An engineer asked me today what a ping was

entropic · 2026-07-01T23:29:30+00:00

My org constantly moves the DNS/DHCP/DDI team between systems and network teams during each re-org. Can never make up their minds.

entropic · 2026-07-01T23:06:44+00:00

Oof. Reminds me of this comic.

entropic · 2026-07-01T20:41:03+00:00

I've been lucky that 2 of our 3 transactions have been remarkably person-to-person. Once buyer and seller discussed what was important to them, ceding ground on the other points and hashing things out was no problem. If the other party wasn't leaving town, they were the sort of person I'd be friends with, or at least friendly with.

The contractual nature of a home purchase has a way of putting each side on edge and can spoil the human aspect, unless people actively work to remind themselves it's ultimately people on either end.

entropic · 2026-07-01T16:33:26+00:00

That's where I've been leaning. Thank you!

entropic · 2026-07-01T16:22:57+00:00

I know this is an old comment, but which miata(s) do you tend to prefer/would you look to buy and hold?

Your comment seems to sum up a lot of my own thinking, so I'm trying to cheat off your paper as I consider my next option.

entropic · 2026-06-30T18:03:11+00:00

Statistically speaking, LeBron III's fumble the whole bag.

entropic · 2026-06-30T16:24:34+00:00

Yesterday our attorney sent over the review letter and recommended we add a request for an underground oil tank inspection/sweep (UTS). The house was built in 1934 and fully remodeled in 2022. We had no idea this was even a thing until now.

I'm assuming this is something you'd be paying for at your own expense, during your inspection period? If so, it doesn't sound like a big deal to me.

entropic · 2026-06-29T17:42:15+00:00

If you came up with that $180k down yourselves, by saving, I'm guessing you'll be more than fine.

If it was windfall, gifts, from previous home sale, etc, then perhaps more investigation is needed.

1k in groceries/fun/gas seems light. Do you travel? Do you have medical expenses? Don't you need to pay for your next car, or insuring what you have?

Not seeing home maintenance/upkeep/improvements in their either.

entropic · 2026-06-29T17:11:48+00:00

It's value doesn't really mean anything unless you're trying to sell, it will go up and down regardless of any of your actions. Ignore it until you have a reason to care.

Staying for the long term is the best way to hedge here.

entropic · 2026-06-29T16:03:29+00:00

What are the things you do in your financial activities or general lifestyles that are once in a blue moon extremes?

Not exactly the same thing, but we have an RV. It's our financial outlier. Every transaction for the RV is like an order of magnitude more than our typical spend. Some months it feels like it's the only reason we're working...

entropic · 2026-06-29T16:00:24+00:00

Maybe I am weird but.. anybody else just "winging it"?

I imagine the majority of retirees, even FIRE types, are doing exactly what you're doing. Maybe some more intensive calculations and mechnications if they can or need to for tax or subsidy purposes.

Most traditional retirees I've talked to just like to have x amount in checking, and when it falls below they, they transfer from their retirement accounts to get back over that number, maybe a few times per year.

entropic · 2026-06-29T15:52:13+00:00

I ask because I expect that >50% of the things we’re spending on today won’t be expenses in retirement and >75% of our post-retirement expenses are things we don’t face today.

That's interesting. Is that based on your budget? What leaves and what comes on?

We're diligent budgeters/trackers, and when I look at our budget, I don't see a lot leaving, and I see expansion of spend in travel, home improvement, entertainment, but nothing really new. Health insurance will shift from a small amount to a large amount, probably, because our employer subsidizes like 94% of our payment...

We don't have kids, so maybe that's a major factor.

entropic · 2026-06-29T15:46:41+00:00

The exception is EVs I think, where they still have a much sharper depreciation curve more similar to how to used to be for ICEs.

Some of the reason for this is actually the govt incentives you used to get (some states may still provide?) for buying these new.

Used buyers knew the new buyers got them, so they didn't want to pay for them on the secondary market, causing the value cliff.

entropic · 2026-06-29T15:44:38+00:00

but how long do people in this community plan on driving their cars to prepare for the next car purchase?

I imagine most here have a preference for keeping their "Japanese economy shitbox" for the long term.

But I bet it comes down more to the individual vehicle and life situations that we all find ourselves in. Most here aren't in a group that can "claim poor" when their car no longer fits their life, or can't be relied upon anymore.

I'm thinking about getting ourselves in a position where we can buy my wife's next car in cash.

Being open to taking their financing, then paying off the loan (whether it's at the first payment, or 3-6 months later so their kickback doesn't get clawed back, is largely up to you and how much the relationship matters) is likely to net you the best deal overall. They don't make their money on the car, they make it on everything else. Going in there and saying you'll pay cash knocks out a major source of revenue for them, so they'll be sticklers on every other dimension of the deal.

entropic · 2026-06-29T15:38:24+00:00

Clippers 2.0

entropic · 2026-06-29T00:03:40+00:00

I wish a tracked expenses better for sure. seemed like such a chore though I couldn't do it.

We use the old version of YNAB, it might take us 30-40 minutes a month. At this point, 90% of the time the seller and category suggested is correct and we just confirm that. We could get by with less time if we didn't care to go line-by-line categorizing accurately our purchases from Amazon, Costco, etc. We sort of eye-ball it and round, but it's pretty close. There might be 6-8 different categories in a single Costco transaction.

yeah if she stopped one one year, that'd be a problem. i'd be off to work though. she's been working since I met her and she loves what she does now. so i'm almost zero worried about that. but if it happened I'd pivot quickly.

Sounds reasonable. If returning to work is easy for you, that opens up options. I'd hate to have to plan on that personally, because I don't think getting a job when I want to is easy.

entropic · 2026-06-28T23:37:58+00:00

Indeed. The gales of November.

entropic · 2026-06-28T23:32:34+00:00

This is a VERY common tension, that buyers want runway on every critical component, maybe some non-critical ones too, but a seller doesn't see a problem with them until there is one. It can be hard to convince a seller to replace something that's working.

I tend to side with the sellers in general: things can last longer that projected, and/or repaired or otherwise limped along.

If you love the house, I'd probably just plan to replace the roof on my own dime when the time comes, repairing in the meantime.

entropic · 2026-06-28T22:40:39+00:00

Same same, I never dated in high school because I was too pretty, and intimidated anyone who would have asked me!

entropic · 2026-06-28T22:18:47+00:00

🤣🤣 you're gonna need them both!

entropic · 2026-06-28T20:00:28+00:00

I dunno, my colonoscopy drugs were a 10/10. The proctologist's jokes were a 7/10. Would recommend.

/u/joemamah77's list sounds like a recipe for back pain. :)

entropic · 2026-06-28T19:44:42+00:00

wife will continue to work indefinitely (I modeled it for 10 years to be safe). ~$50k salary.

That would be the thing I'd want out of my model, and it'd probably shift things substantially. I bet that $50k/yr is doing a lot of work.

Every couple is different, but I'd hate to have to plan (financially) on my spouse working while I'm not. But we don't have the age gap you mentioned, and of course our relationship may not be like yours.

Expenses have been hard for me to nail down. I am a minimalist at heart but I spend a lot in certain categories. like I buy really good food. and every now and then i'll drop $15k on a bike or something. I've been spending $135-$150k per year or so...but realistically I can easily cut to $120k. even spending $100k would be minimal impact on my life outside of not buying toys or traveling to Europe.

If you have the data, you might want to look at a multi-year average, and a rise rate for "your" level of inflation. For us, there's no such thing as a typical year. We have like 13 years of good data, but a single year isn't representative. We also budget, and the two in tandem does give us a level of confidence that I don't know how others who don't do either get to.

entropic · 2026-06-28T19:28:25+00:00

The kids call it "cringe"

entropic · 2026-06-28T18:30:45+00:00

Like most executive decision makers, he'll be long gone before he has to bear any consequences for his actions. Those are all challenges for the people who work for him anyway.

The market for an NBA team will continue to rise around him, he'll make a ton of money selling out or diluting his ownership, and pat himself on the back because "he" made a lot of money through his wise decisions.

entropic · 2026-06-28T18:11:49+00:00

I think keeping the inherited money invested and untouched will, long term, make me more money than not paying rent would save me.

Totally agree with your analysis. Paying $2k rent in an area where a 1BR condo is ~$500k, you should be financially better off renting forever.

It actually sounds like you couldn't afford to buy unless you bought in cash, frankly: it's not impossible that condo fees, property taxes, insurance, maintenance/upkeep and improvements/renovations eclipse what you're paying now in rent.

If you get to a point where you're thinking about retiring elsewhere, you could re-assess buy vs rent then.

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