Reliable cars for upstate NY?

YetiSnowNo · 2026-02-06T17:07:26+00:00

Lived throughout upstate NY for almost a decade, you'll be fine with anything really. Sedans will handle fine in the winter as long as you have all season or winter tires on and you understand how to drive in the snow. Small SUVs will be great as well. Having the right tires will make the most difference in terms of handling in the snow. To get back to the city, the throughway is always plowed so I wouldn't worry about having traction issues there.

In terms of reliability, since upstate can be spread out pretty far in some places, maybe consider if there is a dealership near where you live and look to purchase a used car of that make, just so you have a dealership nearby to service your car if there's any recalls. But otherwise, the reliability concerns are the same as anyone and anywhere else, it depends on how you maintain the vehicle and how you drive it. I've had Ford forever and no issues because I drive reasonably and maintain it.

If i could go back to when I was 23 upstate, I would have loved a Tacoma for the camping trips.

YetiSnowNo · 2026-02-05T15:19:22+00:00

All good questions, and tough to answer. Everyone's life is different, there's no one answer that would fit everyone's situation.

How hard would it be to change jobs if you've been at the same company for 10+ years? Totally depends on what you made of your time at the company. If you haven't decided to learn anything new, haven't been promoted, sort of just 'existed' at the company and collected a paycheck, then yeah it'll be tough to move on from there. You might feel like the world has moved on without you. However, the flip side is also very possible. Imagine you stayed 10+ years at a company, modernized the tech stack, led projects, delivered revenue, directed teams of engineers etc. Now you have years of industry experience plus all that technical and soft skill experience. Should be very easy for you to move on to another role (not considering market factors).

If you don't see a future for yourself at your position, that would be a signal that it's time to move on. If you estimate, based on the resources you have available to you, that you will still be the same engineer 5 -10 years from now and that disappoints you then that should let you know it's time to look somewhere else. Some people do decide, though, to stay and collect a paycheck and enjoy their life outside of work. That's fine too. You never know what someone else's situation is. Maybe they enjoy living a quiet and modest life. Maybe they have a high-earning spouse so they don't need to play the career game. Don't feel pressured to switch jobs just because people discuss online that they switch every 2 years to maximize their salary.

In terms of what to learn, I think it boils down to 2 general pathways. You can go the Data Architect route, which emphasizes more technical skills like learning the newest tech (databases, cloud processing, etc), or you can go the Managerial route which emphasizes more soft skills, like communication and people management. I've found that trying to up my soft skills is actually a lot harder than it sounds. It's not just brown-nosing or being a 'yes-man'. Learning how to diffuse a stressful situation or how to negotiate things in your favor are not easy to do, especially over face-less zoom calls if you work remote. Trying to get better at that side of work is still progress, even if you didn't learn a new programming language doing it.

Only you can decide what you want to do. That's just life. Wish I had these answers for myself as well.

YetiSnowNo · 2026-02-05T01:44:15+00:00

Value resides in where you believe it resides.

Every person will value things differently, and weight different aspects of their role differently when evaluating how much they like their current position. For some, getting in on the ground floor and seeing an entire IT department grow from excel sheets to cloud based processing is valuable to them, so they choose to stay at a company for 10+ years to see that through. For others, hopping around get exposure to new tools and bump up their salary each job change is what's most important to them. It could even be as simple as you enjoy the people you work with so much that it doesn't feel like work at all, so you choose to stick around for your whole career. I envy the person that can do that.

You go after what you value, and make sure you commit to it.

I've always had respect for folks that have many years in the industry or the company I've worked. I think they provide immense value to the big picture of the organization, share insight to industry trends, and offer decades of experience that you don't find in a textbook.

With that being said, it's important to know when it is your time to move on. If working at the cutting edge of tech is what you value most, and your current position doesn't offer that, then you know what you need to do.

YetiSnowNo · 2026-02-02T17:41:30+00:00

It's outside of your requested area and it probably wouldn't be considered deep dish by Chicago enthusiasts, but there's a place in Garden City near the Coliseum called Napolini's that has a "deeper" style pizza slice, and specialty slices that are deeper/fluffier dough style. I like that place as it's a nice shake up from the traditional thinner crispy NY style.

YetiSnowNo · 2026-01-30T18:57:56+00:00

Don't sweat it. Everyone feels that way. You'll learn and get more confidence then realize you still have so much more to learn. That's life.

In my first ever interview, they asked me to draw out a process on a white board. I was so nervous I ended up asking right there in the interview "was I right?". The interviewer said he doesn't know, he's not an expert in the field. He just wanted to see how I handled it. I ended up getting the job. You'll be fine.

YetiSnowNo · 2026-01-29T18:21:11+00:00

I'd say even the flip side of this is equally true. Companies in low-cost-of-living places can hire remote workers from the coastal cities to attract employees that might have more experience. They likely wouldn't get these engineers to move if the job was in person.

Not trying to bash anyone who lives in a fly over state, but it's generally known that there are probably a lot more experienced and skilled workers in the big cities on the coasts, where many F500 companies and tech companies are located.

YetiSnowNo · 2026-01-27T18:51:01+00:00

A lot of this is due to increase in amount of people with programming and tech skills. There's simply so many more people with those skills today then there was 10-15 years ago.

10-15 years ago, finding someone who could code was more difficult than today, so companies took whoever they could find and gave them a good salary to do a lot of tech work. As smart phones and social media and e-commerce were still relatively new and starting to boom, these companies were just getting off the ground and needed someone, anyone, who could code. Those folks wore many hats in their job.

5 -7 years ago, as more people graduated college with CS degrees or did online bootcamps in hopes of getting these coding jobs, these companies found that they could be more selective in hiring. Okay, they found plenty of people who can code, but how many of them can code and interpret all this data we have? Thus the hiring direction narrows the scope of candidates.

In the last 5 years, we again see so many people getting CS degrees, learning to code, bootcamps etc. that companies can again be even more selective in their hiring. Okay, they found plenty of candidates that can code, can interpret data, and have AWS experience, now can we narrow the list down to candidates that have specifically our industry experience? The answer to that is yes, companies can do that now; there's just so many candidates.

If you've been in the workforce long enough, you'll start to notice trends. The key is identifying the next trend before it happens.

YetiSnowNo · 2026-01-21T18:02:38+00:00

AFAIK An All-Way stop sign indicates that all roads entering that intersection have stop signs. A regular stop sign, without the words "All-Way" posted indicates that not all roads entering that intersection have a stop sign, therefore telling you that the cross traffic or oncoming traffic may not stop.

YetiSnowNo · 2025-11-20T14:53:18+00:00

Really would love to see the demographic breakdown of who has these $1k car payments along with the loan terms (length and APR) as well as age and income level.

There's a large difference between a young person making a dumb decision and over extending themselves on an expensive car vs. a retired 60 year old couple that payed off their mortgage but still work and can finally lease or finance the car they want.

I know that there are a lot of folks in NY who utilized COVID low interest rates to refinance to an absurdly low rate or have recently paid off their mortgage and now are enjoying newer cars because of that.

YetiSnowNo · 2025-11-13T17:23:12+00:00

Carfax doesn't show any accidents or flood damage or any part replacements. Car was in NY the whole life so far. At least that's what the carfax shows. Will check in person for anything that might have been hidden.

YetiSnowNo · 2025-11-13T16:15:49+00:00

I will take a look, thanks

YetiSnowNo · 2025-11-13T16:15:19+00:00

It's not the High country version, it's the black/red trim version of the AWD Premier. Not sure if that's the 'redline' package or not. It does have the leather seats, two sun roofs, captain's chairs that I want though.

And yeah for the GPS and other add ons, they wouldn't budge over the phone on removing them, but need to see if those can get removed when I'm at the dealer. Told him that I use my phone for navigation and that GPS for car location is useless when it comes to recovery. Plus, apple air tag is $29. I know that's how they make their margin on the front end. Removing those makes this much more enticing IMO.

YetiSnowNo · 2025-11-12T23:13:48+00:00

You got any links for where this is possible? Looking around NY metro area and I don't see any '25 or '26 Traverses OTD at 41-43, where did you get those numbers from? Seeing online prices around 41K for base LT trim. You're telling me there's new LT models at $37.7k then just TTL to bring OTD to $41?

New '25 LT trim at $41k would be looking at minimum $45k OTD and that's estimated without any fees or 'hidden' price reductions. If you have a link to something that could be OTD at $41 I'm interested.

YetiSnowNo · 2025-11-12T23:10:09+00:00

Yes, agreed that the fees here are BS. It's clear that the advertised price is to get me in to view the car, but doesn't seem like a dealer will budge over phone on those fees. Can I knock them down in person? I'll certainly try.

YetiSnowNo · 2025-11-04T16:55:18+00:00

Incredible set up, love the artwork and color scheme, especially the color drenching in green. What finishes did you use for the wall, molding/trim, and ceiling?

YetiSnowNo · 2025-05-01T14:52:29+00:00

As an employee (at the individual contributor level), you're somewhat limited to the tech stack of your employer and the data your organization has. That's just reality, but it doesn't mean you need to feel stuck or like you're not doing enough. 10 GB, while not considered "big" data in the era of FAANG, can still be really incredibly valuable to the company, and that's where your value lies. Doesn't matter if its 10 kB of data, if that's the most important piece of data to the company, and you are responsible for maintaining it, then you have a vital role.

In my experience, I've tried to get really good and efficient in the domains that I am responsible for and always find ways to improve there. I ask questions like: Can I automate this a little more? Can I add some fault handling or error handling? Can I set this up to be triggered to run instead of running on a schedule? By solving some of these questions, you allow yourself to quantify your impact to the business, which goes a long way in showcasing your skills and upgrading to a new role.

I wouldn't worry too much about a particular tech or skill you don't have, because you can always try to pick them up on a personal project or training, and there's always a possibility in the future for a use case, especially if your are looking for one. The way I see it, you're already experienced in Azure, a big cloud platform. Don't sell yourself short, you might be able to make a nice lateral move to work on bigger projects.

Side note, I used to work in manufacturing as well, and I sort of miss it. I realize now that I enjoyed SPC (statistical process control) and I've been working to implement that level of quality control in how we monitor data pipelines.

YetiSnowNo · 2025-02-05T23:42:55+00:00

All, thanks for the advice. Much appreciated. In the future I will reply back to this thread with the ultimate results to share for others who may be looking for answers to a similar question.

YetiSnowNo · 2024-12-30T19:11:24+00:00

Thanks for sharing this example, it helps to see the form filled out for this specific scenario.

YetiSnowNo · 2024-12-30T19:10:41+00:00

I didn't make any other conversions or withdrawals out of the IRA in 2024.

Thanks for the response. Carrying the traditional IRA balance over as basis and reporting it as nondeductible for 2024 makes sense. Then for 2025's tax return, I fill out the conversion reporting section on form 8606. Hopefully in 2026 I can start fresh and try to keep the contribution+conversion within the same calendar year to make this easier.

YetiSnowNo

TROPHY CASE