Minor rant thread. Post your rants o' the day here!

slefain said:

(observational rant)

Anyone else want to punch a fool when they read an article about how some family managed to pay off their mortgage in something like five years? The article always talks about how they want to be debt free in X years so they can retire early and travel. The article will say something like "so the couple buckled down and decided to live on just one person's salary, and put the entire second salary toward the mortgage". Cool, sounds like a good plan so far. Then you find out both people make a good chunk over six figures. "We decided to live off Matt's meager $175k a year salary as VP of a tech startup, and put all of Karen's lower $165K a year salary as a senior marketing director towards debt...."

I get that cost of living varies by area and that the story is supposed to be educational and inspiring, but for once I want to see an article about Mike and Tina paying off their doublewide on the back 40 of her parent's property using only his job as a truck mechanic and her job as the local elementary school secretary.

(/observational rant)

Cost of living in some places is insane. Apparently you need to make 180k a year to just get by in Seattle and 81k makes you eligible for free housing in San Francisco because you are functionally homeless on that little money.

It's a trap living in these places too. Basically you end up buying a house to live close enough to work, buying a car so you can get to the job, then work long hours to afford the car you need to get to work and the house you bought so you could sleep in but rarely be in so you can go to work. 

175k would be super wealthy in my area, in fact any variation of 2 numbers in that would still be livable here. 

You aren't guaranteed 80 plus years of life, you are on the clock as soon as you are born and you have no idea when that clock will run out.

The happiest people I know work enough to live as they want and no more. If they need more money, they work more. If they don't need more money, they take it easy

Wally said:

In reply to slefain :

Got stuck watching HGTV in a walk-in clinic waiting room for an hour. The HGTV producers have definitely wised up to this meme. 

Now they take the opposite approach. They show a couple with 2-3 youngish kids, and a reasonable budget of $300,000...

...and offer them a selection of 3 or so charming 4500 sq ft houses on an acre of landscaping that they can buy for $250k, which leaves $40,000 left to gut renovate all three bathrooms and install new granite countertops and appliances, while staying comfortably below the budget cap. 

I'm not making that up. It was an actual segment they spent 15 minutes on. I remember the details because it was so transparently outrageous. 
 

Dear Kmart

ever ask yourself why you are going out of business?  I'll tell you. You sell irrelevant crap at high prices. 
 

Because of that, I have no choice but to head to the close by Walmart. 
 

seriously, why in the world would you stock an iPhone 4 and earlier charger?!?!?  Nobody has those anymore. If they did, for sure they are not going to spend $30 on a car charger. 
 

And you used to have a real auto section. Now I can't even find a basic battery charger. 
 

That is why there are 10 people shopping in this store while the nearby Walmart is totally packed with people. 

I took a piss with header wrap fibers still on my hands.

This is.......unpleasant. 

The state: we have a problem

The people: here's 6 easy ways to solve the problem while increasing your revenue at the same time

The state: no, we'll just make the problem bigger, that will make it go away

berkeleying hate Pennsylvania, I swear, the only way to get into power is to remove your brain first.

berkeleying berkeley. 

The new oil pan? Welded wrong. Theres almost 300 and a month down the tubes.

I think this island is cursed. There have been many hundreds of quakes over the last few weeks, and just recently a meteor streaked across the sky landing just north of San Juan. 
 

is the world ending soon?

alfadriver said:

Dear Kmart

ever ask yourself why you are going out of business?  I'll tell you. You sell irrelevant crap at high prices. 
 

Because of that, I have no choice but to head to the close by Walmart. 
 

seriously, why in the world would you stock an iPhone 4 and earlier charger?!?!?  Nobody has those anymore. If they did, for sure they are not going to spend $30 on a car charger. 
 

And you used to have a real auto section. Now I can't even find a basic battery charger. 
 

That is why there are 10 people shopping in this store while the nearby Walmart is totally packed with people. 

My last retail job was at Sears just before the K-Mart merger.

As someone who had a good decade or so working retail, the disarray and indifference blew my mind. Inventory was in a state where selling something out of the warehouse required walking into the back and putting hands on it. At the same time, the inventory problems had LP shook, so they'd constantly complain about warehouse foot traffic.

In prior jobs, inventory was accurate enough that there'd be a snafu once or twice a year. At Sears, it'd bite someone a couple times a day if they didn't check.

RevRico said:

The state: we have a problem

The people: here's 6 easy ways to solve the problem while increasing your revenue at the same time

The state: no, we'll just make the problem bigger, that will make it go away

 

berkeleying hate Pennsylvania, I swear, the only way to get into power is to remove your brain first.

That is 93% of government in a nutshell, at any level. 
 

Duke said:

RevRico said:

The state: we have a problem

The people: here's 6 easy ways to solve the problem while increasing your revenue at the same time

The state: no, we'll just make the problem bigger, that will make it go away

 

berkeleying hate Pennsylvania, I swear, the only way to get into power is to remove your brain first.

That is 93% of government in a nutshell, at any level. 
 

93 percent sounds generous

I berkeleying hate winter, but I berkeleying love working in the auto industry more.  But it's cold here and I'm just not motivated to get out to the cold garage and be cold.  berkeley.

New rule if you have to go to urgent care or ER. Shave your arms where they do the IV.  I have been sick for a while and ended up there for a few bags of fluids after I dropped my calcium levels so low I could not walk.

So yeah no pain with the needles, they ripped out like a square inch of hair on both my arms. Dear god does that suck. 

Mike said:

alfadriver said:

Dear Kmart

ever ask yourself why you are going out of business?  I'll tell you. You sell irrelevant crap at high prices. 
 

Because of that, I have no choice but to head to the close by Walmart. 
 

seriously, why in the world would you stock an iPhone 4 and earlier charger?!?!?  Nobody has those anymore. If they did, for sure they are not going to spend $30 on a car charger. 
 

And you used to have a real auto section. Now I can't even find a basic battery charger. 
 

That is why there are 10 people shopping in this store while the nearby Walmart is totally packed with people. 

My last retail job was at Sears just before the K-Mart merger.

As someone who had a good decade or so working retail, the disarray and indifference blew my mind. Inventory was in a state where selling something out of the warehouse required walking into the back and putting hands on it. At the same time, the inventory problems had LP shook, so they'd constantly complain about warehouse foot traffic.

In prior jobs, inventory was accurate enough that there'd be a snafu once or twice a year. At Sears, it'd bite someone a couple times a day if they didn't check.

Sears deserved to go out of business. They built their business and reputation on catalog sales, and totally blew it on the internet. They really should have been amazon, but instead are circling the drain ever faster

Used car lot sales roaches are the worst. You really expect me to believe that a "couple with 5 kids" was trying to buy a 6-passenger Mazda5? Or that a CEL meant it "passed mechanical with flying colors"? Then when I prove that 2013 and newer Gen 3's sell for your price, on your street, you still won't budge on price? Yeah, berekely that noise. Come crawling back to me in two months when it's still hanging around the lot and you're desperate to sell it.

Best line was "I sell 150 cars a month man, I know that it will get that price." 

My response: "And how many of them were stick shift minivans?"

Him: "Uh, none..."

Me: "Exactly."

Javelin said:

Used car lot sales roaches are the worst. You really expect me to believe that a "couple with 5 kids" was trying to buy a 6-passenger Mazda5? Or that a CEL meant it "passed mechanical with flying colors"? Then when I prove that 2013 and newer Gen 3's sell for your price, on your street, you still won't budge on price? Yeah, berekely that noise. Come crawling back to me in two months when it's still hanging around the lot and you're desperate to sell it.

Best line was "I sell 150 cars a month man, I know that it will get that price." 

My response: "And how many of them were stick shift minivans?"

Him: "Uh, none..."

Me: "Exactly."

I just finished watching your vid, I take it they wouldn't give you a decent price?

Antihero said:

Javelin said:

Used car lot sales roaches are the worst. You really expect me to believe that a "couple with 5 kids" was trying to buy a 6-passenger Mazda5? Or that a CEL meant it "passed mechanical with flying colors"? Then when I prove that 2013 and newer Gen 3's sell for your price, on your street, you still won't budge on price? Yeah, berekely that noise. Come crawling back to me in two months when it's still hanging around the lot and you're desperate to sell it.

Best line was "I sell 150 cars a month man, I know that it will get that price." 

My response: "And how many of them were stick shift minivans?"

Him: "Uh, none..."

Me: "Exactly."

I just finished watching your vid, I take it they wouldn't give you a decent price?

Correct. They wouldn't come off sticker *at all*. That car is a $5000 car if it's perfect (which it's not).

AngryCorvair said:

I berkeleying hate winter, but I berkeleying love working in the auto industry more.  But it's cold here and I'm just not motivated to get out to the cold garage and be cold.  berkeley.

One suggestion. Come visit the Caribbean in the dead of summer. 
 

Winters are a lot easier for me now. Heck, ines LOVES winter. 

Why do I get 10 "Is this still available" messages on Facebook Marketplace with no dialogue after I reply yes. Every time the sender reads the message. I don't get it. 

Javelin said:

Antihero said:

Javelin said:

Used car lot sales roaches are the worst. You really expect me to believe that a "couple with 5 kids" was trying to buy a 6-passenger Mazda5? Or that a CEL meant it "passed mechanical with flying colors"? Then when I prove that 2013 and newer Gen 3's sell for your price, on your street, you still won't budge on price? Yeah, berekely that noise. Come crawling back to me in two months when it's still hanging around the lot and you're desperate to sell it.

Best line was "I sell 150 cars a month man, I know that it will get that price." 

My response: "And how many of them were stick shift minivans?"

Him: "Uh, none..."

Me: "Exactly."

I just finished watching your vid, I take it they wouldn't give you a decent price?

Correct. They wouldn't come off sticker *at all*. That car is a $5000 car if it's perfect (which it's not).

At least they still have the car.

I still get e-mail from a dealership in Dayton (about 220mi away from me) telling me about the virtues of the latest Ford Edge or whatever bloatosaurus failbox they are trying to pawn off, because I e-mailed them once about a NON-sunroof Mazdaspeed6 they had listed on Autotrader.

No, I don't want your SUV.  I do not have 15 kids and I do not need a forklift to get out of bed.  I want a car.  Specifically, a unicorn.  And I don't even want THAT anymore since I bought my S60R over two years ago.  Take me off your mailing list and go away.

Whoever designed the oil fill tube and location on this motorhome had apparently never actually tried to pour a fluid of any type.  You cannot physically locate a bottle in the space between the fill tube and the motorhome that is above it.  And because of the way it is angled a hose would have a p-trap created and a long-nose funnel would just be pointed down.  The only way to put oil in this thing without half of it winding up on the ground is to use a transfer pump.

Knurled. said:

Javelin said:

Antihero said:

Javelin said:

Used car lot sales roaches are the worst. You really expect me to believe that a "couple with 5 kids" was trying to buy a 6-passenger Mazda5? Or that a CEL meant it "passed mechanical with flying colors"? Then when I prove that 2013 and newer Gen 3's sell for your price, on your street, you still won't budge on price? Yeah, berekely that noise. Come crawling back to me in two months when it's still hanging around the lot and you're desperate to sell it.

Best line was "I sell 150 cars a month man, I know that it will get that price." 

My response: "And how many of them were stick shift minivans?"

Him: "Uh, none..."

Me: "Exactly."

I just finished watching your vid, I take it they wouldn't give you a decent price?

Correct. They wouldn't come off sticker *at all*. That car is a $5000 car if it's perfect (which it's not).

At least they still have the car.

 

I still get e-mail from a dealership in Dayton (about 220mi away from me) telling me about the virtues of the latest Ford Edge or whatever bloatosaurus failbox they are trying to pawn off, because I e-mailed them once about a NON-sunroof Mazdaspeed6 they had listed on Autotrader.

 

No, I don't want your SUV.  I do not have 15 kids and I do not need a forklift to get out of bed.  I want a car.  Specifically, a unicorn.  And I don't even want THAT anymore since I bought my S60R over two years ago.  Take me off your mailing list and go away.

I still get the occasional mailing from the Local Hyundai Dealer I bought my 1999 Tiburon at. Usually it is some sort of reminder for service.

In reply to Knurled. :

I once called a place about a nice zx2 for cheap, they junked it because the seatbelt didn't work and " no one likes these things". I told him I was looking for something light with a manual for driving fun.

He called me 3 times with a Versa.......

Three rims have the smaller-sized valve stem holes.  One of them has the larger size.

This 23 degree nonsense is in fact nonsense and I'm quite upset about it.

wae said:

Whoever designed the oil fill tube and location on this motorhome had apparently never actually tried to pour a fluid of any type.  You cannot physically locate a bottle in the space between the fill tube and the motorhome that is above it.  And because of the way it is angled a hose would have a p-trap created and a long-nose funnel would just be pointed down.  The only way to put oil in this thing without half of it winding up on the ground is to use a transfer pump.

Mine is almost that bad. With some careful planning you can actually get oil in the engine from a gallon jug, but you have to do it perfectly ever time or you end up lubing everything below the fill.