Sorry I see things different than you but then I was only going by several post you wrote. I don't doubt you run in to racism, in fact I see racism happening too damn often. I just found it sad that you seem to blame any negitive (or what you perceive as negitive)action toward you on someone being racist. The Apt living forum is full of posts complaining about rude and nasty neighbors. When you live in Apts you have a good chance of sharing your living space with creeps,idiots or some form of low lifes.These type of people bother everyone around them. You seem to think you are picked out because of your race first and always. I am not saying it hasn't happened, I am sure it has. After reading so many of your posts screaming racism I started seeing a pattern. Then when you wrote in asking if you had made a big mistake bringing up that your husband traveled to Cuba often. You made it sound as if saying such a thing was a big NO NO, living here? As if the average person in the US would have a problem with that? I can tell you that the average American could care less where you or your family travels.You seem to be first to seperate yourself as being different with anyone you come in contact with and if things don't go smoothly your first reaction is to blame "race" Your race, their race. People have run in's with weirdo's everyday as they go through life and race has nothing to do with it. Believe me you don't have to be of another race to be treated wrong by others. I apologize if you felt I was being insenitve or doubting your negitive experiences with racism. I didn't mean to do that. I was trying to show you that you come off as a person who blames every situation that doesn't go your way on racism. To me you seem a bit racist yourself. Could that be true? Assumming your new landlord was going to treat you poorly because your husband travels to Cuba was a racist thing for you to think. You were the one being racist in this situation. Maybe not knowingly but you were. I am assume this woman was not the same race as you, right? Now would you have made such an accusation about her if she was the same race as you? I bet even if she was born and raised here in the US but your same race, you would have never worried about such a thing.Everybody has it in them to be racist and I believe everyone has been and everyone will be again sometime down the line. This why WE ALL need to work how we see the world and how we treat others. The only person we have control over is ourself.We all have the choice to reject or allow others hate to become instilled in our own hearts. I am sure it is much more easy for me to remember this than others because I am sure I don't have to deal with racism as much as many people. No matter how Easy or difficult one has , it is equally as important for all to remember. Peace

We have a 2005 Scion XB and have 90,000 miles on it. Not a single problem yet. My wife drives around 80-90 miles a day total in going to work and back, and I think she averages around 32mpg. Lot of space in the "toaster" lol the one thing that I truly do NOT like is the AC!!! It works and cools the inside down, but you can't get super cold! and In the hot days of DC, that really sucks!! I have visited Scion forums and thats 1 of the biggest complaints about the Scion XB! Not sure if the newer ones have improved AC. Rides a bit rough too, but its fine!! I think we paid $15,000 out the door in 2005, and for the $$$$ it was a bargain!

I don't get an ego trip from a fancy new car. In many ways I like an older car. Less likely to be stolen. Less concern if you get a ding in a parking lot or get into a small accident. Not a big deal if the upholstery should get a tear and not afraid to carry things in it, or on it. I firmly believe form follows function. I drove mini pickups for many years and they were just perfect for my use. I had to carry a photo studio while traveling. People with cars, well they had troubles! The problem was every time someone would move it was could you and your pickup haul this for us? Or could we borrow your pickup? I wound up getting a mini van that served me well for many years. Problems mounted and not worth putting money into it and I found another used one about 2.5 years old for a great price. At this point the mini vans are functional vehicles for me. I don't care if I look like a soccer mom driving it, it gets me where I need to go, hauls what I need to haul and gets me back home, reliably. Wish it got the same mileage a my last van but that's the price I pay for more power I guess. And I'm not at a point I can't afford to pay a bit more in gas for a little more protection too. One thing with cars, things like brake lines will corrode faster if they're left outside in the colder climates. A garage is a valuable thing to have. Plus if they get the salt and chemicals on them it can raise other issues so there's certain things you need to expect faster maintenance than in other areas, but then other areas have their issues too.

I get it OP - my oldest is 13yo and I have the same sense of urgency around adapting our house to teens. We have an even bigger disadvantage; we're just outside a big city w/no garage or basement. The best I can hope for is to open up and redesign our living/dining rooms and add on a more private master suite above that. My thought is that would enable us to cede the main floor to the kids more regularly. I grew up in a relatively small suburban house, but it became a magnet for my brothers' friends. My parents added an all-season room that became the destination after games or practices and often in lieu of the keg parties that were the main form of social life in our small town. It had a wood stove so that it was useable on all but the worst New England days, and my mother would whip up batches of meatballs and brownies. It didn't matter that it wasn't the largest house in the town or the biggest TV; it didn't even matter that at times we had an elderly grandmother with dementia living with us. (The boys made her their mascot!) When each of my parents died, these boys - now men in their 40s - came in droves to each wake and told us how our house always felt like home and how important it was to their teenage years. I have 2 boys and I can already see how the teenagers are drawn to the houses that have no rules and lots of screens and credit cards. So if I can execute the most ambitious aspects of my own plan, it will include a winterized screen porch as well. And lots of baked goods!