kirks5oh

i agree. different companies/planners have different ways of making money. some have fees up front, and some make commissions based on specific mutual funds/etc.. they may not make money on advising you to fully diversify (bonds, gold, real estate, etc.). i'm not inferring that they are not worthwhile. we're good friends with our financial planner. if they have the option to take extra money and put it into the 529 vs. mutual funds, their recommendation will lilkely be the mutual funds.

definitely go with the 529 plan. we have one for each of our kids---very easy for family members to put money into as well. we have a certain amount that comes out every single month and flows into those 3 accounts. we will also toss money into them from time to time. some of it is just a guessing game--but: i'd recommend a quick visit with a financial planner (that you trust) to set one of these up. they will know on average, what it takes to send a kid to college, and be able to predict what you should be putting into it monthly. things they can't predict:: what the market will do, if your kid goes to private college, or if your kid decides they love it enough to try 5 years of college. but you should be 'in the ballpark' so you don't have to worry about taking large loans out keep in mind the planner doesn't necessarily make money by having you put money into these---they will always try to steer you towards stuff that makes them some money as well. it helps to have a friend who knows about these things so you can put your financial advisor 'in check' from time to time.

sounds good. with your age and activity level, the surgery is most likely going to be the way to go

yes, without an ACL, you are at more risk for tearing the meniscus. 95% of meniscal tears in those over 25 are irreparable--we simply trim them out so that they don't tear further. people aged 30-45 are a 'gray area' as far as acl tears, imo. by that time, most people are no longer in COMPETITIVE cutting sports (soccer, football, tennis, competitive skiing, etc). after vigorous therapy, many can get by just fine without the ACL. anyone below 30, most likely, should get the surgery. anyone 30-45 who is (realistically) participating in true cutting-type sports should probably get the surgery. if there's a meniscus tear, you'd need a knee scope at the very least to take care of that. over the age 45, you're going to need to really convince me that you need the surgery, as the downsides of surgery (stiffness, significant scarring, and making future procedures more difficult) can outweigh the minimal benefits in those patients. i'd recommend a second opinion. you have plenty of time, this is a big decision and a fairly large surgery/recovery. i'd recommend seeing steensen/westerheide/or martin. and i would definitely steer clear of the allograft. many surgeons resort to this because its much easier, and they're being lazy (to put it bluntly).

just giving you a hard time. everything you've said so far is great advice

Damn. These are all good ideas. My wife and I just got our will done. Now I've got to go back and revise it. Thanks for the info We have 529 plans for each kid, and should have college completely covered, maybe even private college or grad school, hopefully wothout having to put any extra money in, while they're in college---i'll have 3 in college at once All other money goes into general savings, bonds, mutual funds, etc. I don't have a specific trust fund set up, but maybe I need to start one

sad really. i love it when these things come up everyone comments on how crazy, or dumb most girls are, yet they are the same guys who will stalk an ex who dumps them relentlessly, and threaten to kill or beat the shit out of the new boyfriend. sounds like she has some serious self esteem issues. maybe i'm just being a pussy tonight.

take this with a grain of salt. i worked a summer at cleveland clinic, and spent the summer watching dr. john bergfeld (brown's surgeon). he's got to be at least 70+ years old now and has trained many, many sports surgeons in their last year of training before they went on to work for pro sports teams. he used patellar tendon every time, and taught that technique to ALL of those that he trained. people typically do what they've been trained on and what they can do well--not necessarily the best method---i'd be willing to bet that many of those teams' surgeons trained under him. not to say that one technique is better than the other---i would argue both have comparable outcomes triple ftw

listen to this guy (for once). everything he's commented on so far is spot-on.

do NOT do the cadaver tendon. allografts (cadaver tissue) have a high incidence of not healing---stretching with time, and ultimately failing. if i tore my ACL tomorrow, i would realistically think hard about getting it fixed in the first place---i don't do cutting/twisting sports. that's a completely different discussion--many people 30+ and especially 40+ can strengthen their quads to the point they don't even know the ACL is gone. the cadaver tendon is done simply for the fact that it cuts the time to do the surgery in half. the cadaver tendon is sterilized in a way that can compromise the structural integrity of the tissue---new studies are showing a very high rate of failure of cadaver-tendon ACL's. if i was going to get my acl reconstructed i would INSIST on using my hamstring tendons for the graft. don't worry, you will not notice the loss of the hamstring tendons. i would also consider bone-patellar tendon-bone. the only reason i wouldn't prefer this is that some people can have pain kneeling on that knee and a small occurrence of patellar fractures. at 30+ and being a male, in good shape, there's no reason not to use autograft (your own tissue). some surgeons will argue that they're concerned your hamstring tendons will be too small---that's bullshit. my partner trained with one of the premier sports surgeons in the country---he never uses allograft on a first-time ACL surgery. in the end, its irrelevant--whenever i do a total knee replacement on someone who's had an ACL reconstruction in the past, the ACL is completely gone nearly every time--when its there, its a wispy little string of tissue that i immediately 'knife out' in about 2 seconds. good luck.

$450 is a good price, as others have stated, especially for a first tune.

lulz

+1 about to buy an LSXR clutch this week and will be getting the remote bleeder set up.

i'm happy with the nitto's that i have. i kept the runflats (they have 1500 miles on them) on the stock wheels, and bought a set of repro wheels in black. i have nitto invo's up front and drag radials in the back. now that i have the drag radials broken in, the car is much quieter than when it was stock. i also have an MGW shifter which makes a huge difference, as does frequently replacing the clutch hydraulic fluid. i simply remove the black fluid with a turkey baster from the reservoir, refill with good fluid, and pump the clutch 20-30 times---repeat this process 5-6 times and the car shifts like butter. get a mild to wild switch, so you can open the exhaust flaps all the time, and still shut them on the freeway to make it quiet. unless you enjoy detailing your car, call andy (audi on 19's)--he does an incredible job

the quality of the product is incredible, i will admit. i had 'fitment' issues with their kit, and had to send it back---it was a huge hassle for me that ended up with me wanting to strangle the fuck out of the owner's son (mike boat). in the end, my kit sounds great but doesn't fit to my (or any reasonable person's) standards. my buddy's S5 kit was the easiest catback i've ever installed and fit perfect--that's the whole reason why i went with BB.

yes. for some reason i thought your car had the blown 6 cylinder. i would highly recommend the billy boat kit. i'll have to ask him which one he has (don't know if there are different kits or not). he's had it on his car for well over a year, and it sounds absolutely incredible. i'll try to get a sound clip tonight, but that was from when we first installed it--it has opened up a bit, as far as sound goes, but is not intrusive. he would buy the same kit over again.

my buddy has the v8 S5, and we installed a billy boat for his car. i will admit, that its the best sounding V8 i've ever heard (i realize your car has the different motor). the fitment/quality/etc was absolutely perfect. then i ordered a billy boat kit for my V, and had a nightmare experience-- i'll post a clip of the exhaust when i get home tonight

hopefully, nothing major will be found wrong, and you only need a brace and time. all the names mentioned are likely more than adequate. most people have no idea how doctors' offices work. most surgeons will deal with generalized knee pain. when you call, most offices will set you up with the next appointment with a dr. that deals with knee pain---it could be someone who does 10% knee and 90% everything else, or if you're lucky, it might be the guy who does mostly knee. there are only a few surgeons in town who do truly 100% knee--dr. steensen is one of them. does that make someone 'the best'? no, but he's very good at caring for knee problems. i can understand wanting to get in asap. worse case scenario and something is torn/damaged, we usually don't rush people off to surgery immediately. you want to give the knee a little time to let the swelling decrease. i would recommend, crutches, 800mg ibuprofen, ice, a couple days off activity, and go from there. if you can't bear any weight on that side, then you need to get to the e.r. for some x-rays.

robert steensen works with cardinal orthopedics---pretty sure their office is still in hilliard area. he specializes in ONLY knee problems, from sports injuries/acl's, to meniscus tears, to knee replacements. there are several others in that group that are also good---ken westerheide, steven gaines, bob martin---any of those guys would do a great job. chris kaeding is the osu knee specialist for sports injuries, and would be able to take care of you as well

oh shit, well now you're going to get all 'wounded knee' on us. it says 'riceboy' under your screenname, by the way. gonna need thicker skin to make it here.

Tuned by a british racing champion?

Keep em coming. Hilarious

It says you make stickers for a living. Can't you make some stickers to freshen up the appearance of that aids-infested, abortion of a paint job?

is that the movie with the elephants in it?? if so, then yes, i enjoyed it

congrats on the new car. that will make a nice daily driver. my buddy drives his all winter long here in wisconsin with zero issues. i used horseless carriage to go from tampa to wisconsin with my GTO and cobra in 2008. they did take just a bit longer then advertised, but the cars got where i needed them to go with zero issues what-so-ever. my cars were in the truck with several exotics--was a bit embarassing for me.