Overcast and dreary here in the southern suburbs of gangland. Cool but clammy.
Sibs have returned to work so it’s just me and Mom for most of this week. Lots on the list to do.
Plugging away, dust vacuuming and sort, contents triage, some wiping and cleaning, and then re-stack the stuff. Lots of actually dirty and gross surfaces. Poor eyesight, limited mobility and energy, and a tendency to bleed whenever anything made contact with skin makes for some rubber glove moments.
Better get started.
n
Our air quality conditions are getting worse, they are now mid-range Hazardous, the worst level, and will remain that way for the next several days. The air has never been this bad in the Tri-Cities, it is even worse than when Mt. St. Helens blew in 1981.
Visibility is about 200-feet, less at times, and people are being requested to drive with their lights on at all times. The co-op solar panel project that we participate in is producing at less than 10% of normal, it is like late dusk outside.
It is highly recommended that if anyone goes outside that they wear an N95 or N100 mask. If you have an outside job that must be done, minimize your time out.
Our local Minor League Baseball Team, Tri-City Dust Devils, canceled their game last night and said the remainder of the games this week will probably be postponed too.
Our poor cats are now occasionally coughing, sneezing, and have runny eyes all the time. They are getting regular doses of eyedrops, can’t do anything for the cough.
We are living in a sepia toned world.
@Nick, you continue to hang in there. Take care friend.
Peace to all.
Our air quality conditions are getting worse, they are now mid-range Hazardous, the worst level, and will remain that way for the next several days. The air has never been this bad in the Tri-Cities, it is even worse than when Mt. St. Helens blew in 1981.
Gotta hope the rain returns on time in a couple of weeks.
I used to watch the scheduled end date of the train at Portland Zoo running out to Washington Park, but they stopped using that section of the track this year due to budget cutbacks and concerns about erosion.
Crazy year. The 100s in Austin didn’t break on time, and my electric bill/consumption for late July/early August was a record for our house, topping the same month last year when we were still running two 20 year old AC units.
We had 2 deaths in the family (an uncle and a grandfather) where all the legal bits and pieces were not in order. My parents decided to learn from this and put together a binder (we call it the doomsday book) with information on all their accounts, insurances, wills, final wishes, etc. Regular updates are issued and a copy is stored at my oldest sister’s house.
We are a very close family and all live close by and get together frequently (just this Saturday for brunch). It will be difficult when one or both parents go but at least we know that we won’t have to scramble to find any of paperwork.
I went fossil hunting again last week. While out there I came across some bear scat and tracks. New England black bears can be dangerous but generally avoid people. I kept my senses on alert just to be safe.
While prying apart some rock layers I heard some odd noises coming up behind me. I turned, expecting to see a bear but instead I saw a man on a unicycle. Yes, a unicycle. With a fat knobby tire. In the woods.
We nodded at each other as he rode past. He eventually disappeared around a curve in the trail. I went back to hitting rocks with a hammer. How odd.
@Nick re will
Check under the front seat of the car/truck. My mother once stashed some bonds there meaning to take them to the bank to clip coupons and safe deposit box. Of course, she forgot to do that and found them months later. It became a standing joke in the family: When I die, look under the front seat!
Check under the front seat of the car/truck. My mother once stashed some bonds there meaning to take them to the bank to clip coupons and safe deposit box. Of course, she forgot to do that and found them months later. It became a standing joke in the family: When I die, look under the front seat!
I hide my emergency BBQ money under the front floor mat on the driver’s side of my car. Check there in your father’s car.
In the house, check HVAC system intake filter boxes, especially if the house is from the era when they installed intakes in every bedroom upstairs.
@dadcooks, good thing you were well stocked with N95 masks as part of your pandemic/flu/ebola preps! Keep an eye on conditions, DailyMail has video from someone fleeing a fire that went the wrong way and barely got out. Fires move FAST and can be unpredictable.
During the Colorado fires of a few years ago, someone found out the hard way that his new car wouldn’t start if the air quality was too bad. It’s done that way to protect you, dontcha know. He had to scramble to move all his bug out stuff to an older vehicle that would still start with all the particulates in the air. Check your vehicles if fire may be near you!
Regarding the will, I looked in every nook and cranny of his truck because I expected to find $100 tucked away somewhere. He’s the one who taught me that, so I’m still unable to believe that there wasn’t any. Truck is currently at the dealership being inspected.
Found $150 hidden in various wallets this am, and some gift cards. We used to joke about the treasure hunt, but it’s a lot less jolly now that we’re doing it.
Rain started, so back on indoor stuff today. Bought some bins to organize and some cleaning products so I can do more than vacuum up dust.
Lunch time with mom, then back to the list…..
n
Regarding the will, I looked in every nook and cranny of his truck because I expected to find $100 tucked away somewhere. He’s the one who taught me that, so I’m still unable to believe that there wasn’t any. Truck is currently at the dealership being inspected.
My parents gave me an executed copy of their will right before Harvey. I promptly lost it in the first trip to the bug out place when I took a lot of “important” papers there along with sleeping stuff and some food. I found it a month or two later after Dad yelled at me (yes, that was unpleasant).
The wife and I each have handwritten wills. We copied them and gave copies to the number one son. He has probably lost the copies in his cave.
@DadCooks, did you ever consider an electrostatic air filter? They used to be more popular, but I haven’t seen them mentioned lately. I worked for a company in the 1960s that used them, and the workspaces were amazingly clean and dust free. Remember, this was when people still smoked indoors, and the smoke just seemed to disappear. Later, I moved to different companies, and they were much worse.
I bought one decades ago from someone who bought it new and didn’t install it. My only concern is that it is too small for my system so I would have to use it as a bypass filter. More importantly, we almost always have clean air where I live. We do have dust and occasional smoke, so I might consider installing it when I do some remodeling.
If you are concerned about ozone, you might consider the passive filters. I have no experience with them, but have read there are mixed results. Finally, there are HEPA filters, but also no experience.
What did submarines use? I would bet water was involved. I also have some knowledge of spray chambers and steam humidification. Both “wash” the air of many contaminants, but have problems of their own.
“Dramatic then and now photos show how Hurricane Harvey devastated Houston”
https://www.chron.com/news/houston-weather/hurricaneharvey/article/Sliders-13164488.php
A few photos of now and then during Harvey. 55 inches of rain is devastating. You need to have a plan to deal with this.
“South Africa begins seizing white-owned farms”
https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/world-economy/south-africa-begins-seizing-whiteowned-farms/news-story/8937f899bd3f131bfc4ffb648ea5c53b
“SOUTH Africa has targeted the first two farms for unilateral seizure after the owners refused an offer of one-tenth of the land’s value.”
I am not surprised, this has been telegraphed for quite a while. I am wondering if a civil war will start soon ?
Hat tip to:
https://drudgereport.com/
During the Colorado fires of a few years ago, someone found out the hard way that his new car wouldn’t start if the air quality was too bad. It’s done that way to protect you, dontcha know.
I would imagine that software for DI engines would be really picky about air quality. Unfortunately, most of the new gasoline engined cars are DI.
As for diesels, what happens when your new Mercedes NNND runs out of DEF just as a fire is heading towards your house?
I am not surprised, this has been telegraphed for quite a while. I am wondering if a civil war will start soon ?
From what I’ve read, for now, the seizures are limited to farms of 25000+ acres.
For now.
As for diesels, what happens when your new Mercedes NNND runs out of DEF just as a fire is heading towards your house?
There is suppose to be a grace period of a few thousand miles.
Junior Programmer is now past his first two stages of interviewing with Google, HR phone interview and employment app. The next stage is a telephone interview with a software team lead. Then an onsite interview with the software team.
The Google employment app let him select multiple ethnicity so he selected white and native american. Since Google is a federal contractor, they also have to give preferred hiring to combat veterans and disabled veterans, of which he selected combat veteran (he earned that walking the streets of Iraq and eating sheep brains at the sheiks house).
From what I’ve read, for now, the seizures are limited to farms of 25000+ acres.
Oh this will end up at the one acre hobby farms.
OK folks. I’ve finished the web site for my pending book, so will be spending some time entering Amazon links in comments here. The test comments will disappear, so don’t get excited if they aren’t there anymore.
Here’s a link to an ebook that I wrote in 2011. It has some quaint techie terms in it (like modem) … they were current at the time I wrote the book.
This link just copy/pasted https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Choke-Rick-Hellewell-ebook/dp/B004RVZRL0/ref=sr_1_1?tag=ttgnet-20 I removed the query parameters (everything past the “?”) after pasting.
And this link is done by using the link button: (again removing the query parameters). When inserted, the HREF code looks normal.
Important: when you use the link button – without highlighting the word to add the link to, you have to hit the Link button again to put the closing “A” tag. (See below)
Here a link by highlighting this word and adding the URL (removing query parameters).
And here’s what happens if you click Link, add the URL, but don’t hit the Link button again to close the tag. . This is text afterwards. No closing Link button.
(About the book: I had fun writing it. Amazon reports that it is currently at position 3,947,834 in the store. I suspect that there are not too many books in that ranking list after mine…)
Look at my last comment. See that when I didn’t use the closing Link command, there is lots of stuff that is part of the link?
And see that the other links I entered looked OK?
So, I think the problem is caused by using the Link button without highlighting a word first, and then not using the “/Link” button to ‘close’ the Link.
Note that the other buttons work the same way. If you don’t highlight a word ,click the ‘b’ (for bold) button, and then type, and don’t click the ‘b’ button again (which shows as ‘/b’), then the bold code is not closed, and things will look wonky.
From that test, I conclude that my plugin (or any other one) is not causing the problem. Just like in any editor, you have to click the button once to ‘open’ it, and again to ‘close’ it.
Junior Programmer is now past his first two stages of interviewing with Google, HR phone interview and employment app. The next stage is a telephone interview with a software team lead. Then an onsite interview with the software team.
I’ve been to Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon HQs on site visits. I always got something out of the trip even if it wasn’t employment.
If he finds himself with time to kill in The Valley, I waited for a plane ticket home at this place after Apple cut the negotiation time of my planned two day trip.
http://www.computerhistory.org/
The building is the former Silicon Graphics HQ. SGI is literally a museum piece.
BTW — the Alaska gates at San Jose were in the newest part of the airport when I went to Apple. Really easy in/out if they give him a choice and a direct flight is available.
And regarding smoke and local air quality, at my house (opposite Mutiny Bay WA), visibility is about 1.5 – 2.0 miles. About as bad as it was last week. Supposed to be slightly worse tomorrow, then clearing up a bit as the winds shift from coming from the BC fires.
Definite smoky smell in the area, but not worse than being around a campfire. The usual air quality warnings all over the place. Doesn’t affect me much. But I am usually inside all day.
Although that will change. We’re planning a trip to D-land in Oct, so I need to start walking again to build up my stamina. Took a 2-3 mile walk on one of the trails around here last week with my visiting grandson. Some very slight hills that left me puffing a bit. And sore calf muscles for a few days afterwards.
So I figure that I need to start walking again. Wife will be bringing her power chair (and portable oxygen), and she doesn’t want me sitting on her lap if I get tired of walking.
If he finds himself with time to kill in The Valley, I waited for a plane ticket home at this place after Apple cut the negotiation time of my planned two day trip.
He is applying for several software teams: Silicon Valley (California), Boulder Colorado, Oregon, and New York City. Probably the Valley though.
So I figure that I need to start walking again. Wife will be bringing her power chair (and portable oxygen), and she doesn’t want me sitting on her lap if I get tired of walking.
I walk a mile plus five nights a week, usually with the wife and dog. I think that it is very good for us.
Definite smoky smell in the area, but not worse than being around a campfire. The usual air quality warnings all over the place. Doesn’t affect me much. But I am usually inside all day.
My wife underwent chemotherapy 13 years ago. She cannot take any smoke at all due to the scarring on her lungs. They continuously burn brush around us due to all of the new home construction so she will turn around and go home the minute she starts coughing. I wonder if I should carry one of those air masks for her that DadCooks was talking about ?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002YKBV2/
@JimB said:
“…did you ever consider an electrostatic air filter?”
Don’t need to consider; we have four portable units rated at 1000sqf or better each and four more room size rated at 200sqf or better. They all have electrostatic precipitators, UV lights, and ionizers as well as 99.99% HEPA filters. The portable units are in addition to the 99.99% HEPA filter in our heat pump air handler.
I have just completed doing a thorough cleaning on all of them, they were dirtier than I ever recall, and the house cleared up fast, no more sneezing cats or coughing wife. They were due for the 3-month cleaning cycle I do.
Submarines use electrostatic air cleaners. The air handling units have “cartridges” with the electrostatic plates. Us Electrician’s Mates were responsible for keeping them clean, and it took a good deal of our Preventive Maintenance (PM) time. Air quality monitoring is by a mass spectrometer system that was very detailed. Ozone was a constant problem but handled by our Oxygen Generators and CO2 Scrubbers.
@DadCooks: regarding
Actually, the use of start/end codes for bold (although strong is more proper, even though ‘b’ is still supported); italic and underline are supported, as well as
strikeoutnatively in WP comments.There is some filtering of tags that occurs during saving a comment/post/page, but that can be controlled by the theme author or via plugins.
Although you do have to remember to ‘close’ the tag if you type in manually – or use the buttons up there. Otherwise, strange stuff happens, as demonstrated by my first comment today.
@Rick, thanks for being patient with me. I am proof that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
Do you have any recommendations on what I need to have on my desk/computer/bookshelf so that I can at least learn the basics of WordPress. I need the challenge to keep my brain from further decay.
The VW TDI we had would warn you when the DEF got low. At some point, it would refuse to start if low enough. It would never turn off if it was running. So, in a bad situation you would just have to leave it running. I typically do this with my diesels at fuel stops in the winter anyway.
From that test, I conclude that my plugin (or any other one) is not causing the problem.
@RickH: Would you consider disabling the affiliate plugin for a few days while we test Amazon links? You know, just for giggles?
What a pain. O’Reily’s didn’t have the part. I tried NAPA. They have the same stuff as O’Reily’s but the packaging says NAPA instead of something else. NAPA suggested the Dodge dealer.
The Dodge dealer doesn’t carry the part. But they can order it and have it on Friday. I didn’t ask the price. Er, the guy was nice enough but not interested in his job.
Amazon Prime says it will be here Thursday. How they get 2 day shipping from Monday to Thursday is a puzzle. I could have bought 10 for $8. That’s probably more than I’ll ever need. Use one, toss a spare in the glove box.
I went with the 50 for $16 deal. 32¢ each. With any luck I can sell some on eBay. Make it a 2 for $5 deal. It’s an “heir and a spare” deal with “free shipping”. Figure a buck for postage and eBay’s cut, I’ll be stinking rich in no time at $3.36 profit per sale.
Sure…… yep…..
Why not? I’ve read many posts where folks have bought the entire latch and handle unit for $40 (and more) for just the broken piece of plastic.
Oh good. I put water in the pool last night, now it is raining. Win !
Here’s a map of all the fires in BC: https://www.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=ef6f11c8c36b42c29e103f65dbcd7538 ….that is causing all the smoke problems here in my area. The ‘Windy’ site shows wind directions – https://www.windy.com/?cosc,48.035,-122.814,5 – to see the CO2 concentrations, there’s a ‘layer’ that you can access on the right side of the Windy map. (Fun site, BTW.)
@DadCooks
There’s tons of sites that will get you started in WordPress. The “WP Beginners” site here https://www.wpbeginner.com/ has some good resources.
You can set up a local development/test WP environment; there are many tutorials for that. If you already have a hosting place, most hosting places have a wizard that will set up a base WP install in a subfolder, and you can use that for goofing around. I have a half-dozen subdirectory sites off of my CellarWeb.com site that I use for development/testing.
Although I could set up a local development environment, it’s just easier to set up a subdir on the hosting place. I write code locally and upload it to the testing site on the hosting place.
For an editor, I use Rapid PHP 2018 sometimes https://www.rapidphpeditor.com/, and old version of Dreamweaver often (out of long-time habit, so I am used to it’s quirks). You could also use Notepad++ as an editor, although RapidPHP is built more for PHP code.
And to learn things, I use the googles. A good place to ask questions is the StackOverflow WordPress place here: https://wordpress.stackexchange.com/ . Usually there are polite and helpful there.
WP can be a time sink, sometime, especially when looking for themes. But I’ve enjoyed it over the years, even though I don’t make much money at it. But it keeps the brain working, which is a good thing.
DreamHost has WordPress. Plus something called Remixer. I don’t know…. I use notepad.
He is applying for several software teams: Silicon Valley (California), Boulder Colorado, Oregon, and New York City. Probably the Valley though.
A couple of years in The Dalles wouldn’t be the end of the world, but he should be aware that the town is not even remotely close to being a “bedroom community” of Portland as the HR droids will attempt to label it.
A couple of years in The Dalles wouldn’t be the end of the world, but he should be aware that the town is not even remotely close to being a “bedroom community” of Portland as the HR droids will attempt to label it.
He is dreading Silicon Valley if he ends up there. He found a 580 ft2 apartment about ten miles away from the campus for $2,000/month. Apparently it is an old military barracks that was subdivided. It has a dorm fridge and a microwave. Apparently the ten mile drive to the campus is about an hour on a good day.
Perhaps. I used the opening tag, pasted the link into dialog box, entered some text, then used the closing tag. I have never highlighted any text and it has worked. I have done this many times with links I have posted. The Amazon links don’t work like the others.
@RickH and others:
Any opinions on this book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/PHP-Basic-Fundamental-Guide-Beginners-ebook/dp/B07DQPRSGC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1534805585&sr=8-2&keywords=php+programming+wordpress%5C%22%3EPHP%3A&tag=ttgnet-20 Basic Fundamental Guide for Beginners Kindle Edition, or do you have another/additional recommendations.
Thanks.
Add: Hmmmm, the closeout was there when I used the link function as I have done so many times before and now I get this after clicking “Post Comment”. Dads is missing something.
Every link I did on my 15:17 comment is an Amazon link. The only time it borked was when I didn’t do the closing ‘link’ button.
Every one of those links had the ‘tag’ parameter added properly.
I lived in The Dalles from 1957 through 1960. Went to school there at the local elementary school. It was a small town at that point.
My aunt worked at the local paper selling advertisements. I used to visit and go back to the Linotype room, several machines, lots of noise, lots of hot lead. It was interesting watching those machines work. The guys that did the typesetting were amazing at what they did. Across the street from the paper office was a Maraschino Cherry place (The Dalles area had lots of cherry orchards). I would go over there and eat all the cherries I could handle.
Saturday mornings in the summer consisted of going to the theater and seeing an installment of a serial movie and a couple other shorts. $0.25 got you into the movie, a coke and a small popcorn. Sponsored by the local electric company and Ready Kilowatt.
About the only thing interesting in the area anymore is the aluminum plant and The Dalles dam. And apparently a lot of crypto-miners because the availability of lots of power.
No amount of money is worth that congestion and aggravation. Along with the outrageous living expenses. Wait until he gets a tasted of CA taxes and fees for everything. High taxes, property and income, high fuel prices.
My brother is leaving CA this week for Idaho. He says he will stop at the border and take a large dump on the CA side as his final present to Jerry Brown.
@DadCooks
About that book….the TOC looks like it covers the basics, although you will need a server/host to run the examples. All it says to that is to run XAMP, or get a hosting account. Running XAMP works, but you’ll need to learn how to do that too.
If you just want to learn the language, you might take a look at what W3Schools has to offer: https://www.w3schools.com/php/default.asp . That has a good basic tutorial of things. Then if you get stuck on a particular function, just ask the googles.
I used to have a PHP reference book that I used when I started learning it – about 8 years ago. I may still have some old PHP books stashed away. But nowadays, when I need the syntax for a function, or how to do something, I just ask the googles, rather than trying to look it up in a book.
If a hard copy if better for you, then that book is as good as any, I’d guess, although hard to tell from the excerpt/’look inside’.
Thank @Rick Hellewell.
I have a hosting account at Site5 (my domains are currently only used for email), but I have been researching others. As it stands now Blue Host is at the top of my list.
I am also planning to use a spare laptop (doesn’t everybody have 2 or 3 extra laying around?) for my learning, creation, and management.
Thanks again, and I’m still open to the input and suggestions of others.
About the only thing interesting in the area anymore is the aluminum plant and The Dalles dam. And apparently a lot of crypto-miners because the availability of lots of power.
Don’t forget — the Rajneesh cult was there in the 80s.
Maryhill has a spectacular concert venue on the WA side of the river, but not many acts head out that far.
No amount of money is worth that congestion and aggravation. Along with the outrageous living expenses. Wait until he gets a tasted of CA taxes and fees for everything. High taxes, property and income, high fuel prices.
He is hoping for Boulder, CO but doubts that will happen. His goal right now is to work for a leading edge software company and does not care where that takes him. After all, he survived four years in USMC and two all expense paid trips to the outer regions of Iraq. Including a free mortaring in an army base on his way out the first time.
He is dreading Silicon Valley if he ends up there. He found a 580 ft2 apartment about ten miles away from the campus for $2,000/month. Apparently it is an old military barracks that was subdivided. It has a dorm fridge and a microwave. Apparently the ten mile drive to the campus is about an hour on a good day.
The whole world wants to live in San Francisco and send their kids to Stanford. I’ve seen it with my wife’s extended family.
@paul, idk about your particular cable end fitting, but I had a similar issue with my Ranger door latch cables. The plastic end fails after about 11 years, and then you can’t open the suicide doors on the extended cab.
Turns out there is a guy on ebay selling replacement ends he turns out of aluminum. Sells them as a kit. Never fail again!
n
Junior Programmer was just telling me that the only thing that he is worried about is the crazy people. He went to a Google Go conference last year and there was a Google person running around the place with long pink hair, a tube top, and a skirt. With male pattern baldness. Imagine being in the cubicle next to that freak show.
He sees going to Google as the only way that he will be able to work in ten years. If not Google then Facebook as they are “always looking for accomplished C++ programmers”. If not Facebook then Microsoft but they are going down.
@ paul
Thanks for the observations on obscure vehicle parts.
Not immediately relevant here, but I shared your parts outfit
link with a buddy or two, for future reference.
I’d think that specialized site might be useful for part numbers,
to use on Amazon or somewhere, at least. Sometimes just a
part number will hit nicely on Amazon search…
It’s sad that other retailers can’t seem to do this well, but that’s
not my fault.
Canned meat!
I’ll bet that pets will eat anything if it comes to that, and so will hominids…
Cheapest meat available is apparently canned mackerel. If you like it it’s pretty
good. Make croquettes (see salmon recipes)?
I happen to like canned mackerel, but about half a can is enough for me for a while.
My late canine was always very happy about this.
Long storage times are good, even if you only trust the label dates.
Stack some up!
Oh, and I was kidding about woking the dog… mostly…
[ Oops. Sent this on yesterday’s page. ]
Anybody got a good recipe for salmon (or mackerel !) croquettes ?
Looks like fresh eggs are required.
What’s a good substitution (ideally not opening a big can of dried eggs) ??
Corn meal, oil, whatever onion and spices are pretty good long term
storage items.
I am watching the Astros versus Mariners game in Seattle on my dvr. The smoke in that open air stadium is unreal. And nobody is wearing masks.
Ok guys, I’m looking ahead a couple of days, well several, and starting to look at routes home. Normally I’d ask my dad, but…..
I’m driving solo from where I 80 crosses the Illinois/Indiana border south of Chicongo to Houston.
Google offers I 80 to I 57 south to Memphis (alternate for I 55 south, which has a bunch of construction), then I 40 (despite it showing several spots of construction) to Little Rock AR, (where I 55 would end up) then I 30 to Texarkana, then TX59 south to home.
My question is, anyone have any recent experience of the I 55 construction down to Little Rock, vs the I 57 route to Memphis and then construction west of Memphis on I 40?
In theory the routes are almost identical time, with the I 55 route being a bit longer. That doesn’t likely consider time of day when dealing with the construction.
My thought is to leave Murder City early Saturday, drive 8-10 hours (to Memphis?), then do the same on Sunday, which the google says will get me home.
Anyone have any thoughts??
n
@greg –
“In the house, check HVAC system intake filter boxes,”
My grandmother had a fake air return vent, and she kept valuables in coffee cans behind that grate. Dad learned his tricks at her knee…
Truly though, dad liked to put stuff up high (he was tall) and ‘tuck’ stuff in where ever he spent a lot of time. In, under, or on top. He also built little hidden spots like an extra shelf on the bottom of a shelf that you couldn’t see except from his chair.
n
Just spent a couple of hours cleaning door jams, wall ends, and passage ways. Anywhere someone might grab or hold or bump when they stumble, there was a layer of grime and far too much dried blood.
I can endorse Zep Foaming Wall Cleaner wholeheartedly. Works with one application most times, and just a couple for the heaviest grime. Doesn’t harm paint, wallpaper, or varnished wood. Smells nice. One can goes a long way.
This followed power washing and vacuuming the truck. After getting the service report from the inspection, we decided to see what Carmax would offer as is. That meant at least a wash and brush up. The truck is worth about $10k running and in good shape according to Kelly Blue Book. The estimate came in at $2100 to $3600 depending on including tie rods and battery. Front belts replaced, brake lines, and new pads and rotors in front was the minimum for safety. Do those items, later the tie rods and normal maintenance, and the truck should be good for 100k additional miles on the 81k current.
I’ll have more info and a better chance of making a decision after Carmax does their appraisal.
There are other considerations than the purely financial. . . family considerations. Joy.
n
@DadCooks, “Don’t need to consider; we have four portable units rated at 1000sqf or better each and four more…”
I should have guessed! Good for you. And, as you mentioned, maintenance is the key. Breathe well.
@paul, “What a pain. O’Reily’s didn’t have the part. I tried NAPA. They have the same stuff as O’Reily’s but the packaging says NAPA instead of something else. NAPA suggested the Dodge dealer.”
A pain. As the happy (really!) owner of a few “older” vehicles, I have faced problems like yours many times. I don’t have much to add, except that having a spare vehicle or two takes the pressure off the one that needs fixing. But you knew that. Another thing I do is accumulate some of the parts I think I might need, especially if they are low cost. It is an art, and doesn’t always work.
Like you, I hate that some small part can often only be had as part of a larger assembly, which never fails. Yeah, little plastic parts are tough. I wouldn’t trust plastic parts picked from junked cars, although some of them can be had almost for free. Of course, those are the ones that don’t usually fail.
I don’t often look for used cars, but I am doing more these days. I am very picky, and it pays off. Decades ago, I would buy a fixer-upper as a spare car until I realized that some old cars (I call all of them cars, even light trucks) cost about the same regardless of condition. In CA finding really nice old cars is still possible. In other parts of the country, most of the really nice older cars are “cars of special interest,” which often means expensive. Not great if you are just looking for a reliable car in good condition for cheap. Luck also plays a part! I have had some really nice cars almost fall into my lap. Helps to put the word out to anybody who will listen. Around here, many of the really nice cars are spoken for, sometimes years before the sale. Patience rules.
I forgot to mention used motorcycles. In CA, bikes are ridden all year, but in winter areas folks put them away for the winter. I used to travel a little for work, and would occasionally visit dealers. I was in one place where I saw rows of ten or so year old bikes in excellent condition, with low miles. Prices were very attractive, too. It would be worthwhile to consider that as a shopping option.
Of course, the Internet has had its effect, but I don’t look much except for parts. Next time I “need” a bike, I just might look.
And for everyone who insists on buying new vehicles, great. I bought a new car once, and am actually considering one now. However, I have done well with used ones over the years, and no warranty hassles 🙂
Junior Programmer was just telling me that the only thing that he is worried about is the crazy people. He went to a Google Go conference last year and there was a Google person running around the place with long pink hair, a tube top, and a skirt. With male pattern baldness. Imagine being in the cubicle next to that freak show.
The crazy people are mostly harmless. A lot of people in tech are somewhere on the LGBT spectrum.
He sees going to Google as the only way that he will be able to work in ten years. If not Google then Facebook as they are “always looking for accomplished C++ programmers”. If not Facebook then Microsoft but they are going down.
Crossing 40 will be the problem. I speak from experience. I keep an eye on my 25 year-old female co-worker’s business cards. I don’t doubt that in a year, she will outrank me, and I will need another job if I don’t want to accept the situation just to keep a paycheck.
And I’d put my money on Microsoft being around before Facebook. Facebook’s HHVM is serious C++ tech, but, with the possible exception of WhatsApp, the company’s product line isn’t “must have” for any reason.
He went to a Google Go conference last year and there was a Google person running around the place with long pink hair, a tube top, and a skirt. With male pattern baldness. Imagine being in the cubicle next to that freak show.
The perverted alcoholic Defense Dept. contractors who lived in my neighborhood in Tampa were far more dangerous to general health and safety than any of the openly freaky people I encountered on the West Coast.
To me, long term, a pink tube top is less of a threat than a “White House Cannon Brigade” t-shirt like the baccanalist living behind us wore to ride his lawn mower around the yard on his “work from home” afternoons.
A drag queen never threatened me with death over sod.
What disappointed me the most about Obama is that he didn’t follow up on promises to end the “war” gravy train that these people rode.
Washington: Known for bestiality.
Pennsylvania: Hold my beer!
Farm orgies involving three men having sex with horses, cows, goat and dogs for five years discovered by police
Washington: Known for bestiality.
Pennsylvania: Hold my beer!
Farm orgies involving three men having sex with horses, cows, goat and dogs for five years discovered by police.
WA State outlawed the practice sometime in the recent past.
@Spook said:
And you will attract every cat and raccoon in a 10-mile radius. (chuckle)
@Greg Norton said:
You mean the holding of someone’s beer?
To me, long term, a pink tube top is less of a threat than a “White House Cannon Brigade” t-shirt like the baccanalist living behind us wore to ride his lawn mower around the yard on his “work from home” afternoons.
Oh, he is not worried about workplace violence. Other than the balding pink hair tube top guy wanting to feel his foot long beard (for some reason all the women want to feel his beard, even his mother). After all, he is former Marine, that training does not go away easily. He is worried about saying something stupid when the guy goes prancing around and then getting crucified by HR.
He is thinking about trimming the beard to just a half foot long if he goes to an onsite interview.
Crossing 40 will be the problem. I speak from experience. I keep an eye on my 25 year-old female co-worker’s business cards. I don’t doubt that in a year, she will outrank me, and I will need another job if I don’t want to accept the situation just to keep a paycheck.
And I’d put my money on Microsoft being around before Facebook. Facebook’s HHVM is serious C++ tech, but, with the possible exception of WhatsApp, the company’s product line isn’t “must have” for any reason.
Yup, he is 35 and worried about being gainfully employed in ten years.
We both were astounded when Microsoft moved 75% of the Windows programmers to the Azure team a couple of months ago. That was … bold and a statement about the future of desktops.