Think I'll sit down here for a bit... (12)

[DaRev]

For now, I'm saving money and my old Toyota just keeps going. I've NEVER done ANYTHING to it. New tires, oil changes - that's it. It's never been to a mechanic. It's needed ANY work. It runs perfectly. The a/c works, the CD player works - even all the power stuff works perfectly. I keep it washed and waxed - it looks as good as the day it was new (which I remember, my parents bought it new in 1999 when I would have been 11, giving it to me when my 1990 Buick Surfmobile was stollen).

The problem is that, inevitibly, all those things will fail all at once. I've seen it happen.

 

[alexnbethmom]

CJ - obviously i can't tell you what to invest that money in, but like Rev says, those things on your car will most likely all go wrong at once (murphy's law and the fact that it *is* an older car)....

if you use the money as a down payment for a domicile, please, i implore you, do NOT get a condo......i can tell you, truthfully, that condos are nothing but over-glorified apartments that you pay more for, and there is always an "association" of people making your life miserable, making sure you, oh, i don't know, curled the leaves of the plants on your patio before you left for work so everything looks aesthetically pleasing and matches up with everybody else's curled plant leaves.....

i'm kidding about the curled leaves, of course - but trust me on this - condo living SUCKS with a capital BITES.....

 

[DaRev]

condo living SUCKS with a capital BITES.....

 

[Zecryphon]

CJ - obviously i can't tell you what to invest that money in, but like Rev says, those things on your car will most likely all go wrong at once (murphy's law and the fact that it *is* an older car)....

if you use the money as a down payment for a domicile, please, i implore you, do NOT get a condo......i can tell you, truthfully, that condos are nothing but over-glorified apartments that you pay more for, and there is always an "association" of people making your life miserable, making sure you, oh, i don't know, curled the leaves of the plants on your patio before you left for work so everything looks aesthetically pleasing and matches up with everybody else's curled plant leaves.....

i'm kidding about the curled leaves, of course - but trust me on this - condo living SUCKS with a capital BITES.....

I know my H.O.A. (Home Owner's Association) exists to make my life as miserable as possible. They've fined me for not pulling weeds that are technically outside of my property lines. So owning a house isn't necessarily going to be better and apartment living is not pleasing in the least as you always have noisy or insane neighbors to deal with and an incredible lack of security on the premises.

 

[alexnbethmom]

zec, i know that there are housing communities (as in, actual houses, not condos) that have HOAs - and pretty much ANYWHERE that has an HOA is going to "suck with a capital bite".....when we (my late husband and i) were looking for a house to buy, we made double good and sure that where we ended up did NOT have an HOA.....

my parents and i lived in a condo that they were buying, and they had an HOA - they made our lives a living h-e-double hockey sticks, seriously. if you left your Christmas wreath on your door ONE DAY longer than THEY DEEMED PROPER, they fined you.....if you left your garage door open TEN MINUTES longer than THEY DEEMED PROPER, they fined you......etc etc etc......and not just fined, but a nasty condescending letter to go along with it......these letters were an almost daily occurrence.....(we used to joke, that the woman who was in charge of walking around the neighborhood with her cronies with their clipboards making notes of everything that was wrong and/or out of place were the wicked witch and her flying monkies....)

and then, because it was a condo, which, like i said, is an over glorified apartment, we had people living over us, and they ALWAYS decided to stomp around like elephants and take LONG baths at 2, 3, 4 o'clock in the MORNING.....thankfully they didn't do a lot of yelling and screaming - but they did stomp around and run water at the ungodliest of times.....

can you tell i can't STAND condos?? or HOAs????

 

[Studeclunker]

Yeah, Homeowner Associations... An epithet regarding, or another way to say, people with way too much time on their hands and control issues.

When shopping for a home, one of my priorities is that the property had no H.A. or C.C.&R's (Codes, Covenants & Restrictions). If it did, I would refuse to even look. There were several properties that a realtor tried to take me to that had them and when I saw the abbreviations on the flyer or description, I wouldn't even get out of the car. In fact, my landlord, when I moved here to Lewiston, wanted me to look at some properties he was trying to sell, and I refused to consider it as he encumbered them with CC&Rs. I hate it when city people move into the country. LOL, if I was rich, I'd buy the property next door to his and put like fifty head of cattle on it right on his property line. It would drive him right around the twist!
I only like messing with the jerks. They're the really fun ones. 'Course, it's kinda like playing with rattle-snakes; one has to be very careful not to get bitten.

I'm feeling much better today. Took only half a pill last night and will likely do the same in an hour or so. That way they'll last longer, I hope. Thank you to those of you who have prayed for me. The Lord does graciously sometimes say yes.

 

[Luther073082]

Its awesome renting a home from your parents.

We get a better deal then we would likely any place else and we can practically do whatever we want to the home in terms of improvements.

 

[Tangible]

if you left your Christmas wreath on your door ONE DAY longer than THEY DEEMED PROPER, they fined you.....

Which would be a real stickler for people like us who generally are still celebrating Christmas when everyone else is starting to put out the President's Day decorations.

I would never agree to a HOA unless I had the ability to strike lines from the agreement. Pretty much the whole thing would be stricken, though.

 

[LilLamb219]

The problem is that, inevitibly, all those things will fail all at once. I've seen it happen.

That's true. We have 2 Toyotas and when something has gone, in another month, something else has gone. We keep them because they are good cars and we know we can get over 100,000 miles easily on them.

 

[Luther073082]

Which would be a real stickler for people like us who generally are still celebrating Christmas when everyone else is starting to put out the President's Day decorations.

I would never agree to a HOA unless I had the ability to strike lines from the agreement. Pretty much the whole thing would be stricken, though.

People decorate for President's day?

 

[Bryne]

i'm kidding about the curled leaves, of course - but trust me on this - condo living SUCKS with a capital BITES.....

I love condo living...when my husband and I are in a position to buy again, we are going to get a condo...or maybe a townhouse.

When we had a house, the city was just as much a pain in the butt as a homeowners association can be. I had a piece of foam insulation sitting against my sliding door going into the backyard, and I was told by the city that it was against code (not because it was a fire danger or any kind of safety concern, but because it looked ugly)...I had to move it. Lame. The swamp cooler sticking out of the window was much uglier...plus, it was a backyard facing window...not a front window facing the street.

 

[Studeclunker]

People decorate for President's day?

Yes, LOL, they're generally called Flags.

I have to admit, Toyotas are really nice to drive when they behave. However, they're a nightmare under the hood. Do you know that there's coolant routed through the trottle body or Carb? When that little pencil thick hose cracks or breaks it can blow your head gasket in less than five minutes. The new motors are really nice to a limited extent. I think the complexity however, has gone way too far. Not to mention the expense of repairing them. Toyotas may be able to go several hundred thousand miles per engine, however, they can go to Hell in a handbasket in short order without any warning either. It doesn't take much to precipitate such a disaster either.

Yes, I will admit that if I wanted to do a cross-country trip, I would rather drive a new truck or car. However, the upkeep of said vehicle is a killer. Not to mention the cost of purchase, insurance, registration, etc...

There are several cities in California that are as picky as what you mentioned, Byrne. Usually, they're populated by the upward-mobile type that want to keep the ordinary riff-raff out (people like me). The problem though, usually isn't quite so much the City as a nosey neighbor or somebody who has way too much time on their hands who canvases the neighborhood. Often these people can be dealt with by putting a good high privacy fence in agumented by a very large, loud, territorial dog. Another way to deal with invasive cities is to sue them. Lawsuits for harrasment can be very effective in teaching the City employees to mind their own business.

 

[ctay]

I hadn't been here in awhile, hope everyone is doing ok. Its been well crazy here. Things tearing up, my glasses ended up in the bottom of the lake july 4th, my dog disappeared, etc. I think I need a vacation LOL

 

[ctay]

I should be cleaning the kitchen up

 

[LilLamb219]

Hi Ctay!!

 

[ctay]

Hi LilLamb

 

[Zecryphon]

Yes, LOL, they're generally called Flags.

I have to admit, Toyotas are really nice to drive when they behave. However, they're a nightmare under the hood. Do you know that there's coolant routed through the trottle body or Carb? When that little pencil thick hose cracks or breaks it can blow your head gasket in less than five minutes. The new motors are really nice to a limited extent. I think the complexity however, has gone way too far. Not to mention the expense of repairing them. Toyotas may be able to go several hundred thousand miles per engine, however, they can go to Hell in a handbasket in short order without any warning either. It doesn't take much to precipitate such a disaster either.

Yes, I will admit that if I wanted to do a cross-country trip, I would rather drive a new truck or car. However, the upkeep of said vehicle is a killer. Not to mention the cost of purchase, insurance, registration, etc...

There are several cities in California that are as picky as what you mentioned, Byrne. Usually, they're populated by the upward-mobile type that want to keep the ordinary riff-raff out (people like me). The problem though, usually isn't quite so much the City as a nosey neighbor or somebody who has way too much time on their hands who canvases the neighborhood. Often these people can be dealt with by putting a good high privacy fence in agumented by a very large, loud, territorial dog. Another way to deal with invasive cities is to sue them. Lawsuits for harrasment can be very effective in teaching the City employees to mind their own business.

That's odd, what you say about Toyotas being a nightmare under the hood. I had one problem with my 1985 MR2, and once we fixed the overheating problem, it ran like a dream. Oh and what an A/C and heater!!! I'd kill to have that in my 5.9L 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee LTD. now!

 

[QuiltAngel]

Hi Ctay,
Sorry things have been rough lately.

 

[Aibrean]

Mel, will you be gracing us with your presence again this Sunday? (FYI, she sings like an opera singer...it's quite lovely)

The senior pastor is back in town.

 

[Melethiel]

Yes, I will.
Not next Sunday tho - I'm on all next weekend.