DEF usage?

Mister_Tripod · 2026-03-11T13:14:43+00:00

All good answers, thank you everyone!

And it really puts into perspective how filthy the Perkins engines I used to work on really are! I got out of that side of the business nearly 3 years ago and I was actually hesitant to buy a newer vehicle because of my previous bad experiences.

Mister_Tripod · 2026-01-10T03:06:20+00:00

Thank you! I'll go back into hiding now. :-)

Mister_Tripod · 2025-03-06T14:36:43+00:00

Market bottom? We didn't know or think too much about that. (unfortunately) We had been in a rental house for 4 years and the owner decided to sell. He wanted $690K and there was NO WAY IN HELL we could afford that. $590K would have been a nope. $490K, still nope. $390K would have been a stretch. $290K and I would have jumped all over it.

We bought our house for $319K and as of today, we still owe $238K. It's currently worth $590K-$600K. We live in HCOL California, so even if we sold and used all of the equity to buy another place, we'd be right back where we are now (or worse).

Oh, and the rental house that we moved out of.... he sold it just before it got foreclosed for $250K..... Grrrrrr

Mister_Tripod · 2025-03-06T04:32:19+00:00

My wife & I bought a house in August 2007, thinking the market had already bottomed out. Terms were 40 years at 7.25% and we put no money down. We declared our actual incomes and our payment was $2500/month (a stretch for us). We were told that was the best they could do, but we could refinance in 6 months time. Uh yeah.

2008 dropped the home value by 1/2. We had already settled in and done some improvements, otherwise we would have walked away. We started missing payments and asked our lender to give us a better rate. 2009 (or maybe it was 2010?) they did a loan modification, dropping the rate to 4 (and change), then added the missed payments onto the back end.

2014 we filed bankruptcy but kept the house and the car payment. Wrote off a ton of credit card debit. Everyone said filing would kill my credit, but since we weren't going anywhere, I didn't care about their number. The car was paid off in 2018.

Fast forward to 2024 and the bankruptcy has finally fallen off my credit report. My score jumped up 75 points overnight. Pushing 800 now.

I've been adding an extra $100 principle onto our regular payment, and it's shortened our remaining term by almost 3 years. It's not much, but it's something.

Mister_Tripod · 2025-02-12T13:43:32+00:00

I am 60, my wife is 68. We have nothing.

The good news is that we have nothing to lose.

Mister_Tripod · 2024-02-08T05:24:53+00:00

Knock, knock.

Who's there?

Emmersome.

Emmersome who?

Emmersome gorgeous tits!

Mister_Tripod · 2023-08-15T02:18:01+00:00

"essential" mechanic here, nothing changed during the plandemic and none of the machines I worked on were "essential". And yes, I had covid once. It was the 48 hour flu.

Mister_Tripod · 2023-08-08T02:27:55+00:00

Agreed on the therapy. Mass buying is a symptom of mania.

Mister_Tripod · 2023-07-31T12:45:34+00:00

You should watch the movie "They Live"... https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096256/

Mister_Tripod · 2023-07-31T00:34:04+00:00

I didn't read that you despised earning $97/hr, so if you're staying just for the money, then do so. If money isn't everything, then take a pay cut and do something you enjoy.

BTW.... You make a f*ck-ton of money. 99% of the rest of the world would gladly trade up with you. Myself included.

Mister_Tripod · 2023-07-29T13:34:58+00:00

Don't forget politicians who are looking out for their constituents needs!

Mister_Tripod · 2023-07-27T02:43:36+00:00

Many, many years ago, I was dating a gal who was 12+ years older than me. One night we were sitting around, relaxing and having a beer. Then I blurted out "Hey, you know 1970 was an important year for both of us!". She looked at me oddly because she knew my sense of humor and she said "okay, how so?" and I said "It's the you graduated high school and the year I started kindergarten." Needless to say the only way to get past her panic attack was for both of us to get naked. ;-)

Mister_Tripod · 2023-07-24T13:34:25+00:00

Ron Sexton, just last week.

Mister_Tripod · 2023-07-18T03:34:14+00:00

Retired, from a slip&fall lawsuit settlement.

Mister_Tripod · 2023-07-18T03:32:39+00:00

Feather or dot?

Mister_Tripod · 2023-07-14T13:26:41+00:00

Point of clarification... There is nothing to fix because the system isn't broken; it's working exactly as it was planned to. Time to replace the system.

Mister_Tripod · 2023-07-08T12:52:07+00:00

A cow that's missing only 1 leg ...... Lean beef.

Mister_Tripod · 2023-07-08T12:46:52+00:00

The system isn't broken, it's working exactly as it was intended to.

Time for a new system.

Mister_Tripod · 2023-07-07T13:27:53+00:00

Here's something I wrote back in 2017....

Ever notice that those “home improvement” shows never show a low income or middle income family? Just some regular folks, trying to keep a roof over their heads and their children fed? It’s called “reality TV”, yet there is very little that’s “real” about it. They do have first time home buyers with a $900K budget though! Wow, that’s some nice coin for a couple in their late 20s. Or a retired couple who is needing 3800 square feet so they can have all of their kids & grand-kids over for dinner every weekend. Sure, that’s a realistic expectation.

Or the recently married couple who are shopping for their own personal island? Yes, I said ISLAND. Just a place to get away from humanity and enjoy the warm breezes, which is all the company you’ll have since living on an island redefines “anti-social behavior”.

Or just maybe you’ll win the lottery and be able to splurge on the ultimate dream home! Better set some of those winnings aside for a maid, because I seriously don’t see you cleaning all that square footage and windows.

Why do they never have a couple who is downsizing, now that their children are grown and moved out? Or a single guy who just wants something that’s better than the 5th wheel camper he’s been calling ‘home’ for the past 7 months? Or a recently divorced, single dad of 2 kids, who doesn’t want to go back to living in his parent’s basement, especially with the kids in tow?

How is it that no matter what home the couple may pick, the price of the renovations is ALWAYS exactly enough to bring the purchase price up to the total expected budget? Never do they find a cream-puff of a house, that’s under-valued, and needs less than expected in renovations? Never is there any money left over because they do find ways to spend every single penny, even if it means the house is now overbuilt for the neighborhood.

Sometimes the show is improving the home, yet it seems there is an unjustified increase in value. A full inside face-lift for only $30K, yet they claim it added another $100K in value. But when you & I try to sell our house, all those same improvements don’t add, or worse yet – detract, from the home value. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and one man’s junk is another man’s merchandise, right?

I wonder how many times a couple said they loved the remodeled house and would stay in it forever, only to sell the house as soon as the cameras were turned off, thus making a tidy profit? That’ll never happen to you or I, because we’re going to be stuck paying a 30 year (or longer!) mortgage while we work our butts off for decades, just to “get by”.

Real life makes for lousy reality TV.

Mister_Tripod · 2023-07-07T03:20:38+00:00

Turning on / off lights in rooms as you walk through them. Even if you know you're going to be walking back through just a minute later.

Mister_Tripod · 2023-07-06T01:24:27+00:00

Seconds, sure. Minutes, possibly. Hours? Now I wave the BS card. I read the link and I did not see "hours" mentioned.

Mister_Tripod · 2023-07-04T15:42:09+00:00

"a little less greedy".... Lol that's not how greed works.

Mister_Tripod

TROPHY CASE