New Testingstan

What bugs me is the dogpile mentality. Where you could have, say, 3 or 4 reasonable people on the "other" side but then you get that one person who says something really crazy/stupid and then everyone just latches on that to the total exclusion of pretty much anyone else arguing against them.

Evaluating a person's mental health applies to a lot more than if they should have guns. A person with temper issues shouldn't drive a car or be a police officer, either. A test for sociopathic tendencies should also be de rigeur for anyone seeking political office.

Aaron wrote:

Aaron wrote:

weemadando wrote:The thread about Chris Kyle being shot is the perfect example of why the "citizens with guns is the only way to prevent more shootings" argument is total fucking bullshit.

Because as this incident clearly shows, even a highly trained and experienced special forces veteran AT A GODDAMN SHOOTING RANGE was unable to stop it. Nor were any of the other presumably armed people at the goddamn shooting range.

Another gun control thread? Ugh.

Actually, can you do me a favour and keep your usual POV out of the thread for a bit? I want to see if we can have a serious discussion on mental health and gun ownership before all the Yanks get upset and start waving that stupid snake flag.

I was never going to post in it. It's a sad case and who knows what if any motive existed.

So it looks like someone backed into my fucking car and smashed the front frame in. My hood won't latch closed properly. It must've happened at the school parking lot, because I didn't even realize there was damage until I opened my hood to put more washer solvent in and it wouldn't close right again.

If I decide to get it repaired, i'll probably need a new front driver's side light housing, a new bumper, a new grill, maybe a radiator, and the frame might need repair too. I don't know how much i'm looking at in damages, but I have really crappy insurance so i'm probably on the hook for all of it. Whatever fuckmook smashed me up didn't bother to leave a note either. My dad says that since the car is thirteen years old, I should just scrap it and get a new one, and right now i'm starting to agree.

How much life could a thirteen year old car with 90,000 miles on it have left anyways?

You'd probably gain more by selling it to the scrapyard.

Anyway, if you have a spare $1000 you could probably get some cheap used cars. Actually, with that much you could probably buy two. At that price, you just scrap them when they start acting up. Only possible obstacle is the price of the insurance.

I'm still holding a faint hope that I'll be able to get this damage fixed and use it for another year or two while I save up more for a decent car. It's sunday, so I haven't gotten it in to a shop yet. Dad's been kind enough to loan me some money for a rental car for the next few weeks while I figure out what to do next.

That old escape was my first car. I drove to my first college class in it, I took my dog (who has since passed on) to his vet and groomer's appointments in it, My friends and I drove down for our trip to ceader point in it. I just hate to let go of it is all.

Darksi4190 wrote:How much life could a thirteen year old car with 90,000 miles on it have left anyways?

Depending on how well it's maintained, quite a bit. This accident aside, what was the condition of it like? Did it run well?

It needs new brakes, there is a cracked plastic ring that causes the ABS to engage regularly, and the front left tire appears to have a small hole, which may be related to the accident.

I'm not going to say it was in perfect shape, I've had to keep it outside during the winter for basically the last seven years, and there's quite a bit of rust on it. One of the running boards was so rusted it actually snapped off when I was driving into extreme wind. Honestly my plan was to get all the brake-work done over the summer, and try to keep it for one or two more years while I save up for something better, but whatever the front end damage costs to fix will probably wipe out the money i've saved to fix the brakes, so i'll need to save up again for that to.

Basically if I get the damage repaired, i'd need to get at least two more years out of the thing for it to be worth it. My dad's already been pushing me to replace it because of its age, he wants me to find a lease with a payment of less than 200$ a month, which I can just barely afford. He's implying that there's a very real chance that the frame is so rusted it'll just fall apart on me when i'm driving it one day.

I don't know cars, so I have no way of knowing whether or not he's right. I can't really trust the opinion of the guys at the repair shop, since they have a vested interest in me getting the work done, so right now i'm not sure what to do.

Gands wrote:Yeah. I find myself caring less and less about TEO.

Rather than have EPIC DEBATING, I'd rather have a relaxed conversation with you guys. More is accomplished. My views on gun control have softened massively since I started discussing it with Aaron and reading your discussions. On TEO it's more about picking a side, digging in and hoping heavyweight posters jump in on your side.

Word.

Respect may be more conducive to getting people to actually listen to you than approaching the discussion as some adversarial macho pissing contest where the objective is to defeat the other side.

Plus normal non-adversarial conversation is just more pleasant.

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This kind of reminds me of somebody with pretty unconventional political beliefs I've talked with

After seeing them defend those beliefs on SDN: wow, fatnerd left-wing paternalistic authoritarianism which has bizarrely circled back to being extreme right wing. psyduck.

After having a respectful, non-adversarial conversation with them over PMs: wow, that's actually a pretty interesting perspective, I don't know if I agree with it necessarily but I got a lot of food for thought, and I got a neat new paradigm of thinking about human relationships from it, and I generally came away with a new respect for this person.

Anecdote is not data blah blah blah, but I kind of think this might say something about what sort of social environment is more conducive to an open mind.

I would suggest looking up the Blue Book value of the car. If what it costs to repair is more than the lowest value on there (which from the sound of the condition it is the best you'll get, if that) it's not worth it.

But really get some estimates of what it'll cost to repair vs leasing a new car, or buying a used one in decent condition. That's really the only way to know. Your description does make it sound like it's probably not worth it to fix the damage, unless you can get a cheap repair. Your insurance might just say fuck it and want to total it. Especially if it's cheap insurance.

@ Darksi : before getting your car repaired, ask for a cost-estimation to get everything you said fixed, and if it's over $300-500, you'll probably be better served in the long run by just buying another car and selling this one.

If there's frame damage they need to fix you're probably as good as done on a car that old and with enough rust that things have broken off it.

Yeah, odds are the best bet is to try and trade it in or sell it to a scrap yard for something not broken.

So Darksider, speaking of a lease, is he talking about a new car or a used car? Because good luck getting a new car lease for less than $200 unless you have some damn good credit. Or your parents do and are willing to put their names on it and you just pay them.

If it's a used car lease, well...they do exist, but you need to be very careful about it. Though that article was from 2011; laws may or may not have changed in that time, but somehow I doubt it.

It's a new car lease we're looking in to. I mentioned the idea of buying a junker for like 1000$ dollars, but he's pushing me towards a lease because i'd essentially be buying something that's just as fucked up as what i'm getting rid of.

You know, i'd just drawn up a plan to start saving up to move out to my own place withing like two or three years. I was gonna start working more, I've finally started doing well in school and I've solidly chosen a Major that I know i'll be able to spend the rest of my life doing. Then this happens. I doubt i'll be able to afford an apartment if i'm making payments on a car, and the much greater hours at work will mean taking fewer classes.

I had a plan, everything was finally starting to fall into place. I was getting my life together and making the jump towards being a responsible adult, towards actually becoming a teacher before I turn thirty-five. Having to get a new car will set me back by months at the very least, possibly even by years.

Fuck getting a new car. What you need is a way to move around. If buying a new junk car every two years cost you less than buying a goddamn new car that'll hold just four to five time the duration for ten time the price, then by god do it.

Do what YOU want, and not what other people pressure you to do.

But, most of ALL, crunch those fucking numbers before taking any hard decisions.

Do you really need the car? Or could you get away with something cheaper like a moped?

Darksi4190 wrote:It's a new car lease we're looking in to. I mentioned the idea of buying a junker for like 1000$ dollars, but he's pushing me towards a lease because i'd essentially be buying something that's just as fucked up as what i'm getting rid of.

That's probably decent advice. You might get lucky with a car like that and it'll run fine and work, but it's a gamble.

And then you have to ask yourself: is paying a grand for a car that might not make it more than a couple years (if not less) worth it? Especially if you wind up needing to fix things that break, which is much more likely used than new? Buying a new junker every couple of years will add up. Plus fixing it, probably cost you more in gas, insurance, etc.

You could go to a reputable dealer and get a decent used car for cheaper than new, of course. But it'll still cost a decent amount in payments. Of course there's also insurance: will an older car bring higher premiums than a newer one? You should check with your company on that one.

I would respond to the rest but I honestly couldn't think of anything that wouldn't sound like some trite "roll with the punches" stuff. So all I can offer you is this:

Zod wrote:Do you really need the car? Or could you get away with something cheaper like a moped?

Probably won't work. A moped could probably get me to and from work, but school and various relatives houses are all 20-45 minutes away driving time, with highway travel involved.

Have you thought about getting a motorbike license ?

A motorcycle? Never really considered it.

You could try for something like this: http://powersports.honda.com/2010/sh150i/build.aspx

The site claims it's legal for freeways. Dunno if you need a special license for it or not. And it'll be fucking cold in the winter if you're up north, no doubt.

But hey, about $4500 so there's that.

See it's primarily the Michigan winters that predispose me against owning a motorcycle or moped like that thing. Like this past christmas when I was able to drive to my grandparents despite the snowstorm. If I had something like that thing mentioned above, i'd have had to stay home.

No, I need a car. It's going to suck scraping together the cash to pay for it, but i'll manage somehow. Even if I do just have to get shitty junkers for a while and then use them up.

On a completely unrelated note, I just noticed that apparently I can "Promote" my little status update on Facebook. The mouseover says it lets my friends know it's important.

So...what exactly does this do? Other than make one look like a douchebag (probably)?

Pretty sure it just makes you look like a douche.

Also, fuck google for putting paid ads into the maps on my phone.

See if you can buy and ex-fleet car.

I know over here most govt and private industry groups take cars on 3 year leases. Once that lease is up, the cars are auctioned.

And because they're fleet vehicles they tend to be well maintained and with a very transparent history. And often very low km if they were simply serving as a city runabout for the company.