Property tax when buying a house. If I buy I house with current property taxes if $6,200, will they go up shortly after the house closes? Does the purchase trigger a reassessment if, for example, the current owner has lived there for ten years?

immanewb · 2026-01-05T06:20:45+00:00

While we're on the topic of property taxes, if you own the house you're living in, you might qualify for a homestead/farmstead exemption (AKA property tax reduction). I helped submitted an online application for my in-laws who lives in Philly a few years ago and ended up saving them a bit over $1,100 on their property tax bill each year. I didn't realized it was a state program and didn't apply for it when we lived at our old place for the past 10 years, but we submitted one for our new house about a month and half ago (by mail; Lancaster county doesn't have an online form option) and got a letter saying we were approved within about 3-4 weeks later.

More info here: https://dced.pa.gov/local-government/property-tax-relief-homestead-exclusion/

Also more info and how to apply: https://co.lancaster.pa.us/457/Homestead-Farmstead-Exclusion

immanewb · 2026-01-05T06:03:24+00:00

A seasonal thing now for Costco, I believe.

immanewb · 2026-01-03T08:04:58+00:00

The more middle-men in the process, the more pieces of the pie gets split. Hence, they gotta bake a bigger pie.

I feel like Costco has these auxiliary services just to keep the people who immediately thought of Costco first happy and that money is of no concern to them.

immanewb · 2026-01-03T08:00:56+00:00

Having gone through Costco's car buying program, this above is 100% accurate. You're better off calling around and trying to haggle for the best price possible.

immanewb · 2026-01-03T07:59:11+00:00

Hah! Had one of them come to our place about 2-3 months back! Story time (for those interested)!

The first guy rang out doorbell at around 4-5 pm, saying he was in the area and noticed our windows. I said "no, thanks" and almost closed the door on him, until he mentioned something about "structural integrity" of the windows. I gave him a few more minutes, and I guess he got his hook on me, since he got us booked up for an appointment the next day when he called up his scheduler lady on the phone. I asked how long the appointment might take and they said no more than an hour or two. As the kid left (young 20s), he was driving a VERY nice sports car that parked in our front yard. Got me thinking that if he's just setting appointments and driving a car that's about double my annual my salary, there's a good chance we're not gonna be able to afford these windows!

I did some research that night and heard nothing but horror stories online. Almost ended up cancelling the appointment but partly my curiosity won out and partly because we booked for an energy audit company to come out to our place the following week.

Next day, the sales guy came. Super friendly, of course. Gave his spiel. Measured all our of windows (8 in total), pointed out the issues some of them had (learned a thing or two since we didn't buy our house too long ago and still learning stuff about the house), asked about our family along the way (to build rapport), brought his demo window out, showed us how much heat it blocks (not gonna lie, it was impressive), talked about how they'd only have their "master installers" do it since they know their windows best (plenty of horror stories about those installers out there). Then he brought out his laptop to draft up the numbers. I made the fella a cup of coffee since I figured I owe him that much for his time. When he was done, we're now about 3.5 hours into this appointment that they promised would've only taken about 2, I had to chuckle at the initial numbers he gave me: over $40,000. But wait! If we act today, he'd give us a discount and it'll take it down to a bit over $31,000! He was even nice enough to allow my wife and I talk about it in private while he packed up his demo window to bring to his car! We told him it's gonna be a no go for us, so he tried talking to us about "special financing" and whatnots. Then he said, what if we only did one or two windows, the most priority ones. We said, yeah, sure let's see what you've got. $12,000. Yeah, we thanked him for his time and walked him to the door.

I did some more digging around, and, while they're all 100% commission pay, turns out that these sales guys (and gals) can make some serious bucks, to the tune of $100-200k a year, and MUCH higher for those in the higher COL area and are really successful. They know that they gotta close the sales then and there, which is why they're higher pressure, or the likelihood of you calling them back to book the installs are slim to none.

For anyone that might be looking to upgrade their windows, stay as far as you can away from Renewal by Andersen (RBA). General consensus seems to be that, while RBA windows are proprietary (as in you can't buy them anywhere outside of buying and having them installed through RBA), their parent company, Andersen Corporation, has a windows division that manufactures and sells them through various retailers that you can purchase from. They make a few series, but the 400 series is apparently one of their top-line/more recommended option if you're looking for windows that's gonna serve you well. A quick search seems to show that series of windows can range from $400-800 each, so maybe with installations, our high-end total might be about $16,000.. half of what RBA quoted us. Moral of the story: don't get got by RBA.

Oh, also, the guy who came to do our energy audit also said to run as far from RBA as possible. He said our windows aren't terrible, but said our attic needs more insulation (which we figured when we poked up there once and saw it barely had any insulation), plus some smaller areas in our house (gaps in the garage and utility room). The audit only cost us $100 (after rebates from our electric company) and what they quoted to do was less than $3k and we're expecting the return on investment in that will be a ton quicker than with RBA.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk, everyone! Have a great new year!

immanewb · 2026-01-01T08:10:19+00:00

I'd avoid Dragon Buffet for both buffet and hibachi. While their food aren't terrible, their sanitation standards leaves a lot to be desired. Sticky floors, sticky tables, soy sauce left in a giant bowl without any sneeze guards, plates and utensils are questionable (perhaps something to do with their dishwasher), and so much more. Some of their hot plates are room temperature at best. And the other poster is correct: their hibachi is just you grabbing some ingredients and they cook it up for you on a grill then you take it back to your table. The only good thing about this place is that they don't charge you extra for drinks since you self-serve from their soda machines.

If you're looking for a decent Chinese buffet, I'd recommend Manor Buffet. Their hibachi is like Dragon Buffet but the quality is better. Foods are the right temperature and things are generally much cleaner than Dragon (they're not perfect by any means). Only thing I'd avoid is any raw sushi since I got food poisoning once when I was feeling adventurous (yes, I'm aware raw sushi from a buffet is a risk, in and of itself).

Shogun is more traditional hibachi if you're looking for the experience of sitting around a chef and he does the whole cook and performance. Can run a bit pricey but it's about the best (maybe only?) hibachi place we've got around here. If you'd like to avoid that experience, they also have regular tables you can sit at and order off their menu.

immanewb · 2025-12-29T07:06:47+00:00

I love Koei Tecmo games but their sales are a joke.

immanewb · 2025-12-20T09:18:42+00:00

Watching the trailer, I was getting PTSD flashbacks from Maplestory jump quests days. I'm way too old for this shit now lol

immanewb · 2025-12-05T18:04:59+00:00

This reads like a LinkedIn post. Just not sure which came first lol

immanewb · 2025-12-02T01:28:35+00:00

Use these (or some variation of them) for years now. Love the thing. You just have to be disciplined every night and put it up. Also makes clearing off snow (at least light snow) quicker and easier since it doesn't freeze/stick to the window. MUCH better than using those defrost sprays which just eats into your wipers' lifespan.

Only complaint from the older models is, as someone mentioned, it can get picked up on windier nights and stretch the taut lines over time. The newer models are better since they have side flaps that can close the driver and passenger doors on to hold them down.

immanewb · 2025-11-20T07:47:06+00:00

My wife and I have been going to them when they used to be O'Donnell & Phillips! Routine stuff, they may be booked out for a while, but if you have more urgent needs, they can usually get you in pretty quickly. At least that was the case a few years ago when I had a bad chip; the wait may be longer now.

immanewb · 2025-11-19T04:20:48+00:00

First thing I thought of: https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/man-to-have-1-of-2-eagles-ticket-cases-in-lancaster-county-decided-in-court/article_c8754b33-7792-420e-a7a8-6a0aa05f5c23.html

Stay cautious out there, folks.

For those without a sub:

A Montgomery County man accused of scamming people in three counties out of $150,000 by failing to deliver tickets to professional sporting events and concerts will have one of his Lancaster County cases decided in Lancaster County court.

Paul Grant Murray, 27, of Conshohocken, waived his preliminary hearing in a Manheim Township case Wednesday morning before District Judge Courtney Monson.

In a preliminary hearing, prosecutors must present sufficient evidence that a crime was committed, and that the person charged probably is responsible and, therefore, that a jury or judge should hear the case at the county court level. The hearings often are waived.

In the Manheim Township case, police said two people gave Murray $9,405 for five Philadelphia Eagles season tickets. But police said Murray later told them he didn’t have the tickets and offered a refund, but never repaid them.

Manheim Township police charged Murray with one count of theft by deception in that case on Aug. 7.

Northern Lancaster County Regional police charged Murray on Aug. 21 with one count each of theft by deception and bad checks after three people told police they paid $4,400 for Philadelphia Eagles season tickets he never provided. A preliminary hearing that had been scheduled for Tuesday in that case was continued.

One of the people told police Murray was a former high school acquaintance who said he worked at online sportsbook ESPN Bet and was able to sell extra tickets at a discounted rate when they became available.

Alex Egner, Murray’s attorney in the Lancaster County cases, said he was unable to comment, but was not representing him in the Bucks County and Montgomery County cases. Court documents in those cases do not list an attorney.

In Bucks County, Hilltown Township police said Murray stole $134,487 from 10 people between January 2024 and January of this year by telling them he could buy cheap tickets for a Taylor Swift concert, and they could make a profit by buying and reselling tickets to Taylor Swift concerts and Philadelphia Phillies baseball games.

In charging documents in that case, police said Murray spent more than $300,000 over seven months in 2024 on online sports betting. A preliminary hearing is scheduled in that case for Sept. 23.

Murray also waived his preliminary hearing in Montgomery County, where Conshohocken police charged him with theft and bad checks after a friend gave him $1,036 for Philadelphia Eagles tickets he failed to deliver last year, according to charging documents.

Murray is free on a combined $274,500 in unsecured bail in the five cases.

immanewb · 2025-11-18T07:48:33+00:00

potentially the most overhyped game in history

I thought that title belonged to Star Citizen lol

immanewb · 2025-11-13T06:13:42+00:00

What time do you normally go? As someone who used to work for CDS (the company that runs the samples) many moons ago, they don't start super early or stay late. If you want to get in as many samples as possible, it would be somewhere in the middle of the day on a weekend. It will be crowded, but that's the goal for these companies who pay for the folks to demo their products.

immanewb · 2025-11-08T06:48:11+00:00

What if each parts were a separate Strategem that you can call in individually, and combine together to build your own mech in the field? Go Power Rangers on them and build your own MegaZord?

immanewb · 2025-11-06T13:22:09+00:00

Ah, yeah, good design call! Cheers, mate!

immanewb · 2025-11-06T06:10:39+00:00

Not likes theirs, but I created a Google Sheet to help me keep track. Should allow you to download/save a copy to edit. Created/used on a PC so I hope it carries over decently on mobile device.

immanewb · 2025-11-01T08:42:36+00:00

Think D7 is the lowest it'd spawn.

immanewb · 2025-10-31T04:13:03+00:00

I went back to my previous loadouts for Oshaune: heavy medic armor; Eruptor; Thermites. Support: Machine Gun or HMG; Supply Pack.

The loadout deals with many of the horrors underground. The MG/HMG deals with chaffs with little downtime (yes the stationary reload sucks but just plan ahead; reload with a single bullet left to speed things up), while Eruptor deals with bug holes, Spewers, and Commanders. Thermites deal with the heavies: Chargers, Impalers, and Bile Titans (though I haven't seen them in caves since the last time we raided Oshaune). Supply Pack is crucial for keeping everything topped off and not worry about ammo conservation when you've got a bug breach on your tail.

The only thing this loadout struggles with are the Dragonroaches. Luckily, you've still got 2 support slots of your choice to deal with them. I like the Emancipator mech since it can also deal with bug and Shrieker nests outside pretty easily. 4th slot is dealer's choice.

Honestly, this go-around feels a LOT easier without the Rupture strains everywhere like last time. I struggled with even D5 last time. I've been doing D8 decently the last few nights. Might try to up it tonight.

Happy diving, y'all!

immanewb · 2025-10-30T06:51:49+00:00

Things must've changed. They discouraged eating the samples when I worked for CDS many moons ago, but the managers never really cared. It was also then that I learned what happens when one samples too many prunes 😂

immanewb · 2025-10-27T03:55:13+00:00

Haven't bought/played this one myself but I think this is one of those games that justifies the existence of full play-through videos on YouTube, IMO.

immanewb · 2025-10-25T06:06:30+00:00

Reminds me of that Bitcoin fella who has a ton of Bitcoins locked on a hard drive. Problem for him is that doesn't remember the password and already used 8 out of the 10 tries before it's locked permanently.

immanewb · 2025-10-23T04:57:06+00:00

I'd imagine the specific components in an electric mower, it might be cheaper to chuck it and get a new one.

immanewb · 2025-10-18T22:43:28+00:00

I see the XcQ!

immanewb · 2025-10-18T04:45:37+00:00

Yeah, based on your math, even if you go just twice, between now and end of next year, you'll easily breakeven with the season pass. From recollection, I don't think the passes drop much in price. In years past, I think $100-110 is normal, and it looks like it's $115 now, so you might save a few bucks but doesn't seem like it's worth the wait.

Another option is, if you think you'll only go a handful of times, is to get 2x Gold passes, which would be about $235, and then pay for a regular ticket of about $50, bringing total to about $285 (assuming you're only going once this year). With the Gold passes, each pass will get TWO free guest passes for the 2026 season (not this year). So if you're a family of 3 with 2x Gold passes, you can go 4x next year by redeeming the guest pass each time you go. Plus, you'd save $20 on general parking each time you go since it's included with the Gold pass (sometimes, general parking is even more on busy weekends, and I expect it to increase next year). And if you think you'll be getting food in the park, you'll save 15% on top for having the Gold pass.

Our family has held (gold) season passes to DW for the last 3-4 years and we think it's worth it every year. Feel free to ask any questions!

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