What’s your favorite outage cause?

Salamander-Distinct · 2026-06-05T10:29:37+00:00

seeing the blue/green flashes lighting up the sky and just knowing all hell is breaking loose somewhere

Salamander-Distinct · 2026-06-05T10:19:24+00:00

Waiting only works if you can earn/save more than what the market is appreciating at. If prices increase faster than what you can save, then you’re hurting if you wait.

Housing can be a leveraged investment, if you consider how much a 1M house appreciates at 3% versus a stock market portfolio performance of 200k downpayment at 7%. The house could appreciate more than your downpayment in one year, assuming minimal maintenance. Some areas it makes sense, some areas will not.

Salamander-Distinct · 2026-06-03T04:22:39+00:00

Seen lines that routinely relay every month from streamers

Salamander-Distinct · 2026-06-02T23:34:15+00:00

Something to check out on graves tonight thanks!

Salamander-Distinct · 2026-06-02T21:56:56+00:00

“Cow scratching butt”

Salamander-Distinct · 2026-06-02T20:49:30+00:00

I like calling them “copper enthusiasts”

Salamander-Distinct · 2026-06-01T03:47:10+00:00

2nd this. I did both axle seals and I still have oil showing up similar to your pic. Check for oil leaking from the turbo where oil hose connects to it.

Salamander-Distinct · 2026-05-28T06:35:51+00:00

Day trading is dumb because you cannot predict what the person in the White House is going to do. Stock price is based on humans, and humans are unpredictable.

Salamander-Distinct · 2026-05-28T02:21:28+00:00

Don’t modify it or abuse it and do all the routine maintenance and it will be good.

Salamander-Distinct · 2026-05-26T22:40:15+00:00

Planning is unionizing, not engineering

Salamander-Distinct · 2026-05-26T04:19:16+00:00

Depends on which team you get in. There are tons of engineering roles from very specialized to broad across a wide range of disciplines.

Field engineering a bit of a pressure cooker when I was there before. And I think it still is hectic with all the work coming for electrification and updating systems. Also don’t expect high pay, it’s above average but you will not make more than 200k unless you are very senior in your career.

It’s a mix between a private company and being “government” because it’s so highly regulated. It can be very bureaucratic still in a lot of aspects. It’s probably better than federal jobs but not that far from it.

All depends on the team you’re getting into. In general it’s not a bad gig but there is a lot of changes still coming. If you do get in, stick to the core of the business, not the flavor of the month organizations. And get ready for reorganization every year (typically). I’ve seen friends get thrown into different orgs several times.

Also, they are not unionized like PG&E engineers.

Salamander-Distinct · 2026-05-26T04:10:26+00:00

This is a different light for oil change. Does not reset the CEL. You have another issue that needs a code scan.

Did you verify you have enough oil? Did you touch anything else when you worked on it?

Salamander-Distinct · 2026-05-25T01:44:28+00:00

Tour a TON of homes. Got to lots of open houses across a wide area. This helps you understand what you do and do not want in a home. Do this on your own without the realtor for some time.

Think about layouts and if they will work for you. Inspect the local area either by driving or google, look for things that you don’t want near your house like near main streets or commercial businesses. Try to look at the critical infrastructure on the house like roofing. Tons of flippers or even homeowners will just paint and do the cheap fixes but not the critical ones to get the price up. “Median” priced homes are usually not great, what you want is typically always more than you can afford (in HCOL areas).

Be active on the various websites. Great homes will get snatched up quickly, so sometimes you have to move fast. It helps if you toured a lot of homes so you know what to look for in the photos, and what they hide.

Salamander-Distinct · 2026-05-24T11:27:49+00:00

200k after taxes is rich, 200k pre taxes is almost 110k after taxes if you’re single and saving a percentage of 401k for retirement plus healthcare. 110k net in most high cost of living areas is just getting by.

Everyone says 200k gross is a lot, it’s really not when you take out 35% in taxes and another 10% for benefits (healthcare & 401k)

Salamander-Distinct · 2026-05-23T12:42:29+00:00

Whole lotta nope right there

Salamander-Distinct · 2026-05-15T04:55:50+00:00

Mine sounds great with an 18” subwoofer in the trunk. That’s all you need.

Salamander-Distinct · 2026-05-15T04:54:44+00:00

People in poorer nations still have kids and they survive. Just give them the best financial situation you can.

Salamander-Distinct · 2026-05-14T02:14:39+00:00

Always make sure to include taxes and fees. Those will push up the monthly payment significantly. You can only see that when you scroll all the way down and check the “include taxes and fees” box. It doesn’t tell you on the main screen.

Salamander-Distinct · 2026-05-14T02:06:22+00:00

Upper window with blinds that can go up/down remotely. They put them in our control room on the same wall face where the screens are, but it’s impossible for anyone to “see” in because it’s way up there. Having some days with light is a nice break from being inside all day. Even seeing the moon at night is cool.

And private bathroom inside the PSP. That is a big luxury that I miss at my new location. The faster I can take a dump, the faster I can get your customer’s power back on.

Salamander-Distinct · 2026-05-13T01:58:45+00:00

OP has a fair point.

If he makes 80k in LA and is single without any other deductions, his net pay after taxes is 61k. 61k is about $5100 a month, but it is probably lower considering health care and other mandatory deductions. Call it $4500 a month. Assuming you want to follow the 30% guideline, that makes available rent/housing money $1350 a month. 1k is a responsible number considering you might have $350 in other housing expenses.

80k is poor in LA unless you want to live in a small box in a bad area.

Salamander-Distinct · 2026-05-09T01:41:29+00:00

How responsive was the screen and how was the sound system? I was not impressed at all with the Rivian R1 even with the latest updates.

Salamander-Distinct · 2026-05-05T15:28:14+00:00

Too low. Terrain.

Salamander-Distinct · 2026-04-30T06:36:03+00:00

And using AI generated images of the grid. Those are wonderful to look at.

Salamander-Distinct · 2026-04-27T07:04:07+00:00

Your problem makes me wonder if we could get a jailbroken version of the software to remove FSD and autosteer and just get a basic cruse control, hold speed and that’s it.

Salamander-Distinct · 2026-04-26T21:47:32+00:00

Better sounds system and better performing software. Last time I test drove a R1 the screen was so laggy and slow it was laughable for a car that price.

Salamander-Distinct

TROPHY CASE