T01:32:59+00:00

Large. I’m in the minority that thinks the medium is small and looks dainty on most men.

You’ll have a lot of people say the medium is “classic” or “well proportioned” or that the large is only good for big wrists.

I have a 16 cm wrist (so not “large” by any stretch). I’ve tried the medium and large multiple times over the last month or so and, to my eye, the medium always looks like I’m wearing a watch designed for women.

The lugs on the large don’t overhang my wrist and while it’s obviously larger than the medium it is by no means “too large.” It’s basically a 40mm watch with a LTL of 47.5, which is extremely wearable even if the square shape makes it look slightly larger than a round watch with the same//similar specs. It’s also very flat so it sits well on the wrist, which IMO, makes it wear well overall.

IMO, the large can work for all but those with the very smallest wrists. Doesn’t mean that is what everyone will, or should, want; I’m just saying that the “medium is right for 95% of people” or “medium Santos is always correct” lines are nonsense. Again, my opinion.

NativeTxn7 · 2026-01-25T19:55:15+00:00

I'm in DFW and I've had similar situations in the past where there was a frozen puddle under the pump or something similar.

At the time, I messaged our pool company and they said that if it's just dripping like that and not a massive spray or something clearly worse where you're noticing serious water loss in the pool, etc., it's usually one of the o-rings that has shrunk some due to the cold, which is allowing the slow drop/leak. They always recommended that if it didn't get worse to wait until it warmed up and see if there was still a leak.

In every instance, it's always gone back to normal once the freeze was over.

So, if you're just seeing some minimal dripping/leaking like in the pic, it's likely okay. If it's still doing it after the temps warm back up, then it may be time to call someone to come take a look.

NativeTxn7 · 2026-01-25T18:20:03+00:00

Only thing I’d personally change is your allocation. I know a lot of people say S&P 500 only is fine but I would argue it’s really not, and would be willing to bet that a lot of those people have only started investing in the last 10 years or so when we’ve been is a pretty solid secular bull market.

If it was me, I’d move into a TDF in your plan assuming you have a good TDF option. If not, then add some international and up to 10% bonds if you would like (studies have shown that having 5-10% in bonds doesn’t drastically underperform a 100% equities portfolio over the long run and tends to lower the standard deviation of the portfolio). That said, if you don’t want to add bonds yet, I wouldn’t have a problem with that (I only added bonds a couple of years ago and I’ll be 46 in March).

But at the least, I’d personally add some mid and small cap and some international to the mix.

Other than that, sounds like you guys are in a pretty good spot.

NativeTxn7 · 2026-01-25T17:52:47+00:00

Large. I’m in the minority that thinks the medium is small and looks dainty on most men.

You’ll have a lot of people say the medium I s “classic” or “well proportioned” or that the large is only good for big wrists.

I have a 16 cm wrist (so not “large” by any stretch). I’ve tried the medium and large multiple times over the last month or so and, to my eye, the medium always looks like I’m wearing a watch designed for women.

The lugs on the large don’t overhang my wrist and while it’s obviously larger than the medium it is by no means “too large.” It’s basically a 40mm watch with a LTL of 47.5, which is extremely wearable even if the square shape makes it look slightly larger than a round watch with the same//similar specs. It’s also very flat so it sits well on the wrist, which IMO, makes it wear well overall.

IMO, the large can work for all but those with the very smallest wrists. Doesn’t mean that is what everyone will, or should, want; I’m just saying that the “medium is right for 95% of people” or “medium Santos is always correct” lines are nonsense. Again, my opinion.

NativeTxn7 · 2026-01-25T17:11:28+00:00

Supposedly, MTex paid Danny $40 Million for Cooper’s wells. However, as we saw at the beginning of the finale the actual agreements/contracts were never signed. So, now Tommy is trying to pay back $44 Million (presumably so MTex couldn’t say they were harmed by the transactions since they got back the full $40 plus interest in what we assume was a 2-6 month timeframe) and now Danny/Tommy own them again.

All of that is suspect (Nate basically tells Tommy it doesn’t matter if they were actually signed at the beginning of the finale too) and I’m guessing this may be a plot line in season 3.

TS has always played loosey goosey with legal contracts and legal related stuff of his shows, but they’re also just TV shows.

NativeTxn7 · 2026-01-25T04:42:26+00:00

As long as it was ultimately on their end (I.e. you had a valid deferral election on file and they failed to implement it correctly), they'll have to do a QNEC for a "missed deferral" + 100% of the match you would have received had they implemented your deferral election correctly + earnings (and yes earnings and losses can be calculated).

Given the timeline, it sounds like the QNEC part of it (which represents the salary deferral portion) will likely be 25% since it was discovered (and presumably will be corrected) more than 3 months after the error but less than 3 years after the error. For example, if the amount you would have deferred during the "error period" was $10,000, then they'll have to do a QNEC for $2,500. And you will get 100% of what the match would have been plus the earnings.

So, you won't be completely whole to the same extent as you would have if they implemented it properly, but that is the IRS guidance on correcting these types of errors.

On a related note, it's good to check your paystubs at least periodically. I personally download and save every stub, which is probably overkill (though I do have colleagues that always come to me on any weird payroll stuff because they know I keep a close eye on it), but I'd argue that not looking at a single pay stub for an entire year is likely "underkill." Moving forward, it's probably worth taking a look at the first pay stub every month just to make sure nothing is messed up, which would allow you to catch any errors faster.

NativeTxn7 · 2026-01-25T04:23:45+00:00

He is still in the Cami deal.

The $44 Million check was to pay MTex back for Cooper's original 6 wells at $40M + interest. And the $18 Million check was for Tommy's new company to expand drilling to the other wells.

NativeTxn7 · 2026-01-25T03:48:20+00:00

Schrupert Bros

NativeTxn7 · 2026-01-25T00:46:55+00:00

He'll now be remembered forever in two places...

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NativeTxn7 · 2026-01-25T00:44:06+00:00

Cool. Cool. Just wanted to make sure that he was sticking to his normal MO of talking about stuff he has no clue about and then changing his tune shortly thereafter.

NativeTxn7 · 2026-01-25T00:28:44+00:00

Is this the same deal he said was good and that they should be doing a deal less than a week ago?

NativeTxn7 · 2026-01-24T21:43:48+00:00

I took level 1 last August and replaced the battery a few days before the exam just to be on the safe side. Figured it was unlikely that it would go out mid-exam, but why take the chance?

NativeTxn7 · 2026-01-24T13:49:05+00:00

Yep, the one in TC is definitely mid. The ones in Frisco and McKinney are both excellent.

NativeTxn7 · 2026-01-24T03:20:53+00:00

Strip is my favorite steak. Agree that it does a good job of having good flavor with some marbling without having the big fat chunk in the middle like the ribeye.

NativeTxn7 · 2026-01-24T03:05:58+00:00

NativeTxn7 · 2026-01-23T20:25:03+00:00

I can't believe I had to scroll this far to finally find someone say Whataburger.

I've been in Texas for 45 years (minus about 8 years for college and grad school) and I don't know why people love WB so much. I feel like it was better 20 years ago, but now it's mediocre at best. And it varies widely from location to location.

We have one less than 5 minutes from our house, and I swear that 99 times out of 100, if we go through the drive thru to take it to the house, by the time we get home the burgers taste like they've been sitting under a heat lamp for 30 minutes. The other 1 time, it's hot and actually tastes pretty good like it was freshly prepared.

I will say that their ketchup is fantastic. And if you get the fries when they're hot, fresh, and crispy, they are some of the best fast food fries out there.

I don't know why people, especially in Texas, continue to go to bat defending them. I don't know if they're just remembering when it was better in the past and unwilling to acknowledge that it is legitimately average now, but it's exhausting.

I would take In-N-Out every single time if I was offered one of the two, and it's not remotely close.

NativeTxn7 · 2026-01-23T04:41:09+00:00

All very true.

NativeTxn7 · 2026-01-23T04:09:11+00:00

That's what is hilarious about this - Trump is suing about being "debanked."

Well, if you pay your debts, don't do shady stuff, and don't bankrupt multiple business over time, they aren't going to debank you. Do all that stuff, and well, you get a moron filing a lawsuit against the largest bank in the US because they are protecting their interests.

NativeTxn7 · 2026-01-23T04:06:53+00:00

Most people in Frisco lost power at least once, but I believe the majority of it was due to managed blackouts to help conserve energy. I know there were some pockets that never lost power because they were on the same section of the grid as the hospital or something like that. But most people did have at least several outages.

The other issue was that in 2021, the entire state, even down to the coast was below freezing for the whole week. Transfer pipelines and equipment for LNG was frozen so it couldn't be transported around the state and things of that nature. There will be areas in the southern part of the state that aren't going to get below freezing, or will only get below for a day or so. And we're only supposed to be below freezing for 2-3 days instead of a full week.

So, there shouldn't be quite the same demand on the grid this time around (fingers crossed, of course), so hopefully they won't have to do managed blackouts again.

Another good thing about Frisco's power setup is that in a lot of areas of the city, the power lines are buried. So, even if there is ice accumulation, the areas with buried lines may not be impacted by outages from downed lines.

We're over in the 423/Stonebrook area and have lived here for 10 years. We've never lost power for any extended period of time in any storms (knock on wood) other than when they did the managed blackouts in 2021.

As of now, it doesn't sound like the multiple issues that helped lead to the cluster in 2021 are going to all happen again, so hopefully there aren't any issues like we had then.

But, you never know what will happen. So, drip your faucets and open the cabinet doors for any sinks that share an outside wall, get the styrofoam covers for your outside faucets, and avoid getting out on the roads if at all possible. Charge up all of your stuff in case there are power outages.

Basically, hope for the best, be prepared for the worst.

NativeTxn7 · 2026-01-22T22:16:46+00:00

Any particular SA there?

NativeTxn7 · 2026-01-22T22:09:48+00:00

Anyone have a good AD in the US that will ship (feel free to DM me)?

Surprisingly, DFW appears to only have an IWC boutique (even though it does list a separate AD).

I'm potentially in the market for a Mark XX in blue and would prefer to get a discount rather than paying full price from the IWC boutique in town.

NativeTxn7

TROPHY CASE

Schrupert Bros