What Made you Smile/What Ticked you off Today?

[Anapan]

But really, did you guys see how many local dimming zones and how many nits of brightness those Roku Plus 4K QLED screens are capable of for the price? Not great for gaming IMO, but if you're just watching, the performance is really impressive. All the HDR formats, and 500 Nits brightness. My LG C1 can do 700-750 in HDR mode, but it was magnitudes more expensive, and already showing a bit of burn-in (I bought the service remote and unlocked it to output full strength all the time, then I use it as my main PC monitor all the time).

[ElkinFencer10]

What has the world come to when I of all people am advocating for financial responsibility?

A world where personal finance is now part of the high school curriculum that you're required to teach?

Ah, yeah, that's probably it since planning that has been my life for the past two weeks.

[Markies]

Went to get my oil changed last night.
Car got nicked for several other items, including break pads which totally cost me around $1500.

Glad I had more than enough in a rainy day fund to afford it.

[REPO Man]

Got a new bike!

[marurun]

Got a new bike!

That’s a purchase I can be on-board with. Practical transportation.

[REPO Man]

My brother's coming home soon.

Ordered a new TV yesterday. It's a 50" onn.-brand 4K TV, which was $198 marked down from $238. It'll be here tomorrow.

Happy (early) birthday to me.

[marurun]

I told you so.

[REPO Man]

You get smug satisfaction but I get a new TV.

My only complaint is that my Blu-rays are at most half of 4K's resolution. But at least my new TV has built-in Roku and nearly all my streaming services have 4K offerings.

And the bigger screen will come in handy when I finally get off my ass and get to cranking out scripts for my YouTube videos.

[marurun]

You get smug satisfaction but I get a new TV.

I rest my case.

Believe it or not, what I REALLY want is for you to get your shit together, but barring that I'll take smugness.

[marurun]

Let me qualify that last post a little. REPO, I know you think at this point I'm just going to constantly troll you, and I'm sure that's what it looks and feels like, but the truth is that this is born of frustration. You so constantly refuse to take the small, practical steps necessary to really make your life better, and I mean in the longer, more sustainable term, not the short-term endorphin hits your purchases amount to. You hold onto this BIG BOLD dream you can never achieve because it sounds better than the more menial goals necessary to make a real difference in your situation. I know you're facing an uphill battle where you are now, but it drives many of us completely bonkers that you are SO unwilling, SO resistant to practical, sustainable changes, and instead you spend away what little surplus you get on a growing collection of stuff that serves in no way to get you closer to either the goal you wish you could achieve OR the goals you need to achieve. You seem to want to use us as a journal and sounding board but then you never heed our collective advice. You don't seem to actually have any interest in our input unless it serves your pre-determined outcome. So don't be surprised that we're not overjoyed that you've thrown more good money away after bad in your refusal to commit to the more difficult path necessary to improve your life outcomes. I think you'd find us a lot more supportive and enthusiastic if you didn't so readily piss away all our good will.