Random Thoughts - Part III The Search for Spark (No Politics)

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by Spuds

So we had some fun working on my mom's car this afternoon. Started as an oil change that my now retired dad and I had to convince my mom we could do better than the local Walmart. The car desperately needed a tire rotation and brake fluid. Some of my favorite quotes. "Why the hell are the wheels off my car?" "I've had this car for seven years and I've never had to have the brake fluid changed!" and "No, that's the filter you can see through, the black stuff behind it is the brake fluid."

/Sigh my parents are... Vanilla.

lol.

My dad used to be a diesel mechanic so he always taught me an oil change is an opportunity to inspect. I’ve caught a lot of things that way. I don’t think I could stand to have someone else do it.

[spike021]

Originally Posted by Spuds

So we had some fun working on my mom's car this afternoon. Started as an oil change that my now retired dad and I had to convince my mom we could do better than the local Walmart. The car desperately needed a tire rotation and brake fluid. Some of my favorite quotes. "Why the hell are the wheels off my car?" "I've had this car for seven years and I've never had to have the brake fluid changed!" and "No, that's the filter you can see through, the black stuff behind it is the brake fluid."

/Sigh my parents are... Vanilla.

my brother is similar… he’s had the same tires on his Ford Fusion since like 2016ish and the tread is super low.

yet when i saw him last week he was like eh they still work, i’ll wait for now.

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by spike021

my brother is similar… he’s had the same tires on his Ford Fusion since like 2016ish and the tread is super low.

yet when i saw him last week he was like eh they still work, i’ll wait for now.

I have a younger brother that had a 1961 Corvair. He had it out in the barnyard when he said that the car was making a lot of noise coming from the rear of the car. So, I asked him to take me for a ride, maybe I could figure it out. We no more than got up on the road and I yelled for him to STOP!

I jumped out and discovered that ALL of the lug nuts on the right rear wheel were lose! Yes, a CORVAIR - unstable at best. He had just rotated the tires and forgot to tighten down that wheel.

Yes, he is still alive and driving - at 78 years old -

[Stephen W.]

"CORVAIR - unstable at best." Really.?
1961's were not as good as 1965 - 1969 for sure but Nader didn't know what he was talking about. In fact, in 1972 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released the results of a two-year study that concluded that Chevrolet’s 1960-63 Corvair models were at least as safe as comparable models of similar cars sold during the same period. The report put to rest all the misinformation and trumped up charges lodged by Ralph Nader.

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by Stephen W.

"CORVAIR - unstable at best." Really.?
1961's were not as good as 1965 - 1969 for sure but Nader didn't know what he was talking about. In fact, in 1972 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released the results of a two-year study that concluded that Chevrolet’s 1960-63 Corvair models were at least as safe as comparable models of similar cars sold during the same period. The report put to rest all the misinformation and trumped up charges lodged by Ralph Nader.

And as a reference....

[Stephen W.]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

And as a reference....

And further to the above is this good read. It's well worth reading as it gives both sides with a better understanding of what really was going on.
The end of the Corvair happened long before Nader's book hit the stores and what is mentioned in this article doesn't scratch the surface of the list of reasons. But, that's a story in its self.

[ichitaka05]

Looking into getting CC for both me & my wife. We have Amex Delta Platinum card for main use (& local bank CC without point benefit), but often not a lot of store or restaurant accept Amex. So thinking of getting Visa to pay for places that doesn’t accept Amex, pay gas & maybe kiddo’s pre-school fees.

I was looking at 2 CC. US Bank Altitude Connect and Chase Sapphire Preferred. My main goal for ROI is to able to use the points to get free hotels in Japan or other vacation. Don’t care for flight cuz I’ll be flying Delta. My wife didn’t want Capital One Venture due to its Mastercard. I don’t see any problem w it… but gotta take wife’s opinion as well.

Anyone got either cards & what’s the hotel options & other options that I can use? I try to access their travel portal, but need to be a member to access it.

[Sapphireho]

Originally Posted by ichitaka05

Looking into getting CC for both me & my wife.

My wife and I have 3 credit cards used for different things based on cash back %.

Card number 1 is Amazon prime Visa. This card is 5% cash back on Amazon purchases. We use it only for this.

Card number 2 is Costco Visa. It has 4% cash back on gas (and ev charging), 3% back on restaurants and travel, and 2% back on Costco purchases. It is used only for these.

Card 3 is Capital One Mastercard. It is 2.5% cash back on all purchases. This is used for everything else.

We use credit cards vs debit cards for saftey. With debit, if you are hacked, they have your money, and takes time and difficulty to get it back. They hack a credit card and they have the banks money.

I've never had a card with miles because wife won't fly. All cards are annual fee free, and I pay them in full every month. I've never paid any of them a dime of interest. If you run balances, any reward is meaningless.

Edit: Amazon and Costco cards are both Chase.

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by Sapphireho

My wife and I have 3 credit cards used for different things ...........

Does Clem still take an IOU?

[blsfrs]

Bad time of year to sell a sports car.

https://carsandbids.com/auctions/3LG...014-scion-fr-s

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by blsfrs

Bad time of year to sell a sports car.

I don't know, seems to be getting a fair price for a 10-year-old $25,000 car with over 128,000 miles on it, even with the mods.

[Sapphireho]

Originally Posted by humfrz

Does Clem still take an IOU?

No, but he does take chickens.

[weederr33]

Today I was trying to renew my VA card online. At one point it asked me to upload a "professional-looking" selfie. I then came to the realization that 1. I do not have very many selfies. And 2. the selfies I do have, are not very professional looking. I guess I'll just go to the VA in person and renew the card. -___-

[Sapphireho]

I love the NFL playoffs. I'm sitting in my recliner, just finishing the largest Poke bowl ever. I've got a cold PBR. Nice Saturday.