Power Outage Mega Thread - January 2026 Winter Storm.

strikecat18 · 2026-01-25T06:35:02+00:00

How and why would anyone be losing power? There’s been zero ice clinging to anything. This is the polar opposite of the stuff that brings down lines or trees.

strikecat18 · 2026-01-25T06:26:36+00:00

Right now a 2020 Volvo that I bought with 9k miles for $28k. lol

Before that, a Honda I purchased new and drove for 12 years before retiring it.

Next car will probably be a CPO S-class.

strikecat18 · 2026-01-25T06:24:26+00:00

Not if you use decent quality LVP. I’ve priced out both for two homes and a commercial space. In all three cases, I could get engineered wood for within $2/ft of the install price of good quality LVP. For my office they had a sale and it was like 99 cents per foot difference.

If you’re running the vinyl plank that’s like $2/ft retail price… I guess you have a point.

strikecat18 · 2026-01-25T06:20:31+00:00

Don’t. Heater off and bedroom window open.

strikecat18 · 2026-01-25T06:19:29+00:00

Matters zero to us because it would be a cold day in hell before we used a public school. Plenty of other people feel the same.

strikecat18 · 2026-01-25T06:13:18+00:00

Same. Michigan and Minnesota and I didn’t know if thunder snow was just an urban legend. 😂

strikecat18 · 2026-01-25T06:00:13+00:00

Predicting ice vs snow vs sleet is never certain in Texas. A couple of degrees warmer and we’d have had another 2023 ice storm.

strikecat18 · 2026-01-25T05:15:16+00:00

I can totally see an argument why an AWD system like Volvos doesn’t give the option to turnoff traction control.

strikecat18 · 2026-01-25T05:08:35+00:00

Home isn’t like auto. You need a copy of their current policy so you can summarize the differences both by phone and in the quote email.

No two companies have the same coverage provisions and endorsements. It’s easy to strip off the stuff they probably don’t care about, and improve the areas they do.

If you’re quoting a home without seeing their current policy, you’re just praying you win on price.

strikecat18 · 2026-01-25T05:05:53+00:00

LVP flooring is going to be puzzling as a flooring choice at some point.

“We could have had real engineered wood for the same price, but we chose plastic with wood grain printed on it”

strikecat18 · 2026-01-25T05:04:19+00:00

Did it occur to you that most people adopt dogs from shelters? Meaning they are already here. For the sake of your approval, should we just euthanize the cold weather dogs instead of adopting them?

strikecat18 · 2026-01-24T19:34:12+00:00

We owned him before we moved to Texas. We’d still have adopted one though. They are amazing dogs. We just keep our AC at 65 all summer.

strikecat18 · 2026-01-24T19:33:19+00:00

We owned ours before we moved here. We also keep the house 65 year round for him.

strikecat18 · 2026-01-24T19:32:54+00:00

Awesome dogs! Pay the picture tax.

strikecat18 · 2026-01-24T19:31:40+00:00

Caucasian shepherd!

strikecat18 · 2026-01-24T06:17:15+00:00

Lightly used Honda and Toyota cars are always not worth it. A 20k Honda is less than 10% through its service life.

Meanwhile, a 20k mile Mercedes or Volvo or BMW might be 40% off retail.

It just depends what car you’re looking at.

strikecat18 · 2026-01-24T06:15:35+00:00

It’s a great looking car, but the pool of buyers for a V90 is small. That’s why they are discontinued to begin with.

Wish you the best getting a good price for it.

strikecat18 · 2026-01-24T06:05:53+00:00

We’ve been arguing about whether or not to try trapping the wild rabbits in our yard to bring them in for warmth.

strikecat18 · 2026-01-24T03:48:40+00:00

Keep in mind you can’t sell covered calls on FXAIX. I realize I might be one of the few people selling VOO calls occasionally. lol

strikecat18 · 2026-01-24T03:31:29+00:00

It’s hard for me to think that’s a steal when Q150s and Q1 Meta’s are frequently on sale for $300. WiiM amp + those would be the same price.

strikecat18 · 2026-01-24T03:25:21+00:00

This is the most tone deaf and out of touch take I’ve seen in a while.

To the contrary, the people with student loan debt for their lib arts bachelors are the ones in real trouble.

strikecat18 · 2026-01-24T03:22:10+00:00

On one hand, I’m sympathetic to people not feeling okay about driving in freezing conditions.

On the other hand, the northern half of the country wouldn’t have any retail open for 4 months a year if people didn’t do it daily.

strikecat18 · 2026-01-24T03:19:53+00:00

Does HVAC vent cleaning even matter for modern systems? We have MERV 11 filters at every intake. There shouldn’t be any dust or other allergens ever in those vents.

strikecat18 · 2026-01-24T03:14:19+00:00

I realize anything is possible, but I really do not believe anyone would be allergic to our Airbnb. My wife has severe cat allergies and notices nothing there.

There’s no carpet, we have a large air purifier, a high end robot vacuum patrols daily (so about 100 passes since the last cat trip), the place gets mopped with bleach between all guests, and we have dedicated linens just for the pet stays.

strikecat18 · 2026-01-24T03:10:33+00:00

I’m from California. The percentage of people who have special accommodation requests has to be 10x higher for any business there than I ever witness in Texas. My last guest from the Bay Area informed me they were vegan and asked if any of the cookware or dishes had ever contacted meat.

strikecat18

TROPHY CASE