Buying a car sucks. It’s unpleasant from start to finish, and then it’s done and you drive away with a car. Some places have tried to make it suck less by getting rid of the haggling, but that has introduced other kinds of price associated suck. I’m spending tens of thousands of dollars, the least I should be able to ask for is a halfway pleasant experience, right??
Wife finally broke and asked for a minivan, and I spent most of the spring researching. We settled on a Chrysler Pacifica, with the only requirements being the sunroof, hybrid motor, and FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, YOU BETTER NOT BRING HOME A BLUE CAR AGAIN OR IT’LL BE THE ONLY THING YOU GET IN THE DIVORCE!! Of course, 2 weeks later, wife goes “I saw a Pacifica in blue and kinda liked it.” ?
I watched the market and realized things were a bit screwy due to the chip shortage, so I ratcheted up the inquiries in mid-June rather than the expected Labor Day purchase date.
After getting jerked around by a bunch of traditional dealers, I finally settled on the online seller Vroom. Reviews were mixed on Vroom, but the common thread was to be proactive to keep the transaction moving.
I clicked the buy button on the 17th of June, and the process started fairly well. Paid a $500 holding deposit and waited. On the afternoon of the 19th, I decided to be proactive and call in to make sure everything was okay, only to find out that they had been trying to contact me, but Abine Blur was dropping the phone calls directed to my masked phone number. Oops, my bad.
I started the paperwork process on the 20th, docusigning the standard documents for a car purchase and trade in. However, by the 23rd, things had stalled out again, so I made another phone call.”Oh, we can’t find your wire payment in our contract system, one system shows that you paid, but the other hasn’t updated yet. This happens sometimes, just give it another day.” Okay, weird but I’ll give it another day.
On the 24th, I received a couple overnighted documents that needed wet ink signatures that i sent back the same day, and I didn’t bother calling them because it was my birthday. On the 25th, I called again to figure out why things were still stalled out. The person on the phone reviewed everything and said it was all in order, the wire payment had been received, but there was on problem. The wire payment was 30 bucks short. (Thanks Capital One!) Thankfully, I was able to pay using the credit card on file and get it all fixed up. Within an hour, I had an email stating that the paperwork was done and the car is in queue for shipping. Shortly after that, I got a message from the local hub here in Dallas saying to expect the car sometime around July 9th.
On the 7th, having heard nothing since June 25th, I called them again, to be proactive. They weren’t able to give me any information other than it had been shipped and is still expected on the 9th. However, they also gave me the number for the Dallas hub, who I promptly called. The guy who responded from the Dallas hub told me that their records showed expected delivery on the 9th, and a 12 to, at most, 48 hour turnaround as they get the van inspected, registered, and cleaned before delivery.
Then came the mess. I had heard that you could track the progress of the shipment online, so i looked later on the 7th, and it showed that the van had been delivered to Dallas about an hour after I got off the phone with the guy. Great! That means getting the van on the 8th, maybe the 9th at worst, right? I texted that guy on the morning of the 8th, and he said that he had the van, but their inspection computer was down, so things were delayed. No big deal, so it’s the 9th rather than the 8th.
I texted him again on the morning of the 9th asking if he had an updated ETA, and he said he had a delivery window open from noon to 3pm, and the driver would call me when he was on the way. Great! I was around and I had the day off, so that would work just fine. I sat and waited. Noon passed, 1pm passed, 2pm passed, and eventually 3pm passed. Okay, that’s fine, these delivery services often run a bit late, I’ll give them a little bit more time. 3:30. 4:00. Alright, time to sound the alarm bells. First, I texted the guy I had been working with. “Any update on delivery time? It’s after 3 and I haven’t heard anything”
*silence*
I called into the Dallas hub’s phone line.
*voicemail*
I called into the national phone line. They didn’t even know the Dallas hub had the van yet. “we can put you in touch with the Dallas hub”. No, just tried calling there 3 times. Where’s my damn car? “Let me transfer you to tier 2 support.” Yes, do that.
*hold*
Alright, at least I’ve heard good things about the tier 2 folks, maybe this’ll light a fire under their asses. Maybe they have contact info for somebody in the Dallas office that will actually answer their phone.
*hold*
15 minutes pass.
*hold*
I order dinner on grubhub
*hold*
Dinner gets delivered
*hold*
I finish eating dinner
*hold*
Two hours and 15 minutes later, I give up and hang up. Dumbass customer support ape transferred me to tier 2 right before closing time and didn’t bother to tell me that they go home at 7pm.
Fuming mad, I went to bed ruing this shit show of a company, vowing my revenge, knowing full well that they were closed on Sundays and I’d have another 24 hours for this to stew before I got my pound of flesh.
The reality was that I knew it wasn’t a scam company and I knew it was probably just a case of miscommunication, but shit customer service is shit customer service, and I wasn’t going to let them get away with jerking me around like that.
Monday morning came, and I was off with a bang at 9am. Dallas hub voicemailed me, so I called into the national line. “Here is my situation, and here is what I want you to do. I want to be on the phone with a tier 2 agent in 30 seconds.” Well umm uhh, the customer disservice ape wavered. “No, I don’t want you to review my file. I want to speak to a tier 2 agent”. Erm, uhh, can I try… “I want to speak to a tier 2 agent. You fucks had me on hold for 2 and a half hours on Friday, and you aren’t going to jerk me around today.” Finally, 15 minutes later, I got the supposed tier 2 agent on the line.
“sorry, I can’t tell you anything you don’t already know. I’m going to transfer you to the Dallas hub.” No! Wait! *click* Welcome to the Dallas hub of Vroom, nobody is here to answer your call…
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.
“Okay,” I told myself, rubbing my temples, “one more try.”
At this point, the hold music was a series of ice picks resonating their dastardly tune on the bones of my skull. Thankfully, the agony was brief. “Hello, thanks for calling Vroom, how can I help you?” I’m going to try to keep from yelling at you because I know that you haven’t personally done all of this to me, but you need to understand that over the past 48 hours, your company has stood me up on a delivery appointment, your local hub stopped returning my calls and texts, one of your colleagues put me on hold with tier 2 less than five minutes before closing time and left me on hold for two and a half hours, I still can’t get in contact with the local hub, and I just called in 20 minutes ago and got forcibly transferred back to the Dallas hub against my will. I want to talk to tier 2 service, and I want to talk to them right now. “I just need to get a couple pieces of info from you in order to queue up your account for the tier 2 agent.” *sigh* Fine.
Two minutes later, I was finally talking to a tier 2 agent. “I need you to figure out where the hell my van is and tell me how quickly you can get it to me because a lot of shit has happened to me in the last 48 hours and I’m about to start making angry phone calls to people whose job titles start with C if I don’t get an answer. Hell, at this point, I’ll take a phone number that isn’t the main line to the Dallas hub. Have anything like that? By the way, I want a fucking refund on the delivery fee. ” Well, now that you mention it, the actually helpful tier 2 agent said, here’s the number for the company we contract the deliveries out to.
Long story short, the call to the contractor was rather uneventful, and resulted in the driver calling me 15 minutes later to tell me he was on the way.
Longer story short, the van is in the garage, the check is in the mail for a partial refund of the delivery fee. Not enough, but I’m sick of their damn hold music. I lost count of the number of times I called in at 10, and that was before I had the van. Now I can only hope that the title and registration process isn’t as painful. Supposedly it’s the worst part.
I’m still intrigued by the business model. A volume dealer setting up a primarily e-commerce solution with national reach. It’s CarMax and Carvana without the gimmicky showrooms. Delivery to your front door. Paperwork done online and via overnite shipping. There’s something to that. Some nugget of a good idea. Unfortunately, Vroom is too much like a used car dealership and not enough like an e-commerce site.
The fixes aren’t hard. Give me one person to work with for the whole process. Update me on what the next step is and when to expect to hear back. Actually get back to me within that timeline. Don’t promise shit that doesn’t end up happening. Call me when shit you promised didn’t end up happening. Make sure that updates from different departments and sites actually get logged into the main database.
Vroom isn’t a scam, but it’s the next worse thing. It’s a 20th century business model thinly masked by a 21st century facade. It’s that shitty 90s outsourced call center added on top of that skeevy 80s promise you the moon and the stars used car dealer added on top of good old fashioned “not my job” bureaucracy. If you have a ton of free time on your hands that you don’t mind spending on hold and you don’t really care when you get your car, the Vroom model can get you a relatively cheap car. For everybody who values their time and a reasonable blood pressure, I’d recommend paying the premium and avoiding these fools.
Based on this, I would go to a dealer.
Know a guy who knows a guy who knows the guy who runs police auctions. Or know a guy who knows a guy who’s either a top salesman or manager at a new car dealership that can get you a sweet deal on a worthless(to them) used trade in.
I’ve been to and bought at many police auctions. Never have I done worse than doubling my money. Even on the one mistaken bid on a crappy three cylinder Subaru with a blown head gasket. I listed it on Ebay for double what I paid and stated straight out that it had a blown head gasket. Somebody from Wisconsin bought and never picked it up. I left it where I agreed to and I’m guessing it got impounded right back to the same auction again. I paid 150 and the cheesehead paid 325.
Heh. That’s one of the reasons I like you, dude. You strike as a guy instinctively looking for a side hustle. I respect that.
We never buy a vehicle without a double walk out that leads to calls from the dealership every day. They beg us to buy the vehcile or we dont buy. We dont pay above what the dealership pays for the vehicle. They have to make money off someone else. We usually get maint plans thrown in for free.
Honestly, paying MRSP is for suckers. Never be desperate when buying a vehicle. Normally end of december and june are best times to buy.
Kungflu shortages have changed this a bit but now used cars are getting thousands more than they normally would.
I kinda wish they had this for RVs. My brain is broken and I can’t gin up the energy to start looking for serious.
KK-
We were in a position to start shopping for our RV last summer about this time. At the first place we stopped at we asked the salesman if he had any used RVs.
He laughed.
Last summer the panicdemic had shut down the manufacturing lines for motorhomes and he didn’t expect to see any vehicle come into his lot until November.
That said, we stumbled upon the exact model that we were looking for at a price that was close to our budget. Keep at it.
There are giant RV superstores in places that you would not expect. For example, Helper, UT, population 2100.
My last 2 car purchases have been older cars through a local repo auction. I don’t think I will ever buy a brand new car and I do not like dealing with used car salespeople.
Used cars are fucking insane right now. Some models are as much as buying new, without the extra bennies.
Absolutely obligatory:
https://youtu.be/4sZuN0xXWLc
Misthread there but fuck it…
*hits bowl*
To your point: Thanks, Cash for Cluckers, er, Clunkers!
Thanks Obama!
Paging Nephilium to the white courtesy phone….
Badly run call centers are badly run. Supervisors should be keeping an eye on the queues, and not letting agents log out while there are calls in queue, and if you have hours of operation, you should have a staffing check in your queuing logic to redirect calls in the case that no agent is logged in (also works as a potential stop gap for DR scenarios). On top of that, blind transfers are always a bad idea, any agent should be doing a warm transfer.
Of course, running a call center well has an associated cost.
And that’s how you sell lots of toner, right there.
Everyone’s got a skill set. There was a non-zero chance for a while that I would be asked to be in charge of a call center in Rocklin, CA. I also like it when things to have a failsafe built in, so when shit breaks (shit always breaks), there’s already a work around in place.
At least 25% of my job is explaining to people that while I can implement what they’re asking for, here are the reasons it will lead to higher call volume, and worse statistics for them.
I have what has got to be one of the craziest phone sales stories ever. Literally ever.
Back when I was a kid, they’d let just about anyone try phone sales. It was one of those jobs that people would get when there was nothing else. Pure commission. So, this guy I knew was living in his station wagon and desperate for anything. One day he saw a sign across the street from the meeting for phone sales. He went in and got a job.
He took off like a rocket. he made crazy money. Within six months he was driving a new Porsche. Within a year he had a big house on the lake in Calabasas. It was crazy. Then he started dating a TV star chick. We all figuered it was a scam, but we just watched him. One day, sure enough he shows up and he was all dejected. He tells me that the SEC raided his call room and seized all of the records. I just assumed it was all over and he’d go back to being a somewhat bum.
But, he never really did. He kept driving exotic cars and wearing Italian suits. I asked him and he said everything was fine. He said that the feds were giving him an allowance and he still had his house. I assumed he was ratting on his bosses.
Maybe 6 or 9 months into this, he was sitting on the curb at a local deli, talking on his brick phone and a black guy on a bicycle pulled up. My buddy handed the phone to the guy on the bike and he talked to whoever was on the other line for a few minutes. then he handed the phone back and pulled out a gun and blew my buddies brains out.
It turns out the phone sales was some gold mining bullshit and the guy running it was a crazy outlaw. The official story is the kid killed him for kicks. The goldmine dude eventually went to prison for fraud. I never even considered trying phone sales again. This was the same era as my other story about the nova. Crazy times. This was the TV star chick.
My buddy gets a mention in the article. I only knew it was her because my wife was watching some reality show and she mentioned him by name, so I googled it. Fucking crazy.
OMG OMG OMG That’s Tia from the Witch Mountain movies! I LOVE those movies!!!
Before her he dated this tiny brunette chick who was totally hot for me. We almost fought about it a few times. The TV chick was kind of stuck up and aloof. I didn’t like as much as the one that kept hitting on me. I really like how they called him a “securities trader” LOL. It was phone sales of scammy assed gold mine shares.
I was never involved in cold call sales. But there are some wonderful scams that work based on cold calling people, one of which is a variant of the boiler room scams. Most use a funnel method with a selection of about 10 stocks. Call several thousand people, pose as a broker, tell half the price will go down, and the other half the price will go up. For those you got right, repeat. By the end, you’ll have a handful of people who will believe you can predict the market.
Of course, most of the cold call scams died with the call center robodialing causing everyone to let calls go to voice mail.
mmm Brent’s Deli.
This is an epic story.
OT, but if anyone is interested:
Late, but Humpday Zoom
starts at 8:30pm EDT
I’m drunk and just got done cooking. I’ll be there.
Using the phone seems anathema to buying online.
Yup. Turns out that the online portal is worthless after they get your money. Like I said, a thin veneer of 21st century over a deeply 20th century company.
That’s a nice turn of phrase.
Hmmm.
I made the mistake of giving Southwest Vacations money for a trip package thru Southwest Airlines.
When I went to cancel 15 hours later, they redirected me to the phone number and ended up putting me on hold the same way as Trashy. After 45 minutes, I was disconnected and when I called back, the message told me they closed 20 minutes ago… call back tomorrow.
24 hours expired when I called back and “Oh outside 24 hours we can only give you a credit.”
I complained and got no help, but figured I’d use the credit later this summer. Flash forward — “Oh there are restrictions on those credits… Oh you can’t transfer those credits…”
The actual company is somewhere on the sub-continent, and most of their employees have been called lots of names. One guy hung up on me when I asked to speak to a Supervisor. And the supervisor was ‘Tits on a boar hog’ as they say.
I ended up filing complaints thru my credit card company and Southwest Airlines, and eventually got my incidentals refunded and a credit with SWA for the travel portion.
DON’T USE Southwest Vacations.
We have bought our last 4 vehicles thru the Costco car buying program. I will not even entertain going any other route. I guess the downside is, you’re buying new which isn’t the most economical approach.
Costco told us that they didn’t have any cars for us once we put in our parameters. Truecar similarly couldn’t find any. More than a couple dealers told me (in the nicest way possible) to fuck off if I wasn’t gonna come to the lot without an offer. We were looking at new because of the weird market (used 2018s were within $5k of new, even with 25k miles), but we stumbled upon a pretty great deal from vroom on a used 2021. Too bad the company is a dumpster fire.
Same here.
We never bother with the website, we just go to the dealer and ask to talk to whoever handles the Costco sales.
Hard pass, I’ll keep the Kia van alive for a while, she runs like a top,
I will rush down to my dealer and cut a deal on that sweet ’65 Gran prix, especially if it has a 421 in it and the huge finned brake drum. Where do I sign.
Oh, and I want a nuclear reactor in mine.
No takers? OK, then, here’s the obvious one.
And, for those who love their cars.
In case you like to hit the
Dammit. redline.
I love my car. I love your car, I love all cars.
When I was a kid, I used to love going to my dad’s barber, because of all the R&T and C&D. I would read them the whole time and be pissed when I had to leave. Bernie let me take them home.
I understand why normal people hate them, but I never will.
I like my little Zippicar (2006 Hyundai Sonata). I was so happy when my husband’s friend was able to fix it.
Last two vehicles I purchased:
1) Find a vehicle that I want in stock at a dealer in Iowa.
2) Print out the vehicle information.
3) Walk into the local dealer that I have been working with for 20+ years.
4) Give them the printout and a 500 dollar deposit.
5) A couple of days later, go to the dealer and sign the papers.
The only painful part is the overbearing attempts to sell extended warranties.
I told the guy last time before he even brought up the extended warranty that I would not buy one under any circumstances. And, if he can’t accept that answer, go get the guy in charge that can take that answer.
Still waiting for Amazon to sell me the next car.
I imagine that scene from Interstellar where Matthew McConnaughey and irrelevant Catwoman get back from the stupid wave planet and they have about 50 years of messages to get through. I just want to cut Matthew McConnughaughehey watching and crying with him just watching 11,000 “we’ve been trying to reach you about your car’s extended warranty” messages.
HA! I l can see it now….
What do you need a car for? Just stay at home, live on stimmy, and get everything you desire from Amazon and Wish.com. Never pay rent or utility bills again, just live pajama boy stimmytopia existence, and maybe have a vague, half-assed “I’m going to” mentality about becoming a youtube superstar because you are convinced that your insights into Minecraft and Fortnite are so deep and unique.
Ps – I hate buying and selling cars (who doesn’t)
I bought a car online through Enterprise used fleet cars. This was local, though. I picked it out. Did all the loan and purchase paperwork via email. They brought the car to my house and we signed the final papers on my kitchen table.
That was in 2003.
The sad thing was how much worse the initial process was with the dealers. They couldn’t tell me what price I was going to pay.
“I have cash in my hand that I am willing to bring to your lot and place in your hand if you can tell me how much I need to bring.”
“Well, I need to talk with my manager and run some numbers.”
“you do that.”
*8 hours later*
“here’s the invoice on the van you wanted”
“what’s the out the door price?”
“well, why don’t you come down here to discuss?”
“I live 250 miles away. No.”
You just hang up the call at that point, don’t you? It’s a crying shame.
Yeah, that was a disappointing exchange.
The best was the dealership almost walking distance from my house. It was a 2020 used van, but not the configuration we wanted and at a new van price. Guy was pulling the whole “you better get down here before it sells” schtick, and I told him that I’ll hop right in my car as soon as I know what his best out the door price is. He gets back to me 3 days later with the obligatory “it’s still here but won’t last for long” message, to which I responded that I got a model year newer one with everything I wanted for $10k less. You could hear his big head deflating from my living room.
I’m weird, I guess. I love buying cars. I have a great deal of knowledge about them and I have a strong affinity for the one’s I usually find myself buying. Doing it right can save massive amounts of money and selling can make massive amounts of money. It’s the only way I’ve ever made a thousand bucks in 20 minutes. I have also gotten some really cool cars and seen a lot of crazy places and people that way. It’s all messed up now, here, because the government ruined every aspect of it. What I used to do has been chased out this whole state. Now, people can only go buy newish used cars at dealerships or with great effort to ensure the registration is up to date. Just a few years out and it costs an extra grand or more to get a tag. Now every car is viewed with paranoia over the paperwork.
I don’t give a flying fuck about the price. If it’s in the ballpark and the car is solid I’m done.
The last two cars I’ve purchased were from a dude on CL who has a dealer’s license. The last one was about 15 minutes.
The two before that were from a dealer I’ve gotten to know and really like. I probably paid a little more, but I was done quick and the cars were great.
Used cars are like used houses. Everything depends on the previous assholes.
I don’t buy used anymore.
I buy new, then drive them for 150k miles. Then I give them to my kids and buy another one.
Just did that,1999 F-150, bought it new, 150k later it’s now on it’s way to Fairbanks, AK with my grand daughter. The one I kept is a 2004 F-150, bought it new, 100K and looks like new.
It’s a 20th century business model thinly masked by a 21st century facade. It’s that shitty 90s outsourced call center added on top of that skeevy 80s promise you the moon and the stars used car dealer added on top of good old fashioned “not my job” bureaucracy.
Ya……..no thanks.
I put Mrs. Suthenboy off for 5 or 6 years while we saved the money. We went to a dealership that sold both new and used. Wife already knew what model she wanted, told the salesman, who surprisingly, was pretty straight forward. He had one exactly like she wanted. We test drove. It was two years old with less than 14K on it. The price was good. On examination I found no evidence of water damage and the underside of the oil cap was clean. Tires and brake pads good.
“I will take it”
We payed by Discover card and ten minutes later were driving off in a sparkly good as new, top end Honda CRX. We drove home and paid off the card collecting substantial reward points.
We then went to the grocery store and discovered that our card wouldn’t work. Apparently when Discover saw that spending wildly outside of our normal pattern they panicked and killed the card. One phone call straightened that out. I could hear the woman’s sigh of relief through the phone.
All in all it was fast and easy and we had the car that day. Also, no car payments.
After we paid off my car, we vowed to never again take out a loan. Since we hurried the process, we had to borrow a few grand from our down payment fund, but that was all. The feeling of driving a new (to us) car that doesn’t have a payment… *chef’s kiss*
Obligatory Used Cars link.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zqHZWdFVyyQ
That’s a top 10 movie.
Imma go try to find a DVD.
That was great. I submit this advertisement for your consideration.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rCY6StJNVU
Firesign Theater bring their game.
God damn.
The most perfect ad ever.
Thanks, brother.
I thought it was going to be Ralph Spoilsport.
I’ll club a seal for a better deal!
Hey, Nephy! Could you e-mail me at an e-dress I usually ignore – LinnieRed28 at the Gee mail – so we can touch base about your upcoming trip down to these parts? (When I respond, I’ll give you my REAL e-dress!)
E-mail sent.
This is what happens when tomorrow is my Friday, and I’m going to a Ska/Punk weekend show.
Here’s a used car story. Way back in around 1988 or so, I bought a nice 1970 Nova. The body was great and it ran, but need the carb gone through. The interior was shot, but usable, just not pretty. I paid 350.00. This kid that hung around the meeting I went to took a liking to it and decided he wanted it. Normally, I’d have freshened up the interior and sold it for a grand. Instead I made the kid a deal and fixed the carb and let him have it for 500, but I keep the Alpine stereo it had. . Then, he says he only has 250, but he’ll have the other half next week. I knew him fairly well so I agreed that he could drive off in it and bring me the money and the stereo the next week.
The very next day, he calls me and says he brought it to a mechanic and was told that it needed brakes. I was not pleased, but I told him, if he bought the pads, I’d install them free when he brought me the rest of the money. Well, the day after that, he calls and says the mechanic now says the tranny slips. I told him the tranny doesn’t slip, and anyway, that car was super cheap and I’m not doing any thing other than the brakes. He hangs up and then calls me back a few hours later. He says the mechanic now claims that the motor is shot, the tranny slips, the rear end makes noise and the brakes are bad. He says, “fuck you I ain’t paying the rest and I’m keeping the radio.” I told him he was making a mistake and he said that it was I who was making the mistake.
I still had the pink slip and I knew where he lived. So I got a ride over at around midnight and hopped in and drove the car away. Then, I went about my business, figuring that I’d still let him have it at the price we agreed on, but without the brakes. The next night, I’m standing out side my meeting when he walks up to me. I started to explain and he threw a haymaker right at my head. I hurt really fucking bad. I grabbed him and wrestled him to the ground. As I was holding him down, blood came pouring down my face. Then, I saw that he had a huge 1.5″ diameter bolt in his hand. He poked a big assed hole in my head with it. A crowd gathered and I just held him down and kept yelling that he’s a stupid motherfucker at him.
It turned out that someone called the cops. They showed up and grabbed me by the hair ( I had long rock star like hair) and dragged me over to the wall. They shoved me into the wall and patted me down. I looked back and the carefully helped the kid up and were checking him for injuries. They started asking me why I roughed up the kid. I was trying to tell them what happened, but they were blinded by the fact that I had long hair and tattoos and the kid looked all innocent. They ended up arresting both of us and keeping me in jail until 2 A.M. They finally released me with no charges filed. I kept the car and the retarded kid never came back to that meeting. I ran into him once, out of town about two decades later. He seemed all worried, but I had long since moved on from that. That arrest still shows up on a search for my background, to this day.
Did you ever shake the insane guy who wanted to sell you his car? I hope he didn’t show up and try to murder you.
Yeah he seems to have found someone (maybe from France?) who met his demands. I would have like to have had it, but it exceeded my tolerance level. I guess I’ve done some growing up, at least a little.
He set off big flashing red insanity flags for me.
There are total psychopaths lurking out there on the interwebs.
I found this out when I got into a seemingly totally safe with insane potential awards of internet dating.
I still think it’s one of the best things I have ever done. And I would totally do it again, no hesitation.
But man, the crazies, they are real.
The first clue I got was when some lady who lived right across the street from me starts talking to me and the first thing she did was give me her address and phone number.
I said ‘Are you crazy? Don’t give me your address and phone number, you don’t know me, I can be an ax murderer!’.
So, I went over there. She was the sweetest person ever and we had a great time. But I told her again ‘don’t trust people on the internet who you don’t know’.
Fast forward to the next afternoon.
I’m just chilling and a message pops in. ‘Hi.’.
Hmm…
Her: Hi, do you like what you see?
Me: Of course, you’re gorgeous.
She was.
Her: Are you watching TV?
Me: Am I supposed to be?
Her: They’re talking about us.
Me: Who is us?
Then she goes into this 20 minute jihadist rant. I kid you not. Her brothers are here from Afghanistan and a lot of Americans are going to die.
Not making that up.
Me: Um, should I be speaking to the CIA, because that’s not something I would typically do, because I don’t like or trust them.
Her: Why do yo live here, you told me that you lived somewhere else?
Me: I came here because of work and I used to have a girlfriend here.
Her: You have girlfriend here? I can’t talk to you more, you’re just like all American men!
Me: Umm, I ‘used’ to have a girlfriend here. She died from cancer (true story), would you like some links for English classes?
Her: Cheater! Bye!
Me” OK, bye.
Seriously.
Christ.
You make me happy that my life has been pretty dull.
Yeah, I’m happy that I have made my life duller. Still some, but nothing like the early days.
Anyone want to buy my Pontiac? It’s still 4 sale.
2009 G6 V6 GT.
350 HP Vortec.
4 door Sedan.
115,000 miles.
Interior is excellent condition.
Exterior is good, minor paint chips and dents.
The tires don’t hold air too well, despite being fairly new Yokohama tires. I don’t know if it’s because it sits in place all the time or not.
A kid who wanted to buy it, in my community seemed to lose interest after I told him I thought it was worth $3-3500. I told him I don’t want that, just make me an offer and never heard from him again. Not sure if he just doesn’t have any money or what. Maybe he thought he was getting for free, I dunno.
If it was a G8, we’d be talking. I’d like to have one of those.
Those are nice. You’d have a hard time finding one around here. The only one I’ve seen was 12K.
“AOC masks up for a photo-op, then removes it afterwards.”
https://twitter.com/TPostMillennial/status/1422915794640441356
I once asked my boss: when you order a pizza, do you call every 5 minutes until it shows up?
Turns out that you should not say things like that to your boss.
I’ve found that while it is hard to be patient, it often pays off.
One time, I snagged one of the few taxis hanging around the airport late at night. The cab driver told me he chose me because I didn’t immediately pounce on him when I left the airport.
In Tanzania, buses do not leave according to fixed schedules. The bus leaves when the driver thinks it is full enough to justify the trip. There are pros and cons to this. One pro is that no worries about being late there. In fact, if ANY event happens on the correct date, it is considered to be “on time”.
I can’t wait to learn how to be patient!
Ask him if he also wears a mask every time before he calls.
About a month ago, my wife needed to go to Dulles for a flight. I was like, I’m not driving to Dulles, you want me to get you a shuttle?
But then we thought it wouldn’t be a big deal. Then reality. It’s a royal pain in the ass. First 3 drivers we called, actually showed up and then said they couldn’t go to Dulles. WTF? The 2nd guy, I said ‘I’ll give you $50 extra to go to Dulles’. ‘No, I can’t do it’. OK, you fat lazy fuck.
Then my wife tried again with Uber and the guy shows up, driving a bran new Murano. He gets out and I say ‘Hey, can you take her to Dulles?’. And he says ‘No problem, I own some apartments near there, I was just going there anyway’. Awesome.
I tried talking to him, but he did not talk. He was all business. So I told my wife, get this guy’s business card. When she arrived I talked to her and she said ‘He doesn’t talk, he’s like the best driver ever, but he doesn’t talk, he’s from Taiwan, that’s about all I got out of him’.
She has to fly again next week, but we’re putting her on Amtrak to JFK and then to Sao Paulo. That was the cheapest way. Flying is a royal fucking pain the ass right now. I suggest no one to even try unless they have to.
Amtrak goes to Brazil?
The things you learn on this site.
related, my favorite Peanuts cartoon
Lucy points something on the ground and says, wow look Linus! It’s a butterfly from Brazil.
Linus says that’s not a butterfly, that’s a potato chip.
Lucy says wow, how did that potato chip get here all the way from Brazil?!
Lucy pulls out the football from Derp and he falls right on his ass, drugs fall out first.
Oh, rats! I can’t stand it. I just can’t stand it! Can’t someone tell me what Xmas is all about?!
You mean Festivus?
I do enjoy feats of strength and airing grievances.
A man I know very well is trying to inculcate virtues into his young son. So he tells him stories and makes frequent references to the boy’s favorite Star Wars characters.
Gosh, wouldn’t it be great if there, were like, old books about noble heroes or something? Or maybe special places where children could go once a week to hear stories about heroes from an old book?
Nah, that’s crazy talk…
Something somethings gods of the copybook something
lu lu lu, lu lu lu LU lu ?
Flights do.
Sorry, it’s EWR to Sao Paulo.
8:10 PM EWR New York 6:45 AM GRU Sao Paulo
Shopped around for a lease in March. Eventually settled on a Mazda CX-9. I was only able to go into the dealer at lunch for an hour. They set me up with a list of offers on 3 different models. I went home discussed with the wife we chose our model and payment called them up and was able to pickup the car that evening with about a half hour of paperwork. Best car dealership experience I’ve had yet. Had a similar experience with our VW purchase last year… Unfortunately the VW is a piece of garbage.
I bought my car off the showroom floor. A 2019 Tuscan Ultimate AWD. It’s loaded with every feature available and 2 years later, it only has 6K miles and it’s still beautiful, looks like it still just rolled off the showroom floor. And it’s more than 50% paid off.
I WFH, remote, full time and my wife is retired. We’re starting a business and she’s the only one who really needs a car and not more than a few times a week for local travel.
I just want to get rid of the Pontiac, I have no use for 2 cars, it’s just another liability.
“Buy a high mileage specimen of the make and model you want from a used dealer or private seller willing to commit tax fraud, and then fix the suspension, air conditioning and leaking transmission oil pan in the driveway” has always been my go-to, but YMMV
Tax fraud is pretty much de rigueur here. It’s 10 percent on whatever you claimed to have paid for it. I doubt anyone outside of licensed dealers tells the whole truth. It still costs a stack. My Saturn Sky was stated as 2k purchase price and the total bill was over 500.00 just to get tags.
So work has become a lot more like a concentration camp. They set up four desks in the big lunch room and they’re using them to collect vaccine papers. They have tablets and are taking pics of the vax cards. While I was eating lunch, a guy put up a fight about having to tell his health information. They all collected themselves at his table and tried to calm him down. I am listed as “declined to state.” I’m guessing that they slow roll the punishment and try to wait for the full authorization, at which point they’ll make a hard mandate. Apparently the big Nazi in D.C. told the little nazi at the FDA to approve it right fucking now. So, that’s the new plan.
I’m considering setting up a network of guides, from here to AZ, with waypoints and transportation between them. I can sneak the undocumented healthy people out to a free state by moving at night, under cover of darkness. They will pass through the various stages of travel and be concealed from the health authorities the whole way, until they reach the promised land. It just might work. I think I’ll call the people involved, “conductors.”
Send them here, we are in Free Michigan,
Commodore Whitmer say ‘Obey, I come for you! Get on car, showers for you!.’.
Not up here, she wouldn’t last an hour, Swamps and Boars for her!
Now I really hope she goes for it.
#GolfDiskSpreadersUnite
Every organization I know, all my clients, every organization that I know people who work for, are all going in full on Nazi with mask mandates for even the vaccinated.
I don’t go to the office, and I won’t be doing it ever again. If they try to make me, they’ll have to kiss my ass goodbye.
I talked to a couple of co-workers yesterday. Their reaction? No, I’ll look for another job.
This is about to blow up in spectacular fashion, right in their stupid faces.
I see Home Depot is jumping with both hands. Their goddam warehouses might as well be outside for the volume of space.
At least they’ll have masks, when it blows up in their faces, right?
We’ve had masks this whole time. They were supposed to end on Sept.13th, per Biden’s order, but it’s looking like they’re here to stay.
And the vax Nazis can’t even see themselves for what they are.
Yeah, well, I’ve taken to referring to myself and the other holdouts as the “undocumented healthy people.” We have no papers.
May I make a suggestion on the rhetoric?
Make it illegally healthy. That throws the “No person is illegal” back in their faces.
Yeah, and I guess now we’ve been outlawed, we are illegals.
Glad to hear their science educations, whether public, private, parochial, or home, were so thorough.
I hope so. There is literally no reason to push me into the office. Nobody I work with is there, except my boss who just got an office on the other side of the building anyway.
I either work remote, or I find someone who will let me.
I should add that I count myself lucky that I CAN work remote. I feel for people who can’t. They’re basically fucked now. 🙁
Going for a degree in Compsci was the best decision I ever made.
“I either work remote, or I find someone who will let me.”
You’re damn right, bro.
I bailed out of my first CompSci class in college, even though I took six years of it in HS and excelled at it. But for some stupid reason I decided that college was time to be “opposite me”. So yeah, no degree. Everything I know I taught myself and learned on the job.
You don’t need a degree, you need experience. If you ever want to ask me any questions about software engineering, I’m here for you, I’ll do my best. I’m starting with training a guy tomorrow on development with an object oriented database. I’m not asking anything except he take a part time jig helping me with one of my clients. He’s an experienced dev, but he doesn’t know what I have to teach. I offered another person, who’s family to teach this stuff for free, but he’s too lazy to care.
Heh I got it, thanks.
I am huge believer in experience over book-learnin’. I mean, the schooling is nice and I sort of wish I had had that if only because it would have saved me a few years of flailing.
It helps that I still have great interest in what I do.
Wildly off topic, and I’ll reshare it in the morning links, but the Cleveland Guardians Men’s Roller Derby team is fighting the (soon to be) former Cleveland Indians for the trademark. The team on skates has applied for trademarks for all sorts of merch, included pictures, and started selling shirts on their website (which MLB doesn’t own yet).
*spiffs up the resume for the IP lawyer position soon to open up in the
IndiansGuardians[name to be determined after a proper trademark search is done] org*The Indians team did submit a trademark application on the day of the announcement (with an overseas on a couple weeks before), but the roller derby team filled a counter argument. The roller derby team has been using the name and mark since 2015, which I believe gives them standing to fight (not a lawyer, and just has an interest in IP law).
Both teams are saying they aren’t able to comment to local news, which means I’m thinking the roller derby team is soon going to be the richest men’s roller derby team in the world.
Yeah, that’s where a quality search comes in. It’s not enough to simply search the database of registered trademarks. It’s also searching the internet and other relevant directories for the name.
Either the baseball team will buy the roller derby team out or they’ll try to sit on the roller derby guys until they run out of cash.
I have the feeling that if the roller derby guys start hurting for cash, they’ll just need to make a post on their website. It’s not like the Indians fans are happy with the new name. For the price of a (former) Indians season ticket, they could get season tickets to the roller derby team, and a pile of merch.
The fact that the roller derby team has the fricking web domain should have been a hint. Some local news started by saying that the (former) Indians had obviously reached a deal with them because neither party would comment to the press about it. Only a couple have twigged to the counterfiling and the start of a merch store as a battle line.
My exact thought. Gold-plated skates and shit.
https://youtu.be/dKSB2O2Shts
if I was a roller derby girl, my skate name would be Sarah Impalin’ or Vanessa Bludgeons.
I flew out to Scottsdale to pick up a car we agreed to buy and the price had changed in the interim. The guy asked “what are you gonna do, not buy it?” I informed him I was going to rent my wife and child a nice hotel room for the evening, then decide if we were renting a car or flying back to TX. I said I would then contact my attorney and sue them for breech of contract. He said we didn’t have a contract. I then suggested he contact his GM and ask if an e-mail constitutes a legal agreement. He came back, apologized for the “confusion” and said they were correcting the paperwork as we spoke. Car dealers are mostly awful people. Bought the last car at CarMax. I couldn’t have been happier with that process.
My blood pressure is rising just thinking about that situation.
My barber had their ‘covid card’ on full display. I now have a lot number and the CVS store# that administered for my own card 😉
“What? That is weird, maybe the tech messed up!”
? ?
I am sure she saw those expressions on my face as I noticed.
She? That’s not a barber. That’s a stylist.
I’ve only bought 2 cars, both used.
Bought the car I have now last month. 2009 PT Cruiser with 48k miles. Dealer wanted $8k, I offered $6.3k in cash right then and there, as that was close to the high end of the Blue Book value. We settled on $7.5k and he paid all the other taxes and fees, which amounted to at least $500. So I was satisfied with that deal.
My uncle, a lawyer, came to observe my bargaining skills and offer his advice. He said that I should not have said “I love this car” after the test drive or mentioned that I recently paid $10k in cash for welding school.
Alas, I am honest to a fault.
I’ve haggled for stuff on 4 continents and it’s the same thing everywhere.
Bought my last 5 cars through CarMax – works for me. Got great deals on all of them and very good value on my trade-ins each time.
Am likely to do it again soon.
construction humor
“Watch your head! We don’t want the crane hook to get bent!”
They let me use the big crane lift and move stuff, so that’s fun.
Also learned anda la verga! from a Spanish-speaking co-worker. Literal meaning is “suck the dick” but it can mean anything from “oh fuck” to “hell yeah” depending on the situation.
Also learned anda la verga! from a Spanish-speaking co-worker. Literal meaning is “suck the dick” but it can mean anything from “oh fuck” to “hell yeah” depending on the situation.
Of course, “suck the dick” can have that same range of meanings in English as well, depending on context. It seems any exclamatory phrase, no matter how vulgar or potentially insulting, can have a full range of positive or negative meanings. IIRC you’ve studied a lot of languages, so out of curiosity have you come across any languages that lack such figurative idioms and take things too literally?
Esperanto?
Good question.
A few examples from various languages:
In Arabic, yakhrib beitak literally means “[may god] destroy your house”, but a more idiomatic translation might be “go to hell” or “fuck you”.
In Swahili, toka, mshenzi! might be translated as “get lost, jackass” or “go away, moron”.
Sexual references in both those languages raise any insult to the level of “fighting words” as we say in English.
One time, I was at a post office in Tanzania. In Swahili, I tried to ask for a large envelope. In Swahili, the word for envelope in bahasha and the word for envelope is basha.
Guess which one I said.
The clerk and the other customers laughed as I asked for a large homosexual and stamps to America.
word for homosexual is basha, is what I meant
https://www.foxbusiness.com/media/fox-business-network-announces-new-primetime-lineup-focused-on-success-stories-across-key-american-industries
Mike Rowe to narrate a new show airing Mondays.
Moe is squeeing
Also KK. We heart him.
Probably all the ladies here do.
Car titles are a pain. Dealer told me he had to get the NV DMV to mail it to me here in Camp Swampy. I call him a few weeks later and he said it was sent certified mail and signed for. I didn’t remember signing for anything. Later he calls me and says it was “return to sender” because maybe my apartment letter was mistaken for a number. So I put a month long hold on my mail to make sure that when it comes it stays at the post office. Got pulled over today for driving with an out of state expired temp tag. I explained to the cop what happened and he let me go with a warning.
It helped that my welding gear was in the back and I was tired, sweaty, and dirty just getting off from work. The greatest gift the Army gave me is that tired, burned out, dead look in my eyes.
I have been in MI for almost a year and still roll AZ plates, they are good til 2022, why not? and can they really pop me if all my paperwork is in order?
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7VY6zxQIWqw/UKlxPLWE6uI/AAAAAAAA4Bs/KIAlwH46taI/s1600/1000+yard+stare+face+of+war+one+thousand.jpg
It took me a long time to connect that pic with this scene:
https://youtu.be/llOSzloC0b4?t=440
People with that look- they’ve seen the best and worst of the human race. They have eaten the forbidden fruit and now have the knowledge of good and evil.
You will not complete the hero’s journey until you have maxed out the 5 basic emotions: joy, anger, disgust, sadness, and fear.
Once you do that, death is not so scary anymore.
i need to buy a car. this is helpful and frightening.
Looking to be added to a list?
Setting up an Eastern WA, North ID, PNW, etc. meet-up for September. I put a post on the Forum but email is probably better – sodium at proton mail dot com
I’ll sell you the Pontiac, bro. A good deal.
Just put “no feds allowed” on the invitation. That should do the trick.
I have a 76 Chevy 3/4 ton 4×4 with a 454 big block, 5 speed overdrive manual and steel flatbed. You would look cool in it and it is great for terrorizing Spokidiot drivers.
David Horowitz is the greatest political mind of the 20th century. If you have not read Radical Son and you think you know something about the state of US politics in 2021, you don’t. That is where you start and then you can start from there pretending you know jackshit.
Well, perhaps I’ll give it a go. From what little I know he seems like the 14lb sledgehammer you reach for when what you really need is a toothbrush. In recent years, I have enjoyed the fact that many “staunch” conservatives have re-examined their relationship with the Republican establishment, and re-examined their opinions on foreign policy in the wake of the 2001+ foreverwars. I also very much enjoy the fact that any “libertarians” worth a damn have also come to consider the implications of culture and how it truly matters. Ron Paul helped with a balanced view, but many conservatives have offered some wonderful insight on this to help bring libertarian thinking back in from it’s cynical Gen X prodigal slouching.
He used to be on talk radio out here in the early nineties. I only vaguely remember him, but he was cool. An ex lefty, I think.
And on Salon about 20 years ago.
I’m skipping a night’s sleep to reset I guess. Laying on the couch with some jams on the tee vee is far more relaxing than trying to sleep.
I like this place but there’s something about the bedroom I can’t put my finger on. I can see it just becoming storage or something. I left it plain and simple, uncluttered; just my bed, a wardrobe, chest of drawers. Something something sleep hygeine. Doesn’t work at all.
I’m tempted to turn it into some sort of office space, not that I need it, but then I have no idea when I’ll be moving on again so maybe it would be a waste of time anyway.
limey
Timmah!
Sun’s coming up for you soon anyway.
Timmaaaahh!!
The evaporation of dew is imminent.
Something about the bedroom you don’t like?
Yeah I guess so, at least in it’s capacity as a bedroom.
Is it TOO spartan?
Do you feel disconnected from your space, as if you are there temporarily?
*lightbulb*
You might really be onto something.
serving suggestion: http://art-vangogh.com/saint-remy_31.html
You need to get laid.
Temporary solution.
I have some video from our last Glibs meetup.
You’re the one worried about grades and economics and shit, right?
Someone like me can have both.
Or all three.
Nice to see you back HM.
For the late nighters who can’t sleep… Steely Dan and Michael McDonald.
?
I’ve bought most of my vehicles from private sales.
Bought one from a used car dealer, it had been on their lot for a while and it was marked down. I walked in offered cash at a lower price and drove off with it. (I think this was before the dealers made all their money on financing)
Bought a repo from a credit union. Offered a lower price, no one there cared because they weren’t getting a commission, drove off with that one too.
Bought my last car from a factory dealer because I wanted a Challenger with a manual and didn’t want one someone learned on. It was a last year hold over and they had a decent price for it. Only thing I was a little pissed about was that I didn’t catch the stupid aftermarket floor mats and overpriced window tint. I did laugh at the finance guy trying to sell me key insurance. Tip to salesmen: reset the “top speed” display. Mine was at 102mph before I drove it off the lot.
4 HM.
https://archive.li/k683X/de10105109a618e9b3ce00348e0c36524e5f33f3.jpg
NSFW.
https://archive.li/fA6V8/69896618f8152a14c375f13b9b5f74d8a69e269f.jpg
NSFW.
https://archive.li/wAqbA/b8b66f6576b5484aaeb3ba776d38ed8fef8e55e9.jpg
NSFW.
4 Chafed.
https://archive.li/Jp6Ua/005c55404f44439d688bf93f7c147f42a8e4511d.webp
NSFW.
I’m flattered and aroused.
I believe there are some Fenix ammo buyers here.
https://twitter.com/fenixammunition/status/1420418854119936006?s=21
Love it, that company rocks.
Barrett did similar I believe.
Kudos to them.
Today I worked on a street with hundreds of people buying and using crack, meth and fentanyl. This is not everyday for me, but is not unusual as I often work in the Loin and nearby areas. I’ve seen an unbelievable amount of people putting needles in themselves and others and freebasing and piping crack and meth, especially for someone who has never done these drugs. I’m not sure how many times the average American has seen this right in front of them. Maybe most adults have at least once or twice, maybe more I don’t really know as my knowledge of American cities is pretty sparse. There is completely open hard drug selling on some streets. I imagine this is more concealed in most places, people are still using drugs, just not so out in the open.
You don’t have to work the streets just because Craigslist personals are gone.
There seems to be little shame left in our wonderful cities. Pretty sure Portland and Seattle are the same.
Heheh, I even saw Winston’s mom there. I don’t think open use of hard drugs is acceptable to allow on the streets. I have no problem allowing legal sales of any drug to a consenting adult. I’m not a heroin-in-vending-machines libertarian though, and hard drugs really need to be dealt with in a completely different manner than is going on here now.
Last 2-3 years it’s become flagrant here. Seen several people shooting up openly, including one sitting in front of my office building’s front door. Month or two ago I watched someone fire up their crackpipe in a homeless camp next to a major intersection.
Wouldn’t be surprised if it is already happening here in Spokane too. Plenty of underpass hobo jungles around here but it is spreading throughout the city. I think some of it is because they have pushed some of them out of downtown but the total number is definitely up. I would say it has become more brazen the last four years here but we still have a long ways to go to catch up. Do better Spokane!
I voted for drug decriminalization here. Unfortunately it was paired with reducing felony penalties for other property crimes. That was a tough decision for me as they really did not belong together. Ultimately my disdain for the war on drugs won out and I voted yea.
It would be better to decriminalize drugs and increase penalties for property crime. I hate thieves (I’m looking hard at you Mr. Govt.) But locking them up doesn’t really solve anything either. It just makes them wards of the state and we get to pay for their upkeep. So are the choices enable them through social programs or care for them as inmates? The reward of self destructive acts is an early grave but that is too cold hearted for many to accept.
I hate the war on drugs as it’s a war on the citizenry.
I was in SF about 2 years ago. I watched a guy take a dump on the street and then shoot up. It will be a long time before I return.
I was there about six years ago for a conference. The smell of urine and shit was enough to kill any desire to return.
The same office building where the guy was shooting up has a perpetual smell of urine to go with the litter. And the janitors are regularly pressure washing with sanitizer.
Saw a meth chick squatting down by the train station a couple of weeks ago.
Ninth Circus and Boise didn’t help, but Occupy is what started it around here. Before the bums tried to keep to the background and out of sight. When Occupy morphed into bum camps, that changed and the genie never went back into the bottle. Other thing about Occupy was the lack of harassment those people got. I was shocked that no teens egged their tents or sprayed them with a super soaker or such.
The shop/office I rent has a chain link fence all around the property. This is the only way to go for commercial property. It will not keep a thief out, it’s easy enough to cut through but it does prevent the hobos from using parts of the building for impromptu shelters. The last shop we had was next to a precast concrete pipe mfg. Those pipes made great hobo condos.
A store on one of the main streets here had a recessed entrance. Every morning there were campers there. Eventually they built a glass entrance flush with the wall.
There are worse societies than ones that shun sloth and reward work.
The punks that used to beat up hobos are now fighting for Marxism, even if they don’t know what that means.
Chain link is/was in the works but the property manager has a limited budget and there’s only been one bum started fire.
I’m not looking forward to it because it’s going to make the place look like an abandoned building (and further target) plus I don’t relish working inside a prison.
Could be worse, could be downtown Portland. Was there earlier this week and it’s not getting better. Even stores that are open have plywood over every surface.
The freeloader problem has gotten way worse and then there are the large amount of mental cases and complete addicts that are interlaced. We went from state mental institutions to open air asylums. There has to be a better way.
I have similar thoughts about how the entire country has become the asylum and we are all being treated like patients. The scary part is how many people are ok with that and even fight to tighten the rules. I often yearn for the days when there was an open frontier.
Absolutely, I find it very sad. It’s not a future I imagined was truly real. Now it seems like we are on the verge of it. The hope is that we see a pendulum swing, humans do have a basic longing for freedoms. It may reassert itself.
It was not that obvious when I lived in SF 20-something years ago and had to travel through that area all the time to get home.
Apparently I can walk over to Washington Square Park today and see it. People pay tens of thousands of dollars a month to live around there but of course most of them are good liberals and hesitant to speak up about the problem but it has started happening. Kind of amusing to watch the gears grind in their heads.
Somewhat thread related because it was the last song I was listening to when I was driving home tonight. Voodoo
Great song. More voodoo.
https://youtu.be/9SSUQxGjZZ4
First person to link Voodoo Child is disqualified.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pgmrqoqOYgU
No Voodoo https://youtu.be/UaeP-7VWFHY
Voodoo Stew https://youtu.be/dA3BbBNbgx0
Voodoo Doll Collector https://youtu.be/eetnLaWxGPk
True story- once I was going down on a chubby broad and she legit tasteed sweet. I stopped and said “have you ever been screened for diabetes?”
The night ended abruptly.
It wasn’t a long lost Popsicle?
No, that was in her underboob.
When I bought a car online, it was awesome. I typed in the url of the manufacturer, clicked to the car o wanted, chose the color and options I wanted, and got the total.
Then, with the car options chosen on that other browser tab, I went to USAA to apply for a car loan. They approved it in minutes.
I then returned to the manufacturer site and pulled the trigger. Paid with a combo of my cash and the lender.
The rest is history. Now people are offering / paying more for a used car of my same model than they’d pay new, simply to get it RIGHT NOW.
Peeps be weird.
Check your Tesla privilege!
Jugsy got her ’16 Camaro from Carvana. I didnt see the paperwork or financials- it was “I bought something and its getting delivered tonight so dont be mad) but from what I saw it seemed like an easy transaction.
By Friday, I have to choose between a job in Tucson, a job in Scottsdale., and a job in the middle of nowhere, southwest Nevada.
All are in defense. The job I know I want is the Nevada one. But my husband is dead set against it due to the remoteness.
I am torn.
This is the “mini “ version of what Nevada wants me for.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFZzYLXvQ30&feature=youtu.be
The big one will be Miles long and underground. That’s the job they are just kicking off, and they need pulsed power engineers.
Man, I really want to do this, but it’d take up most of my waking hours (at least on weekdays) forever more.
But it might be why I’m here and now…
Wow, I see why you would want to work on that. Maybe you can convince the hubby by the house itself. Land is cheap in rural Nevada, you could set up a very sweet residence that might persuade him.
Or be a weekend commuter to Las Vegas or even San Diego? Is 2-4 days/week onsite and rest remote an option?
That is very interesting. I would not be able to resist that.
So I just need to press this red button? Sweet!
Not That One!
Middle of nowhere sounds good, but do you think you need to be near a decent hospital given recent happenings?
I couldn’t sleep so I am up and hour early. I turned on the Laura Ingram Show. Lately I have seen countless commenters detailing the lunacy of the Biden admin and then asking “Why are they doing this?!”
Jeebus, I have been saying since Obumbles got into the WH that they are trying to rebuild the Soviet Union here. That is exactly what they are doing and many of the left are saying it openly.
The word communism is a misnomer. It doesnt convey the real purpose of that form of government. The purpose is totalitarianism: total power for the few at everyone else’s expense. Essentially it is slavery.
All of those knuckleheads need to come out and say it. See; Mark Levin. He seems to be the only one.
I’ve been up all night, and just got this in my email: ”
VA processing disability claims for certain conditions related to particulate matter
VA is now processing disability claims for asthma, rhinitis and sinusitis on a presumptive basis based on particulate matter exposures during military service in Southwest Asia and certain other areas – if these conditions manifested within 10 years of a qualifying period of military service.”
Also- This will expand benefits for Veterans who served in:
Afghanistan, Djibouti, Syria, and Uzbekistan during the Persian Gulf War, from September 19, 2001, to the present, or
The Southwest Asia theater of operations from August 2, 1990, to the present
The whole military-industrial complex can take a step back and fuck their own face.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IhTvifGShw4
?
https://6abc.com/murphy-knuckleheads-delta-variant-covid-19-protesters-new-jersey/10930320/
Suck my dick, Phil.
Nj Glibs…move. Now.
How appropriate that his remarks came during an event to extend communism. It’s almost like people are beginning to put two and two together.
Strange. Watched this on local news last night; the video included footage of the mostly peaceful protesters, who appeared to be primarily the Latinos who gave Murphy 91% of the vote last time around. That footage appears to have been scrubbed from every article now. Not a good look to see Murphy haranguing the minority protesters, I guess. The election may be interesting – seems that the plebes may be getting restless.
https://pix11.com/news/local-news/cuomo-under-fire/a-cuomo-impeachment-how-would-removing-the-governor-from-office-work/
Impeachment! Wooooooo!
Which malfeasance are they focused on? It should be the thousands of counts of depraved inddiference homicide he should be facing.
You’d think the years of grotesque mismanagement of the economy, driving out thousands of people, would be enough. Or the numerous pay-to-play corruption scandals.
Maybe there’s tape of him somewhere saying the N-word.
LOL “I’m Italian.”
What a piece of work.
Yeah, the Italians are known for being touchie feelie but bullshit.
Gotta check for wires.
“A Variant Worse Than Delta’: Fauci Dials Fear To 11 As Emerging ‘Lambda’ Strain Appears More Resistant To Vaccine”
https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/variant-worse-delta-fauci-dials-fear-11-emerging-lambda-strain-appears-more-resistant
The variants are going to be coming from now until doomsday and they’re going to leverage the hell out of them. We’re in trouble folks.
Who? That grasping, small-minded bureaucrat?
Throw him out on his ass.
We could always just throw a few more trillions at the drug companies to develop a new vaccine. I mean, come on. This isn’t rocket science.
“We’re going to need a bigger alphabet.”
Too bad written Chinese doesn’t have one.
“ Broward County Public Schools “Pause” Proposed Mask Mandate After DeSantis Threatens To Cut Funding”
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/desantis-stands-his-ground-backs-down-broward-county-public-schools-over-proposed-mask
This is how you do it: threaten the money.
Future President DeSantis.
If he gets Trump’s go ahead.
Yup. Go to the dealer and haggle. I was so deathly hungover when I bought my last truck that I didn’t even bother with a test drive. Took them down about 8 grand from the asking price. I wanted it and they didn’t. Still driving it today. That chip shortage has fucked everything right about the time that our vehicles are prone to failure. Judi’s Nissan is a goddamned lemon.
Mornin’ all!
Howdy. How your legs holding up?
Making noise last night on the floor but Festus abides. Thanks for asking! The plant was really hot and I was ordered to mask up.
Good morning, Fes!
We were happy with the Subie dealer we dealt with – TT & I bought at the same time, his 2nd Subie, my 1st. Far superior to the other dealer in town, based on the horror stories I’ve heard. Before that, we each bought at least one car from Enterprise and were happy with those. I like picking one out online, but I really feel the need to go see it in person and drive it before I decide. For less hassle, I’d definitely consider a no-haggle place like CarMax.
Haggling is fun.
Obligatory, and hoping no one else linked it earlier.
The Subaru guy lost two sales because he wouldn’t haggle properly.
Haggling just indicates that both sides are negotiating in bad faith. The expectation of haggling is a sure sign that market is rife with scams and fraud.
Furniture stores and gun shows are also good venues to attempt.
You would not enjoy a trip to Mexico, UCS. Haggling gloves aren’t allowed for tourists.
I would not enjoy a trip to Mexico. I don’t react well to foreign languages, and there’s a lot of Spanish in Mexico.
No, no it is not. Try approaching a hot girl at a bar when you are sober.
Man, way to put the hag in haggling!
Sober at a bar?
You’re doing it wrong.
Hey! Some of us might have worn our pledge gloves once in awhile… Dancing sober is worse than water-boarding.
I’ve got an Audi guy and a VW guy. GF now has a Ford guy.
Car shopping is fun, but I’m gonna keep my current for a bit longer.
Not my lived experience.
Maybe it’s more fun when they’re brand new cars? Could be a regional thing. Maybe I’m just weird. *shrug*
What could possibly be fun about it?
You’re forced into an adversarian social interaction with fake friendly overtones with a representative of a company who is incentivised to make the experience as expensive as possible usually requiring misrepresentation and deception.
And that’s just the baseline. It gets worse from there.
I am in complete agreement.
But I would point out that no one is forcing you to buy a car, even if you are expected to enter “freely” into that interaction.
Circumstances say otherwise.
While technically a ‘choice’ the alternatives can easily be untenable. ie – I would be unable to maintain my job without the transportation.
Everything is a negotiation.
You’ve never tried ordering things for a business? This is why businesses have sales reps…
My company has the worst sales reps. They quote a price to a customer for a product we’ve never made before and then come to us and tell us we have to design and implement a new plant to make it on an impossible timeline, constrained by their stupid pricing decisions.
Ouch.
I look for non-commission alternatives to commission sales industries.
For example, Redfin for houses. Best homebuying/selling experience.
I just hate the idea of getting one over on someone else. I would have been a terrible lawyer which was what all of my testing stated that I should be.
https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/03/texas-democrats-washington-portugal/
What, together?
Like two unfortunate dogs.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/they-cant-arrest-us-all-sen-rand-paul-urges-americans-resist-pelosi-petty-tyrants
🙂
https://nypost.com/2021/08/05/cnn-offered-chris-cuomo-leave-of-absence-to-advise-andrew-cuomo-report/
“Quick, get that window licker off the air!”
I lurved their resident worry-wart, Stelter of all people throwing the Crime Family under the bus yesterday. Chef’s Kiss! They are crumbling into the sea.
I just woke up on the floor covered in dog hair and carpet fuzz.
Shiva H. Christ, is it Thursday already>
Who’s pants am I wearing ?
Is the story I want to hear.
You should be asking yourself “Where is the body?”
Auctions are an option. Especially with fleet vehicles. We had a Suburban that was apparently born under a Red star. Former Sherriff’s truck that ran back and forth from the jail to the courthouse for a number of years.
Eeeeewwww. Prisoner cooties.
I’m immune.