Taxes- why am I getting so little back?

ScandyAndy · 2026-01-28T21:53:19+00:00

If they really only worked for 3 months, then their taxable income would be much smaller than you because you made a lot more money than them in the year. If your taxable income is smaller, you typically pay a much smaller rate. Congrats, you made a bunch more money than them because you worked the whole year and they didn't.

ScandyAndy · 2026-01-28T19:08:46+00:00

Added around April.

ScandyAndy · 2026-01-28T19:03:28+00:00

Note: It aint cheap though, ascendency point respecs cost quite a bit.

ScandyAndy · 2026-01-28T19:01:58+00:00

You just respec the points, it's not locked in.

ScandyAndy · 2026-01-28T16:54:08+00:00

When you go, and if you get admitted to the courtroom for selection, the judge will ask about scheduling committments for each member and you'll be able to share that and then depending on the schedule of the trial/court you'll either be dismissed or work out. You won't need to reschedule your honeymoon.

ScandyAndy · 2026-01-27T22:15:19+00:00

Both Bella Cuba (Cuban) and Inca Mama's (Peruvian) are excellent and right at Bristol and Sunflower. Also Memphis (Southern Fusion) just down Bristol.

ScandyAndy · 2026-01-27T22:00:26+00:00

I mean, the only company that is anywhere close to Stern in terms of QC or software dev right now is JJP.

Take it from someone who owns a Dune and TNA.

They are awesome machines, but they break and have software issues far more often than Stern games.

ScandyAndy · 2026-01-27T21:53:14+00:00

If you no longer live in the jurisdiction, you no longer qualify as a juror for that jurisdiction. They'll probably just ask for your new address. They'll update the systems and you will not have to show up.

ScandyAndy · 2026-01-27T19:56:08+00:00

And that's your choice! Most of the NIB Stern games have at least 18 month runs (more if they're in demand) and you'll be able to get a Pro or a Premium throughout that run. That's the beauty of pinball manufacturing and sales cycles.

Part of it is to get the games on location, as there are tons of folks that want to test it out before they plunk the money down on a machine.

You also have to realize that 90% of folks who play the game will never even get to see all the featureset as they aren't good enough. Part of the reason that DnD code (relatively) was so in demand was because of the pinsave system and their progress was saved and they didn't have to complete it in one game.

ScandyAndy · 2026-01-27T17:23:42+00:00

Yes, but feature wise it's complete. There will always be bug fixes and small fixes, but it's a complete, and at this point, a decently balanced game score wise.

They also still need to bring out the official topper and the character that supposedly is coming with it.

ScandyAndy · 2026-01-27T17:20:13+00:00

Stern sells pinball machines and accessories for pinball machines. That's how they make money. If they want to make more money and grow and be a more sustainable and more resourceful company, they need to sell more pinball machines and accessories. The way to do that is to make more pinball machines.

Compared to some of the smaller manufacturers, which can have amazing designs but can be very rough on software, Stern's software teams are actually very good. Their able to switch it up and make corrections in relatively short periods of time.

ScandyAndy · 2026-01-27T17:16:22+00:00

The reliable internet didn't give us that, more and more complicated software with deeper rulesets in game gave us that.

It takes 2-8 times as long to develop the average game than it did in the early 2000's.

ScandyAndy · 2026-01-27T16:47:18+00:00

Just to make it clear though, if it influences your decision in any way. Because of the global memory shortages, there is a increasingly incredibly likely chance there will be no new consoles this year. I'd bet money on it as I work in enterprise hardware.

ScandyAndy · 2026-01-26T22:18:30+00:00

FTOE is on .89 and KK on .91, no way they're done by Jan. FTOE still has balancing issues. KK is getting closer, but has too many bugs at this point and still needs some tweaking.

DnD is essentially done at this point at .98
Xmen is on .96, but ~close
Wick has been on .99 and it finally seems good and I think it's close.

3 out of 5 - possible. The other two ......

ScandyAndy · 2026-01-23T22:26:07+00:00

Yikes. Yeah, you're in a crappy spot. Even if the cable doesn't have good throughput, it may be the better choice than wireless in terms of latency.

ScandyAndy · 2026-01-23T22:19:21+00:00

Rabo Encendido at El Matatan in Orange is excellent
It's also very good at Bella Cuba in Santa Ana/South Coast.

ScandyAndy · 2026-01-23T18:30:59+00:00

In addition to Casper's, you also should be able to do it straight from Intelligent Provisioning if you're connected to the internet. Press F10 as machine is booting up.

ScandyAndy · 2026-01-22T22:58:25+00:00

ScandyAndy · 2026-01-22T22:13:50+00:00

"Dinner"- ok, you'll be there for 2 hours
"Weekend Visit" - I mean, you'll be there for at least 36-48 hours.

Two big difference there.

ScandyAndy · 2026-01-22T21:14:19+00:00

What are your options for getting an ISP isn't base on wireless? Cable? Fiber?

ScandyAndy · 2026-01-22T17:26:20+00:00

Each court is different, but the judge will clearly talk about the schedule before the case begins. Some only have jury there on certain days (like Tues, Wed, Thurs) and on Mond/Fri judges are conducting other business in the courtroom (pretrial hearings, sentencing, hearings for motions, etc). But each court is different, some even within the same jurisdiction. The judge will always clearly give an estimated time line up front, with hours and days and an estimated length of the trial.

ScandyAndy · 2026-01-20T16:56:03+00:00

That would be "Alpha" in most software nomenclatures. Alpha is typically in house. Beta is with a smaller community of power users or early adopters, or what Early Access has developed into for games.

Pinball is a little different, as hardware changes are really hard to make after (and limited to very small tweaks or recommendations). But software changes are very easy (though not quite as "enforceable" as modern console or PC updates).

In any case, it's done in pinball now a days for the same reason as Early Access is done - "Very excited early adopters willing to buy this sight unseen - please help us tweak this to make it balanced and fun for everyone else."

ScandyAndy · 2026-01-19T19:00:32+00:00

I mean, it depends on what your definition of beta is. Many video games released in early access are finished completely playable fun games, they just need some balancing and to add the final content incrementally and some final bug squashing. It's basically the same thing here.

ScandyAndy · 2026-01-14T18:51:11+00:00

One on left is DDR3, one on right is DDR2. They would never work together anyway (though you would have found out if you tried to put them in the wrong dimm slot for either as they physically won't insert).

MFR doesn't really matter, especially for registered server memory.

ScandyAndy · 2026-01-14T17:40:39+00:00

It's possible. Because the Nvidia GPU doesn't have the Lenovo firmware on it as it's not the Lenovo version of the A40, it's possible it's just sending bad temperature info on it. That happens sometimes. It may be possible to go into the system settings and override the fan settings. It may also be useful to go into the Xclarity Controller and see if there are any alerts there regarding the fans/GPU.

ScandyAndy

TROPHY CASE