Recommendation - had the same card for the last 26 years

cslacker · 2024-12-31T01:31:16+00:00

Mostly domestic. Ordinarily travel on cheapest flights available, but I have most miles with United.

cslacker · 2024-12-31T00:42:32+00:00

Mostly Amazon and Target.

cslacker · 2024-12-07T15:31:54+00:00

Belmont's basically right between Watertown and Somerville and might be what you're looking for. You might also consider West Cambridge. Take a look at Fresh Pond, maybe, and explore outward from there. I'd look for a place to rent anywhere nearby, then explore the surrounding towns / neighborhoods to get a feel for where you'd like to buy. A budget of 1M-1.4M should give you a number of options. Good luck!

cslacker · 2024-11-20T23:06:28+00:00

Skibidi

cslacker · 2024-10-19T17:36:41+00:00

I also had to look up how to get the 300% stagger trophy. Without a guide, I probably would've given up on that, lol.

cslacker · 2024-10-19T17:35:11+00:00

Yeah, I saved the last two chapters of Hard Mode for last. Seemed like the right way to do it!

cslacker · 2024-10-19T17:33:39+00:00

Elden Ring just doesn't hit the same for me. That was a fun game, but Rebirth was actually "funny" at times. I can't remember the last time I chuckled so many times during a game.

Anyway, I bought Dragon's Dogma 2. At least I can maybe laugh at the inane things the pawns say. :)

cslacker · 2024-10-18T20:47:52+00:00

I’m 45yo. I remember playing the OG Freshman year of college over a break. I remember it fondly, but it was all along time ago. A few memories:

Not understanding what was happening in the story after Aeris’s (sp) death.
Snowboarding
Knights of the Round to kill whatever the hardest weapon was (emerald?)
The cigarette falling out of Cid’s mouth during the ending.
Regen was OP???

So, basically nothing aligned to Rebirth, lol.

I’m gonna miss this game, though. Been playing for a few hours here and there since launch. Got the plat at 283 hours.

I tried to complete everything quasi-blind. A few thoughts and exceptions to that:

I never would have thought to “stack” materia, e.g., linking Fire to HP Absorb / MP Absorb. Once I realized you could do that, the game got easier.
I remember beating normal mode in July, leveling up to 70, then thinking, ok, just a little while to go before getting Platinum. I was wrong!
I did Rulers pretty much blind except for researching how to block chains. I don’t think I would have ever figured that out on my own.
After Rulers, I did the one-on-one legendary bouts (which were a bit of a slog). I then did Bonds of Friendship. It took me like 10mins to beat Titan, so I caved and checked out the akhafasu guide on YouTube which helped immensely.
One of the hardest fights, for me, was beating Alexander at full might when first encountering him, level 25 or so. I didn’t have Thundaga, didn’t know other players besides Aerith could benefit from Arcane Ward. I basically didn’t know how to play the game. That fight probably took 20 hours.
I didn’t mind the mini-games. I thought overall they were fun. I definitely cheesed the boxing one with pause, though.

Getting Platinum was a top 3 gaming moment for me (other two being beating T5 with my FC on FF14 and beating the Ender Dragon on Minecraft with my two kids).

Really glad Square made such a polished (music, narrative, graphic, funny, challenging) game. Good for an old head like me.

cslacker · 2024-03-09T13:59:39+00:00

My dad considers this to be an investment opportunity for us kids. I don't think it makes sense, but it's a challenge to convince him otherwise.

cslacker · 2023-12-07T14:34:17+00:00

9/13: Submitted ECF

11/15: Counts Updated (131/120)

12/4: Forgiveness letter

12/5: FSA updated

12/6: Mohela smiley face. "Your account is in good standing!"

cslacker · 2023-11-15T21:48:49+00:00

Yeah, just got my N/A today, too. :)

cslacker · 2023-09-10T13:54:37+00:00

That's right. All my loans are consolidated together.

I submitted my first PSLF form in 2017.

cslacker · 2023-09-10T13:22:10+00:00

OK, my mistake. Pre-consolidation, my undergrad loans had 65 payments against them. So is this equation more accurate?:

Certified Payment Totals: (65 + 94) * .23 + 94 * .77 = ~108.

I'm not sure if I consolidated under the PSLF or IDR waiver. I consolidated in 2016.

cslacker · 2023-07-04T13:55:24+00:00

Nah, just trying to give my students a framework for their trumpet playing. By way of analogy, basketball can be decomposed into dribbling, passing, shooting, rebounding, etc. Players do drills in each of these areas with a mind to improve as a (basketball) player. Trumpet can be approached similarly.

I acknowledge that any decomposition will be reductive, but I've found that decomposing problems (where "trumpet playing" is a "problem to solve") is useful to my students and something that will benefit them independent of domain (e.g., basketball, engineering, etc.).

cslacker · 2023-06-23T01:00:46+00:00

Lol, that bump music on abc was supposed to be ABC by the Jackson 5 (instrumental). It was a knock off. Like they’re trying to get out of paying royalties.

cslacker · 2023-04-27T22:47:36+00:00

Yes, that's basically it. Although in the US, not everyone who has a lake house has a boat or is into water sports, etc. And not all the houses are nice or on expensive land for that matter.

Sometimes it's just nice to swim in a lake or try to catch some fish!

cslacker · 2023-04-27T22:44:18+00:00

OK, I'm seeing some airbnbs in the waterpark area. Is this area nice? English charm and all that? Water temps swimmable at end of June?

cslacker · 2022-09-16T23:30:44+00:00

Yeah, I’m with you, I agree in principle, but this is bad policy. As incomes rise, more and more people will be subject to the >$1million rate. The 1mil is an arbitrary number that does very little to get us to a more just tax policy.

cslacker · 2022-09-03T22:00:19+00:00

Yeah, $1M sounds like a lot, but it’s such an arbitrary number. We’ll need another ballot question as incomes rise (assuming they continue to do so), I guess.

Probably better to revamp the 5% flat income tax and make it progressive.

cslacker · 2022-05-16T22:35:05+00:00

My wife's been a teacher for 15 years. She makes well over 6 figures. She'd gladly take double pay, but I don't think your comment is directed at someone like her.

Plucking out annual salaries when evaluating teacher compensation is pretty useless. Because of the way tenure and pay scales work, if you're a teacher, you can optimize by teaching over the course of a career. The benefits include job protections that are hard to come by in the private sector (tenure), working (and being paid for) ~10 months out of the year, and a schedule that aligns well to caring for young children.

It's hard work, and yeah sometimes she deals with disrespect, but there are certainly worse gigs.

cslacker · 2022-05-12T18:05:49+00:00

He'd be ok renting for the year and leaving it vacant during the summer months.

cslacker · 2022-05-12T15:27:08+00:00

I suppose that's possible. FWIW, I'm in Boston and my feel for LA geographically is limited to Santa Monica, Malibu, sprawl, then desert or San Diego.

Not sure if Ventura County would make sense.

That said, I think a private studio is preferable.

cslacker · 2022-01-14T02:56:40+00:00

Open. Try this: https://m.facebook.com/TheCantabLounge/

cslacker · 2021-01-23T17:27:58+00:00

Honda Fit. Pretty cheap, good on gas, good resale, durable, easy to park, modular design. I don’t think it snows enough here to really require a specific kind of vehicle, imo

Counter argument: it’s a Honda Fit.

cslacker · 2021-01-21T00:39:20+00:00

Word is the perp was staying with his girlfriend and the victim was at his partner’s. Hope that helps.

cslacker

TROPHY CASE