The Chit Chat Chit Chat Thread

Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Goofyernmost said:
I think it is sweet how it can be thought that giving a kid a new car is OK. I have a grandson that was given a very used family car and managed to cause about 2K in damage to another car backing out of a parking place at school. I didn't get a new or used car from my parents. They did let me buy one, on credit, and I had to pay them back in monthly payments and pay for my own insurance and repairs. It sat in the yard while I managed, doing odd jobs, to scrape together the insurance pay back. They had it insured, but, until I was able to pay them back, it sat. It was in the back yard. To save the battery I was told to take the battery out of the car and keep it in the basement where it was warmer during the winter. Once a week I would bring it back up, put it in the car and start it up. And just sit there in the car listening to the radio, which it also didn't have. I went to a junk yard and had to take a radio out of a junked car and find a way to fit it into mine. Just a little history, back then the battery was held down by a separate bracket. I forgot that I had put it on the radiator and when I started the car up, it fell into the fan which flung it clear through the radiator creating a huge hole. So, there I was with a car that I was making payments on and saving up to pay them back for the insurance and now I had to have the radiator repaired before I could use it.

That all eventually worked itself out and I did finally get to put it on the road. I was the only one in my grade in high school that had a car so I had numerous friends all of a sudden. They had to pay me for gas money if they wanted to go someplace. Gas back then was only 29 cents per gallon but many a time all I could afford was a dollars worth of gas.

As cruel as that even seems to me now, it taught me some really valuable lessons. Never again did I buy something I couldn't afford. I never drove a mile since then without paid up insurance and more then that I was able to learn that nothing in life is free. One pays their own way or they don't go. It taught me responsibility and also taught me that I can only rely on myself. It gave me the incentive to work for what I wanted and then have that sense of pride and accomplishment when I achieved those goals.

I wasn't quite as harsh with my girls, but, they did have to buy their first cars, they did have to pay for repairs, but, I wouldn't have let them sit and look at their cars idly sitting in the back yard. I did incorporate the cost of insurance in their monthly payback payment. They also, learned a lot from the experience, and have thanked me for teaching them to be independent. I even had them do their own maintenance, like oil change, tire changes... one even did a brake job with my telling her how to do it. That wasn't for any other reason then to make it so they would never be taken by some shifty repair station giving them a line of bull about things that needed fixing. They were taught about cars and how they worked. That came about because, before we were married, their mother was talked into buying a whole new set of tires after she had slid into something in the winter and bent the metal wheel a little. She was told that the tire had to be replaced because it was bent and that the car wouldn't be safe unless all the tires matched. So she bought a whole set. I put that in my memory bank and when my girls were old enough I wanted them to know what to do and how things worked and also not to be helpless on the side of the road if they had a flat. Tire bent... really? It seems like the fact that they were made out of flexible rubber should have been a clue that it wasn't damaged it was just following the shape of the damaged wheel and when removed a miracle happened and it returned to it's original unbent shape.

I probably cursed my parents during the time when it was sitting there mocking me as I made my way to the bus stop, but, they were not only trying to teach me about life, but, they were also middle class with the I lived through the Great Depression experience and knew the value of money and just wanted to make sure that I understood what it meant to go without until I could afford it. I'm not saying that supplying a family hand down is bad, that is just lucky that one exists. But, if I had been wealthy it wouldn't have even crossed my mind to just up and buy them a new car. That just seems extreme to me.

Actually I did in a way give them both cars. They were cars that they bought, through me, and when they both graduated from college I signed over the title and whatever was still owed was wiped off the books. I also suspended the need for payments while they were in college. So, in reality they did get an almost free vehicle to start their adult lives with. I was a little more understanding and generous then my parents, but, I also had more means then they did at the time.

I just read this over and I apologize for the length of it. I'm thinking I should probably go back through my past posts and copy them to a safe place just in case I am ever moved to write an autobiography. :joyfull:
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My brother bought his first car from my dad, my mom paid for his licensing and registration, my dad paid for his first insurance payment. I had to pay for everything myself. Bought the car, paid my own licensing and reg, paid my own insurance, I had to pay all my own repairs...everything. I also had to buy my own clothes from the time I turned 13, while my mom bought my brother's clothes. This, because I got a lot of hand-me-downs, and my mom figured that was enough, so if I wanted anything in particular, I had to buy it myself, whereas my brother was huge and there was no one to give him hand-me-downs. He also wore his pants out really fast and would need new ones, and he never had any money, so mom always had to buy them. No wonder my brother is terrible with money. He never had to pay for anything himself to learn not to spend more than you have, to not just buy the popular or most expensive thing, but to buy only what you NEED. Everything was always given to him, so he never learned to save for something he really wanted.

We go by the philosophy that if one kid gets it, so does the other. We buy clothes for one kid, we buy clothes for both. If one needs something for their hobby, then the next time the other needs something for theirs, we pay for that, too. But DS saved up for 3 years to buy his own game console. He did the research with dh to figure out which one he wanted. DD bought the controllers and a couple of games for it. So they both get to play, but we didn't have to pay a penny for it. DD bought her own phone. She did the research with DH to figure out what she needed and bought accordingly. So they are learning responsibility with money, and how to save and how to comparison shop, etc. I don't like that DD needs a phone, but she has to have one for school because all their homework, their schedule, changes in schedule, announcements...it's all done on an app. So they have to have their phones with them every day to see where they are supposed to be when. DD forgot her phone yesterday and had to keep asking her classmates where they were supposed to go next, etc. But if she's going to need a phone, at least she also gets a valuable lesson out of it.
 
donaldtoo

donaldtoo

Well-Known Member
MinnieM123 said:
Like you said, they're probably waiting for the creek to lower more, to get the car out. I think the owner fled the scene and abandoned it--but when it's pulled out, the cops will find the VIN and trace it. Wonder if the plates are still on it, or gone?
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I get a quick glimpse the front of the car when I pass it in the morning, but, can’t remember if there is a plate in the front, or not. If the car is still there Monday mornin’, I’ll make note of it.
 
donaldtoo

donaldtoo

Well-Known Member
Mr Ferret 88 said:
@figmentfan423 :cool:
View attachment 323914
Our record breaking church basking in the morning sun ...
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I thought there might be an explanation as to the “record” further ahead, but, have yet to see one, so I Googled...the worlds closest church to a pub...I’ll drink to that...!!!!!!! :joyfull:
Let me guess...the name of the pub is “A Pint and a Prayer”...!!!!! :hilarious: :D ;) 🍺 :)
 
donaldtoo

donaldtoo

Well-Known Member
MinnieM123 said:
Then how do they anchor it to the ground if no basement?
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Short answer: footings, piers, piles, retaining walls, etc.
Not sure if you know that MK is built 14ft. above natural grade to keep the utilidors above the water table, which is, essentially, pretty much at natural grade. They used fill that was dug out from Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake to build it up that high...!!! :)
 
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donaldtoo

donaldtoo

Well-Known Member
ajrwdwgirl said:
I often wish more places had a buffet then I wouldn't have to stick to just one item. When I'm at Italian and Mexican places everything sounds so good so I often wish they had a buffet or at least a tasting platter.
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We used to have a place here called Pancho’s Mexican Buffet. You got a tray and went through a cafeteria-type line and they served you whatever you wanted.
Whenever you wanted more you just raised a little Mexican flag at your table and they would come and take your request and bring it back to you...!!! :)
We loved Pancho’s...!!!!! :hungry:

Here’s a pic of the little flag and some sopapillas...!!!!! :)

43731470-CF76-4A6F-886B-C27AFD1C9C88.jpeg
 
W

wdwfan4ver

Well-Known Member
ajrwdwgirl said:
Oh and I just had to comment on a few of the conversations:
1. The Sears catalog......was wonderful I loved having it to page through. It was a sign that Christmas was around the corner and it was so cool to look at all the magical things for sale. We also got the Montgomery Wards and JC Penny catalog too and I like paging through them too. We also had Toyland at a store called Farm n Fleet, it opened just during the Christmas season otherwise the store was main farm goods, tools, clothes.....very boring for a little girl. So Toyland season was the only time I wanted to go to Farm n Fleet with my dad! While he spent an hour looking at the tools I was able to go drool over the toys!
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I didn't get a Montgomery Wards Catalog based on my memory, but I remembered Toyland at Farm N Fleet. If I did look at Montgomery Ward's Catalog, it had to be very early in my life because My younger brother was little when Montogery Wards closed its Catalog businesses.

I didn't remember a Montgomery Wards near me either, but I remembered Woolworths and Zayre.

I remembered Farm n fleet store well. My younger brother and I went there as kids. South Eastern Wisconsin has a Farm N fleet since the 1980s at least.
 
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Rista1313

Rista1313

Well-Known Member
MinnieM123 said:
I have a clock for morons. It somehow automatically updates the time. Perfect for moi. :hilarious:
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I use to have an atomic clock, but then the time change, changed years back, and the clock now turns back a week early... so I have to reset it, then set it manually for the real time change. One of these days I will just buy a new one... I love that they set themselves!
 
donaldtoo

donaldtoo

Well-Known Member
MinnieM123 said:
To add my two cents to the after high school car discussion, I never got one, nor did my brothers or sister. Parents made it clear that if any of us wanted one, we could get a job and buy one! :p (Actually it was many, many years later that I got a car. Just didn't have much interest in them to begin with and wasn't a big fan of driving. Even now, I only drive a little.)
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I bought my first car with my own money my junior year of high school. It was a 1971 Olds Cutlass.
Before that, I got my drivers license right when I turned 16, and my first job shortly thereafter. My folks wouldn’t let me drive their car or truck if I couldn’t pay for my part of the insurance.
It was pretty much the same with my 2 younger bros, but, by the time it came to my 12-year-younger lil’ sis, our folks were much more accommodating...! ;) :)
 

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