Small Road Trip observered drivers.

[Deleted member 1634]

I guess that's one way to look at it, unless of course, you DO make it that far. I 100 percent agree with you to enjoy your life now while you are young. But if you would consider some advice from a battle scarred "boomer" that worked 6 days a week for 30 plus years, don't put your future financial situation in the hands of the government. You'll end up in a crappy rest home that smells like pee. Visit one of those places and the poor people that have to live there, and you will be motivated to put away as much as you can for as long as you can, in spite of what's going on. Back in '08, my retirement account went down to 25% of it's original value-but it came back, and this time it will too.

On another note, and this isn't directed at anyone in particular, please be careful about broad brushing us "boomers". We have contributed to this mess, but we certainly didn't create it. Every generation learns it's values from the one before it; unfortunately, as is the case for most generations, only the most narcissistic, power hungry, inept fools become our leaders. This will happen with your generation as well. At least we are trying to turn the corner; the one before us was very shortsighted, especially environmentally (i.e., dumping thousands of tons of DDT off the coast of Los Angeles in 50 gallon drums in the 40's and 50's) and socially (i.e., good old boy shit, wives expected to be subservient, racial issues).
One thing I learned early is that you treat people with more life experience than you with respect, regardless of your feelings. You don't know what they have been through or had to deal with in their lives. When you complain about them, quite frankly it's more of a reflection of you, then of them.

I believe I, and every other person my age, am doing the exact opposite of putting my future financial situation in the hands of the government. Because we know FOR SURE that we'll get screwed over hardcore for any government benefits (social security, medicare, etc) once we hit that age. There's no way I'm counting on any government help with retirement, because there won't be any anyways.

And to be clear, I'm not out running rampant blowing all my money on things, contrary to what some older "kids these days" folks are saying. Nor are any of the people my age that I know and hear about. I have a retirement account and am saving as best I can. But I just know that unless I MAYBE put away every single loose cent I have and suffer through my 20-65 typical working years, I still very likely won't have enough to live off of for the 15-25 years of retirement. And when I do get there, I'll probably be too sick and beat up to do anything I want anyways. I've seen way too many of my relatives retire and then get sick and even die within years. Some, like my mom, never even made it to retirement before passing.

A lot of the arguments uninformed "boomers" (not all to be sure, and definitely less and less every day) give is "you just have to work hard, save, and you'll have a wonderful relaxing life once you retire." We just know that's not where things are heading for us.

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[Squatchranger]

Us old(er) farts need younger guys to be more productive and work harder to fix things, like global warming, overpopulation, national debt, high gas prices, crowded highways, excessive wait times at fast food drive-ins and most of all bad ACC boxes in our Rangers. No time to post on here

so fix the problems that your generation created and continues to create and worsen? Do you know the average age of congress and politicians in general? My generation is stuck having to clean up the mess you "older farts" made, no wonder so many of my generation are crazy look at the world the boomers made lol

 

[fob63]

Here we go “ Baby Boomers” screwed the whole world up. Then I guess all “millennials” are the saviors.
As was stated earlier not all boomers are alike. More than you think we were just like you earlier.
The best way to start fixing it is to vote every incumbent out of office for a few consecutive terms no matter what ethnicity or political affiliation.
Their only desires are wealth and power to damn with the constituents.
The last power of the American people.

I too in 2008-2009 lost 40% of my savings. Had to close my small business after 15+ years. Paid my debts and taxes and at 62 looked for work. Basically back to 2008 with very hard work.

 

[Motorpsychology]

I get in a hurry sometimes, time pressured like everybody else, but I try to plan ahead as best as I can. When I was driving a 6.4mpg semi, I maintained a few simple rules:

• Leave earlier. Always.
• Use your balloon foot , not your lead foot on the loud pedal.
• Coast more, break less.
• "Sandbag" traffic lights; arrive at the light in the highest gear possible as it turns green.

Current tank: 87oct E-10

Since last Oil Change:

Lifeime:

Disclaimers:

1. Many claim that the dash computer is optimistic. It probably is, so insert whatever you use for a correction factor; still not too shabby. I don't bother with manually figuring out my milage.
2. The above "Current" tank includes 125 miles of 70-80mph I-90 from Mitchell, SD-Worthington, Mn and other mostly rural 25-65mph driving.
3. Trip 2 includes the whole 1700 mile trip to the Black Hills and back, plus stuff before that.
4. I don't know what the register capacity is for the trip computer. In other words: at what point does it start dropping off the first mile when adding the latest mile, similar to how the 30min average works? So my "Lifetime" may only be 500 or 1,000mi, rather than 22,300mi.
5. Can't prove it, but methinks my FX4 skid plates contribute minutely to ground effects.

The 55mph mandated speed limit wasn't very effective, partly because ICE technology of the day had big inch motors favoring torque with carburetors leaned out to the lowest fuel-to-air ratio for emissions, and rear axle ratios were lower numerically, causing the motor to lug more.
And it was increasingly ignored until it was repealed-like prohibition. Having lived thru it, I don't think it was a good idea then or now. People will be able to determine for themselves that their Prius, as well as their Prevost pulling it, get poorer milage the faster they drive: The right foot is controlled by the wallet. Sooner or later a person's threshold of economic pain is reached.

 

[XLT and me]

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner.

OP would probably have a heart attack if he went to the local drag strip on a Saturday night.

I laugh at classic hot rodders not because of gas, but because of their blind nostalgia for old slow cars that can now be outrun and out maneuvered by a modern mini-van with factory turbos.

Lol, no. All this "modern performance" was pioneered by "old hot rodders" when those guys were not so old. I spent half my life at dragstrips and drag racing, and you just don't know what you don't know. Look up nhra stock class e.t.s by "old classic slow cars." Some hobbyist guys enjoying a night at the track is a far cry from a dedicated racer running in a/s or ss/aa. Someone should tell John Force he is doing it wrong.Modern performance cars are a great leap forward in performance, but it gets old when people want to spout that a minivan can outrun a classic muscle car, especially when it really isn't true. I have a vast collection of car mags spanning from the mid 50's to the 80's with actual road tests from the period when the cars were new. They were a lot faster than people think, on skinny hard bias ply tires and no driver aids. Time and technology move on, nothing wrong with that.

 

[Motorpsychology]

Here we go “ Baby Boomers” screwed the whole world up. Then I guess all “millennials” are the saviors.

We were once 20-something left wing pinko hippies and "effete liberals (thx, Spiro!)"

...until we actually started reading our paycheck stubs.
The majority of Congress are Boomers of all parties. The same will be true of the 136th Congress (2060) when the Millennials are in power.

 

[Nellieg]

I believe I, and every other person my age, am doing the exact opposite of putting my future financial situation in the hands of the government. Because we know FOR SURE that we'll get screwed over hardcore for any government benefits (social security, medicare, etc) once we hit that age. There's no way I'm counting on any government help with retirement, because there won't be any anyways.

And to be clear, I'm not out running rampant blowing all my money on things, contrary to what some older "kids these days" folks are saying. Nor are any of the people my age that I know and hear about. I have a retirement account and am saving as best I can. But I just know that unless I MAYBE put away every single loose cent I have and suffer through my 20-65 typical working years, I still very likely won't have enough to live off of for the 15-25 years of retirement. And when I do get there, I'll probably be too sick and beat up to do anything I want anyways. I've seen way too many of my relatives retire and then get sick and even die within years. Some, like my mom, never even made it to retirement before passing.

A lot of the arguments uninformed "boomers" (not all to be sure, and definitely less and less every day) give is "you just have to work hard, save, and you'll have a wonderful relaxing life once you retire." We just know that's not where things are heading for us.

Sorry about your mom. The sentiment you raise about your retirement future is the same for those in the generation or two in front of you. The 'greatest gen ww ii folks' lived through the depression and 70 &80s recessions... Those boomers had the issues in 70s&80s market collapses in 2003 and 2008... Buckle up ... We are all in for another round...

 

[dtech]

so fix the problems that your generation created and continues to create and worsen? Do you know the average age of congress and politicians in general? My generation is stuck having to clean up the mess you "older farts" made, no wonder so many of my generation are crazy look at the world the boomers made lol

yes you are screwed - as is my offspring. I take a fatalistic viewpoint - no way is the "mess" going to be cleaned up as expediently as it was made save for some sort of catastrophic occurrence - which is becoming more and more likely.

 

[Motorpsychology]

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner.

OP would probably have a heart attack if he went to the local drag strip on a Saturday night.

I laugh at classic hot rodders not because of gas, but because of their blind nostalgia for old slow cars that can now be outrun and out maneuvered by a modern mini-van with factory turbos.

People still have horses. bicycles, canoes.
Few including myself could modify the castings and forgings of today's ICEs to produce more power, it's all plug n play electronics.
I work with motorcycles as a hobby. For me this is one of the best showcases of machines that are laughably slower and poorer handling than most anything on the show floor today.
You'll probably reach a point in your life where someone will laugh at twin turbo minivans when ion discharge-powered robot pods are exponentially more simpler and efficient.

 

[NTXTremor]

Back before we moved my in-laws near us, they lived about 250 miles north of here. To get to their house, we had two choices:
1) Take the most direct route on state highways, driving through a lot of small towns with speed limit changes, never exceeding 55 mph and get there in 5 hours
2) Drive an extra 27 miles to take the interstate and major highways and get there in 4 hours and 45 minutes, saving a mere 15 minutes

When I was younger and less patient, we always took the interstate driving 75-80 mph most of the way. By the time we got there, we were always exhausted from the road noise and dealing with all the crazy and bad drivers similar to what the OP mentioned.

In recent years, we decided to take the "slow" way, and it made such a difference. We got much better gas mileage, enjoyed the scenery and arrived much more relaxed.

 

[OFC Ranger]

[

Lol, no. All this "modern performance" was pioneered by "old hot rodders" when those guys were not so old. I spent half my life at dragstrips and drag racing, and you just don't know what you don't know. Look up nhra stock class e.t.s by "old classic slow cars." Some hobbyist guys enjoying a night at the track is a far cry from a dedicated racer running in a/s or ss/aa. Someone should tell John Force he is doing it wrong.Modern performance cars are a great leap forward in performance, but it gets old when people want to spout that a minivan can outrun a classic muscle car, especially when it really isn't true. I have a vast collection of car mags spanning from the mid 50's to the 80's with actual road tests from the period when the cars were new. They were a lot faster than people think, on skinny hard bias ply tires and no driver aids. Time and technology move on, nothing wrong with that.

I'll give you this; fly by wire throttle bodies are the worst.

 

[Jason B]

Back before we moved my in-laws near us, they lived about 250 miles north of here. To get to their house, we had two choices:
1) Take the most direct route on state highways, driving through a lot of small towns with speed limit changes, never exceeding 55 mph and get there in 5 hours
2) Drive an extra 27 miles to take the interstate and major highways and get there in 4 hours and 45 minutes, saving a mere 15 minutes

When I was younger and less patient, we always took the interstate driving 75-80 mph most of the way. By the time we got there, we were always exhausted from the road noise and dealing with all the crazy and bad drivers similar to what the OP mentioned.

In recent years, we decided to take the "slow" way, and it made such a difference. We got much better gas mileage, enjoyed the scenery and arrived much more relaxed.

I did something similar on my trip to Gainesville, TX. Going there, I took I-49, to I-20, to 635 thru Dallas, then I-35 up to Gainesville. On the return trip, I went through Paris, then down to Mt Pleasant, to Marshall, then hit I-20 to I-49. That was a more enjoyable drive and didn't take much longer, maybe 30 mins.

 

[Trustable]

Some of you guys need to have a more positive outlook. In the meantime ill enjoy some popcorn And keep watching.

 

[Msfitoy]

Wait for it...

 

[NTXTremor]

I did something similar on my trip to Gainesville, TX. Going there, I took I-49, to I-20, to 635 thru Dallas, then I-35 up to Gainesville. On the return trip, I went through Paris, then down to Mt Pleasant, to Marshall, then hit I-20 to I-49. That was a more enjoyable drive and didn't take much longer, maybe 30 mins.

Totally worth it.

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