Clear and cool at the BOL. Houston is on the edge of a system and may get rain. I’ll be here for at least a few hours today. I’ve got pickups in Conroe (one hour south) and La Porte (hour and a half south and east.)
I was going to do the pickups on the way home, but now my wife and kids are supposed to be headed out here for an overnight and work party. Dang family, complicates everything. (KIDDING!) I should have picked up the La Porte items on the way here, since they are for here, but didn’t have the time. I’ll be making time now….
It really has been too nice up here not to share. Leaving aside that every toilet flush might be the last…in the previous 10 days it seems to have drained somewhat. No idea how much until it backs up again though.
The joys of rural living.
And of providing your own infrastructure. But, needs must and all that.
So stack up some knowledge and skills. You’ll need it.
nick
The BOL really sounds idyllic, Nick, apart from the drains! Enjoy. We are spending the Easter weekend looking after my in-laws, who are not getting younger or healthier.
Someone might hypothetically have enjoyed an illicit bacon and egg sandwich for Good Friday breakfast….!
@Geoff: I’m somewhat familiar with UK elections, having lived in Scotland for a while. Like here, they come and they go in a reasonable short period of time. As compared to the US, where the end of one election cycle is basically the start of the next – politicians are *always* campaigning.
There are also elections in France. I wouldn’t mind Le Pen, but her comments about Russia and Ukraine are utterly tone-deaf. If she’s that blind to current policital reality, then perhaps Macron remains the better choice.
Meanwhile, I kind of like our system – I don’t even know who the current Swiss president is, because the office rotates every year, and no one really cares.
– – – – –
I’m not quite sure what Elon Musk is up to with Twitter. I don’t believe he really want’s to buy it – anyway, there is basically no chance of the Progs being willing to sell it to him. So…is he just stirring things up for fun? Manipulating stock prices, so he can make a couple $billion off his initial investment? Something else?
– – – – –
Some special ops team needs to pay Mr. Putin a visit. It seems like he has totally flipped out. He has destroyed Russia – economically and politically – for at least a generation.
Clean house (at least 50% of the staff), close the Market St. HQ, and IPO. A school of thought exists on Wall Street that Twitter is undervalued, having constructed a tech “moat” around the business in Warren Buffett-speak, buying potential competitors and the early successful mobile apps interfacing to the service like Tweety.
The Progs have built Musk up as The Real Live Tony Stark (TM) in order to advance their MaaS (Mobility as a Service) agenda to eliminate private ownership of cars as currently understood. The Twitter board can’t simply say ‘no’ without an extremely good reason.
Another part of the ProgLibTurd “New World Order” to fully enslave us dirt people:
You Made $700 From an Online Side Hustle. Now the IRS Will Know.
No new taxes under income of $400,000, sure plugs, sure. Who do you think is making those side hustles on eBay, the 1%r’s?
The IRS wants a piece of the Playstation arbitrage business.
Musk also needs a distraction from (a) the Jesus Truck is late and (b) the similarly-delayed Jesus Roadster 2.0 – first shown in 2017 — now requires a $50,000, mostly wire-transfer deposit with no announced MSRP upon delivery.
How much will you pay? Nobody knows.
To be fair to Musk, no one wants to be first with their real world Jesus Truck pricing and charging specs, but Ford is now trapped into going first.
Ladies and Gentlemen, The President of the United States:
Biden Shakes Invisible Hand On Empty Stage After Ending Speech
plugsy McSpongeBrain.
Anyone selling on eBay or who has any other little business needs to be reporting it as income, and paying whatever taxes are due. That’s nothing new, it’s the law. We’ve reported all of our sales from our “side hustle” all the way back to when we started with a flea market booth, and pre-internet days when we advertised in the Antique Trader Weekly. Reported & still report all sales including cash, and then pay state sales tax, federal income tax, Self-Employment tax, and County Rendition taxes as applicable.
The prompter probably reads “Turn. Shake hand.”
Yeah, Biden. Trump tho.
The Twitter PLT’s will do whatever they the
I just received my monthly usage report from my downstairs Honeywell thermostat. We used 38 more hours of heating this year compared to last year. Same settings. Global warming though…
Ok. Second time a comment was wriit
Third time a comment was written in the box and only part of it posted.
Adding extra text at the end that says zip nadfa nothing
Cool. Totally unpredictable.
The nerve of him! What does he think he is, a hospital?
No. A hospital actually has to deliver the product.
Tony started taking reservations for the Jesus Roadster 2.0 in 2017 and has yet to deliver one.
Imagine if Ford did that or, worse, Toyota.
Hardcore fans have put up with waiting for the Bronco, but I’ve seen one in the wild in the last few months.
A real Bronco, not the Sport.
The change in the reservation system for the Jesus Roadster was snuck out in the wake of the “Rodeo” here in Austin last week. $5000 with a $500 credit card deposit due immediately followed by a $4500 wire transfer (!) within 10 days.
@greg, the hospital only has to deliver A product, not THE product. They get paid whether the cure works or they kill you. And no one can tell you what it will cost.
I am predictably sore and stiff today. Sun hasn’t poked thru yet either. Wife and kids are coming up, so I hope the septic has a little room.
Never forget that musk controls not just most of the US access to space, but now the whole Command and Control satellite infrastructure, if the Russians or chinese kick off something by blinding the few DoD sats.
He’s in the catbird seat and knows it. Plus he likes messing with people. Imagine what twitter would be worth if some of the 70% (leaning right mostly) that don’t use it started to. Assuming there is some way that twitter actually makes money.
WRT taxing “side hustles” they are income. Even your garage sale was subject to taxation at least theoretically. If you are doing something as an organized and intentional money making endevour, it’s work, and taxable.
ALL taxation is theft people, under threat of ruin.
On the gripping hand, if the IRS says you trading collectibles is a business, then you should apply for a resale license and stop paying sales tax on your business purchases. Turn the crank just a little bit further.
n
@denis, it is pretty dang good. I hope it will be better too.
Don’t forget though that it’s just the bright spot in the cloudy day… some days anyway.
m
I am becoming more convinced that health care will have to go to the auto repair model: The book says this procedure takes this many hours. That’s what you get paid, regardless of how long it actually takes.
In theory, hospitals are supposed to provide a set price list for procedures on demand. Of course, this is before the insurance company negotiates down what they will pay and does not include outside services such as pathology or anesthesia, which are also subject to negotation.
The hospital eventually delivers something … even if it kills you. And most of them don’t insist on wire transfers which are not subject to chargebacks.
More important to the agenda is that Musk manufactures enough EVs to provide the carbon offsets that Ford, GM, and Fiat/Chrysler … Stellantis … whatever … are going to have to buy to be able to continue to sell big gas and diesel powered trucks without CAFE fines after 2026.
ULA and Boeing have no incentive to provide a better set of products.
Maybe Starliner will work next month. Boeing has to pay for that flight.
We may revisit South Texas for the 4th. If the weather is lousy again, maybe we will head out to Boca Chica for another look around, this time with a better camera.
I’m sure there are millions of $$ going through eBay and others by people selling their old junk. The IRS is hiring 1,000’s of more employees to go after people who just happen to sell over $599 in a year of their own junk. Not even recovering what they paid for it. Most of these people won’t even know what to do with a 1099 other than throw it in the trash. Don’t forget you’ll get scrutinized by the IRS for Zelle’ing over $599. Even though it is supposed to be only for “goods and services”, the IRS will be sending out threatening letters by the millions.
Also don’t forget all the salaries and pensions us dirt people will have to pay for 1,000’s of more IRS pukes whose sole job is to “get me”.
Well earnings have a counterpart. If you are going to resell an amount significant enough to cause a real tax hurt, set up a home business. Find an area of your home to set up an office and workspace. Keep track of what you pay for goods. Note the mileage on vehicles used for business. Doing a schedule C on a tax return is not difficult. Expenses add up.
When I was doing work for a school fund raising company I would file a schedule C. I did not deduct the space I used in my home because it was not exclusive use for the business. I was able to deduct the computers, hardware, software, supplies, etc. I made certain that I made a profit every 3 years of $100.00 or so. That kept the IRS from considering what I was doing as a hobby. I did get 1099s from the fund raising company and did report all the income along with my expenses.
During that time, about 12 years, I never once got hassled by the IRS for anything I reported. Never audited (that I know about), never questioned. I did not have a company, never filed as a company, just as an individual.
I was thinking this morning, after cleaning the Roomba clone, and having it immediately turn and attack my feet when I turned it on, that we need a term for this behavior.
We already mention, when speaking of such things, of the “perversity of an inanimate object”, but this is an animate object.
But when we say “animate” it has the implication of “living”, at least to me.
I was going to do the pickups on the way home, but now my wife and kids are supposed to be headed out here for an overnight and work party. Dang family, complicates everything. (KIDDING!) I should have picked up the La Porte items on the way here, since they are for here, but didn’t have the time. I’ll be making time now….
It really has been too nice up here not to share. Leaving aside that every toilet flush might be the last…in the previous 10 days it seems to have drained somewhat. No idea how much until it backs up again though.
Call your honey truck out and get the septic tank pumped NOW !
Women like flushing the toilets. Me too.
“Should We Commit to Fight Russia — for Finland?”
https://buchanan.org/blog/should-we-commit-to-fight-russia-for-finland-159291
“Why would we voluntarily agree to give Sweden and Finland these war guarantees? Why would we commit to go to war with Putin’s Russia, a war that could, and likely would, escalate to the use of tactical nuclear weapons, especially if Russia were losing?”
We should not. We should sell them a bunch of weapons though.
In fact, I think that the USA should leave NATO.
Get a toilet snake and a drain auger if you don’t already have those at the BOL.
Over The Hedge: Using The Human’s Bidet
https://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2022/04/15
Uh, you can’t get the Koof from an inanimate object.
Gremlins?
Get a toilet snake and a drain auger if you don’t already have those at the BOL.
If the septic tank is full at the BOL then you can flush all you want, it is not going to go anywhere but the floor.
I’m not quite sure what Elon Musk is up to with Twitter. I don’t believe he really want’s to buy it – anyway, there is basically no chance of the Progs being willing to sell it to him. So…is he just stirring things up for fun? Manipulating stock prices, so he can make a couple $billion off his initial investment? Something else?
Musk wants to buy Twitter and set it free.
@lymm,SWMBO had this idea that she can figure out the drainage rate and thus be able to schedule work weekends without a$300 pump fee per weekend.
She ignores that when out gets full, we’re done. Could be next flush…
N
Musk SAYS he wants to buy Twitter and set it free.
As it’s the defacto town square and soap box, that would be a good thing.
N
Needing actual office space for my consulting business (full-time job) I got around the whole percentage of space used, etc. by getting a travel trailer for my office and dedicating one of our two vehicles to work only. That way I could declare all expenses for the office and vehicle including purchase (when I replaced the car) without question. No problems the one time I was audited.
“Hardcore fans have put up with waiting for the Bronco, but I’ve seen one in the wild in the last few months.”
I have seen at least four of the new Ford Broncos now in the wild. One of them even had a standard transmission.
“Fire Season (2) (Star Kingdom)” by David Weberand Jane Lindskold
https://www.amazon.com/Fire-Season-Star-Kingdom-Weber/dp/145163921X?tag=ttgnet-20/
Book number two of a three book young adult space opera series. This series is part of the huge Honorverse series of books, probably approaching thirty books now. I reread the well printed and well bound trade paperback published by Baen in 2013 that I bought in 2013 from Amazon. I will be rereading book number three next.
Fourteen year old Stephanie Harrington has been living on Sphinx in the Manticore binary star system for three Terran years. There are barely two million people living on Sphinx, in part due to the harsh five Terran year cycle around Manticore-A, and the deadly plagues that Stephanie’s mother was brought in to help cure. Stephanie has bonded with a treecat she named Lionheart after they fought and killed a five meter hexapuma together.
The animals on Sphinx are quite unusual, all of them are hexapods, six legged. The number one predator on the planet is a very dangerous five meter long feline named the hexapuma. Other predators such as the three meter near bear exist also. And many uncatalogued mammals also.
My review from 2013: “Book number two in a series of three books, actually a Honorverse prequel book in a series of 20+ books. Very nice young adult book continuing the early development of the relationship between treecats and humans.”
The author has an excellent website at:
http://www.davidweber.net/
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars (5467 reviews)
Good deal over at Costco to add to your stacks…
Today and Tomorrow! Spend $150 or More on Sameday.Costco.com and Receive $50 OFF!
Just placed my order. Promo code is EASTER22. Limit one order per membership.
“More than half of PCs can’t upgrade to Windows 11 — report”
https://www.computerworld.com/article/3657628/more-than-half-of-pcs-cant-upgrade-to-windows-11-report.html
“New data from Lansweeper, an asset manager software provider, shows the uptake of Windows 11 at just 1.44% of all systems — the result of an inability to run the new OS.”
I am not understanding MS’s position on the Windows 11 upgrade.
>> I have seen at least four of the new Ford Broncos now in the wild. One of them even had a standard transmission.
Saw my first “Mustang” Mach-E in the wild yesterday. Hard to miss in Cyber Orange.
Not sure Carroll Shelby would agree with the Mustang branding.
>> Musk SAYS he wants to buy Twitter and set it free.
As it’s the defacto town square and soap box, that would be a good thing.
And as the old saying goes… “If you love something, set it free, if it doesn’t come back, hunt it down and kill it.”
Thanks! I ordered $150+ of steaks.
My Alienware gaming PC says it is 11 ready and will download 11 anytime now. It’s been saying that for a month.
The local Ford dealer has a Maverick in stock. I only looked, didn’t drive it. It looks a lot better in person than online. If I wanted to drive a truck as my only vehicle, that would fit the bill.
>> Clean house (at least 50% of the staff), close the Market St. HQ, and IPO. A school of thought exists on Wall Street that Twitter is undervalued, having constructed a tech “moat” around the business in Warren Buffett-speak, buying potential competitors and the early successful mobile apps interfacing to the service like Tweety.
Right now his per-share offer is roughly $10 over the current market price. Let the shareholder class-action lawsuits against the board of directors begin if they reject his offer. Tony can also extend his offer directly to shareholders.
And as I type I see the board has enacted a “poison pill.”
The price of natural gas has risen to $7.30/mmbtu at the Henry Hub in Louisiana. Gonna be an interesting summer.
https://oilprice.com/oil-price-charts/#Natural-Gas
Worldwide energy usage has recovered since the Koof effectively ended. Energy owners are seeking the highest prices for their products and that is outside the USA, causing USA energy prices to rise also.
Note that WTI Crude oil is back up to $107.
>> Musk also needs a distraction from (a) the Jesus Truck is late and (b) the similarly-delayed Jesus Roadster 2.0 – first shown in 2017 — now requires a $50,000, mostly wire-transfer deposit with no announced MSRP upon delivery.
See!! Inflation’s so bad already that the Roadster deposit has gone from $5,000 to $50,000!
At least we know where Tony’s getting some of the money to buy Twitter 😉
The standard was outsourced, but, yeah, it is an option.
>> Musk also needs a distraction from (a) the Jesus Truck is late and (b) the similarly-delayed Jesus Roadster 2.0 – first shown in 2017 — now requires a $50,000, mostly wire-transfer deposit with no announced MSRP upon delivery.
See!! Inflation’s so bad already that the Roadster deposit has gone from $5,000 to $50,000!
At least we know where Tony’s getting some of the money to buy Twitter
Nah. You think that new five million square foot gigafactory in Austin was built for free ? Probably $500 / sqft = $2.5 billion. Plus the land cost. Plus the several hundred robots at over a million dollars each. Plus the assembly lines. Plus, plus, plus.
And that is gigafactory number five. Tesla goes through money like water.
Bah. Too many zeros. It was early.
The more interesting aspect is the wire transfer. No chargebacks!
Got about 4/5 of my elevation survey done. still overcast. Family arrived 130 and wife is busy tearing out carpet and painting.
F2f is holding the stick for my measurements.
N
The dealers have been getting those, but they aren’t putting the $20k model out front or on the web sites.
I found six of the base model in the fleet/demo section of the lot at my local dealer poking around at 7AM on a Saturday morning last month. All white/stripped.
If you understand and accept the limitations of the vehicle, it isn’t a bad deal for a hybrid at $20k. Just wait a year to see how they’re holding up. Hecho en Mexico. Even Toyota has been experiencing problems getting Tacomas built decently down south.
It would be an even better deal with a normally aspirated 2.5L 4-cyl for $17k. I’ll bet there are models like that sold down en Mexico, where Ford doesn’t have to worry about CAFE in four years.
My Costco order arrived. 13 beautiful ribeyes. 12 already vacuum sealed and in the freezer.
@lymm,SWMBO had this idea that she can figure out the drainage rate and thus be able to schedule work weekends without a$300 pump fee per weekend.
She ignores that when out gets full, we’re done. Could be next flush…
N
Have you got a Buccee’s nearby ? I hear they have nice bathrooms.
The standard was outsourced, but, yeah, it is an option.
Probably a six or seven speed Getrag. Nice transmission, shifts almost as good as a Honda.
The Mazda five speed in my son’s 2003 V6 F-150 was not a quality part. Second gear grinds like crazy so the synchonizers are out. He did put 160K miles on it before parking it at my office (still there !).
Yet another Ford class action lawsuit concerns the last standard they developed in house for the Mustang. I’m not hip about details beyond what a friend from Michigan heard from his buddy at GM, a lifer who is hoping to make it to 30 years or thereabouts getting some schadenfreude over Ford problems. I can’t keep up.
I’ve written before about the Chinese relation with the early 90s Mazda B2300 that he rolls to the end of his driveway in Vantucky, 2007 expired tags clearly visible, just to see how many knocks he gets on the door from people wanting to offer money for the vehicle.
Everyone knocking on the door offers $1000-$1500 without knowing any details about whether the truck runs or needs a new transmission. The Chinese relation wants $5000.
A Texas truck from the early 2000s with a wonky standard transmission might actually get that much up there right now.
“Abbott ends inspections that clogged commercial traffic at U.S.-Mexico border for more than a week”
https://www.texastribune.org/2022/04/15/texas-border-abbott-vehicle-inspections/
“The deals Abbott made with three of the four Mexican border governors don’t include any new security measures south of the border. Abbott threatened to bring the inspections back if Mexican states don’t slow migration to Texas.”
A Texas truck from the early 2000s with a wonky standard transmission might actually get that much up there right now.
No airbags. He popped them at 100K miles without collision insurance. He tried to start it the other day and the fuel pump seized. He put in a new fuel pump and the fuel line blocked quickly. So now he needs a new fuel line.
Am watching the awesome “Risen” movie for free on the Roku channel. Of course I must “pay” by watching the commercials.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3231054/
On Saturday after Pilate had Jesus crucified, the Jewish high priest shows up at the Roman fort and demands that Pilate put guards on Jesus’s tomb. Pilate replies with your God demands that you do not work on the Sabbath, yet here you are.
Warning, the Roman Tribune executes a man for rebellion. Most gruesome thing that I have seen.
re: flushing toilets
The water conservation people used to have a saying: “If it’s yellow, let it mellow. When it’s brown, flush it down.”
Of course, in > 90% of America, there is no fresh water shortage that requires that level of conservation, but the “green” folk are stupid and somehow think saving water in the Midwest will help poor people in Africa.
Your septic field is the issue here. Reduce unnecessary flushes until you get your problem solved.
Scott Pilgrim’s drummer leaves the singing chores to Sunny Ozell, Patrick Stewart’s real life wife, on this week’s “Picard”.
Done with my survey. It was D2 helping not the autocorrect nonsense.
The flushing problem is the volume of liquid headed toward the tank. Got a design for the new system but haven’t looked at it on my phone. It can wait a day.
And there isn’t anything nearby.
N
@Nick – replace your existing toilets with a low-flow model?
Some quick research:
Reduce flush volume from 5 gallons per flush to 1.6 gallons with a low-flow toilet.
>> A Texas truck from the early 2000s with a wonky standard transmission might actually get that much up there right now.
How about something like this from Tacoma?
I need to sell my 2005 Honda Civic Coupe EX Special Edition, 5 speed, factory spoilers, sunroof, bright red. I have not started it in two years, my garage queen.
The Chinese relation’s truck isn’t in that kind of shape. I’d put it at 93 or 94.
It isn’t really about selling the truck for the most money possible. He likes to mess with “rednecks”.
Think Khan on “King of the Hill” except a little more reserved.
And, You Ain’t Got No Ice Cream.
We have a Toto 1.6 gallon/flush that actually works, but we paid a lot more for it. The final bill for the install was ~ $800 parts and labor.
The home warranty plumber cracked the old toilet resolving a flow issue caused by the previous owner’s use of self cleaning tablets. One tablet got stuck in the rim and didn’t dissolve as fast as it would in the tank, blocking the flow of the water.
I’m not in a big hurry to replace the others. They are 25 years old and work well. We are on utility water and sewer.
We have a Toto 1.6 gallon/flush that actually works, but we paid a lot more for it. The final bill for the install was ~ $800 parts and labor.
My three American Standard Vormax toilets work much better than my one Toto toilet. But the Vormax flappers (they have two flappers) crust up with iron oxide crap from our neighborhood well.
https://www.americanstandard-us.com/vormax
I have been meaning to put in a new filtration system but have not gotten around to it yet as I need to have 300+ feet of 1.5 inch pipe run. My neighbors are having replace their filters monthly as our water is so dirty.
Yeah, the toilets will be replaced with low flow. Even if you have to flush them more than once during a visit, you still reduce the flow. I have one sitting in the garage, waiting. I have two more that need tanks sitting in storage. All Toto. I can’t recommend anything else. Changing them out is on the list…
I’ll probably go with restricted flow shower heads too, but not to Cali rediculous levels.
—
Replaced the wheels on one of the patio doors. Now it opens and closes easily. Too bad they fought it for so long they wore out the track. Even with new wheels, the wear on the track means it won’t float open and closed like when it was new. $3 and time, to fix something we touch many times a day. We’ll have to replace it eventually due to the wear, but it’ll do for now.
Wife and kids got the carpet out, and the trim paint finished in one more bedroom. I put up a new ceiling fan and light. Got the bed and dresser in there too. She wants to crank out the other bedroom in the morning. Just painting out the natural wood panelling and pulling the carpet makes a big difference.
For that matter, washing the windows made a huge difference.
I have been rotating between several jobs, both inside and outside. I end up less hurt and worn out if I do that, but it’s not as intense a push, so a bit less gets done. I’ll live with the pace if it means I don’t hurt as much.
I guess I’m getting smarter about it…
n
“How Barnes & Noble Went From Villain to Hero”
https://dnyuz.com/2022/04/15/how-barnes-noble-went-from-villain-to-hero/
“After years on the decline, Barnes & Noble’s sales are up, its costs are down — and the same people who for decades saw the superchain as a supervillain are celebrating its success.”
“In the past, the book-selling empire, with 600 outposts across all 50 states, was seen by many readers, writers and book lovers as strong-arming publishers and gobbling up independent stores in its quest for market share.”
Hat tip to:
https://drudgereport.com/
@rick, the site looks great on my android phone. Everything seems to be working too.
Even selecting and copying text works now.
thanks
n
I’ll probably go with restricted flow shower heads too, but not to Cali rediculous levels.
I will keep my 2.5 gpm Moen shower head until you cut it off my shower spigot.
The Mazda five speed in my son’s 2003 V6 F-150 was not a quality part. Second gear grinds like crazy so the synchonizers are out. He did put 160K miles on it before parking it at my office (still there !).
Just learn how to match speeds, like with a crashbox. Going up through the gears is easy: just pause in neutral enough to slip right into second. Coming down, you will have to double clutch: in neutral, engage the clutch and rev the engine just enough to match the speed going into second. A lot easier to do than to explain. Takes some practice.
You can also reduce wear on synchronizers by treating shifts as if you had an unsynchronized transmission, a crashbox. When speeds are matched, the stick will slip in smoothly.
We has a 71 Toyota that wore out its second gear synchro. We continued driving it without fixing it, as described above. My wife had bought it just before we were married, and followed the owner’s manual to the letter. Unfortunately, it was written in Japanglish, and insisted on never skipping gears when downshifting. She interpreted that to mean that she had to downshift all the time, which prematurely wore out the synchro. Why the first gear synchro didn’t fail is beyond me. I never liked that car. Lots of trouble.
It was rear ended and totaled in 1979. She missed it, so I found one with a blown engine, a good body, and an automatic transmission, for $300. I put the crashed car’s engine in the acquired car, and almost finished it when my father died, leaving me two cars. We no longer needed the Toyota, so I traded it for some grading work around the yard. I still have that manual transmission.
Some things about that car were very good, but some were just bizarre. It needed power steering but didn’t have it. Had power brakes, but didn’t need power assist. The interior self-destructed after about four years.
Almost a year ago, we looked at a 2009 Camry that friends were selling. It was in good but not great condition, with inadequate maintenance. Fortunately, my wife didn’t like it. Dodged a bullet. I have learned that when buying used cars, condition is of paramount importance, and costs way less than a fixer.
Nick, give this or something similar a try for your door track:
https://www.amazon.com/Small-Sill-Track-Cover-long/dp/B000WO5W7K/ref=asc_df_B000WO5W7K/?linkCode=df0&hvadid=312176809358&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6886498911407583984&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9031792&hvtargid=pla-571775205577&psc=1&tag=ttgnet-20
I have seen them installed, and they work. Never needed one on our doors.
I’ll probably go with restricted flow shower heads too, but not to Cali rediculous levels.
I will keep my 2.5 gpm Moen shower head until you cut it off my shower spigot.
I have had one of the tiny shower heads for decades. It makes very fine spray, almost a mist. It heats up the shower fast, and feels good. It is probably low flow, but that’s not why I like it. It is just what I like. It is also all metal, and has a small disc that can be cleaned of deposits about once a year. Takes only a minute or two.
We recently stayed in two places that had hotel style shower valves, the kind that doesn’t have a flow control. It is wide open or nothing. Hate those, especially with a shower head that can’t make a fine spray. I like to luxuriate a while with a fine mist to moisten my nasal cavities, and these can only blast. Blast is good for about a minute, but bugs me for more.