tester (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to Flynlow :
Update the resume and move on to greener pastures.
You've got a pretty sweet Flynlow compound set up where you are, right?
I think my first step would be to investigate opportunities that don't require a move.
Good luck, man.
Duke said:stanger_mussle (Supported by GRM undergarments) said:Hotel parking fees are the new airline baggage fees; completely ridiculous and a blatant money grab.
Meh. I file this stuff in the same place I file car dealership processing fees or ticket service charges or shipping / handling.
I don't give the smallest crap how they want to itemize it on the bill.
All I care about is the total bottom line price. How they get there makes no difference to me.
I'm sort of like that but when they first started charging those fees I refused to pay them and never had a problem. That's not the case any more. The very idea of charging a parking fee is ludicrous. Just put it in the price and stop pissing people off.
Once Covid was over I expected to see a lot of low hour motorcycles for sale by people who realized they weren't really bike people. That's happening, and while the bikes do have very low hours, they're at least a few years old. But a lot of the ads say, bike is basically brand new.
No, bike is basically used and at least 3-4 years old. The prices? That's a whole 'nother story.
Since I'm back in Ft. Walton Beach for more company paid training, I again was offered a rental car. The nice lady at the Budget counter "upgraded" me into a "full size" car. Once again I ended up in a Chevy Malibu. This one is a 2024 LT with 13,220 miles, exactly the same as the last one I had here about a month ago but this one is black. Perfect for absorbing the Florida sun.
But that's not my main complaint. My complaint is the power train. It has the 1.5L turbo four and CVT. What a hateful combination. You get the lag from the engine and the lag and indecisiveness from the transmission. It's laughably bad. Trying to navigate Florida traffic is a nightmare. No power to squirt into traffic or shoot a gap. The throttle is annoyingly too sensitive but the sluggish and confused CVT eliminates any quick stab.
I would never buy one of these. GM can't kill it quick enough.
In reply to Flynlow :
Request the lump sum and roll it to an IRA. Seriously, run. You think they will honor that pension for the rest of your life? I don't.
berkeleying birds. I've been told the door looks like the original primer, not painted, therefore will likely leave a stain. 409 cleaner did almost nothing.
The BRZ was covered in this (literal) E36 M3. Side, top, rear end somehow.
Duke said:You've got a pretty sweet Flynlow compound set up where you are, right?
I think my first step would be to investigate opportunities that don't require a move.
Good luck, man.
Thanks man.
Yeah, the garage is a little bittersweet at the moment, if I'd known I might be moving, I'd have kept the money in my pocket. Trying to look on the bright side, I'd much rather live in Richmond, so even if I do go, I'll be back eventually.
Considering a cheap commuter. I like first gen Mazda 3 hatchbacks. Searching the local classifieds shows 5-1 roached MS3s to regular 3s. And somehow the MS3s are cheaper!
I just want a simple commuter... no turbo. No direct injection. No fuss.
Replaced the steering stabilizer on the CJ5 back in January. Inspecting the front end last night and all 4 of the rubber bushings on the brand new stabilizer are cracked and falling apart. I have driven the Jeep like 3 miles since replacing them, and it's been in the garage the rest of the time.
berkeleying cheap ass low grade rubber. And this steering stabilizer was not cheap, I bought it from a (I thought) trusted Jeep parts supplier.
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
Producing good rubber components requires a lot more effort than most people realize. Unfortunately, most of the replacement market is crap.
In reply to tester (Forum Supporter) :
True, but I've never had any fail this badly, this quickly. I have seen decades-old shock bushings removed from cars that looked better than this.
In reply to Jerry :
The birds are awful this year. We put out a bluebird box, trying to help the local native bluebird population; unfortunately they love sitting on the side mirror of my shiny blue Mazda3, looking at their reflection in the glass, and taking a big old crapola all over the driver's door. I've been going through spray detailer like mad trying to keep it from drying on. I'm about to take down the box, and let the miserable fecal factories fend for themselves.
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
They make mirror covers specifically to prevent this.
Appleseed said:In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
They make mirror covers specifically to prevent this.
I wonder if some plastic grocery bags would do the trick....thanks for the idea.
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
Plastic grocery bags work reasonably well if you can keep them on. They flutter and crinkle with the wind and the birds won't perch on them.
Spring around here is like living in a Hitchcock movie... I think we're up to 1/2 dozen doves that killed themselves flying into our living room windows so far.
Some berkeleying scumbag rode up on a bike, stole my camera and my hat out of my car, and rode out of the parking lot at my work. In broad daylight. At 8:30 in the morning. Un-berkeleying-real. The hat is whatever, although the fact that he put his old hat in my car and rode off wearing my Cleetus Macfarland hat is pretty wild, but the $800 camera with 2 years of photos from my adventures is what really frosts my pumpkin.
My one coworker also had his garage broken into this morning, by them kicking the overhead garage door panels off the tracks. They stole a bag of empty cans, placed a 12-rack of beer behind the garage like they were going to come back for it, and left the big expensive soundbar on his toolbox and all his tools untouched
This city, nay, this whole damn state, is really circling the drain.
In reply to NickD :
Left NY in 1999, will never take up residence in that gawforsaken "state" again. Jobs, taxes, regulations.
I had a pair of Reef flip flops given to me as a gift about 15 years ago. They were great 'flops, but like all things, eventually wore out. Mrs. VCH bought me a new pair of Reefs for Father's Day last year. For the rest of the season, they were fine. I just pulled them out for the summer and the soles are slippery smooth- so much so that I damn near fell and killed my back walking across the floor with them. I looked and the soles are dry rotted and coming apart, in addition to being smooth and un-tractiony.
So, Reefs are apparently garbage now. Too bad.
Just ordered a pair of OluKai's, will see if they're better.
My house caught fire yesterday. The tree guy cut a branch and it landed right on the power line and shorted it out. I warned Oncor a week ago when the power was out that there was a broken branch hanging over the line. They said it was my backyard and my problem. OK. Called every tree service in town. All were busy. Power went back on Thursday. Called Dallas 911. They actually put me on hold. Called Oncor. They asked me to leave a message. Transformer behind the house blew up. Power went back out. Came home from work Friday to find the power back on again after leaving messages with Oncor about the hanging branch and asking them to please leave my power OFF! Many more calls to Oncor and to tree companies. Finally got the tree company out on Saturday They started out with the tree that fell on the other side of my house. I started cutting up the branches and cutting moving them to the front.
volvoclearinghouse said:In reply to NickD :
Left NY in 1999, will never take up residence in that gawforsaken "state" again. Jobs, taxes, regulations.
This whole area is circling the berkeleying drain. Squatters in abandoned houses everywhere, theft is going up, you go in any store and every third person is a meth zombie, and that's on a good day.
Ok Mike, I get it. You're the HMFIC of the shop. Been working here for 30 years. Know the ins and outs of everything.
This is a new product, though. Brand new, prototype even. I'm up to speed on it, and I designed half of it. Please let me explain how it goes together so you dont just start drilling holes in everything and "making it fit."
Then a thunderstorm started and the tree guys left, saying they would come back tomorrow.
Sunday morning comes and the tree guys aren't here. I wait for them till noon then I have to take Mrs Snowdoggie to the airport to catch a 3 pm flight. Just as I am driving into Terminal A at DFW my neighbor calls to tell me that the tree guys are back and working in the backyard. OK. I hope they called Oncor but I left Oncor many messages about the branch hanging over the power line.
When I get home I pull in the driveway just in time to see one of the tree guys run out my front door with a spent fire extinguisher. Then two fire trucks with lights and sirens full blast roll up in front of my house, blocking my Mustang in the driveway. The firemen open my front door and run in, and my three dogs run out. I call the Border Collie and he comes to me. The two huskies run down the street. My neighbors help me catch the huskies and all the dogs get leashed up just in time for me to watch the smoke coming out of my house. The fire department is trying to call Oncor to get them to shut off the power that is now feeding the fire. They get the fire out. Then Oncor gets there to shut off the power. They bring the burned power line out front like a dead snake to make sure it can never be connected again.
The fire department leaves. Oncor leaves. My neighbors and all the spectators leave. Mrs. SD is half the way to Europe on a 787 by now. Here I am sitting on the porch of my burned out house by myself trying to wrangle three large dogs. A guy in a fancy Dodge Ram Hypertruck pulls up and tries to hand me a card. Something about fire and disaster clean up. Then for the next hour, while I am trying to call somebody to help me haul the dogs to the other house, a steady parade of salesmen and women from fire cleanup places, private insurance adjustors, contractors and other such things come by, chasing the fire radio call with their expensive cars and their flashy brochures and business cards. Not a single one of them offers to help with the dogs.
All I can say is, Berk Me.
I had three people today call saying that they were sorry about the fire and hoped my family was ok, and they would like to make an offer on my house as is.
Do these people chase fire trucks like deranged Dalmations?? Berk me again.
In reply to Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) :
My friend, if this is all a minor rant I'd hate to see what would be a major rant
Glad you and the pups are ok
In reply to Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) :
Wow. That's some messed up E36 M3. Where are people's manners and compassion? I wish that I was closer so I could offer some help.
In reply to Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) :
Berk.... that is pretty high up there as far as nightmares of mine go. I'm glad you and the dogs are OK....
And as I type this the wind and rain outside have picked up massively and I'm hoping that I'm not dealing with something similar soon myself- our neighbor has a few trees that worry me a lot will blow over or large branches will break off and take out power lines...
Hopefully I won't need it, but I am at least glad I took the time to charge the new honking huge 'solar generator' that should be capable of powering our sump pump for a while if the power gets knocked out for days like it did last year...
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