Mariner
| Favorite team: | LSU  |
| Location: | Mandeville, LA |
| Biography: | |
| Interests: | |
| Occupation: | Merchant Mariner |
| Number of Posts: | 2699 |
| Registered on: | 7/6/2009 |
| Online Status: | Not Online |
Recent Posts
Message
quote:
They hate pretty women
Bingo
You guys ever wonder why women get pissed at a pool/beach about another woman wearing those revealing bikinis? The ones where 90% of their cheeks are visible.
Turns out the comments come from women who cannot wear or are afraid to wear them. Some average women would look great wearing them but they are too self conscious.
The ones who never comment on it? Yes you guessed it....the attractive and confident women.
0
re: HVAC duct cleaning?
Posted by Mariner on 8/12/26 at 9:28 pm to Ponchy Tiger
When I worked offshore we would have the ducts cleaned once a year and it was legit. My next rig did not clean the ducts for five years or more, and people were complaining about health issues. We pushed hard to get them cleaned. They sent out a team and cleaned. I saw the before and after pics along with sacks of dust on each deck, and it was disgusting.
That being said, it was an industrial environment, and the ducts are metal. I would be very careful to clean flex ducts. You may as well just replace them every 15-20 years.
I got a new AC system for a property and replaced all the ducts, but one duct to the master bedroom could not be replaced as it was wedged in walls. We had it cleaned. THe dust was minor. The duct is at least 30 years old.
The mold pitch around air registers is definitely a scam. I got the fear mongering pitch too. I got a second opinion and realized that if my house less than 20 years old in excellent condition has mold in the ac vents, then 90% of homes in Louisiana have mold.
That being said, it was an industrial environment, and the ducts are metal. I would be very careful to clean flex ducts. You may as well just replace them every 15-20 years.
I got a new AC system for a property and replaced all the ducts, but one duct to the master bedroom could not be replaced as it was wedged in walls. We had it cleaned. THe dust was minor. The duct is at least 30 years old.
The mold pitch around air registers is definitely a scam. I got the fear mongering pitch too. I got a second opinion and realized that if my house less than 20 years old in excellent condition has mold in the ac vents, then 90% of homes in Louisiana have mold.
re: Explanation for “Piped-In Music”
Posted by Mariner on 8/11/26 at 5:56 am to Tigerbait8
Its OK to have the music only if its managed well, which it is not.
re: What's the best job if you know a bunch of people?
Posted by Mariner on 8/10/26 at 5:58 am to FlyingTigerBo
Politician
Public service is where the money is at.
Public service is where the money is at.
You may be in a situation where you need a local wealth management firm, which has a team of people specialized in separate issues all under one roof.
quote:
Not if you build correctly. Port Fourchon while damaged for Ida was able to reopen in a few days. And now with the LA 1 bridge nearing completion, that will aid in the resiliency that is Port Fourchon.
Agreed.
You can build your own levee system. I believe NASA has that at Michoud. Materials, roofing, etc. Every risk imagined can be engineered to prevent anything.
We are just so used to doing it half arse because to do it right means its expensive, and to us expensive means rip off.
I am still amazed that we are still using asphalt shingles on roofing, for example. We should strive to have something similar to Miami-Dade county approved materials in buildings.
I highly doubt that Space X will curt corners on building methods to prevent/mitigate disasters.
re: Looking for how you all save for your kids (529 vs brokerage vs custodial)
Posted by Mariner on 8/8/26 at 8:16 am to Lazy But Talented
Lots of great info so far.
The recognition here is to point out that you along with the responses are what model parents you all are, and what the standard should be in our society.....taking care of the family unit and maintaining a legacy. I worked with many selfish parents in my career. They literally have a goal to not leave a dime to their children.
My main focus has been their education. I have over $500K and growing in both college 529 and K12 accounts spread among three kids. With the rising cost of education, I want to be sure that they will never have to worry about student loans, educational opportunities, or shy away from grad/law/med school because of the cost. I don't want my children to be burdened with some massive student loan while also having a marriage and kids to deal with. Also, the concept of scholarships are great, but to me that's like someone relying on social security for retirement. That's part of the reason why obsessive sports dads exist. They need someone else to fund their kid's college education.
Also, I hope to leave a education legacy to my grandkids. I would have really appreciated if my father would have said hey son I have K-12 or college taken care of for your kids. While I did not expect that, it was some major anxiety for me when the kids were babies to figure out how to make that work. Lucky for us it did, but more than likely it would not have.
I also have a brokerage account for them in which they will get when they turn 18. I expect there to be $30-$40K in there by the time they are 18. It will do either one or two things....they will see the benefits of compounding and letting investments take their course, or they will blow it and will later on regret doing that, and hopefully teaches them a hard lesson.
At my next meeting with my advisors, I will ask about next steps for them. Lots of good input in this thread.
All in all I think a 529 is the starting point in helping your children. I like the protections it has in place, and that its used for a specific purpose, and a great one at that.
The recognition here is to point out that you along with the responses are what model parents you all are, and what the standard should be in our society.....taking care of the family unit and maintaining a legacy. I worked with many selfish parents in my career. They literally have a goal to not leave a dime to their children.
My main focus has been their education. I have over $500K and growing in both college 529 and K12 accounts spread among three kids. With the rising cost of education, I want to be sure that they will never have to worry about student loans, educational opportunities, or shy away from grad/law/med school because of the cost. I don't want my children to be burdened with some massive student loan while also having a marriage and kids to deal with. Also, the concept of scholarships are great, but to me that's like someone relying on social security for retirement. That's part of the reason why obsessive sports dads exist. They need someone else to fund their kid's college education.
Also, I hope to leave a education legacy to my grandkids. I would have really appreciated if my father would have said hey son I have K-12 or college taken care of for your kids. While I did not expect that, it was some major anxiety for me when the kids were babies to figure out how to make that work. Lucky for us it did, but more than likely it would not have.
I also have a brokerage account for them in which they will get when they turn 18. I expect there to be $30-$40K in there by the time they are 18. It will do either one or two things....they will see the benefits of compounding and letting investments take their course, or they will blow it and will later on regret doing that, and hopefully teaches them a hard lesson.
At my next meeting with my advisors, I will ask about next steps for them. Lots of good input in this thread.
All in all I think a 529 is the starting point in helping your children. I like the protections it has in place, and that its used for a specific purpose, and a great one at that.
I have been to cool zoo multiple times, but not in the past three years. Its a good thing to do for the situation. I looked at it as you take the kids to the zoo, see animals, and before you leave you cool off in the cool zoo. Its a good concept.
Now for attending an organized event, I don't know about that. The good news is that it costs $55 and everything there is for purchase. The more that an event costs the better the experience is. I learned that gradually over time.
Do it and tell us how it went.
Now for attending an organized event, I don't know about that. The good news is that it costs $55 and everything there is for purchase. The more that an event costs the better the experience is. I learned that gradually over time.
Do it and tell us how it went.
re: Parents of new college students are having some issues
Posted by Mariner on 8/6/26 at 10:02 pm to tiggerthetooth
quote:
Help your kids, be there for them, give effort for them. Thats the only way anything gets better and get rid of this "DO IT ON YOUR OWN!!!" boomer nonsense.
I'm with you on this one. I always found the parents who help their children who help themselves to be true selfless leaders. Imagine if this world were full of parents who strived to get their children into a better life than they had, and the cycle continued.
re: New Orleans may run out of money soon
Posted by Mariner on 8/4/26 at 10:28 pm to ChatGPT of LA
quote:
Just a complete shithole. Once a great place....now a chocolate disaster
Having grown up there and not branching out into the world until I started grad school, I was blind to all the issues.
Visiting so many places and not living there for 18+ years put things in a different perspective for me.
Went to the aquarium over the weekend. It was depressing. Saks shut down. The refurbished aquarium was a letdown. Discolored buildings, broken sidewalks, people looking like they just got out of bed and are on their way to brush their teeth. Nothing fresh and bright to be seen.
I'm having lunch and I see a prop plane flying around downtown with a personal injury law firm advertisement. Surely that will attract new businesses to relocate to the region. :yack:
First you need to look into the mirror and ask what are you doing wrong. Maybe you are not but try and reflect on your approach.
I have never really had an issue and I blatantly look like a family man right of center, drug free, a pattern of making the better decisions in life with my stuff together, and being financially and mentally secure. They still treat me well. There are a few isolated situations but I give them grace.
Its partly because I treat them well and are not judging them. I don't agree with them but I still respect them as people. If we were all like that we would be a more unified country.
I have seen the customers that take issue with it and its a whole different experience for them.
I have never really had an issue and I blatantly look like a family man right of center, drug free, a pattern of making the better decisions in life with my stuff together, and being financially and mentally secure. They still treat me well. There are a few isolated situations but I give them grace.
Its partly because I treat them well and are not judging them. I don't agree with them but I still respect them as people. If we were all like that we would be a more unified country.
I have seen the customers that take issue with it and its a whole different experience for them.
Grew up in Metairie. Moved to Mandeville in 2008. Love it. Several things to consider....
St Tammany expects to require several thousand new homes by 2030 or 2031 to meet demand. There will never be a time when building is not expensive, or home prices have come way down. Just get in.
I have heard Covington public schools are much worse than Mandeville, although I never sent my children to public school so I can't comment for sure. However, I come across and have met several kids from the Mandeville public school system like Mandeville High, Fountainbleau, and Lakeshore. Very good kids overall. If moving to Mandeville, there are favorable public schools. It seems the best district is with Mandeville High/Tchefuncte.
Madisonville is too rural for me. Some people love it.
Traffic in Covington/Madisonville is worse than Mandeville. Mandeville has the best traffic flow. If you tried to have a text message conversation with someone while driving but could only send and read while stopped, you would not get through the conversation. That is my gauge for which areas have the best flow.
It seems that Mandeville has more wealth overall. Also, the infrastructure in Mandeville seems to be more in place than the others.
1088 and the land off the new road to Pelican park will likely be the next big developments pertaining to Mandeville.
Good luck. You will like the move.
St Tammany expects to require several thousand new homes by 2030 or 2031 to meet demand. There will never be a time when building is not expensive, or home prices have come way down. Just get in.
I have heard Covington public schools are much worse than Mandeville, although I never sent my children to public school so I can't comment for sure. However, I come across and have met several kids from the Mandeville public school system like Mandeville High, Fountainbleau, and Lakeshore. Very good kids overall. If moving to Mandeville, there are favorable public schools. It seems the best district is with Mandeville High/Tchefuncte.
Madisonville is too rural for me. Some people love it.
Traffic in Covington/Madisonville is worse than Mandeville. Mandeville has the best traffic flow. If you tried to have a text message conversation with someone while driving but could only send and read while stopped, you would not get through the conversation. That is my gauge for which areas have the best flow.
It seems that Mandeville has more wealth overall. Also, the infrastructure in Mandeville seems to be more in place than the others.
1088 and the land off the new road to Pelican park will likely be the next big developments pertaining to Mandeville.
Good luck. You will like the move.
re: Budgets: Do you have one? If Y, do you do a mid year analysis of your spending?
Posted by Mariner on 8/2/26 at 7:33 am to Everyday Is Saturday
Never had a rigid budget to abide by. I do more cash flow forecasting with forecasted expenses as a general measure of how to live. I have a standard savings/investments in the forecast, and allocate more to that in the months with higher forecasted income. Knock on wood but we never have had a drop in income but only increases, so the increases would be split between savings and splurges. I have always liked it this way because it takes the nitpicky stress away from day to day living and worrying about money. If I brought in an auditor he would probably show me spreadsheet after spreadsheet of savings if I became a monk, but we enjoy the experiences provided by the fruits of our labor and sacrifice. We would not be where we are today if we had an accountant mindset.
For many, a strict budget is necessary, especially for those with a set income/salary along with a growing family. Not everyone's situation is the same. To each their own.
For many, a strict budget is necessary, especially for those with a set income/salary along with a growing family. Not everyone's situation is the same. To each their own.
When I went to LSU back in the late 90's/early 00's, I was surrounded by normal hard working people eager to make it in life as we all know.
I go to grad school in NYC and some of the classes were outsourced to another college due to location and accommodation of the white collars. It was at Pace University in the financial district. You should have seen the propaganda flyers and posters throughout the building. They seemed to just be going to college as a hobby.
Unfortunately that is what a lot of colleges/universities are like.
I think a child that comes from a good family support system will always stay level headed. Its OK to have different views but man we have all seen the extremes.
I worked in a profession with my peers as blue dog Democrats. They are indeed obsessed with rules and control, especially with the ones who were moderately liberal.
I go to grad school in NYC and some of the classes were outsourced to another college due to location and accommodation of the white collars. It was at Pace University in the financial district. You should have seen the propaganda flyers and posters throughout the building. They seemed to just be going to college as a hobby.
Unfortunately that is what a lot of colleges/universities are like.
I think a child that comes from a good family support system will always stay level headed. Its OK to have different views but man we have all seen the extremes.
I worked in a profession with my peers as blue dog Democrats. They are indeed obsessed with rules and control, especially with the ones who were moderately liberal.
Word of mouth is usually best for getting a Latino. They know one another and if you don't get their housekeeper, you get their housekeeper's sister who is also a housekeeper.
Latinos are vey trustworthy, especially Hondurans.
You can use the formal services that have background checks, etc. I used them once and had a bad experience.
If you want to put them on personal payroll, Homework Solutions is a good service.
Latinos are vey trustworthy, especially Hondurans.
You can use the formal services that have background checks, etc. I used them once and had a bad experience.
If you want to put them on personal payroll, Homework Solutions is a good service.
re: Payment for fertility treatments
Posted by Mariner on 7/22/26 at 9:26 pm to evil cockroach
quote:
Does insurance not cover anything when it comes to IVF?
No but the taxpayer does.
We did it. When we first got the pitch, we said we planned to pay cash. They glowed.
We did multiple rounds with cash. We were treated like royalty.
I always thought you had to pay for it but some program must exist out there for those that cannot. The waiting room had people in there who struggle with paying a cell phone bill.
re: Space X In South Louisiana?
Posted by Mariner on 7/22/26 at 11:11 am to JackDempsey
quote:
It has to do with waterways necessary to move the huge equipment.
This is also why I would think they would want to build data centers here. Just build it by a river and hook up a pump….done. All these people freaking out about water supply to cool them.
About 16 years ago my wife asked me why does everyone freak out about conserving water. This was during the Obama rise of save the planet. I told her what you are reading and hearing are all from skyscreamers who don’t live near rivers, marsh, and places where we are desperately trying to get rid of water.
Also sometimes it’s best for Louisiana to hoe themselves out. Like the LNG terminals. We got that because there were no protestors living here to prevent it.
quote:
Anyone making this about just “cheap labor” isn’t in the construction world - the American labor force is severely compromised. I’m not saying amnesty is necessarily the answer, but we cannot lose the guys that are actually doing the hardest work in America today.
I'm building a house and the laborers work hard. I feed them both illegals ( I assume) and Americans lunch most days. They are extremely grateful and polite. All the Latinos want to do is work, provide for their family and go to church on Sunday.
It is a dilemma though. On one hand I love seeing opportunity being given to good hard working people. On the other hand there is a process that they should be pursuing. Also I highly doubt they are paying taxes and that is a problem for me, especially when I worked offshore with rural Americans of all races struggling to provide as they make too much money to get free stuff but have to fund the poor and lazy.
The whole process now is so broken that it seems the only way to fix it is to go nuclear. I just wish there was an organized and formal incentive process that stated you are here illegally, so if you want to stay you have to achieve multiple steps for amnesty which involves a lot of work, discipline, and sacrifice on the illegal's part, all while having a timeline to do it in. If you fail, you have to leave. That weeds out the bad and keeps the good.
Latinos work all day on the house. Americans show up for a few hours and leave. I still love the Americans as they do quality work.
quote:
self inflicted. I have what I regard as plenty of money (others probably would disagree) and have zero stress. That’s the point
When someone has three children with their whole life ahead of them and parents want to give them the best opportunities possible, I'll gladly accept that self inflicted stress.
When you know life is never guaranteed, you always worry about is what you are doing enough? If something is going great for you, do you just close the doors because you hit a magic number, or do you keep growing your wealth and your legacy, as you never know how/when times change?
When you accumulate wealth, you get anxiety over the million possible ways to lose it, and have to prevent and mitigate that. Much of my time is devoted to that.
We are still young and have decades left to go, and the life expectancy keeps increasing. You can't just leave a great thing that was created, but we can plan to delegate more and let go a little each year.
re: Everyone wants more money. But how much more would you actually need to change your life?
Posted by Mariner on 7/20/26 at 10:24 am to Everyday Is Saturday
No plastic surgery but some people don’t do surgeries because of high deductibles. Just saying to take care of yourself.
Yes already done plenty of that and continue to do so. Also giving back to family. Looking into starting a donor advised fund although I decided to not do that this tax year.
Oh yes and like the other poster said….more money more problems. It’s a different kind of problem and can be stressful believe it or not.
quote:
If there already, unless I missed it, in your list of lifestyle wants and needs, might carving some for your important charities or helping others be in play?
Yes already done plenty of that and continue to do so. Also giving back to family. Looking into starting a donor advised fund although I decided to not do that this tax year.
Oh yes and like the other poster said….more money more problems. It’s a different kind of problem and can be stressful believe it or not.
re: Everyone wants more money. But how much more would you actually need to change your life?
Posted by Mariner on 7/19/26 at 11:19 pm to Rust Cohle
Several years ago I posted a thread about life changing income that hit my life and I needed advice. I was attacked by many people saying I was headed for divorce, I'm going to ruin my family's future, etc...etc.
Well here we are years later and our income is 10X the amount of the initial life changing money I originally posted with, our net worth is close to 8 figures, and I'm still married with a recent arrival of a baby :lol:
My concerns at the time of life changing money was how were we supposed to handle it while pursuing additional income producing investments to diversify our money?
Our decision was to continue to do what we did best and just focus on growing our business. There is not an investment out there that would have given us a greater return on our money. Do what you do best, but invest in something conservative and create a nest egg with that, and take a chance here and there. If things dried up with your business, you have a nest egg to then start something else. If your business gave you the life changing income, focus on growing that above all things, instead of dipping your toes into something you are not familiar or fluent with. Do what you do best!
I dollar cost average invest monthly into securities. Its a chunk of change equal to a middle class annual household salary. Every once in a while I'll get frisky and throw extra $ at individual up and coming stocks.
Things we learned along the way:
Our time is very valuable.
You get what you pay for.
High risk = high reward if successful
People will not understand your situation and decision making, and will make comments or try to affect your decision making, especially the people who live a scarcity lifestyle. If we listed to them we would not be close to where we are now.
Your close friend circle will get smaller and smaller. Your business/acquaintance circle will grow larger. You just have to go with it and play the game.
Do things to lessen stress so you can focus on your business. Outsource everything...landscaping, home repairs, food/grocery delivery, car details, etc...etc. Focus on what you do best. I learned that piddlyfricking on stuff because it was a hobby or would save me money doing it myself would have costed us way more due to opportunity costs.
Take vacations and splurge. Reward yourself. We killed it last year and are on pace to shatter last year. We work our arse off. We only take first class vacations. It is a reward for our labor and a motivator to continue to grow. Being around successful people inspires you to do more.
Invest in education. You will want to build generational wealth. You want to break the cycle. Education will help with that. Open a 529 or a brokerage account for your kids. I am about two years from fully funding undergrad and grad school for all of my children and none of them are in HS yet. I also have K12 private school funding.
Invest in things that will give you peace of mind. Paying off your house early may draw criticism, but if your business gets hit with an economic crash, not only will your business suffer but so will your stocks. Having a paid off house hedges against that.
Have a chunk of cash (whatever makes you comfortable) in a money market account. Look at it as dead money and act like you don't even have it.
Invest in wellness. Gym membership, medical procedures, clothing, etc, Make your health a priority.
When investing in securities, hire an institution/advisor. Your time is valuable and it makes transactions and planning streamlined and easy. The fees are worth it. Your time is valuable. They will then be able to open doors with life insurance, wills, estate planning, etc. Yes you need life insurance asap if you don't have it.
I looked into property rentals, but stalled because of the mindset of focusing on the business first. Well we found an opportunity that required us to spend 5X the amount of monthly cash flow for three months straight. Luckily we had cash savings in the business and were able to do it. The result was a huge success and our best three months ever. That opportunity would have been null and void if I used that cash to buy rentals.
When times are good, establish a business line of credit. You never know when you will need it. Hopefully never, but it is there.
Be careful with your lifestyle change. Once you do it you won't want to go back. We are about at the point where we want to stop growing our lifestyle and now focus on maintaining the lifestyle we have achieved.
This is just a start and a view from someone who was in your situation.
Well here we are years later and our income is 10X the amount of the initial life changing money I originally posted with, our net worth is close to 8 figures, and I'm still married with a recent arrival of a baby :lol:
My concerns at the time of life changing money was how were we supposed to handle it while pursuing additional income producing investments to diversify our money?
Our decision was to continue to do what we did best and just focus on growing our business. There is not an investment out there that would have given us a greater return on our money. Do what you do best, but invest in something conservative and create a nest egg with that, and take a chance here and there. If things dried up with your business, you have a nest egg to then start something else. If your business gave you the life changing income, focus on growing that above all things, instead of dipping your toes into something you are not familiar or fluent with. Do what you do best!
I dollar cost average invest monthly into securities. Its a chunk of change equal to a middle class annual household salary. Every once in a while I'll get frisky and throw extra $ at individual up and coming stocks.
Things we learned along the way:
Our time is very valuable.
You get what you pay for.
High risk = high reward if successful
People will not understand your situation and decision making, and will make comments or try to affect your decision making, especially the people who live a scarcity lifestyle. If we listed to them we would not be close to where we are now.
Your close friend circle will get smaller and smaller. Your business/acquaintance circle will grow larger. You just have to go with it and play the game.
Do things to lessen stress so you can focus on your business. Outsource everything...landscaping, home repairs, food/grocery delivery, car details, etc...etc. Focus on what you do best. I learned that piddlyfricking on stuff because it was a hobby or would save me money doing it myself would have costed us way more due to opportunity costs.
Take vacations and splurge. Reward yourself. We killed it last year and are on pace to shatter last year. We work our arse off. We only take first class vacations. It is a reward for our labor and a motivator to continue to grow. Being around successful people inspires you to do more.
Invest in education. You will want to build generational wealth. You want to break the cycle. Education will help with that. Open a 529 or a brokerage account for your kids. I am about two years from fully funding undergrad and grad school for all of my children and none of them are in HS yet. I also have K12 private school funding.
Invest in things that will give you peace of mind. Paying off your house early may draw criticism, but if your business gets hit with an economic crash, not only will your business suffer but so will your stocks. Having a paid off house hedges against that.
Have a chunk of cash (whatever makes you comfortable) in a money market account. Look at it as dead money and act like you don't even have it.
Invest in wellness. Gym membership, medical procedures, clothing, etc, Make your health a priority.
When investing in securities, hire an institution/advisor. Your time is valuable and it makes transactions and planning streamlined and easy. The fees are worth it. Your time is valuable. They will then be able to open doors with life insurance, wills, estate planning, etc. Yes you need life insurance asap if you don't have it.
I looked into property rentals, but stalled because of the mindset of focusing on the business first. Well we found an opportunity that required us to spend 5X the amount of monthly cash flow for three months straight. Luckily we had cash savings in the business and were able to do it. The result was a huge success and our best three months ever. That opportunity would have been null and void if I used that cash to buy rentals.
When times are good, establish a business line of credit. You never know when you will need it. Hopefully never, but it is there.
Be careful with your lifestyle change. Once you do it you won't want to go back. We are about at the point where we want to stop growing our lifestyle and now focus on maintaining the lifestyle we have achieved.
This is just a start and a view from someone who was in your situation.
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