Soon to be liquidating to see how poor I really am. The mrs. is set on a luxury travel abode that will serve as a home for a bit. I would go it cheaper...
What are your travel plans Lebam? Site seeing around the country? We'd like to do that. We are also planning to just check out and spend a year in Europe. It's actually a lot more doable than one would think if you manage your lodging the right way. Last time we were there, we stayed at a little villa in one of the less famous hill towns in Tuscany for like $700 / week. I spent about that much for two nights in Rome. We were central to everything, including Sienna, and Florence. In Paris, same thing. Rented an apartment. It wasn't cheap ... nothing in Paris is ... but it was a helluva lot cheaper than a hotel, and it allowed us to cook a lot, which really saves on $$.
My daughter's name is Siena. One of our favorite spots on our honeymoon trip (my only trip over the ocean). If you haven't been, though, do yourself a favor and check out Lucca. By FAR my favorite stop on that whole trip, and that came very unexpectedly. B&B with four poster bed, separate tub and shower, amazing breakfast, and nice central location for like $100 per night. Food was great, wasn't so touristy, town is really amazing.
Loved Siena. We had a great dinner there and showed up during one of the post-Palio parade celebrations by the winning neighborhood. The owner of the property we rented lived in an apartment in Siena - they were the Dolphin people. Anyway, she hooked us up all over Tuscany with you name it. She's great and we still exchange Christmas cards. I don't want that relationship to wither because I will be calling on her again.
Which leads to something that later on, when things open up, could be a really good and useful thread: knowing the property owner. Like many property owners of more than one property, ours was an aristocrat-like woman whose family owned a bunch of shit. She's originally from Rome. The property we stayed at is listed on all those middle-men sites under different names. I got it because a work colleague had stayed and had her e-mail address. The cheapest it goes for on any site I found was more than double what I paid, such is the commission for booking it. So at some point, those of us who like traveling there should exchange property owner names of places we've stayed that we liked because the property owner does not give a shit and if there is a personal connection you are in. Or pay double. Same with the apartment in Paris. I got that one through that Seattle agency, where the woman who is a Parisian just knows her shit and runs a booking business and knows all the people who own these many and varied properties in the city. I recommend her. Forget the name but will post it. But now, I know the old couple who owns the one we stayed at in the Marais and we agreed I'd go straight to them next time, which I will do because the apartment was a home fucking run.
It's not gonna work everywhere. At some point, you'll pay retail. But fuck, if you can nail down some 100% no disappointment properties for significant discounts and deal with the owner directly, why wouldn't you?
I have heard that about Lucca and it is def. on the next itinerary.
I had no idea that Palio existed until we got to Siena and found out that we were going to miss it by two days. The whole town was busy setting up for it, Il Campo was cleared out, etc. Left a $200 pair of sunglasses in the Duomo there...
Lucca was a surprise. We only stayed there because it was the home base of Ducati Tours. I had reserved a rental bike, and the plan was to stay the nights in Lucca and spend the days riding around Tuscany. When we got there, though, we found that three of their bikes had been impounded because a tour group did an illegal U-turn and their fourth bike had just been wrecked. They had no bike to give us, refunded our money, and it was like, "Well... guess we're stuck in Lucca for three days."
Ended up being great luck. So great, in fact, that my daughter would have a different name if the B&B at Siena, our next stop, were willing to cancel our reservation so we could stay in Lucca longer. Which ended up working out.
We landed in Nice and flew out of Venice. If I had to rank the places we stayed from best to worst, it would go:
1.) Lucca 2a.) Siena 2b.) Nice 4.) Cinque Terra (Riomaggiore, specifically) ... ... ... 81.) Venice
The middle three are close. Decent amount of distance between those three and the bookends.
Soon to be liquidating to see how poor I really am. The mrs. is set on a luxury travel abode that will serve as a home for a bit. I would go it cheaper...
What are your travel plans Lebam? Site seeing around the country? We'd like to do that. We are also planning to just check out and spend a year in Europe. It's actually a lot more doable than one would think if you manage your lodging the right way. Last time we were there, we stayed at a little villa in one of the less famous hill towns in Tuscany for like $700 / week. I spent about that much for two nights in Rome. We were central to everything, including Sienna, and Florence. In Paris, same thing. Rented an apartment. It wasn't cheap ... nothing in Paris is ... but it was a helluva lot cheaper than a hotel, and it allowed us to cook a lot, which really saves on $$.
My daughter's name is Siena. One of our favorite spots on our honeymoon trip (my only trip over the ocean). If you haven't been, though, do yourself a favor and check out Lucca. By FAR my favorite stop on that whole trip, and that came very unexpectedly. B&B with four poster bed, separate tub and shower, amazing breakfast, and nice central location for like $100 per night. Food was great, wasn't so touristy, town is really amazing.
Loved Siena. We had a great dinner there and showed up during one of the post-Palio parade celebrations by the winning neighborhood. The owner of the property we rented lived in an apartment in Siena - they were the Dolphin people. Anyway, she hooked us up all over Tuscany with you name it. She's great and we still exchange Christmas cards. I don't want that relationship to wither because I will be calling on her again.
Which leads to something that later on, when things open up, could be a really good and useful thread: knowing the property owner. Like many property owners of more than one property, ours was an aristocrat-like woman whose family owned a bunch of shit. She's originally from Rome. The property we stayed at is listed on all those middle-men sites under different names. I got it because a work colleague had stayed and had her e-mail address. The cheapest it goes for on any site I found was more than double what I paid, such is the commission for booking it. So at some point, those of us who like traveling there should exchange property owner names of places we've stayed that we liked because the property owner does not give a shit and if there is a personal connection you are in. Or pay double. Same with the apartment in Paris. I got that one through that Seattle agency, where the woman who is a Parisian just knows her shit and runs a booking business and knows all the people who own these many and varied properties in the city. I recommend her. Forget the name but will post it. But now, I know the old couple who owns the one we stayed at in the Marais and we agreed I'd go straight to them next time, which I will do because the apartment was a home fucking run.
It's not gonna work everywhere. At some point, you'll pay retail. But fuck, if you can nail down some 100% no disappointment properties for significant discounts and deal with the owner directly, why wouldn't you?
I have heard that about Lucca and it is def. on the next itinerary.
I had no idea that Palio existed until we got to Siena and found out that we were going to miss it by two days. The whole town was busy setting up for it, Il Campo was cleared out, etc. Left a $200 pair of sunglasses in the Duomo there...
Lucca was a surprise. We only stayed there because it was the home base of Ducati Tours. I had reserved a rental bike, and the plan was to stay the nights in Lucca and spend the days riding around Tuscany. When we got there, though, we found that three of their bikes had been impounded because a tour group did an illegal U-turn and their fourth bike had just been wrecked. They had no bike to give us, refunded our money, and it was like, "Well... guess we're stuck in Lucca for three days."
Ended up being great luck. So great, in fact, that my daughter would have a different name if the B&B at Siena, our next stop, were willing to cancel our reservation so we could stay in Lucca longer. Which ended up working out.
We landed in Nice and flew out of Venice. If I had to rank the places we stayed from best to worst, it would go:
1.) Lucca 2a.) Siena 2b.) Nice 4.) Cinque Terra (Riomaggiore, specifically) ... ... ... 81.) Venice
The middle three are close. Decent amount of distance between those three and the bookends.
Tell me about Venice. What didn’t you like besides the smell and expense? I haven’t been but want to go.
Soon to be liquidating to see how poor I really am. The mrs. is set on a luxury travel abode that will serve as a home for a bit. I would go it cheaper...
What are your travel plans Lebam? Site seeing around the country? We'd like to do that. We are also planning to just check out and spend a year in Europe. It's actually a lot more doable than one would think if you manage your lodging the right way. Last time we were there, we stayed at a little villa in one of the less famous hill towns in Tuscany for like $700 / week. I spent about that much for two nights in Rome. We were central to everything, including Sienna, and Florence. In Paris, same thing. Rented an apartment. It wasn't cheap ... nothing in Paris is ... but it was a helluva lot cheaper than a hotel, and it allowed us to cook a lot, which really saves on $$.
My daughter's name is Siena. One of our favorite spots on our honeymoon trip (my only trip over the ocean). If you haven't been, though, do yourself a favor and check out Lucca. By FAR my favorite stop on that whole trip, and that came very unexpectedly. B&B with four poster bed, separate tub and shower, amazing breakfast, and nice central location for like $100 per night. Food was great, wasn't so touristy, town is really amazing.
Loved Siena. We had a great dinner there and showed up during one of the post-Palio parade celebrations by the winning neighborhood. The owner of the property we rented lived in an apartment in Siena - they were the Dolphin people. Anyway, she hooked us up all over Tuscany with you name it. She's great and we still exchange Christmas cards. I don't want that relationship to wither because I will be calling on her again.
Which leads to something that later on, when things open up, could be a really good and useful thread: knowing the property owner. Like many property owners of more than one property, ours was an aristocrat-like woman whose family owned a bunch of shit. She's originally from Rome. The property we stayed at is listed on all those middle-men sites under different names. I got it because a work colleague had stayed and had her e-mail address. The cheapest it goes for on any site I found was more than double what I paid, such is the commission for booking it. So at some point, those of us who like traveling there should exchange property owner names of places we've stayed that we liked because the property owner does not give a shit and if there is a personal connection you are in. Or pay double. Same with the apartment in Paris. I got that one through that Seattle agency, where the woman who is a Parisian just knows her shit and runs a booking business and knows all the people who own these many and varied properties in the city. I recommend her. Forget the name but will post it. But now, I know the old couple who owns the one we stayed at in the Marais and we agreed I'd go straight to them next time, which I will do because the apartment was a home fucking run.
It's not gonna work everywhere. At some point, you'll pay retail. But fuck, if you can nail down some 100% no disappointment properties for significant discounts and deal with the owner directly, why wouldn't you?
I have heard that about Lucca and it is def. on the next itinerary.
I had no idea that Palio existed until we got to Siena and found out that we were going to miss it by two days. The whole town was busy setting up for it, Il Campo was cleared out, etc. Left a $200 pair of sunglasses in the Duomo there...
Lucca was a surprise. We only stayed there because it was the home base of Ducati Tours. I had reserved a rental bike, and the plan was to stay the nights in Lucca and spend the days riding around Tuscany. When we got there, though, we found that three of their bikes had been impounded because a tour group did an illegal U-turn and their fourth bike had just been wrecked. They had no bike to give us, refunded our money, and it was like, "Well... guess we're stuck in Lucca for three days."
Ended up being great luck. So great, in fact, that my daughter would have a different name if the B&B at Siena, our next stop, were willing to cancel our reservation so we could stay in Lucca longer. Which ended up working out.
We landed in Nice and flew out of Venice. If I had to rank the places we stayed from best to worst, it would go:
1.) Lucca 2a.) Siena 2b.) Nice 4.) Cinque Terra (Riomaggiore, specifically) ... ... ... 81.) Venice
The middle three are close. Decent amount of distance between those three and the bookends.
Tell me about Venice. What didn’t you like besides the smell and expense? I haven’t been but want to go.
No need, you just nailed it. It's an expensive, smelly tourist trap. I'm sure there's amazing stuff there, but I didn't find it. Shittiest hotel room of the whole trip (by a MILE) and at only twice the price! Most expensive meal of the trip and it was meh. You can't sit down at a bar or you get dinged with a seating fee that costs more than your drink. Throw a quarter into the canal, and you won't be able to see it once it's sank four inches.
My wife thinks I've just amplified it over time to be worse than it was, but I don't think so. I had fun, but I think it was in spite of being there, not because of it. Might have something to do with being compared to the other amazing places we'd been.
Soon to be liquidating to see how poor I really am. The mrs. is set on a luxury travel abode that will serve as a home for a bit. I would go it cheaper...
What are your travel plans Lebam? Site seeing around the country? We'd like to do that. We are also planning to just check out and spend a year in Europe. It's actually a lot more doable than one would think if you manage your lodging the right way. Last time we were there, we stayed at a little villa in one of the less famous hill towns in Tuscany for like $700 / week. I spent about that much for two nights in Rome. We were central to everything, including Sienna, and Florence. In Paris, same thing. Rented an apartment. It wasn't cheap ... nothing in Paris is ... but it was a helluva lot cheaper than a hotel, and it allowed us to cook a lot, which really saves on $$.
My daughter's name is Siena. One of our favorite spots on our honeymoon trip (my only trip over the ocean). If you haven't been, though, do yourself a favor and check out Lucca. By FAR my favorite stop on that whole trip, and that came very unexpectedly. B&B with four poster bed, separate tub and shower, amazing breakfast, and nice central location for like $100 per night. Food was great, wasn't so touristy, town is really amazing.
Loved Siena. We had a great dinner there and showed up during one of the post-Palio parade celebrations by the winning neighborhood. The owner of the property we rented lived in an apartment in Siena - they were the Dolphin people. Anyway, she hooked us up all over Tuscany with you name it. She's great and we still exchange Christmas cards. I don't want that relationship to wither because I will be calling on her again.
Which leads to something that later on, when things open up, could be a really good and useful thread: knowing the property owner. Like many property owners of more than one property, ours was an aristocrat-like woman whose family owned a bunch of shit. She's originally from Rome. The property we stayed at is listed on all those middle-men sites under different names. I got it because a work colleague had stayed and had her e-mail address. The cheapest it goes for on any site I found was more than double what I paid, such is the commission for booking it. So at some point, those of us who like traveling there should exchange property owner names of places we've stayed that we liked because the property owner does not give a shit and if there is a personal connection you are in. Or pay double. Same with the apartment in Paris. I got that one through that Seattle agency, where the woman who is a Parisian just knows her shit and runs a booking business and knows all the people who own these many and varied properties in the city. I recommend her. Forget the name but will post it. But now, I know the old couple who owns the one we stayed at in the Marais and we agreed I'd go straight to them next time, which I will do because the apartment was a home fucking run.
It's not gonna work everywhere. At some point, you'll pay retail. But fuck, if you can nail down some 100% no disappointment properties for significant discounts and deal with the owner directly, why wouldn't you?
I have heard that about Lucca and it is def. on the next itinerary.
I had no idea that Palio existed until we got to Siena and found out that we were going to miss it by two days. The whole town was busy setting up for it, Il Campo was cleared out, etc. Left a $200 pair of sunglasses in the Duomo there...
Lucca was a surprise. We only stayed there because it was the home base of Ducati Tours. I had reserved a rental bike, and the plan was to stay the nights in Lucca and spend the days riding around Tuscany. When we got there, though, we found that three of their bikes had been impounded because a tour group did an illegal U-turn and their fourth bike had just been wrecked. They had no bike to give us, refunded our money, and it was like, "Well... guess we're stuck in Lucca for three days."
Ended up being great luck. So great, in fact, that my daughter would have a different name if the B&B at Siena, our next stop, were willing to cancel our reservation so we could stay in Lucca longer. Which ended up working out.
We landed in Nice and flew out of Venice. If I had to rank the places we stayed from best to worst, it would go:
1.) Lucca 2a.) Siena 2b.) Nice 4.) Cinque Terra (Riomaggiore, specifically) ... ... ... 81.) Venice
The middle three are close. Decent amount of distance between those three and the bookends.
Tell me about Venice. What didn’t you like besides the smell and expense? I haven’t been but want to go.
How the fuck do you plan a trip to Siena without knowing about the Palio
Our Thanksgiving 2018 trip to Rome/Siena/Florence sadly didn't have enough time for Lucca. Local gym milf had recommended it, but we were a day short of making it viable
We went to Venice a couple of years ago and had a great time. I can definitely see the "smelly, expensive tourist-trap" angle. We did Venice differently than any other trip we've taken. We are not "tour group" people at all, but for Venice, we decided to try it. Started in Milan, guided tours, bus through Tuscany with several stops to wineries. We stayed on a river cruise boat docked in the lagoon, (in fact, the one that got hit by the runaway cruise ship while docked, about 6 months later).
While we were there, it was under water (my wife bought hip waders)...storm, super-tide, they had more water in the city than any time since '36. We got to see everything, including a late-night excursion to St. Mark's while it was closed because of flooding. We had trips every day, in the city and out. My wife researched it, and it checked all the boxes on what we wanted to see, and how we wanted to see it. Top-shelf food and booze. It was spendy, but we were going to do it once, and we did it right. Also, 3 days in Milan, 4 days in Florence at the beginning on our own.
Soon to be liquidating to see how poor I really am. The mrs. is set on a luxury travel abode that will serve as a home for a bit. I would go it cheaper...
OK csb Mrs Lebam looks at a real estate website to get a value on our property. this is tough, similar to me poasting during a Husky FB game - back to story - She has to create a user name and log on - so does. She gets a phone call from Alaska. refuses to answer. I tell her the realtor might have lived in Alaska - but no she won't answer. She gets an text from the Alaska number. Bingo the lady is a realtor down the road a spell and she knows our house. She grew up on the road next to ours. I have actually met the gal when herding our goats a couple of years ago when they got lose. She and her hubby own a real estate brokerage firm in Olympia and she opened a n office in Pacific County. She wa showing a house to a guy who was in town only for the day (today- I have been celebrating so this is suck a struggle.) She brings him out here and tours the house and property this afternoon. he leaves after taking tons of picx She stays and talks money with us. we are way over her guesstimate, but says OKL. She takes off and with in and hour calls back to say he came back lower, I jumped it up a little and they agreed. Saturday we have an inspection and paper signing.
My dreams of liquidating and just cruising for a while just might com true. The ex-long-haired hippie dfruealkd is ready to hit the road. I rethink spell is not working in my favor
I am still poor but don;lt care - so never never
Edit: read a bunch of posts - wtf is Palio? don't reallycare but thaouthe I would also
Palio is like the running of the bulls only in Siena, and it's a horse race. One of those things that only happens in one place. Apparently Siena is a competitive place, and the 17 city districts used to settle who was tuffest once per year with a brawl in town square. Then it was bullfights. When bullfighting was outlawed, it turned to horse races. First modern Palio was in 1633, and they've been doing it twice per year (sometimes three on special occasions) ever since.
If you ever go to Siena, you want to be there during Palio, as every district has its own colors and banner, and EVERYONE is flying their colors. The streets toward the city center are all narrow, and it's awesome walking through the sea of colors:
Through some preliminary competitions that I'm not sure about, the 17 competing districts are whittled down to 10 that will compete in the race. Piazza del Campo, the central town square, is cleared out, covered in a thick layer of dirt, and mattresses and whatnot are put up around the outside to protect jockeys who fly off their horses (happens all the time, apparently). The race is bareback, three laps around the square, lasts about 90 seconds, and the jockey (being your district's jockey is a huge honor) who wins has to fight his way through an army of vagina for the rest of his life. It's tough.
Anyway, with the horses running around the outside of the square, the crowd actually packs into the middle. Or pays BIG dollars to sit in the balcony of one of the pubs or restaurants or whatnot around the square:
Upper right corner of that picture, there are three connected buildings. The one in the middle is a bit darker than the other two. In the lower two floors of that building is a pub. The very first thing we did when we got off the train (Rick Steves can suck my dong for recommending the trains, btw...) was walk all the way through town to that pub, sit on that balcony there with a Guinness, watch a whole bunch of construction activity, and wonder what the hell was going on and why there were banners hanging everywhere. We would have needed a to take out a second mortgage to sit in those same seats three days later.
Our airbnb was right up the little street in that gap between the buildings center right, directly across from the Duomo baptistery
After a little forensic research, I'm almost certain we stayed at the Hotel Villa Elda, just up the hill from St. Catherine's. Was like $120 per night, breakfast was gigantic and amazing, house wines were great, and it had a rooftop terrace with great views. The best part was then when we got there, the receptionist said, "When we saw you were American, we gave you the garden house because it has the best air conditioning." Apparently we?'re notoriously bitchy people, so we've got that going for us. Anyway, this room was its own building right on the ground floor garden, so we had a ton of privacy and space. Huge bang/$.
Our airbnb was right up the little street in that gap between the buildings center right, directly across from the Duomo baptistery
After a little forensic research, I'm almost certain we stayed at the Hotel Villa Elda, just up the hill from St. Catherine's. Was like $120 per night, breakfast was gigantic and amazing, house wines were great, and it had a rooftop terrace with great views. The best part was then when we got there, the receptionist said, "When we saw you were American, we gave you the garden house because it has the best air conditioning." Apparently we?'re notoriously bitchy people, so we've got that going for us. Anyway, this room was its own building right on the ground floor garden, so we had a ton of privacy and space. Huge bang/$.
Palio is like the running of the bulls only in Siena, and it's a horse race. One of those things that only happens in one place. Apparently Siena is a competitive place, and the 17 city districts used to settle who was tuffest once per year with a brawl in town square. Then it was bullfights. When bullfighting was outlawed, it turned to horse races. First modern Palio was in 1633, and they've been doing it twice per year (sometimes three on special occasions) ever since.
If you ever go to Siena, you want to be there during Palio, as every district has its own colors and banner, and EVERYONE is flying their colors. The streets toward the city center are all narrow, and it's awesome walking through the sea of colors:
Through some preliminary competitions that I'm not sure about, the 17 competing districts are whittled down to 10 that will compete in the race. Piazza del Campo, the central town square, is cleared out, covered in a thick layer of dirt, and mattresses and whatnot are put up around the outside to protect jockeys who fly off their horses (happens all the time, apparently). The race is bareback, three laps around the square, lasts about 90 seconds, and the jockey (being your district's jockey is a huge honor) who wins has to fight his way through an army of vagina for the rest of his life. It's tough.
Anyway, with the horses running around the outside of the square, the crowd actually packs into the middle. Or pays BIG dollars to sit in the balcony of one of the pubs or restaurants or whatnot around the square:
Upper right corner of that picture, there are three connected buildings. The one in the middle is a bit darker than the other two. In the lower two floors of that building is a pub. The very first thing we did when we got off the train (Rick Steves can suck my dong for recommending the trains, btw...) was walk all the way through town to that pub, sit on that balcony there with a Guinness, watch a whole bunch of construction activity, and wonder what the hell was going on and why there were banners hanging everywhere. We would have needed a to take out a second mortgage to sit in those same seats three days later.
I know the pub. We sat there and drank as well. We missed the Palio I think by a day. The winning district was still parading around town, but I think they do that for a week or so.
Our airbnb was right up the little street in that gap between the buildings center right, directly across from the Duomo baptistery
After a little forensic research, I'm almost certain we stayed at the Hotel Villa Elda, just up the hill from St. Catherine's. Was like $120 per night, breakfast was gigantic and amazing, house wines were great, and it had a rooftop terrace with great views. The best part was then when we got there, the receptionist said, "When we saw you were American, we gave you the garden house because it has the best air conditioning." Apparently we?'re notoriously bitchy people, so we've got that going for us. Anyway, this room was its own building right on the ground floor garden, so we had a ton of privacy and space. Huge bang/$.
Fit several of these, but there needs to be a corollary thread on this...what’s the one thing you do that would make Dave Ramsey cringe in fear.
Mine is that eat out a some (it’s the Texas way), and when I do I’m a big believer in tipping REALLY well at my regular hole-in-the-wall spots so that when I show up they take really good care of me.
The main indulgence, however, was college for three kids. We paid for them to go where they got in and wanted to go and didn't insist on an in-state ROI discussions and all that. One kid got into UW honors college and wound up going to the most expensive school of her choices. That has entailed sacrifice. In one case, did it benefit the kid really? No, I don't think so. In another, it was clearly a good investment. And I think in this last one, it will prove to have been, but that story isn't entirely yet written.
I have drawn the line. The oldest came out talking about law school, and I figured she'd profile for one of the NW privates or public OOS, and I don't think her toolkit sets her up to be good lawyer. I told her that while both her sisters were in private college that there wasn't an extra $40k / yr. in the budget for her, so she'd have to borrow, and that I thought it was a risk for her at that time in her life. She needed to live a little off the family tit. She'd be ready for it now, but I think that moment has passed.
The second got into fully funded PhD programs in math and decided beyond the last minute she wanted a masters and will "think about a PhD". Masters are typically not funded. She miraculously found one that is close to fully funded, and we're helping with rent but I made her borrow a small amount for the balance. She's one who gets these opportunities people dream about and tends to take them for granted, so I thought she needed some skin in the game going forward.
The last one wants to get her PhD and be a practicing clinician. We shall see where that goes. Talking about a PhD is fun. Getting one is another matter.
Friendly reminder to your daughter that quants make at least 10x more than teachers.
The main indulgence, however, was college for three kids. We paid for them to go where they got in and wanted to go and didn't insist on an in-state ROI discussions and all that. One kid got into UW honors college and wound up going to the most expensive school of her choices. That has entailed sacrifice. In one case, did it benefit the kid really? No, I don't think so. In another, it was clearly a good investment. And I think in this last one, it will prove to have been, but that story isn't entirely yet written.
I have drawn the line. The oldest came out talking about law school, and I figured she'd profile for one of the NW privates or public OOS, and I don't think her toolkit sets her up to be good lawyer. I told her that while both her sisters were in private college that there wasn't an extra $40k / yr. in the budget for her, so she'd have to borrow, and that I thought it was a risk for her at that time in her life. She needed to live a little off the family tit. She'd be ready for it now, but I think that moment has passed.
The second got into fully funded PhD programs in math and decided beyond the last minute she wanted a masters and will "think about a PhD". Masters are typically not funded. She miraculously found one that is close to fully funded, and we're helping with rent but I made her borrow a small amount for the balance. She's one who gets these opportunities people dream about and tends to take them for granted, so I thought she needed some skin in the game going forward.
The last one wants to get her PhD and be a practicing clinician. We shall see where that goes. Talking about a PhD is fun. Getting one is another matter.
Friendly reminder to your daughter that quants make at least 10x more than teachers.
She actually wants to go to industry ... the question is whether it will help her to have the PhD or if it's overkill. She has a nice internship in Cambridge this summer, which will be her first real work experience outside of academic research. If I had to guess, she'll move on to the PhD. IDC because those are paid by the school.
The main indulgence, however, was college for three kids. We paid for them to go where they got in and wanted to go and didn't insist on an in-state ROI discussions and all that. One kid got into UW honors college and wound up going to the most expensive school of her choices. That has entailed sacrifice. In one case, did it benefit the kid really? No, I don't think so. In another, it was clearly a good investment. And I think in this last one, it will prove to have been, but that story isn't entirely yet written.
I have drawn the line. The oldest came out talking about law school, and I figured she'd profile for one of the NW privates or public OOS, and I don't think her toolkit sets her up to be good lawyer. I told her that while both her sisters were in private college that there wasn't an extra $40k / yr. in the budget for her, so she'd have to borrow, and that I thought it was a risk for her at that time in her life. She needed to live a little off the family tit. She'd be ready for it now, but I think that moment has passed.
The second got into fully funded PhD programs in math and decided beyond the last minute she wanted a masters and will "think about a PhD". Masters are typically not funded. She miraculously found one that is close to fully funded, and we're helping with rent but I made her borrow a small amount for the balance. She's one who gets these opportunities people dream about and tends to take them for granted, so I thought she needed some skin in the game going forward.
The last one wants to get her PhD and be a practicing clinician. We shall see where that goes. Talking about a PhD is fun. Getting one is another matter.
Friendly reminder to your daughter that quants make at least 10x more than teachers.
She actually wants to go to industry ... the question is whether it will help her to have the PhD or if it's overkill. She has a nice internship in Cambridge this summer, which will be her first real work experience outside of academic research. If I had to guess, she'll move on to the PhD. IDC because those are paid by the school.
Interesting. What do math students (sans PhD) do these days besides teach? Big data/ information systems?
The main indulgence, however, was college for three kids. We paid for them to go where they got in and wanted to go and didn't insist on an in-state ROI discussions and all that. One kid got into UW honors college and wound up going to the most expensive school of her choices. That has entailed sacrifice. In one case, did it benefit the kid really? No, I don't think so. In another, it was clearly a good investment. And I think in this last one, it will prove to have been, but that story isn't entirely yet written.
I have drawn the line. The oldest came out talking about law school, and I figured she'd profile for one of the NW privates or public OOS, and I don't think her toolkit sets her up to be good lawyer. I told her that while both her sisters were in private college that there wasn't an extra $40k / yr. in the budget for her, so she'd have to borrow, and that I thought it was a risk for her at that time in her life. She needed to live a little off the family tit. She'd be ready for it now, but I think that moment has passed.
The second got into fully funded PhD programs in math and decided beyond the last minute she wanted a masters and will "think about a PhD". Masters are typically not funded. She miraculously found one that is close to fully funded, and we're helping with rent but I made her borrow a small amount for the balance. She's one who gets these opportunities people dream about and tends to take them for granted, so I thought she needed some skin in the game going forward.
The last one wants to get her PhD and be a practicing clinician. We shall see where that goes. Talking about a PhD is fun. Getting one is another matter.
Friendly reminder to your daughter that quants make at least 10x more than teachers.
She actually wants to go to industry ... the question is whether it will help her to have the PhD or if it's overkill. She has a nice internship in Cambridge this summer, which will be her first real work experience outside of academic research. If I had to guess, she'll move on to the PhD. IDC because those are paid by the school.
Interesting. What do math students (sans PhD) do these days besides teach? Big data/ information systems?
Not sure if it's still the case, but there used to be huge money in compression algorithms. My former process control engineer recently retired. Before that, he once told me about his older brother. This guy is top-three smartest people I've ever known, and he said he feels like a simpleton next to his brother. Said he's an eccentric mathematician type. Worked for a company that developed a video compression algorithm (I'm guessing h.265). The part that piqued my interest the most was when he said, "Yeah, if he ever fell off his wallet, he'd probably hurt himself."
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Lucca was a surprise. We only stayed there because it was the home base of Ducati Tours. I had reserved a rental bike, and the plan was to stay the nights in Lucca and spend the days riding around Tuscany. When we got there, though, we found that three of their bikes had been impounded because a tour group did an illegal U-turn and their fourth bike had just been wrecked. They had no bike to give us, refunded our money, and it was like, "Well... guess we're stuck in Lucca for three days."
Ended up being great luck. So great, in fact, that my daughter would have a different name if the B&B at Siena, our next stop, were willing to cancel our reservation so we could stay in Lucca longer. Which ended up working out.
We landed in Nice and flew out of Venice. If I had to rank the places we stayed from best to worst, it would go:
1.) Lucca
2a.) Siena
2b.) Nice
4.) Cinque Terra (Riomaggiore, specifically)
...
...
...
81.) Venice
The middle three are close. Decent amount of distance between those three and the bookends.
My wife thinks I've just amplified it over time to be worse than it was, but I don't think so. I had fun, but I think it was in spite of being there, not because of it. Might have something to do with being compared to the other amazing places we'd been.
Our Thanksgiving 2018 trip to Rome/Siena/Florence sadly didn't have enough time for Lucca. Local gym milf had recommended it, but we were a day short of making it viable
next time
While we were there, it was under water (my wife bought hip waders)...storm, super-tide, they had more water in the city than any time since '36. We got to see everything, including a late-night excursion to St. Mark's while it was closed because of flooding. We had trips every day, in the city and out. My wife researched it, and it checked all the boxes on what we wanted to see, and how we wanted to see it. Top-shelf food and booze. It was spendy, but we were going to do it once, and we did it right. Also, 3 days in Milan, 4 days in Florence at the beginning on our own.
Mrs Lebam looks at a real estate website to get a value on our property. this is tough, similar to me poasting during a Husky FB game - back to story - She has to create a user name and log on - so does. She gets a phone call from Alaska. refuses to answer. I tell her the realtor might have lived in Alaska - but no she won't answer. She gets an text from the Alaska number. Bingo the lady is a realtor down the road a spell and she knows our house. She grew up on the road next to ours. I have actually met the gal when herding our goats a couple of years ago when they got lose.
She and her hubby own a real estate brokerage firm in Olympia and she opened a n office in Pacific County. She wa showing a house to a guy who was in town only for the day (today- I have been celebrating so this is suck a struggle.) She brings him out here and tours the house and property this afternoon. he leaves after taking tons of picx She stays and talks money with us. we are way over her guesstimate, but says OKL. She takes off and with in and hour calls back to say he came back lower, I jumped it up a little and they agreed. Saturday we have an inspection and paper signing.
My dreams of liquidating and just cruising for a while just might com true. The ex-long-haired hippie dfruealkd is ready to hit the road. I rethink spell is not working in my favor
I am still poor but don;lt care - so never never
Edit: read a bunch of posts - wtf is Palio? don't reallycare but thaouthe I would also
If you ever go to Siena, you want to be there during Palio, as every district has its own colors and banner, and EVERYONE is flying their colors. The streets toward the city center are all narrow, and it's awesome walking through the sea of colors:
Through some preliminary competitions that I'm not sure about, the 17 competing districts are whittled down to 10 that will compete in the race. Piazza del Campo, the central town square, is cleared out, covered in a thick layer of dirt, and mattresses and whatnot are put up around the outside to protect jockeys who fly off their horses (happens all the time, apparently). The race is bareback, three laps around the square, lasts about 90 seconds, and the jockey (being your district's jockey is a huge honor) who wins has to fight his way through an army of vagina for the rest of his life. It's tough.
Anyway, with the horses running around the outside of the square, the crowd actually packs into the middle. Or pays BIG dollars to sit in the balcony of one of the pubs or restaurants or whatnot around the square:
Upper right corner of that picture, there are three connected buildings. The one in the middle is a bit darker than the other two. In the lower two floors of that building is a pub. The very first thing we did when we got off the train (Rick Steves can suck my dong for recommending the trains, btw...) was walk all the way through town to that pub, sit on that balcony there with a Guinness, watch a whole bunch of construction activity, and wonder what the hell was going on and why there were banners hanging everywhere. We would have needed a to take out a second mortgage to sit in those same seats three days later.