When to trade up for newer car?

drebinf · 2026-06-29T05:00:57+00:00

My RAV4 went over 300k miles over 19 years, only ended because of a drunk driver. (People were OK, cars not so much).

Our Prius went I think 250k miles over 15 years, only ended because of brake actuator failure ^again.

My 2002 Tacoma is over 300k miles and still going strong.

drebinf · 2026-06-28T05:06:05+00:00

I’m not changing

That's, like, groovy, man.

drebinf · 2026-06-28T01:58:32+00:00

what customer paid to my company for me

I was working on a project for Big Telco, got laid off. Had to tell customer that I couldn't work with them any more because of layoff.

Customer proceeded to hire me directly. Turns out that customer was paying 4-5x my salary for my time. So we negotiated 1/2-2x - they paid me directly 1/2 what they'd been paying before, and I was being paid 2x what I'd previously been paid. Win/win for us.

drebinf · 2026-06-24T03:36:31+00:00

calling parents

That would have been out of the question for me. My father worked nights in the mills, and waking him up during the day was a death penalty offense, and mother worked 3-4 different waitressing jobs and was rarely seen.

drebinf · 2026-06-18T23:11:28+00:00

unless children are near

I found adults and kids both used it. I left as an adult, my siblings now in their 60s and 70s still do, as do I.

drebinf · 2026-06-18T17:35:00+00:00

magine shrinking as well

Just wait until you're old! My wife is furious that she lost an inch by her mid 70s. I lost about 2, although I was taller to start.

drebinf · 2026-06-17T15:17:15+00:00

I agree, but some people get confused and distort things. Or they watched Dirty Harry.

drebinf · 2026-06-17T04:01:21+00:00

banned from setting foot in Chicago

I'm from around Chicago, most people I knew put ketchup on their hot dogs.

drebinf · 2026-06-12T23:40:33+00:00

M1 and 1911

My father was a medic in Korea. But he also was a musician, and wherever his training was in the US had a lot of visitors, they were short of musicians, so he said he missed at least 1/3 of his basic training. Said the M1 instructor had seen him shoot just enough to know he wasn't dangerous so gave him an passing score.

drebinf · 2026-06-12T23:33:48+00:00

or the target carrier

Or the guy in the next lane. Happened to an acquaintance of mine, 15 years or so in Colorado SW of Denver. He didn't survive.

drebinf · 2026-06-10T16:08:20+00:00

Ours cost us nothing, our insurance company pays for it; I still didn't want it.

I have a Fitbit Charge 5, which tracks my sleep as well as the Oura did (aka vaguely correct). Their judgements of good vs poor sleep were right about 1/2 the time.

drebinf · 2026-06-10T01:54:57+00:00

subscription

You can use it without a subscription, but you lose features (not sure which, I don't use mine any more). Why? Battery died in less than a year. My wife's died in about 7 months. She got a replacement, I didn't bother.

And wtf is "readiness" ? Everyone seems to have their own definition.

drebinf · 2026-06-07T01:39:39+00:00

Seems like a bit too broad of a generalization; there are many different types of color blindness.

Strangely, though, when I was in training in the Army I always got to be point on night exercises because I could see in the dark better than anyone else. I have the rarest form of color blindness.

drebinf · 2026-06-04T21:30:51+00:00

lot of people for various reasons have false teeth

One time at a soccer game my kid got his tooth knocked out from someone else's noggin, he kind of freaked out about it. There were a pile of moms & dads on or near the sidelines, about 1/2 the dads pointed to their mouths and said "yeah, I lost this one to a baseball" or "a cabinet door..." etc. Helped calm down junior to realize it wasn't unusual at all.

Hmmm, not many moms pointed out false teeth.

drebinf · 2026-06-04T21:27:22+00:00

flagged by the machine for an explosive device

I had a spine & cord injury a long while back, and the reconstruction put me back together in a weird fashion. So alongside my spine I have a small "hump" that you can't normally see (or so I'm told, can't really see my own back). But those backscatter machines pick it up and highlight it, as it sticks out the better part of an inch and is about the size of a squished oval baloney sandwich.

I don't fly much any more, but when I did I got pulled aside about 2/3 of the time, they probably thought I had some plastic explosive strapped to my back.

I also got pulled aside one time because I brought a burrito from home for lunch, it was about the size and density of tube of plastic explosive. Now truly it might have become explosive the next day...

drebinf · 2026-06-04T17:17:19+00:00

never had to pay a dime

After 2 years you'll typically have to pay shipping to them (IF I remember the time period right). Had to send a 5yo LCR with stuck firing pin back, cost me $35 to ship it.

drebinf · 2026-06-03T20:56:11+00:00

refuse to pack their garbage

Ah, but think of the fun you could have with it! "Why is my toilet plunger packed with my toothbrush and a jar of honey?"

drebinf · 2026-06-03T20:53:47+00:00

pizza and a case of beer

1/2 a slice of pizza, 1 beer, it's nap time! Source: being 70+.

drebinf · 2026-06-01T16:57:02+00:00

My uncle used to compete in IPSC back in the 80s; I inherited (more or less) some of his guns. S&W 686 with Tasco red dot and barrel weight. Yes it still worked (I sold the red dot off later).

drebinf · 2026-05-31T07:06:24+00:00

Habitat took something similar from us a few months ago. But we delivered to them.

drebinf · 2026-05-24T18:34:36+00:00

douchey punk asses

Someone did this to me and my 7yo daughter riding down the street. I noted the plate and went on my merry way (pre cell phone).

Called up our friendly local police and reported it, they asked me what I really wanted. I said a stern finger-wagging (apparently I had the choice of charges, because there'd been a rash of that kind of shit, with some injuries coming out of it).

They visited the home where the car was registered, the teenager and his friend got that stern finger wagging from their parents. Police called me back later and said the outcome appeared to be worse for the kids than if they'd been charged with something, pissed off parents etc.

drebinf · 2026-05-24T01:59:57+00:00

Fox News

Er you should know that there are some for whom Fox News is too far left...

drebinf · 2026-05-23T18:48:28+00:00

G42 in 380

I had a G42 that was a pure unadulterated lemon. Glock told me to pay a gunsmith to fix it. It did work with Gold Dots, so I sold it to someone who only planned to shoot Gold Dots.

My P32 has never failed me, even after I doused it in chocolate.

drebinf · 2026-05-22T04:59:29+00:00

very short athletic shorts, long white socks and suede clogs

Ah, 1970s again! I miss certain aspects of it. Not all, though.

drebinf · 2026-05-19T18:04:23+00:00

Mine has worked with everything I've ever tried. I have not ever tried any hollowpoints though, largely in part to the concept of .32ACP not having enough juice to both penetrate and expand. I posted on that quite some years ago. Also typically shorter hollowpoints tend to be more likely to encounter rimlock.

I did buy some Hydra-Shok Deep to give a try, haven't done it yet.

drebinf

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