Overheard over the fence (Antimustachian neighbours)

[SunnyDays]

But honestly I think wet wipes are also a bit yucky because they leave this smelly layer on your skin.

Aargh, those smelly ones are disgusting. Try to get your mum friends to buy the plain ones (they are better for the kids as well)... ;-)

I use wetwipes for babies to clean the chain on my bikes and my hands when I get oil on them. The fact that they are great for that would make me hesistant to use them on kids.

Well, babies do do gross, messy things...

That they do but I meant from a chemical perspective.

Don't get too worked up over it.  Things can have multiple uses without being damaging.  For example, I've found that Dawn dish soap is remarkably effective at removing various kinds of grime and grease from my skin after I've been doing car repairs.

Dawn also works great on grease stains on clothing.

It's what rescue teams use to clean fur/feathers on wildlife caught in oil spills because it isn't toxic to them.

I believe they use Dawn because it’s the harshest soap available.  You won’t get oil off animals with a gentle cleanser.

[Dicey]

^Nope.^ Dawn is effective at removing grease: there are a lot harsher soaps available.

Lol, just went to Costco Business Center today and bought a gallon of the stuff, on sale. They had a five-gallon version, but that's just nuts for home use. (Plus it wasn't on sale, so the gallon was cheaper per ounce.)

[OtherJen]

^Nope.^ Dawn is effective at removing grease: there are a lot harsher soaps available.

Lol, just went to Costco Business Center today and bought a gallon of the stuff, on sale. They had a five-gallon version, but that's just nuts for home use. (Plus it wasn't on sale, so the gallon was cheaper per ounce.)

Ooh, I wonder if it's on sale at the regular Costco warehouse (we don't have a Business Center). We haven't bought dish soap in ages.

[Plina]

But honestly I think wet wipes are also a bit yucky because they leave this smelly layer on your skin.

Aargh, those smelly ones are disgusting. Try to get your mum friends to buy the plain ones (they are better for the kids as well)... ;-)

I use wetwipes for babies to clean the chain on my bikes and my hands when I get oil on them. The fact that they are great for that would make me hesistant to use them on kids.

Well, babies do do gross, messy things...

That they do but I meant from a chemical perspective.

I use dihydrogen monoxide to wash gross poop off the toilet!  The fact that it's great for cleaning poop off the toilet makes me extremely hesitant to drink it.   

Maybe, you can take your dihydrogen monoxide from the tap for drinking instead from the toilet so that you don’t need to hesitate.

I don’t have kids, only bikes.

It's criminal that utilities still allow chemicals like dihydrogen monoxide to come out of our taps. There are no controls, no mitigation, no max ppm, nothing!

Maybe, you should check that assumption. The one coming from the tap is pretty heavily regulated at least in my country, actually more regulated then the one that you buy on the supermarket shelf.

[Dicey]

But honestly I think wet wipes are also a bit yucky because they leave this smelly layer on your skin.

Aargh, those smelly ones are disgusting. Try to get your mum friends to buy the plain ones (they are better for the kids as well)... ;-)

I use wetwipes for babies to clean the chain on my bikes and my hands when I get oil on them. The fact that they are great for that would make me hesistant to use them on kids.

Well, babies do do gross, messy things...

That they do but I meant from a chemical perspective.

I use dihydrogen monoxide to wash gross poop off the toilet!  The fact that it's great for cleaning poop off the toilet makes me extremely hesitant to drink it.   

Maybe, you can take your dihydrogen monoxide from the tap for drinking instead from the toilet so that you don’t need to hesitate.

I don’t have kids, only bikes.

It's criminal that utilities still allow chemicals like dihydrogen monoxide to come out of our taps. There are no controls, no mitigation, no max ppm, nothing!

Maybe, you should check that assumption. The one coming from the tap is pretty heavily regulated at least in my country, actually more regulated then the one that you buy on the supermarket shelf.

Lol, wise observation @Plina! Same holds true in the US.

[DeniseNJ]

But honestly I think wet wipes are also a bit yucky because they leave this smelly layer on your skin.

Aargh, those smelly ones are disgusting. Try to get your mum friends to buy the plain ones (they are better for the kids as well)... ;-)

I use wetwipes for babies to clean the chain on my bikes and my hands when I get oil on them. The fact that they are great for that would make me hesistant to use them on kids.

Well, babies do do gross, messy things...

That they do but I meant from a chemical perspective.

I use dihydrogen monoxide to wash gross poop off the toilet!  The fact that it's great for cleaning poop off the toilet makes me extremely hesitant to drink it.   

Maybe, you can take your dihydrogen monoxide from the tap for drinking instead from the toilet so that you don’t need to hesitate.

I don’t have kids, only bikes.

It's criminal that utilities still allow chemicals like dihydrogen monoxide to come out of our taps. There are no controls, no mitigation, no max ppm, nothing!

Maybe, you should check that assumption. The one coming from the tap is pretty heavily regulated at least in my country, actually more regulated then the one that you buy on the supermarket shelf.

Lol, wise observation @Plina! Same holds true in the US.

LOL. Please look up dihydrogen monoxide.

[Dicey]

But honestly I think wet wipes are also a bit yucky because they leave this smelly layer on your skin.

Aargh, those smelly ones are disgusting. Try to get your mum friends to buy the plain ones (they are better for the kids as well)... ;-)

I use wetwipes for babies to clean the chain on my bikes and my hands when I get oil on them. The fact that they are great for that would make me hesistant to use them on kids.

Well, babies do do gross, messy things...

That they do but I meant from a chemical perspective.

I use dihydrogen monoxide to wash gross poop off the toilet!  The fact that it's great for cleaning poop off the toilet makes me extremely hesitant to drink it.   

Maybe, you can take your dihydrogen monoxide from the tap for drinking instead from the toilet so that you don’t need to hesitate.

I don’t have kids, only bikes.

It's criminal that utilities still allow chemicals like dihydrogen monoxide to come out of our taps. There are no controls, no mitigation, no max ppm, nothing!

Maybe, you should check that assumption. The one coming from the tap is pretty heavily regulated at least in my country, actually more regulated then the one that you buy on the supermarket shelf.

Lol, wise observation @Plina! Same holds true in the US.

LOL. Please look up dihydrogen monoxide.

No need to, I know exactly what it is. We're talking about how people just assume dihydrogen monoxide purchased in little plastic bottles is somehow purer/safer/has more magical powers than the stuff they can buy in bulk for a much better price, lol..

[Sibley]

But honestly I think wet wipes are also a bit yucky because they leave this smelly layer on your skin.

Aargh, those smelly ones are disgusting. Try to get your mum friends to buy the plain ones (they are better for the kids as well)... ;-)

I use wetwipes for babies to clean the chain on my bikes and my hands when I get oil on them. The fact that they are great for that would make me hesistant to use them on kids.

Well, babies do do gross, messy things...

That they do but I meant from a chemical perspective.

I use dihydrogen monoxide to wash gross poop off the toilet!  The fact that it's great for cleaning poop off the toilet makes me extremely hesitant to drink it.   

Maybe, you can take your dihydrogen monoxide from the tap for drinking instead from the toilet so that you don’t need to hesitate.

I don’t have kids, only bikes.

It's criminal that utilities still allow chemicals like dihydrogen monoxide to come out of our taps. There are no controls, no mitigation, no max ppm, nothing!

Maybe, you should check that assumption. The one coming from the tap is pretty heavily regulated at least in my country, actually more regulated then the one that you buy on the supermarket shelf.

Lol, wise observation @Plina! Same holds true in the US.

LOL. Please look up dihydrogen monoxide.

I had the dubious pleasure of watching someone melt down on facebook over dihydrogen monoxide. They did not get the joke, and in the process proved themselves to be very poorly educated.

[DeniseNJ]

But honestly I think wet wipes are also a bit yucky because they leave this smelly layer on your skin.

Aargh, those smelly ones are disgusting. Try to get your mum friends to buy the plain ones (they are better for the kids as well)... ;-)

I use wetwipes for babies to clean the chain on my bikes and my hands when I get oil on them. The fact that they are great for that would make me hesistant to use them on kids.

Well, babies do do gross, messy things...

That they do but I meant from a chemical perspective.

I use dihydrogen monoxide to wash gross poop off the toilet!  The fact that it's great for cleaning poop off the toilet makes me extremely hesitant to drink it.   

Maybe, you can take your dihydrogen monoxide from the tap for drinking instead from the toilet so that you don’t need to hesitate.

I don’t have kids, only bikes.

It's criminal that utilities still allow chemicals like dihydrogen monoxide to come out of our taps. There are no controls, no mitigation, no max ppm, nothing!

Maybe, you should check that assumption. The one coming from the tap is pretty heavily regulated at least in my country, actually more regulated then the one that you buy on the supermarket shelf.

Lol, wise observation @Plina! Same holds true in the US.

LOL. Please look up dihydrogen monoxide.

I had the dubious pleasure of watching someone melt down on facebook over dihydrogen monoxide. They did not get the joke, and in the process proved themselves to be very poorly educated.

You might not know what it means, but I'd think you'd look it up before getting worked up about it. This is my nerd son's favorite dumb chem joke.

[AlanStache]

...
You might not know what it means, but I'd think you'd look it up before getting worked up about it. This is my nerd son's favorite dumb chem joke.

You think people on the internet look things up and do proper research before getting worked up...?  You must be new to the web.

[shelivesthedream]

@DeniseNJ Who's posted what that makes you think they don't know what dihydrogen monoxide is? In the UK, the stuff that comes out of the tap (which is almost always from the same main domestic input pipe that fills your toilet cistern - but I think that isn't true in other countries?) is very heavily regulated and tested, whereas you can basically stick a plastic bottle under a "highland spring" and flog it straight away to anyone you like.

[DeniseNJ]

@DeniseNJ Who's posted what that makes you think they don't know what dihydrogen monoxide is? In the UK, the stuff that comes out of the tap (which is almost always from the same main domestic input pipe that fills your toilet cistern - but I think that isn't true in other countries?) is very heavily regulated and tested, whereas you can basically stick a plastic bottle under a "highland spring" and flog it straight away to anyone you like.

Hard to tell since it had like 12 boxes around it-lol. I got that impression somewhere along the way.

[markbike528CBX]

@DeniseNJ Who's posted what that makes you think they don't know what dihydrogen monoxide is? In the UK, the stuff that comes out of the tap (which is almost always from the same main domestic input pipe that fills your toilet cistern - but I think that isn't true in other countries?) is very heavily regulated and tested, whereas you can basically stick a plastic bottle under a "highland spring" and flog it straight away to anyone you like.

Hard to tell since it had like 12 boxes around it-lol. I got that impression somewhere along the way.

I got that everyone was being everyone elses "straight-man" to keep up the joke to pull in the unwary.   I think that all posters got the joke and just ran with it.

My earliest copy of the DiHydrogenMOnoxide warning reproduced below.  I saw it earlier in a copy of ANALOG sci-fi magazine.

Forwarded message:
From: xxxxxxxxxx@rohmhaas.com Sender: xxxxxxxxxx@cedar.univie.ac.at
Reply-to:   
To:   xxxxxxxx@cedar.univie.ac.at (Multiple recipients of list)
Date: 96-06-25 10:20:23 EDT

BAN DIHYDROGEN MONOXIDE!


THE INVISIBLE KILLER
Dihydrogen monoxide is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and kills uncounted thousands of people every year. Most of these deaths are caused by accidental inhalation of DHMO, but the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide do not end there. Prolonged exposure to its solid form causes severe tissue damage. Symptoms of DHMO ingestion can include excessive sweating and urination, and possibly a bloated feeling, nausea, vomiting and body electrolyte imbalance. For those who have become dependent, DHMO withdrawal means certain death.

Dihydrogen monoxide:
* is also known as hydric acid, and is the major component of acid rain.
* contributes to the "greenhouse effect." * may cause severe burns.
* contributes to the erosion of our natural landscape. * accelerates corrosion and rusting of many metals. * may cause electrical failures and decreased effectiveness of automobile brakes.
* has been found in excised tumors of terminal cancer patients.

CONTAMINATION IS REACHING EPIDEMIC PROPORTIONS! Quantities of dihydrogen monoxide have been found in almost every stream, lake, and reservoir in America today. But the pollution is global, and the contaminant has even been found in Antarctic ice. DHMO has caused millions of dollars of property damage in the midwest, and recently California. Despite the danger, dihydrogen monoxide is often used: * as an industrial solvent and coolant.
* in nuclear power plants.
* in the production of styrofoam.
* as a fire retardant.
* in many forms of cruel animal research. * in the distribution of pesticides. Even after washing, produce remains contaminated by this chemical. * as an additive in certain "junk-foods" and other food products.

Companies dump waste DHMO into rivers and the ocean, and nothing can be done to stop them because this practice is still legal. The impact on wildlife is extreme, and we cannot afford to ignore it any longer!

THE HORROR MUST BE STOPPED!
The American government has refused to ban the production, distribution, or use of this damaging chemical due to its "importance to the economic health of this nation." In fact, the navy and other military organizations are conducting experiments with DHMO, and designing multi-billion dollar devices to control and utilize it during warfare situations. Hundreds of military research facilities receive tons of it through a highly sophisticated underground distribution network. Many store large quantities for later use.

IT'S NOT TOO LATE!
Act NOW to prevent further contamination. Find out more about this dangerous chemical. What you don't know CAN hurt you and others throughout the world. Send email to no_dhmo@circus.com, or a SASE to:

Coalition to Ban DHMO
211 Pearl St.
Santa Cruz CA, 95060
http://www.circus.com/~no_dhmo

Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; name="RFC822 message headers" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Content-Description: cc:Mail note part

[Chris22]

Quantities of dihydrogen monoxide have been found in almost every stream

Almost?  Yikes…

[YttriumNitrate]

Quantities of dihydrogen monoxide have been found in almost every stream

Almost?  Yikes…

Probably not much (if any) in the streams of Titan.

[SwordGuy]

Quantities of dihydrogen monoxide have been found in almost every stream

Almost?  Yikes…

Pretty sure there are still streams completely composed of toxic chemicals from factories that are then running into the water supply...

[AlanStache]

Quantities of dihydrogen monoxide have been found in almost every stream

Almost?  Yikes…

Near where I grew up we had a creek named "dry creek", it was often only filled with dioxygen and dinitrogen.

[Rural]

There's a spring on our property that only has DHMO in it ~9 months of the year.

[shelivesthedream]

Fantastic! I've never seen such an extensive screed against dihydrogen monoxide before. Much enjoyed!

[Tass]

There's plenty more in that same mold... https://www.dhmo.org/

[Catbert]

A picture is worth a thousand words...unfortunately the picture file is apparently too large to post.  Use your imagination to see a brand new bubble gum/Barbie pink Range Rover with "Nina's Sweet 16" painted across the top of the windshield.  It's  parked on the street next to a Rolls Royce.  I always wonder what the hell is parked in the three car garage.

[TheFrenchCat]

A picture is worth a thousand words...unfortunately the picture file is apparently too large to post.  Use your imagination to see a brand new bubble gum/Barbie pink Range Rover with "Nina's Sweet 16" painted across the top of the windshield.  It's  parked on the street next to a Rolls Royce.  I always wonder what the hell is parked in the three car garage.

Probably just tons of crap.

[ysette9]

A picture is worth a thousand words...unfortunately the picture file is apparently too large to post.  Use your imagination to see a brand new bubble gum/Barbie pink Range Rover with "Nina's Sweet 16" painted across the top of the windshield.  It's  parked on the street next to a Rolls Royce.  I always wonder what the hell is parked in the three car garage.

[Dee_the_third]

Me to Neighbor: Oh hey, you guys put in a patio! Looks great!
Neighbor: Thanks! We got some extra cash from the HELOC
Me: ......oh! *internal screaming*
Neighbor: Yeah, the banker said the closing costs would be the same regardless of how much we borrowed, so we figured we should just borrow as much as we can.
Me: I....I see! *screaming intensifies*
Neighbor: We thought about paying off the credit cards, but this patio really needed a roof.
Me: ...............................
Me: Well, the patio looks really nice!

[TheFrenchCat]

Me to Neighbor: Oh hey, you guys put in a patio! Looks great!
Neighbor: Thanks! We got some extra cash from the HELOC
Me: ......oh! *internal screaming*
Neighbor: Yeah, the banker said the closing costs would be the same regardless of how much we borrowed, so we figured we should just borrow as much as we can.
Me: I....I see! *screaming intensifies*
Neighbor: We thought about paying off the credit cards, but this patio really needed a roof.
Me: ...............................
Me: Well, the patio looks really nice!

So much cringe.  How big is this patio?  Did they blow a whole HELOC on a patio? 

[Dee_the_third]

Me to Neighbor: Oh hey, you guys put in a patio! Looks great!
Neighbor: Thanks! We got some extra cash from the HELOC
Me: ......oh! *internal screaming*
Neighbor: Yeah, the banker said the closing costs would be the same regardless of how much we borrowed, so we figured we should just borrow as much as we can.
Me: I....I see! *screaming intensifies*
Neighbor: We thought about paying off the credit cards, but this patio really needed a roof.
Me: ...............................
Me: Well, the patio looks really nice!

So much cringe.  How big is this patio?  Did they blow a whole HELOC on a patio?

A pretty standard size, I guess. And houses around here are cheap so I figure the HELOC was 15, 20k at most?

This same neighbor adopted a pandemic puppy and was complaining about the cost of putting in a fence. A few conversations later, was expressing delight that an extra 2k got sloshed their way so they could afford their kids' extracurriculars this year. Sigh. I just...I don't understand.

[Sibley]

I've known most of this for a while, but I just put the pieces together about one of my neighbors. This guy is royally screwed, it's just a matter of when.

He's in his early to mid 50s. Lives in a small house, well under 1000sq ft that was originally built as the shack for the farmhands to live in. At some point it got turned into a more permanent home. However, it's got an inadequate foundation - whole thing is sitting on a cinderblock wall that is only 2 blocks high. There's a couple areas where it appears the cinderblock is sinking and/or shifting. The crawl space is truly that - you have to army crawl, if you're thin enough. The kitchen joists rotted out, so the kitchen is literally a gutted room with dirt floor that you can step down into. There have also been instances of water flowing through that space - like a stream. Instead of using the kitchen as a kitchen, the utility room has been semi converted to a kitchen. The 2nd floor is essentially unused and unusable. The joists are weak and sagging, so when you're in the house on the first floor you can see the bow in the ceiling. In the center, I'd estimate it sags about 6 inches.

There's a huge tree in the front yard, about 15 feet from the house. There is also suspected to be a void somewhere beneath the tree or something, because one time neighbor was dumb and stuck the hose down a hole at the side of the tree, turned on the water and forgot about it for a week. Full week. There was no evidence of flooding or water, no idea where it went. His water bill that month confirmed that the hose had actually been on that whole time.

Neighbor used to be in the army. He has VA for medical. He hates the VA and will do anything to avoid going. To the point that he only went to the doctor when his feet got numb and didn't get unnumb after a few months. Diagnosis: diabetes. And he has multiple members of his family who have/had diabetes, so he should have been getting periodic screening. So now, he eats like crap and sometimes takes his medications and thinks the diabetes is gone because his feet aren't numb anymore, now they just hurt frequently. I don't think he lost all feeling, just enough to be noticeable. I also think the pain is masking the numb, because nerves don't just regrow as far as I know. He's taken way more sick days this year than he used to.

Neighbor is also a Trumper, antivaxxer (at least for covid), and antimasker.

He works for a concrete company. Used to do mechanic work. Paid hourly, and gets paid half salary half cash. He thinks this is great because taxes! Only problem is that he doesn't show enough income to refinance the house, so he's paying a lot more in interest. And he clearly hasn't thought through to retirement, because he won't get much from Social Security with such a low reported income.

In terms of savings, I'm sure he has none. Does impulse buying of such things as motorcycles (which he never rides), Revolutionary War reenactment equipment, bullet making equipment, guns, etc. I know he has credit card debt. Does all the shell games with moving money around because he can't actually pay off the debt.

I'm not sure when the status quo is going to fall apart, but it will. He is going to be screwed.

[dragoncar]

“Half salary half cash”

So like a 50% cash discount?  Or 1/4 cash?

[Sibley]

Only half his income gets reported to the IRS. The other half is cash. So if he made $1000, he gets $500 cash and a check for $500. Only the check is official earnings.

[SunnyDays]

@Sibley, I wouldn't worry too much - he likely won't make it to retirement age.  Either the diabetes will get him, Covid will get him or the house will fall down on him (or into a sinkhole).  Problem solved.

[DadJokes]

On the reverse side of anti-mustachian neighbors, I just learned that my neighbor (who has a high school-aged child) is retired. He apparently worked long enough at his previous employer that he earned a pension equal to half his salary, which was enough for him to retire on. He was planning to return to work part-time until the pandemic happened.

[dragoncar]

On the reverse side of anti-mustachian neighbors

In the interest of clarity, this forum already has an established and simple name for this kind of person:

Anti-anti-mustachian

[Sibley]

@Sibley, I wouldn't worry too much - he likely won't make it to retirement age.  Either the diabetes will get him, Covid will get him or the house will fall down on him (or into a sinkhole).  Problem solved.

Oh I know. Thus why I say he's screwed. He's generally a decent guy, but wow, he is capable of screwing up his life. It would be nice if he'd cut it out with the politics, but I can just avoid him.

[moof]

But honestly I think wet wipes are also a bit yucky because they leave this smelly layer on your skin.

There are some pretty strict laws that keep it at or below 1e6 ppm.  Pretty hard to break that barrier.
Aargh, those smelly ones are disgusting. Try to get your mum friends to buy the plain ones (they are better for the kids as well)... ;-)

I use wetwipes for babies to clean the chain on my bikes and my hands when I get oil on them. The fact that they are great for that would make me hesistant to use them on kids.

Well, babies do do gross, messy things...

That they do but I meant from a chemical perspective.

I use dihydrogen monoxide to wash gross poop off the toilet!  The fact that it's great for cleaning poop off the toilet makes me extremely hesitant to drink it.   

Maybe, you can take your dihydrogen monoxide from the tap for drinking instead from the toilet so that you don’t need to hesitate.

I don’t have kids, only bikes.

It's criminal that utilities still allow chemicals like dihydrogen monoxide to come out of our taps. There are no controls, no mitigation, no max ppm, nothing!

[markbike528CBX]

But honestly I think wet wipes are also a bit yucky because they leave this smelly layer on your skin.

There are some pretty strict laws that keep it at or below 1e6 ppm.  Pretty hard to break that barrier.
Aargh, those smelly ones are disgusting. Try to get your mum friends to buy the plain ones (they are better for the kids as well)... ;-)

I use wetwipes for babies to clean the chain on my bikes and my hands when I get oil on them. The fact that they are great for that would make me hesistant to use them on kids.

Well, babies do do gross, messy things...

That they do but I meant from a chemical perspective.

I use dihydrogen monoxide to wash gross poop off the toilet!  The fact that it's great for cleaning poop off the toilet makes me extremely hesitant to drink it.   

Maybe, you can take your dihydrogen monoxide from the tap for drinking instead from the toilet so that you don’t need to hesitate.

I don’t have kids, only bikes.

It's criminal that utilities still allow chemicals like dihydrogen monoxide to come out of our taps. There are no controls, no mitigation, no max ppm, nothing!

The facts on DHMO -dihydrogen monoxide :
https://www.dhmo.org/facts.html

[Dollar Slice]

Unclear if this is actually a neighbor, but these signs are hanging on the street light poles in my neighborhood, so...

I have a LOT of questions. A *lot*.

Not least of which is: which asshole gave Rembrandt such low billing on that list of brands and celebrity artists?

[Adventine]

Unclear if this is actually a neighbor, but these signs are hanging on the street light poles in my neighborhood, so...

I have a LOT of questions. A *lot*.

Not least of which is: which asshole gave Rembrandt such low billing on that list of brands and celebrity artists?

This just screams SCAM to me. But very entertaining scam.

[shuffler]

Unclear if this is actually a neighbor, but these signs are hanging on the street light poles in my neighborhood, so...

I have a LOT of questions. A *lot*.

Not least of which is: which asshole gave Rembrandt such low billing on that list of brands and celebrity artists?

https://www.google.com/search?q=picasso+ferrari+rolex+auction+signs+scam

[Dollar Slice]

This just screams SCAM to me. But very entertaining scam.

Yeah, I figured it's either a scam or the Trump family is liquidating their assets and fleeing the country... ;-)

[SwordGuy]

This just screams SCAM to me. But very entertaining scam.

Yeah, I figured it's either a scam or the Trump family is liquidating their assets and fleeing the country... ;-)

From your lips to God's ears on that latter option.

[Dicey]

This just screams SCAM to me. But very entertaining scam.

Yeah, I figured it's either a scam or the Trump family is liquidating their assets and fleeing the country... ;-)

From your lips to God's ears on that latter option.

Amen!

[RWD]

Unclear if this is actually a neighbor, but these signs are hanging on the street light poles in my neighborhood, so...

I have a LOT of questions. A *lot*.

Not least of which is: which asshole gave Rembrandt such low billing on that list of brands and celebrity artists?

You don't want to bid on "brainwash"?

[Dollar Slice]

You don't want to bid on "brainwash"?

Judging by their taste in pop culture artists, it's probably Mr. Brainwash (street artist pseudonym - sort of like Banksy). That, or the point of the whole scam is to lure people in to actually brainwash them, and slipping that into the sign is a little legal CYA. "Hey, we never hid it! It says it right on the sign! The artist you were thinking of is MISTER Brainwash. We just said BRAINWASH. Which is what we did to all 50 of the people who showed up. As promised. Right on the sign." 

[AMandM]

So how does the scam work? Do the victims call, bid online or by phone with a credit card, and win a "Rembrandt" for a thrillingly low price?

[AlanStache]

So how does the scam work? Do the victims call, bid online or by phone with a credit card, and win a "Rembrandt" for a thrillingly low price?

I would guess that you have to put up some money before hand to show that you are serious buyer and they say that money will go towards whatever you win at action.  But they just keep your money and there is no auction. 

[Dollar Slice]

So how does the scam work? Do the victims call, bid online or by phone with a credit card, and win a "Rembrandt" for a thrillingly low price?

I would guess that you have to put up some money before hand to show that you are serious buyer and they say that money will go towards whatever you win at action.  But they just keep your money and there is no auction.

Yeah... There's no way they really have $40 million worth of stuff on hand, so they are either selling forgeries and knock-offs, or they're not selling anything at all and are just running off with the money in the form of people's bids or deposits; stealing their credit card numbers; or doing some kind of identity theft scheme after collecting invasive amounts of data for "credit checks" to see if you're "worthy" to participate...

[shelivesthedream]

Sometimes I read about scams and wonder... with all the admin skills and marketing and economic psychology that goes into some of them, wouldn't it just be easier to get a real job or start a bona fide business?

But I guess sometimes I read about "bona fide" businesses and wonder why the owners aren't in jail for what is basically a scam, so... *Shrug*

[Just Joe]

I added this to the "Relatives" thread but realized wrong thread.

Recent cookout. All the friend parents talking about their soon to be driving teens. Walking to HS would take a couple of hours so not a realistic option. Carpooling is good.

Bicycles work, especially ebikes but you could get killed that way dont'cha know? Teen and I ebike alot (lots of hills here) which is a novelty to friend group b/c bikes are something kids ride up and down the driveway, not a tool grown people use to get around.

Most of us parents are passing down a car or occasionally sharing a spare car with our teens until they can buy one themselves. One nice lady in the group pops up and complains about the used car shortage b/c she can't find anything cheaper than almost the price of a new car. More group suggestions about cheaper choices but nothing is too good or too safe for her little darling. Note in our area, most roads are ~45 mph or less. Any reasonably modern car would be pretty safe at such low speeds.

Friend group drives cars with 200K, 300K, and 400K miles among them.

Because of the shortage she's decided to gift over their nearly new family vehicle to this teen driver who doesn't even have a license yet b/c of course her DT needs a luxury vehicle to drive to school with.

Meanwhile her DH will need to begin parking outside b/c DT needs to park inside. DW doesn't want DT to have to scrape a windshield or get too cold (or too hot) starting their car. DH has a 6-7 yr old vehicle in good repair. No discussion apparently of giving the nicer vehicle to DH and letting the DT tear up ---errr, drive the older vehicle instead.

Also, a public discussion of liquidating DH's hobby materials and/or space in the basement b/c apparently letting him have a single car garage space is too much for DW despite more garage space at the other end of the house for DW and DT. DH is resistant to these ideas of course but DW doesn't apparently care. DW gets what DW wants. DH tells me later that all he wants for XMas is this thing that is ~$10 more than the budgeted gift amount but has doubts that DW will allow him to have one. WTH?

These are grown educated people with two good middle class incomes. Holy cow... Counseling might be a good idea?

My DW and I had compared notes later. Did you hear what I heard? Was that for real? Really nice people but I don't think we want the behind the scenes tour anytime soon again.

Perhaps DW and I have a different POV on this topic that people here - but we fully expect our DT to accumulate a few scratches and dents over the next 3-4 years so our DT will be hitting the road in a very moustachian sedan with airbags, ABS, age and ~200K miles. It is safe and presentable. Not looking to impress anyone but the MMM readers!

[Dave1442397]

Also, a public discussion of liquidating DH's hobby materials and/or space in the basement b/c apparently letting him have a single car garage space is too much for DW despite more garage space at the other end of the house for DW and DT. DH is resistant to these ideas of course but DW doesn't apparently care. DW gets what DW wants. DH tells me later that all he wants for XMas is this thing that is ~$10 more than the budgeted gift amount but has doubts that DW will allow him to have one. WTH?

These are grown educated people with two good middle class incomes. Holy cow... Counseling might be a good idea?

My DW and I had compared notes later. Did you hear what I heard? Was that for real? Really nice people but I don't think we want the behind the scenes tour anytime soon again.

Perhaps DW and I have a different POV on this topic that people here - but we fully expect our DT to accumulate a few scratches and dents over the next 3-4 years so our DT will be hitting the road in a very moustachian sedan with airbags, ABS, age and ~200K miles. It is safe and presentable. Not looking to impress anyone but the MMM readers!

That sounds like control freak issues, for sure.

We just passed down a 2011 SUV with 114k miles on it to our daughter. She's happy to have a car that already has some dings and scrapes, so she doesn't have to worry about it in the High School parking lot. Last time I had it inspected the guy said it looked like a new car inside, and he sees that model with 250k+ miles still passing inspection with no issues. Her next car will probably be an EV by the time she needs one.

[Just Joe]

Sounds like the right car for your teen.

Our "good car" has 110K miles on it. Like new inside and out. We'll keep it ~250K miles or so - or until we get an itch for something newer (still prob 3+ years old at purchase time like last time, and after the distorted COVID markets have gone back to normal in a few years).

Our daily driver has north of 300K miles and 20+ years old. Interior is like new. Clear coat is starting to fog up. Body has a few dings and scratches but no dents. We're south of the salt belt so no rust.