Listen to that wind roar 🌬️

At times this morning, that wind was really roaring like crazy, as the mercury drops into the single digits after a light dusting or maybe an inch of snow last night. This frigid weekend might be the last real roar of winter, slowly but surely next week into Presidents Week there is a moderating trend and possibly close to normal or above normal come the following week.

I am glad the poor desperate individual on the mountain bike, 🚲 decided to go grocery shopping on Thursday night, so I can stay home, preferably under my heated blanket for the balance of the day. I have one of those Italian Bean Soup mixes soaking in the fridge, going to make some bread up later in the day and maybe cook up that acorn squash that’s been sitting in the kitchen for some time for a late lunch or early dinner. I was going to bring my laptop home but ultimately I decided against it. My computer monitor is at work, and honestly I don’t like using my computer that much anymore. Truth is with being so cold, once I’m done blogging for the day, I’ll probably climb under my heated blanket, and spend the balance of my day there were it’s warm. 🛏️ But first I want to get my hands kneading bread to have with the Italian Bean Soup. Sounds like a good meal with things being so cold.

I’ve been spending some time chatting with the Google AI – that is Gemeni about my situation with my truck, 🛻 trying to get some non-judgemental advice both on personal finance, the roll of my truck, what to buy, and how to go about doing it. While I have done a lot of research and given it a lot of though, as a very frugal person, spending $60,000 on a vehicle I’m going to throw away in 15 years seems so extravagant and wasteful. Not to mention a Godzilla engine is going to suck down fuel like crazy and be expensive to drive and insure.  As the Google AI notes, “It is clear that this conflict arises because you are evaluating the purchase through two different lenses: your identity as a frugal person and your values as an individual.”

I keep getting suggested these videos on YouTube about people who get over their heads with crazy-expensive, unreliable cars financed by high interest loans. 💸 And reminders how truly wrong people can get when buying a car, doing lasting financial damage. But as the AI notes, “you have achieved a level of financial independence where ‘frugality’ no longer needs to be about survival or strict deprivation. Instead, it can transition into intentionality.” True financial experts often suggest ‘cutting costs mercilessly on the things that don’t matter so you can spend extravagantly on the things that do.’ You have already done the hard part—cutting the ‘doesn’t matter’ list to the bone. This truck is the ‘does matter’ exception.”

Google AI also says I should go to the Godzilla, 🐲 it’s worth the extra money for better reliability and power and it’s not that much of a difference in cost or fuel economy over the Minizilla – and will be good especially if I do end up buying land in the next few years and need to tow livestock or equipment trailers. 🐐 You don’t want to break down in BFE Michigan, and you want the truck to last for 15 years, and if I change my mind about the SuperDuty, a Godzilla truck will have a much higher trade in. It does kind of limit my choices though, as the Godzilla isn’t as common on low-trim trucks I’m most interested in – which means less negogating power at dealerships. And it does sound a lot cooler to tell the bros, I have an F-350 one-ton with a fucking Godzilla, not one of those F-250 3/4 tons with a Minizilla. And the TorqueFlite 10R140 is tougher tranny then a TorqueFlite Q 10R100.