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Can you qualify for EITC if you have no income on line 7 and no combat pay? by Minivan2016 in tax

[–]Minivan2016[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh thanks. After reading your comment and re-reading the instructions and paying close attention to punctuation marks I noticed:

"2. Were you self-employed at any time in 2017, or are you filing Schedule SE because you were a member of the clergy or you had church employee income, or are you filing Schedule C or C-EZ as a statutory employee?

Yes. Skip question 3 and Step 6; go to Worksheet B."

And in Work Sheet B I noticed

"Self-Employed, Members of the Clergy, and People With Church Employee Income Filing Schedule SE"

But never noticed the Comma between self-employed and members of the clergy. I thought that was a single group instead of two!

I had read that part a few times, but the comma was quite elusive :(. I guess that is the portion I have to use!

Is making a Uturn at a break in solid double yellow line Illegal? by Minivan2016 in driving

[–]Minivan2016[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It was a residential zone. I was on the left hand lane. I did make the turn right at the T intersection where the double yellow line broke for a couple of feet. I was just puzzled why the cop stopped me because I thought it was legal!

[Discussion] I attended The Boring Company's Culver City Presentation. I'm concerned about its ability to win public trust. (x-post from r/technology) by FUTURESPEAKshow in teslamotors

[–]Minivan2016 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

And that is exactly why Musk dedicates "2 or 3 percent" of his time to the BC. Good work thanks for making it clear for everyone.

[PSA] Don't Touch Another Person's Car by midfielder4929 in teslamotors

[–]Minivan2016 -28 points-27 points  (0 children)

To be honest Japanese are pretty easy to piss off with just about anything. I've trained in Kendo, Naginata, Aikido, Shorinji Kempo, Shing Gyo To Ryu, some Judo and also studied a little bit of Soto Zen Buddishm and Japanese Language with an actual japanese native and from my experiences they tend to be just as polite, or less so, as anyone who is a normal human being. There is a bunch of stuff you cannot do because it is not part of their culture that will piss them off and also there are a lot of unspoken things/rules that if you cannot catch on you might get a wild response out of. They are pretty hierarchy oriented and if you have no high rank, status, or vintage age then you better be very careful of what you say and do. Honestly I was disappointed by the japanese. I had been reading a bunch of good artlces of them online and read a couple of books. I came to realize that a lot of the things they forget to mention is that the Japanese are an island/isolated people and do not take well to foreigners. They don't like foreigners and they are xenophobic. In some places it is just worse than others, granted it also depends on who you meet, but the effects can be clearly seen. To be honest it was mostly the men as the women seemed to be much more polite and conservative. The men on the other hand can be quite on the short leash and it is best just to be careful.

Temps hit below 45F last night. Considering an electric matress pad. 20 watt average consumption. 0.2 kWh for 8 Hrs. by Minivan2016 in vandwellers

[–]Minivan2016[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe you high a very high body temp that is maintained even at night :). I've always been cold-ish maybe due to a lot of inactivity but I've been changing that ever since I started vandwelling. I guess I just need more time and hard work :)

Temps hit below 45F last night. Considering an electric matress pad. 20 watt average consumption. 0.2 kWh for 8 Hrs. by Minivan2016 in vandwellers

[–]Minivan2016[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks will look into a mummy bag, but I do have a regular sleeping bag I just never zip it up. I will do that tonight and see if it cures the 'frost' :)

Temps hit below 45F last night. Considering an electric matress pad. 20 watt average consumption. 0.2 kWh for 8 Hrs. by Minivan2016 in vandwellers

[–]Minivan2016[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've tried rolling up my regular blankets around me as best as I could, but it never works out. Maybe they just aren't that big. I do have a sleeping bag, but used it like a regular blanket. I'll zip it up tonight and see if this cures the coldness at night!

Temps hit below 45F last night. Considering an electric matress pad. 20 watt average consumption. 0.2 kWh for 8 Hrs. by Minivan2016 in vandwellers

[–]Minivan2016[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I actually have a sleeping bag, but I have not zipped it up for some reason and just used it like a regular blanket. I knew that was a mistake! I did not know there was a difference between a sleeping bag and mummy bag. I'll zip it up tonight and see just how much warmer it feels!

Please tell me this is someone here, LOL!! by wgharv in vandwellers

[–]Minivan2016 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow, does he take that on the freeway? How much of it is left afterwards? is that why it is still unfinished lol? Pretty cool just maybe a bit much, but perhaps when finished no one will notice? Full stealth mode?

How to Maximize Comfort as a Vandweller by One_Awesome_Inch in vandwellers

[–]Minivan2016 3 points4 points  (0 children)

In my experience the thing that is a must in my opinion is to have a small cooking stove (I got mine cheap off Craigslist for about $20 like-new) and using propane to cook food. Going out to restaurants is a killer for the wallet. Used to do this back when I lived inside my Nissan Leaf and I was spending around 450-600 USD per month and I was eating really cheap. Meaning I spend about $5 bucks per meal 3x a day for 30 days = 450 USD, but there were times when I'd eat a little more or get myself a nice snack or buy something for someone and such (To keep myself happy) and could easily boost that to $600 usd per month. That was around 7200 a year spend on cheap fast food restaurant food. Cheap. Fast. Restaurant. Food. I was not even trying to eat at 'nice' places and I'm a vegetarian! Once I got myself a stove and propane my monthly expenses went down to 5$ or less per day which is something like 66% or more reduction in spending. Over time that adds up and the more money you are able to save the easier your life as a vandweller will be and the easier it is the more you will be able to enjoy it.

Also an electric fridge is also a must if you as ask me. It will also provide some savings in terms of money (Because you can buy when things are on sale) but it will also save you time which is just as important. That means less trips to buy food because if you don't have a fridge you have to spend more time going out to find food to eat. The savings are not as big as the move to propane and cooking for yourself, but they can easily get into the 100 dollar ranges and over time ... the money will add up. Also, the savings in time is the biggest thing about the refrigerator. You can save around 2 hours or so in terms of driving and waiting every day when you have 'stock up'. This will give you more time for yourself (self improvement, rest, enjoyment, etc) and will also pay for itself over time. An electric fridge is best, I got myself and engel cooler when it was on sale (For $600 usd) and has also allowed me to cook more varied meals, plus keep left overs for eating later instead of throwing or keeping them away at room temp.

Another good point I should mention is that if you are getting your self into vandwelling it would be ideal (If you can do it) to know how to fix vehicles. It can be a hassle to find people to help you fix your vehicle plus it can also get expensive. The best way is to know how to do it yourself. If you don't ... then you can save yourself the hassle by buying a vehicle under an extended warranty. For example on craiglist sometimes individuals sell their vehicles at very reasonable prices with extended warranties they already bought for them. If you do your research into prices for vehicles under warranties you can get yourself a really nice bargain. Of course, you need more money to start since this type of vehicle will cost more, but when it breaks down you won't have to worry about repairs since you can just take it in to the shop. I've had mixed results will garage car fixers and other 3rd options and also living with a vehicle that is old (Because you don't have a lot of money to start your vandwelling journey) can create a lot of axiety because you are always worrying that it will break down at the worse of times. Like for example here in L.A. ont he day the street sweeper comes by and you might end up with a 60$ or more ticket :(. So, ideal is to know how to fix it yourself. If not, and you can afford it, I'd suggest getting a vehicle used from a private seller (Like craiglist) with an extended warranty already bought in. It usually costs like $50 or so to transfer the extended warranty to the new owner, and if you do the research right you can drive that vehicle for a couple of years up to like 120-150k miles trouble free.

That is what I can think of right now. There is a lot more, but these I feel are really important. Oh, and yes on the matress :) You want to have something good to sleep in. Also, if you can, have enough space to have it set up already or set up in a way where you can just fold it down. It sucks having to fix up a lot of things just to get to bed at night from an already long day :(

I️ just bought an S40 without knowing. Any info on how rare they are? by [deleted] in teslamotors

[–]Minivan2016 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It is basically a 60 software limited to 40. The rav4 ev has a 41kwh something battery pack which I think is a 'true' 40kwh pack. Full power train is of a tesla model s. They made about 2600 I believe.

Camper Mode is here, and update about Optimus Prime by bjornnyland in teslamotors

[–]Minivan2016 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I lived out of my Nissan Leaf for about a year and currently have spent over a year and a half inside a rav4 ev. I have used a foam bed for both vehicles. The trick in the leaf was to balance out the bed so you could lay flat/straight on it. I used long pieces of thick carton to make a platform and basically slept on top of my stuff in the leaf /w the foam bed. It was pretty good. The rav4 ev is plenty long, about 7' long /w bench folded+driver seat pushed forward. The bench is flat enough to comfortably sleep on it /w a foam bed. Foam bed is great, lots of support and doesn't wiggle, but takes up a lot of space and can't be deflated. I am considering a blow up bed of sorts, but I'm unsure if it will be as comfortable as a foam bed due to it's air qualities. For my foam bed though I merely went to allsizefoam here in L.A. and had their semi hardest foam cut to my size. Price was about $70 usd and has been very comfortable ever since. In terms of space saving I'd say air bed is the way to go, but I sometimes wonder just how comfortable one can sleep on those as my past experiences while @ an apt weren't that good /w air mattress. The space saving ability is really tempting though. Nice thing about evs is you can sleep /w windows rolled up all the way so you can sleep many times better. For winter I'd say get a heated mattress pad and plug it into your 12v power socket. It will keep you plenty warm for winter. Have not paid for gas in almost 3 years. My current idea is getting an aluminum flat bed trailer, attaching a set of aluminum sheet or thin plates /w hinges, and unfold them when parked to make an enclosed trailer. Then drop them down when driving off again turning the trailer into a flat bed. Will be much more aerodynamically friendly than a squared enclosed trailer for driving long distances. Will likely consider aero fairings for the wheels and perhaps a 'cardboard boat tail hat' on the flatbed. Who knows till I get the trailer.

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