In reply to TheRyGuy :
After 38 years of marriage and 30 years of buying crap my wife doesn't want or doesn't use, I tell her to send me specific links for whatever she wants to be surprised by under the tree. I'm a complete failure at guessing. I refuse to do it anymore.
In return, I give her a specific list as well. It removes 99.9% of the stress from Christmas shopping. It also works for birthdays and anniversaries.
The 8 SPD. kids have been taking advantage of my kindness. Last night was full exploitation. I dumped TWO mop buckets and a FULL trashcan, AFTER I mopped up packing AND inspection. I was sweating my ass off while you were in street clothes bullE36 M3ing with your lackeys.
Congratulations. Nice Appleseed is dead. You killed him. You aren't going to like what shows up tonight. I'm going to take a giant E36 M3 on you.
I've just accepted that cell service sucks. Everywhere. Verizon quality of coverage has completely diminished over the last 5-7 years. Unless you're on wifi, expect that 5g just flat out doesn't work. I live in the metro area of Pittsburgh, so it's not like I'm back in BFE.
In reply to Toyman! :
Your method makes life so easy. The Amazon Wishlist is perfect for this.
After 15 years of marriage, Misses Queso and i just decided to forgo presents and put our money towards travel since the budget is so tight this time of year.
TheRyGuy said:I have no idea what to get the wife for Christmas, the only day I have free this week for shopping is Saturday... And I'll have my 17 month old with me...
Definitely a first world problem, and my fault for not figuring it out earlier, but...
Go to Target and get one of the nice Lego flower sets. We done.
Unless she's fancy pants and expects a big cash outlay, in which case you're in a different world than me and i am comprehensively unable to help.
The Maverick's hail damage is finally getting completely fixed this week. I got put on mid shift so we can get by with just the Tahoe this week between the GF and I. However, it's pissing power steering fluid at a high rate. Like it empties the reservoir in about 10 miles. Nobody but Oriellys sells power steering fluid by the gallon in their stores. Order online and pick up in store. Easy. I get the jug home and go to swap over my fluid pump from the empty gallon jug to the new one.
The damn fluid pump doesn't fit the O'Reilly's jug. Why, just why would you not make the same thread as literally everybody else. I was forced to dump the new fluid into the old jug so I could use it.
berkeleying inexcusable
I decided to partake in a Black Friday sale with a vendor for GR stuff, went with an assortment of underhood tidbits like oil cap, power steering and coolant caps, etc. I also bought a neat looking anodized oil dipstick handle that matched everything.
Didn't realize that while everything else either just straight swaps out or snaps onto the existing, the dipstick handle needs to be cut/burned/drilled etc. I decided to buy a 2nd dipstick in case I do the obvious.
Looking online wasn't working well, finally got thru to the local dealer. $21 is a reasonable price, but he only shows one in the entire country, somewhere in Oregon. So I may or may not get this. If it doesn't work out, probably resell the handle on the forum.
In reply to TheRyGuy :
My wife is usually really hard to shop for. She barely ever gave me any suggestions and we have everything we could ever need. Anything I buy is going to be a new toy or replacing something we already own. This year she suggested we buy each other trips for Christmas. Done. She also mentioned a couple things that she wants before we head out on those trips. Done. BTW: my walking shoes are starting to fall apart. Done.
Yesterday marked 7 years since my car last started, idled and drove flawlessly.
I was convinced to paint it. And while it was there I was talked into doing other things at my expense (stand-alone, bigger injectors, rebuild the transmission) all of which the shop had near to zero actual experience in doing. I believed someone with inadequate knowledge they could do something so I have been trying to get it sorted out the past 3 years (4 years to actually *get painted*, 1 year at home untouched due to fire, last 2 years I have been overloaded with work to actually look at it)
Hopefully this year I can finally get it sorted. Never want to paint a car ever again. Definetely never listening to anyone else who claims they are capable of doing something unless they can show me they actually can.
In reply to jfryjfry :
I'd say we don't really have a resolution yet. They towed it in, looked it over, saw that it had recorded an incident, and then it passed all their tests so they handed it back. I'm awaiting a call from a lead tech to go over some of their explanation. I'll fill in more later, once they've had a chance to clarify, expand, and hopefully do something about it.
In reply to DjGreggieP :
I bought a Z like you'd get in 1982 - some rocker rust and one side of the floor pan. I'm getting it running first and driving then I might paint it in Q1 2026. It doesn't have major cancer yet and both rear quarters look great.
I'll never do a rotisserie because I know I'll get bogged down and 7 years later......you know the drill.
Shoot, I might push some tinfoil into the holes and load up some bondo........
TheRyGuy said:I have no idea what to get the wife for Christmas, the only day I have free this week for shopping is Saturday... And I'll have my 17 month old with me...
Definitely a first world problem, and my fault for not figuring it out earlier, but...
The Dancer is surprisingly adamant that we not get each other Christmas presents- which is difficult because I love finding things to get for her throughout the year... but now I just get them when I find them (as I have) and then give them to her pretty much right away.
No Time said:Insurance company #1 had my auto and homeowner policy since 2017ish. They decided to non-renew the auto based on claims due to my son and wife.
The best rate I got was with Flo, and moved my auto insurance. So far so good...
My wife's employer had a benefits fair and there was an insurance agent she spoke with that was a local rep for Flo and could provide quotes for moving homeowners to Florida to get more of a discount on the auto. Great, any savings helps with the current cost.
Quote looks good, move to Flo and cancel insurance company #1. Flo send an inspector out to look at the house the week of Thanksgiving with no notice.Today I get a call saying I need to replace my roof to maintain coverage. After a bit of discussion the rep tells me the inspectors photos show tarps on the roof and deteriorated shingles. She sends me an email with the description saying ther shingles are discolored, missing aggregate, missing shingles, and shrinking (huh?).
I know why the shingles missing aggregate and look discolored. The inspector and underwriter had no clue what they were looking at and made assumptions.
The roof covering is a rubber membrane. The previous owner had an issue with ice dams, and due to the unfamiliarity of contractors with the roofing system (2' wide insulated panels with sheathing that run parallel to the ridge and secured to 4x6 beams spaced on 24"), they went with the membrane.
I call back and explain the situation to the rep. She puts me on hold to contact the underwriter to find out how to resolve this misunderstanding. When she comes back on the line the resolution is the Flo is cancelling my homeowners because they will not sure home with a membrane roof.
So I cancelled my previous policy that wasn't an issue, and now Flo Is cancelling me. I chose to email the local agent rather than calling to avoid saying something that would be unhelpful.
They couldn't have figured this out when I gave the info to the agent about roof when getting the quote?
Of course I haven't received the refund for the previous policy, will need to pay for a new policy up front, and will probably get a bill from Flo for an increase in my auto insurance since it's no longer bundled with my homeowners.
Have you made any headway on this? Just today a coworker mentioned that his insurance carrier threatened him with cancellation if he didn't replace his aged but intact roof within about four months. Sure enough, he just recently switched to Flo.
I'm sure there are sketchier carriers, but that's the only one I've ever felt was openly, shamelessly trying to rob me.
I've been struggling mentally with a bunch of things the past year +. One of the many things I don't do well is read bills. They come in, I pay them and go on with trying to function like a person. I got an oil delivery today, my second this winter, and somehow if I don't have a contract with the company anymore they still make automatic deliveries but charge $4.98 a gallon. How is heating oil, with no highway taxes or anything almost $2/gallon more than diesel?
ugh. am I sick again? Been coughing since Saturday, now feels like I have bronchitis but without feeling sick. I've also been on antibiotics for the root canal since Thursday so if I am sick it's not bacterial.
Show me how much you care about your job quality...
Awesome! That's some top-notch I don't give a E36 M3.
I always dread the run-up to the holidays.
We leave in a few days for our usual circuit of the region to visit my relatives West a bit and The Dancer's up North.
What's up with Zillow?
On November 18th, they reduced the estimated value of my home by 16.5%.
Nothing significant has happened to affect property values in my area and they were already 5.2% lower than Red Fin's estimate before the reduction.
My dad lives just a few miles away from me and the house next door to his is about to close escrow.
Um, it listed at 1.58M and Zillow is currently estimating its value to be 631K...that's 60% below the list price and given that the house was only on the market for three days, it likely sold for at or above the list price.
I know, I know, Zillow, Red Fin, etc. are just toys but I'm seeing numbers that are so wildly far off that I have to wonder what Zillow is up to.
BTW, I've long known that Zillow revises history...for example, they'll say "we think XYZ house was worth XYZ on XYZ date" but I keep records and no, no that is not even close to what you claimed on that date.
In reply to RX Reven' :
Zillow is a silly toy, but if they're taking part in a conspiracy to deorbit home prices back to sanity I'll root for them 
I really dislike being around people with zero wheelchair etiquette. Earlier in the week I was pushing my wife's wheelchair through an amusement park, and I had to deal with:
1) groups of people who come to a complete stop in the middle of a road or sidewalk instead of moving their butts off to the side so they don't impede traffic. That's bad enough for foot traffic, but it's *really* a problem when you're pushing a wheelchair.
2) tourists letting their kids run rampant, darting in and around the wheelchair and changing directions quickly in front of it.... Even letting them change directions multiple times in front of it when I have already alter my path to go around them, the little rugrats get in the way *again*.
I literally ran over some feet by accident
Why are some pickle ball players so militant? Its a freaking game.
JoeyM said:
I literally ran over some feet by "accident".
I hope this is closer to the truth. Pain is an excellent teacher.
My friend likes to say "Ignorance should be painful".
In reply to JoeyM :
Some people need running over. One night we were struggling to get out of a mall and she kept saying excuse us while I pushed over and through people.
JoeyM said:
1) groups of people who come to a complete stop in the middle of a road or sidewalk instead of moving their butts off to the side so they don't impede traffic. That's bad enough for foot traffic, but it's *really* a problem when you're pushing a wheelchair.
This has become epidemic. People stopping at the entrance or exit of stores, or blocking entire sidewalks while they stand there socializing. I was on vacation recently and every evening we'd have to push our way through groups and families who thought it was a good idea to block the entire walk way as they stood around and chatted. WTF is wrong with these people?
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