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Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Summer


















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31 comments:

pansypoo said...

t storm all night. another 3 in.

pjk said...

That photo labelled "Bird on a Wet Tin Roof"?

The car chronicles continue.

pansy, unless you know the person & the history of the vehicle, it looks like the crap in crapshoot has been replaced with "someone's used-up overpriced shit".

Two things; things as they are means my daughter doesn't have a BAD credit history, so she needs a cosigner. And while she has what I would formerly thought to be plenty-o-cash for a used car, it just ain't so anymore.

You own it? It's worthless; You WANT mine? Well, it's a friggin' Classic, Rare, etc.

I used to buy beaters in the low multiple of C-note range, and if I invested about an equal amount after that to make them nice & dependable, it always seemed to work out.

Until either psychological or actual crack entered peoples brain stems, my "beater formula" was $100 purchase price + $100 invested in repairs could get you 10,000 miles.

The big 5? Brakes, tires, battery, exhaust, tuneup. Good for at least a couple of years.

Think Delta 88 here. Take 'er down to Midas or Firestone for the $9.99 each installed shocks, and waive off their $700 list of "highly recommended" repairs.

The parallel universe Joe Friday response; Just the shocks, sir.

Thing Number Two! I don't have the desire to saddle my daughter with something that may break down early & often, and be on the hook to fix it- or find someone who can, for what ends up being more expensive than just buying a newer vehicle with at least the chance of warranty coverage.

She's living at what we call home, and has a full-time job, at almost age 21. Ain't NOBODY got more piss-away money than the country's kids in that situation (at least when combined into a class).

Livin' the dream. At least until they tell her that my credit sucks, and she can't have the pretty Blue Jetta SE 2.5 with the moonroof and Convenience Package.

The insurance man wants to double our monthly payment as well. Generically. More if she's listed as the primary driver.

16 years without a claim right about now. One 4-year old 10 over speeding between 3 drivers in the last 15 years, and that was the wife luxuriating in new front tires on the Buick.

Paul Ryan had the Makers & Takers phrase right, but he sure fucked up on the context.

pansypoo said...

well, i was buying OLD 70's cars in the 80's + 90's. my dad the mechanic said low miles. i lucked out. my mom has done well w/ toyotas.

pjk said...

We did end up signing our lives away on Saturday for said vehicle.

They stretched it out to a 4-year lease with extended warranty so they might feel comfortable enough to take the money.

The only things to come out on the positive side?

-it has a warranty
-she's off my back
-I'm the only person on the title, and the primary signer loan-wise

Buick brakes needing attention, and the tires that got rotated to the front when we got the last set have dry-rot cracking. Maybe 4 year old Michelins.

And the mo-in-law says her truck is "POURING gas out of it". Really? We have an asphalt driveway, and the only spots in her parking area are from the last oil change I did on it.

But the gas mileage is down, and she can smell gas! Might have something to do with a 1999 4-cylinder Ranger that's never seen tune-up parts beyond an air filter.

Still got all 8 original plugs in it. And she drives it back & forth to her mancave/shed/2nd home like it was a golf cart (why use the deckless tractor?).

Who friggin' knows. Might be all of the above, Mass Air Flow sensor gone berserk, perhaps a lawn-encountered obstacle pulling something off or puncturing the plastic tank.

I don't like being the mechanical answer man/Genie anymore. Things wear out; things break. "Making a funny noise" or "not working like it used to" are phrases I dread hearing.

At least Florence got a check working for the Jeffersons.

pansypoo said...

do you at least get supper or pie?

the farmer said...

did ya sign up for the VW? The Jetta? I saw that offer advertised on tv. sounded good to me - someone in my tribe is looking for a used car and i thought they should check that out. but dunno if they did...

i think the days of the $400 dollar used dream mobile went the way of the Lemmon 714 and the 10 cent beer night.

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pansypoo said...

taint progress fun!

pjk said...

714. Joe Friday's badge #.

We incurred the financial wrath Doubly by doing the co-signer bullshit. The girl feels the need to "get a credit rating", but I'm guessing if we left her out of the equation, HER payments would be lower.

How much? No One Can Say!

But, if a person has their ducks in a row and qualifies for the listed rate, you can get in with a signature + $ for tags&title. We did that part. $75 + $90 in the progressive forward "Red" state.

Lease price plus $665 fee + $179 dealer fee + tax + extended for-a-year warranty $500 tends to add a bit to the $199/month Passat S number.

I think the S&D thing ended 7/1, but I'm sure they're trying to extend such dealings at this time of the model year.

Saw a nice CC or 2, but the base lease on a Golf R is $399/month(!)

If you threw a proportionately sized flatbed on the old Toyota, this thing would fit on it without a problem. Like a factory-built parking lot racer.

I'm sure Leno has one.

pansypoo said...

blessed be. no lawn mower noise!

pjk said...

Happy end-of-the-4th weekend, SBLers.

Gotta deal with the push mower gas sieve action. Fuel lines and a bowl seal if I can find one.

Then we'll see if it's still going to leak from somewhere else anyway.

farmer- we did get an update on the car insurance after the Jetta; $507/6 months (as quoted off the VIN). How-F@cking-Ever, they saw fit to jack the rate on my 1995 Olds Cutlass Ciera to around $630/6 months (!).

So much for "dropping the comp+collision on that'd save you $50/6." More like $140 at the "adjusted" rate.

$310 every 6 on the '05 LeSabre; did they slip a Pinto gas tank into the Olds at some point?

I know it's the bad guys car from FARGO, but unless they cover shootings and wood chippers, that seems high.

Or, they are.

pansypoo said...

shit. i got way better deal on my 70's deltas.

blossoms on my cukes!

pansypoo said...

i saw a cucumber nubin. and bean blossoms. its almost august + still no garden peas!

the farmer said...

i got cuke blossoms and beans about 6-7ft but no flowers yet. Picked a few small green peppers and hun-wax bell peppers because the plants are still pretty small and i don't want early peppers to slow them down. Tomatoes look good. The rain finally took a break - its like a swamp here, like walking on a big sponge. Hopefully the sun will give the beans a boost. Did the pea plants come up? Peas like cool weather too. Maybe too hot and humid? That will slow em down.

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the farmer said...

that should read green bell peppers. The Hun-wax are spicy banana style peppers.

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pansypoo said...

my pole beans just started to blossom. my cukes look lke they are as fecund as zucchini. we could use some rain now.
can we decide now global warming has some bad effects?

pansypoo said...

summer? really?

pansypoo said...

SWEET CORN!

the farmer said...

sweet corn already? gotta be coming up from down south.

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pansypoo said...

no. i only buy from one seller at the farmers market. others clame to be good, but it NEVER IS AS GOOD. + i go for the 'older' variety cheaper corn. it keeps longer.usually its here by mid july. yes. everything is late. it is smaller + not as sweet. a balmy 70f! i have cukes on my plants, but the pole beans need more warm i think.
i definately need to make transparent/lodi apple crisp.

the farmer said...

my pole beans have been slow to develop this year too. i thought maybe it was too much rain and too much heat-wave that was giving them a hard time. i dunno. lots of cukes and zukes though. filled up a 5 gallon bucket with blueberries the other day too (about 13-15 pounds of berries will fill a 5 gallon bucket) so i think i'm set for blue berry zook bread for a while.

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pansypoo said...

oh, that is waste of blueberries. i need some pie. nectarine blueberry, plum + blueberry.

pansypoo said...

but i have a good zucchini bread recipe.

pansypoo said...

but i have a good zucchini bread recipe.

the farmer said...

me too.

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pansypoo said...

tried 1 of the cucumbers i planted. good for eating. still no beans. lots of buds.

pansypoo said...

still no beans. yet they usually grow in SEPTEMBER.

pansypoo said...

the sweet corn is finally normal. but not the weather.

the farmer said...

picked the first beans a couple days ago. picked a bunch of early hungarian wax peppers and lots of zukes and cukes but the cukes are dying now. the cuke beetles must of got into them because the are wilting away. weather is pretty cool for august especially at night which kinda sucks. i miss the hot humid tropical-like summer nights. I like september, i just don't like it in early august.

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pansypoo said...

yeah. colder here i think. shit. this is august??? my cucumers are doing fine. beans are babies yet. watermelon. pffft

the farmer said...

Looks like summer might be returning next week. I hope so. Watermelon likes hot weather so this cool streak ain't been the best conditions for them.

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pansypoo said...

oh well, i still have seeds.