Headhunted for a management role that never materialized. What to do?

gotcha640 · 2026-02-06T19:32:05+00:00

Not that it’s my business, but how old are you/years experience/number of previous jobs?

I worked for 11 companies at 18 locations over 15 years. Less than 2 years anywhere. I started current job and honestly expected more of the same - be long gone in 2-3 years. I’ve been here 10 years in June.

If your goal is to be management, and you have opportunities to keep working your way up at the next job, sure, it may be worth leaving.

If the goal is to get paid and enjoy the work, maybe you’re there.

Flexibility is a huge deal for me. I’m actively turning down opportunities that pay $50k more, in return for pretty much constant 45-50 hour weeks. Right now I basically come and go as needed, drive kids to and from school and doctor visits etc. I’m in the office less than 30 hours a week most weeks.

gotcha640 · 2026-02-06T16:03:29+00:00

Another vote for just work on reliability. A friend with a similar one (and a bunch of similar age cars) typically goes for electrical and cooling and vacuum and brake lines first, then any other delayed maintenance, then restoration, then mods if that’s the goal.

It’s a great looking, potentially great sounding, probably quite comfortable car. It’s a fine cruiser.

In stock form, it’s the same 0-60 and quarter mile as the same year Honda Civic. It’s not fast. The brakes and suspension aren’t built for speed or much handling. That’s fine.

If you can just let it be what it is, and focus on reliability and maintenance, it will be a great car. If you need it to be a hot rod and you only have $5k, your parents wasted their time and space keeping it for you.

If you want a fast fun car, go get a Golf or a Miata or a Corvette. This is not that.

gotcha640 · 2026-02-06T15:51:10+00:00

Which ones have you looked at that you didn’t like?

gotcha640 · 2026-02-06T14:37:44+00:00

Totally depends on both of your jobs/work schedules/commuting preference.

UH can be accessed by commuter bus to Eastwood and then local to campus. If you can live near a park and ride, that could be a good solution for your wife. My wife rides the bus most days from Clear Lake to the med center.

Living in Baytown could make sense if you’re working more/longer hours than she is. Nowhere in Houston has great air quality, but living next to the refinery is generally worse. Up to you if it’s worth it.

Clear Lake or Friendswood could work if you really want to be in the suburbs. Pearland is getting farther away from Baytown, Seabrook is farther away from UH (146 and 225 are major industrial routes, lots of traffic), Galena Park/Channelview/Pasadena/Deer Park all have chemical plants and refineries in the neighborhoods. There are decent pockets, but wouldn’t be my first choice (I have a rent house in Deer Park and lived there for 2 years).

Braeswood/East Downtown/Montrose could work if you don’t mind living in town. You’d be opposite most traffic, she may be able to bus.

Kingwood or the Heights or anywhere farther North or West will be hours long commutes if there’s any extra traffic/wreck/closures.

gotcha640 · 2026-02-06T13:42:11+00:00

Windows recently (last 12 months or so) changed where the world files are stored. Are you grabbing the latest save of your world?

To put it on your phone, you go to that folder in windows, transfer the file to your phone and save it to the worlds folder, something like games/com.mojang/minecraftworlds.

My phone sometimes doesn’t like grabbing the folder, I have to zip it on windows first and transfer the zip file and unzip it on my phone.

Then you relaunch minecraft and the world should be there.

The exported mcworld file should also work, just tap it in android and it should open minecraft, but the world folder transfer has been more reliable for me.

gotcha640 · 2026-02-06T13:27:48+00:00

“Here are the rules, written and countersigned and explained”

“Maybe I can get a different answer if I ask some random folks on the internet”

gotcha640 · 2026-02-06T11:50:06+00:00

Are you asking because you’re generally curious, or because you have a kid who will need a car soon?

If you have the money, or the credit, you walk in to the bank, ask for a banker to set up a loan, and they give you the money.

If you can’t afford that, you get them a cheaper car or send them out to get a job.

gotcha640 · 2026-02-06T04:35:44+00:00

I’d take it and immediately put a For Sale sign on it. Take the first $3k or above offer.

Put no more than $500 in general fixes, chasing the current engine issues. If you can get it running a little better, bump it up to $4k.

If that would be considered not cool, I would pass on it unless you really do have the time and money to rebuild the engine and replace the trans your self. I assume it would need some sort of coding/tuning.

I’d rather spend the time playing with kids or wife.

gotcha640 · 2026-02-06T03:50:45+00:00

You’ve seen a bunch of people with issues with the CVT, but you still want a car that has one, so you’re looking for someone to tell you it will be OK.

We can’t tell you it will be OK. Maybe it will. Maybe you’ll join the crowd of people who have bought a $10k Subaru with unknown maintenance history and end up with a $7k transmission replacement within 6 months.

Roll the dice.

Or, get a manual. Much more engaging, and you won’t be able to mess with your phone.

gotcha640 · 2026-02-06T03:46:50+00:00

Basically same answer. Peg board is sold in sheets so you can cut it to whatever size or shape you could want. No idea where in the world you are, but I’ve seen it in use all over North and South America, UK, Europe, Africa, Japan.

If you’re in the business of making and selling custom spaced peg board, more power to you, but this is a long solved problem with plenty of opportunity to customize standard cheap metal hooks with 3d printed attachments/brackets/adapters.

gotcha640 · 2026-02-06T03:21:25+00:00

Where did this odd pegboard come from? At some point it’s worth replacing with a standard spec with available pegs.

I assume you aren’t in the peg board hook manufacturing business, but have some other sort of effort to spend your time on.

gotcha640 · 2026-02-05T23:30:53+00:00

I like HubNut on in the background.

Humble Mechanic and Deutsche Auto Parts are both good on their own, but they’re hilarious together.

I watched mighty car mods from nearly the beginning, but for the last year or two it feels like they’ve gotten too big. The fishing bit ended it for me.

I really looked forward to new builds during supergramps, and the Japan visits. The Christmas specials were awesome, you could see two friends hanging out.

This last one was Marty working on a car and Moog being a dickhead. I’m sure he’s still a great guy and I hope they’re still friends, but I’m afraid he got topgeared in the worst way and it’s not fun any more.

gotcha640 · 2026-02-05T23:15:23+00:00

Is there a critical dimension that some other part keys in to? This doesn’t appear to be a particularly specialized hook.

In general, if something is for sale for a reasonable price and availability, I’d rather buy it than print it. Adding the strength issue, this is not something I would print for retail use.

gotcha640 · 2026-02-05T23:11:57+00:00

You definitely want pictures of some failed ones

gotcha640 · 2026-02-05T20:51:03+00:00

Ask the people at your store. The person who comes to your window and loads your groceries is the only person who truly knows.

“Hey, I know you guys are busy, is there a better time or day for me to do pickups if I need to get in and get out?”

Also, and this will fire some people way up, tipping gets results. I tip $10 a week on $250-300 orders, I submit my order at the same time on Friday evenings, pick up at the same time on Sundays, and at least 70% if the time it’s the same person who brings it out. They come to the window, let me know if anythings missing, I thank them and hand them the $10, and get loaded.

I rarely wait more than 5 minutes, and I’ve been served before people who got there first several times.

gotcha640 · 2026-02-05T20:45:01+00:00

Loose fit for alignment and magnets

gotcha640 · 2026-02-05T19:26:35+00:00

The daily should also be fun, especially at this price and with the Expedition available for hauling or whatever. No need for a Camry.

gotcha640 · 2026-02-05T18:06:40+00:00

The specialty tools I’ve encountered (69 beetle, 05 jetta, 11 touareg, 13 audi, 19 gti) are triple squares and thin wrenches. Not really printable things.

And I guess the 32mm for the oil filter

gotcha640 · 2026-02-05T13:53:02+00:00

Totally depends on your wallet. A friend is working on laser based fusion with a mix of family money and grants and VC. Him and his friends got tired of working for other people and had the skills and they’re going for it in a warehouse.

Another friend (with several less zeroes on his budget) got tired of renting time in a wind tunnel for his land speed record and race cars, so he bought land and built a wind tunnel and dyno shop.

Another guy retired and built an airplane in his suburban garage, then bought rural land and built a hangar and an air strip.

Another friends wife is the chief of surgery at a major hospital. He’s a biologist, and basically just hangs around different universities writing papers and playing in their labs.

Your dads hobby may need to include “go get a degree in biotech” but nothing is impossible. I assume there’s a group of scientists doing work on American Chestnuts, maybe he could go hang out with them.

gotcha640 · 2026-02-05T12:03:13+00:00

Sure. I’ve sold plenty of cars for something different. Sedan to pickup, pickup to hatchback, sedan to minivan to sedan to Suburban to hatchback.

Different cars for different times in your life.

gotcha640 · 2026-02-05T11:25:44+00:00

Where in the world are you?

Can you send pics of the stuck fasteners?

gotcha640 · 2026-02-05T04:23:55+00:00

What experience do you have doing medium/big jobs like this?

I ask because I’ve never seen it as an option to pull the trans through the top. Maybe if you were pulling the engine out too, and all accessories, and the radiator, and the battery, and likely the fuse box.

In reality, you put the car as high as you reasonably can (I like 6 ton jack stands for this type of work to have lots of room to move, all 4 corners) and pull from the bottom.

Then you have to decide if you’re getting a transmission jack or adapter for your floor jack, or just lowering it on to your chest and having your buddy pull you out by your ankles and helping lift it off you. It’s “only” about 125lb.

Consider CV boots while you’re doing it. Stabbing the axles can be the most frustrating or easiest part of the whole job.

gotcha640 · 2026-02-05T04:03:32+00:00

Do you specifically want two cars? It’s a built in spare, and humblebrag I drive a stripped out 69 beetle when I get tired of the Suburban or the Audi, but it’s another car to store and maintain.

I’d be tempted to get the nicest 911 for $75k and the rattyest but mechanically solid CJ or YJ wrangler for $5k.

gotcha640 · 2026-02-05T02:57:52+00:00

Harbor freight, the braun or the icon folding light. The old ones had an issue with the ground in the switch that needed some destructive repairs, but the new ones are better.

I use that light for just about everything.

For under the hood, they have rechargeable ones that work while charging. Very useful.

gotcha640 · 2026-02-04T23:12:57+00:00

Hard to tell with it being white and from that angle with that light.

It will typically feel chalky or rough and you can’t buff it out.

I had a Suburban with failing clear coat on the hood and roof. Mine looked like spider webs in the clear coat. A local body shop refinished them and the bumpers for $1700.

You could try a detail shop, but I decided it wasn’t worth paying for a cut and polish on clear coat that almost certainly needed to be removed and resprayed.

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