need some advice have a few questions

[car10002]

hi

was wondering what software builders use to draw house plans with fast results.

is autocad going to do the job? what other software is used

looking for some software to draw up house plans as its too hard doing it by hand, so want software thats going to draw the plan up and fast, as dont have much time these days.

also would taking a laptop to a cafe and doing a bit be a problem as hear of uni students doing it all time to do a bit of work, same goes for library, where could you go that you can concentrate on it.

what are signs that its time to move into your own place and what can you do in mean time until you can buy as dont feel theres much point paying comparable money in rent when youre limited.

what does everyone on here experience to know that its time.

also dont have independent space where you could have a computer/laptop/study area and to be able to have privacy and thats why lockdowns and restrictions are hard because living in a small house.

and between the 2 areas of work am working nearly 7 days a week and was wondering how people know its time to move on and what they can do to hang on until the time is right to change.

needing a bit better work life balance and to get out of hospitality and to only work standard business hours or closer to it but at moment time isnt right.

also wanting own independent space but waiting until am able to buy and that could take a very long time, only thing that am able to do at moment might have to close everytime theres lockdowns or restrictions, what options are there that doesnt have to close everytime

how much would you need to earn a fortnight to be able to pay bills and to have a quality of life as well

Originally Posted by car10002

hi

was wondering what software builders use to draw house plans with fast results.

is autocad going to do the job? what other software is used

looking for some software to draw up house plans as its too hard doing it by hand, so want software thats going to draw the plan up and fast, as dont have much time these days.

https://www.sketchup.com/

There are plenty of youtube tutorials on how to use it

[car10002]

how much would you need to earn a fortnight to be able to pay the bills and have a life too and whats theclues that it may be time to think about a place of your own and what do you do to hang on a bit longer until you can buy.

what have you lot experienced to know its time.

thats one of reasons why lockdowns are hard because of the size of the house you live in and you wanting your own independent space and waiting until you can buy.

how do you improve your work life balance until youre able to get out of hospitality. its just gotten harder in last 12 months

[car10002]

how you know its time for a new laptop and what do you do to afford one.

is it ok keeping them till end or start changing brand new ones every 3 years and secondhand ones every 1-3 years depending on age of laptop

current laptop has a broken mouse and memory is maxed and think its a 2009 one

[car10002]

hi everyone

was wondering how you could get some towing practice in when your car doesnt have enough towing capacity to tow bigger vans and bigger trailers especially with loads that everyone in family have upgraded to now.

a uncle took a pajero to a shed on a car trailer and took a ford escort to his house on a car trailer both from the aunts (his wifes) house from before she got together with him as she had house on marker and may have sold it, plus his jeep cherokee broke down on his way to work (fan smashed the radiator) and a co worker brought that home on a trailer.

with all that happening its made me think about it again, and havent had the chances that many of the murray bridge cousins have had and am older than them, not by much probably around same age.

car doesnt have the towing capacity that the cousins cars have as with the uncles challenger.

how would you get the towing practice in when your car or tow bar doesnt have enough towing capacity even if you hired a large trailer and just drove it around the local area just to get used to it like that retired couple did on hot property from years back where they bought a bus and done it up and went around australia,

yous probably remember the minstrell motorhome that the retired couple called it from years back on channel 7 hot property.

the ba would have enough towing capacity to tow a empty car or furniture trailer but after that you could only have a 500-600kg load ontop of the trailer as both would weigh around a tonne.

if you were careful the ba with a 1600kg tow bar may tow a car trailer with a astra or a getz loaded on for a few km but you wouldnt want to try tow it down south eastern freeway buy trying to tow one with a suv such as a rav4 or prado or santa fe might be asking a bit much as even with a car trailer with a little car loaded on might be lucky to be under 1500kg and even then youll probably be still over.

what could you do when you dont have friends that are into those things or where you live isnt big enough just until things change.

havent really had anyone whos sort of a father until recent years which might have helped a little with cars and you name it.

would it be ok to drive the ba until it competely dies or past 300,000km if you like it or cant afford to keep changing cars before you finally do and just put up with little things that could pop up at anytime or would it be better to try find a way before it gets to 300,000km even though the ba/bf generally run well past that if you keep ontop of everything.

is there anything for now that can be done to get those chances to tow vans or car trailers or whatever and be able to be open to all options and not have to car as much about towing capacity until you can afford to change car over to one with more capacity.

do go to a local mens shed and do stuff.

do have a electric brake controller in the ba but its not connected neither is the 5 extra wores for pins 7-12 on the 12 pin trailer plug and wondered wether it might be a good idea to finish wiring all that up and get everything working so you can tow small to medium size vans and trailers with electric brakes as at moment can only tow ones with the override brakes if its even got brakes because of the controller not being connected yet

just reaching out to anyone who will listen.

can now see why people that use to work in hospitality arent returning just as they finally were able to open last year after getting shut down in 2020.

from all that research have come to realisation that its likely because they got shut down or could only do takeaway and they had to find tempory jobs and discovered they can earn the same or more money in less time in other industries that isnt as demanding or because some probably wernt going to be there much longer anyway and used the shutdown as a chance or because being on job keeper has prompted them to re think their work life balance or because repeated lockdowns prompted them to make change.

Originally Posted by car10002

hi everyone

was wondering how you could get some towing practice in when your car doesnt have enough towing capacity to tow bigger vans and bigger trailers especially with loads that everyone in family have upgraded to now.

if you were careful the ba with a 1600kg tow bar may tow a car trailer with a astra or a getz loaded on for a few km but you wouldnt want to try tow it down south eastern freeway

I used a BA falcon to tow a horse float for almost 10 years and never had an issue even on highways. It does need to set up properly though. With a heavy duty tow kit the tow capacity increases to 2300kg and the load levellers redistribute the weight across both axles nicely, the handling is quite good.

what could you do when you dont have friends that are into those things or where you live isnt big enough just until things change.

is there anything for now that can be done to get those chances to tow vans or car trailers or whatever and be able to be open to all options and not have to car as much about towing capacity until you can afford to change car over to one with more capacity.

As you've mentioned, hiring one is about your option. I don't think you'll have any luck with people lending you their trailers and/or cars to learn on.
You could try hiring a horse float, they're often hired by the day for about $100 and the hired ones usually come with brake controllers already fitted on the drawbar so you don't need one in your car. They're expensive as **** if you damage them though so make a point of finding a raggedy old one. If it's got peeling paint, great.
They tend to weigh more than box hire trailers as they're taller and the floor is thicker, they're anywhere from 900 - 1500kg depending on the trailer but you could add a few hundred KG of random stuff inside if you want to practise with a heavier load. The height of them would probably better replicate towing a caravan too. Box trailers give you rear/side mirror visibility that you don't get with horse floats or caravans.

Some companies put on towing lessons, you could try find one that supplies both car and trailer? Probably will be a few hundred dollars though.

[car10002]

do you guys think itll be ok to drive the ba until it dies or past 300,000 km totally and just put up with the random things that usualy pop up at about that time which could be anytime until you can afford to change car over.

currently the ba has 272000km on it and wondered

[T3rminator]

Originally Posted by car10002

do you guys think itll be ok to drive the ba until it dies or past 300,000 km totally and just put up with the random things that usualy pop up at about that time which could be anytime until you can afford to change car over.

currently the ba has 272000km on it and wondered

Comes down to personal choice and commitment. I made my mind up a couple of years ago I'm going to keep the BA until the engine dies. It currently has 214,000kms on it i.e. I am not prepared to open the engine to fix something, once it blows, its over. This means I'm committed and prepared to fork out $ to fix safety issues on the body....and won't feel guilty about it. It also means no skimping on oil changes. I reckon mine will do 400,000kms (5.4L 3v). I see I6 taxis doing 500,000kms+

[slowsnake]

My AU2 2000 model 6 cyl Fairmont has 400,000 klm on it, it does not burn or leak oil, but I change oil every 5000 klm, filter 10,000 klm, I do usual maintenance on it, if it's outside of the engine I fix it, waterpump, alternator, exhaust, hoses and belts etc, but if engine goes then the car goes to wreckers!


Cheers and good luck, Billy.

[car10002]

wondered because life will change and going to eventually need a suv minimum to have room for a car fridge and stuff.

if you cant afford to change cars every 5 years or dont have the money yet to buy next one you want without financing will it be ok to keep the ba till engine goes or past 300,000km and just put up with something going wrong every road trip or random unexpected stuff or the garage identifying something every checkover which could be at anytime or would it be better to try find a way.

ususlly the b series go well past 300,000 you have little things like windows, central locking, water pump, radiators, power steering, all those little things and you by then never know when the next thing is going to go.

it might be easier to just get rid of cars once they start having on going things but not always cheaper and its generally cheaper to just live with the on going problems or them not being suitable for circumstances and drive them till engine or transmission goes and some people myself included dont have any other choice but to put up with them but guessing when you make the decision if you want to keep going or if you think its time to give up that money isnt only thing to think about.

sometimes for some people putting in for example a new engine or transmission or fixing on going problems might be only option if its not best option for example if they were thinking about getting another car in a couple years or so but the engine or transmission blew up or if aircon stopped working or if it started having on going problems and they only had the cost of that/those repairs to spend on another car, unless they wanted a particular car might be better to fix theirs and live with it a bit longer while they save up, then they would try get best one around at time with features they want.

one example is am wanting a territory ghia but dont have the money saved yet for it so because youre going to be lucky to get another ba ghia or ba fairlane for under 5 grand, fixing ongoing things or put in for example a new transmission is only choice for me in the current ba.

have a ba ghia and wont get another like it for under 5 grand thats as good or better and not settling for a ba that doesnt have the ghia features unless a semingly once in a lifetime chance came up to get a e series or a au then might change but unless that happens the ba will be kept going until the moneys there for the next car