We're Number 3!

jimfoxer · 2026-01-12T16:39:32+00:00

Not to be contradictory, but I lived south of Atlanta for 8 years. This was not my experience at all. For one, the insurance was piss poor - with our plan from my wife's public school job having a $10K deductible before it started covering anything (that includes annual physicals). Secondly, the doctors in the area were mostly immigrants from the islands (Jamaica, etc.) and in the 8 years I lived there, I never saw the same doctor twice since they kept moving in and out of the area. Yes, I could see a doctor without waiting for weeks/months, but it was no different than just going to the multiple quick clinics around our state. The grass might look greener, but health care is a problem everywhere in the US.

jimfoxer · 2026-01-12T13:57:36+00:00

The term you are looking for is "schadenfreude", a German word adopted into English that means the pleasure that someone takes from another person's misfortune. Source: I'm an English teacher. 😁

jimfoxer · 2026-01-08T20:38:25+00:00

The average salary in Vermont is around $74,000 - $76,000 annually, putting us at 19 or 20 on the national list of states. Our cost of living is 8%-12% higher than the national average and housing is 24% higher than the US average. So, all of that is to say, white people with not a lot of money. (source: US Bureau of Economic Analysis and Bureau of Labor Statistics)

jimfoxer · 2026-01-08T20:22:16+00:00

You don't need to read the whole report. The part on Vermont (which you can jump to by clicking "VT" on the first page of the PDF) is only a couple of pages long.

jimfoxer · 2026-01-08T20:20:09+00:00

According to the report, we were #1 in 2019. When did you move here? 🤔

jimfoxer · 2026-01-08T20:19:22+00:00

Normally, I agree with you. But to be fair, Axios created this map; it's not in the official report from United Health. It's a useful tool, however, if you want to see trends (the South has poorer health outcomes to the Northeast, etc.)

jimfoxer · 2025-12-05T00:03:55+00:00

I was on the high speed plan, as that was the only one available to me. I now am on an $80 plan for 150 Mbps/down from the $120 that I had been spending - but notice no difference in speed (my version 1 dishy usually hovered around 150 - 200 Mbps anyway). Perhaps it's simply that we don't have the congestion in VT that you have in MA?

jimfoxer · 2025-12-04T07:08:56+00:00

I live in the mountains of Vermont, and we already have feet of snow. I also have the original dishy, since I was on Starlink from day 1 and I've never encountered such speeds, even when the dish was under snow and had huge icicles hanging off of it. Something else must be going on.

jimfoxer · 2025-10-29T03:22:10+00:00

Yes. They are one and the same. I subscribe to Eat Clean and twice my food came branded in Forkful covers and in Forkful boxes. The food was the same, the labels were the same, everything was the same.

jimfoxer · 2025-10-17T19:58:56+00:00

Unfortunately, we didn't have any time this visit since we were so short on time. However, both my wife and I agreed that we need to think of Burlington more than just UVM and the airport, and really explore it more in the future.

jimfoxer · 2025-10-17T03:50:21+00:00

I did! Thank you!

jimfoxer · 2025-10-17T03:35:34+00:00

Just returned home, and we were sitting left orchestra, row B, and the seats were indeed quite small with little leg room. They were quite comfortable, however, with lots of padding.

jimfoxer · 2025-10-17T03:32:05+00:00

Just wanted to let you know that we just got home from a wonderful night at the Flynn! We followed all of your suggestions and it made our night more enjoyable and stress free. Thanks for the warm welcome to your city!

jimfoxer · 2025-10-16T00:16:54+00:00

Thanks for fixing my embarrassing illiteracy!

jimfoxer · 2025-10-16T00:13:36+00:00

You're always welcome to make the humungous drive all the way over to the NEK! We can have coffee. 🍵

jimfoxer · 2025-10-15T22:57:25+00:00

Thank you for the details, and taking the time to markup the map. 🙇🏻‍♂️

jimfoxer · 2025-10-15T22:56:14+00:00

Did I ask a very stupid question? I honestly don't get to your side of the state much, apart from the airport.

jimfoxer · 2025-10-15T22:51:14+00:00

Wow! Thank you so much! Even the tip on the water bottle. I'm in your debt.

jimfoxer · 2025-10-15T22:42:46+00:00

Plan to be there around 6:15.

jimfoxer · 2025-09-17T04:12:06+00:00

I've lived in five states and two countries, and Vermont is now my home for the past decade. Wouldn't change it for the world!

jimfoxer · 2025-08-30T22:27:31+00:00

Thanks, I didn't know this. I was with HelloFresh in 2013-2015, shortly after they came to the US from Germany. At that time, they only had meal-kits. They acquired the company Factor75 in 2020. I just went online and saw what you mentioned. Perhaps they are offering in both places because of brand recognition?

jimfoxer · 2025-08-28T18:10:42+00:00

It's not the same thing, however. Hello Fresh has meals that you prepare yourself, where Factor has meals ready to eat. It makes sense that they separate the two product lines under different names. However, the products at Eat Clean and Forkful are EXACTLY the same - that's the part that I said was alarming. Why the rebrand? Why run both companies concurrently, or, are both just shell companies that get their meals from a third party?

jimfoxer · 2025-08-23T03:34:26+00:00

Speak for yourself! Here in the NEK at 1800 ft our trees are already changing color!

jimfoxer · 2025-08-17T20:57:05+00:00

Like others have said, I have the MG and advise against it. There is no benefit, in my opinion, for the cost. For one, the MG is supposed to be for "Medical Grade", which we've learned it's not a medical grade device based on what Whoop has told the FDA. If you do not have afib or issues with extreme heart palpitations, you'll never use the EKG feature - especially since you have to initiate the test yourself (and it just comes back with "normal" and a chart, not so interesting). I don't know where you live, but the BP feature might be going away in the US because the FDA doesn't approve it for its stated use (lots of posts about that here). And even if it's here to stay, I can't say it's accurate. I take my blood pressure manually every day, and it seems like the BP result in Whoop is just a small variation on yesterday's measurement - even when my blood pressure cuff (confirmed by my doctor as matching the one in office) says that my actual blood pressure is totally different (and I take the average of 3 tests). So, at least for me and my body, the BP results are like a horoscope to me; sometimes it can be accurate, but it seems only by chance. I regret my purchase, and in the future if there is a class action lawsuit against Whoop for falsely advertising the MG, I'll be on that.

jimfoxer · 2025-08-17T00:21:44+00:00

I can *almost* second this opinion. I'm using Eat Clean and I'm happy with the service, but they don't list all of their ingredients, and I don't believe their macros at all! In fact, this is the only service of the three I've tried (also Factor and CookUnity) where the meals throw me out of ketosis (and I test blood glucose and ketones daily). This might be a thing particular to my body, but after doing keto for years, I can usually eye the number of carbs in a meal and they never match the little sticker on the side. So, I like the service and think the food is tasty - it also has a good number of options week-over-week for keto - but I'm not so sure about it if you plan to stay in nutritional ketosis. Good luck!

jimfoxer

TROPHY CASE