The car salesman who tried to show me all the cup holders (because that’s what women care about, right?), but did not know the engine size, was uncrushable by any sarcasm or derogatory remark. That was a whole new level of stupid.
I chewed out out the sales manager when we finally got back.
P.S. my midlife crisis car was a Volvo station wagon, because I love station wagons and Volvos.
ETA yes I know that is a sad excuse for mid-life crisis car.
Mine was our Toyota Sienna minivan. Man that thing could roll on the freeway if I had no passengers - 75, 80 in no time at all! 
Oh, now, that’s nice. My family had one of the first Volvos in our area, and when we passed another one both would honk, and they had a lot more after that. Very nice cars, actually. I’m not much of a one for transgressive car buying. I’d like a Subaru wagon myself, highly popular among fly fisherpersons. Point A to Point B, room to pack your gear, four wheel if it’s a bit muddy along the river. I wouldn’t know what to do with a Ferrari if you gave me one as a gift. I’m not saying not to, but I don’t sit around dreaming of how good life would be.
So the cup holder guy, was he at least a little bit crushed when you walked away and he didn’t get a sale? That’s really when you’re speaking their language. Children of Satan, the Car Guys used to call them.
I thought you had to get them in pet shops now?
I never spoke to him again, so I don’t know. Dealt with the sales manager after that - was very clear I was not going to put up with that garbage again. The sales manager called a week later when he got a nice clean used car in that he thought I would like.
I finally discovered by accident that it’s way more fun to buy a car when you don’t need a new one and don’t care when/if you make the purchase. That is their nightmare scenario.
My friend bought a Forester last year and loves it.
BTW you’d think it would have scarred me for life, but I took my driving test in a 1969 Pontiac Bonneville station wagon. Not sure who was more shocked when I got it parallel parked on the first try - me or the trooper.
Nah, that meat products. My family prefers the wet food, but that’s kinda pricy, so I’m trying to get them used to the bulk dry kibble for dinners. Bunch of whingers are still complaining about it!
When we moved to this small artsy-fartsy tourist town in the coastal PNW 18 years ago, it looked like it was a town requirement to drive an old Volvo wagon. These days, Subarus have replaced Volvos as the de facto retired aging hippy West Coast brand. We complied unknowingly, buying a used 2005 Forester ten years ago because it was a good trade on an older car. It was a reliable ride.
We just bought a new Forester as a replacement. Nice car, but chock full of too many “digital nanny” features. I really don’t need to be beeped at to keep my eyes on the road, thank you very much. I hate the way it automatically shuts down the engine at stop lights and starts up again to save gas, just to meet EPA requirements. Very boring if you’re a car enthusiast. The engine is way too small for the weight of the thing.
At least we fit into the local cultural aesthetic, joining all the other Subarus on the road out here, and it’s mainly my wife’s car. I still have my pickup truck for when I want to go old school.
Italy has a special place in my heart too. My mother was Italian – which means I’m a half – and I love the country beyond measure. It’s terrible to me to see their suffering.
When I tried to buy a Datsun 510 (back in the 70s-80s high gasoline prices), the dealer had added pinstripes and fake wire wheel hubcaps in an attempt to pad the sticker price. That was the weirdest thing I have ever seen.
It was just meant to be. You have an affinity for them. Agree on the not needing a car—or certainly not needing the particular heap they’re trying to unload on you. I make it clear I know where the door is and will happily use it.
First case was a guy who may have gotten it in Colorado. Another of the first cases was - surprise, surprise - picked up during a Spring break trip and brought back to town.
Too dark? Seems a little bit up tempo to me. But, I do love Mose Allison.
On my first visit to the Northeast, I started to wonder if everyone was required to buy a Subaru.
My friend is disconcerted by the shut-off during idle, but apparently you can’t turn that off.
Just to reiterate. No. You can’t let that asshole get away with anything, especially if it’s a campaign commercial. He’s going to have a letter of some sort going out with his name to let you know you’re getting a check. That’s what that postcard thing was, a dry run.
You can’t stop fighting trump or republicans because they never, ever, stop. It’s not that they are great warriors, it’s that they don’t have anything else in their miserable petty lives to live for except power and money.
Trump’s backing down on the Federally mandated quarantine order for New York state.
Winning!
I assume you’re talking about line [1].
It’s not precisely stated but here’s sort of what it means:
Correct: Trump’s being such an embarrassment irks us all.
Correct: His being such an embarrassment irks us all.
Incorrect: Him being such an embarrassment irks us all.
In these sentences, “being” is the gerund: it’s an -ing form used as a noun. Notice the possessive that correctly precedes it.
Here’s another set:
Incorrect: Trump should be in jail without me having to ask over and over.
Correct: Trump should be in jail without my having to ask over and over.
As for that line [2]:
The “always” is … an over-statement. There are exceptions.
If only car enthusiasts had found a way to prevent the warming of the planet!
Right. They certainly aren’t busy governing, or doing their homework, or helping plan good works or making communities better; you know - any of the things folks on the Left have as bedrock principles. They are doing ‘homework’ and they are ‘busy’; but it is with things opposite of what sane, rational, public servants would be doing.
I bought a brand-new Chevy Volt for (after Fed Hybrid rebate) about $22k
It took me longer than I meant, but after a couple years I had built a 6 x 370W ground-mounted solar array on the side of my garage and 12 golf-cart batteries that can charge my Volt to about 50% of my electric use year round. The rest of the electricity comes from the grid. Whole solar/battery arrangement cost under $4k…built it myself or it would have been more.
I say about 50% of my electricity from solar because I drive 70 miles a day. Chevy Volt 2013 only has about 35 miles of battery range. I burn thru that 35 miles of battery everyday. When I used to work here in town, and hope to again…I will be driving about 10 miles a day and my solar arrangement could provide ALL my motive power. If every garage in the US had it’s majority surface covered in solar panels (many more than my 6 panels) homeowners could be powering most of our personal transportation. For everyone driving less than 70 miles a day, a good chunk of your home electric use would be covered as well. Perhaps all of it. We average around 24 kwh here at my household meter (with electric dryer, electric stove/range). The Chevy Volt 2013 takes about 12 kwh to charge. I suspect I am pulling 6 kwh daily average from the grid for The Volt and that means my home use (non-transportation) is more like 18 kwh daily. I live in WI. The side of my garage is not optimal, and neither is my house’s alignment so I don’t have a lot of sq. ft. of rooftop pointing due south. And it still makes a lot of power and reduces my carbon footprint significantly. When my car is topped off (weekends usually), it runs my garage freezer and some landscaping lights, etc. and can serve as emergency power indefinitely. Unlike a generator which needs gas or diesel fill-ups. I didn’t put all the money and effort into making it a whole-home auto cut-off backup power system, but it can be useful in an emergency or a long-term outage.
The Volt is a very sporty car and goes like hell.