...that's cool. I know why they're effective there, or Alaska, or any of the Northern states. But in my state, I just don't see the need. I'm not sure how you can't notice another car in broad daylight unless the car is painted the same color as the road.
I live in Canada, and have really appreciated the difference in Daytime Running Lights. Many times they indicated to me that someone is actually in the car ahead of me on the street, rather than it just being a parked car. The difference is obvious, though subtle - I have NEVER been "blinded" by DRL! They are simply too dim compared to the ambient light.
Oh, and that brings up another point - they are most effective in alerting oncoming cars when it IS a bright sunny day! That is the time that other cars can be missed (due to sun glare, for example). In fact, James Dean was killed when his car was hit by another car that didn't see him (due to sun glare, and the fact that Dean's silver car blended in to the background and was therefore hard to see). Would DRL have saved his life? Who knows... but it's something to think about. Is one life worth the addition "hassles"?
Oh - and my last car (Toyota Camry) had DRL; we had it for 7 years, and drove about 40000km (25000 miles) a year, and never replaced the bulbs once. Maybe Toyota just has it right, but clearly they are not the only factor in bulb replacement.
So before you condemn the things, try them for a while with an open mind and a thought to safety. Sure, we'll never know for sure how many lives were saved or accidents avoided because of them, but I can tell you I certainly have noticed cars that I might not otherwise have if they didn't have DRL!
Actually I don't think this bailout will stem the price drop very much. Additionally, 0.5% in interest is a huge difference on a mortgage. If you consider that homebuyers pay mostly interest in the beginning of their mortgage, a 0.5% drop on 6% is a 8.3% drop.
It sounds as though, in situations like this, it would be a good idea to replace every darned bulb accessible once the bumper/battery/whatever has been removed.
It's a reasonable bet that if one bulb has burned out, another of the same type which was installed at about the same time may soon follow. Anyhow, bulbs are cheap compared to time and labor.
Or I suppose one could use this as the modern counterpart of the old saw "Honey, the ashtrays are full! Time to buy a new car!"
We're rolling with a particular situation right now that is totally kicking our butts. It's exhausting, but we're muddling through. And you're right about remembering to not follow your emotions off a cliff. It's easy to do, if you allow it.
Scion xA: Remove rubber cover & squeeze retaining clips to replace light bulbs, but requires tiny hands, and I swear I'll never do it again, every time, and then I do. My bulbs burn out once a year, as I keep the head lights on at all times (did not come with DRLs). Haven't asked how much it would be at a shop since I can do it myself for $20 and a half hour of my time (and some scuffed knuckles).
Chrysler Pacifica: requires removing the headlight assembly. My brother does this himself, but I bet it would be pricey at a shop.
Amen to all comments above that things are getting more complicated, and more crowded.
I'm not so sure that Homebuyers with cash are helped by this government bailout. You're right that the interest rates go down a little, but what about the actual price of the house? The buyout will stem the price drop by enabling more people to have "easy money" mortgages. That 0.5% in interest isn't going to outweigh the 10% lower price that the house would have sold for.
I recently purchased a country living grain mill so that we could make our own organic flours. The thing works like a champ. We got it through http://www.grindwheat.com.
Does any one have any recipes or suggestions of what to make? I am drawing a blank.
A lot of it is because cars and trucks are MUCH more reliable than they used to be and the factory is looking for ways to increase Dealers Revenue.
One friend has a VW Beetle and the only place to get wipers is the Dealer...and thier $85 a set....NOT INSTALLED...just passed over the counter to you.
I also used to have diesel trucks...injectors have to be changed out about every 75-100,000 miles..the term is called "running the rack". Used to be changing one fit the six injectors in a large engine took 10 minutes and 2 wrenches.
About 15 years ago ALL the engine manufacturers changed the design so that you have to remove the heads to take the injector out from the bottom.(inside)..now its a day or more in the shop and $1500 labor to replace a single $60-$100 injector instead of 10 minutes.
And another good one....too replace a single Turn Signal Lamp Lens in a Corvette (4 phillips head screws and $30 part) entails disassembling the entire front the the car to get at them...7 HOURS start to finish in the body shop...$500 labor.
An additional beneficiary of this horrendous environment for the Financials is that some banks are offering CD rates well above the national average. They're mortgaging their long term profitability in order to meet near term liquidity obligations. I just did a post tonight on the topic.
As far as government involvement, it's generally a bad idea. Here, it was borne out of necessity. The alternative was much worse. There was suffering by shareholders (as their should be) and the taxpayers may end up shelling out nothing in the end if the liquidity/backing hedge provided is adequate. If not, well, the Fed can continue to print more money, devalue our dollar some more and introduce the next bailout plan.
True, when a home loan defaults the bank usually doesn't lose 100% of the value, but sometimes they lose even more by having the home on their books and trying to sell it. In the case of $1 homes in Detroit, banks are losing more than 100% of the value. In the first quarter Fannie was disposing homes at about 74% of their loan value according to this article: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-re-fannie-unsold-home-0803aug...
This amount is still falling so the losses will still be in the hundreds of billions.
"Goodson’s studies reveal another possibly scarier fact: female managers are not as supportive and encouraging of other women as you may think. "
So true. My first career change was knocked out from underneath me by an older woman jealous and threatened by the younger women with degrees getting hired. She touted herself liberal Democrat but her boss a conservative gave me more responsibilities and chances to prove myself. No matter how much I proved and listed my accomplishments she used her longevity and influence to get me fired once she got to be section manager.
I have always worked to speak out about my contributions and going over the top in effort and it has always been treated and 'that's expected, so what". I have consistently outperformed other workers either male or non-minority and regularly given the paternalistic pat on the head and disbelieve I could REALLY do the job well or be qualified.
The acting unprofessionally could be NOT acting like the 'good ole boys around the water hole and or over time any human develops a sense of disenchantment, aggravation and resentment as unfair/unequal workplace policies, rules and promotion hiring activity continues under the euphemism "We aren't discriminatory. We don't believe in quotas for minorities & women. We're just making sure the BEST qualified are hired and promoted and the automatic standard is unfortunately white males are ALWAYS better qualified." So overtime you get a taint of 'chip on shoulder'
If DRLs keep someone from pulling out in front of you just once then they are more than worth the hassle of a little decrease in headlight life. They are extremely helpful in the early morning or late evening and in tunnels, under bridges, and in fog or mist. You can't tell me you experience only bright sunny days in Colorado.
There's really no way to know that your DRLs haven't already saved your life. or someone else's. or at least the hassle of an accident.
Using the same logic, why not disable your brake lights? They're there for safety, but they'll definitely last longer if they never turn on...
While it certainly may be true that VW headlights are significantly more difficult to replace (I haven't had to yet in my '02 Jetta), there are other differences that compensate for that kind of irritation. For example, I can change any of the bulbs in the taillights in about a minute, including opening the package. On previous cars I've driven, this has been at least a minor hassle.
The VWs' disadvantages may, overall, outweigh their strengths, but I've found it not to be so lopsided as some dissatisfied customers will tell you. I'd say to find someone who's driven whatever car you're looking at getting and finding out what to look out for.
When a home loan defaults the bank doesn't lose 100% of the value. They'll lose a little to a lot, but they don't turn around and give a foreclosed home away, they sell it, making back as much of their money as possible.
How many channels are there for nj/nyc area?? Where can I find out? I know I bought an amplified antenna with a filter and I was getting 15 channels, but a few weren't coming in good. Then I build a new antenna out of coat hangers and I'm getting 37 channels with perfect signals. I'm just trying to figure out how many channels im suppose to be getting so I can tweak my antenna even more. And returen the POS antenna I bought.
My opinion is that there is always more trouble when the government gets involved. Bureaucracy never streamlines a process, it has a way of impeding it. Personally, I see higher rates, and less sales. More importantly I see a lot less consumer confidence in the economy and stocks. The government intervention makes all shares of common almost worthless, and totally worthless if the two companies never emerge out of conservatorship. From what I have read online the largest holders of much of the common stocks are insurance companies and pension funds. What happens to the confidence of their investments? What happens if your retirement fund is invested in these 2 companies? If I lost money on a sure bet, I would be not likely to invest more with the same company. That is a hard sale! The reality is that the shift and the losses will be borne more by the US Taxpayers.
It is my understanding from the aforementioned articles that the appraised value does not have to meet the amount of the loan that you are trying to access.
Is this a correct assumption?
If so, is there a place on the current appraisal form to figure out what it would cost to replace my home without the cost of the land?
I am trying to lower my mortgage payment amount and I thought if I didn't have to carry so much homeowners insurance and I increased the deductible that would help to lower my monthly insurance payments (which are rolled into my mortgage payments)
Can you help me?
Thanks,
Guest/Trudy
My whole purpose in life to to live large, my definition of large that is. I need to heed all the tips I can for now on living large on my current small budget, but the goals is to live large on an even bigger budget. Until then keep it coming, I need it. Thanks
We have an older Passat, changing the bulbs is really easy once you get the hang of the metal retaining clips and how they clamp the bulb in.
My dad has a Ford Taurus. He called me to come replace his tail light bulb. I wondered on the way over why my dad needed me to help him change a light bulb. The tail light assembly on that model of Ford require you to take the tail light assembly apart to swap the bulb.
VW is not the only car with bizarre engineering feats these days.
...that's cool. I know why they're effective there, or Alaska, or any of the Northern states. But in my state, I just don't see the need. I'm not sure how you can't notice another car in broad daylight unless the car is painted the same color as the road.
I live in Canada, and have really appreciated the difference in Daytime Running Lights. Many times they indicated to me that someone is actually in the car ahead of me on the street, rather than it just being a parked car. The difference is obvious, though subtle - I have NEVER been "blinded" by DRL! They are simply too dim compared to the ambient light.
Oh, and that brings up another point - they are most effective in alerting oncoming cars when it IS a bright sunny day! That is the time that other cars can be missed (due to sun glare, for example). In fact, James Dean was killed when his car was hit by another car that didn't see him (due to sun glare, and the fact that Dean's silver car blended in to the background and was therefore hard to see). Would DRL have saved his life? Who knows... but it's something to think about. Is one life worth the addition "hassles"?
Oh - and my last car (Toyota Camry) had DRL; we had it for 7 years, and drove about 40000km (25000 miles) a year, and never replaced the bulbs once. Maybe Toyota just has it right, but clearly they are not the only factor in bulb replacement.
So before you condemn the things, try them for a while with an open mind and a thought to safety. Sure, we'll never know for sure how many lives were saved or accidents avoided because of them, but I can tell you I certainly have noticed cars that I might not otherwise have if they didn't have DRL!
Actually I don't think this bailout will stem the price drop very much. Additionally, 0.5% in interest is a huge difference on a mortgage. If you consider that homebuyers pay mostly interest in the beginning of their mortgage, a 0.5% drop on 6% is a 8.3% drop.
It sounds as though, in situations like this, it would be a good idea to replace every darned bulb accessible once the bumper/battery/whatever has been removed.
It's a reasonable bet that if one bulb has burned out, another of the same type which was installed at about the same time may soon follow. Anyhow, bulbs are cheap compared to time and labor.
Or I suppose one could use this as the modern counterpart of the old saw "Honey, the ashtrays are full! Time to buy a new car!"
Daytime running lights reduced vehicle-vehicle collisions approx. 11% when introduced in Canada.
Nevermind the reduction in pedestrian fatalities.
We're rolling with a particular situation right now that is totally kicking our butts. It's exhausting, but we're muddling through. And you're right about remembering to not follow your emotions off a cliff. It's easy to do, if you allow it.
This is a great post. It's true, no matter how much you save, there could be times of financial drought. Thanks for the post!
Scion xA: Remove rubber cover & squeeze retaining clips to replace light bulbs, but requires tiny hands, and I swear I'll never do it again, every time, and then I do. My bulbs burn out once a year, as I keep the head lights on at all times (did not come with DRLs). Haven't asked how much it would be at a shop since I can do it myself for $20 and a half hour of my time (and some scuffed knuckles).
Chrysler Pacifica: requires removing the headlight assembly. My brother does this himself, but I bet it would be pricey at a shop.
Amen to all comments above that things are getting more complicated, and more crowded.
I'm not so sure that Homebuyers with cash are helped by this government bailout. You're right that the interest rates go down a little, but what about the actual price of the house? The buyout will stem the price drop by enabling more people to have "easy money" mortgages. That 0.5% in interest isn't going to outweigh the 10% lower price that the house would have sold for.
This deal is bad for everyone.
I think I've seen this same article somewhere
I recently purchased a country living grain mill so that we could make our own organic flours. The thing works like a champ. We got it through http://www.grindwheat.com.
Does any one have any recipes or suggestions of what to make? I am drawing a blank.
Thanks in advance.
ym
that have parts replacement issues.
A lot of it is because cars and trucks are MUCH more reliable than they used to be and the factory is looking for ways to increase Dealers Revenue.
One friend has a VW Beetle and the only place to get wipers is the Dealer...and thier $85 a set....NOT INSTALLED...just passed over the counter to you.
I also used to have diesel trucks...injectors have to be changed out about every 75-100,000 miles..the term is called "running the rack". Used to be changing one fit the six injectors in a large engine took 10 minutes and 2 wrenches.
About 15 years ago ALL the engine manufacturers changed the design so that you have to remove the heads to take the injector out from the bottom.(inside)..now its a day or more in the shop and $1500 labor to replace a single $60-$100 injector instead of 10 minutes.
And another good one....too replace a single Turn Signal Lamp Lens in a Corvette (4 phillips head screws and $30 part) entails disassembling the entire front the the car to get at them...7 HOURS start to finish in the body shop...$500 labor.
~ Roland
An additional beneficiary of this horrendous environment for the Financials is that some banks are offering CD rates well above the national average. They're mortgaging their long term profitability in order to meet near term liquidity obligations. I just did a post tonight on the topic.
As far as government involvement, it's generally a bad idea. Here, it was borne out of necessity. The alternative was much worse. There was suffering by shareholders (as their should be) and the taxpayers may end up shelling out nothing in the end if the liquidity/backing hedge provided is adequate. If not, well, the Fed can continue to print more money, devalue our dollar some more and introduce the next bailout plan.
True, when a home loan defaults the bank usually doesn't lose 100% of the value, but sometimes they lose even more by having the home on their books and trying to sell it. In the case of $1 homes in Detroit, banks are losing more than 100% of the value. In the first quarter Fannie was disposing homes at about 74% of their loan value according to this article: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-re-fannie-unsold-home-0803aug...
This amount is still falling so the losses will still be in the hundreds of billions.
"Goodson’s studies reveal another possibly scarier fact: female managers are not as supportive and encouraging of other women as you may think. "
So true. My first career change was knocked out from underneath me by an older woman jealous and threatened by the younger women with degrees getting hired. She touted herself liberal Democrat but her boss a conservative gave me more responsibilities and chances to prove myself. No matter how much I proved and listed my accomplishments she used her longevity and influence to get me fired once she got to be section manager.
I have always worked to speak out about my contributions and going over the top in effort and it has always been treated and 'that's expected, so what". I have consistently outperformed other workers either male or non-minority and regularly given the paternalistic pat on the head and disbelieve I could REALLY do the job well or be qualified.
The acting unprofessionally could be NOT acting like the 'good ole boys around the water hole and or over time any human develops a sense of disenchantment, aggravation and resentment as unfair/unequal workplace policies, rules and promotion hiring activity continues under the euphemism "We aren't discriminatory. We don't believe in quotas for minorities & women. We're just making sure the BEST qualified are hired and promoted and the automatic standard is unfortunately white males are ALWAYS better qualified." So overtime you get a taint of 'chip on shoulder'
If DRLs keep someone from pulling out in front of you just once then they are more than worth the hassle of a little decrease in headlight life. They are extremely helpful in the early morning or late evening and in tunnels, under bridges, and in fog or mist. You can't tell me you experience only bright sunny days in Colorado.
There's really no way to know that your DRLs haven't already saved your life. or someone else's. or at least the hassle of an accident.
Using the same logic, why not disable your brake lights? They're there for safety, but they'll definitely last longer if they never turn on...
While it certainly may be true that VW headlights are significantly more difficult to replace (I haven't had to yet in my '02 Jetta), there are other differences that compensate for that kind of irritation. For example, I can change any of the bulbs in the taillights in about a minute, including opening the package. On previous cars I've driven, this has been at least a minor hassle.
The VWs' disadvantages may, overall, outweigh their strengths, but I've found it not to be so lopsided as some dissatisfied customers will tell you. I'd say to find someone who's driven whatever car you're looking at getting and finding out what to look out for.
When a home loan defaults the bank doesn't lose 100% of the value. They'll lose a little to a lot, but they don't turn around and give a foreclosed home away, they sell it, making back as much of their money as possible.
How many channels are there for nj/nyc area?? Where can I find out? I know I bought an amplified antenna with a filter and I was getting 15 channels, but a few weren't coming in good. Then I build a new antenna out of coat hangers and I'm getting 37 channels with perfect signals. I'm just trying to figure out how many channels im suppose to be getting so I can tweak my antenna even more. And returen the POS antenna I bought.
My opinion is that there is always more trouble when the government gets involved. Bureaucracy never streamlines a process, it has a way of impeding it. Personally, I see higher rates, and less sales. More importantly I see a lot less consumer confidence in the economy and stocks. The government intervention makes all shares of common almost worthless, and totally worthless if the two companies never emerge out of conservatorship. From what I have read online the largest holders of much of the common stocks are insurance companies and pension funds. What happens to the confidence of their investments? What happens if your retirement fund is invested in these 2 companies? If I lost money on a sure bet, I would be not likely to invest more with the same company. That is a hard sale! The reality is that the shift and the losses will be borne more by the US Taxpayers.
It is my understanding from the aforementioned articles that the appraised value does not have to meet the amount of the loan that you are trying to access.
Is this a correct assumption?
If so, is there a place on the current appraisal form to figure out what it would cost to replace my home without the cost of the land?
I am trying to lower my mortgage payment amount and I thought if I didn't have to carry so much homeowners insurance and I increased the deductible that would help to lower my monthly insurance payments (which are rolled into my mortgage payments)
Can you help me?
Thanks,
Guest/Trudy
You forgot Gas Works park. That place is so cool, especially at night when the city is all lit up across the water.
My whole purpose in life to to live large, my definition of large that is. I need to heed all the tips I can for now on living large on my current small budget, but the goals is to live large on an even bigger budget. Until then keep it coming, I need it. Thanks
-doozieUp
http://www.doozieUp.com
You are right, it is Sallie Mae. Thanks!
(Love your articles, by the way!)
We have an older Passat, changing the bulbs is really easy once you get the hang of the metal retaining clips and how they clamp the bulb in.
My dad has a Ford Taurus. He called me to come replace his tail light bulb. I wondered on the way over why my dad needed me to help him change a light bulb. The tail light assembly on that model of Ford require you to take the tail light assembly apart to swap the bulb.
VW is not the only car with bizarre engineering feats these days.