What did you do today? 2016 version

[Gumby]

This morning, I did a brake job on the young wife's Mini. Then we went to lunch. I brewed 5 gallons of beer this afternoon.

 

[MichaelB]

Went to see "Eye in the Sky", which we both enjoyed.

 

[pb4uski]

I'm glad to hear Eye in the Sky was enjoyable. I wanted to go see that last night but could not convince DW so we ended up going to The Huntsman:Winter's War instead. It was ok.

 

[MichaelB]

I bought a new truck today. Actually, the dealer and I agreed on an out-the-door price and I ordered it and put down a deposit. Should be here in 6-8 weeks.

Good luck. Buying a new car here, we agreed on an out-the-door price, but when I went to write the check, new and higher fees appeared. This is the third time it has happened to me here in S Fl, so I walked. They have yet to refund the deposit, even though they confirmed in writing it is fully refundable. Good thing it is CC, so I filed a dispute.

 

[pb4uski]

I've never had that happen... I'm surprised that they would be so stupid as to jeopardize a sale for what I assume is a trivial amount in the whole scheme of things. I would have done the same as you did.

Before that though, I probably would have written a check for the agreed purchase price (unsigned), put it in the manager's hands and then told him that it was his decision to honor the deal they made and I'll sign the check or I'll take the check back and they'll never see me again. Most dealers are so money hungry that they can't resist a check in hand but since you were there and ready to write the check for the purchase it is essentially the same thing.

I'm not concerned that the dealer I am buying from will try to double-cross me like what happened to you as this is a small town and word gets around... plus I bought a car that I also ordered from one of their sister dealerships a while ago and had no problems.

 

[travelover]

Good luck. Buying a new car here, we agreed on an out-the-door price, but when I went to write the check, new and higher fees appeared. This is the third time it has happened to me here in S Fl, so I walked. They have yet to refund the deposit, even though they confirmed in writing it is fully refundable. Good thing it is CC, so I filed a dispute.

I had this happen years ago. The salesman said, "but the paper work is already written up" - as if that was a reason for me to pay for something I had not agree to. Then when I picked up the car it had been "rustproofed", again against my wishes. He said if I complained I'd get him in trouble, and I stupidly paid for the rustproofing, though he reimbursed me over the coming months with fake customer referral checks in the mail.

Scrape these guys off the bottom of my shoe.

I'd suggest that you go straight back to the manufacturer (zone manager). They hate this kind of crap as it reflects badly on them

 

[W2R]

[...]I probably would have written a check for the agreed purchase price (unsigned), put it in the manager's hands and then told him that it was his decision to honor the deal they made and I'll sign the check or I'll take the check back and they'll never see me again. Most dealers are so money hungry that they can't resist a check in hand but since you were there and ready to write the check for the purchase it is essentially the same thing.[...]

MichaelB, that is so crummy! I would be furious and I'd imagine you were, too. I'm glad you did not agree to that extortion.

When I bought my Venza, I negotiated a deal to cover everything, TT&L, fees, just everything. The deal was that I would pay $xx,xxx plus my trade-in and not a cent more.

My salesman had me write out and sign the check, and took it to his (manager? people? whoever it is that has to approve the deal) so that they could make out the paperwork to match the check. That seemed to work for me. Maybe I was just lucky.

 

[davemartin88]

Cool day here so the recently sheared alpacas are wearing their coats. I'm watching hockey on tv.

 

[aja8888]

I read over the court's transcript of the "Dieselgate" matter.

On the 21st of tis month, the court, EPA, CARB, FTC and VW agreed in principle on the "Dieselgate" settlement. VW will offer consumers the opportunity to sell back their affected cars at 9/15/15 value prices and provide additional cash compensation, or keep the cars until a "fix" is implemented. Currently, there is no approved emissions fix, though.

EPA and CARB will benefit from some undetermined "environmental" do-good projects at a later date.

On June 21st, solid details are to be presented to the court and them put out for a public comment period. Once all the dust clears, the process of VW buying back up to 600,000 vehicles will proceed. A high cost to VW, for sure. No wonder they just cut their stock dividend.

So I may be selling my 2014 Passat TDI back to VW and now I am pondering what to buy this Fall.

If anyone is interested, I have attached a pdf file here:

View attachment April_21_Transcript.pdf

 

[Gumby]

Went to church in the morning. Then we took the roadster out for a spin and stopped for some excellent BBQ at the House of Bones in Derby, CT. Washed the garage floor and all three cars this afternoon. The young wife tells me we're having crab cakes for dinner.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Good luck. Buying a new car here, we agreed on an out-the-door price, but when I went to write the check, new and higher fees appeared. This is the third time it has happened to me here in S Fl, so I walked. They have yet to refund the deposit, even though they confirmed in writing it is fully refundable. Good thing it is CC, so I filed a dispute.

We had a similar experience. They gave us the keys, then told us the price went up. They they had quoted a price in email "with all applicable discounts" as a footnote. It turned out the discounts were something like you had to be active military duty AND native Americans. It would have been funny if we had not driven an hour to get to the dealership and spent two hours there.

We had better luck after that using True Car pricing through a credit union.

 

[MBAustin]

Back from a very enjoyable RV weekend. Lots of Texas wildflowers at this Corps of Engineers park on Granger Lake. Here are a few examples (unretouched iPhone photos):

Texas or indian Paintbrush

Bluebonnet

A DYC (darned yellow composite, according to DH)

 

[REWahoo]

Nice photos.

A DYC (darned yellow composite, according to DH)
View attachment 23684

Looks like it might be a yellow goatsbeard.

 

[EastWest Gal]

I've been busy for several days and want to share.

We drove (me, DH, DS) from PA to visit friends near Atlanta. The drive was long but gorgeous. Wife is a singer and voice teacher and husband is the Dean of the Humanities department in a university here. They have such a passion for his work and for life it is admirable.

While we were here, we did the following:

Saw wife perform in a downtown theater, great show.

Then we met her husband at a nearby hotel where he had organized a symposium between Asian investors and the university which will lead to internships, and better curriculum for the students, etc.
We had a bite to eat paid for a Chinese gazillionaire. They had all had a little too much wine by the time we arrived.

The next morning we went to Senoia so DS could attend a workshop sponsored by the university about the film business in Georgia, which is booming. DS will receive his degree in media arts in May. Anyway, our high-powered friend arranged us to have lunch with the presenters at the workshop, a local actress, the president of Raleigh studios Atlanta, and a prolific writer, the man who created Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles when he was twenty.

Saturday night we went to a dance recital. Sunday we visited CNN and met with a friend of DH from college.

Last night we finally had a chance to relax and visit.

DS was able to come to a decision re which career to pursue, teaching or film/sound editing. He's decided to opt for teaching.

It has been a wonderful and for DS a productive visit.

For me, hanging around with intelligent people with a passion for what they do is an eye opener.

I never felt that way about my career, unfortunately. I'm glad to be ER, though working a few days per month. That ends this summer.


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[rodi]

Went to Italian class and got back the past 2 tests and grades for my two presentations. My "A" is still very solid. I was worried about the most recent test - but I guess the few vocab words I had to guess on, I guessed correctly.

Got home to the first of presumably many bills for my ER visit for my gastritis scare. This made me go online to see what else was there. 2 bills posted so far - $1400 so far. But it's a far cry better than an extended family member who had a heart attack and no insurance a few weeks ago. They did 2 stents. He's at $170k so far... It is not good for his health to see bills like that.

 

[Backdraft57]

My most amazing DW bought me this as a retirement gift!!!
19 more work days and this bad boy is going to see a lot of highway.


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[aja8888]

View attachment 23694
My most amazing DW bought me this as a retirement gift!!!
19 more work days and this bad boy is going to see a lot of highway.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

How cool!

 

[Hermit]

View attachment 23694
My most amazing DW bought me this as a retirement gift!!!
19 more work days and this bad boy is going to see a lot of highway.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

Nice bike! Does the DW ride with you?

 

[pb4uski]

Started some volunteer work for our local food pantry today. Only a couple hours but a good beginning. Then puttered around the house in the afternoon.

 

[Backdraft57]

Nice bike! Does the DW ride with you?

YES! ;0)


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[Bestwifeever]

Took our car to a body shop for an estimate on a replacement bumper. Someone (okay, I) had pulled it loose at one corner and the dealer said the whole bumper would need to be replaced. The body shop estimator came out, rolled his eyes, used a phillips screwdriver to remove a single screw, adjusted the bumper, and replaced the screw. All fixed. After a quick handshake and "have a nice day" from him, he sent us away. Good guy.

 

[Hermit]

Took our car to a body shop for an estimate on a replacement bumper. Someone (okay, I) had pulled it loose at one corner and the dealer said the whole bumper would need to be replaced. The body shop estimator came out, rolled his eyes, used a phillips screwdriver to remove a single screw, adjusted the bumper, and replaced the screw. All fixed. After a quick handshake and "have a nice day" from him, he sent us away. Good guy.

 

[Hermit]

I just finished balancing all my accounts in Quicken. This has become a chore in retirement. While I was working and busy, I didn't really mind. I've been doing it the same way for probably about 30 years so I will continue. I like the data once it is in there.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Today I posted here, surfed the web, watched Star Trek reruns on Netflix, went out for Taco Tuesday (cheap Margaritas and $1 tacos) and the rest of the day I just frittered away on unimportant tasks.

 

[misshathaway]

It was a cold rainy day yesterday. Spent a few hours reading a library book that is due 4/29. I think I might have gotten the recommendation here. It is a good book about the 50+ years, packed with a ton of research results on different aspects of aging.

Life Reimagined / The Science, Art, and Opportunity of Midlife
by Barbara Bradley Hagerty

What a luxury it is to spend hours reading a book during the day. I never did that during the work years.

Today I am home waiting for the UPS guy and I don't care what time he comes