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The "Nice Happy" Thread


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  • 2 weeks later...

We needed a new car, so despite it being a terrible time to look for one, we began our search a couple of months ago.

 

Depending on manufacturer, we were told ordering a car meant waiting anywhere from 6 weeks to 12 months for delivery, and all of them said no one knows what you'll get -- you'll be kept updated, but at any point in the process, the manufacturer may decide to delete features due to supply chain issues.

 

Depending on dealership, we were told buying one of the few new cars on the lot would cost us $2,500 to $10,000 over MSRP. (Factory orders are generally at MSRP.)

 

We looked at all of our options and realized that there was only one SUV that fit our requirements (>5,000 lbs towing, good towing technology, a big cargo area behind the 2nd row (at least as big as the Outback we were trading in, which ruled out most midsize and smaller SUVs), the ability to fit comfortably in our normal-sized garage (which ruled out most trucks and full-sized SUVs), adaptive cruise control, and most importantly comfortable seats for long road trips): a Ford Explorer.

 

So we used the build tool on Ford's site to build what we wanted, then sent it off to the local Ford dealerships that seemed to be run the best, letting them know that was what we wanted. We told them we'd probably place an order in November.

 

A couple of weeks passed, and one of the dealerships had exactly what we wanted on their lot. Another customer had placed a special order months ago, but backed out of the deal just before delivery could take place. And they'd ordered exactly what was in our build.

 

That dealership was the one that had the lowest over-MSRP prices at $2500, so we said we'd go ahead and give it a test drive and see if we could reach a deal.

 

We ended up getting what we wanted for the trade in (which, in our state, also means a reduction in the sales tax, as the portion paid for by the trade-in doesn't get taxed), and got the Explorer for $500 below MSRP!

 

To top it off, Ford's running a deal where you get 0% for 66 months. I didn't think I'd see 0% again in my lifetime.

 

So while it's not great to have a car payment again, we're still pretty darned happy about how this worked out, especially given the circumstances.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Off to Reading to see the gang. Despite a torrid time getting there (see Cranky thread) I did get to play a few games. Did not want to play D+D as I was feeling fractious. The halfling was the strongest fighter 17 STR and was called Perial. So I said I thought he as an Imp. (Imp Perial.. Get it ?) and this was followed up by the player saying he was wearing leather armour making it Imperial Leather (which is a well known brand of soap). Crispy cake had been made for the first time in several visits and this was enjoyed. Judge Dredd resulted in the youngest playing getting only seven points despite the first round having all six of us taking out all the crimes. It turned nasty after that which is par for the course for Dredd. I got 28 points which was the sixth lowest. Edwin Parsey the guy who confesses to crimes came 4th.

Ticket to Ride backfired on me as I tried to pick up extra routes late in the game but someone completed their trains so I took penalties.

Then we played two games of Apples to Apples. This had been played earlier before I arrived. As usual this was chaotic fun. But I won the second of the two games which did cheer me up.

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We had new carpet put in two bedrooms today. Carpet got upgraded to the good stuff because the one I originally ordered was out; free upgrade! It only took the two installers 2 1/2 hours to do both rooms and they were done by 11 am. Much faster and more affordable than I thought it was going to be. New color looks so good! 

 

Before: 

ZgPxxq7.jpg

 

After: 

ddeGbwI.jpg

 

 

Downside: Dex was really put out by the whole thing and disappeared for the last hour of the project. He came back when they drove away, but I still don't think he's happy. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've been troubleshooting a sound issue on my main computer for a few weeks now. If I'm playing anything with audio from all but one app*, I get transient clicks and digital artifacts that get progressively worse until I reboot to start the process again. The artifacts would increase if I opened browser tabs, or scrolled. I tried a variety of fixes, before I finally gave up and decided to reset the computer back to the original factory configuration. I planned on keeping the data on the drive, but everything's backed up, or lives on a different storage device, so even if I needed to wipe everything on the C drive, it wouldn't be much of a problem.

 

The actual reset took about 25 minutes. My profile was still there, and when I logged in, and I was expecting to see it reverted to Windows 10. Instead, I had a fresh install of Windows 11 with current Nvidia drivers, and the OEM software load restored.  I deleted off the junk I didn't want, and started to install the stuff that I'd listed as the primary load. That took a couple of hours, which isn't bad. The Plex server is going to take a while to repopulate (it's somewhere around the 2500 album mark in Music right now, but it stll needs to scan Audiobooks, TV Shows and Movies). I'm playing 90124 by Trevor Rabin from it as it scans, and so far, so good for the sound.

 

 

*So, the only app that managed to play perfectly before the restore was my copy of JRiver Media Center 30. The software's designed to play just about any audio file, converts formats on the fly,  and it handles huge libraries with ease. 

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