I think I see, Draugnar. Sheeeit!

I think I see, Draugnar. Sheeeit!

Wow, 1996? If y ou look at the repair records for those years of Caravans, you'll see that they're relatively trouble free until after seven years, but then at 8 years old, over 25% of them have engine trouble AND over 25% of them have transmission problems AND over 25% of them have body problems AND over 25% of them have interior problems AND it just goes on from there.

I can't wait till Mutejus dies and finally realizes....

nothing. Because he's dead.

Lord won't you deliver my Mercedes Benz? I've been waiting (not so) patiently for it to get here.

@mujus - I think it's on it's third transmission, the heater/ac is a 50/50 type deal, and the speakers only work on the right side of the van.

And yet, with all this visibly failing, you keep driving it thinking it is safe? If you can see things electrical going out and things mechanical constantly being replaced, then there is plenty you don't see waiting to kill you.

I never said the thing was safe, I even mentioned that I trust my bike over it. Its not like I have a choice though, I dont have enough money to get a better car

Sure you do, if you prioritize your finances properly.

I didnt know you had access to my bank account . . .

Don't listen to Draugnar, akilies, he thinks BurgerKing jockeys should be able to afford a house if only they could "manage their finances properly."

Don't pay for housing and live out of a newer used van. Payments are cheaper.

I rest my case....

@YJ - I was being sarcastic in both comments above. I didn't realize he was of the no-income class. As far as the Burger King jockey... If you will recall, I said he could work his way up the ladder and save his money to get the home. Not a house, but a home and there is a difference. For instance my Corvette and my new C300 both had/have bigger monthly payments than my first home: a $45,000 condo. But if we are going back there, I also was arguing that they had to earn it. Society is under no obligation to give them a home. *I* am not under any responsibility to pay for them to have a house or even a condo. Everyone deserves a clean safe place to live. Not everyone deserves to own that place.

Am living in a not particularly clean (except when my girlfriend is here) and absolutely unsafe place. I don't deserve to even rent it.

"Not everyone deserves to own that place."
Where is deservedness judged, pray tell?

That is a serious question btw.

It is judged in the person's contribution to society (does the person save lives or put their life on the line or serve the needs of others selflessly?). It is judged based on Society's perception of their worth (income). And it is judged based on their reliability rating (credit score, dependability in paying their debts on time).

And that was a serious answer, btw.

But now I must ask what is unsafe about your place? Clean is your own responsibility in what you are describing. By clean in my post I meant not overridden with roaches and rats and not having sewage backing up into the toilet, sink, or tub. I.e. everyone deserves something better than what a slum lord rents out. But vacuuming and doing dishes and doing laundry: that is your responsibility, not societies. Grow up and learn to care for the place you have.

But please, pray tell, what is unsafe about where you live? Is it the neighborhood? Get a community watch going and work with the cops to clean it up. Is it the building itself? Take it to court (you shouldn't have to, I agree, but unfortunately sometimes you do) and get the slumlord thrown in jail.

"By clean in my post I meant not overridden with roaches and rats and not having sewage backing up into the toilet, sink, or tub."
That's what I took it to mean. Think I've got one and two under control and hoping like hell I don't have to deal with the third.

If you are renting, your landlord should be keeping all three under control unless it is a house (rules change a bit when you rent a house versus an apartment/condo).

Oh, btw, if I were judging worthiness for owning a house, I would give one to a lot of people who don't have one now (some hard working folks who put in their all and make 25K a year if they are lucky) and make Paris Hilton pay for them while she lived in an efficiency apartment. As much as I am a fan of capitalism, there are some trust fundees who don't deserve the money they get.

Unsafe? Not unsafe cos people know the foreigner who is unadvisably living among them. In a Chinese warren where they don't take to weiguoren (foreigners) too much.
Community watch? They've got that 24/7. It's the Chinese way.
Cops? Joke.
Court? Joke.

"Community watch? They've got that 24/7. It's the Chinese way."
Explaining myself. Living in China, you have to realise that everyone is watching you all the time all the time. You fart in bed and someone down the street is going to know about it.
Trouble is they won't get off their collective asses and do anything about the bad sh*t that goes on. Reason being that if you intervene in an incident as a helper, you may well end up as the perpetrator of the dastardly deed that someone else did.

I forgot you were living outside the US. The Chinese people need to take responsibility for their governments human rights abuses (just as we Americans need to for the US's).

Human rights? Unfortunately, there don't actually seem to be any human rights. Why should we expect them? God? Another joke. (Laughing all the way to the mortuary.)

The lack of respect for human rights aroimd the world doesn't mean they don't exist. There are elements in abundance on other celestial bodies we don't find naturally here in Eartj yet they still exist. Human rights exist. Governments just trample on them way too much.

@Draug - I have thought about living out of a van ;) Apparently no one can decipher sarcasm in text anymore so I generally add an * when using it so people dont freak out :)