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

4th of July, 2006:

Aside from the alcohol and fireworks always present at any party on July 4th, here are the other important details:
Wild snapping turtle
Model Porsche

The party was being held at at a house on a huge piece of land in the middle of nowhere, owned by the friend of a family member.

First, a group of people showed up in a Ford Taurus with a wild snapping turtle they found in the middle of the road on the way to the party. The owner of the aforementioned Taurus was keeping the turtle in the trunk, his reasoning being that he had saved a very dangerous wild animal from becoming roadkill and now planned on keeping it as a pet. He decided to show his newly kidnapped "pet" to everybody, and accidentally set it free in the driveway after removing it from the trunk of the Taurus. It took about 6 people more than 10 minutes to coax the turtle out from under a brand new car belonging to another party guest, and then locked it in the trunk of the Taurus once again.

There were bunch of drunk men with fireworks who wanted to destroy something, and I suddenly remembered that I had an already-broken model Porsche Cayenne randomly stashed in my mom's van. Drunk guys+pyrotechnics+model car=Good ol' redneck entertainment. I handed over the Porsche and within minutes it was stuffed with bottle rockets and newspaper, doused in lighter fluid, and set ablaze. It did not take long for everybody to realize that a burning model car was easier to light bottle rockets with than a BIC lighter, and that already-broken Porsche was pretty much allowed to burn until nothing flammable was left. What remained was a smoldering 1:18 scale jumble of blackened metal and melted plastic that was no longer recognizable as a model car.

Towards the end of the party, one hammered guest launched a bottle rocket onto the roof of the party host's brand new house! Somehow a fire did not start.

I may have convinced my dad to give me a couple swigs of his Sam Adams, but being 17 years old, I did not truly drink. I just remembered this gathering almost 11 years later and realized it was one of the best 4th of July parties I'd ever been to!

 

In late 2015, I had a dream (nightmare) that I parked my Tacoma on a frozen lake and the pictures in the post about the 2013 Tacoma are an accurate description of what happened to my truck. We were still living in the old house at the time, and when I woke up I immediately ran to my window which overlooked the driveway, and breathed a huge sigh of relief when I saw that my Tacoma was safe and sound where I'd parked it the night before.

To this day I've never gotten a ticket or even been pulled and my driving record is clean. My Tacoma was accident-free from September 2009 to March 2015. After that, 2015 was a bad year for me, and two of the incidents WERE NOT my fault, so I think I was justified in my paranoia:

In March 2015, I was involved in an accident for the first time. I was rear-ended by a woman in a Toyota Highlander I'm 99% sure was texting and driving ($1,200 for a whole new rear bumper and some paint touchup work plus labor costs):


In August 2015, after having my license for more than 4 years and never having an accident that was my fault, I rear-ended a Mustang and thus had my first accident that was my fault ($1,500 for entire new bumper, grille, and left headlight, plus straightening the radiator support and all labor costs):


In October 2015, I was hit by a drunk driver, and the damage caused by him pretty much voided all the repairs paid for by the insurance company of the woman who rear-ended me 7 months earlier (About $2,600 for new fender, new rear bumper, and labor costs):

 

Department for both. No Hemi, 4.7 Magnum.

 

That white 2008 was a department truck?

 

No, check the link I posted in post # 11.

 

I have 324,xxx on my 2001 Pre-Runner with the automatic. Runs like a top, albeit a noisy top, because the gaskets need to be replaced on the header to down pipe connection.

 

You ever had to recharge the A/C or replace the radiator or anything like that?

 

So, I've gotten a lot less anxious about something happening to my truck on the road, at least anything that's within my control.

However, yesterday evening at the Acme while shopping for work, I parked my truck way out in the deserted section of the parking lot for the sole purpose of avoiding parking lot dings. I WAS NOT IN THE TRUCK AT THE TIME, but maybe three empty spaces away, admiring my truck. All of a sudden an older woman in one of those new Jeep Renegades just tears straight across the parking lot, not even looking to her right. I was convinced she was going to hit my truck. Luckily she whizzed right past and did not hit my truck, if she'd been like 6 inches closer she would have probably scraped the right front fender at a bare minimum, ripped the right headlight out, and possibly tore the front bumper off. Easy $1,300+ to repair for sure.

So, I am preparing myself for the fact that my truck could be in a the body shop AGAIN before the end of the summer, because of SOME ELSE'S stupidity. It probably won't happen, but I have uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage on my policy for the worst case scenario.

 

I consider my Tacoma to be my anti-drug. Even if it isn't illegal, it's definitely addicting... I've got about $500 in the stereo alone...

 

What's your experience with your son been with regards to the special ed system?

 

I don't know you or your situation, however, the kids I am told these days that have these syndromes like asperger or adhd all have one thing in common. I watch the parents interact with the kids and they will never tell them no. Also when the kid really does some f'd up stuff they are never disciplined for it. When I was growing up kids were spanked and punished and these syndromes were rare, I never knew one personally. Now 1 in 3 kids are on some sort of meds. parents don't parent anymore they leave it up to the pharmacy. End rant.

 

I should say I have two boys of my own. They are both straight A students, ages 10 & 11, in GT classes. One is a baseball player and the other is in competitive shooting. They both are well mannered and say yes/no ma'am and sir. They hold the door for people when we go to the store and help strangers carry all their things from the river when we go tubing. These are all things they have been taught, they are aware that they aren't entitled to shit. If they want a new video game they go to the end of the road and sell lemonade in the summer and coco in the winter.

 

@MikeCB600F so you think homeschool will improve your kids social skills? Parents install their fears into their children. I honestly would not pull my kid from a social environment at that age, it is part of learning that they will carry with them after you are no longer there to hold their hand.

 

Though your input on parenting is appreciated, I've read and enjoyed many of Charlie's stories, and my impression is that he's got two very good parents.

 

Wrong 2.7. We're talking about the 2TR-FE.

 

This is REALLY fun in the snow...
http://www.astrosafari.com/download/file.php?id=155426&mode=view
I'm also a member of the AstroSafari forum...

 

I heard that in the movie The Way, Way Back.

 

Gonna keep this short... No drunk grandpa story...

SHORT STORY: There are disturbingly stupid people everywhere, but there seems to be an usually high number of them in Doylestown Borough and the surrounding area. It's elevated to a different level when you see kids behaving this way...

So, my truck has almost been hit TWICE by careless kids on 2-wheeled vehicles while I was STOPPED in less than a year... First time was in my neighborhood, a boy about 10 to 12 years old who whizzed around a corner on an electric scooter while I was stopped at a stop sign and went BETWEEN my Tacoma and the curb. I was convinced he was going to hit my truck. If he went a few more inches to his right, the possibilities are endless. If he didn't crash into the right front fender and dent it, there would have been a long scratch down the right side of my truck from the handlebar. The kid was wearing a helmet and my truck was STOPPED, so there was little opportunity for injuries to occur. I do, however, have no doubt that junior would have either lost his allowance for a very long time or been grounded at the very least after his parents coughed up the money to fix the damage he most certainly would have caused. My friend said I would not be a**hole if after making sure the kid was not hurt, I confronted the kid's parents and demanded they pay for any bodywork my truck required as a result of their kid's carelessness.

What do you guys think? This has happened to me twice...

 

He ALMOST hit the truck. If some little brat hits my truck and does any damage, mommy and daddy are getting the repair bill. I'd feel like a bit of a jerk for doing this, but in my opinion, an underage kid whizzing around a public road unsupervised and hitting a vehicle is no different than his parents hitting me with their minivan...

 

Incident #2 took place in Doylestown Borough while I working. The bar needed lemons, limes, and oranges to make drinks. I went to the produce place on Main Street across from Keystone Volvo, and I was backing up when all of a sudden I see two preteen boys hauling ass down the hill on bicycles WITHOUT helmets, right towards my Tacoma! They were on the sidewalk, and my left door was blocking the sidewalk. I couldn't go forward because I would hit a passing car, and I could not back up because I would have scraped the left side of the blue Equinox parked on my left. These two kids brake and swerve around the front of my truck, with me giving them a distinctly WTF look the whole time. They knew they messed up. Again, I was not moving.

If this kid had hit me going as fast as he was, he would have nailed my truck right in the center of the driver's door with the front tire of his bike, and I wouldn't have been shocked if he went airborne over the top of my truck.

The people of Doylestown display blatant stupidity the likes of which I've never seen, and that's why I have dashcams so nobody can try to sue me if they lose a fight with my truck as a result of their own stupidity. I may have had a few fender benders (most of which where not my fault) in my life, but there's a big difference in my opinion between hitting a car and hitting a person.

Again, if this kid had hit my PARKED truck and gotten hurt, I would have called his parents and even driven him to the hospital, but just because I'm a caring and kindhearted guy doesn't mean I'm not gonna send the bill to mommy and daddy. I was worried about seeming like a jerk...