Blow That Dough - 2022

[Koolau]

Grand kids are lots of fun but definitely belong in the Blow That Dough category. Our most recent GK has been the most expensive as her mom is living on the edge, financially. It's a hundred bucks here and then there and back to here. Nothing huge, but it's quickly adding up to BTD. DIL doesn't ever ask, but we can see needs, having raised kids ourselves. Heh, heh, I'd rather give it now than after I'm gone. YMMV

 

[Souschef]

Rodi,
That sounds like our situation. DW had 2 sons 7 years apart. Older one married early, younger one married years later.
The bottom line is she has 3 grandchildren; 27,25, and 7(!).
The 7 year old was a preemie, and I got to hold her first in the neonatal ICU. I have had the pleasure of watching her grow and develop through the years.

 

[aja8888]

No grand kids here although my two sisters had a few. We (Ex and I) had two daughters during our 17 year marriage and the oldest passed away at 22 just out of college unmarried. Our second daughter stayed singe for a long time and finally married at 38 years old and has decided not to have children. She does have a stepson who is 15 years old and a great kid. So I guess I am somewhat of a grandfather to the young boy!

Current DW has three "grands" from her children and they are all good kids. I guess you could call me a step-grandfather! The youngest one (the granddaughter) and I are very close as she was an infant when I married her grandmother. Gosh, I never though that I would marry a grandmother!

 

[bmcgonig]

Really nice! Beautiful interior! I'm impressed with the MPG.

Car and Driver got the same 35mpg at 75mph.

https://www.caranddriver.com/mercedes-benz/c-class

 

[aja8888]

Car and Driver got the same 35mpg at 75mph.

https://www.caranddriver.com/mercedes-benz/c-class

Those 4 cylinder, turbocharged, direct injection engines seem to do very well on mileage. I have a similar one in our 2021 Hyundai SUV (not as high a HP, though) and although I have not tested it for highway MPG, I notice that the readout shows over 30 MPG on long local runs.

 

[Momcpa]

Husband bought a '79 TransAm today. He's happy. Had been looking at some cars that were a LOT older. I'm glad he settled on this one. I think updates, repairs, etc will be easier to do or to find someone to do them on a '79 versus a much older car.

 

[doneat54]

Went to a VW dealer yesterday and sold them our 2017 VW Tiguan with 26k miles on it for $19k. We had it 16 months and had driven it 20k of those miles.

We paid $16k for it last year.


Went to a Benz Dealer 80 miles from home today, test drove a 2021 C300 and bought it on the spot. It gets delivered Monday.

DW retired last week. We plan on leaving New England (winters) right after the holidays and just road tripping through southern states. This Benz will be nice for that.

Well it does compliment the one we already had quite well.........

 

[tb001]

No grand kids here although my two sisters had a few. We (Ex and I) had two daughters during our 17 year marriage and the oldest passed away at 22 just out of college unmarried. Our second daughter stayed singe for a long time and finally married at 38 years old and has decided not to have children. She does have a stepson who is 15 years old and a great kid. So I guess I am somewhat of a grandfather to the young boy!

Current DW has three "grands" from her children and they are all good kids. I guess you could call me a step-grandfather! The youngest one (the granddaughter) and I are very close as she was an infant when I married her grandmother. Gosh, I never though that I would marry a grandmother!

My grandfather was technically my step grandfather, but he was all I ever knew and I loved him as a true grandpa. For those of you with step grandkids, unless they’re much older when you come into their lives, they really do see you as the full deal!

 

[Koolau]

Well it does compliment the one we already had quite well.........

Lovely! Is that about a 1969?

 

[street]

My grandfather was technically my step grandfather, but he was all I ever knew and I loved him as a true grandpa. For those of you with step grandkids, unless they’re much older when you come into their lives, they really do see you as the full deal!

I'm a step grandfather and my wife and I love her as our own. In fact, she is having a sleep over at our home tonight. My hope is we can make a positive impact on her life and be great role model for her. We have been part of her life since she was 1.5 years old, and she is 5 now. She doesn't call us GF or GM but that is okay because we aren't. Her mom says she begs to come to our house and that is enough love for me.

I was informed in February I will be a full blown out grandfather. My son and lovely wife are having a little one then.

 

[Koolau]

I'm a step grandfather and my wife and I love her as our own. In fact, she is having a sleep over at our home tonight. My hope is we can make a positive impact on her life and be great role model for her. We have been part of her life since she was 1.5 years old, and she is 5 now. She doesn't call us GF or GM but that is okay because we aren't. Her mom says she begs to come to our house and that is enough love for me.

I was informed in February I will be a full blown out grandfather. My son and lovely wife are having a little one then.

I'm happy for you. I got to have lunch with my not-quite-three year old step GD today. I almost cry every time I get to hold her hand. She is my first grand child who ever called me grandpa. My heart melted.

 

[gayl]

Got a text yesterday:
Hi this is W××× I'm trying to schedule the last week of summer and want to know when we are going to Six Flags with A×××
Love those grandkids (they're cousins) but I had no idea I was supposed to take him!! So grown up for just 9! Asked DS if he knew that DGS3 was trying to get an outing with DGD2 & he said he wanted a big kids only day. little sister not invited. Told him to ask me the next time I was over. DGS3 didn't want to wait
3 tickets + parking + food + he'll ask for something so she will too = $$$ Thursday

 

[street]

I'm happy for you. I got to have lunch with my not-quite-three year old step GD today. I almost cry every time I get to hold her hand. She is my first grand child who ever called me grandpa. My heart melted.

Ohhh Koolau I know that feeling. When life is done, we can have all the money in the world, but family is all we will have going forward.

So happy for you also Koolau.

 

[eytonxav]

I'm a step grandfather and my wife and I love her as our own. In fact, she is having a sleep over at our home tonight. My hope is we can make a positive impact on her life and be great role model for her. We have been part of her life since she was 1.5 years old, and she is 5 now. She doesn't call us GF or GM but that is okay because we aren't. Her mom says she begs to come to our house and that is enough love for me.

I was informed in February I will be a full blown out grandfather. My son and lovely wife are having a little one then.

DW and I waited a long time for a grandchild and there is nothing like it, even if a step grand parent. Congratulations on both titles!

 

[donheff]

Just ordered a high end eBike to accomodate my Parkinson's deficiencies. Should arrive at the local bike store next week. I needed very light to store vertically in my garage and to easily go on my hitch rack.

 

[explanade]

Just ordered a high end eBike to accomodate my Parkinson's deficiencies. Should arrive at the local bike store next week. I needed very light to store vertically in my garage and to easily go on my hitch rack.

Nice.

I've been looking for ones with a throttle, meaning it will propel the bike without you having to pedal all the time.

 

[pacergal]

Grand kids are lots of fun but definitely belong in the Blow That Dough category. Our most recent GK has been the most expensive as her mom is living on the edge, financially. It's a hundred bucks here and then there and back to here. Nothing huge, but it's quickly adding up to BTD. DIL doesn't ever ask, but we can see needs, having raised kids ourselves. Heh, heh, I'd rather give it now than after I'm gone. YMMV

bolded by me, my feelings exactly!

I'm a step grandfather and my wife and I love her as our own. In fact, she is having a sleep over at our home tonight. My hope is we can make a positive impact on her life and be great role model for her. We have been part of her life since she was 1.5 years old, and she is 5 now. She doesn't call us GF or GM but that is okay because we aren't. Her mom says she begs to come to our house and that is enough love for me.

I was informed in February I will be a full blown out grandfather. My son and lovely wife are having a little one then.

Congratulations!

 

[pacergal]

Starting to plan a Big BTD moment--taking whole family on a group vacation, probably 2024 when youngest DGS is almost 5, as I want him a bit older for the plane trip. DH only flies First class, so....
Probably Hawaii or would love US Virgin Islands, but I think that will be too long travel days for the young ones from the west coast.
Will post more plans when 2024 travel thread comes up--

 

[googily]

Nice.



I've been looking for ones with a throttle, meaning it will propel the bike without you having to pedal all the time.

I need to look into these bikes, especially for summer when I'm at high altitude and fighting hills and wind, though probably not one of that takes over fully.

 

[donheff]

Nice.

I've been looking for ones with a throttle, meaning it will propel the bike without you having to pedal all the time.

There are a lot of choices out there that are quite good for a lot less than I paid. But they will generally be 20+ pounds heavier than mine. . If you have decent garage space and don’t need to hang the on a car rack they are great. Even if you want primarily pedal assist, a throttle can be handy if you have to start uphill. I think some even have a throttle assist to walk the bike uphill.

I am still riding 15-20 miles a day on my regular bike. I want pedal assist for hills and headwinds and light weight for standing against the wall in my toy sized urban garage. But if something this light had a throttle I would see that as a plus.

 

[Tom52]

BTD recently getting driveway textured and painted. Gets sort of pricey because I had to have the original painted driveway ground off first. It's a Florida thing I guess.

 

[Sue J]

I can't find the thread about the iPad Mini 6 so I'm posting this here. For someone who rarely spends a lot of money on myself, this is a BTD.

My iPad Mini 4 is my constant companion device around the house. I have an iPhone but I'm just not attached to it, it's only for when I'm out of the house. I always plug my iPad in for charging overnight and the last month or so I noticed that I have to charge it earlier in the day. The battery is showing all the typical signs of failure. I've depleted it completely and recharged. I've done all the hints to save battery life. And it was only getting worse.

I checked out the kits for replacing the battery, It's doable and I've done this before on an old iPod. Not simple, but doable and cheap. Best Buy will put in a new battery but you have to prepay, leave your device and they will order the part and service it when the parts come in. Could be a week or so.

So I went to the closest Apple Store. They did a free diagnostic and yep, the battery is going bad. I could opt for an exchange for the same model for $99 if they can find it. Or I could get a trade in of $95 on a new one. I opted for the new one, the iPad Mini 6. I even went for the larger 256GB memory as 64GB was the other choice and that's just pretty small. After my trade in rebate and tax it was just under $600.

I have a history of being frugal, cheap, and a tightwad. I'm really trying to open up more to the idea of spending on people and things that are important.

This was important to me and I Blew That Dough!

I didn't buy a case at the Apple Store so now I get to go shopping for a cover/case. I have an Amazon gift card on my account so I will check the offerings and get exactly what I want.

Ooooooh! This spending thing is FUN!

 

[yhoomajor]

Looks amazing, congratulations!!. Very nicely done.

I live in HOA jail.. I doubt they will ever approve something like this in our community. No can do. Every house has to conform.

View attachment 43081

BTD recently getting driveway textured and painted. Gets sort of pricey because I had to have the original painted driveway ground off first. It's a Florida thing I guess.

 

[corn18]

There are a lot of choices out there that are quite good for a lot less than I paid. But they will generally be 20+ pounds heavier than mine. . If you have decent garage space and don’t need to hang the on a car rack they are great. Even if you want primarily pedal assist, a throttle can be handy if you have to start uphill. I think some even have a throttle assist to walk the bike uphill.

I am still riding 15-20 miles a day on my regular bike. I want pedal assist for hills and headwinds and light weight for standing against the wall in my toy sized urban garage. But if something this light had a throttle I would see that as a plus.

33 lbs with the battery is awesome. Mine are 52 lbs without the battery, so 62 lbs with it. I am in great shape and it is not easy hefting those beasts onto the carrier and even harder if I put them in the back of the pickup.

 

[Koolau]

View attachment 43081

BTD recently getting driveway textured and painted. Gets sort of pricey because I had to have the original painted driveway ground off first. It's a Florida thing I guess.

Heh, heh, you had me at a 3-car garage - something I always wanted (well, back in the day.) BUT, the drive way is amazing. I'd be afraid to drip any oil on it! Congrats on a righteous BTD!