Search results

Yeah. National crime data are particularly befuddling, and always dynamic, though the worst five cities have been among the worst cities for at least two thirds of my life. Small tweaks in law and other influences can have a profound impact too. In 1994 Oregon’s citizen-initiated “Ballot...

Ditto. Generally better odds than inner cities, but many of the rural areas around Oregon’s larger towns have a pretty low tooth-to-head count. I dunno. Every part of the country has some crime, but it sure seems like the worst of the crime cancer spreads inward from our coasts...

I have investigated many, many shootings over the last three-plus decades, so I have several lessons to share: 1) Even those who “win” in deadly force encounters invariably lose In the years that follow. The experience of shooting another person isn’t natural, no matter how many times you’ve...

X2 In a high property crime area like Oregon‘s Willamette Valley, a declining proportion of property crime is being reported to police, because Oregonians expect nothing will happen. Reporting tends to be motivated only by insurance process requirements, but there is unlikely to be...

Never been a fan of the black wheels. On of the few cool things about being old is the stuff you like eventually comes back into style. :)

This is mind boggling. Connecticut taxes the crap out you when you buy something and then continues to tax your ownership of that thing forever!? It thought you were kidding, so I looked it up: ”Personal Property can be defined, in the most general terms, as anything and everything that is...

I still don’t get it, because hooking the lights up to a high beam relay still won’t prevent the driver from intentionally blinding traffic - but I’m glad the OP has gotten past this. I like the convenience of having aux lights switchable only when the high beams are on, because everything...

I switched from Farmers to State Farm in 1983. No tickets in 40 years for either adult driver. A pickup, That’s a cool resource. I didn’t think about the weather influence on insurance cost, which is obviously very large In some states, like Texas and Florida. We looked at buying rural...

Yup! 1) Rampant car theft with near zero chance of recovery, AND 2) Astronomical growth of crashing illegal aliens with no driver’s license or insurance, AND 3) More drug and alcohol-impaired drivers than ever, with soaring crash and fatality rates, AND 4) No meaningful punishment for property...

The underside of my jeep didn’t look that clean the day I bought it! incredible!

You're right! 🤔 :blush: We're all playing in the same economic sandbox, and we all assess probabilities and risks differently. That's obvious from the predecessor discussions on this topic: Some folks are probably still planning to keep ordering and trading on a short cycle, because they...

Yup. It's as inevitable as death and taxes. We'll see the same trends in the RV and boat markets, which have been similarly insane. For the last forty years RVs and boats have been crazy-fast-depreciating assets, as in closer to 35% of lost value in the first year, with another 10%-ish of...

Yup. As I said above, Oregon has a heavy tax burden — and it’s designed to minimize impact on those who choose not to work. As you said, every state takes its bite out of you, but not all bites are of equal size. The folks in New York, California, and Hawaii get bent over the desk for the...

Many of us forget to consider the impact of sales tax because we’ve never had that tax. Oregon has a heavy tax burden, but we had not had sales tax on anything until 2018 when a new .5% “privilege tax” was imposed on new vehicle purchases — as in not everybody has the privilege of working his...

That's explained very well, and I understand. Sadly, it translates to less capable service and a hard screwing for most customers -- because flat rates are set based on the newest, least capable "technicians" and then they're heavily padded -- like the $900 brake pad replacement quote we saw in...

Great advice.

You two are doing retirement right! We plan to follow in your footsteps. My better half wanted me to retire last year … and the year before, but it‘s hard for some of us to let go. Maybe this year….

I have a TON of wires running through that windshield gap, including SPOD cable and the charging wires of my Garmin, cell phones, and other electronics mounted above the dash. (I can’t stand charging cables hanging down from the dash.) I got power for my RSE steps directly from the battery...

Yup — just as everybody over the age of 50 predicted they would. That 30 month period of COVID-induced supply shortage couldn’t last forever. And this is just the beginning. Just wait until dealer inventories are back to where they were in early 2019 and sales taper due to high interest rates...

Love that Hemi sound. We used to end up with louder cars/trucks/bikes because the noise was the result of a freer-breathing, more powerful motor. He’s happy with the performance but wants it louder just to make more noise. That seems silly to me. And that tire noise would drive me nuts. These...