Patrick

I think I'm in the same neighborhood as you - mid hundreds. This was probably helped by COVID and having a kid. If not, living in Los Angeles and having some venues walkable, I'd have gone to a bunch more shows by now. We have tickets for My Chemical Romance in October as my wife is a fan. That might be the most expensive, at least in present day dollars vs. inflation adjusted. Those are a bit under $500. We just saw the New York Rangers (vs. the Kings) earlier this year, and I bought the tickets a few hours before the game - they were under $99 (including taxes and feessuite tickets, where we had a suite and seats at the front of the suite. I think we'll try to do that more often to see the Rangers and Lakers and maybe the Yankees when they are in Anaheim. We went to a Yankees/Dodgers game, and it wasn't as fun as it could have been. But we went to a 3 game set in San Diego two years ago, and that was really fun. Going to see them in San Francisco this month for the opening series (not Opening Day, though). I'm also going to try to go to some of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, but am curious to see how much that ends up being.

I was just going to come back to say something like this. As you said, KarateKen, there is *always* a problem. So that means a problem isn't necessarily a reason not to do the deal. It just comes down to sorting minor and major problems, things that are cheap to fix vs. expensive, what you can live with, and what you can negotiate with. Getting the most out of this type of process is just a game of you not wearing down. Folks who process home after home after home are used to people wearing down. It sounds like you don't have the problem of falling in love, so that's good. Back when we were buying, it was closer to worst of COVID, and we'd hear about people forgoing inspection as a way to be competitive which, unless you are incredibly wealthy and the home price is a minor inconvenience for you, just boggles my mind. The agent we had at the time pitched it in a "this is just what others are doing" way. But on the house we actually agreed to buy, she was trying to talk me into doing away with the mortgage contingency to make our offer stronger, since we'd already qualified. But why? I'll never beat a cash offer, so if that's what the seller was getting, that's cool. Otherwise, if we're pushing forward the biggest bag of money, they'll take it. And they did. Any pressure that anyone tries to put on you, you just have to kind of laugh it off. It sounds like you're already doing this. The only deadlines that exist are the ones in contracts. The rest are made up. The pressure might be real, but it could also be made up. And if it's real and you lose out, oh well, you still have your money! When the house fell through, we stayed in the apartment, and our financial situation has improved dramatically just based on how financial markets have performed (example: the Dow is up 40% since we would have closed, while the NASDAQ is up more). Meanwhile, the buyers of the home we were going to buy tried to sell it recently for around a 10% profit (3.5 years later), and couldn't. It appears they may have rented it for far below what the mortgage payment would have been. We have been talking about buying a home again, because I'd love to have more outdoor space for my toddler and for us. But we also love living in our neighborhood and my wife being able to walk to work. It's very much a city and an apartment area, which we enjoy, so I'm torn. Pros and cons for everything.

Wow, what an update. Thanks for sharing. I hope it is, as you say, a technical glitch. Did your doctor say what would cause a hole like that?

Hey DarthPenguin, thanks for asking. I'll play. I usually do head-to-head, but I'm up for trying roto. I've either never done that or it's been a longtime. I do like a live draft if possible, just because people can show up if they want, and you can pre-rank either way, but you can count me in regardless, if you get enough to make it worthwhile. I appreciate it.

My experience is mostly watching my parents buy a few homes over the years. We actually bought a house a few years ago, but the inspection came back so bad that we went ahead and backed out. It sounds like you've probably already found the one thing that I recommend to folks: An inspector who will give you reasons not to move forward. I feel like the whole system is generally adversarial to buyers. Even people operating on your behalf are often trying to simply complete a sale. For me, having a good inspector alleviates a lot of the stress I would feel because at the point of buying, I have come to terms with the financial investment and the fun side of it - the life it creates - but the inspector helps deal with the unfun side. We paid for a normal inspection, plus a termite and sewer inspection, and I'd do it again. I'll never forget the moment the inspector crawled out from under the building and said, "it looks like mold," and the real estate agent basically cut him off to say, "it could be [whatever he said]," like she wasn't let him talking. Sure enough, it was mold. Several types, including two black mold, and all sorts of other issues. If we buy again, I'll go back to that inspector if he's still around.

Hey all, I just wanted to call out an upcoming change to our login system here at KarateForums.com. I am not setting a date for the change yet. It will occur during normal updates of our community software, and I will follow up on this thread with a date when I know it. Previously, you have been able to login to your account using your username and password. But as best practices have changed over the years, many sites have shifted to login using your email address and password. The simple reason is that your username is clearly visible on the site - so everyone has it. For example, you know that my username is Patrick. If someone was trying to access my account, they would just need to guess my password. Hopefully, you have a complex one. But even if you do, the email address you use on KarateForums.com is not publicly visible on the site. If someone was trying to access your account, they would need to guess what email address you have on file. I should add that we haven't had any issues with accounts being breached or anything like that, this isn't in response to any particular concern. It's happening now because the new version of the community software that we use has it as a standard feature. So, when we update to the next version, the feature will be automatically applied, and I just wanted to give you a heads up. You should always keep a current email address on file with us, just in case you ever lose access to your account, but if you are worried about this change, now would be a good time to verify the email address you have on your account, which you can do at karateforums.com/settings/email/. If you have any questions, please feel free. Thanks for reading. Patrick

Sorry for your loss, Ken.

No, I've never got into that particular hobby. We bought some stuff from a prop house once and it has a bunch of stamps in it but I haven't had time to look into them yet. I can see how it can be a fun treasure hunt.

Hey all, Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com. We recognize one member every month as the KarateForums.com Member of the Month for their positive contributions to this community. Our honoree this time is... @KarateKen for the second time! Thank you for all of your continued contributions over the years, KarateKen! You have made an impact, and I'm grateful to have you as a member of our community. Patrick

I love this show. Anyone else watching?

Sorry for your loss, JazzKicker, and of course, the loss to everyone who was impacted by him.

Do you normally collect stamps, Bob?

Well, the author's website describes the first book with this phrase: "enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders." I guess it's described as fantasy romance, adventure, sci-fi, dystopian... it's about a young woman who is the daughter of a general, attending said college, and learning things about what they are/aren't fighting against. I'm not even half way through the second book so I don't really know where the story is at the moment, but my wife has read them and likes them, so that's what started me trying to catch up before the fourth book comes out (TBD, but not soon).

Hey all, Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com. We recognize one member every month as the KarateForums.com Member of the Month for their positive contributions to this community. Our honoree this time is... @Furinkazan! So glad to have you join us in October, Furinkazan. Thank you for the contributions that you have made thus far. Excited to continue to get to know you through this community. Patrick

Happy New Year folks.

I have begun the second book in this series, Iron Flame.

Happy Hanukkah!

Hello, Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com. After a month and a half of nominating and voting, the 24th edition of the KarateForums.com Awards have come to an end. It is now time for us to announce the winners! Before I do so, I wanted to once again congratulate everyone who was nominated. Regardless of whether or not you won the award, the fact that you were nominated means that, when asked to identify a member who really stood out in the past year, your fellow community members thought of you. In the history of this community, only 169 members have ever been nominated for an award. To be nominated is pretty cool, and you should be proud. If you did not win or were not nominated, please don't take it badly. These awards do have meaning, but they are also for fun and not everyone can win or be nominated. Please join me in congratulating our winners. I would like to specifically thank everyone who participated in the process by nominating and voting. It is the community that selected the nominees and decided the winners. There are no KarateForums.com Awards without you. In fact, a majority of our nominees took the time to vote in categories where they were nominated. Since you can't vote for yourself, your choice is to vote for someone else or not vote at all. Though I can't reveal who voted for whom, please know that I appreciate everyone who thoughtfully voted in the categories where they were nominated. It says a lot about you, and I love to see it. Without further ado, here are our winners: 1. Member of the Year: @KarateKen 2. Community Spirit Award: (tie) @bushido_man96 (for the 9th year and 2nd consecutive!) and @DarthPenguin 3. Staff Member of the Year: (tie) @bushido_man96 (for the 9th year and 2nd consecutive!) and @Wastelander (for the 3rd year and 2nd consecutive!) 4. Funniest Member of the Year: @KarateKen 5. Karate Contributor of the Year: @Spartacus Maximus 6. Health and Fitness Contributor of the Year: @bushido_man96 (for the 5th year!) 7. Instructors and School Owners Contributor of the Year: @Wastelander (for the 4th year!) Congratulations to bushido_man96 (3 wins!), KarateKen (2 wins!), Wastelander (2 wins!), DarthPenguin, and Spartacus Maximus! bushido_man96 has now hit the milestone of 25 wins over the history of the KarateForums.com Awards, currently with 27, which is 2nd all-time. Wastelander reached and surpassed the 10 win mark, now with 11, good for 5th all-time. Finally, DarthPenguin now has 5 wins, T8th all-time. Congrats all around. For past winners and all of the awards historical data, please check out: http://www.karateforums.com/awards.php Thank you for reading and for supporting the KarateForums.com Awards. Sincerely, Patrick

Hey all, I wanted to take a moment to wish you a happy holiday season. Thank you for being a part of KarateForums.com. I hope 2026 finds you in a happy, healthy, and safe place. Patrick

Thank you to everyone who voted in this year's awards. Stay tuned for an announcement where we will reveal our winners.

If you haven't voted yet, please do! Thanks.

Hello, Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com. We recognize one member every month as the KarateForums.com Member of the Month for their positive contributions to this community. Our honoree this time is... @wagnerk (for the 4th time)! Thank you for being a part of this community for so long, Ken! 2026 will mark your 20th year here, which is just incredible. Patrick

Thank you to everyone who has voted thus far! There is still plenty of time. Please take a few minutes to review the ballots and place your vote. Every vote makes a difference. It's also a great way to recognize some of your favorite contributors here at KarateForums.com.

Every half-anniversary, I invite a member of staff (in order of seniority) to address the community. Thank you for writing this, Brian. I appreciate you and all of the members who have made this sentiment a reality.

Hello, Welcome to the voting period for the 24th annual KarateForums.com Awards! Through these awards, we recognize just a few of the individuals who have made outstanding contributions to KarateForums.com in the past year. You submitted your nominations and, from those, we have our KarateForums.com Awards 2025 nominees. In all, 11 different members have been nominated in the various categories that make up this year's awards. They are @KarateKen, @Nidan Melbourne, @Zaine, @Spartacus Maximus, @aurik, @DarthPenguin, @bushido_man96, @sensei8, @Wastelander, @crash, and @Himokiri Karate! KarateKen was nominated in 4 categories, the most of any member, followed by Spartacus Maximus, bushido_man96, sensei8, and Wastelander with 3. Our historical award numbers have been updated and new milestones have been reached! Congratulations to Spartacus Maximus on reaching 20 nominations (now with 22, 6th all-time) and KarateKen on hitting 5 (now with 7, T17th all-time)! I also wanted to highlight Wastelander for reaching the top 5 all-time. Previously, Wastelander was T5th (technically in the top 6), and now is T4th. With the ballots crafted, it is now time to vote. What You Should Know Before Voting These awards take into consideration all community activity between October 19, 2024 and October 18, 2025. You should vote based upon activity during this period - not activity before or after. To vote, you must have a KarateForums.com account with at least 10 posts made on or before October 18, 2025. You cannot vote for yourself. If you do, it will be removed. Your votes will be kept private. We do not publicly reveal who voted for whom. Please do not attempt to artificially inflate our vote totals in any way. This includes, but is not limited to: Trading votes, encouraging people to vote indiscriminately (publicly or privately), sending spam and any other behavior that could lead to results being artificially skewed. Members found to be participating in these activities will be disqualified from nomination in any category. Please note that you do not have to vote in every category. You can vote in as many or as few as you would like - please go for as many as you feel comfortable with. The more valid votes we receive, the better! Categories The categories are listed below. For each category, you will find a link to the ballot where you can vote. Member of the Year https://karateforums.com/topic/52457-awards-25-member-of-the-year/ Community Spirit Award https://karateforums.com/topic/52456-awards-25-community-spirit-award/ Staff Member of the Year https://karateforums.com/topic/52455-awards-25-staff-member-of-the-year/ Funniest Member of the Year https://karateforums.com/topic/52454-awards-25-funniest-member-of-the-year/ Karate Contributor of the Year https://karateforums.com/topic/52453-awards-25-karate-contributor-of-the-year/ Health and Fitness Contributor of the Year https://karateforums.com/topic/52452-awards-25-health-and-fitness-contributor-of-the-year/ Instructors and School Owners Contributor of the Year https://karateforums.com/topic/52451-awards-25-instructors-and-school-owners-contributor-of-the-year/ Vote Now Please vote. Voting will be closed on December 6, 2025 at 8pm Eastern (UTC -5). Please do not post your votes in any thread. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to private message me or reply here. Thank you for reading and for visiting KarateForums.com. Your participation in these awards is what makes them meaningful. I can't wait to see who you vote for this year. Sincerely, Patrick