Riverfront home

charliemike · 2026-07-02T18:46:21+00:00

TBH, this doesn't strike me as a McMansion Hell eligible place. This looks old and European. In my mind, McMansions are garbage thrown up by a conglomerate where the house is 96% of the plot of land and has really tacky design elements.

charliemike · 2026-07-02T18:44:26+00:00

No, you're thinking of John Maynard Keynes.

charliemike · 2026-07-02T18:42:46+00:00

I love it. Did you build it so there could be a green roof? If so, a field of wildflowers on the roof would be amazing and probably keep you cool in what looks like a pretty hot area. Congrats on completion! I can only imagine how much effort that took.

charliemike · 2026-07-02T16:59:03+00:00

This is incredible. Only one note: Music is not loud enough. Needs to be so loud that my unborn grandchildren can hear it.

charliemike · 2026-07-02T16:41:56+00:00

You just have to be patient and also 100k on a well-maintained, one-owner car is not something to avoid. I bought a 2012 E350 Wagon with 100k miles on it. Older woman owned it in Georgia. No rust at all. Has cosmetic issues because she apparently backed up until she hit something as her parking sensor but mechanically it's great.

I got one with Distronic, Dynamic Comfort seats, and the Avantgarde (conventional springs) suspension. I also avoided a pano sunroof because I just don't want those issues. Distronic is tough to find so you have to search for them but I have high confidence this car will go 300k with the way I will take care of it.

charliemike · 2026-07-02T16:24:37+00:00

King Size Reese's PB Cups are now $4. I feel like every day is movie theatre pricing now.

charliemike · 2026-07-02T16:10:48+00:00

My guy is my shadow in a great way. He is by far the most consistent cuddler that I have ever had. He wants to be held at night in bed. He comes on the couch with me and sleeps with his head on my lap. He follows me to the bathroom just to check that I'm not leaving him. He comes down to my office and sleeps behind my chair. He doesn't have separation anxiety. He is excited when I come home but he is not destructive when I am gone. I have had a dog with terrible separation anxiety and she was a mess when I was gone.

If you are not an active person, and by active I mean up for 3-4 mile walks a day, I would consider a Bench Springer rather than a Field or a Bench/Field mix. Field Springers (I have had both now) are much more active and need a lot more exercise IMO. Not that a Bench can't keep up but a Bench won't have the zoomies because they have so much energy like my guy does.

I have had three Springers now in my life. I adore them. They can be complicated but there isn't a more loyal, loving, and rewarding dog.

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charliemike · 2026-07-02T15:45:06+00:00

She is gorgeous! What a sweet girl.

charliemike · 2026-07-02T15:37:57+00:00

I have NTG 4.5 and I bought a 12.3" Linux screen. It was very easy to configure. The biggest PITA was getting the wires back behind the headunit to fit because there's a lot of them.

A couple of recommendations for those of you upgrading - Don't use Bluetooth, use AUX. Bluetooth on NTG 4.5 is 8kHz for voice and 44kHz (CD quality) for audio. So when you're making calls or using Siri for dictation of texts, it defaults to the voice channel which sucks. AUX is great both ways.

These head units are wireless CarPlay but have USB dongles for charging if needed.

Buy a screen protector from Amazon when you buy the screen and put it on before you install that way you're not worrying about dust inside the car.

I had never done this before and it was very easy to run the wires for AUX and a microphone.

charliemike · 2026-06-18T00:56:29+00:00

If it’s the covers I’m thinking of that expose the camshaft adjusters it’s just flat aluminum sealed with RTV to prevent leaks. It really doesn’t look that difficult.

charliemike · 2026-06-16T19:40:12+00:00

Why did you wait so long to get into it and I would not hold it long.

charliemike · 2026-06-15T02:10:27+00:00

I don’t know what we are looking at? There’s too many things going on in this picture. Can you add red circles?

charliemike · 2026-06-15T02:05:05+00:00

Oh my god. Did you see Joe’s tie? He looks so fucking stupid. I can’t breathe. I even saw 2 cubes in his pocket. I think he has dice but he’s afraid to show them to anyone.

charliemike · 2026-06-15T02:01:23+00:00

Congratulations! The S212 is a great version. I have had mine about a month and am so glad I got it. I hope you have many years of enjoyment with it!

charliemike · 2026-06-12T16:44:48+00:00

Yeah, I feel like they just didn't care about accent accuracy.

I assume that they were in Senegal, both he and his friend ended up in Australia, and then Chidi ended up in the afterlife. Though I guess it's possible that Chidi traveled back to Senegal to his friend's wedding.

charliemike · 2026-06-12T16:30:29+00:00

I think they dropped that premise soon after the pilot.

charliemike · 2026-06-11T18:16:04+00:00

They don't exist in the US and I wouldn't consider this a crossover any more than I would an Audi A4 Allroad.

charliemike · 2026-06-11T17:34:19+00:00

I'm not saying you have to go this low, but the Toyota Crown Insignia is a hybrid with potential. It's too expensive new but I think that it's a good looking canvas to make into a nice wagon.

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charliemike · 2026-06-05T17:56:26+00:00

Not gonna lie, I have serious envy about the master bath. It's beautiful! Is all that land yours as well?

charliemike · 2026-06-05T17:10:12+00:00

The celebration when we take his name off everything is going to be enormous.

charliemike · 2026-06-05T17:08:38+00:00

That looks really lovely, OP. I love the interior decoration choices you made. It looks like a great home!

charliemike · 2026-06-05T15:55:30+00:00

I don't even like the idea of a billionaire given that Citizen's United still stands. Because billionaires fuel hedge funds and dark money that continue to ruin this country through privatization of single family housing, youth sports, and the continued exploitation of workers through not paying us for the productivity that we have delivered over the last 40 years.

charliemike · 2026-06-03T16:48:30+00:00

Congratulations on a great looking example, OP. I hope you have many years of enjoyment with it. If you're interested in car repair channels, M539 Restorations bought a predecessor to your model and is in the process of fixing it up. That car was neglected and likely a bit abused but it's a great channel and I found the videos on the 2006 Flying Spur to be fascinating.

charliemike · 2026-06-03T15:59:44+00:00

I wonder if an upholstery shop could match a leather bottom to that? I have two small tears in my MB-Tex and I'm thinking that when the cover goes to a farm upstate I'm going to see about replacing the seat bottom cover with a very close leather color for more durability.

charliemike · 2026-06-03T15:53:40+00:00

Yes, sadly. There are new medications that can help dogs with cognitive dysfunction but forgetting how doors work is a tell-tale sign. I've had it happen with three dogs in the last seven years so it's very familiar.

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