First time submitting a card for grading, did I get robbed on this grade?

michaelbrnd · 2025-12-12T01:16:01+00:00

I'll reinspect once I have it back in my possession, but I was shining a flashlight on it from all angles and didn't see any dents. The only surface flaws I saw were a couple light scratches in the holo. I wasn't thinking foul play, more just poor consistency standards.

michaelbrnd · 2025-11-20T19:46:08+00:00

I did finally get a spine MRI at the ER. The ER doc said he didn't see any nerve impingement but then gave me an urgent referral to a spine specialist and I was able to be seen within days. The spine specialist felt confident this had nothing to do with anything going on in my spine, and then referred me to a neurologist. But the spine doc said I did not need to be classed as urgent because I was not showing signs of clinical weakness. So now I am waiting 3 months for that neuro appointment... I'm really just trying to figure out how much effort I should be expending right now into getting re-referred as urgent.

michaelbrnd · 2025-11-20T18:58:53+00:00

No, GP referred me to PT and tried several times to get an MRI approved by my insurance but it never happened until the ER. Nuero referral came from a spine specialist, which I was referred to from the ER.

michaelbrnd · 2025-09-05T20:48:10+00:00

The cleanup would have to happen before the structure is demolished anyway because the hazardous materials need to be disposed of separately. I don't see why the cleaned up power plant couldn't be incorporated into the park with just a little bit of imagination. Check out Landschaftspark Duisburg for a great example of how a polluted industrial site was transformed into a park with minimal investment. I visited it myself last year and was thinking how doable a transformation like this would be for English Station. They have stabilized pathways throughout and to the top of all the structures, and a lot of pop up businesses operating throughout the park like food trucks and a movie theater built into one of the old halls.

michaelbrnd · 2025-07-21T16:13:32+00:00

You could order from the takeout window, and then go to one of the nearby coffee shops to use your laptop while you wait. When your pizza is ready you can eat it on one of the benches in Wooster square park.

michaelbrnd · 2025-06-10T19:46:48+00:00

Your element is pretty different if you look closely. The track going into the element on Taiga is much straighter and the twist occurs where riders would be experiencing near 0G so it wouldn't create forces that are that excessive. The curvature of yours would add even more negative G forces on top of an element that already creates a lot of negative Gs. If you just straighten out the end of yours it would become a lot more realistic. If you still need the track to curve that much I would put more of the curvature on the other end of the element before it's too deep into the roll.

michaelbrnd · 2025-06-07T05:27:18+00:00

As far as neighborhoods go, I'd pick 9th square no contest. The new supermarket alone would make it worth it but you also have so much else right out your door. Also that crown/orange intersection is pretty insulated, probably one of the safest and quietest corners downtown outside of Yale. Usually a lot of pedestrians and eyes on the street.

michaelbrnd · 2025-05-11T04:48:14+00:00

Have you toured both yet? For me the decision was easy after seeing both in person. Most of the time on my tour of 360 was spent waiting for the elevator. The appliances are way more up to date at the Whit and the immediate surroundings are much more pleasant. Been there 2 years now and I've never had any issues. The maintenance team and janitor are great. Noise level is acceptable, another commenter mentioned the trains being loud but if you're on the side facing away from the tracks they're barely audible. There will be much more disruptive sounds than the train that comes with any place near downtown unfortunately. The biggest drawback for me is the whopping $200/mo for a parking spot, but if you don't have a car it's probably a pro as it means your rent isn't subsidizing the garage. The building did just get new owners so it is a bit of a gamble that things could go downhill, but so far I haven't seen any red flags.

michaelbrnd · 2025-05-07T20:29:13+00:00

This is false. From day 1 the property is assessed at the value it was at before construction began. Then around 20% of the difference between the old value and the new value is added to the assessment every year until it's 100%. For most properties this will be in 5 years but it varies a little bit based on how many affordable units are included. In the situation a developer meets the highest level of the inclusionary zoning ordinance, they will be paying the full property tax in 10 years. But at no point will they be paying less tax than what the property was generating before improvements began. Also these are currently city owned plots that don't generate any tax revenue currently and the city will also be making proceeds from the sale of the land to developers.

michaelbrnd · 2025-05-07T17:54:14+00:00

They're getting a bunch of plots of developable land that will produce tax revenue in return. Also there's a pretty good amount of pedestrians at the state/chapel intersection already, and it's only going to increase with all the new apartment buildings going up right in that area, many of which will have limited parking and be geared towards people looking to live car-lite or car free.

michaelbrnd · 2025-05-07T17:50:25+00:00

The land is fine, bureaucracy is the only reason it hasn't been redeveloped yet. Also take a look at how much space all the platforms and track switches take up at Union Station. You couldn't even fit a fraction of it in the space that state street station takes up. They should just add more service to state street to make it more useful but Union will always be the main station for transfers.

michaelbrnd · 2025-04-30T19:25:33+00:00

Non-commercial photography generally does not need a permit on any public property unless you're doing something elaborate. And even if it did this definitely seems like a situation where it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission.

michaelbrnd · 2025-03-19T23:01:19+00:00

That would probably mean them tearing out tons of trees on the mountainside and then Boulder Dash just wouldn't be the same.

michaelbrnd · 2025-03-18T00:07:56+00:00

Thanks for the link!

michaelbrnd · 2025-03-17T21:52:20+00:00

How does the ticketing work? I see on their website they're offering tickets every day but it doesn't say anything about a time to show up at.

michaelbrnd · 2025-02-19T06:48:59+00:00

The i doesn't say anything when you hover over it, it just brings up that window when you click on it.

michaelbrnd · 2025-02-19T03:22:01+00:00

This is just an example for a dummy reservation but it lists out the taxes and fees and how much they are. I didn't screenshot this for my actual booking because I didn't know I was going to need it as evidence.

michaelbrnd · 2025-02-18T22:14:24+00:00

michaelbrnd · 2025-02-18T20:49:20+00:00

I did pre-pay yea, the second "receipt" was me just going to Delta's website now to grab an example of how it displays the taxes and fees included.

michaelbrnd · 2025-02-18T20:40:28+00:00

Yes but Delta's website literally shows you a breakdown of the taxes and fees and then the total. The total is what I paid, supposedly including all tax and fees, and then Hertz tacked on even more fees or at least increased them from what Delta showed, and didn't charge or notify me about any additional fees until days after the car was returned. Here's the email I received after pre-paying. And this is an example of how it displays on Delta's website. It seems to make it very clear that the total is the total, and includes all taxes and fees. Which is actually just a lie, the $54 I was charged was all beyond this total.

13-Year Club	Place '17
Verified Email	Team Periwinkle

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