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

On another note, Amanda got the feeling that Emily was dead before I did; Emily always responded to texts and phone calls, so that's what when I started to realize that something was wrong; I look back on it now, and I would say that I got the feeling that Emily was no longer with us at roughly 8:32PM when I called her and left a voicemail. When I rounded the corner and saw her Outlander parked there, something about that gave me a very bad feeling; I don't know why, because at a little after 8:30PM on a Saturday night it was not the least bit abnormal for her car to be parked in her reserved spot. If I'd parked to the left of the Outlander, I would have seen that the lights were off inside the condo (and this would have given my dashcam a better view of everything that unfolded, including me pounding on the window and the firefighter kicking the door in). As soon as I got out of the truck and had a clear view of Emily's condo, I knew for sure that something was wrong because at not even 9PM on a Saturday night, Emily would have been watching TV and there would have been lights on in the condo. There were absolutely no lights on inside the condo.

I honestly do not remember if I thought to look through the window first and saw her on the couch, or if I started knocking on the door first and then decided to glance through the window (for those of you who forgot, the blinds were fucked up and Emily never bothered to adjust them, giving anybody who walked up to that window a clear view inside; I have no idea how emergency personnel got the blinds to close). For a brief few seconds, when I did finally look through the window and see her, I thought that she was sleeping even though it was not normal for her to be asleep that early (and certainly not on the couch). As soon as I saw her, I started banging on the window and screaming "EMILY!" at the top of my lungs. Amanda and I were both loud enough that we woke up the woman in the condo above Emily's (my dashcam captures the lights coming on in the condo above Emily's, the woman coming to her front door and looking out at my truck, and then the same woman going back upstairs and looking out at us from her sliding glass window.

When Emily didn't respond to all of that racket (which, like I said, woke up her neighbor), I knew that something was wrong; Amanda thought that she saw her stomach go up and down at least twice, which led us to believe that she was alive but in distress. I ran back to the truck, got my phone, and called 911; Amanda and I continued making noise in an attempt to wake Emily up. We did have a clear line of sight on Emily, but it was dark enough in there that we could not tell she was beyond help. A short enough amount of time had passed since her death that she didn't look particularly bad. Once they turned on the lights inside the condo and we got a better view, we could tell that she was dead, but she didn't look bad.

As I said before, a cop and an ambulance were on scene in 6 minutes, which Amanda says is record time. I had been extraordinarily calm on the phone with 911, as once again Amanda's belief that she'd seen Emily's chest rise had lulled us both into the false belief that she was unconscious but still alive; I believe I said to the dispatcher "I need an ambulance at [ADDRESS WITHHELD]. My friend Emily is unconscious on her living room couch and not responding to me and my girlfriend screaming her name and pounding on the window, but my girlfriend thinks she saw her chest rise so we think she's still alive."

I inquired about smashing the window so we could get in and render aid, and the dispatcher said I'd be well within my rights to doso , but that it wouldn't make sense because had an officer about two minutes away. The officer shined his flashlight through the window directly onto Emily, right about the time EMS showed up, and it took them maybe a second or two to determined they needed to get in there. There were two guys in the ambulance, and I believe the one kicked Emily's door in was also a firefighter. One of the guys turned on the lights, and that's when I got my first and last glimpse of my friend; I didn't want to believe at the time that she was dead, but looking back on it, I knew she was dead. One of the guys shut the blinds when they saw me looking in, and about three minutes the later, the cop came out and told us that Emily was gone. Not only that, but he told us that she had been gone for at least a day, which is not true because they called time of death around 8:51PM on Saturday and her ex last heard from her at 9:42 on Friday. Amanda and I believe now that Emily passed away sometime on Saturday morning, likely after spending the night in her bed and making it out to the living room sometime before 8am. One big clue was that her iPhone was plugged into the bedroom charger and not the living room one, and she was almost constantly glued to her phone. Since her eyes were closed, we believe that she died in her sleep.

Either way, my memory got a little fuzzy after the cop told us that Emily was dead; I remember screaming "OH MY GOD!" with tears in my eyes, and telling my dad who I'd been talking to on the phone that Emily was dead, but not actually crying. Amanda, on the other hand, burst into tears and also said "OH MY GOD!" if I remember correctly. It was still pouring rain at this point, and I walked back to the truck in total shock; Amanda asked me to get her phone, but I ended up spending a good 10 minutes on the phone with our friend Helen and forgetting about Amanda's phone.

Emily's condo was considered an active crime scene, and we weren't allowed in (I don't think they brought out Emily's body until almost 11PM; I actually asked the cops if I could go take a leak in the woods. They said yes, as long as I didn't make it obvious that I was doing so. I relieved myself in public at least twice that night, with two police officers standing feet away!

 

The PT Cruiser now has a backup camera, and an uncracked dash bezel!

 

@6 gearT444E
@ABA180
@Bishop84
@ColoradoTJ
@Just_A_Guy
@shakerhood
@Speedytech7
@steelcity2
@TnShooter

Since one of the primary topics of this thread is autism (specifically that I have Aspergers Syndrome, and how I deal with it on a daily basis). I am VERY high-functioning. I have a full-time job and a side hustle, I not only have a driver's license but I can drive a stick shift (only 50% of people on the spectrum get a license). I have a girlfriend and I am NOT a virgin (I am probably a lot prouder of this fact than I should be, but I know a few autistic guys in their late 30s and even their 40s who have never gotten laid).

Anyway, I don't much care for lower-functioning autistic individuals; I know I sound like a dick, but a lot of my Aspie friends are the same way. My friends and I are borderline normal. All of us have jobs, driver's licenses, and our own vehicles. We go to movie theaters, concerts, bars, strip clubs, and in my case car shows. We can carry on normal conversations. I hope that nobody mistakes my annoyance with people who have low-functioning autism and other intellectual disabilities for a lack of empathy; I care deeply about people with special needs. However, due to a poorly designed system in public schools, I was forced to be in regular contact with lower-functioning individuals and the whole experience made me very bitter.

If I fathered a child with special needs, that would be an entirely different story. However, Amanda had a hysterectomy when she was 31 and obviously can't get pregnant, and I am 99% sure that she will be my wife before the end of the decade. If we ever get our shit together to the point that we can afford a kid, we will adopt. When you adopt, I feel like you can be a bit pickier about the kid you end up with.

So, Amanda and I went to a cruise night at a 50s diner in Warminster on Tuesday. We both ordered gourmet milkshakes and sat down at one of the outdoor tables; I was watching a clip from a Simpsons episode (specifically one from 1996 where Sideshow Bob kidnaps Bart and steals the Wright Brothers plane). A 30-year old guy, who I later found out was autistic, happened to be walking by with his dad. He could tell that I was watching something on my phone, and just started bombarding me with questions about what I was watching and asked if it was Disney+. I told him that I was watching The Simpsons, and his dad missed part of the conversation. His dad couldn't understand where he'd gotten The Simpsons from, until I told the dad that I'd told the autistic guy what I was watching; I then went out of my way to give signals that I wanted to be left alone. In typical autistic fashion, this guy was absolutely horrible at reading body language, and got WAYYY to close to me. I knew he had an intellectual disability of some sort, which is why I didn't blow my stack and tell him to get out of my personal space. He kept going on about how he loved Disney, and Alvin and the Chipmunks, and I just wanted to be left alone. I kept looking over at Amanda, who was sitting to my left, giving her a "please help me" look; Amanda didn't know what do either, because she knew he was disabled too and didn't want to look like a jerk. His dad kept trying to get him to back off, and finally was able to do so.

By coincidence, I was admiring a green 1966 Ford Mustang convertible a short time later, and this Mustang belonged to the autistic guy's dad; I apologized for being standoffish and coming across as rude, explaining that I have autism and saying that I didn't like people in my personal space. The dad 100% understood, but this unleashed a whole new torrent of questions from the autistic guy. I was trying to talk with the dad about his Mustang, and the son kept interrupting; I lost count of how many times he said that he was an autistic Disney fan, and I was coming very close to just walking away. The dad told him numerous times to "slow it down", and he finally got the message.

I can still ask too many questions, talk too much, and just generally be annoyed; I have gotten a lot better. Also, I'm a nice guy, and we were at a car show at a 50s diner. It was a very relaxed atmosphere. I would be worried that the guy could approach the wrong person and end up getting his feelings hurt at best, or getting his ass kicked at worst.

I'm not going to name names here, but there's a girl I've been friends with for three years who displays numerous traits of having autism, but will simply say she has an intellectual disability. She has numerous incredibly annoying behaviors, and she has gotten a lot better, but when you called her out on her behavior she would get all upset and use her disability as an excuse. She asks questions that are really none of her business, and she rubbed Amanda the wrong way practically from the moment they met. A lot of my Aspie friends are not too fond of her, either.

People with Down Syndrome also get on my nerves sometimes. This is not all people with DS, not by a long shot. One thing I will admit is that people with DS tend to be very friendly and very hard workers. However, the minds and personalities of someone with DS tend to be a lot different mine and Amanda's; I'll give you an example...

When we were desperately searching for a place for Amanda, I found out that a woman I knew was looking for a roommate to live with her daughter who has DS and split the rent. They took us out to dinner and everything seemed to be going well, but then the woman sent Amanda text saying that the deal was null and void because Amanda didn't have good credit. She did not run a credit check, but rather Amanda volunteered that her credit wasn't that good.

By the way, Amanda has only been late on rent once at her current place, and it was due to circumstances beyond our control...

Anyway, so Amanda is still friends with the girl who has DS on Facebook. I still do not think they ever found her a suitable roommate and she is still living with her parents, but Amanda is glad that the deal was cancelled. This girl at one point relentlessly messaged her and would send her links to events for people with special needs. Amanda and I both required a certain amount of special education, but we are borderline normal. The interests of people like me and Amanda simply do not sync up with people who have significant intellectual disabiities!

 

@ABA180
@ColoradoTJ
@shakerhood
@steelcity2
@TnShooter

So, I installed the head unit in the PT Cruiser and I attempted to tackle the backup camera; I gave up almost immediately. My mechanic ended up doing the job, and he had trouble getting everything to sync up. While running the wiring for the backup camera, he found evidence that there had been mice living in the car, including a mouse nest in the cargo area. He seemed to believe there was at least one mouse still residing in the car. My girlfriend's landlady was the third owner and bought the car in July 2022. She treated the car like a pickup truck and hauled all sorts of stuff, including huge bags of birdseed. The bags of birdseed often ruptured in the car, and she rarely cleaned it. I have no idea how or where the mice gained entry to the car, but it's pretty damn obvious what attracted them! We got the car for $800, so I am not complaining, but I mentioned this to the landlady and she didn't seem to be shocked.

We are going to thoroughly vacuum the car this weekend. What else can we do?!?! Seriously, it's a running and driving car with a clean title and working A/C for $800, so I am NOT complaining!

 

You have the eliminate the entry points and food source.
Vacuuming is defiantly on the list......
Start there.

A lot vehicles have plastic plugs in the body panels.
Make sure all of them are there and not damaged.
I'd start in the rear. Crawl under and look for body plugs.

 

The damn mice can get through amazingly small areas, you saw that recent nest inside my trucks interior cabin air filter.

 

Amanda and I went to a car show at Dover Motor Speedway today!

 

I rented two scooters at the racetrack today, one for me because I actually need it, and for Amanda because she wouldn't be able to keep up with me on foot. We were even allowed to take the scooters outside the venue, which came in very handy when I realized that I left my phone in the truck, and made things a hell of a lot easier when scouting the parking lot for cool vehicles. I have been going to car shows on my own practically since I got my driver's license, and for more than two years with Amanda. One of my favorite things do is wander the spectator lot, because oftentimes there is cooler stuff there than in the actual show...

 

The weather report said a 50% chance of rain at about 3PM. We got there at like 11:30AM and it was beautiful, but all of a sudden it just randomly started raining while we were out in the parking lot retrieving my phone, even though it was still sunny. As we were headed back into the venue, we saw a bunch of people leaving in a hurry, and one guy commented that it was about to get really wet really fast...; I believe that it was

When we went back in, this is what we saw (I believe it was like 2PM, and that the time on my camera is screwed up, because the time stamp on my camera is saying that these pictures were taken just before 1:30PM, but my phone is showing that I took some pictures of my truck in front of the monster monument just before 2:30PM, and there is no way in hell an hour passed from the time we saw the dark skies to the time I took pics of the truck with my phone); I snapped a couple pictures of a slammed 1975 Cadillac that I'd forgotten to take pictures of, then we returned the scooters and hoofed it back to the truck...

 

I have been to many car shows in the last 12 years or so where there was a sudden downpour, and I have NEVER seen one clear out this fast!

 

How far is dover from ur house ?

 

An hour and a half if the traffic isn't bad...

 

The guy at the scooter rental tent gave me a plastic bag to put my camera in, and it started pouring as soon as we exited the venue; I managed to unlock the truck and get Amanda inside before the hail started, but I didn’t beat the hail. I wasn’t about to bring my $1,000 camera back out of the truck in this monsoon, so I snapped some pics in front of the rock monster with my phone…

 

Getting out the parking lot was a shitshow…

 

I had an MRI on my knee yesterday evening, and that would have been THREE GRAND (US$3,000) if I didn't have insurance!