BlueSky

The Ft. Lauderdale beach is great now with lots of parking especially compared to South Beach. That's about as far north where the water is still clear. That is one think I love about FL, the crystal clear water. Great for snorkeling or scuba.

Florida was one of the states that had the highest numbers of foreclosures and there still may some steals to be had. I worked in Homestead from Jan 2010 to Aug 2013 and there were so many great house bargains. I was tempted to buy one but southern FL has a high crime rate and you have to live in a gated guarded subdivision to prevent your home from being burglarized on a regular basis. I rented a 1700 sq ft. 3br townhouse with garage while I was there in a nice gated apt complex that was supposed to be individually owned units but everything went bust so most were rentals. Anyway, I could have bought one for $40k at that time. If I had just known how long that temporary job was going to last I would have bought one. I saw a foreclosure advertised that was just a few years old, 6k sq ft on 7 acres of land and it could be purchased for $300k. In 2009 my wife and I drove to FL looking for a home. There is a huge place called Lehigh acres close to Ft. Myers where fairly new1600 sq ft homes with double garages were selling for $50k. The streets in those areas needed lots of work. Some of the homes had been built with toxic Chinese drywall. Those same homes are now well over $100k. All homes had wells and septic tanks.

Congratulations! Enjoy your week and happy house hunting!

Los Olas is what I believe the street name is where we went a lot. It's not far from the beach. It's like old down town. There are lots of small restaurants where you can eat and some unique shops. You can go for rides on large boats that show you around the canals where the rich and famous live.

When I tried to rent a Harley in FL, the dealer was going to put a $2500 hold on my credit card. This was to pay for the first $2500 in damage if I damaged the bike. Is this typical when renting a motorcycle? No way I would do that. This was in addition to the $150/day rental fee.

My son set up Beautiful Widget for my wife's Samsung 5 android. It's by Google I think. My wife likes it better than weatherbug. I stuck with the iphone 6 and still use weatherbug.

Sounds like you are a lucky man!

Here is a link for a youtube video for adjusting the valves on a Gen 1.

Some warm weather sounds really good right now. Have fun with those Ta Kill Yas. My 36 yr old son just went to Cabo San Lucas on the tip of the Baja Peninsula for a few days and said he and his wife rode a wave runner out on the ocean side and saw sea lions. Some were swimming around and some were resting on some rocks.

MikeWa, In that situation, if you had been carrying concealed, you may have had the opportunity to decide if you wanted to risk your life trying to stop the bandits. Maybe better the way it turned out.

Good jokes are about reality!

I replaced the ones on my Kawasaki because they had very visible cracks on the outside. When I removed the old ones, I found that none of the cracks went all the way through. So, my smelly opinion is that it is nothing to worry about.

Also with a lower flow per sq inch of filter area resulting in a lower differenctial pressure, the filter media will do a better job of filtering. The higher the dp, the more the pressure tends to force suspended solids through the filter media.

I agree with Skid. I carry concealed. If I ever have to use it, I don't want the bad guy to know I have it until it's too late. I carry a little Ruger LCP .380 with one in the chamber.

Looks like most are afraid to comment on this one:Avatars_Gee_George:rotf:

You WIN!

Yep, all depends on what you want in a truck. If you want a hot rod, the ecoboost will give you the g's you are looking for. The 2006 5.4 is very slow in comparison. The ecoboost will also tow more weight. I just do not know what the life expectancy of the engine is. And when it goes or the turbos go, it ain't cheap to repair. The 5.4 should hang with you until you get tired of the truck.

Since so many of the retirees from the north have moved to Wilmington, they have changed the culture around here. No trailers, boats, campers, etc allowed in the yard if you live in most of the subdivisions. Some HOAs will let you have them if they are out of sight behind an 8' fence. So, the 8' limits how tall the toys can be. I've been looking for an appropriate place to move to.

Well, don't keep us in suspense. What phone did you buy?

:rotf:

The 2013 seems like a good choice. However, on the F150 forum I participate in, somebody posted his ecoboost threw a rod at 22k miles. I don't think it was the truck's fault because he had had it tuned and probably beat on it pretty bad. That is the impression I got. However, his warranty was invalid since he "tuned" it and the dealer quoted $12,000 to replace the engine and the turbos that had also been damaged. Any turbo engine can be "tuned" to turn up the boost and who knows what might happen then? The 2006 5.4s have their own issues. The spark plug replacement is a major operation that usually results in some of them breaking in half and have to be extracted using a special tool. Also, some owners have problems with the VCT, variable cam timing. If it were me and those were the choices, I'd buy the 2006 if it isn't from the rust belt.

When I was about 30yrs old, I broke two fingers and a bone in my left hand. The doc gave me some Demerol pills. Since I was in the habit of quaffing a few ales after work at that time, I asked how Demerol and beer mixed. He said, "FINE". One day after therapy, my hand was hurting and I took Demerol followed by a few beers and I have never been on such a happy high before or since! It's a good thing Demerol is a prescription drug.

My wife and I have carry permits. She doesn't usually carry but I do. Hopefully, it is unnecessary. I never considered getting a permit until I lived and worked in Homestead, FL for 3 1/2 years. Lots of burglars go shopping at night there.

Both of the pillars, between the doors and in front of the front door, are pushed in. The adjuster came today and looked at it. Said it would be 2 or 3 days before his supervisor contacted me with the news. I will be surprised if it is not totaled. The right front wheel was hit and the left front tire blew so he included two wheels in the estimate. One blown tire. Since there is only about 1/3 of the tread left, I would not put one new replacement tire on it. I doubt if they will pay for 4 tires though. I suspect it will be Monday before I hear back.

Yeah, we all think we are bullet proof until.................. I hope all the tests show that you are as healthy as can be!