i get travelers constipation and often don't poo the entire time im traveling... it used to scare me, now i enjoy not sitting on dirty 2nd world toilets.

There are times when I was traveling that I would have paid a few hundred dollars to have constipation.

I hate traveling constipation. It will happen on a 1 day drive for me. I combat it by taking Miralax or it's Sam's Club equivalent.

I kind of figured that was the case. I'd probably hold off on buying since you're spreadsheet shows the a huge variance in the cost comparison based on the appreciation rate.

So, let's say I change my assumptions a tad.

https://click.mail.zillow.com/f/a/Pg...0lm3nhu1_1pt0h

This shifts the numbers dramatically. Even with somewhat pessimistic assumptions about property valuation and taking HOA fee into account, this pays off during the second year by moving down to a 15 year mortgage.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...6921000eaa.png


Hell, even if we assume the property inflation rate to be zero, it STILL pays off in less than two years:

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...3f41258492.png

I greatly prefer 15yr mortgages.

Yes, that I would go for. Nice clean, assume it's in a good location for you, etc. And not nearly the amount of overhanging mortgage or increased utilities by not sharing any walls with anyone. And at that price, if you needed/wanted to move/change jobs, etc, you could likely easily lease the place to cover the bills.


This. The house my ex-wife still lives was on a 15yr mortgage. But with an anticipated move to Austin in the next 18-36 months, I'm not sure there is any company that will pay me a salary allowing a 15 year mortgage there unless it's way out in the sticks or something.

It's definitely a different neighborhood. On Irving Park, most of the store signs are in English. On Montrose, which is one major block north, they're mostly Spanish. This does not personally bother me (better supermarkets, for one thing), but it's something to consider from a resale perspective.

I'll need to eyeball the property...

Shared garage? I have no garage. I think about this frequently.

Good point on signage/resale. From other comps, is that signage already making it "more affordable" vs a different more "english" neighborhood?

Wants and desires can not be expressed in spreadsheets, Joe.

Owning a car and modifying the engine is definitely a bad investment, for example.
But, hell, I want it that way.

Just in case anyone still has not subscribed, there's a new episode of Project Binky out:

Truthfully, this one is 100% about the money. I'm perfectly happy in my present accommodations, I just feel as though I'm sacrificing a potential opportunity for financial gain. The data seem to support this.



Yes.

Who leaves that in their toilet........guests coming over or not?

Anyone ever had a home circuit breaker fail in the "ON" position?

Nasty lightning/thunderstorm through OKC this morning, one circuit that includes lights and the garage door opener fried. Fancy modem and router base on a completely different circuit are dead, while nothing else on that circuit is.

Strange.

Circuit breakers don't generally do much to protect against lightning. They are relatively slow-acting, and are designed to protect against over-current, not over-voltage.

The modem and router died because the lightning induced a voltage in whatever line external to your house feeds the modem.

Here in the lightning capital of North America we have various surge protection devices that the mounted directly into the fuse panel and elsewhere. I'm dubious as to their effectiveness, but we did have a fairly large oak tree struck by lightning about 30 feet from the corner of my house with no damage to electronics. The charge sent chunks of the tree trunk over the house into the front yard.

When lightning hits the electrical Transformers up on the poles and they explode like a bomb it's pretty impressive. That's a fairly common occurrence.

Gotcha. I just thought it was strange that two unrelated circuits (one electrical and the other cable) died and nothing else. I have an electrician coming by to make sure no other damage than just the breaker.

I couldn't see any obvious damage to the house, but even when I left for work this morning it was still raining too hard and far too much lightning for me to take a good look.

Yeah, I've seen that in older neighborhoods back in Tulsa. Current neighborhood in OKC was built in the 80s, so everything is buried except the street lights.

There is essentially nothing you can do to protect the electronics in your house from a close lightning strike, other than unplug them. Surge suppressors are pretty much worthless in this regard, as are inexpensive "line conditioners" and UPSes. Old school mainframe computers were often protected with a motor-generator set -- which is basically a huge flywheel with an electric motor at one end and a generator at the other.

As for circuit breakers that fail in such a way that they never trip, yes, they exist, and yes, they're as dangerous as they sound. Check to see if your panel is made by Federal Pacific Electric or has the "stab-lok" brandname on it anywhere...

--Ian

This is just incredibly discriminatory against the poor, and others who rely upon streetlights. We need to band together and demand that the OKC city council bury the street lights along with all of the wiring that only the rich can afford to use.

We had a pretty big electrical storm the other night, don't think we were hit, but it triggered two GFI's in the house. One feeds the underground line to the front flagpole and the other feeds the rear deck outlets. Guess it was pretty close.

It's down to $599k. Offer them $550.

And guess who feels sheepish now? Thankfully I figured it out before the electrician got here, I forgot there is a GFCI outlet in the garage, reset, and the circuit works again. It's buried behind some heavy duty shelving, *facepalm*

Now I'm trying to figure out how to get the damn garage door opener to reset so it will work. But the modem and router base, were still fried.



Bought a cheapy modem/router combo to get me by the next few days until the correct modem and router base get here.

*I'm disgruntled with the Best Buy on N. May ave, they aren't keeping their inventory up-to-date or someone has their "Item Out-of-Stock Behavior" settings incorrect in their ERP system. The website indicated Best Buy had both the modem and the AmpliFi base only, in stock. Only the modem, which does no good since it's a modem only.

Took my cylinder head to the machine shop for a valve adjustment (apparently none of the Mazda services in the country has a shim set).
The owner, a very cool, meticulous guy, re-cut the valve faces and got the excessive clearances perfect.
I drank my tea as they worked, we chatted a bit, and I paid 30 bucks and left with the head strapped on my bike.

That was my afternoon.

On a related note, I discovered my 9 year old 52 mm core Chinese aluminum radiator had started seeping in 3 spots.
Three shops refused to repair the fins, because they thought the aluminum was too old and fragile.
So, I am getting it re-finned, meaning they will reuse the tanks and weld in a new 52 mm core, to the tune of $130.
Cool thing is, they will make the radiator about 3/8" to 1/2" shorter, which will make a huge difference in routing the turbo intake...

If you needed to burn a body, which would be better, gasoline or kerosene (diesel), and why?

Or, is there a better alternative fuel (aside from wood)?


Asking for a friend...

Do you need to make the body completely vanish, or just eliminate identifiable characteristics and burn off external evidence?

I'd think you'd want something like charcoal with forced-air, to ensure a long-duration, high-temperature burn.Liquid accelerants will burn off way too quickly

It takes something like 60-180 minutes in a gas fired oven at 1400-1800° to cremate a person and that still leaves some bone/teeth material behind.

I'd think pieces spread out and buried in national parks across the country is better.

Or

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...bff6fae5e2.png

I believe the absolute best method is a fake funeral, with a proper burial.

Okay, so I'm not actually burning a body. A friend is. Well, a fictional body.

My friend is an author. He has a situation where someone dies, and the body is burned in a fire. Think car accident with tanker truck type thing.

The body has to be burned beyond recognition for the plot line, but not completely obliterated. Also, it's not like everyone is just going to stand around and watch the fire, so it has to happen in minutes, not hours.

It also has to be reasonable/plausible. No tankers of impossibly strong acid or napalm or anything. Tanker trucks of fuel are common enough to be acceptable.

Tanker truck catches fire (fuel tank) main tank ruptures in one spot, diesel shoots out (heat generates pressure in the tanker) and burns in a jet - like a boiler burner. This column of fire incinerates the car with its occupant, and then the gas tank of the car blows up to seal the deal.

Pigs are fatty. Fat burns fast and relatively hot. Make the pigs eat him, then get immolated in a tanker fire. Receive delicious smells.

liquid oxygen truck could do some serious fast cremation.

http://983thesnake.com/files/2011/03...jpg?w=980&q=75

(yeah, I know, nitrogen not oxygen)

--Ian

This happened to me about ten years ago while I was road-tuning an ECU. Killed the hell out of those poor little puppies and made me late for work.

This has been the most insane week of my life, from a corporate / legal / etc standpoint. And now that the filings have been made public, I can vent publicly.






PRO TIP:



If you are the chief counsel for Company A, which is in the process of acquiring Company B, which, if approved, will be the largest corporate media merger in history, and the chief counsel for Company B has sent you a letter expressing certain concerns with regard to Company A's flagrantly belligerent and antagonistic conduct towards the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission in the matter of the proposed merger, never, EVER, -=>EVER<=- send this email and copy five other people on it.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...7ff889f620.png

Why? Because it will wind up being labeled "Exhibit G" in the attachments to the 62 page complaint seeking damages due to Breach of Contract, which is basically inevitable after you told the Assistant Attorney General of the DOJ's Antitrust Division (and I am quoting directly): "Sue me."


I swear that I am not exaggerating, embellishing, or bullshitting. Company A's lawyers were so bold that they were actually making THREATS against the Department of Justice, and accusing the Federal Communications Commission of incompetence.

I wish that I could convey facial expressions via the internet, because that would help me in conveying the context of how I feel right now. But there are certain things which you just don't do. Threatening the two Federal agencies without whose approval said merger will not occur is one of them.





Guess how much money this lawsuit (Company B suing Company A for breach of contract for being complete assholes and blowing up the deal) is for.







That's ok, I'll wait.








Still waiting.








Give up?






$1 billion.






I shit you not.





https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...1ebb5280ee.png

^"While it's nice to be important, it's much more important to be nice."

Given some of the stuff I'm reading in the 176 pages of exhibits and attachments, they could have resolved their differences more amicably in the Thunderdome.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...12b37f8d52.png

I've decided that, if I live to see 80 (I'm more than halfway there) and finally reach the point where my savings are exhausted and I'm basically living as a pauper, I'm going to become a drug dealer, or something in that general line of work. The kind of thing that, when I'm arrested and brought to trial, the jury will feel really uncomfortable about convicting an 80 year old man for. I mean, the worst-case scenario is that the state winds up paying for my upkeep in my autumn years.

I'll also be rockin' a Doc Brown hairstyle. That much I decided long ago. I've got more white than black already, and the Perez men have all died with a full head of hair.

That's pretty much my ultimate goal. Walter White, but with a Jerry Garcia vibe.


Also, it's looking as though the FCC is gonna seriously bitch-slap the folks in Baltimore. This situation is getting very interesting.

My wife and I have decided that around 85 years old is when we will start trying out the hard drugs. At that point whats the problem if I get addicted to heroin, I just need to make the nest egg last until we OD. We will at least know we went out feeling amazing.

Well, guys. Shit is getting real.

A few months ago my friend (Captain with Monroe County Fire Rescue) mentioned that they might have an academy that's free to locals. Well, I just passed my entrance exams (physical and written). I start the full-time academy on the 27th until November 16th. Monday - Friday 7:30 am to 5:00 every day. I'm actually very excited but am extremely nervous due to having to give away all my current clients (and basically my entire private training business). I am going to be extremely broke during all this. Not making any money and I won't have time to train myself in the gym, which I haven't missed more than 4 days in the last 5 years. I am really in for a big shock.

Good job, Josh!

Good job, and food luck. Knowing what a huge life-changer working out has been for you, it's gonna be super hard to miss working out for a while, but it'll be worth it.

Nice!
I can't think of anything I'd rather be than a firefighter.
It's an incredible job, other than occasionally reviving murderers and just generally seeing the worst in humanity.
The schedule is awesome and the work itself is fun though.

Plus kittens!

--Ian

I came within a whisker of becoming a firefighter myself, back in 2008. I tested for the fairly large city I was living in at the time, and 1200 people showed up to take the test. Before the test started the department announced that they were hiring 50 people, because that's how many firefighters were retiring that year. After testing was over, I was ranked 26th overall out of 1200 test takers, and I felt pretty good about that position. Then the financial crash of 2008 happened and all the firefighters who were supposed to retire didn't, so they only hired 15 people. My life almost went in a very different direction back then. It's a great job, but tough on your body, every career firefighter I've ever known has been pretty banged up, so make sure to take care of yourself. Good luck and stay safe!

Exciting, Josh!

I am old enough to have lived in a time before email. Before instant social anything.

I am not decrepit, and I am far from the most ... "statement-conscious" individual I know. And yet .. I am still continually confounded by the amount of shit, the amount of INCRIMINATING, YES I DID THIS shit, people put in email. It's like they expect it to be a private one-to-one conversation, as if it were in person, not recorded, with no chance of it being replicated and spread verbatim.

This is something I keep telling my kids (12 and 14, both boys) over and OVER and OVER. Anything they put on the internet, ANYTHING, including Discord conversations with their ... "friends" ... is conceivably evidence for something. There is no privacy. Say nothing you might regret later.

a closed mouth gathers no foot.

Thanks, guys.

I can't wait. I'm gonna start my training business back up and enjoy the dual income.
Man, it's totally different down here. My class had 33 people show up for the physical test and the instructors said it's a huge turnout. Monroe County is desperate for full-time locals. It's just so fucking expensive down here that people leave after a year. Luckily I have a great and cheap place to live.

I thought you were a middle-class white guy? How did you get accepted to free public anything, let alone in the state of Florida? Also... once passed, how does this academy equal an actual paying job?

Haha. I'm a small business owner aka broke on paper. I flashed my privilege card and made sure I had my Trump hat on when I arrived at the station.

Monroe County is desperate for Civil Service workers. After Irma, we are short staffed on everything including public works. Key West currently has 1 paramedic. My girlfriend (ish) is nighttime supervisor for the Sherriff Office and only has 2 years of experience. About 3 months ago we had out of control fires in Big Pine and didn't have enough people to operate all of the equipment, so they had stations from the mainland drive down to assist. What it really comes down to is people simply cannot afford to live here anymore. I don't personally know anyone who is paying less than $1,200 for a room, or less than $1,600 for a studio. Two homes for rent on my street are asking $3,200 and they will get that easily.

The rules for this academy are you must work full-time for 1 year or 3 years as a volunteer. It's 10 weeks long and includes EMT with the national cert following immediately after the academy. BUT, you have to be a local to get in this academy for free. The class has 4 people from Miami who are commuting every morning because it's so competitive on the mainland. One of my good friends (the guy who got me started on this path) is a Captain with the Big Pine department and he swears up and down I'll get hired within 6 months. So...we'll see.

Hot tub has been drained, cleaned and refilled. Power back on. It should be good to go by tomorrow.

Mythological? :rolleyes:

TOR and Onion Browser would be the only solution I can think of.

How to Use TOR on iPhone and iPad with Onion Browser

Nothing is totally untraceable, of course. So I'd advise continuing to use dead-drops for the purpose of selling military secrets to North Korea. But TOR is probably good enough to prevent your employer from finding out that you frequently visit pony-porn websites while at work.

Tomorrow afternoon, if all goes well, I will be controlling two different spacecraft, each in orbit 42,000 miles above the earth, simultaneously.

Sometimes my job is actually kinda cool.

Joe:

Great film.

I can even overlook the fact that satellite orbits don't work like that.