Those both cost time and money that people living on the edge of poverty don't have. I for one would love to go back to school. But I'm currently working two jobs to pay my bills. Where's the time and money coming from?

RIP, dude.

Microsoft Exchange. Good god.

I'm waiting for the Talos IV. I hear it'll be killer.

I don't think those were a thing at the time I was doing this. I got tired of watching stuttery PBS/Spanish/Religious programming after about 6 months and went Internet-only.

I've literally been >2mi from a broadcast source and had this happen. Maybe it's the concrete in the buildings here, but it's fine once you go outside... but who puts a TV on a patio?

I did this for a while, both before and after the analog / digital switchover. I have found that without a ridiculously oversized or external antenna, you simply can't get acceptable quality in a lot of areas, especially apartment complexes after the switchover. Perfect signal for 15 seconds, and blank screen for two seconds doesn't work for me. I could live with the occasional snow or ghosting on the analog broadcasts, but this was FAR more irritating.

The kicker is that you usually aren't allowed to mount antennas outside when you're renting (I'm fortunate that it's an option where I am now, there was one up when I moved in). I've since moved to Netflix / torrents, and I don't miss OTA all that much, and cable even less.

At one point, I priced collision coverage for my car (it's optional for me since I own the vehicle outright) and it would've been $2,000 for six months... on a vehicle with a value of $2,400.

It's interesting that you can get so much more coverage for so little cost. Your laws regarding cost must be very stringent. I certainly wouldn't mind paying what you're paying for the coverage you've got. I was paying $600 per six-month term ($1200 annually) for the paltry $10,000 property liability and $10,000 personal injury liability required by law. What always bugged me was paying so much for so little, and I know the insurance company jacked the rates up because they know that you have to be insured to drive lawfully, and have to pay whatever they tell you.

Holy. Shit. No wonder driving is so expensive in Europe! Do you mind me asking what that policy costs you per year? I have $10,000 property, and $10,000 personal injury coverage (the least allowed by state law) in an effort to curb my insurance costs, and it sets me back about $400/yr. I would be paying several thousand dollars per year for coverage in the $100k range, I can't even imagine what it would cost to get into the millions.

You had a Pre 3?! I always wanted to get my hands on one of them... but ended up defecting to Android (bought a Galaxy Nexus) when HP killed off Palm's hardware development. Still have and like my firesale Touchpad, too.

This is why I trust my old car with a cast iron engine block more than new ones with aluminum.

Or a diesel Mercedes-Benz from the W123 era (or before). Usable lifespan is 500,000+ on the OM6xx engines.

I own one of MB's older diesels 300TD), which have a certain reputation for durability. It really makes me sad how cheaply made their cars now are. I wouldn't touch a Benz made after the W124 era, they just seem like cheap junk that requires frequent and expensive service.

Tesla is doing damn near everything right in order to grow a brand. There is nothing more desirable in the price range today. My old oil burner will last me long enough to see a Tesla model I can afford (It'll take a while to fill in those next 300,000 miles) thanks to the kind of quality Mercedes USED to offer in a vehicle.

America's new health care plan: "tourism" to the UK.

I've been there, and I've clawed my way up a bit, but it's still very hard sometimes (I get paid well hourly, but work on call as many as 65 or as few as 3 hours per week, can't rely on it to be regular at all). How'd you do it?