The Wife (I title her as an object so you know this is gonna be a rant) just tried to bitch me out for playing "old persons' music no one listens to." That music I was playing that pissed her off? Credence Clearwater Revival, Eric Clapton, and Bob Dylan. Sorry, but we spent good money on a good sound system. So I'm gonna play GOOD music on it, not kesha crap.
I can't be the only person that read this and immediately went to check the boobie thread for an update.
Just got home from a Sunday night session at the pub, complete with pork roast and several jugs of beer to lead me into another working week tomorrow. Has this WDT been quiet because nobody is up to anything, or because you're all so busy with exciting activities that you don't have time to post on an internet message board?
I spent yesterday chaperoning 3 fifteen year olds to swim camp. Not sure they picked the right parent for the job. I really don't know what I'm doing. Luckily Matt does. And I only got a little lost on the way to the hotel. Seriously, all rental cars should come with GPS. Once again Matt saved the day by looking it up on his phone because apparently I'm not supposed to do that while I'm driving. The flight was good. Didn't get next to any weird people. One of the boys got stuck next to a French couple that made out the whole flight. The important thing is I got them here in one piece. So far. I have to drop them off today, so maybe I'm being optimistic. I'm hungry and can't sleep.
Join the rest of us in the 21st century and get a smartphone. They come with a nice little voice that guides you to your destination without paying $5/day for a GPS the size of a brick from 2009.
I have one. But it wasn't talking to me. I figured it out later but I couldn't do it while I was driving. That's where Matt helped me out. Rental car was interesting. I haven't done one before at an airport so I thought I'd have an actual car assigned to me. But apparently you just "pick a car from this row". So I let the kids choose. And I'm driving a white Dodge Avenger. Who goes for white over red? Especially boys? The kids also all got a kick out of this one billboard. It said, "your wife is hot" and then in smaller print below it "better get your A/C fixed".
Exactly. Rental cars are one thing, but I would never buy a car with a built in GPS. That firmware is gonna need to be patched at some point and eventually it won't be supported. Then you'll have a car you'll want to sell that has an out of date system that you can't do anything about. Eff that.
Then I'm not sure that one more piece of technology you don't know how to work is the answer to your problem there...
This is one of those mornings. I can't see shit but I'm too goddamn lazy to get my glasses from the next room. Good thing my monitor is super huge and I am sitting kinda close to it. Technology!!
Just spent the last 2 hours teaching a bunch of my developers how to change the oil in their cars. Some water-cooler chat in the office this week had a bunch of my team talking about how it was time to take their cars to the local Jiffy-Lube to get their oil changed, and I asked why they didn't just do it themselves. They're all very accomplished programmers who deal with very complex problems every day, but the mere thought of changing their own oil scared the shit out of them. I asked if they wanted to learn, and 6 of them did. I gave them all some homework (figure out the make/model/engine of their car, the oil capacity and grade recommended by the manufacturer), and met at the local Lordco at 8am. One at a time I walked them through the oil/filter purchasing process at the counter, and then we headed off to my place. I showed them how to do it on one car, using my drip tray, spent oil tank, filter wrench, etc., and walked them through the process. They then took turns doing each of their cars, while I talked about some atypical special applications, like race cars, oil analysis, etc. They were amazed at how simple it was, and they're already talking about doing another "tech session" soon about basic tune-up. Now it's time to sit in the sun and drink all the beer I requested (and they delivered) as payment. All in all, it's been a good day.
Husband is doing 12s this weekend, daytime - so I'm doing projects and cleaning and it's super quiet. It isn't awful to be able to get things done like this. Especially now that baseball is done, I can focus on things on the weekend and not run under a time clock.
I'm too cheap to change my own oil. I've changed my brake pads, rotors, water pump, alternator, knock sensors, and on and on. But, I can't change my own oil for less than my local shop. Plus, I don't have to deal with the used oil.
Same for me. By the time I buy materials and factor in the cost of my time, the local place is faster and cheaper and I don't have to deal with disposal. Speaking of built in GPS, it's certainly not necessary, but I've had it in my last two vehicles and I'm quite happy with it. Unlike my cell phone, I have map data when I'm out of cell phone data range. For my money it beats messing with an aftermarket system's cables and having the suction cups let go at inopportune times from my dash/windshield. Systems in older vehicles are still supported. Out of curiosity I just looked up my old truck and an update was released in the past year. It's a matter of opinion whether or not they add to resale value. Based on my trade in experience, it added.
If you use conventional oil, it can be hard to beat some of the lube shops. I like to put synthetic in my car, which costs an extra couple bucks at Autozone, but ~$40 more at the lube shop. The only problem is that I have no place I can do it where I live, so I only change my own oil when I'm back home visiting my parents. My aftermarket head unit does GPS, and I love it. The maps are about 6 years old, but it's never really been a big problem. It does freak out when I drive over the new bridge across the river they built last year.
When synthetic oil first came out it was market tested in a few different regions. The area where it sold it for less, nobody would touch it. The results were similar where they sold it for the same cost. The region where they sold it at a higher cost, they couldn't keep it on the shelves.
Without a doubt, the way natural gas prices have dropped lately, there is no reason synthetic shouldn't be cheaper than conventional. My brother is a mechanic, and I typically use the same stuff he does for most things. A big part of the reason I went synthetic was the fact that my warranty was written by retards. Now that it has expired, I'm mostly just sticking to what I've been doing in some false hope that it reduces the risk of a catastrophic "fuck you" moment.
I used to do my own oil change, but one of the local dealerships has a deal on 1-2 times a year where an oil change is 10 dollars. Even when i was selling this stuff and got it at cost, i couldn't compete. So i just started going there instead. And i live in a small town, so i am lucky if i put on 10,000km a year, so if i have to wait a extra few kms i just do.
When you can find those deals it's a great idea to take advantage, dealers take a loss to get you in the door, in management's eyes it's worth it to them to try and up sell you wallet flushes and any other maintenance the techs may find. In the techs eyes however it rarely works out that way, most people are savy enough to take the oil change and run, I can't blame them a bit. I can't tell you how many oil changes I have done and cursed everyone that came through the dealer, now that I no longer have to earn a living up selling I love the 9.99 oil change specials. That being said I run full synthetic in my cars, my beater that I drive to work gets the 9.99 special but the other two cars get Amsoil/Mobile 1/Royal Purple, whichever happens to be on sale.