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Well, boys. you get the pitchforks, i'll get the torches. Increased taxes on booze and gas, speeding fines up and new fines introduced. The edmonton sun has a countdown until gas jumps 4 cents a liter and beer jumps nearly a buck a case. http://www.edmontonsun.com/2015/03/26/taxes-on-booze-cigarettes-and-fuel-rise-in-alberta-budget-2015 And gas is back up to 94 cents before this bullshit.
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Mar 27, 2015 02:00
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slidebite posted:Oh do tell Buckle up. First warning sign was when I pulled up and the mother of the son who's was supposed to be buying the car had her car in the garage, to which the son informed me that they were replacing the steering pump yet again. Cue a horrendous screeching sound as the thing pulls out of the garage. Second was when he opens the hood and asks "Is this a turbo?". Now I'm not an expert on turbocharging by any means but I'm fairly certain I can identify a turbo'd car without the need to ask. So he gets the jack and positions it right under the rad support and gives it a pump, so instinctively I say "woah you're not lifting it up there are you?" now I can't really confirm that was his planned place to lift the car up but it's kind of funny how we needed to back the car up after I said that so the jack had enough room to get under the car from the front. At this point I should say my engine leaks a little oil from a valve cover, I know this but its a small amount that its not worth the effort of stripping apart the engine bay apart solely to do that. As soon as he gets under there he remarks how there is oil every where, which is funny because I changed the oil 500km ago and it looked fine to me, but I let that slide. The unraveling point was when he said there were no brakes left yet I clearly could fit a finger between the backing plate and the rotor. Then I start yelling. Just completely tearing into all his stupid poo poo excuses like how "The main seal is leaking" but there's only oil by the back of the engine. And he starts getting defensive saying he was a mechanic for 35 years and how "he's just trying to help". He starts going on about how the car is unsafe to drive, to which the mother pipes up "You aren't driving it aren't you", to which I said "Of course I am". And so I just tell him to put the wheels back on so the guy is just using an impact wrench and blasting the bolts back onto my wheels, so as I'm leaving I just make a comment about how he should get a torque wrench. By that point the mother was just looking in horror.
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Mar 27, 2015 02:08
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loving  I loving knew he wouldn't even know how to jack it right. Jesus. Did he say "wtf is that thing?" when you pulled up in an SVX? literally walking out the door to load up on a summers worth of booze. I didn't see tax increases on hard alcohol, just beer and wine. Is that true? slidebite fucked around with this message at 02:18 on Mar 27, 2015 |
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Mar 27, 2015 02:13
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No, because prentice drinks whiskey.
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Mar 27, 2015 02:20
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I knew I could trust him.
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Mar 27, 2015 02:22
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There's also probably going to be a "what are you gonna do, vote liberal? ah ha ha" election soon.
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Mar 27, 2015 02:24
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slidebite posted:loving He honestly had no reaction and looked confused at best. He did make sure to start muttering that "I know to lift it at the crossmember" after I told him I wanted the tires back on so I can leave. Already picked up a 12 pack of beer. and it looks like its the end of the road for me smoking. I'm not paying a healthcare premium and another 50 cents a pack. Powershift posted:There's also probably going to be a "what are you gonna do, vote liberal? ah ha ha" election soon. Prentice deserves some sort of an award for being able to hike taxes, raising the fees for almost all services, run a deficit and being able to call an election that is almost certainly going to produce a majority within a week. He's probably kicking himself for not putting a PST in there right now. F1DriverQuidenBerg fucked around with this message at 02:30 on Mar 27, 2015 |
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Mar 27, 2015 02:25
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I had a silly idea today and I'd like a sanity check. I'm moving to the University of Waterloo to start a post-doc and I've been packing up around here. Long story short, not everything will fit in my car but my GF is keeping the apartment so I can store low-priority stuff for a while and get it later. My summer field work will be in Alberta, near the tiny town of Seba Beach, about 50 km west of Edmonton. I have commitments here in Saskatoon for the beginning of June and in Edmonton for the end of June / early July. And for a variety of reasons it might be useful to have a (spare) vehicle at the field site. My plans for the summer have no details except those blocked-off dates, yet, and presumably that kind of planning will happen on my first day on the new job, April 1. One possibility is that I will fly from Ontario to Edmonton along with the rest of the field crew and we'll drive a rental out to the field site. Getting into Edmonton for the conference at the end of June will be no problem in that situation - somebody else on the crew could just drop me off for the week - but my plans in Saskatoon for the beginning of June require a bit more resources: my GF and I are planning a 3-day canoe trip. Assuming I fly from Ontario rather than spend 4 days driving back (time is likely to be tight) and that I'll have boxes in Saskatoon I'll want in Ontario, I thought about buying a vehicle this summer. Suppose I buy a cheap pickup truck - let's toss a budget of $2000 out there - and register it in Alberta. I drive it around Alberta and Saskatchewan for the summer, then drive it to Ontario in September. Then I sell either the truck or my car, depending on which one I like better. The car is worth about $2500, maybe. A quick look at Kijiji tells me there are plenty of high-mileage, 20-year-old pickups around Saskatoon for less than $2K. Obviously buying a sub-$2K vehicle is always a gamble, but I'll survive a total right-off of that much money + whatever gets spent on minor repairs, gas, registration, and insurance. If this little adventure ends with a 2-tonne pile of scrap steel at the side of a highway in Northern Ontario or just outside Edmonton I'll be sad but certainly not ruined. I've never bought, registered, or insured a car in Alberta, and I would not have an Alberta driver's license - either Saskatchewan or Ontario, depending on how things go in April. My parents live in Calgary so I guess in a pinch I could use their address for the registration, if I needed to. tl/dr: I wanna buy a cheap pickup in Alberta in May, drive it around the prairies all summer, then drive it to Ontario and sell it in the fall. How much of a hassle would this plan be? Is it feasible to register and insure a car for less than a year and then drive it across the country? What steps would I need to take immediately after I hand the money to the seller?
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Mar 27, 2015 02:42
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Good news.quote:If you are staying in Alberta as a full time student and attending an accredited institution or you are working here as part of a co-op program of study, you may use your valid registration and licence plates from your home jurisdiction. You must also have valid insurance on the vehicle and the registration must contain your name (either exclusively or jointly with another individual(s)). You should also carry proof (letter) from the accredited institution verifying your full time student status for presentation to a law enforcement officer should it be required. Register in SK, bomb around AB. Nobody will even blink an eye, and if they do, procure Onterrible paperwork. Get a truck with some character, nothing modern. Seat Safety Switch fucked around with this message at 02:52 on Mar 27, 2015 |
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Mar 27, 2015 02:49
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Also depending on your age, insurance will probably be significantly cheaper in SK, so that's a bonus too! And yeah, I agree on getting a cool truck. I recommend an 88-98 Chevrolet or gmc pickup because: 1) they look awesome 2) there are chev pickups behind every blade of grass in western Canada, so parts will be everywhere 3) none of their engines are too terrible, and are decently easy to work on in my limited experience
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Mar 27, 2015 04:02
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Hmmm... I won't be a student. A post-doc is a weird thing, recently created in the Ivory Tower of Academia. I'll be an employee of the University of Waterloo, and no longer a resident of Saskatchewan. I'm 37 years old with a clean driving record. SK insurance doesn't care about anything except your record and I pay around $1000 / year for something fun (my bimmer was about that, the Prelude a bit less). Estimates for Ontario are all over the map, from a low end of about $750 for my current car (2002 Chrysler 300M) up to more than double that.  I suppose I could put my current (for the next 36 hours) address as my "residence" and register it in Sask. Gotta think about that. Character is a good thing. I will certainly be aiming for character. At a low budget, it's about the only thing you can seriously hold out for.
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Mar 27, 2015 05:50
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Oh yeah, if you're 37 you'd probably be okay with an AB insured vehicles. If you were under 25 (I missed "post-doc" on my first reading so it isn't very relevant but still) then insurance in AB could be ludicrous. Like $2500 a year.
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Mar 27, 2015 16:38
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Age doesn't matter too much, it's not part of the formula they use to transfer "grid position" into AB. Years of driving do matter, so I think you're still OK unless you started at 32 or something. Note that if you're in AB and not a student the law pretty much says "get an AB drivers' license, get a rego within 90 days."
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Mar 27, 2015 17:06
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1500quidporsche posted:He honestly had no reaction and looked confused at best. He did make sure to start muttering that "I know to lift it at the crossmember" after I told him I wanted the tires back on so I can leave. Thankfully I quit smoking many, many years ago and gained about 25lbs post fact but financially it was probably the single smartest thing I did in my 20s. I haven't had a single drop of booze this past month just to see how it would impact my weight and blood pressure and it was/is a successful experiment, but that didn't stop me from hitting Costco last night and buying about $400 worth of alcohol. In the scheme of things, $1/case and .20 or whatever it is for wine will have a minimal impact unless you are dirt poor or have a major drinking problem. I suspect it won't stop the bars/clubs from jacking beer price up .50 though. FWIW Costco said they shouldn't be upping any prices until next week at the earliest. I completely get the tax on cigs and I'm for it, but I sort of have mixed feelings about it since (anecdotally) the people in general that still smoke are the ones that can afford it the least. Hopefully it's the last kick in the rear end to make many quit. I would not be surprised if a year from now, after another crushing PC majority this year, a PST will still be in the cards. The government is so far in debt, even with these increases, that will be the next shoe to drop. A PST is about the only thing I can think of that would have a reasonable chance of jeopardizing the PCs if they announced one before an election. Albertans by and large vote like sheep, but when you look at the drooling retards we have to choose from (it's pretty sad when the god drat NDP have the most solid leadership alternative) what are you going to do? Besides, the further left wing parties with their ideas would virtually guarantee a PST. Coincidentally I had a call from the Federal Conservatives last night, going into some verbal diarrhea of how valuable a supporter I am and amping up the rhetoric of how Trudeau is succeeding in getting the YOUTH VOTE because he is going to fully legalize mj. They asked if they could count on my support for a donation because it's a very serious battle this year. My reply was "not a freakin' chance, don't call me again" and the guy was "Uhhh, excuse me?" I repeated myself and he couldn't get off the phone fast enough. I'll still probably vote for them federally just because I loathe the federal NDP and actually somehow trust the Liberals less than the CPC, but be damned if I'm going to give them a cent. ExecuDork posted:I'm 37 years old with a clean driving record. SK insurance doesn't care about anything except your record and I pay around $1000 / year for something fun (my bimmer was about that, the Prelude a bit less). Estimates for Ontario are all over the map, from a low end of about $750 for my current car (2002 Chrysler 300M) up to more than double that. What field is your research in?
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Mar 27, 2015 17:12
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Seat Safety Switch posted:Age doesn't matter too much, it's not part of the formula they use to transfer "grid position" into AB. Years of driving do matter, so I think you're still OK unless you started at 32 or something. Aahhhhh yeah I forgot about the grid program. The price was based on a cousin of mine who moved to AB from SK, and the insurance on his econobox was going to go from $900/yr to $2500/yr. he explained it as being his age, but it was probably lack of experience + a few tickets. The nice thing for me about going from SK to AB was that I could count all of my time with a license as "insured" time and it put me at a decent grid level. I can't recall exactly how it worked, but my insurance agent said something about SK not using the same insurance rules as other provinces, so if there was a insured vehicle in your household that you drove and you had a valid license, it counted as insured time. Or something. Either way, you should be in good shape for reasonably priced insurance, ExecuDork.
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Mar 27, 2015 17:54
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I really don't have a problem with a sin tax, its fair that if you're doing something that makes you more likely to utilize public health care more, a portion of that money should go to that service. It really is the last kick in the rear end for me though, its a giant waste of money that I could be spending on other better things. I would probably vote for the federal liberals if their leader wasn't there solely because of nepotism.
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Mar 27, 2015 18:02
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For most people, years of experience has a direct correlation with age so it's a pretty simple thing to confuse and not entirely wrong either. DrakeriderCa posted:The nice thing for me about going from SK to AB was that I could count all of my time with a license as "insured" time and it put me at a decent grid level. I can't recall exactly how it worked, but my insurance agent said something about SK not using the same insurance rules as other provinces, so if there was a insured vehicle in your household that you drove and you had a valid license, it counted as insured time. Or something.
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Mar 27, 2015 18:02
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Yeah, I was pretty impressed that they gave me 11 years continually insured time when I'd only ever had a vehicle specifically under my name for 2 years. Nice head start. 
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Mar 27, 2015 18:53
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Seat Safety Switch posted:Age doesn't matter too much, it's not part of the formula they use to transfer "grid position" into AB. Years of driving do matter, so I think you're still OK unless you started at 32 or something. What's "grid position"? slidebite posted:Yeah insurance probably won't be that bad. You'll want a statement from your existing carrier stating you've been claim free for X years and it'll be worth your while to shop around. If you are associated with an Alberta U or professional assn, you may be able to take advantage of a group program so keep your eyes open for that. You'll probably have to do an insurance inspection if it's an older truck but it was mentioned earlier those can be shockingly easy to pass. I'll make sure I get some paperwork from whatever insurance I get on my car in Ontario - that's probably going to be CAA because I've been a member for decades and my parents do most of their insurance stuff through them when they can so the car is already somewhere in their database (presumably). I won't have any direct association with any university in Alberta as far as I'm aware, though I will be talking with lots of people at U of A in Edmonton. Maybe there's a professional association I can join that will check the appropriate box for Alberta. If I can sort something out for 90 days I'll be in good shape. My Saskatchewan car, my BMW, died more than a year ago so I haven't had SGI car insurance since last February. I suppose it wouldn't be completely unethical to buy a Saskatchewan vehicle and register it with / through my GF in Saskatoon, assuming she agrees to this plan. DrakeriderCa posted:Either way, you should be in good shape for reasonably priced insurance, ExecuDork. EDIT: When I was in Tasmania I was able to drive a ute for the 4 months I was there without horrible insurance problems. Getting an Aussie license was fun, they write the year you first got a license on the card and the woman at the Service Tasmania office did a double-take when she saw the ISSUED date on my Sask license. "You haven't really had a license for less than year, right?" In my experience, these things can be sorted out by standing in line for long enough. ExecuDork fucked around with this message at 19:28 on Mar 27, 2015 |
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Mar 27, 2015 19:25
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ExecuDork posted:I'm a Soil Scientist (what my PhD says, though I call myself a Naturalist or Ecologist), and my post-doc project will be in restored peatlands. Basically I'll be working in the most mosquito-intensive ecosystem in Canada, all summer long. quote:What's "grid position"? quote:I won't have any direct association with any university in Alberta as far as I'm aware, though I will be talking with lots of people at U of A in Edmonton. Maybe there's a professional association I can join that will check the appropriate box for Alberta. If I can sort something out for 90 days I'll be in good shape. Most insurance companies in Alberta are pretty aggressive with bundling, so if you are renting it might be worth your while to get some generic content insurance for your apartment (should be really cheap and a good idea on its own) but it might noticeably work your auto rate down. Alternatively, and I'm only half joking, if you are Class 6 licensed, buy a bike especially if you only need transportation for the summer. Bikes, especially smaller ones, can be hilariously cheap to insure in Alberta. I'm a few years older than you, but my 168HP 1400cc Kawi rocket/sport tourer is something like $140/yr and that's not even bare minimum insurance. A 250CC enduro/trail bike (I might know someone that has one for sale up there) could probably be bought and insured for the price of an hour with a good hooker... or some other analogy. slidebite fucked around with this message at 19:39 on Mar 27, 2015 |
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Mar 27, 2015 19:36
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Speaking of http://globalnews.ca/news/1906687/motorcyclist-caught-going-246-km-per-hour-in-banff-national-park/ quote:CALGARY- A 23-year-old Calgary man is facing criminal charges after police allege he was riding his motorcycle at 246 kilometres per hour in Banff National Park. Was it a really warm day yesterday in Banff or something?
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Mar 27, 2015 20:07
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slidebite posted:It's probably not a massive savings, but could be 10-20%, so it's better than a poke in the bum with a sharp stick. Most Uni/Post Secondary institutions and some big companies have preffered group rates. I know Apegga (the professional Engineers/Geo group) has pretty good rates. If you can just find out where the U has a deal with, you might qualify even if you're not technically a student or faculty. APEGGA would be TD Meloche Monnex.
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Mar 27, 2015 20:13
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slidebite posted:A 250CC enduro/trail bike (I might know someone that has one for sale up there) could probably be bought and insured for the price of an hour with a good hooker... or some other analogy.  Special goon prices available
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Mar 27, 2015 23:28
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DrakeriderCa posted:
The providence is impeccable, it could easily go for a premium
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Mar 28, 2015 06:29
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slidebite posted:The providence is impeccable, it could easily go for a premium Comes with DNA samples from Alberta AI's most distinguished posters
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Mar 28, 2015 21:07
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Not only that
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Mar 28, 2015 21:47
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So i guess a bunch of future shop employees showed up to an empty store and some walkin papers this morning. http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/future-shop-stores-closed-across-canada-some-to-become-best-buy-1.3013534 I've always said monopolies and a complete lack of competition is good. literally just surprise you have no job now http://www.660news.com/2015/03/28/staff-blind-sided-by-layoffs-at-future-shop-after-being-called-in-for-early-morning-staff-meeting/ Powershift fucked around with this message at 22:34 on Mar 28, 2015 |
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Mar 28, 2015 22:31
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Powershift posted:So i guess a bunch of future shop employees showed up to an empty store and some walkin papers this morning. Almost shocked it took this long, the idea of having two near identical brands running stores at the same time, often within 10 minutes of each other made zero sense. Sucks for those that worked there though, didn't they just finish closing a bunch of stores a year ago?
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Mar 28, 2015 22:46
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Coincidentally I went into FS for the first time in months Weds night. I think I was the only customer in there. That business model was hosed since the whole Bestbuy thing. The store here is literally across the street from the 50% larger best buy. It made no sense to me why they'd have both stores operating separately considering they carried the exact same product, exact same prices, and the exact same company and from where I've seen BB/FS stores, this was hardly a unique occurrence. Stupid, lovely thing for the workers, but hardly a surprise and late coming. e: Read a news story this AM and they said that a significant portion of the stores share the same parking lot with each other. I mean, really? Come on.
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Mar 28, 2015 22:48
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 Breaking news! Don't trust car dealers and don't trust their regulatory body which is made up of {surprise} car dealers! http://www.ctvnews.ca/w5/most-new-car-dealerships-fail-mystery-shopper-test-calgary-survey-1.2300369 https://www.scribd.com/doc/260145292/APA-Summary?secret_password=EV7NsdwPHKeoYSw9zuXz slidebite fucked around with this message at 23:35 on Mar 28, 2015 |
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Mar 28, 2015 23:32
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slidebite posted:
It would be kinda fun to watch Prentice and others try to score some populist points during the election by slamming AMVIC's dick in a door and fining a shitload of car dealers. But I doubt it'll happen; if AB is anything like the US most of the local politicians are fed by dealer dollars.
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Mar 28, 2015 23:46
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Oh god, that would be awesome. The only other "professions" (quotes intended) that could give them a run for most crooked on the spectrum of shiftiness is the Real Estate and the death industry. If you're not prepared to deal with them, you'll probably be sobbing in the immediately started shower after you get home from being violated.
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Mar 29, 2015 00:05
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That's the big problem with flipping cars. Those are the guys you're up against. The guys willing to sell a car with gum in place of an oilpan drain plug.
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Mar 29, 2015 00:08
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Powershift posted:That's the big problem with flipping cars. Those are the guys you're up against. The guys willing to sell a car with gum in place of an oilpan drain plug. And yet I can't sell a $3,000 car without having people haul it to their garage mechanic and making poo poo up  AMVIC is awful though, there's no oversight for dealers.
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Mar 29, 2015 01:25
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1500quidporsche posted:And yet I can't sell a $3,000 car without having people haul it to their garage mechanic and making poo poo up Nope, it's only protection from competition for big dealer groups.
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Mar 29, 2015 01:32
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Powershift posted:Nope, it's only protection from competition for big dealer groups. At Pick-n-Pull we were AMVIC certified and the "consumer protection" was laughable. Pre-sale inspections were done buy a list of guys we'd give preferential treatment to if a good car came in, they'd come in open up the hood and pass it.
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Mar 29, 2015 01:39
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Every futureshop I know of has a bestbuy in the same parking lot. And it's on purpose. Most of the Best Buy stores that were built 10 years ago or whenever they moved in were built next to Futureshop. I never did like futureshop due to their commission based sales.
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Mar 29, 2015 04:30
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So Danielle Smith lost any chance of getting re-elected to a washed up star wars actress or something. I wonder how many PC members in that constituency were recent sign ups and also current WR members that joined for the explicit reason of making her lose?
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Mar 29, 2015 20:29
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slidebite posted:So Danielle Smith lost any chance of getting re-elected to a washed up star wars actress or something. I wonder how many PC members in that constituency were recent sign ups and also current WR members that joined for the explicit reason of making her lose? Not a hell of a lot since there were only like 300 some odd votes cast. This also happened: 
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Mar 29, 2015 20:31
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^^ ^^ what a bag 972 ballots but I don't think she had any love lost with PC members either due to the baggage she brought.
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Mar 29, 2015 20:34
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