Got takeout from Basil India today. It was pretty good. I'd go again. I'm a big fan of indian food, and the city doesn't have as many options as those out in west county.

Yeah I was talking with a buddy about this yesterday. I enlisted out of high school but was taught a technical trade in computers, and networking. Most I have made in a year was 60k deployed, but I was married stationed in San Diego getting E5 pay.

I’m 100% positive I made more off the GI Bill when I went to college then I ever did when I was in, and there is an argument to me made I’ve saved more from veterans discounts than my enlisted salary.

Officers tend to be more a career path, and are rewarded as such with professional level pay, and treatment. Enlisted are treated like dirt and very few actually stay till retirement.

My path to FIRE is 100% doable to the trade the military taught me. I’m the techie stereotype on this sub, but the skills taught in the military are a huge part of why I’ve been successful.

Yeah some amount of minimum vacation needs to be required, and in many types of jobs it is. Security folks, and financial types are forced to take time off so they can bring someone else in to look for irregularities in their work. Makes it difficult to be an insider threat if you know you will get caught on your mandatory time off.

Oddly enough the Air Force is leading the charge on this for the Government and really pushing it. They have a ton of good documentation and references you can follow.

Software.af.mil is the best place to start.

SW diner let’s you get the breakfast burrito covered in the same gravy from the biscuits and gravy. It’s over the top goodness

Keep in mind if you are doing it for environmental friendly reasons an already built house is 9 times out of 10 going to be more eco friendly than a new one. It’s reduce, reuse, recycle in that order.

I also live in a 100+ year old house so I understand that the maintenance and quirks can be frustrating, but there are ways to make them more sustainable.

UIC homes are really nice, and if I were to buy a new house I’d likely go with them. I like how they invested in neighborhoods that were a bit rough around the edges at the time, and seem to care about the area.

Last I knew the parking was free. But yeah it's boondoggle of an airport. It was vacant for years before nabbing some flights. It's my understanding it did achieve it's goal which was preventing Scott Air Force Base from closing down in the base closures of the early 2000's. I believe the thinking was using it as a commercial airport would reduce the cost to the Air Force encouraging them to stay,

I have a CISSP, CEH and a Masters in Cyber Security but work primarily on the DevOps side. All of our security folks are primarily compliance types. I got this because I work in a place that paid for them, and they are helpful to have for the resume.

I only add my certs and credentials to my email if and when they try and bulldog me into doing something stupid. The ones who try to do the bulldogging are 95% of the time the ones with alphabet soup of low level certs after their name. No one is impressed by your A+, or Security +.

I agree with that, but there is a big difference between forcing people to be onsite a day or two a week vs folks being adults, and going hey this would be easier, and better if we meet in the office for a few hours.

Companies are starting to move back to aluminum cans which is a better start. Obviously less consumption is better, but it’s my understanding that aluminum can be infinitely recycled so if you are going to buy a drink it’s the better option if you recycle it.

I’m sure some actual expert or pretend expert will tell me I’m wrong soon since it’s Reddit.

It went to shit about a year ago. Lenas is the new hotness. Hot Charlie’s pizza is pretty good too

American here who lived in Adelaide for a bit. The correct answer is the different bakeries, and meat pie shops. We just don’t have that level of fresh baked goods, and cafes like you all have.

I’d consider pubs as well since the vibe is a bit different, and more relaxed than the bars in America that have loud music, and are meant for getting blitzed.

I will say Chuck Wagon in north terrace was good American food but exaggerated to a cartoonish level. I went on the US Independence Day, and it felt like home.

It’s not a one to one comparison though large majority of the city has alleyways with shared dumpsters so it’s probably cheaper to manage. based on my experience it’s typically 5-6 hours per dumpster, and 12 or so per recycling bin and yard waste.

I’d imagine it’s much faster to grab a couple dumpsters than manage thousands of roll away bins.

Depends on how you define gentrification? Much easier to talk about what neighborhoods are on the upswing.

Anything near tower grove park with many of those neighborhoods already rehabbed, with few vacant. I think Bevo area is going to see a bunch of interest in the next few years. Fox park has seen a bunch of development but I don’t know if it’s still possible to get a deal there.

Drake has a line that I love that is something like this "fuck that rap to pay the bills shit, I'm on that raptors pay the bills shit" from 0 to 100/the catch up.

I guess at the time he had a pretty good brand sponsorship from the Toronto Raptors, but it fits into FIRE because it's diversifying a revenue stream, and implies he is using his side hustles to cover the bills, and his day job is for acquiring a nest egg.

Jay-Z also has a line " I'm not a businessman I'm a business man" I like to think about that in terms of my own career. I'm a brand, and I'm in the business of me. My current employer is the best decision for my business at the moment, but in the future I may find some other company, or opportunity is better for my business, and skillset.

Yeah I feel like that’s a part that’s always left out. I read I will teach you to be rich as I was getting out of the military at 22. The author was pretty upfront that cutting expenses only gets so far, and you have to increase your income. I sought out a high paying field that I was luckily interested in, and spent my free time learning more about that field, and progressing.

I realize I had options others didn’t with the GI bill, but I am saying if you make minimum wage or barely over it there are plenty of opportunities to increase your earning potential. I realize In some areas jobs may not be plentiful, and this is more difficult but focusing on increasing income is a realistic path for most people.

Even most airport rental places are just grab and go if you sign up ahead of time.

Avis preferred is free and you just walk in grab your keys and bounce. I’m sure the other major carriers have the same thing.

We did car2go when it was in San Diego ten years ago and that was great. Just tap your card unlock the car and then drive. Park it anywhere in the service area lock it up and bounce.

I don’t remember where I read it, but I remember seeing that there is a strong link between unmarried men, and revolutions, and violence. I think I was reading it the context of the Middle East, and areas that allow polygamy.

If all the wealthy men grab a few wives each in an area that has an equal male to female ratio it leaves a ton of young men locked out of the fundamental human experience of having a family. I realize that the US places less importance on family, and is more accepting of other lifestyles, but if your cultural is one that prioritizes a large family, and you are unable to achieve that I could easily see it leading to anger, and violence.

Yeah, but we need to start building those now if we expect water issues I’m 5 to 10 years, and even then it may only support a fraction of the population. Areas that are challenged for water like Vegas, and Arizona are still growing.

I’m really interested to see what happens once water starts to dry up, and be rationed. Those desalination plants are going to cost money to run, and many may decide the cost of living isn’t worth it anymore and will still move.

Lack of water, and too much water from sea level rise start to make STL area very attractive. We already have the skeleton to support a much larger population, and could scale up faster than other cities.

As a busy dad there is something refreshing about the AC/Ubisoft game loop. There are enough different objectives I can hop on for an hour and feel like I’m progressing. I can sack a castle, go explore something, or just kill things.

Sure it’s repetitive but it’s still fun, and it’s perfect for little chunks of time, and small digestible chunks. It’s not a time commitment like other multiplayer games, and I don’t have to feel bad if I’m not playing the “meta” or doing well.

Microinverters. We got a bunch of quotes over a few years before pulling the trigger and I think every company but one used the Microinverters.

It adds redundancy, and makes it easier to upgrade, but to be honest I didn’t dig to deep into the differences.

Allergic to shellfish as well and I haven’t had an issue at any of the sushi places around the city. I usually ask upfront if they use imitation crab, and they think I’m just being snobby, but I tell them I have an allergy and they admit to it.

As long as you are up front with it you’ll be fine. I’ve had good luck at Indo, which is pricey but amazing, but Cafe Mochi, Sapporo 2, and Midtown Sushi & ramen have all served me without killing me yet.

Just had solar panels installed by StraightUp solar. Did the final checkout today, and now I’m just waiting on Ameren to install the new meter. Been pretty impressed with them throughout the entire process. I’m in the MO side, but I know they handle the Illinois side and the total cost will likely he better since the incentives on that side are better.

PM if you have any questions or want a referral.

They changed the recipe in the last year or two, and it just isn’t the same. Lenas is really good, but if I’m willing to pay a bit more Gallagher Bros is where it’s at.

I did the math awhile back and to over the most expensive state school in MO I needed to save 50k per kid by the time they turned 2.

Sure I could have put more in the market for my retirement, but I’m doing fine in that department. I felt obligated to ensure my kids could go to college without debt since I had mine paid for by the GI Bill.

Not having student loans has drastically opened up new opportunities and I wanted my kids to have that in the unfortunate event if I passed away early in their lives.

We didn’t really start aggressively saving until the covid lockdowns started but I think Covid, and other deaths in the family solidified the decision to set aside the money now when they were young.