Search found 293 matches

by AerialP
Thu Jan 04, 2024 10:36 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: How did you make your first $1M?
Replies: 148
Views: 33592

Re: How did you make your first $1M?

wingman4uz wrote: Thu Jan 04, 2024 10:12 am College->Degree->Job—>lived below my means—>saved & invested

Then it’s just time.
+1, for 20+ years.
(albeit have also bought some lottery tickets over those years but have not come out ahead on them)
by AerialP
Thu Dec 28, 2023 4:30 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Anything special to see in Denver?
Replies: 33
Views: 3815

Re: Anything special to see in Denver?

Since I've not yet seen it mentioned, if you and your children are outdoorsy (I'm assuming so due to RMNP being the main attraction) then consider visiting the REI flagship store in downtown Denver. Or, rather, LoDo (Lower Downtown). It's huge, and in a fascinating repurposed old building which was the old Denver electric trolley depot. Being a flagship store, the major Boglehead aspect is that they have a very large area of Clearance items which in most part are returned items with no threadwear. Immediately outside of the store it is enthralling to watch the activity at the large public kayaking park where South Platte River & Cherry Creek come together at Confluence Park. Excellent bike infrastructure, you can even rent a bike at REI...
by AerialP
Mon Sep 04, 2023 6:44 am
Forum: Forum Issues and Administration
Topic: Forum time zone?
Replies: 13
Views: 5698

Re: Forum time zone?

LadyGeek wrote: Mon Sep 04, 2023 6:24 am For completeness: GMT versus UTC

- GMT is a time zone
- UTC Is a time standard

That's why the forum software shows "UTC", not "GMT", for the time zone.

For engineers and scientists, here's a technical deep-dive from the official source: NIST Time Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) | NIST
I love it! This also appeals to aviators and I've learned there are several of us on the forum.
by AerialP
Tue Aug 29, 2023 8:15 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: HSA with Optum bank
Replies: 7
Views: 1103

Re: HSA with Optum bank

See this thread for how to move money from Optum into Fidelity periodically, without fees, if that interests you: https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7062431 My most recent contact with Optum was because I did initiate my yearly transfer of funds from them outward. In this case, to my Fidelity account instead of my prior Lively account. I initiated it with Fidelity as a trustee-to-trustee pull since I trust Fidelity to get it right and also cover the transfer fee which Optum will charge me. I phoned Optum to ensure my account was flagged as NOT closing with the transfer, that I wanted it to remain open to receive my employer's paycheck withholding for the next periods to come. It was like pulling teeth to get the CSR on the ot...
by AerialP
Tue Aug 29, 2023 7:55 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: HSA with Optum bank
Replies: 7
Views: 1103

Re: HSA with Optum bank

I was just yesterday emailing with my employer's HR Benefits person about our accounts with Optum Financial. We were with ConnectYourCare for years but then that itself transitioned from HMB to Optum Financial. It's always been...ok-ish...but in the past few months has become unreasonable. Long delays with bi-weekly paycheck withholding amounts showing up in my account, insultingly low interest (0.01%) on cash, high fees for investing or statements or transfers. The essence of the replies from HR was that they absolutely know that Optum is not serving anyone well, that they did send out RFPs for a new provider, but ultimately decided to give them one more year to either straighten themselves out or begone. I much prefer Fidelity once I tran...
by AerialP
Thu Aug 24, 2023 9:41 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How open are you when it comes to sharing your financial success with others?
Replies: 25
Views: 1589

Re: How open are you when it comes to sharing your financial success with others?

Glockenspiel wrote: Thu Aug 24, 2023 9:31 am
AerialP wrote: Thu Aug 24, 2023 9:19 am
When I am meeting a new colleague or socializing with pre-existing ones, the go-to conversational icebreakers seem to be one of three things: sports, politics, or (since I work in a very male-dominated realm) sex.
New colleagues are breaking the ice with you by talking about sex??? I'm a white male working in an 80-90% male-dominated field and have NEVER heard anyone talk about their sex life, (nothing beyond 'I'm having a kid') in all my 15 years of experience.
Aviation. High turnover, trending youthful as they build hours on type and move on up the foodchain. A LOT of swagger and a lot of trying to impress us older longtimers.
by AerialP
Thu Aug 24, 2023 9:19 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How open are you when it comes to sharing your financial success with others?
Replies: 25
Views: 1589

Re: How open are you when it comes to sharing your financial success with others?

After all, it is August and we are in the best weeks of the major league baseball season; who wants to talk about money? Yeah MLB is exciting this time of the year. Come to think of it, I have not had too many co-workers that are sports fans. I have worked mostly in technical positions and for whatever reason, techies seem to gravitate towards other interests. Even though baseball was my fave sport growing up, and if I absolutely must watch a sport being played I will always pick baseball over any other, talking sports with people has zero interest to me. The rote regurgitation of individual statistics, or the knee-jerk complaining about unfair calls by officials, just seems pointless to me. I also think the professional sports fan mentali...
by AerialP
Wed Aug 23, 2023 3:58 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Photo enhancment software (using AI)
Replies: 20
Views: 1722

Re: Photo enhancment software

Since GIMP was already mentioned above with the apt caveat of its learning curve, I would strongly suggest you try a great freeware called IrfanView . It's been around for almost 30 years but is regularly updated, it is quite powerful, it is quite light on system resources, and it has some simple functionality of "Auto-adjust Colors" and "Sharpen" which may suit your needs. If the default algorithms behind those two functions don't hit your desired targets then you can drill down more and tweak their parameters. It is generally reviewed as simple enough for beginners and robust enough for professionals. Worth a try because it's 1) free and 2) simple. Many of my colleagues in various data capacities have it in their digit...
by AerialP
Tue Aug 22, 2023 12:03 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Cincinnati to Charlotte
Replies: 28
Views: 2480

Re: Cincinnati to Charlotte

Rental car companies will gouge you for using their own toll transponders. There is generally a "convenience charge" associated with them and it is per day for the entire rental. Use it once for one toll during a 14-day rental...that will, for example, become $5.95 per day so suddenly a "surprise" charge, days later after returning it, of almost $90 incurred. But it's not a surprise because it's in the fine print you agreed to. I bought one EZPass transponder a few years ago and always travel with it so that the rental car's can stay in the glove compartment or the RF-blocking sliding tray on their windshield, and my own can reside in the console/cupholder to be manually held up to the windshield when needed. Reloading i...
by AerialP
Tue Aug 22, 2023 10:32 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Cincinnati to Charlotte
Replies: 28
Views: 2480

Re: Cincinnati to Charlotte

I personally would likely opt for the West Virginia route. I've driven the WV interstates many many times over the past 20 years and find them to be very well engineered and maintained. The traffic bottlenecks are fewer and even though the roadway itself is winding and up-and-down out of Appalachian necessity, they are banked and wide, with extra lanes uphill, to allow for safely maintaining speed and distancing. Every time I've had to deal with I-40 from Knoxville and eastward to Asheville, it's been a mess of traffic volume, sociopathic driving behavior, and often bad wrecks. The handful of tolls in WV (between Charleston and Princeton) have been well worth it in my estimation.
by AerialP
Sat Aug 12, 2023 6:59 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Cannot access bond trading on Vanguards website
Replies: 63
Views: 5107

Re: Cannot access bond trading on Vanguards website

In the wee hours this morning, Vanguard's Treasury auction purchase portal was finally yielding a purposeful message about technical difficulties which was an improvement over the glimpse-behind-the-curtains error message with technical syntax. Then I tried again two hours later and the full normal expected functionality is restored. I was able to successfully place purchase orders for next week's 26-week Treasury bills auction.
by AerialP
Sat Aug 12, 2023 5:35 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Premium for 2 million umbrella policy
Replies: 128
Views: 19871

Re: Premium for 2 million umbrella policy

Kentucky situs, single, no children.
1 older smaller vehicle driven ~6000 miles/yr.
Living in a modest cabin in a rural setting.
Owning one rental property in a dense condominium urban situation.
$2 million umbrella policy with State Farm, $337/yr premium.
by AerialP
Thu Aug 10, 2023 10:06 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Cannot access bond trading on Vanguards website
Replies: 63
Views: 5107

Re: Cannot access bond trading on Vanguards website

I too have been having the same issue all day today. I've tried Chrome browser, which is my usual and with which I've regularly successfully purchased Treasury bills via the Vanguard portal as recently as two weeks ago, and I've tried Edge. I do not have Brave nor Firefox and do not want to even try with TOR Browser. Being currently in Canada for a vacation, it was my first concern that it was a geofencing type thing and not working when detecting a foreign ISP. But I ruled that out too with some simple searches and I was able to transfer some money from my checking account to my money market two days ago from here. Glad to see that it's not just my circumstances and that it's a larger issue, per the one post above, of which Vanguard acknow...
by AerialP
Wed Aug 02, 2023 1:48 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: PHL Airport Transportation
Replies: 14
Views: 967

Re: PHL Airport Transportation

Longdog wrote: Wed Aug 02, 2023 1:36 pm You could take regional rail (SEPTA) to station close to where you're going, then Uber the "last mile."
This was going to be my suggestion as well. Speedy reliable dedicated-R.O.W. public transit at airports is sadly lacking in the US...but Philly has it. I would hop the train away from the bonkers mess that is a major metropolitan area's airport curbside melée and find a better location from which to travel onward to your final destination.
by AerialP
Thu Jul 13, 2023 8:29 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How to get started with camping?
Replies: 86
Views: 6916

Re: How to get started with camping?

REI is great, I'm a longtime customer/member. They all have "clinics" for various of their categories throughout the year and I'm certain that introductory camping is among them although perhaps seasonal. The main difference will be car camping vs backpacking, and if you're just starting out you and your family will likely be served best to try car camping first. The gear for each will be different, though, since backpacking focuses on lightweight and miniaturized everything while car camping doesn't have much limitation on weight or size. I think my biggest hurdle when I started camping was learning what to not bring along. As a noob, in my mind we needed to have all manner of contingency comfort item including the messy makings ...
by AerialP
Wed Jun 21, 2023 4:46 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Extended Stay America Hotel
Replies: 33
Views: 3010

Re: Extended Stay America Hotel

I have travelled the United States extensively for long periods over a 20+ year career. Since I and my colleagues are usually out for weeks at a time, we prefer extended-stay type hotels because they feel more "apartment"-like and kitchenettes are awesome for 1) coming out ahead on per diems, and 2) mental and physical health of preparing the majority of one's own meals. The Extended Stay America brand is quite a bit cheaper than others because they do not provide breakfast, have no swimming pools, and may or may not have coin-operated laundry facilities. All to keep costs to a minimum. Their brand consistency is not as good as the other major hospitality chains which is why we tend to not stay in them. With the three major overar...
by AerialP
Wed Jun 21, 2023 7:51 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: TDA/Lively HSA Transition To Schwab [several members ask - Is Fidelity an option?]
Replies: 38
Views: 4398

Re: TDA/Lively HSA Transition To Schwab

To add to the dialogue, I also initiated a full transfer of my HSA holdings at Lively/TDAmeritrade over to Fidelity, near the end of January 2023. Opened the HSA account via Fidelity's website then initiated the transfer through that and it went very smoothly and easily. I believe from initiation of the process to completion was about 3 weeks because I did have to follow-up with Lively to confirm, if I recall correctly, and there was a few day delay with that. The fractional shares of the Three Fund Portfolio components I had been using in TDAmeritrade did get converted to cash in the transfer so that now those same three funds which carried over to Fidelity have only *.000 share amounts. I was totally fine with that as the fractional share...
by AerialP
Sun Jun 18, 2023 5:26 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: GPS/iPhone issues
Replies: 14
Views: 1204

Re: GPS/iPhone issues

The issue is not the GPS (GNSS) functionality, it is the underlying geodatabase. Apple's mapping has lagged Google's for many years now even despite their efforts to pour money and resources in to it. I would have said one major part of your issue in Manhattan would have been the "urban canyon" effect on GNSS signal propagation and signal multipath but on the consumer level much of that is now handled with ancillary locational techniques of cellular tower triangulation and further enhancement with the embedded magnetic compass. With your having had the same issue in a rural area with a complete absence of reflective coating glass and concrete/steel skyscrapers cheek-by-jowl obscuring the satellite constellation...it's the software...
by AerialP
Sat Jun 17, 2023 8:22 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: T- bills as cash?
Replies: 29
Views: 2642

Re: T- bills as cash?

My approach is elegant for me but is probably not completely correct per the academics nor the armchair commentators at home. I've been treating my relatively modest $1000 increment ladders of 26-week and 52-week Treasury Bills as 50% cash and 50% bonds for the purposes of my asset allocation tracking. Because to me they exhibit flavours of both and I can see the argument each way. Accounting for them this way doesn't really "swing the needle" appreciably in my column totals of my portfolio / net worth tracking spreadsheet. What point do you have for distinguishing something as cash different from bonds? I may not quite understand your question but I consider my money market holdings to be cash, and I consider my I-Series US Savi...
by AerialP
Sat Jun 17, 2023 8:14 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: T- bills as cash?
Replies: 29
Views: 2642

Re: T- bills as cash?

My approach is elegant for me but is probably not completely correct per the academics nor the armchair commentators at home. I've been treating my relatively modest $1000 increment ladders of 26-week and 52-week Treasury Bills as 50% cash and 50% bonds for the purposes of my asset allocation tracking. Because to me they exhibit flavours of both and I can see the argument each way. Accounting for them this way doesn't really "swing the needle" appreciably in my column totals of my portfolio / net worth tracking spreadsheet.
by AerialP
Thu Jun 15, 2023 6:34 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How does one do the Kentucky Derby?
Replies: 24
Views: 2986

Re: How does one do the Kentucky Derby?

As a Kentuckian, I've never done The Derby. And won't. Unless you have the good fortune to have contacts who can get you in to a clubhouse at the track, you're vying for limited seats in the grandstand at high prices, or the legenday in-field where you can scarcely see the track action and likely will be sidestepping vomit. It is widely considered to be utter debauchery; lots of Louisville residents leave town for those days around it if they can. Some folks even refer to it as "Amish NASCAR". I can see how it is appealing to an outsider to have it be a bucket-list item but my suggestion would be to instead visit Lexington when the gorgeous grounds of the Keeneland Race Course are having its Spring or Fall Meet, soak up a Friday a...
by AerialP
Tue Jun 13, 2023 10:44 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Aptera Electric Cars
Replies: 18
Views: 1781

Re: Aptera Electric Cars

Earlier this year I put a $250 deposit down to be near the top of the list for if/when Lit Motors starts delivering their C-1 vehicle. Not quite comparable to the Aptera but electric and two-wheeled. Gyro-stabilized. Rigorously designed for safety of occupant(s). They've been derided by commentators on the various social media platforms for failing to come through with a deliverable in 10 years but there was a period of stagnation due to their founder/CEO's injury (unrelated to the vehicle). Their corporate rebuilding phase has been recent and strong, they've gathered an impressive shortlist of employees and consultants with great credentials, and have secured some compelling patents. Rarely am I an early adopter of consumer technology, and...
by AerialP
Tue Jun 13, 2023 8:45 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: How/Where to Plot & Save Stock Charts?
Replies: 2
Views: 293

Re: How/Where to Plot & Save Stock Charts?

Not to be glib, but I use the charting functionality within my favored spreadsheet software (in my case LibreOffice but OpenOffice or Excel have same functionality). It does involve my manually entering the values each period but my holdings are few and it's not egregious. Then it is saved locally to my hard drive (and my backup) instead of in the cloud requiring internet access, log-ins, etc etc. YMMV.
by AerialP
Mon Jun 12, 2023 5:04 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Train transportation advice for Switzerland visit this July
Replies: 25
Views: 1868

Re: Train transportation advice for Switzerland visit this July

First, the Swiss train system is...AMAZING. Swiss watch precision. If the timetable says the train will arrive at 14:54 then you can bet CHF100 that it will come to a stop at the platform when the station's clocks' second hands hit the top of the chronograph for 14:54. Secondly, the train stations outside of Zurich, Geneva, Basel, and Bern are not all that big and navigating them is very easy. In every case I can recall, even the small stations, they have pedestrian tunnels in at least one location mid-platform, to access your connection without having to go all of the way to the end and then back up the desired platform. It is an extremely train-centric nation. Thirdly, my vacations to Switzerland have always seen me buying the SwissPass. ...
by AerialP
Mon Jun 12, 2023 9:08 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Tontines not actually illegal?
Replies: 37
Views: 5146

Re: Tontines not actually illegal?

So, out of (literally morbid) curiosity, I poked around within the tontine dot com site. Numerous grammatical & typographical errors sprinkled throughout and, in the About Us portion, "The Team" is entirely male-forward with the only female-forward representation being two of the "Advisors and Ambassadors". Something doesn't seem above the board here with this entity. In my strong opinion, if handling millions upon millions of dollars and marketing itself to continue to increase that amount, it behooves an organization to more strongly craft their website and to ensure a more diverse workforce. If putting forth a product which is already associated in the zeitgeist with illegality and nefariousness, I believe great l...
by AerialP
Sat Jun 10, 2023 2:50 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What software to create posters
Replies: 12
Views: 962

Re: What software to create posters

One large consideration, in my experience, is a software which handily works with graphics rendered in a vector format (usually .svg filetype) rather than a raster format (your usual .jpg, .tif, .gif, .img, .bmp, etc etc). What looks good on a screen or on an 8.5" x 11" sample printout can look decimated/pixelated (i.e. unprofessional). Vector graphics by their nature handle scaling very well when rendering (to wit, the .svg file suffix stands for Scaled Vector Graphics). Raster graphics by their nature, unless the raw file has very high resolution, are susceptible to not handling scaling well. At least, not in basic consumer products. I personally would advocate for Adobe Illustrator or the open-source Inkscape albeit the learnin...
by AerialP
Tue Jun 06, 2023 7:45 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Is there any way to split one IBond into two?
Replies: 5
Views: 880

Re: Is there any way to split one IBond into two?

It is my understanding that once a paper US Savings Bond is fully converted in to electronic form, within the Treasury Direct portal one can redeem any amount. It becomes in effect a single $10,000 entry in the database with associated assigned date of issuance but at that point it can be "harvested" in any sub-amount. It no longer is a single stand-alone $10,000 savings vehicle but rather a single line item that one can designate as wishing to "withdraw" from.
by AerialP
Thu Jun 01, 2023 9:20 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 2024 401(k) and Roth IRA projected max
Replies: 1
Views: 558

Re: 2024 401(k) and Roth IRA projected max

Harry Sit, "The Finance Buff", is one widely-watched prognosticator of this but he doesn't start blogging on it each year until late Summer or early Autumn. https://thefinancebuff.com/401k-403b-ir ... imits.html
by AerialP
Thu Jun 01, 2023 1:45 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: No new issued treasury bill on June 1
Replies: 24
Views: 3075

Re: no new issued treasury bill on June 1

I just logged in to initiate my laddering interval purchase of another fresh 26-Week Bill and the Vanguard interface includes this header:
Image

(In case the link rots, the text is:
"Treasury Auction Alert: 3 and 6 month Bills
The Treasury has not opened the 3 and 6 month Treasury Bill auctions. Once formally announced, Vanguard intends to post the buy links for those Bills."
by AerialP
Mon May 29, 2023 7:10 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: 2 nights left after Lyon France
Replies: 7
Views: 778

Re: 2 nights left after Lyon France

Geneva is amazing...BUT...I personally would go back to Annecy in half a heartbeat. Especially if one of your days is concurrent with their otherworldly farmer's market lined all up and down the river as it passes through their old downtown.
by AerialP
Sat May 27, 2023 8:56 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Vanguard's new mobile app (formerly known as "Beacon")
Replies: 702
Views: 81735

Re: Vanguard's new mobile app (formerly known as "Beacon")

[Thread merged into here --admin LadyGeek] Hi, I downloaded the vangurad app from play store on my phone S10+ latest OS update etc, after logging in and confirming the 2FA code the app just crashes and force closes. Clearing the cache, uninstall, reinstall nothing works. The reviews on Play store are horrible and i've provided feedback to the developers who probably don't care or pay attention to the reviews. Anyone else on an Android phone with the latest version having issues? I even download 3 version back and they all behave the same. I've been using the Vanguard app (Android), keeping it updated, for over 3 years now. First on my Pixel 3 and now on my newer Pixel 7. It has worked almost flawlessly with only the occasional minor glitch...
by AerialP
Wed May 24, 2023 10:27 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 18 to 100 percent annual return fund
Replies: 223
Views: 41711

Re: 18 to 100 percent annual return fund

firebirdparts wrote: Fri Feb 12, 2021 2:10 am It's lust, man. Lust doesn't have lie filters. Don't you feel it when you see a nearly new 4 wheel drive kubota on craigslist for $2500? I sure do.
This is gold in and of itself. I'm buying it (for $0, thank you very much!).
by AerialP
Thu May 18, 2023 10:32 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Boglehead Pilots...advice
Replies: 72
Views: 9511

Re: Boglehead Pilots...advice

My first bit of advice will be for your headset. If you haven't sourced one already, I suggest not going directly to the Bose or Lightspeeds or David Clarks and starting with something inexpensive but high-quality. Hear me out: active noise reduction is very nice to have but involves batteries (remembering to charge or remembering to buy an tote with), extra weight, potential for clamping headaches if you're not used to them, perspiration-absorbing earcup fabric in the summertime, the earcups' noise-cancelling being cancelled out if you're wearing sunglasses which will disrupt the seal, and taking more space within your flightbag. My strong recommendation for a starter headset would be the QT Halo ("Quiet Technologies Halo") which...
by AerialP
Sat May 13, 2023 9:22 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Old swimming pool - repair or remove?
Replies: 33
Views: 2828

Re: Old swimming pool - repair or remove?

Do you like to garden?
In my slow quest for acreage, at first I was ruling out any properties which had a swimming pool. Then I saw this concept and now find myself almost wanting a defunct swimming pool, no longer seeing them as a liability but as a leverage point to start my permaculture projects.
https://youtu.be/FYTCU4Jlqkc?t=259
by AerialP
Sun Apr 16, 2023 8:00 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: how to hide new vertical white sidebar in Google Maps?
Replies: 11
Views: 1756

Re: how to hide new vertical white sidebar in Google Maps?

Google Maps Support has a recent entry for it: https://support.google.com/maps/thread/208650775?hl=en
In short, you cannot hide it other than to enter a search term then it gives you the option to minimize it fully to the side. Inelegant workaround for now.
by AerialP
Sun Apr 09, 2023 10:06 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: There are many roads to Dublin.....
Replies: 18
Views: 5640

Re:

"There is more than one road to Dublin." Taylor Larimore is the one whom says it not infrequently I believe on this board. Basically, all roads lead to rome kind of thing, except for Ireland, which was never invaded by the legions, and where there are many roads that lead to Dublin : ) Basically, it was an attention attracting play off Larimores use of it. http://www.dublintourist.com/maps/ireland_road_map.shtml shows the current major roads. I think the phrase was in an ireland guidebook as well. It basically comes from the fact that it is true, and has been true for quite some time as far as I know, thats all there is to it. Is there not an intention of a "double" entendre? :-) As in, "there is more than one road...
by AerialP
Wed Mar 15, 2023 3:42 pm
Forum: Forum Issues and Administration
Topic: How can I find my own posts?
Replies: 6
Views: 3035

Re: How can I find my own posts?

Click on your own username, for example right here above my post where you are shown as the topic author, and the resultant profile page will allow you the hyperlink of "Search user’s posts" and you can see them all there in chronological order with a search dialogue to drill down to certain words or phrases.
by AerialP
Wed Feb 22, 2023 8:48 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: What % of your gross income do you set aside for retirement?
Replies: 224
Views: 21799

Re: What % of your gross income do you set aside for retirement?

45 percent.
Decently compensated career, seasonal sidegig, one rental unit in LCOL area. Live very below my means, 45% of gross is about 15 months of current expenses.
I then save another ~15%/yr in taxable (I-bonds & cash).
by AerialP
Sat Feb 18, 2023 11:47 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Wood furniture scratch cover recommendation?
Replies: 20
Views: 2123

Re: Wood furniture scratch cover recommendation?

A walnut kernel. Just rub it for several swipes across the scratch. Does an amazing job, especially on hardwood floors.
by AerialP
Wed Feb 01, 2023 5:48 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: In-ground pool: renovate or remove?
Replies: 35
Views: 3607

Re: In-ground pool: renovate or remove?

Do you like to garden?
In my slow quest for acreage, at first I was ruling out any properties which had a swimming pool. Then I saw this concept and now find myself almost wanting a defunct swimming pool, no longer seeing them as a liability but as a leverage point to start my permaculture projects.
https://youtu.be/FYTCU4Jlqkc?t=259
by AerialP
Tue Jan 24, 2023 11:27 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Ideal European cities or countries for vacation in July or August
Replies: 19
Views: 2219

Re: Ideal European cities or countries for vacation in July or August

I adore Berne. Extremely cosmopolitan and central, just get a SwissPass and you'll be able to go in any direction on the remarkable train system to daytrip to Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Lausanne, Luzerne, up in to Gimmelwald, etc etc. Even covers the ferry from Lausanne across Lac Leman over to the famous spa resort Evian-les-Bains in France. SwissPass also covers entry to most Swiss museums and all city transport in each destination! Including funiculars and cablecars. Truly a marvel. Look in to it!
by AerialP
Fri Jan 20, 2023 8:24 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: apple airtags - recommended?
Replies: 75
Views: 7628

Re: apple airtags - recommended?

I pooh-poohed them at first, thinking them to be gimmicky and overindulgent. Then we started using them at my work. My career is in a tech-heavy realm but in my off time am not very tech-reliant or an early adopter consumer. We ship exclusively with FedEx and they have become increasingly unreliable for our needs in the past year or two, delaying simple shipments by several days and outright losing high-value items which we ship regularly. After our IT department installed AirTags in our Pelican cases of our most time-sensitive equipment, we've been able to supercede the FedEx tracking information when it goes vague (i.e. "it's depicting it's still in Puerto Rico per the last scan but it's actually on the airside parking ramp of the Me...
by AerialP
Mon Jan 09, 2023 5:49 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Visiting Alaska this summer. Any "not miss" things/places we should check out?
Replies: 19
Views: 2583

Re: Visiting Alaska this summer. Any "not miss" things/places we should check out?

Big Dog wrote: Mon Jan 09, 2023 3:37 pm If you can get up to the North Slope, highly recommended.
Agreed! It's very far-flung but my weeks spent at Deadhorse's Brooks Camp (https://www.brookscampak.com/ - a glorified dormitory for the oil field workers but open to all payers) was unforgettable. Especially the amazing grub. Eggs Benedict, fresh salad bar, prime rib special, dessert bar, ad infinitum. They feed those folks really really well, and it's included in the modest cost of the room. Met some interesting tourists doing the motorcycle pilgrimage of the Pan-American Highway which runs from Tierra Del Fuego to Deadhorse. The "tourist swag" I bought in the US Post Office / hardware store / giftshop still delights me.
by AerialP
Wed Jan 04, 2023 6:30 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Investing HOA funds
Replies: 13
Views: 1104

Re: Investing HOA funds

It has been my observance with the HOA for the condominium which I own that prospective buyers have had much trouble getting a mortgage when the reserve account has been deemed by the prospective lenders to be too low. I have to assume that another problematic aspect of qualifying for a mortgage loan would be if the reserve account(s) had questionable investments other than predictable CDs or other cash-like vehicles. During a period when anyone but cash-based purchasers (who were few and far between) were not able to procure mortgage financing, property values dropped, a not-insignificant number of units sat unoccupied, and some absentee owners stopped paying their HOA dues. While this eventually got rectified it took some deferral of main...
by AerialP
Mon Jan 02, 2023 9:26 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Washer/Dryer - Miele long term? Other options?
Replies: 39
Views: 4507

Re: Washer/Dryer - Miele long term? Other options?

My condominium's construction gave me few options for putting in an ensuite laundry so I chose the washer/dryer combo (in one drum, not the stackable kind). My first one lasted 15 years before it began to regularly throw an error code which was an involved repair so I decided to replace it at a pricepoint not a whole lot more than estimated repair costs. In both cases I went with LG and have been very pleased. As a single person my throughput isn't very large, but is consistent. I really appreciate its low energy usage, its thorough cleaning, the fact that I didn't have to run a dryer vent output nor dedicated dryer electric circuit, and that I can put a load in in the morning set the program press start and walk away...to come home from wo...
by AerialP
Sun Dec 25, 2022 7:37 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Where to spend summer with family (continental US)?
Replies: 21
Views: 2874

Re: Where to spend summer with family (continental US)?

I also came here to suggest Traverse City Michigan. It's a very special corner of the country which is still not on a lot of folks' radars beyond Chicago and Detroit.
by AerialP
Sat Jul 02, 2022 3:55 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Options to get rid of in ground trampoline
Replies: 17
Views: 2212

Re: Options to get rid of in ground trampoline

This may be on the fanciful side, but if the insurance's liability concern would be solved by solely removing the trampoline & then use the remaining hole for a sunken greenhouse. If you're a gardener and if you're in a location which would benefit from having year-round growing capability. And depending on the diameter of the trampoline, you can reuse the metal frame as the top structure to make the covering dome - just some creative bolting or welding and putting in some stairs to descend.. I've seen this concept applied to older homes with dilapidated in-ground swimming pools, rather than pay to have them filled one utilizes the space and the thermal mass to advantage it as an earth-sheltered greenhouse. Some excellent videos can be ...