perfectsim

Assuming you can cover your butt with the impending economic downturn... maybe this car can be a part of your retirement plan. Just know it will cost money to keep it in really nice condition and you won't ever really recoup your "investment."

9 hours ago, Destiny Skywalker said:

My husband's cars always end up with electrical troubles. Mine always have the engine seals fail or a sensor fails somewhere that makes it undrivable. Once I had a transmission sensor go out as I was driving down US1. That was fun.

Are you driving German cars? For some reason I've had the worst luck with electronics and German cars. It's like they figured out everything except electricity. 

Paid off cars are the best, but it's always something with the suspension/steering. Or brakes. Or an oxygen sensor. 

... I wonder if I should have the timing belt looked at. 

I know what a huge relief that must be. Congrats on herding all of the cats to make it happen. 

NYS is banning vehicles with emissions by 2035. These are all insane regulations. I understand the want for them, but it is just externalizing the pollution of vehicles to other countries where the mining happens. 

Italy shut down the economy and used coercion to force a new type of vaccination which is, quite frankly, disappointing in many ways. They only recently lifted the "green pass" which was used to allow citizens access to society. If Italy did vote for fascism, it is just a new flavor of authoritarianism for the country. 

Am I the only person that makes them at home? I don't can them in a water bath, I just make fridge pickles. Anybody?

Destiny, that sounds pretty toxic. Kudos to you for holding it together. I think you'd see me on the news. 

As far as the labor market is concerned... it's probably a ton of factors. I know my father was laid off a few years earlier than he wanted and hasn't returned or been replaced. I have to think a lot of workers were let go in their earning prime (late 50's) and just decided to ride it out until social security age with part time gigs or customer service jobs that are suddenly paying $15-20/hour. There really is something spiritually liberating about not giving a shit in the appliance department of Home Depot if all the other bills are covered for the foreseeable future. I mean it's also soul-crushing, but the good soul-crushing. 

Are you still at (magic flying vehicle company)? If you are, I fully expect people to argue over who gets the aisle and who gets the window. Comes with the territory. Also, fuck companies for desk sharing and also for asking people to return to the office. 

Office politics suck when there is an asshole that the management likes but nobody else does. I think the problems tend to scale larger with bigger companies. The smaller places tend to either be a toxic dump that pays too much or a loving family that pays too little. 

Not that you've asked or that you need advice, but the manipulation tactic I've used is to bring in donuts. I will walk them around the office and even tell people that I got them for the sole purpose of ingratiating myself to others. I have a personality that I can pull it off with. Other times I tell people I just felt like it or "I haven't done it in a while, so I thought it would be nice." I would avoid home baked goods, especially if you are a woman. Sorry, it's unfair and sexist but it makes women look worse than it makes men. But seriously, if you are trying to assert leadership over a group of people, lording over them with the promise of future (or present!) obesity is a good trick. It's also fun to knock people off of a supposed diet. Not real diets, just the fake ones that people announce. Leave the real diets alone. 

Do these mansplainers also interrupt? Are they the same people taking credit for your work?

4 hours ago, Destiny Skywalker said:

Is it bad that I look forward to certain people being out of the office so they can't mansplain for me in meetings?

In other words, there are people who essentially repeat what you are saying.

There is a 1997 Ford Ranger near me for $3500.... I kinda wonder if it's something I'd like to have. I'm a sucker for a the smaller pickups with manual everything. 

I just sunk a bunch of money into my car. One of calipers had a sticking problem and I thought the clunking was something else and let it go. Whoops. Oh well, still cheaper than buying a new or even used car these days. I'll keep riding this one out. 

Sounds like a pretty cool dude. 

I really need to find some generic villain character and spend my weeknights having my patella explode out the side of my leg. 

When you say other companies... do you mean amateur local stuff? I keep getting invited to go to a Nickel City Wrestling event. I think the main villain is "The Landlord" who is from the "Midwest of Eastern Europe."

I read this thread and now I'm a bit annoyed at myself for never finishing that writing project I started 5 years ago and then quit. Maybe I'll give it another few pages and see what happens. 

Well, I turned that job offer down on Monday. They've wanted me since March and I kept turning them down. They insisted again that I reconsider. I thought about it more this week and did decide to move on. Of course, I went to tell my boss today and he didn't come in today. Guess he will find out on Tuesday. 

55 minutes ago, Tank said:

CAPITALISM IS A CULT

IT'S THE BEST CULT NOW BOW TO THOMAS SOWELL

35 minutes ago, Destiny Skywalker said:

I went and blew up my boss's boss's boss about my future. There's not a truly solid plan but my voice was heard and I got to see a look of terror on the guy's face that I was pissed and a flight risk if I didn't start getting some recognition for my work. The buffoon taking credit for my work is still operating the same. I suspect they're going to try to find me a separate path out of the buffoon's way because that's easier on them. But either way, I better get the title I have been gunning for for 18 years.

Workers, especially skilled ones (and women especially) have a lot more power in this economy than even just 3 years ago. Use your power. 

I'm glad somebody is having champagne problems. I don't quite have the same thing, but I have some standing offers that would increase my pay substantially and I'm not sure if I wanna leave or not. I feel an obligation to bounce so I can provide for both my immediate family as well as my future self... but who wants to take on more stress?

22 minutes ago, Gamevet said:

 I have a big concern for when the batteries in these cars start wearing out.  How much is it going to cost to completely replace the cells in your electric car? Then there's the question of where do these old batteries go and are they completely recycled?

 

Just checked it out. It's not cheap!

 

https://www.greencars.com/guides/cost-to-replace-an-electric-car-battery?gclid=CjwKCAjwu5yYBhAjEiwAKXk_eGgKWRGg3ZYgSgSwjqlB0vApx95AswQLrfsAYGCLNZjRSqfo_DakXBoCTr0QAvD_BwE

There was a recent post on twitter where one Volt user with 80k miles had to pay 29k for a battery replacement. As far as I know, some of the Toyota products are sorta easy to self replace. Some of the cells will go bad and a person with some hard work and know how (and multimeter) can replace them one at a time. That's not a dealer service, though.

4 minutes ago, Jacen123 said:

I like the idea of an electric car, but they would be completely impractical out here without incredibly serious upgrades to infrastructure.  Staying in town would work perfectly fine as things are, but a lot of electric cars could just barely get us to the nearest cities that would have chargers.  Of course, I don't really care so much about fancy cars.  If I got another sedan, I'd probably go for another Altima or an Accord.

I hope, though I don't know if it is feasible, that advances in super capacitors are made. It would be great for a more environmentally friendly alternative to lithium-ion batteries to be found, one that also allows for much shorter charge times. I don't think I can hold my breath on that, though. We could be decades away.

I would seriously consider getting the Ford Maverick, the hybrid version. I know electric is all the rage, but honestly a hybrid or plug in hybrid is the best, IMO, as I expect both problems with the electric grid and with fuel shortages in the next 18 months. I'm a ray of sunshine, I know. 

I had a Prius Prime for two years that I liked. I traded down for a lower payment. I think the mix of plug-in and gas was pretty good. I could go for a long time without using any actual gas, but I would try to go through a tank each month to prevent the gas from going bad. I had a short commute and could do almost 2 days worth of driving without switching to gas. 

If I were really in the market for a used (or new) vehicle, I would try to wait 6 months or more. It seems like Europe is front-running the USA in terms of a recession/depression. An entire continent where heating costs go up 15x in a year will absolutely have a global effect. We just haven't really felt it yet. I think used car prices are starting to peak, too. If you do some quick googling online, the repo rates of new vehicles are wayyy up. Tons of people used their covid money foolishly and are behind on payments. A combination of less buyers and more supply should depress used car prices. 

That being said, I think if I wanted something and the price were no object, I'm still a sucker for Toyota (even though I drive a Subaru). There is a Rav4 Prime now that has an all electric range stated at 42 miles. I don't know what your electric rates are, but driving electric only every day for a month in the Prius Prime only cost me an extra 30-40 a month. This makes sense as it has a 8.8kWh battery. At .12/kWh it's 1.06/day for electricity. The Rav4 Prime has an 18.1kWh battery, so it's around $2.20 for a full charge. Sure cheaper than $30 a week. You'd also get a refundable $7,500 at tax time (if you buy new). That's just my 2 cents. As Spam said, avoid the Chevy Volt. My brother had one and the dealer couldn't fix all of the electrical problems fast enough. 

Edit: I'm not sure about whether the $7500 rebate is still applicable. Apparently it ran out but was maybe reinstated in the "inflation reduction act?" Not totally sure. 

Long story short, my parent's didn't properly take care of grandma's house when they inherited it and it ended up getting flooded when a pipe burst and they didn't find out for a month. After it was all said and done they lost around $180k, plus whatever money they should have gained renting the damn thing out for 10 years. I ended up fronting them thousands for two 40 foot dumpsters and an independent contractor to do a cleanup of the interior. I'm sure things will eventually come to a head with their house too.