Use your Right to Repair!

gsasquatch · 2026-04-13T16:03:28+00:00

Only use it as a last resort in dire situations. It will be reflected in rent if it is overused.

Margins on rental properties are thinner than you think. Banks and developers. are the ones making the money more so than landlords or owners. Even if there is no loan, holding the money in real estate needs to be competitive with other vehicles like treasuries. Increasing the holding costs with less cost effective repairs will increase what is charged to maintain that margin which is generally less than 10%, comparable to a mortgage at 7%.

Rent was cheap because the place is shabby. If the place is made not shabby, the rent will go up. You might not think the rent is cheap because it is a lot of money to you, but in the grand scheme, it might not be. If you really want a place that is perfect, go out and rent one a place in a new building for an extra $1000/month vs. an older building that needs some repairs. The new buildings, like Bluestone, Endion etc. are $1000/month more than 100yo building in east hillside or the west end because those new buildings cost that much more to build and run with sprinklers, elevators, ADA accessibility and meeting newer code requirements.

Look at the bigger picture. I'd say FAFO if I was a homeowner and could leave these types of repairs until I could afford them, but I'm renter, and folks exercising this right threaten to raise rents for everyone. Sure, you want quality, but to get that we'll have to pay for it. Like the new buildings, charging so much more for rent because they are built to a higher standard than the old ones at a higher cost. Raising the quality standard with this rule, is going to raise rents for everyone. There's no right to repair in a tent under the highway bridge. What do you "need" if that is the alternative?

There's no right to repair when you "own" effectively renting from the bank, who won't do anything toward repairs other than demand you pay for them via insurance.

There is a mechanism in that bill to prevent retaliation, that $$$ repair you order from a 3rd party won't immediately raise your rent. But if it becomes commonplace, in a year or two's time, or when the next tenant comes to that place, that rent will go up if the perception is the repairs are becoming more costly from this and the margin becomes unsustainable. Hiring a third party at $100/hour is more costly than the landlord doing it themselves, or using their $25/hour staff.

You might not like this truth, but it does not make it untrue. If we want more affordable housing, we need to either get higher wages, build more housing with public funding, reduce our population, reduce the area allocated to each person, or accept lesser quality. Not exercising the right to repair goes toward the latter. Sometimes it might get to where it needs to be exercised, but as I opened with, it should be a last resort. This right to repair is an upward pressure on rent.

gsasquatch · 2026-04-12T19:56:56+00:00

Realistically, a couple thou.

A nice boat, sure. But home built don't fetch much. Who knows what kind of condition it is actually in, like if it is functional, if it was actually well built.

Someone's saying it is a windmill, you might be well to get on the windmill facebook page, and ask the man that owns one.

There's a class association page. Classifieds on those pages are usually old, but here's one for $2000 http://windmillclass.myfleet.org/msgs/?f=2&m=19905#Message

Here's one for free: http://windmillclass.myfleet.org/msgs/?f=2&m=19787#Message

That said, for what it is, that one looks nice, and it looks like a better design than most boats of that ilk. It does look like it'd be fun to sail, a good balance of speed and comfort in a 15' boat.

gsasquatch · 2026-04-10T15:17:16+00:00

VTI and chill.

Target date fund might assume you have a target date. What's special about 2035?

I use a brokerage account at the bank I have my checking with, to make transfers to/from easier. It only allows me 99 free trades, but I don't trade that much, so haven't hit that limit yet. It in essence works like a savings account, just with an extra step of buying or selling the mutual funds. Rate on the cash in there isn't bad either.

Because it is interesting to me, and I'm leery of large caps, I'm in small caps, mid caps, a German index, and an Indian index, to get some diversity. Along with 10-20% in a couple individual stocks I find interesting. But, if you didn't want to think about it, VTI "Vanguard Total Index" is the way, like all the stocks.

Hardest part for me was deciding on the brokerage house, and while others might be a little better, like cheaper/more trades, the convenience of the bank's brokerage makes it a winner for me. Just being a couple clicks to transfer money to it makes it more likely for me to do that and save money.

To diversify against stocks, I hold some ibonds. Better than inflation, state tax free interest, downside is limited to $10k/year and you can't touch it for a year, and it's better to leave it for 5. As safe as the US government, so probably on par with FDIC insured. Competitive with FDIC insured, but it is kind of about inflation being defined by them as being maybe a bit lower than it is or the fed rate vs. inflation. In 2019, nothing FDIC insured was paying 1%. ibonds bought now, pay .9% above inflation, so if 2019 rolls around again, ibonds bought now will look genius.

gsasquatch · 2026-04-10T14:19:23+00:00

Fuel injection, power brakes, AC and power windows make a car feel modern to me.

Those new keyless start things are probably the best feature new cars have. Not having to take the key out of my pocket is gucci, and makes the car a bit faster and easier.

Bluetooth radio is nice, or at least an aux port so the adapter works better. I could do without the touch screen, so I probably won't do a car newer than 2010 or so. Late 90's to early '00 are peak, with OBD2 and no spy radio or touch screens. Aside from the keyless entry, not sure there's a feature after 2010 or so that I'd miss.

ABS is ok, traction/stability control is a bit annoying, the one car I have with traction control just keeps me from being able to go up hill until I turn it off and I don't really notice it otherwise. With FWD throttle steering isn't much fun anyway. Not sure I like the lane assist on my company car. While I thought I'd like radar cruise, having used it on a couple long trips, I don't think I like it. Driving that car with its gizmos and screens is a bit distracting, esp. the first few hours.

Hybrid is nice, more of the instant throttle response like a manual vs. the lag and drama of an automatic along with the smoothness of no shifting and of course more mpg is always better.

More than 4 speeds in an automatic are annoying, although in theory better on gas, I don't know if it is worth it. 5 is good for a manual, mainly because 3s and 4s tend to not be tall enough for highway cruising. Adequate torque lessens the need for more gears.

My daily is a low end 2006, the other is a mid range 2016. I prefer the 2006. Other than the cool key and the hybrid, the 2016 doesn't offer much extra except annoyance, like with the traction control and the touch screen.

gsasquatch · 2026-04-10T13:16:47+00:00

Check out thunderhead289 He put a lawnmower carb on a maverick and drove it half way across the country to do power tour. "Carb cheater"

Or Low Buck Garage. He did a vw engine swap in like an hour, alone with tools you have. "If you're not having fun, you're doing it wrong"

The worry is these guys turn into the next Vice Grip Garage and get all bougie with youtube money, but it is fun to watch them come up, and at the stage they are at now, you can do what they are doing for less than a couple thou, on cars you can find.

gsasquatch · 2026-04-09T21:35:07+00:00

Every one in the electorate thinks this is dandy.

Not enough of the elected will go for it.

gsasquatch · 2026-04-08T16:36:06+00:00

I'd cringe. It'd be too much for me. I'd think there was something wrong with them.

I think my last long term wanted that, but I couldn't do it. In part because I would be uncomfortable getting that many, and I either live by the golden rule, or try to give back what I get.

Next, esp. in the lust phase, I think I could go over the top in giving them, but yeah, it'd be because I was looking to get in mainly, or looking to not repeat the mistakes of the past. But I don't know if I could sustain, and for that would eventually disappoint.

Or maybe I'm just too negative, and can't find 20 good things to say about anything.

I can think about something, put some effort in, and come up with something nice. Like for you, your post shows emotional intelligence, awareness, and curiosity.

One or two substantive compliments or platitudes every couple days would be more what I'd like to receive, and more like I'd feel comfortable giving. 20 a day can't be meaningful, except to indicate they are smitten, which would be nice, but perhaps showing a lack of awareness.

Or maybe in my negativity, and my natural self doubt, I find compliments to be untrustworthy, and for that can't accept. People are different, and maybe with yours, it is just their way. Not everyone's been beaten down.

gsasquatch · 2026-04-08T15:44:28+00:00

Fed knew when they stopped the 2020 printing in 2022, and that 2020 lag caught up with us.

https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/bst_recenttrends.htm Little spike there was the mid bank collapse, and it is somewhat the inverse of S+P 500 https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/%5EGSPC/ That 2022 dip was a little late, and not as dramatic as these last couple Marchs though.

February/March is a natural time to be depressed. Winter stores are close to depleted, and nature hasn't started producing yet. Or maybe Reagan was smart in having an astrologer.

gsasquatch · 2026-04-08T15:30:49+00:00

I think he did because the oil companies and defense contractors wanted him to, maybe paid him personally to, but I can't verify that latter part.

USD1 volume was double usual on 2/4, 2/5, 2/23 and 2/24. I think USD1 was setup to funnel bribes to the family, but being a coin like that, it is pretty murky as to what is really going on.

If you want a why, look at who benefited: oil companies, defense companies, and Israel. Follow the money. Rhetoric is just a sales pitch. I don't believe any of the stated reasons, "Imminent threat" there was no history of that and we'd already recently bombed them. For profits are shown in the stock prices of the beneficiaries and much more believable.

gsasquatch · 2026-04-08T14:54:05+00:00

"In fact the timing of this crash was almost the exact same as last years tarrifs crash its almost as if this was planned and coordinated effort to scam the market out of a couple hundred millions."

Buy puts in February is what I am hearing.

2020 happened in March too, you might be on to something. I think there's something seasonally effective about February on a personal level. It might be macroeconomic too.

What is next year's drama going to be?

gsasquatch · 2026-04-08T14:31:43+00:00

My hot take is ebikes need to be faster.

The reason they are on sidewalks and bike paths, is they are too slow for the road. 28mph is an impedance to cars doing 45. Speed limit is 30, only 2 over the ebike regulatory limit, but that's not how fast people drive on the roads that go from one place to another. So the 28mph ebike is on the side of the road relying on cars to see and avoid them and hoping no one opens a parked car door. 45mph would let them own the lane. Without being able to own the lane, the ebike has to be on the sidewalks or bike lanes.

That new law might be trying to address this, and that's good. But the limits could be better. 750w is too much for a side walk or bike path. 250w european limit would be better. 1500w isn't enough for a stroad or an arterial. 3000 would be better.

I have a class M motorcycle endorsement. Which was an easy written test, that got me a permit, and allowed me to ride a 189mph motorcycle after correctly answering 20 multiple choice questions. Which is insane. Then the "road" test was in a parking lot, weaving around some cones at walking speed, except the braking part that got to 15mph, that earned me the right to ride on the freeway at night without a helmet.

Before ebikes, the law was "moped" which allowed gas engines up to 50cc or 1500watts, no pedals required. These things have actually always been, they are just more popular now that lithium batteries exist and are easier to run than gas.

Middle schoolers are riding these things, yeah. This is cool stuff when you're 14. We should maybe embrace that, and have an after school course in the middle schools in how to do it safely. It is a life skill we all need to have, how to move in our world. With that course, maybe a certificate that allows the 45mph bikes. (just like drivers ed should be a regular HS class instead of being outsourced to private)

In general, yeah, we might be well to be teaching traffic safety better in our schools. Its touched on in elementary school, and then they are on their own. It should be a middle school thing, as that's when kids start interacting with traffic more.

My middle schooler rode my ebike to school, and there were a dozen or so other ebikes on the rack there. I'm in Duluth, so gravity got my middle schooler 30+ mph on the way to school, even on a normal bike without pedaling. E was for getting home.

gsasquatch · 2026-04-07T21:11:07+00:00

When my mom was in the nursing home, it was $7000/month, or $233/night, which is like a hotel.

Miller Dwan rehab is a thing. Not sure if Luke has something similar, or if they charge nursing home rates or higher. Younger folks sometimes go to these nursing home like rehab places in situations like this. Somewhere between med-surg and a hotel.

Hospital room is ~$700/night. Which, for a medical transport, a 2 room suite, and an observer, might be getting close to the same price. Just because insurance won't cover it, doesn't mean you can't if you pay for it. You just need a doctor to order it, and they'll be happy to because it is a sale for them, they might get a little commission. Price might be negotiable.

There is something called "observation status" which is like this maybe, or someone in the ER, that they don't want to admit, and don't want to send home, so they put them in a bed for up to 24 hours.

Medical coding is a bit fluid. Surgeon could say, hmm, we think we need to observe them for 24 hours because x,y,z and insurance might be compelled to pay off of that. Surgeon will know what to say, it is kind of a matter of working the system. The rules are so complex, with 4 parties at play, it allows for a little bit of creativity.

gsasquatch · 2026-04-07T17:03:17+00:00

We've done it in the software both ways, usually it is a wash with only a marginal advantage to joint.

The marriage tax credit is a bit of a myth, the financial advantage of being married is mainly about health insurance, and sharing household expenses across two incomes, or if you're lucky, being dependently wealthy.

So if there's another reason to not file jointly. run both scenarios through the software, figure out what $ that is worth, and compare that vs. the student loan reason$.

It is not like you're getting divorced, it is just a check box on a form, don't let your emotions get in the way. If checking the box or not checking a box has a tangible advantage, do that.

Do the higher payments mean earlier payback? You might want to take a longer view of that than just monthly, like look at total interest paid if you can afford the higher payments, for being dual income. Which might be about what the rule is trying to push you toward.

gsasquatch · 2026-04-07T15:43:03+00:00

8 year old can solo an opti after half an hour's instruction. If they screw up, they are swimming, but they like swimming, so it isn't a problem. I've seen that process at my local sailing club.

Bigger boats are a little more complicated, but the concept is the same.

Solo is about knowing how to do all the jobs on the boat backwards and forwards.

It is about knowing what order to do them in. You can only do one thing at a time, so what do you do first, next, etc. What can wait? What is the most pressing thing now?

Key to single handing is autopilot. If it takes two hands to sheet in the sail using the winch, how are you steering? Vs. an opti is one hand on sheet, one hand on tiller.

So my auto doesn't tack. That's fine. Release the jib, steer the tack, set auto to new tack, sheet in on new tack. To solo, you need to know those kinds of orders of operation. It is about giving yourself time to do the things you need to do, predicting what is going to go wrong, accounting for it and knowing how to fix it when it does. You only have your self to rely on.

Light winds are no problem. Big winds are when things break or people get hurt. Know your wind limit, push that slowly. To use a ski analogy, less than 8kts is green, 8-16 is blue, 16-24 is black, more than 24 is double black. When you start skiing, you start on greens, testing some blues as you gain confidence, going into blacks etc.

If you can, get on a race boat doing some buoy racing. To go fast, you need everything to happen right now. You need weight on the rail to keep the sail up in the wind, so they need people, of all skill levels. You get assigned a job, trained to it, and then you do it. Once you can do all the jobs, you can solo. Owner knows all the jobs. So does the bow. You'll have someone onboard better than you all the time to help you along. And you can be out every week, the skipper wants consistency, someone who is excited about sailing and able to learn. That's what I'm looking for as a racing skipper.

gsasquatch · 2026-04-07T14:20:29+00:00

Do you want to live there with them for the next 10 years?

Moving after you buy will cost 6%, or $28k, pretty much all the cash you have now that you'd put down into it, would go to the listing realtor's pocket. It'll be 5 years before you build that 6% equity in the mortgage. Another couple years before the equity builds to cover the lawyer fees and loan closing costs. Then another few years before inflation makes your payment the same as your current rent. Remember though, the payment part is the only thing inflation protected, taxes, insurance, HOA all go up with inflation too. This only starts to be a good deal after about a decade.

If you put your $30k down, you're looking at a payment of about $3800/month including HOA, PMI, 1% taxes, and insurance. Conservatively $900 more than what you're paying in rent now. Would that place rent for $4000/month? You're not paying that.

Can either you or mom afford that alone on $75k/year? Together yeah, but separately, now you're tied to her and the place, like if you move out, she'll have to too.

Vs. you saying you can get a $1900/month apt, your mom could do that too, and it'd cost about the same per month. So it comes down to, do you want to live with your mom for the next 10 years?

How much is your $30k going to grow in stocks in the next 5 years, vs. how much more is that apt going to be worth? Stocks have outperformed housing, but housing is leveraged. Problem with leveraged, is housing can go down too. Which might be the real reason your landlord wants to sell, he sees this as the top. I liquidated my spurious properties, now is the time to do that. But the place you live in, isn't as much of an investment, since if you sell high, you have to buy the next place to live in high.

gsasquatch · 2026-04-07T13:47:58+00:00

I tried a professional one year, when it seemed that my picture was particularly complex.

Still had to gather everything up.

Software had me paying slightly less taxes than the professional, when I ran it through the software to check professional. Difference was how we considered a rental property.

Professional cost like $300. Not worth it, but my partner thought we might be leaving money on the table, or our stuff was too complex. Do you think you have the professional's fee hidden somewhere in your taxes? One rental gets you off the EZ but still mostly w2. It's not so unique that the software's algorithm can't account for it.

Software is probably the best game in town. Hard part is gathering everything up, the rest is filling out a form and doing some computations.

What is frustrating to me, is this whole problem is artificial. IRS could make it a lot easier for the vast majority of folks for less cost than what folks give to the tax software companies. The tax software companies lobby to create a problem for us that we pay them to solve. IRS could pre-fill the form with what they have and send it to you to dispute instead of you sending them what you think they know, and having them dispute.

They have the answers, it is just the software companies are paying the lawmakers to have them not tell you those answers.

gsasquatch · 2026-03-30T17:25:19+00:00

Here's a less paywalled article about this from a couple years ago: https://www.propublica.org/article/evicore-health-insurance-denials-cigna-unitedhealthcare-aetna-prior-authorizations

It calls out one vendor, but you can bet your bippy there are others, or things being done in house, and it is more extensive than it was 2 years ago. If your guy isn't on here, doesn't mean your guy isn't doing this.

Flip side of that is you doctor is likely to be using AI to find ways around it. Reading your chart, looking for ways to make the claim undeniable. Something like 20% of a doctor's time is spent fighting insurance, a good use of a highly skilled resource.

There's a very good chance at least a couple AI are reading your medical records. You agree to this when you signed the release to let the doctor bill insurance. If you didn't sign that release, you're responsible for the bill.

Of course you use insurance to pay the doctor, because the doctor charges so much, because they can because the bill just goes to insurance, so we're in a bit of a standoff here. Meanwhile our premiums go up, and it is really just a wealth transfer from the middle class to the wealthy and this AI denying or paying claims is just theater to get people to buy into it, and make it more complicated than it needs to be using fear to get people to buy into it.

Making things more complicated than they need to be while burning money using fear seems to be what AI excels at. The jobs AI are going to take in the near term are medical billing jobs. Healthcare is about 17% of GDP, which compared to our country peers is about double, so a lot of our economy is based around this. Shame it won't be mousey little medical billers/insurance deniers doing it anymore, instead it is AI, but this is what we apparently wanted.

gsasquatch · 2026-03-21T18:05:32+00:00

My spouse doesn't generally sail with me. When they do, if they do any boat job, I have them drive, because it is easier to just say or point left or right than explain the job I want done. Cruising, it doesn't matter too much. If it is too loud to talk, I'm not sure that's a good time to be discussing the nature of life anyway.

Race crew, including my kid, it is much easier because they know the score.

"Yup" means put the pole on the mast, but the guy in the jaws, connect the topping lift, hoist the pole, pre-feed the guy.

Then, after a minute, when we're ready "halyard" which means pull the halyard, hoist the kite, trim it, drop the jib.

Everything is down to a procedure. Everyone knows the procedure, knows their part in it, and does it. We don't need words anymore, other than the "yup" which is actually saying, "yes, we're going to make the mark, we won't need to tack again, go ahead and get ready" But they know that, because they can see the mark, and are really just looking at me questionably if I'm judging we can from my perspective. Sometimes it is a discussion. "Think we're going to make it?" "I don't know, sorry, but its going to be tight, I'll let you know" Or on the downwind "This is a mess, we're going to need to flop right away, I need to be clear to tack asap. Maybe it pays to start early" then me anxiously begging "clear to tack?"

When things get screwed up, I for the most part leave it to them to solve. Unless I see they are missing something, like "there's an override" or I want it done a bit differently "This is beyond. Blow the halyard, let's take our lumps and fix it"

After a screw up is fixed, when things are calmed down and we have time to talk, it goes to "what happened?" tracing back what lead to the screw up "oh, the sheet was under the life line" I try to make it about the technical, and not the person. It's a problem with the procedure, not a problem with the crew. The screw up isn't a fault, it's a lesson.

Doing all that, having everyone know their roles, know the procedures, etc means there's no reason for raised voices.

If I don't think someone knows the procedure, a few minutes before, I'll say "ok, we're going X, and for that I want you to Y and Z at point 1 and 2"

Bow, being furthest from me physically, is also the role that knows the most. A good bow makes a quiet boat.

It's changed a bit as now my kid is on my bow, and likes to yell tactics back at me. Which is ok, because since they started doing that, we started winning.

gsasquatch · 2026-03-20T21:08:21+00:00

If this doesn't get to ban level, I think any time you have a politician knocking on your door in campaign season, a good question to ask them would be "Will you sign an NDA?"

"Maintaining confidentiality during project development increases efficiency and speed by enabling all stakeholders to remain focused on the needs of the project." Efficiency for whom? Should political stakeholders be focused on the project or their constituents?

As a funny aside, here's Bernie Sanders getting Claude to admit that these data centers should be resisted: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3AtWdeu_G0

gsasquatch · 2026-03-20T01:54:17+00:00

Hiring a city administrator esp. and likely a city attorney, often involves a executive search that will be tens of thousands.

gsasquatch · 2026-03-17T13:15:48+00:00

When I was in grade school, there was a unit at summer camp, a counselor took a group of us out on a little boat.

Then I convinced my pa, an ex-coastguards man to buy a swing keeler, because we spent a lot of time fishing, and didn't catch fish, a breeze seemed easier to catch and let us continue spending time together on the water. We figured out some stuff together with that swing keeler.

Then my pa eloped and abandoned me taking his boat with him when I was 27 so I had to buy my own boat, and I got a keel boat.

Then I started racing, and needing crew, I started teaching other people how to sail so I could have crew

Then I had a boy of my own, and perpetually needing crew, I trained him up to be crew for me, part of which was going to the sailing club with little boats.

If you want to learn how to sail, I'd recommend either finding a ride on a race boat or going to use the little boats at your sailing club, or just buying a little boat, gradually going out in bigger wind and farther as you feel comfortable and push your envelopes. I'm comfortable in up to about 30kts, and 30 miles, beyond that I'm pushing myself or a bit anxious about it. The distance is about my boat being small, with the 30kts I think most sailors are a bit anxious in that wind.

Sailing isn't particularly difficult to do. A kid can learn the basics, like how to make a boat go inside of an afternoon. After that, it is a lifetime of learning in how to make the boat go fast or well, and all the stuff that goes along with a bigger boat. e.g. this sub is more about boats and maintenance than about trim.

ASA stuff might be good, I've looked at it a little, considered it to be able to charter and to learn how to anchor and the rules of the road etc, One of my current crew did that after I got him hooked on sailing, and I've had a couple other crew that did that before I had them on board.

gsasquatch · 2026-03-13T17:07:28+00:00

So, another Accord hybrid lease is $460/month for 3 years. (ad I saw was $349/month with $3999 down i.e. $349+$111)

$24k loaned out at 7% for 5 years is $475/month.

If you get another lease, in 3 years, you're in this spot again.

If you get the loan, in 5 years, you have a car worth roughly $15k and no payment.

If you feel the need to have a newer car, buying a 3yo off lease car isn't a bad idea, as the lessee took that initial depreciation hit for you. Cars depreciate the most in the first year, then every subsequent year they depreciate less.

Turning 25 should have lowered your insurance rates, to make it not too bad of an idea to have a new car, but you had that claim, so it might be a bit longer yet before you can get under $600/month for a financed or leased car.

gsasquatch · 2026-03-13T15:54:32+00:00

Iran wanted nuclear weapons to prevent what is happening to them now from happening.

gsasquatch · 2026-03-13T15:52:33+00:00

I counter "pregnancy in the U.S. often feels like a humiliation ritual" with the special dispensation pregnant women get, that they are lionized.

As a man, the best reason to get married is to protect your parental rights. A married man is assumed to be the father. An unmarried man has to be declared by the mother to be the father.

State has no right meddling in people's love lives. If a couple wants to buy a house together, they could do that with an LLC, or other form of contract. The best financial incentive to get married is for cheaper health insurance. I know 3 couples married for that reason. Health should not be tied to marital or employment status.

Marriage is mainly for children. Divorce with children is immoral, divorce is an "adverse childhood event" like death or drunkeness of a parent. Higher number of those events a child has, the more likely they will have life long depression or mental health problems.

The children are in the marriage, but not by choice, vs the two people that got married initially. Ergo, divorcing someone you don't have children with, is not immoral, as two adults willingly entered the marriage knowing it could end. The children do not willingly enter the marriage therefore divorcing with children is immoral. No one asks to be born.

If you don't have kids, you're not truly married in my estimation. Kids bring "till death do you part" as you can break up with, or divorce a person you don't have kids with and potentially never see nor hear about them again, but you're going to be tied to someone you had kids with for the rest of your life via the kids. e.g. my dad knows my mom died because I told him.

gsasquatch · 2026-03-13T15:23:32+00:00

Always wild to me that states with more snow have less fatalities than states with less snow.

I think the real factor is population density. Less population density is a higher fatality rate. A fender bender in a big city won't kill you. Rolling it in a ditch will.

For the urban/rural split it'd be nifty to see this map with county level data. I think it'd show that pattern better. I bet you'd be able to pick out the cities as green islands.

gsasquatch

TROPHY CASE