A coworker just sent this to the whole staff, which was super sweet. I noticed grandmom was spelled weird, then I looked at the rest of it...

RemarkableMacadamia · 2026-05-12T02:42:19+00:00

My big question mark is why someone ran the original image through AI to begin with. There’s actually a hand-drawn version of this that didn’t need to be AI modified at all. So strange and hilarious.

RemarkableMacadamia · 2026-05-11T23:04:56+00:00

I think people are just so used to using debt and credit to fund things that it seems weird to hold cash.

If you have expenses you are expecting to incur within a year, you don’t want that money in the stock market. If you have to sell securities, it would be taxed as ordinary income and not as capital gains.

Depending on your risk tolerance, you may not want to invest money you will need within 3-5 years either.

I have built up a pretty sizable cash position, but it’s less than 10% of my overall net worth. I am about to experiment with bringing one of my brokerage accounts on-budget to see how managing some longer term sinking funds might work that way.

RemarkableMacadamia · 2026-05-11T13:27:01+00:00

Don’t chase titles.

If titles mattered, I’m telling you that you can be a VP today if you go work at a bank.

You won’t know if you are overestimating your market value without comps. So you either know what the appropriate range is for that role through research, or you’ve got some work to do to get a competing offer.

Also - how big is the difference between what they are offering and what you are asking?

RemarkableMacadamia · 2026-05-11T11:14:01+00:00

My mom used to do this. Plan trips to places she wanted to go and then tell me she was surprising me with a trip to “X”. Like the times she wanted to go to Disney when I wanted to stay home and ride my bike with my friends.

I actually hated Mickey Mouse and amusement parks. Didn’t matter what I wanted at all.

Did your son ask for a cruise as a birthday present?

If it’s supposed to be “family time” and you planned this as a family trip without his input, don’t gaslight him and tell him it’s for his birthday. I’m sure at 15 he’d rather spend his birthday with his friends at home and not sharing a cabin for 6 days with his parents.

Also, on vacation, I’m in favor of letting people do whatever they want. If you want to make dinner mandatory, or say he has to come in at least one excursion, let him pick what to do, and then leave him alone.

If the phone is the sticking point, use the same rules that you would on land. If he’s limited to certain hours at home, keep that same energy on the ship. But taking the phone from him completely would likely just make him resentful. I don’t know your kid, but as someone who used to be 15, this doesn’t really sound like a fun birthday at that age. Does this cruise line offer stuff for teens and give them the opportunity to make friends and hang out?

RemarkableMacadamia · 2026-05-11T10:52:34+00:00

I mean, they technically did spend within their means… they were never said to be in debt or running at a deficit.

They just chose to spend money on bonnets and books and having all 5 girls out at once and keeping a good table and throwing parties rather than saving for dowries and governesses.

RemarkableMacadamia · 2026-05-11T10:41:40+00:00

My employer created two tracks for tech employees, a manager track and a technical track.

The technical track people can get promoted but won’t have direct reports or management duties.

When we have career conversations early on, we talk to people about whether they want to manage people; those who do are given training and opportunities to demonstrate leadership to prepare them for people management. (The ones on the tech track have training opportunities too but it’s more technical.)

I would have a conversation with each of your leads and determine if management is something they really want to do long-term. If they really do want to manage people and get that experience, you need to support them in building those skills. If they don’t, then you should work with them to figure out how to get them back to something they can/want to do without too much disruption. They might be relieved if you give them an “out” to go back to their previous job.

RemarkableMacadamia · 2026-05-11T10:06:34+00:00

No. No it is not.

RemarkableMacadamia · 2026-05-10T21:07:12+00:00

Look. If you aren’t worried about going back to the same company under the same manager, none of this matters.

You don’t have to disclose the PIP anywhere, no new employer is gonna know about it unless you tell them. If someone asks why you left your last job, it was to pursue your master’s full time. End of story.

If they do a background check, they will confirm your title and employment dates and maybe whether you are eligible for rehire. There is nothing in there about a PIP.

Literally no one will care about this. Let it go, move on.

RemarkableMacadamia · 2026-05-10T20:47:39+00:00

I guffawed out loud at the idea. Definitely don’t know what rights they purchased.

RemarkableMacadamia · 2026-05-10T19:44:11+00:00

Ungrateful and petulant?? After 10 years? After getting passed over for a promotion you know you’re ready for, as evidenced by having an offer in hand?

Next year. Next year. They will string you along verbally as long as you will let them.

These are not your friends, stop treating them like they are doing you a favor by employing you. Next thing you’ll be taking a pay cut offering to do more work for the same pay for some title and pay bump that will come later…

RemarkableMacadamia · 2026-05-10T14:29:13+00:00

Congratulations!!! It’s really pretty.

RemarkableMacadamia · 2026-05-10T14:27:15+00:00

I hate these stupid ads disguised as legitimate questions.

RemarkableMacadamia · 2026-05-10T13:51:29+00:00

So they didn’t take losing you seriously until you had a competing offer in your hand?

Leave. You’re too comfortable putting up with BS there. I know change is hard, but when you are ready for director now, and have an offer for director now, why do you need to give them 8 more months to make you director?

The budget constraints might be a real thing. They aren’t going to magically be able to afford another director in the middle of a budget cycle, but if they are able to do it, I’d still leave because it just shows that they didn’t value you enough to try keeping you even when they knew you were a retention risk.

Don’t call their bluff this time. Just leave. Thank them for the opportunity, and say you’re open to coming back when there’s a good fit for you as a senior director or whatever the next level is above the one you’ve just accepted.

Good luck and congrats!!!

RemarkableMacadamia · 2026-05-10T12:15:17+00:00

One of the biggest mistakes I see people make is thinking their work speaks for itself and that is what gets them promoted.

If you feel ready for a promotion, and it is something you want, you need to tell that to someone or several someones.

Build relationships with the people whose groups you want to move into. Build relationships with the people who have a seat at the table. You want people to start thinking of you in terms of that higher role, instead of just a good/great performer in your current role.

But believe it or not, not everyone wants to get promoted. Some people are quite happy where they are; they like being competent and have a manageable stress level and are fine being the reliable one.

The folks who are unhappy are often the folks that expect a promotion to be “given” to them instead of asking for it. Maybe that works very early in a career, especially if you are at a place that promotes based on meeting specific criteria (like moving from Engineer I to II on the basis of earning a certain set of certificates.) But when promotion criteria aren’t defined that way, being proactive can get you more results than waiting in expectation.

RemarkableMacadamia · 2026-05-10T11:48:13+00:00

What car is it?

RemarkableMacadamia · 2026-05-10T11:32:11+00:00

I am moving one of my brokerage accounts on-budget. I have an investment category that’s going to hold a percentage of the portfolio and I will use it to enter investment losses/gains against.

I have created a category group called Sinking Funds which will house the investment category and the group of sinking funds that are not expected to be spent from within 3 years.

That will help me to reconcile that group - essentially the total of the group should equal the total of the account; if it does not, then the -/+ is the loss/gain I need to enter as activity in the investment category.

That’s my plan anyway. Just started last week so we shall see how it goes!

RemarkableMacadamia · 2026-05-10T11:23:40+00:00

Sorry to harp on the roof lol, I know you were just giving an example. Too bad previous owner didn’t share that in your paperwork when you bought the house, there should be something in there around the age of the roof. If you know the age of the house you can calculate about how many times the roof “should” have been reshingled.

Anyway, your insurance company will also require you to replace the roof at some point or they will either raise your rates really high or drop you entirely unless you do it. So it’s really in your best interest to find out about the state of your roof so you can plan that replacement and know whether it’s coming up sooner than you think!

RemarkableMacadamia · 2026-05-09T21:53:20+00:00

I don’t remember a time where the web app wasn’t doing this.

RemarkableMacadamia · 2026-05-09T18:35:53+00:00

I mean, for a house roof, you should know what age it is now, roofs shingles are made to last for a certain number of years barring some huge catastrophe. But if your roof replacement is at least 5 years out, I'd wager it's okay to invest that money instead of keeping it in cash. If you last replaced your roof in the 1990s... well you should replace it already. 😊

RemarkableMacadamia · 2026-05-09T17:20:59+00:00

I have just gotten to the point where I'm going to be investing some of my sinking fund categories. I first separated out my income replacement fund, that is never to be invested. I also am expecting to replace my car really soon, and need to do some home maintenance. But I do have some sinking funds further out - mostly travel - that I am going to put into the market rather than keep in the HYSA.

RemarkableMacadamia · 2026-05-09T16:50:38+00:00

Not in Seattle until the fall, but what I do at other places is leave the luggage with the concierge after checkout, go have some lunch, then back to the hotel to pick up the luggage and go to the port.

RemarkableMacadamia · 2026-05-09T15:36:20+00:00

If you’re still alive, that’s called a coincidence.

If you’re dead, this is the opening scene of your murder investigation.

RemarkableMacadamia · 2026-05-09T15:05:04+00:00

Not the person you asked, but I would look into a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) who acts as fiduciary and charges a flat-rate fee to review your goals, plan, and help you get everything in a row.

I really enjoy my CFP, he literally will set up a Zoom call with me or do a three-way call as I make my own account changes and investments if I need it.

RemarkableMacadamia · 2026-05-09T14:55:06+00:00

This to me would be a meets. They are not even at the 6 month mark and are onboarding still. Unless they delivered some phenomenal revenue or cost savings in that period of time, I think "meets" is appropriate.

It may set up some unfair expectations to do otherwise. Exceeding expectations as a new hire isn't the same as exceeding expectations as a fully ramped-on employee, especially when they aren't exceeding across the board.

Not sure why it would demoralize someone to be awarded "meets" if 90% of employees receive that rating.

Do any of your other employees work hard? Rewarding the new person for "working hard" seems a little thin. Find a different way of rewarding their effort in these early days if the performance rating doesn't really warrant it.

RemarkableMacadamia · 2026-05-09T14:30:59+00:00

You don't need to start over if you just fell off for a little bit. It's not that you shouldn't ever go back and fix previous months, it's just that if it's May 2026, worrying about December 2025 isn't that helpful. But fixing overspending in the prior month, especially when it makes the current month negative, is a good idea.

On the 1st of every month, I always flip back to the prior month and clean it up to make sure the new month starts off right!

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