Donstar

I really haven't given this any thought but you're wondering about motive. Personally, I wouldn't suspect intentional corruption of the read-out. I suspect they would be set to err on the side of favoring the manufacturer if anything but a little + or - is of no consequence, imo.

I just finished a very happy birthday weekend. I had electronic visits from Norway, New Zealand, USA and central Canada! I know this is no big deal anymore but I sure wouldn't be feeling as good if it was a few decades ago and under pandemic restrictions. I woke up Monday morning feeling like I was up-to-date with everyone who matters. A screen to screen meeting feels impersonal at the time, but my memory works as if it it was an in-person meeting. I mentioned earlier that around Christmas I connected a very senior friend with her family via a larger flat screen TV. She still talks about this visit as if it was a person to person visit. There are many, many seniors with limited visitors and/or the technology for virtual visits. If you ever have the opportunity to electronically connect a senior with a distant loved one, your reward will be incredible. Tip: Take a HDMI (or?) cable with you and hook up to their TV. Watching on a phone or tablet makes the experience less real for tired eyes!

I use the DIC like a non standard unit of measurement. On a long road trip, I'll monitor my mileage according to previous results on the same instrument. I base my fill-ups on what the gas gauge reads. That's another non-standard measuring tool. Whenever I pick up a rental and the gauge is just hitting on the "F", I usually ask the rental company to top it up or make a note on my agreement! We all expect a full tank to go beyond the full mark and we expect a grace period after the "E". ?

I understand your logic and if I had similar storage space they'd probably be full. I went for many years renting storage space but the cost of storage eventually exceeds the resale value of the contents! My extra stuff is either sold online, given away or donated. I still have many treasures and know if I leave them behind, a dumpster will be involved! ?

I did say, "With the exception of a few personal home moves on VHS format". I feel it is incumbent on me to "deselect" treasures that have no sentimental or monetary value. I do not need to digitize an old tape to tape copy of Home Alone. There are also items I personally treasure that I don't want to leave for my children to sort out. For example, I still have my first motorcycle helmet from 1971. It is unremarkable in looks and isn't safe to use. I keep it because it triggers memories of my youth. In contrast, I have my father's WWII helmet which will be highly valued by future generations in my family. It is accompanied with considerable provenance. One could argue that a future descendent may realize some value from a "1971" helmet once worn by an ancestor on a '69 Triumph Tiger but ...

I'm happy to hear vaccines getting in the arms of familiar people! It became very real and hopeful when my son phoned to tell us he had just received his first shot! I might be in Karnut's neck of the woods sooner than expected!

Oh... life can be full of surprises. Hopefully this statement holds true for a long time. Glad it worked out for you!

I set up an area with a dedicated laptop, a VCR, a cassette player and a cd changer. I have a mountain of CD's, VHS tapes, cassettes and a handful of new thumb drives. Transferring my old stuff to digital is easy with my $40 treasure from amazon...but why? With the exception of a few personal home moves on VHS format, every store bought movie or song can be readily found online if on the rare occasion I may want to listen to an old CCR or Burton Cummings tune or watch an episode of Fawlty Towers!! I think I may have gone too far with my Covid19 spare time projects. I'm sure that I'm not alone in discovering that there is often a good reason for putting off projects. Sometimes it's because they don't need to be done!!

The added pep and lower purchase price of E85 are a treat and I will choose it when convenient. However, the treat is not significant enough for me to go too far out of my way!

In grade 3, I was sent to the Principal's office for fighting with a friend. The fight was over his Dad's Chevy and my Dad's Ford. Obviously our opinions were greatly influenced by our Dads. Fast forward 60 or so years, I have had the opportunity to own several of both brands. If I had to choose today between a comparably equipped F150 and a GM 1500, the price, dealership and fuel costs would be my strongest influencers. Both companies produce a very nice pickup. I will be watching the F150 electric closely and also keeping an eye on gm's 4 cyl gas. I think I have one more gas vehicle in my future before going electric!

Good luck and I'm glad you went for a second opinion! I have found great discrepancies in the costs of these types of repairs. I often think some shops don't want the small jobs and will give you an outlandish quote. Other shops welcome the smaller jobs to fill in the gaps in their work schedule. I find that if you let them know it's a cash job and you're in no rush, they'll think a little harder.

A personally positive result of the Covid experience is my regular zoom meetings with family, particularly the grandchildren. I miss the in person contact but the focus of a scheduled online video discussion is special. The screen can provide enough "protection" for us to speak a little more comfortably. I also realized that here is no more righteous of an excuse for a 13 yr. old to own a phone than needing to converse with nana & papa! Yesterday, my conference included a discussion as to why my friend would continue to play a game with a 1/1000 chance of a win. I detected a gender split as the boys focused on the love of chess and the girls on the love of the relationship. I was proud of all four of them. One did at one point, in jest, comment on the futility of such a situation which only served to strengthen the defense. It was a year ago this week that I last hugged a son, daughter or grandchild. This makes me sad but rather than get mad, I seek ways to pave the way for more together time in the future! For example, it typically takes a couple of days of preparation to make us comfortable having a neighbor watch our house when we leave the country. I believe now my wife and I could be packed and on the way to the airport within the hour!

This topic is discussed extensively in this forum and elsewhere. I wrestled with the same dilemma on my '15 and have read literally 100's of pages on level kits and Bilstein's. You will find lots of support for both. Maximum setting on a Bilstein gives you <2" of lift. Installing a level kit with the same amount of lift will not noticeably impact your ride. Problems are more likely to occur with the larger spacer kits of greater than 2" unless you replace other components. FWIW, I concluded that a 1.5" spacer kit made the most sense for me. Someday, I might even have it installed!

Your story reflects positively on you as a person. You continued to play chess with someone even though you knew you'd likely lose. I remember the first time my grandson "lost" to me in a game of Checkers. I thought a loss would help him to pay closer attention but it opened up the need for a much more important game. (Humility check) My grandparenting skills were challenged when he reported he didn't want to play checkers with me anymore. Fast forward ten years and he now loves to play games, including checkers, with me. I am particularly proud when he coaches me through some successful moments on his turf - video games. I'm all for supporting and encouraging "participation" but not comforting a sorer loser. My parents set high expectations but always gave me full credit for "trying". I credit them for giving me the courage to compete for some pretty significant job postings. Each "failure" helped me focus and do better at my next attempt. Covid19 Spare time has provided a regularly scheduled zoom meeting between me and the grandkids. Your story will be part of my "monologue" on our zoom tomorrow. (I'm confident they'll have no problem explaining why you kept playing.) I encourage everyone with influence over children to teach them how to accept and learn from not being first. Poor sportsmanship at any age is never a pretty sight!

I keep a word search game on my phone and will use it to bide my time while in a line or a waiting room. To the untrained eye it appears as if I'm busy texting but I'm just forming words from scrambled letters! I like a game of chess but prefer the actual board. Offering to play a game of checkers will more often find me a grandchild opponent than a game of chess. My oldest grandson is an aspiring competitive gamer. He won't hesitate to let me join in a game and he lets me feel successful sometimes! It is exactly a year today since I've been to his home to play a game with him so I can assume the spread in our gaming ability has grown beyond any hope for me providing competition! I advocate for less screen time and more physical development but I have a strong appreciation for the mental exercise gaming provides. The games may appear to be a lot of smash 'em up, blast 'em up but there is a lot of thinking and strategizing to succeed in these games - like chess but more exciting !?

$124K means different things to different people. I look at a new Escalade and I put it in my lottery win wish list! My brother would probably simply write the dealer a cheque. If I had this kind of a budget for a SUV/pickup I think I would rather dress-up (personalize) a SLT or LTZ level truck!

It takes a stronger person to acquiesce in a traffic situation. A dispute is not worth the potential consequences. All of us who regularly ride motorcycles would be very bitter people if we fell into a rage when we've come across a driver oblivious to our presence! I suspect either of these drivers could have deescalated this particular situation and should not be driving for a while or carrying a weapon. Driving is a privilege and if you can't play nice then you lose it!

As the list of outstanding projects gets shorter, the tasks become increasingly more difficult. Sorting through poorly labeled VHS tapes of family adventures 1985 to mid 90's has taken over our minds and living room. My goal is to transfer the good stuff to a flash drive. Watching our children circa1991 on a good quality recording on a 65" screen is emotionally exhausting! If anyone has a tip on how to capture these videos on to my computer to edit and copy to a flash drive, I'd appreciate your suggestions!

This would depend on your perception of what is a lie. ? A liar is a person who expresses something s/he believes is not true. A truth does not need to be so concrete as the temperature of boiling water in prescribed conditions. I believe it to be true that we all lie. Most of us lie for innocent reasons and for what we perceive to be in the best interests of another. Of course, this is so broad and doesn't take much before we question if such a lie is self serving! There is a difference between being a liar or being wrong. I don't consider it a lie if I believe the person is saying something he or she honestly believes to be true. However, the belief that you hold true is often an opinion and this can change. Politics and Law would be quite different without individuals who say opposite to what they know is correct!

Perception is a good word. Truth, lies and my favorite, "made up facts" impact individuals differently. Decades ago I worked on a highly divided staff. Consensus on most topics was a battle. I remember looking forward to making a funding announcement that would surely please and benefit everyone on staff. I'd worked with this staff for years and thought I had something they'd all embrace without hesitation. I was wrong. I read the majority but my appreciation for my limitations grew. In this situation, everyone was telling their truth. As a teenager, I remember getting into a heated argument with a new brother-in-law over the color of a shirt. He stated his case with such passion that I started to doubt myself and backed away from the debate. My sister explained to me later that her husband was found to be color blind when in the service but denies their findings!

I tried a seat covering from a big chain pet store. I found the regular routine of washing it and removing it for passengers was more of a pita than periodically vacuuming and wiping down the bare back seat. I chose a truck with leather seats as this material is as kid and pet friendly as the traditional vinyl bench seats of yesteryear! ?

Boy the mind is a powerful beast! This morning I was grumbling about my dog waking me up before dawn to be taken outside. It is winter and she can't do stairs off the deck so it is a bit of an ordeal. As I was standing in the yard with my flashlight in hand and my dog doing what she needed to do, I started to laugh. My brain reminded me that there will be a day when I'm not standing outside in the cold at 4:30 am and to enjoy it while a can. Our dog's regular vet put our minds more at ease yesterday and assured us we have more quality time with our girl. The quality for her and us would be considerably less if we didn't have the time (& $) to enjoy this stage in her life!

My grandchildren are in, or close to, their teen years. I love talking to them about truth and facts. I start with simple stuff like me telling them I'm very handsome and going from there. Last year we started a zoom group meeting c/w an agenda. They each get a topic where they need to present a positive perspective or solution. to a current event/issue. Finding fault or blame needs to be proceeded/ accompanied with a viable solution or proper way. It is more fun than it sounds and I learn a lot!. I know there are a myriad of variables that impact the raising of a child but I will seize any opportunity to help mine to become part of the solution, not the problem. Super stars like Amanda Gorman certainly serve as encouragement for a healthy future!

Congratulations on your new truck! Looks great! (I'm thinking Mt. Baker?)

Thanks for the comments regarding my dog. My wife and I will strive to do what is best for our pet but, as you all know, it is a struggle. I know my father's and grandfather's decision would be decided by cost and I'm sure we've already surpassed their threshold! We're not "there" yet but we're sensing our veterinarian might be overly zealous in response to our love for our dog. We have booked an appointment with another veterinarian for his/her opinion on future treatment. Jim's suggestion about getting another dog soon after a previous four legged partner dies is good. Our current dog was actually adopted shortly after a 13 year companion died from the anesthetic while having simple surgery! (This experience compounds our problem with surgical procedures for our dog,) I know others with pets overlapping like Karnut. I've often thought of owning two dogs at the same time but never happened. We are now at the stage(age) where if we adopted again, it wouldn't be fair to a puppy. We would consider an older dog but then the old dog problems and associated dilemmas come sooner! ? .