Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)

[bill1827]

I was a voracious reader when I was young and didn't have anything better to do, but I would never have managed that many books.

Apparently my reading speed is about 330 words per minute; a short novel is about 50,00 words so would take about 2.5 hours to read, 9 short novels a week is about 3.25 hours a day.

I no longer read that many books, but the OH does. She gets about 6 books a fortnight from the library and claims a similar number on her kindle so that would be 300 or so a year. (She does spend a lot of time reading!)

Mind you, she's just started Anna Karenina and that's slowed her down a lot.

[swaneesr]

A coworker of my is learning Spanish. He is a native English speaker his 30’s.

To practice/learn, he read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in Spanish. Last week he started Stephen Kings tome of IT. That is over 1100 pages and slowed him down a bit.

Other coworkers of mine are reading college level organic chemistry text books. Another a three book tome on the American Civil War. As you can see we are a wild bunch on the road for megacorp!


Swanee

 PS. I would be getting more reading done but you people keep distracting me.


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[mspym]

Our MPP is none of us want or need anything for Christmas. Even the teen boys are stumped. It used to just be *us* that were impossible to buy for but now they have joined the club. (they do get index funds for birthdays etc)

[Margie]

@mspym

I always buy my teens their favourite foods...crap we normally don't have in the house like lucky charms cereal!  Hilarious I know but Santa used to bring it and they would lose their collective minds.  Now, it is just a joke but we give money and edibles.  (not the other edibles!)

If we are going on holidays we also give money in the currency of the country we are going to.  My kids used to think Santa knew everything...like he knew we were going to Europe or US or whatever.  I always made them do the conversion so they knew how much Santa brought.  Made them think twice about spending their holiday money on the first day because once it was gone it was gone.

Christmas is more fun with little ones!!  Hope you have a great holiday!

[RetiredAt63]

A coworker of my is learning Spanish. He is a native English speaker his 30’s.

To practice/learn, he read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in Spanish. Last week he started Stephen Kings tome of IT. That is over 1100 pages and slowed him down a bit.

Other coworkers of mine are reading college level organic chemistry text books. Another a three book time on the American Civil War. As you can see we are a wild bunch on the road for megacorp!


Swanee

 PS. I would be getting more reading done but you people keep distracting me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

When I was learning Latin in High School I read Ferdinandus Taurus and Alicia in Terra Mirabile.   ;-)

[Freedomin5]

Our MPP is none of us want or need anything for Christmas. Even the teen boys are stumped. It used to just be *us* that were impossible to buy for but now they have joined the club. (they do get index funds for birthdays etc)

DD had the same MPP. She wrote a letter to Santa asking him to give her present to "the orphans in the orphan homes in the Middle East" (we support an organization that works with Syrian refugees in the Middle East and had recently received an update letter from the organization).

We figure it's better (and easier) to give it away to those who truly have a need, and it brings our family more joy than receiving a gift that we only sort of want because we couldn't think of anything else to give.

[Taran Wanderer]

Other coworkers of mine are reading college level organic chemistry text books. Another a three book time on the American Civil War. As you can see we are a wild bunch on the road for megacorp!

College level O-chem sounds a bit heavy, but picked up DW’s college Geology (science for non-science majors) textbook and started reading as a joke, only to find it really interesting. After that I picked up Oceanography and Meteorology books as well…. used, of course!

[LennStar]

I was a voracious reader when I was young and didn't have anything better to do, but I would never have managed that many books.

Apparently my reading speed is about 330 words per minute; a short novel is about 50,00 words so would take about 2.5 hours to read, 9 short novels a week is about 3.25 hours a day.

I no longer read that many books, but the OH does. She gets about 6 books a fortnight from the library and claims a similar number on her kindle so that would be 300 or so a year. (She does spend a lot of time reading!)

Mind you, she's just started Anna Karenina and that's slowed her down a lot.

Haha, yes, it depends a lot on the book. If you are retired, a Light Novel size book per day is not really a problem. (~5 hours at speaking speed, of course you could fast read). If it is something like Tad Williams Great Swords series, with 800 densely printed pages per book... Even back when I was a child in school and read it the first time that took me nearly 3 weeks for the 4 books, not doing anything else besides school and reading.

[Taran Wanderer]

My MPP:  With the backdoor Roth IRA likely going away next year, we will have to put more into taxable accounts...  Oh, the horror!

[ixtap]

My MPP:  With the backdoor Roth IRA likely going away next year, we will have to put more into taxable accounts...  Oh, the horror!

With the uncertainty around what the final rules will be, DH has accepted that he should do something about his tIRA that consists of one non deductible contribution and ten years of gains. That process was a lot more complicated than folks make it seem, all we have left is to wait for the transaction to clear and reinvest the cash once it arrives. The IRA is empty, with two weeks to spare. We have decided this has been enough messing around, not going to squeeze in a backdoor Roth.

[TomTX]

Wow!! I don’t think I’ve read 450 books, in total, in my life, including picture books.

No kids? I'm dead certain I've read far more than 450 picture books for bedtime. Well, if you count duplicate readings. I don't think we have more than 100 titles, but we did borrow a lot from the library.

[Steeze]

Wow!! I don’t think I’ve read 450 books, in total, in my life, including picture books.

No kids? I'm dead certain I've read far more than 450 picture books for bedtime. Well, if you count duplicate readings. I don't think we have more than 100 titles, but we did borrow a lot from the library.

Have a little guy (8mo) at home - we get 3 new books from the library every weekend and pick up a couple here and there from free book boxes around the neighborhood. Still, we are nowhere near 1 per day! But, to your point, he is helping with my total book read statistic, if you count books with <100 words in them :)

[Zikoris]

Wow!! I don’t think I’ve read 450 books, in total, in my life, including picture books.

No kids? I'm dead certain I've read far more than 450 picture books for bedtime. Well, if you count duplicate readings. I don't think we have more than 100 titles, but we did borrow a lot from the library.

Have a little guy (8mo) at home - we get 3 new books from the library every weekend and pick up a couple here and there from free book boxes around the neighborhood. Still, we are nowhere near 1 per day! But, to your point, he is helping with my total book read statistic, if you count books with <100 words in them :)

Some families churn through probably 3 a day at least, from what I can tell - at my library we pick up our own holds from a set of shelves, and you can see what other people are getting. I often see MASSIVE stacks of childrens books with the same name on the hold tag, probably 20+ for sure. Now, to be fair I don't know how long that pile is meant to last them.

[Steeze]

Wow!! I don’t think I’ve read 450 books, in total, in my life, including picture books.

No kids? I'm dead certain I've read far more than 450 picture books for bedtime. Well, if you count duplicate readings. I don't think we have more than 100 titles, but we did borrow a lot from the library.

Have a little guy (8mo) at home - we get 3 new books from the library every weekend and pick up a couple here and there from free book boxes around the neighborhood. Still, we are nowhere near 1 per day! But, to your point, he is helping with my total book read statistic, if you count books with <100 words in them :)

Some families churn through probably 3 a day at least, from what I can tell - at my library we pick up our own holds from a set of shelves, and you can see what other people are getting. I often see MASSIVE stacks of childrens books with the same name on the hold tag, probably 20+ for sure. Now, to be fair I don't know how long that pile is meant to last them.

I read the same children’s book 2-3 times and return it. For now he isn’t really paying attention to it most the time. He has a couple indestructible books that he likes because he is allowed to hold them. Whenever I am laying on my back reading the library book to him he usually will grab his indestructible book and imitate me, I suppose that is good enough.

I did read ‘The Good Life’ by Nearing and ‘Walden’ by Thoreau to him before he was mobile and could get away. Maybe he will read them again some day.

[change_seeker]

My five year old LOVES bedtime reading time, but I find that he is still in the repeat stage.  He wants the same book over, and over, and over again.

[zolotiyeruki]

My wife treks to the library every 2-3 weeks and checks out somewhere in the region of 75 books each time.  And that's in addition to the couple thousand books we have in our private collection.

[GuitarStv]

Wow!! I don’t think I’ve read 450 books, in total, in my life, including picture books.

No kids? I'm dead certain I've read far more than 450 picture books for bedtime. Well, if you count duplicate readings. I don't think we have more than 100 titles, but we did borrow a lot from the library.

Have a little guy (8mo) at home - we get 3 new books from the library every weekend and pick up a couple here and there from free book boxes around the neighborhood. Still, we are nowhere near 1 per day! But, to your point, he is helping with my total book read statistic, if you count books with <100 words in them :)

Some families churn through probably 3 a day at least, from what I can tell - at my library we pick up our own holds from a set of shelves, and you can see what other people are getting. I often see MASSIVE stacks of childrens books with the same name on the hold tag, probably 20+ for sure. Now, to be fair I don't know how long that pile is meant to last them.

We get 10 - 20 books for my son every couple weeks.  He's actually surprised me with how voracious a reader he is . . . but while he'll slowly work his way through more complicated stuff, he also enjoys reading questionable quality (crap) books too.

[sui generis]

My wife treks to the library every 2-3 weeks and checks out somewhere in the region of 75 books each time.  And that's in addition to the couple thousand books we have in our private collection.

It sounds like your private collection could be its own library. Do you issue library cards? Do I live close enough to borrow?

[zolotiyeruki]

My wife treks to the library every 2-3 weeks and checks out somewhere in the region of 75 books each time.  And that's in addition to the couple thousand books we have in our private collection.

It sounds like your private collection could be its own library. Do you issue library cards? Do I live close enough to borrow?

Heh, we don't have much that you couldn't find in your public library, but there are a number of books and series that we prefer to have on-hand at all times so our kids can pick them up at their convenience.  My wife curates it carefully, and occasionally (like this week) purges it to make sure we prioritize only the most worthwhile stuff.

[AO1FireTo]

My five year old LOVES bedtime reading time, but I find that he is still in the repeat stage.  He wants the same book over, and over, and over again.

We've found some really good podcasts with kids stories.  My daughter loves them and we'll put one on and she'll listen before she goes to sleep.  I think it's actually really improved her grammar and vocabulary. 

[moof]

Keep up the family reading at bed time.  Our kid is 9, and still it is an important part of his bedtime routine.  He often has 3+ books in process at any time, one family book, one dad only book for evenings my wife is away, his own book he reads for a little while after lights out using a reading light, and often yet another for daytime reading.  As a semi-illiterate mostly non-reader myself I am pretty jealous of him at times.

[sui generis]

This is probably a pretty typical one generally (length of flight vs. cost of flight) but I'm booking a regional Acela ticket from DC to NY (Westchester) and I could pay $30 less if I take an extra 1 hour (2 hr total) layover at Penn Station the day after Christmas.  I feel like a layover at Penn Station would be less annoying than a layover at an airport and I should do it.  But if you know Penn Station, tell me what you would do!

[Dollar Slice]

This is probably a pretty typical one generally (length of flight vs. cost of flight) but I'm booking a regional Acela ticket from DC to NY (Westchester) and I could pay $30 less if I take an extra 1 hour (2 hr total) layover at Penn Station the day after Christmas.  I feel like a layover at Penn Station would be less annoying than a layover at an airport and I should do it.  But if you know Penn Station, tell me what you would do!

Penn Station is a downright miserable place, but you can easily step out of the Amtrak station and into NYC proper for a few minutes to walk around or grab lunch or something.

They've just opened a brand new train station across the street from Penn called the Moynihan Train Hall which is quite nice. They may be connected underground, I haven't really explored it yet. There's hardly anywhere to sit but it's a cool spot to walk around and look at architecture, and there's probably a food court and some shops. And there's a decent bathroom (or it was decent when I went there in the spring - it was fully empty back then). So if the weather is bad you could hang out in there instead of Penn.

ETA: you should also look at a transfer from Amtrak to the Metro North to save $$ and time.

[Steeze]

This is probably a pretty typical one generally (length of flight vs. cost of flight) but I'm booking a regional Acela ticket from DC to NY (Westchester) and I could pay $30 less if I take an extra 1 hour (2 hr total) layover at Penn Station the day after Christmas.  I feel like a layover at Penn Station would be less annoying than a layover at an airport and I should do it.  But if you know Penn Station, tell me what you would do!

Penn Station is a downright miserable place, but you can easily step out of the Amtrak station and into NYC proper for a few minutes to walk around or grab lunch or something.

They've just opened a brand new train station across the street from Penn called the Moynihan Train Hall which is quite nice. They may be connected underground, I haven't really explored it yet. There's hardly anywhere to sit but it's a cool spot to walk around and look at architecture, and there's probably a food court and some shops. And there's a decent bathroom (or it was decent when I went there in the spring - it was fully empty back then). So if the weather is bad you could hang out in there instead of Penn.

ETA: you should also look at a transfer from Amtrak to the Metro North to save $$ and time.

For me, Penn Station is right up there with Time Square on places to avoid. The last few times I was at Penn it was more like a homeless shelter than a world class train station. Not sure why crazy people congregate at Penn, but it is so. Down in the actual station is not so bad, but out on the surrounding  streets is obnoxious. Haven’t been to the new station since it was open to the public, but I’m sure it is nice.

Sometimes it is semi entertaining depending on your tolerance for crazy people. I was there a couple months ago for a job and met a guy that claimed to have been recently divorced ~9mo prior. He said he was an investment banker and lost half his wealth in the divorce. Couldn’t handle his job through the breakup and lost his high paying job. He said he got kicked out of his house and just slept on the street that night. Been sleeping on the street since. He said he has a couple million in investments but doesn’t see the point in anything anymore. Said he is happier than ever just sleeping on the street and acting crazy all day. He said he has enough dividend income to sleep in a hotel every night for the rest of his life, but what’s the point?— I told him that he just figured it out, that the whole system is bullshit and a waste of time. That nothing really matters, it’s all just made up. — when we parted ways he said, “I think there is a chance you will make it out too. Maybe I’ll see you out here one day.”

[Dollar Slice]

Not sure why crazy people congregate at Penn, but it is so. Down in the actual station is not so bad, but out on the surrounding  streets is obnoxious.

Yeah, if you go NW of Penn you run into both the state parole board offices and several drug addiction clinics - between the train and bus station on 8th Ave. So you tend to run into some rougher characters in that corner of town. I used to work right there. Super stay away from any cheap fast food chains in that stretch of 8th Ave. It's all bad news and godforsaken tourists.

But the rest of the neighborhood is fine other than being crappy train station tourist chain-y junk.

Maybe I should come down and escort you around the methadone clinics, sui. I'm Jewish, I got nothin going on. :-)

[secondcor521]

This is probably a pretty typical one generally (length of flight vs. cost of flight) but I'm booking a regional Acela ticket from DC to NY (Westchester) and I could pay $30 less if I take an extra 1 hour (2 hr total) layover at Penn Station the day after Christmas.  I feel like a layover at Penn Station would be less annoying than a layover at an airport and I should do it.  But if you know Penn Station, tell me what you would do!

I'd keep my wallet in my front pocket and try to look like a bored New Yorker.  I'd probably also try to hang out someplace above ground.

[aetheldrea]

My five year old LOVES bedtime reading time, but I find that he is still in the repeat stage.  He wants the same book over, and over, and over again.

Let me guess: “Hamster Hughie and the Gooey Kablooey”? You should try reading him “The Disembodied Hand That Strangled People”

[Freedomin5]

We are staying at a nice hotel for a few days. In the past, to save money, we always booked a room with a queen bed and folded up duvet covers and bedding to make a “little bed” on the floor or sofa in the room for DD. This time, we got an upgrade to the family room where DD can have her own bed. The MPP is that DD is so used to sleeping on the hard ground or hard sofa that the smooshy soft bed is uncomfortable for her. We finally made her a bed on the sofa, and within 10 minutes she was fast asleep. DD is overly stoic - LOL!

[zolotiyeruki]

My five year old LOVES bedtime reading time, but I find that he is still in the repeat stage.  He wants the same book over, and over, and over again.

Let me guess: “Hamster Hughie and the Gooey Kablooey”? You should try reading him “The Disembodied Hand That Strangled People”

Ooh, a Calvin & Hobbes reference!  I love it!

[change_seeker]

My five year old LOVES bedtime reading time, but I find that he is still in the repeat stage.  He wants the same book over, and over, and over again.

Let me guess: “Hamster Hughie and the Gooey Kablooey”? You should try reading him “The Disembodied Hand That Strangled People”

The latest has actually been Danny and the Dinosaur.  Riveting the first time, not so much by the 100th time.

Funny you mention scary stories though.  At our home we have a strict no video game rule.  When we are out at events we tend to relax the rule.  We were at a karting / mini-golf place last night that had a virtual reality setup (all sponsored by my company).  My son (five) wanted to play so the employees got him set up while I stood in line for the go karts.  I looked over at the screen as the game started and it slowly dawned on me that it was a zombie shooting game complete with undead creatures crawling towards my son.  I failed to process that info and save him before a wail of terror came from his lips.  He recovered well and ended up back in VR playing Angry Birds, so hopefully he won't be scarred for life.

[Virtus3]

Funny you mention scary stories though.  At our home we have a strict no video game rule.  When we are out at events we tend to relax the rule.  We were at a karting / mini-golf place last night that had a virtual reality setup (all sponsored by my company).  My son (five) wanted to play so the employees got him set up while I stood in line for the go karts.  I looked over at the screen as the game started and it slowly dawned on me that it was a zombie shooting game complete with undead creatures crawling towards my son.  I failed to process that info and save him before a wail of terror came from his lips.  He recovered well and ended up back in VR playing Angry Birds, so hopefully he won't be scarred for life.

I could totally see this happening with one of my daughters. Poor guy although it did give me a chuckle. :)

[Britan]

Sigh. My dad gave me money for Christmas. MPP? The only string attached is he said I can’t put it in my IRA or my kids 529s. I have to actually get myself something. And I really can’t think of anything I want right now.

[Dollar Slice]

Sigh. My dad gave me money for Christmas. MPP? The only string attached is he said I can’t put it in my IRA or my kids 529s. I have to actually get myself something. And I really can’t think of anything I want right now.

Groceries? :-P

Normally I'd use a gift like that for experiences (concert tickets, travel etc.) because I don't want more stuff. But we're in the middle of a giant Omicron outbreak where I live, so I don't want to go be in a room/plane/train full of people, either. Tough one.

[zolotiyeruki]

Sigh. My dad gave me money for Christmas. MPP? The only string attached is he said I can’t put it in my IRA or my kids 529s. I have to actually get myself something. And I really can’t think of anything I want right now.

What about a taxable brokerage account? :)

[SwordGuy]

Sigh. My dad gave me money for Christmas. MPP? The only string attached is he said I can’t put it in my IRA or my kids 529s. I have to actually get myself something. And I really can’t think of anything I want right now.

Buy yourself a piece of gold, punch a hole in it, put it on a chain and call it an art pendant.    For added artistic value, hammer it into a shape you like.

You'll be paying a bit more than the spot price for gold when you buy.

If you're near Fayetteville, NC, I've got the tools to help you make something prettier.

[Britan]

Sigh. My dad gave me money for Christmas. MPP? The only string attached is he said I can’t put it in my IRA or my kids 529s. I have to actually get myself something. And I really can’t think of anything I want right now.

Groceries? :-P

Normally I'd use a gift like that for experiences (concert tickets, travel etc.) because I don't want more stuff. But we're in the middle of a giant Omicron outbreak where I live, so I don't want to go be in a room/plane/train full of people, either. Tough one.

Same. Plus I have two kids under 3, so outings or traveling is crazy even during a pandemic for which they are too young to be vaccinated.

[ixtap]

Sigh. My dad gave me money for Christmas. MPP? The only string attached is he said I can’t put it in my IRA or my kids 529s. I have to actually get myself something. And I really can’t think of anything I want right now.

Groceries? :-P

Normally I'd use a gift like that for experiences (concert tickets, travel etc.) because I don't want more stuff. But we're in the middle of a giant Omicron outbreak where I live, so I don't want to go be in a room/plane/train full of people, either. Tough one.

Same. Plus I have two kids under 3, so outings or traveling is crazy even during a pandemic for which they are too young to be vaccinated.

Take our/ delivery.

[Britan]

Sigh. My dad gave me money for Christmas. MPP? The only string attached is he said I can’t put it in my IRA or my kids 529s. I have to actually get myself something. And I really can’t think of anything I want right now.

What about a taxable brokerage account? :)

Haha I texted him this exact question. Followed up by “well you said I couldn’t put it in *[Older Son]’s* 529 …” (I have two kids)
Hah.

He just said this morning that he was mostly kidding, I can do what I want with it. I think I’ll put most of it away and keep a little bit for something I want that might come up in the next few months.

[ixtap]

Our savings rate was low this year. We fell about 5% shy of saving twice as much as we spent out of checking (so we count the taxes owed at filing, but not those withheld because lazy). Can I keep my MMM membership?

[Poeirenta]

MIL got me bracelets with "inspirational" sayings on them. I barely wear my wedding ring, never mind other jewelry. So I figure, ok, let me see if I can exchange them for something useful. Holy cow, people, the Signals catalog is full of a whole lotta useless crapola. Right now I'm leaning towards either a puzzle, a birdbath, or a led moon light thing for a dark part of the house.

[ixtap]

We just bought ibonds. DH asked about them yesterday and I pointed out that if he really wants them we could buy some in the next 48 hours and be eligible for more next year. And now, I have nearly emptied my cash savings (technically mine, but really joint dire emergency fund)  and he has made a dent in his (technically his, but really joint cash flow account) so I guess we are doing the Uber frugal thing for awhile...

The good news is, cash savings isn't accounted for in our savings rate, so that post I made earlier today about not saving 2x is now invalid...

[Taran Wanderer]

My laptop Lithium ion battery is swelling. Never a good sign. I looked for a replacement online, but there were some bad reviews about non-OEM batteries. I checked on Dell.com. Can’t find it. I contacted Dell support. “I’m sorry, your laptop is so old that we don’t support it anymore.  But can we interest you in a new computer with a fancy glossy screen?”  The computer is 6 years old, which is pretty good for a laptop, and it has been getting kind of slow, but I was hoping to eek out another 6-12 months. Maybe I’ll just steal one of the kids’ Covid laptops.

[zolotiyeruki]

My laptop Lithium ion battery is swelling. Never a good sign. I looked for a replacement online, but there were some bad reviews about non-OEM batteries. I checked on Dell.com. Can’t find it. I contacted Dell support. “I’m sorry, your laptop is so old that we don’t support it anymore.  But can we interest you in a new computer with a fancy glossy screen?”  The computer is 6 years old, which is pretty good for a laptop, and it has been getting kind of slow, but I was hoping to eek out another 6-12 months. Maybe I’ll just steal one of the kids’ Covid laptops.

It's really frustrating that OEMs quit making the batteries and/or charge an arm and a leg, and it's really hard to find a high-quality third-party battery.  Been there, done that, several times.

[Taran Wanderer]

My laptop Lithium ion battery is swelling. Never a good sign. I looked for a replacement online, but there were some bad reviews about non-OEM batteries. I checked on Dell.com. Can’t find it. I contacted Dell support. “I’m sorry, your laptop is so old that we don’t support it anymore.  But can we interest you in a new computer with a fancy glossy screen?”  The computer is 6 years old, which is pretty good for a laptop, and it has been getting kind of slow, but I was hoping to eek out another 6-12 months. Maybe I’ll just steal one of the kids’ Covid laptops.

It's really frustrating that OEMs quit making the batteries and/or charge an arm and a leg, and it's really hard to find a high-quality third-party battery.  Been there, done that, several times.

Any tips on a good source for a battery? I just need something that will last 6-12 months so that I can put off the new purchase a little longer. 

[PMG]

My laptop Lithium ion battery is swelling. Never a good sign. I looked for a replacement online, but there were some bad reviews about non-OEM batteries. I checked on Dell.com. Can’t find it. I contacted Dell support. “I’m sorry, your laptop is so old that we don’t support it anymore.  But can we interest you in a new computer with a fancy glossy screen?”  The computer is 6 years old, which is pretty good for a laptop, and it has been getting kind of slow, but I was hoping to eek out another 6-12 months. Maybe I’ll just steal one of the kids’ Covid laptops.

It's really frustrating that OEMs quit making the batteries and/or charge an arm and a leg, and it's really hard to find a high-quality third-party battery.  Been there, done that, several times.

Any tips on a good source for a battery? I just need something that will last 6-12 months so that I can put off the new purchase a little longer.

Can you buy an old same model computer for parts?  It will likely be nearing end of life too but could buy you the time you want.

[zolotiyeruki]

My laptop Lithium ion battery is swelling. Never a good sign. I looked for a replacement online, but there were some bad reviews about non-OEM batteries. I checked on Dell.com. Can’t find it. I contacted Dell support. “I’m sorry, your laptop is so old that we don’t support it anymore.  But can we interest you in a new computer with a fancy glossy screen?”  The computer is 6 years old, which is pretty good for a laptop, and it has been getting kind of slow, but I was hoping to eek out another 6-12 months. Maybe I’ll just steal one of the kids’ Covid laptops.

It's really frustrating that OEMs quit making the batteries and/or charge an arm and a leg, and it's really hard to find a high-quality third-party battery.  Been there, done that, several times.

Any tips on a good source for a battery? I just need something that will last 6-12 months so that I can put off the new purchase a little longer.

I wish I had some good tips, but sadly, I've never been successful in finding a high quality third-party laptop battery.

[dragoncar]

My laptop Lithium ion battery is swelling. Never a good sign. I looked for a replacement online, but there were some bad reviews about non-OEM batteries. I checked on Dell.com. Can’t find it. I contacted Dell support. “I’m sorry, your laptop is so old that we don’t support it anymore.  But can we interest you in a new computer with a fancy glossy screen?”  The computer is 6 years old, which is pretty good for a laptop, and it has been getting kind of slow, but I was hoping to eek out another 6-12 months. Maybe I’ll just steal one of the kids’ Covid laptops.

It's really frustrating that OEMs quit making the batteries and/or charge an arm and a leg, and it's really hard to find a high-quality third-party battery.  Been there, done that, several times.

Any tips on a good source for a battery? I just need something that will last 6-12 months so that I can put off the new purchase a little longer.

I wish I had some good tips, but sadly, I've never been successful in finding a high quality third-party laptop battery.

I bought one for my XPS off Amazon (seller batterymon).  It’s been fine for the last year.  Of course you can’t guarantee their quality is consistent and I didn’t run extensive tests.  But probably worth a shot

[trashtalk]

We are infested with avocado seedlings. The climate here is favorable for them and they roll around in the compost and then appear all over the yard. I think I have 8 potted up that I’m nurturing to give away.

[sonofsven]

We are infested with avocado seedlings. The climate here is favorable for them and they roll around in the compost and then appear all over the yard. I think I have 8 potted up that I’m nurturing to give away.

"We're gonna need a bigger toaster"
I'm jealous, love avocados!

[ixtap]

I was considering a no buy January. After all, DH never spends any money at all, so if I do a no spend, we do a no spend...

It's the third and he has already bought hundreds of dollars of STEM stuff for his nieces, nephews and coding students. The  pay he receives from the students will likely cover much of it, but a) I only track spending*, so February, when the cc bill is due, is going to be a BIG month and b) we plan on moving back onboard the boat in a few months and I have no idea where he thinks he will store several Chromebooks and a bunch of robotics stuff...