This is true, but the internal combustion engine works best at a very narrow range of RPMs. Hence the need for multiple gears and a clutch of some sort (or a CVT). Still, most ICEs don't operate at anything close to optimum. So I understand the concept, and no, I'm not a mechanical engineer (my dad is; I'll ask…

What I would expect would be some kind of engine, and it can be a turbine if that's what works best, that does nothing but charge batteries. That's it - don't even connect it to the drivetrain. Let it run, as needed, at optimum power until the batteries are recharged, then shut it off. I suspect, if you do it…

What is it with all these people getting beaned this year? Seems every day somebody is taking one in his ear. Is this some new strategy or something?

As would I. Whether you're a fan of 'big government' or not, the USA is a very large country, with the largest economy in the world, not to mention alliances and national interests that span the globe. It is only reasonable that a government capable of managing all that would be of considerable size. My only…

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People on crack shouldn't be allowed to customize old trucks.

Well, I have two recommendations for you.

I would say above-ground swimming pools are a big equity-killer. I remember looking at one house that had one. It was pretty kosher, but that really fugly pool in back bothered me more than anything. "Take ten grand off so we can have that godawful thing removed and new sod installed," I wanted to say. I never got…

Oh, you've been to my place. I eventually had to have somebody replace two support beams in my garage because of the long-neglected drainage issue. If I were smarter, I would have noticed the rusting going on at the bottom of those and said something when we were buying the place. Ah, how swell it would have been…

For example, you just watched a movie that happened to have gay characters in it. The next day you get all these suggestions for GLBT-themed films in which you have zero interest. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Certainly not if you paid somebody to do it. I do it all myself because I like the result and I need the exercise. And I'm a cheapskate. I think the biggest outlay I made on landscaping would be the retaining wall, which ran about $800 for materials, if I remember right. Money well spend because the nimrod who…

Like I said, it all depends. I would talk to neighbors about the HOA before committing to one, but my point was, many of them exist for good reason, just like labor unions (please leave your opinions about unions to yourself). Whether they're worth the monthly fee is another question entirely.

Actually, be very careful when doing this. If the excrement comes into contact with the air circulation device, and you end up losing the place, you'll be kicking yourself for every extra dollar you put toward principal. Better to fluff up your retirement nest egg or your emergency fund, that is, unless you can…

That's the good part of being middle aged. You can more readily recognize a bubble when you see one, because you've probably seen them before. We live in Upstate NY, so we didn't participate in the last bubble (or this one, for that matter), but we did see these ridiculous reality shows on DIY and HGTV back then. I…

They probably bought it because a big house with more bedrooms was deemed more liquid than a small one with fewer bedrooms. A family of five (or whatever) starts looking at houses probably has a minimum size in mind, and you're guaranteeing that yours exceeds that.FWIW, we thought about downgrading our empty nest to…

Except for the time you got to drop a roll of dimes on that jackass across the street who loved working on his beater pickup truck at 6AM on a Sunday, and then leave said beater pickup in the driveway (or worse, in the front yard next to the flagpole where he flies the Tea Party flag over the Stars and Stripes). I…

Depreciation is only good until you sell the place. That's when you have to add all the depreciation you took on your Schedule E back into the cost basis when determining how much taxes you have to pay on the proceeds. Better set aside a good chunk of that fat check you just cashed for next April.

It generally falls under the heading "curb appeal." Still, I would love to have had a place that I didn't have to do years and years worth of very hard work just to get the yard looking nice. It's dogsbody work, I tell you, but now I get compliments on the results.

And yet they love to move out to the country, beyond the suburbs. The riding mower should come with the property.

What about landscaping? There's something that's kind of hard to mess up and you can do it yourself if you're physically up to it. Our place was basically an 200x235 blank slate of grass before I got hold of it. Now the whole place is a garden, with fruit trees, regular trees, retaining walls where piled up rocks…