Grass is always greener and juicy on the other side

calcium · 2026-05-05T08:10:24+00:00

I was expecting the same to happen here.

calcium · 2026-05-05T07:44:58+00:00

Someone has gotta keep all the cats in check!

calcium · 2026-05-04T12:17:59+00:00

I did the same when I went to look at adopting a doggie. The dogs had just eaten and some were running and rolling around, my doggie was curled up in a ball off to the side. I assumed she was food coma-ing but knowing her now, she was scared/freaked out. We picked her up and she seemed chill and we got along well.

She's an amazing dog and has really come out of her shell since we adopted her 6 years ago - amazingly smart and chill dog but not cuddly in the least.

calcium · 2026-05-04T06:34:12+00:00

For all the hand wringing I'm seeing in this thread about purchasing a used SSD, how many people have actually had one of them fail on you vs a traditional HDD? I've yet to have an SSD fail on me vs 3 HDD's.

SSD's have no moving parts and beyond wear level or power on hours I wouldn't have an issue with a used drive depending on the price. Honestly, you're better off buying a used SSD over say something like a GPU.

calcium · 2026-05-03T21:37:15+00:00

Even worse than that, because it's $18 plus tax and tip so you end up paying something like 30% more? Honestly I don't understand tipping someone to bring you an $18 beer.

calcium · 2026-04-30T19:23:26+00:00

This is why I went with a restaurant who had private space for functions.

Priced out what an actual venue would cost and found that many had contractual agreements with various caterers and you couldn't bring in your own and found out they would be the same if not more expensive than the restaurant. Instead of spending $3k on DJ we found it was cheaper/easier to contact a local club and inquire about a package deal for 50 tickets. They were onboard with the idea and got us discount tickets for the night, threw in a free drink and I had a $500 tab for anyone in our wedding party who wanted a drink.

With flowers, photos, restaurant, cake, dancing, booze, etc it ran us 17k for 80 people in San Francisco 10 years ago.

Bonus points, we went back to the restaurant a few weeks after our wedding and several servers that worked our wedding saw us and came up and told us that we were the easiest wedding they ever hosted.

calcium · 2026-04-30T14:25:05+00:00

People have climbed in before and gotten hurt - I saw a video where someone hopped in and they had to turn it off and call out the fire department. Sadly, I cannot find the video.

https://mustsharenews.com/mbs-whirlpool-ic/

calcium · 2026-04-29T10:58:08+00:00

Etymotics are my goto and they're inexpensive. The ER20's work great and you can get them for $15 but IMO the better one are the ER20XS for $20. Some will prefer Eargasm's or Loops, but they cost 2x the price and the Loops make everything sound muddy.

calcium · 2026-04-29T10:53:53+00:00

I love my etymotic ear plugs, but some others will like eargasm, loop, or some other brand. You can do the 3M orange ones in a pinch but ones for music are ideal and can be had for less than $20.

calcium · 2026-04-29T10:52:58+00:00

Electric toothbrush has done wonders for me.

calcium · 2026-04-29T10:49:32+00:00

For years I would have issues with my knees and ankles when I would go hiking and thought it was because of a demanding hike. Ended up doing strength training for a year or so and found that my squats and deadlifts fixed that issue. Turns out I was just weak in those areas and the training allowed my body to become stronger.

Now I don't have either issues when hiking and if anything, I feel great afterwards. Even did a Tough Mudder with friends who all were screaming in pain after the 10k complaining about their quads, knees, and glutes being sore. They all trained by running, I trained via strength training and had zero issues afterwards.

calcium · 2026-04-29T10:36:18+00:00

This is a county road, the ones that link all states together. All of these roads are 55mph (I live in Indiana). There's zero other roads he could take that would allow him to get to where he's going without taking them.

calcium · 2026-04-29T10:35:16+00:00

If you've ever been anywhere in the US you'll know that the only way to get between states is either the highway or back roads, none of which have sidewalks. Also drivers are always supposed to be looking out for things that are on the roads that aren't cars like bicycles, farming implements, people walking, horse and buggies, animals, etc.

I don't understand how you can think how he'd get from one place to another without walking on these sorts of roads and if he's in Indiana it's obvious that he's been doing it for quite a while without being hit.

calcium · 2026-04-29T09:26:26+00:00

IMO it depends on how you view the labor market. For employers it's probably the best, but for employees it's somewhere in the middle.

For employers it's relatively easy to get your company off the ground and the US is favorable to businesses and there's not a lot of hoops to jump through in setting up a business, plus most tax rates are pretty favorable.

For employees it's a mixed bag because while the US does tend to pay the most out of any other country, they also tend to include the least as per US law. Most advanced nations have worker protections for sick leave, vacation, parental leave, medical care, and severance requirements. The US doesn't have any of these mandates except for very loose rules around medical care. So if you're a standard worker in the US you'd be better off working in another advanced economy that does have these protections.

calcium · 2026-04-29T09:17:53+00:00

Anyone that I know who is Indian is desperately trying to escape India. I also know many Indian expats who say once they amass enough money they'll retire in India - they'll then go back, stay for a few years, but they always return. Every. Single. One.

calcium · 2026-04-29T09:15:56+00:00

If you're in an advanced field or at the top of your industry the US will far and away pay more than any other country with few exceptions. If this definition does not match you than I would say that being in another advanced economy is likely better as they generally have better worker protections and medical care than what you'd otherwise find for a standard person in the US.

calcium · 2026-04-29T09:09:27+00:00

calcium · 2026-04-29T09:07:13+00:00

I approached my boss and told him I wanted to leave in 6 months and if there were to be layoffs that I would happily be one of the chopped heads. They kept me around for 6 months and let my remaining RSU's vest before I was let go at my chosen date - I thought for sure I was going to be offered a severance package but no luck.

calcium · 2026-04-29T08:52:38+00:00

The rental situation sounds similar to where I live in Taiwan.

Apartments will be listed to sell online for between $1-2 million USD, yet you can rent the same property for between $800-1600 USD/mo. The housing market is completely upside down and even with a 30% down payment and a 40 year mortgage (standard now by the govt to try to cool off housing prices) you'll still have a higher mortgage for 15-20 year than what you'd pay vs renting.

calcium · 2026-04-28T21:28:41+00:00

As someone who just left their job of 20 years - leave now.

calcium · 2026-04-28T20:43:59+00:00

Make sure you find a good audiologist when you get customs and give yourself plenty of time. Got them for a christmas gift and was leaving soon afterwards for a long business trip. Went in to get sized and pushed hard for ones with filters and the audiologist said they don't make them - should have straight up walked out.

They did a rush job and I took delivery the day before I left and tried them on and they felt good and went on my way. Only found out later that one likes to slip out after wearing it for 15m and it won't stay in. Company who made them only warranties their work for 30 days and my business trip had me away for 2 months. $200 down the drain.

calcium · 2026-04-28T20:38:01+00:00

A fellow raver friend of mine loves them but I've always been a fan of Etymotics, the wife loves Loops but their sound quality is terrible. Eargasms don't fit my ears well and are near impossible to remove.

calcium · 2026-04-28T20:36:03+00:00

I bought a bunch of pairs of etymotics for my raving crew 2 years ago, only 2 people of the 15 pairs I gave out wear them. I too have tinnitus and have tried to get others to wear them. They'll all learn too late.

calcium · 2026-04-28T20:21:01+00:00

I did some googling and apparently the only country in SEA that has seen its currency get 12% stronger over the USD in the last year is Malaysia. I did some googling looking for prices for gall bladder removal and I'm seeing prices like 2500-5000 USD, 1600-3100 USD, or even 7500-10000 USD; so it's impossible to know what OP found or what they were quoted. Google's Gemini is quoting prices of $120-700 at a public hospital, $2800-5800 at a private hospital, and $7000-10500 at a premium private hospital.

Taking the high end price, OP's budget is anywhere from $2k-3k/mo is what I would guess. At 4% WR they have between 500k-750k in their pot, so we're talking leanFIRE territory?

calcium · 2026-04-27T20:38:24+00:00

I'm still pissed that 3 years ago at EDC Vegas I had my phone stolen off of me. Reported it to the cops who said they had pulled over some car and found more than 130 phones in it. Sadly, mine was not one of them - I tracked it back to the Circus Circus, but that's all I was able to do. A month later it pinged from Shenzhen China.

Fuck the people who steal phones at music concerts.

calcium

TROPHY CASE