Are prices like this everywhere?

[ultrarunner]

Seen shop rates as high as $225 recently…

Lots of open jobs and too few qualified willing.

Met the senior Honda mechanic with 17 years at the same Honda Dealer…

A change in management 3 years ago didn’t sit well with him so he opened his own shop a couple of blocks down the street… as busy as he wants to be with two good mechanics under him… says don’t want to expand and never advertises.

 

[MossRoad]

Received my first Heating Oil fill up for Winter... $4.45 per gallon!!! Unleaded gasoline was $5.72 per gallon! Going to be a long, dark and cold winter. At least the pantry and freezers are full.

Yikes!
We just turned off our air conditioning a few weeks ago and fired up the gas furnace for the first time this morning. Trading high electric bill for high gas bill maybe.

Not cold enough to start burning wood yet. The house would overheat.

 

[MossRoad]

Various ones are being produced.

Hybrid and 100% electric locomotive | CFD

As far back as 2004, a Canadian company built one for railyard use.

Hybrid train - Wikipedia

On thread topic..... I expect they are more $$$$$

Rgds, D.

Once the bean counters can prove that battery storage on locomotives makes economic sense, as in a reasonable Return On Investment period, then that's when they'll do it. Until then, it's still more economical to continue with the current technology as long as it's legal.

 

[MossRoad]

Of course I was making about $10k per year in the 1970s.

I was 9 and working in a forced labor camp. ( my parent's yard ).

 

[MossRoad]

One of my renter couples have been looking to buy a new home for themselves, I have no issue with it, they both are upstanding individuals, hold good jobs and go to work every every day but are finding out that they have to have 20% down to buy a new dwelling and they don't have 20% up front. On a 100K loan (which buys you a whipped out shack today), that is $20,000.00 down. Around here, homes are selling for around 250K average for a descent place, which in my view is inflated but it is what it is and sellers are getting it too. Been hinting around they want to buy the home they live in currently. Problem is, it's not for sale, it's rental income for me, just like my other 2. I'll sell them eventually, but not presently.

Getting that grub stake when you're young is important. From high school through first few years of marriage my wife and I always held a full time job plus one or two part time jobs each just to get our educations paid for as we went and our fist house paid off quick. Then we were able to use the equity in the home to secure no money down loans for vacant farm land and our next house by using blanket mortgages.

Some folks are saying it can't be done as easily today. I'd guess they are right in places like LA, NY, etc. where houses are outrageous. Our kid in Pittsburgh is doing pretty well for themself on less than average wages, so it can be done. Just have to be disciplined with the finances.

 

[Dftodd]

Yikes!
We just turned off our air conditioning a few weeks ago and fired up the gas furnace for the first time this morning. Trading high electric bill for high gas bill maybe.

Not cold enough to start burning wood yet. The house would overheat.

We're in that in between right now with heat and air. Bill should drop for the next month like an anvil, and then jump back up once we ha e to switch to heat.

At the moment we don't need the ac at night. But still need to run it during the day.

About 6pm though I can shut the ac off and open the windows for a few hours. Then close the house up before bed.

 

[MossRoad]

The worst thing you can do is pay off a mortgage (at least here) because here, we use the interest on them to offset our personal income tax liability. Now the farm is on a different income tax schedule and we write off everything on the farm tax return, from diesel fuel to equipment payments and interest paid. plus we depreciate the equipment. All 3 of my rentals are on a fixed 5.5% rate and it's all good with me. The farm has been paid off for years so the only liability is the RE taxes, some with our up north property.

In essence, you never own your property outright because if you don't pay your RE taxes. the taxing entity forecloses on your property (paid off or not) and sells it to satisfy the tax liability.

For the average population, having a mortgage does zip for their taxes. It never did. It's a common myth. While it works for you for obvious reasons, it doesn't for most.

Over 2/3 of tax payers before the 2017 tax bill change did not meet the standard deduction. Since the 2017 tax bill change, about 88% won't meet the standard deduction.

 

[MossRoad]

Was pricing motor oil to change oil in wife's suburban. Seeing much higher costs, I thought I'd see what the dealer would charge for a service. I called and was quoted $109.95. I bought a filter for $7, and dexos 0w20 is $35 for 5 qts. So l'll figure $42 for 6 qts, + $7 for the filter, and round that to $50 to make it easy. It'll take about an hour to rotate the tires and change the oil. I'll pay me $25 an hour. So that's $75.00 So with that said, the dealer is running about 46.5% profit to cover overhead. Not forgetting that their material cost is lower than mine. And that tech isn't making $25.

I know they have to profit, but it's getting hard to fathom. I'll appreciate the satisfaction of doing it myself.

That right there is a very good way to look at things.

Money you don't give other people is money you can use for other things. (thanks mr. obvious, but it is about that simple).

 

[MossRoad]

Um, actually California is much bigger, about twice the size of Canada.

California is a $3.4B economy, making it by itself the fifth largest in the world.

Economy of California - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

All the best,

Peter

Just for giggles....

 

[MossRoad]

That's the issue. The housing (inflated) market has pushed new home buyers out. Same with vehicles. Why I never buy new, but the used, off lease market is getting tough too.

Yeah it is.