Since moving my daily round trip commute has gone from 16-25 miles to 46-60 miles, depending on the route taken.
Shortly before moving I snagged a '98 OBS 2.2, 5-speed and parked the Vic. I've been slowly ecomodding Turtle (the OBS) and getting better and better fuel economy.
With this tank all signs point to an average of 35 mpg. Once the construction on the straight, flat route to work is finished I may be flirting with a 40 mpg average! 
I started back at work this week, 2 days a week, no responsibility but really crappy work with my back messed up. Yesterday was a hair over 5 years since I was fired from this restaurant, happy coincidence, but I guess stories from when I worked there before are still told, because to the younger crew that is there currently, I'm a God, and they never met me before. I guess "the guy who threw a knife past a manager" is an acceptable title, beats the Hell out of dishwasher.
But the biggest win is that useless manager is long gone, and I'm still getting my old cooking wages.$10 an hour to wash dishes doesn't suck nearly as much as minimum wage.
eastsidemav wrote: Just made the final payment on the DD! This is the first time I've been free of a car payment for more than five years. With a lot of self control, and a little luck, I'll stay this way for a while.
Congratulations! If I may make a suggestion, and the situation allows it, keep paying yourself that car payment every month. Put it in a separate account with an automatic transfer, or if possible, have your credit union take it out of your paycheck directly.
That way you don't get used to the extra discretionary income, but when the time comes to replace a car, you can pay cash or make a sizeable down payment.
Today was the first day of school for my kids. Three little people got up, got dressed and left the house without any complaining at all.
Sitting in my chair at the end of the day chilling out with my 2 1/2 week old daughter. I think that that constitutes a win as good as you
In reply to Rusted_Busted_Spit:
Give it a week.
In reply to Duke:
It lasted one day, but it was nice while it lasted.
Wife has been having major issues with sinuses and asthma and allergies at the new house. We expect it's mostly because of the upstairs carpet, which is filthy. We were planning on replacement with hardwood just as soon as we moved in, and then the endless-cascade-of-fail happened with the house and we are totally out of money. In the hole, actually.
I just got noticed at work for a BIG year. One of two people, and we both got pretty big bonus checks in the middle of the year. Just enough for tires for the van and the floor. I am floored. Get it? I even made the wife happy.
I finally finished my timing belt job for the IS300, also new radiator and transmission cooler, and the car didn't explode. Just in time for the road trip to NorCal tomorrow :)
Got the Summer Games-exclusive skin for Mercy that I wanted in Overwatch. You can't actually buy it, just have to hope for a randomized unlock. Very minor win, but, hey, it matters to me.
My mom agreed to watch our 7 month old tomorrow morning so my wife and I can go mountain biking.
Got done with work. On vacation for two weeks. Boy do I need this!
Cruise night got rained out, so instead my buddies and I are helping dad stuff a built flathead and t5 in his 49 f1.
I usually ignore my phone when it rings, because 95% of people who need to get in touch with me will text. I just looked and Palisades, CO was on the caller ID, so I answered that one, knowing it sounded familiar.
It was Mike, from FM. I knew Palisades was familiar. I'M GETTING ONE OF THE FIRST BATCH OF LIFT KITS for my Miata.
E36 M3, now I need to buy tires.
In reply to RevRico:
Sounds like fun, I hope you enjoy it. Be advised, lifting a Miata and putting big tires on it may have a lot of unintended consequences.
My feel good: it's Friday! I got the Miata out, looked over and Hoosiered up for autocross Sunday. Tomorrow Ashkyun has volunteered to help build a ramp, Steak for dinner tonight. Life feels pretty ok right now.
Coming home from work on the bike last night, I'm following an Accord down the road that suddenly swerves into the left lane just before my parents driveway (where I am heading), revealing a debris field directly in my path. I follow suit and as I'm passing the debris, realize it's a toolbox and assorted contents that must have fallen off a truck. The initial "oh E36 M3" moment dissolves into joy, as I safely park in the driveway and then go out to collect the tools off the road. I was doing a public service 
It kind of struck me as odd though. As I mentioned in the Minor Rant Thread yesterday, a good friends father passed away, who was also a nextdoor neighbor of 12 years, close family friend, first employer of mine, and, relevant to the subject matter at hand, a former contractor with quite a collection of tools of all varieties. I wouldn't consider myself a particularly spiritual person in the least, but it felt like a hell of a coincidence, almost like a parting gift from Pete , as he knew I could use and appreciate the tools.
I was on the look out for some stumps to use for metal shaping. Today I scored two logs that should work nicely from an extremely nice guy who didn't want anything for them. Just cut down a tree that a storm took out.
got a mid-year raise
UPS just showed up. Early. I HAVE THE LIFT KIT
Man I want that Mercy skin, but I got my Reinhardt so I am happy.
I made 5K today in about three phone calls. Plus shipped three cars across the country with a good shipper in one phone call and they are picking them all up tonight. Tiny Rick happy dance.
Survived the first week back at school. No calls home, picked everyone up on time and only had to ground one kid. Not bad considering the kids are in four different schools this year. Pretty sure I'm going to survive.
Everyone's healthy, bills are paid, we're grandparents, I get to go have fun, life is good.
RevRico wrote: UPS just showed up. Early. I HAVE THE LIFT KIT
The 3" lift kit, or the full on Offroadster kit? Good stuff, I wish I could pull off an Offroaster right now. (I did build the website though.)
2 Wins!
Currently I am salaried by a contracting company. One of our clients wanted to buy me out of the non-compete and hire me. Found out about this at the start of August. Finally, Wednesday said client sent me an offer letter. I was pretty sure it would be coming eventually, but didn't know how close they would be in pay. Fortunately they came in pretty much even, with better benefits and at least some days my commute will be 30 minutes less each way. I accepted. (And no hard feelings from my current employer who even said to check back if I get some more experience and decide I want to come back, win.)
Browsed Craigslist Friday, went to pickup a $300 car on Saturday, got cold feet because the paint was worse than I expected, ended up buying it for $100, not running. Sunday borrowed the battery from my e28 (same battery!) to see if I could get it to start. Cranked like it wanted to start, but wouldn't quite catch. So me and a friend ran out to get some starter fluid and a cheap set of copper spark plugs. Starter fluid didn't really help. Put the spark plugs in and it pretty much started right up! Idle was a little rough at first and it almost bogged down and died, but after a few minutes running it smoothed itself out.
Andrew: Just the 3 inch lift, I can't afford to buy the Offroadster set yet, but I will be watching them.
Just found out, I now have an O'Reilly autoparts in town. Just opened or is opening soon. Why am I happy to have yet another parts store around(4 in less than half a mile)? Because unlike AdvancePepZone, O'Reilly seems to stock quality parts and have knowledgeable staff. At least the 3 locations I frequented on the west coast did.
It's also slightly easier to get to than Napa is, so bonus points.
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