My cable company forces me to rent a box to descramble a signal I pay for......and unlike phones there are very limited choices.

Taking this to the limit, if you have an older BMW, it will cost more than a new one to keep it going. If you have some skills and go aftermarket for parts, it costs the same as a normal car to keep running. I have learned NOT to buy any car without a thriving aftermarket for parts. You do have to avoid Pacific Rim imitation parts, but I have bought many BMW and Honda parts with, as the OP noted, the company brand dremeled off.....for half or less price.

I have kids this age....he's +1000000. "tv" does not exist for them other than as a bigger screen hanging on a wall. 95% of the time they use it is for streaming anyway

Thank you. In the last ten years, it has become clear that we are all at the "mercy" of an MBA with a spreadsheet, looking for that extra $5.00 per transaction. Thanks guys. May your beach house wash out in the next non-climate-change related hurricane.

For all the wrongheaded transit ideas in NYC, banning electric bikes is on the list of bad ideas. Something between a bicycle and a taxi cab is needed, and Americans don't do mopeds.

I'm grateful for self employment......

"Inconceivable !" I do not believe that word means what you think it means.... FTFY

The last time I walked into a bricks and mortar bank, I learned that the Feds will want ID if you make a cash deposit, starting next year. True ?

The reason passwords suck is: This one wants eight characters, with a symbol and letter This one wants eight characters, with NO symbols, and a letter This one wants upper and lower case letters This one wants upper and lower case with a symbol and number This one want upper and lower with no symbols. The formats change all the time, so it is no wonder that most people end up with a post it note stuck to the computer, or if stealthy, inside the draw.

Do NOT give them ideas. It is bad enough that you need to pick your car carefully as to ensure aftermarket parts, because any "car maker only" part is exorbitantly priced. Rent options ? A car is an appliance...

The only problem here is that the credit card industry will then figure out yet another way to screw the small merchant. PCI compliance is a great idea. The various "insurance policies" and "penalty fees for PCI noncompliance" pushed by the interchange companies are a rip off and farce. They aren't going after my small business......but I'll pay more money to someone because some Russians hacked Target. Thanks !!! By the way, why do we have interchange companies anyway ???

Teens in House. All Content comes from the web. Very occasionally, a "glee" or "Dr Who" comes up, and they get away from the computer and sit in front of the big screen. 99% of the time they are in front of the big screen, it is Netflix streaming the content, and occasionally a less formal streaming service. Appointment TV....zero. This is why I can't watch the evening news without seeing horrible drug ads (or ads for horrible drugs-but I appear to get a beach house if I take that drug) The kids have left the building. The only time they really use my home theater is for a movie with surround sound.

You don't need a pulse. The EMT know that an LVAD does not give a pulse....

Knowing someone who made good health choices, but had congestive heart failure anyway, and is now alive due to an LVAD (Left Ventricular Assist Device), I'd say that you don't have any clue about the real world. Yes, some folks drink or smoke themselves sick, but guess what ? Parts fail. We'll just leave you by the side of the ER when yours do...