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

He was also a Navy veteran and will be laid to rest in a veterans cemetery; His wife Helen wants me to be part of the service.

 

Hey Charlie, I'm sorry to hear about your loss

 

Awe!!! Cavalier King Charles Spaniel!

 

Sorry for your loss. I’ve lost a few older friends that were like dads to me. Those old timers are extra special and it makes losing them extra hard.

 

I was literally just sitting on his back patio talking with him, and that's when he gave me the zombie patch pictured above. He was supposed to be fully recovered by Monday or Tuesday, and I was meeting him and his wife at Corvettes at Carlisle at the the end of month.

 

Sorry to read this Charlie. Really sucks. Glad you had him in your life while you could. Sounds like you were good for each other.

 

That really sucks buddy, sorry to hear the bad news.

 

Damn man, if you need somebody to talk to don't hesitate.

Hope you're managing alright.

 

She might sell the 2005 Corvette and the 2017 Ridgeline so she can pay cash for something small with AWD. I told her she should get a Toyota of some sort, but she doesn't know what she wants. She is very attached to the Corvette, but a Corvette is not exactly a good winter vehicle in Pennsylvania. I also told her that keeping the Ridgeline would be a good idea, because it's paid off and has AWD.

 

All testosterone fueled biases aside the Ridgeline AWD is damn near the perfect vehicle.

Power, comfort, convenience, utility, economy, saftey reliability.

It's hard to beat.

If she was considering a Toyota I'd look at the RAV4 or a 4Runner but honestly I think sticking with the Ridgeline would be most ideal.

 

I am fine, but while I understand that death is a fact of life even it's unexpected, I still haven't quite come to terms with the fact that there won't be anymore long afternoons on the back patio scarfing down pretzels.

I can't even imagine what Helen is going through; I just got off the phone with her and the conversation saying how much Jim loved me and starting to cry.

 

And it's paid off and has less than 40K miles. Jim leased it for three years, decided he liked it, and bought it in cash in 2020. It has one moderate accident on its record that wasn't Jim's fault, but that was properly repaired by the at-fault party's insurance company and it looks great.

 

In this market a paid off and owned vehicle is worth two for sale if you can even find two vehicles for sale.

Last time I went to Toyota about a month ago they had only 40 cars for sale on their when they used to have 400+.

As for your friend Helen, I wish I knew what to do in those situations but I don't.

Be there to help support and organize or orchestrate if she wants the help but try not to add more pressure if she'd rather handle things alone is what I would try to do.

Everyone handles grief differently, especially when it's unexpected.

 

Also, do you know of anybody who is willing to give a good home to a beautiful white 2005 Corvette with a red leather interior, less than 45K original miles, and a clean title? This is a picture I took last October, and if you look closely you can see Jim behind the wheel...

 

I would actually be very interested in it myself, was looking at buying one a few years ago especially in white; but unfortunately I just bought a house in March and wouldn't be able to comfortably afford the payments on a vehicle right now.

 

If she does decide to sell the Vette, I will put you guys in contact. Does it matter that the car is automatic? Helen knows how to drive stick and Jim did as well, but they were both in their 70s when they bought the car and didn't want to deal with a manual transmission in traffic...

 

Don't think I can afford it unfortunately.

But if she does decide to sell it I may see what I can do.

Auto would be fine, I'd mostly be using it to commute to work and believe it or not Corvette's are typically cheap when it comes to insurance and good on gas so long as you stay off the skinny pedal. They have an exceptionally low drag coefficient, lower than a Prius and enough power to basically idle everywhere.

 

I'm willing to put this out there publicly because every time either someone I love dies or there is a mass tragedy, I can't help but wonder if the souls of the deceased are floating around and they realize they are dead but are still among us, or if it's basically just going to sleep and never waking up?

Also, is it different for people who knew they were nearing the end of their lives and expected to die, versus people like my friend Jim who was expecting to wake up and be out of the hospital by early next week?

Also, apparently Jim woke up after surgery and was doing well, but he was still doped up from the anesthesia. He was apparently in this semiconscious state for an hour or so before the blood clot started an uncontrollable series of events that led to him passing away.