Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations

tjc78 · July 2020

stickguy said:
speaking of outside, went to dinner tonight for the first time since March in NJ. outside of course, but the place had big tents set up over all the outside tables. And the warmth does not bother me. Local brewery/restaurant that we like to frequent. Just nice to be waited on and not have to bring the food home in Styrofoam.

We did earlier in the week too, it really was nice.

oldfarmer50 · July 2020

tjc78 said:
I always get a moonroof, but really don’t use it much in the summer. If it’s above 75 AC is on.

I do like using it when it’s cool out.

I always liked the idea of a sun roof even though I never had one in any car I’ve owned. When it finally came down to it I bought a convertible instead. A sunroof could be handy when it’s too hot or cold for the top down.

houdini1 · July 2020

oldfarmer50 said:
These stories feed my paranoia.

I was watching a video from SuperSpeederRob who rents exotic cars. He was ranting that some of his competitors use some sort of odometer blocker to keep mileage from recording on the cars. Then when they sell them they defraud the buyer with altered mileage.

I wonder how common this is on every day cars. Say someone installs one of these on their TLX so that at trade in time they get more money? Potentially you could have a lot of miled up cars being sold everywhere. How would you know?

https://mileagestopper.com/en/

Wow farmer, you mean to tell me you don't already have one of these !

imidazol97 · July 2020

abacomike said:

I am assuming you live in the dark and use the Braille method to move from room to room - kind of "feel your way around"! 🤪🤓😜

The actual bill is $64, and that's after an increase in the transmission rate charge on the bill which likely added $2. All electric home.

I've always been conserving of energy. LED and fluorescents in most spots except where the broad color band quality of incandescents is better. We use stovetop for cooking, but not as much as a family might use it; microwaving a lot. AC is set at 73.

I do have 3 LEDs as outside lights on front of the house that turn on before dusk and off after dawn with a tiny timer in the light switch. So they consume all night, every night. And my wife often has the TV on because she wakes up with her back pain and now frozen shoulder pain, turns on TV softly, and goes back to sleep leaving it on.

driver100 · July 2020

Hmmmm....Mileage Blocker;
Important information!

If the mileage filter is not activated, the diagnostic equipment (Including the equipment used by the dealerships) not able to detect it.

The use of this device is intended only for research purposes, outside of public roads, and it allows testing on vehicles on dynamometer stands or in laboratory conditions.

Well, your Carfax may look different, and when you take the car in for service they may wonder why some items are wearing out early.....etc.

Oldfarmer, were you looking into these "for a friend" who was asking?

driver100 · July 2020

Thanks guys for getting Netflix back. I tried unhooking the router a few times....but turning the TV off and on is what seemed to work.

snakeweasel · July 2020

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

stickguy said:
At least drinking at home is cheaper than drinking out!
It's also safer as you dont have to drive home.
If Mrs Stick doesn't mind his drinking

My guess is that to be married to stick guy requires some drinking.

snakeweasel · July 2020

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

ab348 said:

jmonroe1 said:

It’s hard to believe that even young people would think like that. We were all young at one time and when we think back to some of the things we did back then we shudder.
The expression "clueless youth" didn't just pop up out of thin air.
We didn't know back then the brain doesn't get completely formed until late 20s. Especially the part that relates to danger and doing things beyond your control. Maybe applies to young people and some older ones who drive faster than they should
From an evolutionary perspective there is some group benefit from young people being risk takers. If young Johnny eats that unfamiliar fruit he might die or he might discover a new food source for the tribe. If no one takes the risk then no one may survive.

Have you ever looked at a food and wondered who was the first person to eat it and why?

snakeweasel · July 2020

suydam said:
Because even in the original story no evidence was provided. Which CNN and other media finally realized.

Since when has lack of evidence stopped a media outlet?

snakeweasel · July 2020

kyfdx said:

stickguy said:
my theory with the moonroof, pano or otherwise, is if it is below 90, or cloudy, the roof should be open. so the idea of tinting it (or worrying about the shade) makes no sense to me!
While parked outside?

Yes, when it rains you get an interior cleaning.

snakeweasel · July 2020

oldfarmer50 said:

tjc78 said:
I always get a moonroof, but really don’t use it much in the summer. If it’s above 75 AC is on.

I do like using it when it’s cool out.
I always liked the idea of a sun roof even though I never had one in any car I’ve owned. When it finally came down to it I bought a convertible instead. A sunroof could be handy when it’s too hot or cold for the top down.

Wait, What? it can be too hot to put the top down?

graphicguy · July 2020

snakeweasel said:

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

ab348 said:

jmonroe1 said:

It’s hard to believe that even young people would think like that. We were all young at one time and when we think back to some of the things we did back then we shudder.
The expression "clueless youth" didn't just pop up out of thin air.
We didn't know back then the brain doesn't get completely formed until late 20s. Especially the part that relates to danger and doing things beyond your control. Maybe applies to young people and some older ones who drive faster than they should
From an evolutionary perspective there is some group benefit from young people being risk takers. If young Johnny eats that unfamiliar fruit he might die or he might discover a new food source for the tribe. If no one takes the risk then no one may survive.
Have you ever looked at a food and wondered who was the first person to eat it and why?

All the time......

Who originally thought snails, clams, squid, mushrooms, broccoli, animal brains/eyeballs, insects, etc would make for a fine meal? But, I guess if you're Mr or Mrs Caveman/Cavewoman and you're starving, you might be willing to try anything. There had to be some fatalities with some of the things they ingested, though.

abacomike · July 2020

graphicguy said:

snakeweasel said:

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

ab348 said:

jmonroe1 said:

It’s hard to believe that even young people would think like that. We were all young at one time and when we think back to some of the things we did back then we shudder.
The expression "clueless youth" didn't just pop up out of thin air.
We didn't know back then the brain doesn't get completely formed until late 20s. Especially the part that relates to danger and doing things beyond your control. Maybe applies to young people and some older ones who drive faster than they should
From an evolutionary perspective there is some group benefit from young people being risk takers. If young Johnny eats that unfamiliar fruit he might die or he might discover a new food source for the tribe. If no one takes the risk then no one may survive.
Have you ever looked at a food and wondered who was the first person to eat it and why?
All the time......

Who originally thought snails, clams, squid, mushrooms, broccoli, animal brains/eyeballs, insects, etc would make for a fine meal? But, I guess if you're Mr or Mrs Caveman/Cavewoman and you're starving, you might be willing to try anything. There had to be some fatalities with some of the things they ingested, though.

Don't forget testicles from bulls - supposedly a delicacy. I cannot imagine who was first to prepare and eat them - ugh!🤓

qbrozen · July 2020

yes, me and my youngest often discuss "who the heck thought to first eat/drink this?" Especially odd things that take some prepping. Take, for instance, coffee. Someone at sometime found a coffee plant and ate the bean and thought "OH THIS IS TERRIBLE." But then some genius said "wait a sec, it is terrible now, but what if we roast it, crush it up, and pass hot water through it?" Obviously, it wasn't one step to the next. They found it was terrible, tried something else, found that terrible, and on and on. I would think most people would immediately think "this sucks. end of story. find something else."

abacomike · July 2020

When I got into my car at 11:00 AM the car was significantly cooler than yesterday. Temperature was 92 degrees. I even slid the sunscreen back and drove with both glass roofs exposed with no significant heat emanating from those glass roofs. So the investment was a good one! 🤓

oldfarmer50 · July 2020

driver100 said:
Hmmmm....Mileage Blocker;
Important information!

If the mileage filter is not activated, the diagnostic equipment (Including the equipment used by the dealerships) not able to detect it.

The use of this device is intended only for research purposes, outside of public roads, and it allows testing on vehicles on dynamometer stands or in laboratory conditions.

Well, your Carfax may look different, and when you take the car in for service they may wonder why some items are wearing out early.....etc.

Oldfarmer, were you looking into these "for a friend" who was asking?

No, I’m worried that outfits like that could be causing the fraudulent adulteration of mileage on thousands of cars. I wonder why the government would allow them to be sold. Despite what the manufacturers say, there could only be one purpose for such a device...fraud.

oldfarmer50 · July 2020

snakeweasel said:

oldfarmer50 said:

tjc78 said:
I always get a moonroof, but really don’t use it much in the summer. If it’s above 75 AC is on.

I do like using it when it’s cool out.
I always liked the idea of a sun roof even though I never had one in any car I’ve owned. When it finally came down to it I bought a convertible instead. A sunroof could be handy when it’s too hot or cold for the top down.
Wait, What? it can be too hot to put the top down?

Don’t tell me you think it’s fun to drive your convertible around in 90+ degree weather? My comfort zone is 70-85 degrees.

oldfarmer50 · July 2020

abacomike said:

graphicguy said:

snakeweasel said:

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

ab348 said:

jmonroe1 said:

It’s hard to believe that even young people would think like that. We were all young at one time and when we think back to some of the things we did back then we shudder.
The expression "clueless youth" didn't just pop up out of thin air.
We didn't know back then the brain doesn't get completely formed until late 20s. Especially the part that relates to danger and doing things beyond your control. Maybe applies to young people and some older ones who drive faster than they should
From an evolutionary perspective there is some group benefit from young people being risk takers. If young Johnny eats that unfamiliar fruit he might die or he might discover a new food source for the tribe. If no one takes the risk then no one may survive.
Have you ever looked at a food and wondered who was the first person to eat it and why?
All the time......

Who originally thought snails, clams, squid, mushrooms, broccoli, animal brains/eyeballs, insects, etc would make for a fine meal? But, I guess if you're Mr or Mrs Caveman/Cavewoman and you're starving, you might be willing to try anything. There had to be some fatalities with some of the things they ingested, though.
Don't forget testicles from bulls - supposedly a delicacy. I cannot imagine who was first to prepare and eat them - ugh!🤓

Those were probably the Tide pods of their time.

stickguy · July 2020

baking in the nice warm sun, getting those nutrients, glorious.

driver100 · July 2020

snakeweasel said:

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

ab348 said:

jmonroe1 said:

It’s hard to believe that even young people would think like that. We were all young at one time and when we think back to some of the things we did back then we shudder.
The expression "clueless youth" didn't just pop up out of thin air.
We didn't know back then the brain doesn't get completely formed until late 20s. Especially the part that relates to danger and doing things beyond your control. Maybe applies to young people and some older ones who drive faster than they should
From an evolutionary perspective there is some group benefit from young people being risk takers. If young Johnny eats that unfamiliar fruit he might die or he might discover a new food source for the tribe. If no one takes the risk then no one may survive.
Have you ever looked at a food and wondered who was the first person to eat it and why?

Like tongue. Or putting pineapple on a pizza!

houdini1 · July 2020

snakeweasel said:

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

ab348 said:

jmonroe1 said:

It’s hard to believe that even young people would think like that. We were all young at one time and when we think back to some of the things we did back then we shudder.
The expression "clueless youth" didn't just pop up out of thin air.
We didn't know back then the brain doesn't get completely formed until late 20s. Especially the part that relates to danger and doing things beyond your control. Maybe applies to young people and some older ones who drive faster than they should
From an evolutionary perspective there is some group benefit from young people being risk takers. If young Johnny eats that unfamiliar fruit he might die or he might discover a new food source for the tribe. If no one takes the risk then no one may survive.
Have you ever looked at a food and wondered who was the first person to eat it and why?

Cows milk? Caviar?

omarman · July 2020

Apples?

imidazol97 · July 2020

abacomike said:
Don't forget testicles from bulls - supposedly a delicacy. I cannot imagine who was first to prepare and eat them - ugh!🤓

Growing up on a farm in the 50s and 60s, my parents, dad especially, like eating brains from beef animals. Ugh.
Fried brains. Like eating oysters would be in my mind.

driver100 · July 2020

imidazol97 said:

abacomike said:
Don't forget testicles from bulls - supposedly a delicacy. I cannot imagine who was first to prepare and eat them - ugh!🤓
Growing up on a farm in the 50s and 60s, my parents, dad especially, like eating brains from beef animals. Ugh.

My fear is what if you become what you eat

kyfdx · July 2020

abacomike said:

graphicguy said:

snakeweasel said:

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

ab348 said:

jmonroe1 said:

It’s hard to believe that even young people would think like that. We were all young at one time and when we think back to some of the things we did back then we shudder.
The expression "clueless youth" didn't just pop up out of thin air.
We didn't know back then the brain doesn't get completely formed until late 20s. Especially the part that relates to danger and doing things beyond your control. Maybe applies to young people and some older ones who drive faster than they should
From an evolutionary perspective there is some group benefit from young people being risk takers. If young Johnny eats that unfamiliar fruit he might die or he might discover a new food source for the tribe. If no one takes the risk then no one may survive.
Have you ever looked at a food and wondered who was the first person to eat it and why?
All the time......

Who originally thought snails, clams, squid, mushrooms, broccoli, animal brains/eyeballs, insects, etc would make for a fine meal? But, I guess if you're Mr or Mrs Caveman/Cavewoman and you're starving, you might be willing to try anything. There had to be some fatalities with some of the things they ingested, though.
Don't forget testicles from bulls - supposedly a delicacy. I cannot imagine who was first to prepare and eat them - ugh!🤓

Actually, they are great... lamb are the best, though.

jmonroe1 · July 2020

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:
Hmmmm....Mileage Blocker;
Important information!

If the mileage filter is not activated, the diagnostic equipment (Including the equipment used by the dealerships) not able to detect it.

The use of this device is intended only for research purposes, outside of public roads, and it allows testing on vehicles on dynamometer stands or in laboratory conditions.

Well, your Carfax may look different, and when you take the car in for service they may wonder why some items are wearing out early.....etc.

Oldfarmer, were you looking into these "for a friend" who was asking?
No, I’m worried that outfits like that could be causing the fraudulent adulteration of mileage on thousands of cars. I wonder why the government would allow them to be sold. Despite what the manufacturers say, there could only be one purpose for such a device...fraud.

My ‘75 Grand Prix was the first car I owned that had a catalytic converter. That caused unwanted constipation for the 400 CID V8 to the point I had to do something. So, I removed the plug on the bottom of it and drained a full gallon of the constipating pellets from it. It ran so much better after that minor surgery. Took less time than doing an oil change.

Fast forward to when I bought my ‘80 Park Ave. That car had the 350 CID V8 and because it was a smaller engine with the same size catalytic converter the performance was even more noticeable. When I climbed under the car to remove the plug, I got a surprise. GM no longer provided a drain plug. They now had a pressed in plug. Rather than chisel it out and having to go to a dealer for a new pressed in plug, if they even made such a thing, I looked in the J.C. Whitney catalog and found a “catalytic converter eliminator pipe”. It fit perfectly and I no longer had a constipation problem with that car either. In fact, because the entire catalytic converter was removed, the performance increase was even more noticeable than just removing the constipating pellets like I did on my Grand Prix.

A little more fast forward (maybe 2 years). A friend at work came to me with a new copy of the J.C. Whitney catalog. They no longer called it a “catalytic converter eliminator pipe”. Now, because it circumvented a pollution system device, it was renamed a “catalytic converter test pipe”. The instructions said that if you suspected that your catalytic converter was clogged, you should remove it, install the “test pipe” and if your car ran better, you found the problem. So you were then instructed to remove the “test pipe” and get a new catalytic converter because it was illegal to leave the “test pipe” permanently installed. Yeah right, I’m sure everyone followed the newish government law and did that.

jmonroe

driver100 · July 2020

Glad you got your constipation problems under control

imidazol97 · July 2020

Does anyone have recommendations on a cleaner for wood floors like a carpet cleaner is for
carpets?

I've looked at the Bissell and Hoover sites. Bissell has a carpet cleaner and hard floor cleaner in one.
I think they offer another that's hard floor with steam as an option.

The house our son and daughter-in-law just moved into has an acre of "wood" flooring that's
actually the vinyl product. Looks great. But the previous owners didn't keep it very clean and
it's hard to use a web mop or Swiffer.

They have a carpet cleaner for the carpets in the other 3 bedrooms and office.

jmonroe1 · July 2020

abacomike said:

graphicguy said:

snakeweasel said:

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

ab348 said:

jmonroe1 said:

It’s hard to believe that even young people would think like that. We were all young at one time and when we think back to some of the things we did back then we shudder.
The expression "clueless youth" didn't just pop up out of thin air.
We didn't know back then the brain doesn't get completely formed until late 20s. Especially the part that relates to danger and doing things beyond your control. Maybe applies to young people and some older ones who drive faster than they should
From an evolutionary perspective there is some group benefit from young people being risk takers. If young Johnny eats that unfamiliar fruit he might die or he might discover a new food source for the tribe. If no one takes the risk then no one may survive.
Have you ever looked at a food and wondered who was the first person to eat it and why?
All the time......

Who originally thought snails, clams, squid, mushrooms, broccoli, animal brains/eyeballs, insects, etc would make for a fine meal? But, I guess if you're Mr or Mrs Caveman/Cavewoman and you're starving, you might be willing to try anything. There had to be some fatalities with some of the things they ingested, though.
Don't forget testicles from bulls - supposedly a delicacy. I cannot imagine who was first to prepare and eat them - ugh!🤓

Well, when you’re in the mountains and want oysters, I guess you gotta think outta the box. All I can say is that dude had to be loaded.

jmonroe

snakeweasel · July 2020

qbrozen said:
yes, me and my youngest often discuss "who the heck thought to first eat/drink this?" Especially odd things that take some prepping. Take, for instance, coffee. Someone at sometime found a coffee plant and ate the bean and thought "OH THIS IS TERRIBLE." But then some genius said "wait a sec, it is terrible now, but what if we roast it, crush it up, and pass hot water through it?" Obviously, it wasn't one step to the next. They found it was terrible, tried something else, found that terrible, and on and on. I would think most people would immediately think "this sucks. end of story. find something else."

Just remember that there is nothing so bad that someone somewhere wont like it. Hence the reason they still make Malort.

snakeweasel · July 2020

oldfarmer50 said:

snakeweasel said:

oldfarmer50 said:

tjc78 said:
I always get a moonroof, but really don’t use it much in the summer. If it’s above 75 AC is on.

I do like using it when it’s cool out.
I always liked the idea of a sun roof even though I never had one in any car I’ve owned. When it finally came down to it I bought a convertible instead. A sunroof could be handy when it’s too hot or cold for the top down.
Wait, What? it can be too hot to put the top down?
Don’t tell me you think it’s fun to drive your convertible around in 90+ degree weather? My comfort zone is 70-85 degrees.

I've had the top down in triple digit temps with no complaints.

ronsteve · July 2020

imidazol97 said:

abacomike said:
Don't forget testicles from bulls - supposedly a delicacy. I cannot imagine who was first to prepare and eat them - ugh!🤓
Growing up on a farm in the 50s and 60s, my parents, dad especially, like eating brains from beef animals. Ugh.
Fried brains. Like eating oysters would be in my mind.

Apparently eating squirrel brains is a good way to get mad cow disease, even though we have kept it out of the beef supply in the States. Between that and any of the COVID theories, something to think about with some of these "delicacies."

driver100 · July 2020

I have to say, I have never ever had a single urge at any time in my entire lifetime to eat squirrel brains.

snakeweasel · July 2020

driver100 said:
I have to say, I have never ever had a single urge at any time in my entire lifetime to eat squirrel brains.

Well it's good to know you're not a squirrel zombie.

fintail · July 2020

That brings up a memory from a long time ago. I recall when I was maybe 5 years old, my dad had my mom's gigantic mid 70s Thunderbird parked across the driveway, hood up. A pile of parts was sitting beside it, and asked what he was going - he said something along the line of "making it run better". I wonder what primitive emissions equipment he removed, but the car was on the road for a few years after that (my mom loved the car), so it mustn't have hurt anything.

jmonroe1 said:

My ‘75 Grand Prix was the first car I owned that had a catalytic converter. That caused unwanted constipation for the 400 CID V8 to the point I had to do something. So, I removed the plug on the bottom of it and drained a full gallon of the constipating pellets from it. It ran so much better after that minor surgery. Took less time than doing an oil change.
suspected that your catalytic converter was clogged, you should remove it, install the “test pipe” and if your car ran better, you found the problem. So you were then instructed to remove the “test pipe” and get a new catalytic converter because it was illegal to leave the “test pipe” permanently installed. Yeah right, I’m sure everyone followed the newish government law and did that.

jmonroe

oldfarmer50 · July 2020

imidazol97 said:

abacomike said:
Don't forget testicles from bulls - supposedly a delicacy. I cannot imagine who was first to prepare and eat them - ugh!🤓
Growing up on a farm in the 50s and 60s, my parents, dad especially, like eating brains from beef animals. Ugh.
Fried brains. Like eating oysters would be in my mind.

That must have been before mad cow disease.

oldfarmer50 · July 2020

jmonroe1 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:
Hmmmm....Mileage Blocker;
Important information!

If the mileage filter is not activated, the diagnostic equipment (Including the equipment used by the dealerships) not able to detect it.

The use of this device is intended only for research purposes, outside of public roads, and it allows testing on vehicles on dynamometer stands or in laboratory conditions.

Well, your Carfax may look different, and when you take the car in for service they may wonder why some items are wearing out early.....etc.

Oldfarmer, were you looking into these "for a friend" who was asking?
No, I’m worried that outfits like that could be causing the fraudulent adulteration of mileage on thousands of cars. I wonder why the government would allow them to be sold. Despite what the manufacturers say, there could only be one purpose for such a device...fraud.
My ‘75 Grand Prix was the first car I owned that had a catalytic converter. That caused unwanted constipation for the 400 CID V8 to the point I had to do something. So, I removed the plug on the bottom of it and drained a full gallon of the constipating pellets from it. It ran so much better after that minor surgery. Took less time than doing an oil change.

Fast forward to when I bought my ‘80 Park Ave. That car had the 350 CID V8 and because it was a smaller engine with the same size catalytic converter the performance was even more noticeable. When I climbed under the car to remove the plug, I got a surprise. GM no longer provided a drain plug. They now had a pressed in plug. Rather than chisel it out and having to go to a dealer for a new pressed in plug, if they even made such a thing, I looked in the J.C. Whitney catalog and found a “catalytic converter eliminator pipe”. It fit perfectly and I no longer had a constipation problem with that car either. In fact, because the entire catalytic converter was removed, the performance increase was even more noticeable than just removing the constipating pellets like I did on my Grand Prix.

A little more fast forward (maybe 2 years). A friend at work came to me with a new copy of the J.C. Whitney catalog. They no longer called it a “catalytic converter eliminator pipe”. Now, because it circumvented a pollution system device, it was renamed a “catalytic converter test pipe”. The instructions said that if you suspected that your catalytic converter was clogged, you should remove it, install the “test pipe” and if your car ran better, you found the problem. So you were then instructed to remove the “test pipe” and get a new catalytic converter because it was illegal to leave the “test pipe” permanently installed. Yeah right, I’m sure everyone followed the newish government law and did that.

jmonroe

I remember those cat test pipes. That’s a bit different than installing a hidden device to stop the odometer from recording. Also a test pipe can be seen with just a look under the car. These gizmos seem designed to be hidden.

They eventually outlawed test pipes so maybe they’ll get to these bits of larceny too.

oldfarmer50 · July 2020

snakeweasel said:

oldfarmer50 said:

snakeweasel said:

oldfarmer50 said:

tjc78 said:
I always get a moonroof, but really don’t use it much in the summer. If it’s above 75 AC is on.

I do like using it when it’s cool out.
I always liked the idea of a sun roof even though I never had one in any car I’ve owned. When it finally came down to it I bought a convertible instead. A sunroof could be handy when it’s too hot or cold for the top down.
Wait, What? it can be too hot to put the top down?
Don’t tell me you think it’s fun to drive your convertible around in 90+ degree weather? My comfort zone is 70-85 degrees.
I've had the top down in triple digit temps with no complaints.

No wonder it doesn’t work any more. It probably refused to let you act so foolishly.🥳

oldfarmer50 · July 2020

driver100 said:
I have to say, I have never ever had a single urge at any time in my entire lifetime to eat squirrel brains.

Be careful of rabies if you do.

driver100 · July 2020

Do squirrels carry rabies?

Small rodents like squirrels, hamsters, guinea pigs, gerbils, chipmunks, rats, and mice) and lagomorphs including rabbits and hares are almost never found to be infected with rabies and have not been known to transmit rabies to humans.

My BIL, who finds the cheapest ways to live....still had a black rotary dial phone until about 2 years ago, took the tailgate off his Ford Ranger manual transmission truck with no air conditioning - to get better gas mileage, built a house and never got around to putting in some major doors, only uses a wood stove for heat, had an idea to start shooting and eating squirrel. I won't be going to his place for dinner.

imidazol97 · July 2020

Does anyone have a link to a good excel spreadsheet for calculating the interest total on a home mortgage
and that allows for entering random extra payments and then recalculates to show the impact of those extra payments on the total interest paid during the life of the loan?

roadburner · July 2020

jmonroe1 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:
Hmmmm....Mileage Blocker;
Important information!

If the mileage filter is not activated, the diagnostic equipment (Including the equipment used by the dealerships) not able to detect it.

The use of this device is intended only for research purposes, outside of public roads, and it allows testing on vehicles on dynamometer stands or in laboratory conditions.

Well, your Carfax may look different, and when you take the car in for service they may wonder why some items are wearing out early.....etc.

Oldfarmer, were you looking into these "for a friend" who was asking?
No, I’m worried that outfits like that could be causing the fraudulent adulteration of mileage on thousands of cars. I wonder why the government would allow them to be sold. Despite what the manufacturers say, there could only be one purpose for such a device...fraud.
My ‘75 Grand Prix was the first car I owned that had a catalytic converter. That caused unwanted constipation for the 400 CID V8 to the point I had to do something. So, I removed the plug on the bottom of it and drained a full gallon of the constipating pellets from it. It ran so much better after that minor surgery. Took less time than doing an oil change.

Fast forward to when I bought my ‘80 Park Ave. That car had the 350 CID V8 and because it was a smaller engine with the same size catalytic converter the performance was even more noticeable. When I climbed under the car to remove the plug, I got a surprise. GM no longer provided a drain plug. They now had a pressed in plug. Rather than chisel it out and having to go to a dealer for a new pressed in plug, if they even made such a thing, I looked in the J.C. Whitney catalog and found a “catalytic converter eliminator pipe”. It fit perfectly and I no longer had a constipation problem with that car either. In fact, because the entire catalytic converter was removed, the performance increase was even more noticeable than just removing the constipating pellets like I did on my Grand Prix.

A little more fast forward (maybe 2 years). A friend at work came to me with a new copy of the J.C. Whitney catalog. They no longer called it a “catalytic converter eliminator pipe”. Now, because it circumvented a pollution system device, it was renamed a “catalytic converter test pipe”. The instructions said that if you suspected that your catalytic converter was clogged, you should remove it, install the “test pipe” and if your car ran better, you found the problem. So you were then instructed to remove the “test pipe” and get a new catalytic converter because it was illegal to leave the “test pipe” permanently installed. Yeah right, I’m sure everyone followed the newish government law and did that.

jmonroe

I replaced the restrictive catalytic on my M6 with a "Track Pipe"- an H Pipe with a bung for the 02 sensor. I had it Jet Hot coated before I installed it. The car ended up being a bit quicker and it sounded glorious.

kyfdx · July 2020

imidazol97 said:
Does anyone have a link to a good excel spreadsheet for calculating the interest total on a home mortgage
and that allows for entering random extra payments and then recalculates to show the impact of those extra payments on the total interest paid during the life of the loan?

This is my favorite amortization calculator

http://www.bretwhissel.net/amortization/amortize.html

oldfarmer50 · July 2020

Just a little holiday weekend fun.

https://youtu.be/dtd0zQAbEGA

I haven’t hit anywhere near that number.🤪

graphicguy · July 2020

Forgot who was asking, but after tinkering, testing, replacing parts, etc, I found a (relatively) local place who would service Pioneer Audio/Video Receiver. The bad news, the HDMI board is bad. They also mentioned the Capacitors were living on borrowed time, which was why the unit was going into overload. Plus, the digital amp modules were shutting down because of the heat generated. That’s most concerting given they’re digital modules and supposedly run cool.

Another $1,000 and I could get new capacitors installed. The digital amps are another issue. After procrastinating and bemoaning the fate of such a nice piece of equipment, I took the service center’s offer of $175 so they could use it for parts.

Bought the last one of these this store had in stock....

https://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/denavrx8500h/denon-avr-x8500h-13.2-ch-x-150-watts-a/v-receiver-w/heos/1.html

Done business before with these folks. Love doing business with them. Great products and service, plus they save me a couple of nickels whenever they can.

That’s the price one has to pay to get quality AV gear. Wrestled with it (not too far off the mark) to get it in my AV rack and reconnected to my home theater. It’s literally a beast.

While I was at it, I ended up putting new brass banana plugs on each end of my speaker wires. Replaced my old HDMI cables. And generally gave all the other equipment a once over.

Sounds a whole lot better than my old Pioneer Elite, which at the time was their top of the line. My hope is that this will last me a while. And, that I won’t have to replace anything else for quite some time (although my OPPO universal disk 4K UHD player is no longer made).

Girl friend heard me in the home theater room using unpolite language while setting everything up yesterday. She made me a Lynchburg Lemonade (not really my thing, but it was tasty and was quite a nice gesture by her). We watched Saving Private Ryan, which neither of us had seen in quite some time. The Home Theater sounded and looked really good.

Never thought there would be that dramatic of a difference with one piece of equipment swapped out. But, it was indeed, dramatic.

carnaught · July 2020

@graphicguy, your system sounds awesome. In these days of being home bound, you deserve it and should really enjoy it!

suydam · July 2020

Since all July 4 festivities were canceled this weekend, we got bbq takeout and watched Hamilton (now on Disney+). Great show and a terrific cast! A lot of fun and kinda sorta made up for missing the fireworks.

snakeweasel · July 2020

We were up in the Wisconsin Dells area the last few days. There were fireworks displays everywhere you looked. We were watching the display at the resort we were at and we could easily see the display at the next resort over and if we turned around you could see another.

fintail · July 2020

Classic Hoovie.

I did the "surprise" rental thing once, in ATL, because it was like $15/day and I was feeling cheap. I got an Impala with 4 miles on it.

oldfarmer50 said:
Just a little holiday weekend fun.

I haven’t hit anywhere near that number.🤪

ab348 · July 2020

@graphicguy good luck with that new receiver. I had never heard of 13.2 sound formats before, but I don't pay much attention to that sort of thing these days.

One thing I noticed in looking at all the different receivers they have on offer is that none of the manufacturers (at least the ones they carry) seem to have progressed very much in the display department - all of them have the same blue dot-matrix LED displays they had 20 years ago. I would have figured that by now they would have adopted the same sort of color graphic displays that automakers use in the the instument cluster.

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