PennSilverTaco's "Perfect 5-Lug Regular Cab" Build, Aspergers, and General BS MegaThread!

Between his books and my grandmother helping me out along the way, I would want to know how my life would have turned out. This book is literally one of the best finance books ever. Saving 10% of your monthly incoming and investing 5% can really add up in a few years

 

Can I get that in CD form?

 

Savings

 

same with the Pittsburgh Carpenter Union. There is a no strike agreement

 

I still have to encounter a DoorDash customer who says they don’t love my truck!

 

@shakerhood

I watched a regular DVD in the Yukon and it did not have this issue. Weird...

 

@ColoradoTJ
@El Duderino
@Running Man
@shakerhood
@Taco critter

Here's one I've partially shared before...

MUSIC!

I love music; I love listening to music, whether it's on the high-powered aftermarket stereo in my truck, the boombox in my dad's garage or live at a concert. However, one thing I've almost always hated is music class. When I was in preschool at a private school that specialized in autistic and special needs kids, we had Suzuki. I kid you not, that's what what it was called. The woman came in once a week and we'd sing songs and stuff. I had no complaints, though I was happier building cars out of Duplo blocks.

I went to public school for the first time in first grade, and I believe that both music teachers were independent contractors. The "nice one" was a middle-aged woman named Mrs. Sachs who had red hair and looked remarkably similar to the country singer Wynonna Judd. The "mean one" was Mrs. Felton, a black haired middle-aged woman who everybody hated. To say Mrs. Felton was mean would be an understatement; She was a bitch! Mrs. Sachs would come in one week, and Mrs. Felton would come in the following week, and they'd take turns.

Actually, as I'm typing this, I am beginning to remember that Mrs. Sachs was the "house" music teacher while Mrs. Felton was the outside teacher. Mrs. Sachs was a sweetheart and one hell of a piano player if I remember correctly.

Mrs. Felton was just a bitch. She was always unpleasant and would scream at us over the most trivial of things.

 

Mrs. Sachs and Mrs. Felton were at General Nash Elementary School, which was in the North Penn School District, here in Southeast PA. I was only at Nash in first grade, for the 1995-1996 school year. We moved back to California in 1996...

I was in 2nd and 3rd grade when we lived in California, and our music teacher was once again an independent contractor. I seem to remember that she was an Asian woman in her thirties, but not much else. I believe we learned to do the Macarena in 3rd grade. This was at Landels Elementary School in Mountain View, California.

For 4th and 5th grade (1998-1999 and 1999-2000, respectively), I went to Christopher Farms Elementary in Virginia Beach. There was one music teacher for the whole school (Kindergarten through 5th grade), and there was also a separate band teacher/director. Music class in Virginia Beach is what led to me dreading music class from middle school onward. We never learned how to play any musical instruments or do anything fun; We read from textbooks and occasionally sang songs in said books. I believe it was 5th grade when we had to start doing one report every month (or maybe every quarter) about a musician. The first one was about Mozart. Even my parents thought this policy of doing reports in music class was stupid. My aunt, who herself was a music teacher in California for many years (retired now), also thought it was ludicrous and felt bad that I wasn't getting to enjoy a real music class. Her students learned to play instruments and perform in plays!

 

6th Grade was the last time I ever took a music class. I attended 6th and 7th grade at Oak Harbor Middle School in Oak Harbor, Washington. The music teacher (also a gym teacher) was a woman in named Ms. Keller. Music class in 6th grade was the same old song and dance, but unlike previous music teachers, I legitimately didn't get along with this woman. Music class was required for all students, but my case manager pulled some strings and got a variance of sorts put in place to get me removed from that music class for the remainder of 6th grade (May-June 2001). In 7th grade, I did not have to go to music class at all, though I still unfortunately encountered Ms. Keller in gym class even though she wasn't my teacher!

From 8th grade onward, I never went to another music class!

 

My mom made me play an instrument for every sport I played. I can play all the family of Clarinets(except contra bass), Tenor and Alto Sax, Flute, Drums, Ukulele. I love music too and I love to learn new instruments. I hate singing with a passion. I could never to a course or a choir class. I love every type of music except scream-o and death metal.

 

Here's a good story, and one that ended in my favor...

My health class teacher was a woman in her 50s or 60s named Mrs. Karaholis (I know how to pronounce her name but not how to spell it; Let's just called her Mrs. K). Mrs. K was one of my favorite teachers. I got along great with her and she always looked out for me. She drove a late 1990s Acura Integra 4-door (this was 2001-2002 so it was a fairly new car at the time). One thing I remember about Mrs. K is that she held an after school club/program for animal lovers. She herself had a Yorkshire Terrier that he she brought in, and every student who had a pet was encouraged to bring that pet in. How she was able to get the okay for non-service animals to come in, I do not know, but she pulled it off.

Eventually, it was my turn to bring in my dog; My dog was a Black Labrador named Molly who was like 7 years old at the time; Molly ended up living to be an astounding (for a Lab) 15 years old! Molly loved people but did not get along with most other dogs, so no other dogs could be in the classroom with her. My mom brought Molly to school, and she was loved the attention from my teacher and the other kids, but she was visibly nervous. We surmise that the school was similar to the vet's office in Molly eyes, and that's why she was so nervous...



Anyway, here's the one story about Mrs. K. She was one of those teachers who really wanted her students to be the best they could be. Towards the end of 7th grade, she asked all her students to show them their report cards. The students who got below a certain GPA had to write Mrs. K an essay about what they did wrong and how they could do better. I was one of the very kids in Mrs. K's class who actually got decent grades across the board, so I was exempted from this!



All of the kids who did not do so good, including my best friend Doug, were livid. I have two different friends named Doug right now; One is my best friend from middle school who is now married and ended up living an hour from me (now we're best buds again). The other is my friend and fellow Aspie who I've known since 2009. We're talking about middle school Doug right now. Doug could not stop complaining, and ranting about how much he hated Mrs. K. He bitched all the way through lunch, and like a good friend I listened to him but I honestly didn't care because I'd actually gotten good grades!

 

I'll sing if I get some liquid courage first; One time at a bar, when I'd been drinking all night with my friends, I got up on stage and belted out "Once Bitten Twice Shy" by Great White.

 

@ColoradoTJ
@El Duderino
@shakerhood
@Taco critter

There was a math teacher at Oak Harbor Middle School who was an absolute badass, for lack of a better term...

Mrs. Gardner!

Unfortunately, she was not my math teacher. When my mom volunteered at the school as a tutor, she was in Mrs. Gardner's class as an assistant. When I needed (A) a break from regular classes, (B) extra time on a test or assignment, or (C) got in trouble, I always ended up in Mrs. Gardner's class. Why was Mrs. Gardner a badass?

She had cerebral palsy, but it was a very mild form of it because she could walk normal and was able to drive. Not only was she able to drive, but she could drive a stick shift! In 7th grade, specifically late 2001, her husband bought her a brand new Subaru WRX as a 45th birthday present. The only symptom of cerebral palsy that she had was a speech impediment. To overcome cerebral palsy on any level is pretty damn impressive! She was married, had a driver's license and a pretty sweet car, and had gone through college and become a math teacher!

She was also not bad looking for a woman in a her mid-forties!

 

There's a girl I graduated high school with who was born with spina bifida, and has always used a wheelchair. She got her driver's license in either her late teens or early twenties, and drives a specially adapted 2011 Toyota Sienna. A picture of her van can be found somewhere in this thread...

 

Let's relocate to my personal thread so we don't clog up Bill's Christmas Tree Build Thread...

Does your house have central air? Oldest house I've ever personally seen that was built with central air was 1964; Original Trane system died in 2013 at 49 years old!

 

It does. I imagine that Texas houses got that as soon as it became available. Current system is a 2013, I despise it, but having bought an AC at my previous house I'm not looking forward to footing that bill again.

Here's what it looked like on move in:






And here's what sealed the deal for me: in the backyard there was a mysterious metal hatch. I opened it, and found a funky, rusted out old bomb shelter. I since built a toolshed over the hatch to protect it a bit more:



The inside is fun whenever it isn't flooded

 

Gotta love Cold War-era houses!

 

Why do you despise the current A/C system? Is it a piece of shit like Goodman or Nordyne?

 

It's a decent brand, but it's undersized and not efficient, it works a little too hard to maintain temp during the summer. Also the house insulation has severely deteriorated over the years, which is one of my current projects, before I get to assessing the state of the compressor. I just laid down a truckload in the attic this month, and it made an immediate difference. I might do another truckload in the new year.