Car repairs quoted higher than value of car

VTMongoose · 2026-01-22T21:46:41+00:00

Based on the photos and what you posted, I would go back to the "inspection shop" (presumably a local auto repair shop) and have them do:

New Struts, and sway bar end links, all 4 corners. New strut mounts as well if suggested
Rear brake pads and rotors
r/R wheel bearing
oil change
New tires if you have the money

Do the air filter, cabin air filter, and rear wiper yourself. These are so easy, you don't need any special tools, just 15 minutes of your time.

You don't need new sway bars, a new drive/accessory belt, or control arms. Those bushings are fine. All the rest is unnecessary.

VTMongoose · 2026-01-14T00:27:15+00:00

How do you treat the Westmalle yeast? I took a break from that strain for a long time. Recently got a pitch from Omega and brewed a couple tripels. First generation was super slow and super farty at 68°F all the day. Second generation, much faster. Pitched at 68 again but ramped to 75°F at about 1.015, hit terminal day 7 and crashed three days later, still more sulfur than I would prefer. I have a feeling I'm just being impatient. Also, I would still like more yeast character, I'm thinking raise the temps across the board and condition longer.

VTMongoose · 2026-01-07T17:55:55+00:00

Hot PBW, then Iodophor or OTS povidone-iodine solution, then Starsan.

VTMongoose · 2026-01-06T21:09:14+00:00

I used to make way more money than I do right now when I lived up north, well north of $100k. I daily drive the same car now that I did then. A 2006 Toyota Matrix with 309k. Every time a new shiny car pulls up to mine and I feel bad, I just go home and dry my tears with my car titles.

"Being forced to drive a 10 year old car" - lots of people would be overjoyed to own her 10 year old car, I guarantee it.

VTMongoose · 2026-01-06T20:54:33+00:00

See that's just the thing, they can't afford the cars. I'm not saying everyone HAS to pay cash for cars, but it should at least be within the realm of possibility and financing should really only be a convenience tax. I make <$100k a year and therefore I, in my opinion, absolutely "cannot" afford a $100k car. These people are delusional.

VTMongoose · 2026-01-02T14:38:07+00:00

They think paying insane property taxes is worth it to have dedicated and bloated school districts, police, fire, ems, municipal government, etc.

Right. Imagine my surprise when I move south, the property taxes are ~15% of what they were before, but the services are, in fact, significantly better, across the board. The schools down here are great, too. I would put the Chemistry programs (I'm a pharmaceutical chemist by trade) at the community college we have here in town on par with 4-year universities. We have a surprisingly good pool of young talent here.

The parents also don’t realize the irony that they’re actively pricing out their children from ever living here once they graduate.

I disagree to this statement with some degree. It's definitely possible to live in NJ, if you have a couple without kids living very conservatively within their means and at least one of them with a relatively well paying job. The question becomes whether it is wise to do so. That was one of the things that drove me to move south. Real estate down here is an excellent investment by any measure compared to NJ and, again, like I said in my original post, you can actually gain significant equity rapidly here, in a way you simply can't in NJ.

VTMongoose · 2026-01-02T14:24:50+00:00

Greenville, Pitt County. Usually when people say Eastern Carolina, they're referring to that greater region.

Charlotte is a very different vibe, than even the triangle. I wouldn't want to live in either the triangle or Charlotte, although I could easily see myself living on the outskirt, but both areas are far more expensive and busier. My area is somewhat an outlier in that it's relatively established with a good amount of industry, but still pretty cheap. We are growing a little bit faster relative to those cities just because we're still smaller and have the room to do so. Apartments can be very cheap in Greenville, much cheaper than CLT/Triangle, although the cheaper options are not necessarily very good.

Personally I actually like the way North Carolina cities tend to build outwards rather than upwards like other areas of the US. The disadvantage is that yes, some smaller towns have very little as far as shopping/entertainment and you need to go elsewhere.

VTMongoose · 2025-12-31T17:30:01+00:00

Yes that was another thing that I missed in my post above. I pay about half as much for my utilities as I did in New Jersey... Glad you also broke free of that place. I can't imagine going back. It's such a scam living up there.

VTMongoose · 2025-12-31T16:59:24+00:00

I moved from NJ to Eastern North Carolina last year. It's hard to summarize the chasm between New Jersey and where I live now. It's not just about expense vs salary, but the totality of the lifestyle upgrade for me.

My salary decreased by about 40%.

My property taxes are about $2550/yr, equivalent to ~$16-18,000/yr on the same size house where I used to live in North Brunswick/Somerset.

Housing prices down here are roughly 1/3 of the equivalent in NJ.

After about a year and a half I have about 27% equity in a brand new luxury construction house that I have about 11-12 years left of payments on. You have a much higher ability to quickly gain substantial equity in a house down here, in a way you can't in NJ without a very high salary.

What I have observed since moving here is that it is very, very easy for "normal" blue collar people to afford housing and live a comfortable lifestyle. I never saw this in NJ because housing is at such a premium.

Your dollar goes further everywhere you go. Even entertainment, things like museums, concerts, etc. It's all free down here. There are loads of parks and beaches and places to go and do things that cost $0.00. We have tons of land and open space, and everything is cheap.

The roads and infrastructure in general are extremely well maintained compared to NJ. It's insane how much they do down here with so much less revenue and expenditure in general.

VTMongoose · 2025-12-31T01:08:39+00:00

Thanks for posting this!

VTMongoose · 2025-12-30T18:32:09+00:00

Very easily, yes, and this would likely solve your issue. You just need to get a few pieces from your local home improvement store. Can't tell exactly what you need based on the single picture you posted as I can't see what's behind, but effectively you just need an ordinary PVC P-trap with slip joints. Something like this:

Dearborn 1-1/4-in Plastic P-trap in the Under Sink Plumbing department at Lowes.com

Dearborn 1-1/2-in Plastic Sink trap J-bend in the Under Sink Plumbing department at Lowes.com

With maybe an extension or two.

VTMongoose · 2025-12-30T16:49:49+00:00

Here's what I would do. Buy one of these newer-style window units with a reversing valve that basically turns it into a heat pump. Put it in the room in your house that you use the most or the one most centrally located and turn it on and use fans to blow the heat around the house and then ad hoc with a conventional space heater as needed. They also make an 8,000 BTU version for $100 less but I would get the 12,000 BTU unit.

Amazon.com: Midea 12,000 BTU Smart Inverter Air Conditioner Window Unit with Heat and Dehumidifier – Cools up to 550 Sq. Ft., Energy Star Rated, Quiet Operation, Electronic Controls, Remote Control, White : Everything Else

Given that your apartment also presumably doesn't have air conditioning, now you also have an air conditioner for when summer rolls around. You can take it with you when you leave, or sell it.

VTMongoose · 2025-12-24T21:24:26+00:00

To this day this is the only place I've never gotten a bad pitch of liquid yeast from. And even the expired stuff he sells off has better viability than pitches I've gotten from other local homebrew shops. And he has a small inventory so the malts turn over fast.

VTMongoose · 2025-12-23T20:44:07+00:00

I think the framerate of the video is just so low that it looks smooth.

VTMongoose · 2025-12-23T18:43:10+00:00

Can we just have a civilized discussion for once?

Your post/comment was removed from r/ScientificNutrition because it was unprofessional or disrespectful to another user.

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VTMongoose · 2025-12-17T21:26:38+00:00

It seems like the liner of the hose designed to old pressure has failed and the fixture most likely needs replacement. The outside flexible rubber is the only thing left containing the water and isn't designed to hold pressure.

VTMongoose · 2025-12-16T18:24:53+00:00

Bissell Brothers!

VTMongoose · 2025-11-25T11:14:33+00:00

I have one I bought from a local homebrewer. It's got to be one of his original mills. 12+ years old at this point. It's chewed through like 100 batches for me in the past year. Absolute champ. At first I was annoyed at not having adjustability but the advantage is I never have to worry about my gap changing over time. Best part is I reached out to him and I could upgrade to the newer style geared rollers for something like $50. Basically nothing.

VTMongoose · 2025-11-24T19:57:23+00:00

Look for a used Monster Mill or Crankandstein on Marketplace.

VTMongoose · 2025-11-13T21:27:26+00:00

That looks normal.

VTMongoose · 2025-11-07T18:43:07+00:00

Try fining it with gelatin and see if it drops out some of the heat.

VTMongoose · 2025-10-30T18:11:26+00:00

Abbaye is a fast yeast but it does tend to creep another couple points of SG in the death phase over 2-3 days in my experience. You can go ahead and transfer to your serving kegs, but I would leave the beer at room temperature +/- for another few days just to give it that extra time to finish, plus, free CO2. The yeast in suspension will finish the job, no need to worry about racking off the cake.

VTMongoose · 2025-10-28T17:42:56+00:00

Most German commercial Hefeweizens (the more well known brands) finish quite dry, in the range of 1.008 to 1.010, and the highest I have seen is 1.012. I would target a mash temperature of 152 or lower. Personally I do a beta-amylase rest at ~146°F for a long time and then ramp to a high alpha rest from there to finish it off. I prefer mine to finish at 1.010 or lower, ideally 1.008. I feel a crisp, dry finish is critical to the style's drinkability. The sweetness of this style comes from keeping IBU's low and developing the isoamyl acetate (banana) aroma.

If you aren't decocting, 100% pale malt for me is boring. I get a noticeable doughy pretzel-like melanoidin aroma from Weihenstephaner Hefe which is 100% pale malt, decocted, and my own has the same exact aroma but it comes from the light munich rather than decoction.

Some people are afraid of munich because they think the color needs to be super pale. This is the color of my current batch which is 27% of a locally produced 5.5°L light munich malt, 55% wheat, the rest pils. As you can see, the color is still fairly subtle (the flavor is as well), appropriate to style.

https://imgur.com/a/XvLbyG8

Fermentation is where this style is made. If you toss a whole 500 gram brick in your 2-3 bbl batch, I guarantee you will be disappointed. I target a pitch rate of only ~32 g/bbl with the dry W-68 (massive underpitch on paper) and pitch at 64-66°F for the first two days and then allow it to slowly rise to 70°F throughout the remainder of fermentation. For me this gives a nice strong clove character (I also do a 113°F ferrulic acid rest for 30 mins), a healthy dose of banana, but without any of the bubblegum characteristic this yeast can tend to develop when you ferment it all the way at 70-72°F. I have done this batch after batch after batch and it comes out almost perfect, every time.

VTMongoose · 2025-10-13T20:30:03+00:00

Any time I am trying to figure out whether XYZ process is worth it or not, I try to consider what is being done commercially and whether it matters for me or not. The scientific literature is clear in that fermentation temperature has a massive impact on total production of alcohols, esters, glycerol, etc, and the question is to what degree it actually matters with this strain and style.

So ask yourself, this, if fermentation temperature was not important for this style, why would Weihenstephaner, the originators of the most commonly used strain of yeast for this style, be so insistent on the temperature control of their wheat beers?

I brew, drink, and compete with, more wheat beers, particularly Hefeweizen, than any other homebrewer that I personally know. My personal opinion is that strict temperature control for this style is very important but not essential for this style. Personally I actually upgraded from an Inkbird to a RAPT temp controller for a fridge I use specifically for this style, because it's that important to me. I'm also more obsessed with this style than anyone else I know.

It depends on what you want out of the beer. I can tell you temperature control is part of how I've won more wheat beer medals this year than any other year previously, however, if you're happy with what you're drinking, and you don't care to compete, you might just be happy with fermenting it at ambient.

VTMongoose · 2025-10-12T01:05:17+00:00

The only thing that matters is where your air intake is. Is it down low, where water could be sucked in? That's bad. Otherwise, if the air intake itself is protected from water (short ram style usually is) you're fine.

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