birb_cromble
No bio...
User ID: 3236
birb_cromble
25m ago
I'm not entirely sure about that. Maybe it's a cultural thing, but a lot of people I know tend to eat their way through vacations. Mexico seems to be the worst for that, for some reason.
birb_cromble
1hr ago
Came back to a nice surprise: I've lost 5-7 pounds, which is about ~50% of all the weight I wanted to lose
That's a surprisingly common refrain I've heard from people who have gone to Europe for a few weeks. I wonder if there's something about the food, or if something about the culture causes people to be more active.
birb_cromble
1hr ago
I've been watching the KOSPI events for a few months now, and I'm getting increasingly concerned about the concentration - something like three stocks make up over half the entire index. Those stocks are all heavily invested in semiconductors, and that's driving a lot of gains in the US markets as well.
Am I seeing ghosts there?
birb_cromble
4hr ago
Spending is $3,091.81 less than the same day last year. The weather is still holding up the last big expense I have pending, which is frustrating for a couple of reasons.
I keep reminding myself even if I do end up behind where I was last year, it's not that bad. My expenses this year aren't discretionary like they were last year (mostly medical and home repairs), and even if they were, my personal savings rate is around 50% YTD if I go by the federal definition. Even if I don't hit my goal, I'm still seeing benefits.
birb_cromble
13hr ago
I've hunted whitetail effectively with a .223 round in the past. A 77gr monolithic copper bullet, out of a 20" barrel, will do the job at ranges less than 150 yards.
If you try to do it with a standard 55gr round out of a 16" barrel, you're correct, but modern bullet construction can do a lot of work.
birb_cromble
22hr ago
That's where I eventually landed. In a long term account I'm probably better off not getting fancy
birb_cromble
1d ago
I'm doing a long delayed cleanup of my Roth IRA and unloading some old, underperforming mutual funds that don't really serve a purpose in 2026.
If you had a pile of cash to throw into either VT or AVGV right now, which would you pick? I like the philosophy of AVGV, but it's still pretty new and Avantis hasn't been around nearly as long as Vanguard.
birb_cromble
2d ago
What do you consider as travel budget? Gas? Lodging? Food while driving? How do you separate them from other incidental expenses in the same category?
I'm struggling a bit with how to break down my fuel spending this year. It's significantly higher than last year. My father is recovering from chemotherapy, so I've been driving to visit a lot more, and I don't tag those trips separately. It's hard to tell which of my costs are coming from that (which is reasonable), and which are coming from me just driving around like an asshole (which I could reduce).
birb_cromble
3d ago
For the bot to post this thread, the mods would have to take it over, and I get the impression that they tolerate its existence more than endorse it.
birb_cromble
3d ago
I've looked at water softeners, but I've had a lot of people warn me that they'll obliterate older copper and cast iron pipes because the protective limescale will dissolve. Is there anything to that, or is it an old wives' tale?
birb_cromble
3d ago
I love beans, but I live in an area with incredibly hard water. So far the only option I've found is to use water from the store if I don't want leather-skinned beans. Baking soda works, but it messes with the flavor and texture.
Does anybody here have a better solution?
birb_cromble
3d ago
I've been learning about the double top formation recently just to try and understand it better. That said, it really doesn't have much bearing on my investment strategies, since I'm not trading individual stocks, or even really selling them.
birb_cromble
3d ago
I continue to find myself puzzled by the economic fallout from the current situation in the strait of Hormuz.
Gas and diesel prices have spiked in the last few months, but not as much as I would expect, given the current level of transit out of the middle east. I understand that multiple governments are tapping their strategic reserves to mitigate the shock, but strategic reserves are a finite resource that must be refilled at a future date. An acquaintance in the industry has suggested to me that October is going to be an interesting time for diesel, and I don't understand why that possible future isn't priced in more.
What am I missing here?
birb_cromble
4d ago
My extended family has a lifted pickup that we all sort of pass around. I think it's in my cousin's name. Literally the only thing we use it for is to go up on the Land. Other than a few bike trails that I've cut, it's completely unimproved. It wasn't lifted until the stream washed out - at that point it was either a build a bridge, lift the truck, or add a snorkel.
The use case for something like that is very small, and the brand new lifted trucks confuse the hell out of me.
birb_cromble
7d ago
Thank you for actually taking time to elaborate on the ambiguity there. I thought I was nuts the first time I read it.
birb_cromble
7d ago
Spending is $3,033.98 lower than the same day last year. The weather continues to delay the expensive home repair.
birb_cromble
8d ago
That's wild. I work at a few venues where weapons are banned for basic common sense reasons (trip hazards, flammable gas, etc), and even there I clock at least a dozen people with poorly concealed pistols each night. Knives are so common we literally have the equivalent of a coat check at one place.
birb_cromble
8d ago
I cannot fathom why anyone would carry a knife with them to a social occasion.
My good man, all I can say to that is don't set foot in the United States. I can't remember the last time I attended a social occasion where somebody didn't have a blade on them. That's not even getting into guns.
birb_cromble
8d ago
Do you know what's driving it up? Last I looked at it, there was some concern about market saturation.
birb_cromble
9d ago
I'm going to immediately suggest a few "gold standard" games, since you missed them the first time around. They're all older, but either have staying power or inform a lot of newer games.
- Portal 2
- Divinity original sin 2 (or baldurs gate 3 if you prefer dungeons and dragons)
- Spec Ops: The Line
- Fallout: New Vegas
- Skyrim
- Deep Rock Galactic
- Terraria
birb_cromble
10d ago
Honest question - what's your number to retire today? Because for me a least, $4 million is fuck you money. Do you really need more?
birb_cromble
10d ago
I think the specific issue is that the DTFs are stiff, hexagonal core strings. It makes it hard to get the intonation right. I'm wondering if the round core flats would help with that, since they tend to be more flexible.
birb_cromble
10d ago
Any bass players here?
I'm making some progress on a project bass and I'm about to put some new strings on. I've always used Labella Deep Talkin' Flats, but for this bass, I'm going to do a BEAD tuning and the DTF B string is terrible.
I've been looking at some of the more exotic options like TIs or Dunlops, but I'm not sure if I want to drop $100 on an experiment. If anybody has tried them, I'd like to know your opinions.
birb_cromble
10d ago
Do any of you have any side jobs or gigs that you do? Do they earn any positive income?
I play in a band, and just for giggles I did the math on today's take. I think that after travel costs, I probably made about $3 an hour. It's still a fun hobby that basically funds itself, but I won't be quitting my day job anytime soon.
That's funny. I saw all the same things and my gut reaction was to run screaming in the opposite direction.
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