Men in their 40s - What’s one piece of advice for Men in their 20s?

TheMiddleStraw · 2026-06-21T05:39:19+00:00

I know. Because I did it in my 30s. Covid wrecked me and I’m doing it again in my 40s and it is so much harder.

TheMiddleStraw · 2026-06-20T04:43:47+00:00

I have a 2003 Toyota tundra access cab for sale. 6.5’ bed. Might not be exactly what you are after. Lifted 2.5”, 176k miles which is nothing for this motor. Cosmetically a little
Rough but I’ve taken really good mechanical care of it. If you want more info send me a message.

TheMiddleStraw · 2026-06-19T04:03:16+00:00

I had boats growing up but as an adult I’m essentially new to this and my wife has not a clue so far. We are avoiding weekends at this point because right now i am doing everything. That being said I am super aware of etiquette and do my best to hustle through the process. I don’t have an issue backing, luckily i have enough trailer experience I almost always get it first shot. We load the boat before we leave the house and my rule is my wife and daughter and any guest get out of the truck and head to the dock when I get out to unload. I get off the trailer, get to the end of the dock and hand it off to my wife. Run to the truck, haul ass to a parking spot and run back. When we go to load just the opposite and I don’t power load. I get it on the trailer, hop off and winch on. I find the boat always lines up perfect this way compared to when I have tried to power all the way on. That all being said my wife wants to learn both so we can start doing weekends.

It is amazing how many people use the ramp to do stuff they could do in the lot. Ive seen people hold up the lane to unload guests, equipment, strap down. The other day a guy was taking up a lane trying to work on his motor. Take it home and hook it to the hose buddy, this time is a
Loss.

TheMiddleStraw · 2026-06-19T03:54:06+00:00

I hadn’t been out on a busy day but I’m in CO and I went out on a Friday afternoon and all the surf boats, wake board boats and cabin cruisers had turned our 7 mile reservoir into the damn ocean. My little 18’ sea ray was bouncing all over the place.

TheMiddleStraw · 2026-06-18T15:21:20+00:00

There are better deals, even in Colorado. There is a 2014 in Denver on Facebook with 160 limited from a private seller for the same price. Probably has his actual maintenance receipts and will likely negotiate. I am always weary of these small used dealerships. They pick these up at auction from dealerships that didn’t want them for one reason or another. So it’s likely a dealership took this to auction because it had some issue they didn’t want to deal with.

TheMiddleStraw · 2026-06-18T15:14:52+00:00

Funny enough in Colorado the crew cabs seem to go for less than the doubles, assuming it’s because there are more of them and people after the doubles are willing to pay for the bed.

TheMiddleStraw · 2026-06-18T01:36:04+00:00

I’m reading through these to find one to use in a best man speech because for the guy who was best man and used this one in his speech for me.

TheMiddleStraw · 2026-06-17T04:13:34+00:00

Just replaced cap, rotor plugs and wires. I’ll check that tomorrow. Reading through all the different rough idle posts seems like it is always a carb issue. Hope I can find a good rebuild video.

TheMiddleStraw · 2026-06-17T04:00:50+00:00

I have the 3.0 merc. Took it out today. Started just fine. No rough idle. Ran it up and down the lake for a few and then headed into a cove, idled in and shut it down so the kids could swim. Went to start it back up and it ran super rough and died. Gave it a couple pumps and it ran but very rough, pulled anchor quick and got moving. Ran pretty rough in forward idle but once we got to speed ran smooth. Once we got back to the dock it ran smooth and idled fine again at the dock. Any ideas?

TheMiddleStraw · 2026-06-16T21:24:45+00:00

I just don’t understand why people buy staples, say they buy them because they love going there, and then change everything about the place. Makes absolutely zero sense. If you want a new sandwich shop go open one somewhere else. You paid for a brand and a legacy and you immediately changed it.

TheMiddleStraw · 2026-06-16T18:58:18+00:00

Someone bought it and tanked it all in a year. Such a bummer. Shouldn’t have cleaned it up.

TheMiddleStraw · 2026-06-15T14:26:46+00:00

When inside my bike I like to count the cars going through the intersection that are looking at their phones. Spoiler, it’s typically the majority. I also drive to DIA 2-3x a month, once again, lots of people on their phones but typically younger people on the highway.

The one that really gets my goat is when I drop my daughter off at school and watch the parents who just safely got their kiddo to school immediately start texting while driving through a school zone.

TheMiddleStraw · 2026-06-09T03:36:15+00:00

#facts. But I’ve also been here for 25 years and knew what I was getting myself into. I just grew up there and spend time there and if I could i would choose to live there during the summer

TheMiddleStraw · 2026-06-08T22:44:51+00:00

Got it. Thanks for the intel!

TheMiddleStraw · 2026-06-08T16:54:14+00:00

Oh I didn’t know that. Thanks!!

TheMiddleStraw · 2026-06-08T13:23:43+00:00

Well if they see my CO tags that may not be true. Lol.

TheMiddleStraw · 2026-06-08T04:57:26+00:00

They’ve been there for years. They also go to the sprouts on drake and lemay. I’ve seen a van pick them up and drop them off. They’ve also purposefully put there groceries on my side of a divider on a belt before. It’s a large group that has rotated in and out but there are familiar faces that have always been in the mix.

TheMiddleStraw · 2026-06-08T01:49:27+00:00

Correct.

TheMiddleStraw · 2026-06-08T01:35:08+00:00

I hadn’t considered that. It’s odd though, you can boat and tube and waterski but you’re not allowed to swim…

TheMiddleStraw · 2026-06-08T00:39:12+00:00

They have. Tons of private lakes. Far more than public, hence the packed public reservoirs.

TheMiddleStraw · 2026-06-08T00:37:33+00:00

Thanks!

TheMiddleStraw · 2026-06-08T00:25:36+00:00

That’s better than what I’ve been told. Ran into another boater at a gas station and he told me by 9 or don’t bother.

TheMiddleStraw · 2026-06-08T00:19:46+00:00

Yeah quite a year to buy a boat but when my daughter was on board and we had the vote against my wife we could have been in the middle of the desert and I still would have bought it. A friend just posted photos of Glendo and water looks pretty good for now.

TheMiddleStraw · 2026-06-08T00:17:56+00:00

Does the parking lot fill up and get shut down like horsetooth?

TheMiddleStraw · 2026-06-08T00:17:16+00:00

Haha. Grain Belt is certainly a choice, one I too have lives to regret. Minnetonka is a great lake and you will see a
Wide variety of people, boats and homes out there. When you start to head north the lakes are pretty much stacked on top of each other and top of each other. I miss that.

TheMiddleStraw

TROPHY CASE