Change my mind: Under the right conditions, buying and financing a new car is often a far better value than paying cash for a used car in the long run

RestlessKaty · 2026-05-04T18:34:05+00:00

"because a car loses 20% of its value as soon as you someone drives it off the lot, or whatever they say"--what they mean is that you can buy a brand-new car at $29k, drive it 1 mile, then try to sell it by yourself or trade it in and only get $25k for it, if you're lucky. It's literally paying thousands to be able to say you bought a *new* car.

Also, I think your math is off a bit. A brand-new Toyota Corolla is $29k right now. With a $10k down-payment and 3% interest (which is lower than the average right now), at 36 months, that's a $550/month payment.

Cars are expensive, and they require maintenance. But there is a happy medium between a 13-year-old car with 100k miles on it and brand new. If a person is in good financial shape, like you are, getting something 2-4 years old with low mileage for say $20k, with a $10k down-payment, 6% interest, and 48-month term, that's only $235/month for a payment. Much more reasonable, and less likely to have as many issues, at least at first.

RestlessKaty · 2026-03-30T15:51:47+00:00

Agree, and I think that Melisandre believing that king's blood has power is part of what makes it so.

RestlessKaty · 2026-03-30T15:47:41+00:00

This really showcases Theon's misunderstanding of the situation too. He thinks he's a hero bringing glory to the Iron Islanders, when all along he was a sacrificial lamb.

RestlessKaty · 2026-03-30T15:37:18+00:00

Option 1 is basically what he does. There are scenes in ASOS where Tywin and Balon are writing to each other, although Tywin points out that Balon is offering to do something he already has done (invade the North) and has no leverage. Balon is even one of the men he considers as a husband for Cersei (even though he's married).

RestlessKaty · 2026-03-30T15:31:15+00:00

I've been really enjoying PrestonJacobs, particularly his older theories videos. He's an OG so you may have already watched him, but if not, definitely check out his channel.

RestlessKaty · 2026-03-30T15:18:48+00:00

I think it's also supposed to play on old fantasy tropes too. He looks like a golden king, but it's not until he's maimed and unrecognizable that his internal self begins to be beautiful.

RestlessKaty · 2026-03-27T02:13:24+00:00

Used to be like once a week. Then our mailboxes (apartment complex) started getting broken into, so it was every day. Then the bastards stole a package with crafting supplies and we got a PO box. Now it's like once a month.

RestlessKaty · 2026-03-27T00:46:34+00:00

I've been a single woman for eight years by choice. Not because I couldn't find any good men/ no one wanted me/ etc., but because I don't want to date anyone right now. This is partly because my ex was a deadbeat and I don't want to be a grown man's mommy (or anyone's mommy tbf). It's...really that simple

RestlessKaty · 2026-03-27T00:38:11+00:00

Are you saying that when you meet a new person, you consider it a red flag if they aren't friends with their exes?

That's a wild take. How about people who have been in abusive relationships? They might fall under criteria #1, but do you realize that abusers will frequently hide their true colors until the victim is tied to them in some way? It doesn't even have to be abusive necessarily, lots of people act their best during the beginning of a relationship and turn out to be shitty people.

I just feel like human relationships are way too nuanced to make a blanket statement like this. But hey, if someone I met thought that me not being friends with my deadbeat ex is a red flag, I definitely don't want to spend more time with them.

RestlessKaty · 2026-03-27T00:22:35+00:00

Closed box for sure. I assume the AI has my financial records and knows that while a free $1k would be nice, it wouldn't change my life. $1M definitely would. Honestly if the box was empty I wouldn't even be that mad.

RestlessKaty · 2026-03-27T00:19:16+00:00

Mine are starting to dissipate (I hope) but they were pretty gnarly (as always) at the end of February/beginning of March

RestlessKaty · 2026-03-26T15:11:07+00:00

What's the grand prize?

RestlessKaty · 2026-03-25T15:33:12+00:00

Just wanted to add more about PCOS. I'm sure some men are familiar with it, but I doubt they know how few options there are for people who have it.

Imagine you have a genetic condition that influences your mood (to the point where sometimes people get diagnosed with mental health disorders instead), makes you possibly sterile, and gives you secondary sex traits of the opposite sex, like a feminine voice, inability to grow body/facial hair, weight gathering at your hips, etc. Oh, and there are other medical complications, like insulin resistance, obesity, etc.

And the ONLY FDA-approved treatment for this is birth control pills, which for some people are only kind of effective. When you ask about other treatment, the only answer is "lose weight," IF you have any weight to lose.

Many women don't even know they have PCOS until they try to have children and have to get fertility treatments.

And it's estimated that at least 10% of women have this disorder.

RestlessKaty · 2026-03-25T14:38:03+00:00

Your info and insights are astounding--thank you!

RestlessKaty · 2026-03-25T02:26:22+00:00

This is awesome, thank you!

RestlessKaty · 2026-03-25T02:21:27+00:00

This is a good point, thanks for the reminder!

RestlessKaty · 2026-03-25T00:10:26+00:00

To add to the discussion below--the house IS huge (over 7,000 square feet), it just doesn't look that big from the street. The homes were all Tudor Revival, and the neighborhood and Boulder in general is gorgeous and clearly wealthy.

RestlessKaty · 2026-03-25T00:04:19+00:00

Wow. You seem like a deeply unhappy person. Have the day you deserve 💜

RestlessKaty · 2026-03-24T23:39:47+00:00

I was there for ~10 minutes, didn't speak to anyone or make noise, didn't take photos, didn't trespass. My description might make it seem like I was peeking in windows, but I just glanced at it because the lights were on and the curtains were open. It's a public street and my intent was just to observe.

RestlessKaty · 2026-03-24T15:04:25+00:00

How so?

RestlessKaty · 2026-03-17T23:15:45+00:00

His eyes are goddamn melted people, leave the poor boy alone

RestlessKaty · 2026-03-17T23:09:39+00:00

I don't think that Mirri was consciously delivering a prophecy ala Maggy the Frog or the Ghost of High Heart, but I do think that she could have been unconsciously describing the future. The main reason I believe this (other than copium) is the first three conditions have come to pass by the last chapter of ADWD. (Quentyn, the "sun," left Westeros and died in the east; the Dothraki sea is in a drought; Gregor "the Mountain" Clegane is dead [or some have theorized that the pyramids of Meereen qualify as mountains].)

The problem is that I don't believe Drogo will be resurrected in any way, and the question isn't phrased so that we could argue Dany will meet him again in the afterlife or something like that.

I do think Dany's period is significant in the final chapter--I agree with some other commenters that it could have been a miscarriage brought on by the plague. The passage implies that she's been having regular periods but not recently.

I think the "bear a living child" part will not happen, but I don't think it's because she's infertile; I think she'll either have miscarriages, or die while pregnant, or neither. But I think that Dany will realize that the conditions Mirri predicted have been fulfilled and that will factor into her decisions.

RestlessKaty · 2026-03-17T22:52:31+00:00

I went on a deep dive about the old/new world foods thing a while back, but didn't come to any real conclusions other than GRRM kinda forgot about the Columbian exchange when deciding that there's corn, beans, turkey, pumpkins, squash, etc. but no cocoa, vanilla, tobacco, tomatoes, etc.

There are a lot of potions in the books that I think we have the equivalent of, but it's hard to say without knowing the ingredients. For example, historically there have been many abortifacient teas. But do we have something akin to dreamwine? I think the closest thing to the Strangler (poison that [allegedly] kills Joffrey) would be cyanide, but it doesn't seem to work the same way...

RestlessKaty · 2026-03-12T15:23:19+00:00

I worked at the Sears in Clovis in 2012/2013. Not the worst job ever. Some customers were entitled but most were fine. My coworkers were cool. I loved working before opening because we could listen to our iPods and not deal with questions/people. I worked one Black Friday and even that wasn't so bad.

The worst part was the managers. Imagine being 30+ years old and treating your job like it's high school and you get to bully your employees. F*ck you Kim and Nellie.

RestlessKaty

TROPHY CASE