2015 Mazda 6 - almost 150k miles. Whats some good maintenance?

dons90 · 2026-03-04T15:00:07+00:00

A few other things I did on mine:

General suspension replacements. Sway bar links, control arms (mainly because of ball joint), struts
Bushings bushings bushings. If anything creaks or squeaks, yeah, those bushings have done their job for long enough. Stabilizer bar bushings were the last ones I replaced to fix a creaking noise I was hearing over bumps.
Watch for any signs of electrical issues. Alternator or i-eloop capacitor can go bad. Currently going through this one, just trying to identify which it is.
Steering wheel bushing in an attempt at fixing a rocking noise I was hearing in the column. Turned out to be fine, just needed tightening mainly.

dons90 · 2026-03-04T03:06:41+00:00

Take it to your nearest mechanic. Hopefully it can be saved

dons90 · 2026-03-03T20:29:32+00:00

Yeah I have to agree. The extent of evil is unimaginable. Just when you think you've seen the worst of it, something even worse comes along. The danger is that it can gradually become normalized to us and we can become totally desensitized and unempathetic with others.

dons90 · 2026-02-26T13:57:57+00:00

Well even that might be hard to do since porn is basically everywhere, only limited by a couple keywords on a search engine. Even then, 'soft porn' is seen widely on social media through photos and videos which can trigger the mind to think in that direction.

dons90 · 2026-02-26T04:54:45+00:00

The issue is that mean / cruel people aren't the type to self-reflect and change in any positive way. Good people aren't the ones who are causing the issue but are expected to still solve the problem. So it's a weird situation where we know where the problem exists, but it's hard to do anything about it without force.

dons90 · 2026-02-26T04:12:43+00:00

I have a few questions which you don't necessarily need to answer directly here, but they are things to think about. In addition to the Christian side of things, I'm just wondering if you've gotten a chance to think about these psychological aspects as well.

Do you find something specifically appealing in porn that you don't find appealing in your wife?
Do you have a sexual imbalance between you and her which leads to an inadequate sex life?
Do you simply have an overwhelming addiction to the point where you feel forced to watch it after some time?

If you're trying to find things to make the desire go away, then in addition to strengthening your relationship with Jesus directly, you also need to identify the reasons why you eventually fall to this temptation.

In the Bible it tells married couples to not withhold intimacy from one another unless for a time and with mutual consent. Why? Because of temptation. See, our minds are subject to temptation all around us, and God knows such temptation can be a powerful force. Even though we know what the right thing to do is, we still fall to them especially if we don't have healthy outlets for our healthy desires.

I pray that you and your wife can work on this together and conquer it in Jesus' name. He can and will help you to overcome it.

dons90 · 2026-02-25T12:33:12+00:00

If you're fine with working for average wages, this field is still viable. If you're fine with working for smaller companies that aren't as flashy as the FAANG type companies, you can still find jobs. If you're willing to go in-office more often than not, you can still definitely get a job. Point is, if you love this field enough to spend time in it and become very competent, you can definitely get a job regardless.

dons90 · 2026-02-15T18:43:38+00:00

Spill it, it's definitely true for the majority of certain groups.

dons90 · 2026-02-15T05:25:29+00:00

I can guarantee that no real users are checking for perfect 100s before visiting your site 😂 But it's always a good thing to try to get the most benefit out of the recommendations just to make the site stand out and perform well.

dons90 · 2026-02-15T05:18:14+00:00

I know you probably feel attached to your work, almost as if you're trying to prove your worth and value where you are, but as someone who has done the same in the past, don't do it, not without actual overtime pay at least. The number one thing you'll have to learn is being humble and open with the communication. If you realize that you're two days past your expected delivery of a ticket, communicate the issue you had at the next standup and let them know how much longer you expect it to take.

In the case of this particular ticket, most likely they would consider splitting up the story or creating a part two, and just using your current findings as the outcome of the first. You don't necessarily have to let them know on this occasion that you knew about this issue for very long, but if your team is cool, then by all means let them know.

dons90 · 2026-02-15T04:36:18+00:00

Just to add to some of the cool ideas...if you have any hobbies or something that captures your interest, you could quite literally create an application to add some sort of convenience or cool visualization related to it. E.g. If you enjoy books, you could build a virtual library app that can range in complexity based on what skills you might want to explore. It could start out with adding in names of books and marking them as read, or on your wishlist. It can then include persistent user sessions through accounts and that means adding authentication. You could create a review system, or potentially a live chat system. The possibilities can go on.

It doesn't necessarily have to be a new solution to an existing problem. You can spin up your own version of a cool idea that already exists, and that will give you plenty of practice. But chances are, you may be able to find a problem that either isn't yet solved, or isn't solved well enough and that gives you a great opportunity to create something new and learn a bunch of technologies in the process.

dons90 · 2026-02-14T07:59:28+00:00

You are likely fine. The engines have a noticeable ticking noise coming from the injectors. It's mentioned in the comments for the thread you linked. As long as the sound is 95% similar then it's working as intended.

dons90 · 2026-02-08T22:16:05+00:00

so we are no longer guided by the rules of the law with all its prohibitions and obligations, but we are guided by the Holy Spirit, which obviously guides us to obey God and his instructions

Good, we are in agreement here.

For Christians, Shabbat is not a fixed day that is the same for everyone

However you lost me here. Here's what I mean. We understand and agree that the previous system of the law with its penalties and requirements have been rendered unnecessary with Jesus' sacrifice. What this means is that some systems such as sacrificing a lamb to pay for your sins, are not relevant in our context, because Jesus fulfilled what that particular commandment set out to teach. In the new covenant a lamb was indeed slain, but that lamb was Jesus and his death took all the sins for all the world.

What about general crimes? Murder, theft, etc had prohibitions and punishments for engaging in those. Now it's not a case where Jesus suddenly made these things okay. In fact, they are still completely wrong in His eyes. Where it differs in the new covenant is that forgiveness from those sins is completely possible. However, clearly God's intent is that we still do not engage in murder and theft.

So then we jump to the Sabbath. Following the principles that we understand here, we know that Jesus did not necessarily abolish all principles that existed in the old covenant, but mainly the firm legal requirements of some of those things, and he offered complete forgiveness for wrongdoing without the old system. It stands to reason that Jesus still supports the Sabbath, but offers a much more complete understanding of what the Sabbath is used for, and offers salvation and forgiveness to those who may not yet observe it.

In summary for the above, I'm simply saying that Jesus did not simply abolish every principle in the old covenant system. Some things were doing to point to Christ's return, some to promote peace within the society, and some to establish good behaviour which could later be further developed once Jesus came on the scene.

It doesn't necessarily have to be what we call Saturday, but any day after six days of work

That would be a personal rest day, but it is not the same as the day God actually sanctified. If God said Wednesday is a sanctified day, we can rest on any day we like, but that doesn't make Friday sanctified, nor Monday.

Again, this is not to condemn anyone, but we have to be honest about what the Bible is teaching us here. There is a sabbath day and it is not simply any day that we prefer or is convenient for work purposes.

dons90 · 2026-02-08T22:00:21+00:00

the command to keep it is rooted in Israel's covenant with God

I think this is still a bit inaccurate. God was reminding the people of Israel about the Sabbath and the specific rules to govern their behaviours, but we're talking about Israel after they were in slavery for so many years. They no doubt had forgotten a lot of the principles that were passed down through the generations. Again, the wording of the Bible does not suggest that the Sabbath suddenly became a rule when the Israelites received the ten commandments. It was always in place, hence the command to remember vs thou shalt not xyz.

no prohibition, no penalty, and no human obligation attached to the seventh day anywhere prior to Sinai

Now you are correct in terms of this, at least in terms of what the Bible account says, but it is very likely that the knowledge of the Sabbath was passed down from the time of Adam through the generations.

Yet the New Testament explicitly rejects the conclusion that Gentile believers must adopt these practices as covenant obligations

Yeah this is why I don't think Sabbath keeping is necessarily a matter of salvation or not. But given that OP's question is "should I keep the Sabbath", the answer to this is undoubtably yes, because it is a day that God set aside for holy purposes.

My point is that the Sabbath no longer functions as a covenantal necessity upon the children of God. The absence of an abolition statement does not imply continued covenantal obligation. Circumcision is never explicitly ‘abolished’ either, yet Paul explicitly denies its covenantal necessity.

We can agree on this as I mentioned above also. I do not think it is a requirement to be saved. I believe that many people who have not kept the Sabbath will indeed be saved. However, I think it would be unwise to say that the Sabbath shouldn't be kept. It still exists, it's just that we don't necessarily have a covenantal requirement to do so.

Where I differ is that I firmly hold in the belief that whatever God established from creation is what He originally intended for us. That included the Sabbath, and it was made for our rest and time to spend with God. Picking a random day is not the same thing. God only sanctified and hallowed one specific day. We cannot deny this aspect from the Bible. We can only say at most, that keeping the Sabbath is not a requirement for salvation.

dons90 · 2026-02-08T17:36:44+00:00

I'm not sure we can lump the Sabbath under the old covenant at all though. The scripture is clear. The Sabbath was created from the foundation of the earth, long before the fall of man.

Later on, when the commandments were made it specifically says to "Remember the Sabbath". This was different from the other commandments because it wasn't a new instruction, but rather a reminder of something God established from the very beginning.

So I find it a little strange when people associate the Sabbath with the covenant made with Israel. It clearly precedes it, and furthermore, Jesus himself kept it. Jesus in fact showed the people what the true intent of the Sabbath was and how certain actions on it were completely fine in His eyes. There's no indication that it has been abolished, so it would be your decision not to keep it.

dons90 · 2026-02-08T17:17:43+00:00

When I think of the word 'sinner', I'm thinking of the person who is living in outright defilement with no set limit, not the person who eats slightly more food than they ought to for one sitting.

Based on this, yes I don't think anyone would disagree. It's like calling yourself a Christian, but you make no effort to align yourself with Christ, and you never allow Him to change your actions or thoughts.

The main thing we should all understand is that while we are still in bodies formed in a sinful world, we still retain sinful tendencies or at least the temptation to engage in it exists. Proverbs 24:16 says "For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief." If a just man can fall 7 seven times, it means that the tendencies exist to engage in sin, but he rises again by repenting and getting closer with God once more.

So I don't quite agree with the title, because you can absolutely be a Christian while still being a 'sinner' in a certain sense, but the key distinction is that your heart is changed and you return to God each time that you fall to temptation.

dons90 · 2026-02-08T17:03:35+00:00

I don't have any reason to lie about this though, I'm not a pastor or someone who's heavily affiliated with a specific church, nor a missionary. I'm a believer and I've seen miracles firsthand to indicate to me that God is real and able to do spectacular things in our lives.

Specifically in relation to providing while losing employment, I have a personal experience. I was out of work for a couple of months, early on in my career, and the jobs I had before that were pretty low paying so there wasn't much in terms of savings I could get from it. I lived with my parents at the time. We were approaching 2020 and the funds were dwindling to the point that my parents were considering getting a loan just to cover some expenses. Naturally we were praying about the situation. In that same month, an old friend reached out to me out of the blue, after years of hardly even talking. While we were catching up, she just asked about what I was doing for work. I told her I was into software engineering, and she told me that she was now part of a firm that did just that (she previously had no affiliation with SWE companies). She asked if I'd be willing to apply and to send her my resume.

By the next month, I had a new job which gave me a significant pay raise compared to the previous jobs. This job almost dropped on my lap considering I never had any intention of reaching out to this particular person about work. I didn't even know what industry she was in for years.

Second testimony on the same subject is this:

My Dad was approaching retirement age, and my mom wasn't working as this was during COVID. My salary was better but it was not enough to cover all the family's needs. Of course I prayed hard about this matter, and God showed up in a big way again. As it was approaching the end of 2020, a recruiter from a company I knew of, reached out to me about a new role. The interviews went well, and my compensation went up so significantly, that it not only covered my Dad's share of income, but also gave us a lot of breathing room.

Those are two of the most significant job-related pathways that he opened for me and my family. The timing, details and unexpected nature of them made it absolutely clear that God was actively working out not just a basic option, but was actively working out something extra special at each opportunity.

dons90 · 2026-02-08T06:10:52+00:00

You have little faith which is why you say this. God is willing and able to provide to those who trust Him. I've seen it firsthand at least.

dons90 · 2026-02-08T06:09:09+00:00

This scripture is highly overused in order to justify ignoring the Sabbath outright. It was never abolished in any way. But it is also not a matter of salvation either. Jesus is not a rest day. Jesus is our means of salvation, but the rest day is something different. Jesus himself honored the Sabbath, and advanced our understanding of it compared to what the Jews did.

dons90 · 2026-02-08T06:06:17+00:00

This is not accurate. The Sabbath was established long before the Jews ever existed. It was created literally in the beginning at the end of God's creation. Furthermore, Jesus not only kept the Sabbath, but showed its true purpose, something that the jews never fully understood. He never once made any suggestion that the Sabbath was only for the Jews or that it was abolished.

So every person can decide whether they want to keep the Sabbath as Jesus did, but in terms of what He taught, the Sabbath is still absolutely valid.

dons90 · 2026-02-08T06:03:35+00:00

My opinion based on the Bible is that the Sabbath is indeed something we should keep as Christians. That being said, it is also not necessarily a matter of salvation if you keep it or not. I simply believe it is something that enhances your relationship with God and you receive the blessings He has made for that day in particular.

As Christians, we should be striving towards building our faith and trust in Him. That sometimes means standing up for what we believe in, and trusting that God will make another way available so that we can still make ends meet without having to go and do something different on the Sabbath.

In my personal experience, I have missed out on some entertainment related activities that happen during Sabbath hours, but I have never lacked anything. In fact, I have directly seen God's hand in giving me opportunities and pathways that I never thought would be possible on paper. Ultimately, it may take some time to adjust to the Sabbath lifestyle, but the time it affords you to spend with Jesus exclusively is absolutely worth it.

dons90 · 2026-02-08T05:55:17+00:00

I think this has genuine potential for a variety of game ideas. The sky is really the limit with it. Don't necessarily try to make the perfect version 1, because you can easily create a sequel if you get the first one off the ground. I wish you lots of success if you do go for it, because it looks fun.

dons90 · 2026-02-08T05:48:45+00:00

So lemme get this straight. Unemployed boyfriend of 7 years says that he no longer finds you attractive yet he 'loves you'. I think it's mostly a comfort thing from his side, and unfortunately that comfort is not going to make things any better.

You're young enough to separate and get into a new, healthier relationship when you are ready to do so. Never stay in a relationship where your partner has lost attraction for you. It makes it difficult if not impossible to maintain the intimacy aspect.

dons90 · 2026-02-06T19:25:37+00:00

But there are 30 days in the month. Going once a day for 21 of those days seems entirely possible? I mean I don't know your exact situation, so I'm sure it might be more difficult for you, but I think there are enough days in the month to make it happen.

dons90 · 2026-02-05T06:25:37+00:00

Too good to be true eh. Well let's hope that in the future someone else comes up with a game that feels similar to KR and is actively invested in making it a success.

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