The last 30 days,or so, have drained me mentally as well as financially!

Summer property taxes due, I had to buy tags for my cars then homeowner's insurance and car insurance renewals are effective November 1st and must be prepaid so I qualify for the "discount". What discount? Every year the cars get older and so do I, but the rates never seem to decrease. I am financially tapped.

So I own ( no lien ) my home and my cars are now old and are paid for. I was talking with someone else that feels insurance is a big racket. Yeah, I agree to some degree but it just fries me that every year I pay big insurance premiums for home and auto, my healthcare insurance is a benefit from my employer. Although healthcare coverage is mandatory, I'm not feeling the pinch because my employer pays the majority of that premium, it's a "benefit". It is mandatory to insure your home and cars if there is on lien on them HOWEVER, if your car and home are paid off, would you still continue to insure them or would you say "fuggitt about it", save your money and take your chances?

Crap


Thieves go under a car, remove this part with a battery operated saw, and are gone within one minute.

It's called a catalytic converter, and it attaches to the car's exhaust system to make the fuel emissions more Eco-friendly.

Inside, you can find three precious metals: platinum, palladium, and rhodium.

Together these valuable metals can be sold to metal shops and recycling plants for maybe $75 a piece.

That price fluctuates depending on metal prices.

Right now prices are down so the metal isn't as valuable, but that isn't stopping local thieves.

One victim, who wishes to remain anonymous, said their catalytic converter was taken from the car right outside their house on Wednesday in broad daylight.

They said police told them two other people had reported the same crime that night.

Another anonymous victim said thieves had tried to take the part from two cars at their family's house.

They succeeded the first time, but the second time a family member caught the crime before the part was totally removed.

Catalytic converters, in their most basic form, can cost anywhere from $200 to $400 to replace, not including labor.

The bigger the car, the more converters available to be stolen, and the more they will cost to get replaced.

SUV's, trucks and other big cars that you can easily get underneath are the ones that thieves target.

They won't take a replacement catalytic converter. Those parts put on by auto shops don't contain as much of the precious metal as the original equipment.

You can tell replacements from originals because of their difference in color, and see where a mechanic has welded a new one on.

While there are some locks you can buy to protect this part, the saw they use can cut right through them.

Keeping your car locked in the garage is the best precaution you can take.

According to the District Attorney's office, stealing one catalytic converter just based on the price is a Class B Misdemeanor. This leads to the potential for up to 180 days in the county jail, and a fine of up to $2,000.

The punishments become more severe depending on the number of converters stolen and their collective price.

If you have had this happen to you, or a see this crime occur, report it to the police immediately.

Trying to stay impartial here but I have actually seen this behavior by Razzle4 in chat.

Guess if you start something you shouldn't go whining about it after the fact.

Have a nice Weekend , try it with a Beer !!!! [deleted image]

only registered users can see external links

only registered users can see external links

Scott writes: "I was in England again a few weeks ago, mostly in small towns, but here's some of what I learned:

Almost everyone is very polite

The food is generally outstanding

There are no guns

There are too many narrow stairs

Everything is just a little bit different

The pubs close too early

The reason they drive on the left is because all their cars are built backwards

Pubs are not bars, they are community living rooms.

You'd better like peas, potatoes and sausage

Refrigerators and washing machines are very small

Everything is generally older, smaller and shorter

People don't seem to be afraid of their neighbours or the government

Their paper money makes sense, the coins don't

Everyone has a washing machine but driers are rare

Hot and cold water faucets. Remember them?

Pants are called "trousers", underwear are "pants" and sweaters are "jumpers

The bathroom light is a string hanging from the ceiling

"F*nny" is a naughty word, as is "sh*g"

All the signs are well designed with beautiful typography and written in full sentences with proper grammar.

There's no dress code

Doors close by themselves, but they don't always open

They eat with their forks upside down

The English are as crazy about their gardens as Americans are about cars

They don't seem to use facecloths or napkins or maybe they’re just neater then we are

The wall outlets all have switches, some don't do anything

There are hardly any cops or police cars

5,000 years ago, someone arranged a lot of rocks all over, but no one is sure why

When you do see police they seem to be in male and female pairs and often smiling

Black people are just people: they didn't quite do slavery here

Everything comes with chips, which are French fries. You put vinegar on them

Cookies are "biscuits" and potato chips are "crisps"

HP sauce is better then catsup

Obama is considered a hero, Bush is considered an idiot.

After fish and chips, curry is the most popular food

The water controls in showers need detailed instructions
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They can boil anything

Folks don't always lock their bikes

It's not unusual to see people dressed different and speaking different languages

Your electronic devices will work fine with just a plug adapter

Nearly everyone is better educated then we are

If someone buys you a drink you must do the same

There are no guns

Look right, walk left. Again; look right, walk left. You're welcome.

Avoid British wine and French beer

It's not that hard to eat with the fork in your left hand with a little practice. If you don't, everyone knows you're an American

Many of the roads are the size of our sidewalks

There's no AC

Instead of turning the heat up, you put on a jumper

Gas is "petrol", it costs about $6 [£3.96] a gallon and is sold by the litre

If you speed on a motorway, you get a ticket. Period. Always

You don't have to tip, really!

Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Cornwall really are different countries

Only 14% of Americans have a passport, everyone in the UK does

You pay the price marked on products because the taxes (VAT) are built in

Walking is the national pastime

Their TV looks and sounds much better then ours

They took the street signs down during WWII, but haven't put them all back up yet

Everyone enjoys a good joke

There are no guns

Dogs are very well behaved and welcome everywhere

There are no window screens

You can get on a bus and end up in Paris

Everyone knows more about our history then we do

Radio is still a big deal. The BBC is quite good

The newspapers can be awful

Everything costs the same but our money is worth less so you have to add 50% to the price to figure what you're paying

Beer comes in large, completely filled, actual pint glasses and the closer the brewery the better the beer

Butter and eggs aren't refrigerated

The beer isn't warm, each style is served at the proper temperature

Cider (alcoholic) is quite good.

Excess cider consumption can be very painful.

The universal greeting is "Cheers" (pronounced "cheeahz" unless you are from Cornwall, then it's "chairz")

The money is easy to understand: 1-2-5-10-20-50 pence, then-£1-£2-£5-£10, etc bills. There are no quarters.

Their cash makes ours look like Monopoly money

Cars don't have bumper stickers

Many doorknobs, buildings and tools are older than America

By law, there are no crappy, old cars

When the sign says something was built in 456, they didn't lose the "1"

Cake is pudding, ice cream is pudding, anything served for desert is pudding, even pudding

BBC 4 is NPR

Everything closes by 1800 (6pm)

Very few people smoke, those who do often roll their own

You're defined by your accent

No one in Cornwall knows what the hell a Cornish Game Hen is

Soccer is a religion, religion is a sport

Europeans dress better then the British, we dress worse

The trains work: a three minute delay is regrettable

Drinks don't come with ice

There are far fewer fat English people

There are a lot of healthy old folks around participating in life instead of hiding at home watching TV

If you're over 60, you get free TV and bus and rail passes

They don't use Bose anything anywhere

Displaying your political or religious affiliation is considered very bad taste

Every pub has a pet drunk

Their healthcare works, but they still bitch about it

Cake is one of the major food groups

Their coffee is mediocre but their tea is wonderful

There are still no guns

Towel warmers!
--------------------------------------- added after 3 minutes

American man's hilarious take on British lifestyle goes viral after his holiday here.

Thought I'd share this it made me Chuck n giggle!.......
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Ps please take note the beer is always served at the right temperature!...cold

Just an observation, but it seems the new "Treaty of Versailles???" topic should have been posted on Daffu's old "Who gives a big red rat's ass" thread...

Here is a picture from a Bar and Pizza Place in Orlando, Florida. It is indicating the men's and women's rest rooms. Interesting way to described it, and very Appropriate for this site. This is a split screen Shot of two separate pictures merged into one. It did also say men and women on the doors, so if you're so drunk you don't know whether have nuts or not you can read the sign, you can still read the door marked men or women. I am happy to say I still have both nuts so I quality for the nut room.

Yesterday was a sucky kinda day, in my book.

It's lunchtime and I decided to "pay bills". I often use the pay-by-phone option and dial Sam's Club 1-800 number regarding my account. The 1-800 number is able to identify me because I'm calling from MY phone which is listed on my profile and I've used before. Most of the time, these calls take less than 3 minutes, for gosh sake, I'm only trying to pay a creditor! The call starts out as usual, the automated service identifies me and transfers my call to a call center in India. The woman begins by asking the same questions that were asked earlier by the automated service...bottom line, the call ended approximately 40 minutes later, end result, my account had been "compromised". Apparently, someone purchased some "stuff" at the Sam's club in San Bernardino, California ( I live in Michigan ) and because their second attempt to use my card put them over my limit, that had the fraud team flag my account. Now I ask myself this, who "compromises" someones Sam's Club Plus card that is only honored at Sam's Clubs and Walmart stores and why do I have to learn about this when I'm calling to pay my bill/why didn't someone from their team alert me by phone, email or text that there was a concern on September 26th when this happened? Not only do I spend almost my entire 50 minutes lunch period on the phone with a fraud investigator in another country, I still have to go into their store to obtain a new I.D. card.

So I leave work at my appointed time, I'm not going to give "the man" any additional time, I've got places to go, business to take care of...... I decide to make the best of MY TIME, I'm going to go to my auto repair shop that's along the way, for an oil change. I pull in at 5:44 pm, they close at 6:00, all I want is an oil change, they don't take too long, right? They cannot accommodate me so I go a bit futher up the road to an oil change chain an it costs me $ 243.00 for a fully synthetic oil, oil change, 2 air filters, a separate oil filter, they switched out the air in my tires for nitrogen and have my oil reservoir emptied and cleaned. WOW!!!

I'm glad it was Friday, I had 3 Michelob Ultras when I got home!

We all need to ban reaching. Just saying

October 1st is only 15 minutes away in Michigan but in many places in the world, October 1st is already here.

October 1st is WORLD VEGETARIAN DAY

World Vegetarian Day encourages us all to eat our vegetables and fruits. Countless studies have proven that a diet filled with fruits and vegetables is good for our health. Vegetarians, have taken this path either for their health, or from a conviction that they should not eat, and therefore, kill ****.

A vegetarian, by definition, eats no meat. That includes fish and other forms of seafood. Bottom line is, a vegetarian eats no animal. Their diet consists of plants....fruits and vegetables. They are ethically and morally opposed to killing **** for food.  They are also against poor treatment of **** at farms ad slaughterhouses.

There are plenty of groups and organizations that support the vegetarian effort. If you are considering becoming a vegetarian, a quick web search, or a look up in your local phone directory should produce a group near you. While you are online, check out the wide range of sites offering vegetarian recipes.  

This day is used to promote awareness of the issues, and encourages others to become vegetarians. Seeing as fruits and vegetables are very healthy for you, World Vegetarian Day is a good day to try a vegetarian diet. You might just be surprised at how good it tastes, too.

I was at Wal-Mart buying a 40lb bag of Purina dog chow for my dog, while in the check-out line a woman behind me asked if I had a dog. Why else would I be buying dog chow, RIGHT ??? So on impulse I told her that no, I didn't have a dog, I was starting the Purina Diet again, and that I probably shouldn't because I ended up in the hospital last time, but that I'd lost 50 pounds before I awakened in...intensive care with tubes coming out of most of my orifices and IVs in both arms. I told her that it was essentially a Perfect Diet and all you do is load your pockets with Purina Nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry. The food is nutritionally complete so it works well and I was going to try it again. (I have to mention here that practically everyone in line was now enthralled with my story.) Horrified, she asked if I ended up in intensive care because the dog food poisoned me. I told her no, I stepped off a curb to sniff a poodle's butt and a car hit me. I thought the guy behind her was going to have a heart attack he was laughing so hard.

The following forum title caught my eye; ARE YOU A SEX SITE FLAKE???

It would appear that the poster, extraTHICK, feels that his membership entitles him to being entertained by the SYD and SYC members alike and if you don't or won't entertain him and his penis, you are a FLAKE!

arexa52 basically said, who are you to determine why people are here and extraTHICK's responded; " its called not wasting a persons time guesss you don,t mind that" (???) whatever that's supposed to mean.... I posted and asked arexa if she had been blacklisted because of her response to which I received the response; "she was black listed long ago.time waster "

Just an f.y.i., extraTHICK, the only place that you're extra thick is in your head! If you had blacklisted her "long ago", she would not have been able to post on your thread, DUH! It would appear that extraTHICK was offended by my post as well since I was also blacklisted.

Uh, extraTHICK, I feel that you are deserving of a "gift". Please enjoy!

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