There should be a mechanical override emergency brake. However it need not be a pedal. The typical use should be the mechanic verifying it works at the yearly inspection

Inflation. You can be confident that these guarantees won’t last unless not only are they in writing but they are backed by independent financial insurance. Same with any life membership. It is very unlikely that they are actually charging enough to continue the service for life and so they are likely going to be forced to do something about it at some point. Often that something is bankruptcy.

Still, it sucks.

More not leftists. Some tolerance for not left wing political views would be nice too. (the people I’m talking about will just down vote me because they are part of the intolerant left wing here. There are plenty of tolerant left wing people, but they don’t get attention)

Get lucky - just as this was starting I saw a failed disk notification on my NAS so I ordered a new drive just before they went up. Then I realized it was a stale notification for the drive I replaced a year ago so I have a spare should one fail.

somebody is going to want cash in

Maybe. The hard drive makers have long experience with boom-bust cycles. They are likely trying to figure out if this is real, or just a blip and in a two years (when the new factory opens!) demand drops again.

If there is new capacity in the future my guess (guess!) is that this is a case of a new factory to replace the old, and they just keep running the old for another year instead of scrapping it right away.

I’m not sure what research you have done, but you should find some. There are things that make your a better signer short term but will ruin your voice long term. I’m not really an expert in this so I’ll just leave you with the warning to get some advice from someone who is trained if you haven’t. (What you shared so far seems okay, but I don’t know what else you are doing)

Thus the 5 year contract - even if someone else starts adding supply they still get today’s high prices.

There are only a small number of RAM chips that are not already bought. If you make computers and want at one of those chips you can get priority if you sign a 5 year contract. They are betting that the supply/demand problems ease and so the price they can get will go down in a year - but you are locked into the high price for 4 more years. If prices go up even more you get a great deal, if prices go down you lose - make your bets, but remember this bet also comes with supply today and so you may not have a choice.

I own a trailer because even though I rarely need it, renting is too difficult. I did rent a trailer a couple times. However finding one that was available and fit my needs is harder than you would think. There are many different types of trailers, each serving a different purpose, and most won’t work for my purpose. When I need one is also the weekend others need one and so it is highly likely to be unavailable because someone else has it.

I’ve tried to make your “rent when you need it” for those rare uses. However every time I do I realize that the cost of a rental is very high, and most rentals have restrictions such that I can’t even use it for what I wanted. I’ve been lucky to never arrive to find my reserved vehicle isn’t there, but that has happened to many people I know as well (leaving them at an airport with no way to get around)

I collect antique tractors, this is one of those rare niches that make me unusual. Having to have a trailer for them to get to shows is part of the costs (and fun). To ensure I can do what I want when I want I have to own a truck and trailer.

While you are correct the cars are depreciating assets, so it life. I have more than enough money for the basics: I don’t need more appreciating assets. Most of my money is reserved for things that bring me happiness, and I don’t care (nor should I care!) if it is a good economic investment. Investing everything to grow a number on paper seems like a boring wasted life to me (but this is just me, if your happiness is that number then by all means invest more)

It is likely impossible to rent a truck for pulling your trailer. Most contracts have a no towing clause. Uhaul only allows towing their trailers. When you find the rare exception you are risking they are sold out that week. And the cost when you do find it is high enough to pay for the additional payments for most of the year.

If there is enough money they will. Though I agree with your doubt that enough people will buy this to make it worth it.

I understood this as camping in one location, or parking in one remote location and hiking for a week. This is a fairly common way to camp. Over a week you can get a useful charge if you are not driving. Likely just 1kw would be enough to get a useful charge over a week. If you are driving to a new spot every day this doesn’t work (unless the drive is really short).

I wouldn’t bet on that - the Silverado EV looks nice on the spec sheet (except no android auto/car play - GM needs to be beat up for this every time their cars are mentioned) and you can get it today. 3X the cost of the Slate, but if you need a truck it is more than 3x the Slate for being a real truck (much larger tow capacity, bigger bed)

I can put a fog machine on any vehicle if I want it too do that. Currently the fluid is generally white, but I’m sure for a few $$$ they will make me a colored fluid with any color I want. Also I many offensive scents are an option as well (again, probably not available, but for $$$ you can get it) The people who like to “roll coal” are more than willing to spend the $$$ needed so there is likely a market if you want to go into that business.

Personally I consider my trucks for working hard not show. I won’t be doing this because my truck isn’t supposed to draw attention to itself - and with the antiques I’m towing it can’t complete anyway. (Trucks are also female so those hangers are wrong)

In almost all cases your 120V15A outlet has other outlets on the circuit and so it cannot be rewired that cheap. In almost all cases it is really 120V 20A though, so you can set your level 1 charger to a slightly faster rate since odds are nothing else is running on that circuit (but good luck finding a charger that supports that faster level 1 rate).

The shorter your range the more important fast charge is. My car with a 200 mile range is almost(!) always fine on level 1 since I so rarely use make so many trips in a row that it would empty the battery. My wife’s phev with only 30 miles of range is always at near 0% when she gets home and she (like most people) is likley to be making another trip soon so level 2 is a must. (of course it could switch to gas it isn’t charged, but gas is several times more expensive so we try to use gas for long trips only)

A pickup is supposed to be used such that the weight is properly loaded. If you don’t have the back full of firewood or something else anyway you are doing it wrong.

Then again if you don’t have a full 8 foot bed you are doing it wrong, and those are almost impossible to buy.

If you are camping for a week a few solar panels can give you some useful range, perhaps enough to get a full charge (depending on sun, how many panels, and what else you do for power)

The minivan is important. That sliding door means my kids never slam the door open into the next car… Many people get too attached to perfect paint on their car even though they have a history of trading in “that old thing” every 3 years.

The more space for cars the more spread out everything becomes and so the less walking is a reasonable option. Remember cars include parking someplace even if not on the street.