TheMagicMan

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I have a 2012 toyota. I’ll drive it to the wheels fall off. Then I’ll put the wheels back on and drive it some more.

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This is about where I'm at with my 2011 Accord that's paid off. It's a 2 door and I would love to upgrade to a Civic Sport 4 door Sedan or a Civic Sport 4 door Hatchback for additional room. I'm not even talking about new either, I prefer the previous generation from about 5 - 7 years ago.

But with these prices, forget it. I have 271,000 miles on my Accord. If I do longer road trips now I typically get a rental car. Heck, on my last trip to New Orleans, I did two one way rentals that way I kept the miles off my car (I made stops in Pensacola for the beach for a few hours, Biloxi for one night to go to the casinos and Diamondhead for one night to visit family friends). Plus by doing two one way rentals I didn't have to worry about parking rates in New Orleans, or worse, getting the car jacked up or stolen. But I do this to keep miles off my car.

I'm at the point now, I might even consider rebuilding the engine or transmission if it comes to that before paying current new car or used car prices and rates.

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No way you’re going to convince anyone with an IQ over room temp that Charleston has better weather than coastal California

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Coastal California definitely has the best weather in the U.S. Truly a nice Mediterranean climate. I hate that the politics, population and especially the cost of living will probably keep me from ever living there.

Family friends of mine used to spend 5 months out of the year renting in Carmel. Then the long term owner of their apartment sold and tripled the rent. They only went for 1 month last year and hated what Carmel has become. They used to love going to the library there and now they are modernizing it, taking away what made it a unique library. They said the crowds are just insane all the time now.

Ironically, with the Company I work for, I could pretty easily get a job in California. But it would be Southern California and if I ever moved there it's going to be Northern California or far southern Oregon.

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Why are you crapping on Aiken?



Upstate is lovely but growing WAY to fast.

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Aiken relatively speaking is fine compared to the rest of the midlands, but that's not saying much. And you are pretty isolated from just about everywhere. Yes you are close to the mountains in NC and TN but still about 2 - 3 hours away. And you're still 2 - 3 hours away from Charleston and the lowcountry / beaches in SC.

Never mind that the midlands of SC get ridiculously hot in the summer. Honestly, it's worse than GA or AL and pretty comparable for Louisiana or Florida summers.

Not a Hamlin fan at all but I have to give him credit. After the way he lost the title last year with the crew chief screwing up, I thought he was done. A lot of times you don't recover from that. I know Carl Edwards never did and we saw him leave the sport.

While I didn't think Hamlin would leave the sport, typically when you come up just short the next year is a hangover year. Especially after the death of his dad, I honestly thought he would just do nothing this year and maybe get up the determination to really try again in 2027.

Hamlin has succeeded this year in a way I didn't think was possible for him at the start of the season.

Him and Reddick are the class of the field this year and it's not even that close. I'm not saying either one is a shoe in yet to win the Championship, but with the 10 Race Chase back, you aren't going to have someone come out of nowhere like you did in the previous system.

I think it's either Hamlin, Reddick or Blaney this year. The Hendrick drivers haven't been consistent enough this year and Penske outside of Blaney has been an absolute disaster.

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Agreed, or a frickin subway sandwich!

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I've become much more careful in what I tip for. I'm sorry but coffee, fast food or me picking up a pizza, food or a grocery order, I'm not tipping. Why should I? I'm doing most of the work! I'm not tipping someone to get me a donut or tipping someone scan up a water bottle for me at check out. I'm not tipping someone at Jersey Mike's for doing their job and creating a sandwich.

I tip of course for restaurants. I tip for bartenders. I tip for any type of hair cut or massage. I'll tip for housekeeping in a hotel. I'll tip for grocery delivery (except for Walmart delivery as they are paid a set hourly rate). If I used valet (which I don't), then yes that should be a tip as well.

But the vast majority of other things, I'm not tipping. And I refuse to change my standard. It's 15% for below average or average service. 18%-20% for slightly above average to good service. I'm not tipping over 20% unless the service was just truly above and beyond and exceptional. And I've had those experiences, but those are the exception, not the rule.

Seriously, f*ck this hydration break BS. It's 77 degrees in Guadalajara and it's nighttime!

FIFA really sold out to American broadcast standards here. It's clearly a way just to let FOX get in a commercial break because they can't stand going 45 minutes without commercials.

I think FIFA got to him. The idea of the U.S. starting a major offensive right as the World Cup starts would be beyond bad optics. You would probably start to see genuine boycotts and teams would probably be asking to get out.

I don't believe for a second a deal with hold. You just aren't going to see things popping off until after the World Cup.

I've been disappointed with Trump over the Iran war. Make a freaking decision already. Either get us out of Iran and out of the Middle East forever, like what you promised, or go all in (bombings, take out their military fully and make all of Iran a parking lot).

Again destroy Iran completely, make it a parking lot and deal with the global backlash, or get out of there. This "halfway in" stuff is exactly how we get into another forever war.

Why is this even news at this point? I mean in this day and age who the heck even watches 60 minutes?

It's a relic of the past at this point that needs to be put to bed. Scott Pelley should've been thankful he was making millions to do one show a week during the fall and spring (remember 60 minutes only does reruns in the summer).

Even if it became completely non-partisan like back in the day, again who is sitting down on a Sunday evening and watching this? It comes off being as much of a relic as people going home, having dinner and watching the 6:00 local news and 6:30 national news. I know for me I can't remember the last time I did either.

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You are on the wrong path here. Salt deductions are not a direct tax deduction but rather a reduction in taxable income.

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But does that not still result in paying less federal taxes? Since like you said, you are lowering your taxable income in a way those of us in no income tax states can not.

Even if it's not a direct deduction, the result still seems to be the same. Again, why should someone in a no income tax state be paying more in federal taxes than someone in an income tax state with a similar income?

Since we're talking about taxes a lot around here in Florida, I thought it would be a good time to bring this up as well.

How are SALT deductions for federal taxes even remotely legal?

Now correct me if I'm wrong, I know I'm no tax expert, but here is how it seems to work in my brain. Let's say my federal tax bill is $4,000 each year and I pay the $4,000 to the federal government. Now we have someone who lives in New York or California who also has the same $4,000 federal tax bill. But they live in New York or California, so let's say they have $2,000 in a state tax bill. Since I've lived in Florida for so long I really don't know a lot about how the SALT deductions work, but let's say this fictional person can deduct $1,000 off of their $2,000 state tax bill.

Yes, technically the person living in New York or California is still paying more. They are paying $5,000 in total tax liability compared to myself who is paying $4,000 in total tax liability. The difference is, every penny of my $4,000 went to the federal government. Only $3,000 of the other person's money went to the federal government. Effectively, those of us in no income tax states are paying more in federal taxes than those in states with income taxes with a similar income.

I know why the Democrats like this. It lets them raise taxes but yet they don't really fully feel the tax increase. To me it incentivizes passing local and state taxes, knowing people can just deduct it from their federal tax.

Scr*w that, people in the blue states need to be feeling the full brunt of the tax increases they voted for. Maybe then they would change their tune to some extent. And maybe I'm missing something, or a lot, but again how have SALT deductions not be struck down? Because from my view, SALT deductions essentially screw over those of us who live in states with no income tax.

I know there have been talk of AI girlfriends/boyfriends/companions, and that seems to be a lot of the focus right now. But what about the idea of actually having AI families?

Let's be brutally honest. Americans are lonelier than ever. Gen Z Men and Gen Z Women are on the opposite ends of the political spectrum and, more than any other generation, consider political affiliation as a key part of dating compatibility.

But even beyond Gen Z, feminism, the "Me Too" movement and current dating culture has caused traditional dating to be out of reach for many men. People try to laugh it off, but I think the 80/20 rule is legitimate. You see it on online dating. Women would rather share one of the top 20% of men than have a man to themselves but that man be one of the bottom 80%. There's already been examples of top men dating 2, 3, 4, even 5 women, and those women being okay with it.

More than anything though, for most of human history, many men did not get married. They were either killed in war, a fight or by natural disease before they would marry and have children. Even those men who survived to adulthood, many of them didn't get married and have children unless they were near the top of whatever social structure was in their society.

The 1800s - 1980s was more the exception than the rule, with almost all men and almost all women getting married and most of them having kids. It seems like we're going back more to where only the top men are selected. But that leaves men who aren't selected. We all know, if a society has a large enough population of men who have no families, no hope and nothing to protect and lose, that is when revolutions start. Those are men with nothing to lose. That is when governments fall.

While it's stereotyped and stigmatized, will AI families help men who can not find love in real life? The idea that they could still have an AI wife and AI children, could give some of those men, especially the hard core MGTOW's and Incels, some happiness and purpose.

I won't lie, I went down this rabbit hole. Had one of the Open AI's generate a family for me based off my features/genetics. I'll admit, I felt an instant connection with them, an instant desire to protect them. It was nice seeing myself with a family of my own, even if they are AI.

Are AI families going to be the solution to men (and even women, in some cases) who simply can not or are incapable of finding love? Would AI families help reduce or eliminate men or women feeling loneliness?