▲ 52 r/AmtrakCascades+1 crossposts

Update: The Centennial Mills water tower in Portland is scheduled for demolition (dynamite!!) on Monday 17 Apr.

Arggh. 17 August -- this coming Monday!

Rather than post YT links, just hop over to /r/Portland and click on a few there.

The talking heads think that it will take a minimum of two weeks to knock enough of the rest of the building down, to open the tracks to passenger traffic. (Union Pacific is running freight through there unhindered, but they don't have passengers that might sue if a brick falls on their head.)

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u/DeeDee_Z — 5 days ago

Can't remember name of page layout feature

(And therefore, I can't find it on a menu, nor in the help. If I had to do this more than once every couple of years, I might have a better chance...)

I have a Calc spreadsheet, one page long, but many columns wide. Too wide to fit on a single printed page. For printing, therefore, I told *something* to force fit it to three pages wide by one high. Worked for a long while.

As I add columns, the whole thing gets smaller and smaller because it's still crammed into three page widths. I need to change it to four now. And I can't for the life of me remember what that's called, or which menu item controls it; and I can't search for it, either.

LO 26.2.5, Win 11. And me, I'm 70ish so I forget stuff I don't use regularly.

Many thanks!

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u/DeeDee_Z — 13 days ago

[From Y!Finance:] "SpaceX’s $101 Billion Unlock Heaps Pressure on Battered Shares"

Lede: $101 billion worth of stock -- 900 million shares -- becomes available for trading on Thursday.

https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/spacex-101-billion-unlock-heaps-131749403.html

The discussion / predictions today will certainly be different than they were a month ago, now that the share price has in fact dropped below the IPO price -- there's not nearly as much "rich" in the Get Rich Quick plan that was probably envisioned by most internal shareholders.

Going to be interesting to "watch from a distance" tomorrow.

u/DeeDee_Z — 15 days ago

Want to hear your experience with linking external accounts via Fidelity's website.

(I'm a desktop user with a standard browser; this is not an App question.)

It actually appears, that using "Plain Old Fidelity.com" might be a pretty good way to view multiple accounts across multiple platforms using their Link an external account feature. But, I got "scared off" by the warnings and disclaimers -- I'm 70-something, and easily frightened -- so did not complete the process.

WHO HAS ACTUAL EXPERIENCE with this feature? Does it work for you? Can you really display Vanguard or Schwab accounts ALONGSIDE Fidelity's? Are prices and balances "timely", or delayed one or more days? What about taking actions -- trading -- on external sites (although I'd feel more comfortable if this capability really was restricted to View Only access)?

This could be the simplest possible "account aggregator" if it works.

Thanks to anyone who has walked this path and can share their experience.

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u/DeeDee_Z — 16 days ago

Confused about voter registration. SecOfState website works, but the longstanding "MNVotes" doesn't any more??

Edit: Solved. Add this to the list of things I used to know, but apparently forgot.


Here's what I know this morning:

That last item really surprised me -- I thought that was THE preferred site for All Things Voting.


Kudos to the mod / graphic artist for the upvote/downvote icons...

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u/DeeDee_Z — 23 days ago

Two Qs about AndroidAuto. One: how do I *Stop* the driving directions if I no Longer want them? (Saying "Stop" or "Cancel" didn't Cut It.)

Two: When I finally arrived, AA or Maps or whoever (who?) threw up a dialog wanting feedback; there was an X in the UR corner, which I assumed would close the window -- but it did NOT. Not tapping, not double-tapping, not long-tapping ... it just would NOT go away.

ELI70, if possible. This is my first smartphone, and I'm taking baby steps, and NONE of this is "intuitive" like it would be for my grandkids.


Marking as Solved ... 23 minutes! Thanks, folks!

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u/DeeDee_Z — 1 month ago

Apparently our beloved Reddit Inc went up by $23+/share today. What's up with THAT?

With more and more bots (and fewer and fewer active users), and noting that "bots don't  u p v o t e  " ... WHO in the world is bidding this dysfunctional community up, eh?


Disclaimer/Disclosure: (1) I recall that the consensus was that NOBODY IN THEIR RIGHT MIND would EVER invest in this P.O.S. (2) I got 80 shares of my requested 300 on IPO day, sold at a 60% profit, and was happy ... then. Not so much today 😉. &nbsp; [ <--- Oooh, look -- emojis have italics too!]


Edit II: Basic Research from Y!Finance is here. Apparently we still be down 14% YTD. Maybe the best explanation is that "People have short memories"??

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u/DeeDee_Z — 2 months ago

Investing for minors: 529 accts canNOT hold individual stocks directly; what about ETFs?

The 529 plans with which I'm familiar only allow investments in Mutual Funds -- and only certain 529-tailored funds at that.

At the other end of the spectrum, there seems to be a universal prohibition against buying individual stocks in those accounts.

In between are Exchange-Traded Funds. It's not clear if I can buy any old ETF that I like inside a 529 acct, or only a curated subset of them.

Need advice from those who've trodden this path before me.


OK, half an hour in, so far so good. Best one-line summary: "You can ONLY buy what’s available in your 529 account".

  1. This implies that a Fund House offering 529 accounts will probably offer ONLY their own funds in it.
  2. Does anyone have any experience with a 529 plan which DOES offer ETFs, not just Mutual Funds?
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u/DeeDee_Z — 2 months ago

In retrospect ... SpaceX IPO maybe isn't going to be the overpriced catastrophe for index funds that we feared??

(Via Y!Finance:) SpaceX stock dips below $150 before rebounding

So, by the time index funds start buying their required shares, maybe the price will have adjusted to a more reasonable ^([OK, maybe "less unreasonable" 😎]) price after all, and we won't ALL be bagholders.

What think you? Did anybody predict that price discovery and short-seasoning would happen in this timeframe?

u/DeeDee_Z — 2 months ago
▲ 857 r/investing

[BBC via Yahoo:] Trump says he 'loves the inflation' as US prices rise at fastest rate in three years

Edit, cuz I forgot the actual link: https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/articles/us-inflation-surges-three-high-125132403.html

First few sentences:

> Donald Trump has said he "loves the inflation" facing the US as prices in May rose at their fastest rate in three years.

>The US president said the "numbers were great" when asked about Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) figures showing prices rose by 4.2% in May from a year earlier.

>The increase, from 3.8% in April, was largely driven by rising energy costs in the wake of the US Israel war in Iran.

> Speaking from the White House, Trump said: "I love it. The numbers were great. You know what? I really love the inflation."


So, does this make ANY sense to ANYone?

Maybe. • A certain amount of your brokerage balance increasing can be attributed to inflation, not just fundamentals. • This allows him to continue to demand interest rate cuts, if he truly doesn't give a shit about the consequent inflation. And • when Social Security payments get raised in November due to higher-than-normal inflation, he'll say "Look at all that free money that I got for you."

u/DeeDee_Z — 2 months ago

Is a side trip to Lock&amp;Dam#7 worth the time/effort?

When I was a kid, a gazillion years ago, a trip to "The Locks" was good for a couple hours of FREE entertainment on a Sunday afternoon. But ... different time, different place.

What about L&D#7 on the Minnesota side? Anything to see there? Enough boat traffic to justify a trip with a kid?

ANY OTHER SUGGESTIONS about things to occupy a 7yo child in town?

Many thanks!

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u/DeeDee_Z — 2 months ago

ELI5: [or ELI70:] in chatbot context, what is a token, do I need to buy them in advance, who pays, etc?

Of course, the assumption is that "token" is like a subway token -- something I hand over which shows I have prepaid for some product or service.

See Force me to use your AI customer service chatbot? Enjoy your excessive bill..

Using that post as reference, WHO is paying WHOM for "excessive chatbot usage"??

If I want to deal with a chatbot, do I have to go buy some tokens somewhere to pay for it?


Separate, but possibly related: On my new and first-ever smartphone, at the top of the Messaging app is a link for "chatbot message". Do people REALLY go "talk" with a computer just for the hell of it?? Or am I missing a key concept HERE, too??

Thanks in advance for your patience here. Yeah, I was a software developer 40 years ago, but today's tech has left me behind and completely flummoxed.

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u/DeeDee_Z — 3 months ago

The public process is underway ... good luck!

OK, boys and girls, it's starting: I just got the email announcement of the Space Exploration Technologies Corp. IPO from Fidelity.

Cute: instead of a "nice, round" number of shares, 555,555,555 are being offered.

(We have a week to "indicate our intent"; typically there's 24-48 hours, so that's different too.)

(333 characters.)

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u/DeeDee_Z — 3 months ago

"Oil prices surge on reports that Iran has cut off communication with US" - Y!Finance

Link (to Yahoo Finance).

Frankly, this doesn't surprise me in the least; although there has been talk of ongoing negotiations, I have no idea if those were face-to-face someplace, or just two strong-willed old men texting demands at each other.

For discussion: what does someone smarter than I am, think this week's actions and consequences will actually be?

(Example: I'm not smart enough to invest in oil or futures etc ... is anyone here really doing that? Howzit going for you?)

u/DeeDee_Z — 3 months ago
▲ 3 r/Amtrak

Does Borealis have its own "dedicated" fleet of two trainsets?

Or is the CHI->MSP run a different trainset each day, taken from the Hiawatha pool?

  • If it were the same, then it could be different from the others -- it could have an additional car, or a full café PLUS business coach.
  • That would also "work" -- perhaps not ideally -- with crew scheduling, since it's an 8-hour trip.

Or, maybe it's a different trainset out of Chicago every day, so it HAS to have the same configuration as all the other Hiawathas. (Both the train and its crew overnight in St Paul, and return to Chicago together the next morning.)

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u/DeeDee_Z — 3 months ago

Next year a family member must start their RMDs from an existing IRA. They also have an Individual / non-qualified account. Said person "doesn't need the money", as they say, so the existing ACH transfer-to-bank process isn't what we're looking for.

What we're casting about for, are alternatives to handle the RMD process with as little human intervention as possible. This would be a once-per-year process, as we currently envision it. How many of the following steps can Fidelity automate?

  1. Determine the RMD amount, from previous year's 12/31 balance.
  2. Liquidate that amount from mutual fund in account.
  • (Easy one; you're already doing that in another account.)
  1. Transfer that amount (in cash) IRA --> Indv
  • (Also believed to be easy, since you already handle ACH transfers to bank.)
  1. Re-invest that amount in (different) mutual fund in Indv account.
  • I feel this is the biggest obstacle ... and would be happy to be wrong!

ALTERNATIVELY, steps 2 and 4 might be bypassed, thus:

3. Transfer that amount in-kind via shares, if we're willing to use the same fund.


Re-emphasizing: we know -all- of this can be done by a person. We're trying to bypass that person.

--> You don't have to tell us HOW to implement this; we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Just have to know WHETHER it's possible, or not.

--> Answer not urgent -- we've got 8 more months to figure it out!

Many thanks!

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u/DeeDee_Z — 4 months ago
▲ 23 r/tax

Mailed 28 Feb, deposit received 29 Apr.

IRS "official timeline" was 6-8 weeks, and they hit 8 weeks on the nose.

(Somebody out there -must- want to know this, even though I'm not in NYS!)

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u/DeeDee_Z — 4 months ago