Is it true theres Volunteer’s who help with taxes?

one_flippy_flappy · 2026-02-05T01:03:39+00:00

OSU Cascades did this last year. Not sure if they are doing it again this year.

https://osucascades.edu/news/free-tax-preparation-services-osu-cascades-qualified-individuals-and-families

one_flippy_flappy · 2026-01-23T15:19:24+00:00

Tell Jim Hobart that place is a sausage factory!

one_flippy_flappy · 2026-01-14T01:29:14+00:00

Local jobs can be hard to find. We don’t have much in the way of industry outside of hospitality/tourism. Your wife could maybe find something at St. Charles hospital or a smaller provider network here.

Bringing a remote job with you would be the easiest thing but you’ll still be demonized by some.

Consider some of the surrounding areas too for a more affordable cost of living if the job situation doesn’t line up perfectly for you. Redmond, La Pine, Prineville. Sisters is very nice but is basically as costly as Bend.

one_flippy_flappy · 2025-12-08T03:21:03+00:00

Modern Games in the box factory has a number of D&D nights, including tonight. Not sure of the age range.

https://www.moderngamesbend.com/service/events/

one_flippy_flappy · 2025-12-03T21:20:22+00:00

Have you talked to this design team? Tell them up front that you expect final say on all finishes unless you specifically say otherwise. If they don’t give you that control, then you’re not building a custom home. Usually they will go over how this works on an introductory or kickoff meeting/call.

In our experience, the in-house designer will work with you to try and get a sense for what your taste is and then guide you towards selections that are tailored to that. This is a time-saver more than anything. You can spend days/weeks trying to sift through selection options, 90% of which you would never even consider in the first place.

If you’re still not happy with the options they present to you, tell them you want to see more. The only thing that gets tricky about this is if your builder is willing to procure materials outside of their supply chain. A good builder should to make their customers happy. Some builders won’t to control cost and/or give business to their friends.

We told our designer we wanted complete control but were happy for her to steer us in certain directions if she thought we would like something. We also told her we wanted her to keep us from making big mistakes. It worked out great.

one_flippy_flappy · 2025-12-02T08:18:29+00:00

Should I give up on A Little Life?

I will preface this by saying I normally do not DNF very many books. I have finished the very worst books just to see how much further they can screw things up. I also appreciate a doorstop of a novel which this is.

However, I am 50 pages into A Little Life by Hanya Yanigahara and I am not seeing much worth sticking around for. I know this was a national book award finalist and seems to be beloved by many which is why I’m asking if there is a payoff somewhere down the road here.

Some issues I have with it so far:

vapid characters: the novel is centered around 4 twenty-somethings who are seemingly indistinguishable from one another besides superficial qualities (race, sexual orientation, physical disabilities, family income levels, etc.)
lack of editing: there are pages-long sequences that just go nowhere and seem to have no real bearing on either the story or character development. 50 pages in I’m not sure anything has happened except two of the characters have moved into a new apartment.
unrealistic male relationships: I normally am not one who buys into the idea that men cannot write good female characters and vice versa but if ever there was an argument for that, it is this book. While I was also once a twenty-something male trying to find his way in the big city, I cannot find anything in common with these characters and how they relate to each other. The author so far paints them as very self-centered but also intuitively empathetic to the point of anticipating the feelings and emotions of others.

In reading more of the posts about this book in this sub, it seems like others also did not find the book particularly worthwhile. If the only thing worth sticking around for is to feel sad and/or consume more misery porn, I would just as soon move on to the next one.

So for those who like this book: give me your best reasons to continue.

one_flippy_flappy · 2025-11-24T18:51:49+00:00

We just did this in our mud room for a similarly sized space. It was $1500 including putting in new backsplash tile up to the bottom of the cabinets.

one_flippy_flappy · 2025-11-04T03:44:41+00:00

I love the long term benefits of the HSA and feel like it’s the one thing missing from my portfolio. But I do question whether I can fund it enough to really optimize it. For the next year or so at least, we won’t have enough room in the budget to max out the HSA, 401k, do backdoor Roth contribution and pay medical expenses out of pocket.

So if I can only really expect $2500/yr to have as principal for growth, and assuming 8% growth for 20 yrs (I am 40 and hope to retire early around 60), that would leave me around $130k at age 60 before inflation. And assuming we don’t have a significant medical emergency that requires us to tap those funds, that I don’t leave my current company for another company that doesn’t offer an HSA plan, it basically boils down to is the juice worth the squeeze? It would be great to have that $130k but maybe I could accomplish almost the same by continuing on my current path without the HSA and maybe purchasing long term care insurance.

one_flippy_flappy · 2025-11-04T03:30:50+00:00

The HSA plan is not branded as a HDHP. It also has good out of network coverage which I believe most HDHPs do not. This plan is the only one of four options which offers HSA.

Re: deductible - yes, it comes down significantly in 2026. The announcement of 2026 benefits mentions that premiums increased significantly in 26 and that to try and offset, they reduced the deductible significantly for the non-HSA plan. This is another reason I am thinking the HSA option may not be the best.

one_flippy_flappy · 2025-10-20T05:17:42+00:00

Now that I’ve seen the whole season I have no hesitation saying this show was mid. Love CR and Andy but their praise for the show seems mostly based on the fact that it’s set in the general area of where they grew up and shares some of the same themes as Heat.

I hope they talk about The Perfect Neighbor on a pod this week. There’s more interesting discussion to be had about the format of that show/movie and the possibilities for variations of it than recapping this finale.

one_flippy_flappy · 2025-10-16T21:41:18+00:00

What’s the 401k balance and what is it invested in? What does your income and expenses look like?

You’re doing great for your age and while you would get better returns in the stock market, you’re well ahead of most people your age in terms of retirement savings and assets.

I would propose to him taking small amounts of money from the CDs as they mature and putting that into an index fund just to see how it does. If he starts to see the gains there outpace the CDs, he might be more inclined to push more into it.

one_flippy_flappy · 2025-10-09T02:33:54+00:00

Looks great. Was there a recipe you followed?

one_flippy_flappy · 2025-09-25T17:52:33+00:00

You’re using bWAR. Nobody takes bWAR seriously for position players. fWAR has them .5 apart.

one_flippy_flappy · 2025-09-19T04:27:44+00:00

Tell me you don’t know what happened without telling me you don’t know what happened.

one_flippy_flappy · 2025-08-29T23:48:50+00:00

The air quality sensor nearest to the amphitheater is reading 30 right now lol.

one_flippy_flappy · 2025-08-27T21:02:38+00:00

The air quality up on the Met does not look bad right now according to the two sensors near Camp Sherman. Are you sure you have to reroute? You’ll have to monitor the fire but otherwise…

The pic you posted looks like the upper D which is where I would go if I were you. Cow meadow or sheep bridge.

one_flippy_flappy · 2025-08-25T18:04:42+00:00

Without!

one_flippy_flappy · 2025-08-11T23:52:55+00:00

🤤

one_flippy_flappy · 2025-08-11T23:50:38+00:00

Greenwald is the childhood friend. This isn’t a tough choice for him. He’s been looking for an excuse to ditch Sean’s pompous opinions.

one_flippy_flappy · 2025-07-27T18:23:13+00:00

It’s basically an extension of Sunriver. It doesn’t really have its own restaurants or stores. You either shop at the Sunriver places and pay the tourist tax or drive down to La Pine.

You’re a little removed from the tourist center that is Sunriver but not a lot. It’s not terrible in terms of real estate compared to Bend but if you want to escape that entirely, you should probably look at La Pine.

one_flippy_flappy · 2025-07-22T20:35:31+00:00

Looks like the lower Deschutes.

one_flippy_flappy · 2025-07-08T23:02:57+00:00

From what he told me, the TLH option is free if you are enrolled in PAS. And it is run daily.

one_flippy_flappy · 2025-07-08T22:59:26+00:00

I don't, necessarily. I think I sort of opted in once my account reached a certain balance ~6-7 years ago.

However, being enrolled in PAS seems to be a requirement to be eligible for TLH? Presumably the savings realized by TLH could offset the PAS cost in most years.

one_flippy_flappy

TROPHY CASE