Satty

Last full tank in the Fusion was 29.5, guess avoiding traffic really helped things a little. Jill has been trying to get the Prius over 50, I have no idea if she's succeeding or not.

Do another one in 2 years and compare. Just for fun.

Want to hear something funny? before I left my nice, cushy job as delivery nazi, I went around to several stores and talked to drivers, to see what kind of money they were making. The drivers in the crappy, low-income areas made more money overall because they had a more centralized delivery area which got them a larger number of deliveries and made it easier to take 3-4 at a time. I didn't really think about it before, but apartments and trailer parks fit a lot more people into a smaller area than houses do. The drivers in the higher-income areas made more per delivery, but took fewer deliveries because they had a smaller (population-wise) delivery area. They also used more gas because they were either running singles non-stop or doubles that were spaced out. that said, if I went back, it would be to one of the nicer areas, because I really dont want to get robbed or deal with the dumb white trash and their "You're 1 minute late, I want my food free" crap.

God, I can only imagine what it is on the lake here. Last year it was running over $5. This is why I dont own a boat and dont feel sorry for people who do.

Still under $4 here. Highest its gotten was $3.91, right now its $3.79.

I have, inexplicably, only aged 2 years.

Will donking it make it easier to load a kayak into the back? I mean, the load floor would be higher, but the reason I hate using the Fusion is that loading the thing onto the roof is a pain, so maybe lowering it would be better? But then, wouldn't it be easier to drop the Fusion a couple inches?

I may be able to get $100 for some of the crap laying around, but anything more then that would require unloading something that I'd have to replace, like my bike or kayak or laptop.

I know a couple guys still in the pizza delivery racket, they say the money isn't what it used to be. Gas prices have shot up, pizza prices have shot up, but delivery charges and commissions haven't, and the higher prices are leading people to tip less. My server friend says the money hasn't dropped off in the last few months, so that seems like a more profitable route.

predictable

Hmmm...writing on the wall?

Ok, so I've been wanting an old wagon or van for a while now, because it would make biking, kayaking, and randomly moving stuff easier. Well, I found one, again, a Lesabre Estate, not sure of the year (early 80's) but it runs and they want $650 for it. Here's the hitch, my fiancee says I can buy it on two conditions. The first is easy, I just need to clean the garage so we have someplace to put it. Second is a bit tricky, I have to buy it with straight cash and cant deplete the bank account. We just put a deposit down on our vacation this coming winter, so cash is stretched thin for a couple weeks. So I'm in a tricky situation. Cant borrow money for it, cant raid the bank and I cannot, for the life of me, think of any combination of stuff I could quickly sell off to raise the money. What I'm thinking is picking up a second job for a few weeks, something like waiting tables or delivering pizzas again (*cringe*) to get the money to buy and license it. I also thought about putting an ad on Craigslist to see if I could get a couple of fat chicks willing to pay for some sweet sweet lovin. Luckily, I've discovered the really ghetto car lots that have things like b-bodies and Astros for under $1000, so I'll find something that fits my needs if the Lesabre gets unloaded, which it should because it appears to be in great shape other than a little rust up front.

duck

duck

It would cost GM way too freaking much for so few sales. Gray-market cars will find their way into the hands of UK enthusiasts if they want them.

McCain's opinion isn't going to matter nearly as much as his VP's, be honest 72 year old men, no matter how healthy their 1200 page medical records say they are, are going to be worn down by the highest pressure job in the world. If he had known that Bush would have a 25% approval rating 4 months before the general election, he may have held his ground instead of moving off to the right. Instead he took a calculated risk, moved closer to Bush to get cozy with the far-right, and now he's a very suspect figure in the eyes of moderates and liberals. Obama's VP is going to be just as important because he is going to need someone standing over his shoulder, taking some of the responsibility, like Dick Cheney, only not evil. What does this have to do with Iran? Very little, since both candidates are (hopefully) smart enough to see that the armed forces are stretched thin and unless Iran makes a direct attack on America or American interests, there is no reason to attack.

That is 80's-tastic.

What do I not have a clue about? Ok, so the Chrysler building was officially sold the 9th, not a week ago. It still has nothing to do with anything on this website, be it GM's crappy financial situation, Chrysler's crappy financial situation, Ford's crappy financial situation or Toyota's comparatively fantastic financial situation.

Wasn't that like a week ago? And wasn't it sold by a German firm to an Abu Dhabi firm? Does this have anything to do with the fact that Chrysler isn't in a good financial situation?

Has anything over the last 7 1/2 years bode well for W?

Thread of the Year!

QUOTE(balthazar @ Jul 11 2008, 04:51 PM) [snapback]411204[/snapback]All the tongue & groove hardwood I've installed has always been of various lengths up to about 6- or even 8-foot long. Never seen hardwood in only 1-foot lengths. Heh, guess I ought to look at my living room floor more often. The pieces out there are indeed longer, roughly 4 feet based on "stepping it off" (one piece in the middle is about 3.5 of my size 13 feet) while the pieces in the hallway (which I glanced at for reference, and which itself is only about 3.5 feet wide and L-shaped) are significantly shorter, 12-18 inches. I dont remember if we cut them down or if they came in various lengths (I assume we cut them) but I do remember the hall being a huge pain in the ass. This was like 6 years ago, and thats the one thing that stuck with me. I believe that did take most of a week, but there was a lot of cutting involved, and I had to randomly skip out for work and school and whatnot. I really like the laminate in the bedrooms, its a lovely Teak veneer, plus it went a lot faster, due to the smaller area, easier layout, and the fact that it was plug-and-play, so to speak.

QUOTE(Dodgefan @ Jul 11 2008, 10:18 AM) [snapback]411130[/snapback]Since you've done hardwoord floors, is it just cutting them to fit and they lock into place with the grooves? Or is there more. never done it, so any advice would be great. All the stuff I've worked with was grooved. The real wood in the living room/hallway was glued straight to the concrete. The fake wood in the bedrooms has a layer of padding underneath. I'm not sure why, thats just how it was done. The biggest pain in the ass was the real wood, because it was a larger area and smaller pieces. The slats are about 2.5-3 inches wide (I'd have to actually measure to be sure) and about a foot long. What made it a pain is that its installed diagonally. It looks good, but it was a massive pain to have to cut all the end pieces at an angle. The fake wood uses larger pieces (7-8 inches wide, 4 feet long) and runs parallel to the longest wall. It was easy, took an afternoon.

Ugg, I remember when we hired some Amish to do the kitchen floor, they did a great job but smelled really bad. Only housework planned is a new air conditioner, but that probably wont come until the fall. The better half would like to do some expanding, add an extra room, but that seems like it would be a far bigger hassle than just buying a bigger house.

QUOTE(Satty @ Oct 17 2005, 12:06 PM) [snapback]30151[/snapback]Hardwood floord are easy by now, I've done a lot with them. I helped my friend build his house, I learned a lot from that experience. I've done a little electrical work in my life, no plumbing work at all. I'm getting a great deal right now (free house, utilitiess paid) otherwise I'd be living in my preferred setting, a 2-bedroom apartment where I dont have to do anything. Ahh, the good old days. In the year and a half since I bought this place...come to think of it, I haven't done shit around here. I have a deaf kid who mows and I've avoided falling through the ceiling (did it once) so the only real work I've done is the big backyad playset for my son. That thing was a pain in the ass, took like 6 hours with one guy helping.