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  1. ratto

    Replaced Garage Doors Lately?

    It's more important to check your existing spring rating (by its color code if applicable). If the spring is too strong comparing with door weight, the opener motor would have to work harder when door is closed. That might not be what you want.
  2. ratto

    Dirty electricity

    +1. Unreliable grounding rod connection can introduce "hot" spots in your wiring system. Normally, the AC current supply from the utility company should be pretty good in terms of voltage stability and waveform purity.
  3. ratto

    Blood work billing - Wrong codes

    This happened to me once as well. The good news is that the insurance claim was approved. The bad news is that the wrong test was ordered and performed so that I had to have the blood drawn for the 2nd time. The bright side is that I didn't have to fast, nor was this some internal organ...
  4. ratto

    Poll:Have $5 million invested assets?

    Of course not for that reason. I thought I would have a sleepless night because I was a little shocked by how far this target of retirement investment assets keeps going up. We only need maybe 2-3 mils. Any bit more would be nice. This reminds me of what Herbert Hoover said: "About the time...
  5. ratto

    Poll:Have $5 million invested assets?

    I think I will have a sleepless night.
  6. ratto

    Boeing 787 battery fire

    Per this article, Boeing: Cause of Dreamliner Fires 'Almost Doesn't Matter' | National Legal and Policy Center, the top engineer at Boeing, Michael Sinnett, told reports at Tokyo a few months ago: What could be possibly better than this?
  7. ratto

    What a Dipstick!

    If your car's mileage is high, then a little oil burning is normal. With the replacement dipstick, you can keep track how much oil is burned at what pace. At least with a compression test on all cylinders, a shop can get a preliminary idea on the engine's overall health considering its age...
  8. ratto

    What a Dipstick!

    Good for you! A very good point indeed. Just be sure the cap can stay on firmly. The last thing you want for turning belts and pulleys is something falling from above due to vibration. :(
  9. ratto

    What a Dipstick!

    As Haha said, there's no universal one to fit every make and model because each one's engine would have different specification. Trying to source a used one from some auction sites is a good idea. If the metal gauge piece broke off and left inside of the hole, you might want to give very cheap...
  10. ratto

    Will SS be there

    +1. Taking SS away could lead to social unrest. Instead, inflation will be a much more subtle and preferred way to get the dirty job done in conjunction of keeping CPI artificially low. We can potentially keep kicking the can down the road for a few more decades by doing so.
  11. ratto

    I Need a Good Email Interceptor

    PINE came into mind. It's a great email and newsgroup client by University of Washington. I have used it extensively while at school and it's so compact and efficient. One thing I don't quite like Chrome is that it sends usage stats to Google if that feature is not disabled. It sends a lot...
  12. ratto

    Buying a car- negotiation struggles

    A 3 year old Jetta TDI sports wagon could be a 09-10 model. Tell the seller that on the HPFP failure topic, there have been more than 5270 posts on TDI club forum since 2009. Also if the original faulty temp. sensor in DSG (auto trans model) hasn’t been replaced, nor hasn’t the ECU code been...
  13. ratto

    It's funny joke Thursday! 2005 - 2020

    That's not a problem because you have to keep patching it anyway.
  14. ratto

    What are your experiences with Windows 8?

    IMO, the worst part of Win8 is the UEFI. :nonono: Just google it and you will find out why. Basically, if your new computer motherboard does not allow you to toggle it off by changing back to the legacy boot mode (prior to Win8), then most likely you will be stuck with it forever. Even if you...
  15. ratto

    Cyprus govt to seize 6.75% of all bank accounts as of Sat morning

    Based on the report I read, about 1/3 bank deposit in Cyprus belongs to foreign holders. There is also accusation that Cyprus banking system has allowed tax invasion and black money for too long. So asking whoever has over 100k euros in deposit for one-time 9.99% tax is not too far-stretched...
  16. ratto

    Electronics turn-over tempting my LBYM

    This is the telltale sign of stage I G.A.S. (Gear Acquisition Syndrome). It's not too late, still curable. :laugh:
  17. ratto

    Tomatoes on the vine

    Does the vine still have a lot of tiny hairs on it? If touched by finger, does the vine leave very strong and long lasting scent of fresh tomatoes? Here's one from mine. IMO, even the green ones salvaged from blight attack, once turned red after being left on window sill for a week or even...
  18. ratto

    Really perplexed on Appliance Package

    Avoid high-tech gizmo whenever you can. If possible, I would pick analog over digital ones, or mechanical over analog ones. For instance, laundry washer is laundry washer. It doesn't use ultrasonic wave from generator heads for cleaning. Why do they come with fancy digital display with...
  19. ratto

    Gold?

    Thanks for sharing the blog. Gold is worth not too much all by itself, but it serves special and important role because it can not be easily QEd just by punching extra zeros via computer keyboard. Like the blogger said:
  20. ratto

    Gold?

    $5800 is about 108 grams gold. That translates to about 5.613 cc/cm3, or a cube about 1.777 cm each dimension. If they could get hold of a real gold bar at 28-30 pounds, then someone probably would get their wrist/foot hurt by passing it around. I heard that some investors even have...
  21. ratto

    Government budgets versus family budgets

    Maybe the people can not afford to support some entitlement programs going forward?
  22. ratto

    Job Growth-Boomers and Older

    One possible explanation is that the boomers are already pretty much beaten up. So it's easier for them to catch up quickly. They have a better understanding to do whatever it takes to support their children and grandchildren. I'm wondering what percentage out of those 67.8% (boomers) has...
  23. ratto

    ExPats rejoice!

    There was an article about 2 weeks ago about this FATCA topic, and it's available at Wary Swiss Banks Shun Yanks - WSJ.com. I agree with theOAP's analysis that the keyword is 'reciprocity'. It's not simply bringing someone's business to somewhere else. It's unrealistic to expect other...
  24. ratto

    Health insurance increase 265%

    That's a huge jump! I don't know how high it will go when I retire. Without a fundamental policy in place to encourage and reward healthier life style, no any mandate will make sustainable change to the big picture. However, it might not stand legal challenges in court.
  25. ratto

    The Island Where People Forget to Die

    Thanks for sharing this wonderful article! Here is the quote I find I couldn't agree more: I bet their lifestyle doesn't require them to have iphones, cables, facebook and so many other consumer driven technology innovations in our modern life.
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