birb_cromble
No bio...
User ID: 3236
birb_cromble
3hr ago
Gas and diesel prices are setting records this labor day weekend.
Elevated fuel prices seem like they're here to stay, and with winter approaching, fuel oil will likely see similar price hikes. What do you expect to happen as a result of all of this?
I'm assuming the following:
- Consumer discretionary spending will drop as that money is rerouted to fuel.
- Prices for consumer staples will (continue to) rise due to increased costs for inputs and increased transport costs.
- Purchase patterns for vehicles remain stable for at least another year. Fleet vehicle contracts have a lot of inertia, and individual consumers seem to think the current prices are transitory.
- The healthcare sector may see a small slump. Heavy healthcare consumers are also frequently on a fixed income, and may defer elective care until spring.
birb_cromble
13hr ago
Money laundering fronts make the best restaurants. They don't give a shit about food costs. There was a pizza joint near my a in college that charged $3.79 for an 18" cheese pizza, and it was loaded with cheese. Years later they got busted as a front.
birb_cromble
1d ago
The clippers thing is interesting. The story was broken back in September 2025 by a guy named Pablo Torre.
The league and sports media closed ranks and alternated between mocking and ignoring Torre, until it was too obvious to keep up the charade.
I feel like there's a lesson in there.
birb_cromble
2d ago
guaranteed income club
The what now?
birb_cromble
3d ago
My mortgage payment cleared a little earlier this month, so spending is only $196.14 lower than last year.
birb_cromble
4d ago
I used to think this was quite the hallowed award, as it is often used as clemency for more provocative posts receiving warnings not bans
I remain baffled by which of my own posts people consider to be "quality". So far the only consistent property that I can find between them is length. It's a little embarrassing for me, because that usually means I haven't taken the time to tighten up the prose.
birb_cromble
5d ago
This is actually why I was asking about the commodity futures fund in the other thread. There are an increasing number of things occuring these days that seem similar to the runup to the stagflation era. Commodities did well during that era, compared to the alternatives.
birb_cromble
7d ago
Do any of you have an opinion on the Invesco Optimum Yield Diversified Commodity Strategy No K-1 ETF? I'd like to diversify into hard assets, and this seems nice because it doesn't involve a K-1 and spreads across a pretty big mix of materials.
birb_cromble
7d ago
I've experienced what could plausibly be called poltergeist phenomena, so I'm fairly open to the idea.
birb_cromble
7d ago
Has anyone here ever experienced a miracle? I've experienced some profoundly weird shit, but no miracles.
birb_cromble
8d ago
It looks like huel black isn't too expensive compared to gas station food, and I could probably keep it in my car.
What separates it from standard protein powder? The fiber?
birb_cromble
9d ago
That's not a bad idea. There are a lot of Wawas and Wawa competitors on my route.
My biggest issue is I walk inside and grab the first food-shaped-object that I see.
birb_cromble
9d ago
Due to my father's illness, most of my available time has been spent traveling to and from his home. As a result, I've absolutely been eating like shit for several months, and it's starting to catch up to me.
Do you have any recommendations for gas station/convenience store/hospital cafeteria food that might be less bad? I try to meal prep and pack ahead, but it's not something I can do all the time.
birb_cromble
9d ago
Unfortunately this was a brand new and extremely weird issue, so I had to show up in person for X-rays.
birb_cromble
10d ago
(2) a vocalist wearing a low-cut dress
Sure, when a female vocalist does it, it's constitutionally protected, but when I do it I'm not allowed back in the seminary.
birb_cromble
10d ago
I haven't asked, but he's a software developer who is trying to be an influencer. I'm assuming it was either the former or it just turned out that producing the content was entirely too much work.
birb_cromble
10d ago
Spending is $1,806.68 lower than the same day last year. I had to visit the urgent care yesterday and that put a dent in my savings.
birb_cromble
11d ago
Most of the ones around me are neocloud providers, and they contract out the security.
I wonder if that's part of the disconnect in the conversation here - different companies could well be handling things very differently.
birb_cromble
11d ago
I'm not going to argue the numbers because you're correct, but I have also seen specialty teams flown in from Texas to handle that maintenance. The actual number of locals doing maintenance post construction is pretty low. The number of people getting their foot in the door to even get the training is even lower.
There's a broad attempt by the pro data center contingent to act like these things are comparable to an old tool and die, or rolled steel mill. They're not even close.
I'm not even against data centers per-se. I'm against the fact that the people building them are functionally pillaging rural communities and doing a half-assed job of it at the same time. They're cramming them in tents, for Christ's sake. I might even be willing to tolerate that, if our local politicians weren't so venal and craven that we can't even extract tax revenues from them.
birb_cromble
11d ago
I know exactly one person in real life who has loudly and repeatedly claimed to be pro data center this year.
He drove out to Memphis to record a video about how great Colossus was going to be for the community. He never distributed the video and he hasn't publicly spoken out in favor of them since.
BTW why so much hate for data centers specifically?
This new construction is qualitatively different from previous data centers that leaned more toward CPU workloads or storage. Additionally, many of the reasons that cause locals to dislike them have as much to do with the slapdash nature of the construction as the data center itself.
The gas turbines sound like a Geneva convention violation. The construction equipment fucks up the roads going into and out of the construction sites. The owners get sweetheart tax deals that negate the property tax arguments. The ongoing "jobs" they create are usually something like eight security guards working part time for $18/hour with no benefits.
If you live in San Francisco or Chicago, that all probably sounds great. If you live a couple of miles away, it sucks.
birb_cromble
13d ago
birb_cromble
13d ago
Good point. I hadn't considered his age.
WM does more than just residential pickups, but it's all trash. I've had some shares for years because they've historically been low volatility and offer a good dividend.
What is your thesis here? That LLMs will improve the efficiency of oil extraction and refining, or that increased demand will lower the cost rather than increase it due to energy companies actually building capacity?
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