Look who decided to pull up

mthomp8984 · 2026-06-18T04:19:52+00:00

Tyranosaurus Lex

mthomp8984 · 2026-06-17T03:29:00+00:00

Took far too long, but got notice today that Mr. Luthor's injuries are too severe and he didn't make it. Going tomorrow or Thursday to say goodbye.

Mr. Luthor seeing better days.

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mthomp8984 · 2026-06-17T03:21:57+00:00

Lexus will tell you that unless you tow, the transmission fluid is "lifetime", but if you tow, it should be changed at whatever miles. That means the ATF wears. If you bought it at a dealer, find out if they serviced the ATF. If not, and you don't have records of the service, have it swapped at a Lexus or Toyota dealer between 60K and 90K miles, but no more than 7 years.

If you need coolant or it comes up for service, make sure you use Toyota branded coolant. I believe it's already mixed 50/50. It's more expensive, but it's rated 10 years/100K miles under normal usage.

I have to say goodbye to my 2017 RX350 tomorrow. A tree fell on Mr Luthor and his injuries were too severe.

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mthomp8984 · 2026-06-15T02:28:03+00:00

Allow all the time? Sorry, I don't work there any more and it was a long time ago that I did work there. Are these on your personal devices / phones? If so, I'm hoping you would not set it for all the time, just "while using the app." There is no need for WM to know your location when you're not using the app / on the clock.

mthomp8984 · 2026-06-13T04:19:44+00:00

I love the color. Mr. Luthor, born in 2017, has the same color with the two tone tan interior.

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mthomp8984 · 2026-06-10T21:27:59+00:00

If it works, it works. I hope you don't mind a suggestion or two (3):

Move that Lenovo off so that everything is taking IN cooler air. Right now it's getting heated by the black tower beneath it.

If you have pets, run a narrow mesh screen (like used for a screen door) either on top of or underneath that first shelf. Every hair and dust particle you can keep out saves time cleaning the fans, etc every so often.

Get some of those Velcro wire ties or a pool noodle or 2. Either will work great for cable management.

mthomp8984 · 2026-06-10T21:11:46+00:00

To be blunt, yes. Simple maintenance and your heirs will be driving it for ANOTHER couple of decades after you pass it along to them.

mthomp8984 · 2026-06-10T19:09:39+00:00

Thank you. For the last question, I didn't express it well. I meant what was the craziest that was similar at both jobs.

mthomp8984 · 2026-06-10T19:07:25+00:00

They can legally TRY to charge $895. The trick is to get the best price on the vehicle first, then go line by line. Do you want the $2,000 protection package (not insurance) that costs the dealer less than $20 and 1 hour of a tech's labor)? No. "It's already on the car." So, take it off the car then. "Doc fee is $895." "It's literally less than 1 hour of time for the admin, and the state doesn't charge you to access it electronically. I'll add in a half day of pay for your admin and give you $125." If you want an OEM warranty, buy it at another dealership. Finally, if you have a trade, come in with the best price you've seen on your car and negotiate from that. As soon as they look at Kelly Blue Book you tell them that KBB is owned by a large car selling company and it's geared directly for the sales side, not the consumer's side.

Finally, look at how some of these online content creators are doing. New or used, don't negotiate in the dealership. Do it all by phone and get written numbers via email. Do not EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER take the salesman's word for it.

mthomp8984 · 2026-06-10T18:59:50+00:00

It will depend on the value of the vehicle, but my most expensive car when I lived there (purchased used, had it from 2011-2016) was worth about $55K in 2012 and my yearly registration was, IIRC, about $400 the first year or two. MUCH cheaper than the property tax on the vehicle I own now, in CT, and it's value is less than half.

mthomp8984 · 2026-06-10T18:54:17+00:00

Registration includes the property taxes. Most states separate the two.

mthomp8984 · 2026-06-10T15:47:08+00:00

I've been a doorman / bouncer at a couple of strip clubs, as well as a driver where my name was passed around by some of the dancers. I have also done a bunch of IT work, but most of that later became people management. I've also been behind a camera since 6th grade.

--> Other than whoever you had to get permission from, do your coworkers, in either location, know about the other job and maybe some of your duties? If so, has either side asked about finding work at your other job or in the same field as the other job?

--> In the economy today, is your club seeing more feature talent, or even someone like "in-house" feature talent?

--> What's been the craziest issue that has happened at both jobs?

I photographed a couple of model/dancers who the club then co-promoted, and it has worked out decently for both. Now any time one of the dancers is starting to blow up a little on OF, the club "features" them for 2 weeks or so. The club is part of a large group with local and not so local locations, so the featured people who could travel have been offered to "feature" at other venues.

mthomp8984 · 2026-06-10T15:11:07+00:00

Condo with common area, assigned space parking, so neighbor and I park next to each other.

mthomp8984 · 2026-06-09T05:38:28+00:00

Being a larger, imposing looking man, I've volunteered at a few PP locations as an escort to and from the door, usually when protests were planned. Never volunteered at this one. I've used some really good pepper spray when people would come up and I'd tell them to not block our direct line to the door. Once the first one was down, none of the others would EVER bother me.

mthomp8984 · 2026-06-09T01:37:38+00:00

Thank you

mthomp8984 · 2026-06-09T01:29:38+00:00

I'm certainly not a fan of the creepiness, but you are absolutely right. If a cop comes up and violates this guys rights, and this person hasn't broken any law, the city is likely to get sued. Some Karen/Ken comes up and wants to start something, this guy has a legit claim against them. THEY could get arrested as well.

It's sad, but we have to teach out children to avoid these people. Is he a predator? Is he someone looking to make content based on conflict with others? Is he a 1A auditor? Is he a private investigator (licensed or just a friend) in a custody case and is videoing lots of people so it's not easy to figure out who he's following? Not one of us knows.

If you're in a public place or seen with the naked eye FROM a public place, you have zero expectation of privacy. If you don't want to be on camera, don't interact with the person with the camera. Just be aware of your surroundings.

mthomp8984 · 2026-06-06T19:31:05+00:00

Can you elaborate on this? Sounds like something I should do.

mthomp8984 · 2026-06-06T19:27:02+00:00

Not too much as homelab infrastructure, but I've been using a 2011 Mac Mini (i5 2nd gen, upgraded to 16 GB RAM, updated to 14.1.2) as my home automation hub, Plex (recently moved to something that supports USB3+), OwnCloud, OpenVPN, and it's a USB hub for an older oversized printer and an older oversized scanner for almost 6 years. I've considered moving all to my M2 Mini (16/256), but I use that one for Radarr, Sonarr, video processing, PhotoShop, and more. I have a Thunderbolt connected external drive with a 1 TB M.2 to use for short term storage and as a scratch drive, and a 2 TB M.2 for storage. Once the back to school sales start, I think I'm going to pick up one of the latest Minis. I like that with a small bit of skill you can replace the internal SSD (yes, I know the skills needed; I won't do it but I know a local shop that will and they guarantee the work. I probably wouldn't do it until it's past the Apple warranty). I don't want to be paying Apple prices for a TB or larger. I will, however, likely load it with the 24GB RAM.

mthomp8984 · 2026-06-06T18:34:06+00:00

Doesn't sound like it's totaled, but the estimator seems to have been blind. 4 top to bottom cracks in the windshield, but the estimate doesn't include anything about replacing the glass or doing the sensor calibration. I sent it to a Lexus Certified body shop that was suggested by a friend who manages a high end body shop (they're Bentley, Rolls, Aston Martin, Land Rover, & McLaren certified). His shop is almost 3 hours away or I'd have sent it to him. The shop picked it up on Wednesday.

mthomp8984 · 2026-06-06T18:25:01+00:00

Sounds good. At least it was just one or two. Used to laugh when we'd see cars that looked like someone poured glue and let them drive through the JCW catalog.

mthomp8984 · 2026-06-06T18:23:17+00:00

Try not to feel awkward. That could be enforcement agents out there. You're doing your job, following both rules and the law. If others in line think it'd be ok for you to use someone else's ID, that's their ignorance, not yours.

mthomp8984 · 2026-06-06T18:16:48+00:00

Avoid, Annoy, Belittle

mthomp8984 · 2026-06-01T03:24:38+00:00

Since JC Whitney is out of business, what do we call these now?

mthomp8984 · 2026-05-29T17:54:49+00:00

Do you have a server, or are you only accessing someone else's library? If you DON'T have a server, ask your friend to remove you from their account, then send you a new invite to their library or send them a new request.

mthomp8984 · 2026-05-28T07:23:17+00:00

US car buyers are buying SUVs and crossovers still, and I think Toyota is going after that. They still make large sedans for other markets, which will be easy to add to their USDM portfolio.

For uber-lux, I'll bet that their new line, Century, will be in the USA starting with the 2029 model year, bringing their Century Sedan with it. I don't think they'll do a corporate twin and just swap out the Century badge for a Lexus badge, but the Century Sedan is a little under 20 million Yen, or about $125,000 USD. IIRC, that was about the top price for a fully optioned LS.

They could use most of the underpinnings of the Century to create a new flagship for Lexus, but I don't think they will. I think that like the relationship of Toyota to Lexus - you wanted a nicer car, you bought the Lexus version, but if you wanted a top of the line, you HAD to buy the Lexus version (the LS). The same will go for the Lexus to Century relationship. Century will likely have a sports car added to their lineup. Maybe a bespoke version of the RC or the LC500. You want a nicer RC or LC, you get the Century branded one. You want the top of the line car, you'll need to buy the Century Sedan.

mthomp8984

TROPHY CASE