Valdair

joined 1 year ago
[–] Valdair@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

Diamine Autumn Oak, Montblanc Corn Poppy Red, Montblanc Golden Yellow. I'm not sure which if any of these are still being made though, probably not the yellow.

[–] Valdair@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

I was pretty light on gold for most of the game because I played a sniper ranger so was spending money on arrows CONSTANTLY. Arrow of Many Targets and the one with smokepowder bomb on the end are especially strong but so expensive. I had to raid the bank to be able to afford the Persistence Armor from Dammon for Shadowheart, even after maxing out his attitude... which it was super weird it took 5k in donations considering you know, I saved his bacon twice and I'm trying to save the world.

What I think could have worked was one or two other major late game items could have also been ported to the House of Hope, and you have to part with one knowing you won't get it back. Like as a signal that you are basically at the end of the game now, you need to pick your final party config and get them as set up as possible and start letting other things go. I went in to the final section with a lot of gear on other people I really wish I'd transferred to my core team.

[–] Valdair@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago

I just left it on, I don't really understand it though. I still fail even trivial skill checks repeatedly with anyone other than Astarion so I'm not actually convinced it does anything at all.

I know there is a kind of philosophy in random dice roll design for software where you slightly skew the distribution of subsequent rolls based on previous ones because it feels more random (rather than getting e.g. 1, 2, 1, 2, which could be 'truly random' but feels like ass), but I don't think that's what karmic dice is doing. I do play really high AC, with Laezel and Shadowheart in full endgame plate plus a buff here or there I think they run 24~27. It is very hard for enemies to hit us and it feels about right. I would be very surprised to learn that karmic dice is benefiting enemies too, because that seems unintended and not in the spirit of how the tooltip is written.

[–] Valdair@kbin.social 0 points 1 year ago (2 children)

That's hilarious, considering she wants 10000 gold the first time you ask and you can haggle her down to 5000. I'll probably just give them back to her and then buy them so the quest completes - I don't have much need for money after bribing Dammon down and purchasing his full plate set.

[–] Valdair@kbin.social 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't disagree with your stance, but I am curious why you decided on a trainer instead of picking the easier difficulty. Did you try it and still find it too much? I have read about the differences between modes but haven't actually tried anything other than normal, and even though I'm extremely familiar with PF 1e and D&D 5e I've struggled with lots of encounters.

[–] Valdair@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

Would absolutely have been impossible for us without money from my mother's trust (deceased) and my father. Even living cheaply, with a very good deal on an apartment that we luckily locked in as COVID started and rent increases were put on moratorium, the appreciation of properties was so aggressive that saving $1300 a month meant we were actually losing ground on hitting a 20% down-payment on half decent starter homes. We desperately need the housing bubble to burst, but it's not even """really""" a bubble.

[–] Valdair@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Might be silly but I honestly just use Excel. I could do with some more features or automatic calculations for certain things but I like to just be able to tinker with data.

[–] Valdair@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

We are effectively single income so I will ignore my wife's accounts.

I have:

  • CU checking
  • CU savings
  • HYSA (SoFi) emergency fund
  • Fidelity brokerage
  • Fidelity Roth IRA
  • Fidelity 401k
    Credit cards:
  • USAA (general purpose)
  • Chase Amazon Prime (Amazon)
  • Apple Card (devices and occasionally tap to pay)

CU checking is where mortgage and bills are paid from. It is also where the money goes out of to pay credit cards down. Correspondingly CU checking gets the lion's share of direct deposit. HYSA gets a fraction, but I will top it off at the end of the month to get on target with our savings goal ($1000/mo towards HYSA as long as nothing is being spent). CU Savings are pretty much empty these days, APY is so low it is irrelevant. For whatever reason that's where the connection to Fidelity lives so I can contribute to the Roth IRA, but that is the only use anymore now that our cars are paid off.

I don't make enough to max my 401k so the brokerage is just used for when RSUs and ESPP shares deposit. Then I sell them, put some in retirement and transfer some to CU for cash.

Roth contribution is manual each month. Bill pays are manual (except for a couple on autopay on CCs, if they don't charge card fees). Mortgage is automatic from checking. I track the target emergency savings separately in a spreadsheet which also includes budget & other info.

What makes the Fidelity cash management account & its associated debit card so good?

[–] Valdair@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I've only played D&D for a couple years and don't have extensive experience with githyanki lore but my impression is they're not so much bent on genociding other races as they are exterminating the mind-flayers that enslaved, tortured, and fed on them. Everything about the structure of their society and their philosophy on the value of life hinges around that. They became hyper militaristic - only the strongest and most capable are valued. They seem to regard other races as largely weaker or simply unworthy/uninteresting, but aren't looking to kill or subjugate them, they're just irrelevant.

I'm only ~near the end of Act 2, but Laezel's development has been some of my favorite stuff about the second act.

[–] Valdair@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Some of your terminology and phrasing is a little odd. It might help if you post some screenshots to demonstrate the issue you're running in to.

I think what you're getting at is that you're plopping down pre-builts, likely some of the junior coaster or wild mouse coaster designs which have lots of track immediately around the station, and then struggling to get the entrance and exit to connect to your midway (the rest of the path in the park). If this seems complex or confusing you may be misunderstanding foundational aspects of how the game works, so seeing an example would really help us hone in on the disconnect.

First I will say, these prebuilts generally have a scenery toggle (though it won't work unless you have all of the pieces available in your map). This includes path! Most of these prebuilts will already have path saved with the design which brings out easy attach points for you to use. Second, you can rotate these designs to make the distance from entrance/exit hut to midway as short and direct as possible. From some of your posts it seems like you might not be aware of this.

[–] Valdair@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

I will second Durock V2s and TX AP/Rev3 or rev4 stabs. If you use TX make sure you use the "plugs" - the little wheel of snap-off bell-shaped pieces that hold the stab in from behind since they do not screw in.

Also double check your PCB thickness, 1.2mm vs. 1.6mm and make sure you get the right size.

 

/r/personalfinance was one of my more frequented subreddits and I find it pretty valuable. I figure I should try to help get the ball rolling over in the Fediverse and it seems like this is the most active substitute so far.

The "rule" as it were is that to have income in retirement broadly in line with your income before retirement, you need to hit 1x your salary by 30, 2x your salary by 35, 3x by 40, etc. This rule works well for people who 1) start working at 25 and 2) do not experience significant pay raises, as either of those things will set you significantly behind.

Ultimately I use this as a target for what my 401k contribution should be, since I'm already maxing a Roth IRA each year and my company match is fairly low so maxing that is easy. But I definitely can't afford to max the 401k, so I use this to help gauge where I really ought to be in between those bounds.

The way I calculate the target for a year is just sum up my gross income from paychecks for that year. This means it includes salary and bonus but not RSUs. The stocks are too volatile to make the accounting easy, and thus far haven't been a significant fraction of my income. Then, multiply by the factor for the age I turn in that year. It looks like this:

Tax Year Age (Nov) Gross salary+bonus Multiplier Target Actual Miss%
2018 27 $36.4k 0.4x $14.6k $2.6k -82%
2019 28 $70.4k 0.6x $42.2k $9.7k -77%
2020 29 $76.1k 0.8x $60.9k $20.3k -67%
2021 30 $81.9k 1.0x $81.9k $42.0k -49%
2022 31 $92.0k 1.2x $110.3k $47.3k -57%
2023 32 $100k? 1.4x $140k? $80k? ???

2023 of course are estimates, I won't know those real numbers until ~mid November. "Actual" is the reported balance of my Roth + 401k in Fidelity at the end of the first trading day in November.

A few explanatory features. I started my current job in 2018 but only worked about half that year. I only had a tiny rolled over 401k from a job in grad school. So I've had both reasonably large raises and obviously started super late (even for someone who went to grad school - but hey at least I got in-state tuition!).

It looks like I'm not doing too hot. I started late, wasn't contributing enough in 2018 and 2019 clearly, in 2020 I was saving for a house and finally got serious about contributing in 2020/2021. Maxed a Roth for the first time in 2021. If 2022 hadn't been so astonishingly terrible in the stock market I'd have been steadily gaining ground the entire time though. Now I'm contributing about 21% of my income and since the market is doing better this year I'm back to gaining ground again. I like the rule, even in my "worst case scenario" because it's fairly aggressive and keeps my from spending too frivolously.

So do you use the rule? How closely do you track it? Are you gaining or losing ground? How close to retirement are you?

 

What is a Grand Tour?

A Grand Tour originally refers to an extended journey through continental Europe, for educational purposes. These journeys were undertaken by wealthy young men as a rite of passage, who visited many historical and cultural sites along the way, seeking to expand their knowledge and appreciation of the classical arts.

Though there is no more need for the aristocracy to elevate themselves above the common people, the desire and effort to broaden one's horizons remains a noble purpose.


Grand Tour is a relatively new contest format over at NE, the parks are incredible, I strongly encourage everyone to at least give them a look, and if you have or are willing to make an NE account, please vote!

 

I was always cautiously curious about the game but am not thrilled about supporting Rowling. Last time I checked it seemed like it was proving to be extremely difficult to crack. I see some torrents listed but they're not from uploaders I recognize and the seed count seems a little low for a modern high profile release. Are there some good/safe torrents out there by now?

 

What is a Grand Tour?

A Grand Tour originally refers to an extended journey through continental Europe, for educational purposes. These journeys were undertaken by wealthy young men as a rite of passage, who visited many historical and cultural sites along the way, seeking to expand their knowledge and appreciation of the classical arts.

Though there is no more need for the aristocracy to elevate themselves above the common people, the desire and effort to broaden one's horizons remains a noble purpose.


Grand Tour is a relatively new contest format over at NE, the parks are incredible, I strongly encourage everyone to at least give them a look, and if you have or are willing to make an NE account, please vote!

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