- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Mariner
| Favorite team: | LSU  |
| Location: | Mandeville, LA |
| Biography: | |
| Interests: | |
| Occupation: | Merchant Mariner |
| Number of Posts: | 2614 |
| Registered on: | 7/6/2009 |
| Online Status: | Not Online |
Recent Posts
Message
I shop with her not because I want to shop or watch her shop, but because it is important to her that we are spending time together.
We often make an afternoon or day out of it. She shops, then we may go get lunch or dinner afterwards, put the kids on the train, etc.
I know a lot of guys with family who I used to work with offshore. During their time off they would be hunting/fishing, working on the camp, helping a buddy they work with build his camp, build a shed, etc. Those same guys would hang out at the smoking area flipping out about their ex, their soon to be ex, or their resentful wife. I am certain they would never go shopping with their wife. You spend half a year away from home, and then when you are home you are with a work buddy that you already live with half of the year piddlydinking on a special project.
Those men you saw shopping are guaranteed to have better things to do, but they are supportive of their spouses needs. Kudos to them. :cheers:
We often make an afternoon or day out of it. She shops, then we may go get lunch or dinner afterwards, put the kids on the train, etc.
I know a lot of guys with family who I used to work with offshore. During their time off they would be hunting/fishing, working on the camp, helping a buddy they work with build his camp, build a shed, etc. Those same guys would hang out at the smoking area flipping out about their ex, their soon to be ex, or their resentful wife. I am certain they would never go shopping with their wife. You spend half a year away from home, and then when you are home you are with a work buddy that you already live with half of the year piddlydinking on a special project.
Those men you saw shopping are guaranteed to have better things to do, but they are supportive of their spouses needs. Kudos to them. :cheers:
0
quote:
Savannah
Savannah is like if Charleston and New Orleans had a kid. you get a touch of the southern charm that Charleston has without the pretentiousness, and the party vibe from NOLA with less cultcha (but not a lot less)
We did a vacation to Savannah when we had young kids, as we hated the idea of a beach on the gulf coast. We were going to do a staycation in NOLA, but we said why not go somewhere that resembles it?
What an awesome low key time we had. We rode our bikes with kiddie trailers everywhere.
Loved the quaintness of the town and the historical tours. My favorite was eating at Pink House.
A couple years later we did Charleston. Fun, but we felt that Savannah was better.
Younger women are starting to say that to me. Typically that would come out of a silent generations mouth, so it is surprising. Its even coming from baristas at Starbucks.
I like that the younger women doing it don't think that it's offensive. Typically they find everything offensive.
I like that the younger women doing it don't think that it's offensive. Typically they find everything offensive.
re: Raising a child now costs over $300,000 in the U.S., study finds.
Posted by Mariner on 4/10/26 at 7:45 am to Everyday Is Saturday
So to have children today, you would have to be either:
From old money
High income earner
Dual working parents with a household income far exceeding the median
Poor and qualify for all of the government programs
Fraudster
However, if you are a honest middle class family going to the grind 8-12hrs a day, 5 or 6 days a week, you are SOL.
Sad.
From old money
High income earner
Dual working parents with a household income far exceeding the median
Poor and qualify for all of the government programs
Fraudster
However, if you are a honest middle class family going to the grind 8-12hrs a day, 5 or 6 days a week, you are SOL.
Sad.
re: North Korean crypto fraud
Posted by Mariner on 4/9/26 at 1:18 pm to SlidellCajun
I've heard of someone who is a mutual friend had millions of crypto stolen from him. How it happened I don't know. I cannot imagine being in that dude's position. He probably thought WTF was I thinking by betting on crypto?
When I heard about that NY guy being tortured for his crypto password but luckily escaped, I said there is no way in hell I am investing in that.
When I heard about that NY guy being tortured for his crypto password but luckily escaped, I said there is no way in hell I am investing in that.
When I used to work offshore I had a cabin with no windows and a completely sealed door top to bottom. I loved that black hole so much.
I fantasized about building a very small room with the same concept in my house but never went through with it.
I fantasized about building a very small room with the same concept in my house but never went through with it.
Men who have found peace eat alone.
Men before they are married look across the restaurant and notice a man eating alone, and think he is a total loser.
Men after they are married look across the restaurant and notice a man eating alone, and they immediately become jealous of his peace, freedom, authenticity, and tranquility.
There is nothing wrong with eating alone unless you are binge drinking at the bar avoiding reality.
I enjoy eating alone from time to time.
Men before they are married look across the restaurant and notice a man eating alone, and think he is a total loser.
Men after they are married look across the restaurant and notice a man eating alone, and they immediately become jealous of his peace, freedom, authenticity, and tranquility.
There is nothing wrong with eating alone unless you are binge drinking at the bar avoiding reality.
I enjoy eating alone from time to time.
re: What route do I go with real estate investing?
Posted by Mariner on 4/7/26 at 11:26 pm to Im4datigers
quote:
What is the estimated positive cash flow while holding the investment
I think people get in trouble with real estate when they buy a property to rent, and they start pocketing profits and spending it on personal needs right from the start, or put it towards another purchase of a property which exposes them to biting off more than they can chew. I don't think any profits should go anywhere except back into the property, whether it be savings for repairs, insurance and taxes, and paying down the mortgage. People should not start taking out profits until its paid off and you have a chunk in the bank for unforeseen circumstances..
re: Why does the American consumer want quantity instead of quality and customer service?
Posted by Mariner on 4/4/26 at 9:33 pm to UptownJoeBrown
quote:
All that and didn’t tell us what kind of roof you are getting. What kind?
:lol:
I decided to go with DaVinci synthetic slate in multi-width with a staggered install. Also getting full ice and water shield and FORTIFIED. I originally was interested in slate as they last 100 years, but upon talking with several people in the industry, I decided not to. Its way more expensive than synthetic slate, and you have to beef up the structure to support the weight. It's also brittle if somebody walks on it without authorization, and I can see that happening. Lastly, there is a small market of roofers who are skilled with it, and if its somehow damaged in a storm, I will be waiting a long time for a repair.
My last house I installed F-Wave. Its a little less expensive that DaVinci. It looks great and unique, and I got a lot of compliments. Had two light hail storms. No issues. Several people near me had to replace their roofs.
Metal seems great too, but I did not like it architecturally for this application.
re: Why does the American consumer want quantity instead of quality and customer service?
Posted by Mariner on 4/4/26 at 12:37 am to weagle1999
quote:
On a related note, why is there a vanishingly small number of options available for us who are willing to pay extra for quality and service?
There are options, but you have to do your research and actively find them. You also have to demand it from vendors. I think that very slowly people are starting to come to terms with paying more for quality. Its going to take a couple decades or more, but I am noticing it more and more in products that someone seeks out but not many people know about.
For example, I am building a house right now. I am done with using asphalt roofs. My deductible for a new roof from a named storm on my current house is over $40,000. A new asphalt roof will be about what the deductible is, so I will always have to pay it in full. This new house also will most likely have a higher deductible. I thought long and hard about it, researched, and realized how cheap an asphalt shingle is, and how little it lasts (one hailstorm ruins it). I have seen homes in my previous neighborhood get three roof replacements over 15 years. I am going with a roof that is several times more expensive than an asphalt roof, but is far superior in wind resistance, fire resistance, hail resistance, and longevity. However, the majority of Americans see it as a ripoff for something so much more expensive that does the same thing....which is not true. So they get the cheap stuff and have to replace it every 10 - 15 years out of pocket, the insurance rates/deductibles go up because they get bothered to replace a roof every 15 years, and often times sooner than that due to bad timing of storms, and then everyone bitches about insurance rates.
I quoted a new roof for my MIL. I got three quotes. The priciest quote was the superior roof which I was hoping would be reasonable but I could not justify for my MIL. The middle one was an asphalt roof but I knew the guy and told him that everything on the roof must be new and high quality. The cheapest one reused all the rusty flashing, vents, etc. I found that out when I cornered the cheapest guy on how its so cheap compared to the other guy. He admitted that everyone is out for one thing....the cheapest bid to get their issue rectified. If he bids on doing the job right, they will think he is a shyster and will go with the cut corners cheap guy. The goal is to have the cheapest bid.
AC is another example. I love variable speed AC's. The last one I had installed, I asked the guy how often does he sell them, which was about one a month. I asked him what do people usually get. He said 90% get the bottom of the line everything. He only bids on upgrades if a well informed customer demands it.
Other examples include insulation, foundation design, windows, AZEK trim, hard pipe ductwork.
Regarding paint for my new house. I had the builder have the Sherwin WIlliams rep call me. I told him I want the Emerald line for everything. I am not building this expensive house and covering the exterior and interior with the cheap stuff that wears out after five years, which will cost a fortune in labor and headaches to repaint a furnished house. Builder called me the next day and said the SW guy told him that was the first time he ever had a new build customer demand a specific premium paint.
Boomers are the worst with this. They love their giant fried seafood platters for $14.99 that can satisfy them for two days, and Whole Foods is highway robbery, but all those medical bills to manage poor diets and Winn Dixie quality food? Crickets.
re: WWL-TV to merge with WGNO as parent companies' merge
Posted by Mariner on 4/2/26 at 5:57 am to John Casey
quote:
It all started going downhill for WWL when Benson bought Fox 8 and started poaching the WWL talent.
When they poached Lee Zurik, that's when it became clear that Fox 8 was the new sheriff in town.
I always enjoyed Fox 8 ever since the Greg Bell/Margaret Duboisson/Bob Breck early 90's days, but when there was a news topic that you wanted complete and thorough coverage on, you always tuned into WWL. That is not the case anymore.
I still watch WWL for the nostalgia, especially those Spirit of Louisiana commercials, bless you boys reels, ain't dere no more and the Frank Davis clips, and that annual corny story from Phil Johnson at Christmas about the Magi. I feel connected to the past, plus its great turning on the re-broadcast before bed if I missed the 10PM news, which is all the time in today's chaos.
Hopefully this turns WWL around. Chris Franklin seems like the only personality left at that station.
And for those that wonder why the hell do people still watch the local news this day and age - connection to the city/metro area, nostalgia, daily/nightly structured routine, local sports coverage, to name a few.
re: Judge is a d-bag to IT guy who fixes his audio issues
Posted by Mariner on 4/1/26 at 3:07 pm to saintsfan1977
quote:
If that was me I would have laughed and said thank goodness it was just a false alarm and had levity.
If that was me I would have told him to eat a dick. frick that POS.
I was referring to the A-hole judge laughing it off, but I would have no issue with that either. :lol:
re: Judge is a d-bag to IT guy who fixes his audio issues
Posted by Mariner on 4/1/26 at 5:47 am to DarthGadget
quote:
Judges are sometimes really bad with technology.
Then they should appreciate the services the IT guy provides, instead of treat them like a peasant. I know you are not taking up for the judge.
If that was me I would have laughed and said thank goodness it was just a false alarm and had levity.
This guy has no appreciation for the skills of others. That email with him berating three or four people was just ridiculous and borderline childish.
quote:
Vanguard Total World Stock ETF has 3,500 stocks
Rewind to 5 or so years ago...
Owning $10,000 spread across 3500 stocks vs NVIDIA. The thrill of seeing that one stock pop, explode, go down, explode again, the media coverage, the anticipated earnings updates, etc.
The ETF does great too, but its the thrill I am referring to. I am happy to see one of my ETF's succeed, but seeing that vs seeing something I take pride in individually owning like Trane, Generac, or American Express....the fun is seeing a chunk of money in individual stocks and how they perform.
ETF is like being a casual baseball fan liking a certain team for their history of success, stadium venue, and uniforms/colors but only knowing a basic concept of the format of the team. Individual stock is similar to following one or two players from that exact team, knowing all their intricate stats, cheering for them to succeed, keeping track of stats, and seeing that player break his season high of HR or RBI totals. Its much more interesting to track an individual player and his impact on the team's success than to just watch a general team win that you know little about.
ETF's are great don't get me wrong. All I am saying is that individual stocks to me are way more interesting to monitor and cheer for.
I use a few financial institutions. One is all about mutual funds and ETF's. The other is all about buying individual stock, although they do have a few mutual funds in my account. I have around 50 individual stocks with one institution. My first market check of the day starts with the institution with the individual stocks. Better yet, the institution with individual stock usually outperforms the institution with ETF's.
I enjoy individuals more, but I don't recommend just owning individual stock unless you are in a position to shrug your shoulders at a 30% loss and say lets sell it so I can reduce my tax burden.
quote:[quote]
How so? The etfs I use are just an easier way to buy into a mutual fund.
You can say its a mutual fund, but they are a more concentrated one. An ETF may have 50 stocks while a mutual fund may have 500. Its a little more interesting.
re: Stocks or ETFs
Posted by Mariner on 3/26/26 at 10:28 am to PLaneTiger
ETF's are more safe but to me they are boring. Not that it is a bad thing. I have them along with individual stock.
Individual stock can be all over the place unless you stick with the solid plays. I have lost my arse on some up and coming stocks, but have scored big on others. Individual stocks is more like play money lets see if we hit it big with this buy. ETF's are more in line with a diesel engine.
If you are just starting out or the threat of losing 20% on an individual stock will haunt you, stick with ETF.
An ETF is more thrilling than a mutual fund.
Good luck!
:cheers:
Individual stock can be all over the place unless you stick with the solid plays. I have lost my arse on some up and coming stocks, but have scored big on others. Individual stocks is more like play money lets see if we hit it big with this buy. ETF's are more in line with a diesel engine.
If you are just starting out or the threat of losing 20% on an individual stock will haunt you, stick with ETF.
An ETF is more thrilling than a mutual fund.
Good luck!
:cheers:
re: "I'm just messing with you"
Posted by Mariner on 3/25/26 at 4:57 pm to Fishinguy3527
Usually that means they like you. If they did not, they would avoid you at all costs, and for the times they can't avoid you they would "keep it professional."
I worked offshore and they were all about recycling. It was in company policy, we were saving the planet, etc. We found out what we were sending on shore was getting trashed, so we stopped doing it. A company brown noser was transferred to us and sounded the alarm. He goes through all the trouble to get recycling going again, but when a legit recycler came along, they would not take the recycling. Food and other non-recycling items were found in the shipment, and they would send everything back to us and charge fees in addition to the premium fees paid for recycling. This was distracting us from the real focus of the hazardous environment we work in. A manager got the bills plus the headaches and cancelled that service in a flash.
We kept the recycle bins out to make the appearance that we were green to anyone who cared, which was noone.....including the brown noser :lol:
Its a virtue signaling scam.
We kept the recycle bins out to make the appearance that we were green to anyone who cared, which was noone.....including the brown noser :lol:
Its a virtue signaling scam.
re: Youth Flag Football help
Posted by Mariner on 3/23/26 at 6:43 pm to EnragedPlatypus
I never coached football before and never formally played on a team . I have only done backyard/schoolyard ball as well as be a die hard football fan. I’m not good with X’s and O’s. I was put in this position when my kid went from the 2nd and 3rd grade age group to the 4th and 5th grade age group. The coaches kids were in 2nd grade and my kid moved up. All the kids at his school moved up and had no coach. Myself and another dad was begged to coach.
I love it. The kids just love playing together and bonding. Grant it, we are not the greatest team, but we take the games seriously and have played better teams to the end and have had quite a few upsets along the way.
There is a flag football playbook you can buy online. I used that for many plays, I also just googled them. As I got experience I crafted some plays on my own.
Unfortunately this spring they put us in the elite division because we did very well in the middle division last year, but lost two of our top players to soccer. We got dragged up and down the field the first three games and it was frustrating. The next three are against the lower teams in the division.
Yes we want to win every game we play, but to me the importance is development, team building, dealing with adversity, and appreciating success. Unfortunately there are quite a few dad coaches in the league that are like the Karate Kid villain coach and are flipping their shite at ten year olds. It’s a little disturbing. One game last year we were playing a very good team and they had the game in the bag as we started the 4th quarter. One of our players made this amazing long TD run. The kids were going nuts and the parents were so proud. The opposing coach then caused a scene with the 14 year old referee flipping out that another kid was offsides or something to that effect. He caused a scene for a couple minutes, pissed off the parents, and selfishly tarnished that kids moment . The score had no bearing on the outcome of the game. After the game he called the commissioner flipping out about the referee and he needs to be reprimanded. Definitely some emptiness going on in that man’s life.
You will do fine. Make it fun for the kids but challenge them.
I love it. The kids just love playing together and bonding. Grant it, we are not the greatest team, but we take the games seriously and have played better teams to the end and have had quite a few upsets along the way.
There is a flag football playbook you can buy online. I used that for many plays, I also just googled them. As I got experience I crafted some plays on my own.
Unfortunately this spring they put us in the elite division because we did very well in the middle division last year, but lost two of our top players to soccer. We got dragged up and down the field the first three games and it was frustrating. The next three are against the lower teams in the division.
Yes we want to win every game we play, but to me the importance is development, team building, dealing with adversity, and appreciating success. Unfortunately there are quite a few dad coaches in the league that are like the Karate Kid villain coach and are flipping their shite at ten year olds. It’s a little disturbing. One game last year we were playing a very good team and they had the game in the bag as we started the 4th quarter. One of our players made this amazing long TD run. The kids were going nuts and the parents were so proud. The opposing coach then caused a scene with the 14 year old referee flipping out that another kid was offsides or something to that effect. He caused a scene for a couple minutes, pissed off the parents, and selfishly tarnished that kids moment . The score had no bearing on the outcome of the game. After the game he called the commissioner flipping out about the referee and he needs to be reprimanded. Definitely some emptiness going on in that man’s life.
You will do fine. Make it fun for the kids but challenge them.
re: Seattle Starbuck's Workers FAFO
Posted by Mariner on 3/17/26 at 5:45 am to Jackie Chan
quote:
Because they want to work as a barista, and get paid 50k+ a year with benefits. And no coffee shop is going to do that for a job meant for high school and college students
There are people out there that no matter what amount of money/benefits/lifestyle you give them, they will focus on what you are not giving them. Its like the 90/10 rule with dating.
re: Boards opinion on Home Equity Loans
Posted by Mariner on 3/14/26 at 7:11 am to Kingshakabooboo
quote:
My first statement was wrong. I do really need this property. Cause none of us are making any of those memories together without it.
Understandably so. I would say do it if you are comfy with the risk. :cheers:
Popular
27
