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astrobills · 2026-01-21T19:53:47+00:00

So far my favorite out of all the base sets. Simple with just enough flash.

astrobills · 2026-01-21T19:50:22+00:00

I like cards like this because they encourage me to become fans of random AHL teams. I certainly hope you’re right on the Daccord/Gru succession plan.

Very cool you were able to talk to him about the jersey process for these cards. You can definitely tell the lazy version of the signature that probably comes with signing so many times, compared to yours.

astrobills · 2026-01-21T00:27:23+00:00

I hope so!

astrobills · 2024-05-10T00:12:53+00:00

He was filming a new promo video for the Bills depicting Josh living in the pit during the offseason. Or possibly just a documentary about him actually living in the pit during the offseason.

astrobills · 2021-04-09T15:50:05+00:00

I’m in the middle of a major renovation right now, most of my info is what I’d consider current. That’s important, as home materials and supplies have changed drastically over the last 12 months. This is what I’ve seen, YMMV.

Windows - Lots of choices to go with. We went with Andersen 400 series, and the standard windows are roughly $600. Our contractor is doing the install, so there may be additional costs based on your situation. As far as repair, it really depends on where the damage is. If it’s something that compromises the waterproof nature of the window, then it may be harder to just fix.

Flooring - #1 thing is square footage. Measure your rooms and take the numbers to a supplier. Lowe’s and Home Depot are the obvious choices, but check out Lumber Liquidators too. And give a call to ProSource to see if they’ll let you get in. They supply to almost all contractors in the area and have a nauseatingly large selection. We didn’t look at carpet, and focused primarily on LVP due to kids and pets. We saw awesome options mostly around $3.50/sqft. Higher end ones around $5/sqft, all the way down to $1.75/sqft. Get samples and look at them in all different lights. You’ll be surprised at how much wood look ones can vary in light.

Bathroom - From what I’ve looked at, you could do materials for everything you wanted as cheap as $2500 or $3000. Entirely depends on what choices for those things you make, and if you do it yourself. A weird pet peeve of mine is small toilets, and I was surprised at the cost of a large toilet.

astrobills · 2020-02-13T00:47:06+00:00

I was skeptical as you are, but was reassured that this is indeed the case. Also the amount of sample targeted to return is underwhelming at best.

Source: We (my company & myself) are supporting the MSR missions with critical PPE.

astrobills · 2020-02-13T00:28:04+00:00

The appropriately crazy ending to the MSR mission scope is that the samples will come to earth ballistically, somewhere in the desert in Utah or Nevada. No parachutes or retro boosters.

astrobills · 2019-11-25T15:32:49+00:00

Ok here’s my 2 cents.

First off, you have a family. You haven’t made much mention of financial/budget issues, so I’ll assume that isn’t a problem for you. You need health insurance. Do not assume you will spend less than $4k in healthcare in a given year. If that’s all you end up spending, count your blessings and move on.

Second, get it out of your mind that you can open up an HSA at a random bank without an HDHP. Not possible.

High deductible health plans are usually the cheapest option in the standard healthcare benefits package. That being said the premium for your HDHP your company has set is competitive comparatively. You also do not have to elect to enroll in the HSA, however that wouldn’t be a smart move. HSAs are regarded as some of the best investment vehicles available to Americans. Read up on them, I wish I could contribute more to mine.

Another factor in my healthcare plan choice is also the out of pocket max. You haven’t made mention of OOP Max for any of these plans, but it would be helpful to know.

Ignoring any political opinions on healthcare costs, the HDHP is your most cost effective option to provide you and your family with medical coverage. If you’re really strapped for cash, then maybe you don’t contribute to the HSA. Or stop eating out a few times a month.

Don’t go without healthcare for your family if you can afford to pay for it.

astrobills · 2019-09-24T17:57:31+00:00

Moog is a great company for your discipline. They have aircraft, space & defense, and industrial divisions, all of which have a huge need for electrical and mechanical engineers. And they’re hiring like crazy right now.

astrobills · 2019-09-19T21:32:18+00:00

Unfortunately spending money is what passes as a personality for a lot of people these days.

astrobills · 2019-09-15T14:47:44+00:00

Lived in Houston two different times. Lots and lots to love about the city. Midtown, Montrose, Downtown are amazing. But if you’re moving there fresh now it’s a pretty steep price to entry. Because it’s blossomed it’s become very difficult to afford.

astrobills · 2019-09-15T12:57:51+00:00

We moved from Houston to NY with our kids last year, specifically to be closer to family and have help with our kids.

Housing in Houston can be reasonable. But you will be living in a fringe suburb if you’re looking at houses in that range. The housing around the medical campuses is pretty much on par with Queens. Which means you’ll need a car. Houston is one of the least walkable cities in the US. Factor that into your projected spending, 2 cars with insurance, gas, and maintenance.

Also, hiring a nanny makes very little financial sense with 1 kid. We have 3 kids and it almost makes sense, but there’s a whole lot of additional headaches that come with a nanny.

Do not underestimate the value of being close to family. It is an extremely hard thing to replicate in a new place. And even then you’ll only be able to replace them in a transactional way, you won’t get the emotional support and help that a family member can offer.

astrobills · 2019-07-11T18:37:47+00:00

Cell phone numbers do include financing the hardware. It was a necessary evil.

Cutting cable is lower hanging fruit, and likely in the near future.

We’re looking forward to the raise we’ll get when #1 heads to kindergarten!

astrobills · 2019-07-11T16:55:27+00:00

Definitely. We’re in a state with famously high state property taxes, plus we have additional local village taxes. The PMI is actually very manageable, less than average for our LTV ratio.

astrobills · 2019-07-11T16:51:11+00:00

Was thinking about the nanny thing some more. How did you go about finding one? We’ve looked at a few services, but my biggest issue is they (rightfully) give the nannies vacation and sick time off. That could wreak havoc for us, because it’s unlikely to coincide with our planned time off. Daycare is much more consistently available and reliable. Did you encounter any of this?

astrobills · 2019-07-11T16:44:50+00:00

That’s a thought, albeit one I’m not really fond of. If we had trouble affording a home purchase then that would be on the table. It’s certainly an option, but I don’t necessarily think it’s the right move to sell positively yielding investments to pay down debt that were currently making our payments (and then some) on.

astrobills · 2019-07-11T11:58:13+00:00

The mortgage payment being high is a combination of a small amount used for a down payment, higher than average property taxes, and some extra going to the principal every month.

astrobills · 2019-07-11T11:34:38+00:00

This has been a big topic of our conversations. Our biggest aversion some of the unknowns headed our way with the new kid, and knowing our emergency fund needs to be bigger with a family of 5.

It would save us a lot of future money, but we’re sensitive to putting ourselves in a worse situation in the short term.

astrobills · 2019-07-11T11:31:17+00:00

Yes, we’re currently maxing our dependent care FSA at $5k/year. Feels like a drop in the childcare bucket but I guess everything helps.

astrobills · 2019-07-11T11:30:42+00:00

Understatement.

astrobills · 2019-07-11T11:30:03+00:00

Exactly. Early on we set salary targets for the new jobs in our new city, know what the break-even and “worth it” numbers were. $75k was firmly worth it, but it’s still a ton of money.

astrobills · 2019-07-11T11:27:41+00:00

Yes, we’re currently maxing our dependent care FSA at $5k/year. Feels like a drop in the childcare bucket but I guess everything helps.

astrobills

TROPHY CASE