The '03 manual transmissions were problematic, too. I got my '03 CE with a busted tranny for $500 (with new Winter tires on it!). Replaced the transmission and it's been treating me pretty well for the past 3 years as my daily-driving, grocery-getting family car. Since then I've only had to replace both rear hubs for…

I had a dentist like that growing up. Not quite to that extreme, but she would always find cavities and call me a liar when I told her I floss daily (which I did and do). I stopped going to the dentist for ~5 years and when I finally needed to go again to get checked out (I was sucker-punched by a drunk guy for…

If it's your own house, have the loose socket(s) replaced (or replace it yourself if you've got the know-how). If it's a place you rent, tell your landlord that your electrical sockets are loose and have them replace them. You shouldn't have to bend the prongs to get a tight fit (though admittedly, I DO use that trick…

Every letter in the alphabet can have its pronunciation spelled out for clarity, including the way the U.S. folks pronounce Z.
It's not actually "Z vs. Zed" it's "Zee vs. Zed".

My personal opinion is that most things sound better when Z is pronounced "Zed". The only notable example I can really think of at the moment…

In NB, Canada, $10/hr is minimum wage.

Even pre-orders aside, Canada is part of North America and we have 2 time zones farther east than the Eastern time zone. We have Atlantic (an hour ahead of Eastern) and Newfoundland (half an hour ahead of Atlantic). Our stores open at midnight for this stuff, too.

I would guess not many. Any time I ever return something, they mark the receipt as such to ensure it can't be used to return an additional identical item and staple the new receipt to it.