u/douchecrudite

Did something change with DL-AM mileage redemptions? I feel like a few months ago I would find quite a bit of availability to book with miles on AM/DL codeshare flights but now there appears to be none. I'm looking DEN-LAP. Even stranger because this is low season and regular fares are about as low as they get.

I know there has been some unwinding of operations due to the DOT forcing AM and DL to "end" their joint-venture in some ways, but it was my understanding that skyteam mileage redemptions would remain.

Any insight or tips?

I noticed that nothing is on the schedule for nonstops from DEN-CUN after 4SEP. Does anyone know if this or any other routes to Mexico will return from Denver?

CUN was their last Mexican gateway serviced after they abruptly axed their other Mexico routes from DEN in April.

I still see ORD, DFW, CLE and IAH on the schedule through winter. What's the deal?

This week I received a notice CP40 that my "overdue tax account has been assigned to a private collection agency" This is for tax year 2016, the notice is dated Aug 3 2026.

To my knowledge, I have never had a tax lien issued nor any wage garnishments for this debt. The total due now is approx 21k, about 7k of which is interest and fees. At one point I did briefly establish an installment plan with IRS but due to financial hardship (2020-21), was not able to continue paying it and it was cancelled and I haven't made any payments for this particular debt since.

Based on my limited research, now that the account has been assigned to private collection, IRS no longer has the authority to garnish, levy nor restrict my passport etc and as the collection is for tax debt it will still not be reported to credit bureaus.

Lastly, I read that the IRS has 10 years to collect tax debt from when it was originally assessed (in this case theoretically would have been mid-2017 for TY 2016), so does that mean that they can only proceed to try to collect from me for the next year or so?

Assuming my understanding of all this is correct and considering that I am not in a financial position to pay this debt, would it not be sensible to do nothing and with the understanding this debt would essentially disappear in a year or so?

Thank you in advance for the advice and please pardon my ignorance. Obviously I am not the most financially responsible person and was much less so in 2016.

Hi, I'm looking for someone to help me pull weeds and do some basic grounds maintenance at a couple properties near Five Points/Whittier area. This could be a one-time gig or regular thing, transitioning to snow removal in the winter. Experience not required, however if you do have a background in property maintenance or landscaping, there could be more opportunities and extra pay.

I'm prepared to pay $20/hr for basic labor or we can discuss if you bring more experience to the table or bust ass. No experience requirement, so long as you can arrive reliably, not flake and possess a decent work ethic and attitude. Hablamos espanol tmb.

Payment in cash or zelle/venmo same day.

No assholes, please.

I was shopping at Costco River Point (south Denver suburb) yesterday during a relatively quiet part of the day and went to self-checkout. An employee was doing the pre-scanning of items in carts, and there was a significant queue for the pre-scan despite 4 of the 6 self checkout lanes open. I only had 3 items, so I walked straight up to one of the several available self-checkout registers, assuming the pre-scanning was optional. The associate barked at me and told me I had to be scanned by him .

Frustrated, I called the store and asked for a manager to meet me at self-checkout so they could see this inefficiency with their own eyes. The manager came and spoke to me, and kindly explained that all self checkout is being phased out and that mandatory pre-scanning is the new procedure during the transition phase. According to her, all self checkout lanes will be removed in the coming months and replaced with traditional registers. I expressed my frustration and questioned the logic of only having *one* employee pre-scanning for essentially 6 registers, and she informed me this was due to "mistakes" (shrink) being made too often at the self-checkout lines. I asked if this was company-wide and she said yes. To put this inefficiency in perspective, I was able to call via my phone to ask for a manager, she came and we had this whole conversation by the time I hit the self checkout register (during a quiet part of the day). Terrible customer experience.

So there you have it, apparently self-checkout is indeed going away and we have to deal with single employees pre-scanning even during low traffic times. Bummer.

As title reads, the new accent colors and dialer interface is a big step backward. Dark blue text on black background?? Who thought this through. I can barely read it outdoors , can only imagine how someone with low vision would fare.

I'll make this concise as possible:

I purchased a 2006 FWD with approx 380k miles on it in 2024. The owner told me they replaced the transmission with a JDM (supposedly new?) at approx 220k miles so the trans had ~160k on it. Shortly after I purchased it, I was merging onto the highway and suddenly lost power, vehicle would not restart. Diagnosed broken flex plate, replaced by mechanic in Colorado.

Shortly thereafter, I moved to Mexico (small town near La Paz, BCS) and then the same thing happened while cruising at highway speed, under light load. Lost power, engine wouldn't start. Towed to mechanic and diagnosed broken flex plate. This was approx 4k miles after the previous repair. Was in the shop for weeks waiting for parts and as I was explained and invoiced for the repair, 7L of transmission fluid was drained and replaced.

At the time, I didn't consider to ask what type of fluid they used, but found out after the fact they used Mercon V (spec for FORD vehicles). Anyway, it's been driving fine since then, although I noticed a weird burnt plastic-y smell that would come and go. I took it to my local mechanic neighbor, who said the smell was burning ATF due to a broken trans line that was spraying on the exhaust and burning, and that it was approx 2L low on ATF. So I had the dilemma of choosing to either top off with the appropriate fluid or with more Mercon. Per his recommendation to not mix fluid types, I decided to top off with Mercon, and it actually was driving great afterward.

Fast forward a few more weeks, and the burnt ATF smell has returned, checked the dipstick and low and behold its low on fluid. So I'm going to bring it back to him to find the source of the leak.

In case you haven't gathered by now, the Honda ATF fluid is hard to come by in my region, though I did find it online. It will take several weeks to arrive .

So my question here is twofold:

-anyone have experience with multiple flex plate failures and/or have any suggestions why this may have happened? Per online research this doesn't seem like a common failure.

-how detrimental is it to continue rocking the Mercon fluid? Given the mileage and..um...questionable repair history with the flex plate and related parts, would a 3x drain fill with the Honda DW1 ATF present any practical risks? It's probably only got about 5k mi since the last flex plate job, when all of the fluid was *supposedly* swapped with Mercon.

My plan in the short run is to top it off with more Mercon as previous. The other option locally available in the short-run is an off-brand "universal for asian vehicles" ATF.

*edited to clarify fluid used was mercon V not IV*