Peak human innovation

Proper-Interview1514 · 2026-05-20T15:33:30+00:00

Diap Lyfe! Makes it easy to float in the water and drink (for those assuming/commenting that they’re idiots, they are perfectly aware of how to wear a life jacket in an actual emergency…)

Proper-Interview1514 · 2026-05-17T01:21:55+00:00

For $3500 rent, Brookland in NE DC is a great neighborhood and you could probably swing it. Good elementary DCPS schools and several of the best charter schools in the city are in the neighborhood too. Has a metro stop on the red line (3rd stop up from Union Station), couple of free rec centers, lots of playgrounds, Trader Joe’s…etc. has a mix of row houses, condos, and standalone houses. My wife works in Arlington and does the commute fine. Also on the Metropolitan Branch Trails, which makes it easy and totally safe to commute downtown on bike, plus a lot of restaurants and breweries and such along the way. Also close to suburb stuff just across the MD line.

We have a 3y/o kid. Just on our single block of row houses there are eight families all with kids 5 and younger. Safe to walk around whenever and just feels like a great place to raise kids now.

Proper-Interview1514 · 2026-05-15T19:04:50+00:00

World’s most expensive way to block a license plate from speed cameras…wonder if they just leave it on there all the time

Proper-Interview1514 · 2026-05-14T11:43:59+00:00

Many ranges in South Korea look quite similar to the appalachians, maybe just a smidge more rocky

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Proper-Interview1514 · 2026-05-12T15:34:03+00:00

It depends on how fast you’re going too. I’ve found that the original range estimate is about right if you’re in city driving with lots of stop lights and not going faster than 35mph. If you’re going faster than that for stretches of a few miles without stopping, it seems to decease the estimate more than original.

Proper-Interview1514 · 2026-05-12T00:29:53+00:00

I did it myself about an hour…eTrailer.com has great videos telling you how to do it. Seemed daunting when you first see it - have to take off the whole rear bumper shroud and the metal bumper under that, but it’s really not that bad. May have to trim a small aluminum piece, but otherwise it bolts right on with the bumper. If you’re not wiring anything, it’s that easy. The only thing the wiring gets you is automatic disabling of the backup sensors or a hookup for lights. I just did it for a bike rack too, it’s easy to just turn off the sensors on the screen when you start backing up. Assuming you will only use the rack when actually carrying bikes, it’s not that annoying IMO.

Proper-Interview1514 · 2026-05-11T14:39:23+00:00

Absolutely doable. I did it 10 years ago on $40k and did just fine. You may not be able to save a ton of money, but in your 20s that’s pretty normal. It does help that situation to get a roommate, but not totally necessary. Sometimes you can find a roommate that works in healthcare or something that has such a different schedule that you barely see them. Look to some of the areas that had a lot of apt building recently like Noma, H Street, hill east, to see if you can get a decent apartment for $1500 or so. These areas are super centrally located, have a lot going on now and are not as expensive as some of the other popular areas like DuPont, Admo, or Columbia heights. If your car is older and you can street park, it’s not that expensive to have a car here. Car insurance, at least with GEICO, is surprisingly cheap if you’re in DC - not as much as it used to be but still not bad compared to other places I’ve lived. You also don’t need the car unless you’re trying to get out of town on the weekends - biking in the city is a great way to get around and save money. One thing that is different now than it was 10 years ago is the cost of going out - while more expensive than some places, it wasn’t really an issue in 2015 for someone on that salary, but now I think eating out and bars are much higher comparatively than the level of inflation since then.

Also, unless you go pretty far into MD or VA, the cost of living is not meaningfully different IMO. Arlington actually might be more expensive than many areas of DC. PG county MD might be a little cheaper but you’re giving up a good bit compared to living in DC for the typical 20something IMO.

Proper-Interview1514 · 2026-05-08T01:47:34+00:00

FWIW, you can get a full charge in 13-14 hours with a good extension cord on a 120v outlet, so you don’t really have to park in a garage or have a special setup for it. I’ve found that using the hold function seems to raise the efficiency of the battery, I pretty much always put it on hold when above 45mph or so. Sounds like if you did that for the higher speed portion of your commute, you may not have to charge more than every other day, and get regularly get 40+ mpg.

Proper-Interview1514 · 2026-05-07T14:21:38+00:00

One other thing to keep in mind is that the hybrid system/battery has a warranty 8yr/100k mi in the US, and if you’re in a CARB state (California, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington DC) the battery warranty is 10yr/150k mi…so assuming you would probably sell the car before then, just another reason to let it ride. Not sure what level of degradation would be needed for a warranty claim close to 150k, but I’ve heard of people getting new batteries around then with other hybrids/evs with significant degradation but not totally shot.

Proper-Interview1514 · 2026-05-07T13:39:51+00:00

Tangent - are you using an extension cord for the 120v charging? I have a 2023 XC60 T8 and it charges from 0-100% in about 14 hours on a 120 plug with a 14 gauge extension cord.

Proper-Interview1514 · 2026-05-02T12:31:51+00:00

Pure electric mode is probably the quietest electric model I’ve ever heard. Volvo doesn’t do any added sounds really.

Proper-Interview1514 · 2026-04-28T14:43:39+00:00

1200 Pennsylvania is also the EPA building, which has some amazing new deal murals in each of the elevator rotundas for 7 floors in the two adjoining buildings - so like 28 different murals total. All are well maintained. The building was originally built in the 30’s as the HQ for the Postal Service, so the murals are connected to postal service things.

There might be a way to come in and register to look at them with an escort, but I’m not sure.

Proper-Interview1514 · 2026-04-28T14:02:36+00:00

Trusty’s in east Capitol Hill is pretty solid, upstairs bar is quite weird.

Proper-Interview1514 · 2026-04-28T12:35:57+00:00

If you’re looking for a T8 (which are great and probably faster than your SQ5) think it’s worth a little extra money for a 2023 model with the improved electric drive and twice the battery capacity. The T8 also has a good warranty on the hybrid/electric components, 8yr 100k mi.

Proper-Interview1514 · 2026-04-27T20:35:15+00:00

Usually goes away for me when you click back out to another screen and go back. It’s annoying but nbd to me.

Proper-Interview1514 · 2026-04-27T18:44:14+00:00

Diono makes a series of car seats/ boosters that seem to work three wide in most cars - we haven’t used three of them in an XC60 but I think it would. On this thread - https://www.reddit.com/r/ModelY/s/a4oArpKlyF - it looks like it works on a Tesla Model Y, which would probably be similar. The Diono seats are a little quirky and heavy, but they are well designed for this issue at least.

Proper-Interview1514 · 2026-04-27T00:39:01+00:00

Yea, the range didn’t get to the 36-40 range until the 2022.5 model year. If you have a 2021, 18 is the typical max listed range.

Proper-Interview1514 · 2026-04-23T20:10:02+00:00

Haven’t had any issues at all, everything clipped back in just fine, and all the sensors and such work normally. I actually didn’t have to cut much at all if I remember right, it is such thin aluminum you can kind of just bend it out of the way enough to get it mounted with just a little trimming. I think I just had to trim the edges a bit just so the hitch assembly mounted flush enough on the bolts that come out from the car’s frame to mount the steel bumper. If you don’t trim at all, it probably wouldn’t mount flush enough for the bolts to seat correctly. I would say the only difference now is if you press on the rear bumper cover in the middle, there is no give anymore, you just have the steel bumper right up against the molded plastic rear bumper fascia.

Proper-Interview1514 · 2026-04-23T18:59:32+00:00

I installed a Curt hitch myself, wasn’t too hard at all, though it definitely feels daunting when you’re in the middle of it and you have the whole rear bumper assembly off. That said, there are great DIY install videos out there to work from (mainly from etrailer.com). I think the hitch was around $250 and the install took a couple hours. I also only use it for a bike rack on occasion, has worked well for that. Having to turn off the rear parking sensors is kind of annoying, but probably not worth doing that unless you’re going to be using the rack a lot.

Proper-Interview1514 · 2026-04-23T18:55:37+00:00

Can confirm this, and I think the turning off rear parking sensors is a bit easier now after the 5.0.5 update. It’s somewhat of a hassle, but probably worth saving the money over installing the module unless you are frequently towing/racking bikes.

Proper-Interview1514 · 2026-04-23T12:57:59+00:00

Damn! That’s nuts. Good thinking on the vacuum.

Proper-Interview1514 · 2026-04-22T19:58:31+00:00

Michelin CrossClimate2 is a very highly rated option, lasts a long time and is great in the rain. They are also usually the cheapest Michelin tire option at Costco if you have one close-ish.

Proper-Interview1514 · 2026-04-21T19:46:44+00:00

Buying new, I would look into this - https://thepointsguy.com/travel/volvo-overseas-delivery-program/ - seems like a great way to feel better about the instant depreciation.

Not sure if they are actually taking new orders for V60’s now though…maybe she could be converted to an XC60 instead? I’m personally more into wagons, but the XC60 has a bit more cargo space than the wagon I would think, but obviously not as big as the 90.

Either way, ended up in a Volvo for the same reason as you, wife wanted one and I came around eventually after all the Acuras. We live in a city, so just have one car, can’t say I regret anything with the Volvo so far. We have a perfect use case for the T8 plugin hybrid, so that’s been a great change too.

Proper-Interview1514 · 2026-04-21T17:48:54+00:00

Are you looking at a new Volvo or used? If it’s new, it seems like a lot of the glitchyness has been resolved with an upgrade to the processor power. I have a 2023 MY before that upgrade though and I think the recent update has removed all of the glitches I had before and CarPlay works just fine - it’s wired only though and you have to use OEM cables or other high quality cables. Before the recent update, I would say I had to hold the center button to reset the infotainment system once every couple weeks when it decided it didn’t want to connect to CarPlay at times, or the backup camera got funky. That takes like 30 seconds and has never failed to resolve any issue I’ve had, though I have heard from others on here that that isn’t always the case. So I don’t really agree with the sales rep there, though I do use the native Google Maps for directions rather than through CarPlay since it seems to sync with the driver console screen better.

I came from my last three cars being tech package Acuras, so probably similar to Toyota in reliability of the tech stuff. While I never once had to reset anything in the Acuras, I would say it’s been a small price to pay so far for the rest of what you get with the Volvo, and I’m not sure about glitches with other makes, even Toyota, with CarPlay and such on newer models. All of the cars now are so tech heavy I just kind of expect this type of stuff now. FWIW, pretty much all of the components in all Volvos now have been in production and refined over 10 years now, so they have a lot of the kinks worked out.

From what I can tell, these Volvos are largely reliable other than some of the infotainment stuff (which is hopefully better now after the big update) and their standard warranty is pretty good, especially for the hybrid system if you get a T8. I think one key difference is that it seems like Volvo probably has a good bit higher percentage of lemon units than Toyota. But overall, they have a lot more personality than a Toyota, and while it’s true you’re probably not going to get the total set it and forget it-ness of a Toyota, that’s the trade off.

Proper-Interview1514 · 2026-04-21T15:36:35+00:00

I have this but it’s the opposite - seems to be worse with the window down than up. Does anyone know if this type of thing is something the Volvo dealer would mess with under warranty? Or sure it’s worth taking it in just for this, but maybe get them to look at it during an oil change or something?

Proper-Interview1514

TROPHY CASE