What's On Your Mind? (1 Viewer)

[Jeffrey D]

I’ve gotten in the habit of replacing my batteries during routine maintenance whenever the dealership recommends it. I’ve learned the service departments at both the Toyota and Honda dealerships here are pretty trustworthy and don’t try to upsell you on things you don’t need. My Civic is a 2018 with almost 160,000 miles on it and this is the first time they’ve recommended a battery replacement because it was testing below (I think) 60%. My wife’s RAV4 is a 2015 with 86,000 miles and is just now on its 3rd battery.

When I was younger, I used to be that guy who scoffed at the service advisor and told them that their prices were too high and I’d take care of my own battery and wiper blades, thank you very much. Then I’d forget and end up not being able to see in a rain storm or, worse yet, having a car that won’t start in said rain storm. Finally, I reached a point in my life where spending an extra $30-$40 for the dealership to replace the battery or wiper blades during routine maintenance was more important than my manly pride of spending valuable time in Auto Zone trying to find the right battery and blades, and changing them myself to save a few bucks, and my life suddenly got a bit easier.

Yes I let the dealership take care of mechanical issues, and I feel I have not been gouged/taken over unnecessary repairs. I do have a tire shop near my house that fixes me up (getting all 4 tires replaced right now- will cost $850, soup to nuts).

 

[Bryan^H]

Mike Tyson set to fight Jake Paul in boxing match at AT&T Stadium in July

Tyson last fought during an exhibition match in Nov. 2020 against Roy Jones Jr., which ended in a draw.

www.yahoo.com

I hope Mike Tyson knocks that guy out.

 

[Malcolm R]

I have my maintenance done at the dealership as well. I know it costs more, but I feel more confident that things are getting done correctly and have never felt like they take advantage of anything, though there was a blip at the end of last year that had my mind going a bit.

I was in to have my winter tires put on in mid-November and they always do a "multi-point" inspection (MPI) with every service appointment and give me a report of all the car systems. This report showed my brake pads were all fine, with around 7 mm remaining (new pads are around 12 mm, I think), so all seemed well. Then when I took it back for oil change and maintenance in late December, they called me and said I really needed new brakes as the pads were all around 2 mm.

I questioned them how the pads could have worn down 5 mm in a single month since the last MPI showed they were all around 7 mm, and they didn't really have an answer. I stewed about it for a while, but then talked myself into the fact that whoever did the last MPI probably didn't actually do an inspection and may have just copied over a prior report to get it out the door.

I've owned this car since June 2020 and had never done any prior brake work, so I'm guessing it was all original as the car is a 2019 model. My area includes a lot of hills so I'm always using brakes to slow the car when going down hills everywhere I go around town, so I think the brakes were probably worn and due for replacement. I'd also been noticing some lack of firmness and grip when using the brakes in the weeks before then.

So I think the brakes really were due for replacement even though the prior MPI had said they were fine. I think someone fudged the prior MPI rather than the dealer trying to get me to pay for unneeded brake work.

 

[cineMANIAC]

I don't go to the movies nearly as often as I used to but it's not because I don't want to. I really miss going but there just aren't enough "big" films being made anymore. I want to see Dune 2 so I got on Fandango to reserve tickets and, man, it's worse than I thought. The AMC 25 near me has a whole bunch of weird-sounding movies I've NEVER heard of, including something called The Chosen Season 4(!). Are they really showing episodic TV series at theaters now? Then there was...Kung Fu Panda 4. My goodness it's a wasteland. I don't foresee theaters existing much longer in this climate of nothingness. Sad times.

 

[Jeffrey D]

I don't go to the movies nearly as often as I used to but it's not because I don't want to. I really miss going but there just aren't enough "big" films being made anymore. I want to see Dune 2 so I got on Fandango to reserve tickets and, man, it's worse than I thought. The AMC 25 near me has a whole bunch of weird-sounding movies I've NEVER heard of, including something called The Chosen Season 4(!). Are they really showing episodic TV series at theaters now? Then there was...Kung Fu Panda 4. My goodness it's a wasteland. I don't foresee theaters existing much longer in this climate of nothingness. Sad times.

I think I saw Dune 2 at #10 on the IMDB list of the 250 highest rated films. Seems to me to be an overreaction to put a brand new film on this list.

 

[Malcolm R]

The state of theaters at the moment is pretty dire due to the lack of mass-market product from Hollywood. One theater near me is still holding on to questionable titles like Madame Web and Argylle, which in past years would have been banished after two weeks, as well as Trolls Band Together, Wonka, and Migration which are already on home video.

And, yes, some theaters are showing TV episodes. Oddly, they seem to draw quite an audience.

 

[TravisR]

...including something called The Chosen Season 4(!). Are they really showing episodic TV series at theaters now?

There's the very rare time when something like an episode or two of Game Of Thrones plays but The Chosen is far more of an anomaly. It's a "faith-based" TV show (I guess it's streaming) and that's a demographic that can be counted on to turn out to see anything in that vein.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Wifey asked yesterday if there were any good movies playing for date night so I checked Fandango for what’s playing at the cineplex by our house. It was all hot garbage with the addition of tv shows. (I seriously don’t understand that.) So I got dragged out for almost two hours of shopping at Belk then a very underwhelming dinner at Outback. Service was ssssssllllloooooowwwwwwwww and super salty (sickeningly so) once it finally arrived. (Pro tip: overly salty / peppery food is a classic sign of a chef who can’t cook and has no business in a kitchen). I could have stayed home and had a better time.

 

[bmasters9]

So I got dragged out for almost two hours of shopping at Belk

Personally, I'm not the biggest fan of shopping there myself-- unfortunately, I had to do that recently for my late father's funeral, to find a button-down shirt (which I wore with the sleeves rolled up and without a tie); I wanted a short-sleeved shirt, but this was the next best thing, IMO.

 

[Clinton McClure]

I hate clothing shopping in general and will spend the absolute minimum time I have to in a store. I needed some new shirts for this summer so I found three polo shirts in the first 5 minutes I was there. The other hour and 55 minutes in that money trap was all her.

 

[BobO'Link]

Last week I'm watching a TVonDVD season and notice that one episode of the show has a largish (~1/4") black dot in the middle of the screen. The scene was an extended one and I wondered just how they'd missed seeing that on the master and not fixed it. I couldn't tell if it were on cut-aways as it never failed that whatever was in the center of the screen on those scenes was also dark. It takes a few minutes for me to determine that it's on *every* shot. OK... is the episode master bad or is that some dead pixels on my screen? It's dark (early morning plus I always watch in a darkened, practically blacked out, room) so I don't immediately get up to check it - I'll do it later. The episode ends, the disc returns to the menu, and that dot is still on the screen. Sigh... looks like that old set will finally need replacing as I could mostly ignore such a spot in a corner or on the edge but not almost dead center on the screen. I get up and go across the room to take a closer look to find...

a Ladybug had landed on the screen causing the dot...

I carefully removed the insect and returned it to the outside where it belongs.

 

[jayembee]

I hate clothing shopping in general and will spend the absolute minimum time I have to in a store. I needed some new shirts for this summer so I found three polo shirts in the first 5 minutes I was there. The other hour and 55 minutes in that money trap was all her.

I also hate clothes shopping. Give me t-shirts, jeans, and sneakers, and I'm happy as a pig in garbage. The last time I bought a suit was almost 20 years ago, for my wedding. I've only been in a Men's Warehouse once since then to get a new shirt and pair of nice pants for a niece's wedding.

Fortunately, my wife feels pretty much the same way. She'll make the occasional buy of nice attire for special occasions, but otherwise prefers casual clothes. She also generally avoids make-up, and wears very little jewelry beyond her engagement and wedding rings and sedate earrings. My kind of gal.

 

[BobO'Link]

I hate clothing shopping in general and will spend the absolute minimum time I have to in a store. I needed some new shirts for this summer so I found three polo shirts in the first 5 minutes I was there. The other hour and 55 minutes in that money trap was all her.

I hear ya... mine will walk around so slowly (a literal snail's pace) that my back starts to hurt (I can stand still or I can walk normally without issue - I can *not* slowly mosey). After a half hour or so I'll say "Gotta walk... back in a minute" and walk around the perimeter of the store a few times at a quick pace to get the stiffness out. After that couple of minutes I can usually return to where I left her still looking at the same half dozen or so racks.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Those clothes shopping trips for my wife are why I knew where every video store (or store that carried media) was so that I could a place where I could kill time going through racks and racks and racks of "previously viewed" titles (or new copies of movies).

I don't have that any more and find myself sitting in the car looking at my phone. It is a poor substitute.

 

[cineMANIAC]

I suspect women would prefer shopping by themselves and not have anyone shadowing them everywhere. I used to hate being dragged along whenever my Mom or sister asked me to join them, probably to help carry bags lol. Women take forever making up their minds. My grandma used to spend hours gingerly looking at stuff and end up not buying anything. I forgive her for that since I was really close to her. RIP.

I was in a Macy's earlier this year looking at coats. I swear these fancy stores, the majority of them really, have something against big people. Most sizes stop at Medium. They're neglecting a big portion of the population and leaving money on the table.

 

[Malcolm R]

I was in a Macy's earlier this year looking at coats. I swear these fancy stores, the majority of them really, have something against big people. Most sizes stop at Medium. They're neglecting a big portion of the population and leaving money on the table.

I'm not sure that's exclusive to the fancy stores. The only place I reliably see extended sizes is at Walmart and maybe Kohl's. I don't often see any at Target, TJ Maxx, Marshall's, or Costco (they say to "go online" for extended sizes).

 

[bmasters9]

Those clothes shopping trips for my wife are why I knew where every video store (or store that carried media) was so that I could a place where I could kill time going through racks and racks and racks of "previously viewed" titles (or new copies of movies).

I don't have that any more and find myself sitting in the car looking at my phone. It is a poor substitute.

Either that, or a good bookstore, would have done it for me if I were in that situation as well.

 

[Kevin Hewell]

So I got dragged out for almost two hours of shopping at Belk

That reminds me of growing up in small town Georgia!!

 

[bmasters9]

That reminds me of growing up in small town Georgia!!

You had to go clothes-shopping?

 

[Kevin Hewell]

You had to go clothes-shopping?

At Belk