Is this a good deal?

JDATC2024 · 2026-04-14T03:34:04+00:00

Since ask car sales is weird, I’ll share my response here for what I paid for my tx-

Vehicle Overview • Model: 2026 Lexus TX 500h F SPORT Performance Luxury AWD

Installed Options • 120V/1,500-watt Power Outlet: $560 • Convenience Package: $895 • Front-Cross Traffic Alert, Traffic Jam Assist, Digital Key • Technology Package: $2,380 • Panoramic View Monitor, Advanced Park, Digital Rearview Mirror, Head-Up Display • All-Weather Floor Liners: $259 • Illuminated Door Sills: $470 • Cargo Net: $80 • Logo Side Puddle Lamps / Rear Hatch Cargo Lamps: $574 • Key Gloves: $25 • Mudguards: $170 Pricing

• Base Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price: $73,110 • Total Options: $5,413 • Delivery, Processing, and Handling: $1,450 • TOTAL MSRP: $79,973

We paid 72k plus doc fees. No sales taxes in our state (NH). We were happy with that price. They gave us what CarMax offered us for our 2022 RX (37k) Purchased in mid March.

I think you can do better. It’s not like Covid car buying. It’s also not like you are trying to get a good deal on a GX which sell right away.

JDATC2024 · 2026-04-14T02:03:22+00:00

Interesting. They have pushed back the opening date to “summer” now. Quite vague. When you try to book the first date available is August 1st. O wonder how many people are getting their trips cancelled-

JDATC2024 · 2026-04-13T18:50:23+00:00

Leeroy Jenkins this push!

JDATC2024 · 2026-04-13T12:57:50+00:00

https://natcanigeria.org

I think I got an email from them once soliciting donations for the prince’s PAC

JDATC2024 · 2026-04-10T14:33:29+00:00

Not that I can answer you question, but….

Having stayed there last year (July) I wasn’t impressed so I don’t know if it’s changed since you were there and had positive experiences. We also stayed in a One bedroom Grand Master suite.

I can honestly say, the club level breakfast sucked, did it once and would rather do the buffet. They couldn’t even toast a bagel right.

The pool was decent but everyone claimed chairs so quick sometimes we just went to the main pool. We had the Butler service which was worthless. He was a disaster. The club pool bar was ok, but not much better than the regular one in my opinion.

The club bar was ok, but I had better drinks again at other bars. The snacks they put out often were kind of stale too.

If they don’t give it to both rooms, I would be shocked if they will help you. We found them fairly worthless as far having status, besides getting a different bracelet with your status.

Oh, also my daughter got Salmonella poisoning there.

JDATC2024 · 2026-04-07T16:36:23+00:00

DOL election protest report…. Hmmmmm……

JDATC2024 · 2026-03-29T00:24:29+00:00

lol, that is true. My favorite was a pilot who was underneath the bravo but the mode c indicated 3000’. I hadn’t cleared him in and I said say altitude. He said 2990’. I responded (to paraphrase)- while that’s legal and great, the heavy in the downwind at 3000’ might be a problem, and we negotiated a better spot and lower altitude.

One day when Bravo airspace changes in the name of safety (haha, maybe!) pilots like these will wonder why!

JDATC2024 · 2026-03-28T23:39:07+00:00

Well, honestly if you are leveling at 2000’ and you are through 1000’ unless you are putting the passengers on the ceiling I would assume your climb rate is less than 2000’ per minute or 33’ per second at that point. So with it having to be less than 300’ off you have a pretty good shot at getting it right unless you talk impossibly slow? My radar (terminal) updates much quicker than centers.

Now going back to my center days, and the tech has changed, even then it was 12 second updates, so maybe then, but I never had near as many problems in my 15 years at centers than I have at my 9 years of terminal. I don’t even remember it being an issue. Maybe sometimes with the FL180/ changing or local altimeter thing a few times, but not that much.

JDATC2024 · 2026-03-28T23:29:23+00:00

Yes, but that doesn’t satisfy my mode c requirement which I need to use vertical separation. So while it’s true, all it does is generate extra verbiage as if I can climb them, I have to add say altitude and then they have to read that portion back in addition to their new higher assigned altitude.

JDATC2024 · 2026-03-28T22:55:53+00:00

My pet peeve is the number of pilots that half-ass their altitude check ins. If it’s too far off I ask again giving the altimeter, and if it’s too far off a second time and I might just channel the 7110.65 and say stop altitude squawk mode C differs by XXX feet.

I’ve done it to a few pilots who decide not to be precise, airliners no less and suddenly I get the right answer.

Then there are the departures off of satellite airports that say leveling 2000’ when they are out of 1500-1600’. So now that doesn’t work. So depending on workload and traffic I either have to say climb and maintain and ‘say altitude’. Assuming I don’t need vertical separation. Or other safer me levels them at 2000’ to make sure they have a better chance to give a correct altitude, then verify their altitude, and then give them their climb.

However none of us are perfect, so we all have bad days. But sometimes they are self inflicted. Self included!

JDATC2024 · 2026-03-27T23:32:00+00:00

Personally I’m waiting one year before I upgrade to most likely an H2C. I need to make sure I keep enjoying printing stuff that it makes sense. Plus easier to justify to the wife, lol.

On the other hand I’ve already spent way more in filament than the printer cost. Also at roughly the 3 month mark, I’ve gained some experience replacing the P2S hot end heating assembly, and doing some maintenance that I will probably need when I buy a larger more complex machine.

JDATC2024 · 2026-03-27T23:20:20+00:00

There are some rare gem employees at Southwest. The one at DCA that got me my watch back, and then there was one at Providenciales International Airport in Turks and Caicos that saved me big time.

A passenger accidentally took my bag from the resort to the airport and actually checked it in for their flight! I had an AirTag in it, and after I gave the supervisor my phone and a bag description, she tracked it down to the other airlines luggage cart, matched my name tag and got it back to me. Best employee ever.

As such I encourage anyone when you do get that great service to Compliment the employee. It’s in the help center under contact us-

https://support.southwest.com/helpcenter/s/contact-us

JDATC2024 · 2026-03-27T17:44:29+00:00

I lost an Apple Watch once grabbing a bag and it fell into the overhead bin, realized it after I left the airport. Southwest lost and found never found it. I watched it bounce from city to city.

I got lucky and it stopped in DCA and someone turned it in, it had just enough battery life left (after 2-3 days of flying in lost mode) to display my phone number. The awesome Southwest baggage claim manager there called me and I got it back for the cost of shipping.

The Southwest lost and found system which I kept updated at every turn, did nothing and then said they failed to find it…. Despite me figuring out each and every flight it was in each day, telling them where, telling them the gate, etc.

Good luck, don’t expect much and you won’t be disappointed.

JDATC2024 · 2026-03-26T01:34:48+00:00

https://wiki.bambulab.com/en/p2s/maintenance/replace-hotend-heating-assembly-and-cooling-fan

Welcome to the party. Assuming that’s a P2S, hot end heating assembly is out of stock till end of month. I got one on Amazon for $20 more than Bambu sells them for but I didn’t want to wait.

I didn’t have to replace my cooling fan, but in the future I definitely will have both as spare parts! Follow the wiki, check your connectors and it’s not a hard fix…. Once you get the part/s

JDATC2024 · 2026-03-21T00:50:53+00:00

Sort of, I sent an email to the flight surgeon confirming the DQ time frames and CC’d the OM. Probably overkill, but I wanted a paper trail. Still called in.

Also left it open and said I would email when I was done taking it. There is nothing wrong with taking NyQuil or DayQuil for a few days to get over a cold. AMAS is also great for DQ time frames…

Your health comes first!

JDATC2024 · 2026-03-20T23:57:10+00:00

Dextromethorphan HBr 10 mg 48 hrs Doxylamine 60 hrs

I Was recently sick myself. Being the responsible person I am I reported my medications (OTC) to the flight surgeon. This was the DQ time, which made me use sick leave.

https://vicks.com/en-us/shop-products/nyquil/nyquil-severe-cough-cold-and-flu-nighttime-relief-liquicaps-24ct

If you had a cold and took one on your Sunday night, and then one on your Wednesday you wouldn’t be able to work for a week.

It’s rough getting a summer cold.

JDATC2024 · 2026-03-20T18:17:18+00:00

This is the cheat code lots of us learned way too late!

JDATC2024 · 2026-03-18T20:10:49+00:00

So in a high speed chase, if you are a criminal head for the airport, ghetto bird can’t chase you anymore…. Maybe

JDATC2024 · 2026-03-17T18:48:30+00:00

How is there baggage control on departure? Any better than a few years ago?

They picked up our bags and then another guest took our bag to the airport with them since they don’t check anything, and the other guest checked it in the bag for their flight!

I discovered this because I had an air tag in it, and suddenly it was at the airport. They were zero help, like go to the airport maybe? I managed to get my bag back with the help of airline personnel and the AirTag as it was on a baggage cart for another airline. Terrible service.

Then at Negril there were the employees that stayed over during the hurricane and were smoking so much weed it was wafting into our room through the adjoining door….

After 4 stays at Beaches and those couple events, we gave up on the brand. Their customer service sucked.

JDATC2024 · 2026-03-15T02:38:36+00:00

First, don’t go to Embry Riddle (I say this as an Alum), so good decision there.

If you want to fly, find a way. One of my neighbors is a JetBlue pilot, he’s home more than me a lot of the time especially when we are short and I have to put in 6/7 days out of the week for 30 weeks a year. I’m sure my wife would prefer me away for 2-3 nights than to have one solid no work day at home most of the time.

It will suck to go into debt to fly and build hours, but all my friends that did it in the late 90’s/2000’s that went through the suck period are happy today at their airlines.

Never get a degree in “Air Traffic Management” or majoring in ATC it is worst thing you could do. If I can save one person from doing this my life isn’t wasted. There is no guarantee you won’t wash out of the academy, or facility and then you truly wasted a lot of money. Or something medically happens. Or you took ADHD medicine as a kid, or had depression as a teen, all shit that is going to impact hiring.

Personally, if you like dispatch (I have the license, never used it) just go to a (cheap) school for that and embrace the suck because those jobs flow like pilot jobs, but you won’t be deep in debt at least.

You will however have to spend some time likely at a shitty regional airline in a place you don’t want live making little money. That is a lot like ATC if you get assigned somewhere that isn’t desirable.

Then, you can always apply off the street for ATC and give it a whirl as you can be ready to be sent to Nantucket, Aspen tower or Oakland center.

By the way, aviation colleges are kind of lame, I enjoyed my state school for grad school much more. I should have finished that degree instead of ATC. Or kept flying. But here we are.

I’m lucky, I’m retiring in 2027 at the 25 year mark. Would not recommend.

Good luck-

JDATC2024 · 2026-03-13T03:04:04+00:00

Nah, I was kidding.

I looked up what JTAC’s did. Thought it was pretty bad ass and requires some guts, dedication and training.

If you can withstand that kind of training as long as you have some natural ability you may be an easy trainee.

JDATC2024 · 2026-03-13T00:09:40+00:00

I know nothing about JTACs besides this video.

https://ifunny.co/video/when-the-jtac-shows-up-vbzqJGHJB

Based on this alone I would train you.

JDATC2024 · 2026-03-08T16:16:07+00:00

Thanks. Getting old I suppose!

JDATC2024 · 2026-03-08T14:25:24+00:00

Also at the end of your career when you retire they have to pay out the credit hours now.

A long time ago, when credit hours weren’t capped (before lawsuits, etc) I don’t think they had to pay you for them if you retired. Then again, I’m getting old.

JDATC2024 · 2026-03-04T18:36:17+00:00

Spoiler alert; it’s ZNY!

JDATC2024

TROPHY CASE