The Coffee House

[snerd]

My 2001 Ford Excursion (which I purchased new), will be sold this spring.

15 years is long enough to keep a vehicle in my opinion.

Finally sold my little Nissan Sentra in 2011. Bought it brand shiny new in 1994. 17 years!! One heck of a reliable car! Got me a 2 year old Nissan Altima. Not having a car payment for all those years was simply wonderful!!


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[sm4him]

I bought my first car back in 1979. It was a beautiful 1962 VW Beetle. Man, I loved that car!
In the ensuing years, I have NEVER bought a new car. I like to buy them used, drive them until they either get wrecked or just wear out, and then go to the next one. I have also never just sold a car--if I buy it, I'm keeping it until it won't go anymore.

My current car is a 2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible. It is my first convertible, and also the "newest" car I've ever owned!
Oh wait, no, it's not. I had a black hard-top Sebring that was "only" 8 years old when I got it.

I've thought about buying a newer car, and one of these days, I might do that. But I like being able to just BUY a car and not make monthly payments. I've only had to make payments on a car once in my life.

 

[Gary A.]

Buenos Dios Coffee Hosers. Cars, cars, cars ... in my youth, being in Los Angeles, cars were terribly important. I like fast food, fast women and fast cars. Mustangs and BMW's was what I bought. I few years ago, my consulting job had me traveling two hours, one way, three days a week to Ft. Irwin, the middle of the Mojave desert and two hours, one way, two days a week to San Diego. I sold my Cherokee and picked up a Crown Vic. It was the most comfortable, useful, long haul vehicle I've ever own. (The Scorpio is neck and neck to the Crown Vic, but for long hauls the bigger Crown Vic wins.) I still have it. It won't break and it is still big and comfy and unsexy and gets 26mph and gets a lot of respect on the road (people think it's a police vehicle) and in a pinch, I can do side jobs as a Coyote and stuff an entire undocumented family in the trunk and spirit them across the border. Granted, it has absolutely zero sex appeal ... but at my age ... (et al ... lol), but I can probably park in handicap and nobody will give it a second thought and look for a placard.

It's like driving from my living room.

 

[bribrius]

no preference for new or used. . just factor in all associated costs and need of vehicle. . Have bought both.

 

[Gary A.]

But for the past few years I have been seriously looking at something fun ... like a last production run T-Bird ... or a Tesla ... something sorta classic and somewhat unique.

 

[bribrius]

Buenos Dios Coffee Hosers. Cars, cars, cars ... in my youth, being in Los Angeles, cars were terribly important. I like fast food, fast women and fast cars. Mustangs and BMW's was what I bought. I few years ago, my consulting job had me traveling two hours, one way, three days a week to Ft. Irwin, the middle of the Mojave desert and two hours, one way, two days a week to San Diego. I sold my Cherokee and picked up a Crown Vic. It was the most comfortable, useful, long haul vehicle I've ever own. (The Scorpio is neck and neck to the Crown Vic, but for long hauls the bigger Crown Vic wins.) I still have it. It won't break and it is still big and comfy and unsexy and gets 26mph and gets a lot of respect on the road (people think it's a police vehicle) and in a pinch, I can do side jobs as a Coyote and stuff an entire undocumented family in the trunk and spirit them across the border. Granted, it has absolutely zero sex appeal ... but at my age ... (et al ... lol), but I can probably park in handicap and nobody will give it a second thought and look for a placard.

It's like driving from my living room.

had a old oldsmobile delta rocket 88. miss that car... thing just floated down the highway.

 

[Gary A.]

On jobs ... when I was working news ... I loved that job. It was a job of extremes, one minute I'd be filling out crossword puzzles (in pen) the next minute I'm running to a fire with all my gear bouncing around me. One week I'm shooting a high school game around the corner ... the next week I could be Africa or Central America or Paris or Rome.

Extremely stressful, extremely competitive, equally and extremely frustrating as it was extremely rewarding.

 

[Designer]

(Plus, when the Board or Ed told me I had to take another class on literacy but had misspelled literacy every single time in the letter, I knew I couldn't ever take orders from them.)

I never liked to deal with the politics either.

And your anecdote is all too familiar with me as well. It was incredible the amount of time utterly wasted arguing with the nincompoops at the office. People who should have known what to do and how to do it simply didn't have any desire to do something the right way.

 

[bribrius]

so basically. You shoot bw film. Don't make any money.. so you are the starving artist type.

I suppose. I don't give a crap about money except for having enough to keep me off the streets and do some traveling. Money is never the point.

It is never the point...till it is time to pay the bills.

For some people it is. Money is the goal so they can buy the things that will make them "better." They can have a bigger house than they need, drive a more powerful car than they need, make sure their kids can fail out of the very best private schools and get quietly bailed out of any trouble they get into.

I understand wanting to make enough money to be comfortable. I want to be comfortable, of course I do. But I know that it probably will take less for me to be comfortable than it would for a lot of other people. I live simply and don't care too much about "stuff." I also know that there are limits to what I will do just for the sake of more money. I could have had a different career by now. I had a chance to get into banking when I first got back to the U.S. Some people - including members of my family - told me that it would be the smarter move, that it doesn't matter if banking would kill my soul because the point of working is for money, and I should make as much as I can.

I can't do that. I can't spend so much of my life doing work that means nothing to me simply for the paycheck. And so I work at something that is meaningful but doesn't pay me enough. I tried to make it work better for me financially but it didn't happen. It was time for something new that would be more profitable, but it still has to have meaning for me. Otherwise I just would have gone back to bartending and made a killing.

I would just be happy to get released back to work. Boss man wants me back. If I could get doc man to release me I would be back and most likely up for promotion (and pay increase). I guess I am being missed..i was probably one of the more dedicated ones in the place. Course my wife hated me for it.

 

[Gary A.]

so basically. You shoot bw film. Don't make any money.. so you are the starving artist type.

I suppose. I don't give a crap about money except for having enough to keep me off the streets and do some traveling. Money is never the point.

It is never the point...till it is time to pay the bills.

For some people it is. Money is the goal so they can buy the things that will make them "better." They can have a bigger house than they need, drive a more powerful car than they need, make sure their kids can fail out of the very best private schools and get quietly bailed out of any trouble they get into.

I understand wanting to make enough money to be comfortable. I want to be comfortable, of course I do. But I know that it probably will take less for me to be comfortable than it would for a lot of other people. I live simply and don't care too much about "stuff." I also know that there are limits to what I will do just for the sake of more money. I could have had a different career by now. I had a chance to get into banking when I first got back to the U.S. Some people - including members of my family - told me that it would be the smarter move, that it doesn't matter if banking would kill my soul because the point of working is for money, and I should make as much as I can.

I can't do that. I can't spend so much of my life doing work that means nothing to me simply for the paycheck. And so I work at something that is meaningful but doesn't pay me enough. I tried to make it work better for me financially but it didn't happen. It was time for something new that would be more profitable, but it still has to have meaning for me. Otherwise I just would have gone back to bartending and made a killing.

I would just be happy to get released back to work. Boss man wants me back. If I could get doc man to release me I would be back and most likely up for promotion (and pay increase). I guess I am being missed..i was probably one of the more dedicated ones in the place. Course my wife hated me for it.

If the Doc is reluctant ... work out a deal ... like part-time, or limited activity/responsibilities ... whatever. Most Docs will work with you on that.

 

[bribrius]

2

so basically. You shoot bw film. Don't make any money.. so you are the starving artist type.

I suppose. I don't give a crap about money except for having enough to keep me off the streets and do some traveling. Money is never the point.

It is never the point...till it is time to pay the bills.

For some people it is. Money is the goal so they can buy the things that will make them "better." They can have a bigger house than they need, drive a more powerful car than they need, make sure their kids can fail out of the very best private schools and get quietly bailed out of any trouble they get into.

I understand wanting to make enough money to be comfortable. I want to be comfortable, of course I do. But I know that it probably will take less for me to be comfortable than it would for a lot of other people. I live simply and don't care too much about "stuff." I also know that there are limits to what I will do just for the sake of more money. I could have had a different career by now. I had a chance to get into banking when I first got back to the U.S. Some people - including members of my family - told me that it would be the smarter move, that it doesn't matter if banking would kill my soul because the point of working is for money, and I should make as much as I can.

I can't do that. I can't spend so much of my life doing work that means nothing to me simply for the paycheck. And so I work at something that is meaningful but doesn't pay me enough. I tried to make it work better for me financially but it didn't happen. It was time for something new that would be more profitable, but it still has to have meaning for me. Otherwise I just would have gone back to bartending and made a killing.

I would just be happy to get released back to work. Boss man wants me back. If I could get doc man to release me I would be back and most likely up for promotion (and pay increase). I guess I am being missed..i was probably one of the more dedicated ones in the place. Course my wife hated me for it.

If the Doc is reluctant ... work out a deal ... like part-time, or limited activity/responsibilities ... whatever. Most Docs will work with you on that.

They won't work with me on anything. Except they want to take away my drivers license again. I keep failing the neuro testing. They defer to rehab, which basically tells me to go fly a kite it ain't happening until I score better, or like never. More referrals for more testing. About it. They pass the buck between eachother, rehab refers me back to neurology. Round and round we go. My reg doc is the one that first put me out. Who says no too and refers me back to neurology, which refers back to rehab, which refers back to neurology. Which reviews my tests. And they just say no. Really not getting very far here. kinda like they shut me down whether like it or not.

 

[bribrius]

........

 

[Gary A.]

2

so basically. You shoot bw film. Don't make any money.. so you are the starving artist type.

I suppose. I don't give a crap about money except for having enough to keep me off the streets and do some traveling. Money is never the point.

It is never the point...till it is time to pay the bills.

For some people it is. Money is the goal so they can buy the things that will make them "better." They can have a bigger house than they need, drive a more powerful car than they need, make sure their kids can fail out of the very best private schools and get quietly bailed out of any trouble they get into.

I understand wanting to make enough money to be comfortable. I want to be comfortable, of course I do. But I know that it probably will take less for me to be comfortable than it would for a lot of other people. I live simply and don't care too much about "stuff." I also know that there are limits to what I will do just for the sake of more money. I could have had a different career by now. I had a chance to get into banking when I first got back to the U.S. Some people - including members of my family - told me that it would be the smarter move, that it doesn't matter if banking would kill my soul because the point of working is for money, and I should make as much as I can.

I can't do that. I can't spend so much of my life doing work that means nothing to me simply for the paycheck. And so I work at something that is meaningful but doesn't pay me enough. I tried to make it work better for me financially but it didn't happen. It was time for something new that would be more profitable, but it still has to have meaning for me. Otherwise I just would have gone back to bartending and made a killing.

I would just be happy to get released back to work. Boss man wants me back. If I could get doc man to release me I would be back and most likely up for promotion (and pay increase). I guess I am being missed..i was probably one of the more dedicated ones in the place. Course my wife hated me for it.

If the Doc is reluctant ... work out a deal ... like part-time, or limited activity/responsibilities ... whatever. Most Docs will work with you on that.

They won't work with me on anything. Except they want to take away my drivers license again. I keep failing the neuro testing. They defer to rehab, which basically tells me to go fly a kite it ain't happening until I score better, or like never. More referrals for more testing. About it. They pass the buck between eachother, rehab refers me back to neurology. Round and round we go. My reg doc is the one that first put me out. Who says no too and refers me back to neurology, which refers back to rehab, which refers back to neurology. Which reviews my tests. And they just say no. Really not getting very far here. kinda like they shut me down whether like it or not.

I think everybody is taking the easy way out and passes the buck. Do some research and get another opinion(s). I'd start with a teaching hospital if nothing comes up via searching the internet.

 

[snerd]

......... I like fast food, fast women and fast cars........

Say no more, you hard-living man!!

 

[minicoop1985]

ARGH I hate waiting for stuff to get shipped. I WANT MY FLASHESSSSSS