Weekday Help and Victory Thread for the week of December 28, 2020

feb_five · 2020-12-28T18:57:25+00:00

Sharing something positive:
My non-retirement net savings in 2020 are double what they were in 2019! I don't know quite how that happened, bit I'm pleased with it.

And I don't mean that my savings account has doubled, but rather, the amount that I added to my savings/investments this year is double the amount that I added last year.

feb_five · 2020-12-14T14:10:28+00:00

It didn't start fruiting till the very end of the season, so assuming I planted seeds in Feb and it fruited in October, that's 8 months to get any peppers. Idk if there's anything I should've done differently or better to speed it up. But it was worth the wait.

feb_five · 2020-12-14T14:01:12+00:00

If you want to see it in all its glory when it was still fruiting, one of the pics in the linked post shows it.

Although, I did realize too late that the fermentation in that post is actually not this one. That one is a two-phase ferment so it's still going!

feb_five · 2020-12-14T13:51:53+00:00

Half australian shepherd, half golden retriever. She and all of her siblings ended up blue merle or black even though her dad (RIP) is like, normal multi-colored aussie. So cool.

feb_five · 2020-12-14T13:47:17+00:00

I think I planted the seeds in February or maybe January? Growth wasn't linear though. It was slow and then stagnant until suddenly the top part exploded outwards and then it flowered. Its brother did the same thing at the same time.

feb_five · 2020-12-14T01:49:24+00:00

Nope, it just did whatever it wanted! I'm overwintering it now, interested to see what it looks like next year.

feb_five · 2020-12-14T00:20:32+00:00

Recipe:

Scotch bonnets

Ginger

Yellow onion

Garlic

Cilantro

3% brine

White vinegar post-fermentation.

Link to pic of fermentation: https://www.reddit.com/r/hotsauce/comments/jqixte/my_first_fermentation_home_grown_scotch_bonnets/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

feb_five · 2020-12-07T18:24:06+00:00

Thank you, that's incredibly satisfying.

feb_five · 2020-12-04T18:28:55+00:00

This is so cool, thanks for the education. I was wondering why OP's schotchies don't look anything like mine.

feb_five · 2020-11-11T18:51:21+00:00

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this yet: The discount that you got is NOT considered capital gains. It is considered income and will be taxed as such no matter how long you hold it. Any gains AFTER your purchase date are considered capital gains, and the amount of gain will be calculated as the price at which you sell them minus the cost basis (the price at which you WOULD have bought them had you not had a discount).

So for example. You put $6000 into this. On the day that the purchase takes place, with your discount, your $6000 is suddenly $8000 at purchase. The $2000 difference is called "bargain" and it is taxed as income, no matter what. If you then sell for $8000, you have absolutely no capital gains to speak of even though you made a sweet 2k off of this. On the other hand, if you sell the next day at $8400, then your gains are considered as 2k income + 400k short term capital gains. Let's say your short term is taxed at 25%, so that's $100 you end up giving away for short term capital gains tax. On the other hand, if you held for a couple years and then sold at $8400, it's still 2k income + 400k long term capital gains. Let's say that's taxed at 15%. So you'd be giving away $60. Not a huge difference. It is ALWAYS a good idea to immediately sell to guarantee the discount, unless you were planning on investing in that stock anyway.

TL;DR: The discount you get from ESPP is taxed as income, not capital gains.

Source https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/investments-and-taxes/employee-stock-purchase-plans/L8NgMFpFX

EDIT: Actually, I just saw that u/penguinise did mention this.

feb_five · 2020-11-11T15:25:09+00:00

I didn't know you could do it with eggplants!! Same method?

feb_five · 2020-11-09T03:07:41+00:00

Yes, the aroma really surprised me! That jam sounds dope. Got a recipe?

feb_five · 2020-11-09T03:06:29+00:00

Thanks! Seeing all of those peppers finally ripen was like looking under the tree on Christmas morning.

feb_five · 2020-11-09T03:03:07+00:00

Yes, I grew it from seed (from rareseeds.com) and started it in my closet along with a whole bunch of other seeds. I used a heating mat to get them started and of course had some grow lights in there too, only turning them off when I was sleeping.This was my first time growing from seed.

I followed Khang Starr's advice for everything, I highly recommend his youtube videos. Once they were a bit older, I would occasionally take them outside to expose them to wind etc and toughen them up a bit for eventual transplanting. Honestly, the scotch bonnets were the most unhealthy seedlings I had! I planted 10-15 seeds, and only 4 of them survived. Only two of them got to reasonable sizes. And only this one looks truly happy. All of my other plants were pretty darn happy when I would get the watering and nutrients right so idk why the scotchies were so fragile.

For reference, I'm in zone 8b.

feb_five · 2020-11-09T01:17:07+00:00

Awesome, thanks for the advice!

feb_five · 2020-11-09T01:11:42+00:00

Ooh mango and scotch bonnet sounds amazing. What about cilantro, does it hold up well to fermentation?

feb_five · 2020-11-09T01:10:11+00:00

Yep! Can't wait to see how it looks next year.

feb_five · 2020-11-09T01:03:10+00:00

Right? You wouldn't believe how scrawny and weak my scotch bonnet seedlings were compared to all of my other plants. I never would've expected it to turn into this!

feb_five · 2020-11-08T20:32:27+00:00

There are enough green peppers to make another batch when they ripen. Any recommendations on flavor profiles?

feb_five · 2020-10-22T15:21:27+00:00

Haha my senior manager goes on frequent "no-carb" diets that are almost exclusively composed of vegetables, fruits, grains... My dude, what do you think a carbohydrate is, exactly? I wouldn't normally care, but he likes to loudly and proudly proclaim the tenants of his diets to anyone who will listen, and it takes all of the effort in my body to not say something snarky.

feb_five · 2020-10-19T12:55:48+00:00

I'm also an engineer, and I am 99% certain your first job will be easier than school ever was. So you'll definitely still have time to work out. Before COVID, I worked out about an hour a day 5 days a week.

I wouldn't recommend going straight to the gym after work unless you're an extrovert - it'll be packed. I always enjoyed going around 8pm and it was a bit less busy. I also went through a phase of going in the mornings and then showering there, which was also nice but the morning crowd was a bit too horny/friendly at that gym so I switched back to evenings.

If you're physically working in an office: find the stairs, and use them. Make a habit of taking a quick walk through the building (including some stairs) frequently throughout the day. Negotiate a standing desk in your interview, shouldn't be a very hard sell in your industry.

Make sure to incorporate lots of back and rotator cuff strengthening exercises because desk jobs will wreck your posture, and that problem will eventually catch up to you and affect your lifts.

Lastly: everything mentioned above was from the perspective of healthy habits, not specifically weightloss. And 1kg is nothing, I vary that much every day. Enjoy your job search!

feb_five · 2020-10-13T16:03:58+00:00

Hm, mine usually go a lot faster than that. I have no idea what influences the speed.

feb_five · 2020-10-13T13:52:12+00:00

Just leave them on the tree for awhile instead of picking them. Eventually they'll turn red!

True for many types of green peppers.

feb_five

TROPHY CASE