He’s already got my vote. He’s by zero means perfect, but I live in a swing state and cannot throw out “meh it’s terrible, but good enough considering” because it’s not perfect.

Here’s some things he could do to make “meh, it’s terrible but” into just “good”:

• Put any kind of pressure on Israel.
• Expand the Supreme Court.
• Executive order giving the NLRB Sectorial Bargaining at the Federal Level.
• Force the FCC to regulate data collection.
• Go back in time and allow the railroad workers to strike and threaten nationalization if the hedge funds that own the railroads don’t play ball.

I mean, it’s a bunch of Linux people and communists… dunno what you were expecting.

In Catholic school in the nineties and early 2000’s, we were all told that the sex abuse scandal was serious but that it was also “a small number of incidents.” That we needed to pray for the victims and the souls of the perpetrators.

Then I went to college. Come to find out not only was the child rape widespread, not only did the church actively hide monsters from legal scrutiny, not only was this all directly effecting the local arch diocese (not my school specifically, but church leaders were forced to quickly rename another high school when allegations against a dead bishop proved too numerous to ignore)… not only all that but that it’s still going on, just not in first world countries with robust networks of journalists and legal systems. That an alleged pedophile was (while I was in college) living in the Vatican, being directly sheltered from extradition by South American authorities.

I guess the lie was that it was all over. That it was a small problem. That the church was a safe place people could turn to. I left the church at 18 over it, became an atheist by 19, and that’s where I’m at now at 35.

Yeah, even back in the nineties they were still making good stuff. My mom always bought my jeans there as a kid because they sold a store brand that had reinforced knees. I was an outdoor child and ran through clothing at an alarming rate.

I’m guessing it was a tower like this one.

Balanced on a single anchor point foundation with guy-wires stabilizing it from all sides.

Automation and it’s also possible this was a repeater tower… so, not the main broadcast tower but one that fills in a dead zone within the market. Radio and TV stations use repeaters in areas with a lot of hills or tall buildings.

I’ve often wondered, how were the economics of renting a car to drive for a service? Did you usually make back your money for renting and fuel, etc?

Well, what I meant was don’t just take a dealership’s word for the maintenance of a car they’re trying to sell you. But yeah, dealer mechanic shops can be some of the best out there especially for their particular brand.

Kind of a “duh” thing but, only buy used cars.

Always have a trusted mechanic who doesn’t work for the dealer look it over before you buy. Usually new car dealerships are reputable and are looking to move their trade-in inventory, especially at the end of the year when they need to clear the lot for the next year’s models. You can even find deals on vehicles that are only a year or two old like a returned lease, with a moderate number of miles on them and little to no wear and tear. Those are usually just as good as new but so much cheaper.

Be super cautious of the used car dealer chains, like Drivetime and Carvana, they have loads of customer complaints and legal problems in a couple of states (basically, if it seems too good to be true, it is). Do not ever buy a former rental car, unless it’s true love at first sight or you’re desperate… even then think about how people, who’ve only paid like $10-20 for rental insurance, have probably treated that vehicle and reconsider.

The newest and most expensive car I ever bought was a previous model year’s dealer demo. A dealer demo is what it sounds like, it’s the car the dealership displayed in the show room, used for test drives with unsure buyers, running office errands, and showing off at the mall or in parades. Cons: There’s only a few of them, they’ll have a couple hundred miles on the odometer, and you don’t get to pick the color or options. Pros: They’re usually at a decent trim level, in an agreeable color, and well maintained… for thousands less than brand new because they’ve already left the lot a whole bunch.

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Agreed on all soaps… except shampoo. My hair gets crazy damaged by the cheap stuff.

If you have one in your area, go to Aldi. Their knock off magic eraser has held up rather well for me.

Left Samsung’s ever more expensive Note and Galaxy S lines for Motorola’s cheap ass G series like three or four years ago and haven’t looked back. I buy a new phone once a year on my tax return for like $200-250. I gift my previous device to my younger cousins, nieces, nephews, and mother. Keeps everyone from having to pay off devices on their phone plans and the phones are still running rather well year over year. The only hold out, claiming to “need” the latest and greatest, is my older sister who insists she needs the new iPhone every two years.

Drug store nail polish too. $7-9 at Walgreens or CVS and I’m good.

Eggs, eggs, spam.

Yep. It’s real. The boats dot com sells passenger ferries and cruise ships along with almost anything else that can float.

They have those!

Thanks!

Just like cars, it depends on age and condition. Usually tens of millions, but it’s all about how well the ship has held up, how many passengers it can accommodate, and if it has special features like being rated for ice.

The sale and ownership of big boats is wild.