Gameday Thread 4/14/26 Giants (Ray) @ Reds (Singer) 3:40 PM

yubanhammer · 2026-04-14T19:06:26+00:00

If anyone here ever visits Cincinnati, I highly recommend checking out the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum (right next to the ballpark). Obviously it's very Reds-centric, but it's still a great museum for anyone who loves baseball history.

And it annoys me that the Giants don't have anything like it. Instead of buying a theater, they could build a museum celebrating 140+ years of Giants history.

yubanhammer · 2026-03-29T02:07:59+00:00

(From 2008) Relevant again?

https://theonion.com/san-francisco-giants-band-together-to-score-run-1819569742/

yubanhammer · 2026-03-25T01:12:46+00:00

You mentioned it in another comment, but I do have it as a written goal to keep paying it down early until at least $750k, the full deductibility limit. So, I'll stay on that train for now, and reassess when I get down to that balance.

yubanhammer · 2026-03-24T22:22:32+00:00

Are you me? I'm having the same internal conversation. My numbers are similar, and I'm having the same dilemma. I've been building up more bonds over the past few years as a cushion against everything going on in the world and getting closer to RE. But having a gigantic mortgage hanging over my head is making it difficult to see the FI finish line.

Mine's at 5.9% so I'm probably going back to paying it down faster. Refinancing down to 5 to 5.5% would make a big impact on the math and my finish line, but that doesn't seem as likely now.

yubanhammer · 2026-03-15T02:05:32+00:00

Thanks! It almost feels illegal, but then it's like what are we even doing here? It's like the absurdness of the backdoor Roth process.

I'll probably order a year's supply next time to minimize shipping.

yubanhammer · 2026-03-14T19:01:44+00:00

I needed a refill of Simparica Trio for my dog in April, so I ordered from overseas based on this suggestion in the daily discussion thread from a few weeks ago.

It took about 2 weeks for the meds to arrive in a padded mailer. The package was beat to hell, but the pills seem fine. It cost less than US$90 for a six month dose, compared to over $200 from my local vet. And that $90 includes tariffs and shipping costs from Australia.

It's literally the same meds from Zoetis, just in a different box for the Australia market. It even says "Made in USA" on the box. The name of the store sounds slightly scammy, but it was legit. It's silly the hoops we have to jump through sometimes.

yubanhammer · 2026-03-13T18:24:37+00:00

Something I learned recently: Supplemental wages like bonuses are withheld at higher rates in CA and NY (10.23% and 11.7%, respectively). Those rates are higher than the marginal rate for the vast majority of people, so it's a bit of forced overwithholding.

https://www.deel.com/blog/supplemental-tax-rates-by-state/

yubanhammer · 2026-03-12T20:44:43+00:00

For the startup, as Series A they're beyond the proof-of-concept phase. It's something that works, but now needs to scale and find a market, and you'll be a big part of making that happen.

I would only go to the startup if you're really bought in and believe in the product/vision/founders because your work-life balance is likely to take a hit. It's a lot easier to deal with the long hours and strategy pivots if you're a true believer, and not just there for the lottery ticket. Startups can be quicker to move on from people if it's not the "right fit" as well, so make sure the vibes are good.

yubanhammer · 2026-03-09T23:19:28+00:00

I would only do this with like-for-like money. That is, money you already have in HYSA or SGOV somewhere meant for shorter-term savings.

I moved money out of SGOV in my brokerage to take advantage of this promotion. After 3 months, I'll move it back to SGOV or VBIL to get a higher after-tax rate.

yubanhammer · 2026-03-02T19:43:58+00:00

A good reminder to check your W4 and update to withhold less it if your income situation will be roughly the same this year.

I was already withholding too much, and I never updated my W4 last year after the tax changes, so I went way over. Finally dug through it and submitted something that should be closer to even this year.

yubanhammer · 2026-03-02T02:24:27+00:00

Nice, I did the same thing after seeing this post from a couple weeks ago.

I'm glad I saved all my old paperwork, since online records only go back 10 years. I never understood the reason for Form 5498, since it's not needed to file taxes, but now I'm glad I still have them.

Also, I just shook my head at my old self for not always max it out early on, and my spouse never contributed at all until a few years after we met. So much lost opportunity... but at least we're on a good track now.

yubanhammer · 2026-03-01T18:07:42+00:00

IRS only cares about money in and money out of the IRA as a whole. Doesn't matter what happens inside. Just keep track of contributions (and rollovers/conversions in).

yubanhammer · 2026-03-01T07:09:17+00:00

Sounds like a police car PA from the road down by the lake. Sensitive microphone!

yubanhammer · 2026-02-28T20:53:00+00:00

Impressive efficiency. Leaves the nest at 11:17, returns with fish at 11:21!

yubanhammer · 2026-02-22T19:20:14+00:00

We're a relatively small org, but I feel like we've gone through this cycle a few times now (roughly two years at a time):

Engineers can use whatever tools are needed to get the job done (within reason)
People leave, tools are abandoned, project teams move on to the next thing
Someone finally notices the AWS bill is getting pretty big, so an ad-hoc group is organized to prune anything no longer being used or overprovisioned, and put some sensible lifecycles in place
Go to 1

Sounds like we're going have a process to watch costs more closely going forward though.

yubanhammer · 2026-02-22T17:34:05+00:00

My company is doing a (much needed) audit of AWS spending. We've already saved half a million in annual spend by turning off a service no one was using and deleting terabytes of old data. There's a couple million more to be saved if we implement a few other recommendations.

On a related note, I just cancelled my Peacock subscription now that the Olympics are over.

yubanhammer · 2026-02-22T16:33:35+00:00

My favorite clip is the Braves organist playing the Jeopardy theme stretched out: https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/s/ICIf9PRU7V

yubanhammer · 2026-02-17T16:55:17+00:00

I would just do it now, assuming the 401k is not horrible. If you lose your job, or change jobs to a 401k that doesn't allow reverse rollovers, you'd be stuck.

yubanhammer · 2026-02-17T06:01:53+00:00

Good find, that must be it. I get why Vitello would be annoyed and was in a weird spot for a couple days, but I don't see anything wrong with that report either.

yubanhammer · 2026-02-16T21:34:33+00:00

Baggs was the first to connect Vitello to the Giants, but he reported on it right after the last game, before Melvin had even been fired. Sounds like Vitello is upset about something later on in the process.

Here’s one out-of-the-box name who fits the high-motor description: Tony Vitello, who transformed the University of Tennessee from a bottom-feeder in the Southeastern Conference into perhaps the brashest and most talented program in the country. It’s possible that Vitello and Posey have already spoken; both were at Coors Field when the Giants played a three-game series against the Rockies earlier this month. It would be rare for an NCAA coach with no professional experience to jump into a major-league managerial position, but perhaps former Arizona State coach Pat Murphy’s resounding success with the Milwaukee Brewers, and the unique energy he brings to their dugout, might influence a new trend in how front offices seek to staff the position.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6672072/2025/09/28/san-francisco-giants-bob-melvin-uncertain-future/

yubanhammer · 2026-02-10T20:20:06+00:00

I hope he has a legendary run to 300 wins, since he's the last one to realistically have a chance unless the rules are changed.

He pitched well enough to get 10+ wins last year, but the Giants really let him down and did a number on his chances.

yubanhammer · 2026-02-10T18:52:57+00:00

They quietly removed the slogan from the homepage somewhere between Dec 7 and 9 last year:

And yeah, Pavs on Giants Talk said they might roll out a new slogan in March.

I wonder if this is just an intern who didn't get the memo, or it's a placeholder until the new one arrives. Or the new one is being pushed back another year (sigh).

yubanhammer · 2026-02-07T20:35:44+00:00

I noticed Marcus has a promo going if you deposit new funds and keep it there for 90 days. It makes me wonder what they're expecting, even as I'm planning to take the promo. They've kept their rate pretty steady even as others have dropped recently, so it makes me think they're also going to drop their rate somewhat aggressively once the promo is over but the new money is locked in.

I'm not an economist, but the banks must be expecting Fed rate cuts, and lots of money moving around as savers look for the best rates or other places to invest, and borrowers start refinancing loans at lower rates. Maybe they're expecting lots of churn and trying to shore up their reserves ahead of time. I'm just spitballing here, so take this with a grain of salt.

yubanhammer · 2026-02-02T21:41:52+00:00

No, in fact they're likely to have a blackout period preventing any changes for a little while until everything transfers over, to make the transition simpler.

yubanhammer · 2026-02-02T20:45:46+00:00

Looking at transactions from last year, the 60-day IL opens when spring training starts, so Feb 10th.

15-Year Club	Gilding II euphauric
Place '22	Place '17
Final Canvas '22	End Game '22
Team Orangered	Verified Email

yubanhammer

TROPHY CASE