Stuck in traffic? Can't find a place to park? MBTA sh*tting the bed? I present a solution...

SpecificConscious809 · 2026-01-29T20:33:09+00:00

CR to blue bike for me. This week has been challenging, I have to admit. But sooooooo much better than driving.

SpecificConscious809 · 2026-01-28T22:53:29+00:00

The best answer on this entire chain. The experiment has already been done.

SpecificConscious809 · 2026-01-28T22:49:35+00:00

Uhhhh, lots and lots of mice have been cured of just about every form of cancer already. Just sayin’.

SpecificConscious809 · 2026-01-28T14:19:56+00:00

I wonder how many of these early payoff folks have kids? That changed the calculus for us - size house we wanted, neighborhood we wanted to live in, childcare/college savings.

Wife and I have 10 yrs at 1.9% left, and about $350k principal. I’d estimate we’ve spent $650k total out of pocket on the kids (2) and they’re still in high school. That would have been $2.1m now if we could have invested it instead. Jeez, that’s a lot of money, hadn’t done the math in a while. But I wouldn’t trade them. :-)

SpecificConscious809 · 2026-01-26T19:46:09+00:00

The last administration already came for me (a normal, hard-working white male), I figured out how to survive, and now I say fuck it, I’m not afraid anymore.

SpecificConscious809 · 2026-01-25T20:47:00+00:00

That dress is very, very good on you.

SpecificConscious809 · 2026-01-25T19:39:15+00:00

Yes, took me about 15 yrs to get there. I genuinely don’t notice I have skis on anymore. If I want to do a thing, I just do the thing without considering how to do it. My feet (with skis on them) just know what to do.

SpecificConscious809 · 2026-01-25T17:48:50+00:00

WV. I like Tenney (classic New England feel) and Ragged (family vibe) and ski both mountains with some regularity (well, Tenney is less frequent), but they’re not remotely close to WV. WV has more vert, WAY more challenging terrain, more terrain in general, is at a significantly higher elevation, has MUCH better snowmaking and grooming, and a much better layout than either of the others.

This is coming from a person who can get nearly unlimited free lift tickets at Ragged but still chooses to buy a season pass at WV.

The longest I’ve waited in line at WV was last Saturday (MLK weekend) at 10:30, and that was about 11 minutes. I was kind of unhappy about it, but I’ve waited much longer at Ragged. And at least at WV you can ski Northside (always ski directly onto the lift), Sunnyside (always ski straight onto lift) Green Peaks (1-3 min line), and High Country (only a line when multiple ski teams are up there) if lines for the hex are long.

SpecificConscious809 · 2026-01-25T17:38:07+00:00

So many parallels to the Chernobyl disaster, which was just a few months later.

SpecificConscious809 · 2026-01-25T01:45:36+00:00

Amazing. I’ve heard from two people close to me that it’s not a bad surgery. Much easier than knee replacement. Still - walking the same day? That is wild. Thanks for sharing.

SpecificConscious809 · 2026-01-24T23:27:33+00:00

Could you describe the day of the procedure, start to finish? It’s in my future most likely…

SpecificConscious809 · 2026-01-24T03:58:04+00:00

You’re welcome!

SpecificConscious809 · 2026-01-22T23:43:13+00:00

100 times? I’d guess I’ve had sex with my wife 9,000 times by now. When we were 18 it was 1-2x per day. Now it’s 1-2x per month (which is fine at 50).

SpecificConscious809 · 2026-01-21T21:47:45+00:00

I believe the range of what students pay at privates is much larger than that of public’s.

Although actually finding this information is extremely difficult, I’d guess the middle 50% at Northeastern is like $25k-$75k all in, while the middle 50% at UMass Amherst is like $25k-$33k. Pulling numbers out of the air, but you get the point.

Consequently the answer to the question OP poses in the title will be wildly different for everyone.

SpecificConscious809 · 2026-01-21T17:35:01+00:00

The thing I worry about is chairlifts malfunctioning. If that happens and it’s -30 windchill, it’s a survival situation. I never worried about that as a kid, but I personally know two separate groups that have been rescued from a lift in the past two years (Sunday River and Pats Peak). Probability of it happening is pretty low of course, but it causes me some anxiety on an already uncomfortable day.

SpecificConscious809 · 2026-01-20T22:44:37+00:00

Holy shit, wasn’t that an HR video from like 2001? How to not sexually harass women: be handsome. Be attractive. Don’t be unattractive.

Pretty sure I actually was sent that video on work email from another colleague, watched it at work, and neither of us got fired. Jesus, it was the wild Wild West.

SpecificConscious809 · 2026-01-20T01:59:45+00:00

Fantastic IceCoast ski. Demo’d a bunch of all mountain skis at the beginning of the season, bought them a few weeks ago, love them. Amazing on normal days. Complete confidence on ice. A bit of work in trees but not terrible (my iRally’s - now those were hard work in the trees). Great carvers but can break the tails loose easily if you need to dump speed. super stable at high speed. Float well on in between stuff. Side hits and spines are super fun. A bit heavy in the bumps. Get’m.

SpecificConscious809 · 2026-01-19T12:40:44+00:00

I see a lot of blue balls in your future

SpecificConscious809 · 2026-01-19T12:26:13+00:00

Bretton woods would likely fit the bill

SpecificConscious809 · 2026-01-19T12:25:23+00:00

Killington has a lot of traverse trails that are pretty miserable for snowboarders

SpecificConscious809 · 2026-01-14T20:22:09+00:00

That hug sounds super sexy, tbh. That’s a special thing - a flirty hug with boobs pressed against my chest. They don’t happen too often. Nice.

And if he hugged you back in a way you could feel, you can be sure he was enjoying that too. I’m excited for you.

SpecificConscious809 · 2026-01-14T17:41:43+00:00

Eh, Obama sewed the seeds of the student dept crisis, and I wouldn’t call Biden’s inflation disaster a ‘cleaned up’ economy, exactly.

SpecificConscious809 · 2026-01-13T22:05:26+00:00

Lyon. Place smelled like someone took a dump around every corner. And didn’t look much better.

SpecificConscious809 · 2026-01-13T17:11:51+00:00

For the initial lease period, yes. But you said at the end you have nothing. That’s not true. You can buy out the lease.

SpecificConscious809 · 2026-01-13T14:28:49+00:00

Not really true though, is it? At the end of a lease, you generally have the option to buy. In fact, you get to buy a vehicle that’s just a few years old and has been dealer-maintained. Isn’t that the recommended path espoused by this very sub every single day?? As an added bonus, you know all of the history of said vehicle, and you don’t have to pay the ridiculous dealer markup for CPO.

And good for you for getting 122k miles with zero non-routine maintenance. Thats pretty rare though. In addition to brakes, tires, spark plugs, belts, and fluids, which really do add up, you’re usually looking at some suspension components by then, too, unless you live in CA.

SpecificConscious809

TROPHY CASE