OT: Sens Lounge: "Pleeease won't you be.....my neighboµr"

Nac Mac Feegle

wee & free
Jun 10, 2011
35,397
9,814
That would definitely be my biggest fear. I was looking to buy a small freezer of the bar fridge size for a little more capacity.

Yes. Funny though....we've never had a problem out here til that derecho. Even the big ice storm of 98 we only lost power for a couple hours. That derecho cost us a good 4 days, and a good bit of food.

Been thinking of getting a backup power source, but still a bit unsure. Ecoflow seems to have some good options (and a way to charge up plugging into the car or using a solar panel)...but they're pricey.
 

Micklebot

Moderator
Apr 27, 2010
56,643
34,372
Having a freezer in the basement was one of the best investments I've made. It's a stand up fridge style, but holds a ton. And with so much space, you can load it up with pastries, butter and various other goodies.

Right now about half the stuff in it is meat, and a good number of frozen dinners and butter when it was on sale for a good price. We go through a lot of butter in a year, and always having it at half price probably saved enough to pay for the freezer by itself.

Only worry these days is the thought of another derecho rumbling through and being without power for too long. I do believe a chest freezer can hang on for up to 48 hours....our stand up style I wouldn't trust beyond 24.
I'm not sure if there's that big of a difference so long as you aren't opening it. The problem with standup freezers is the cold air basically dumps out the moment you open it, while chest freezers don't have that issue because the cold air is heavier and stays in the chest. But, the insulation should be of similar quality either way, no?
 

BonHoonLayneCornell

Registered User
Oct 16, 2006
16,821
11,899
Yukon
In that case I think the risk-averse in me would prioritize owning the house, paying off all the debt/mortgage/etc first, then do something boring like mutual funds at a big bank, and only then if you are lucky to have money left, start doing the risky/exciting stuff. Most of us are stuck at stages 1 or 2 of that plan...
Ya, I joke about pulling it all out and putting it all on Black in Vegas, but really, slow and steady feels like the only option when equity is only a couple hundred thousand. We've got a whole generation behind us that for the majority won't ever get to retire either, so I won't feel too bad for myself lol.
 
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2CHAINZ

Registered User
Feb 27, 2008
14,817
20,874
Lol, fair, dumb question I guess. I've never invested and my parents were basically financially illiterates and broke before they passed, so I'm a dummy when it comes to anything to do with investing. Don't worry, I don't actually have any spare money to invest anyways, I was just curious.
Lol, sorry man, I was playing poker all day and all night, so I couldn't respond. What I advocated for people to do in here over the years was invest a portion of your portfolio or what you can invest and just dollar cost avg bitcoin, purchase it when it dips, when it's up, when it's stagnant, and just stack little by little. I personally am not a trader, so I have no advice when it comes to trading stocks or crypto. I purchase long-term investments and sit on them. My Tfsa is just boring etf and like 25% BTCC. When I tell people to buy bitcoin, essentially what you would do is buy bitcoin, and when it's up a % you like, sell it, hold it, or sell part of it; all of that is up to you. If you hold bitcoin starting today for 10 years, I will guarantee you it will be worth more.

My parents are both financially illiterate; I don't have a university degree or even a college diploma. I am an Ottawa Senator-loving guy who somehow keeps finding weird ways to create income and equity. If you don't know something, always ask. It doesn't matter what age you are; you should never stop learning. Anything you want to know that I can help you with ask anytime. Sorry for the sarcastic response before, lol.

That sounds reasonable. Thanks. As someone who won't ever be able to retire and just wants to try to leave some equity for my son after I'm gone, I feel like I need to do something other than just partially own a house, but it can be overwhelming without the knowledge.
Bitcoin is great for this imo. Don't risk 100% or anything, but I truly believe stacking what bitcoin you can will be a great way to leave equity behind for your son.
 

Nac Mac Feegle

wee & free
Jun 10, 2011
35,397
9,814
I'm not sure if there's that big of a difference so long as you aren't opening it. The problem with standup freezers is the cold air basically dumps out the moment you open it, while chest freezers don't have that issue because the cold air is heavier and stays in the chest. But, the insulation should be of similar quality either way, no?

I'm not sure. I think the difference in design does play a role...although I'm not sure how big a difference it makes. Chest freezers do keep the food frozen longer though having the door on top, and generally by being packed denser.
 

Stylizer1

Teflon Don
Jun 12, 2009
19,882
3,974
Ottabot City
I'm not sure. I think the difference in design does play a role...although I'm not sure how big a difference it makes. Chest freezers do keep the food frozen longer though having the door on top, and generally by being packed denser.
It's too hard to rotate stuff in a chest freezer. It's always great finding that 4 year old ice brick of smelt your buddy gave you that one time. lol
 

Micklebot

Moderator
Apr 27, 2010
56,643
34,372
It's too hard to rotate stuff in a chest freezer. It's always great finding that 4 year old ice brick of smelt your buddy gave you that one time. lol
When I had a chest freezer we used bins to organize everything so rotating stuff wasn't really and issue at all.

What I like about the standup ones is the smaller foot print, and ease of grabbing stuff as I need it, I never lost stuff in the chest freezer but I might have to move a bin of chicken to get to the pork.

I did lose capacity compared to a chest, but still have enough space in the standup freezer.
 

Here I Pageau Again

Registered User
Jul 4, 2012
8,292
2,896
When I had a chest freezer we used bins to organize everything so rotating stuff wasn't really and issue at all.

What I like about the standup ones is the smaller foot print, and ease of grabbing stuff as I need it, I never lost stuff in the chest freezer but I might have to move a bin of chicken to get to the pork.

I did lose capacity compared to a chest, but still have enough space in the standup freezer.
I do this. But I would love a stand up freezer instead!! But I got it for free, so who am I to complain.

I bought cheap containers from dollar store and have those. Although, still some things disappear. Every few months I do a freezer deep dive.

I still spend way too much on groceries but I also don't pay too much attention. We could all spend way less in groceries if we had rice, beans, carrots, apples, bananas, potatoes for our meals. As those are all still relatively cheap. I do find myself cutting back on the amount of meat I eat. If I'm doing chili, I do now beans and less ground beef.

I spend about $250-300 a week for a family of 3 adults and 2 kids. I could cut that back by being better organised about sales. But currently working nights and teaching and so I feel extra busy working ~60hrs a week.
 

Tnuoc Alucard

🇨🇦🔑🧲✈️🎲🥅🎱🍟🥨🌗
Sep 23, 2015
8,306
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Having a freezer in the basement was one of the best investments I've made. It's a stand up fridge style, but holds a ton. And with so much space, you can load it up with pastries, butter and various other goodies.

Right now about half the stuff in it is meat, and a good number of frozen dinners and butter when it was on sale for a good price. We go through a lot of butter in a year, and always having it at half price probably saved enough to pay for the freezer by itself.

Only worry these days is the thought of another derecho rumbling through and being without power for too long. I do believe a chest freezer can hang on for up to 48 hours....our stand up style I wouldn't trust beyond 24.


I also have a stand up freezer in the basement, and always fill in the empty spaces with old juice bottles (1.86 L) filled with water, knowing a full freezer doesn’t have to power up as often to keep things frozen, and if there is ever a power outage, the 15 or so frozen bottles of water will extend the time everything keeps frozen….. have thought about buying a portable power generator though…just in case
 
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thinkwild

Veni Vidi Toga
Jul 29, 2003
11,045
1,714
Ottawa
I have one of those little ecoflow 800 watt hour power packs just for emergencies. Really well engineered. Can recharge it in an hour by plugging into the wall. But it takes about 9 hrs using the cigarette lighter in the car or a solar panel. You can stack a bunch together to get more power. Mine would only run a freezer for maybe an hour. But if you can put solar panels out for the day you can keep a bigger one going. Almost seems a necessity to have one nowadays if you can afford it. Hopefully they will start coming down in price and the solar recharge speeds will improve. But its a good start.
 
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mysens

Registered User
Apr 9, 2013
1,055
923
Yes. Funny though....we've never had a problem out here til that derecho. Even the big ice storm of 98 we only lost power for a couple hours. That derecho cost us a good 4 days, and a good bit of food.

Been thinking of getting a backup power source, but still a bit unsure. Ecoflow seems to have some good options (and a way to charge up plugging into the car or using a solar panel)...but they're pricey.
Best thing we ever did was after the Tornado in 2018 having no power for 6 days, I invested in a Kohler 22KW generator to power the whole house. When we had the Derecho, our area had no power for 7 days. We are much more susceptible to power outages and weather events seem to be a lot more intense and frequent.
 
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Masked

(Super/star)
Apr 16, 2017
6,826
5,064
They got the donuts? Excellent....

maclean

Registered User
Jan 4, 2014
8,979
2,923
Make your own.


I've been making my own bread for over 20 years. It's fun, but it is not a time saver, no matter how basic the recipe, and even the costs savings are questionable tbh
 

BonHoonLayneCornell

Registered User
Oct 16, 2006
16,821
11,899
Yukon
Lol, sorry man, I was playing poker all day and all night, so I couldn't respond. What I advocated for people to do in here over the years was invest a portion of your portfolio or what you can invest and just dollar cost avg bitcoin, purchase it when it dips, when it's up, when it's stagnant, and just stack little by little. I personally am not a trader, so I have no advice when it comes to trading stocks or crypto. I purchase long-term investments and sit on them. My Tfsa is just boring etf and like 25% BTCC. When I tell people to buy bitcoin, essentially what you would do is buy bitcoin, and when it's up a % you like, sell it, hold it, or sell part of it; all of that is up to you. If you hold bitcoin starting today for 10 years, I will guarantee you it will be worth more.

My parents are both financially illiterate; I don't have a university degree or even a college diploma. I am an Ottawa Senator-loving guy who somehow keeps finding weird ways to create income and equity. If you don't know something, always ask. It doesn't matter what age you are; you should never stop learning. Anything you want to know that I can help you with ask anytime. Sorry for the sarcastic response before, lol.


Bitcoin is great for this imo. Don't risk 100% or anything, but I truly believe stacking what bitcoin you can will be a great way to leave equity behind for your son.
No worries at all man, I actually did think it was kind of a stupid, obvious question in hindsight and didn't mean to word that like you were out of line or anything, but it also stemmed from my unfamiliarity with Bitcoin and how it works and a little bit of that fish out of water feeling. I still don't fully understand it, but if I get into it, I'll make sure I do before I jump in. Sounds a lot more straightforward than I thought. Appreciate the replies.

It's cool you're self made. In my line of work, most of what we see is family money being passed on, along with easy opportunities to jump in to already thriving businesses straight out of high school, buying houses with cash at 20 years old sort of thing, so it can be hard to stomach sometimes, but feeling sorry for yourself does nothing.

I figure if I can stack 500k-700k in equity and not live too long into my old age, I'll have left him at least a decent start by todays standards.
 
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Nac Mac Feegle

wee & free
Jun 10, 2011
35,397
9,814
I do this. But I would love a stand up freezer instead!! But I got it for free, so who am I to complain.

I bought cheap containers from dollar store and have those. Although, still some things disappear. Every few months I do a freezer deep dive.

I still spend way too much on groceries but I also don't pay too much attention. We could all spend way less in groceries if we had rice, beans, carrots, apples, bananas, potatoes for our meals. As those are all still relatively cheap. I do find myself cutting back on the amount of meat I eat. If I'm doing chili, I do now beans and less ground beef.

I spend about $250-300 a week for a family of 3 adults and 2 kids. I could cut that back by being better organised about sales. But currently working nights and teaching and so I feel extra busy working ~60hrs a week.

One little food hack we've been doing lately for our sauces, has been adding more carrots (finely diced). They mix perfectly in any kind of chili or spaghetti sauce and add a lot of bulk to it. Tastes really good, too.
 
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Nac Mac Feegle

wee & free
Jun 10, 2011
35,397
9,814
Best thing we ever did was after the Tornado in 2018 having no power for 6 days, I invested in a Kohler 22KW generator to power the whole house. When we had the Derecho, our area had no power for 7 days. We are much more susceptible to power outages and weather events seem to be a lot more intense and frequent.

That's on my bucket list. But with this home (since we heat with electricity and have no gas/propane hookup), it would cost a ton.

Things really have changed over the past five years. Some of my neighbors are having issues getting a new well set up, as so many companies are having trouble getting workers. Everyone wants to drive the trucks, no one wants to dig a trench or do the dirty jobs. And there's a growing backlog of folks trying to switch over their old gas tank/furnaces and fireplaces with all the changes upcoming, and companies short of manpower. Also seeing the affects of that with electric power going down more often and for longer periods of time...workers stretched really thin in a lot of areas post-covid.
 

maclean

Registered User
Jan 4, 2014
8,979
2,923
One little food hack we've been doing lately for our sauces, has been adding more carrots (finely diced). They mix perfectly in any kind of chili or spaghetti sauce and add a lot of bulk to it. Tastes really good, too.

Adds a bit of sweetness too to cut down on that evil sugar :P But you really do have to be careful not to have it come out too sweet
 
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Tnuoc Alucard

🇨🇦🔑🧲✈️🎲🥅🎱🍟🥨🌗
Sep 23, 2015
8,306
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1731335095807.jpeg
 
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Beech

Registered User
Nov 25, 2020
3,273
1,160
11/11 at 11 am. I hope all of you stood in respect.

Movies, TV and statues often distort the reality of a soldiers true being. The military drafts 17-27 year olds. Young men. Many are scared to death.

Old men, siting back home safe and sound, have no problem sending young boys to die. All the while, their kids are safe at home.

We lived in a war zone as a boy, the area was volatile. Young men would hide around our home. And cry for their mothers!

WWII was fought by 24 year olds. Vietnam was fought by 19 year olds. Wars in Africa are being fought by 14 year olds.

A second step out of the cave is overdue.


Thank you to all who have, are, or will wear a uniform. You have greater virtue than the Grandfathers who rule you.
 
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Yak

Registered User
Jun 30, 2009
3,610
2,568
Los Angeles
www.androidheadlines.com
You're so crazy. I invested in Bitcoin. Bought two of them when they were $400 a piece and sold them at $800. Look at me now with that $400 profit and Bitcoin ready to hit $90,000. I know there's a crash coming and then it'll climb back slowly but steady. I like cash but I'm not sure I have the nerves for Bitcoin. Makes the stock market. Jim m slow and safe. In actuality, though it's probably Bitcoin, that's safer than the stock market.
 

YouGotAStuGoing

Registered User
Mar 26, 2010
19,387
4,966
Ottawa, Ontario
In actuality, though it's probably Bitcoin, that's safer than the stock market.
In a market crash situation, I could see the argument. But all other things being equal I'm not sure how you get to this conclusion. Bitcoin is both really volatile and lacking in oversight relative to stocks. Not knocking BTC — more power to those with the stomach for it — but safer? Ehhhhh. Hard argument to make.
 

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