Disclaimer

I am also jealous.

I think they'll e-mail you in a few days about how to redeem, if not, I've gotta call them anyway to turn off my "Auto Renewal" and I'll mention it then.

I have Black Ops and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 on their way from Amazon.

Plus Halo: Reach whenever I get the promo.

F4is are girls' bikes. Just like SVs.

Stereotyping FTMFW! Comrade Pauly is correct. In homeland ninja rides you.

And that's why I didn't end up with a Silverado -- wouldn't fit in the garage.

Nice truck -- for a Ford

Keep us posted on how that EcoBoost engine keeps up. I've always been a proponent for hair dryers.

C'mon stumpy... spend AT LEAST a season (3k-5k miles+) with the 250. That's about the amount of time it'll take for you to learn the pros/cons of the bike and the hobby anyway.

The point being -- you won't appreciate your 250 for what it is (a simple, easy, cost-effective, more than sufficient commuter bike) until after you get a different bike and start rattling off a list in your head of why the 250 was better for the street than your new bike.

Enjoy your time with it.

Alright, I just re-upped my Gold Membership... same gamertag as my SN here.

There was some 20% off + Halo Reach special going on, so I went ahead and bit the bullet to get Halo Reach (in 8-10 weeks). I'll be scouting deals for Black Ops since Bad won't sell me his anymore.

I'm kickin it old school in MW2

Cut him some slack Pauly.

He's got money in his pocket that's giving him road rash. It needs to be spent straightaway. It's not like CBRs will ever be available ever again. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

I'd check insurance first before you make any rash decisions... If you want something better than your 250, I'd look at an Sv650 or Ninja 650r.

You will pay out your ass on this bike at your age and exp. level. Besides, if you're just getting a bike to trawl for bitches, they don't know the difference between an 650r and a zx6r, if it's got fairings it's a panty dropper (if that's one of your n00b concerns)

Is that at On the Edge? Or Kennedys?

And 133k miles? Really?

Looks nice, but I didn't see any "Quickest Streetbike in the World" titles attached to that ZX14...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tm3_2OMS874

Any "hacker" worth their weight wouldn't access your mail with their computer and IP address. Zombie proxy in Israel.

Cheap ass

I'd be half tempted to take Bad's copy off his hands, but I dont' have an XBL sub anymore either... so it's $100 buyin to get this shit rollin' again.

Uncle Al's Pizza for me. Nom Nom Nom.

Slow and steady wins the race my friends.

Maybe I just don't have the stomach for individual holdings. I'm a steady YOY growth guy.

80-20 rule. Makes the world go 'round I suppose, though it's nice to imagine a world w/o them every once in awhile.

but you said no business would buy a piece of equipment that stays stored, unused for most of the year

They wouldn't. What's snow trading at on the exchange right now? The business case may support the ownership of a combine, but find me one for snow...That's been my point.

The landscapers/plowers use their trucks all year 'round. To either haul landscaping equipment, or plow. Therefore it's being utilized all year. They don't have a summer truck for hauling mowers and then a winter truck for plowing. Not to mention it's a 'personal' vehicle too - most of the time.

It's cheaper to pay a Mexican midget to tie himself to my hood and wipe my windshield.. good lord.

Just kidding. Not a bad deal for wiper blades, if I needed them.

And the commodity price supports that...

1) Your opinion, not fact. I know several private plow company owners who'd disagree with you.

2) Uhm, public plow drivers never finished the job in Columbus. Many neighborhood streets went unplowed all winter. No way private could take longer.

If you say so, I'm sure I could assemble some other plow drivers (temp and otherwise) that would provide a counterpoint. Regarding your issue w/ Columbus plow drivers, that sounds like an issue you need to take up with the city. If one were an intellectually curious person, they'd find out the answer if it affected them.

I'm sure it'll start happening with serious budget deficits.

You're assuming the private sector can do it cheaper. I bet if you ran the business case out and figured out the MLB of the city vs. a private fee to do everything the city does in the same amount of time at the same "quality" (apples to apples) -- I bet the city would be cheaper. If not, I'd give you $100 to start your own plow business.

A commercial vehicle is a vehicle used in commerce. Straight up. A car and a light truck can both be commercial vehicles. And not all heavy trucks are commercial. If I put company logos on the Camry and use it for business, I have to register it as a commercial vehicle. If I have a dump-truck I use on a farm, I don't have to register it as a commercial vehicle. Check Ohio's BMV site for more info.

The bolded part - not true. There are vehicles that are termed "commercial" even when they are for private use once they exceed a certain GVWR. City plow trucks fall into this definition, which makes sense because that's how I've been using the term in the context of this entire discussion.

No one? The state does. Cities do. So you think it's a wasted investment?

Which is why no private entity has tackled it. If they could do it for the same "cost" as the public sector and turn a profit, they would. The gov't provides services for A LOT of things that the private sector doesn't, and in this case, it's cost control. If you paid "market rate" for snow removal, what do you think it'd be?

Simple example - as a medium-sized business owner, if a day of lost productivity because my employees can't make it into work costs me $30,000 in revenue then I'd be able to put a price on what snow removal is worth. If the city has 100 medium business, that's $30M, effectively. I don't think the city pays that to remove snow all YEAR, let alone one storm. But feel free to run your own business case -- the $100 offer is up there.

The point was that private plow companies could/would pick up the slack if plow drivers call in sick or go on strike.

Keep telling yourself that.

1) Private contractors don't have the equipment (already covered).

2) Private contractors would get the job done slower because of #1 -- and time is money.

I don't think you're the first person to EVER consider privatizing snow plowing. If it's such a great idea, why isn't anyone doing it?

Commercial? We're talking public service here. Snow plows aren't used in commerce or for commercial enterprises in the public sector amigo.

That's because we're not on the same page of understanding the terminology. A Commercial vehicle refers to a "vehicle that exceeds a certain weight or class and therefore is "classified" as commercial even though it may not be commercially used or commercially owned" (read: Not a passenger car or "light truck")

http://www.is-it-a-lemon.com/vehicle_history/faq-commercial.htm

Now if you want to talk about privatizing snow plowing making it commercial, now we're on to something. I bet if it were privatized, and a bonus was given for all streets being cleared within x time, all streets would be cleared, regardless of what the private company(ies) were using to plow. The state/city would probably save quite a bit of cashola as well.

And this was covered, you would be wrong because no one is going to invest in a piece of equipment and materials that sits idle for the majority of the year.

I didn't say that it can be done. I said that it is being done, successfully and cheaply.

An 8' plow is an 8' plow. A paint brush isn't the same width as a push broom. So bad analogy. The better point would be arguing a lawn tractor pushing a plow isn't the same as a truck pushing a plow. But what do I know....

PS: You fucked up the parabolic equation and the escape velocity on that math problem, so I'm totally sure you're right about this.

Whatever point you want to make man -- I'll defer to Casper's plan to "teach those evil union members a lesson". Just like an 8' plow is an 8' plow regardless of whether there's a 425hp CAT or a 40 yr old union member behind it.

You advising me on commercial vehicles is like me advising you on how to Sys Admin.