Early Retirement Extreme Forums

Getting ready to try my hand at some bodywork on our 2010 Honda minivan. Previous owners never parked in a garage, so rust is starting to creep in on rear wheel wells. I already tackled an area on driver side rocker panel that came out well. It was mostly surface rust. The wheel wells both have area...

I can share a couple of keys that helped me tremendously: About ten years ago, I read “Wheatbelly”. That book opened my eyes to the fact that diet is a HUGE factor. No matter how much you exercise, if you have a lousy diet it will catch up with you. Bread (especially with highly refined flour) is co...

Fired right up on the first turn. And also surprisingly a big dopamine boost when the car started. :lol: Nice work! It’s true, there is a sense of satisfaction in a job well done, especially with something a bit more complex like car repair, that gives one a rush. Maybe the nervous system is ripe f...

@theanimal, we have two Hondas and yes, the can be challenging to work on, but great vehicles. It does sound like the starter: https://youtu.be/LXL3M1dJWZg A forum like this one is very helpful: https://www.crvownersclub.com This guy has some of the best YouTube videos for Honda repair: https://yout...

Here are a few pics of the DIY dust collector. I was able to use filters that are the same size as our furnace, that was a plus. I used Merv 13 for inner and a cheaper pre filter in front of those. https://i.postimg.cc/j2NkDYyJ/04-E09-C71-3-FD9-42-D6-8284-3-CAEAFE07256.jpg [/url] https://i.postimg.c...

I recently realized I need better dust collection in my shop - for the very fine dust (1 micron stuff) not captured when sanding or using table saw. Jet or Powermatic units go for $500 - $1000. Basically, I followed this video: https://youtu.be/Uzpn09OIyqw Got the blower for free from local HVAC con...

@frihet, great post. There are some topics, such as behavioral economics, that I would find fascinating to audit at a school like Michigan, but that would be pricey. Will have to check around. How are the meditation retreats for you? How does your practice change after so many days in a row? I strug...

This is interesting because it seems like this perspective seems to contradict the views of others on the forum like @Ego and @Jacob. Well, I guess the world would be a pretty boring Orwellian place if we were all like-minded clones of each other. In western culture, we place a lot of emphasis on D...

Just 5 months in on the retirement thing. DW and I went on an AMAZING 2 month long camping, hiking, backpacking road trip out west. Each day was unique, each day a new adventure. ;) Now back in MI for 2+ months with crappier weather, the days involve either getting up early or sleeping in, often get...

Well, after five months of retirement, I haven’t spent as much time in the woodshop as I’d like due to home maintenance stuff! At least keeping those costs down to materials I have to buy is satisfying. Current maintenance task is getting our furnace humidifier going again. Replaced the mesh filter ...

Pretty quiet around here - No fun looking at the numbers this year. We are fortunate to have had 3+ years living expenses in cash since 2021. That $ is now in I-bonds and short term tBills. However, we are long VTI, BND, BNDX plus other bond funds thru Vanguard - those are down nearly 20% in aggrega...

DW and I went on an amazing two month camping, hiking, backpacking tour of the American west this summer. And while ID, OR, CA, UT and CO were gorgeous, we also saw evidence everywhere of the terrible severe drought. I feel this is going to be a very big deal very soon and obviously a worldwide prob...

https://www.bis.org/publ/qtrpdf/r_qt2212h.htm https://www.bis.org/publ/qtrpdf/r_qt2212h.pdf Get your Tuesday started off right with a report from the Bank for International Settlements of $80 trillion (and growing) in hidden off-balance sheet FX liabilities. So, they’re essentially shorting USD? Bo...

What I found amazing is the kit existed and we found it on AltaVista using the brand and model of the cabinet. I miss AltaVista - It was a great search engine! I proudly had my own 2 page website for German Technical Translating back in 1996. I got some good side work out of it too, after registeri...

We have a nice pair of Infinity speakers bought new just 30 years ago. The foam surround (on woofers) is shot … surprised it held up this long! Must’ve been the AC/DC album I cranked up this past summer that finally did ‘em in. ;) I’ve got this kit on order: https://www.amazon.com/Infinity-Inch-Spea...

It works! Funny - not 100% sure what the cause was now, since I changed too many variables at once. ;) I did jiggle every wire and check all connections, which seemed to be good before putting drum back in and front panel and door assy. I had made up a jumper to bypass the door switch, so I could le...

Thanks Sclass, thanks slevin. Yeah, it does sound like a controller issue. Not sure it would be worth changing that out. Not available on AMZN and sears parts site wants a fortune for it. The model number is 110.77042600 Here’s the circuit Diag: https://i.postimg.cc/029G5yXt/3-E21-EC72-D2-C5-4-D5-E-...

Hey Fixit Forumites! Pulling my hair out here with a 2006 Kenmore Elite (v fancy!) gas dryer. It’s been sitting for 1-1/2 years awaiting my repair efforts. We’ve been line drying, so don’t really need it. It runs, but burner shuts off after just a few seconds. I’ve had good input here + good fixit v...

I’m Retired!

Thanks, Sclass! Sounds like the Veblen curve is alive and well. I wasn’t familiar with Sanden at all previously, but know Denso as “the Bosch of Japan” - they’re actually the largest tier one supplier in the world. I will definitely do more homework on next parts purchases. I bought the compressor a...