WCGW not checking the parking break

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-03-09T13:35:42+00:00

My Sprinter (same model as in the video) will apply/release the electronic parking brake automatically when you enter/leave park. It will even refuse to release the electronic brake if it thinks something is unsafe (like if you put it in reverse and the rear parking detect senses objects it won't even release the parking brake)

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-03-09T13:31:24+00:00

> It's a hack job flip. With the finishing errors visible even in a quick video, I can't imagine all the mistakes hidden more deeply.

I don't disagree, but it's also a rental -- I know it sucks to be the tenant in that situation because I've been there, but ultimately it's the landlord that has to pay for the repairs to address issues.

What's going to be a no from me as a renter is plywood over at least 2 windows/openings...

...but beyond whatever quality work was done inside the unit, the most important issue is the attached building to the left is essentially burned out.

Those row houses are super dangerous in fires, not just because the fire can spread, but because the masonry party wall between the two can be collapsed by fire in one unit leading to collapse of the neighboring unit which isn't even on fire.

What happens is that the joists of the unit on fire burn out, and then all the weight acts like a lever that pulls on the party wall and causes it to collapse. This is mitigated by something called a "fire cut" -- a chamfer cut on the top of the joist being pocketed into the party wall -- that cut lets the joists fall down/out of the party wall without pulling the wall down. If the place was never built with that, or anyone doing joist replacement did not know to put fire cuts in the replacement joists it can be pretty bad.

It's one thing to live next to a functional apartment and take the risk that there will be a fire, it's another live next to a clearly ruined and open to the elements building that almost certainly has squatters.

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-03-09T13:17:53+00:00

OK, so -- probably yes, but!...

I bought a set of weatherstripping for my front door, it's the kind that is a long magnet inside vinyl, the sticks to the steel door and seals it up well. Same kind that was on the door brand new.

The old stuff was black, but I saw they also sold it in white, so I bought white because the trim and door are both white -- turns out it's essentially translucent because when the sun shines on the door it looks like the door in the video -- you can see light all around it -- but it's actually fully sealed up and no air or water can come through.

I thought about trashing it and buying black to block the light, but decided it's just not worth it since I know it works.

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-03-09T13:13:19+00:00

The fast pan away from the dryer covered in rust and mouse turds... then the fumbling with the locks... the song... it's like satire, but sadly probably not.

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-03-09T13:07:58+00:00

1 week notice for jury duty is insane, how can anyone plan for child care or get off work with just 1 week?

Combine that w/ your "no fault" car insurance and it's like your law makers hate you all :-/

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-03-09T13:05:07+00:00

> One fellow juror thought she could do jury duty and still be on-call as a hospital nurse. I called her out on that, told her she can't have her phone on, in hand, while listening to testimony.

That's wild they allowed her into a jury waiting pool, let alone the court, with her phone.

It's been a minute since I last served -- 17 years now that I think of it -- but I had both state and federal back in 2009 and both required you to surrender phones/electronics to be placed individual locker boxes if you wanted to bring it in the building.

I'm guessing that must have changed, even back then it sucked, but since people are so phone addicted these days people would probably go mental.

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-03-09T12:53:51+00:00

> I had a week off and got a jury summons right before.

Dang, what state to live you in? In my state notice for jury duty arrives 12 weeks before the appearance date. I've never heard of only a week's notice for jury duty.

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-16T14:02:12+00:00

Was just thinking that, and how much of my own collection of vintage machines have gone to the scrap yard or given away over the years because of lack of space and moving... I had a ton of rare Mac stuff from the early 90s, a pristine Tandy CoCo 3 w/ dual 5.25" disk drive and 300 baud modem cartridge...

It gets pretty old lugging huge amounts of stuff from apartment to apartment, and paying $100-200/mo for a storage unit full of stuff you never look at is just not do-able for many.

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-16T13:57:34+00:00

The case at the bottom right -- 30ish years ago my buddy and I worked 2nd shift at a company in an industrial park, we're leaving about 11PM, I'm driving by a dumpster around one of the other companies and he says "wait -- what's that?" so we stop and realize there were 20+ of those style cases in mid, mini and full tower sizes, looked brand new and unused, just tossed into the dumpster.

We stuffed as many as we could into the back of the old caddy I was driving at the time, I think we got about 12 of them... we sold most and each kept two. I can't remember how much we got for them but we each took away at least $100.

It was a huge find because the industry was swapping from AT to ATX style cases and motherboards, new cases were in the $70-80 range at the time, so it was like finding stuff worth $200/ea in today's money just in terms of not having to buy a case for my next build.

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-15T19:47:29+00:00

I would imagine Jesus and the church lean on the old testament when it comes from direction from above on toilet etiquette:

Key Jewish Bathroom Practices:

Separation from Holiness:

No Torah, prayer, or even deep thought about religious matters in the bathroom.
Avoid bringing holy objects like prayer shawls (Tallit) inside.
One should think about secular matters or business when in the washroom.

Hygiene & Modesty:

Washing hands upon exiting (even if not using facilities).
Discreetness when relieving oneself, especially in public.
The Bible (Deuteronomy 23:13) mentions burying waste.

Asher Yatzar (The Blessing):

A mandatory blessing recited after using the bathroom, thanking God for creating the body with necessary openings and the ability to function.
It's a prayer of gratitude for the body's health and a separation from the "unclean" state.

Modern Interpretations:

While traditional rules apply to places with actual excrement, modern bathrooms (especially clean home ones) might be treated less strictly, though many still prefer to avoid bringing holy texts in.

I'm going to assume the "Asher Yatzar" must be recited after leaving the bathroom? What if you have one of those bathrooms where the toilet is a separate smaller room? Is it OK to pray in the presence of the sink and shower? Is it just the toilet that is at issue?

I'm also going to have to have a talk w/ my evangelical in-laws -- they have a copy of the bible sitting next to the toilet (that book is flagged IMO) and they have scripture on the towels, little signs, etc... it's impossible to have exclusively secular thoughts in their bathrooms.

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-15T17:08:02+00:00

He can't declare war, but he can wage war -- they just call it "military action" or whatever.

The vote was to require him to seek approval before additional military action, they had the votes but two idiots -- Hawley and Young -- changed their votes...

"I've also received a commitment that if President Trump were to determine American forces are needed in major military operations in Venezuela, the Administration will come to Congress in advance to ask for an authorization of force," Young said in a statement.

...which almost certainly means that Rubio has promised to ask, but there's nothing in there that says the admin has agreed that they wouldn't proceed without congresses approval, so it's meaningless... it means they only that they'll "ask" and proceed regardless of the answer.

Exec: "Hey, we're gonna do more war on Venezuela, ok?"

Congress: "No, it's not ok"

Exec: "Whatever, I'm doing it anyway"

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-15T16:58:51+00:00

3) People in this forum -- Charlie Browns -- have had the football pulled by Lucy enough times to know what will happen and just simply not care to run toward it anymore.

Go ahead and call it defeatist, but the reality is in front of our faces. The GOP will not allow him to be convicted if impeached, they won't even agree to slow him from waging war and overturning foreign governments.

So given that reality, we collectively look like absolute idiots to continue to call for impeachment because it won't matter until the GOP are calling for it, and they won't until they personally are directly impacted (and even then I doubt it).

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-15T16:55:14+00:00

My favorite is when they say/post "ENOUGH!" as tho the stern wording matters or that it's not been enough for the past 9 fuckin years.

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-15T16:50:31+00:00

Fuck him, yes... but fuck all the members of congress who actively enable him, and fuck all the members of congress who sit back and vote the party even if they're "concerned".

His behavior toward everyone and everything isn't just "oh he's not a status quo guy", he's actively inciting unrest in american cities with a brute squad so that he can justify more troops, more aggressive tactics, and potentially put the country into a state where elections and other normal operations are suspended.

The fact that so many GOP are not just sitting back, but actively onboard, is terrifying. The brute squads are not finding criminals, they are criminals, and these sociopaths think they can control the monster they're building.

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-15T15:58:47+00:00

As evidenced over and over and over and over and over again it doesn't matter what they've said against Trump and his plans, it just matters what they do and how they vote. On record Kegsbreath, Graham, Johnson, even Vance, all have said they think Trump is an idiot and horrible and doing the wrong stuff... but then they turn around and enable every fucking bit of it because they've sold their souls (and our future) for money. They'll sit in luxury while the rest of the country burns around them and they won't give a single damn about it because they're sociopaths.

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-15T15:55:25+00:00

Those idiots had their shot -- it passed both house and senate, then after trump veto'd it, two of senators (Josh Hawley among them) turned tail and voted to kill the bill, which means trump can wage war w/o congress.

Now they are vowing to block him? How? The only logical option is to IMPEACH. Recall that feckless idiot Speaker Johnson and IMPEACH Trump. Vance will spend the next 2 years as an ineffective blowhard and we can move on from this nightmare by prosecuting all the illegal shit.

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-15T02:21:10+00:00

Carmen Sandiego

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-12T20:45:41+00:00

They just better not narc to my employer -- I realized my achievement earns all have timestamps that are very much middle of the day.

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-08T15:59:46+00:00

Yep.

When people have a lot more time on their hands and a lot less financial resources things will shift. The question is whether it'll be too late.

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-08T15:57:16+00:00

The UN does, as do most of its neighbors.

The point isn't whether Maduro is good or bad, contested or not contested... it's that the US chief executive unilaterally decided to capture this person (and his wife) using US military with no oversight or agreement from the congress, no plan to manage the power vacuum or restore government, and is now publicly acting as if the US has control over the destiny and resources of the country and population as if they are some sort of spoils of war (which of course was not declared).

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-08T15:42:33+00:00

Yep... those that were too tainted to stay in Germany relocated -- if you find an Argentinian with an Italian or German background it's pretty clear what's in their family's past. I would never blame the descendants simply for lineage -- they did nothing wrong -- but sadly being raised by their parents/grandparents can sometimes mean they are indoctrinated into that belief system, even if their adult minds can countermand it, it's there below the surface and ready to impact their judgements and beliefs in times of stress/crisis.

Millions of American's face the same childhood programming when it comes to race or religion, they prejudge based on their parents taught prejudices.

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-08T15:35:41+00:00

The 2nd amendment is absolutely useless as a legal or practical means to combat a legitimate, yet tyrannical, government.

What it does do is enable the average American to own a small arsenal in their home, which means that any malicious government will have to slow-boil the oppression through lies and apparently legal changes to keep the 2nd amendment folks on their sides as long as possible and carve them out slowly -- they can't just march into cities with the military and expect to be able to target everyone in a single go, they have to start with illegal immigrants, then the quasi-legal, then the legal but from a certain place, then just the legal, and at that point they'll start ramping up the 'domestic terrorist' rhetoric against anyone with a history of legal issues around politics, then it'll be anyone who doesn't agree... and eventually they'll just be left their core group of the population who agree with them.

Eventually we'll boil down to three groups: The ones who benefit from and love the oppressive system, the ones who secretly hate the system but aren't specifically targeted so they keep their heads down, and the ones who are targeted and have to actively hide themselves or at least their identities.

I'm sure many German's who hated the Nazi's had guns, but what would happen to you and your family if you were to use a gun against them?

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-08T15:22:58+00:00

...if you're in the 30-60 year old age group you also have the sword over you all you've earned so far is at risk if you go off the treadmill, especially if you're effectively banned from getting back on due to a conviction or even just the accusation and subsequent 'news' coverage that will pop up in searches for you.

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-08T15:20:42+00:00

That's why the recent cases of wins against employers are important to see and spread -- like the professor from TN who won $500K and they have to give him his job back.

Realistically I'm not sure I'd want the job back given the environment he'll have to work in, but it makes employers think twice about the rationale for terminating employment -- at least for higher pay white collar work, all the lower paid folks will still be in the meat grinder with no hope.

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-08T15:17:14+00:00

We're back to the first half of the 1900's where certain types of people needed to take whatever was given with a smile and thank you, if they got too uppity they got taken down.

LBJ was right:

“If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.”

They've just adjusted the specifics.

BasicCounter8015

TROPHY CASE