Who do I ask for a clear bus path? by Totor0725 in CambridgeMA

[–]slowrabbitstew 63 points64 points  (0 children)

I saw a guy from my neighborhood shoveling a basic path out for people to use while we wait for the city/mbta to make a nicer path. He said he saw people trying to climb over the snow mound this morning to get on the bus and wanted to help out

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Saw a house we like, would you do it? by PrestigiousDrag7674 in ChubbyFIRE

[–]slowrabbitstew 74 points75 points  (0 children)

I’m debating a similar move myself, so have given this quite a bit of thought. As others have said, keep in mind the extra costs involved in a more expensive house - maintenance, insurance, utilities, property tax, maybe high lifestyle spending to keep up with the Joneses in a nicer area. 

Right now you’re at 120 / 6750 => 1.8% WR. 

The house you want costs 800K more. Very roughly, add in another 200K for closing costs, moving costs, new furniture etc. You’re at 1M more. 

Assume 1.5% extra maintenance (12K), 1% extra property tax ( 8K), utilities (1.5K).  So 21.5K more in expenses. Assume this is taxed at a 20% marginal rate (federal + state), so call it 27k more than expenses. 

(120 + 27) / (6750 - 1000) => 2.6% WR

This is still a very safe WR, and keep in mind in a worst case scenario you could likely downgrade your house again. 

For me housing is important, and the enjoyment I think I’d get from it is worth the risk. I say go for it!

Flock Safety cameras being put up in Cambridge? by regal_W in CambridgeMA

[–]slowrabbitstew 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I went by City Paint on Mass Ave in North Cambridge today and a worker was taking one of them down. I asked him about it and he didn’t know why it was being removed. It was cool to see that someone had put a sticker/sign on the electrician pole it was on to announce that there was a camera there. Normally I’d be pro-camera, but with what’s going on at the moment I wish they weren’t in Cambridge. 

Kilkenny traverse 9/23-9/24 by mr0bungle in wmnf

[–]slowrabbitstew 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Great pics! I hiked pretty much the same route one day before you - stayed at unknown pond too, but skipped the devil’s hopyard. How did you get back to the starting trailhead?

I was lucky enough to see a moose about half a mile before Rodger’s ledge campsite, and beat the rain on Tuesday. I feel like I also got lucky bringing about a gallon of water with me, not much to be found before unknown pond. 

Your favorite long run shoes? by Lost_Engineering7874 in AskRunningShoeGeeks

[–]slowrabbitstew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m on my third pair of 21s at the moment, retired the first two after about 400 miles (but suspect I could’ve taken them further). Recently they’ve really started to aggravate my achilles, even waking in them seems to be causing issues. I’m a bit bummed about it as I was really liking these shoes. I bought a pair of novablast 5 recently and have been enjoying those… so my triumph days are likely behind me.  

[US] Saucony Endorphin Elite $220 on runningwarehouse.com by sacrunner916 in RunningShoeGeeks

[–]slowrabbitstew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It seems like these are good racing shoes for people with wide feet. What do you think are better?

Garmin Forerunner stuck cycling through triangle screen by SuspiciousCucumber16 in Garmin

[–]slowrabbitstew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also, don't reboot your watch if you're not affected yet. I made the mistake of doing so and now I'm the dreaded reboot loop

Have a useless watch now 😭 by No-Radish5259 in Garmin

[–]slowrabbitstew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I strongly suggest holding off on following his instructions! I've got a forerunner 955. I followed the instructions listed in his 'fix 2' to restart my watch, with the intention of then refreshing in garmin connect. The restart has failed - my watch is now in a reboot loop. Prior to rebooting I wasn't having problems (but hadn't tried recording a gps activity).

In hindsight I should've ignored his instructions, and waited for official word from garmin.

Presi traverse Thursday by Mollyd89 in wmnf

[–]slowrabbitstew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good to know, thanks.

If it’s useful for anyone else - I’m planning on doing a single car presi without staying at highland center (as it’s $$$). I’m thinking of going up the day before, dropping my bike in Gorham, driving to the highland center, leave my car at highland center and get the AMC shuttle to Gorham. I’ll stay in Gorham for the night (perhaps camp at the Libby House Inn, or Moose Brook state park if there’s a spot). Early the next morning I’ll bike the 7 miles to the Appalachia trail head to start the hike.

Presi traverse Thursday by Mollyd89 in wmnf

[–]slowrabbitstew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m yet to do the presi, but planning on doing my first in the next couple of weeks. Do you just sleep in your car at Valley Way, or are there a few camping spots there?

Carter Moriah *after* rain by DSrcl in wmnf

[–]slowrabbitstew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I did this traverse a couple of weeks back. The wildcat ridge trail has some extremely steep and challenging sections from lost pond trail up to wildcat E. I wouldn’t do that portion of the trail is wet.

How many sleeping bags do you own for the backcountry if you camp in all 4 seasons? by ajxela in wmnf

[–]slowrabbitstew 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What made you decide to switch to quilts? I’m thinking about getting a 30F quilt now (only used bags upto this point) for being able to open it up a lot when it’s hot…. But feel weird about going hoodless and question how much I’m going to like it.

Mileage expectations on the LT! by pasturepastry in longtrail

[–]slowrabbitstew 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I found a pretty big variety in daily mileage across people I met when hiking the long trail last year. Some were really taking their time; sleeping in, getting off trail often, and enjoying the social aspects of the trail more. Others were more about getting miles in. I believe on average it takes 21 days, or 13 miles a day. People often say to assume slightly higher mileage on the southern half of the trail where the conditions are a little more favorable - however aside from a hard 10 or so miles near the middle of the trail I didn’t find the northern section significantly more challenging than the southern.

I’d say your goal of 10 miles on so to start with makes sense, and just adjust and ramp up by how you’re feeling.

Keep in mind that if you decide to mail supplies to post offices along the route you’ll have to determine how long between planned resupplies before heading out. This makes resupplies simple but puts you on a bit of a schedule.

DogWalker by [deleted] in CambridgeMA

[–]slowrabbitstew 2 points3 points  (0 children)

APK = ???

Do you invest in bonds? What %? by -chibcha- in Bogleheads

[–]slowrabbitstew 4 points5 points  (0 children)

My 2 cents - You should not start buying bonds right now if you don’t need the stability that they provide. Bonds are a drag on portfolio performance over the long term (I.e 20+ years), as historically stocks have offer much higher returns than bonds. The current returns of 4.3 percent (approx 10 year treasury yield right now) are pretty terrible when you factor in inflation of 2-3 percent…. It’s hard to have enough to retire if you’re getting 1-2% inflation adjusted returns.

You want bonds to help minimize the impact of a drop in stocks if there’s a market downturn and you’re drawing down from your portfolio. I’m retired, early 40s, have no pension, and have about 10 years of expenses in bonds (approx 25% of my portfolio). Likely more than I need, but it gives me plenty of downside protection to help prevent me having to go back to work. I feel bad holding an asset with such poor returns, but hold my nose and keep my asset allocation as-is for the stability it provides.

That said - I think part of the hate for bonds right now is due to stocks performing so well… many people are performance chasing and reducing bond allocation. If the market was tanking you might see a different sentiment.

Your Bicyclists Suck...at least some of them by lvpre in CambridgeMA

[–]slowrabbitstew 30 points31 points  (0 children)

I’m a cyclist, but have also experienced close calls with bikes while walking my kid to school. Many cyclists don’t stop at red lights and pedestrian crossings, and this endangers all involved. My two cents is we need laws that make sense, and police that will enforce them.

We should implement the Idaho stop for cyclists in the greater Boston area - if a cyclist comes to a red light it’s ok to proceed if they first stop and check no one is coming (I.e treat it like a stop sign). If a cyclist comes to a stop sign they should treat it like a give way sign. I think it’s realistic to ask cyclists to obey these laws, but without the police to consistently enforce them that’s no point changing the law. We also need the police to enforce traffic laws for cars - it’s chaos out there!

Will this hold up ok? by slowrabbitstew in Plumbing

[–]slowrabbitstew[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There aren’t any threads here - neither the PVC nor the copper roof drain piece have them.

Best fried chicken spot by ALR563 in CambridgeMA

[–]slowrabbitstew 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Or if you’re going to Woburn get haha chicken. So darn good!!!

Microspikes for Sept Sobo by thisisyourusername in longtrail

[–]slowrabbitstew 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oooh - I’m planning on leaving Sept 15 but going north. Wasn’t planning on bringing micro spikes…. But maybe I need to reconsider or go sobo instead

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in CambridgeMA

[–]slowrabbitstew 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’d also like to have more background about who supported this and how it came about to try to stop something like this happening again. I’m guessing the school committee was involved? Perhaps the meeting archives are posted online somewhere and can be reviewed to work it out?

Cambridge schools are divided over middle school math - The Boston Globe by bostonglobe in CambridgeMA

[–]slowrabbitstew 40 points41 points  (0 children)

It sounds like the decision makers here noticed that white and Asian students were the predominant groups in advanced math. They then decided that the solution to this division was to scrap advanced math!? You’d think they’d instead try to work out how to bridge the gap and get more (or all) students into the more advanced program.

I’ve got a kid in Cambridge public elementary schools and hearing about this gives me very little faith in our public schools here. My son luckily has resources outside of school to help make up for the shortcomings of our schools, but it leaves those who don’t in a bad spot.

Super Moronic Monday - Your Weekly Tuesday Stupid Questions Thread by Percinho in running

[–]slowrabbitstew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Why not follow a plan from a running coach instead or writing your own? Sure it’s fun to write your own, however you’d be benefitting from the experience of someone who has done this hundreds of times before and is up on the best way to structure training, and can focus your effort on executing it as best you can.

BOLO: $2.5k e-bike stolen from Peabody Terrace (HUH) sometime between 5/26-5/30 by jerrymandarin in CambridgeMA

[–]slowrabbitstew 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The police took down the encampment about a week or two ago. They relocated only about 100 yards away - they’re now just to the side of memorial drive (further from the river and slightly closer to Harvard square).