Mantergeistmann
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User ID: 323
Mantergeistmann
8hr ago
Man, we are going to be accused of becoming the Makita shill forum
As my favorite (now dead) nuclear scientist used to say, "They accuse me of being biased. Well, of course I am, because it's better!"
Mantergeistmann
8hr ago
I don't know if XCom does this, but I've heard the Fire Emblem games will tilt the displayed vs. actual odds to be closer to how players mentally perceive chance... i.e. if the game says you have a 75% chance to hit, you're going to hit more than 3 out of every 4.
Mantergeistmann
8hr ago
I think the turn-based visuals really make it look goofy, as opposed to (say) the Ayys knocking your barrel aside right as you pull the trigger, or your character looking a bit more panicked at being right next to a berserker.
Mantergeistmann
8hr ago
How about Roller Coaster Tycoon? Or similar? Any of the classic 18 billion SimX games... I know SimTown was deliberately designed as a younger age version of SimCity, for instance.
Mandatory plug any time someone asks about games for a child, regardless of any other context: Once she becomes literate I'd recommend the old Super Solvers and Operation Neptune games, which were legitimately enjoyable as games even without the educational aspect.
Mantergeistmann
1d ago
Sounds similar to Anno, but piratey.
Mantergeistmann
1d ago
CoH3's new Final Stand expansion pack(?) has been a ton of fun. Also picked up Fields of Mistria, which I'm liking more than Stardew Valley (but less than my nostalgia says I liked the not-yet-remastered Friends of Mineral Town). Only drawback is I can't quite fully recommend it to the missus, as she likes her cozy games sans delving and combat ("why would my character work in any mine, especially one that has dangerous monsters?"). Perhaps there'll be a mod at some point that'll take care of that for her, though.
Mantergeistmann
1d ago
allegations that they made a backhanded bribe to get Iran to go easy on their blockade running ships.
That would also be acceptable for my spidey sense that "we weren't getting the whole story about Iran not controlling the Strait", if true.
Mantergeistmann
1d ago
Weirdly, a comprehensive wikipedia page probably would have been the worst possible thing for his career.
Well, second-worst, given what just happened.
Mantergeistmann
1d ago
Regional exports are rebounding, by some estimates up to two-thirds of pre-war levels. The UAE, for example, is already exporting at 85% of pre-war levels.
This one is causing my spidey-sense to tingle. I have no firm grounding, but my gut tells me there's some fuzziness/misdirection/technicalities going on here.
Mantergeistmann
1d ago
I've heard rumours that "going to the shore/countryside for one's health" actually made a lot of sense given that the building materials/paint resulted in a decent amount of low-level toxins in the air.
Mantergeistmann
1d ago
If there's one website that might be welcoming of such a post, it's this one.
... if there's one website where said post may turn hotter than the culture war, it's also this one.
Mantergeistmann
1d ago
I both love and hate how eternally relevant "Yes Minister" is.
Mantergeistmann
2d ago
I am a reasonably decent person/worker. I would like to think that I am an asset to my company and my country. Had they required that price to sponsor my wife, I would certainly not have been able to afford it. I would have just figured out a way to get hired/get a visa in a different country, such as hers.
Mantergeistmann
2d ago
You also don't generally cite, say, a speechwriter or press release writer as "these words were written by Bob, and are not my own, though I stand by them."
Mantergeistmann
2d ago
Replying again because I found this post that sums up my feelings on MFs vs ETFs:
For me the "ritual" goes something like this.
- On Saturday morning, take a look at the finances and realize you want to allocate $10K into this fund.
- Ah, but markets are closed, so write it down as a todo for Monday sometime.
- On Monday, take a break from the work day to execute this. Spend another 5 minutes double-checking, because it's been a couple of days since Saturday and some details have faded.
- Log into the account, go to the buy page. Watch the clever little Wall Street robots getting it on on the quote page. Briefly reflect on the incentive structure of modern capitalism.
- Check the premium/discount. Wonder if it means you're taking a 0.2% haircut right off the bat. Check the history. Oh well, it seems to be about average. Hopefully I'll get it back when I sell.
- Pick a number of shares and a limit price that's slightly above the Ask so your order gets executed quickly so you can get back to work. But not too much so you don't take it on the chin if an ETF share is temporarily under construction.
- Get startled by the yellow warning box. What did I do wrong? Realize that it's just Schwab telling you that the order may be executable. Well duh, I'm here to buy something not lay traps.
- Place the order and refresh a couple of times to see it executed. Notice that the price has inexplicably crawled up to right under your limit price; a clever little robot probably got you. Secretly hope that the robot's master discovers a hitherto unknown seafood allergy at the dinner you just paid for. Immediately feel a little guilty; seafood allergies are no fun.
- Realize that the clever little robot exposed a little mistake in your calculation: you rounded the limit price up. Again. Can never get those right. So now you owe Schwab a couple of bucks on your no-margin account. Set up a transfer and hope it makes it in time. 9.5, optional) Giggle as you recall asif408's apt description of the alternative, "cash turds leftover". Ain't that right.
- Log out, with that vague feeling of negotiation skill inadequacy that you always get after interacting with your car dealership. For the rest of the day, casually check your portfolio app to see how auspicious your choice of trading break time was.
Mantergeistmann
2d ago
Ah. $12.15 for the basic steak burrito from the Chipotle, then.
Mantergeistmann
2d ago
What, really? What was it previously called?
Mantergeistmann
2d ago
It looks like you can take it and the standard deduction, since it's a credit rather than an itemized deduction. Kind of like the Lifetime Learning Credit.
Mantergeistmann
2d ago
As for burritos, a steak burrito in Midtown Manhattan is $13.50. Not $20.
Man, I didn't think my area was higher cost than that. Granted, I deliberately looked at the trendiest place I could find.
A steak burrito runs $16.25 (cauliflower burrito would start at just under $15), and adding guac & salsa would bump it above $20. Place down the street doesn't offer steak burritos, but it does have two beef burritos served with sides of rice and beans for $17. Also a full restaurant on main street with bowls that can be turned into burritos, a steak burrito will run you $28. But presumably we're not talking sit-down establishments here.
Mantergeistmann
2d ago
What advice do you offer to somebody who's still working retail in his 30s and has been turned down for his last ~50 applications to better jobs? "Just invest in SPY, bro" is going to bounce off their real-life circumstances so hard that it probably does more harm than good.
Ask them if they like free money.
The Saver's Credit isn't quite as good as a government match on retirement contributions (being a nonrefundable tax credit), but it's still pretty dang close to "the government will give you money for investing."
Ideally, you could bring them around to opening (say) a zero-fee Fidelity IRA, making enough of a contribution for the free money, and investing in a cheap target date index fund ("it's like you get a financial advisor rebalancing your account, but for free!"). Even a little bit will help supplement social security in retirement.
If you can't talk them around to that, see if you can at least get them to open a free Roth IRA, make the minimum contribution to get the government match, and then just leave it in the MMF that Fidelity defaults to (I keep saying Fido because I'm familiar with their interface/offerings; I'm sure plenty of other brokerages are the same). Tell them they can treat it as a bank savings account (since contributions can be taken out), but the interest earned will be tax free if they leave it there (since everyone loves not paying taxes). That way they get the government refund, and at least have the retirement account open, even if they're not leaving the money in it/invested, and that's a start.
And then let the inevitable corporate barrage of emails and ads about "let us help you save for retirement, here's some money tips" start to slowly do their work.
Mantergeistmann
2d ago
I actually use SGOV, VBIL, and USFR together in my Fidelity Cash Management Account as "buckets" for keeping track of my short term saving goals.
Mantergeistmann
2d ago
Following the time-honored tradition of Freedom Fries and Liberty Cabbage.
Mantergeistmann
2d ago
Kind of like "HOD" (Human Organizational Development) at Vanderbilt, I suppose.
Mantergeistmann
3d ago
A very good explainer for the "Republicans pounce" phenomenon.
Your corded mowing experience (and patterns) are pretty similar to my own. The cord is a minor annoyance, but certainly far less of one than anything to do witn a gasoline mower is.
Please tell me it's the same shade of lime green that's in the wikipedia article.
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