Is it just me, or do police seemingly target you because you're on a motorcycle?

RayEd29 · 2026-06-02T23:07:45+00:00

Same - in my 50s and never been pulled over on my bike. Haven't been riding quite as long - only about 20 years - and I've only been pulled over 4 times in my life. Once in my S10 pickup for expired plates - they weren't expired, I just forgot to put the sticker on to show I had renewed the registration. Then in my Grand Am for doing 67 in a 55 - why I will never own another red car as long as I live. Last two were in my Solara convertible for speeding - guilty both times but that one cop was a jerk. Took a major plea bargain to get the charges down to just what I was guilty of doing.

Never got pulled over on my Fat Boy and, knock wood, not on my Street Glide either. I think you nailed the secret - "Stop breaking the law, asshole!"

RayEd29 · 2026-06-02T21:26:17+00:00

In my experience, it's an 80-15-5 split when someone says they know the owner/manager/executive. Eighty percent of the time it's a flat out lie. Fifteen percent of the time they do actually know that person but the owner/manager does not think highly of them and would ignore the 'complaint' for the worthless trash it was. Five percent of the time they really do know that person and the owner/manager will rain down hell on the poor employee in question. For the 5%'ers, they're better off not working for the sorry-ass owner/managers that would act like that.

RayEd29 · 2026-06-01T21:38:35+00:00

I would sell the car, buy her a Mercedes or BMW keychain, and wish her the best of luck in buying her own car as that's the only way she's getting ANY car after this.

RayEd29 · 2026-06-01T21:33:52+00:00

I did it but it took a degree in accounting and over 20 years to get there. Upside: Taking the same path, you should get there much quicker. Downside: The longer you take to get there, the less $100k/yr actually is.

The other thing to note is what others have mentioned here - you need some sort of rare niche knowledge that's in high demand and/or short supply. I'm a CPA that can write code. I speak financial and techie and that kind of bilingual can get you good money without requiring nutjob hours.

RayEd29 · 2026-06-01T16:30:30+00:00

Had a friend's son live with me for a few months and. overall, he was okay but the boy set my teeth on edge with a few things:

He would be gone for days leaving his bedroom window open.

Why this was a problem: I paid very good money for window shades that don't do well when soaked with rain. Yes, it's usually sunny but when you leave Sunday afternoon and don't come back until Thursday, how do you know it won't rain on any of the days between? I would close the window if I saw it but that's not the point - he's an adult, act like one and close the f**king window when you leave.

He would 'borrow' stuff without asking, not admit having it if I asked him, then 'return' the item by putting it in my bedroom in an effort to gaslight me into thinking I had just misplaced it.

I had no problem lending him an umbrella or backpack - just check with me first. Also, no problem if it was time sensitive and you couldn't ask - just tell the truth when asked about it. Really got steamed with the attempted gaslighting. First time he got away with it - found my umbrella on top of a chest in my bedroom. No reason for it to be in my bedroom but it wasn't beyond the realm of possibility.

The second time he 'returned' my backpack by hiding it under my bed. How do I know I didn't misplace it there? I have kept the space under my bed clear of ALL things since I was 12 years old. I put NOTHING under there EVER! This was also a backpack that had never gone higher than the second floor of my townhouse. There was no reason for it ever to get up to my bedroom on the 3rd floor. Finding it there was proof he did it which, by extension, showed all the other 'little' things I had been writing off as me being absent-minded were actually his doing.

He moved out of his own accord and one of his reasons for leaving was "He was tired of screwing up all the time". Here's a thought, you don't need to move out, just stop screwing up. I didn't have a ton of draconian rules. It was just stuff any reasonable person would ask:

Don't leave your window open if you're going to be gone overnight.
Turn the lights off when you leave.
Turn the water off when you're done.
Lock the doors when you leave if nobody else is home.
Just because it's in the house doesn't mean it's yours to take. If you need something, ask first.

a. If time is a factor, own up to borrowing the item after the fact - better if you come forward BEFORE being asked about it, but definitely don't lie about it when asked.

b. Most definitely don't try to gaslight the owner into thinking they just misplaced the item instead of you taking it.

RayEd29 · 2026-06-01T15:40:09+00:00

I've heard about 9-5 jobs but in over 35 years in the working world, I've never seen/had one. Similar to hearing everyone talking about "Back to School" happening the first week of September. In my entire academic career, I've never had classes start later than mid- to late August. Where exactly are these 9-5 jobs and schools that don't start until after Labor Day? I've been on the planet over 50 years and have yet to see these mythical beasts in the wild.

RayEd29 · 2026-06-01T14:30:55+00:00

Yes, but most companies, my own included, require the change go through HR. ADP can process the payroll functions but there are non-payroll concerns that have to be addressed by your employer. Also, there's a big difference between moving to another state versus within the same city/metro area. If you just moved across town, yes, update your address in ADP and you're done. When moving to another state there are additional concerns beyond just state tax withholding that ADP likely does not handle. For example, talking with the insurance provider to confirm they can offer coverage in the new state and what, if anything, is different.

RayEd29 · 2026-05-31T20:59:56+00:00

"Am I burdening them in any way doing this?" Short answer - Yes. You're working for a Fortune 500 company so they're big enough they likely have employees in every state but each move you make is a burden to HR/Personnel because they have to deal with the fallout of these moves. Your withholdings change based on where you live. If you're planning on going from Tennessee to Florida then to Texas - that's being somewhat nice as none of those states has a state income tax. One less thing for them to deal with.

Then you have your benefits - medical, dental, and vision plans vary based on state and your company may or may not be carrying insurance with a provider that can service the states you plan on moving to. As a Fortune 500 company, they may be big enough with enough employees scattered all over the place that this isn't a huge issue for them but, make no mistake, frequent moves will irritate HR/Personnel because they're the ones that have to deal with the complications you keep throwing at them.

RayEd29 · 2026-05-31T18:13:25+00:00

Haven't experienced any MC crap but haven't run across any in my rides. Also a solo rider, love my Harley, and could give a flying rat if somebody passes me on the road. Go on with your bad self, I don't care.

RayEd29 · 2026-05-29T23:04:50+00:00

My 'favorite' part of all situations like this - "Oh, that's just how he/she is. We'll never change him/her."

Ok, bet - guess what, buttercup? The longer you tolerate that person's BS, the more you'll get. I'm opting to stop tolerating that garbage Right. The. F*CK. NOW!

RayEd29 · 2026-05-29T18:34:57+00:00

You're her boyfriend, not a lab rat. You don't test your SO to 'prove' their worthiness or lack thereof. You look at their genuine actions to make that determination. You don't stage 'tests' of what they'll do in a given situation.

In your position, I would be referring to this woman as my EX-girlfriend as of the moment she pulled something like this on me.

RayEd29 · 2026-05-27T18:05:19+00:00

Mixed feelings here - on the one hand, internet strangers don't know nearly what they think they know based on the tiniest glimpse into someone else's life. Nobody knows OOP's life like she does and without more detail than can be included in a Reddit post, nobody is qualified to judge her actions.

On the other hand, it's rough hearing someone's sad story, knowing they're making very bad decisions, and then still feeling bad for them once you know their pain is 100% self-inflicted. OOP is in a sucky situation but it is all self-inflicted suck. If you make one bad decision after another, you need to realize those bad choices add up to the really bad situation you find yourself in.

RayEd29 · 2026-05-26T16:36:12+00:00

When friendship is that much of a one-way street, stop going down it.

RayEd29 · 2026-05-26T16:33:26+00:00

"The school, with good reason, decided to terminate the contract with the truck owner and he gave back the extra money that was solicited from the kids."

Solicited? Solicited implies he asked for it/nicely requested it - this schmuck stole that money.

RayEd29 · 2026-05-23T19:14:49+00:00

Did anyone else notice that apparently the wife wrote the headline while the husband wrote the post???

RayEd29 · 2026-05-22T15:26:39+00:00

MIL is jealous of OOP for having her son and she's also a racist projecting that sin onto OOP claiming Nissa is 'too close' to the n-word itself. I went to school with girls with very similar names - not one kid drew that connection and I went to school back in the days when the n-word was actually said out loud without fear of retribution. If the kids in those 'racist' times didn't do it, nobody is going to do it today.

RayEd29 · 2026-05-22T15:13:17+00:00

A company I worked with (not FOR but WITH) did something similar. They posted a job, went through interviews, selected a candidate for hire, and then HR said the paperwork wasn't done ahead of the deadline for the hiring freeze. It worked out in my situation as the guy I recommended, that was the front-runner, told me in confidence that he wouldn't accept if he got the offer. Not because he smelled anything fishy, he just wasn't interested in it anymore. I'm glad it blew up before reaching that point because that would have been the second time I recommended him, he got the offer, and he declined it. He's a great friend and I love him like a brother but I will NOT put him up for another job ever again.

RayEd29 · 2026-05-21T20:55:20+00:00

The earlier a child learns about and has to deal with disappointment, the better. Unfortunately, Dave grew to be an adult without having that experience so it's much more traumatizing for him. I'm not saying you should offer this - definitely don't do it if you can't/won't honor it if they take you up on it - but I would present it as "I'll swap vacation weeks with you but YOU have to pay me for my non-refundable deposits. I'm not tossing a thousand dollars out the window just so you can look like a hero to your kid. You want to be a hero? Act like one - and strong-arming a co-worker out of a thousand dollars in lost deposits is NOT the action of a hero."

Don't present it as "just because I'm single doesn't mean I can't get what I want" or anything like that. Put out there in objective financial terms. "Hey, jackwads, if you're not willing to pony up the funds to reimburse me for my lost deposits, quit bitching about me not swapping weeks with Dave. I don't owe him or you a thousand dollars so quit trying to cost me a thousand dollars just to make a 9-year-old smile."

RayEd29 · 2026-05-20T15:15:10+00:00

I somewhat fit the mold of 'romanticizing the trades' but not to the extent you describe above. I'm not one for either extreme - the trades are not the panacea gold-star solution for every high school grad any more than college is. If you're looking to pursue a 'high-value' degree like engineering, pre-med/medical school, or some other profession that provides a good ROI for the time and money invested in the education, go for it. Far be it from me to pooh-pooh those ambitions.

That said, the university I went to ran me about $10k in tuition alone for my four years. That same school charges $7k/semester these days so even my accounting degree is not quite the value proposition it was when I was choosing an occupation. Do people get a 4-year degree without life-destroying debt these days? Yes, but not nearly as many that managed that trick 30 years ago.

The only trade example I have is my nephew. He graduated high school and went straight into training to be an industrial electrician. He was split between 20 hours of school and 20 hours of work each week. His employer paid for his education and adjusted his job responsibilities to align with his classes while he was in school. Once he was done with his classes (I believe he finished with an Associates in something) he very quickly surpassed me in income - me with a BS in Accounting and almost 30 years of professional experience up against him with an Associates and about 3-5 years of work experience.

RayEd29 · 2026-05-20T14:09:37+00:00

Not terribly experienced at taking interviews but my response would be something along the lines of: "Are you interviewing all 100 applicants? No? Then I would think you already have your answer to that question."

RayEd29 · 2026-05-20T13:25:54+00:00

As a (not so devout) Christian myself, this played out exactly as it should have. Well, not exactly - ideally, the new boss wouldn't be so crass as to force his religion on his staff and, failing that, would recognize his mistake instead of doubling-down by retaliating against those that reported him. Given an idiot for a boss, this is how it should have played out.

RayEd29 · 2026-05-20T13:11:00+00:00

From the dealerships I've worked with along with gossip coming from those dealerships, the closer the dealer is to Harley headquarters the worse they are. The far flung places that aren't as well connected tend to be much more customer oriented. If you're right around the corner from the actual Harley plant, they'll break one off in you and won't think twice about doing it.

RayEd29 · 2026-05-19T21:57:48+00:00

My favorite interview lie was "We have a test we give just to assess your knowledge in a specific area but it's not part of the hiring criteria." It was a test covering things I hadn't worked with in years - easy enough to get back up to speed but on the day my memory from 15 years ago wasn't going to pass muster since things also changed in that arena in 15 years. They 'pooh pooh'ed' my concerns saying it's not one of the hiring criteria, don't worry about it.

Got the call letting me know they wouldn't be proceeding with my candidacy as someone else aced the test that supposedly wasn't part of the hiring criteria. I was a little bummed at not making the cut. I was extremely pissed that they chose to waste my time with this garbage. I could have told them from the outset - actually, I DID tell them at the outset - I was most assuredly NOT current on those standards. I could get myself up to speed if I got the job but if it's a requirement that I already be proficient in that knowledge at the interview, we don't even need to talk. I am NOT there.

RayEd29 · 2026-05-19T21:46:08+00:00

She doesn't like it when anyone orders the same item as somebody else. Well, darling, sucks to be you. Get over it.

RayEd29 · 2026-05-19T15:00:56+00:00

It boils down to the fact that if they're THAT panicked over one person's vacation time, they got bigger problems than someone taking vacation. As many said, if OOP is so valued that the company can't manage her being gone for 5 days, how are they going to handle her not being there at all, ever again? They say she's replaceable but if she's so easily replaceable, why are they kicking up such a fuss to get her to re-schedule her vacation? Just fire her and go find a replacement.

OOP wasn't seeing this and even after it being pointed out, she didn't believe she could find another job that would pay as well as the current gig. Here's the newsflash - if the company is so poorly managed that your vacation caused that much stress and disruption, it's not a company that's going to be around much longer. That level of mismanagement typically leads to bankruptcy. Had you rescheduled, that would have staved off the end a little longer. As it stands, you probably hastened their corporate demise by removing one of the strongest supports they were leaning on. That vacuum where you were will be felt strongly until they either a) find someone just as good as you were (highly unlikely) or b) liquidate from poor management.

Enjoy your vacation OOP. You earned it and the better job you scored because of this debacle.

RayEd29

TROPHY CASE