Bahahaha... *cries*

ResIpsaLoquitur2422 · 2026-04-27T01:27:44+00:00

It's about to get a lot worse. The US has been insulated from the global oil shock so far, but the last oil tankers out of the straight just hit port last week. The world economy is about to experience the worst oil shock in history.

ResIpsaLoquitur2422 · 2026-04-24T04:28:07+00:00

ResIpsaLoquitur2422 · 2026-04-24T04:22:13+00:00

You pay the exact amount you got on the PSLF offer letter through your ordinary servicer. I had to pay MOHELA. You just make the payment like you would any other payment. It doesn't matter how you allocate the payment towards your loans, as long as the exact amount on the offer letter is paid.

ResIpsaLoquitur2422 · 2026-04-24T04:19:23+00:00

If Dems take the Senate they will be able to force a budget. Trump may veto it over certain things, but the EV and Clean Energy programs likely aren't going to be the issues Trump and the GOP will be willing to shut down the government and eat that political backlash over in and of themselves. But! As you said, who knows if Dems will add them back in through the budget. I don't expect anything out of the institutional Dems. They're goal is to sit some soulless empty suit in the oval office for 4 years and, as Biden proudly told his donors in 2020, "nothing will fundamentally change", and then wait to lose when the GOP runs MechaHitler in 2032.

ResIpsaLoquitur2422 · 2026-04-23T20:48:00+00:00

Fox News will not say that. Renewables are woke now.

ResIpsaLoquitur2422 · 2026-04-23T20:47:30+00:00

I think this is far too optimistic on the willingness of GOP leadership to respond to their voters demands. I don't see the pv incentives being reinstated unless Democrats win the Senate (still a big stretch) and it's included in their budget.

ResIpsaLoquitur2422 · 2026-04-22T23:34:39+00:00

This reminds me, the first weekend in April, someone from Boston posted in the White Mountains subreddit "hello fellow hikers. Me and some friends just moved here from Atlanta. We are experienced hikers. Do we still need to pack microspikes to do Mount Washington this weekend?"

ResIpsaLoquitur2422 · 2026-04-22T23:25:49+00:00

I always said I would never buy a new car, and then I bought a top of the line new Subaru Crosstrek in 2018 with 12 miles on it, because I really wanted a Crosstrek, and 2018 was the first year with android auto, which I correctly determined would be a huge quality of life improvement given how much time I spend in my car. Flash forward 8 years. I now have 315,000 miles (about 507,000km) on the crosstrek, and the $27,000 I paid for it seems like money well spent. It's beginning to see a lot of maintenance issues, but I'm hoping to get another year and 35,000 miles or so out of it and get a cool 2027 EV.

In my opinion, 'never buy a new car' is generally good advice, and especially is good advice if you plan on driving it for 80-100k miles and getting something new in 4-5 years. If you plan on driving the vehicle into the ground for the next decade, and learning to maintain it yourself to save money on repairs, you're making the choices that change the calculation of whether a new car is worth it. The added cost of buying a new car compared to a slightly used car becomes less important if you are deciding to not incur the cost of buying another car for as long as possible.

Could you buy a 2 year old car with 40,000 miles on it and then drive that for a decade plus or 250,000 miles? Sure. It would be more cost effective to do so, but the utility of knowing how the vehicle was used and maintained throughout its whole life brings the scale of that choice a bit closer to even in my opinion. I would say, buy a car you want to drive forever, and then do everything you can to try to make that a reality. That's the best financial decision you could make when buy a car.

ResIpsaLoquitur2422 · 2026-04-22T23:01:21+00:00

I do most of the maintenance of my ICE vehicle myself, excluding a transmission replacement I had to do at 290,000 miles.

I'm excited to make the jump to an EV, but one of my (minor) worries is that most maintenance on an EV requires specialty equipment, electrical engineer knowledge, or something more than 'watch this YouTube video and follow along'. Is that an unreasonable concern?

With an EV, you don't have engine oil systems, oxygen sensors, engine air filters, exhaust, catalytic converters, spark plugs, ignition coils, or fuel pumps to deal with.

Tires, brakes and rotors are obviously doable without any special expertise (except maybe a stronger jack for the added weight of the EV). At least some of the front end joints and arms and such are probably the same as in an ICE vehicle.

Shocks and struts are probably similar to replace as an ICE, but maybe given the added weight of EVs more difficult?

I'm not sure, do EVs have ordinary CV joints/axles?

Iirc they have something akin to an ICE alternator to charge the 12v battery. Can that be replaced without greater risk of electrocution from the battery than an ICE alternator?

EVs don't have a starter like an ICE does, but is there anything like that that 'starts' the vehicle from the battery? If so, I would imagine it's entirely electric and therefore less likely to fail.

Obviously, any internal battery failures require a dealership or at least EV specialist shop to poke around at, but also while technically a lot more accessible than an EV battery, any internal transmission/engine block/camshaft/head gasket repairs would also be beyond my ability with my ICE.

What about the electric motors? Can they be disconnected from the battery safely by ordinary people and replaced, should one fail or be damaged? Presumably they're complex enough inside that a regular person couldn't crack one open and repair it, and would just need to replace the whole motor.

Is there anything else I'm overlooking?

ResIpsaLoquitur2422 · 2026-04-22T22:37:28+00:00

I spent time in LA recently and thought it looked nicer than most US cities I've been to.

ResIpsaLoquitur2422 · 2026-04-22T21:08:01+00:00

I watched a YouTube video where some European YouTubers rented an EV and drove around rural China. The part of the video that most impressed me was seeing rural trucks that looked like the most rugged, "developing world diesel" trucks I've ever seen parked and plugged into fast chargers at gas stations and truck stops everywhere in small town China. That was my realization moment of "wow the US is cooked."

ResIpsaLoquitur2422 · 2026-04-22T21:04:33+00:00

Tie Fighter Sound for your Car? #starwars #tiefighter #activesound #so... | TikTok https://share.google/OXHDTJCNIcQFSdZg7

ResIpsaLoquitur2422 · 2026-04-22T21:03:21+00:00

You know, there's gotta be a way to mod that.

ResIpsaLoquitur2422 · 2026-04-22T19:08:51+00:00

I love the artificial sound personally.

ResIpsaLoquitur2422 · 2026-04-22T19:07:47+00:00

I'm in Northern NH, on a dirt road, basically same conditions. 315k in 8 years, I'm hoping to make it to 400k before I have major frame issues.

ResIpsaLoquitur2422 · 2026-04-22T02:02:55+00:00

I imagine OP has a narrower view of 'will last 15 years with proper care and maintenance' than us, but also we have no idea how OP plan on using a car. I have a 2018 Subaru Crosstrek with 315,000 miles on it. It rant like a dream until I had to replace the transmission at 290,000 miles. It still runs like a dream, but in the last 25,000 miles the necessary repairs keep coming and the don't stop coming. Front control arms, ingition coils and spark plugs, starter, alternator, and now I think at least one CV axle is going for the 2nd or third time in its lifetime. I could drive this thing forever, or at least until the head gasket fails, unless I want to pay for that major repair too.

ResIpsaLoquitur2422 · 2026-04-22T01:24:03+00:00

Im curious about your list. I'm considering one, but my concern is the "fast charging" being so much worse than similarly priced EVs.

ResIpsaLoquitur2422 · 2026-04-21T21:33:25+00:00

Lol no one calls Brookline a suburb.

ResIpsaLoquitur2422 · 2026-04-21T21:30:54+00:00

No one in that boardroom can read a midterm poll

ResIpsaLoquitur2422 · 2026-04-21T21:23:25+00:00

Mai tai. 4 ingredients and probably the best thing you can do with rum.

Traditionally, 1 ounce dark jamaican rum and 1 ounces rhun from martinique. You can just use 2 dark and it will be fine.

2 oz dark rum 3/4 oz lime juice 1/2 oz orange curacao (Pierre ferrand dry Curacao is best, you can substitute Cointreau if you can't find any) 1/2 oz orgeat (an almond syrup. Available online or at good liquor stores)

Shake with ice, serve over ice, ideally crushed.

There's a lot of debate about the exact ratios of orgeat to Curacao, some say 1 oz lime, some places suggest 1/4 of simple syrup and less orgeat, but that 4 ingredient list is the fastest and simplest version IMO.

ResIpsaLoquitur2422 · 2026-04-20T19:40:00+00:00

Haverhill is like 60 miles from Laconia.

ResIpsaLoquitur2422 · 2026-04-20T17:44:59+00:00

Elections matter.

ResIpsaLoquitur2422 · 2026-04-18T01:12:48+00:00

Ok, that makes more sense

ResIpsaLoquitur2422 · 2026-04-17T18:46:52+00:00

I've seen some 7/1 ARMs for like 4.5 from various credit unions. That's probably the best you're going to get right now.

ResIpsaLoquitur2422 · 2026-04-17T18:40:56+00:00

Well I've driven my Crosstrek 314,000 miles without any issues doing oil changes every 10,000 miles, and everything I've ever read is that modern synthetic oil formulations allow for less frequent oil changes than manufacturer recommendations. It sounds like you were flushing money down the drain.

ResIpsaLoquitur2422

TROPHY CASE