I agree with you.

However, until the stupid high number of people that use Amazon realize this, it's going to continue. They're a massive retailer because people like the service they provide.

Wife and I are a unique case. We both graduated college with MBAs (community College for 2 years, Uconn for 2 years, different grad schools), and we both came out of school with student loans. We lived like absolute hobos out of college and payed down debt as fast as we could. Like...

rice and beans

driving uber at night

prepaid phones

library card for when we needed to get on the internet

no streaming services

no cable

kept the temp at 50 in the winter and no AC in the summer

Drove 1 car and carpooled

Etc etc etc...

Bottom line, we paid off $130k in student loans and own our home with no mortgage at the age of 38.

We live on 8 acres in East Granby in a 3000sf recently remodeled colonial, and are putting in an 800sf addition in the summer. We have a combined income of about $260k / year.

If it were me, I would be looking north of New London, not East or West. I95 can be a nightmare during a commute that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. I would be looking for somewhere in Montville, Uncasville, or even Salem. I would rather a longer drive once a week to go to Mystic or some other entertainment'y place vs living in the entertainment'y place and commuting an hour each way in traffic every day for work.

Remember, we're very different than you realize when it comes to travel. Do not plan on taking a train, subway, or bus to work. Everyone in this part of the state drives to work, and they almost all use I-95. A little weather makes the whole interstate a parking lot down there. If you're north of New London, you can go in to work on back roads and avoid the interstate.

Not even that they get a permit.

John Doe is a multiple convicted felon, and really wants a gun so he can rob his drug dealer. He doesn't have a permit, and he can't buy one, but he really needs one. Under your plan, he could go online, look up "registered gun owners near me", and see everyone within walking distance that has a gun. If it were common knowledge that there is a publicly available registry of firearm ownership, criminals would absolutely use it to pick targets. Even criminals who don't necessarily want guns would still target gun owners, because they can sell that $400 pistol to John Doe for $1000.

Absolutely not. Firearms are one of the most valuable items a thief can steal, and I'm not talking in terms of money. People intent on committing crime cannot (usually) legally buy a gun, and will pay top dollar for one on the black market.

I'll pay the potential ticket before I drill into my grill or bumper lmao. Thanks for the heads up.

The overwhelming answer of "yes" is shocking to me. My car doesn't have a place to mount a front plate. What am I supposed to do?

Overall it's a shithole, but The Cracker Barrel Pub (not the breakfast place) in East Granby has a wing sauce called "Insane". The cook just makes it with whatever stupid hot peppers he can find that week, so sometimes it's only Habanero and other times it's some Scotch Bonnet that'll blow your o-ring out. Either way, they're amazing, but they can catch you off guard!

You probably won't be "welcomed", but it has nothing to do with who you are as a person. People in CT are usually pretty stand-off-ish, and mostly keep to ourselves. I moved into my current house about 6 years ago, and I've literally never talked to my neighbors. The only reason I know my neighbor's name is Bill is because his mail often gets delivered to my house.

Just signed up for solar 3 weeks ago. Fuck Eversource.

I sent you a PM

I have a cleaning service for the rest of the house, but I'm not comfortable with them in my office or bedroom. This one is on me!!

Well, it's the choice I made. I was raised in a doublewide without hot water, and now I'm on pace to retire by 50 with mid- six figures of passive income. Live and work like nobody else when you're young so you can live like very few get the chance to later. It's all about life choices, and everyone is free to make the ones that fit them best.

Awesome, thanks for this. I'll check it out.

Easier said than done!

This reminds me of my teenage years working in a restaurant. The manager had a policy RE: going from the front of the house to the back of the house. "Hands in, hands out", meaning every time you go in the back, bring something dirty with you. Whenever you leave the back, bring something clean with you. It really kept the restaurant running smooth when literally everyone was responsible for cleaning as they went.

I don't know why I never thought of this, but scheduling would actually help. I would need to put it on my public work calendar to avoid work stuff, but I could name it anything. I'm on call via zoom or phone 24/7, so pseudo-scheduling anything is futile.