It’s the weekend, it’s basically hot everywhere come in and cool off by bragging about something you’ve done lately. Post some pictures even if you have them.
@blaineg@werehatrack I agree a nap is a lie you tell yourself. Like I’m gonna just sleep 30 minutes… then you wake up at 4am wake for the rest of the day.
I made this for my husband’s aunt’s 90th birthday present. The only idea they gave me for a gift was that she likes chocolate! She is also legally blind, so all my artsy stuff was out!
So I made a chocolate charcuterie board for her. I know it is normally directly on the board, but it is 100 degrees out!!
@Kyeh I hope so… She was so happy to see us… She was my father in law’s favorite sister and such a love!! It was also nice to make stuff with nuts, as there is almost no way she could have a nut allergy … Epipens did not exist 90 years ago!
Luckily, I don’t eat half of this stuff and I brought most of the leftovers to my parents. My dad is a chocoholic!!
@Lynnerizer do they sell food on etsy? I can’t bring myself to sell anything I make, because I see all the flaws. It makes me happy to give it away, figure I might need the extra points in the book of life
@Kyeh my “girlies”, i.e. besties, are going to kill me when I bring the leftovers to them tomorrow. But at least I won’t be the one consuming all this junk!!! My son and husband have gotten through almost all the peanut butter balls, and the failed ganache turned into mousse!
@mikibell I’m both sad and glad that I don’t have someone like you in my family - I would love it if I did, but OMG, I’d have even more trouble not outgrowing my clothes!
@mikibell
Yes they sure do sell food on Etsy. You’re not alone in seeing the flaws, it’s terrible how we’re our own worst critic! My niece is always telling me to be nice to myself and she’s so right! I look back at pictures of myself from when I was in my 20-30’s and it makes me upset how much time I wasted thinking I was fat. All that negative self talk, what a shame. Now when I see myself back then all I can think is someone give that poor girl a burger!! Lol
@Kyeh@tinamarie1974 hehehe I was worried it would not travel well for 15 minutes… I am sure iy wouldn’t be good by the time it got to you!! As it was the white chocolate was melted when I received it from amazon… Btw, machine is in the shop, but starting new elf sweaters soon… Any requests?
@tinamarie1974 That’s great, congratulations!! Are you doing a spicific diet or just cutting calories in general? South Beach diet was the last one that I did well with about 10 years ago. Definitely time for me to get back on track!
@tinamarie1974
Oh yeah, from what I understand WW is very good and easy to do. Any plans that allows popcorn every day has got to be a winner! You’re off to a great start, keep up the good work!
@Kyeh@tinamarie1974 I am fairly certain I have tweety… definitely encanto inspired designs. I think I have scooby. I will look to see what else I have that is old school!
@tinamarie1974
Congrats on your success with weight watchers. My wife has been using them for quite some time and really likes their program. There is a guy who calls himself The Guilt-Free Gourmet who posts weight watcher friendly hacks for recipes. The ones we’ve tried have all been very tasty. He is a remarkable cook and his adaptations to be WW point friendly are spot on.
@chienfou thanks for this! Ive downloaded the books to my phone and will give them a look tonsee if it makes sense to purchase.
Feel free to share any tips or recipes youve noticed were great for you and your wife. Having issues finding desserts for the weekly family dinner that I can eat and the rest of the family want to eat
@tinamarie1974
He is a great guy. Witty and well spoken, he is fun to read (I think you can ‘follow’ him thru the WW app??) His recipes are pretty amazing. For instance he has a half dozen for using ground turkey to make breakfast sausage, chorizo, kefta, and “hamburger”. His recipes (that we have tried) have been pretty tasty, and do not at all feel like a ‘sacrifice’ to eat. We have a few of his books, and my wife loves to read his postings on WW as he develops new recipes, waxes philosophical on various subjects, talks about his life, wife and kids (his SWMBO is a professional and he is a stay at home dad for his kids, at least one of which is special needs/autistic). He is a big Star Wars geek and seems like he would be fun to hang out with…
@Targaryen Pools are like boats… it’s better to have a buddy with one than own one yourself So… not my pool but my dog loved it. They all power swam for almost two hours. Dogdog slept well
I don’t think this is a brag, but I’m pretty happy with my progress. I unpacked 3 suitcases from my last trip and put everything away. Tomorrow I will wash the clothes. Then get to getting rid of excess on ebay. Although I’ve been thinking of trying out mercari or poshmark for some things. (Also did the dishes.) It’s the small things sometimes in life that can make you happy.
@milstarr sometimes just getting done the things you should get done. Is sufficient. Knowing you didn’t let them build up/get out of control can be very satisfying.
@milstarr Nice job! I don’t have any experience with Mircari but be patient as there are a lot of people trying to haggle way down only to not answer you later or get things for free.
@milstarr Good job! I am slowly trying to organize and downsize my closet. Locally more people use Poshmark but I have not listed anything there yet.
I have listed several items and sold one on Mercari. The listings were easy enough. Mercari does push allowing them to promote and discount your prices. It will show you the amount you will receive.
Remember to check the actual cost of shipping before posting anywhere. eBay has some bad weight numbers on some listings that surprise some sellers after the sale. I can post some tips if you would like them.
@hammi99@Targaryen did the stain remover work? God bless you for ironing that many. One of my guilty indulgences is sending my husband’s shirts out to the dry cleaner for laundering.
@mikibell Yes, it worked. Had to let some shorts soak overnight and blogs say even a week for deep rooted stains. Best is to wash immediately after wear before the stains settle in. Some of these ring-around-collar were from months and years ago!!
And yes, I didn’t want to pay expensive dry cleaning either. I used Zout because it was on sale for $3 on Amazon and figured I’d try it. After more research, I’ve ordered another much more expensive one that’s supposed to work even more magic but haven’t received yet since I’m waiting for Subscribe & Save a month later and not in a rush since this batch of shirts done. Perhaps I can stick to Zout if we wash fairly quickly after each wear. Will continue to ponder that.
@hammi99@mikibell
My usual routine is the spray stuff when I put in the laundry basket. It can then sit and soak until we have enough laundry to do a load. So far that seems to be working pretty well. Now if you find something that will take out deodorant /underarm stains effectively in white t-shirts that would be wonderful.
OTOH ironing is something I virtually never do. Most of our clothes go out on the clothes line and the wind takes out the major wrinkles. Permanent press makes them good enough for the events that I wear them to.
@chienfou makes sense! Although I don’t have a clothesline as I live in high rise apartment building . . .
All my shirts acquired in past few years are all wrinkle free, iron free etc. So much easier. The shirts I was washing were non-wrinkle free hence the ironing part - and procrastination to batch wash them all at once - it was quite therapeutic actually LOL. No, won’t be doing that again for a long while.
I believe the stain remover is supposed to work on deodorant/underarm stains as well. I usually wear a t-shirt under my shirts, so the dress shirt isn’t as affected. Polo shirts I put in hamper after a particularly hot day, like current heat waves, and don’t usually pre-treat - regular wash takes out sweat etc.
@hammi99
Yeah it’s primarily the cotton-based white t-shirts that I wear under my scrubs at work that I noticed the stains on. Dress up shirts not so much, since I generally try to avoid getting sweaty when I’m in a button down
My t-shirts go through a life cycle that includes wearing them as just a t-shirt, then wearing them as undershirts under my scrubs etc, then becoming outdoor work shirts in the fall and winter, then (after cutting the sleeves off of them) using them in the summertime. By then they are pretty much shot the hell!
About 50% of my t-shirts come from Life South when I give blood … Though I did notice I was wearing a t-shirt the other day that had to be at least 20 years old given the print on it was from a place we had visited a loooong time ago!
@chienfou@hammi99 I love this discussion. Years ago I said something in a printing class I was in about my (late) husband doing laundry. This guy in the class looked at me in disbelief and said “Your husband does the laundry???” What a Neanderthal.
@hammi99@Kyeh
nope… never stopped once I started doing it when I moved out of the house in 1973. I still do almost a third to half of it, and 90% of the grocery shopping.
Plus thanks to the iLife vacuum I bought here I do a lot of that as well.
@macromeh@Targaryen Knowing how to DIY is a huge part of saving money. The average new car monthly payment is $712 a month now … that’s just crazy.
FWIW, my current daily was sold as “dead”. I had it running in 25 minutes, much to the surprise of the previous owner. I gave her the right of refusal, being honest that there were still multiple codes and I wouldn’t be out of the woods yet as a buyer. She kept true to her word of selling it for the advertised price, so I was grateful for that. My fix added about $2k to its value.
@macromeh@narfcake@Targaryen Yeah… car prices have become nutty. I leased my wife a car in 2019 and I think I bought it for $24K (or rather leased it at that price). Nothing too fancy but a reasonable, nice new car. She teaches at a nearby elementary school and at the end of the 3 year lease this past June, she had just hit 6,100 miles. Carmax offered me $22K for the car. Buy out price on the lease was $11K. Yeah… we bought that as fast as possible
@narfcake@Targaryen@capnjb In my younger years, I was quite a motorhead. I did several complete engine rebuilds, many tuneups, clutches, brake jobs, etc. A couple of the more interesting projects were transplanting a (German-mfg) 2 liter Ford engine into an old military surplus jeep, and grafting a GM 350 V8 into a 60’s Mustang (because, why not? ).
Then I got into computers and my interest in automotive hobby projects waned.
These days, cars are much more complicated and what you can do without expensive equipment is more limited. But I still do a lot of my own maintenance when I can.
@capnjb@macromeh@narfcake@Targaryen In the '70s, my daily driver was registered as a '65 VW Beetle. But it had a two-liter engine with dual 40DCNF Weber carbs, a wider than normal rear track, taller gears that worked out to the equivalent of “no first gear, add a fifth”, 185/70R14 tires, sway bars front and rear, and numerous other mods including brakes from a '65 VW Squareback. From the outside, it looked mostly stock; it even had the original hubcaps. I was a bit of a terror…
Sometimes I miss that car, but honestly, damn near anything made today is faster - and a hell of a lot more reliable.
Sometimes I miss that car, but honestly, damn near anything made today is faster - and a hell of a lot more reliable.
@werehatrack Not to mention safety – or the lack thereof. For all the folks who say “they don’t make them like they used to”, my response is “be glad”. I remember seeing a '55 Chevy in a junkyard that was in a rollover. No seatbelts, so any occupants would be subjected to the laws of physics, complete with lots of hard metal surfaces. No safety glass, so every fragment was a knife. And most importantly, no structural passenger cage; between the vehicle weight and the composition of the steel, the A-pillar was collapsed down and was even splitting in half below the door hinge.
@narfcake@werehatrack Here is a good representation of the improvement in safety over the years. The second chart is particularly telling when you are looking at it in comparison to number of miles driven rather than population.
I quit second guessing myself and bought a smart watch for DH. It arrived yesterday and I think I managed to get it set up. Today I ordered a couple different bands to try because I don’t like the current one. Fingers crossed that it works out the way I want!
Somehow I have gotten into a habit of not trusting myself to stop researching and just buy more expensive items. The small differences between models and competition get me frustrated and I just walk away.
@speediedelivery Amazon does that to me - it used to be you could find a few alternatives and pick between them, but now there’s a gazillion variations, and should you trust the reviews, and sometimes the descriptions are written oddly - gaaah. It sends me into “analysis paralysis.”
@Targaryen Grabbed a scratch and dent Apple SE from Woot. No visible signs of use and seems to work as advertised. There was some leftover information about the previous owner. Nothing identifying or financial that I found so far but I will keep looking.
I had planned to get a Series 7 for the additional health monitoring but this is a cheaper way to see if it will be worn and used. Main purpose is to have a way to contact me while I am away if there is an emergency. We had a health scare this summer and DH is not good about carrying a phone. I chose Apple for the proposed sugar monitor in a few years. DH does not like change.
SWMBO is out of town for a residency program for her master’s this week. Consequently I’ve been doing a bunch of stuff around the house. Yesterday I made and canned a batch of pasta sauce, picked a few dozen jalapenos, and a couple of green peppers. Today I went through and weeeded all the garden and took out several of the tomato plants that had gotten leggy and unproductive. I also mowed and remulched everything in the veggie garden, and restrung the electric fence line around the garden as well.
Tomorrow I’m planning to start on changing out the kitchen sink and faucet which has developed the leak recently. Plus my routine work week starts tomorrow so I’ll be gone second shift for the next 7 days
@Kyeh
That’s part of the reason that my posting here is hit or miss. I actually get more interaction here when I’m at work, if we’re not super busy. When I’m at home I tend to be away from my electronics other than listening to headphones while I work outside other than early in the morning when I’m having coffee before I go over to check on Mom.
@chienfou So not only is it enjoyable for us when you post a lot here, it’s also a sign that things are good in your county, because the ER is having a slow day!
@medz I added a ceiling fan to the family room in a previous house. Later, I couldn’t find my wallet. After a prolonged search, I concluded that I must have had it in my pocket while in the attic to work on the fan (idiot!). So, back in the attic to search. But the attic was insulated with blown-in fiberglass and my wallet was apparently buried somewhere under that. So there it remained . Fortunately, there was not much cash in the wallet, but I had to replace my DL, credit card, etc. I imagine that someday in the future, when the house is demolished, maybe someone will find it. And think: what a dork!
@macromeh ouch. Couple of houses ago I nearly lost my cell phone up in the attic as it fell out of my pocket while I was crawling around. Luckily caught it while it happened and went back down the ladder to leave it downstairs. Guess we could have called it and it would have be easier to find than a wallet (assuming it didn’t fall in a gap between the walls or something), but still.
@medz Losing a wallet is the worst because basically everything important is in it and then you have to frantically remember where the hell you last saw it.
I woke up.
Against my better judgement
@riskybryzness bright-eyed and bushy tailed I assume?
Getting up is a terrible thing to do in the morning.
@werehatrack My little brother said he hated naps. “Getting up is the worst thing I do all day. Why would I want to do it twice in one day?”
@blaineg @werehatrack I agree a nap is a lie you tell yourself. Like I’m gonna just sleep 30 minutes… then you wake up at 4am wake for the rest of the day.
I made this for my husband’s aunt’s 90th birthday present. The only idea they gave me for a gift was that she likes chocolate! She is also legally blind, so all my artsy stuff was out!
So I made a chocolate charcuterie board for her. I know it is normally directly on the board, but it is 100 degrees out!!
@mikibell Oh, yummmm! I bet she loved it!
@Kyeh I hope so… She was so happy to see us… She was my father in law’s favorite sister and such a love!! It was also nice to make stuff with nuts, as there is almost no way she could have a nut allergy … Epipens did not exist 90 years ago!
Luckily, I don’t eat half of this stuff and I brought most of the leftovers to my parents. My dad is a chocoholic!!
@mikibell
Nice! You made two people happy!
@mikibell
OMG that looks delicious!! Should you ever think about starting a Etsy, I’ll be happy to place the first order! YUM!
@mikibell That looks really nice! I’d be happy to have that!
@Lynnerizer do they sell food on etsy? I can’t bring myself to sell anything I make, because I see all the flaws. It makes me happy to give it away, figure I might need the extra points in the book of life
@Targaryen thank you!
@Kyeh my “girlies”, i.e. besties, are going to kill me when I bring the leftovers to them tomorrow. But at least I won’t be the one consuming all this junk!!! My son and husband have gotten through almost all the peanut butter balls, and the failed ganache turned into mousse!
@mikibell I’m both sad and glad that I don’t have someone like you in my family - I would love it if I did, but OMG, I’d have even more trouble not outgrowing my clothes!
@Lynnerizer @mikibell
https://www.etsy.com/legal/policy/food-and-edible-items/239327355460
I’d be a little eh about buying home baked goods for a number of reasons. But if I trusted the person I’m sure it could be done.
@Lynnerizer @mikibell just as a side note I trust @lisaviolet to drug my cats
@mikibell Love the chocolate salami!
@ironcheftoni @mikibell
/giphy TWSS
@mikibell
Lol 
Yes they sure do sell food on Etsy. You’re not alone in seeing the flaws, it’s terrible how we’re our own worst critic! My niece is always telling me to be nice to myself and she’s so right! I look back at pictures of myself from when I was in my 20-30’s and it makes me upset how much time I wasted thinking I was fat. All that negative self talk, what a shame. Now when I see myself back then all I can think is someone give that poor girl a burger!!
@Lynnerizer @mikibell Too true! So now, look at yourself in the mirror and remember you’re going to look great to your 20-years-older self!
Started a diet on 7/15 and have already lost 14 lbs!!
@tinamarie1974 Major congratulations!
)
(Don’t look at mikibell’s post.
@Kyeh I already did, and it looks DELICIOUS!!!
@tinamarie1974 mistyped I started on 7/5
@Kyeh @tinamarie1974 hehehe I was worried it would not travel well for 15 minutes… I am sure iy wouldn’t be good by the time it got to you!! As it was the white chocolate was melted when I received it from amazon… Btw, machine is in the shop, but starting new elf sweaters soon… Any requests?
@Kyeh @mikibell oh my, new sweaters! She is currently into Encanto. She also loves Tom and Jerry and Tweety Bird. She likes old school cartoons lol
@tinamarie1974 That’s great, congratulations!! Are you doing a spicific diet or just cutting calories in general? South Beach diet was the last one that I did well with about 10 years ago. Definitely time for me to get back on track!
@Lynnerizer the dr put me on Weight Watchers and I actually like it! It is really flexible and I can have popcorn
every night 
@tinamarie1974
You’re off to a great start, keep up the good work! 
Oh yeah, from what I understand WW is very good and easy to do. Any plans that allows popcorn every day has got to be a winner!
@tinamarie1974 That’s awesome! Congrats. Keep it up.
HIKING! VIKINGS! STRIKE KING [BRAND FISHING LURES]! AWESOME!
@Targaryen thanks!
@Kyeh @tinamarie1974 I am fairly certain I have tweety… definitely encanto inspired designs. I think I have scooby. I will look to see what else I have that is old school!
@Kyeh @mikibell that is awesome! And she does like Scooby too
POKER! JOKER! NOT MEDIOCRE! AWESOME!
@tinamarie1974
Congrats on your success with weight watchers. My wife has been using them for quite some time and really likes their program. There is a guy who calls himself The Guilt-Free Gourmet who posts weight watcher friendly hacks for recipes. The ones we’ve tried have all been very tasty. He is a remarkable cook and his adaptations to be WW point friendly are spot on.
@chienfou thanks for this! Ive downloaded the books to my phone and will give them a look tonsee if it makes sense to purchase.
Feel free to share any tips or recipes youve noticed were great for you and your wife. Having issues finding desserts for the weekly family dinner that I can eat and the rest of the family want to eat
@tinamarie1974
He is a great guy. Witty and well spoken, he is fun to read (I think you can ‘follow’ him thru the WW app??) His recipes are pretty amazing. For instance he has a half dozen for using ground turkey to make breakfast sausage, chorizo, kefta, and “hamburger”. His recipes (that we have tried) have been pretty tasty, and do not at all feel like a ‘sacrifice’ to eat. We have a few of his books, and my wife loves to read his postings on WW as he develops new recipes, waxes philosophical on various subjects, talks about his life, wife and kids (his SWMBO is a professional and he is a stay at home dad for his kids, at least one of which is special needs/autistic). He is a big Star Wars geek and seems like he would be fun to hang out with…
I just got back from a dog birthday party. Four chocolate labs in a pool is everything you could think it could be
@capnjb
@capnjb Sup
@capnjb Labs are great dogs. Is it your pool and dog party?
@Targaryen Pools are like boats… it’s better to have a buddy with one than own one yourself
So… not my pool but my dog loved it. They all power swam for almost two hours. Dogdog slept well 
@capnjb That makes sense my parents had a pool growing up and people would come over to use it. Now I understand why.
Does it have to be something I’ve done lately? Heh.
@PooltoyWolf No it can be anything. I just said lately because we do these every so often but if you’ve got something not recent share brag about it.
I don’t think this is a brag, but I’m pretty happy with my progress. I unpacked 3 suitcases from my last trip and put everything away. Tomorrow I will wash the clothes. Then get to getting rid of excess on ebay. Although I’ve been thinking of trying out mercari or poshmark for some things. (Also did the dishes.) It’s the small things sometimes in life that can make you happy.
@milstarr sometimes just getting done the things you should get done. Is sufficient. Knowing you didn’t let them build up/get out of control can be very satisfying.
@milstarr Nice job! I don’t have any experience with Mircari but be patient as there are a lot of people trying to haggle way down only to not answer you later or get things for free.
@milstarr Good job! I am slowly trying to organize and downsize my closet. Locally more people use Poshmark but I have not listed anything there yet.
I have listed several items and sold one on Mercari. The listings were easy enough. Mercari does push allowing them to promote and discount your prices. It will show you the amount you will receive.
Remember to check the actual cost of shipping before posting anywhere. eBay has some bad weight numbers on some listings that surprise some sellers after the sale. I can post some tips if you would like them.
I washed and ironed 30 dress shirts!
@hammi99 Nice, now you’ve got all your work shirts set up for the month!
@Targaryen yah except I’m retired so I don’t really need them. I was trying out a new stain remover for ring around collar LOL
@hammi99 @Targaryen did the stain remover work? God bless you for ironing that many. One of my guilty indulgences is sending my husband’s shirts out to the dry cleaner for laundering.
@mikibell Yes, it worked. Had to let some shorts soak overnight and blogs say even a week for deep rooted stains. Best is to wash immediately after wear before the stains settle in. Some of these ring-around-collar were from months and years ago!!
And yes, I didn’t want to pay expensive dry cleaning either. I used Zout because it was on sale for $3 on Amazon and figured I’d try it. After more research, I’ve ordered another much more expensive one that’s supposed to work even more magic but haven’t received yet since I’m waiting for Subscribe & Save a month later and not in a rush since this batch of shirts done. Perhaps I can stick to Zout if we wash fairly quickly after each wear. Will continue to ponder that.
@hammi99 @mikibell
My usual routine is the spray stuff when I put in the laundry basket. It can then sit and soak until we have enough laundry to do a load. So far that seems to be working pretty well. Now if you find something that will take out deodorant /underarm stains effectively in white t-shirts that would be wonderful.
OTOH ironing is something I virtually never do. Most of our clothes go out on the clothes line and the wind takes out the major wrinkles. Permanent press makes them good enough for the events that I wear them to.
@chienfou makes sense! Although I don’t have a clothesline as I live in high rise apartment building . . .
All my shirts acquired in past few years are all wrinkle free, iron free etc. So much easier. The shirts I was washing were non-wrinkle free hence the ironing part - and procrastination to batch wash them all at once - it was quite therapeutic actually LOL. No, won’t be doing that again for a long while.
I believe the stain remover is supposed to work on deodorant/underarm stains as well. I usually wear a t-shirt under my shirts, so the dress shirt isn’t as affected. Polo shirts I put in hamper after a particularly hot day, like current heat waves, and don’t usually pre-treat - regular wash takes out sweat etc.
@hammi99
Yeah it’s primarily the cotton-based white t-shirts that I wear under my scrubs at work that I noticed the stains on. Dress up shirts not so much, since I generally try to avoid getting sweaty when I’m in a button down
My t-shirts go through a life cycle that includes wearing them as just a t-shirt, then wearing them as undershirts under my scrubs etc, then becoming outdoor work shirts in the fall and winter, then (after cutting the sleeves off of them) using them in the summertime. By then they are pretty much shot the hell!
About 50% of my t-shirts come from Life South when I give blood … Though I did notice I was wearing a t-shirt the other day that had to be at least 20 years old given the print on it was from a place we had visited a loooong time ago!
@chienfou @hammi99 I love this discussion. Years ago I said something in a printing class I was in about my (late) husband doing laundry. This guy in the class looked at me in disbelief and said “Your husband does the laundry???”
What a Neanderthal.
@chienfou @Kyeh haha it’s the 2020’s now! (PS Condolences on your late husband)
@chienfou @hammi99 Thank you.
But I’m betting you two didn’t just start doing the laundry recently.
@hammi99 @Kyeh
nope… never stopped once I started doing it when I moved out of the house in 1973. I still do almost a third to half of it, and 90% of the grocery shopping.
Plus thanks to the iLife vacuum I bought here I do a lot of that as well.
I did some DIY repairs on one of our cars and saved over $250 vs. what the dealership quoted.
@macromeh What did you fix?
@Targaryen Replaced the battery and the serpentine belt. Not major work, but the payback was nice.
@macromeh @Targaryen Knowing how to DIY is a huge part of saving money. The average new car monthly payment is $712 a month now … that’s just crazy.
FWIW, my current daily was sold as “dead”. I had it running in 25 minutes, much to the surprise of the previous owner. I gave her the right of refusal, being honest that there were still multiple codes and I wouldn’t be out of the woods yet as a buyer. She kept true to her word of selling it for the advertised price, so I was grateful for that. My fix added about $2k to its value.
@macromeh @narfcake @Targaryen Yeah… car prices have become nutty. I leased my wife a car in 2019 and I think I bought it for $24K (or rather leased it at that price). Nothing too fancy but a reasonable, nice new car. She teaches at a nearby elementary school and at the end of the 3 year lease this past June, she had just hit 6,100 miles. Carmax offered me $22K for the car. Buy out price on the lease was $11K. Yeah… we bought that as fast as possible
@narfcake @Targaryen @capnjb In my younger years, I was quite a motorhead. I did several complete engine rebuilds, many tuneups, clutches, brake jobs, etc. A couple of the more interesting projects were transplanting a (German-mfg) 2 liter Ford engine into an old military surplus jeep, and grafting a GM 350 V8 into a 60’s Mustang (because, why not?
).
Then I got into computers and my interest in automotive hobby projects waned.
These days, cars are much more complicated and what you can do without expensive equipment is more limited. But I still do a lot of my own maintenance when I can.
@capnjb @macromeh @narfcake @Targaryen In the '70s, my daily driver was registered as a '65 VW Beetle. But it had a two-liter engine with dual 40DCNF Weber carbs, a wider than normal rear track, taller gears that worked out to the equivalent of “no first gear, add a fifth”, 185/70R14 tires, sway bars front and rear, and numerous other mods including brakes from a '65 VW Squareback. From the outside, it looked mostly stock; it even had the original hubcaps. I was a bit of a terror…
Sometimes I miss that car, but honestly, damn near anything made today is faster - and a hell of a lot more reliable.
@werehatrack Not to mention safety – or the lack thereof. For all the folks who say “they don’t make them like they used to”, my response is “be glad”. I remember seeing a '55 Chevy in a junkyard that was in a rollover. No seatbelts, so any occupants would be subjected to the laws of physics, complete with lots of hard metal surfaces. No safety glass, so every fragment was a knife. And most importantly, no structural passenger cage; between the vehicle weight and the composition of the steel, the A-pillar was collapsed down and was even splitting in half below the door hinge.
@narfcake @werehatrack
Here is a good representation of the improvement in safety over the years. The second chart is particularly telling when you are looking at it in comparison to number of miles driven rather than population.
I quit second guessing myself and bought a smart watch for DH. It arrived yesterday and I think I managed to get it set up. Today I ordered a couple different bands to try because I don’t like the current one. Fingers crossed that it works out the way I want!
Somehow I have gotten into a habit of not trusting myself to stop researching and just buy more expensive items. The small differences between models and competition get me frustrated and I just walk away.
@speediedelivery Amazon does that to me - it used to be you could find a few alternatives and pick between them, but now there’s a gazillion variations, and should you trust the reviews, and sometimes the descriptions are written oddly - gaaah. It sends me into “analysis paralysis.”
@Kyeh @speediedelivery What a perfect term! “analysis paralysis.”
@callow @Kyeh I am stealing that
@callow @speediedelivery
I didn’t make it up myself, I have to admit!
@callow @Kyeh @speediedelivery There used to be a guy who did the stock market commentary here in Houston who called it “the paralysis of analysis”.
@speediedelivery What watch did you get?
@Targaryen Grabbed a scratch and dent Apple SE from Woot. No visible signs of use and seems to work as advertised. There was some leftover information about the previous owner. Nothing identifying or financial that I found so far but I will keep looking.
I had planned to get a Series 7 for the additional health monitoring but this is a cheaper way to see if it will be worn and used. Main purpose is to have a way to contact me while I am away if there is an emergency. We had a health scare this summer and DH is not good about carrying a phone. I chose Apple for the proposed sugar monitor in a few years. DH does not like change.
SWMBO is out of town for a residency program for her master’s this week. Consequently I’ve been doing a bunch of stuff around the house. Yesterday I made and canned a batch of pasta sauce, picked a few dozen jalapenos, and a couple of green peppers. Today I went through and weeeded all the garden and took out several of the tomato plants that had gotten leggy and unproductive. I also mowed and remulched everything in the veggie garden, and restrung the electric fence line around the garden as well.
Tomorrow I’m planning to start on changing out the kitchen sink and faucet which has developed the leak recently. Plus my routine work week starts tomorrow so I’ll be gone second shift for the next 7 days
@chienfou As usual, just reading what you accomplish in a week leaves me tired!
@Kyeh
That’s part of the reason that my posting here is hit or miss. I actually get more interaction here when I’m at work, if we’re not super busy. When I’m at home I tend to be away from my electronics other than listening to headphones while I work outside other than early in the morning when I’m having coffee before I go over to check on Mom.
@chienfou So not only is it enjoyable for us when you post a lot here, it’s also a sign that things are good in your county, because the ER is having a slow day!
@chienfou That’s quite you’ve gotten done then. Nice job!
I put a ceiling fan in a room what didn’t have one afore.
@medz I’ve done that too… but it was in a closet… and it stayed there until I hired an electrician
@capnjb
@medz I added a ceiling fan to the family room in a previous house. Later, I couldn’t find my wallet. After a prolonged search, I concluded that I must have had it in my pocket while in the attic to work on the fan (idiot!). So, back in the attic to search. But the attic was insulated with blown-in fiberglass and my wallet was apparently buried somewhere under that. So there it remained
. Fortunately, there was not much cash in the wallet, but I had to replace my DL, credit card, etc. I imagine that someday in the future, when the house is demolished, maybe someone will find it. And think: what a dork!
@macromeh ouch. Couple of houses ago I nearly lost my cell phone up in the attic as it fell out of my pocket while I was crawling around. Luckily caught it while it happened and went back down the ladder to leave it downstairs. Guess we could have called it and it would have be easier to find than a wallet (assuming it didn’t fall in a gap between the walls or something), but still.
@medz Losing a wallet is the worst because basically everything important is in it and then you have to frantically remember where the hell you last saw it.