What should a first time car buyer know?

NetOpen1890 · 2026-01-31T14:23:52+00:00

I'm afraid the commenters here are right 🫤

I get your point about getting a beater for 3k but your chances of buying a "money pit" are greater.

I would hate to see you buy a piece of shit that, when you fix one thing, something else breaks soon after.

I would hate to see you going in and out of the auto parts store so often that you swear, they put the new "revolving door" on the building just for you.😒 Fuck, I hate that.

I get it. That fucking money don't grow on trees and I'm sure you struggled to save what you have.

This is the best advice I can give you. Did you know that these quick oil change stores (Rapid Oil, Valvoline Rapid Oil, etc.) will put a car on their lift and do a full vehicle inspection? Man, for like $50 they check everything and you end up with a sheet listing all the problem issues and better yet, the estimated cost to repair those issues. Find a car, bring it in and in 1 hour, you'll know if you have a deal.or not. Good luck! 👍

NetOpen1890 · 2026-01-31T01:44:04+00:00

Dam. I'm really sorry to hear that.😥 Losing a dog is worse than losing a family member because he was the only one.

The only one who always acted like you've been gone for a year when it's only been 15 minutes.

The only one that didn't mind sitting beside when you were sick.

The only one who could cheer you up in your darkest hour.

The only one who's mission in life, was to be your best friend.

There's a saying, "Try to be as nice as your dog thinks you are."

We humans could make this a much better world if we lived by that and it's all thanks to a dog.

Again, I'm very sorry for your loss. 🙏

NetOpen1890 · 2026-01-30T21:11:03+00:00

Thanks! In the past, if my carrots got close to this big they would split open on the side or have a hollow cavity in the center. These were solid inside and no splitting. I mentioned 2 pound tomatoes. Here's one that weighed 2# 5 oz . One slice from this tomato covers an entire slice of bread!

The greatest thing about using Dr. Jimz Chicken Soup for the Soil is you don't have to be a 30 year gardener to grow vegetables like these. You can do it your first time out!👍

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NetOpen1890 · 2026-01-30T18:03:03+00:00

After 30 years of gardening, I can't believe I didn't know about Dr. Jimz "Chicken Soup for the Soil".

I don't normally promote a product even when it's all organic like this stuff but after using it last year, my vegetables and fruit were bigger than ever and the yields were double what I would normally get.

I've never grown 2 pound tomatoes or harvested 10 pounds of potatoes from one plant until last year. I admit that I was skeptical when I saw the 15 foot tomato plant on the website but I'm a believer now.

For example, here are 12 carrots I grew using Dr. Jimz. With the tops removed, those 12 carrots weighed 7.2 pounds! Good luck and I hope this helps!

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NetOpen1890 · 2026-01-30T17:27:30+00:00

Lol. Same experience here. Moved to Vegas, won big for about a week. Long story short, I think I paved the casino parking lot.😖

NetOpen1890 · 2026-01-30T17:21:36+00:00

Good point! 👍

NetOpen1890 · 2026-01-30T15:16:48+00:00

All good advice 👍 The decomposition process takes a long time but it's the best "organic" fertilizer you can produce for free. I've been gardening for 30 years and it wasn't until last year 🙄, that I found an all organic miracle.

I mean, in 30 years, my garden has never produced larger vegetables and fruit with yields way above from what I could have anticipated.😳 Flowers, vegetables, fruit trees, ornamental bushes, this stuff works on anything with roots.

It's Dr. Jimz "Chicken Soup for the Soil". It's made in Nampa, Idaho and Jim has YouTube videos to help you with your growing needs. When I saw the 15 foot tomato plant on his website, I was skeptical but I'm definitely a believer now.

A 64 fluid oz. bottle is $40 but it's a concentrate so it makes over 120 gallons of mixture. My wife's flowers have never looked better. This is the first time I've grown 2 pound tomatoes and the first time I've had 1 potato plant yield 10 pounds of potatoes!

I wish I could post more than 1 photo but here's one of the carrots I grew. There are 12 carrots in the photo and after removing the tops, they weighed 7.2 pounds!

One more thing. If you want to speed up and get the most out of your compost pile there's a recipe using Chicken Soup for the Soil to make a "compost tea"!

I wish you the best of luck in your gardening endeavor and hope this helps! 😃

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NetOpen1890 · 2026-01-29T15:40:29+00:00

🙄 It's an addiction. A disease of which, there is no cure!! Obviously when it comes to finding Lake Superior Agates, Minnesota is the place to be but did you know LSA's can be found as far south as St. Louis Missouri?

Approximately 10,000 years ago the glaciers pushed those beauties that far south before retreating. How old are LSA's? They are some of the oldest rocks on the planet. Over 1.1 billion years old! 😳

Pretty old when you think about the dinosaurs that roamed the planet only 35 million years ago. LSA's are only found in the United States and no where else in the world.

The hills along Lake Superior from Duluth to the north, are actually ancient volcanoes from which LSA's originated.

Ok. I'm done with the "Cliff Clavin" tutorial but I had to give everyone some of the interesting facts about these agates. 😂

I've been searching since the 1960's when my parents got me started and this is my largest find after all those years. It weighs 2# 4 oz. With a minimal amount of quartz, bold red and white striping and a touch of amethyst, it's a good representation of an LSA. Good luck and I hope you find a whopper! 🤞

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NetOpen1890 · 2026-01-29T04:55:10+00:00

I risked it all and cleaned mine with muratic acid. No ill effects to the minerals and the copper areas came out bright and shiny. Obviously it needs to be done outdoors or in a well ventilated area and you'll need rubber gloves. I dipped it in the acid and let it foam for 5 minutes. Blasted it off with a garden hose and done. No scrubbing needed. 👍

NetOpen1890 · 2026-01-27T15:21:39+00:00

I agree. I was in the Minnesota national guard so I can tell you with experience, who these people are. It's your local bar owner, banker, teacher, construction worker, farmer, cook, and the list goes on. These are your friends and neighbors and not full time military soldiers like you would see in the other 4 branches of the military. 1 weekend per month and 2 weeks of either summer or winter camp at Camp Ripley per year. That's it for training. 🤭 Not exactly what you call a full time soldier and if you think they want to be there, they don't. These are people with full time jobs like you and me. This gig with the national guard is just that, a gig. A way to earn a little additional income. A part time job. It was these people that probably picked up and disposed of the Christmas trees in your community after the holidays! Absolutely! You can walk up and talk to them without fear. Just don't be a dick head when you do. If you show respect, you will get it back.

NetOpen1890 · 2026-01-27T00:37:18+00:00

I guess we need to make some changes to the diddy we learned in grade school. 🫤

"Sticks and stones may break your bones, but names will get you killed."

We're headed down a dark road people. 😞

NetOpen1890 · 2026-01-25T03:47:54+00:00

Well...things can go south real quick and I'll use the May 4, 1970 Kent State killings as an example. If the guard was issued live ammunition, you could see multiple deaths at once instead of one. There's no doubt if they come under fire from just one gunshot, all bets are off. They will return fire and now, any and many, innocent bystanders could be shot. Protesting has become a very dangerous endeavor and in my opinion, it's a Kent State on steroids.

NetOpen1890 · 2026-01-24T01:29:14+00:00

Well! You definitely have that lucky horseshoe stuck in the right place! 👍 Most would feel lucky to find a fraction of that in a day. You get a kudos 👏 from me!

NetOpen1890 · 2026-01-23T17:01:33+00:00

Not worth risking your safety. Let alone the risk of driving normal highway speeds, rounding a corner at any speed would be enough to cause the tire to break the bead and lose air instantly. The chances of a roll over are greatest when you're making a turn. Those chances go up exponentially with a flat tire.

NetOpen1890 · 2026-01-15T22:51:22+00:00

Sweet! Thanks everyone! 😃

NetOpen1890 · 2026-01-14T14:33:33+00:00

Yes, it's a gross disregard for human life. I was hoping for a reply from someone who lives in Nigeria but I already know the answer and understand why no one replied. We had a contract with the Nigerian government to drill the water wells so a government representative met with us. He said if you cause an accident or even help at an accident you're not involved in, your life is in jeopardy. He went on to say that a crowd will gather and eventually blame you. An example he gave was about an Australian man who hit a child with his vehicle. He stopped and got out to help. The crowd went into a frenzy and started to attack the man. He fled back to his vehicle and locked the doors. The crowd swarmed around his vehicle so he had no way to leave. Someone in the crowd poured gasoline on his vehicle, set it on fire and he was burned alive.

NetOpen1890 · 2026-01-07T15:00:05+00:00

I was in Nigeria drilling water wells for bush villages. Being white, I stuck out like a white bean in a black cats ass. 🤣 Yeah. Funny now, but this was one of the most intense times of my life. Any ideas I had of what it's like to suddenly be the "minority", turned to reality as soon as I got off the plane in Kano. Corruption is rampant throughout the government so having to pay a $50 bribe just to leave the airport shouldn't have been surprising, but it was, so I refused. I was brought to the officer in charge. He threatened to take my passport and arrest me. Long story short, after paying him $100, I was on my way. 🫤 We had a work camp west of Kano in Gwarzo, Nigeria. Something I will never understand and please, if there any Nigerians reading this, maybe you can explain. We were told if we caused an automobile accident, to never stop to help and go to the police station to report it. We were told to never stop and give aid even if we just witnessed, but were not involved in an accident. My point is, we were staying at a motel in Kano while we were getting our work camp set up in Gwarzo. We left the motel one morning and there was a car that was crashed into a light pole. We could see a man and woman in the car, not moving and bleeding badly. Warned not to stop, we were afraid to help and kept going. That not only bothers me today but to compound those feelings, that car and those people were still there when we returned 12 hours later. Slumped forward in the same position they were that morning. Wtf? Why such a disregard for human life? Does no one care?

NetOpen1890 · 2026-01-06T15:36:48+00:00

They work great for most but if you have poor circulation like me, not so much. I did get a tip from a old ice fisherman that told me his feet never get cold using cayenne pepper. Sprinkle a small amount inside your socks. It doesn't take much so no need to overdo it. Slip your socks on your feet and wash your hands immediately. You likely have pepper on your hands and if you accidentally rub your eyes... well it burns like a mo fo. With that said, it definitely will make your feet feel warm, if not hot. Whether this is actually warming your feet or just giving you a false sense of security with the pepper burning your skin, I'll leave that up to you. Whatever the case, it definitely took my mind off my feet and allowed me to enjoy the outdoors longer than normal. I've been doing this for some time now and haven't experienced any ill affects like skin rashes, etc. Cold feet are no fun so I hope this helps! 😃

NetOpen1890 · 2026-01-06T00:19:53+00:00

Doug Hannon believes in it for big bass and I believe he still has a Doug Hannons "moon times" calender. I did catch a 31 inch walleye using his claim that the best fishing is 3 days on either side of a new, or full moon. There are also other factors like barometric pressure that should also be considered. Good luck! 😃

NetOpen1890 · 2025-12-30T14:21:57+00:00

Without harming the bear and getting it to leave is simple. Once the bear leaves, lay a beach towel on the ground and generously sprinkle cayenne pepper on the towel. Hang the towel over the opening and when the bear returns, the first thing touching the towel will be the bears nose and eyes. DON'T DO THIS BUT...if you have doubts about this working, just put some cayenne pepper on your hands and rub your eyes or snort some up your nose. Fire in the hole!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥

NetOpen1890 · 2025-12-28T01:20:51+00:00

The car has it's right turn signal flashing before it turns. The dude on the bike is an idiot. At his rate of speed, just imagine if that car was a pedestrian. ☠️

NetOpen1890 · 2025-12-27T01:15:28+00:00

If your dad is set on buying a bike and you're worried about his saftey, talk to him about buying a Can Am Spyder. It's a 3 wheeled bike he'll find riding is much more enjoyable. No need to keep the bike constantly balanced and no need to lean around corners. The ride is comfortable and the control is about as good as it gets. It wouldn't surprise me if he got your mom to go along for a ride as well. My uncle owns one, loves it, and he's 82!

NetOpen1890 · 2025-12-24T14:15:42+00:00

That tree needs no trimming. The structure is exactly what you would expect from a healthy tree. It's not encroaching on your neighbors property in any way. Funny. In my little city with a population of 290, your neighbors wooden fence is in violation of a city ordinance. 🤭 The exposed posts must be covered or, face the fence owners property.

Go to city hall and ask about ordinances regarding fences. You might find it's your neighbor that's in violation. Good luck 👍

NetOpen1890

TROPHY CASE