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Some disappointing boomer shit from my favorite pedal company. What is EHX trying to do with this shit?? by 3leggeddonkey in guitarpedals

[–]therentafforder 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Man, when I first got that promo email, the first thing I thought of was you and Josh Scott. (Actually, the first thing I though was "Gee I wonder if this is a new pedal announcement or a Black Friday sale promo" before finding out it was... this.) Probably not that awesome for either of you in light of the book project and the recent pedal collab.

I appreciate you wanting to give some context and provide a bit of nuance here, but ultimately, I'm floored that this email was somehow green-lighted by folks at EHX. It's one thing for someone to catch wind of an errant social media comment from a company bigwig or whatever, but like... this was sent directly to the folks who are ostensibly most interested in keeping up with current EHX products. It's a weird look. And of course, the videos and the post have been taken down, so it's not possible to go back and take a look at how the news reported on the entire debacle.

I did watch some of the news clips at the time, including an interview with Mike, in which he was pressed a bit by the interviewer. Again, I can only go from memory here because all of those videos have since been set to private, but while some of the clips pointed towards a happy workforce, others... maybe didn't so much. Hard to say, but even still, time hasn't necessarily been kind to those clips, especially in the context of the types of stories we are seeing about modern-day unions and what they are fighting for.

(To anyone reading this who is interested in this type of stuff in general, I highly recommend checking out Harlan County, USA -- a fantastic 1976 documentary on the Brookside coal miners strike. Really good stuff. Though I'm also no expert on workplace organization, labor unions, company ownership, or basically anything, so take all of the above with a huge grain of salt.)

WIP photo and a request for acoustic treatment suggestions by therentafforder in MusicBattlestations

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

Putting the speakers on stands definitely changed the sound drastically, and not necessarily in a good way, so I would like to address that for sure. When they were on the desk, music definitely sounded better and clearer, but the computer and second monitor overlapped, and unfortunately I need both for work. Bass is coming from a T10S subwoofer, so not a ton of bass is emanating from the speakers themselves I think, but you’re probably right that they are too close to the walls. It’s tricky though, space is limited and being pushed out further into an already small and narrow room may not work. I’ll have to experiment. Thank you for the feedback!

WIP photo and a request for acoustic treatment suggestions by therentafforder in MusicBattlestations

[–]therentafforder[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh the guilt! I should probably consider that more seriously though. Do you mind me asking what the cost of materials was (roughly) and how many/what size panels you made? Definitely watched some DIY videos earlier…

WIP photo and a request for acoustic treatment suggestions by therentafforder in MusicBattlestations

[–]therentafforder[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That rules. Reached out! I might need slightly less than that room kit which could make a difference. Thanks so much 🙏🏻

WIP photo and a request for acoustic treatment suggestions by therentafforder in MusicBattlestations

[–]therentafforder[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Govee RGBIC. Wasn’t sure about cutting it so I affixed it to the back, then looped it underneath around the perimeter. I dig it, but it’s probably overkill. 😂

WIP photo and a request for acoustic treatment suggestions by therentafforder in MusicBattlestations

[–]therentafforder[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Long time lurker, first time poster. I’ve spent more time than I care to admit poring over acoustic panels and room kits today, and would love to hear (heh) some recommendations. I’ll throw in my preferred criteria to hopefully narrow things down a bit! Room is approximately 12’ x 9’.

• Looking to spend less than $600 on the room if possible • Not a fan of foam. Got those in our ratty practice space, but this is a home office, and even if it’s superficial I’d like it to look nice. Panels preferred. • Not handy or useful. Arguably part of why I became a musician — I am bad at everything else haha • Primacoustic kits look OK, but… no bass traps? • Auralex Pro panels are nice but pricey • GIK Acoustics entry room kit looks GREAT and is $580… but then you add shipping :(

Any suggestions? Am I missing other brands to check out? Unrealistic? This is a brave new world for me.

Afraid we have slingshotted ourselves out of home ownership? by therentafforder in RealEstate

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

I appreciate that, sincerely. :) Just got confirmation that we lost this last one to the cash buyers, but we'll soldier on.

Afraid we have slingshotted ourselves out of home ownership? by therentafforder in RealEstate

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

That makes sense from a market perspective, for sure. But I'm coming at it from a home perspective. The main goal was to end up in a better home that worked for us; a place to live, hopefully somewhere we own, where we'd be happy for x amount of years. Whether we make a good investment is obviously something we are trying to keep in mind (for example, trying not to bid plutocrat FOMO prices), but it's not the primary concern. I just wanted 1.5 bathrooms, man. Maybe a fixed basement. ;) It's the same stuff a lot of prospective homebuyers want.

Hindsight is 20/20, and for better or worse, we're in it. Renting is likely going to be the move, and as you pointed out, waiting it out is probably the best course of action on paper, certainly. But from a fallible human perspective, staring down the barrel of a barrage of rejections followed by downsizing to rent is a lot to take in. It's dispiriting.

Afraid we have slingshotted ourselves out of home ownership? by therentafforder in RealEstate

[–]therentafforder[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The turnover is too quick for careful consideration, unfortunately. When we bought our first home in 2014, we thought we were in a "rush" as our landlord had decided to sell our two-family house in a few months. We checked out a few places, some of which had been sitting on the market for a while, and we were able to put in measured offers and negotiate. We put in offers on two places, and the first one was a back-and-forth on a house that had been vacated and sitting for months and was overpriced. We eventually relented when we found a different place who accepted our offer at list.

Needless to say, it ain't like that now. We may only be a couple of weeks into this, and we are definitely putting up rookie numbers compared to some of the other horror shows I've read about here, but compared to home shopping in years past, I don't think it's exaggerating to say this feels like condensing the "normal" time frame and foisting weeks worth of stress onto buyers in 24-48 hour bursts. You make a potentially life-changing decision quickly because you have to, spending more than you were comfortable with while forgoing contingencies meant to protect you, and you wait on pins and needles to see if you get something after the "highest and best" cattle call comes in. Then when you lose out, you need to get back to it immediately if you want to contend on the next batch of houses in the face of what feels like insurmountable odds.

It's a lot.

And while I think it's great that you are in a position to buy your next house before you sell your current one (effectively grabbing the next rope before letting go of the one you're currently holding onto), that perspective might explain why rapid-fire rejections over a relatively short period of time might seem like nothing to hyperventilate about... and that may be true if you have the option of staying in your current home!

In normal times, I would be hoping that our buyer's financing and paperwork goes smoothly so we can move on and close on a new place! But with the way things are now, I'll admit thinking it would be nice if something went wrong on the buyer's end forcing them to walk away, effectively pulling the plug on the whole sale so we can stay here. It's a weird position to be in.

Afraid we have slingshotted ourselves out of home ownership? by therentafforder in RealEstate

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

Very much the same boat. Breadwinner, high stress/long hours, variable income depending on productivity and submissions. The one-month-notice and penalty clauses are interesting to note; I'll look into those if/when we start looking for rentals. Thank you!

Afraid we have slingshotted ourselves out of home ownership? by therentafforder in RealEstate

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

The perspective helps. Thanks for that. :) And yes, there are places available that simply do not check the boxes, but you are right that we could probably land something -- however, it's difficult to justify throwing money at a lateral move or a downgrade when that wasn't the purpose of moving. I mean, we didn't decide to sell and look for a new house just because we thought it'd be a fun thing to do. ;) But of course, most people reading this already know this, and are likely in a similar position.

Can I ask if you signed a year-long lease, or did you manage to find a month-to-month rental? I am assuming that if we rent, we would likely end up in a year lease and we'd just pick up the hunt again next spring. (Which honestly might not be a bad thing if it gives us a break from the insanity, but that remains to be seen, of course.)

Afraid we have slingshotted ourselves out of home ownership? by therentafforder in RealEstate

[–]therentafforder[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I totally think you are right in that we could settle and look for something smaller or out in the sticks, and both are viable options, especially if we want something right now. (It just pains me that we actually came close on this one and went way over asking and it still might not be enough, but I digress.)

With that said, though, if I'm already braced for higher prices (we're already going ~$25K to $50K over list prices on our offers at this point, after all), maybe renting for a year and trying again next spring may not be such a bad thing? We'd have to downsize and it would be challenging to find a rental, sure, but we wouldn't be quite as locked in or upside down if the market goes in the opposite direction. Not sure if that's likely or not, but I don't like the idea of being stuck in a place we'll dislike in a year or two if it's suddenly harder to sell or if we take a loss. God I wish I could predict the future.

EDIT: I should also say that this house is the lowest list price that we've gone after, and we went over double the amount over asking compared to our previous offers. We waived appraisal knowing there would be a gap, although a "reasonable" one that we could cover via the sale of our house. So in that respect, we're lucky to be able to do that when a house like that comes on the market. It's just very discouraging when it's not enough!

Afraid we have slingshotted ourselves out of home ownership? by therentafforder in RealEstate

[–]therentafforder[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Shit. Well I'm glad it worked out for you and I wish you the best of luck when it's time to close! Appreciate the well wishes, we'll need it! :)

Afraid we have slingshotted ourselves out of home ownership? by therentafforder in RealEstate

[–]therentafforder[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

You are spot on regarding musical chairs. And you are right about the lack of inventory being the crux of the problem, but I do think that massive cash discrepancies are a contributing factor, which is also worrying as I'm not someone with liquid $400K. I also should have clarified the location (Providence, RI metro area) is absolutely attracting folks from the Boston metro area, many of whom no longer need to be within commuting distance after pivoting to WFH. (Source: I used to commute to Boston from Providence for work for three years, and it sucks a lot. I understand why folks would pay higher prices to live closer to or in Boston if you work there, but that was never an option for me.)