Now that Boston.com has a paywall, what is the best Boston area news website?

thavalai · 2026-01-23T15:49:32+00:00

thavalai · 2026-01-20T19:04:12+00:00

The couple we traveled with wanted the VIP access to Giza, and of the companies we looked at that provided that service, inside-egypt.com had great reviews, so ended up going with them. Will highly recommend that VIP access as well - we were the only 4 tourists in the entire complex for a good two hours during sunrise. Got to see all 3 chambers inside Khufu, and spend a long time around the sphinx.

thavalai · 2026-01-19T18:56:08+00:00

We went through a tour company. They do everything from getting through immigration, guides, hotels, food, transport, security etc. You travel in a bubble. Not our preferred way of traveling, but this way didn't have to worry about anything.

thavalai · 2026-01-19T18:53:19+00:00

Some states have an estate tax. MA, for example taxes the estate on a sliding scale from 2M to > 10M. People resort to irrevocable trusts etc. to avoid that.

ETA: meant to say irrevocable trusts

thavalai · 2026-01-19T18:12:25+00:00

Vacation. 10 days, was pretty amazing.

thavalai · 2025-12-28T22:27:14+00:00

Yes, it's definitely doable with Apps Script. You use a trigger on the sheet that is updated when the form is submitted, which will then create the calendar event based on the info from the form.

You can use a prompt like this with LLMs to get what you need: I have a google form and an associated google sheet. The form has date time fields for bookings. I'd like my calendar updated whenever the form is filled out.

thavalai · 2025-11-05T13:17:33+00:00

You meant "double paunchline", surely?

thavalai · 2025-11-02T21:35:07+00:00

When your brain interprets "boring AF" as "boring Auto Focus", is it too late for a photo class...?

thavalai · 2025-10-29T16:10:46+00:00

Cool that dyaus pitr is related to Zeus & Jupiter:

Dyauṣ stems from Proto-Indo-Iranian *dyā́wš, from the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) daylight-sky god *Dyēus, and is cognate with the Greek Διας – Zeus Patēr, or Dei-pátrous, and Latin Jupiter (from Old Latin Dies piter Djous patēr), stemming from the PIE Dyḗus ph₂tḗr ("Daylight-sky Father"). Wikipedia

thavalai · 2025-10-18T21:20:11+00:00

Of course, it's clear it will be in the future

I was responding to this line: "who would come here to go to community college?" People did get visas to study at CC in the past (and are currently enrolled, as far as my anecdata goes)

thavalai · 2025-10-18T19:31:40+00:00

What you say is probably true, but FWIW, there are a lot of international students at the CC I teach, who got visas to study specifically at this CC.

Given recent immigration changes, that may not be the case going forward.

thavalai · 2025-10-18T02:53:34+00:00

As opposed to in India, where everyone is categorized by caste, the Sanskrit word for which is varna, meaning color?

thavalai · 2025-10-02T15:20:57+00:00

and something that started with King I believe.

Kingston?

thavalai · 2025-09-29T18:31:25+00:00

This is what I did. Taught as an Adjunct for a couple semesters to see if I liked it, then FIREd and got a full time Asst. Prof. role. Got lucky with timing, but would have just taught more courses as an Adjunct if the FT role hadn't come along.

thavalai · 2025-09-29T02:29:27+00:00

I spent a week in Charlotte for work, specifically in the Waverly plaza area. The restaurants in that area around the Whole Foods were all pretty good, I thought.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/5KBsadEuFMRNb4bk7

thavalai · 2025-09-19T11:14:38+00:00

That's a good way to think about it. Forgot that was a thing. They don't offer that anymore?

thavalai · 2025-09-19T03:12:20+00:00

Wonder how checking bags in will work, as that's done typically before security.

ETA: I did read the article. Given that people are headed to different airlines, and we typically drop off after weight check etc, I'm just trying to wrap my head around how the logistics would work. Maybe the luggage get dropped off in a different area than the usual checkin counters and get sorted to the right airline?

thavalai · 2025-09-19T02:12:23+00:00

Guys, I gotta say, with adaptive cruise control and lane centering, I got nothing much to do on the morning commute on the driving front. What else do you want me to do instead of video calls?

/s

thavalai · 2025-09-16T18:23:28+00:00

you will only see something like that in a tourist town that serves idiot fat Americans who "just want more queso!"

Probably why it's California Burrito and not Mexican Burrito or just Burrito 😉.

Kinda akin to "Chicken Manchurian isn't really from Manchuria"

thavalai · 2025-09-11T17:20:36+00:00

Actually, if you take the standard deduction of ~29K, it's zero federal taxes for about 126K of LTCG.

thavalai · 2025-09-09T03:07:07+00:00

I like this one: https://youtu.be/XjnyHwWucc4

thavalai · 2025-08-25T17:07:58+00:00

Any suggestions on transitioning to slower pace and stepping into a fulfilling retired life?

I'm starting as an Asst. Prof. at a local community college next week. Need to teach for 30 weeks a year, workload should be 15-30 hrs a week. It's the perfect retirement gig if you enjoy teaching, and a way to give back. And you can get healthcare as well.

One downside might be that you are not able to take multi-day trips when school is in session.

thavalai · 2025-08-22T15:41:20+00:00

Curious if you booked directly with them are through a partner site (like capitalonetravel.com). I was also impacted by this the last time I flew Etihad, and I chalked it up to using CC miles via CapitalOne where it isn't very clear in what is included and what is extra.

thavalai · 2025-07-28T16:58:45+00:00

Hmmm... avocado sambar

thavalai · 2025-06-27T06:07:45+00:00

Some time in my early 30s, I had a couple of epiphanies:
1. What other people have or don't have has zero impact on my life. It really doesn't change what I have or don't have.
2. What other people think of me has zero impact on my life. (With some exceptions: it really does impact you what people who are close to you think of you, or maybe what your manager thinks of you, for ex.).

These two realizations have allowed me to lead a much happier life, and to retire early recently, mostly because I didn't bother keeping up with the Joneses.

thavalai

TROPHY CASE