So we found the exact same vehicle in a different color, for a few dollars more. Nearly the same miles, identical condition, better tires, and with the “Certified Chrysler Warranty”….basically an additional 5K miles on the factory warranty and the same 7/100K powertrain warranty.

No hidden fees, charges, taxes,add-ons or other irritating things.

Price
Tax
Doc Fee

Out the door price.
No other fees

And Dad seems happy, so there is that.

HERE.

Worth the read

So at 5:29 AM (local)  on this day (July 16) 75 years ago, the first nuclear bomb was tested (exploded) at the Trinity site in White Sands New Mexico.

22 kilotons, the experiment was a success.

An interesting side note: these scientists were geniuses.

About 40 seconds after the explosion the air blast reached me. I tried to estimate its strength by dropping from about six feet small pieces of paper before, during, and after the passage of the blast wave. Since, at the time, there was no wind I could observe very distinctly and actually measure the displacement of the pieces of paper that were in the process of falling while the blast was passing. The shift was about 2 1/2 meters, which, at the time, I estimated to correspond to the blast that would be produced by 20 thousand tons of T.N.T.
Enrico Fermi.

And from there the world had a tiger by the tail.

So Dad needs a new vehicle to replace the ’07 Town and Country minivan he’s been driving for a long time (like for the past 180,000 miles).

We looked at different cars and such, and he chose to get another minivan…a Chrysler Town and Country or a Dodge Grand Caravan.

We look at some that are a few years old, and they are…tired. Very tired.

So he decided to bite the bullet and get one only a year or so old. A couple (like 7 thousand) more dollars, but ones that are not worn to death or beat to shit.

There are very few out there like that.

We find one locally, but they want a bit too much for it. A dealership 55 miles away has one nearly the exact same car, same mileage, only for $2k less. Not a huge amount of money, but 2 Grand is a lot to me and especially to Dad…I call and verify they have it in stock, and the price is as advertised…no add- ons, or other fees.

We get there, and test drive it and it is a nice minivan…low miles, clean, good condition, very little wear.

We haggle a bit, and agree on a price with the business manager. All good. Paperwork is drawn up, and a total agreed upon

He goes to the cashier and pays the agreed cash price for the vehicle, plus the doc fee and the fee for the temporary plate…..No sales tax because this dealer is in Illinois and he will be taking it back across the border to Indiana.

The dealership has to do their “Delivery Prep” and we wait for a few minutes. Dude comes up and hands us the keys and says…”We need to collect the sales tax, I was wrong.”

Ok, my dad is agreeable, so we go back to the cashier and he hands them a credit card to pay the 7% sales tax on a $16,900 vehicle.

The cashier says the difference is $2833. My dad looks at her and says…”7% tax, right?” She says “yes, the difference is $2833…”. My dad is pretty good at math and that doesn’t seem right to him…

I ask to see the paperwork, and it now shows the $16900, plus the doc fee and the plate fee and the line for sales tax…$1183….and a new line that says “Napleton Dealer Sales Experience Fee” and the number of $1650. Odd, that wasn’t there before….

When I questioned the “Experience Fee” the business manager said that it was a fee they charged to every customer for the “Experience” of purchasing a car at the dealership……I objected, pointing out that the fee had not been mentioned up to that point and that we had not negotiated that fee….He explained that EVERY customer pays that fee.

We declined to pay them an additional $1659 and requested our check back before we left…the “Business Manager” tried to tell me we had a contract and had no choice but to finalize the transaction….I suggested they give us back the check or I might have to come and take it back from the cashier….. No sale today.

We left, check in hand . We did not feel the “Experience” of buying a car was worth $1650.

I wonder how many people, especially those who finance, even realize that they are being charged this fee AFTER negotiating a final price?

I expect car dealers to be shady, and all, but damn.

Back to looking.

The Media tells us the number of CASES of coronavirus, but seldom tells us the number of TESTS that were performed to get that number.
Nor do they tell us the PERCENTAGE of POSITIVE tests.

HERE is a chart (you will have to follow the link, I am unable to embed it) showing the percentage of positive testing. Now, note that the percentage has come down. There may be a number of factors, one that might be a large cause is that people who got the testing early were those who were pretty much already showing possible symptoms and were largely getting the test to confirm an already existing diagnosis of Corona.

Having said that, note how the percentage of positive cases has fallen. from a high of 22 percent in late March to a low of about 4.5% in mid June….Right now we are a bit more than 8.5% positive. More data points gives us a much better data set. We can now see that Covid isn’t the threat it was once thought to be.

But the media doesn’t bother to tell you that, do they? Instead, the use the numbers to generate fear, by telling you the higher number of CASES….and telling you (lying, really) that the hospitals are in danger of being overwhelmed, when that is just not true.

Why don’t they give the truth? Why enegender fear? I can only think that it is to help keep the US population afraid, and in hiding, in order to damage the economy…..For political reason that you can figure out for yourself.

Remember, we have already Flattened the Curve…for well over 2 weeks. Either they were lying to us then, or they are lying to us now.

Err, I mean…the entirely justified protests of the death of a criminal that nearly no one knew about until he died….

So some authorities are admitting that it wasn’t, at least not entirely, the “reopening” of the service sector (bars and restaurants and stores and such) nor was it likely the Trump rallies that began the resurgence of the WuFlu….But that it was, indeed, at least mostly, fueled by the George Floyd riots protests. 

I doubt if the riots are the entire reason for the uptick (and that is all it really is, an uptick) in cases, but having several thousand people in a small area, rubbing shoulders and shouting (and breathing those disease laden droplets) is a very likely vector for transmission of nearly any disease.

What, exactly did shutting the country down for 3 months do for us?

It flattened the curve….I get that. But if we are never gonna reopen, then what is the use?

As states reopen of course there are gonna be new cases. That was a given. Until we get a vaccine, or we reach “Herd Immunity” (which requires that people be exposed to this disease) then this is a natural consequence.

So what, exactly, was the plan? To keep everyone on lockdown until some indeterminate date in the future? (Nov 3 2020?) or simply until there is a vaccine ready for widespread distribution?

Or did the nations health authorities think there was gonna be some other result of allowing people to interact again?

I mean, the original “Lockdown” was supposed to “flatten the curve” and last for 2 or so weeks…..that morphed into 3 months….What was the plan for the future?

Were the preceding three months simply a waste of time and economic damage?

So Illinois is doing more and more testing per day. 

You know, find another company that would put up with their Social Justice-ing bullshit and whatnot.

Of course, they’d lose all the BIg Union benefits of working for Ford as well.

But, hey, they are the ones that think that Ford should stop building police cars.
‘Cause that will help so much to fix the Racial Injustice that is so terribly prevalent.

What I would ask, has happened that these Union Workers think that they have the right to tell their employer what products they can and cannot produce?

One might think that, if Black Lives Matter so much (that they think that stopping the production of police cars would be any more than a symbolic gesture), that they haven’t done anything to stop the violence in Black sections of the larger (and often not so large) cites….I mean, so far this year the folks on the South (and now West) side of Chicago (pretty much 100% of African descent) have killed more black people in Chicago alone that all the police in the entire NATION have this year. .

But hey, stopping the production of Police Cars will help so much.

Here’s a hint: Stop breaking laws/ Best way to not get crosswise with the Po-po If yer arrested, stop fighting, that keeps the 5-0 from either tazering or shooting or otherwise damaging you. Keeps the Hickory off of your melon as well.  On other words, don’t make the situation worse.

Yes, I know, that’s “Raciss” of me to point out the above. But ask any cop, they’ll tell you, it is true. One racial group keeps fighting.