Congrats are fine. It's just closure, I suppose... I don't feel particularly happy or sad about it. One less thing to worry about. Mainly, I'm looking forward to being able to file my taxes as a single person. Married filing separate is the worst possible scenario. And the reduction in spousal support will free up money to deal with the damage inflicted by the last 4 years of that.

Sure, it's congrats on finishing the divorce, not on finishing the marriage.

Wow, is it really four years ? Time does fly.

@ Jim, any rest of bunch.

I moved out July 14th 2010. ...So 3.5 years.

4 tax returns, though.

Love is grand.

Divorce is fifty grand.

Ha, I wish. :rolleyes:

The actual legal fees were probably less than $6000, in my case. I pay a lot in support, but I don't resent that. Shelby is a good mom. Anything she gets, my kids get, so it's all good. She spent more of the money when we were together.

Wolfmother!!! Hells yeah!

Monty Python 's Holy Grail is in theatres again.

Attachment 48712

Only 2 nights at the Regal Theatre in Downingtown PA. 10 minutes of unseen footage?

Also, I ordered a straight razor on amazon, and it arrived today. I shaved straight away, and did not cut myself.

Well, I knicked my ear a bit, but I had that coming

Have fun with your new toy!

I always like it at the barber shop when they clean up the edges with a straight razor.

Straight razor: not worth the extra time and risk of decapitation. The shave is no closer than the mach3 gives me. Oh well... It was fun bleeding into the sink a few times


Sunday, I worked on my bike. I disconnected the Air Induction System. This reduces the backfire I was getting since going with those huge straight pipes. While I had it apart, I added more blue lights :

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/08/12/8u9yta9u.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/08/12/ejy2abyr.jpg

It's pretty bright. Between that and the roar of the pipes, drivers will know I'm there. It's for safety.

If they see you in their peripheral vision, will they think for a moment that you are a cop?

maybe? it's a lighter blue, though... and not flashing at all....

as long as they see me, they can think I'm Santa Clause

Very pretty Jim.

I thought the point wasn't a closer shave, but the mandatory larger jockstrap.

They were designed to work together, change one and you should change both.

I'm not up on this but I remember reading about the danger of removing any anti-reversion features in the stock exhaust, but that may be a Harley thing.

Lots of info...
It's sure looking good. :thumb:

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14...03d5ee2c2f.jpg

2006 Vw Passat 2.0 T. The T is for Turbo!

Bought this for $2500. It's got new Goodyear Eagles, navigation, moonroof, leather, satellite radio, etfuckingcetera.... Only issues are an exhaust leak and there's only one key. ... Oh, and 139,375 miles. But that's ok. The Vin starts with a W.

Left side book value is $4580, right side is $7495. Which means I could sell it for $4000 in a week if I wanted to. But I don't. I got it so I could dangle it in front of Spencers eyes.

He's 16. Needs a job to get a car. Needs a car to get a job. I remember all too well trying to Crack that loop.

So now I have a car that gets 28mpg for my trips to PA. Keeps miles off of my XK. And the boy is suddenly motivated to get his license.

I'll iron out a payment arrangement with him this weekend.... Or at least we'll discuss the concept.

I just hope I can come up this big for Ripley in 2 years. We were just going to wholesale this car. I had it detailed since that picture was taken. Its as glossy as the commander (xk) is. You can tell the owner loved it.

I'll try to get better photos in the morning light tomorrow.

first cars of first borns are first bent. $2500 is a fairly low entry price for that rite of passage, but it's so pretty, it's gonna be a shame to watch.

I wish him the very very best luck, and you too.

I'm so country. I don't mean to be. I rode my bicycle to my first job. Probably 4 miles away. Then I rode a moped. Then I used a family car.

Things are different these days. I hope Spence is very careful and I feel like he has grown up before our eyes!

Kind of has, hasn't he? I joined in 03. He was 5. At 16, he's 5'11" and wise beyond his years. I'm not terribly worried about him crashing the car. He's the cautious sort. Ripley is another story. She's already trying to get a job. Wants me to teach her to drive Now. 14. That's more how I was. I had a job at 14.... Took the vw rabbit around the block any time my mom left it unattended.... Had my license on my 16th birthday

extremely near miss with Hector on the freeway today :eek:

....and that's all I have to say about that.....

I see a couple worthy deals a month, I guess... If I were so inclined, I could probably trade my way up to a new car within a year.

There is a thing called 'curbing' though. This is when a salesman gives a customer the value the dealer is giving, closes the deal, and then offers to buy their trade on the side for slightly more than that plus the tax credit they would have gotten. He then sells the car privately for a profit. If this is done on wholesale cars only, there's no harm to anyone but the wholesaler, who is not employed by the dealer anyway, so who cares.... It's when the operation begins to take retail - able units away from the dealer that it is considered stealing.

That profit is lost to the dealer. I got my old motorcycle by buying a 99 jeep for $2k, putting $300 of repairs into it, and selling it for $4800. It just kind of happened that way though...

Here's the vdub all spiffied up:
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14...c2e1c67b83.jpg

Nice car. I'm glad he's cautious though. As a teen I don't think a turbo would have been good for me although I survived some wild rides in a '76 Chevy 3/4 ton that had almost no steering. The VW will be mechanically sound, as a cautious driver he could have it a while.

what distinguishes wholesaleable and retailable cars?

Age and mileage, mainly. Over 100k, financing options drop away, warranty as well.

They could have put this car out there, but were not planning to.

Oh, we found the exhaust leak:

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14...65b3e548d0.jpg

Just a broken collar clamp. Got it fixed for free, and changed the oil (synthetic) for $66 today, bringing the road ready total to $3k. Tax tags etc....

Drove it 100 miles after work today, and it rides like a new car. Went and picked up the kids and returned to NJ. Only used 1/4 tank doing it too. Spencer loves it. His favorite thing is the trunk lever that is also a big VW logo. Wants me to find one like it for his friend.

V-dubs are the best! I like my logo too! :)

Attachment 49121

That is pretty cool.

Look how clean it is on the underside of that car! Is that stainless steel under there?

I think it is aluminum. Heat shields and what not. But yeah, remarkably clean.

We took it out to a big empty lot on Sunday and ripped it around like a race track. Amazing how much driving skill comes through from video games. He spent the rest of the day playing Forza Rally. He already knew to brake into the apex, and accelerate out of the curves. It was fun.

This is the car, but with a moonroof and no heated seats. I didn't notice the umbrella storage. I did see that the console and glove box have air conditioning. Word.

The glove box has air conditioning...?

:eyebrow:

Per the vid:

The glove box has air conditioning.

yeah. there's these little knobs that twist to open or close in there and also in the center console. I assume they get heat in the winter as well. kind of strange. Can't really think of a benefit to go with that feature.... I'd rather have a second and third power port, but I've only found the one in the change cup

How else would you keep your Grey Poupon?

My cousin used to have a 944 with the AC in the glove compartment, and he explained that it was for when you have a nice quality chocolate bar that has gotten a little soft on a warm summer day, and you just stick it in there to firm it up.

Can't say I would use that feature much.

After a bit of thought, a pair of nice, warm gloves would feel nice on a cold day/night.

#X

It means "I won't be replying for a while". Man, this sounds like a good idea to me.

Just shut the fucking thing off, if your friends are offended because you don't reply immediately, get better friends.
The only thing hashtag x is good for is cheating on your significant other. :p:

That's also a good idea, but I doubt anyone of a certain generation will turn it off.

What is this 'off' of which you speak?

Jeem, oh, Jeem, there's something I want you to tell me:

Does this really happen?

in extreme cases, yes.

in my dealership? no.

I won't put a car out unapproved unless I'm 75% sure it will get done somehow at the payment quoted. I might need to bring them back, charge a higher rate and lower the price to offset the difference.

If a customer lies on their application, though... and the bank tried to veriffy the info and can't .....and then the customer acts the fool, yeah.... I have a tow truck company that will go hook it.

hey! That kind of happened to us when we first moved here! (Same state as the story) But they didn't steal the car back, they sucked it up when we refused to go in and sign new papers for a worse deal. Maybe we were more eloquent about who had the law on their side ;)

It depends on the state. In PA, if you sign a contract with a customer, and are unable to get it funded, the customer can make their payments as agreed to the dealer, and legally keep the car. Unless they falsified info on the credit application.

When I worked in PA, we would put people out on a dealer tag, no contract signed until we had an approval. If it went beyond a week trying to get them hung, we would call them and break the bad news. If it was a bump, we would just get then in to finish the paperwork, and lay out the options available in person. I got pretty good at it. More often than not, the people were happy that we had done so much work trying to get to the deal as quoted, and understood that it was their credit that caused the change. We often reduced the price to get as close to it as we could.. But we never took losses.

At the friendly Nissan giant, the spot delivery (that's what you call this) is a rare thing. I very very rarely have to go into a deal "under water" (that means that the actual approval I have comes to a higher payment than sales quoted)

I did the first one of those in probably 3 years last week. They sold a used maxima that had been in stock for 188 days for $3033 under what they had invested in it. Then they quoted 2.99% because the customer had 706 and 708 credit scores. They failed to notice that they also had over $8900 in monthly payments on thier bureaus, and made $160k per year (13,333 monthly which is 69% debt to income.)...

I got them 3.23%, which made them angry... But then I took $150 more off the price of the car(which is what the rate bump would cost them) , which made them happy again.... then talked them into going 72 months at 4.44% with a warranty at a lower payment. Made $1100 of the loss back, and they were happy. People with $8900 in payments are clearly payment buyers. No cash down.

I predict a bankruptcy in their future.

Jim, what comment have ye on this?

If your credit is so bad that you have to accept a cut off switch to get bought, you better make damn sure your payment is there on the due date.

It's not as though she didn't know it was in the car. Darwinism, I'm afraid. The Sins of the Father are visited upon the child. No different than her failing to put gas in the car.

Paraphrasing: "She had to call the lender from the gas station and plead for him to turn her car back on, in front of her kids. They were confused and scared. Finally, when she agreed to pay what she owed, he reactivated her car."

Sounds like it fucking works, no? All you have to do is pay your bills, Cinnamon. And yeah yeah, there are emergencies. The company allows for that. But again paraphrasing:

"Joe Gangbanger complained that he was only given one emergency code per month."

A. Emergency doesn't mean what you think it means.
B. You are apparently missing your payment every month. You are the douchebag here.

^I've missed that type of post. :)

It boils down to just that. Pay your damn bills, and ya won't have to worry about it.

FYI @ xoB,

I've long known about restrikes of coins and medals from original dies; but, this is the first time I've come across a restrike of a military badge from the original mold (rather than a reproduction from new ones) and it just happened to be of a Glider Badge in sterling silver: Scroll down to the description.

Interesting, marked silver too. The original has no markings or proof marks. GIs didn't have a choice. :haha:

A manager I've worked with for 7 years died yesterday after a months long fight.

He had previous heart issues, and was on meds, pacemaker etc.... in September, his aorta burst. He should have died then. But he didn't, and they put a new aorta into him.... he rehabbed, actually came in to work one day to visit. He looked like a dead man then. like grey-yellow, and loose. ....faded.

about a week later, he had a bad stroke, and it took him a month to finally give up and let go. He was Fred Flinstone. looked like him, talked like him, was blustery, hot headed and usually wrong.... but he was my friend. I'm glad he's not suffering anymore. I feel bad for his wife, Patty. He was old school Italian, and he handled everything his way. She's going to be lost for a time, I think.

I meet those women in my job. having to buy a car on their own for the first time... If the subject comes up, they always cry or something that makes me sad.... like if the husband is on the trade title... that's a real pain in the ass

so sad. sorry lj. :(

Sorry Jim.

Watching my FIL at the end kind of made me wonder about the whole point of modern medicine at the end of life. Doctors are trained to keep treating the patient. It's not their job to wonder if they should treat the patient. I can see treating the heart condition and putting a pacemaker in as long as he's getting some enjoyment out of life, but after blowing out an aorta and having a stroke, isn't it time to just let a man have some dignity and die in peace? I wonder if the pacemaker kept him alive when the stroke would have killed him otherwise and just prolonged the misery? Sorry. I'm probably projecting too much. I don't know a thing about your friend. But I'm sorry for your loss.

http://cellar.org/attachment.php?att...6&d=1374932532

Sam is the 3rd head from the left. Yeah, glatt, I'm sure it did keep him going when he should have slipped away from the aorta thing. He had no retirement planned, or money saved. probably best that he didn't prolong things. He had a fun life. except for that middle part there when he was a guest of the state. ;)