u/xtetsuix

TL;DR: Moving into our first house soon where a huge TV sits directly across from a front window with a clear view from the street (in a rough neighborhood). I’m hyper-vigilant about security (breaking down boxes at night, hiding valuables), but my wife is nonchalant ("we can just rebuy stuff") and wants the shades wide open all day for natural light. My worst nightmare is a break-in. So far, my plan is an automated shade schedule, daytime privacy window tint, and a security system subscription (which I hate, but need for peace of mind). Looking for advice on securing the TV/living room set up and bridging this security mindset gap with my spouse.

We are moving into our first home together in a few weeks, and I’m hitting a wall with a major security concern regarding our main living room layout—and how my wife and I are approaching it.
The Setup & The Security Gap
Our main living room window is large, sits right at the front of the house, and has a direct line of sight from the street. Directly across from that window is where the main TV has to go. It's a big TV, and we’re moving into a neighborhood where you definitely need to be mindful of property crime.
Here's the kicker: we both grew up in bad neighborhoods, but we walked away with opposite mindsets.
My approach: I’m hyper-cautious. I never leave anything in plain sight in my car, windows stay locked, and growing up, I’d literally break down electronics boxes and hide them inside black trash bags at night so nobody driving by knew what we bought. Being burglarized is one of my worst nightmares.
My wife's approach: She’s actually been burglarized before, yet she’s surprisingly nonchalant about everyday security. She doesn't always think to lock windows, loves having windows wide open for natural light, and wants the big TV right there. Her view is, "If someone steals it, it's just stuff—you can always buy things again."
To me, having a huge, expensive screen visible from the street with the blinds wide open is basically an invitation for someone to scope out our house.
My Current Mitigation Plan
Since moving the layout isn't really an option with the room's shape, here is what I’ve come up with so far:

1. Daytime Privacy Window Film / One-Way Tint: Applying a high-quality privacy film to the front window so she can keep the blinds open during the day for sun, but passersby on the street just see a mirror finish or dark reflection.
2. Automated Smart Blinds: Installing automated shades set on a daily timer (or linked to sunset) so they automatically close the second it gets dark out—which eliminates the risk of forgetting to close them when internal lights make the privacy tint useless.
3. Monitored Security System: I hate monthly subscriptions, but for my own sanity and peace of mind, I’m biting the bullet and signing up for a monitored home security system with entry sensors and cameras. Suggestions are welcome!
   Questions for the Community:
   Are there other physical layout tricks or anti-burglary steps I’m missing for ground-floor TV setups facing the street?
   How have you handled security compromises with a partner who doesn't share the same level of caution without making them feel controlled or paranoid?

TLDR: What’s a reliable American pickup truck?

I’m a Toyota/Honda guy. I’m pretty informed on car reliability, am able to turn a wrench, and do a lot of work on all my vehicles. Currently own a 97’ Toyota 4Runner, 99” Honda Prelude, and 25’ CRV Hybrid. That’s said, I grew up in the northeastern US, where pickup trucks aren’t very popular, so I’m not that informed on them.

Of course I believe Tacomas are going to be the most reliable one out there, but I understand they are more of a fun activity truck, especially that you never see them as work trucks.

I have heard different things about Fords, Chevy, Dodge being better work trucks than others but don’t have a solid answer.

I asked because I’m a new homeowner doing a lot DIY stuff and am thinking about getting a pickup truck to move stuff but am not sure which one to go with. It wouldn’t be used as a long distance traveler, simply a round town hauler, and maybe driven here and there if the daily driver, CRV, is in use.

If it wasn’t so hard to get parts for, I’d get a Kei truck. I’d get a Tacoma but because they hold their value so well, it doesn’t seem worth spending the money on something that’s not going to get used much and will get dinged up.

Alternative, I’ve thought about buying a trailer and keeping it ready to hook onto the 97’ 4Runner.

It seems like young people today, who don’t make a lot of money or have any credit history and being given large credit limits in comparison to years ago. In the late 00s I was getting triple digit CLs. It took me a long time to work my way to the 4 and 5 digit credit limits.

It could be anecdotal, but it seems like I see 18 year olds who work at Starbucks getting 10k CL.

I’ve sold all my cars private sale via Craigslist back in the day and now Facebook Marketplace. But these were all older vehicles and under $10k. If by chance I wanted to sell my first modern vehicle that’s goes for a little over 30k at a dealership, how would I go about that?

I know technically I could still sell it on those platforms but I assume it would be hard for someone who is in the market for a modern vehicle, to hand out 30k to a random person on Facebook Marketplace. I know I would be weary to do so. Being a dealership certified preowned, it comes with a dealership specific lifetime powertrain warranty that is transferable between private parties, so that may help.

FYI: Earlier this year my wife & I bought a 25’ CRV hybrid w/ 10.5k miles, for $35k OTD. We put down $10k, took a $25k 4-year loan at a 4.86% interest rate.

I love the vehicle, spent about $1k in accessories & minor aesthetic mods. I keep my cars a long time, and I plan on keeping this thing for at least 15 years. I did quite a bit of research, learned that over the past decade Honda has been having head-gasket & oil dilution issues mostly caused by the forced induction by turbos in those smaller engines. I bought the CRV hybrid specifically because it has a naturally aspirated and larger 2.0 engine. I learned after the fact, that even these engines are having head-gasket issues due to the nature of having an engine constantly turning off and on being that it’s a hybrid, and so constant temperature fluctuations warp the head bolts. Honda has issued a recall in Canada to address this issue by applying a software update to increase the water pump output to try and regulate the temps better. In my opinion this is just a band aid, the true fix being to replace the head bolts with stronger ones, as some people have done with aftermarket parts. Not to mention, the recall hasn’t been issued in the US, where I’m at.

All this to say is that, I may want to get rid of this thing before this issue occurs, if it ever does, and I’m not sure how to get the most money from it. I’ve never had a vehicle this new, I have always been 10+ year old vehicles that were never worth more than $8k, that I could easily sell online.

I am wanting to know if saying " I've seen it done" is incorrect. My wife stated that it should be " I saw it done" is correct. This was after I mentioning that I had seen a car repair done before. She states "seen" should only be used after a certain amount of time, while "saw" was something recent. She didn't know that I had just watched a video on it and that what I was referring to. Can anyone tell me which is correct & why?

I’m recently married and my wife is a extrovert. I wouldn’t say I’m an introvert but I have always suffered from social anxiety, not debilitating, but enough where I avoid being the center of attention among strangers.

Dancing has always been one of my most hated activities. My wife loves to dance. Since we got married she hasn’t wanted to dance with anyone else, which I appreciate, though I have told her it’s fine. In an attempt to share in an activity together I agreed to go to dance classes with her.

During our first weekly class there is a group of about 20 people. The first time was brutal. I was fumbling around, about as bad as some others, but definitely in the bottom percentile. During the class they have you pair up with different people. I remember I was so embarrassed the attempting to dance with one woman as she seemed extremely annoyed at how bad I was. Another woman, though wasn’t outwardly annoyed, but I could tell she was not enjoying it. My frustration came about because I am there because I’m bad at dancing, yet I was treated with contempt, but at least one person. I left extremely upset, and it turn it upset my wife, because I was being extremely negative afterwards.

I didn’t want to give up, so I attended a 2nd class. This time I took my ADHD meds and I did better, it great, but not worse than anyone else.

The 3rd class I actually felt like I was doing well and left on a slightly positive note.

The 4th week, I had eye surgery so I didn’t want to show up and dance in close quarters looking like a boxer with a swollen black eye or a pirate with an eye patch, because I knew my anxiety and self consciousness would go thru the roof.

The 5th week, class was cancelled.

Today was week 6, and I was right back to square one. I was fumbling around pretty bad. What really got me today was the fact that I could clearly tell all my partners were annoyed with me to a certain extent. Which honestly I get, they are trying to learn and I’m here completely fumbling their experience. It was so bad that near the beginning of the class I could see the instructor watching me out of the side of his eye, really struggling and becoming physically upset. Him trying to help, would make comments to the class stating it’s OK to struggle and that we’re all learning. I get that he is trying to help, but I knew he was referring to me. At the end of the class I was clearly visibly upset, and two people came up, trying to help, by trying to give me advice or encouragement. It was well meaning, but all it did was reinforce that I was clearly sticking out with how bad I was doing.

I left today, not angry, like I was the first time, just very upset. I rarely cry, deaths in families, physical pain, etc. , nothing. But today, today I almost broke down in the car on the way home. My wife went in the house after consoling me and letting me know it’s ok if I don’t want to go back, since I really did give it a good try, but clearly it’s upsetting me.

I want to never show my face there again, but I don’t want to give up either.

I just needed to vent, as this was one of the toughest things I’ve ever done in my life.

I was driving down the road and saw a poor little groundhog panicking and darting around on a 2 lane road. I did my best to avoid it, which I did. I look
In my rear view mirror and someone ran him over. The driver goes past me, looking completely oblivious or just nonchalant.

I’m was upset that the animal was killed, but even more upset that the driver didn’t try to dodge at all and seemed completely unbothered!

I’m not saying one should swerve Al over a busy road to avoid hitting an, as this would be extremely dangerous, but the fact she didn’t even try to alter her path or even seemed phased crazy.

She wasn’t even distracted, as she has her hands on 10 and 2, fully upright like a crash dummy.

I’ve got a 25’ CRV Hybrie with a 2.0 naturally aspirated engine that is prone to blow the head gaskets.

Routine maintenance calls for coolant to be changed at 90k miles.

As a preventative measure I plan on changing the coolant at 60k, hoping to prevent old coolant higher Ph levels degrading the head-gasket seals.

My question is, should I pay for a full flush to completely evacuate any old coolant, or should I do a DYI drain and fill, which leaves 50% of the old coolant in the system? Just curious if it’s overkill to do the earlier than recommended coolant change AND flush. Or do you all feel a drain and fill at 60k is good enough?

Anyone know of a shop that will rebuild a manual transmission? I understand that it’s a rare service offered nowadays, especially on an old 90’s Honda I need it done on.

I tried L&R, who were very nice but informed me most places don’t perform rebuilds because it’s hard to sources the parts and they are already booked with automatics so the higher ups, understandably, are not accepting one off projects like what I’m looking for.

Has anyone tried wrapping a CRT. I have a 36” Trinitron in mint condition but I prefer the black over the gray aesthetic. It’s just too big to disassemble without breaking something, to paint it. I was thinking of wrapping it. Do you all think it’s possible to do well? I’d even pay a car wrapper to come out and do it if need be.

Edit: I would only want the front bezel and buttons wrapped. The back half would stay as is.

My 99 Prelude’s transmission has 5th gear synchro and bearing issues.

Should I rebuild or replace? Keep in mind I am not a mechanic, so I’d have to pay someone to do.

More specifically, since I bought the car 10 years ago, it’s always would grind shifting into 5 gear when the tranny was cold. I’ve changed the tranny fluid, which helped, but it’s always been there, and apparently synchros are a known issue with this tranny.

What’s got me worried is in the past year, I’m hearing a whirring sound when just cruising down the road. My mechanic said it a transmission issue. Based on my research, it’s likely the output bearing shaft.

I bought it with 160k miles, I’ve put only 25k miles on it in the past 10 years, and about 3 years ago I made it my Sunday driver after I replaced the H22 because of a blown head gasket, with an H23 with 50k miles on it, which I found at a good price, in comparison to H22s around me. I plan to keep this car, as I’ve put a lot of money into it, with it being my dream car.

Has anyone figured out how to check the engine temp?

It’d be useful in the cold weather, granted I just go by the rule of thumb by letting it run for between 1-3 minutes, letting the oil make its way through the engine, then driving it soft for the first 5 minutes or so until it gets to (presumably) temp.

But it is critical, especially during the summer to see if it’s overheating, and stop it before it ever even gets to anywhere dangerously hot.

This seems like a manufacturer treating us like lemmings and keeping us in the dark with creature comforts, all while the important things to keep your vehicle running correctly, like engine temps or providing solid maintenance markers instead of electronically controlled ones.

I’ve been getting between 35-37mpg for the last month or so I’ve had my 25’ sport-l hybrid. Yesterday I ran an experiment and instead of doing the 5-9 over the speed limit I normally do, I went at speed limit, 65mph, through my entire drive home, which is about 27 miles in total, which 17.5 are highway. I ended up increasing my mpg to 42. It took me about 3 minutes longer to get home but gained 5mpg. And yes, I stayed off the passing lane since I felt like a turtle!