Ace-Garageguy

One of the things I really like about Publix is their rolling "buy one, get one free" specials, and they don't force you to buy two to get the 50% off deal. So I kinda plan my meals around what's on special. Pork stew is on the upcoming weekend's menu, because pork loins were the most recent meat special. Sometimes the deals are really great too, like when it's coffee. Anyone who buys it knows that 50% off is a lot these days...and I'm stocked up for at least a couple months. The other thing is that I NEVER buy any "junk food" or "snacks" unless it's 50% off, and then limit myself to only one of whatever it is. It's a good way to keep the creeping bloat in check without feeling "deprived" and save a few bucks at the same time.

Of course you could also look at this section as a healthy way to blow off steam. Some of us have no family or close friends to talk to who get some of the things we rag about, and dumping petty annoyances here gets them out of our systems. It's a lot cheaper than paying a therapist $100+ per hour just to listen non-judgmentally, too. I frankly believe that the "complainers" DO INDEED appreciate fully much of what's in their lives. I sure as hades do, and say so fairly often. Respectfully though, YOU don't have to take any of it to heart. EDIT: Google's free AI seems to understand. "It's valuable to express appreciation for the good things in life, and many people who voice complaints also have a strong sense of gratitude. A person can hold both perspectives simultaneously, acknowledging aspects that could be improved while still appreciating the positive elements they encounter daily. The two sentiments are not mutually exclusive."

"Assembling" models brings me very little satisfaction, but hacking something up that was previously bodged, getting it half done (so I have a good idea of what it would look like finished) and then quitting work on it for years...yeah baby, that's my kind of modeling right there.

Not a bad view for an old car geek who still has to make a living. This is what I see today from the bay where I'm finishing up the '66 Chevelle. '74 Caddy in the foreground belongs to the shop manager, just got a new engine and gearbox, waiting for paint (single stage urethane), real wire wheels, some mild customizing, and a little lowering job. '70 Riv belongs to the shop owner, left to rot for years after getting a new engine and gearbox because of relatively minor issues like clogged brake lines and some simple electrics. Coming back nicely, runs great. Will be sold on as a 100% driver, but will need paint and minor interior work. Chopped steel '32 Ford on the frame rack, customer job. '56 Continental Mk II in the second to last bay, just got new leather throughout its interior. Last bay holds what may be the straightest mild custom '59 El Camino on the planet, currently getting Inglese 8-stack injection. I made a pair of custom AC outlets that match the design of the instrument bezels for it. It's bagged with custom tubs in back, too. Bed interior is finished just as straight as the rest of it.

Moment after moment, I often find myself muttering "why?????"

NOTE TO MODS: PLEASE don't focus on the mention of gubmint and delete or lock this for being "political", as has been done before. You simply can NOT address the state of today's automobile industry and the engineering and production issues faced by same without acknowledging the root causes. This is important factual information that any owner or prospective buyer of a newer vehicle needs to be made aware of, and information they're just not going to get from legacy media or the web without digging for it.

IIRC, these guys have some 6-lug steel wheels... https://www.ebay.com/shop/plastic-performance-products?_nkw=plastic+performance+products https://www.mikesdecals.com/ppp-6lc-six-lug-chevrolet-wheels-1956-p-3218.html https://theautomodelsllc.com/product/ppp-03-6lc-50s-60s-6-lug-chevrolet-7-5-wide-wheels-4/

"Expired" gives me an idea for a product line that might make me a billionaire, or at least a couple-hundred-aire.

While back I got an astronomical water bill. Like $300 for one month. Didn't remember building a pool and filling it. Made sure no taps were on, took the cover off the meter pit, no leaks (for those who don't do their own plumbing, the meter would be visibly running if there were). Compared all the meter readings on the previous bills, etc. Called the water folks, got the standard runaround, finally went down and raised Hades in person. Got it all squared away, even with a verbal apology for the oopsie related to an apparently "new employee" the contractor the city uses to read the meters. Whatever. Numbers are hard, even harder if they're a previously unknown concept.

I used to love selling on eBay. It gave me a global market for really obscure vintage parts...like a rough but savable Lambo crankshaft a guy in Spain bought for a pretty good chunk of change, NOS Hilborn injection bits, etc. And I've been thinking about trying it again, but the constant tinkering by clueless dwerbages seems to have kinda ruined what used to work very very well.

Another $5 score...an old HO scale AHM West Point Textiles boxcar, that goes for around $40 online including shipping. Mine has Kadee-compatible couplers on both ends, and upgraded trucks. Though the model represents a rebuilt USRA boxcar, the color scheme exists on a later design plug-door car, shown below, part of the Chattahoochee Valley collection. A similar livery was in use at the West Point, GA plant in 1960. I'm partial to liveries of "fallen flags" that I remember from my youth, and industries from the steam-to-diesel transition era, particularly from here in my current home state. Also bought his $5 companion, a same-period HO scale AHM 6-dome tank car in an interesting Firestone "rubber latex" scheme I'd never seen before. These go for $20-$30 online including delivery, so I'm pretty happy.

"Choice" beef is cheaper than "prime", but my budget runs more towards "rotten".

Apples and orangutans are often erroneously compared...or is that oranges?

"Gusto" has been appropriated as the name of a payroll app, nicely illustrating the trend towards totally stupid oh-so-cute-n-clever names for apps.

Couldn't find either the "ON" switch on the broom handle or the app on the phone to run it. Oh, the humanity.