What's under your lip/in your nose right now? - Part 2

[hittman]

I don't envy you Hitt. College ain't cheap and it certainly isn't going get any cheaper when my boys are ready. I told my wife that we'll need to get divorced and one of us lose our jobs and then the boys will be able to go to college for free. Sad that the working class gets penalized for doing the majority of the support to the economy. But people who are able to work but chose not to get a free ride. Thanks LBJ...

You are so right about that. If you are middle class then your child can't get any grants or free money unless by some chance they score a scholarship here and there. It seems like a lot of the scholarships are targeted at low income. However, with a decent gpa and ACT score they can at least get an academic scholarship at most places. My youngest doesn't have as high of scores as my oldest did so I don't know for sure if she's going to get one or not. My oldest will graduate this coming May from Missouri State. She will have about 12k in loans which isn't too awful bad considering that it's 18-20k a year for in state. We saved a little for both kids but no where near enough to pay for college. With scholarships and what we had saved my oldest was covered for a little over a year and a half. Because of her major and time involved she was only able to work on breaks before this year. Now she is working. My youngest will need to work most of her time at college.

 

[rothenbj]

Rebel, I'm glad to see someone else recognizes how politics changed this countryt and where it really started. The Great Society cemented our downward spiral into what heads closerr to socialism every time we let the left get control. We're all immigrants sometime in our family history. However the immigrants of old had two big changes from what they get today. First, the government gave them nothing. You had to work your way out of poverty. Second, there was a country full of jobs for those people so they could, in time, work their way out of their original dire situation. Today they are just a drain and the jobs available have evaporated and they compete, too often off the books, with the poor citizens that want to create a better life for their families.

Before my uncle died, I had a lot of time to understand more about the life of my mom's family. I knew my mom and her three brother grew up poor but he clarified just how poor. They lived in Philly when they were real young but the Great Depression forced them to move out to where we are today in the suburbs, actually pretty rural back then. They moved a lot back then, as my uncle said, sometimes in the dead of night. He couldn't really say much about his father, a grandfather that I never even saw. He road the train to Philly on Monday morning, returned Friday night, worked Saturday and Sunday in the area and returned to Philly Monday to repeat the cycle until he died. It was easy to understand the work ethic I saw from my family and what was installed in me. What kids learn now from their immigrant families is how to get benefits.

Hitt, you're lucky that you kept them separated enough that both weren't in school at the same time. I really don't know how people handle that.

 

[hittman]

It wasn't necessarily intentional but I'm glad it did work out so that both aren't in at the same time.

 

[rothenbj]

Aw Hitt, I'm sure it was planned all along, if only subconsciously. Besides practice makes perfect.

Well, I pulled the trigger and got nowhere near what I started out with. From announcement of closing of Chevy plants to a new SUV in two days. Talked to my mechanic this morning about a. how bad my Escape was and the potential to get thru another year without a major issue and b. my Jeep idea. Our conversation after getting it inspected had my concerned and I was right. There were other issues he didn't address as they weren't part of getting the vehicle inspected and he was totally negative on the Jeep. Maintenance often and expensive. He was okay with the Equinox but the towing capability was too low for me and suggested another Escape.

I did a quick search and found only one locally that had the towing package installed with the new 4 cylinder with Ecoboost, a combination of turbocharging & Direct Fuel Injection that will allow a towing capacity of 3,500 lbs. A 2016 with 20k on it was the right range that had an original sticker price of $38k selling for $24k now. It was a local lease that they turned in early, averaging a little over 7k miles a year and it was obvious that the towing package was never used.

Without the speedometer reading, you'd think it was new. Being the Titanium verson, it has everything on it including heated seats, remote start, NAV and all the techie stuff that wasn't available 10 years ago, plus a gorgeous red color. Love at first sight.

 

[hittman]

Congrats Roth. I know two people that have the titanium escape and really like it. They don’t do any towing but they are nice vehicles.

 

[rothenbj]

I love the way it drives without the trailer and it should be more than enough for my 700# utility trailer that has around a 2300# payload limit. I have a 500# leeway on payload and I mat have exceeded the trailer numbers a few times with firewood loads but certainly not 500# overloads.

The newest car I've really ridden in is my uncles Versa which, as you'd expect, very vanilla, heck, it's even white. Just being able to plus in a USB with music I like or playing spotify on a trip will make the journey more pleasurable. Remote startup with heated seats might become very addicting during January and February also. The only thing I really don't like is not having my junk mobile. The old Escape became my old Bravada where you just throw in whatever you need to carry. Saved trailer time just throwing lumber into the '07 up to 12 feet. I could open up the lift gate window and let it hang out. Now I'll need to take the trailer.

Speaking of which, the backup camera should help in aligning the ball up with the trailer. That was always a challenge solo previously.

 

[hittman]

My Jeep Liberty is a bit older but I got the jet model which had every option at the time. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate having the remote start in the winter at work. I do wish my heated seats would turn on with the remote start. They do with newer cars. One of the guys at work has a newer dodge pickup that has remote start and his heated seats and steering wheel turn on with the remote start.

 

[stols001]

There is a titanium escape? The Escape was my favorite vehicle back in the day... Is the styling ruined like a Nissan or a Toyota? Whatever Ford did to make their SUVs super lame? LOL I'm googling it.

I have decreased my nic tolerance I think. Some of what I got was the super high test stuff I'm having to temper it with American General and also taking it out after the first 10 minutes for the first hour or so.

Either my tolerance is decreasing (go go go) or the fact that I can no longer take Advil (long story) is giving me nic headaches sooner,. Either ways is fine, my stash will last longer. Also, a little Advil can go a heck of a long way, I have discovered.

Anna

 

[rothenbj]

Same here on the heating plus something I found interesting. If someone were to get in the car when it's started they can't drive away because the key that you don't have to use for anything once in the car, has to be in the car for it to be driven. It also cools off in the summer with the air automatically. I can just imagine the expense when this stuff goes bad.

 

[rothenbj]

Yes Anna, the Escape has lost that look that I loved but it sure makes up for it with the driving and electronics. I would still be driving my '07 but for the fact that it was becoming a money pit. I put $1k into it thinking I'd try to stretch another year out of it but after talking to my mechanic, I might have ended up spending another k or two trying to stretch it out and I was getting a bit uncomfortable with the tranny, particularly if I ended up towing a large load.

 

[Waho]

Good choice Roth. I drove my wife's grandparents "old" 2016 Escape a number of times and liked it quite a lot.

They traded it in for a 2018 Flex AWD last spring. I don't like it as much as the Escape. It feels "lumbering" while driving it, not peppy with a 4 cyl and a lot of body roll compared to the agility of the Escape.

They had an 18 Explorer between the two for a few weeks that everyone universally disliked. Felt like driving a very large Cavalier/Cobalt. Put the pedal to the floor and get more noise but no speed and overall fairly rough ride.

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[hittman]

We have done a Ford drive fundraiser the past two years for a high school fundraiser. I got to drive the new explorer, edge, focus hatchback, and escape. I honestly wouldn’t pay the money for the explorer. I feel like I could get a nicer vehicle for less money. I didn’t drive it but they had that new Eco vehicle there this year.

I have had really good luck with both of my Jeep Liberty vehicles. I had the first one for nine years with about 1500 in repair besides regular maintenance and have had my current one for six years with no repairs besides regular maintenance. I was sad when they quit making them. I really don’t like the style of the Cherokee that replaced it and will probably have to move a model up next time I get another company car.

 

[Waho]

They'll do a "brand ambassador" thing now and then where they'll send 5-6 cars to different plants and have employees drive them around and hand out brochures.

I got drawn for a 2014 Corvette Stingray. 450 horsepower sports car, in the middle of winter. Yeah, I'll pass. Whomever came up with that idea probably found his degree as the prize in box of cereal.

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[hittman]

Oh just think of the doughnuts you could have done in the parking lot.

 

[Waho]

That'd be about all I could do, that's true!

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[rothenbj]

Why in the world would they even send a Stingray out during the winter? Now had they offered it to you to drive out to California and hand out brochures then it would have made sense, especially if they gave you a months worth and tild you not to come back until they were all handed out.

 

[hittman]

I posted a new review today if anyone wants to take a look.

Geekvape Nova with Alpha tank kit review by hittman

 

[firechick]

I just went to place a large semi-annual order for the husband's thunder mini frosted and discovered that it was discontinued by the manufacturer in August. It is the only thing he uses. This is going to make for an "interesting" conversation in the morning.

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[hittman]

Good luck FC. Maybe he could use the regular frosted.

 

[hittman]

I’m not sure what the difference is but I found this FC.

Thunder Frosted Mini, 6g, White CB