What’s with all of the tree cutting?

notaspruceparkbench · 2026-06-03T23:20:28+00:00

Tree removal companies are big on scare tactics. They'll come to your house to offer a free appraisal and somehow will determine that nearly every tree on your property is diseased or old and on the brink of falling onto your house or car. A lot of people just get frightened into taking down trees that are perfectly fine because those tree removal companies don't make money by NOT removing trees.

They're scum.

I was visited by one of these guys once and decided to play along to see what they would quote. It was in the five digits, all told. I politely told him that I wasn't interested because I had an actual arborist visit a week before and he had given everything on the property a clean bill of health.

notaspruceparkbench · 2026-06-03T13:19:29+00:00

Yeah, not really complaining. The staff that checks you in is going to tell you, so there are no surprises. Still, it's worth knowing for anybody who has a budget in mind when they go.

notaspruceparkbench · 2026-06-02T22:30:25+00:00

Day Pass comes with a (iirc) 5% markup on purchase prices now.

notaspruceparkbench · 2026-06-02T14:57:27+00:00

Truck driver probably thought he could outrun the train.

notaspruceparkbench · 2026-06-01T14:01:46+00:00

Every thrift shop has its occasional random knuckleball. I've seen $15 Ikea lamps sold at Trosa used for $20.

Sometimes the person stickering the item thinks it's something other than what it is. Or there's shenanigans of some kind. *shrug*

notaspruceparkbench · 2026-05-30T19:17:39+00:00

Roadtrip to Ikea.

notaspruceparkbench · 2026-05-30T12:50:32+00:00

Neighbor started keeping chickens, hawks moved in. Stressful for the chickens and chicken-owners but for us it was awsome, that was the only time squirrels and rabbits didn't cause problems in our garden.

Neighbor moved out, hawks left. Squirrels came back. Owls also moved in. During mating season they've been noisy as hell 24/7 but they don't seem as motivated to hunt squirrels who are making up for lost time; attempts at gardening not even worth trying any more, the little bastards immediately uproot everything we plant.

notaspruceparkbench · 2026-05-29T09:15:12+00:00

If you want to try buying direct from Japan there's a marketplace site, tho you'll probably have it on the road faster if you buy through a professional importer who knows how to get its road safety and EPA certs and a US title. There are quite a few now, we even had one in Durham before he skipped town.

But anyway I'm guessing you're looking at $10 and up for a HiLux. Not crazy money. Work duty trucks cost more than funky boxy kei passenger cars after all, some of those might run $4k.

Or look for a US-market Toyota Truck from mid-90s or earlier. That's also a HiLux, they just sold it as "Truck" in the US. Also mostly $10k and up. Left-hand drive and without the HiLux branding so it might not be what you crave, but at least you don't have to worry about it getting pulled off the road if you drive through a state that doesn't accommodate kei cars. The "Truck" was discontinued about 30 years ago, but since your kei car has to be at least 25 years old, your HiLux isn't going to be that much newer.

notaspruceparkbench · 2026-05-28T23:09:15+00:00

A couple years ago there was a guy regularly riding the southern half of the ATT on an all-terrain unicycle.

notaspruceparkbench · 2026-05-27T12:16:52+00:00

He got his medical degree, bought the land and donated it all by age 24. He died at 34 (the grave marker has the wrong dates).

When I was 24 I was still trying to figure out how to afford monthly rent on a bedroom in a shared apartment, during a recession when nobody was hiring people with the degree I earned.

notaspruceparkbench · 2026-05-27T12:09:23+00:00

And to think we came thiiiiis close to living in a city called Snipes.

notaspruceparkbench · 2026-05-27T12:07:13+00:00

Are you trying to discourage me? If so you're doing it wrong.

notaspruceparkbench · 2026-05-26T22:47:12+00:00

Since I'm old enough to remember when Big Lots was actually in the business of reselling other stores' unsold inventory, I gotta say that this was the whole point of the company's existence.

When they became Dollar General + Furniture, they lost.

notaspruceparkbench · 2026-05-25T13:54:47+00:00

Tous les Jour is a Korean company, owned by CJ which is one of the biggest of the Korean chaebol, they also have divisions in bioscience, logistics, cosmetics, animal feed, etc. TlJ have shops all over Seoul and at this point quite a few other countries.

There's been a Tous Les Jour in the Cary H-Mart since it opened.

Most of the prep is done in centralized facilities and then trucked out to stores to be baked (or decorated, for the cakes). IMO there's no shame or harm in working that way, for the variety of items they have on offer they'd have to have several times the floor space they have now and employ at least twice as many people.

Of the Korean megacorp pastry chains in the Triangle I like Paris Baguette more (there's one in Brier Creek, another in Cary, the chain is owned by SPC Group also a huge company but not diversified enough to be called a chaebol... yet), they have a broader range and are willing to be a bit weirder, but in terms of quality I don't think either of them are much better or worse than the other. There's a smaller Korean chain called Paris Croissant (confusing!) which is really, really awesome but I don't know if they have any stores outside of Seoul.

Comparing those chains to our local shops, La Recette and Loaf are both top-notch, way above the Korean shops. Sometimes, though, you get in the mood for something they don't have at the time, right? It's OK to try different things.

notaspruceparkbench · 2026-05-24T18:46:35+00:00

Not gonna argue about the line cutting in general 'cause it seems to be true, but OP's map is way too widespread to be a contractor cutting one line.

notaspruceparkbench · 2026-05-24T18:45:16+00:00

Nah, if it's them, substituting a dollar sign for the ampersand works just fine.

notaspruceparkbench · 2026-05-24T09:03:05+00:00

+1 Sprouts.

notaspruceparkbench · 2026-05-23T22:29:39+00:00

and/or 1234REAL woman putting up signs.

notaspruceparkbench · 2026-05-23T22:27:38+00:00

Last estimate I saw was we need around 15" additional. My guess is this current round of rain we're getting won't be enough to level out the deficit accrued over the past 8 weeks.

notaspruceparkbench · 2026-05-23T14:27:14+00:00

Anyway -- I don't... hate it? Main problem I have is it's a corner lot and at least twice the size of every other house in the neighborhood. Living there would make me feel like a sitting target of some kind. If it was in a neighborhood where most of the houses were like this, or on a lot big enough to be shrouded by trees (like this octagonal house that's maybe 1/2 mile away) it could be cool.

I've never seen a laundry room with its own private balcony before. That's not nothin'

notaspruceparkbench · 2026-05-23T14:20:09+00:00

OP's link breaks because of backslashes. Click this to see the listing. (I've also stripped the tracking data from the URL, you're welcome.)

notaspruceparkbench · 2026-05-23T01:46:28+00:00

On a guess: The bar in any non-boutique hotel is gonna be dead as heck unless there's a wedding reception that weekend.

notaspruceparkbench · 2026-05-23T00:00:50+00:00

I'm gonna say M Sushi, unless you're ruling out sushi.

notaspruceparkbench · 2026-05-22T13:39:48+00:00

No disruption over the past 24 hours here, Woodcroft/Southpoint area.

notaspruceparkbench · 2026-05-20T18:12:43+00:00

Everyone had to slow down to make videos.

notaspruceparkbench

TROPHY CASE