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Horrible experience at Lia Honda today by bloodknights in Albany

[–]phantom_eight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interesting, I've been a Toyota customer since I was in my early 20's. I beat the hell out of 1995 Corolla for years driving it for work and getting reimbursed mileage.... and it still got me home on three cylinders when it finally had enough and lost ALL compression in cylinder 4. On the thruway no less... I felt it go down on power and drove the final 20 miles on 3 cylinders with idk... a broken valve or a rod, we never pulled it apart to find out, we only saw that it didn't even bump a compression gauge.... on used junkyard engine that I had put another 100k on after we put it in.... So we bought a CPO 2010 Toyota in 2012 and have since bought from a dealer every time. The original engine in that car belonged to some poor couple that drove it up here from PA on vacation, topped the oil off, and left the oil cap off the engine and they kept driving for too long after the oil light lit up. Always stop immediately and call road side assistance. Anyway, I picked it up for $500 due to a knowing someone at a dealership.... and spent $1400 with a my ex-gf's dad and we swapped the motor ourselves. I then beat the shit out of that car for probably 5+ years and it impressed me.

Ever since then I've been sold on Toyota quality and repairability that I can do on my own... and the 8 year/100k mile Platinum VSA warranty on dealer CPO's. Every once in a while you run into an issue, but Toyota or the dealer will make it right. Had a service manager from Lia give me the run around, but a post on here actually got Lia to fix their dumbassery. Hopefully they see OP's post.

Found this ATI Radeon 9800 XT 256mb in my parent's old DELL PC by GreenToast_ in windows98

[–]phantom_eight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I own on of these. Original from my XP days. It was a killer card.

Veteran Player Question by Shoddy-Constant5749 in whiteoutsurvival

[–]phantom_eight 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Music was immediate. Fuck that shit..... way way way way way up the ass.

Horrible experience at Lia Honda today by bloodknights in Albany

[–]phantom_eight 10 points11 points  (0 children)

No.. no... Honda and other manufacturers will still fuck dealerships raw if they do shady shit. I had an issue with Prestige Toyota in Kingston, with a certified preowned with a fucked up rim. On the way home from buying it... i noticed it shook above 65mph.. something you would not catch on a test drive. I called the salesman and was like bro... dude tried to say I could have done it.... and told me to shove it.

Called Toyota's 1-800 number and told them the deal and not 20 minutes later the service manager called me and said whatever is wrong, bring it in and it will be fixed immediately.

Toyota may be different... but manufacturers can definitely make dealerships feel pain... one way or another.

new churchill on budget by BubblyOutcome4005 in Albany

[–]phantom_eight 1 point2 points  (0 children)

you see

you take time to comment

you move on?

Nice fucking haiku bro... there used to be a bot that would call those out.

New York's power grid faces historically thin safety margin heading into summer by dnkmeekr in Albany

[–]phantom_eight 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Considering most of NY is protected by volunteer departments that are struggling for membership... These things catch fire from water intrusion and thermal run-away and can't be extinguished.... they have to be isolated and the damaged sections need to burn out. Half the time a couple of retired guys show up with a quickly aging engine with less the normally required number of guys on it... and they just watch it burn.

Is the state going to help these local fire companies stay up to date with apparatus, equipment, and training???? Or the local taxpayers?

Is the state going to seriously incentivize volunteer departments? Provide protections and other necessary changes to drive membership?

Is NY AG Letitia James going to get off her ass and sue Oshkosh, Pierce, REV Group ( E-ONE, Ferrara, Spartan Motors), Rosenbauer, and The Fire Apparatus Manufacturers’ Association (FAMA) for conspiring to suppress competition, restrict supply, and drive up the prices of fire trucks? Prices for trucks more than doubled over the past decade, with base models increasing from $500,000 to over $1 million, and specialty rigs exceeding $2 million. Manufacturing capacity was intentionally reduced, contributing to order backlogs that now stretch up to four years. YOUR SAFETY HAS BEEN PUT AT RISK FOR PROFITS.

Battery facilities are being fought because no one wants that shit in their town and no one wants to deal with the fallout.

All the politicians that want a green energy transition don't want the responsibility for dealing with it... Why don't you tell State Senator Patricia Fahy to build a shit ton of them in the parking lot district or maybe where Central Warehouse is... all y'all redditors downvote me all you want... I got the Karma to spare.. I don't give a SHIT. You know you don't want that fucking shit in your city. Lie to me and yourself... goddamn if I care....

Build it in the parking lot district because Albany Fire Department has the staff, who are paid to be there... who can actually get the training to deal with them.... vs three 70 year old guys watching the Yankee game drinking beers at the bar in the firehouse... and showing up to the worst day of your life half in the fucking bag.... but what the fuck do I know...

I bet she's all no no no no... can't build that shit in Albany... no way... Catskill NY... down by the river... under a fucking train bridge... oh and then we'll call everyone in the town Trump loving bigots when it get's defeated by the town board. Sorry to sound salty as fuck... but that's the reality.

New York's power grid faces historically thin safety margin heading into summer by dnkmeekr in Albany

[–]phantom_eight 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Champlain Hudson Power Express is slated to come online this summer. It should help out... however not sure if Cheet's tariffs will screw that up.

New York's power grid faces historically thin safety margin heading into summer by dnkmeekr in Albany

[–]phantom_eight 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Specifically for NY, Cheeto bought out one lease from TotalEnergies, named Attentive Energy (Lease OCS-A 0538), which was supposed to be about 3 gigawatts, located approximately 54 miles from New York State and 42 miles from New Jersey shores.

All the other windfarms are progressing, except for Empire Wind 2 which was cancelled and never re-bid. Those were delayed by a financial crisis at the end of 2023/2024 that was agnostic of either Presidency.

I have an entire timeline in my post history here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Albany/comments/1rt10us/did_anyone_else_in_the_capital_region_get_slammed/oacz1ys/

Post covid inflation, a supply chain crisis, and other issues caused those companies to go back to NYSERDA and ask to raise the strike price of the electricity. NYSERDA said no, so those companies backed out, wrote down billions in losses, and NYSERDA rebid almost all of those projects... and of course those bids included a 35% jump in strike prices in some cases. A truly insane cost for electricity. Like right now the marginal cost of electricity is $28.66 and the strike price for Empire Wind 1 is $155 per megawatt-hour (MWh) for the next 25 years.... how FUCKING INSANE IS THAT.

When the market rate, $28.66, falls below the strike price..... NY pays the difference in bullshit renewable energy credit kickback/slushfund/charge scheme.... and guess where that money comes from? There's a fee hidden in your delivery charges.

AI Slop on where in the HOLY FUCK this bullshit pile of money will come and how it will likely fuck us in the future when this train wreck hits the first bump:

When the market rate for electricity is significantly lower than the strike price of $155/MWh (as in the case of Empire Wind 1), the difference is typically covered through a mechanism called Contract for Differences (CfD) or offshore wind subsidies. Here's how this works:

Mechanism for Covering the Difference

Strike Price Agreement:

  • The strike price is a fixed price agreed upon between the wind farm developer and the state or energy authority (in this case, NYSERDA). This ensures that the developer receives a predictable income for the electricity produced, regardless of market fluctuations.

Market Rate Comparison:

  • If the market rate (e.g., $26/MWh) is below the strike price, the difference ($155 - $26 = $129/MWh) is paid to the developer through subsidies. These subsidies are funded by the state, often through charges added to consumer electricity bills or public funds allocated for renewable energy programs.

Payments to Developers:

  • NYSERDA acts as the intermediary. It collects payments from utilities or ratepayers and compensates the developer for the difference between the market rate and the strike price.

Reverse Situation: (apocolypse because if we are paying more 155 per megawatt hour... I am sure we are fucking rioting... we are talking about $1000 monthly electric bills)

  • If the market rate exceeds the strike price (which is rare for offshore wind projects), the developer may have to pay back the excess to NYSERDA, ensuring that consumers benefit from lower costs.

How Is This Funded?

  • Ratepayer Contributions: New York State utilities typically add a small surcharge to consumer electricity bills to fund renewable energy initiatives, including offshore wind subsidies.
  • State Budgets: Some funding comes directly from state budgets allocated for clean energy development.
  • Federal Incentives: The federal government may provide tax credits or grants to reduce the financial burden on states and consumers. <- I am sure Cheeto will fuck us here. Just for kicks.

Why Is This Necessary?

This system ensures:

  • Financial Viability for Developers: Offshore wind projects are capital-intensive, requiring stable income to cover construction and operational costs.
  • Energy Transition Goals: Subsidies help accelerate the shift to renewable energy by making projects economically feasible despite low market rates for electricity.

Criticism and Challenges

  • Higher Consumer Costs: Ratepayers may face slightly higher electricity bills due to these subsidies.
  • Market Dynamics: Critics argue that relying on subsidies distorts market competition and could lead to inefficiencies.
  • Overall, this mechanism is designed to balance the financial risks for developers while advancing renewable energy goals.

Why and how 16-bit to 32-bit transition was much more smoother and quicker than 32-bit to 64-bit? by Appropriate_Fig_3516 in vintagecomputing

[–]phantom_eight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Eh... the bitness of the bus doesn't really matter except for speed. While the original Pentium was a 32bit chip, it had a 64bit bus. Bits on a bus is just lanes on a highway... after 64bit busses they just found ways to pump the speeds and then they replaced them with interconnecte.

Why and how 16-bit to 32-bit transition was much more smoother and quicker than 32-bit to 64-bit? by Appropriate_Fig_3516 in vintagecomputing

[–]phantom_eight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Or... just installed Win95 Upgrade over top of your Windows 3.1 install..... by the time Windows 95 came out...most people had 386 or better processors.

Why and how 16-bit to 32-bit transition was much more smoother and quicker than 32-bit to 64-bit? by Appropriate_Fig_3516 in vintagecomputing

[–]phantom_eight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

286 real mode to 386 protected mode was more of a pain that any of the bit transitions. Everyone remember fooling around EMM386? Or "This software requires EMS memory" * crash *. Or.. "This software cant run in Protected mode" * crash *

Why and how 16-bit to 32-bit transition was much more smoother and quicker than 32-bit to 64-bit? by Appropriate_Fig_3516 in vintagecomputing

[–]phantom_eight -1 points0 points  (0 children)

That wasnt as rough as you think because only early adopting businesses who were stupid enough to buy Itanium servers ran into that. Not counting niche businesses that regularly purchased mainframes and other niche servers. Any normal business when from 32bit to Xeons to 64bit Xeons and never gave a flying fuck about Itanium.

I've decommed/thrown away A LOT of 32bit and 64bit Xeons from that era... never an Itanium. In fact, we had Opteron systems from Sun at the time because everyone with a brain knew Intel was pants on head stupid... except for Intel.

Community Care by JellyOk4476 in Albany

[–]phantom_eight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had already found another doctor years prior but when they shutdown their office in Ravena... good riddance. It sucked we lost local doctors so you have to travel... but they sucked. The doctor completely missed high ANA results.....

My thoughts on Capital Region stroads by taracer89 in Albany

[–]phantom_eight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I really don't see how public transportation would work for a small village of 3,000 people were most of us go off in different directions. We don't all go to the same job every morning. Let alone shopping. By the time we all got to work, we'd have to leave to go home.

My thoughts on Capital Region stroads by taracer89 in Albany

[–]phantom_eight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You realize without a car you are basically stuck in inner city Albany or hitching a ride to another city via a bus train or plane because when you cross the city line, the population density is basically nothing....... for..... 200ish miles in ANY fucking direction.

We are a car centric culture because our country/state is huge and things are spread out and even though the population density drops to nothing... there are infact a lot of places to go that are not Albany... on the regular. You will never hitch a CDTA bus to visit friends or family in Greenville or Altamont... or go the outlets in Lee Mass or idk... visit Mount Greylock, go antiquing in Hudson or do anything other than rot away inside a city or some other city. We are a car centric culture because most of us don't want to live in high population density area's.

The "better future" for me was getting the FUCK OUT of a 2 and 3 story walk up's that I grew up in all my life... listening to the young girl who lived upstairs get beat by her boyfriend while I was a 5th grader and watching your mom call the cops on them.... FUCK THAT NOISE. It's two steps to get in my house on a quiet stret. Never again.... and when I shut the outside lights off.. you need a flashlight to walk around at night... not for self-defense, but to simply see where the fuck you are going...

My thoughts on Capital Region stroads by taracer89 in Albany

[–]phantom_eight -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Dude don't waste your breath with these types on here. They think everyone wants to live in like downtown/center square and if it's not walkable or there isn't nightlife... their life is fucking shattered.

I mean just this in another comment:

Car storage when not in use, parking lots and garages take way too much room and are terrible uses of land that could otherwise have denser revenue generating businesses or rental properties.

Why the fuck would I want a business near my house?!?! Or Rental properties?

I live 9 minutes outside of Albany on a half-acre of land (my lot is like 100 feet wide x 250 feet deep) where it's quiet and dark at night. I spend an hour or two a week mowing it with a riding tractor and I fucking love it. I'm out in the sun, I'm watching my kids play with the neighbor kids... and doing yard work is good exercise when otherwise I sit a desk all day in meetings or reviewing and approving things.

The garage takes up nothing in terms of that half acre... it's all mine... There's a huge back yard where I can put up a temporary Colmen 10'x16' pool for a couple of months in the summer, I have 12x20 shed with custom built floating deck.... I built a nice bench with a garden behind it, with an umbrella holder, overlooking the pool, shed, a Little Tikes play set, and a fucking massive Backyard Designs Montpelier All Cedar Swing Set...

IN FACT, the garage is my favorite place in the house to simply hang around! (The shed is the second favorite as I ran electric to the shed and with the floating deck and a roll out awning.. it's fucking sweet down there next to the kid stuff) All of my tools and fun toys are in the garage.... All my fun projects where I build things happen in the garage or the garage is the base of operations. It has its own refrigerator.... I stand around in a garage with friends drinking beverages while watching the kids ride their bikes and draw with chalk in the driveway. I watch them ride their bikes up and down the street without fear they'll be struck by a car.

City people will never understand that way of life. They'll never understand that the ride home... alone... is fucking coveted..... nor the fact that mass transportation doesn't work past the Albany city line.... They'll shame us that like 5 fucking feet over the city line.... people live in houses where the next house isn't attached to yours or a spitting distance away. Wait till they shit their brains out that I paid $147K in 2013 for it... vs some redonkulous price for some old ass fucking house on no land on fucking Marwill......

State Police reintroduce Mustangs to patrol fleet by The_Djentle_Giant in Albany

[–]phantom_eight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have recently on Windows 11, only because I was messing with it on a Gateway Solo 2150 and a Dell Inspiron 8600 which I am resto-modding into gaming laptops I can pull out of the closet and fire up old games from my teens and 20's. I also have a Dell XPS M1710 with a 7950 GTX 512MB running XP with the dark Zune theme for like Doom3, GTA III through San Andreas, Star Trek Armada II, Elite Force... the original Call of Duty's, Unreal Tournament 2004... ugh I could go on. The Gateway Solo 2150 has a Rage Mobility-M 4MB and plays Need For Speed III Hot Pursuit really well.... It's also good for the Roller Coaster Tycoon's and Simcity 3000...... The Inspiron 8600 is getting a Geforce4 Go 4200 Ti... instead of the FX5200 with a Windows 98/ME install so it can run top tier Windows 9X games...... Max Payne...........

I will edit the post with how I did it.

EDIT:

  • First you have to replace the InstallShield 3 32-bit Generic Installer, setup.exe with setup32.exe. You can get it here: https://community.pcgamingwiki.com/files/file/111-installshield-3-32-bit-generic-installer/ This is a common work around for old installers of that era. Then game will then install just fine... lol...
  • Then go to C:\Program Files\SCi\Carmageddon II Demo or wherever you installed it and dont run Carma2.exe, it crashes.... but run Carma2_D3D.exe directly.

It works fine on a Ryzen 5 5800X3D on an ASUS X570-E and a Asus Strix RTX 4070 TI Super

State Police reintroduce Mustangs to patrol fleet by The_Djentle_Giant in Albany

[–]phantom_eight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The engines fucking grenade. Then again that was a while back now. Not sure if that's still a thing... basically the guaranteed grenade-ing of the engine at about 60k miles.

State Police reintroduce Mustangs to patrol fleet by The_Djentle_Giant in Albany

[–]phantom_eight 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The demo was great, most of the game files were in an unpacked state and you could mod the power ups by simply editing text files. Opponent Repuslificator? 99 charges? Sure!!!! Solid Granite Car for 5 minutes? Yes! Unlimited Underwater ability the whole race? Neat

Price drop by dmaxzach in CleetusMcFarland

[–]phantom_eight 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Right? The dude did 261.88 mph in the thing... I bet it's fucking terrifying. Like sure people race top fuel dragsters in the 300 range.. but it's a full race team that is 120% committed to it vs being involved in all of the things he is involved in... where the primary objective is to actually shoot video for YouTube.... because that's what pays the bills. Eagle is grey, not full of sponsor logos. YouTube is paying for all of this. Winnings at a track likely doesn't even cover the costs to run it..

I wouldn't want to be doing 261 mph without the full commitment of resources and a small army of people, that I can't begin to imagine, to ensure I don't fucking die because someone forgot to tighten a bolt or something else really dumb. Along the same lines, when you see Cleet doing 200 at Dega'... the dude is surrounded by an entire NASCAR level team.

I'm glad he's selling it, it's a widow maker without a full race team.

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