I Just Blew the Entire Productive Part of the Say For...

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

...the blasted State of Wisconsin.

1) Take the car to the sniffer for an inspection - the sign said 9 minute wait - 35 minutes later, I failed the test.

2) Go to the mechanic to find out why the stupid Check Engine Light came on. (They won't test it if the light is on.)

3) Get the light off.

4) Pass the test - which should have happened 4 hours ago.

I love this state. Highest in taxes and higher ones proposed. DOT employees are...don't get me started on that. Gee, I just love living here.

 

[AJPratt]

I thought NJ was the highest in taxes! Dontcha just love wastin your time?

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

If we aren't number 1 right now, we will be if Diamond Jim gets his budget passed.

 

[janetupnorth]

KG - move up north and you can be rid of those dreaded emission tests!

That is one of the things I DON'T miss about Racine!!!!

 

[chefkristin]

MA is the most expensive state to live right now. Even more than CA. Lucky me! We call MA-Taxachusetts.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

If I move, it will be out of state.

 

[chefann]

Well, don't move to MI unless you plan to not have a job. Although there are so many homes on the market right now that you could pick one up really cheap.

 

[katie0128]

Ohio just got rid of emissions tests as well... Yippee!!!

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

No, if I move, it'll be someplace warmer than here and without income taxes.

 

[pcchris]

KG - I feel for ya! I had to go through all that emissions garbage before we moved to a non emissions county. I feel so much better now that I just send in my reg slip with my check and I get my stickers. What bites is that all of the "high emissions" in the air in SE Wisconsin drifts up here from the next state south of us,(so I've heard) and we have to waste time with emissions testing. Yet, diesel vehicles can run around all day spitting black smoke out the pipes, and that's okay. I don't get it.

 

[ChefJeniLobdell]

Welcome to Florida!!

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Or Nevada.Or Texas.

 

[Pampered Laura]

Eh, lived in NV up until about 2 years ago, and while the property taxes are next to nothing & no state tax (thanks to the casino industry) the vehicle registration fees are OUT OF THIS WORLD. Cost us almost $700 to register my Expedition every year. Yet, our $150k 2000 sq ft. house on a postage stamp size lot only cost about $1800/year in property taxes.

Moved to TX... now the Car registration is low, but we're paying through the nose for property taxes - on a $200k 3000 sq. ft house we pay about $6000/year in property taxes.

One way or another, no matter where you live, they get ya in the pockets

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

You're right about one way or another, but what gets me here is the way Diamond Jim lies through his teeth, smiling the whole time he's got his hand in our wallets.Enough people here were stupid enough to vote for this liar and he got re-elected.

 

[janetupnorth]

You're right about one way or another, but what gets me here is the way Diamond Jim lies through his teeth, smiling the whole time he's got his hand in our wallets.

Enough people here were stupid enough to vote for this liar and he got re-elected.

Glad to see I'm not the only one annoyed by that grin...

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Check out http://www.hideyourwallet.com/Anyone who lives in Wisconsin needs to see that video.

 

[pamperedbykathy]

TaxesYes, it does not matter where you live it is not inexpensive. If they do not get you one way, they know how to get you the other way. Texas is not only high in property taxes but also in insurance.

Fortunately we all still live in the best country in the world.

Kathy

 

[BethCooks4U]

NC is a good place to be. Our houses are slightly less and taxes somewhat low (real estate anyway). I am comparing to WI here by the way. Goods and services are about the same here though and we have a few taxes that WI doesn't (like property tax on the cars). My property tax for the same size/age house was cut in half when we moved here and the other things do not add up to that difference.


They get you no matter where you live. It's all about the big guys making their money. We all get squeezed more and more. Send our jobs (high tech included) to third world countries or import workers who will work here for nothing so the CEO's can make their big bonuses for saving $$. And then raise the prices for us so the profit margins can grow. If they keep giving our jobs away pretty soon the only people buying with the the CEO's and the migrant workers.

I have always been for the underdog and the poor and I have no bad feelings for those workers in the world who are doing the work. My problem is with the people at the top who must make more and more obscene money every year at OUR expense. It's all monopolies too. Oh, and who do you think those yahoos in Washington DC are working for - not us! They want that big business money.

 

[Brandie]

Indiana isn't bad, either--my prop. taxes are around $1500/yr for $150K 2000sqft house in a great neighborhood and awesome school district. My Durango costs around $125 a year to put plates on it.

Of course, you also have the complete and utter lack of scenery...

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

A hundred and twenty five bucks for a piece of plastic?At least our licence plate factory still stamps out tin.Northeast Indiana isn't bad for scenery...take a trip down to Muncie then head down to Evansville. You'll appreciate your neighborhood a lot more.

 

[Brandie]

Been there. But I went to college at Hanover, and the scenery there is much better than that up here. It's just flat and a bit boring here--it's not toxic or surrounded by prisons or anything! We do have some great things to do though--a good zoo, neat parks, and so on. I do wish we still had a water park on days like today!

Yeah, the piece of plastic is crummy, but when you think about it, it's even worse than that. I don't get a new piece of plastic every year--most years I just get a sticker to put on my piece of plastic.

 

[raebates]

My little patch of Indiana is really pretty. My pastor said he thought it looked like we plunked down a little patch of Tennessee--a couple of acres of rolling hills all atop a hill. My picture window overlooks a field backed by a small wooded area. Beautiful.

 

[chefann]

My little 2.5 acres of Michigan is nice, even if I am 1/2 mile from an 8-lane median-divided main road (8 Mile).

We had a deer laying down in the middle of the back yard this morning. Just sittin' there, checking things out.

 

[katie0128]

My little corner of Cincy isn't so bad, but I really could do without the possums that keep dying under my porch and the really ugly wild turkeys that roam the golf course where my in-laws live...

 

[raebates]

ugly wild turkeys is redundant.

 

[Brandie]

My parents' place is beautiful--up on a hill overlooking a pine tree woods (a former Christmas tree farm). It's like a ski lodge without the skiing. My in-laws have a great place on a lake, too. We do have an abundance of lakes here in NE Indiana!

I guess my perspective is skewed because I live in cul-de-sac hell. Don't get me wrong--I really like my neigborhood. It's just not like living out in the country. You can't walk in front of your windows in your bra and panties on your way to the dryer to get your clean clothes like you can in the country...

 

[raebates]

I could walk around my backyard naked, and no one could see me. Not that I would do that. I'm an extrovert, not an exhibitionist.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

My parents' place is beautiful--up on a hill overlooking a pine tree woods (a former Christmas tree farm). It's like a ski lodge without the skiing. My in-laws have a great place on a lake, too. We do have an abundance of lakes here in NE Indiana!

I guess my perspective is skewed because I live in cul-de-sac hell. Don't get me wrong--I really like my neigborhood. It's just not like living out in the country. You can't walk in front of your windows in your bra and panties on your way to the dryer to get your clean clothes like you can in the country...

Sure you can. It's all a matter of if you want to.

I saw a Model A for sale on Stellhorn Road, it wanted to follow me home but it was a little more rough than I want.

 

[chefann]

That's why it's important to know what type of windows you have: Pants on or Pants off.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

I could walk around my backyard naked, and no one could see me. Not that I would do that. I'm an extrovert, not an exhibitionist.

I could, too.

No one would pay any attention.

 

[raebates]

As white as I am, the reflection would draw the attention of others if I were visible.

 

[chefann]

I could, too.

No one would pay any attention.

OMG! My mind's eye- it's blind! It burns, it burns!

 

[Teresa Lynn]

pamperedbykathy,
where East of Dallas are you? I noticed it said parched !
We've had so much rain in the past 1 1/2 weeks!!
Teresa

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

That's why it's important to know what type of windows you have: Pants on or Pants off.

[singing]
Pants On! (Clap Clap)
Pants Off! (Clap Clap)
Pants On
Pants Off!
The Pantser!
[/singing]

 

[pampered1224]

Sortta goes withDiamond Jim. As in bend over and grab the ankles. I love the new one about how driving is down by 2% the over cost per barrel is up 9% but we are paying 25% higher gas prices. And he's gonna do something about it. How about getting rid of the 47 cents in taxes on our gas prices.
Do we even really have a chance any where any more?

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Check this out: http://www.hideyourwallet.com

 

[pamperedbykathy]

ParchedTheresa,

When I first joined we were parched. I just haven't changed location.
We sure got a gully washer this morning.

Kathy

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

BTW - the saga continues. The Katillac failed the test, too. The Check Engine Light came on (it does intermittantly) and no one can fix a light issue when the light isn't on. So I fixed it. They won't retest it because I didn't bring along a note from my mother assuring them I repaired it. They insist on a bill from a mechanic to fix a non-existant problem.

 

[chefann]

good grief. I hated when Michigan had emissions testing. And you could get around it if you knew your mechanic and he wanted to help you out when he ran the test.

 

[janetupnorth]

BTW - the saga continues.

The Katillac failed the test, too. The Check Engine Light came on (it does intermittantly) and no one can fix a light issue when the light isn't on. So I fixed it. They won't retest it because I didn't bring along a note from my mother assuring them I repaired it.

They insist on a bill from a mechanic to fix a non-existant problem.

I used to fix that by yanking the bulb. They used to automatically come on in Dodge vans when you hit about 75K miles...just so you could take them in and have them reset it and charge you $100+.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

The whole thing is pretty silly. When it first started, there was a real test. Later, the test got tougher, with a real dynamometer and a test through idle, acceleration, urban road speed, acceleration, highway speed, deceleration, idle and stop. They checked the gas filler to make sure the collar hadn't been tampered with. They looked under the car with a mirror to be sure you hadn't removed the catalytic perverter. Now, they check your gas cap to make sure it doesn't leak and hook up to to talk to the car's computer - like R2D2 is gonna detect a pollution problem from your car. No dynamometer, no check for anything but the gas cap and computer.What a joke.Your tax dollars at work.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

I used to fix that by yanking the bulb. They used to automatically come on in Dodge vans when you hit about 75K miles...just so you could take them in and have them reset it and charge you $100+.

A light bulb isn't bad. Usually at 75k miles, Dodge van transmissions just roll over and die to the tune of about 25 hundred bucks.

 

[janetupnorth]

A light bulb isn't bad. Usually at 75k miles, Dodge van transmissions just roll over and die to the tune of about 25 hundred bucks.

Yeah, that was my Intrepid. We've had better luck with the vans over the years with transmissions. My current one is at 120K (knock on wood) without transmission problems yet.

(Now if it goes in the next few months I'm going to die!!!)

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

It may be too late now, but the trick with Mopar transmixers is maintenance. Owners need to flush them and put in new fluid. The gears are steel and the housings are aluminum. Gears wear, and the shards of steel collect in the fluid and eventually wear a hole in the aluminum housing. Changing the fluid eliminates that.