Author Topic: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!  (Read 37588 times)

zoltani

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #100 on: March 17, 2015, 04:49:08 PM »
I'm over in Kirkland, as a specific location.  Seattle identifies the general corner of the country (Washington, west of the mountains).

Uh, no...

I don't think people in Granite Falls or Index have much in common with your typical seattle yuppie.

I worked in kirkland, even I thought it sucked!


Syonyk

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #101 on: March 17, 2015, 04:50:41 PM »
Fair enough.  It's hard to know the proper level of precision to use - I grew up in "Chicagoland," which is the term for the entire metro area, and most people know where Chicago is.  The actual town only matters if people are familiar with the area.

Anyway, yes, Kirkland is the specific location, and I've yet to really find anything I like about it.

SailorGirl

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #102 on: March 17, 2015, 04:52:46 PM »
Ah,  Well I wouldn't want to live in Kirkland either.  :)

caliq

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #103 on: March 17, 2015, 04:54:17 PM »
Openmindedness does not have to extend to legitimately harmful opinions.
...
However, my issue is with the fact that you referred to these personal preferences as "God given gender roles."  This implies that having any preferences which do not fit your born gender is unnatural and lesser.  Uh, no thanks.

So the fact that I believe God created males and females as equally valued but significantly different, filling complementary roles, is a "legitimately harmful opinion" that I'm not allowed to have according to you, even though the scope of that is limited to my immediate family?  Huh.

I really don't care what other people do.  It's their lives to live as they see fit.  Anyway, you make my point nicely for me - thank you.

I actually live on the exact opposite side of the country (Northeast) and the closest I've ever been to Seattle is Salt Lake City, so I'm really not proving your point about your neighbors. 

If you have a daughter, are you going to encourage her to foster skills that facilitate entry into a competitive STEM field or are you going to encourage her to foster skills that would make her a great teacher or social worker? 

Sorry, but in my book that would be influencing another individual's life with your personal opinions, despite what that individual may actually prefer.

Not to mention the fact that your views surely influence your voting patterns and your charitable giving, and perhaps even subconsciously impact your interactions with coworkers, people you supervise and/or hire, tradespeople you employ, etc etc. 

So yeah, you're surely entitled to your sexist, archaic opinion, but I'm also entitled to call you out on it.  Especially because there's no such thing as an opinion that truly doesn't impact anyone else. 

To avoid getting too off topic, my original sentiment was that you should tell your HOA to screw off and do whatever was minimally necessary to get them off your back until you move.  I think people who have always lived in a very suburban/urban lifestyle have a very hard time grasping the utility of a truck and there's no reason for you to listen to that chorus if you're moving back to the country in only a few years. 

zoltani

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #104 on: March 17, 2015, 04:57:08 PM »
Only thing it's really got going for it is the proximity to the lake.

I lived in San Francisco for a period and had many similar thoughts as you do here, apart from the god/jesus stuff. What I realized after I moved was that I was looking for any chance to criticize the city and it was making me a very bitter and unhappy person. Open your eyes to  the beauty of the area, ignore the haters, and just try to enjoy your time here. After all, it will be over soon as you stated.

Now that I think of it we may have already had this conversation in another thread.

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #105 on: March 17, 2015, 05:04:25 PM »
If you have a daughter, are you going to encourage her to foster skills that facilitate entry into a competitive STEM field or are you going to encourage her to foster skills that would make her a great teacher or social worker?

I'm not entirely sure where you got, from my statements, that I don't support women in tech.  I'm happy to encourage her in whatever she feels like doing.

I lived in San Francisco for a period and had many similar thoughts as you do here, apart from the god/jesus stuff. What I realized after I moved was that I was looking for any chance to criticize the city and it was making me a very bitter and unhappy person. Open your eyes to  the beauty of the area, ignore the haters, and just try to enjoy your time here. After all, it will be over soon as you stated.

Now that I think of it we may have already had this conversation in another thread.

Now that I don't have to bike on the street as much (a rails-to-trails path finally opened a few years behind schedule), I'm quite a bit happier with fewer drivers trying to kill me on a weekly basis.  Nearly getting run into ~2x (literally, cars just pulling into the bike lane without looking, or cars deciding to drift into it when stopping in traffic, etc) a month when biking in the rain wasn't helping my happiness with the area any.

I don't recall the conversation in another thread, though "people unhappy with Seattle" is hardly a unique thing.

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #106 on: March 17, 2015, 05:09:27 PM »
I actually do not like it when people park their cars(especially those huge trucks) along the curb for a long time.  It simply obstructs traffic.  Of course, if one does not have a drive way or garage, that is different story.  My HOA has a rule against street parking, which is not strictly enforced.  But it works.

In some small countries like Japan. space is at a premium. So in most residential areas, street parking is strictly prohibited.   

zoltani

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #107 on: March 17, 2015, 05:14:42 PM »
If you have a daughter, are you going to encourage her to foster skills that facilitate entry into a competitive STEM field or are you going to encourage her to foster skills that would make her a great teacher or social worker?

I'm not entirely sure where you got, from my statements, that I don't support women in tech.  I'm happy to encourage her in whatever she feels like doing.

I lived in San Francisco for a period and had many similar thoughts as you do here, apart from the god/jesus stuff. What I realized after I moved was that I was looking for any chance to criticize the city and it was making me a very bitter and unhappy person. Open your eyes to  the beauty of the area, ignore the haters, and just try to enjoy your time here. After all, it will be over soon as you stated.

Now that I think of it we may have already had this conversation in another thread.

Now that I don't have to bike on the street as much (a rails-to-trails path finally opened a few years behind schedule), I'm quite a bit happier with fewer drivers trying to kill me on a weekly basis.  Nearly getting run into ~2x (literally, cars just pulling into the bike lane without looking, or cars deciding to drift into it when stopping in traffic, etc) a month when biking in the rain wasn't helping my happiness with the area any.

I don't recall the conversation in another thread, though "people unhappy with Seattle" is hardly a unique thing.

Well as far as biking goes Idaho is not better! On a bike trip I crossed Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and part of Wyoming and Idaho was by far the WORST....absolutely terrible drivers in that state. And if the number of empty beer cans was any indication of the mental state of the drivers then I am lucky to be alive!

Is this your first time biking to work/in traffic? Your issues are not unique to this area.

Syonyk

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #108 on: March 17, 2015, 05:19:45 PM »
No, but in Idaho, I'll be able to work from home and not have to go through heavy traffic to get to an office.

I biked extensively in Iowa, motorcycled extensively in Albuquerque, and have been bicycling for 3 years here.  I /think/ I finally added enough neon and enough front lighting that people finally see me.  I've been accused of looking like a freight train at night, though.  This area is the worst.  People are not used to bicycles for some reason and they don't even look before taking over the bike lane.  Or, half the time, don't even seem to realize they're in it.

zoltani

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #109 on: March 17, 2015, 05:32:07 PM »
It seems to me that you are deep in the downward spiral of criticism and bitterness. The truck/HOA issue (while legitimate) is just another thing you can complain about, criticize, and us to reinforce those negative feelings you have. Beyond that, there is something wrong with everything, and it is really easy for you to see more and more things wrong as you reinforce those feelings. If you are deep in this state of mind when you move back to Idaho it will not magically disappear, trust me, I have been in the exact position. I thought moving would help me, and it really didn't. The only thing that did was my outlook on things.   


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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #110 on: March 17, 2015, 05:45:13 PM »
You're the first I've heard to express discontent about Seattle.  I'm planning on moving there.  Could you explain what you don't like (aside from your HOA)?

What are you looking for in Seattle and why are you planning to move to this corner of the country?

If you're moving here for tech work, and are willing to fully embrace the insanity that is downtown Seattle (live in a tiny downtown apartment for about half your takehome wages, not own a car, take the busses, walk, or bike everywhere, not admit you work for a tech company because everyone around you feels you're destroying the unique character of the area, feel that an ideal night is standing in line somewhere to spend money, believe that the number of different restaurants and bars around you is a primary consideration in how good an area is, and probably reject as many gender/sexual orientation stereotypes as you possibly can), then you might like it.


I'd like to move there for all sorts of good reasons!  From what I've heard, people are generally pretty nice, even if they all have similar progressive views.  It's a much less religious area - which matches my atheist take on life (an issue for many in Indianapolis).  Seattle is a 3-hour drive to 3 national parks.  I care much more about hiking than snowboarding, thankfully.

And I just graduated with a degree in CS.  Moving should give a great return on investment.  And though I grew up in a rural setting, I handle minimalist city living pretty well.


On the plus side for many people (I don't care one bit), marijuana is legal and there are plenty of pot stores around.  I hear they're quite successful.  It will still interfere with you getting hired a lot of places, though.

There are also many good microbrews out of the area - if you're an IPA lover, you'll have your choice of wonderful hoppy beers.

I don't drink or smoke, but the general open-mindedness of the area is appealing.

I think we approach the city from different backgrounds and stages of life, and though living there sounds great to me, I can see why you find it suffocating.  I just wanna go where I'm accepted and can find friends.

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #111 on: March 17, 2015, 06:17:38 PM »
If that's what you're looking for and you're fine spending 40% of your salary on rent, enjoy.

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #112 on: March 17, 2015, 06:21:11 PM »
As an anti-Christianity type of person... I think people are giving the OP a lot of flak for things he hasn't really said.

Lots of judgement.

If parking on the street is legal, it's legal, no need to worry about snowploughs if they don't apply. No need to worry about through traffic on residential streets.

"God given" gender roles is complete and utter bullshit (I mean, women are clearly made to be better mothers than men, men tend to be better at lifting heavy things, but that's about as far as it goes), but the rest... He owns a truck for his hobby/side business/whatever, who cares? He bikes to work, and uses the truck to pull heavy things! Good for him, better than the hundreds of trucks in this town that carry literally nothing around...

Here, there is 'winter no on street parking'. The End Full Stop

If there isn't where OP parks it is not relevant to the discussion.

/shrug

Interesting reading. I'm really curious as to what it is about the OP that seems to have triggered so many antagonistic responses.

Gin1984

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #113 on: March 17, 2015, 06:27:08 PM »
As an anti-Christianity type of person... I think people are giving the OP a lot of flak for things he hasn't really said.

Lots of judgement.

If parking on the street is legal, it's legal, no need to worry about snowploughs if they don't apply. No need to worry about through traffic on residential streets.

"God given" gender roles is complete and utter bullshit (I mean, women are clearly made to be better mothers than men, men tend to be better at lifting heavy things, but that's about as far as it goes), but the rest... He owns a truck for his hobby/side business/whatever, who cares? He bikes to work, and uses the truck to pull heavy things! Good for him, better than the hundreds of trucks in this town that carry literally nothing around...

Here, there is 'winter no on street parking'. The End Full Stop

If there isn't where OP parks it is not relevant to the discussion.

/shrug

Interesting reading. I'm really curious as to what it is about the OP that seems to have triggered so many antagonistic responses.
Ironically I would agree with you, until his God-given gender roles BS.  I did not post again, because someone else already said what I felt was needed as a response and because, honestly, I am tired of having to argue that I and other women should be treated as equals.  As I read your post, it came to me, a reason perhaps and someone else said it.  He seems very unhappy and people do respond to that.

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #114 on: March 17, 2015, 06:41:10 PM »
Openmindedness does not have to extend to legitimately harmful opinions.
...
However, my issue is with the fact that you referred to these personal preferences as "God given gender roles."  This implies that having any preferences which do not fit your born gender is unnatural and lesser.  Uh, no thanks.

So the fact that I believe God created males and females as equally valued but significantly different, filling complementary roles, is a "legitimately harmful opinion" that I'm not allowed to have according to you, even though the scope of that is limited to my immediate family?  Huh.

I really don't care what other people do.  It's their lives to live as they see fit.  Anyway, you make my point nicely for me - thank you.

Maybe one of your kids ends up being queer. Hopefully you'll love them all the same. The whole "not in my family" attitude can hurt, though, speaking from experience.

To both threadjack further and get back on topic: Sounds like you have a pretty heavy duty truck. While it won't be possible to do all the time, have you considered just distracting the tow truck driver and towing their truck instead? Otherwise, I think I'd just have the truck pointing in a different direction each day if I were in your situation.

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #115 on: March 17, 2015, 06:57:09 PM »
...I am tired of having to argue that I and other women should be treated as equals.

You /did/ read what I posted, right?  Equal, just not the same?  Or are you just going to assume I'm "dog whistling" or something and not saying what I actually believe?

Quote
As I read your post, it came to me, a reason perhaps and someone else said it.  He seems very unhappy and people do respond to that.

It's a fair assessment.  I'm not particularly happy with Seattle.  The job is great, the side gig is great, and the rest of it is not much fun at all, especially given that my wife & I moved here from Albuquerque, where the job was fun and our general habit of "touring the entire Southwest on motorcycles and camping in the wilderness frequently" was wonderful.  A sunny state with 2 million people is better than a cramped, rainy metro area with 4 million, as it turns out.  Had we realized the actual nature of this area before moving, with the traffic (and the impossibility of getting east of the mountains except through yet more traffic), we wouldn't have moved up here at all.

To both threadjack further and get back on topic: Sounds like you have a pretty heavy duty truck. While it won't be possible to do all the time, have you considered just distracting the tow truck driver and towing their truck instead? Otherwise, I think I'd just have the truck pointing in a different direction each day if I were in your situation.

I'm actually fairly certain that a standard tow truck could not tow my truck, due to the weight involved (it's... a really big truck).  It's something I've considered.  4WD won't help me since I've got mechanical hubs they can just unlock, but if I park it with the front wheels turned, it'd be pretty much impossible to get out of the neighborhood by towing.

bzzzt

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #116 on: March 17, 2015, 09:02:18 PM »
Yikes. Note to self: don't mention God around here...

I'm actually fairly certain that a standard tow truck could not tow my truck, due to the weight involved (it's... a really big truck).  It's something I've considered.  4WD won't help me since I've got mechanical hubs they can just unlock, but if I park it with the front wheels turned, it'd be pretty much impossible to get out of the neighborhood by towing.

Pick it from the front and skates under the rear tires or just use a flat bed. Everything drags quieter with a little used oil under the tires. Worst case scenario, pick it from the front, drag it, then unbolt the rear drive shaft.

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #117 on: March 18, 2015, 06:11:09 AM »
Yikes. Note to self: don't mention God around here...

I'm actually fairly certain that a standard tow truck could not tow my truck, due to the weight involved (it's... a really big truck).  It's something I've considered.  4WD won't help me since I've got mechanical hubs they can just unlock, but if I park it with the front wheels turned, it'd be pretty much impossible to get out of the neighborhood by towing.

Pick it from the front and skates under the rear tires or just use a flat bed. Everything drags quieter with a little used oil under the tires. Worst case scenario, pick it from the front, drag it, then unbolt the rear drive shaft.

You know, as I was reading his post about how big his penis truck was I was thinking all those things, and the image of some of the highway wreckers was coming to mind. Dude, if we can pull apartment buildings down the street, we can move a truck. Even a really big truck.


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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #118 on: March 18, 2015, 07:31:32 AM »
Really, my major takeaway from this is that HOAs are, in fact, as bad as I'd feared, and we're not city types.  Or even suburb types.  And that moving to Seattle was a very large mistake, and despite the awesome job I moved for, moving to an area that is not compatible with who my wife & I are is dumb.  Also that people who insist Seattle is amazing haven't lived here since about 2000.

HOAs are indeed evil. (Did you know they started out as a tool to enforce segregation? True story!)

However, the issues you've been having have very little to do with living in a city. An actual urban / inner-ring suburban neighborhood, with small single-family houses built before 1950 or so, will generally not have an HOA and let you do whatever the fuck you want (up to the limits of the city ordinances). My house was built in 1948, I have 3 cars parked in front of it (two in the driveway and a pickup truck in the street), and it's perfectly fine. I have a friend a couple of streets over whose house is bright purple. I could tear out my lawn and put a vegetable garden in my front yard if I wanted. I could even paint polka-dots on my house and nobody would care! (Or maybe they would care, but they wouldn't be able to do anything about it.) I've got neighbors who raise chickens in their backyard, neighbors who have woodworking shops in their detached garages, neighbors with crazy sculptures or landscaping, etc. It's great!

These all sounds like great arguments for and HOA. We have one. They plow the extensive bike/walking paths in our area within hours of snow, and remove fallen trees immediately. They maintain bridges and playgrounds on the same trails. The neighborhood close to us is not in the HOA. One house has 3 partially dismantled cars on his lawn along his neighbor's back yard, and an overflowing hoarder garage/driveway. There are old sailboats and rotting sheds in people's yards etc etc. Fact is, most people are inconsiderate, lazy jerks. Some rules that keep them from piling shit up to the border of my property, or making potential house buyers run in fear is good and necessary. I didn't give much thought to the HOA when I moved here, but seeing some of these gypsy camp properties (and my MIL's "old toilets in the backyard" neighbor) I'm not sure I'd want to live anywhere without one.

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #119 on: March 18, 2015, 09:09:23 AM »
I don't think you could get one of those semi wreckers in the neighborhood.

I'm sure it can be towed, just possibly not by the normal ones that tow cars. They'd need something bigger.

And what's wrong with cars in sometimes back yard? I really don't understand the "I get to tell other people what they can and cannot do with their property" thing.

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #120 on: March 18, 2015, 09:52:26 AM »
So, my view of an ideal place to live...

(etc)
Yeah, I would agree that the Seattle suburbs are a poor fit for you. Wanna trade places? >.<
This is starting to sound more like an issue of expectations than anything else. I really do hope you can get through the last of your time there, with minimal drama, and get somewhere that makes you happy.

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #121 on: March 18, 2015, 09:54:01 AM »
I don't think you could get one of those semi wreckers in the neighborhood.

I'm sure it can be towed, just possibly not by the normal ones that tow cars. They'd need something bigger.

And what's wrong with cars in sometimes back yard? I really don't understand the "I get to tell other people what they can and cannot do with their property" thing.

Because try as you might, if you live in a reasonably dense suburb your actions on your (external) property impact your neighbors. If you have a rusting POS in your yard it looks bad and lower the value of your neighbor's property, especially once the "broken window" effect starts and everyone is doing it. My MIL's street is a great example of this where it's slowly degrading. Not to mention that maybe their yard faces yours and they don't want to look at a scrap yard if they have guests over for a BBQ. Just a few possibilities.

When people live somewhat densely everyone need to be considerate. Most people are inconsiderate a-holes when left to their own devices so we have zoning, rules and HOAs. If you want to live in a rural area 3 miles from your neighbor, sure you can do whatever you want.

The move truck rule does sound pretty silly, but our HOA have some (IMO) perfectly reasonable rules about what you can an cannot do to the exterior of your house, and you have to get sign-off from your neighbors as well which has never been a problem for us. So I don't think it's true to say "HOAs suck".

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #122 on: March 18, 2015, 10:50:42 AM »
I think your HOA is trying to keep people from long-term storage on the street.  If you don't use it regularly, then you are storing your truck on city streets.  Well, maybe I'll just go get my lawn furniture and store it there so that I can free up some space in the garage.  Or maybe I'll park my boat on its trailer in front of the house instead of paying to store it in the off-season.  Other people don't want to have to look at someone else's crap, so rules are created to keep things neat and tidy.  As long as you're not breaking rules, then you get to give the middle finger to all of your neighbors by keeping that eyesore on the street.  Some will care more than others. so what, you're moving! Let it go.

To the poster who was curious why there was so much anger directed at the OP: for me it's because there were easy solutions provided in the first 5 responses, but the OP found a problem with each solution.  Every option was met with an objection.  So it came off as complainypants and the rest of the forum just jumped on to punish this response. 

As for me, I can't  turn away.  I have to keep coming back to see the carnage unfold.  Maybe even throw in a kick or punch when I can.  it makes me feel better about the mess in my own garage. ;)


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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #123 on: March 18, 2015, 11:31:50 AM »
I think your HOA is trying to keep people from long-term storage on the street.  If you don't use it regularly, then you are storing your truck on city streets.  Well, maybe I'll just go get my lawn furniture and store it there so that I can free up some space in the garage.  Or maybe I'll park my boat on its trailer in front of the house instead of paying to store it in the off-season.  Other people don't want to have to look at someone else's crap, so rules are created to keep things neat and tidy.  As long as you're not breaking rules, then you get to give the middle finger to all of your neighbors by keeping that eyesore on the street.  Some will care more than others. so what, you're moving! Let it go.

To the poster who was curious why there was so much anger directed at the OP: for me it's because there were easy solutions provided in the first 5 responses, but the OP found a problem with each solution.  Every option was met with an objection.  So it came off as complainypants and the rest of the forum just jumped on to punish this response. 

As for me, I can't  turn away.  I have to keep coming back to see the carnage unfold.  Maybe even throw in a kick or punch when I can.  it makes me feel better about the mess in my own garage. ;)

+1

The OP is quite complainy pants... I cant stand seatle... I need the truck to haul FIL stuff, that I might buy my self in a few years, I cant sell the motor bikes because I may ride them again.

Mustachian is about doing things the hard way and figuring shit out.  He asked for our reply's got good answers, that he did not want to hear. and the thread blew up on him.

1. Sell the truck - maybe to the FIL.  If you decide to pursue the classic car route, buy another.

2. Sell the bikes - you are going to be a Dad.  Safety issues aside, you will not have time to ride until the kids are older. 

It is not very mustachian to have a garage so full of stuff you cant park in it... just saying

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #124 on: March 18, 2015, 11:33:57 AM »
Yeah, I would agree that the Seattle suburbs are a poor fit for you. Wanna trade places? >.<

I certainly agree they're a terrible fit for us.  I wish someone had told us this instead of just getting airy comments about how amazing Seattle is and how we'll love it up here, there's so much to do!  It really came down to "Well, the company is going to be nice on my resume, and people keep insisting we'll like the area, so may as well give it a shot."

I'm not particularly interested in trading, since we have a place to go (complete with plenty of scrap heaps and old cars/trucks - literally), but if you want a landlord who will seem to hate you for undefined reasons (largely related to our "rodent problem," I think - which one of our neighbors spent 2 years insisting we had, and I spent 2 years insisting that the untouched bag of rice and ramen on the floor of our pantry says we don't have a rodent problem in the house), change the contract after you've signed your side of it, try to charge you late fees for payments that aren't late according to the lease... I can certainly point you in the right direction.

I think your HOA is trying to keep people from long-term storage on the street.  If you don't use it regularly, then you are storing your truck on city streets.  Well, maybe I'll just go get my lawn furniture and store it there so that I can free up some space in the garage.  Or maybe I'll park my boat on its trailer in front of the house instead of paying to store it in the off-season.  Other people don't want to have to look at someone else's crap, so rules are created to keep things neat and tidy.  As long as you're not breaking rules, then you get to give the middle finger to all of your neighbors by keeping that eyesore on the street.  Some will care more than others. so what, you're moving! Let it go.

You seem to have missed the part where I use it regularly, just not "driving to work during the day so someone walking around at noon sees it's not there."

... and, really, if you want to park your boat in front of your house, I don't care.  I'm far more likely to offer to help you to get it in the water when it's nice, and help do whatever work it needs than to complain that you're parking a boat out there.  But, as is probably obvious, I'm not a typical HOA type.

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To the poster who was curious why there was so much anger directed at the OP: for me it's because there were easy solutions provided in the first 5 responses, but the OP found a problem with each solution.  Every option was met with an objection.  So it came off as complainypants and the rest of the forum just jumped on to punish this response. 

Yes, and I'm learning that this forum has a bit of groupthink going on, and that "I have a large truck, don't drive it to work, but use it as a large truck fairly regularly" is not, apparently, considered a valid reason to own a large truck.

Especially given that we're moving in a year, "Sell all the things!" is a significant money losing strategy as well, since buying new-to-me used vehicles generally involves 6 months of parts and repairs, and none of our current vehicles are in that unknown state (I'm quite familiar with it).

Le Poisson

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #125 on: March 18, 2015, 11:39:06 AM »
Agree with dyker - mostly I keep tune in because this is put in the perfect folder, but I still can't figure out whether the OP is more anti-mustachian, or the HOA who are actually advising a more mustachian course than the OP who expects us all to defend him.

Also since I am part of a planning committee, its fun to see how these things unfold once one or two people think they are 'special' and the rules they agreed to by moving into a controlled area no longer apply.

If only this were in a historical preservation zone...

Uh - yeah. This is a groupthink. That's the beauty of it. There is a formula here that works. Its why we're all here.

Syonyk

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #126 on: March 18, 2015, 11:46:01 AM »
1. Sell the truck - maybe to the FIL.  If you decide to pursue the classic car route, buy another.

Ignoring, of course, the frequent use I make of the truck for things other than antique cars.  Hauling server racks and equipment for a company I'm part owner of, furniture, helping other people move (which I recognize is suspiciously close to "charity," another dirty word here, apparently...), etc.

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2. Sell the bikes - you are going to be a Dad.  Safety issues aside, you will not have time to ride until the kids are older.

Worst case, 3-4 years until a kid is old enough to ride on the back of motorcycles.  Plus, I do actually use them to get myself around if I'm going somewhere by myself that's outside bicycle range and I don't have to haul anything but me.  Especially if I'm going over into the city, taking a motorcycle is easier than a car, since I stand a chance of parking it somewhere.

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It is not very mustachian to have a garage so full of stuff you cant park in it... just saying

*shrug*  It's full of motorcycles and packing materials for a side gig that makes me a few grand a year in selling other people's stuff on eBay for them.  There's nowhere else to put said packing materials, and I ship large stuff quite regularly, so I suppose I could give that up too in the process of eliminating everything I do that requires space...

Really, again, my mistake was in thinking a very small single car garage would be sufficient garage space.  We looked at a few other units that had more garage space, and I should have gone with one of those.

Syonyk

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #127 on: March 18, 2015, 11:47:13 AM »
Also since I am part of a planning committee, its fun to see how these things unfold once one or two people think they are 'special' and the rules they agreed to by moving into a controlled area no longer apply.

Point of clarification: Said rule did not exist when I moved in 3 years ago.  Said rule arguably doesn't exist today, since I'm pretty sure "a sentence on a new website" does not meet the requirements for a change of the existing HOA rules, which make no mention of this.

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #128 on: March 18, 2015, 11:59:24 AM »
I certainly agree they're a terrible fit for us.  I wish someone had told us this instead of just getting airy comments about how amazing Seattle is and how we'll love it up here, there's so much to do!  It really came down to "Well, the company is going to be nice on my resume, and people keep insisting we'll like the area, so may as well give it a shot."

I'm not particularly interested in trading, since we have a place to go (complete with plenty of scrap heaps and old cars/trucks - literally), but if you want a landlord who will seem to hate you for undefined reasons (largely related to our "rodent problem," I think - which one of our neighbors spent 2 years insisting we had, and I spent 2 years insisting that the untouched bag of rice and ramen on the floor of our pantry says we don't have a rodent problem in the house), change the contract after you've signed your side of it, try to charge you late fees for payments that aren't late according to the lease... I can certainly point you in the right direction.
Haha... was just tongue in cheek but I do think you'd like my area. You can buy acreage 20 minutes out for very cheap, and sling your toys around however you see fit... yet tech/gov jobs downtown pay almost like DC. It's also culturally much closer to your indicated preferences.

As for landlords... I'm hoping to never have one again, but especially not like that one. S/he sounds like a fucking nightmare.

And just for the record, I totally feel your pain w/ HOA... ours has sporadically enforced a very vague nighttime parking restriction over time, and very selectively as well. The rich bitch down the road can park a bus-size RV nearly blocking the road for a week at a time without hassles, but we've had tow trucks at 3am for a one-time overnighter, and tickets posted just after sunset citing dinner guests for "overnight parking". I don't know what it is but even the most well-intentioned HOAs always seem to devolve into petty bickering and end up as pawns in disputes between asshole neighbors who can't get along. We moved out and turned that house into a rental, and will never buy in HOA-land again.
« Last Edit: March 18, 2015, 12:02:15 PM by zephyr911 »

Kris

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #129 on: March 18, 2015, 12:05:55 PM »

Yes, and I'm learning that this forum has a bit of groupthink going on...

So, I don't have a dog in this fight, really, but I wanted to just chime in on the "Groupthink" thing.  I think that's a reasonable thing to expect from a forum where everyone is here primarily because they are working on having a "Mustachian" lifestyle.  If you went through and read all of the MMM blog entries from beginning to end, I think the conclusion that you would draw is that MMM would probably have told you/facepunched you in exactly the same ways as everyone else here has re the vehicles, the crammed to the gills garage, etc.  Though he might have thought the HOA's arbitrariness is pretty ridiculous.

Point being, if you go to a friend whom you know hates X, and you ask him if you should buy X, he's (predictably) will say, "NO freaking way!"  If you don't want Mustachian responses, don't post on a Mustachian forum.  (Though I will grant that you weren't specifically asking for advice in your OP, you were just venting.  And for the record, I think HOA rules are often ridiculous, arbitrary, and worthy of severe mockery.)

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #130 on: March 18, 2015, 12:15:32 PM »
Fair.

Though the garage is not stuffed to the gills. It just doesn't have space for a car.

My point was mostly the absurdity of arbitrary rules interfering with bicycling to work. However, after deciding to ignore the person involved since they can't tell me what they expect or are enforcing, I'm still able to bike to work.

They did literally tell me I should drive instead of biking, though. Which is what spawned the post.

I still hold that a truck is not a problem if it's used as a truck and not a commuter vehicle, though.



Le Poisson

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #131 on: March 18, 2015, 12:15:50 PM »
Lets ask some questions in a supportive tone then...

1. If you sold the truck, or the crap, how much money would you make on the sale?
2. Where would the money go?
3. How much would your life change without the truck/crap.
4. If the truck were replaced with a small car and a small trailer could you accomplish what you do today with the truck?

Believe it or not, I went through a very similar decision process about a year ago. Here is what our driveway looked like before we discovered this blog:



Yes, thats a 2500 series suburban with a magnaflow exhaust. Beside it is a 25 foot sailboat. There is the Buick in the picture, but you can't see my car - a Volvo C70 convertible. Behind that is a beautiful 2 car garage which is so full of crap you can't turn around in it. The crap in the garage is a complete woodshop with router tables and table saws and planers and drill presses and on and on. The other side is full of car repair stuff. ramps and jacks and axle stands and tools and such.

Now sailing is my passion, woodworking is my hobby, and repairing stuff is a necessity. I need my truck to move my boat around. Its a big boat, and even that truck is only marginally suited to the task. Every weekend I'm out on lake Ontario in regattas and on cruises. And I'm pretty good at it. But we're losing money, and someone called into bylaw on us complaining about our collection of stuff.

As I said earlier, I write bylaws for a living, so i knew we weren't actually breaking a bylaw by having the boat there. I knew exactly where our property line was and kept the overhang right at the property line, with a foot between the boat and house. Letter of the law.

But I don't want to be an asshat neighbour, so when the complaint came in, I moved the boat back to the yacht club and paid fees for storage. Then I found myself without income for a month, looked for ways to save cash so I'd never suffer again and found this blog.

Almost immediately I sold the boat.

Selling the boat freed up the truck, so I sold it next.

And the Volvo.

Without the Boat, the truck, and the Volvo, I rarely needed the tools. I kept some of them, just in case, and sold off the specialty stuff (boating equipment). I still have a couple anchors and stuff around though. Need to sell it off this summer.

I bought an  antique Mercedes Diesel (240D) to replace the Volvo, but it sucked in winter, so I also got a Chev Sonic. And a bumper hitch for the Buick and roofracks. Now I can still go to the lumber yard. I use the small cars to deliver pizzas in the time that I freed up when I quit sailing, and the cars were completely paid for in pizza money plus a tax return.

I still get calls from the guys at the yacht club - now I have open invites to sail other people's boats whenever I want to. And some have asked me to be on standby as skippers for their boats when they can't make it to a regatta. My cost has gone from $800 a month in slip fees etc. to a beer and burger after the race.

Now I know you like owning a truck, but you can turn this around if you want. A small car will be fine for runs to Home Depot. A trailer rents for $20 a day around here. You can buy one at Lowes for $350 to cart furniture around and keep that business going. http://www.lowes.com/pd_253168-15476-3.5X5LSHS_4294641556__?productId=3680952&Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNs%3Dp_product_qty_sales_dollar%7C1&facetInfo=

So am I picking on you for truck ownership? Yes. I've been there very recently, and you don't need it. It sounds like everyone else needs you to own one, but looking out for yourself - YOU can do YOURSELF a favour by not owning it. And twice a year you'll think "man, I could really use a truck for this" - and thats when you can rent one for a day.

IF you make the lifestyle changes, money will follow - after all this a board about money choices, not comfort choices. If you don't want to make a lifestyle change for better money, you should be making this post in a different community.
« Last Edit: March 18, 2015, 12:37:11 PM by Prospector »

boarder42

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #132 on: March 18, 2015, 12:58:22 PM »
i own a boat and dont have a truck ...

booom bet your mind is blown now. 

OP just wanted to be coddled and to have everyone feel sorry for him b/c his HOA changed a rule on him... man up(i know this maybe an issue as the truck still hasnt filled this void) listen to the answers or move on and figure it out your self

no one here will have sympathy for these issues.

Jack

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #133 on: March 18, 2015, 01:34:51 PM »
i own a boat and dont have a truck ...

booom bet your mind is blown now. 

I see three possibilities:

1. You're either paying slip fees, paying more for your house to live on the water, or not using your boat enough to be worth it because you'd have to rent a truck every time, all of which are probably more expensive than owning a tow vehicle.

2. You live on it.

3. Or you're just trolling us by talking about your dinghy.

Le Poisson

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #134 on: March 18, 2015, 01:47:03 PM »
Actually I know a lot of guys with boats and no truck. At the club there is a loaner just for guys like you - one of the advantages of being in a yacht club.

Sailing on OPBs means I don't have a truck or trailer or pay club dues, but I still get to go play on the water.

justajane

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #135 on: March 18, 2015, 01:48:29 PM »
HOAs aren't the only one that has rules like this. In my city, you have to move a car every three days. We utilized this rule after a rusting car sat outside of our house for weeks. Then it got a flat tire. After we called and the cops put a warning sticker on it, it was gone in less than 12 hours. It turns out it was the second car of some renter down the block. I never saw it again.

We live in a pretty urban area. Parking isn't really an issue and we have a driveway, but I didn't appreciate having to look at the car for weeks on end. Plus we like to park there sometimes.

We also had to look at a rusted old truck parked in the middle of our next door neighbor's back year. That really sucked. It was there for six months, but I didn't want to alienate our neighbors by turning them in. Evidently the city couldn't see it from the street.

Syonyk

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #136 on: March 18, 2015, 01:53:33 PM »
1. If you sold the truck, or the crap, how much money would you make on the sale?

If I were to sell the truck and all three motorcycles (which have been reasonably heavily tweaked for our uses), I might get $12k out of everything if I wanted to sell them quickly.  Given a few months to sell, I could possibly get $15k.  They're really not worth that much (one of the motorcycles has 35k miles on it), as they're "dead brand" bikes - Buell isn't around anymore, so there isn't much demand for them.  I've got a pretty good set of spare parts, and there's a lot of commonality across the bikes, so it's not hard for me to keep them going, but that's not true of someone who just buys one of them.

The truck is a '97, so it's not worth /that/ much.

The shipping supplies are salvage (I keep a large percentage of the boxes that things come in, as well as packing peanuts/bubble wrap/packing paper/etc), so I could get rid of them for free, but I'd be increasing cost-per-shipment by $10+/item for large items, or have to stop doing this entirely, which is a few grand a year income for fairly small amounts of work.

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2. Where would the money go?

Probably a blend of my Betterment and Lending Club accounts.  Maybe a bit into index funds, but I'm trying to move a bunch to Betterment.  I might keep a bit in cash for a down payment on a house next year (planning to put about 50% down, maybe a bit less depending on how much it costs to get the septic system rebuilt and what my stock grants are worth at that point).  I wouldn't be paying down any debt, as we don't have any (no mortgage currently, no car loans, just a few credit cards paid off in full monthly).  It would be a small blip on Mint "available cash/investments," and a probable loss in net worth.

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3. How much would your life change without the truck/crap.

For the next year: Not significantly, though I'd have a harder time hauling server racks & such, as I'm the only one in the side business with a long bed and a canopy (surprisingly useful when it's raining).  I'd be unable to get to said side gig to assist with server builds and such unless my wife didn't need the car, as it's ~40 miles away (which, if I'm just heading down there to work, I'll take a motorcycle for).

Once we move: It would be a lot more difficult, as my plans for Idaho include moving 20' shipping containers around (office/lab/server rack space, experimentation with sailboat style cabins with highly space-efficient construction instead of the usual cabin in the woods construction), antique cars restoration, a project car (or parting out cars/selling parts on eBay), and possibly repairing/refurbishing construction equipment (Bobcats, light excavators, etc - I like working on engines and such).  Lots of heavy things.  Also, building a moderate greenhouse, aquaculture beds, and perhaps a biodiesel processing facility, if there's not a local coop I can get involved with.  (no, I really don't fit in Seattle)

My wife & I take street motorcycles utterly inappropriate places and intend to continue once $kid is old enough to ride on the back (or in a sidecar - I might refurb a vintage BMW with sidecar or a Ural).

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4. If the truck were replaced with a small car and a small trailer could you accomplish what you do today with the truck?

Given that I replaced a Subaru Outback with the truck because the Subaru was unable to do a lot of what I was trying to do with it (which included towing - 1300 lbs through the mountains was pushing it for that car, despite a 2k lb tow rating), it would be a poor replacement, and I would have to either store the trailer in the garage (which would mean I could not fit a car in there, even with a small folding trailer that wouldn't handle a lot of what I need to move), or store it in the overflow parking, which is currently full with no available spots.  The small car and trailer would be utterly incapable of doing any of the stuff I plan to do once we move.  And half the reason we're moving where we are is so we can play with that type of stuff.  I intend to be substantially capable of meeting our own food/energy requirements within a few years of moving.

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Now I know you like owning a truck, but you can turn this around if you want. A small car will be fine for runs to Home Depot. A trailer rents for $20 a day around here. You can buy one at Lowes for $350 to cart furniture around and keep that business going.

A U-Haul trailer of significant size is most of the tow rating of a light vehicle (and, mostly, they flat out won't let you tow it with something small - I've tried in the past).  A lightweight, cheap Harbor Freight trailer is of questionable use for anything heavy, wears the tires disturbingly quickly, and is still a storage issue.

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So am I picking on you for truck ownership? Yes. I've been there very recently, and you don't need it. It sounds like everyone else needs you to own one, but looking out for yourself - YOU can do YOURSELF a favour by not owning it. ANd twice a year you'll think "man, I could really use a truck for this" - and thats when you can rent one for a day.

IF you make the lifestyle changes, money will follow - after all this a board about money choices, not comfort choices. If you don't want to make a lifestyle change for better money, you should be making this post in a different community.

The cost, to me, of keeping a truck, is fairly low.  It's paid for, isn't driven that many miles, is holding value quite well (low mileage 7.3s seem to be going up in price, if anything), and I do the maintenance myself, so that's quite cheap.  Insurance isn't that much for it either, as it's in the "low miles/infrequently driven" category, my record is clean, and I'm married.  My wife & I decided on a truck after an evaluation of what we were actually doing with vehicles, and a long bed truck set up for heavy towing made sense for our long term plans.  I was frequently having to make multiple trips with my Subaru to move things (you can't fit that many 4U server shipping boxes in the back), it was a pain to tow with, and was looking suspiciously like it would need a new transmission and engine fairly soon (the previous owner utterly beat the crap out of it, near as I can tell, based on things that were failing or making a lot of noise - the flywheel had serious heat damage when the clutch needed replacement at only 100k miles, the transmission input bearing which takes hard load from aggressive starts was a lot louder than it should be, and the piston slap was pretty bad, which speaks to being driven hard when cold).

We have quite good cashflow and savings already, and live well below our means.  Selling a well maintained, low mileage truck (under 100k) to buy another one in about a year would probably be a net loss of $5k+, given the various transaction fees, parts/maintenance I'd have to do on the new vehicle, and the difficulty of finding older, low mileage trucks in Idaho.  And rental trucks generally don't come equipped with a 5th wheel hitch, which is pretty much required for any heavy towing (20' shipping containers are 8k lbs tare).

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #137 on: March 18, 2015, 02:02:41 PM »
You appear to be very into antique cars. Have you checked out the scene in Tacoma and Olympia? There are so many gear heads around here that love wrenching on and fixing up old cars. There are also at least 3 (that I know of) antique car dealerships.

My toothless redneck neighbors always have some junk heap parked in /blocking the alley that they are working on. I think you just happened to move to the wrong part of the sound!

boarder42

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #138 on: March 18, 2015, 02:11:17 PM »
i own a boat and dont have a truck ...

booom bet your mind is blown now. 

I see three possibilities:

1. You're either paying slip fees, paying more for your house to live on the water, or not using your boat enough to be worth it because you'd have to rent a truck every time, all of which are probably more expensive than owning a tow vehicle.

2. You live on it.

3. Or you're just trolling us by talking about your dinghy.

I live in a lake community - cheapest in my city - maybe in the country.  slip lease is 350/year.  My house isnt on the water and is one of the cheapest in the neighborhood.  350/year for a slip is much less than ownership costs for a truck.  Slips are all community owned and were just 250/year until this year. 

Syonyk

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #139 on: March 18, 2015, 02:16:23 PM »
You appear to be very into antique cars. Have you checked out the scene in Tacoma and Olympia? There are so many gear heads around here that love wrenching on and fixing up old cars. There are also at least 3 (that I know of) antique car dealerships.

I'm familiar with the LaMay museum (and find myself down there somewhat frequently), but not really familiar with much beyond that.  Tacoma is an hour south of me in light traffic and "impossible to get to" in the evening after work, unless I want to spend a few hours in traffic.

The reason we don't have anything right now is because I don't have anywhere to work on them.  I've considered a vintage motorcycle, but given that I have to move the other motorcycles out into the rain to work on one already, that's not really something I've got space for.  It's a very small garage. :(

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My toothless redneck neighbors always have some junk heap parked in /blocking the alley that they are working on. I think you just happened to move to the wrong part of the sound!

Unfortunately, my work is in Kirkland, and I'm opposed to hour long commutes, which seems to be what people who live in more rural areas spend each way to get to/from the office. :(  I accept that Kirkland is not a great place for us to live.

Jack

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #140 on: March 18, 2015, 06:07:38 PM »
I live in a lake community - cheapest in my city - maybe in the country.  slip lease is 350/year.  My house isnt on the water and is one of the cheapest in the neighborhood.  350/year for a slip is much less than ownership costs for a truck.  Slips are all community owned and were just 250/year until this year.

It may be the cheapest lake community, but it's certainly not the cheapest community (including ones without lakes). You're paying more than just $350/year; it's just that the rest of the cost is hidden in the property value.

Also, I was mostly posting as an excuse to make the dinghy joke anyway.

Unfortunately, my work is in Kirkland, and I'm opposed to hour long commutes, which seems to be what people who live in more rural areas spend each way to get to/from the office. :(  I accept that Kirkland is not a great place for us to live.

Is there nowhere in Kirkland with a two-car garage?

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #141 on: March 18, 2015, 07:32:10 PM »
Is there nowhere in Kirkland with a two-car garage?

There are.  Probably another $500-$1000/mo at this point.  Not worth it to me.  Still planning to leave the whole metro cesspool in a year.

boarder42

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Re: Good news! I have to drive my truck to work. Thank you, HOA!
« Reply #142 on: March 19, 2015, 06:34:25 AM »
I live in a lake community - cheapest in my city - maybe in the country.  slip lease is 350/year.  My house isnt on the water and is one of the cheapest in the neighborhood.  350/year for a slip is much less than ownership costs for a truck.  Slips are all community owned and were just 250/year until this year.

It may be the cheapest lake community, but it's certainly not the cheapest community (including ones without lakes). You're paying more than just $350/year; it's just that the rest of the cost is hidden in the property value.

Also, I was mostly posting as an excuse to make the dinghy joke anyway.

Unfortunately, my work is in Kirkland, and I'm opposed to hour long commutes, which seems to be what people who live in more rural areas spend each way to get to/from the office. :(  I accept that Kirkland is not a great place for us to live.

Is there nowhere in Kirkland with a two-car garage?

yeah and its a choice i made i'm not posting on here about how my community keeps giving me tickets when i leave my boat in my driveway and the keep threatening to to tow it bc they have a rule against boats in drive ways except for 3 months of the year.   i know i pay some extra money but its worth it to me as wakeboarding is a passion of mine and i do it as affordably as i possibly can in my area.  and also saying you dont have to have a truck or even live in a lake community to own a boat. slips can be leased in my city for 1k on public lakes.  still cheaper than owning a truck and trailering to the lake.

If the OP HAS TO HAVE HIS BIG TRUCK dont come here and complain about community rules and expect sympathy is all i'm saying.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!