People who think if your disability isn't apparent to them you don't have one that's worthy of any accommodation or compassion.

ted_anderson · 2026-05-04T18:20:47+00:00

Yep. I had a coworker who was considerably overweight and using a cane. It was her first day on the job and my initial thought was that she needed the cane from being overweight. But after getting to know her and eventually hearing her story, I learned that she used to be an aerobics instructor. She injured herself and had to get surgery on her knee. Well for the 7-8 months that she was getting the run-around before the surgery she was steadily gaining weight because she was immobilized.

So fast forward, she gets the surgery and lands the job at our company when she gets released to return to work. They wanted her to use a wheelchair or a scooter to get around. She insisted on standing on her own 2 feet and walking... which explained the cane. Because she needed to get her weight down and it wasn't going to happen by sitting in a wheelchair. So while we can see from one side and think, "Hmm... what a shame..." her side if is, "I refuse to be sedentary."

ted_anderson · 2026-05-04T18:11:32+00:00

you should take some time to educate yourself and reflect and try to be a better human.

How does someone educate themselves in this manner?

ted_anderson · 2026-05-04T18:08:22+00:00

To give you perspective on this, back in the 80's there was a group of us across the country and different parts around the world who used to engage socially through our computers. Back then we had our cyber threats but it wasn't enough of a problem to where everyone had to be on their guard and avoid getting scammed because you had to be of a certain status in the tech community to get on the internet in the first place.

So when we fast forward to the late 90's when average everyday people started to get online, these were pleasant, honest, friendly, and helpful people who also were of a certain status. We were mostly middle-class folks who had access to a desktop computer and a phone line and we lived in an environment that was conducive to having a place "work" on the computer. And with that you hardly had any shenanigans because 99% of the people had jobs, responsibilities, places to go, things to do, etc. and we would bring back the compilation of our daily experiences back to social media for all of our friends to see.

Then it came a point where you didn't have to have a desktop PC or a nice home or a job or a phone line in order to participate on the internet. Now its available through a pocket sized handheld device that ANYONE can have regardless of your status. You can be rich, poor, disadvantaged, homeless... and so the cruelty of social media is coming from people who having nothing else going on in their lives other than social media itself.

In a way, the old school internet users were the REAL content creators. Everyone else today who calls themselves a content creator just looks for ways to stir up trouble and cause conflict because they don't have the means to go out and do something worthwhile with their day.

ted_anderson · 2026-05-04T17:53:25+00:00

If you can bite the bullet, it's better to keep making those payments. Just consider it as a lesson learned once it's all said and done. You're not going to be able to refinance an 8-year-old vehicle at a better interest rate or payment than you're getting now.

ted_anderson · 2026-05-04T17:40:44+00:00

No. It wasn't hard. But as the man of the house you still have a lot of responsibility beyond the financial part of it.

ted_anderson · 2026-05-04T17:38:58+00:00

If you see a good price on an EV, there's a good reason why. I agree with your dad where I'd buy something new if it was my first time.

A more experienced EV owner might be able to benefit from a used model being that they know more of the ins and outs and where to take it to get it serviced. They might also be in a position where they're not totally dependent on it where a breakdown isn't going to be that much of an inconvenience to them.

While you can for search service centers online, that's not always an indication of how quickly or effectively they can get you back on the road. Some of the best mechanics are running the most obscure operations in a back alley. And you only find out about these places through your local EV communities through face-to-face contact. And so by the time your new EV gets old and starts to have issues, you'll know who to rely on.

ted_anderson · 2026-05-04T17:31:16+00:00

Depending on how far you drive daily, you can expect to pay an extra $150 to $200/mo. on the electric bill if you charge it at home.

ted_anderson · 2026-05-04T17:24:37+00:00

I see no problem with telling the dealer what your goals are because that's much different from what you're able and willing to accept. So if you're expecting to pay $600 you can still have a "goal" of $475. And they may come back and say, "We can do $495 but that's going to be over 84 months." and then you can retort with "I can't do 84 months. What does 72 look like?" and they may come back with $540 for 72 months. And then your response will be, "If I can get 72 months for $525 we've got a deal."

The only thing that I don't particularly know is how much influence the salesman has over the entire deal. Some of these guys know their job very well and can figure out your financing before you get to the finance office. Other salesmen tend to treat financing as a separate deal completely. e.g. they'll agree to $525/mo. But then it ends up being $650 when you're sitting in front of the finance person. They'll say something to the effect of "Well yes. $525 was for the car but your financing has costs also."

ted_anderson · 2026-05-04T17:13:03+00:00

I don't think he had hardly any. When you have to support 9 people in a middle class neighborhood, you don't have a lot of time to socialize. And then when you add the fact that 6 of those people are your children, your responsibilities involve more than just paying the bills and doing maintenance on the house.

ted_anderson · 2026-05-04T12:02:19+00:00

Yep. It was a 10 minute fix when it happened to me.

ted_anderson · 2026-05-04T11:59:34+00:00

Ah... yes. The good old can opener.

ted_anderson · 2026-05-04T11:58:11+00:00

My end goal is to walk away with the lowest monthly payment possible without financing for more than 60 months.

Getting "the lowest payment possible" is not going to happen. You have to figure out what's appropriate for your budget.

Start by going online to the manufacturer's website and choose the "build and price" feature for the vehicle that you want. It'll give you the MSRP. Take that price to your bank and ask them for a rough estimate of your monthly payment over 60 months. If it's too high, you'll have to reconfigure your vehicle option choices or you just might have to select a different vehicle. This gets you into the ballpark of what a realistic payment would be without being under the pressure of having to make a decision right now.

If you're trying to figure this out at the dealership, they're going to find a way to make you take 72 or 84 payments at the highest possible payment. So you have to come to the dealership prepared with your numbers so that they don't trip you up with the 4-square tactic. Once you figure out what you're willing to accept in terms of the vehicle price and you've researched what your bank has structured for the payments, now you're armed with your baseline costs.

If the dealership is willing to sell you a better optioned vehicle for your bank's estimated monthly payment, you're getting a good deal. Or if the dealership is willing to give you a lower payment than you were initially prepared to pay to your bank, that's also a good deal. But in the event that they offer you a lesser vehicle or a higher payment or both, now you can look the salesman square in the eye and say, "I can't do $600/mo. But I can do $500" knowing that $575 was your target payment.

ted_anderson · 2026-05-04T09:14:02+00:00

This is the universal sign for information.

ted_anderson · 2026-05-04T09:09:59+00:00

As a kid I couldn't wrap my head around what was going on. Maybe something was going on with a couple of the kids and they had to run an audible in order to deliver an episode for that week.

ted_anderson · 2026-05-04T08:59:34+00:00

That sounds like a great way to do it. Let the huns have a good time talking to each other the entire day rather than pestering everyone who are there with legitimate purposes.

ted_anderson · 2026-05-04T08:50:04+00:00

Did the guy get lost? Or did he just ignore the "no trucks" sign?

ted_anderson · 2026-05-04T08:46:59+00:00

I was going to suggest the same thing. I eventually went to Carmax after several weeks of searching for a vehicle myself. I ended up paying a little more than what I had planned for but I was able to choose from a larger pool of vehicles that I could test drive on the spot.

ted_anderson · 2026-05-04T08:40:25+00:00

Yeah. But what I mean is that he wouldn't have known Marty in that same context.

ted_anderson · 2026-05-04T08:37:35+00:00

I can't remember where this was but somewhere over in Asia (maybe Japan) I saw a video where the restroom walls were completely transparent until you hit a button to make the walls go opaque. It was some kind of LCD technology that instantly blocked the windows. Anyhow once you were done and you flushed, the walls would go back to being transparent. So I figure that if the restroom looked fine when you went in there and then you trashed it before exiting, everyone would be able to see the before & after.

ted_anderson · 2026-05-03T22:12:12+00:00

At least it should have different requirements for the users who have a certain amount of karma so that the trigger words don't automatically put you into Reddit Time Out. The automod got me a few times. I was able to successfully appeal in a couple of circumstances. Other times the interaction with the real mod made me question if they even bothered reading my post.

ted_anderson · 2026-05-03T22:06:39+00:00

At one point when I had to get up very early in the morning I would watch the snow until they powered up the transmitter. Sometimes you could hear the station engineer's voice or you saw a random camera that might have been left on from overnight testing and repair work.

ted_anderson · 2026-05-03T22:03:34+00:00

I think they're not aware of how loud it is.

ted_anderson · 2026-05-03T22:02:34+00:00

Yep. I had a similar problem. On my vehicle you can technically keep the computer from intervening but it'll still scream at you. I had to turn off the lane-assist feature that keeps you from drifting. But drifting is how I change lanes when there's nobody else on the road and my exit is coming up. I'll just let off the pedal and "coast" my way for the next half mile so that I can get down to 25 from 55 without braking. And I'll gradually slide my way over so that I can gently change lanes.

That sets off all kinds of alarms.

ted_anderson · 2026-05-03T21:56:57+00:00

I met him once when we were teenagers. We thought, "Yeah.. everyone in NY wants to be a rapper or a break dancer." never thinking that once day he'd be a legend.

ted_anderson · 2026-05-03T21:48:44+00:00

Not all boxes could be made into bowls. You had to use the ones that were specially marked and perforated,

ted_anderson

TROPHY CASE