Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

Mr_Shiftright

ab348 said:

abacomike said:

My philosophy on the possible causes of these tragedies goes back to “MAINSTREAMING” special education students into the regular education classes without sufficient monitoring of these special education students in those placements.  I am not opposed to mainstreaming.  Federal Law requires mainstreaming special education students in all public schools - but lack of sufficient funding seriously limits the tracking and monitoring of these kids.  Social workers and school psychologists and Special Education Resource Teams are understaffed and overworked with caseloads that intrinsically doom many of these mainstreamed students to failure or anti-social behaviors which are not identified soon enough - and even when identified, no resources are available to correct the problem(s).

I don’t believe the problem is caused by the over use psychotropic drugs on these kids but rather the lack of adequate resources to properly track and monitor the children who have been mainstreamed.

That may be a part of it. Mainstreaming is also done here and it is a disaster. The kids needing the attention do not get enough of it, and they disrupt classes so that it makes learning a challenge for the other kids present, and everyone loses. It is politically incorrect to suggest it needs to go away but I'm sure many parents think that way. But whether that is the main reason for the violence I am not so sure. Things that come to mind are recreational drug use at a young age, excessively violent movies/TV/video games in popular culture, lack of teaching of moral values, you name it. A lot comes down to parenting that is sadly lacking.

No easy answers.

Statistically, Americans are no more violent or mentally ill than any other industrialized nation.

driver100

graphicguy said:

Sandy....great to hear you are on the mend. Keep us posted.

Possibility of a new and shiny job always sends me into a funk about my current job. That’s not fair to my current employer. But, as they say, money talks and BS walks. I kind of have always wanted to work for the company I’m talking to. Would be disappointed if I don’t at least get an offer after talking to them the last several weeks.


Driver....are you insinuating I should leave my Edmunds password with you? That scares me a little as I could see you and JM sharing the password and posting as me. No good would come of that.

1) Doing job interviews while employed is tricky. IMO, since the company could have a meeting to get rid of you, you have the right to look for other opportunities too. I would say though, you should try to make the time up to pay them back.

Once I went to an interview and the competing company missed that I was still employed there. When they asked about me my current employer wasn't too happy....his words..."what do I do with you now?" As it turns out they were losing money and they axed me anyway, but, by then I missed the other job. I should have ran over there and asked for an interview, but, I probably would have taken the job and missed having my own business.

2) Great idea GG, everyone send me your passwords....if we don't hear from you for awhile I will post a good bye from you!

driver100

oldfarmer50 said:

abacomike said:

When I got to my dermatologist’s office yesterday, parked right next to me was a 2018 Honda Accord EX-L in white with some very impressive looking wheels.  I think this was the first one I have seen up close since the model restyling.  That was one sharp looking sedan and I was really struck by the size of the car.  It was as big as an E Class or 5 Series - at least it appeared to be.  This is no longer the compact Accord we all grew up with - this was a standout in terms of styling and size.

I looked up the specs on the 2018 and found only 4-cylinder engines - no V6’s available.  I was surprised at that.  The 2.0 4cyl turbo develops an impressive 252 hp with 273 lb ft of torque.  That beats the E Class 4 cyl turbo by 12 hp and is 700 lbs lighter.  That Accord probably moves quickly off the line.

Definitely a super competitive edge over many high end vehicles as well as the Camry and the Sonata and the Altima.

abacomike said:

When I got to my dermatologist’s office yesterday, parked right next to me was a 2018 Honda Accord EX-L in white with some very impressive looking wheels.  I think this was the first one I have seen up close since the model restyling.  That was one sharp looking sedan and I was really struck by the size of the car.  It was as big as an E Class or 5 Series - at least it appeared to be.  This is no longer the compact Accord we all grew up with - this was a standout in terms of styling and size.

I looked up the specs on the 2018 and found only 4-cylinder engines - no V6’s available.  I was surprised at that.  The 2.0 4cyl turbo develops an impressive 252 hp with 273 lb ft of torque.  That beats the E Class 4 cyl turbo by 12 hp and is 700 lbs lighter.  That Accord probably moves quickly off the line.

Definitely a super competitive edge over many high end vehicles as well as the Camry and the Sonata and the Altima.

A guy down the road is selling a 2012 Accord with 36k miles for $10,500 asking price. Considering the supposed high resale value of these cars and that Edmunds values the lowest trim Accord at $11,300 I'm looking for an excuse to give the guy a call. Maybe driver100 can throw some cold water on the idea. Maybe it's a flood car or it's haunted.

I was going to say it was a flood car but you know me too well....you beat me to it. If it is a neighbor you get along with....it sounds like a great deal. If it is a neighbor like the one I haven't spoken to for 4 years....I would avoid it.

driver100

Mr_Shiftright said:

ab348 said:

abacomike said:

My philosophy on the possible causes of these tragedies goes back to “MAINSTREAMING” special education students into the regular education classes without sufficient monitoring of these special education students in those placements.  I am not opposed to mainstreaming.  Federal Law requires mainstreaming special education students in all public schools - but lack of sufficient funding seriously limits the tracking and monitoring of these kids.  Social workers and school psychologists and Special Education Resource Teams are understaffed and overworked with caseloads that intrinsically doom many of these mainstreamed students to failure or anti-social behaviors which are not identified soon enough - and even when identified, no resources are available to correct the problem(s).

I don’t believe the problem is caused by the over use psychotropic drugs on these kids but rather the lack of adequate resources to properly track and monitor the children who have been mainstreamed.

That may be a part of it. Mainstreaming is also done here and it is a disaster. The kids needing the attention do not get enough of it, and they disrupt classes so that it makes learning a challenge for the other kids present, and everyone loses. It is politically incorrect to suggest it needs to go away but I'm sure many parents think that way. But whether that is the main reason for the violence I am not so sure. Things that come to mind are recreational drug use at a young age, excessively violent movies/TV/video games in popular culture, lack of teaching of moral values, you name it. A lot comes down to parenting that is sadly lacking.

No easy answers.

Statistically, Americans are no more violent or mentally ill than any other industrialized nation.

A lot more school shootings though than any other nation.

bwia

A little morbid but I thought I would chime in.

Up to when I retired last December we have had a different but similar problem at the college level...suicide. Universities are inundated with troubled youth with all sorts of learning and behavioral problems. Some colleges purport to help but that is just a charade to keep their doors open.

Smaller private tuition-driven colleges accept these problem kids with the promise of a degree but unfortunately they do not have the infrastructure in place to handle this many troubled students. As a result, some drop out with large student loans or worst, commit suicide. Still, at larger public universities students fare no better. They get far less emotional support from these maga universities and as a consequence end their own lives. To tell you the truth these distressing stories and others hastened my retirement from the academy.

ab348

All I know is that there seem to be a lot of troubled youth out there. Maybe statistics tell a different story, I dunno.

driver100

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

My thoughts are this - if you can find a parent who does not care about their kid(s), it would be a rare find, indeed!

Maybe you only associate with people who do care about their kids. Or, maybe you have to have that kind of outlook to have a career in the teaching profession. Parents of bad kids, may say they care, but, they don't care enough to instill decent values and discipline their kids......or the kids wouldn't be stealing cars, joining gangs, destroying property, and harming other people.

Also you have the parents who will defend their children (let's face it kids are baby goats) no matter what. I don't know how many times I have heard a parent say something like "my child would never do something like that" or "I can't discipline him, it would destroy his creativity".

Spare the rod.

....

I have seen some of them on Hot Bench....the kid is lying and the parents back the kid up. The judges prove the kid did it....and the parents are still in denial. Unfortunately, the parent is not helping their children to become responsible people.

ab348

A sad old story. Kid gets in trouble, parents appear on TV/newspapers and in court saying what a good kid s/he is, and how they would never do such a thing. But they did.

jmonroe

explorerx4 said:

Lebaron looks like it's in great shape. It even has a cross hanging from the mirror, which you will probably need if you buy it.

Being it's a Chrysler product, I think you are right about the cross. As I understand it the cross was a standard factory supplied item but dealers were authorized to charge back to the factory the cost of replacing it with a Star of David as applicable. 

jmonroe

jmonroe

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

My thoughts are this - if you can find a parent who does not care about their kid(s), it would be a rare find, indeed!

Maybe you only associate with people who do care about their kids. Or, maybe you have to have that kind of outlook to have a career in the teaching profession. Parents of bad kids, may say they care, but, they don't care enough to instill decent values and discipline their kids......or the kids wouldn't be stealing cars, joining gangs, destroying property, and harming other people.

Also you have the parents who will defend their children (let's face it kids are baby goats) no matter what. I don't know how many times I have heard a parent say something like "my child would never do something like that" or "I can't discipline him, it would destroy his creativity".

Spare the rod.....

As we all know, children can be taught to do the right things but you have to start ASAP.

 Mrs. j watches more than her share of HGTV and it drives her up a wall when she hears parents say, prior to remodeling, "I hope you can help us because the kids have taken over the house. We just don't know what to do about it anymore". We had 2 sons and they didn't "take over" our house. They were taught from day one how to take care of everything in the house including their toys. How often have you heard parents say, "when the kids get older we'll buy better furniture"? We never looked at it like that because you never know what can happen so why should we deny ourselves the better stuff if we wanted it NOW. That was our philosophy and it worked for us.

 Don't get me wrong, our sons were not angels but they knew right from wrong and they were far from being home wreckers. Of course there were a few times I didn't think either of them would make it through the day, let alone until they were 10, but all of us worked on it.

 You just have to start and it's never too soon.  

jmonroe

driver100

jmonroe said:

explorerx4 said:

Lebaron looks like it's in great shape. It even has a cross hanging from the mirror, which you will probably need if you buy it.

Being it's a Chrysler product, I think you are right about the cross. As I understand it the cross was a standard factory supplied item but dealers were authorized to charge back to the factory the cost of replacing it with a Star of David as applicable. 

jmonroe

What did Chrysler give you if you were an agnostic.

An agnostic is really an atheist who doesn't want to take any chances, just in case there is a God.

explorerx4

Pertty easy, Chrysler gives you the Pentastar!

jmonroe

driver100 said:

jmonroe said:

explorerx4 said:

Lebaron looks like it's in great shape. It even has a cross hanging from the mirror, which you will probably need if you buy it.

Being it's a Chrysler product, I think you are right about the cross. As I understand it the cross was a standard factory supplied item but dealers were authorized to charge back to the factory the cost of replacing it with a Star of David as applicable. 

jmonroe

What did Chrysler give you if you were an agnostic.

An agnostic is really an atheist who doesn't want to take any chances, just in case there is a God.

That's almost a good question. Being that we are in the PC era, you would get a cross and a Star of David.

You thought you had me, huh?

jmonroe

driver100

Both of you get an lol from me.......good answers.

Lucky Prince Harry;
>
>
>
>
>
>
He got to....
>
>
>
>
> go for a ride in his XKE today....

Mr_Shiftright

Why is the steering wheel on his side? Or is she in the driver's seat already?

Sandman6472

Mike, one day we should meet up for a coke or something. We live quite close, our first condo was in The Township, 34th Street and Lyons Rd. We are now in Coral Springs behind the Walgreens at Wiles and 441. We live right across from the middle school on Wiles Rd. in Oakbrook. A nice family area of 4/2's and 5/3's with lots of kids. Our kids are older now but wife likes it here so we'll stay. Our oldest is moving to the Orlando area in September and hope to get to Ft. Myers sometime in 2020.
This past hospital stay, my first since 1982, has opened my eyes about living my life and not looking back. It's our time now and plan to live a nice life. Goal is to sell this house, find a nice newer home in the $300K range and bank the rest, with buying a condo around $250K as being optimal. Then want to drive around America and see what we've missed. Just need to heal first and stop falling!!!

The Sandman

abacomike

sandman_6472 said:

Mike, one day we should meet up for a coke or something. We live quite close, our first condo was in The Township, 34th Street and Lyons Rd. We are now in Coral Springs behind the Walgreens at Wiles and 441. We live right across from the middle school on Wiles Rd. in Oakbrook. A nice family area of 4/2's and 5/3's with lots of kids. Our kids are older now but wife likes it here so we'll stay. Our oldest is moving to the Orlando area in September and hope to get to Ft. Myers sometime in 2020. This past hospital stay, my first since 1982, has opened my eyes about living my life and not looking back. It's our time now and plan to live a nice life. Goal is to sell this house, find a nice newer home in the $300K range and bank the rest, with buying a condo around $250K as being optimal. Then want to drive around America and see what we've missed. Just need to heal first and stop falling!!! The Sandman

You only fail if you work too hard to succeed - working smarter rather than harder usually works better.

First get well - then set some goals - make some decisions - then follow through.  But you already know that.  Would love to meet you and your wife - get better and then we’ll make plans.  

roadburner

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

My thoughts are this - if you can find a parent who does not care about their kid(s), it would be a rare find, indeed!

Maybe you only associate with people who do care about their kids. Or, maybe you have to have that kind of outlook to have a career in the teaching profession. Parents of bad kids, may say they care, but, they don't care enough to instill decent values and discipline their kids......or the kids wouldn't be stealing cars, joining gangs, destroying property, and harming other people.

Also you have the parents who will defend their children (let's face it kids are baby goats) no matter what. I don't know how many times I have heard a parent say something like "my child would never do something like that" or "I can't discipline him, it would destroy his creativity".

Spare the rod.....

Don't I know it; my juvenile court was full of parents who defended their punk offspring to the hilt.

abacomike

Mr_Shiftright said:

Why is the steering wheel on his side? Or is she in the driver's seat already?

You are right, Shifty - that's not an XKE manufactured for British Commonweslth or Japanese markets - probably a North American or European version, IMHO.

oldfarmer50

A friend is interested in upgrading from his 2012 Mustang to this:

https://www.listingallcars.com/vdp/7462657449848076854/New-2017-Ford-Mustang-GT-Premium-for-sale-in-Hamden-CT-06514-by-Bob-Thomas-Ford

What kind of discount could he expect on a nearly 2 year old "new" car seeing that the 2018s were upgraded? I say 25%.

driver100

Hope it doesn't have any flood damage.

driver100

The silver blue Jaguar E-Type was first manufactured in 1968, but last year Jaguar Land Rover revealed it had electrified the vehicle to create what it called the E-Type Concept Zero, a zero-emissions version of what Enzo Ferrari once dubbed “the most beautiful car in the world.”

The electric model is quicker than the original E-Type—going from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour (62 miles per hour) takes just 5.5 seconds, about one second faster than a Series 1 E-Type.

License has the date of their wedding...in British order



The E-Type Zero's range of 170 miles is way more than enough to whisk the happy couple away from Windsor Castle to Frogmore House on the Windsor Estate, where Harry's father, the Prince of Wales, is hosting their wedding reception. But if it were to run out of juice, its 40kWh battery can be recharged in under 7 hours.

Want one of your own? The Daily Mail says it'll cost £350,000 (that's over $470,000 here in the States). Just don't expect a customized license plate to match the date of your wedding.

imidazol97

roadburner said:

snakeweasel said:

Also you have the parents who will defend their children (let's face it kids are baby goats) no matter what. I don't know how many times I have heard a parent say something like "my child would never do something like that" or "I can't discipline him, it would destroy his creativity".

Spare the rod.....

Don't I know it; my juvenile court was full of parents who defended their punk offspring to the hilt.

Then there's the Cincinnati juvenile judge (ex-judge) who assigned book reports and 500 hours of public service to 3 of 6 kids who beat a random victim so badly he died within a year of the injuries. Tracey Hunter...

Book reports?

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/02/13/teens-sentenced-bored-beating/5466997/

houdini1

sandman_6472 said:

Mike, one day we should meet up for a coke or something. We live quite close, our first condo was in The Township, 34th Street and Lyons Rd. We are now in Coral Springs behind the Walgreens at Wiles and 441. We live right across from the middle school on Wiles Rd. in Oakbrook. A nice family area of 4/2's and 5/3's with lots of kids. Our kids are older now but wife likes it here so we'll stay. Our oldest is moving to the Orlando area in September and hope to get to Ft. Myers sometime in 2020.
This past hospital stay, my first since 1982, has opened my eyes about living my life and not looking back. It's our time now and plan to live a nice life. Goal is to sell this house, find a nice newer home in the $300K range and bank the rest, with buying a condo around $250K as being optimal. Then want to drive around America and see what we've missed. Just need to heal first and stop falling!!!

The Sandman

Sounds like a great plan Sandy. Good to have you back and best of luck to you !!

houdini1

driver100 said:

The silver blue Jaguar E-Type was first manufactured in 1968, but last year Jaguar Land Rover revealed it had electrified the vehicle to create what it called the E-Type Concept Zero, a zero-emissions version of what Enzo Ferrari once dubbed “the most beautiful car in the world.”

The electric model is quicker than the original E-Type—going from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour (62 miles per hour) takes just 5.5 seconds, about one second faster than a Series 1 E-Type.

License has the date of their wedding...in British order



The E-Type Zero's range of 170 miles is way more than enough to whisk the happy couple away from Windsor Castle to Frogmore House on the Windsor Estate, where Harry's father, the Prince of Wales, is hosting their wedding reception. But if it were to run out of juice, its 40kWh battery can be recharged in under 7 hours.

Want one of your own? The Daily Mail says it'll cost £350,000 (that's over $470,000 here in the States). Just don't expect a customized license plate to match the date of your wedding.

I never realized that the XKE resembled the Miata so much from certain angles.

houdini1

abacomike said:

sandman_6472 said:

Mike, one day we should meet up for a coke or something. We live quite close, our first condo was in The Township, 34th Street and Lyons Rd. We are now in Coral Springs behind the Walgreens at Wiles and 441. We live right across from the middle school on Wiles Rd. in Oakbrook. A nice family area of 4/2's and 5/3's with lots of kids. Our kids are older now but wife likes it here so we'll stay. Our oldest is moving to the Orlando area in September and hope to get to Ft. Myers sometime in 2020.
This past hospital stay, my first since 1982, has opened my eyes about living my life and not looking back. It's our time now and plan to live a nice life. Goal is to sell this house, find a nice newer home in the $300K range and bank the rest, with buying a condo around $250K as being optimal. Then want to drive around America and see what we've missed. Just need to heal first and stop falling!!!

The Sandman

You only fail if you work too hard to succeed - working smarter rather than harder usually works better.

First get well - then set some goals - make some decisions - then follow through.  But you already know that.  Would love to meet you and your wife - get better and then we’ll make plans.  

Mike, I think sandy was referring to FALLING not FAILING. Sandy is too successful to have been doing much failing !

Mr_Shiftright

I may name my house Frogmore. I like the sound of that.

isellhondas

Mr_Shiftright said:

Why is the steering wheel on his side? Or is she in the driver's seat already?

Hey, I was a front seat passenger once in an old VW Beetle with RH drive. The driver tore down the freeway in Calif an scared the living bejeeses out of me! It was a total feeling that I can't describe and it's wasn't good! The next time and the LAST time was in an old Mini Cooper and that was even WORSE!

fintail

Alphabet? I don't know about that, unless Android phones or Youtube videos are somehow pushing kids over the edge. Alphabet as a bogeyman sounds like some kind of Breitbart talking point IMO - and that's probably the most dangerous media outlet in the land. What's next, blaming Amazon or the WaPo? Maybe we can get a frothing at the mouth tweet at 3am about it - Twitter - there's one that would have more of a role than Alphabet.

The endless pressure from those who participate in social media could be a factor - but it isn't hard to simply unplug from Facebook and the like. Stop visiting the sites, remove the apps, done.

Which media outlets are kosher? I see many complaints about "msm" and "for profit", what are the good ones?

imidazol97 said:

I also blame Alphabet and Facebook for their various social media systems meant for profit--the social media interaction is remote and cold and divisive, as well as being misused to shape opinions.

We had guns at school in the trucks and cars when I was in school in a farming community. People were bullied in various ways. Of course, if there were incidents in some distant school, we didn't have media all over the country covering an incident as if it were local. Our local media outlets, vying for space on Facebook, even present dramatic traffic accidents in California as if they were some local issue.

driver100

houdini1 said:

driver100 said:

The silver blue Jaguar E-Type was first manufactured in 1968, but last year Jaguar Land Rover revealed it had electrified the vehicle to create what it called the E-Type Concept Zero, a zero-emissions version of what Enzo Ferrari once dubbed “the most beautiful car in the world.”

The electric model is quicker than the original E-Type—going from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour (62 miles per hour) takes just 5.5 seconds, about one second faster than a Series 1 E-Type.

License has the date of their wedding...in British order



The E-Type Zero's range of 170 miles is way more than enough to whisk the happy couple away from Windsor Castle to Frogmore House on the Windsor Estate, where Harry's father, the Prince of Wales, is hosting their wedding reception. But if it were to run out of juice, its 40kWh battery can be recharged in under 7 hours.

Want one of your own? The Daily Mail says it'll cost £350,000 (that's over $470,000 here in the States). Just don't expect a customized license plate to match the date of your wedding.

I never realized that the XKE resembled the Miata so much from certain angles.

I think it is the Miata that resembles the XKE.

fintail

When I was a kid, we usually had a "family room", where kids and friends could play, without much fear of damaging anything valuable. The living room was for better behavior and not used on most evenings unless there were visitors. I think it worked out alright.

HGTV stuff is like propaganda for the real estate industry, hilariously bad.

jmonroe said:

 Don't get me wrong, our sons were not angels but they knew right
from wrong and they were far from being home wreckers. Of course there were a few
times I didn't think either of them would make it through the day, let alone until they were 10, but all of us worked
on it.

 You just have to start and it's never too soon.  

jmonroe

driver100

Mr_Shiftright
I may name my house Frogmore. I like the sound of that.

The British have a knack for great names. We used to go to a town near London called Leighton Buzzard. I liked going there so I could tell everyone I am going to Leighton Buzzard.

And you get names like Picadilly Circus which has nothing to do with a circus.

But Frogmore....who wants a castle called Frogmore?

jmonroe

driver100 said:

houdini1 said:

driver100 said:

The silver blue Jaguar E-Type was first manufactured in 1968, but last year Jaguar Land Rover revealed it had electrified the vehicle to create what it called the E-Type Concept Zero, a zero-emissions version of what Enzo Ferrari once dubbed “the most beautiful car in the world.”

The electric model is quicker than the original E-Type—going from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour (62 miles per hour) takes just 5.5 seconds, about one second faster than a Series 1 E-Type.

License has the date of their wedding...in British order



The E-Type Zero's range of 170 miles is way more than enough to whisk the happy couple away from Windsor Castle to Frogmore House on the Windsor Estate, where Harry's father, the Prince of Wales, is hosting their wedding reception. But if it were to run out of juice, its 40kWh battery can be recharged in under 7 hours.

Want one of your own? The Daily Mail says it'll cost £350,000 (that's over $470,000 here in the States). Just don't expect a customized license plate to match the date of your wedding.

I never realized that the XKE resembled the Miata so much from certain angles.

I think it is the Miata that resembles the XKE.

If they are that close in looks, who cares?

jmonroe

abacomike

houdini1 said:

sandman_6472 said:

Mike, one day we should meet up for a coke or something. We live quite close, our first condo was in The Township, 34th Street and Lyons Rd. We are now in Coral Springs behind the Walgreens at Wiles and 441. We live right across from the middle school on Wiles Rd. in Oakbrook. A nice family area of 4/2's and 5/3's with lots of kids. Our kids are older now but wife likes it here so we'll stay. Our oldest is moving to the Orlando area in September and hope to get to Ft. Myers sometime in 2020. This past hospital stay, my first since 1982, has opened my eyes about living my life and not looking back. It's our time now and plan to live a nice life. Goal is to sell this house, find a nice newer home in the $300K range and bank the rest, with buying a condo around $250K as being optimal. Then want to drive around America and see what we've missed. Just need to heal first and stop falling!!! The Sandman

You only fail if you work too hard to succeed - working smarter rather than harder usually works better.

First get well - then set some goals - make some decisions - then follow through.  But you already know that.  Would love to meet you and your wife - get better and then we’ll make plans.  

Mike, I think sandy was referring to FALLING not FAILING. Sandy is too successful to have been doing much failing !

Yes, I just re-read his post.  I guess the only thing failing is my eyesight - good grief.

@sandman_6472

Disregard my comments about failing - misread your post.  But you should use a cane if you are “falling”!  Get well soon.

jmonroe

abacomike said:

houdini1 said:

abacomike said:

sandman_6472 said:

Mike, one day we should meet up for a coke or something. We live quite close, our first condo was in The Township, 34th Street and Lyons Rd. We are now in Coral Springs behind the Walgreens at Wiles and 441. We live right across from the middle school on Wiles Rd. in Oakbrook. A nice family area of 4/2's and 5/3's with lots of kids. Our kids are older now but wife likes it here so we'll stay. Our oldest is moving to the Orlando area in September and hope to get to Ft. Myers sometime in 2020.
This past hospital stay, my first since 1982, has opened my eyes about living my life and not looking back. It's our time now and plan to live a nice life. Goal is to sell this house, find a nice newer home in the $300K range and bank the rest, with buying a condo around $250K as being optimal. Then want to drive around America and see what we've missed. Just need to heal first and stop falling!!!

The Sandman

You only fail if you work too hard to succeed - working smarter rather than harder usually works better.

First get well - then set some goals - make some decisions - then follow through.  But you already know that.  Would love to meet you and your wife - get better and then we’ll make plans.  

Mike, I think sandy was referring to FALLING not FAILING. Sandy is too successful to have been doing much failing !

Yes, I just re-read his post.  I guess the only thing failing is my eyesight - good grief.

@sandman_6472

Disregard my comments about failing - misread your post.  But you should use a cane if you are “falling”!  Get well soon.

Too late, I already suggested a cane but it was for defensive purposes.

jmonroe

abacomike

My subsequent comments are in no way intended to belittle the tragedies being experienced by those unfortunate US citizens who reside on the Big Island of Hawaii.  May God help those affected by the eruption(s) of Kilauea. 

i was thinking about this volcanic eruption in a different, If not weird, way.

As a consequence of that eruption and the ensuing lava flows, the State of Hawaii and the United States are increasing in area every day - the same way the Islands were created thousands and thousands of years ago.  At last report, the lava flows are sliding into the Pacific Ocean and, if this continues for several weeks/months/years, it could eventually cause a real estate boom on the Big Island once everything cools down - which could be many years.

Obviously, the increased acreage will be owned by the State of Hawaii.  Too bad volcanoes can’t take the place of countries that are imperialistic - forever seeking more territory to influence.  

But, the eruption on Hawaii only proves once again that there are no perfect places to live on our planet - San Diego is close, but still not perfect.

berri

HGTV stuff is like propaganda for the real estate industry, hilariously bad

One of my favorite lines is "the house is under budget leaving us money for renovations". Hmm, unless you are paying cash, I'm not aware of financial institutions that will loan you mortgage money above selling price. At best you might get a secondary loan (at a noticeably higher rate) if you've put a large payment down. Or how about asking the real estate agent to see what they can negotiate for me? Let's see, they work on commission (usually for the seller). Smart move on the buyers part

abacomike

Just got Prom pics of my grandson and his “friend” from Saturday evening.  I’d post them but I do not have permission from his “friend” to post her image.  

The reason I quoted FRIEND is because he made it clear they were going to the Prom together as “friends only!”  This is the young man who told me he isn’t interested in having a girlfriend because girls are a distraction from his mission and goal of getting a college education and being drafted by the majors as a pitcher.  He said he has plenty of time to get into a relationship, but now is not the time.

From the mouths of babes!  

berri

Of course aba - might be code for myob

abacomike

berri said:

Of course aba - might be code for myob

Nah, not from him - he’s an honest and direct kid.  If he wanted to tell me “it’s none of your business, Gramps”, he would tell me directly.  She is cute and comes up to his shoulder, so she is obviously 5’8” or a bit taller since his is 6’4”.  He graduates June 3rd.

The pictures were taken in my son’s backyard with the golf course in the background and the mountains as a backdrop.  I forgot how beautiful the Coachella Valley is (Palm Springs area) of California.

berri

I admire that.

I always got a kick out of those misters on the outside doors of shops in downtown Palm Springs. I'm thinking, why add humidity?

cdnpinhead

In dry climates the misters provide evaporative cooling. Once the humidity gets above 40 or 50% they're not of much use, but in May and June the hellhole desert locations (like Phoenix, where I exist) have very low humidity and these things work pretty well.

sda

berri said:

HGTV stuff is like propaganda for the real estate industry, hilariously bad

One of my favorite lines is "the house is under budget leaving us money for renovations". Hmm, unless you are paying cash, I'm not aware of financial institutions that will loan you mortgage money above selling price. At best you might get a secondary loan (at a noticeably higher rate) if you've put a large payment down. Or how about asking the real estate agent to see what they can negotiate for me? Let's see, they work on commission (usually for the seller). Smart move on the buyers part

I've always thought the same. You just financed $xx. Where/how are you going to get the additional funds for the improvements?

suydam

I seem to remember, way back, getting $20k added to the initial mortgage to finish the basement. Is that not a thing? This was over 25 years ago, so my memory may be faulty!

ab348

fintail said:

HGTV stuff is like propaganda for the real estate industry, hilariously bad.

Tough to disagree, though apparently there is a market for that stuff.

I just watched the last of 13 hour-long episodes of Bryan Inc. on the Canadian version of HGTV. It followed the adventures of Bryan Baeumler, a Canadian contractor and TV personality along with his wife Sarah, a wannabe designer. He started as a hands-on guy and grew his company aggressively so that now he, his wife and 4 kids live in a new palatial home and he has several things on the go in the TV world. I don't know if that spills over into the US market or not.

This series goes behind the scenes into their family life as well as following them on a couple of big projects. One of them was a planned reno of a '60s rambler in a Toronto suburb that was originally intended as a $350K refit that turned into a $800K teardown due to unexpected issues. The finished product was magazine-spectacular, with a master suite bigger than my whole main floor and everything else equally posh. It listed at $2 million and they said it sold for more than that. I cannot imagine living in something like that but I'm not a entertainer or a tycoon. Must be more of them around than I realize.

abacomike

berri said:

I admire that. I always got a kick out of those misters on the outside doors of shops in downtown Palm Springs. I'm thinking, why add humidity?

I remember my first trip out to Palm Springs for my initial interview and I stopped at a Mexican restaurant called Las Casuellas.  I sat outside and they had the misters going - it was 100+ outdoors with 20% humidity.  But that cool mist made it more than tolerable.

You haven’t lived until you experience SWAMP COOLERS.  In the school I ran, most areas had swamp coolers instead of A/C.  They are merely blowers that circulate cool air by extracting the air through cold water screens.  Could only use them when it was very dry but hot.  Much cheaper to run than air conditioning - but swamp coolers only work with bone dry arid desert air.

fintail

A huge market. Even my mom, who lives in an area where housing has remained reasonable (maybe doubling in 25 years), loves renovation and flipping shows - which is funny, as she has little interest in renovating her own house. When I visit, I just say "guess what channel we're not watching while I'm here?"

I wonder if Toronto is a dumping ground for dirty laundered offshore money like Vancouver and Seattle.

ab348 said:

Tough to disagree, though apparently there is a market for that stuff.

I just watched the last of 13 hour-long episodes of Bryan Inc. on the Canadian version of HGTV. It followed the adventures of Bryan Baeumler, a Canadian contractor and TV personality along with his wife Sarah, a wannabe designer. He started as a hands-on guy and grew his company aggressively so that now he, his wife and 4 kids live in a new palatial home and he has several things on the go in the TV world. I don't know if that spills over into the US market or not.

This series goes behind the scenes into their family life as well as following them on a couple of big projects. One of them was a planned reno of a '60s rambler in a Toronto suburb that was originally intended as a $350K refit that turned into a $800K teardown due to unexpected issues. The finished product was magazine-spectacular, with a master suite bigger than my whole main floor and everything else equally posh. It listed at $2 million and they said it sold for more than that. I cannot imagine living in something like that but I'm not a entertainer or a tycoon. Must be more of them around than I realize.

bwia

Hmm, I didn't realize my Samsumg tablet has a night mode. Pretty cool and from now on no more eye strain. Isn't technoloy great?

abacomike

fintail said:

A huge market. Even my mom, who lives in an area where housing has remained reasonable (maybe doubling in 25 years), loves renovation and flipping shows - which is funny, as she has little interest in renovating her own house. When I visit, I just say "guess what channel we're not watching while I'm here?" I wonder if Toronto is a dumping ground for dirty laundered offshore money like Vancouver and Seattle.

Tough to disagree, though apparently there is a market for that stuff. I just watched the last of 13 hour-long episodes of Bryan Inc. on the Canadian version of HGTV. It followed the adventures of Bryan Baeumler, a Canadian contractor and TV personality along with his wife Sarah, a wannabe designer. He started as a hands-on guy and grew his company aggressively so that now he, his wife and 4 kids live in a new palatial home and he has several things on the go in the TV world. I don't know if that spills over into the US market or not. This series goes behind the scenes into their family life as well as following them on a couple of big projects. One of them was a planned reno of a '60s rambler in a Toronto suburb that was originally intended as a $350K refit that turned into a $800K teardown due to unexpected issues. The finished product was magazine-spectacular, with a master suite bigger than my whole main floor and everything else equally posh. It listed at $2 million and they said it sold for more than that. I cannot imagine living in something like that but I'm not a entertainer or a tycoon. Must be more of them around than I realize.

Don’t forget Miami.  There’s more European and Arab Oil money invested along North Miami Beach and the developed islands in south Biscayne Bay like Palm Island, Hibiscus Island and Star Island - not to mention the penthouses in those high rise condos all along Dade and Broward and Palm Beach Counties that are worth 30-50 million dollars.  They just sold Al Capone’s renovated estate on Palm Island for millions.

abacomike

Was watching the weather on the late night news - we had 5.6 inches of rain here in Coconut Creek today with another 4 inches expected overnight and early tomorrow morning.  We’ve had 15+ inches of rain since last Tuesday.  We are drenched with flood advisories throughout the county.  Enough!