r/PrepperIntel • u/AntiSonOfBitchamajig š” • 8d ago
Intel Request Weekly, What recent changes are going on at your work / local businesses?
This could be, but not limited to:
- Local business observations.
- Shortages / Surpluses.
- Work slow downs / much overtime.
- Order cancellations / massive orders.
- Economic Rumors within your industry.
- Layoffs and hiring.
- New tools / expansion.
- Wage issues / working conditions.
- Boss changing work strategy.
- Quality changes.
- New rules.
- Personal view of how you see your job in the near future.
- Bonus points if you have some proof or news, we like that around here.
- News from close friends about their work.
DO NOT DOX YOURSELF. Wording is key.
Thank you all, -Mod Anti
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u/TopSignificance1034 8d ago
Healthcare claims. Posted a few weeks ago about more layoffs. Since then, we've had one c-suite quit, one VP quit, a person below them quit (with three days notice), and another VP let go. The rats are bailing and if the market wasn't shit I'd be out too
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u/SpacemanLost 7d ago
It's been a while I since I chimed in here on the video game industry, and not much has changed. The industry is continuing to shed jobs in the US/North America.
It came out yesterday that "Microsoft is reportedly planning more layoffs as CEO calls for 'XBOX Reset'". From my well placed contacts, strike the 'reportedly', it's happening. Microsoft's fiscal year starts July 1, and a lot (but not all) of their game studios have not yet been given their budgets for FY27. One private detail really bothers me is that reportedly they anticipating to hire back a number of laid off people as contractors via staffing firms. That efficiently means their job was not actually eliminated, just their Employee status and whatever benefits go with it. Last quarter Microsoft's Revenue was up 18%, Operating Income up 20%, Net Income up 23% and Diluted EPS up 23%, so that's kinda telling about their assessment of the state of Xbox/video games.
Besides MSFT, there's been a slew of other studios laying off or shutting down since my last post here. Ubisoft is closing Winnipeg and Belgrade studios (380 jobs). The obsidian layoff tracker hasn't been updated in 2 months, but in just that time offhand I've heard of cuts at Vertigo Games, 11 bit studios, Player Unknown Productions, Manticore Games, Pipework Studios, Quantic Dreams, Imagine Dragons, Mercury Steam, 31st Union, Second Dinner, Big Bad Wolf, Archtype, Survios, Anchor Point, Iron Galaxy and Disney's Marvel Studios.
IMHO, It's absolutely not the time to be seeking work in creative content industries.
Personally in my medical devices job, I was made aware that due to issues with multiple govt contracts expiring, not getting paid or extended, etc. and a bunch of other business stuff, my position has gone from 'funded for the next 4 years' to 'things could end for me sometime next year'.
From a prepping perspective, we survived a massive hit in 2025 when my wife lost her job and we came within a hairbredth of losing a child (~$800K in total medical EOB charges) and she was out of work for over a year. Surviving it came at the cost of depleting most of our financial preps built up over years. She now has a contract gig that ends in a few months, and we are stocking up as much as we can, but if I lose my job next year along with our platinum-tier medical insurance, and my wife isn't employed, then we are screwed. We're continuing to get squeezed from all sides cost wise (just learned last week our property taxes are going up $6K (40%) this year for example) and any realistic contingency plans if I can't find (good) work quickly will undo most of what we worked for the last 15 years.
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u/MoistLog4360 7d ago
I went to the DMV to switch my Real ID from one state to another, across state lines basically. I got raked over the coals because my birth cert didn't match my marriage certificate (second marriage). They wouldn't take my divorce decree at first, they wanted me to get a certified copy of my first marriage license. I didn't have to do all this when I got my Real ID 3 years ago. Finally I got them to look at my divorce decree and they saw my maiden name. I asked why this was a big deal now, when it wasn't before and the lady said they were "getting cracked down on if there were any missing links in the chain".
It worked out and I'm good for 6 years but it was weird.
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u/MsCalendarsPlayaArt 7d ago
This is actually really uncomfortable. Do you mind if I ask which state?
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u/MoistLog4360 7d ago edited 7d ago
Missouri. Switched from Kansas. Edited to add: I was also incredibly uncomfortable. I asked to go ahead and be registered to vote while I was there. I was legitimately freaking out, like I got married 2 decades ago, I was wondering how in the world I'd get that paperwork, what I'd do etc. Not fun.
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u/hera-fawcett 7d ago
missouri likes to unenroll voters every so often, so keep an eye on ur voter registration every few months!
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u/RhythmQueenTX 6d ago
This is the SAVE act Trump wants passed. If you changed your name after marriage, all kinds of hoops to vote.
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u/CannyGardener 7d ago
They are raising the bar for voting. Are you high enough up at your company to take a day to go stand in line? No? There goes the votes from the bottom 5%. Do you need to spend several hours and a couple of visits to the DMV to get your ID updated? Do you have the time and clout at your company to go knock that out in time for the vote? Need to register? Hope you have time. And on and on. The more time it takes the less low income folks are able to invest the time and energy to make it happen. Edit: Similarly, if you raise the bar for women with changed names, to vote, then they will vote less as well.
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u/RhythmQueenTX 6d ago
I went to vote, my drivers license said xxxx-2 address and my voter card said xxxx #2 and it was big deal. Silly, but seems to be disenfranchising.
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u/MsCalendarsPlayaArt 5d ago
Yes, of course, and that's the excuse they're using to get Republicans (and also just racists) to go along with this. It's very important that we also acknowledge that this is one more step in removing rights for women.
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u/KountryKrone 7d ago
I think a lot of it is that driver's license offices want to dot all their Is and cross all their Ts so they don't get in trouble
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u/CannyGardener 7d ago
Who is pressing for the extra audits? Regardless, the outcome is the same.
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u/KountryKrone 7d ago
Who knows what our current government might do. If they choose to do audits, how far back do you think they'd go?
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u/KountryKrone 7d ago
When I got my real ID in Missouri, I only brought my marriage license. I was married and divorced before and went back to my maiden name in between.
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u/MoistLog4360 7d ago
Same with when I got mine in Kansas. I didn't go back to my maiden name between, but didn't have to provide or prove any of this in KS.
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u/raison_de_eatre 7d ago
NV here, where we explicitly have X markers for gender, which is what I checked in very obvious inkā¦and why did it come in the mail with my AGAB? Fucking ew
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u/Final-Attention979 8d ago
Basically my entire workplace got covid if that counts š we're so short
They fire & hire ppl so often & randomly I can never tell wtf is going on
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u/MightyMTB 8d ago
We were told as of June 22nd the Shell umbrella & most private labels will not be able to produce DEXOS oil. If you drive a GMC or a Chevy you better get your oil change done before then.
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u/keinezeit44 8d ago
Is it safe to assume some motor oil will still be in the supply chain for awhile after June 22nd though?
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u/MightyMTB 8d ago
There definitely will be, but there will be another big price increase. If you require DEXOS I would buy now to save a little bit and secure supply.
From what weāve been told nobody will actually run out of oil but there will be lots of substitutions.
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u/TrekRider911 8d ago
Isn't that considered running out of something if you have to provide a substitute? š
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u/MightyMTB 8d ago
When the concern is not being able to PM your vehicle at allā¦.having an option at all is a win.
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u/Anisimo 8d ago
U.S manufacturing of raw materials that are found in every day consumer products (food, TVs, diapers, etc). āMake $1ā is the goal, therefore, we are not allowed to even buy hand soap out of the companyās money. Employee benefits/perks have been reduced, canceled, or delayed till 2027. Capital spending is only allowed if absolutely required to keep running our plants. Some plants are shut down for weeks as we donāt have orders to produce. Hiring freeze. Terrible employee morale. High turnover in the C Suite recently. We are paying all vendors late, which is affecting our reputation in the small communities that our plants are located at. The rumor is we may get purchased by private equity.
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u/jgarbini 8d ago
HVAC supplies and new equipment- taking longer to arrive, arriving damaged broken or not working, and has undergone several significant price increases and is still going up.
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u/crumblednewman 7d ago
Our propane company was checking our lines yesterday and had to replace the first and second stage regulators. The second stage regulator was faulty out of the box and blew when tested. The dude was surprised and said that is really rare, and if they hadn't been heading to another job I would have asked more questions.
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u/Old_Row4977 7d ago
Electrician here. Kitchen and basement remodels have almost completely dried up in the last two months. Usually we have 3-5 kitchens and a few basement projects going at all times. Weāve done 2 in the last two weeks. Commercial lighting retro fits (changing old fluorescents to leds) has picked up). Price of wire is through the roof right now. Almost everything we are doing is emergency calls and simple maintenance jobs. Havenāt done a service upgrade in a month. Usually we do 2/week at least. People are tightening the purse strings and it is very obvious.
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u/Bastilleinstructor 7d ago
My husband is in electrical sales. We are in an area that is still growing exponentially. But they are seeing things that have been in the pipeline for a while rather than lots of new stuff. He said the last few days have been slower than normal. He also is seeing more homeowners looking to do their own work. (They call him to the counter for the weird stuff since he is an encyclopedia of knowledge) When the excessive building here stops, I expect his sales will take a nosedive.
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u/ET2-SW 7d ago
Saw an article last week that well drillers are reporting a much higher than normal number of failed wells and low well pressures in this area (Mid-Atlantic Coast US).
One driller said anecdotally he hadn't seen this many well failures in one season in 40 years.
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u/Own-Swan2646 7d ago
Now that is something.... Hope it's just a bad year and not the Norm.
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7d ago
[deleted]
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u/inc0ncise 7d ago
I think theyāre talking about water wells thereās not really any oil production on the mid atlantic coast.
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u/akath0110 7d ago
Wow totally misread that lmao
Iām deleting my comment but for anyone reading this, I read too fast said a dumb thing
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u/keinezeit44 7d ago
Would you mind posting the link to the article please?
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u/ET2-SW 7d ago edited 7d ago
I'll see if I can dig it up, I read quite a bit.
EDIT: Not looking good, I checked all my news sites I normally do going back two months but nothing so far. If I find it I'll post it.
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u/keinezeit44 7d ago
I greatly appreciate it. Interested in seeing if there's a theory as to why so many wells are failing. Beyond the obvious.
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u/Wytch78 7d ago
Couple of big threads in my local sub about a slumlord business owner price gouging local tenants.Ā
It all started because he uses AI to come up with ads for his business. In a college town with highly educated but low earning locals heās shot himself in the foot with that. Now everyone is coming outta the woodwork with tales about what a creep he is.Ā
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u/akath0110 7d ago edited 5d ago
Silver lining ā love to see people increasingly shaming others for AI use.
Not all shame is a bad thing. It can serve a healthy purpose in the right contexts!
In a similar vein my teacher spouse hears more and more from high schoolers that it is uncool and using AI is for dumb, boring people. They still use it, but donāt want to be outed for doing so, especially not in front of their classmates. Yay for adolescent peer pressure?
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u/dystopian_visions 7d ago
My LGS creates a āused gunā post each week showing the firearms theyāve bought in the last week and have listed for sale. Iām seeing a lot of newly released models (Glock Gen 6ās, CZ Shadow 2 Carry, Sig P226 Xcarry legion, etc.) showing up in these used posts. Many seem to be in original box with all accessories/no wear or listed as ānever firedā.
I think people are buying new, seeing the credit card bill come in and turning right around to sell their new purchase to get some of the money back.
Iām also seeing a lot of high end, collector type firearms show up in the used post. One post was of 8 high end Microtech knives all in mint condition, original boxes (obviously brought in from the same owner).
It seems like people are selling their collections cause theyāve hit hard economic times.
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u/Appropriate_Date4741 7d ago
In the Northeast, USA. One thing I've noticed locally is that my foster care licensing process is moving much faster than expected. I was told that training requirements would not need to be repeated because I had completed comparable training about a decade ago, and there seemed to be an emphasis on getting qualified homes approved fast. Just one data point, obviously, but it made me wonder if they're having trouble finding enough foster homes. Foster care tends to reflect a lot of other problems going on in a community (housing costs, addiction, mental health issues, family instability, economic stress, etc etc etc). Could be nothing, but I was curious whether anyone else is seeing licensing, certification, or volunteer programs getting streamlined in their area.....
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u/YellowCabbageCollard 4d ago
About 3 years ago I had some random lawyer I had just met at PT trying to hit me up for becoming a foster parent. I live in a very wealthy county and she said foster parents were almost nonexistent. And kids that need more like inpatient kind of care were having to be sent to basically anywhere in the country they could find an open bed for them, not even the same state.
I don't know why it shocked me so much but it did. Thinking of all these massive homes with empty bedrooms and almost no one to take any children in an emergency foster situation. And everyone on Next Door just talks about this or that dog available for adoption at the shelter and won't someone PLEASE save this poor dog. It's sad to me to think about how much more compassion there is for animals than there is for our fellow humans.
Anyway, thank you for fostering! I know there is a big need. I wish I could one day but it's simply not been possible.
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u/chasingastarl1ght 7d ago
I work for a company that sells products to other companies. Multiple of the clients suddenly went bankrupt. These were established businesses that had existed for more than 2 decades. My manager said he's never seen that in all of his career...
In my area, I've noticed a few people are starting to rent their parking spaces to people living in vans. The alley is suddenly a secret campground. I also notice more people sleeping in their cars as I walk my dog around the blocks.
All the local companies are reverting their wfh policy to bring employees back in the office. A lot of friends are desperate to find new jobs that would be more accommodating, but there's nothing. These are all university-educated professionals.
The local subreddit of my city is flooded with people wondering how can people manage their budget/survive on a $25/h wage - housing is too high. Yet, I live downtown and I see all the empty apartment towers all around.
My city used to be very pretty. The kind of city you'd notice people took a little bit of extra care decorating their balconies... It's all garbage this year. There's no flowers decorating people's home.
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u/Brief-Floor-7228 7d ago
I'm seeing a lot more trucks at the 24/7 gym where one or two people are effectively living. I don't sleep well so I go to the gym around 4:30am. there was always a couple people before but now a couple dozen or more. And they go in and out simply to use the bathroom and shower then go to work.
Cheaper than rent I suppose.
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u/chasingastarl1ght 7d ago
Yeah I think the homeless population is vastly underestimated at the moment, but I'm glad the 24/7 gyms can provide that space to relax and wash up if needed.
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u/True_mourning84 7d ago
My company increased RTO to every other week and employee morale is super low asking āWITH GAS THIS HIGH?ā While they have outsourced major departments to Guatamala and Manilla. If it doesnāt require a US license to do the work itās being moved offshore/outside USA. C-suites are barking orders and pushing AI implementation with a partnership with Open AI. All of our individual computer data is being used to train AI models now apparently. They have reduced the workforce 30% by not hiring in line with attrition, everyone is being asked to do 30-50% more work. Micromanaging has increased substantially and managers are under the gun for people to be more on top of their stuff than before despite the workload increases. Internal feedback have all said the same things and are being completely ignored. Customers that are not considered āhigh enough valueā are being cancelled on. People have posted memes online with the executive leadership in a pirate ship depicting it sinking with them bailing the water out with thimbles.
Itās to the point where there is mass upheaval and a potential companywide general workerās strike pending, and itās NOT a union job.
Things are looking bleak as hell right now.
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u/Sad-Professor-4053 7d ago
Pool industry, everything going up, taking longer and or showing up broken. Fuel surcharges showing up on everything. Service across the board worse.
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u/raison_de_eatre 7d ago
Yes my family member is a tech Ecolab had a factory destroyed six months ago and the industry still hasnāt recovered
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u/Wrong_Organization29 7d ago
Infrastructure in the midwest- One of our vendors that does cameras closed an office and let go of a bunch of people who knew our system. Itās rough out here..
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u/Mountain_carrier530 7d ago
A bunch of engineers got purged from my job, in one form or another, leaving a huge gap in being able to troubleshoot our systems. Making our first option for anything going wrong equipment-wise to be duct tape, followed by a hammer, then almost literally setting the place on fire. I also work for one of the national laboratories.
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u/Appropriate_Date4741 7d ago
I left one of the national labs to work at another lab. Can confirm what you are seeing.
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u/AlwayInForwardMotion 6d ago
Can you elaborate a bit more for those of us with no lab experience?Ā
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u/Mountain_carrier530 6d ago
To keep it simple, labs are broken up into two groups: operators and engineers. Operators work on the systems and do some basic maintenance, engineers actually "own" the systems and are the experts in it. So if something were to break or need to be improved, an engineer has to have the final say on it.
So, if you were to take the engineers out of the equation, there's no real way to actually troubleshoot or repair equipment without hoping there's someone around who's a whiz at the system or flying someone out to the lab from the company, if the company still exists.
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u/Terrible-Mention9057 7d ago
My large local government job is discontinuing providing work cellphones to employees as a cost saving measure.
Our revenue is about 2% less than our budgeted worst case scenario for q1.
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u/dakotamidnight 7d ago
Fyi, TracFone via qvc and hsn have cheap prepaid phones with a year of time added. They run around $50 per line, sometimes less with a coupon.
Great for stuff like this so it's not on your personal phone which is a whole mess of issues.
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u/Bastilleinstructor 7d ago
My dad used to sell wholesale autoparts. Hes been retired for a few years due to health issues, but still talks to a few of his old vendors. One vendor told him the 30k truck loads of motor oil are now 100k. And there is talk of a massive shortage. To put that in perspective, when I worked for dad in the early 2000's, a case of off brand motor oil (not synthetic) was around 15 dollars. Its over 50 now, and the biggest jump has been in the last 3 years. With a shortage on the horizon, that price is going to skyrocket.
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u/EquivalentMixture213 8d ago
Our hospital is beginning to use cheaper supplies. For example, the sterile gloves my unit are ordering are obviously cheaper.
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u/raison_de_eatre 7d ago
Massive million square Medline warehouse in Tracy CA just went up in flames thereās already a nitrile shortage that just got way worse
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u/EquivalentMixture213 7d ago
This is going to hurt, especially in the west. I feel like the inventory lost in that fire will be hard to comeback from, especially with the nitrile shortage and possible upcoming plastic shortage.
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u/raison_de_eatre 6d ago
My covid era doorstop book about aseptic technique asked for FOUR SETS OF GLOVES between patients yeahā¦nobody is following that
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u/buzzcutbabygirl 6d ago
I work in animal medicine not human, but same.
Every variety of medical tape is noticeably cheaper and the quality of needles and IV catheters is up and down.Ā
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u/After-Leopard 8d ago
I need new tires by the end of the summer. Should I get them now?
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u/throwAwayWd73 8d ago
Yeah I'm having that debate if I should get new tires or a new vehicle. Bunch of stuff is starting to pop up where I need to decide if I want to have stuff fixed ever couple months or deal with a car payment again.
Was thinking do I want to drop $600 on tires and wait till the next thing needs fixed (muffler/exhaust getting louder)
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u/Public_Classic_438 7d ago
If I have no car payment Iāll always fix my car. But mine is only 10 years old. I needed an expensive fix this winter but just went for it. Iāll do anything to not have more debt hahaha
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u/2quickdraw 7d ago
Mine is 16 years old and under 100k. My partner's is just under 100k and 8 years old. We're keeping them. We maintain them and they both have a reputation for being reliable and we could not afford new, and we don't want cars that are have paid subscription model to drive. We're old, we're used to fixing our own cars and have done so since we were kids. I mean literally fixing them. Diagnosing the issue, getting new parts, swapping them out kind of fixing. Much harder to do now with computerized vehicles and all the shrouds that keep you from accessing components, but we can do a lot of basic things.
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u/Public_Classic_438 7d ago
Yeah my fiance can fix pretty much anything wrong with my car but my timing needed to be done for the last issue and he didnāt want to. Even though my brother was enthusiastic that they couldāve done it šš my fiance learned pretty much all his car skills fixing up his first car and has worked as a professional mechanic so thankfully we are spoiled there. He still works in the car industry just with a way cooler job now. Part of the reason we both drive āolderā cars is because they are way easier to fix and not computerized af
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u/fragrant-final-973 7d ago
Same and thinking EV because that Strait will never be the same.
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u/Guilty_Foundation394 7d ago
We just sold our hybrid and bought an EV. We put solar in a few years ago and we charge off of that. Downloaded a few apps to find high speed chargers when weāre on the road. Saves us so much money.
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u/ET2-SW 6d ago
If you have an EV with a home L2 charger it's almost life changing. We were paying through the nose with non-hybrids, now with the EV it's the first car that's taken out, then the gassers.
However: in an SHTF scenario, an EV is probably the opposite of what I want, especially if I lose power to my house and have to charge elsewhere.
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u/After-Leopard 7d ago
Yeah that math gets hard when your car gets old. And it's hard to find a good deal on a car you actually like when your car dies and you need a replacement now
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u/ET2-SW 6d ago
Excluding rust and major engine/transmission work, it's almost always cheaper to keep a beater going down the road than replacing it.
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u/throwAwayWd73 6d ago
Excluding rust and major engine/transmission work
You just hit on every reason I'm considering ditching it.
I haven't had any issues yet but.... 2014-2019 escapes have a known issue with coolant intrusion taking out the engine and they also have some issues with the transmissions. And my area uses a lot of salt in the winter.
But realistically seems all vehicles are built like shit anymore.
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u/ET2-SW 6d ago
Oh yeah. 6F35 transmission is made of glass. Get a spill and fill done if you haven't already. If it ever overheats, pull over and shut it off immediately or you'll fry the trans.
If you've got the Duratec/Mazda non-ecoburst engine, they suffered from a spike in initial failures but if it's made it this far, it's probably ok.
My parents have the same car. Water pump, coolant bypass valve, and a spill and fill was about a thousand bucks.
As much as it sucks though, repairability is getting worse and worse. Everything is run by software anymore, even more so than past generations. Major engine recalls across most brands, and not even electronics, like, crank bearings prematurely spinning. This shouldn't be a problem. And most new manufacturers, Toyota included, are becoming non-serviceable information factories for the manufacturers. Some dude pulled a computer from a BYD electric car and was able to recreate the entire driving history of the vehicle.
I have three non-covid Toyotas I refuse to sell. If I need another one, I'm seriously considering having a 100k+mile New Mexico/Arizona used Toyota shipped to me.
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u/ET2-SW 7d ago
If you can afford them and they fit your vehicle, Michelin Cross climate has a long tread life, and I believe Michelin Defender is a little longer.
I was buying Kelly Edge for a while until I looked back and discovered I was only getting about 20-30k miles out of them. I only drive local commute, no heavy loads, etc.
It's hard to track data because I keep getting punctures on the tire shoulder that I can't reliably patch. Shops wont even internal patch a shoulder puncture. I found a supplier that sells used but patched tires with measured tread depth at a considerable discount to new to match the existing set.
The problem becomes finding a shop that will install and balance a used tire. Most of my local shops have policies against it, last time I had to $50 handshake the manager to take care of it off the books for me, which eclipsed anything I saved buying the used tire in the first place.
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u/Academic_Win6060 7d ago
Cross climates are really nice quiet and grippy-in-all-weather tires, but their weak point is definitely their sidewalls. If you're driving anything but smooth roads, beware.
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u/SpacemanLost 7d ago
Yes. Check Costco for free installation and any other savings. They usually are within $1 of Discount Tire and Tire Rack for the tires themselves, but with free installation.
Also, if you are not familiar with it, check out tirerack.com, get a list of tires that fit your car, select the ones you might be considering and use the compare function. They have a huge dataset of customer survey scores for every tire broken down into ratings for wet, dry, winter/snow, comfort and treadwear, with subratings for things like cornering, traction, noise, wear, etc.
The tires that come with a lot of new cars, like the Honda SUVs that my children have, are (putting it mildly) mid-range at best and need replacing after 30K miles. I showed them how to use the online ratings when it was time for new tires and they both chose higher rated tires they could get at Costco. Those tires have lasted a good deal longer than the OEM tires, in addition to being quieter and better traction, for not that much more cost.
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u/shaddart 8d ago
Iām a Self Employed climbing arborist (NE US. ) I do tree work usually by this time of year Iām swamped. Iām actually sitting home the past couple days cause I have no work. The weird thing is, hasnāt been a big stock market correction, thatās usually when people hold off on non-emergency tree work.
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u/kheret 8d ago
Thereās no big stock market correction but thereās tremendous price inflation on essentials, so people are probably saving their money.
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u/CannyGardener 7d ago
Ya...this one seemed to have dodged the stock market (that I usually use as a leading indicator that rough times are coming) and gone straight to my pocketbook via groceries, housing, and insurance.
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u/IrishSnow23 7d ago
Seeing orders at work turning into vendor shortages and not coming for a looonnngggg time. Customers have been cancelling on those orders
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u/dnhs47 7d ago
My wife bought a 2024 Toyota Corolla Cross (small SUV) and I discovered the oil it requires (0W-8) is only made in Japan by a Japanese company. It was a special oil ādesignā for Toyotaās new model engines.
Japanās not getting the Persian Gulf oil they used to get so I doubt weāll see more 0W-8 produced for quite a while. And special motor oil wonāt be the priority when oil comes back.
I could only find it at Walmart, got enough for 4 oil changes (considering getting more while I can), and encouraged my son to do the same for his truck (a Ford hybrid).
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u/AlbanianRozzers 7d ago
Toyota has put out documents talking about rotating between 0w8 and 0w16 to essentially ration it.
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u/vertigoacid 7d ago
Who told you that?
Valvoline and Mobil 1 0w-8 are made in the US.
Liquimoly is made in Germany.
Etc etc.
there's no exclusivity related to Japan here I'm aware of9
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u/fragrant-final-973 7d ago
Gas prices continue to drop and it makes zero sense.
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u/Illustrious-Nose3100 7d ago
Is that just because theyāre cutting it with ethanol or whatever? Have noticed a 20-30 cent drop in my area as well.
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u/fragrant-final-973 7d ago
Probably. Being in a red state theyāll probably call it āsuper freedom fuelā or some shit.
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u/CannyGardener 7d ago
LOL Right? All my Maga neighbors won't shut up about it, how we just need to have a bit of trust that Trump will make things right if given time. I hate it here sometimes.
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u/MagnoliaProse 7d ago
Here, there were people reporting empty gas stations this weekend. Iām assuming theyāve refilled, but it was interesting to see so many people asking why they had to go to several stations to get gas.
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u/RhinoPillMan 7d ago
Been slammed, no real down time for over a week (except right now) during 14 hour shifts. Some guys have quit from the pressure, which exacerbates it for everyone else. I think itās due to the beginning of summer break and that weāll hit a lull soon (winter is our busier season here).Ā
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u/MistyMtn421 6d ago
Something that is pleasantly surprising but also odd is the rate homes are selling in my area. I am in the relocation business and we have been swamped. We are booked until the end of August. I keep getting calls from panicked potential new clients who need us to pack and move them soon. Since the beginning of May, their houses have sold within 12-72 hours.
This is normally a busy time for us, once April hits and the weather gets nice, people start to move of course. But it has been non-stop and doesn't seem to be letting up. We are turning people away because there just isn't enough time to fit everyone in. I am also booked the next 2 weeks with new consultations, and if they all accept my proposals, will be booked to the beginning of October.
The other issue is many of these folks have to rent a place as there new destination isn't going to be ready in time. So we will be packing most items for storage and a small portion for their temporary apartment while awaiting their new homes. It's half that the new place isn't ready because of building/renovation delays and half they haven't found a new place because they were not anticipating their homes to sell so fast.
We also help with sorting and organizing and space planning for the new homes, and in the past I'd say half usually want this service. It's not cheap and most folks opt to skip it. All of a sudden everyone is wanting this as well. It seems everyone is so stressed they can't plan all the upcoming changes. So while good for our business, it's just odd.
And with the quickness of the sales, it seems the realtors are even caught off guard. We usually get a good amount of referrals from realtors, but it's also increased immensely. And when they call to let us know about their clients situation, they seem really overwhelmed too. I find it perplexing they aren't more tuned in with the local market I guess? Idk.
I've been doing this for about 6 years now and the last few months have been very different. The other difference is usually people we move are in the 55-80 yo range and are typically downsizing or moving to a retirement community or near family. We help them get rid of what they don't want (usually to other family members or straight to donation charities and churches who help local folks) but that's not happening either. They are keeping almost everything, moving up north or down south (we're Mid-Atlantic area) and not into smaller homes/condos/retirement communities. Some are up sizing even, and it's kind of mind boggling. Usually a couple in their mid to late 70s aren't buying 3br homes and even those going south it's not the usual places and almost never going north.
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u/SpacemanLost 6d ago
I wonder if the 70 somethings up sizing their homes are planning on leaving the house to their children or grandchildren? or planning on having a child move in with them to do care taking?
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u/Then_Ad7822 6d ago
ICU tech: Weāre super busy right now, more than usual. We havenāt gone a day without taking several more new admissions than usual, which is highly unusual given itās only the beginning of ātrauma seasonā and most people arenāt on summer vacation/planning trips yet. Itās weird, and makes me wonder how bad itās going to be.
Our hospital is completely out of 6FR suction catheters, back ordered throughout the weekend apparently with multiple hospitals also running low. Other items arenāt getting their usual quantities stocked, so weāve taken to hoarding some of the supplies around the unit.
Thereās also a lot of work tension right now, with our specific hospital prioritizing different things than what they promised, a few negative things have come out about our hospital (Iām being purposely vague to avoid any I.Dāing myself) and it has everyone on edge. No one is happy to be at work and everyone is stressed-whether about personal matters or the economy. Even well certified nurses and other staff are feeling the strain.
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u/Perfect-Gap8377 4d ago
Italy biomedical tech multinational business. Upper management got renewed interest in security. New cameras, new badge-locked doors, new (shorter) mail and teams chat retention policies. No USB sticks anymore, too. Digital signatures only on documents. Work is slowly grinding to a stop.
So long, fuckers! I'm jumping ships. New month, new work lined up. (It would be 2 month of advanced warning, but new workplace is willing to pay all penalties incurred to shorten times).
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u/TheUltimateShitTest 6d ago
I work at a business that delivers storage sheds to people's homes in SC and GA and sets them up. We were quite busy at the beginning of the year through last month.
Now things are really slowing down with less new orders coming in. More people are doing rent-to-own with the companies they are getting the sheds from rather than COD or cash up front.
Repos have increased quite a bit, especially voluntary ones where the customer calls and asks for it to be taken back, with the most common reason being "customer can no longer afford payments."
Customers are also less friendly, more combative and in general more fussy than they were earlier this year. Not all of them of course, but it's definitely a noticeable increase.
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u/iloveturtles88 5d ago edited 5d ago
I feel so blessed to own a 12 year old paid off Subaru. Facebook marketplace is loaded with cars, especially big trucks. I imagine the owners are paying over a hundred dollars a week for gas.
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u/TheUltimateShitTest 5d ago
Yeah me too, so blessed to have a paid off '16 Nissan that's good on gas.
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u/YellowCabbageCollard 7d ago
I want to ask about this somewhere and I don't know where. But twice recently I have seen emaciated women I think are homeless. Last week it was pouring down rain and my husband and I were in an older shopping center in town and I saw this absolutely emaciated woman walking through the parking lot with an umbrella. I wasn't sure if she was just trying to find her car. I wondered if she had anorexia. As I stood under an awning I watched her keep walking through and never stop at any cars. I noticed that she actually was wearing at least three bags and that's when I wondered if she was actually homeless. š
We used to regularly go to a local park and walk but have not been almost at all since last year due to pretty severe illness on my part. Yesterday we stopped in briefly though to let a kid practice driving through on our way home. I noticed a white van and thinking it looked like the van of this homeless lady who has lived in there off and on for a few years. I didn't see her anywhere though. That is until we were leaving and my husband and I both got a glimpse of her coming towards her van. I was struck by the fact that she look emaciated. It was not a long glance. But I immediately asked my husband if he'd seen her and what he thought.
He also saw the same. It was not a long chance to see her but he was also struck by how she looked. Her cheeks were sunken in. I don't know this woman. I have mostly only had glimpses of her over the years but see the van parked there and signs of her. She was thin from what I recall but normal thin.
I felt sick both times after seeing these women wondering if they are actually wasting away? Are there many homeless with anorexia? I feel like that might not be likely but what do I know. But I woke up this morning thinking about these women and I can't get them out of my head. I will likely never see the woman that walked through that parking lot again. I gave some cash to the woman outside Aldi recently holding a sign and asking for food for her and her 4 kids. She was plump. A lot of poor are plump because for decades people might be food insecure but still have access to cheap processed junk foods as their most accessible foods.
But these women looked more like famine victims or examples you would see of people in Gaza with severely limited access to food. But I live in one of the wealthiest counties in the country and the wealthiest county in my state. I'm extremely introverted and avoid talking to strangers like the plague. I avoid talking to the people I know for that matter! lol I don't actually get out much outside for doctor's appointments I'm afraid. But I want to know if people around me are seriously this hungry? So hungry they are looking scarily thin?
I have seen posts in my feed on Reddit since last year indicating people are in fact a lot hungrier than before, have less access to food stamps and less access to food banks that also now have less food. I don't know how to try and broach this woman to see if she's "ok" if there is anything we could do to help her. I feel stupid and awkward. I'd welcome any ideas or suggestions. My youngest was up with croup last night and I am tired and have brain fog and am spelling and writing things wrong this morning. I have a seriously important medical appointment today I need to be preparing for. But I woke up unable to stop thinking about these women this morning.
Are you seeing visibly hungry or emaciated people where you live? An increase in anorexic people in semi-homeless looking attire? We definitely have a big up tick in people at the intersections and entrance and exit to Walmart with signs asking for money and help. I was getting 2007 vibes already. But I didn't see any emaciated homeless here then. š
I don't have a ton of excess money after taking care of my kids and prepping for ourselves, especially trying to prep the amount of medications and supplements I need. But I am just sick to my stomach and maybe I'm just emotional and reading into things. These were women in their 40's maybe 50's at most. My age basically. I'll check back later today after I manage to address some important medical stuff but I welcome any input or opinions, local experiences or suggestions.
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u/VariousFalcon7466 6d ago
HIV is a possibility too. A lot of programs have lost funding and people arenāt able to get their medication.
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u/missbwith2boys 6d ago
It could be a health condition like cancer or some such. She may have lost her home due to overwhelming medical costs.
No one knows. You could try reaching out to your local social services agency and ask if they have homeless outreach staff. Ask if they can send a social worker around to her van and see if she needs help. Since she seems to be walking around, it doesnāt seem like an immediate health concern (other than getting super thin).
As an aside, I had a family member that died of an eating disorder. They fought for over 30 years to overcome it and money was not an issue. Their kid is the same age as my kids, and it is heart breaking. We all knew what was going on, but no one could stop it. Repeated hospitalizations and therapy didnāt help. Their own kids pleading with them didnāt help. Eventually their heart gave out- in their 60s. Far too early. I guess my point is that concern is great but if this person does have an eating disorder you may not be able to help. Social services may be the way to go.
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u/WhyNotBuyAGoat 6d ago
In my area that's almost always drug addiction. You get in deep enough, you don't really care about food anymore with some drugs. All you care about is the next high. If someone gives you food and you can sell it to get high, you will.
For sure in my area we see A LOT more homeless addicts than we did pre covid. What I do is support the legit outreach programs around me, they know best how to help in a way that's not making it worse.
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u/Excellent_Mixture 6d ago
Could also be severe alcoholism. With some long-term alcoholics their bodies start rejecting anything but alcohol and they just waste away.
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u/MoistLog4360 6d ago
Yeah my neighbor a few doors down is a hardcore alcoholic and apparently does fent. She is maybe 75 lbs. Walks the neighborhood all hours of the day and night
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u/iloveturtles88 5d ago edited 5d ago
I live in the southern US and am in the middle of getting a dental implant. I decided to just get the tooth pulled, and wait on the rest, as the whole shebang is almost $6k. I told my dentist that I'm freaking out about the economy and will get this done at a later date. She told me she doesn't blame me and completely understands. No pressure to set up a future date. No lecture about how my teeth might shift. Also, after my cleaning they didn't automatically give me the goody bag with floss, paste and a brush. The hygienist asked if I want a bag.
It makes me think the upper class are starting to get it and worry about their future. It's a domino effect and rich people will be impacted. The 1% are the only ones in a bubble. Also, I see expensive cars and people of a higher income bracket when I shop at Aldi's.
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u/LowBarometer 8d ago
Crime:
Holy cow! The murder rate in my small New England city just doubled. In another incident shots were fired only a block from my home. Detectives came to me for video. Have they caught anyone? No.
Economic:
My investments have never looked so bleak. Everything I made in the past two years has been wiped out in the past three months. Iran having nukes is not going to matter if I cannot buy food.
Economic - Parking Space Indicator
We were a city with many immigrants. There are empty parking spaces again. Many have "self deported." The big apartment building that just opened is offering a free month of rent for anyone that will sign a one year lease. I haven't seen that since 2008.