March Chat Thread - Choose Your Own Chat - The Something Awful Forums

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > March Chat Thread - Choose Your Own Chat

Three-Phase: Aug 5, 2006; by zen death robot

I think winter is over where I am at.

Time to hop in the car roll the windows down put on some ELO or Simon and Garfunkel or Tyler the Creator and have a great drive.

# ? Mar 26, 2017 16:59

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 8, 2024 21:59

keykey: Mar 28, 2003; Â Â Â Â Â

I was pretty sure winter was finished here too, but then it started raining again.

# ? Mar 26, 2017 17:32

Adiabatic: Nov 18, 2007; What have you assholes done now?

Seminal Flu posted:

This site is pure AI. How have we not been discussing some of these absurdly cool engine swaps before?

http://www.engineswapdepot.com/

Hot drat

# ? Mar 26, 2017 17:45

meatpimp: May 15, 2004; Psst -- Wanna buy

EVERYWHERE
some high-quality thread's DESTROYED!

Adiabatic posted:

Hot drat

Just go down this page: http://www.engineswapdepot.com/?paged=4

# ? Mar 26, 2017 18:09

briefcasefullof: Sep 25, 2004; [This Space for Rent]

Seminal Flu posted:

Just go down this page: http://www.engineswapdepot.com/?paged=4

I want the Cadillac and the F250 something fierce.

# ? Mar 26, 2017 22:10

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

QuarkMartial posted:

I want the Cadillac and the F250 something fierce.

Hot Rod Garage is doing a similar thing with an old F-100 and a Crown Victoria

# ? Mar 26, 2017 22:15

slothrop: Dec 7, 2006; Santa Alpha, Fox One... Gifts Incoming ~~~>===|>; Soiled Meat

I think my flatmates might be a little more excited about this whole thing than I am�

# ? Mar 26, 2017 23:12

OBAMNA PHONE: Aug 7, 2002

the ceiling fan i have in my bedroom annoys the poo poo out of me it makes too much noise. At slower speeds (controlled by a multi-speed selector switch on the wall) it hums too much and at the faster speeds the unit oscillates a bit too much and has a different, but equally annoying noise to it.

OBAMNA PHONE fucked around with this message at 23:19 on Mar 26, 2017

# ? Mar 26, 2017 23:17

keykey: Mar 28, 2003; Â Â Â Â Â

Seminal Flu posted:

Just go down this page: http://www.engineswapdepot.com/?paged=4

Dang, I had to reach dowwwwwn, between my leeeeegs.. Ease the seat baaaack.

# ? Mar 27, 2017 02:06

Darchangel: Feb 12, 2009; Tell him about the blower!

I am currently at Brain Candy Live, with Adam Savage and Michael Stevens. This is fun. Favs so far: the vacuum ping pong cannon that holed a ping pong paddle, and the 3-foot smoke ring that made it to the upper balcony. That was big vortex cannon.
Tried to convince my daughter to come, but she didn't want to. Too bad, she would have loved it.

Edit: we're in an intermission. I'm not texting while they're on stage.

# ? Mar 27, 2017 03:01

The Locator: Sep 12, 2004; Out here, everything hurts.

Nidhg00670000 posted:

I really, seriously don't understand how and/or why HOAs work. So you own the house but they own the land as some kind of land tenure, or what the gently caress is going on? Why are other people allowed to tell you what you can and can't do on your property?

Bit late to HOA chat, but I just caught up with this thread after vacation.

HOA's exist because the cities/towns decided they didn't want to build and maintain parks, so they dumped the 'greenspace' stuff on the developers, and well, somebody has to pay for the landscapers and water, and the cities said - make the homeowners do it! Thus were born the HOA's.

When a developer creates a new HOA for the new development, they (the developer) are the board of the HOA and they get to create the rules (CC&R's and Bylaws) which only get handed over to the homeowners after a certain percentage of the homes are occupied (something like 60% if my memory is right). Only after that point can the rules be changed if the homeowners don't like them, but guess what? It takes a majority of ALL the homeowners, not simply the ones who choose to vote, to change anything in the CC&R's. That pretty much means that the rules can't be changed. Ever. So in many ways the hands of the board of the HOA are legally tied, since they are handed a set of rules that cannot be changed. Some of those rules are also unenforceable due to the rules conflicting with local laws (like on-street parking when the city owns & maintains the streets).

If you don't like how your HOA is run (draconian enforcement of architectural guidelines for example, which CAN be changed by the board), the solution is to be active in your HOA. Most HOA board meetings have very few (and sometimes zero) homeowners show up, so the board is operating in a vacuum of feedback. When people do show up, it's invariably because they are pissed off about something (usually poo poo the HOA isn't in charge of anyway, like their neighbors noisily dragging their trashcan out at 3am).

If your board won't listen to your feedback, then get together with your neighbors, and get together with a few of them to run for the board positions which should be up for election on a rotating schedule so that some of them are up every year. It's super easy to get elected to an HOA board since it's really difficult in most HOA's to even get a quorum for the annual meetings. A quorum is only 10% of the homeowners, and they don't actually have to show up, they just have to send in votes. If you have 500 homes in your HOA, you need 51 votes to have a Quorum, and only 26 of those people need to vote for you instead of the existing board member for you to win the spot. Get enough sensible people on the board that you have a majority of the board members, and bam, you are now in control of your HOA since the HOA board determines who holds what position on the board, so you and your neighbors can suddenly be the President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer and be able to swing every vote in the way you want it.

It's a pain in the rear end during the transition, but once it's done it's smooth sailing, and if you are running the HOA in a way that keeps most of the people in the community happy (meaning they won't show up because they aren't pissed off), you'll get re-elected every 3 years when your term is up until you get sick of it and decide not to run again. It will cost you a few hours per month maybe in emails, and a couple hours per meeting, whether that's monthly or every other month or whatever.

I am the President of my HOA for this exact reason, and all the dumb-poo poo old retired board members who had nothing better to do than make life hell for 90% of the residents who are all working middle-class have all been voted out or quit when they couldn't get their way anymore.

Things like that rule about nobody being able to own a pickup truck? Yea, that's not going to be in the CC&Rs, it's going to be in the bylaws or guidelines which the board can change, so you can just get rid of that stupid rule.

Is there a rule in the CC&R's that you can't change, but is either unenforceable, or completely stupid for your neighborhood (we have one that says no vehicles that are marked as company vehicles can be parked in the neighborhood - so anything that has a company logo on it is against the rules, but probably every 5th house has a company truck or car in the driveway)? Tell your management company to ignore that rule when they are doing their violation visits. The management company works for the board, so unless you tell them to do something unethical or illegal, they'll do it.

Alternative system - Don't buy a house in an HOA community if you can't live with HOA rules and can't or won't get involved yourself to make sure it's an HOA you can live with.

# ? Mar 27, 2017 04:43

FAT32 SHAMER: Aug 16, 2012

The Locator posted:

Bit late to HOA chat, but I just caught up with this thread after vacation.

HOA's exist because the cities/towns decided they didn't want to build and maintain parks, so they dumped the 'greenspace' stuff on the developers, and well, somebody has to pay for the landscapers and water, and the cities said - make the homeowners do it! Thus were born the HOA's.

When a developer creates a new HOA for the new development, they (the developer) are the board of the HOA and they get to create the rules (CC&R's and Bylaws) which only get handed over to the homeowners after a certain percentage of the homes are occupied (something like 60% if my memory is right). Only after that point can the rules be changed if the homeowners don't like them, but guess what? It takes a majority of ALL the homeowners, not simply the ones who choose to vote, to change anything in the CC&R's. That pretty much means that the rules can't be changed. Ever. So in many ways the hands of the board of the HOA are legally tied, since they are handed a set of rules that cannot be changed. Some of those rules are also unenforceable due to the rules conflicting with local laws (like on-street parking when the city owns & maintains the streets).

If you don't like how your HOA is run (draconian enforcement of architectural guidelines for example, which CAN be changed by the board), the solution is to be active in your HOA. Most HOA board meetings have very few (and sometimes zero) homeowners show up, so the board is operating in a vacuum of feedback. When people do show up, it's invariably because they are pissed off about something (usually poo poo the HOA isn't in charge of anyway, like their neighbors noisily dragging their trashcan out at 3am).

If your board won't listen to your feedback, then get together with your neighbors, and get together with a few of them to run for the board positions which should be up for election on a rotating schedule so that some of them are up every year. It's super easy to get elected to an HOA board since it's really difficult in most HOA's to even get a quorum for the annual meetings. A quorum is only 10% of the homeowners, and they don't actually have to show up, they just have to send in votes. If you have 500 homes in your HOA, you need 51 votes to have a Quorum, and only 26 of those people need to vote for you instead of the existing board member for you to win the spot. Get enough sensible people on the board that you have a majority of the board members, and bam, you are now in control of your HOA since the HOA board determines who holds what position on the board, so you and your neighbors can suddenly be the President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer and be able to swing every vote in the way you want it.

It's a pain in the rear end during the transition, but once it's done it's smooth sailing, and if you are running the HOA in a way that keeps most of the people in the community happy (meaning they won't show up because they aren't pissed off), you'll get re-elected every 3 years when your term is up until you get sick of it and decide not to run again. It will cost you a few hours per month maybe in emails, and a couple hours per meeting, whether that's monthly or every other month or whatever.

I am the President of my HOA for this exact reason, and all the dumb-poo poo old retired board members who had nothing better to do than make life hell for 90% of the residents who are all working middle-class have all been voted out or quit when they couldn't get their way anymore.

Things like that rule about nobody being able to own a pickup truck? Yea, that's not going to be in the CC&Rs, it's going to be in the bylaws or guidelines which the board can change, so you can just get rid of that stupid rule.

Is there a rule in the CC&R's that you can't change, but is either unenforceable, or completely stupid for your neighborhood (we have one that says no vehicles that are marked as company vehicles can be parked in the neighborhood - so anything that has a company logo on it is against the rules, but probably every 5th house has a company truck or car in the driveway)? Tell your management company to ignore that rule when they are doing their violation visits. The management company works for the board, so unless you tell them to do something unethical or illegal, they'll do it.

Alternative system - Don't buy a house in an HOA community if you can't live with HOA rules and can't or won't get involved yourself to make sure it's an HOA you can live with.

I bought a house in an HOA neighbourhood but it's $25/YEAR and the hardest rule is "no big sheds in your back yard"

# ? Mar 27, 2017 05:18

Rhyno: Mar 22, 2003; Can't post for 10 years!

funny Star Wars parody posted:

I bought a house in an HOA neighbourhood but it's $25/YEAR and the hardest rule is "no big sheds in your back yard"

But 5 or 6 little sheds would be fine right

# ? Mar 27, 2017 05:27

the spyder: Feb 18, 2011

Ahahahahaha. gently caress me. Our well pump clogged nearly solid Saturday (bad iron bacteria infection, eats pumps every ~7 years). I caught the local supply house at 3:59. Got everything I needed and arranged for a few friends to come over today to pull it. Went ahead and did the pipe/wire at the same time since it had 70's black PVC all the way down. Everything went great. New pump in, new pipe, regulator readjusted. Beautiful. I can shower. Opps. better lock the shop first. Walk by the pump house... why does it sound like a waterfall? gently caress ME. While the system was down I redid a leaking fitting on the pressure tank. Must have overtightened it by a solid 1-2 turns... It blew a 1x1" chunk out. Lesson learned. Finger tight +1/2 turn, NO TAPE only dope.

All the supply houses are closed and I've got meetings at 9am tomorrow. Let's see if I can pull this off. lol

# ? Mar 27, 2017 05:32

FAT32 SHAMER: Aug 16, 2012

Rhyno posted:

But 5 or 6 little sheds would be fine right

"No freestanding structures other than play sets may be constructed on the property"

:saddowns:

# ? Mar 27, 2017 05:34

Queen_Combat: Jan 15, 2011

Or I just could not buy an HOA house

# ? Mar 27, 2017 05:36

The Locator: Sep 12, 2004; Out here, everything hurts.

Metal Geir Skogul posted:

Or I just could not buy an HOA house

If you don't want to deal with an HOA, this is certainly the best choice.

# ? Mar 27, 2017 05:41

cakesmith handyman: Jul 22, 2007; Pip-Pip old chap! Last one in is a rotten egg what what.

funny Star Wars parody posted:

"No freestanding structures other than play sets may be constructed on the property"

Got a tree?

# ? Mar 27, 2017 06:12

IOwnCalculus: Apr 2, 2003

Metal Geir Skogul posted:

Or I just could not buy an HOA house

Good luck with that in metro PHX, unfortunately, unless you've got some decent spending money.

# ? Mar 27, 2017 06:25

Elmnt80: Dec 30, 2012

Our local HOA decided that all houses in our community had to have painted driveways so they could be easily pressure washed a little over 2 years ago. Nobody did it and just lodged complaints instead. Seemed to work for getting them to gently caress off. My driveway is sloped at a 15-20 degree angle, so that would have been fun parking on during a good rain storm.

I say haphazardly attach boards to the shed and house until they agree it is no longer a free standing structure.

Elmnt80 fucked around with this message at 06:29 on Mar 27, 2017

# ? Mar 27, 2017 06:26

Rhyno: Mar 22, 2003; Can't post for 10 years!

My mom's HOA is a bunch of dicks. I went over to do an oil change in one of their cars and just as I was buttoning things up somebody showed up to tell me that all auto work has to be done in the garage with the door shut.

# ? Mar 27, 2017 07:06

nm: Jan 28, 2008; "I saw Minos the Space Judge holding a golden sceptre and passing sentence upon the Martians. There he presided, and around him the noble Space Prosecutors sought the firm justice of space law."

Rhyno posted:

My mom's HOA is a bunch of dicks. I went over to do an oil change in one of their cars and just as I was buttoning things up somebody showed up to tell me that all auto work has to be done in the garage with the door shut.

This is so if you drop the car on you, no one has to work to lift the car off you while you writhe in pain.
Much easier on the neighbors, much more dignity for you.

# ? Mar 27, 2017 07:12

Previa_fun: Nov 10, 2004

Rhyno posted:

My mom's HOA is a bunch of dicks. I went over to do an oil change in one of their cars and just as I was buttoning things up somebody showed up to tell me that all auto work has to be done in the garage with the door shut.

So if you're checking transmission fluid or setting timing or tuning a carb you're expected to run the engine in an enclosed space? Sounds like they're on the hook for any carbon monoxide asphyxiation in that case. :v:

I'm kidding and not yet a homeowner and too poor to buy into an HOA neighborhood but...tell them to gently caress off? Especially if you're done with whatever work you're doing.

# ? Mar 27, 2017 07:45

KozmoNaut: Apr 23, 2008; Happiness is a warm
Turbo Plasma Rifle

You Am I posted:

Hot Rod Garage is doing a similar thing with an old F-100 and a Crown Victoria

I just watched the second episode of that swap, with the finished car/truck (cruck? tar?) in it, and it's totally awesome.

# ? Mar 27, 2017 08:27

bolind: Jun 19, 2005; Pillbug

The Locator posted:

Good Stuff.

Good points. Never underestimate the apathy of the general public, and if you can somehow spin that to your advantage...

# ? Mar 27, 2017 09:40

ExplodingSims: Aug 17, 2010; RAGDOLL
FLIPPIN IN A MOVIE
HOT DAMN
THINK I MADE A POOPIE

Previa_fun posted:

So if you're checking transmission fluid or setting timing or tuning a carb you're expected to run the engine in an enclosed space? Sounds like they're on the hook for any carbon monoxide asphyxiation in that case.

I'm kidding and not yet a homeowner and too poor to buy into an HOA neighborhood but...tell them to gently caress off? Especially if you're done with whatever work you're doing.

Telling an HOA member that's willing to get on you for something so minor is a great way to make your life a living hell there.

# ? Mar 27, 2017 13:22

keykey: Mar 28, 2003; Â Â Â Â Â

Metal Geir Skogul posted:

Or I just could not buy an HOA house

Good choice, I also value my sanity.

# ? Mar 27, 2017 14:03

BigPaddy: Jun 30, 2008; That night we performed the rite and opened the gate.
Halfway through, I went to fix us both a coke float.
By the time I got back, he'd gone insane.
Plus, he'd left the gate open and there was evil everywhere.

If I buy a house no one is telling me what to do with it and I will build a moat and fill it with snapping turtles if needs be.

# ? Mar 27, 2017 14:33

meatpimp: May 15, 2004; Psst -- Wanna buy

EVERYWHERE
some high-quality thread's DESTROYED!

BigPaddy posted:

If I buy a house no one is telling me what to do with it and I will build a moat and fill it with snapping turtles if needs be.

Blanket statements about houses, like most blanket statements, fail to take real life into account.

the spyder posted:

Ahahahahaha. gently caress me. Our well pump clogged nearly solid Saturday (bad iron bacteria infection, eats pumps every ~7 years). I caught the local supply house at 3:59. Got everything I needed and arranged for a few friends to come over today to pull it. Went ahead and did the pipe/wire at the same time since it had 70's black PVC all the way down. Everything went great. New pump in, new pipe, regulator readjusted. Beautiful. I can shower. Opps. better lock the shop first. Walk by the pump house... why does it sound like a waterfall? gently caress ME. While the system was down I redid a leaking fitting on the pressure tank. Must have overtightened it by a solid 1-2 turns... It blew a 1x1" chunk out. Lesson learned. Finger tight +1/2 turn, NO TAPE only dope.

All the supply houses are closed and I've got meetings at 9am tomorrow. Let's see if I can pull this off. lol

See... I'll bet that this guy doesn't have an HOA. But, he's dealing with some of the nasty poo poo you deal with when you live in a non-developed area. He probably has septic, too.

I owned a well/septic house for 15 years. loving nightmare how much I had to deal with water issues. My well had iron bacteria, too. I lived with just a water softener for a number of years, then bought an iron filter. These are big units that require regular reagent additions -- salt or potassium for those two filters. Potassium is nasty, stains and gets everywhere. Salt is cheap, but heavy and annoying. With septic I had to have the driveway marked for where the caps were to the tanks that stored my poo poo, so I could pay someone to come and suck the poo poo out of my tanks every couple years.

gently caress all that noise. I spent far too much time and money on just keeping the water situation sorted in that house. If I let anything slip, the house would let me know by staining every loving thing in the washer a lovely shade of orange/yellow.

I live in an area with an HOA now. It is moderately annoying. I have to pay $200/year for the privilege. But, there are a lot of maintained, large green areas. Nice flowers, lighted brick columns at the entrance to each street. I can work on my car all I want. There's really no interference from the HOA. The only thing I can't do is fence in the yard with a fence taller than 4' or put solar panels on the roof.

Fair loving trade off to be able to get clean, drinkable water at will from the tap with no maintenance and to know that when I flush the toilet, I'll never see that poo poo again.

# ? Mar 27, 2017 14:47

Queen_Combat: Jan 15, 2011

There are non HOA houses that don't have wells/septic, y'know.

I got a letter Saturday showing a loving photo of the trash bins sitting outside the garage door, clearly from a car-mounted system, date stamped Wednesday. Trash pickup is Tuesday, late in the day. I work until 1AM. So I didn't get them inside for eight hours after work. Big whoop, but it's a $50 fine to the owner!

gently caress HOAs to death. Them, along with binding arbitration clauses, are the reason America is an oligarchy. Why rent when you can rent?!

# ? Mar 27, 2017 14:55

Olympic Mathlete: Feb 25, 2011

I'm confused about this well water/HOA scenario here. How does that work?

I pay a water company and they supply me and let me pee and poop and take showers and wash cars to my heart's content. Is that different over there?

# ? Mar 27, 2017 14:59

ilkhan: Oct 7, 2004; I LOVE Musk and his pro-first-amendment ways. X is the future.

Olympic Mathlete posted:

I'm confused about this well water/HOA scenario here. How does that work?

I pay a water company and they supply me and let me pee and poop and take showers and wash cars to my heart's content. Is that different over there?

He's far enough out from a town that he doesn't have a water company. He has a well.

# ? Mar 27, 2017 15:17

meatpimp: May 15, 2004; Psst -- Wanna buy

EVERYWHERE
some high-quality thread's DESTROYED!

Jesus, I thought I was pedantic.

All houses and situations are different. I was just saying that there are many things that can be a loving pain with house ownership. Some of them outweigh others. HOAs can be terrible, can be unobtrusive.

Metal Geir Skogul posted:

I got a letter Saturday showing a loving photo of the trash bins sitting outside the garage door, clearly from a car-mounted system, date stamped Wednesday. Trash pickup is Tuesday, late in the day. I work until 1AM. So I didn't get them inside for eight hours after work. Big whoop, but it's a $50 fine to the owner!

That sounds more like apartment/condo management than any HOA I've ever heard of.

meatpimp fucked around with this message at 15:25 on Mar 27, 2017

# ? Mar 27, 2017 15:22

FAT32 SHAMER: Aug 16, 2012

in most cases if you live somewhere that doesnt have city water, you aren't going to have an HOA

boomer suburbanites will be the first against the wall

# ? Mar 27, 2017 15:24

Queen_Combat: Jan 15, 2011

Seminal Flu posted:

That sounds more like apartment/condo management than any HOA I've ever heard of.

Signed the current HOA president. Its a house, not apartment.

# ? Mar 27, 2017 15:37

meatpimp: May 15, 2004; Psst -- Wanna buy

EVERYWHERE
some high-quality thread's DESTROYED!

Metal Geir Skogul posted:

Signed the current HOA president. Its a house, not apartment.

That's just lovely. How doe the homeowners tolerate that?

# ? Mar 27, 2017 15:41

ilkhan: Oct 7, 2004; I LOVE Musk and his pro-first-amendment ways. X is the future.

Seminal Flu posted:

That's just lovely. How doe the homeowners tolerate that?

By bitching about HOAs in threads like these.

# ? Mar 27, 2017 15:46

Olympic Mathlete: Feb 25, 2011

ilkhan posted:

He's far enough out from a town that he doesn't have a water company. He has a well.

Considering some states are larger than my entire country I never actually thought about that. Thanks.

# ? Mar 27, 2017 15:50

spog: Aug 7, 2004; It's your own bloody fault.

A TV programme about cars is Very Serious Business:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umWmzN1MqWs

# ? Mar 27, 2017 15:55

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 8, 2024 21:59

long-ass nips Diane: Dec 13, 2010; Breathe.

I refuse to believe people care that much about Wheeler Dealers.

# ? Mar 27, 2017 16:02

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > March Chat Thread - Choose Your Own Chat

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