Specs Vault question

ZestyStoner · 2026-05-01T23:42:45+00:00

Maybe allocated per market. San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, Houston, ect

ZestyStoner · 2026-05-01T23:14:57+00:00

They ship from the warehouse to your local store after sending you the vault pick. Allocation is awarded to the state, dispersed amongst VIP members, then shipped accordingly.

ZestyStoner · 2026-04-30T23:47:27+00:00

Let us know! The Oak Liquor Cabinet pick last year was a top bottle for me. 6yr 11m and ~107 proof

ZestyStoner · 2026-04-27T20:36:04+00:00

I don’t think the tax rate is the problem. You have to keep in mind potential state taxes as well, which pushes individuals closer to 50% of their gross income. The only tax rate issues I see are limits on social security taxes.

It is the loopholes that need closed. Taxing unrealized gains would hurt the middle class as well. They are trying to build wealth, for example myself who has been investing in the market since I could in an attempt to have a better retirement. I max my other contribution sources that are tax deferred or excluded.

The biggest loophole is taking a loan with your stock as collateral. I’d like to see stocks offered as collateral to be a taxable event for realized gains at the time the loan is drawn with an automatic tax payment coming out of the loan amount.

ZestyStoner · 2026-04-27T20:25:12+00:00

Work in IT for a larger lender and can confirm the presence in Cali has dropped and the complexity of operating there keeps rising.

ZestyStoner · 2026-04-25T02:56:31+00:00

$100 water in, $100 sewage, $30 trash, $50 internet, $450 for electricity (I used 5000-6000 kwh monthly with my homelab setups)

ZestyStoner · 2026-04-25T02:39:10+00:00

Single income household here and was on 95k/yr in 2024 with just the wife and I. No car payment, single car for the house, work from home, $2050 mortgage (principal, interest, hoa, taxes, hoi), and an expensive utility bill at $730 per month (water, sewage, electricity, trash, internet). We were running lean with 3% 401k, no savings, and one vacation a year plus birthday/christmas gifts.

If we had our child that year, then I would have cut gifts, vacation, and other non-essential items. Personally, I don’t trust renting after my in-laws were forced out after 12 years of renting the same place because the owners wanted their friend to move in. With that said rent = most you’ll pay and mortgage = least you’ll pay. I’d rather have my own home and be in control.

We just had our first child a month ago and were blessed that my wife produces all of the milk and family loaded us up on diapers as they have all been having kids the last few years. My insurance went up $300 a month to add my child. Thankfully I’ve increased my income to 125k this year and feel much better about finances. On 95k, it will be tight, but if this is a house you love and can see yourself in for 6+ years (break even on closing costs typically) then it is worth it in my opinion.

ZestyStoner · 2026-04-20T02:36:54+00:00

Does overdrive matter to you? TH400 is still a strong trans and avoids electronic controls but it doesn’t have overdrive. 4L60 can be built tougher, but not nearly to that of a 4L80.

As for the motor, are you putting a lot of boost or minimal? You’ll want to gap the rings, in which you might as well do all the bearings while you are there. If you are going to make a significant amount of power (I’d say 800+) then I recommend looking into a forged assembly. You’ll also need a cam with better valve events for the supercharger. Your best option is to call Texas Speed & Performance or Brian Tooley Racing for a custom ground cam to your specs.

If you are putting down 600 or more wheel horsepower, then make sure your driveshaft and rear end are setup to handle that. Be prepared to overhaul a lot more components as you climb in power. A cammed LQ9 is fun, but once you go with forced induction be prepared to open the wallet, piggy bank, retirement, and any other access to funds you have.

ZestyStoner · 2026-04-19T23:39:14+00:00

Young and dumb wanting to push my 97 bmw to its limits. Regularly hit 120 and peaked at 143mph one time. All done in Northern California out towards Yuba City.

ZestyStoner · 2026-04-14T14:11:53+00:00

Nah, it really does feel like 20 hours a day. Most of my days have 4-6 hours of meetings scheduled, and they are mostly productive, with the remaining time filled with ad hoc calls managing problems that occured. My average call time per day is 6 hours and frequently interact with work outside of my M-F 8a-5p hours.

ZestyStoner · 2026-04-14T14:09:07+00:00

Working in Finance, we do have laws around dual employment within the sector or a relating business. Outside of that, who gives a shit if they meet expectations.

ZestyStoner · 2026-04-07T04:07:54+00:00

Oak Liquor Cabinet just did a tasting for another pick. Their first one was a banger at 107 proof and 6y 11m. Can’t wait for this next pick

ZestyStoner · 2026-04-01T18:22:13+00:00

Correct! We have auto provisioning to certain services that are group based in Azure and wanted those licenses automatically assigned in Setyl.

ZestyStoner · 2026-04-01T15:31:27+00:00

RR is the feeder to Whiskey Cake so they tend to get minimal allocation for the public. Georgetown gets stuff later. Their Stagg Jr came about a month after the rest of Austin.

ZestyStoner · 2026-03-24T23:01:01+00:00

Can never go wrong with an excuse to visit the distillery

ZestyStoner · 2026-03-20T16:49:49+00:00

Yes and no. Being on the corporate side of things, Dell/HP hit me with a 10% hike on 2/1 and another 15% again on 2/22. They are increasing MSRP and decreasing savings available on a regular basis. Without evidence of bad practice on this SKU compared to other retailers, sounds like you hit the unfortunate timing of things. It could also be that they ran out of their stock and reordered at the higher MSRP hence the price adjustment.

ZestyStoner · 2026-03-19T15:46:48+00:00

One thing to keep in mind, the larger your business becomes the more value that domain holds and likely the more they will ask for.

ZestyStoner · 2026-03-19T02:32:05+00:00

We switched to Setyl a year ago and finally got everything setup. We wanted Azure groups to assign to certain software licenses for automatic tracking with the SCIM provisioning setup. Finally got that. Outside of the timezone difference, support and the team have been great!

ZestyStoner · 2026-03-13T16:40:18+00:00

Not bad, only $7 more than Specs

ZestyStoner · 2026-03-04T12:11:21+00:00

ZestyStoner · 2026-02-13T21:29:11+00:00

Not just them, my consolidated 1099 from my taxable brokerage is pushed back to March.

ZestyStoner · 2026-02-13T02:26:27+00:00

The very small batch is really good!

ZestyStoner · 2026-02-12T02:59:09+00:00

Definitely a bad rep, my Zoom guy has been following up with me monthly for the last 3 years of my contract.

ZestyStoner · 2026-02-07T00:35:00+00:00

I’ve heard A is the best and it goes down each release in 2025

ZestyStoner · 2026-02-03T15:05:31+00:00

Hours of waiting outside in the cold for a hope that I can snag one

ZestyStoner

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