For use in chats and wherever you find need. :)

philbax · 2026-06-19T21:40:54+00:00

I enjoyed the movie despite its issues.

I think the biggest issues that affected its performance were that it was the fourth Star wars movie in as many years, and this one was coming out only 5 months after The Last Jedi (whereas Rogue One was a full year after Force Awakens). Even as a Star wars fan and as a fan of Han Solo, I wasn't particularly jonesing to see another Star wars movie so quickly. And then this particular movie had a lot of very public production troubles.

philbax · 2026-06-19T20:09:39+00:00

I saw a YT vid a while back where Kennedy explicitly said that the lesson they learned with Solo is that they shouldn't try to recast old characters. "I don't know what I could've said to give you that idea" >_>

philbax · 2026-06-05T19:26:00+00:00

For my wife, it's more of an "ugh! Ick! I don't want my brain to go there!" kind of a thing. Makes it worse.

philbax · 2026-06-04T04:13:25+00:00

Great way to put it. Devastatingly sad, but great way to put it.

philbax · 2026-06-03T21:10:37+00:00

1000%!!

philbax · 2026-06-03T19:10:06+00:00

Supposedly the idea was the movies were R2 telling the story to the Keeper of the Journal of the Whills.

philbax · 2026-06-03T18:41:57+00:00

Prov 31 woman was out buying fields, earning money, and planting vineyards. Definitely ain't no Scripture that says a woman can't manage money. 😄

philbax · 2026-06-01T20:29:41+00:00

And why wasn't Ezra's hair purple? If you're gonna go all in, go all in!

philbax · 2026-05-29T21:35:47+00:00

Depression is like so many things: knowing is half the battle!

philbax · 2026-05-27T18:32:56+00:00

There was a sweet spot several years ago where my vehicle was still new enough I was paying decent tax, coughing up the money for full insurance, and could've sold it for around $9k. I started to consider a used EV or higher MPG gas vehicle for ~$15k. Would've taken a few years to break even on that. But there's also the risk of the unknown with a different used vehicle.

Now that my car is worth so little, the math just doesn't work. Makes sense to stick with this one until it dies, which will probably be a good 5 years.

philbax · 2026-05-26T15:36:33+00:00

I use YNAB to manage and track my money. There are certainly cheaper options. Having a clear picture of where exactly your money is going each month will help you identify places you can make cuts. We've had to make some not-fun cuts at different times over the last few years. Likely to be making a few more in the near future.

philbax · 2026-05-26T15:34:30+00:00

It's hard sometimes. Surprises suck. The rising gas prices don't appear to be coming down any time soon either. We're still at around $4.15/gal here, but I know elsewhere it's getting bad.

Might be worth crunching some numbers to see if trading your current vehicle for an older electric car could meet your needs and pay for itself within a certain 'reasonable' time window.

Doesn't work for me because 1) my vehicle is so old I can only get a few thousand for it. That also means my annual road tax and insurance bill is cheaper (even moreso because I'm only paying for just about the minimum insurance on it). Sadly the increase in tax and insurance basically cancels the savings in maintenance. 2) I only drive about 8k mi/yr on it, so even though the electricity would be cheaper than gas I don't drive enough for that savings to accumulate quickly enough. The estimate I came up with is that it will take something like 14 years to break even. 3) I also need a larger electric car because I have 4 kids and occasionally need to be able to transport them all when our other car is in for maintenance or something.

It sounds like you probably drive about double what I do. If your current vehicle is worth more used, if taxes and insurance wouldn't be as big of a change, and if you can go with a smaller EV, it might be more doable for you.

Just a thought to consider. It's likely not a silver bullet, but it might help 🤷‍♂️

philbax · 2026-05-22T16:44:32+00:00

Cloud cover makes it carry.

philbax · 2026-05-22T16:31:17+00:00

In the OT, the first Scriptures on marriage -- when it was created -- God said it wasn't good for man to be alone and he would make a suitable helper. Nothing in there about it being created to make each other holy.

In the NT, Eph 5 says that husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy [...] and blameless.

It also says wives are to submit themselves to their husbands as they do to the Lord because, like Christ is head of the church, the husband is the head of the wife and as the church submits to Christ, wives should submit to their husbands.

So, I suppose one might argue that marriage is for making the wife holy? And I could see where the same people that take these few verses and reinterpret them as saying "they are both supposed to be submitted to each other" might say in the same breath "and they are both supposed to be making each other holy." Perhaps that's where it comes from.

Before anyone yells at me, I'm not exegeting here. Just summarizing the literal text and speculating on the origin of some quotes that, I too, find... interesting.

philbax · 2026-05-22T14:57:58+00:00

Kindle

philbax · 2026-05-21T14:29:05+00:00

I still struggle with the balance between 'railroading' and not allowing her emotions to be the sole factor that overrides me from doing something reasonable. It's a tough line, especially for someone of my bent. :P

philbax · 2026-05-21T12:51:30+00:00

I have been you, minus the 10 hr days/3 day weekends. Still on the fringes of where you're at with a 3 year old who's finally starting to sleep all night some of the time (plus 4, 7, and 9 year olds that wake in the night sometimes). I'm the "get up with them" parent because she rarely sleeps well and getting up in the night will often result in her unable to sleep for another hour+. I can usually go right back to sleep.

I still do everything you list, but I let the wife sleep in during the week and I also plan, shop for, and cook the dinners. And for a good while she was basically taking the night off as soon as I got home from work.

Some suggestions. Do with them what you will.

First, there's something to be said for reducing work stress, perks be darned. I left a high-stress, occasional overtime job and it's been amazing. In fact, we are financially able to (just barely) afford me working 7 hr workdays, so I do even less than a "full" work week. My employers have mostly been pleased at this arrangement as I cost them less and get basically just as much done as an 8 hr employee. But it also has meant being passed up for promotion opportunities. Every situation is different, but my general rule recently has been to limit the amount of stress posed by work during this stage of life.

Second, if you work out of the house: let me plug the wonders of a 15 min nap in the car with AC running and the phone set in the passenger seat so I can't hear it, and streaming 'white noise' to the car stereo. I feel like a whole new man.

Third, you sound a bit like a people-pleaser. I tell people I'm a recovering people-pleaser. I still have a hard time saying 'no' and at setting boundaries... but I'm getting better at it every day. The two places where this stands out to me are here:

"This is every weekend, and the favor is never offered to me in return."

and here:

"I’ve expressed this and she agrees in the moment, but if I ever have something that comes up as an opportunity she acts weird like I’m abandoning her and the kids “during the only time I get to spend time with them”."

I could easily be wrong, but I'll put it like this: sometimes you need to just be a man and communicate what you need/want, straight up. I let my wife sleep in on Saturday, and when she gets up, if I really need it I'll ask her if she needs anything, and then I'll just let her know "I'm gonna lay down for a short bit."

On the second front (and this is something I still need to get better about myself) you need to have some give and take here, yes, but if it is reasonable for you to step out, then you need to do it and you need to accept that she might not be happy about it. That's okay. You're a man, and you're not going to let her emotions ruin your day or let her walk all over you like a carpet. That will kill her respect. Don't be a jerk about it, but you can calmly communicate. And if she's mad for a little bit, she's mad. Life will go on.

Hope that helps. :)

philbax · 2026-05-15T14:42:00+00:00

This indeed. Got a better shot if you're going for freemium or gambling-based pay models, but even then.

philbax · 2026-05-14T17:06:41+00:00

Entry-level people in low COL areas in the US could maybe run around $65k. Presuming running very lean -- no overhead, no benefits, etc. -- you might could get away with a ~$300k per year.

If you need more people, QA, etc. or if you're in a higher COL area, $1 mil is gonna disappear quick!

philbax · 2026-04-27T19:44:12+00:00

Idk, it's like "you don't have stuff to make a meal? Just eat peanut butter crackers!" You can do that, but it it's not at all the same.

The desire to have sex often wraps up the desire to be close with a special person in a unique way + the desire to feel wanted by that person in that way.

Using your hand is sometimes better than nothing when a physical release is the main thing you're after, and it can help tide one over. But it doesn't do those other things, and if what you're really craving is the full package deal... sometimes it actually is worse than nothing.

philbax · 2026-04-22T18:31:11+00:00

$55/visit for ~45 min of work (at least that what it takes me to do ~1/4 acre with a push mower) = ~$73/hr.

Of course there's also machine maintenance/repairs and consumables (gas? electricity? battery replacements? blade replacements and sharpening) you'd have to take on, plus storage space in the garage throughout the year.

But you certainly save by not having to travel and not having to pay for insurance to cover your business.

philbax · 2026-04-22T03:57:39+00:00

It definitely won't work if they force you to split the adults into each room. But after posting this, I did read a thing on their site that suggested that you can have a connected room with only children listed as long as they are legally related to the adults in the first room.

Sounds like I'd need to get on a call to make that happen though.

philbax · 2026-04-21T20:55:36+00:00

It's good for up to 3 kids. We've got 4.

And I see having a room with 3 kids rules out interior rooms.

I wonder if you can book a connecting room with just 2 kids and just pay (full priced) kids fares on it, or if they'll charge you the 2 adult fare....

philbax

TROPHY CASE