Technology, Random

Do not purchase these batteries.  I bought my truck in 2014 and it had EverStart Maxx batteries in it that indicated a 10/2013 purchase date.  I assumed these batteries would be good for quite some time since they come with a 5 year warranty.

It turns out that my batteries were originally purchased in 2010, which is why WalMart was unable (unwilling) to replace them under warranty.  The warranty is only good for the original purchase.  I am fine with this part.  I wound up purchasing new batteries from NAPA, since everything WalMart sells tends to be junk, and they don't stand behind their products.

Found this video from my first trip to Paragon Adventure Center when it was in Hazleton, PA.  On this day, the access paths were so icy that we had to use 4wd and drive on the shoulder just to get into the park.  Then we were only able to drive around on the "access paths" because the actual trails were impassible.  This was with my first jeep, a 1990 Cherokee Limited with 3" Rustys Off Road Lift. 

Goodbye, Facebook.  Goodbye, Twitter.  Goodbye, Youtube.  Goodbye, MySpace.  Goodbye, Google+.  

Edit 1/19/17:
Facebook blocks RT from posting until after Trump inauguration

Edit 1/16/17:
Angela Merkel caught on hot mic griping to Facebook CEO over anti-immigrant posts

For now, I’m keeping my LinkedIN account up and running because I’ve found numerous clients from it, and I have a handful of good recommendations from clients on my profile.

I’ve been becoming increasingly frustrated with my Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ accounts lately.  It seems that social media is a great tool, but it’s becoming too centralized.  Too corporate.  Newsfeed are censored: unlike traditional communications tools, just because you post something, doesn’t mean that people will actually see or read it.  

I’m tired of these large corporations earning a profit off of me, signing into Facebook every day like a sucker.  

I recently read this article on CNBC about a company called Beepi.  It’s middleman company that helps you buy a used car from across the country.  It will inspect and take photos of the car you want to buy, and help with delivering it directly to your home.  We recently purchased a vehicle from Alabama (from Pennsylvania) without the use of a 3rd party service like Beepi, and I had a great experience with it, so I figured I would write an article to share my experience and provide some pointers.

These steps and ideas are relevant whether you’re buying from a dealer, or from a private party.  For our purchase, we were looking for a full-size pickup truck; our requirements were a diesel motor, no rust, manual transmission, extended cab, and 8 foot bed.  (Good luck finding a rust-free truck up north.)  We found one on AutoTrader or Cars.com but it was down in Alabama.  Not exactly close enough to go test drive it!