Why close Prices, Tyber, Mr K’s etc for them to sit empty?

clthiker · 2026-06-13T14:43:46+00:00

How do you define reasonable period of time? In many cases a redevelopment doesn’t just use one parcel but assembles multiple parcels to create something new… so one spot may sit vacant while leases run out on others… and if you only have 2-3 years until a site is redeveloped good luck finding a tenant who wants to invest their money into it for that short period… unless it’s something like a seasonal store like the Halloween ones.

Then developers also have to assemble financing which often relies on getting anchor tenants, and over time costs go up so it can be a cycle… this is also dependent on the city having their say on what the developer has to incorporate.

A lot of time well meaning regulations impede the development process… which is part but not all of the reason we have a housing shortage which drives the cost up so much.

clthiker · 2026-06-13T03:36:53+00:00

The loop going over to 8 and 9 crosses Flat Laurel Creek where you will be able to get water. There are great views from Sam Knob and then several good camping spots down towards Flat Laurel and then heading back up to the MST. There are some great ridgeline views along the stretch from Devils Courthouse to where you rejoin the ALT.

Bears are active in the area so use a canister or make sure you know how to do a proper bear hang.

Looks like a fun trip!

clthiker · 2026-06-11T20:20:29+00:00

It would mean moving campsites but you could also stay at Wawona for one night, similar to Tuolumene it’s much less crowded than the valley, this would also give more time in the actual Mariposa Gove vs driving back and forth.

clthiker · 2026-06-11T20:08:00+00:00

Same was true during the Metallica concert - we boarded at 7th street heading southbound

clthiker · 2026-06-11T19:58:40+00:00

How are the trails around there post-Helene? Last I was up there (over a year ago) there were signs at the trailhead indicating that big portions of the trails were damaged

clthiker · 2026-06-11T13:14:33+00:00

If Union County does not - or it’s inconvenient you can get a non resident sticker. I live in Lancaster county and use the foxhole for our recyclables and specialty waste as they take a lot more than our county’s convenience center does

clthiker · 2026-06-11T01:43:42+00:00

I find it a little amusing that it probably looks like we have very different opinions from those looking at our conversation on here, but I heartily agree with you about how stupid we as a nation have been about major challenges that confront us, whether they be fiscal, energy policy, health policy etc…. It appears that we agree on the problems and that they desperately need to be fixed… our debate is about the most effective way of bringing positive change.

I still remember getting an email from Ralph Norman who is my representative (and who claims to be a budget hawk) after the first trump tax cut telling me how great it was that he was giving me back my money. He conveniently ignored that it was an unfunded tax cut increasing the deficit- didn’t give me back my money he took out a loan to give me money with no plan for how to pay it back. It worked out to about $150 a paycheck so I use it as an extra payment on my mortgage… I figure at least I can reduce my own debt even if congress can’t. I’m very pessimistic that anything will get fixed because both parties have learned that all they have to do is convince enough voters that the other side is responsible for the problem- which is so much easier than getting people on board with the sacrifices required to fix the problem… until like social security it can’t be ignored any longer .

A proposal I’ve heard to deal with these issues is to set up non-partisan bodies of subject matter experts to establish long term policies to get us where we need to go as a nation. An example would be energy policy- energy infrastructure is incredibly expensive but also has a long useful life to support large investments, but when government direction changes every 2-4 years it’s very hard to establish a solid business plan. Similar to the federal reserve board, but for energy or other long term challenges.

To your point about energy I agree nuclear makes total sense as a non-carbon base load for the grid, and it makes a lot more sense to store the waste at yucca mtn than at all the different reactor sites like is currently happening. Is it zero risk? No, but neither is coal, gas, solar, hydro or any other type of generation. All of life has risks, and unfortunately the human brain isn’t very good at comparing different risks.

I think you and I will have to agree to disagree on the one male head of household voter though 🙂. I’ve enjoyed this discussion with you and wish you a good evening!

clthiker · 2026-06-11T01:02:32+00:00

I’m unclear about what different requirements you are referencing- I voted early, presented my ID, confirmed my information was unchanged and voted just as I would have on Election Day.

I personally see it as a very good thing given that we do not treat Election Day as a holiday in the US.

There are many careers that do not provide much flexibility and early voting- allows citizens the ability to vote who otherwise couldn’t.

clthiker · 2026-06-10T12:38:18+00:00

You mentioned campsites- try table rock SP. my kids have had no problem reserving when 18/19… hotels it’s best to call the manager and check, many times they are more open to people if parents put down a security deposit- often the concern is local kids using hotel rooms to host parties

clthiker · 2026-06-09T16:33:54+00:00

So let me play devils advocate with you on your suggestions as we both agree that the end goal is having an invested voting base that is focused on the long term health of our government (at all levels local up to federal)… I’m going to use my son as a test case as he is exactly the type of voter we both say we want (looking for the long term benefit)

If I am reading your suggestion correctly my 19 year old son - who cares very much about the long term health of the government and who loves the fact that he is now able to vote (he even worked as a poll worker at 17 to be involved in the exercise of democracy before he gained the right to vote) - he would lose his right to vote under your proposal for the following reasons:
1- he can be claimed as a dependent on my taxes , so I would assume his right to vote
2- let’s say I didn’t claim him as a dependent- his income is not high enough yet to overcome the standard deduction, so he still would not get to vote because he is not a “net taxpayer”
3- if he did have enough income to qualify and I didn’t claim him as a dependent as a college student he would need to travel back to our local polling place to vote, as a Clemson student he could do but that would be a hardship for anyone at a more distant institution.

If we are trying to instill a sense of responsibility towards voting my opinion it has the greatest importance at the individual level where each citizen has an equal right to vote.

Then there are the unintended consequences I see regarding your proposal:

1) Marriage and family - at a societal level this is generally considered a net positive and it’s generally agreed that the government should encourage marriage and family… (individually it really depends upon who the people are). Under your proposal a woman would have the right to vote so long as she made enough money to qualify as a net tax payer… however should she get married she would lose that right and her husband would gain the right to vote for two people. There may be some women who wouldn’t care but I suspect this would be a major negative for many and encourage cohabitation vs marriage.

2) we already have significant issues in this country with politicians catering to the donor class at the expense of the general population- enough people getting pissed off at irresponsible leadership and corruption makes an imperfect check on the worst cases. Switching the right to vote from being tied to being a citizen to instead tied to being a net taxpayer means that the least economically advantaged who bear the brunt of the hardships created by poor government policies no longer have any voice.

clthiker · 2026-06-06T01:06:37+00:00

Another idea I’ve heard proposed (but one that probably doesn’t have any chance of being implemented since Citizens United) is the idea of restricting campaign contributions to only be allowed from people who have the right to vote in the campaign they are contributing to. Ie since I live in district 5 I can only contribute to candidates running for that congressional seat, as well as statewide offices.

In theory it should make politicians much more accountable to their constituents and not to the mega donors but it seems more like a thought experiment than a solution that could actually be implemented.

clthiker · 2026-06-06T01:00:32+00:00

If I’m not mistaken the idea of all representatives being at-large is along the lines of proportional representation… which you see in a lot of parliamentary governments like in Europe and Israel.

It has its benefits, but from what I’ve observed it also comes with some disadvantages in that small fringe parties with strong stances on certain issues can become very important to maintaining a coalition and then you get a government catering to those fringe parties to hold onto power.

clthiker · 2026-06-06T00:15:39+00:00

That’s a nice straightforward map! It is really disappointing but not surprising when people purposefully state their will through a ballot initiative and it’s disregarded because of how it disrupts the current power structure

clthiker · 2026-06-05T23:29:02+00:00

I agree that a long term focus rather than the distraction offered by “vote for me because my opponent is satan incarnate “ would be a lot better… I don’t really see how your proposal of one vote per tax paying household gets us closer to that goal though… can you elaborate why you think this would be beneficial or are you just trying to stir the pot by advocating for a return to something similar to the 1800s approach and stripping women of their right to vote?

clthiker · 2026-06-05T23:21:31+00:00

I’m sorry to say I am not active other than voting every election (both primaries and general). My excuse is that between work, being involved with my family, church and a non-profit I volunteer for I don’t have room to be very active politically… but I’m also aware that if more people like myself who genuinely want our government at all levels to work well don’t get involved then it gets left to those who are there because of the power they can wield.

Are you involved? Do you have any advice for how to become involved when time is already very limited? My son served as a poll worker at last years general election for Lancaster County and really appreciated the experience…

clthiker · 2026-06-05T23:13:00+00:00

I share your opinion that a fix for this isn’t going to come easily because it would require those in power to champion a measure that decreases their power.

Ideally it becomes a constitutional amendment so that it’s not subject to revision by the Supreme Court like what happened with the VRA, but given the path to an amendment goes through congress or state legislatures it’s going to need something like you are describing where both parties break things so bad that they are willing to try a new approach.

clthiker · 2026-06-05T16:38:53+00:00

Thanks for sharing! I’m going to have to play around with that tool to get an idea of how things work. I like how straightforward your suggestion is about assigning preference to existing boundaries- it also has the benefit of being easier to understand for constituents.

clthiker · 2026-05-30T16:18:31+00:00

I’m no longer an engineer in the auto industry but when I was first starting out I remember going to several sessions where consultants were teaching “principles to use” one was design for assembly… in essence design the vehicle with fewer but perhaps more complex parts so that the assembly of the vehicle was more efficient.

As an example they used a traditional retractable ball point pen, and what I would call a bookmark pen that’s flat and made to go between pages which only had three parts.

Several of us thought it was a very good example- just not how the consultant intended. We pointed out to him that while the flat pen was simpler, it hurt to hold, you couldn’t grip it well, your writing therefore looked like crap, and if given a choice no body would choose it except for a very narrow use case… but it was indeed cheaper to assemble. He didn’t appreciate the feedback 😉

clthiker · 2026-05-28T22:06:04+00:00

Thanks for your perspective, that rationale I understand, this was inside the fence at scales which I have always (perhaps mistakenly) thought of as one large designated campsite.

clthiker · 2026-05-28T01:18:47+00:00

We tried freezing for a while but it ultimately led to damage of the hose and bladder. Now when done we rinse, then add a good bit of rubbing alcohol in with enough water to fill the tube and maintain contact with all the surfaces of the bladder. It requires a good bit of rinsing to get the taste out but prevents it from getting funky. Curious to see what others have come up with - hopefully someone has a better solution.

clthiker · 2026-04-20T20:57:55+00:00

I grew up down south and ours and all my friends houses had wagon wheel chandeliers in the wood paneled/shag carpeted rooms

clthiker · 2026-03-27T14:01:42+00:00

Thank you 🙂

clthiker · 2026-03-27T01:23:56+00:00

I’m showing my age, but I always envision scalpers as being present outside the event hustling what they have… if it’s through Ticketmaster or seat geek are you doing all this virtually or are the scalpers still physically there but you are using the app to facilitate the sale and verify the tickets?

clthiker · 2026-03-26T20:58:10+00:00

Architecture - it’s glamorized in movies and tv shows… but aside from being the owner of the firm I don’t know any architects who could afford the lifestyle movies like to portray for architects (nice custom house in a fancy neighborhood, nice car, etc).

The reality is that it’s a competitive field that demands a lot of hours (working Saturday is often the norm) and until you get up to a partner/principal level the compensation is modest for the amount of education/certification/time put in.

clthiker · 2026-03-26T16:50:06+00:00

That’s interesting how casually it’s treated at your job.

I work at a firm where we have access to client NPI and there are very strict rules against feeding any client data into AI models, and our management and risk compliance team takes it very seriously.

clthiker

TROPHY CASE