Not sure if anybody from years ago is still following this forum. I totally forgot about it and could not remember my signing info so I had to re sign in and add another number 2 to my old name to get in. I just wanted to update on my now old LG washer and dryer. It is still working fine!. It is like 16-17 years old. The only little problem is, I think there is some recirculating pump that drives the water over the glass door rinsing it and that is not working but it really does not affect the cleaning. I just have to make sure the boot stays clean The regular pumping is fine. Still no rust, no smell or mildew. I still have the same washing habits. And dogs! Still using Persil most of the time. Above the glass door, where the top panel lays over the metal, it has this "lip line" like and tiny pieces of paint are missing. I guess it is from using the hot water, steam escaping. It is cosmetic. We did replace heater few years ago on the dryer-not sure if I posted it here. The set looks great and working great. I can't believe how long I have it and still going! I plan on fixing it if something goes wrong. Was looking into getting the recirculating pump but covid came and I wasn't able to get good answer on part to fix it myself. Getting service is tough so I let it go for now. LG rocks!

" Is it nuts to hold onto an old car?" Not no but He@@ NO! Whats nuts is buying a new car. First off, the only time you ever get a chance to drive a "New Car" is that brief period at the dealership when they allow you a test drive. During the test drive the car is still registered under the dealers "In Transit Title" and it is legally a new car. The moment the title is put in your name and you sign the document it becomes a "Used Car" and the value instantly drops from the MSRP window sticker to the "Blue Book Price" even before you attach your license plates or start the motor the first time. What is really nuts is taking a cash rebate instead of demanding they take that number off the selling price. Consider the facts. They artificially inflate the price by $2,000 and offer you a $2k rebate which you are to receive after the sale. You negotiate your best price (which still contains that artificially inflated $2,000) and you sign the contract. You now have two choices, you can write them a check for the full amount or you have to finance the transaction. If you have to finance it, you are now paying interest for the full term of the note on that rebate, even though you will get the money back at closing. Not a bad deal for them, they hold your money for perhaps one day and you pay interest on it for 5 years. Now, when you get insurance you are also paying insurance on that $2,000 rebate that you took back immediately and went shopping for other stuff you probably didn't need. Oh yes, Did I mention that you also payed sales tax on the rebate money tooo. But then it is not all bad, hopefully you don't live in my state where you have to pay an excise tax on the value of your vehicle every year, including that $2,000 artificial markup. Personally, I wouldn't buy a new car if I won the lottery.

I think your cabinets are still beautiful and my feeling is if you have no intention of changing the layout, I'd leave well enough alone. Cherry cabinets are always in style and wood cabinets are actually coming back into vogue once again. As for the floors, I love a dark floor in looks, but had one in my condo and HATED the fact that it constantly looked dirty and dusty. I'd reconsider a dark finish. I think your floor finish works too. If the granite cracks, I'd look at a new countertop such as a Taj Mahal quartzite or if you love quartz, one that is warmer than a gray/white. Then have fun with the backsplash. Some other thoughts. How many more years do you intend to stay in the home? That too will determine whether it's worth redoing the cabinets, etc. How do you feel about the cabinets? Are you wanting to make white cabinets because that's what's in? Or do you really love the look and would love it even if it wasn't "in" and trendy? Do you really want to spend the money on new cabinets when the money could be used for other things? A nice cruise for example? Personally, I would never paint gorgeous cherry cabinets white. Painted cabinets will never hold up as long as your cabinets. The person who bought my condo painted the gorgeous bathroom cherry cabinets white, and somehow they look cheap now. (Please don't tell her I said that! LOL.) Thankfully she left the cherry kitchen cabinets.

Until you go in to apply for the position, they tell you the pay is commission based. So if you're not also a 'silver tongued' salesman, your pay is likely at best 30K a year or less and at risk of being let go. These kinds of ads are nothing new Mike. I've seen them for 20 years. They talk a good game... but it's just a game like everything else. You're a home owner Mike. How could you know? Why is a position like this commission based? because techs lie, ride the clock... meanwhile the company goes broke, due to non-productivity --- or giving services away. (Some companies will employ these measures to get their foot in your door. You know we won't charge you for advice sort of thing... but their advice is heavily stacked in their favor. It has to be... they are paying 100's of thousands of dollars to make high cost TV ads, not to mention other forms of ads.) The position is a good secure position that isn't going away... but if you think it's easy as just 'showing up' to make $75-100K a year... you're beyond clueless. There are more techs that try this field and quit, than there are techs that succeed and become anything remotely what I wake up to every morning. Why do you think there are so many ads looking for people. Hint *high turn over, churn mill*. Remember I've been doing this for 26 years... 13 of those years I worked for other companies. This isn't meant to discourage a younger generation from doing this... but there is no such thing as an 'easy profession' to make a livable wage. This job is hard, hard, hard. People will call you rip off artist, lying cheating con man, tell you the company you work for cheated them when the system fails. You will work in the weather... hot, cold, mild, windy, rainy, thunderstorms. You will craw under homes in rat infested dumps, climb thru attics maybe if you're fortunate you won't plummet to serious injury up to and including death by being impaled by something. You will sit in a truck for many hours. Get used to it because you will more or less live in that truck. You will work from sun-up to sun down and sometimes beyond that. Some days you'll will be busy, making good money. When the calls come at a trickle you'll still be sitting in that truck... the pay won't be as good then. It's a seasonal business any way you slice it. There will be the calls you spend hours on, but because you're running a 'free estimate bid' you won't make nothing on those that you don't sell. Do too many of those and the company will cut you loose. Why would this company put you in a truck and keep you there if you don't perform like they think you should? There will be those employees who wanting to get a leg up, go and snitch on you. There will be favorites.. those who get to go home early while you continue to work. You're nearly to your front door... then another call comes in. You're on call... forget your plans. On that call you find out that another clueless idiot that snitched on you had been out on this call earlier didn't perform the repair right and the condensate pan is over flowing dripping into yet another pan from another unit that is also backing up flooding the home. What's all this you ask: It's what the ad doesn't say. If they told you all that... there would be far less people who stick their neck out. Remember, I've lived it... 26 years is a LONG TIME. I don't run a 'churn mill' -- if that's what you want, good luck. The Ray Austin way is only achieved by using Ray Austin. The few, the happy, the service when you need it. (I can't service everyone, nor do I try.) I service the Katy, Texas area