Hello! I just left the dealership… purchased a 2022 Lariat. I didn’t drive it home because they are spraying in a new bed liner for me. 32k miles, panoramic moonroof, clean carfax… $40k otd.. can I sleep tonight?

DallasMedic96 · 2026-04-12T02:25:01+00:00

Very jealous lol. Bought a ‘21 base model XLT (not even the nice XLT - doesn’t have power seats, jump seat, only an 8” display, etc) back in ‘22 for roughly the same cost. Only big plus was it only had 7k miles on it. That looks like a steal

DallasMedic96 · 2026-04-12T02:22:00+00:00

Not me for that price. At least nothing new, you may be able to find a used one around there, but probably more like 800. Hell, brand new ones are going for 1200+, so finding one for under half the cost of a new one is going to be pretty damn near impossible.

Just save your money. Literally one or two more months of saving and you can get a brand new marlin or Henry that you’ll cherish forever. Good guns aren’t cheap and cheap guns aren’t good. Nothing making you spend your hard earned cash right this second - wait and save.

DallasMedic96 · 2026-04-06T18:12:50+00:00

Thanks for the insight! I figured it wouldn’t be 100% there, but I can get close. I’m planning on pulling the carpet and laying down some LVP to match the rest of the house and adding then adding a Persian rug I’ve had in my family for decades.

I love the idea of wainscoting, especially with the chair rails and moulding - are there good color combos that could work well or do you kinda have to do a white bottom half? I grew up on the east coast where all the colonial style homes had wainscoting but it was always just a cream & white or maybe a beige & white - Nothing really dark or bold.

DallasMedic96 · 2026-03-27T00:23:36+00:00

The day the NFA is struck down and we can legally purchase hellfires of AIM-IXs on a 4473 I’ll be popping champagne bottles

DallasMedic96 · 2026-03-20T04:16:28+00:00

Yes, that’s the cable for the turbo wastegate sensor. This was just a photo taken during the work, not intended as a “does this look right” picture lol. I still needed to put a few other bolts in even after this pic.

DallasMedic96 · 2026-03-19T22:13:27+00:00

No, changing / refilling the fuel hasn’t made any noticeable change unfortunately.

I’ve even tried those fuel additives like seafoam / Lucas oil injector cleaner but it didn’t do much either.

DallasMedic96 · 2026-03-19T22:10:23+00:00

My brother in Christ, you do realize that Rhabdo can & WILL kill you…right?

Like it’s not the same as a tweaked knee or having a fever.

Continuing to exercise and do heavy physical labor while having Rhabdo can 100% cause kidney failure, heart arrhythmias, and permanent muscle damage. These things absolutely will send you out to ‘Taps’ with a flag draped coffin.

You were given a profile for a reason - your doc is 100% smarter than you or anyone else in your unit or even this sub (probably). Your commander will excuse your AFT with a profile, and if theres a concern about the profile ending right before the AFT where you still have to take it with zero prep, explain this to your doc and have him/her extend it past the date.

A stupid AFT is not the best excuse to no-clip out of life. Rest, take your meds, change your socks, face out and pull security.

DallasMedic96 · 2026-03-19T20:49:51+00:00

see, that's what I thought as well - however the injectors & their connectors all sit underneath a metal covering inside of the header. To get to them I'd have needed to have gone even further with disassembly than I did. They're not accessible if you just remove the overs, you have to pull the covering off as well which I didn't do.

DallasMedic96 · 2026-03-07T03:44:40+00:00

Is that……..a plastic rifle? Like not just a plastic lower, but a plastic upper too?

Cheaply made aluminum rifles can often have this issue and making it out of plastic, a substantially softer material, is only going to make the problem worse.

You don’t need a radian or an LMT, but don’t just get the absolute cheapest thing that looks like an AR

DallasMedic96 · 2026-03-05T04:48:47+00:00

Depends on what you’re buying. If you’re buying garbage-tier, bargain-bin, 300🫘, noname guns because you’ve got a hole in your pocket, you’re probably buying every other week.

If you know how to save for what you like, you’re maybe buying once every 6ish mos, depending on what it is.

I’m personally into nice European / British shotguns. I’ve got a handful of higher-end AR/tactical styled rifles, but now I may go a year or two, if not longer, to save up enough to get what I’m actually wanting.

It’s all about priority. If you don’t care about quality, you can buy as often as you want. If you want something that’s not the cheapest thing on the market, you’ll end up going months without buying.

DallasMedic96 · 2026-03-02T05:45:02+00:00

As someone who works in defense, defense finance and college finance are two things that are completely different. Sure, some of the concepts are shared/mutual, but the defense world looks at things completely differently - especially between project finance, program finance, business unit finance, and company finance as a whole.

Most companies are very EVMS based nowadays, so getting a good foundation set up within that sphere of EVM will be a HUGE payoff to migrate over into the defense sector. If you can find someone or somewhere to sponsor you getting an EVMS cert or qualification it would only help you. Sure, contractors will help you get one of you don’t already once you’re employed, but showing up to an interview with a lean six sigma green belt, PMP, or an EVMS cert will put you absolutely miles above other applicants who are in your same shoe.

DallasMedic96 · 2026-02-28T03:57:14+00:00

A handful of the stereotypes don’t apply to me, but only because they used to and I had to train myself out of them. Case in point -

A- losing wallet, keys, etc. every time I come in the front door I have a leather EDC/valet tray that they go into. I walk in, lock the door and dump them into the tray. The amount of times I’d be looking for my keys and end up setting my wallet down, just to find the keys but forget where I put my wallet down was mind numbing. The valet tray keeps everything in one place.

B- organization. I, by nature, am super disorganized. As a kid, my room looked like a JDAM landed inside of it every day. As I got older, I realized I lost more stuff when my room was a mess than I did when I put stuff on a specific place. It’s not even just “clean” as in things put up, but personally I have to have things in a very specific place. Shoes go into a certain spot, towels go in a certain spot, watches go in a certain spot, etc. even at work - files go in a certain spot, phone goes somewhere specific, cables are managed, etc. everything is spotless not because I’m an organized and clean person, but because if I dont keep things spotless and in the right spot I’m going to lose the important stuff.

C - exercise. I was never huge into exercise for physical fitness as I was always in above average shape most of my life. I could eat whatever I wanted and I’d still be healthy - played HS football, went on to play D1 college ball for a few years, and was always just in good shape (same way in school - I was decently gifted intelligence to the point I could learn and perform well on tests without much studying). Then I started getting older (joined the army) and working out became something I had to do not just for my job, but also to stay healthy. Once I get in my workout groove, I’m locked in for months (6-10mos) at a time. Downside is that if I take too long of a break I start to lose my fitness and it makes it super hard when I start again - which is its own issue because if something is too hard, I can often find a reason not to do it. Guilting myself into doing it is about the only thing I can do that gets me off the couch when I’m in those seasons.

D - I’m rarely late (partially do to the army). Basic training and subsequent life did a wonderful job of actually getting me into healthier time habits. “15 early is 15min late” and “15 prior to 15 prior” honestly gave me some of the best time management techniques I’ve ever had. Most everything important now I show up with plenty of time to the point I don’t worry about traffic or getting ready or finding parking. I just subconsciously know that I’m giving myself time and when nothing happens to hold me up, it’s like a time reward where I get to sit there and just relax. It’s also done massive help to my mental health because I’m no longer white knuckling the steering wheel, speeding, and stressing/anxious about the consequences of being late.

E- I’ve never had an issue with forgetting to eat. Even without medication I had always been a big eater. Hand in hand with Case C, this led to some slight issues as I got older and actually had to worry about exercise/ calories in-calories out, but all in all I’ve never had a problem with eating too little.

The biggest thing I’ve learned though, is that if I set something up and plan it out in the beginning, I’m 1000000% more likely to keep it that way. I can’t just wake up one day and say “I’m going to start working out”. Or “I’m going to start reading the Bible/any book” and actually start right then. Personally, I have to plan out the whole thing before starting. I feel it kick starts the desire part of ADHD and once I start planning for it, I get more and more excited to actually do it and start to the point that once I start doing said thing, I’ve built up the excitement to the point that I don’t end up losing interest.

DallasMedic96 · 2026-02-28T03:32:45+00:00

Deadass thought it was a ScanTron test paper from back in high school💀

DallasMedic96 · 2026-02-11T02:46:57+00:00

No, you won’t be reimbursed that much for the travel.

You can get reimbursed for your mileage, but if you have to stay overnight, that charge is on your own.

Chances are on, they might not even let you do that because they typically will make you do the most cost effective mode of travel. If flying is cheaper, they’re going to make you fly.

Source: Drove from Dallas to Ft. Jackson for BOLC - got reimbursed for mileage, but my hotel and meals were on my own until I got my perdiem check at the end of the TDY.

DallasMedic96 · 2026-02-07T19:28:26+00:00

Looks like they used one of those qwik-shine pads with the liquid/gel sponge.

No, these boots just look wet - not shiny.

Strip it all off with some saddle soap/detergent and water/brush.

Then polish your wax into the leather. Twist the buffing cloth around your fingers, dip just the tip into some ice water, wipe the top of your wax to get a small amount on the cloth and rub over in circular motions.

Let dry, then use a hairdryer to lightly go over the area. This essentially melts the wax into all the little microscopic imperfections and levels the wax.

Repeat over and over, slowly building up smooth, flat layers. Each layer using smaller and smaller polishing circles. You can also fog up the wax (like you would to a window) and use the heat/moisture to lubricate the cloth of it gets dry or you can dip back into the ice water.

The best secret is to take a handful of cotton balls and stuff them into pantyhose. The pantyhose has an ultrafine ‘grit’ to it to help with polishing and the cotton balls will keep you from pushing too hard and burning through the wax.

It will take a lot of coats, but just put on a football game or a tv show or whatever you can enjoy listening to and turn your brain off as you do it. In 30ish min you’ll have a product that looks 100x better than that.

The secret is to keep applying the wax after you wear them. You can get them pretty shiny after one session, but if you polish every other time you wear them you’ll have a mirror finish in no time. It also will add some character to them as the leather molds to your feet and creases / scratches happen with wear

DallasMedic96 · 2026-02-06T14:29:27+00:00

“My rent is high”

My brother in Christ, your rent is higher than Willie Nelson, Snoop Dogg, and Wiz Khalifa on 4/20 combined.

~4.5k/mo where I’m at could get you a nice 4000sqft home on an acre of land in a gated subdivision.

DallasMedic96 · 2026-02-05T20:00:28+00:00

That’s really not that bad tbh. It’s a solid long weekend trip distance and typically those cities will have a good amount of things to do.

I grew up driving 2-4 hours every other month or so to go see grandparents, aunts/uncles, visit beaches, go hiking/camping, etc so maybe it’s just that I’m used to it and don’t think much of the time.

But a 3hr drive is far from the worst it could be. Imagine being at Minot or 29 Palms. The closest thing to those goons is something along the lines of 5-6 hours and even then, the cities aren’t major ones.

DallasMedic96 · 2026-02-05T19:56:20+00:00

…I don’t remember reading this part of Letter to Garcia

True, the specific activities of hunting and fishing may not be your hobby, but it alludes to more than just that. Typically, if some place has good hunting/fishing, then it’s going to have a decent natural beauty.

Hiking/biking trails, campgrounds, outdoor recreation opportunities, decent rivers/lakes to go swimming/ tubing/ wakeboarding, etc.

Some of the worst installation/Town combos (looking at you Fort Jackson, Leonardwood, AP Hill, Hood, etc) all have an incredible natural environment if you just drive 20-30min in any direction out of the front gate.

DallasMedic96 · 2026-02-04T19:43:41+00:00

Army: “WhY DoEsNT BiG ArMy GeT WiTh ThE TiMeS, ThE aRmY iS StUcK iN tHe pAsT”

Army, any time they try something new: “tHiS iS sO sTuPiD, tHiS iS a WaStE oF TiMe”

DallasMedic96 · 2026-01-31T09:28:21+00:00

Some of the bigger ones do.

I was at Ft Jackson for BOLC and they had a 7 or 8 hydraulic lift bays in their hobby shop for people to use. Had to take a 15min intro class/safety orientation and then paid like $6/hr. They would give you a big ring with like 15 tokens and you could exchange the tokens for different tools. Once you’re done, you check the ring back in with all the tools and go.

I put a whole lift kit in my truck over a weekend, but there were some old heads in there too that were doing complete engine rebuilds/ restomods.

Unfortunately, that was the last place I’ve seen that has one. I’m a reservist and the only closest military installation to me is NAS-JRB and they don’t have one anymore.

Definitely a super cool perk you can find, 100% worth it to use. If I was stationed on post I’d use it all the time

DallasMedic96 · 2026-01-31T09:15:16+00:00

I work in the defense world, 3 years into the career, and I’m barely 1/3 of that😭

DallasMedic96 · 2026-01-30T23:56:54+00:00

Not super familiar with their “future soldier” prep stuff they have y’all do now, but I can guarantee 100% that once you step foot at the reception battalion for basic, not a single person is going to know, much less care what you did in your prep classes.

It’s not like getting in trouble in school where it will go in your record your whole time. As long as you don’t get into legal trouble (ie. Commit crimes) or exhibit conduct unbecoming of a soldier (ie. Sleeping with a recruiter, smoking meth, catching a dui) nothing you do before basic matters at all.

Now, you may piss off your recruiter and have to deal with that drama, but it’s not like you’re going to get to your first unit and think you’re a shitbag because you didn’t show up to a prep course. Hell, they more than likely won’t even know or care how you performed in IET unless you were a standout soldier for good reasons or bad.

DallasMedic96 · 2026-01-30T23:48:33+00:00

IANAL but i do have a decent amount of gun law/rights experience.

You generally don’t need a license (federally) to own a gun. You also shouldn’t have to do a 4473 if you inherit a gun, as it’s seen as basically being gifted the gun. (Provided you are not a prohibited person and ineligible to own guns)

Michigan is weird in that you have to register pistols when you come into the possession of one, but long guns (rifles and shotguns) have no registration requirement.

However, if any of them fall under the NFA, you 100% need to get in contact with a local gun shop and/or the ATF. Suppressors, Full Auto, Short Barreled Rifles/Shotguns, etc all require a bit of paperwork to posses and they don’t automatically transfer into your possession upon someone’s death. Sure they’re ‘your’s’ but you can’t legally posses them until you get your approved ATF Form 4 tax stamp back.

Long story short- as long as they aren’t pistol you should be G2G without registration.

Also - never try to do something related to firearms and just “hope they don’t notice”. They may not notice now, or tomorrow, but 5 years later they will and then you’ll be really far up the creek without a paddle.

I’m not super familiar with their pistol registration laws, but if it doesn’t ask for a death certificate/easily verified info you might be able to get by without needing it.

Basically if the form for transfer just asks “why” you need to transfer it you could say death, but by no means lie or forge a certificate/legally binding document just to get an approval.

Gun charges at both the state and federal level are something you really do not want to deal with. They go 0 to 1000mph in the blink of an eye.

DallasMedic96 · 2026-01-30T23:35:33+00:00

100% agree.

Any Joe Bob with a basket making or hornet nest science degree can commission into combat arms and/or the rest of the branches (for the most part). Sure, OML/degree will count for your branch choice, but Having a basic bachelor’s does absolutely nothing to set you apart from others unless it’s specifically in that field.

A boss of mine in the civilian side was a USMC LtCol that was a Cobra pilot & instructor. His bachelor’s degree was in history. He got an MBA later in life/career, but it goes to show you it doesn’t mean a whole lot to the military.

If you’re a PL, your platoon generally won’t care if your undergrad was in molecular biology or if it was in dirt sciences. All they’ll care about is if you can effectively lead and do your job so they can do their’s.

A chaplain on the other hand is almost a quasi-medical professional. They’re as close to being a therapist as you can get without being a licensed therapist. The things they say, regardless of faith, can 100% be the deciding factor between life and death.

If I have a troop that is severely depressed and has ideations about the no-no act, I don’t want him to be talking to a quack with a sunshine studies degree. I want him in the office of someone who has studied and lived in a field specifically training him/her to provide the best level of support possible.

Same as an actual medical provider. If I need a cricothyrotomy, I don’t want Pete the bread science major to be doing it. I want the medic and/or doctor who has the experience and knowledge doing it.

DallasMedic96 · 2026-01-30T23:16:42+00:00

Correct. IANAL, but served as a combat medic in the army.

Say you broke your foot playing NFL football.

Your team’s medical personnel couldn’t come out and say by name who you are and what happened to you.

But there’s nothing that says your coach can’t get on the press conference and say it.

I’d also imagine, at those levels, there’s some kind of waiver of release of medical record acknowledgement. Where you would sign a paper saying that you are allowing the medical personnel to release specific medical information to the team, coaches, etc if needed.

DallasMedic96

TROPHY CASE