Wayne-Dalton Garage Doors or at least the reason why you should not buy one with Torquemaster Springs.

This is my latest experience with a home repair.

In our current house we have a Wayne-Dalton garage door. In our last house we had a Wayne-Dalton Garage door. What did these houses have in common other than a WD garage door? They were built by tract home builders.

There is another thing these doors had in common. I only know what kind of door they had because I have had to replace the springs on both of them.

Who is the first person you call when you need to replace garage door springs? Usually the company that has their phone number on the door. Usually that's the installer. or in my case, Wayne Dalton.

So why should you care or why do I care enough to write about it.

Well on this recent occasion I had a reason to question what the guy from Wayne Dalton told me.

Usually when my garage door springs break, they come out and fix them in one visit. The cost if I remember correctly is a bit less than $300.

Not this time. This time when the single spring broke (not a Wayne Dalton Torquemaster spring), the door strength was compromised. The garage door opener, instead of pulling the door up started to pull it in. About a foot before the Genie Door Opener stopped and reversed. Being that the door was the original door, installed in 1996, you could no longer buy a single panel to replace it.  The diagnosis by the technician. The whole door would be need to be replaced. And by the way, so will the opener. Your opener has a stripped gear and while it working now it may be a day or a year but it will fail. And since that opener is as old as your door you can no longer buy the part needed to fix it. I will have the sales department call you on Monday and give you a quote.

So Monday morning I get a call from Sean at Wayne-Dalton and we negotiate a price. New door, new opener installed for about $1400. But, do to unfortunate circumstances we can't install it till next Monday.

So in the interim I was telling one of my friends the story when he asked me if I had a Home Warranty? Well, it just so happens that I do. The reason why I will cover in another post. So, I look at my contract and low and behold, it covers not only the opener but springs as well.

So I file a claim online and within an hour I get a call from the warranty company. I should also add it was around 8PM so that was pretty good.

The next day a women from Legends Garage Door in Phoenix calls me. She tells me she can get a person out the next day (Friday) and he will either fix or give me a quote on the door.

While I have her on the phone I ask her how much it will cost if she needs to replace the door and or the opener. Her price is about $150 more than Wayne-Dalton. But is it? Melissa gave me a lot of advice as well. She said if you do buy their door don't get the Wayne Dalton springs. She also told me not to get the Genie Garage door opener. In Sean's defense he also tried to sell me the Liftmaster opener. It was me who wanted the Genie because the other door is a Genie.

I call Sean back and get a quote for the WD Door and Liftmaster opener. Still cheaper than Legends but only $100. Sean also said I could get regular door springs for no extra cost.

Now it's Friday and Dean from Legends shows up as promised. He looks at the door and says that for $100 he can put on two steel braces that will fix the rigidity of the top panel. The springs, covered by the home warranty.

Less than an hour after he showed up my door was fixed and worked even better than it did before the spring broke. No more sagging door like before. He also changed the angle of the bracket that pulls the door open so it starts by pulling up instead of out. The original install was not done properly.

So now on to the opener. We still had the gear problem. The opener is covered by the warranty as well. Turns out that you can no longer get the part so they replaced the opener as well. I did pay for the upgrade that includes a belt drive, internet gateway and some other cool stuff. The Liftmaster 8550. Total Cost with the door supports, opener upgrade and warranty deductible,  $366.22.  Not the $1400 or so dollars that Wayne-Dalton wanted.

So not the usual quick fix and business as usual that I'm used to. If not for this sequence of events I would still be as happy and ignorant as usual.

But what does all this have to do with Torquemaster Springs? Well, in the opinion of more than a few people they are junk. I told another friend this story and he told me about his door spring ordeal. Once again Wayne-Dalton springs, another door repair company and his replacement of WD Springs.

He then started noticing garage door repair trucks in his neighborhood often. WD springs are like printer ink. Sell the doors to builders really cheap and have a reliable source of income replacing springs every 3 or 4 years. It cost my friend $500 to replace his springs because he converted them but now they should last about 10 years, the average lifespan of normal door springs.

Why you should use a Double Edge Razor instead of one of those Super Speedy Multi Blades

In an earlier post I talked about how my wife bought me a starter shave kit from Art of Shaving. Fortunately she did not by me one of their $100 plus razors. While they sell a few different types of razors, since they are owned by Proctor and Gamble the razor they push is one of their Mach Disposable Razor Handles. Not only do they charge big bucks for the handle but they get close to $2 per blade cartridge.

So I did a bit of research and found a whole big world of "Wet Shaving" on the internet. Wet Shaving is not really what it sounds like. After all, if you're not using an electric razor aren't you wet shaving?

Well, in the world of wet shaving you aren't. Most people use a can of shave cream that is filled with a bunch of chemicals that dry out your face and skin and then run a multi-blade cartridge or disposable razor over their face. You know, what of those high tech blades where the first blade pulls the hair and the next 1-5 blades cut the hair off below the skin.

Well, as it turns out while this sounds great it's not really good for you. Cutting the hair below the skin can cause ingrown hairs. If you get red bumps and irritation after you shave that's probably why.

In the world of Wet Shaving one uses a brush, usually made of Badger and some type of single razor blade, either single or double edge (D.E.) a.k.a Badger and Blade. Just like your father or grandfather did prior to 1980. That's around the time companies in the U.S. stopped making the DE Safety Razor. Just like drug companies  when a patent runs out there's little money to be made from your product.

King Gilette is the best known as the first person to mass market the safety razor. He was one of the first people to use the business model where the big money is made by selling consumables for a proprietary product. Think HP Printers and Ink. Sell the printer cheap and charge a lot for the ink.

Well, that concept is alive and well in the razor and blade world. One exception being Dollar Shave Club. Well, not really. They give you a fairly cheap handle and sell you some pretty cheap blades (compared to Gillette) on a subscription basis. They must be making a pretty big impact because Gillette now has their own version of the subscription model. The blades are closer to $2 each instead of $2 dollars a month but even that $2 a month is way more than you need to spend if you use "Badger and Blade".

So why is B&B shaving so much better than any of those super duper high tech scientifically marketed to all of us gullible folks for the last 50 years?

Many reasons. So lets list a few now.

It's cheaper. Or at least it can be. A good new D.E. Safety Razor made in England or Germany can be had for about $50. You can find cheaper one made in China or India but unless you are really strapped for can I wouldn't recommend it. There is a definite difference and a well made razor can last a lifetime or two if it's cared for. There are many razors made prior to 1980 and even as far back as the early 1900's still out there. If you can find one it could be worth lots of money to a collector.

The blades. Most people, myself included try to get one of those expensive cartridges to last far longer than it should. Most blades last 3-5 shaves on average and when you are spending $2 a piece most people use them far longer than they should. This causes more irritation as well. The duller the blade the harder you tend to press. The harder you press and drag your not so much cutting the hair but ripping it out of your face. I'm sure you have noticed that the best shaves come from the newest blades. D.E. razor blades can be had for as little as $.05 to $.10 cents a piece if bought in bulk.

Picking the right razor is pretty easy. Picking the right blade not so much. There are many blade manufactures out there and there are big differences in the sharpness of the blade. Sharper is not always better.

I was lucky. I bought two sampler packs of many different blades for $40 and right out of the gate the first blade I picked has worked great for me.  I chose a Gillette. I chose that one first because I had been using a Gillette Disposable Razor from Costco. You know, the ones you buy in the 100 pack. Blade and handle all in one. I have some Bic blades in my sampler pack but since the Bic Disposable has always ripped my face to shreds when I have used them I did not start with the Bic. If you like the Bic then that might be the blade for you. Everybody's face and beard is different so blades are a very individual preference. I have almost 20 different types of blades to try but since the Gillette has worked so well I'm afraid to try and others.

So now we need something to keep that really sharp blade cutting your beard and not your face. You can choose either cream or soap. They make both for shaving. I'm not talking about the stuff that comes out of a can. That stuff is expensive, even the cheap brands aren't really cheap. At around $3 a can and it only lasts a month or two if you shave every day that's a lot of money not to mention a lot of cans filling up a landfill or recycle bin.

You can buy Shaving cream or soap from that will last a month for $2 or some high end really luxurious brands for $15 and up that will last 6 months or more.

Now the best way to apply that cream or soap is with a nice Badger Brush. Do you really need one? No, but it does help and it makes for a really nice experience every time you shave. Which is something I do most every day now when I used to avoid shaving as much as possible. You can get a good brush for around $30 and if you want can spends $100's.

So let's recap. Less expensive. More enjoyable. Less waste so better for the environment. Better for your face. Less irritation and few ingrown hairs. And the best part, surveys show that men with a smooth clean-shaven face get laid more often. What's stopping you now?

Maybe you need some suggestions to get you started. Be careful though. Wet shaving can quickly lead to SAD. Shaving Acquisition Disorder. In just one month since I started I have 2 Razors. Two Brushes and many soaps and cremes not to mention a few other items to compliment my daily shave ritual.

It's all about the bass.

I really, really hate this song. How can a song about fish be so stupid. And the most stupid part, we all know it's all about the Tuna, not the bass.

I'm bringing fishy back
Go ahead and tell them skinny fishes, hey
No, I'm just swimming, I know you think you're smelt,
But I'm here to tell you,
Every inch of you is perfect from the dorsal to the pelvic

Yeah, my momma she told me don't worry about your size
She says 'fisherman like a little more fin to hold at night'
You know I won't be no sardine, or baby seal,
So, if that's what's you're into
Then go ahead and move along

Because you know I'm all about that bass,
'Bout that bass, no trout
I'm all 'bout that bass, 'bout that bass, no trout
I'm all 'bout that bass, 'bout that bass, no trout
I'm all 'bout that bass, 'bout that bass

Because you know I'm all about that bass,
'Bout that bass, no trout
I'm all 'bout that bass, 'bout that bass, no trout
I'm all 'bout that bass, 'bout that bass, no trout
I'm all 'bout that bass, 'bout that bass

Because you know I'm all about that bass,
'Bout that bass, no trout
I'm all 'bout that bass, 'bout that bass, no trout
I'm all 'bout that bass, 'bout that bass, no trout
I'm all 'bout that bass, 'bout that bass!!
'Bout that bass, 'bout that bass, hey

Buy that BMW you have always wanted.

The best time to buy a BMW is December.

This is the time of year they run all their sales offers and rebates.

They will either finance it or lease it with an affordable payment.

If they don't have a new one you can afford don't be afraid to buy a used CPO model.

My lessons learned from Chipotle.

My first experience with Chipotle, the restaurant, was watching the guy who started it on one of those contest shows where the winner got backed to open their own fast food style restaurant.

He was one of the biggest Richards around. He would go on and on about how he borrowed 80k from his dad and turned it into such a big success. 80 grand is a lot of money. At least to most people. His father was either really rich or really stupid. Why you ask?

If you have 80k and you are not rich and you give it to your kid, odds are really good you will never see it again. Only in hindsight was that ever a good idea. Most parents who give their kids anything rarely see it again.

But I digress. He is a very savvy marketer. The place is hip and uses only the freshest local ingredients. They are even from well treated animals if we are to believe the hype.

But the kicker. The guacamole is $2 extra. Yep. It's like charging extra for bags at airlines.

Many a time I have made fun of the question that you always get asked when you want Guac on your burrito, "That is $2 extra"? DO you still want it?

Of course my answer and that of most people is, yes. Then you think to yourself, do I look like I can't afford it? Is there something about the way I'm dressed or what.

But then I thought about it. I should be asking why. Why is it an extra $2. I don't really want that big spoon of Guac, I just want enough to get some of the flavor. No more than the cheese or pico or any of the other ingredients.

I bet you that extra 2 bucks is what makes the place so profitable.

Next time they ask you if $2 is OK ask them why it's extra? Start giving Chipotle the inferiority complex.

Tell them no. For two bucks their Guac can rot and turn green for all you care. 2 bucks is too much.

Why we need a military but why we should rarely use it.

Having a military is a good thing but not for the reasons you might think.

It's a good thing to scare potential enemies that it's not a good idea to invade and take what is yours but what many don't see is what good comes out of a military you never use.

The military trains leaders. Not just for battle but for civilian life. How many of our citizens learnd to manage people and resources in the military? Thousands. Many men of the past and now women were trained by our military with skills that can be used in civilian life. From engineers to aircraft mechanics just to name a few.

How many inventions were created came from the need to make weapons or communication systems because they could be used by the military. The Internet for one. GPS. How many more can you think of.

Billions of dollars spent on innovation and human capital that contributes to the betterment of our civilization.

But just like the atom bomb actually using our military can destroy more than it creates. Now that we have seen the destruction that an atom bomb can cause why haven't we learned that the prolonged use of destructive forces will eventually create the downfall of our ability to create our future, but, instead we can destroy our future. If we were to use another atomic weapon I have no doubt the end would be hastened but we have been at war now for more than ten years. That has been just as destructive to our future overtime as an atomic weapon is in seconds.

In these past eleven years our military has not been turning out an abundance of leaders but an abundance of broken men and women. Our money has been spent on research but on munitions, fuel and trying to repair the casualties of those broken men and women who have been forced to kill instead of create. Having flashbacks instead of dreams of future success.

This not only has a long term detrimental effect on the individuals and their families who fight our wars but on the population as a whole. We have less money to spend on education and innovation. We turn out more people who aren't educated enough to fight in a technological future battlefield. 

We have fewer people learning to repair the injuries of war. We have fewer people learning to feed a growing population and fight disease. 

And worst of all we create a society that thinks that is the way life should be. Always at war, spending money only on destruction and not creation. Spending money on guns while those not part of the military machine go hungry.

There are a few populations that became extinct to due weather or geologic catastrophe. But almost every single population that thought war was the way to riches imploded because of themselves. 

If  you insist on fighting civilizations that have barely advanced beyond the Stone Age, it won't be long before you join them. 

If you want them to like you send them food and medicine. Nobody likes to fight on a full stomach.

Uniforms, Saving Money, Dressing Well.

What do uniforms have to do with living well on less?

In my work life I wear a uniform. It makes it really easy to get dressed very day as I don't have to decide if this shirt goes with those pants or this belt with that tie.

I need 3 shirts, two pairs of pants and 1 jacket. How many of you can say that is all you have in your closet for work?

Prior to this job I couldn't say that either.

Now in this case my company pays for my uniforms so that's a pretty big savings. I buy my own socks, shoes and belt but that's it. We not quite. I do by my own shirts. That's because the company buys the cheapest fitting baggiest shirts they can find. But, the shirts (www.acutaboveuniforms.com) I buy are only $30 each and like I said before, I only need 3.

My son goes to a school that requires uniforms. 3 pairs of pants, 3 shirts. And because it's a uniform nobody knows if he wore the same clothes the day before.

You don't need a lot of clothes to be well dressed.

All you need is 3 of each of something. Yes even socks or underwear. Just do your laundry instead of buying more because you are to lazy to do laundry because Honey Boo Boo is on.

I have been cleaning out my closet and I have a lot of clothes. If you go to places like The Mens Warehouse they sell you three suits. If you wear suits everyday then by all means buy 3 suits.

But where you can really save money is in your personal life. Look in your closet and add up all the money you have spent on things you rarely or never wear.

If you haven't worn it in the last 6 months give it away. there are plenty of people who can use your clothes before they go out of style or rot on the hanger.

If there is something you wear all the time buy 3 of them. I have 3 pairs of jeans. Three pairs of shorts and about 100 T-Shirts. Of which most make me look like crap. They have assorted Chicago or Arizona Sports teams on them. They have car or dog and even beer advertisements. I paid good money to advertise something that doesn't make me a dime.

But what I have started to do is wear either Khaki, Black or Blue Shorts with either a Black or Khaki
T-Shirts. Nice ones.

I also have a couple of nice blue or black casual shirts with collars as well. I notice I get far more respect when I dress without the advertising.

I don't look like a slob anymore and all those T-Shirts weren't cheap. Sports team shirts are like $20 each.

Shoes. Who really needs more than 2 or 3 pairs of shoes, wallets, watches or just about anything else you find in your closet or jewelry box.

If you not a collector your a hoarder. If you buy less you can buy nicer things that last longer and look better.

Many things you only need 1 of but rarely do you ever need more than three of anything.

Four and people start looking at you funny. If you don't think so how many cats doest it take to be the crazy lady with all the cats?

My First Shave with a Double Edge Razor

In an earlier post I told you about a gift my wife gave me. An Art of Shaving (AoS) Travel Set that includes pre shave oil, shaving cream, after shave balm and a badger hair shaving brush.

I liked the way the shave went so much with a disposable razor I did a little research on the interwebs and ended up buying a Merkur 23C Long Handle Safety Razor (aka 180).

I also bought a couple of blade sampler packs to go with it. I chose to use the Gillette Platinum blade to start. Blades are a very personal choice. What works well for one person my be a face shredder for another.

This blade worked out extremely well for me. I have shaved several times with this type of blade now and not a single nick, cut or irritation.  Knock on Sandalwood. aka

Man in a Can. This is the scent my wife got me for my birthday. It is a very popular scent in mens grooming products. On to the process.

I take a nice hot shower to start. Then I use the Art of Shave Pre-Shave Oil to prepare my face. Next I use the AoS Shave Cream. Just one squirt and dab it on my face, then take the Pure Badger Brush and dip it in hot water, then shake off the excess to build a nice lather on my face using circular motions at first to help lift and separate the whiskers followed by a paintbrush motion. Sort of like wax on wax off followed by paint the fence a few times.

Now for the hard part. I have never used a DE Razor before this day. I had seen my father use one some 45 or so years ago.  Carefully I place the blade in the razor and put it to my face. I have to

remember not to apply pressure as this can cut or scrape your skin. This is not a cartridge blade. It does not have the same protection I am used to and since I tend to use my blades way past their useful life I tend to press pretty hard.

So I smoothly and carefully rest the razor against my face and let the weight of the razor apply the pressure. I then find the correct angle (about 30 degrees) and pull the razor down my face from my sideburn to my chin. This is called the WTG with the grain pass. You can hear the whiskers being cut. Since it is a double edge I turn the razor around and make a second pass right next to the first like a Zamboni resurfacing the ice at a hockey game. Time to rinse of the blade. All in all it takes about 20 passes on you face like mowing a lawn except you only work in one direction.

I started with about 4 days growth. I wanted to make sure I had more whisker than skin on this first

try. This first pass brought it down to about a five o'clock shadow. Time to re-lather. There is still plenty left on the brush so just a quick rinse of the face with water and I paint on more lather still left on the brush till my face is nice and slick with a nice white frosting. It's amazing how little cream or soap you need to make enough lather to shave 3 or more passes. A bit the size of a pea goes a long way.

Now according to all the shaving gurus, across the grain ATG is how you should shave next. Just like

before let the razor do all the work and listen to the blade make a scratching sound making passes just like the Zamboni except just scraping in one direction.

Since you are not using 2 or more blades at once and tugging the hair past the skin before you chop it off it takes a few passes to get a really close shave. But your face will thank you for taking the time. Just think of it as foreplay.

After both passes my face is pretty smooth but not baby bottom smooth or BBS is shavers jargon.

So, me, not listening to all the experts who say don't go for BBS the first time out, went for the against the grain shave ATG. rinse, repeat. Listen to that wonderful sound of a razor cutting whiskers.

Talk about a wonderful shave without any redness, bumps or irritation from my shirt collar all day long.

After that last pass a rinse with cold water to close the pores and a dab of AoS after shave and man did my face look, feel and smell great.

I have learned since that first shave that even a 2 pass shave once you finish and dab on the after

shave is a very close shave. It's sort of like once you close the pores your face sort of sucks back the whiskers. All the pre shave prep actually hydrates and softens them up making them easier to cut. So once they dry they do shrink a bit.

I write this post almost 3 weeks after my first shave and I have changed some of the products I use a bit and have gotten bit by SAD Shave Acquisition Disorder. I now have many new soaps, creams and something called Skin Food. I especially like the Geo. Trumper Limes.

I might just do a review of some of this newly acquired stuff in a future post.

The Ultimate Driving Experience a.k.a BMW Uber Test Drive

Once a year in cities around the U.S. BMW USA holds events where you can learn more about their cars and even drive them more than around the block at a dealership.

https://ude.bmwusa.com is the link to find one near you. The locations change as they are scheduled. The one I did was just held in The Los Angeles Area. These events are sponsored by BMW and Area Dealers. They do hope to sell you a car. There are many of the latest and greatest cars to look at and a few to drive.

They have 4 different options to choose from:

Street Drives: Nothing really special here. Just a test drive of the car you choose. Free.

Auto Cross: A two hour class on how to drive a BMW M235i around a closed circuit course that test your skills as a driver. Fun and Free.

Teen Driving Class: A Half day class where any licensed or permitted driver under the age of 21 is taught some defensive driving and why you should text and drive. Accident avoidance is the main focus and I highly recommend that you take your young driver to learn these skills. And it's all free. Will your kid want a BMW when it's over? Maybe, but take them anyway.  A program like this costs at least $300 if not more where they are taught/

And I have saved the best for last. Why? $650  Not everyone can afford that much to play hard and drive fast in a BMW M3 and M235i.

You get a full day of professional instruction by real race car drivers and lots of time driving these cars to limits that unless you take your car to a Track Day you would never do with you car willingly.

The day starts with about 1 hour of classroom instruction on proper driving technique. Not what your parents taught you or your High School driving instructor unless your teacher was Danica Patrick.

They teach you to put your hands at 9 and 3, not 10 and 2. When avoiding something like an accident or that car coming at you, don't look at the thing you want to avoid, look where you want to go.

String Theory. Not String Theory from quantum physics but driving string theory. The three ways of changing a cars direction. And you thought that the only way to change direction was using the steering wheel.

Then the real fun begins. They take you out on the track. In this case it was a big parking lot marked of with cones and chalk but for sake of argument we will call it a track.

The instructors will show you how it's done once and then it's your turn.

The first thing they do is teach you how to really use ABS Braking. ABS brakes are meant to be used hard when avoiding an accident. All the way to the floor as hard as you can. If 1 is light pressure and 10 is hard, 10 is how you use them to stop. First you accelerate to 30, hold that and drive to the imaginary line marked by a set of orange cones. Then you get to see how long the car takes to stop. You do this again increasing 10 MPH at a time until you get to 60 MPH. The distance to stop at 60 MPH is not twice that of 30 MPH. It increases exponentially.

Once you have learned how to stop straight they add a turn at the end. A 90 degree turn, with the brakes still on. The ABS on a BMW and most recent cars  is not just anti-lock brakes but Alternate Brake and Steering. Now days they can sense if the car is doing what you want it to do. They figure if you turn the wheel you actually want it to turn that way. Anybody who has driven old ABS or cars without ABS that if you are going fast enough and you try to turn the car will just keep going straight.

Not anymore, now when you turn the wheel and slam on the brakes the cars changes the pressure on the brakes at each wheel so the car will do its best to make the turn as well. This is why if you are driving on the street or if you aren't on a track you should never turn off the DSC.

The next exercise is a 40 MPH lane change, no brakes. You accelerate to 40 MPH and change one full lane to the right without taking your foot of the gas and then stop in a box in the other lane just ahead of you. How often do you that?

And the last accidence avoidance maneuver is the box just fell off the truck in front of you exercise.  You drive straight ahead towards a cone and when the instructor tells you which direction to avoid it at about 60 MPH you either swerve right or left and get back in your lane and then stop straight ahead.

So far everything above is in the Teen Driving Course.

Lunch Time. A box lunch from a place like Panera or Paradise Bakery.  Soft Drinks and water are provided all day.

Now comes the real fun. It's time to put what you learned into action on the Autocross Track. If you are not familiar with Autocross, it's basically a course built in a really large parking lot made by putting up a bunch of cones where you have a bunch of turns with a few short straight aways and one longer straight away. Most cars don't get over 50-60 MPH on the straights and many of the turns are done around 30-40 with at least one turn at the end of a straight where you get to 60 MPH and brake down to 10MPH do a 90 degree turn and then floor it to the next turn. The whole lap takes between 34 and 40 seconds. For the next hour or two you take turns doing 3-4 laps in a M235i.

Time to go back to the practice area and do some skid training.  Now for those of you who didn't grow up where there is ice and snow doing donuts in a parking lot around the light posts this next event is for you. They have these sleeves they put on the back tires so that the car skids at about 10 MPH. You get to do skids in figure eights and ovals around cones. Even if you did this kind of thing as a kid it's not easy.

Back to the Autocross Track to compete for best time against the other folks in your class. There were 14 in mine. A very good number because there were 12 instructors.  They divided the class into two groups so the teams competed for best team and best individual overall.

We did a relay style race where you did one lap around the track and had to stop in a designated box. Stop with a wheel anywhere outside the box and you add five seconds to your time. Knock over a cone anywhere on the track, add two seconds to your time. Since the best times were 100ths of a second apart one cone knocked over could set you back 4 places. Stop outside the box and it could put you dead last.

The times were individual for First Place and cumulative for Best Team. Since it was a relay how fast you changed drivers counted as well.  Team time was from the start of the first driver to last driver stopped in the box. Watching 6 others in your team driving around the track was very exciting. You also got to watch the other team.

The times were so close that it was hard to keep track. Almost all the drivers were in the 36 second range give or take half a second. A few had times in the 38-40 second range on both teams. One guy on the other team stopped outside the box. One guy on our team knocked over a cone. This race was in the brand new M3's. These cars are far faster and stop much better that the M235i.

Once the final race was done we headed back to the clubhouse and got right to the awards.

I found out my team lost by less than 1 second. I also found out I had the best time on my team but was 3rd overall. I missed 1st by less than 1/2 a second.  There were a couple of guys making fun of the clock that kept time to 1000th of a second.

So do I recommend paying $650 bucks to spend the day beating up a new BMW? Absolutely! If you buy or lease a new BMW in the subsequent 60 days you get a code you give to the dealer that gets you $1000 off. Would I buy the car? Well, many of the folks there already drove a BMW. One guy had and M3 that was 10 years old and was debating if he was ready to trade up to a new one. He still loved the one he had and it had less than 45k miles on it.

So am I going to take my coupon and go down to the dealer and buy a new BMW. No. I find the base car really boring. Not a car you want to spend the hour most people drive to work every day. And the cost of the fully loaded Leather lined 24 speaker Harman/Kardon Sound system? 50k for the M235i and almost 80k for a M3.  Sorry, I don't find driving the car on the street or even the track any more fun than my Mazda Miata. It's not as fast, and it's not even as technologically advanced but it's as much fun to drive and even brand new, fully loaded half the cost.

In the BMW M3 you can do 80 MPH in like 6 seconds and not even know it. In my Miata I can go 0-60 in seconds and feel like I'm doing 80.

If your interested I have a coupon that can get you $1000 of your next BMW for sale. Make me an offer.

Shaving. The low cost of going old school. Maybe.

Travel Set

I hate shaving. So much so that if I don't have to go to work that I skip doing it for days.

When I do shave I do it in the shower with a disposable razor you get by the gross at Costco. As for shaving cream, I just use what ever soap we have in the shower.

Well for my birthday my wife bought me a shaving gift set from The Art of Shaving. I sort of said thanks and was thinking you know I really hate to shave, don't you?

Well she couldn't wait for me to use it. I still had 3 days till I had to go to work but she wanted me to try it out. I made excuses for a couple of days but we were going out for my second bday dinner since the one we had on my birthday was so crappy (see my yelp review).

So I took a shower and proceeded to the sink to shave. Remember, I haven't shaved outside the shower in years. This gift (yuck) required this big ordeal to use. It had a pre shave gel, shaving cream and a brush that you use to put on the shaving cream and an after shave gel for when you finish shaving. The only thing it was missing was a razor. Why? Because the ones she saw in the store were lots of dough. Anywhere from $55 to $300. Yikes!

I now have to read the directions since I have never used any of this stuff before. Wash face with warm water. Put small amount of pre shave gel is hand and rub all over beard. Now get shaving brush wet and put shaving cream on brush and lather. To say it was complicated would be lying. It was actually pretty easy once you did it and followed the directions. It was just not a daily ritual I was used to.

Anyway, I get my face all lathered up per the directions and proceed to shave with my cheap trusty razor. A new one actually. Not one I have used 7 or 8 times till it rips the whiskers out of my face instead of cutting them. Did I forget to mention that I'm cheap and using a .75 cent razor once or twice is like cutting up a dollar bill every couple of days.

So after I shave I use the after shave gel and to my surprise I get a really nice shave. No pain, no cuts, no irritation. This using quality shaving creams and gels might have some thing going for it.

But although I like the shave and think I know everything because that's the way my father did it back in the 60's I say to my wife that you leave the shaving brush wet with the little bit of shave cream left on it in a mug next to the sink.

Well in our house we don't take the other persons word for it. No, we google it till we find evidence to support our case. In walks my wife with her computer and she shows me this:

"It is also important to take care of your brush after the shave. Rinse your brush thoroughly to remove all of the soap or cream and leave it in an open area where it can completely dry, since mildew and soap scum will also deteriorate badger hairs and cause breakage." from a website called Shaving 101.

These guys take shaving really seriously.  I have learned a lot from this site just reading a few of the 100's of articles this site has to offer.

The first and most important thing is shaving doesn't have to hurt. It can be something you actually look forward to.

Don't be so cheap that you cut your face and irritate your skin. Use a fresh blade every 3rd or 4th shave.

And the bottom line. Going Old School and using a DE (Double Edge) Razor and disposable blades can save you money.

www.shaving101.com wrote a really good article on the costs of shaving with canned shave creams and disposable plastic razors vs DE Razors and Quality shave products so I am going to link to it here. http://www.shaving101.com/index.php/education/double-edge-shaving/164-money-magazine-got-it-wrong.html

It can also cost you lots of money because you just might make it a new hobby like the guys who write the site.

After reading this I just spent another $200 on shaving supplies. The guy who dreaded shaving and hated spending a buck a week on a new plastic razor.

But if you just spend the minimum to get a good shave after one year (according to the article) you can save $26 the first year and more than $50 very year after that.

In the last day I have ordered a DE Razor, Travel Case for it (I travel 3-4 days a week) and some blade sample packs. Apparently you need to find the blades that work best with your beard and skin. The same goes with creams apparently.

Also if you travel like I do you can't carry on your razor blades, they have to go in checked baggage along with your creams and gels over 3 ounces.

How did this become a car blog?

That's easy. In the last month I needed to buy a car. My van is pretty unreliable. My 2 Miata's only hold two people and it's been a real pain taking two cars when 3 or 4 of us have to go somewhere at the same time.

And I can't find a used car I want at a price I'm willing to pay. The math just isn't working out. At least not in my favor.

I found a 2008 Toyota 4Runner. 60k Miles for $19,000

6 years old. Now mind you this car was around $29,000 when new.  The new model can be had for $34,000 with tax. $0.25 per mile is really cheap for those first 60k miles. He may have put on a set of front brakes and possibly a set of tires but that's about it except oil changes.

The next 60k miles and 6 years will probably see this car go to 8 or $9,000. That's a pretty linear depreciation. That's actually the sign of car that holds it's value. This is the kind of car you can buy new or used and you won't go wrong.

Did I mention that my Mother has a 2000 4Runner with 174k miles. New $20,000. Less than $200 a year to maintain. That includes tires, brakes, oil changes and batteries. That's less than $0.12 a mile, that's 12 cents, even if she junked it today. But, it still runs great. The key to that might just be driving your car like an old lady (she was 70 when she bought it). Also doing routine maintenance. Keeping it in a garage it's whole life.

So, should you buy used?

Only if you can find the used car you want. Even a used car for most people is worth less the minute you drive off the lot. Just because you like that car doesn't mean someone else does.

If you buy from a dealer they had to make some money on it. That could be $100 or even a few Thousand. If you bought it from a Private Party and it's a car everybody wants "today" it might not be a car anybody wants 6 months from now. When new model cars come out, dealers usually discount last years model so almost everyone has a car that is worth less. The new pricing books usually come out every 3 months at least. There are exceptions to the rules but they are very few.

Don't buy a White car. Very few people want white cars. The only people who should buy white cars are people who plan on putting business graphics and phone numbers on them. Even where I live in Arizona a white car doesn't stay any cooler on the inside. Silver is OK because it hides dust but it's just one step above white.

Black. They look pretty but it takes a lot of work to keep them that way. The darker the car the more it takes to maintain the paint.  Just go look at www.chemicalguys.com and see what they have to do to make an older black car look nice.

www.bankrate.com has some really good advice on how to test drive and buy a used car.

I have bought many used cars in my life. I have had some very mixed outcomes.

Here are a few recent ones.

Dodge Grand Caravan.

Don't buy one. I did. Never again. Although it has lots of room, disappearing and fold flat seats they suck.

Dodge Grand Caravan. 3 years old with 60k miles. Pretty bare bones. What do you want for $16000. Anyway it served us pretty well for the 6 months we had it but it again just wasn't a car we really liked. It fit all the dogs, the kids, camping gear and it held a lot of dog food. I sell dog food. When we sold this one 6 months and 6k miles later. We took a big bath. Almost $7000. That hurt. Nobody wants a bear bones minivan. Especially one where the rental car companies dump thousands of higher end models on the market every year. If you really want one buy a loaded Chrysler Town and Country. It's the same car but a much higher trim grade. It will also cost about 30% more.

The we have our Ford Flex. We got a decent deal on it and drove it for 6 months and about 6k miles. We didn't really like the Flex. It was to big. We called it The Boat. When we sold it we only lost $1000 so that wasn't to bad for putting on 6K miles. It wasn't white. It had the options people wanted and it was actually a pretty nice car with lots of room. Almost as much room as a Honda Pilot. It just sits much lower.

I also have a 1999 Mazda Miata. Bought it with 150k plus miles on it for $3000. I might have even paid to much. But for 3k it runs great, AC works well and if it gets damaged or needs a big repair I can just junk it. Plates are cheap and I don't need collision insurance. Also I don't really worry when I park it if someone is going to scratch, dent or ding it. That felling is almost as nice a driving in your brand new $40,000 baby. The one you park far away from everybody else. The one where you would just cry if it gets a bruise.

If you are only going to keep a car for 3 years or less, buy used. Buy a car that is already 3 years old. Let the other guy take the really big depreciation hit. Close to 50% on most cars.

If you take your time and look around for exactly what you want you can get a pretty good deal. You might like it so much you keep it longer than 2-3 years. If you don't it wont cost you that much either. Most 3 year old cars still have around 30-40k miles where the maintenance is still pretty cheap.

Stay away from Salvage or Rebuilt cars unless they are really cheap and you plan ok keeping it a very long time. That's like Herpes. So is a Carfax with Frame Damage. take at least 25% of the value of the vehicle.

Before You Buy a Car.

Do Your Homework!

Look at your budget. How much can you afford. You need to know this before you even think about looking. Never look over your budget. It's easy to get talked into more car than you can afford when the dealer uses longer loan terms to lower the payment.

Don't ever answer the question "How much a month can you afford" when you are at a car dealer. You should have used a loan calculator up front and now how much the bottom line out the door price needs to be to stay within your budget. Then look for the car that fits the Dollar amount.

Never finance a new car for more than 60 months or a used car for more than 36. You should also have at least 10% down or a trade with that much value.

You have a trade, maybe you should just keep it until you can put at least 20% down or maybe even pay cash because you didn't have car payments for 4 years and saved the difference.

Never buy more car than you can afford. But never buy less car to save money that you can afford to spend. What do I mean by that. If you want leather seats and you can afford leather seats, don’t buy the car without them. You will only be unhappy sooner and start thinking about wanting another car sooner.  You want Bluetooth and you can afford it. Buy it. Don't take the car without it. If you follow my advice you are going to be driving this new car for at least 6-8 years. 

Can you pay cash for the car?

Even if you do have the cash pretend you are going to finance it. Then you won’t blow your life savings all in one day. You might want to buy a house someday. You say you already own a house. Buy a rental property. That's how you accumulate wealth. Not buying cars. Buying cars for most people is like drinking beer. It just takes months instead of minutes for the cash to go down the toilet.

Experts say that your debt payments should not exceed 35% of your monthly income. That includes anything you have to make monthly payments on. Rent, Mortgage, Credit Cards. If you have a regular payment to make very month add all that up. for example.

You make 50K a year. 35% of that is $17.5k/12 = $1,458 dollars a month. So if your rent/mortgage is $700 a month, you have other debt payments of $300 a month that leaves you with $458 a month for a car payment.

On a 36 month loan that will buy you about $14,000 of car. You can use many of the Car Loan Calculators on the web to figure this out.  That's probably a used Honda Civic or a new Honda Fit. 

60 Months and that will get you around a $25,000 car. Congrats, you can now afford a New Honda Civic.

Shop the web. Edmunds.com KBB.com NADAGuides.com Cars.com ConsumerReports.com Craigslist.com Google Reviews, prices, video reviews. Know more about that car than the person selling it to you.

DO NOT BUY JUST YET! Now go test drive some cars. Make sure you fit. Make sure your kids fit. You are going to be stuck with this car for the next 3-5 years at least. That's longer than some marriages. And since you are not a car dealer. You didn't buy it for less than it will sell for the next day. If you bought it new you just burned about 5k-10k or more. If you bought it used at least 2k-3k. Divorce isn't cheap. Do not let them sell you this car today. You will probably feel worse in nine months than if you had a newborn from a one night stand.

You have now picked your car, your options and you know exactly how much you can afford to pay.

Do you have financing secured? Well you should, unless you are paying cash. You can always have the dealer try to beat the deal you have but never count on them to do better if they have no competition. Credit Unions are usually the best. Then maybe your local bank and even CapitalOne.com The key is to be ready before you say yes.

Now, if you are buying used do you buy private party or dealer?

Most private parties think their car is always the "excellent" condition car. Odds are good it isn't. Unless you are really good at buying used cars I usually tell friends to steer clear of private party sales. The pitfalls are numerous. There are also lots of curbside dealers out there. They just sell cars from the auctions and as a wholesale dealer I can tell you that lots of cars at auctions now days are some pretty bad deals. Most dealers keep the good cars for themselves.

Also most people trading up for a new car save sales tax when they trade in their cars. That's why they aren't much cheaper than at the dealer. And that dealer price. It's always negotiable. The people selling on the street. They just look at what the dealer is asking and think the tax is your savings. Just watch Pawnstars sometime. You usually have to see 7-10 cars or be the 7th or eighth person to look at their car to get any deals from a private party. If you have time to waste or like meeting people who love their cars more than they want to sell them then have at it.

5-10 years ago I would never buy used from a dealer. How things have changed with the internet. Dealers have to charge less and private sales cost more.

I never would have thought this in the past but lately I would stick to the Dealer Certified Used Cars. Many of those cost the dealer and extra 1k-2k dollars to do that but they actually add value to a car. Now days getting two keys and a set of matched tires can be worth $500 or more. Add that to many of the other things a CPO car is usually worth it. Especially cars like BMW and Mercedes.

By the way, unless you have a boat load of extra cash or really want to have your car delivered in Germany never ever buy a new Luxury Car.

They're Great! 

I was looking at a LimeRock Edition BMW M3 the other day at a BMW Dealer. Only 7k miles on it. New $81,000 not even 2 years ago. Sticker on the window today 76k. Special Internet Price. 67k. Real price I wasn't that keen on spending 60K to find out. I have a hard enough time leaving my 2011 Miata in a parking lot let alone a 60k dollar plus Orange billboard that screams take me or hit me.

Happy Face!

And also, where in the US can you drive a car that can go 150MPH plus without going to jail? I have only had my Miata at the track once in two years. Plus, when I'm doing 60 it feels like I'm going 100. Zoom Zoom.

Should you buy a new car, a used car or keep fixing the old one?

There is no one right answer. If you are independently wealthy and can spend as much as you want. Buy whatever you want, whenever you want, as much as you want. And by all means, trade that car in every few weeks or years so the rest of us can buy your car and not have to buy a new car or really old used one. 

The truth though is that less than 6% of car buyers keep their cars for less than 5 years now.  So much for that new car smell every few years. 

And just one other fact. It's not the wealthy people who buy new cars all the time. That's the fastest way to lose money, not keep it.

Here's what AutoMD.com, a site that rates car-repair services, found in its self-serving poll:

Drivers Keep Vehicles for Over 10 Years
Over 10 years - 78%
8 - 10 years - 15%
6 – 7 years - 4%
3 – 5 years - 3%

So for the majority of us, the 97% who can’t afford to keep a car less than 8 years, the real answer is do the math. Then use your head, not your heart. 

Math is unemotional. Numbers look like this (1,2,3,4,5) You should never buy a car based only on this :) or one day real soon you will look like this :(.

How long do you usually keep a car? 

The less time you keep a car the more likely you should only buy used cars. Cars depreciate on average 50% in the first 3 years.  By Year 5 they have lost another 12% on average . Even the cars companies that say they hold their resale value don’t do more than a few percent better.

So lets take a $20,000 car. 

After 3 years it can be bought for about $10,000 where the average car has 45k miles on the odometer. 

At the end of year 5 you would have 75k Miles on it and could sell it for about $7,600. 

The original owner paid $0.45 a mile and the second owner paid $0.08 a mile. The second owner probably had to buy a set of tires and change the transmission fluid and maybe even a battery but they still got one heck of a deal. And of course this is depreciation alone. The original owner paid more in sales tax, insurance and if you live in a State like Arizona you paid a lot more each year for license plates as well.

The $20,000 dollar car had $1,600 in taxes, $500 in license fees and probably an extra $200 a year for insurance. That’s an extra $2,700 dollars for the 3 years you owned the car. If you buy a $40,000 car just double the numbers. 

Now lets see how much in depreciation alone it costs to keep a car 8 years. $20,000 car. 8 years @ 15k miles a year = 120k miles. 

If it’s a basic Honda Civic you could  probably sell it for  $7,000 but lets go on the safe side.  If you kept that car in good shape I doubt that you couldn’t get at least $4,000 for it on a bad day. You’ve kept up on all the maintenance and haven’t beat it to death. $16,000/120,000 = .14 cents a mile it cost you to own that car.  

A car that you picked out, know the history on since day one and has served you faithfully and could even be yours if you want for the next 4 or more years.

Until now we have just covered buying new or used. How about fixing the old car?

You will hit a point where it cost’s more to fix your old car than it’s worth. That might not be the point where you stop fixing it though. Many people will tell you that when you have a repair that is costlier than what your car is worth that you should unload that car. 

I disagree. I have a 2002 Chevy Astro Van with 275,000 miles on it. The value is now between $400 on the days (very few) it’s not running and $3500 on the days it is. To find a suitable replacement is almost $10,000 and most of those have 80k miles on them or more. For that much money I can probably keep my Astro running for 10 more years. I do a lot of the work myself and it’s not my primary car. The only problem is my wife wont take it long distances anymore. O.K., neither will I. In the last 3 years it has broken down twice. That’s why we have AAA Plus. 100 Mile tow radius to wherever you want your car taken. That would usually be my garage. 

So have you decided what you are going to do? You might want to read the next couple posts and see what I have done. In my years have I have bought both new and used cars. I even keep fixing one with over 250k miles.

Sirius XM Radio. Is it worth it? Maybe.

I have been a Sirius XM subscriber almost since the very beginning.

Before Pandora, Spotify or Slacker it was about the only thing around where you could get commercial free music, especially if you were out in the middle of nowhere.

Howard Stern is Sirius Radio

We also have iPods and other devices where you can store 1000's of songs on something the size of a pack of cigarettes. At least for all of us over 40 who actually bought records or CD's. Now days you don't have to buy 10 songs for each one song you like.

Sirius has been adding subscribers. Mostly because almost all new cars that come with it for free for some period of time.

So is it worth renewing once the free trial or your last subscription is up? By the way, you can cancel at anytime and get the balance of your subscription fee back.

Do you need Oprah or Howard Stern? Do you live somewhere you can't get cellphone service or internet in your home or car? Are you an over the road trucker? Then maybe, just maybe you need satellite radio. Maybe you just want it.

Well if you do then here is something you should know.

As I said before. I have been a subscriber for years. So many years in fact that it turns out I have a package that they no longer offer. Now usually that means you were grandfathered in on some great deal that they no longer offer and you can't get it that cheap ever again. Here's where you should start laughing.

Only in the world of subscription services are you grandfathered in to a bad deal, and they never offer you the better deal unless you speak up. That's right, they just let you go along paying more, usually much more than they charge new customers. That alone should be enough to make you want to say goodbye forever. But does that make us walk out the door and never look back. Of course not. Before they let you go they will make amends. Why? Because some of your money is better than none of your money.

Now how did I know to look into the new deals, after all, they just charge your credit card at renewal time. Well, if you are an annual subscriber they send you a notice once a year that outlines what you are paying and how much they are going to whack your credit card for.

AUTOMATIC SUBSCRIPTION RENEWAL NOTICE

They are warning me in big letters I'm about to get screwed. Then they go on to thank me for being such a loyal listener. Not customer but listener. That sounds so much better than customer.

All told for One car and one internet log on that I can either listen on my computer or iPhone, the measly sum of, $273.50 per year. Holly Cow Bat Man.

More than $20 a month. You can get commercial free Pandora and Spotify for that and almost add Netflix as well. I like Stern but not that much. Once he goes Sirius can kiss half their "Loyal Listeners" goodbye.

So anyway, I call the number on the letter. The number that you can usually find on a letter that most people probably don't look at. Try to cancel on their website. You can't. You're lucky if you can even find the number anywhere on there. It's there but it's hidden. I'm giving it to you here so you can call today and cancel or at least get a better deal. 1-888-245-7496

So here's how my conversation with the nice woman from Sirius goes, and she was very nice.

Me: I just got this letter from your company and I would like to cancel.
Her: We see you have been a loyal listener since xxxx. I also see you have a plan we no longer offer. I can give you our All Access Plan. It includes everything you have now for $220 a year. (they add taxes and fees to those rates you see on the website).

Me: Sorry, that's way to much for as little as I listen.
Her: Hold on. .........  We do have a special offer that you can get one year of All Access for $129 a year.
Me: No, that's still over $10 a month for something I might listen to a few hours a month.

Her: Well, if that still to much we do have a 6 month offer for $53
Me: That sounds reasonable. So that would be $106 for the year?
Her: No. That offer changes to $44 for every three months after the 6 months is up. We will automatically charge your credit card unless you call us to cancel.
Me: Will you send me a reminder letter?
Her: No, you will have to put it on your calendar if you want to cancel.

Me:That's too much effort. How about a one year deal for a better price?
Her: I do have $120 available and on that deal we will send you a letter.

Me: You know what. I'm sorry I wasted our time but I'm just not willing to pay $10 a month for your service.
Her: Hold on one last time and let me see what I can do. ........ 1 minute later. I have one last offer I can make. I can offer you one year off All Access for $80 and we will send out a reminder at the end of the year.

Me: OK

There is one other offer they will make you a few months after you cancel as well. They send you a letter where they offer your 6 months for $25. It does not include internet access though. At least with I.A. we can have it in one car and use our iPhone in the other car or anywhere else we have internet. You are not just limited to listening in your car. Actually the car is the only place I listen.

So the real question is did I save almost $200 or did I frivolously spend $80 that I really didn't need to ? Pretty soon, $80 here and $80 there adds up to real money.

Next, DirecTV. They use the same tactics but my service has a $300 cancelation penalty right now. Is it worth paying it? Just Maybe but that's another post.

Remember. Do the math. Numbers have no emoticons.