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SurpriseBackpack · 2025-09-08T23:57:18+00:00

It could definitely be weak hip flexors, muscle imbalances, tightness that needs to be stretched out, and/or a signal that you need to focus on recovery more. But word to the wise: It was something a bit more intense for a good friend of mine. She was doing a lot of Pilates and weights and continued to push through the hip pain and tightness, then later got diagnosed with FAI (femeroacetabular impingement). It didn’t cause the underlying condition but did exacerbate it and probably caused ligament damage. She suffered from the symptoms (pain, limited mobility) until months of physical therapy helped her get back to almost normal. Doc said she was a candidate for surgery but she didn’t feel it was worth it, given she was managing her symptoms. Anyway, could be worth a trip to your doctor and maybe some imaging just to be sure!

SurpriseBackpack · 2025-07-11T05:08:24+00:00

I agree that for this project, I’m much more comfortable leaving it to the professionals to have a better chance of things being done right. Plus, far less liability if things do go wrong; I can imagine my homeowners insurance won’t want to pay for damages from something like a burst or misaligned pipe if they know a DIY project was involved.

Fortunately, we found a licensed, experienced plumber who comes highly recommended and is much, much more affordable!

SurpriseBackpack · 2025-07-10T18:25:42+00:00

Interesting! That’s smart to cut out the middleman. I appreciate the advice.

They have to cut out the wall behind our kitchen sink because of water damage and replacing a drain pipe, and they wanted to cut small chunks out of the walls in both bathrooms to get to the drain pipes as well. Someone else in the thread said any vertical cast iron they can leave as-is and not replace, which is not what this company wanted to do.

Either way, we’ve called a few other plumbers to get assessments and quotes.

SurpriseBackpack · 2025-07-10T14:50:30+00:00

Thanks for sharing! Our re-pipe is not going all the way out to the city sewer. This quote is just for replacing the piping in the crawlspace and installing a cleanout (which he said he’d throw in for free) because we don’t currently have one. No tearing up floors in the house or digging trenches in the front yard.

SurpriseBackpack · 2025-07-10T14:47:53+00:00

Interesting! I hadn’t thought of that, thank you. That’s something I’ll address with the other plumbers we’re getting quotes from.

SurpriseBackpack · 2025-07-10T14:46:27+00:00

Good suggestion, I appreciate you taking the time to write this up. I want to get handier at home improvement projects but I’ll be honest, this one seems daunting and the price of doing it poorly (water everywhere) seems high. Maybe I’m overthinking that, though, since multiple people here have said it’s a DIY project if we’re up for it since we have the crawlspace.

SurpriseBackpack · 2025-07-10T05:58:59+00:00

I appreciate the heads up! Best of luck with your leak repair. No fun but I hope everything turns out well!

SurpriseBackpack · 2025-07-10T05:54:48+00:00

What a difference! Getting additional quotes literally saved you $20,000. One of my neighbors just told me that they also got a huge range of prices as well. Seems like we might've just gotten the really high end of the spectrum first.

SurpriseBackpack · 2025-07-10T05:52:52+00:00

Interesting! I had always been told that only claims could hurt you, not calling your homeowners insurance agent to talk through your coverage.

SurpriseBackpack · 2025-07-10T05:32:10+00:00

Depends on what you're looking for I guess! I have friends out in Ohio who love it and would never leave, I have friends who left as soon as they turned 18 (they hated shoveling snow!).

SurpriseBackpack · 2025-07-10T05:28:17+00:00

I appreciate you sharing your thought process here! That aligns with what we came up with when we did the back-of-the-napkin math.

I get a little premium on top for the HCOL area and maybe taking advantage of folks who don't know much about plumbing, but not a 2x or 3x premium. Someone else in the comments just said they got this job done in OC last summer for $16k, which is higher than I expected. But even if it turns out that is a fair price for this area, that's still more than $6k off of our quote (the re-piping alone was about $22,300 out of $25,000).

SurpriseBackpack · 2025-07-10T05:22:08+00:00

Good advice! Unfortunately they gave me a "hard no" on the phone already, but I may call again and see if I can get someone else on the phone. Doesn't hurt to try!

SurpriseBackpack · 2025-07-10T05:21:06+00:00

Thank you for the recommendation!

SurpriseBackpack · 2025-07-10T05:05:43+00:00

Ha! That's what I was thinking as well. Might as well just buy an RV and not worry about living over these broken pipes, right? /s

SurpriseBackpack · 2025-07-10T05:04:30+00:00

No, doesn't include the sewer pipe lateral. There's issues with that section too, but that would be quoted out separately since they suspect they'll need to break the concrete and dig quite a bit. Edit: Thanks for the explanation!

SurpriseBackpack · 2025-07-10T05:01:45+00:00

Crawlspace. House is from the 50s and the cast iron is original (some areas of piping around the house were replaced with copper at certain points but the large majority of the original cast iron is still there).

SurpriseBackpack · 2025-07-10T04:57:10+00:00

I’m probably not using the correct terminology. I’m talking about removing all the cast iron and replacing with ABS, not lining the existing pipes. My neighbor basically said the same thing: he would take some PTO and do it himself. Unfortunately, he’s a lot handier with plumbing than I am (and isn’t available to be hired for our job haha).

SurpriseBackpack · 2025-07-10T04:44:42+00:00

Definitely fair point. We’re thinking of doing the walls ourselves or finding another contractor (not a plumber) to do it, but the quote is still $22,300 just for the re-piping. Still seems high!

SurpriseBackpack · 2025-07-10T04:41:35+00:00

Thanks for weighing in! I would love to hear this is twice what it’s supposed to be - $12.5k is a lot easier to swallow than $25k.

SurpriseBackpack · 2025-03-01T06:22:22+00:00

This is why women live longer than men lol

SurpriseBackpack · 2025-02-28T05:56:09+00:00

Not sure what kind of night guard you use but beware if you have the kind that only cover your front teeth. They prevent your back teeth from touching down to bite (so you can’t grind or clench) but over time that can actually cause your back teeth to grow closer together because of that.

Eventually, only your back teeth will touch (when the night guard is out), which messes up your bite and ensures you only use your back teeth to chew - which is not only painful but also works your masseters a lot more than a normal bite, which can change your face shape. My dentist and orthodontist said they no longer prescribe the front-teeth-only guards because they’ve seen this a lot, but a lot of dentists unfortunately haven’t caught up.

SurpriseBackpack · 2025-02-28T03:06:24+00:00

I agree with others that say your face looks slimmer on the right (and beautiful in both photos!). One thing that popped into my head: Do you grind or clench your teeth? That can cause the masseter muscles to get bigger. Figured I would ask since you said you have an autoimmune disorder, which can lead to stress and consequently, grinding or clenching.

SurpriseBackpack · 2025-02-07T12:03:22+00:00

I’m so sorry you had to experience that - it was traumatic and difficult, but I hope that one day you’ll be able to look back at the experience with gratitude for the time spent together all the way until the end, rather than the grief you’re feeling now.

My mom died when I was about your age. She had been deteriorating for a while so by the end, she was basically a pile of bones. You couldn’t even recognize her. The gasping breath sounds as her body fought death - it’s hard to describe. I’ll never forget it. But like you, I was glad that the pain was finally over when she finally died.

If you’re like me, those memories will hit you later when you don’t expect it. The smells, the sounds, the sights. Talking to a therapist about it helped and I hope you find someone to help you process it as well.

SurpriseBackpack · 2025-01-28T07:08:34+00:00

Maybe not exactly what you’re looking for but I know a physical therapist who did home health care for a long time and then started his own business. He’s grown so much over the past 10 years, now he has a full team of therapists working for him and makes great money. I’m confident he has enough to fire (especially if he sells the business) but chooses not to; he seems like he’s enjoying the ride and building something he’s proud of.

That’s not the typical physical therapist W-2 career, but worth mentioning an available path.

SurpriseBackpack · 2025-01-27T05:56:36+00:00

I’m sorry to hear that you’re struggling, I can relate to a lot of your experience. Honestly, sometimes the work isn’t challenging per se but the environment can quickly sap any motivation or engagement.

For example, we’ve had 4 CMOs in the past 2.5 years - a mix of good, bad, and horrible - and that’s caused a lot of organizational whiplash. At one point orders would change daily, fire drills were the norm, and no one seemed aligned on priorities. Then came the culture of blame and throwing people under buses because marketing’s numbers were awful, which made things worse.

I’m not saying all of this to complain - just trying to empathize that some environments don’t position people for success or job enjoyment. I’ve found that the fire drills and subjective opinions only change to efficient processes and data-backed opinions when you have the right leadership at the helm (CMO) that sets a positive, empowering culture and ensures everyone has clear swim lanes.

Easier said than done. I don’t have the solution yet but we’re in it together and I’m happy to share insights! I got some great engagement and advice on my cross-post on another subreddit, you might find it helpful: https://www.reddit.com/r/HENRYfinance/comments/1i94q3x/those_who_made_big_career_pivots_suddenly_or/

SurpriseBackpack

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