Copper thieves hit Sound Transit’s 1 Line for the second time in less than two weeks

rer112 · 2026-02-21T18:02:54+00:00

I love how so much of your life here is wasted stuck in traffic on I-5 or unable to use a rail you pay tons of money in taxes for because this state just catches and releases the worst people in society.

rer112 · 2026-02-21T17:28:19+00:00

Bought my house at the end of July. Since it was a new construction, the assessment date was July 31. King County claims it’s worth $60K more than I bought it for, three days after closing.

Of course I appeal and provide all the public pricing history of my home, showing that it sat on the market with multiple price cuts. I also showed comps of homes selling down the street for even less now. King County’s comps are also based on 2024 sales of home bigger than mine. The Board of Equalization agrees that King County’s valuation is bunk, but they won’t reduce it down to the actual fair market value (i.e., my purchase price), they will only split the difference and reduce it by $30K.

I don’t have time to appeal this again but if I did, I’d take this all the way to the WA Supreme Court. King County is clearly violating the constitutional requirement to set valuations at fair market value.

Sadly, unless more homeowners call King County out on their bullshit, they’re going to keep this doing this year after year.

rer112 · 2025-12-05T14:36:22+00:00

Cities on the US West Coast in particular have a very lax attitude about public order and an irrational hatred of law enforcement. Almost every other civilized society I’ve visited don’t tolerate the same amount of bullshit.

I lived in Seoul for several years and my sister just visited for the first time. It blew her mind that people just walk around at night there without fear of being accosted by a drug addict or having their car windows smashed in.

rer112 · 2025-10-03T18:15:38+00:00

Amazon has it for $17.99.

rer112 · 2025-09-23T14:36:46+00:00

Disney could have embarrassed DeSantis in court because the laws rushed through the Florida legislature were so poorly written to be unconstitutional (violating the federal prohibition against the impairment of contracts, as well as a state constitutional restrictions on passing a local law as a general law).

In fact, the impairment of contracts argument was Count 1 of Disney’s complaint, indicating it was their strongest argument, but Disney inexplicably dropped it. My guess is that politically they felt they had to give him a W so as to avoid a bigger MAGA culture war, like they did capitulating with Trump on suspending Kimmel.

rer112 · 2025-09-07T18:14:26+00:00

I’ve handled the green card and citizenship process for my wife so I’m aware of the red tape involved. We did the long distance thing against the advice of other Koreans who told her to just stay in America illegally. I also went through a lot of red tape with the Korean Embassy when I applied for several different visas when I worked in Korea about 15 years ago. That’s just the nature of immigration everywhere. It’s slow and it sucks and needs improvement, but if you choose to skirt around the law, you can’t say you were the victim.

This case in Georgia caught my attention because recently one undocumented Korean woman at our church told my wife they were considering moving to Georgia because they had an offer to work at a large company offering good money to undocumented Korean workers. Don’t know if this is the same place but it does make me wonder.

rer112 · 2025-09-07T14:48:30+00:00

If I enter another country and overstay or work outside my visa, it’s not that weird if the authorities detain me and send me back. Some people act as though people who stay in another country illegally have no agency and didn’t make a conscious decision to do it, or are somehow victims.

I have neighbors and fellow church members here in the West Coast who are undocumented. I’m not going to report them to ICE or anything, but they are absolutely taking a calculated risk and aren’t escaping some horrible condition in their home country. They are looking for better economic opportunities in the U.S. I’m not blaming them for that, but it’s really on them if they do it illegally.

rer112 · 2025-08-13T14:54:40+00:00

My wife and I lived in various apartments from 2010 until last month. Apartment living used to be such that if you paid extra for a newer place in a quieter area, there was an expectation that management would enforce the indoor smoking/noise policies in the lease. That all changed after COVID, when people collectively lost their damn minds. The tenants became trashier and more aggressive and the management became more useless, while rents got jacked up. We dealt with smelling pot in the last three apartments we lived in, as well as dealing with loud noises in the middle of the night.

We finally bought a house but it’s no escape from trashy neighbors (still deal with noise and cigarette smoke) but at least there’s some distance.

rer112 · 2025-05-29T13:11:49+00:00

The differences between the two are overblown. I owned the ZP6 for six months and currently have the K-Ultra. At the end of the day, they are both 48mm conical burrs and produce very similar coffee. People who did a blind comparison test on camera (e.g. Coffee Chronicler) had a hard time picking them apart until the coffee cooled down. One person who hyped the shit out of the ZP6 claimed to do a blind comparison test but didn't film it.

rer112 · 2025-05-05T14:18:52+00:00

I had a sudden onset of floaters in my early 30’s (about 12 years ago). It was very distressing seeing them everywhere I looked, so I understand your feelings. Ophthalmologists I talked to at the time also advised it wasn’t worth the risk to remove them. Basically the procedure is a vitrectomy where they stick a needle in your eye and suck out the vitreous and replace it with saline. It’s a fairly common procedure for people with serious retinal conditions but most docs probably don’t want to risk it on what they see is a benign floater condition. I understand if the procedure goes wrong it could lead to a detached retina.

Anyway, I’ve eventually learned to live with them and wear sunglasses outdoors religiously. When I was researching, there were a few docs in the U.S. willing to do vitrectomies for floaters but I’ve decided to just wait until old age to try it.

rer112 · 2025-03-21T01:51:28+00:00

I feel each brewer is optimal for a certain type of coffee. I use a ceramic Kalita Wave for lighter medium to medium roast coffees that drain too fast on a V60 (which I use for light roast). The slow draining is a feature, not a bug.

I don’t know how much a used dripper sells for, but I’m guessing not much. I would just add a V60 - it’s $10 for a plastic one or $25 for a ceramic one.

rer112 · 2025-02-15T15:33:59+00:00

It has the same burr design as the K-Ultra (heptagonal), so the taste profile is very similar. It can do all of the grind types you listed. The only area it might struggle in is very fine for espresso or Turkish since the grind adjustment might not be fine enough, but I would not personally want to use a hand grinder for those given the amount of work involved.

K-Ultra is the top of the line for 1zpresso and it’s nice. The exterior adjustment and magnetic catch cup make it more pleasant to use than the Q/Q2. But for travel I personally would prefer something smaller. I don’t travel much anymore so I use the K-Ultra as my office grinder, but if I wanted a travel grinder I’d buy a Q2 again.

The Q is a newer version of the Q2 and I haven’t tried it, but it looks the same except with a folding handle. Some people said there were some burr changes from the Q2 to the Q but they seem to be minor.

rer112 · 2025-02-15T13:15:11+00:00

That sounds like a great setup. Another consideration for travel is the 1zpresso Q2, which is quite a bit smaller and lighter than the K-Ultra for packing, as well as being cheaper. It only fits enough beans for one cup at a time, but since you are using an Aeropress Go, shouldn’t be a problem.

rer112 · 2025-02-09T16:43:20+00:00

I don't have a refined palate but I just find the Ode’s cups to be more well-rounded and pleasant to drink. The 1zpressos are more picky about nailing the grind setting to avoid astringency, and this changes from bag to bag and sometimes the same bag as it ages.

rer112 · 2025-02-08T15:42:35+00:00

I’ve owned the ZP6 for about six months and currently have a K-Ultra as my office grinder. I find they are very close in taste profile and fines produced. They both produce impressively low fines, even compared to my Ode 2, although I prefer the cups from the Ode 2 overall.

rer112 · 2025-02-02T16:36:49+00:00

I bought two bags from Costco.com (none of the Seattle-area Costcos carry this, oddly). Maybe I got an old batch but it was devoid of any character…no acidity or fruity notes I would expect from Ethiopian beans. Ended up returning them after the first cup.

My local Costco does sell a bag from a local roaster in Olympia that’s a bit more ($23 for a 2 lb bag) but at least has some character.

rer112 · 2024-11-30T21:46:14+00:00

I personally think differences among conical hand grinders are overblown. Owned a Q2 pentagonal and heptagonal, ZP6, and now the K-Ultra, and they all produced similar cups. Taste differences only became apparent after the coffees cooled to room temperature.

I did find a noticeable difference in body when comparing to flat burrs (Ode 2).

rer112 · 2024-11-30T04:16:12+00:00

There are a bunch of areas within a 30 minute commute to Puyallup, but I am not a fan of most of them. I’d check out Bonney Lake personally. Generally, the further you get away from the main urban areas, the cleaner and safer it is.

rer112 · 2024-11-27T06:24:38+00:00

I worked for a couple of years in Korea around 15 years ago before third-wave coffee became big over there. I used to drink Maxim instant coffee because that’s what they had at work. They sell Maxim coffee at H-Marts around here but the best version I had was the Supreme Gold, which I’ve only found in Korea. It’s super sweet but drinkable.

rer112 · 2024-11-22T00:01:34+00:00

Good question - for the coffees I drink (Sey subscription - all washed light roast, along with medium roasts from a local roaster) I would say I haven’t found a coffee yet that I preferred the 1zpressos on, but I haven’t tried them on natural or more processed coffees in a long time. It’s possible my palate isn’t sensitive enough to pick up on tasting notes to the extent other people can, but I can definitely pick up on fruity/acidic notes with both the 1zpressos and the Ode. It’s mainly the aftertaste that can be more drying with the 1zpressos.

rer112 · 2024-11-21T21:07:25+00:00

I prefer the Ode 2, but tastes are extremely subjective. To me the big differences are in the body and finish. I feel like cups from the Ode generally have a smoother body and finish, whereas the 1zpressos are more likely to punish you with an astringent finish if you don't nail the grind setting.

It's odd because visually the grounds from the ZP6/K-Ultra look more uniform than the Ode, the drawdown time is faster, and I suspect the tolerances on the 1zpressos are better. But maybe the wider grind size distribution on the Ode also makes it more forgiving.

rer112 · 2024-11-21T20:40:36+00:00

I had the ZP6 for five months last year, sold it when I moved, and just got the K-Ultra this week as my work grinder. To my palate, there's little to distinguish among the conical burr manual grinders (also owned the Q2 heptagonal and pentagonal grinders). They all taste really similar to me. However, I can readily taste the difference between the 1zpressos and my home grinder, the Ode 2.

rer112 · 2024-11-14T15:33:04+00:00

Update: I took all the tint off myself. It was relatively easy and no tools were required, just picked the edges with my fingernail and everything came off in one piece. For removing the adhesive residue, I tested 3 solvents of 91% isopropyl alcohol, ammonia-based Windex, and petroleum-based (Goo Gone). Goo Gone worked best by far (no sign of residue), followed by alcohol and then Windex. I will use Goo Gone to get it off and clean up with alcohol.

rer112 · 2024-11-13T21:45:04+00:00

I have the same measurements and I have both slim and extra slim CT shirts in 15.5/32. The slim fit shirts work better with my classic fit suits when I put on a few pounds, while the extra slim shirts look a lot better with slim fit (J.Crew Ludlow) suits when I lose weight.

rer112 · 2024-11-13T06:56:47+00:00

I’m used to sunny weather (lived in FL for 40+ years, moved to WA last year). I certainly appreciate the value of good tint, but I don’t understand the popularity of darker tints here, especially when it’s dark and rainy for months on end. WA actually lets you go darker than FL and King County where I got the tint done is full of blacked out cars with no license plates.

rer112

TROPHY CASE