Man, I saw houses in Portland that were smaller than 900 sq ft, did not have central AC, no appliances, and had water damage and wires ripped from the walls above $200k. That's not the case in all markets, but it is for a great many. Get on Zillow and start looking around as if you were in the market. Ask yourself if you'd be willing to offer some of these asking prices.
I just bought a house in the eastern part of the Midwest in the US. The tax assessment in 2021 for the house was about 193k. In 2023, it's 275k. That is a 30% increase in 2 years. During those 2 years, nobody lived in the house, and no improvements were made in that time. Neat! My mortgage is still about the same as my rent for a 2br apartment in Oregon earlier this year. I suspect the Midwest is about to start hating Oregonians as much as Oregonians hate Californians soon!
I used to work in a restaurant.I got paid $2 less than minimum wage and split tips with the rest of the staff, guaranteed to make at least minimum wage. What would have MAXIMIZED my income would be getting minimum wage as a base pay + tips. All this system does is subsidize the cost of labor for restaurant owners. I get it, running a successful restaurant is tough business if you're not loaded. Running ANY successful business is tough. Tipping systems favor the business owners primarily over staff and consumers.
I'm living the inverse of your experience right now. Just started a new job that requires 3 days in the office after having worked several years fully remote. I sit next to a full wall-length window and yet am being battered by soul-crushing overhead fluorescents. Time to figure out where the controls to the lights near me live in the breaker. I hear the COO likes all of the lights on so he can "feel like there are more people in the office." Bully for him.
Classic, it's a good one.
I dig it, cool song!
Yeah, that's one of my favorites too! Got any good examples you like? One of my favs is "Ivory" by Polyphia. It hits right towards the end of the song and always gets me good.
I like it when a chorus gets built up more on each repetition, either with the addition of more instrumental parts, new harmonies or background vocals, or a beat change that brings up the intensity.
Similarly, I like when that same effect happens within 2 halves of a chorus. Example of one I heard recently is the chorus of the song "Breathing" by ELLEGARDEN. The 2nd half adds a higher vocal harmony + a picked lead guitar line that open up the sound a bit and just give it a nice little emotional boost.
If St.Louis is anything like the city I work for somewhat nearby, the police force has a strong presence throughout government agencies you may think they don't even belong in. If the police force and the mayor's office are strongly aligned, your city is being run by the police.
Oh my god.... I get it now, thanks ⭐
I'm a bit skeptical after seeing it as well. I think I'll enjoy seeing the character again, but the overall success is reallllly dependent on how the other characters mesh along with the overall quality of the writing.