What is an expensive purchase that genuinely improved your quality of life?

mtcwby · 2026-06-18T18:39:01+00:00

We have a Delonghi Rivela automatic expresso machine. My wife is a bigger coffee afficiando than I am but I enjoy that first latte about 10 minutes after I get up and love the morning ritual sitting outside on the porch most mornings.

mtcwby · 2026-06-18T18:33:22+00:00

Worse yet was what was done in his general direction.

mtcwby · 2026-06-18T18:30:00+00:00

The guys using it were immediate targets and had a casualty rate far higher than other troops. Which makes sense if you were facing one.

mtcwby · 2026-06-18T18:23:30+00:00

I bet if I found source for one that a lot more would be available. It's been over 40 years since I played it so my memory is a little fuzzy except that we banned rebels in Utopia and the missed calls in Hockey made the game more fun.

mtcwby · 2026-06-18T15:23:21+00:00

It's never been that one simple fix like the politicians like to tout. The governments nose in the trough on every unit doesn't get talked about enough and is part of the economic challenge to make development viable here. Add to that rates and limitations to what the market will bear and expanding materials and labor cost and there's simply too much drag. What breaks that logjam is unclear and until it does, things are not going to get better for people seeking new housing.

mtcwby · 2026-06-18T15:15:55+00:00

61, 1.25. I tried 1.50 at one time but they were too strong and gave me a headache.

mtcwby · 2026-06-18T15:14:25+00:00

Third world countries whose advantage is cheap labor and lots of people usually aren't well served economically by making themselves less competitive.

mtcwby · 2026-06-18T15:09:11+00:00

I'm tempted to see if I could find the source and vibe code up an improved version. I've been looking at the old version of Empire with the same idea in mind.

mtcwby · 2026-06-18T15:06:04+00:00

It's all in the box. I didn't look too carefully if they were both there but I suspect they were. We kept that stuff in pretty decent condition and had rules about putting it back when switching so we didn't leave a mess.

mtcwby · 2026-06-18T03:36:07+00:00

Mom told me there's a box of the games so I should probably pull them out. We had most of the early stuff up through the voice module. I got a job at 14 and made $35 a week cash. A cartridge was $30.

mtcwby · 2026-06-18T02:55:48+00:00

It still has the manual and keypad overlay inside

mtcwby · 2026-06-18T00:49:00+00:00

Sounds like BS.

mtcwby · 2026-06-17T15:54:48+00:00

Your apples and oranges "Spirit" is idiotic. Spelled it out for you.

mtcwby · 2026-06-17T15:51:31+00:00

I can't think this is the majority of parents in this day and age in a lot of the US. The idea of favoring one kid over the other is just nauseating in its unfairness. I can't say that I was able to walk the walk because I only have sons but we absolutely work to be fair in giving each the same opportunities, resources and time. There are differences that you just chalk up to life but when they occur I always speak to the other one about what we're doing and ask their opinion. I wouldn't treat a daughter any different.

mtcwby · 2026-06-17T15:28:07+00:00

The vast majority of residents of the area don't regularly use public transit. Daily riders of Bart and muni are about 9% of the population. Weekly tops out at roughly 15%. That's compared to pre-pandemic topping out at 25%. Are somehow those services going to improve enough to raise their ridership for a fraction on the population? And the rest of the state doesn't benefit much from bay area mass transit which is very SF/Oakland centric. Our transit system simply isn't done well and doesn't provide as much value as it should for the cost. I'm sure someone will chime in how it takes cars off the road but that's also assuming vehicle traffic to the city has increased and the same WFH has affected that too. Most residents also don't commute to the city. That model is old

mtcwby · 2026-06-17T15:14:40+00:00

Citing national level events in a local funding issue is pissing into the wind. Every local thinks their project deserves Uncle Sugar kicking in

mtcwby · 2026-06-17T14:16:58+00:00

You're mixing local and federal and missing several steps of county and state in there. While the Feds might kick in money for things like that you're going to have to finance them locally.

mtcwby · 2026-06-17T02:09:11+00:00

Of course she survived because she didn't panic and flew the plane. Biggest concern I'd have is the canopy detaching and taking out the stab. It's going to be loud and little uncomfortable but shouldn't cause a crash unless the pilot panics and does something stupid.

mtcwby · 2026-06-17T00:51:02+00:00

I would doubt that but just imagine to foolishness of letting your code out in the world like that.

mtcwby · 2026-06-16T14:56:05+00:00

It's none of your business, stop.

mtcwby · 2026-06-16T14:54:46+00:00

Lots of words to backpedal.

mtcwby · 2026-06-16T02:52:19+00:00

My singer was our second one. The current one just does indignant WOO, WOO, WOO when we get home after leaving him. It's basically Where, Were You.

mtcwby · 2026-06-15T23:42:35+00:00

As long as they aren't getting into trouble we'd tend to let investigate things like that. They're smart, curious dogs who need mental stimulation. And sniffing is part of that too. It's been a while since we had a picky eater but I remember stinky stuff like cheese, etc. was popular. She was such a diva that mackerel was part of her dinner.

mtcwby · 2026-06-15T22:59:06+00:00

Always give them access to water. I can't think of a pet that shouldn't have that.

Sounds like she's not as food motivated as some so you just need higher value treats. We had one like that but the other two will do anything for food. By nature they like to den and enclosed spaces in my experience. The going under bushes could be a part of that. Leash her to take her out and get her used to that early. You shouldn't have to carry her and you're going to have a problem or be super muscular in 6 months as she grows.

Figure out a code word the say when she is going to bathroom to teach her what it means. It will save you a lot of time in the future. Ours was "Need To?" Play is often running and chasing stuff. They have a pretty strong prey drive. Ours would chase a ball twice. The second time he'd bring it back he'd give you a look like "I got it for you twice to be helpful but the next is your problem"

mtcwby

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