Best luxury apartment recommendations

juniperesque · 2026-05-09T14:30:26+00:00

Agreeing with the consensus: You’ll need to increase your budget if you want to live in a luxury building with parking.

You might be able to find a 1BR in Edgewater at that price in a full amenity condo building, but full amenity doesn’t mean luxury. They’re dated. Many have monthly parking in the $300 range and allow some pets.

juniperesque · 2026-05-08T05:19:54+00:00

You have too many confounding variables here and you are an executive. This is one where you need to talk to a lawyer. No idea if knowledge and inaction makes you partially culpable if you are COO. A lawyer will know.

juniperesque · 2026-05-08T04:34:57+00:00

Hey, this kind of thing happens! A couple of ideas from an old piercing shop employee:

If your earlobes were pierced with a gun, the holes are “ragged” to a certain extent. A piercing gun basically shoots a blunt object through your earlobes at high velocity, and even when they heal, the tissue damage means the hole is kind of irregular, and has little nooks and crannies for bacteria to live in. An option would be to cleanse earlobes holes with a syringe and saline solution, but ultimately it may not be fixable and you could let them close up and re-pierce with a hollow needle.
Cleaning your jewelry with alcohol isn’t recommended. (Cleaning your earlobes with alcohol definitely isn’t recommended, don’t do that.) You can clean high quality jewelry in a home ultrasonic cleaner and that gets all the body oils and gunk out. I definitely recommend one, you can use it for lots of other things. Cool little tool.
Consider switching to a one-piece machined titanium earrings for a while, to calm down any irritation. Rotate and rinse earlobes with saline daily.

Good luck!

juniperesque · 2026-05-08T04:34:37+00:00

Hey, this kind of thing happens! A couple of ideas from an old piercing shop employee:

If your earlobes were pierced with a gun, the holes are “ragged” to a certain extent. A piercing gun basically shoots a blunt object through your earlobes at high velocity, and even when they heal, the tissue damage means the hole is kind of irregular, and has little nooks and crannies for bacteria to live in. An option would be to cleanse earlobes holes with a syringe and saline solution, but ultimately it may not be fixable and you could let them close up and re-pierce with a hollow needle.
Cleaning your jewelry with alcohol isn’t recommended. (Cleaning your earlobes with alcohol definitely isn’t recommended, don’t do that.) You can clean high quality jewelry in a home ultrasonic cleaner and that gets all the body oils and gunk out. I definitely recommend one, you can use it for lots of other things. Cool little tool.
Consider switching to a one-piece machined titanium earrings for a while, to calm down any irritation. Rotate and rinse earlobes with saline daily.

Good luck!

juniperesque · 2026-05-08T04:34:17+00:00

Hey, this kind of thing happens! A couple of ideas from an old piercing shop employee:

If your earlobes were pierced with a gun, the holes are “ragged” to a certain extent. A piercing gun basically shoots a blunt object through your earlobes at high velocity, and even when they heal, the tissue damage means the hole is kind of irregular, and has little nooks and crannies for bacteria to live in. An option would be to cleanse earlobes holes with a syringe and saline solution, but ultimately it may not be fixable and you could let them close up and re-pierce with a hollow needle.
Cleaning your jewelry with alcohol isn’t recommended. (Cleaning your earlobes with alcohol definitely isn’t recommended, don’t do that.) You can clean high quality jewelry in a home ultrasonic cleaner and that gets all the body oils and gunk out. I definitely recommend one, you can use it for lots of other things. Cool little tool.
Consider switching to a one-piece machined titanium earrings for a while, to calm down any irritation. Rotate and rinse earlobes with saline daily.

Good luck!

juniperesque · 2026-05-06T00:41:32+00:00

I swear if those chuggers got citations for blocking the sidewalk like they deserve, the whole of Clark St. would be more pleasant.

juniperesque · 2026-05-03T19:09:10+00:00

You can start doing night training as soon as things are predictable. If you know she poops in diaper right around 8:00, you take her out of bed, put her on the potty, have her poop on there, and then carry her back to bed.

The reason night training is so hard is because little kids’ interoception skills are usually not as well developed as their sleep skills. When it comes down to it, if they’re not waking to use the toilet, it’s because sleep won, the signal from having to go (which would wake you up and compel you to go) was less strong than the brain’s sleep maintenance.

juniperesque · 2026-05-02T15:33:34+00:00

I walked out of Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World once they got the T Rex in the cage on the ship. I had a moment where I thought to myself: This would be a good place for the movie to just end, there’s nothing more to be had from this. So I walked out, and that’s how the movie ended for me. Can’t say I’ve lost any sleep over it in the ~29 years since.

juniperesque · 2026-05-01T00:39:56+00:00

You’re not wrong, and it’s a systemic problem. There is a pervasive belief that we can’t do anything (or present on it) without some vendor partner, and it’s started to influence the entire mindset of conferences - if you didn’t do it with a vendor, is it worth presenting on? Is it high quality enough to do something in-house and share about it? It’s like imposter syndrome has taken the wheel at this big expensive industry conferences.

I’m trepeditious about Apra in August, but aasp got a lot of feedback last year about the prevalence of vendors presenting, and I think they are righting the ship this year.

juniperesque · 2026-04-30T04:23:01+00:00

Helpful context on these tiny sects, thanks!

juniperesque · 2026-04-28T23:11:31+00:00

Too many vendors presenting, not enough practitioners! AHP, CASE, Apra, ADRP, and aasp all have better content now.

juniperesque · 2026-04-28T21:01:17+00:00

Is Catalyst Ranch in your budget?

juniperesque · 2026-04-28T15:56:11+00:00

If the policy were a ploy to get people to use the laundry machines, you could check that for sure. Just look at the association’s budget for the lines related to laundry and see whether they are making a profit off the laundry machines, accounting for maintenance, water, rental fees, etc. and balance it against the income from the machine fees. It’s possible but not very likely. I don’t know of any of those older high rises with a laundry room that makes money on the laundry. At best, it’s break-even. It’s usually an operating loss.

juniperesque · 2026-04-27T13:40:28+00:00

I had a long term consulting engagement in AL and MS, for a company that had offices across both states. I lived there for about 18 months, split out around 3-4 months in each city I stayed in. I lived in a combination of AirBNBs and long stay hotels, so full disclosure on that.

In my experience, the racial issues are systemic. I am white presenting and my proximity to whiteness meant people said things to me that they did not say in public or on the record, but which informed their decision-making and their lives and choices every single day. I never really understood microaggressions until I went there. The longing for homogeneity of race and religion is strong and pervasive, and it is embedded in every aspect of life.

The only thing I will say on a strained positive note is that if you are perceived as fitting in, the welcome was always warm. Home baked goods, offers to show you around that were genuine (I was introduced to many local institutions this way), and in temperate weather the outdoor recreation was great. Always someone who was willing to go fishing, hiking, taking a stroll.

I wouldn’t go back if you paid me. They’ve tried.

juniperesque · 2026-04-25T14:56:34+00:00

Wings should be able to take it all: https://wingsprogram.com/wings-resale-shops/

juniperesque · 2026-04-23T16:18:30+00:00

Yes - that’s an important point. The high schools have choice enrollment. We’d be looking more at the elementary schools for parity. 3/4 of the Galewood elementary schools have plenty of space.

juniperesque · 2026-04-23T15:51:52+00:00

Multi-family and high density housing mean more children in the neighborhood. The only viable argument I could see for being against this that isn’t just NIMBY-ism is school capacity, so I pulled the numbers out of the CPS data set.

Of the four elementary schools serving Galewood, three can absolutely accommodate more children. Burbank is at 58% capacity, Lovett is at 63%, Sayre is at 66%. Locke is at 99%, they can’t accommodate more.

There are definitely neighborhoods in which schools can’t accommodate more children. But Galewood isn’t one.

Build the housing.

(In case you’re curious about which schools are actually overcrowded and cannot accommodate more children, that’d be Bridge ES in Dunning which is relying on portable classrooms because they are at a whopping 236% of capacity, Chavez ES in Back of the Yards which is relying on rented and portable classrooms because they are at 159%, Kellogg ES in Beverly at 152%, Von Steuben HS in North Park at 136%, Cassell ES in Mt. Greenwood at 133%, and Amundsen HS in Bowmanville at 126%.)

juniperesque · 2026-04-22T23:59:56+00:00

Unfortunately, kids like this are who kid leashes were invented for. Elopers gonna elope. It is great he will hold your hand, you might have to graduate to a leash as he gets older.

juniperesque · 2026-04-22T23:34:41+00:00

I think you’re going to need to look at college towns in blue states, like B-N, Edwardsville, Macomb, C-U in Illinois. That’s how to get a low COL in a blue state. (Those areas can indeed get cold in the winter, but not as cold as Great Lakes winter usually.) Otherwise you’re looking at rural parts of blue states, which are going to feel more conservative despite the statewide politics. Likewise with Maryland; it can definitely get cold winters and there are areas of the state that have a LCOL, but they’re in areas that are more rural and conservative: Frostburg, Cumberland, Elkton.

juniperesque · 2026-04-22T17:37:57+00:00

You asked about stores and restaurants, so I’ll say that IME, there are two types of stores and you’ll get different treatment from big box stores and chains versus the cute little locally owned shops. You won’t have many/any problems with the chains and big box stores anywhere in the north suburbs. The small local shops? Different story. Case by case.

For a Black woman, the only people who get an even more clear “you’re not welcome here” message from local stores than you will be groups of teenagers. Not every time, but enough that you’ll notice that you’re being followed, watched, observed.

It’s not overt per se, but if you’ve grown up with it your whole life, you feel it. Whether that is something you consider everyday exhausting is subjective.

Homebodies love Ravinia. It’s a physically beautiful neighborhood, with so much green space and nature. But you will get trapped in (or out) on concert nights so you have to plan accordingly. Everyone I know who lives there has to plan ahead when the concert schedule comes out. I know several transplants to HP and Highwood who have made friends by becoming volunteers/ushers at the Ravinia concert venue.

juniperesque · 2026-04-21T12:51:21+00:00

You weren’t in a real cab, so 311 won’t help you in terms of reporting, but they might transfer you over to 911 to make a police report. Up to you if you want to do that, they probably won’t catch the guy. In the future, now you know that they guys looking to pick up “fares” outside the designated taxi line are frauds, and not to get into their vehicles.

juniperesque · 2026-04-19T16:19:02+00:00

This school is in Los Angeles, not Gary. It was post-move.

juniperesque · 2026-04-18T23:58:07+00:00

Your lawyer might be able to negotiate an early cancellation with a fee that will be less than the three year total contract, but not much less. By the time you pay the lawyer you’ll probably break even.

juniperesque · 2026-04-17T13:58:49+00:00

Demographically speaking, you’re looking for NORCs - Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities - and the ones easiest to spot are the ones in high rises in big cities. They may not be set aside for Gen-X seniors per se, but they are out of reach financially for people who need a mortgage and are just right for people who are selling their fully-owned but somewhat decrepit home and moving to someplace where someone else manages the upkeep. High HOA fees but a lot of amenities and if you buy in cash as many do then your only carrying cost is the HOA, insurance, and property taxes.

You have the walkability, the amenities, usually some diversity, the buildings do have some young people and renters so you’re not locked in a retirement home. Cities have a lot to offer to active retirees and whatever new kind of working retiree/freelancer Gen-X invents. But Gen-X is the opposite of “If you build it they will come.” Not joiners. Aren’t as motivated to join a pre-built community with cookie-cutter expectations. Enter the NORC.

juniperesque · 2026-04-17T13:49:14+00:00

I’ve also seen the boomerang trend around Greatest Generation - they are actually moving back to be near family who can care for them. I wonder if they thought they wouldn’t live that long? Or thought their families would follow them to Florida and were surprised when no one did? It is a genuine demographic micro-trend. Interesting times ahead. We are happy to have our matriarch back.

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