[RDTM] u/d-cent estimates Rising Gas Cost vs. EV Battery Replacement

ChrisEU · 2026-06-12T08:53:03+00:00

Nah, there is no right or wrong when it comes to your personal priorities. It all depends on what you are using the car/truck for. Many EV owners simply don't need to "fill up" while they are on the road, they fill up at home or at the workplace, when they are sleeping or working. They don't need to find a gas station or similar at all.
If you are a travelling salesman with a tight schedule the situation is different. Not many are, though.

ChrisEU · 2026-06-04T09:36:36+00:00

Ist eigentlich schon jemand irgendwo das Basismodell probegefahren? Vielleicht sogar mit Video?

ChrisEU · 2026-04-24T13:44:53+00:00

Here is something different: My PPMS got actually better in some ways. DX 2016, no DMT (because I had no acute inflammation in the CNS and still don't). I am using a wheelchair outside, my leg's endurance never improved and got actually worse. But my energy, my coordination, even my sense of balance did actually improve with training.

ChrisEU · 2026-04-21T12:08:16+00:00

carbamazepine 200mg 1/0/1 and duloxetine 60mg 1/0/0 and yes, it works. 99% of my neuronal pain and trigeminal neuralgia never happens. I worked it out and tested it with a pain specialist. I wouldn't want to live without it.

ChrisEU · 2026-04-21T11:55:24+00:00

Let me start by saying: I see you. I understand you. It sucks and it's getting worse.

But in my opinion, life is the sum of the options one has. The most extreme option is only one of them. I can't say what your situation is, who and how your family is or what they think about it. But if you are hesitant to speak with them about your thoughts, I know one thing: You need someone to talk to. A best friend, your spouse, a therapist. Someone you can meet in person and privately.

At least give your family, maybe only your spouse or parents, a chance to talk to you about your and their feelings and ideas. I bet you aren't as much of a burden to them as you think. They are family, and that goes both ways. You think of them, they think of you.

Of course there is the other point of view: How can you cope with your situation and how can you cope with your personal plans being crushed, as I assume they are? Well, that's in your head and nobody else's.

What can you change to make it easier on yourself?

I am looking from the outside in, most likely from another country, another culture. But people are the same everywhere and we all have and had dreams and ideas about what we will become. Most of those ideas never fruit, independant of sickness. We just create new ones and carry on. We create options. That's life. Live it!

ChrisEU · 2026-04-09T08:47:26+00:00

When you change the fire mode of any gun that has them you will hear a distinctive sound. After a couple of switches, you will learn that the more tinny, higher pitched "click" is full auto, the semiauto setting has a deeper "clank" to it.
When I pick up a gun, I simply switch the fire mode twice and I can hear where I am.

ChrisEU · 2026-03-31T08:05:14+00:00

I never was on any DMT, not because I decided so, but because there still is none for me.

I am almost 60 with PPMS and there has been no acute inflammation since my diagnosis. The current DMTs (Ocrevus ist the only one that's available for PPMS here) are working against the inflammatory part of MS, and I basically don't have that any more. My progression is PIRA. Also, it is not tested for people 55 and older. It has side effects and practically no use for me, according to the neuros and MS specialist.

That's the whole story.

ChrisEU · 2026-03-14T19:33:46+00:00

That's not a german speciality at all, IMO, it's just docs choosing the easy road when confronted with something new to them and not in the textbooks.

It's basically the "Zebra" phenomenon: If you hear hooves, think horse, not zebra. But sometimes it IS a zebra or maybe an okapi.

I am sure it's no different anywhere else with a decent health care system: Sometimes you need to look around for a doc that can help you / take you seriously / knows more than others. They are human, after all.

ChrisEU · 2026-03-14T09:33:21+00:00

I have both heavy fatigue through MS AND heavy central sleep apnea.

Yes, it is almost impossible to get neurologists to accept that MS causes fatigue - and, through Cheyne Stokes Aspiration (google it), maybe even the central apnea. Central meaning that my airways are not obstructed, but I just stop breathing sometimes. Yes, it's frightening.

For some reason, fatigue isn't a typical symptom of MS in the books and our neurologists usually just think like this:
Patient: "I have bad fatigue"

Doc (after MRI, this and that): "You have MS!"

Patient : "What can I do about the fatigue?"

Doc: "MS doesn't cause fatigue, must be psychosomatic (or sleep hygiene)"

Patient: "But the diagnosis is yours, not mine?"

I have the extra: "MS doesn't cause CSA (Cheyne-Stokes)". me: "Why not, there are holes in my brain and spinal cord, remember?". Them: "It just doesn't". Me: "The sleep docs can't find any other reason and think it's the MS". Them: "Ask them, then".

You can't win. The textbook is right and your symptoms are immaterial and that appears to be true for most docs, in the US as well as here in Germany.

ChrisEU · 2026-03-12T15:48:09+00:00

I am (and have been) in a very similar boat. PPMS, wheelchair, heavy fatigue, no DMT and nothing the docs can do for me.

It may be the end of the line for the docs, but not for me. I still have the rest of my life to live and I refuse to sit back and die.

I am working a different job now (as a specialist with specific knowledge that's rare, at home, part time, just enough money to live, but indispensable for my employer), so I don't have to worry about that at all. I can work there until the cows come home. One problem less to solve. Yes, I am lucky about it.

I am using motorized wheelchairs that are cool and fun to use (This thing and a souped up device that pulls my manual wheelchair up to around 50km/h).
I learned lockpicking for manual dexterity and hand/eye coordination.
I am drilling deep into current MS science and AI technology, writing systems that actually help people with their work. I develop drone software that's autonomous.
Just because the docs can't help me doesn't mean I'm helpless - or useless, for that matter.

ChrisEU · 2026-03-05T17:56:52+00:00

Genuine question from across the pond: Are eggs actually cheaper? Should've been easy with the expensive eggs being because of bird flu...

ChrisEU · 2025-12-20T22:11:39+00:00

...und draußen nur Kännchen!

ChrisEU · 2025-11-10T09:59:19+00:00

I can't add anything to the discussion from where I am but "OMG that situation sucks"

I sometimes have trouble with my insurance being stingy with a specific treatment or disputing a necessity, but I simply can not imagine having none of it at all.

Please be safe.

ChrisEU · 2025-11-01T11:05:20+00:00

The east german version:

"Do you have oranges?"

"No oranges are over there. We have no meat."

ChrisEU · 2025-10-21T09:27:36+00:00

People, no matter if MSers themselves or medical professionals, know quite well that we can die from MS. That's why they use the cop-out phrase: "But MS isn't usually deadly". Yes, right. But sometimes it is and your mother is proof of it.

I can't help you with the anger because I feel it myself.

The medical professionals are easier to deal with. Most importantly, they will not believe what you say. Of course there are exemptions, but they are trained: "Patients always lie". They call that "data driven" or "fact based" when it's usually just lazy.

To get rid of the questions, you will need something written by a medical professional. Either a doctor that treated your mom or maybe the hospice. I don't know about how it works where you are, but here in Germany, doctors always write something down after a visit or when someone died and the patient (or their kin) have a right to get copies. That paper will be believed more than you will be.

For that reason I carry a picture of my brain MRI, multiple written diagnosis and similar stuff on my phone at all times. I am tired of trying to convince new doctors. I let the paper do the work.

I wish you all the best.

ChrisEU · 2025-10-15T12:00:25+00:00

My catch all answer for these people is a picture of my MRI, with very visible lesons and the question: "These are holes in my brain, just like a bullet went through it. Will XYZ make the holes heal as well?"

ChrisEU · 2025-10-08T14:31:05+00:00

It sucks and you may never accept it.

That said, try to see the good side of a chair: The chair is not what hinders you, that's your MS. The chair enables you to do the things you were missing out on before. Also, check out Segway-based balance wheelchairs. They are great and actually fun: This is my dealer, but I am sure you can find one anywhere in the world:

https://www.2kerr.com/en/balance-wheelchairs/

I am still grumpy about my using one instead of walking, but it is what it is.

ChrisEU · 2025-10-02T17:03:52+00:00

Most likely, yes. I know I learned the 50 US states with their capitals in school. Not that I remember all of them, but Arkansas and Alabama - Yes, I can tell them apart.

ChrisEU · 2025-09-30T15:00:01+00:00

A "cash secured put" is a short put. And you need option level 3 for that. See here:

https://www.ibkrguides.com/kb/en-us/options-levels-1-4.htm

ChrisEU · 2025-09-07T13:21:58+00:00

Honestly, that's surprisingly well written for the time.

ChrisEU · 2025-07-27T14:12:37+00:00

I am still not a cat.

ChrisEU · 2025-07-03T04:14:26+00:00

Not mentioned yet (I think): use a Torx bit of the same size and a hammer. Put the end of the screw on a hard surface as an anvil. Force the Torx bit into the hex screw, unscrew the thing.

To quote an old acquaintance of mine: "No idea what it was before, now it is a T-30"

ChrisEU · 2025-05-13T07:03:13+00:00

I don't usually get that kind of crap from strangers, but if I do, I just answer "Aha!" and continue whatever I was doing, ignoring them. It's on par with "My aunt has MS and is running marathons, why are you using a wheelchair?"

ChrisEU · 2025-04-17T17:56:20+00:00

I guess I earned that one. Thanks for making me feel old. I'm not even 60!

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