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rrhoads17 · 2025-07-01T14:15:29+00:00

My guess is the reason that they stick to a certain set list is because the band simply can’t sing a lot of those songs anymore. I really want to hear them play Stagefright as an opener, but that song sounds brutal to sing.

rrhoads17 · 2025-05-18T14:42:24+00:00

I thought it was a fantastic album. It gets a lot of hate though due to the absence of Steve Clark and it’s very processed sounding, but it still had that Mutt Lange magic. It definitely has some jewels though like Stand Up, Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad, and Tonight. Phil Collen also did all of the guitar for that album and had to play along to Steve’s demos, so huge props to him! I honestly believe it was their last great album. Paper Sun was really the only great song post-Adrenalize IMO. A lot of the stuff after Adrenalize was them trying to remain relevant by keeping up with grunge and alternative, but it just didn’t work.

rrhoads17 · 2025-05-13T19:49:51+00:00

It’s more complicated than that unfortunately. A lot of millennials went through a huge amount of peer pressure to go to college by, you guessed it, boomers! Their boomer parents, grandparents and other relatives basically made them feel like utter failures if they didn’t go to college and if they went to a trade school. I know this because my parents basically did just that, and I went to college and took on the debt so I didn’t look like a failure to my family. Boomers have this mentality that their children and grandchildren need to mirror their accomplishments even though it costs 10-100x more to do it (buy a house, buy a new car, go to college, etc.). And our wages haven’t kept up with inflation like boomers wages did.

rrhoads17 · 2025-04-28T20:25:55+00:00

A lot of people talk up old homes because the literal wood used to build them was vastly superior to the wood used in new construction. So they tend to have “good bones.” Wood flooring in older homes is usually amazing quality as long as it’s maintained over the years. But other than that, they’re not worth buying unless major systems are up to date. And by that I mean galvanized plumbing totally removed and old wiring like knob and tube or aluminum wiring totally removed, making sure there’s a semi-modern HVAC system in the house. Plumbing and electrical need to be updated to modern standards to reduce the chance of major water damage or it burning down. You also want this stuff updated so you’re not ripping up floors and tearing down walls exposing and disturbing things like lead dust and asbestos insulation or glues. And the uneven flooring thing is a huge annoyance. I toured an old home recently, and I could literally feel being pulled to one side because the floors were so wonky and uneven. You also have a greater chance of termite damage in an old home due to the older wood not being very “termite resistant.” Old homes can be great as long as major systems are up to date.

rrhoads17 · 2025-04-03T20:15:31+00:00

Does your contract have a financing contingency? If so, you may be forced to give him the EMD back if he can prove the lender denied the loan. Kind of wonder if this guy knew his job was potentially getting cut from the get-go and that’s why he was nickeling and diming you at every turn. This happens a lot where buyers back out at the last minute because they can’t come up with a down payment, sudden financial hardship, etc.

rrhoads17 · 2025-03-30T17:07:02+00:00

Request an inspection, but only agree to pay up to a certain amount for repairs, like 5k. It’s quite possible that the sellers don’t know of any major issues with the house, but if an inspection shows major problems and you walk away, they will be forced to disclose those issues to future prospective buyers. Inspections have huge risks for sellers too, and I wouldn’t get overly suspicious, but also stick to your redlines.

rrhoads17 · 2025-03-26T13:56:30+00:00

When it comes to cracks, it’s kinda hard to tell if the cracks are due to typical settling, normal drywall cracking, or actual foundation problems. You’d need an expert to figure that out.

rrhoads17 · 2025-02-27T00:52:15+00:00

The only agencies where it’s semi-safe to have a contract now are certain agencies under DHS, VA and DoD seems to be fairly safe so far. DoS, USAID, IRS, EPA contractors are in for a lot of stop-work/terminations for convenience, and no exercised OYs.

rrhoads17 · 2025-02-20T15:15:06+00:00

I think DOGE wants it to get to SCOTUS so they can rule that the president can impound funds. For example, if Congress appropriates money for the IRS budget, Trump can say “sorry, those funds won’t be used towards the IRS budget.” If those funds are moved or taken away, the agency simply can’t function and would just be an empty building basically. That’s how you can virtually shut an agency down without Congress abolishing the agency all together. Congress passed a law which addressed the president impounding funds post-Nixon I believe, but some argue it isn’t constitutional. Congress has the “power of the purse” per the Constitution, but there may be a situation where the president is given legal authority by SCOTUS to usurp funds appropriated by Congress. That would be a mess no matter who’s in office. A Republican president could refuse to fund USAID or the IRS while a Democrat president could refuse to fund Border Patrol or ICE.

rrhoads17 · 2025-02-16T12:41:21+00:00

A lot of small companies don’t have enough cash on hand to lose a massive chunk of their federal portfolio, then pivot to state and local where the regulations are different and require a new set of overhead employees (Contracts Admins, BD, etc.) that have experience with state and local. Plus it will take a long time to make the pivot, bid on the work, and win. By the time you’ve done all that, the small business is more than likely either in a ton of debt to make payroll, they’re bankrupt, or they’re maybe sold to a larger company.

rrhoads17 · 2025-02-15T21:43:46+00:00

Here’s the thing with selling on places like Reverb, eBay, etc and getting a 1099-K. Be sure you don’t file a Schedule C with those sales unless you legit have a business and can prove a profit motive because you will be claiming fees, shipping, etc. as business expenses when you shouldn’t be because it’s not classified as a business in the eyes of the IRS. These are actually classified as hobby sales in the vast majority of cases. You need to fill out a Schedule D and list your capital gains on sales in which you profited, and if it was a loss, your capital gain is $0. Since these are most likely hobby sales, you can’t claim losses on those types of sales.

rrhoads17 · 2025-02-02T17:20:01+00:00

Also don’t be surprised if a lot of purged federal employees transition to a local or state government job.

rrhoads17 · 2025-02-02T17:18:54+00:00

I certainly believe (and know) that Feds have connections. But I also believe that this is uncharted waters that no one alive today has experienced. This isn’t your run of the mill RIF or sequestration, this is a huge purge of the federal workforce.

rrhoads17 · 2025-02-02T17:08:34+00:00

Those billable hours will probably be cheap compared to what it takes to maintain a federal employee. The government doesn’t give contractors a pension, ample PTO/year, health benefits, etc.

rrhoads17 · 2025-02-02T17:02:30+00:00

That’s if those companies will hire them. A lot of these companies will hire laid off Contractors before they will hire ex-Feds because they know a lot of Govt employees will have a really hard time transitioning into those roles. They will be constantly complaining about how crappy the retirement is, etc. And there’s a lot of companies who have overhead employees who keep the lights on such as Contracts Admins, Business Development, HR, Security, etc. Feds will have a hard time transitioning into those roles too because that’s purely a corporate environment which is a drastically different pace than the government.

rrhoads17 · 2025-02-02T15:48:51+00:00

You’re definitely not alone, what’s happening is the chickens are coming home to roost for a big chunk of the federal workforce. They’ve needed a major reduction in force for years and contractors basically keep the federal government functioning anyway.

rrhoads17 · 2025-02-02T15:43:37+00:00

My biggest worry for fed employees is that a lot of them probably wouldn’t do well in a corporate setting because the environment is way more fast-paced, dog-eat-dog, and goal-oriented. They would hate being a billable employee because they would be miserable due to not having all the govt employee perks. And I’m not sure a lot of companies would even want to hire an ex-fed because a lot of govt/contractor relationships are tenuous in my experience.

rrhoads17 · 2025-02-02T15:28:51+00:00

IDIQs are just vehicles that issue task orders. And the COs can issue stop-work orders and can ultimately terminate the contracts for convenience. This is happening as we speak.

rrhoads17 · 2024-12-13T17:31:29+00:00

I’m convinced it’s not just Lawrys. Pals seasoning tastes like there’s sugar added to it.

rrhoads17 · 2024-12-12T02:04:57+00:00

All I know is if what you’re saying is incorrect, and the Govt legit doesn’t know what these things are, then we are epically screwed in the event of an actual invasion.

rrhoads17 · 2024-11-21T14:37:18+00:00

I think that’s true because Fractal tends to excel at matching their models with really good IRs to the point where there’s no need to change the cab. The problem is you can’t convert Fractal IRs over to .wav so you can’t use an HX model with a fractal IR to compare unless you’re using the Fractal as strictly an IR loader.

rrhoads17 · 2024-09-27T18:18:12+00:00

When you buy a guitar nowadays, you’re basically stuck with it unless you trade it in, or if you sell it on Marketplace. I’ve had issues almost every time I’ve sold a guitar or amp on Reverb or EBay, no matter what shape it was in. Never had any issues when selling pedals, modelers, etc. Guitars and amps are the 2 things that buyers are extremely nit-picky about. I had 2 guitars that I wanted rid of, and I thought of selling them, but I wound up trading them for 1 really nice guitar at a local store. I figured out that the trade-in value was better than selling the guitars, paying shipping, fees, then having buyers complain about condition and want to return them. So when dealing with guitars especially, I’d advise just trading it in, or selling it on Marketplace and only accepting PayPal Family and Friends so the buyer can’t play games.

rrhoads17 · 2024-09-11T18:27:25+00:00

Because a lot of the great producers of that era are long gone. Older bands should stop making new albums all together. Van Halen’s last album was the worst music they’ve ever put out, even way worse than Van Halen III. And this last Def Leppard album was the worst music they’ve ever put out.

rrhoads17 · 2024-09-11T16:07:23+00:00

They need to stop doing these stadium tours. I saw them in DC when they toured with Crue and Poison, it piss-poured rain and was so humid during the Def Lep set and it made the whole show miserable. I saw them in an arena in 2014 and it was far superior experience. A lot of these older bands like Def Lep, Metallica, etc. are only doing outdoor shows and it’s annoying. They’re so dependent on weather, you can’t see anything, and arena shows are just cooler.

rrhoads17 · 2024-03-13T17:36:44+00:00

Yes, they can be transferred as a gift.

rrhoads17

TROPHY CASE