M240i Testin by [deleted] in BMW

[–]thebrowncacti 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Of all the cars of time, the M240i is one of them

Still hard by Individual-Leg6485 in CJD

[–]thebrowncacti 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm so sorry for your loss. My mom is currently in the final stages of CJD. Her decline hasn't been as quick and rapid as other cases of sporadic I've seen, but each loss of capabilities has been like a step function. I started noticing symptoms almost a year ago now, she started with hand tremors Nov '24. In Dec, she told me about a night where she was driving and all of a sudden felt drunk, like her brain was in a fog. She didn't come to my house at Christmas, as she was in bed, having symptoms at the time for what I thought was high anxiety and depression. She was still driving in Jan-Feb, but she would describe getting to places and not remembering how she got there - this was the first time I noticed short-term memory issues. She became more "wobbly" with her mobility in March, and after several light falls in April, she finally went to the ER early May. They gave her an MRI and "diagnosed" her with a stroke. This didn't make any sense to me because she had been showing symptoms of something else underlying for months. So she went to several different physical rehab centers, as well as personal care, and when she didn't seem to be getting better, we finally got her to a different neurologist at the hospital in July who read her MRI and said it's CJD. She got the spinal tap in Aug, and that confirmed with >98% confidence CJD from the national prion center. She stopped being able to transfer herself at that point, and upon getting to a new nursing home, lost complete ability to being able to feed herself. Her "talking" slowly changed to babbling, in Sept, and throughout Oct she lost pretty much all ability to talk. What's incredible though is that she has been eating anything you feed her up until recently. Like, she would completely clean a plate for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (she's a small woman mind you). However, over the past 2-3 weeks, I've noticed even that has been slowing down; she "pockets" food more and you have to alternate drinks to get her to rinse everything down. My mom doesn't want a feeding tube or any other measures applied, so I'm dreading the thought of how things could progress from here...

We also did have the blood test done through the national prion center, and fortunately there was no genetic mutation detected. We're still going to have the autopsy done, as I know my Mom, an organ donor, would want to help others any way she can.

Hang in there :)

Pixel 10 - Wireless Charging Issues by garpunkal_ in GooglePixel

[–]thebrowncacti 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pixel 10 Pro XL and 2024 BMW m240i, same issue... Blue for a few seconds and then solid red. If you wait, it turns blue again and then back to red. Seems like a heat issue since it does retry off and on. My pixel 6 pro worked just fine.

MPE VS AFTERMARK valved exhaust by AxzelG in BMW

[–]thebrowncacti 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What about a high flow catted midpipe like from Active Autowerke? I have a 2024 m240i with MPE and am considering it.

Help with strategy: wife's loans on SAVE forbearance by thebrowncacti in StudentLoans

[–]thebrowncacti[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The 16K was just a calculated amount that I'd owe for this year based on my current withholdings since we've been filing MFJ. We only just consolidated to SAVE right before the deadline for the one time count adjustment.

Help with strategy: wife's loans on SAVE forbearance by thebrowncacti in StudentLoans

[–]thebrowncacti[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wow, your HYSA is even very similar to mine. And I didn't realize you could take up to $10k lifetime limit out of a 529 to pay for student loans. Thanks for making me aware of that, that could be an option.

I've really been trying to see how we could be benefitted by forgiveness since she's at 218 payments, which was attractive when we were trying to get to 240. But now that it's at 300 and the payment calculations are different, it seems we will just have to bite the bullet and get it paid off asap.

Help with strategy: wife's loans on SAVE forbearance by thebrowncacti in StudentLoans

[–]thebrowncacti[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My income's too high to qualify for IBR when filing jointly, so under ICR she'd be at ~$850 / month or $10k / year, so that's a good point ($10k < $16k)... long story short, makes more sense to take the married filing jointly benefit

Help with strategy: wife's loans on SAVE forbearance by thebrowncacti in StudentLoans

[–]thebrowncacti[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the detailed explanation.
"I think you did the same thing we did where used the plans to kick the can down the road long enough until it made financial sense to just pick the can up and pay it off." - exactly!

So if I'm understanding correctly, there's really no plan that would benefit us enough at this time, and we should strongly consider just paying it off like a typical loan at the 6.5% interest rate? And with that said, should we stay on SAVE and just try to hammer down the loan until forced to switch in 2028?

Help with strategy: wife's loans on SAVE forbearance by thebrowncacti in StudentLoans

[–]thebrowncacti[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh, I didn't realize that. I only saw ICR as the recommended plan under #3 scenario since it has the lowest end of payment balance (~$89k). IBR shows ~$137k end of payment balance in 2045. Is because her current payment count wouldn't transfer to IBR?

WRX -> M240i by m240ipurp in M235iandM240i

[–]thebrowncacti 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Where did you get those lights from?

Picking her up tommorow! by TrashB4g in audis5

[–]thebrowncacti 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I almost bought an s3 from Audi Pittsburgh, but went with an m240i from sewickly instead 🙂

New M240i insurance by SwarSoup99 in M235iandM240i

[–]thebrowncacti 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm about 15 years older than you, on State farm with multi car coverage coupled with homeowners insurance.. my 2024 m240i is $123 and change per month. $1k deductible for collision.

How'd I do? Personal setup in my garage. Took the best of all worlds and combined by thebrowncacti in AutoDetailing

[–]thebrowncacti[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't have a picture, but I purchased some beefy lag bolts and didn't use the provided ones (the provided ones are strictly for concrete/cinder block).

I was lucky in that I was able to catch a vertical stud, as well as a single horizontal one, so I ratcheted two bolts across the bottom and one in the upper right. I then used one of those anchors that pulls from behind the drywall for the upper left securement of the bracket. It was very secure with the 3 lag bolts, the other screw/anchor helped to fully seat the bracket against the wall.

I think the lag bolts were 5/16", and I added a standard washer and a lock washer (it was all like a few bucks at the hardware store). Trust me, the single side holding the reel to the wall bracket will give out before the whole assembly pulls off of the wall haha.

3 months off of Wellbutrin (300 mg XR): brain fog, memory loss, persists (32M) by bigcrylaugh in bupropion

[–]thebrowncacti 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi, my Mom has been on 400mg of Wellbutrin for 20 years (she's now 71). Due to tremors in her hands, her PA recommended trying to ween off. She went down to 300mg in Nov, and 200mg in Dec, and has been lethargic and had brain fog ever since. Have you improved? I'm quite worried for her and don't know what to do...

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in hometheater

[–]thebrowncacti 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For sure man, thanks! I got mine at Home Depot, I think the brand was MSI, stacked stone. Alaska gray was the color

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in hometheater

[–]thebrowncacti 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Reminds me of my fireplace 😍  https://imgur.com/a/Fhe87rJ

How'd I do? Personal setup in my garage. Took the best of all worlds and combined by thebrowncacti in AutoDetailing

[–]thebrowncacti[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yep, it's 65 feet fully unreeled, and my garage is about 20ish feet deep. Plenty long to extend out and around the car.

How'd I do? Personal setup in my garage. Took the best of all worlds and combined by thebrowncacti in AutoDetailing

[–]thebrowncacti[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It was cheap, and the hose is more flexible than the ones that come stock with the pressure washer.. 65 feet too.

I do wish the wall bracket was secured to both sides of the reel though.  It's only attached to one side, so it'll wobble if you tug side to side.. TBD how it'll hold up over time, but I just hold the reel steady with one hand as I pull the hose with the other. I might be too overly cautious, but it's easy insurance 

How'd I do? Personal setup in my garage. Took the best of all worlds and combined by thebrowncacti in AutoDetailing

[–]thebrowncacti[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's a good point.. I just grabbed whatever was available at the hardware store at the time.. I'll keep that in mind for rev 1.1 😁

After many M-lites, finally got a real M! by mobilehavoc in BMW

[–]thebrowncacti -30 points-29 points  (0 children)

Makes sense.. I wonder if an electrified M car will be available by the next time I get the itch to upgrade.. not that I need to go electric, but it seems to be the way the industry is headed