Playa Haters' Ball

[rome8180]

I'll admit, I've never gotten why it's considered so much better than other mayo. Take away my Southerner card, I suppose.

 

[rome8180]

Saw a Tottenham Spurs shirt at the thrift store today. Considered buying it just to film myself burning it while talking about why soccer sucks.

 

[aiw]

Did you become an antisemite when you did it? (I know it's complicated for them as the Jew team).

 

[rome8180]

Why are they "the Jew team"? Literally all I know about them is that they're a big name soccer team.

 

[aiw]

A bunch of Jewish people lived in the neighborhood and it became their team. Now other teams shout things like "to the ovens" etc. Their alternate nickname is the Yids and the fans (not Jewish anymore) are the Yid Army.

 

[rome8180]

JFC. And I thought Maryland fans were bad.

 

[CK86]

I had no idea about that, holy shit.

 

[rome8180]

I will say I overheard an interaction that made me like soccer more. I was in the gas station buying beer last night and someone had on a World Cup shirt. The guy behind me in line complimented him on the shirt. They started talking about soccer. The guy with the shirt was kind of jockish looking. The guy complimenting him might as well have been McBoberts. He was your typical black Durham hipster. He had thick-framed glasses and was wearing a turtleneck and a scarf in the middle of August. His skinny jeans matched his scarf.

Anyway, I always like seeing people bond who seem like they have nothing in common. At its best, sports can do that. At its worst, it leads to the vile bullshit @aiw described above.

 

[bfactor]

Is that enough for a composite sketch? I'd like to think that he's out there, still McBoberts'ing after all these years, desperately clinging to sanity but also creating and nuking new forums in a perpetual spiral of increasingly niche topics.

 

[rome8180]

Is that enough for a composite sketch? I'd like to think that he's out there, still McBoberts'ing after all these years, desperately clinging to sanity but also creating and nuking new forums in a perpetual spiral of increasingly niche topics.

Did McBoberts like soccer? Seems like something he would have loved, but I honestly can't remember.

 

[rome8180]

Starting a friendly conversation with a stranger didn't seem like McBoberts' style, however.

 

[deepdarkblue]

Starting a friendly conversation with a stranger didn't seem like McBoberts' style, however.

Maybe he finally found the right doctor.

 

[deeyoukayeee]

A bunch of Jewish people lived in the neighborhood and it became their team. Now other teams shout things like "to the ovens" etc. Their alternate nickname is the Yids and the fans (not Jewish anymore) are the Yid Army.

Interesting. IIRC, Bill Simmons, when he was just the sports guy and not totally insufferable, decided he needed a premier league team to root for and picked the Spurs. I believe he came to the conclusion that they were the closest analog to the Red Sox the league offered. Wonder if he was in tune to this aspect of the organization.

 

[deepdarkblue]

Backyard "fire pits" that run on gas. You're literally burning money.
My neighbor recently paid the cost of an average 3-bedroom home to have a flagstone patio installed that feature a giant gas-powered fire pit in the middle. I call it the Temple of Decadence.

 

[physicsfactor]

“Temple of Decadence” is nice. I’m definitely stealing that. Our next door neighbor is a SVP for Walmart Corporate, and they just put in a pool and giant hottub with a pool shack and lots of landscaping. Heard his wife complaining one day the cost was now over $400k, and that was a couple of months ago. Bet it’s pushing $500k now.

Back in the day, I purchased my first house for $209k.

 

[rome8180]

You should see the renovations/additions my neighbor has been doing. They've been living somewhere else for over a year while it goes on. I'm not exaggerating when I say they've tripled the sized of their already large house when you count all the structures they've added. They added a massive wing to the back of the house, an in-ground pool, a garage, a pool house, and a guest house. The wing on the back of the house has a "chimney" and screened-in deck as well.

I'm assuming they've spent over $1 million, not counting the cost of renting another place for a year. They have more money than they know what to do with. And yet some people are opposed to the rich paying higher taxes.

 

[SeanMayTriedToEatMe]

I would tear down and build a new house instead of doing that Frankenstein house thing.

It makes sense financially to make massive improvements if you’re already at or beyond the $500,000 married limit for avoiding capital gains taxes. I think the majority of million-dollar+ homeowners are already there or close, given the pandemic bump of like +30% over the last 3 years.

Basically if you bought at $500,000 10 years ago and your house is worth a million now, you’re going to be taxed 20% on all further appreciation upon sale, unless you put more improvements into the house. Might as well sink another $500k into improvements with average 50% ROI, so your house can appreciate another $250k over time without being taxed on it, while you enjoy the new bullshit in your house. The other option to game the tax system is buying a new house and having to move, and taking on a mortgage that’s much higher interest than the 2% you refinanced at a few years ago.

 

[rome8180]

Zillow has their house at $1.4 million before any of the renovations. So they definitely fit the bill.

It also lists it at 2940 sq feet, to give you an idea of how big it's going to be once the additions are finished. I would estimate that the main house will be around 5000 square feet and that each of the other structures are 700 sq. feet or larger.

 

[rome8180]

Also, they had it declared a historic property. I believe that lowers your property tax but is supposed to limit the kind of renovations you can do to it. Obviously, it has not limited them whatsoever. I believe they just had to keep the front-facing part of the house unchanged.

 

[rome8180]

I have an irrational hatred of "standing desks." It's partially because I've been looking for a desk on Facebook Marketplace, and over half the listings are for standing desks. Maybe it's because people buy them thinking it's a good idea and quickly realizing standing up sucks?

I assume that the people who buy them are the same people who buy into all the latest health crazes. There should be some way to filter out these results when I'm searching for desks.