ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
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User ID: 1012
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
1d ago
I hear what you're saying, but it's still possible to have friends like this. I have a cousin with whom I've always been very close. We've both been married for a while now, but we make a conscious effort to stay in touch and check in on each other. It's a little more awkward to open up now than it was when we were both freewheeling teens, but it's possible.
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
1d ago
I used to accept this opinionoid, but I've come to believe that shared experience matters much more than age. Sure, if you're 40, your 18 year old gf might be a bit boring at first, but after you've been together 5 years, experienced the ups and downs of marriage, and maybe had a kid or two, there will be plenty to talk about and bond over.
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
1d ago
Luckily it's in an existing neighborhood in a residential area at the center of small town, so I don't expect to have much trouble with utilities.
I need to do more research on what I'd need for hurricanes, as I'm only planning on adding storm shutters and a generator. I assume your recommendations about the pump only apply to houses that rely exclusively on well water?
We're looking at a conventional build. I was thinking of building on a slab for insulation and because the idea of a crawlspace in the deep south horrifies me. Also termites. We're not in a flood zone (officially), but I want to double check the soil to make sure it's suitable for a slab. I should probably ask my future neighbors about this as well.
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
1d ago
lol, well, we could all technically live, Gilded Age style, in a single room, but I don't want that, so I suppose I have more requirements than just minimizing enclosed space. I'd want a garage, a living room, a space for a dinner table, and ideally a porch. I'm also trying to do a 2 floor build because I want to minimize the footprint on my lot.
But point taken. After this thread I think I need to hire an architect.
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
1d ago
Good to know, thanks. It sounds like I'll just need to keep an extra close eye on the GC towards the end.
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
1d ago
I lived in a house that had these once when I was a kid. It was pretty cool, you just plugged a tube into the wall and could instantly vacuum. But as an adult I'm wondering how on earth you'd clean and maintain such a system. I imagine I'd have to pay the manufacturer to clean, and after 10 years they may no longer be in business. I hate the idea of "dead tech" being embedded in my house, outdated gadgets look ugly and silly. I'll have to research how it works.
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
1d ago
Re. flooding, that makes sense, thanks.
Re. segmenting the house, after living in a place with poor insulation, I can definitely see the value. That house was at least designed so that you could essentially separately heat and cool different floors. They did this by adding a sliding door on the staircase landing. It sounds like I might need to work with an architect to accomplish this though.
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
1d ago
Damn, this is gold. Thank you.
How does wainscoting help reduce flood damage? We're not in a flood zone, but along the Gulf Coast you can never truly be sure.
Why minimal backsplash for the kitchen sink? How does that relate to selecting the outlet and sink? We cook a lot at home, almost every day, so we're planning on shelling out for a nice kitchen.
Did you build or buy? Did any of these items add significantly to cost?
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
1d ago
Tell us more.
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
1d ago
University students should all learn:
- How to write an email to dispute a claim including supporting evidence
- How to write an email summarizing action items from a meeting
- How to write readable, unambiguous instructions for performing some technical process
- How to write a well-formed request when asking for help
because even senior managers and execs all seem incapable of doing some or all of these.
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
1d ago
Thanks, these tips all make a lot of sense. After living in houses both with and without, I strongly suspect two sinks in the master bath correlates strongly with lower divorce rates.
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
1d ago
I was hoping you'd reply as IIRC you have three or four children too. I responded here regarding house size. What do you think? I was thinking we might also just make the rooms smaller in general so that there are the same number of rooms but less enclosed space to cool and clean.
Water flow is definitely important for us where we will live as mild flooding can happen even just with a bad afternoon squall.
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
1d ago
Re. 2, how do you recommend planning for it? Do you have an example?
Re. 3, we have four kids and may have more. Our thinking is:
- 1 master bedroom
- 1 home office (wife and I are WFH)
- 1 older boys' room
- 1 older girls' room
- 1 younger kids' room
- Guest bedroom somewhere, maybe? The design we're looking at is 3,300 sqft. Do you think it would be possible to get away with less house? I'd actually prefer not to have to clean, cool, and maintain a huge house.
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
1d ago
Ah yeah, good call. I am 100% sure I'll get Ethernet everywhere but I hadn't thought about installing conduit just in case.
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
1d ago
Since this is the stupid question thread -- what should I hope to learn from those books? They appear to be reference books about regulations. Should I study them so I can keep my GC honest or double check his work?
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
1d ago
Does this add a significant amount of cost?
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
1d ago
Re. 2, how did you draw up your own plans?
We're still at the very beginning, so my answers aren't very interesting, but:
- Working off a loan, but we also have enough investment money that we could make more aggressive payments if needed.
- We've picked a plan off of a builder's site that we liked. We're not really "dream house" people, we're pretty practical. We've actually like most rentals we've lived in that were just cookie cutter designs. The only times we were unhappy was when we lived in a place with poorly sealed windows overlooking a street (lots of traffic noise) and when we lived in a house with poor insulation in a place where the temps varied between 15F and 95F over the year. That said, I'm still thinking about getting an architect and doing a custom build.
- A few years ago, I picked out a great lot in the heart of a small, fast-growing middle class town on the outskirts of a larger city. The neighborhood is perfect and everything is walkable. Tradeoff is that we have to build now.
- It will probably end up being 4-5 years.
- TBD, but it doesn't seem like there's much in that area.
- I have family in the area, and I was very careful to avoid flood zones and flood zones adjacent properties.
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
2d ago
Homeowners of The Motte -- what would you differently if you could do it all over again?
I plan on building a house in the next 12 months on a lot about an hour away from the Gulf of Mexico America. It's going to be a two-story 5BR house with porches on the front and the back, built in a traditional Southern style.
I'm a bit overwhelmed as I don't even know what I don't know about building, and I want to avoid making costly mistakes that I'll have to pay to renovate later (or worse, be unable to fix at all). Happy to hear both from people who built and people who bought.
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
2d ago
I tried the dark theme at one point, but it's not as good as TheMotte theme with DarkReader, so I just use that.
win98 is pretty cool though.
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
5d ago
I'd subscribe.
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
8d ago
Brother, you do not interfere in the affairs of a neighboring tribe unless you want to start a blood feud. It's a shame for the boy, but the world is full of such evils, and there is no state powerful enough to root them all out. That tribe has their customs, we have ours. They have their rituals, we have ours. They have their god, and we have ours. The best course of action is to interact with them as little as possible, only to trade goods and reach agreements about territory. With the passage of time, we will see whose tribe flourishes and whose tribe withers.
ActuallyATleilaxuGhola
Axolotl Tank Class of '24
8d ago
You have my vote, brother.
I was gonna say, if you have a kids a wife is essential (so is a husband, tbh). With more than 1-2 kids, you no longer have a "relationship," you now have a "small business" that requires more than one employee to smoothly operate.
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