I own a Ford, some Dodges, and a Buick. My own experience is that GM must use even cheaper plastic than Dodge. The Ford (‘16 Fusion 2.0L turbo) is by far the best car of the three. The Buick (‘14 Regal 2.0L turbo, was my father-in-law’s) feels cheap and not well laid out inside. On the other hand, the little SRT-4…

A few years after we bought our house I had to tear out a formal-ish flower garden the previous owner had made, because he had planted peppermint in it, and it had completely taken over.

We have a new 3D printer here at work that can print in steel. I’m not completely clear on how it works. It’s not laser sintering, from what I can see, but instead involves a final step in a kind of electric kiln. We’re still working on getting it set up, so I’m really interested in seeing what it can do.

I planted a small perennial herb garden in the back yard last year. So far I have rosemary, oregano, and sage, all varieties that should survive in the winter where I am. I was able to harvest a small amount before the end of the year, and we used them in our Thanksgiving dishes. Delicious! I’m about to try to start an…

It’s a centrifugal compressor, too, which is kind of unusual. Like the compressor side only of a turbo, belt driven instead of having a turbine side. My wife and I took a tour of the Las Vegas facility in 2003, and they had several interesting Series 1 displays (and cars) in the lobby.

Between is normally used when comparing elements of a list or from an indeterminate group. Using the singular difference makes the comparison between (heh) any two arbitrary elements. No one (at least in the U.S.) ever says, “The difference among....” It could be argued that the headline should have been, “The…

If I had to choose, I’d eat the fries first, too. But I think there’s no good answer to this dilemma. Whichever on you eat first, the other is going to taste significantly worse by the time you get to it. Even alternating isn’t really a solution, because that just means by the time you’re halfway through, both of them…

Reminds me of the first lines from the famous poem, Siphonaptera:

I misread the headline and thought, “Wow, that’s a nice-looking car for LeMons!”

2 tsp of cumin doesn’t seem like nearly enough for this recipe, either. Was it supposed to be 2 Tbsp?

You Might Be Are Unknowingly Eating Bugs

My favorite glycerin story—well, okay, my only glycerin story: My dad was a chemist, so I was always science-minded when I was young. I was the kid who voluntarily did three science fair projects in one year. Once I did the traditional volcano made from plaster, but instead of vinegar and baking soda, I used potassium…

I’m sure they mean Smarties outside the U.S., which are chocolate with a shell, like M&M’s. I think it’s only in the U.S. that we have the fruit-flavored, flat, uncoated Smarties.

When I saw the headline, I knew the Consulier would be in here. But whatever you think of its looks, it was at least a top performer, so good that it was banned from IMSA competition:

The Jr. is my favorite. It has a better-balanced ratio of ingredients than the regular Whopper. I like it best just as it comes, without the cheese. I mean it’s okay with cheese or with bacon added, but it’s better without.

I generally have a cappuccino plus either cheese and olives or plain oatmeal with nuts and dried fruit. I was a guy who liked a lot of butter and sugar on my oatmeal, so it took some getting used to having it this way, but it’s far healthier. My cholesterol is slightly high, and I’m trying to bring it down by eating…

When I was a kid, Do-Si-Dos were called Savannahs. Which became confusing because they later used that name for a completely different cookie. Always been my favorite, though. Pitter Patters were a very good substitute until they were discontinued years ago. Much better than Nutter Butters.

You could get heated and cooled seats with the Titanium trim for significantly less than $40K. The question seems to allow for used as well as new, and that opens up a lot of possibilities.

I think there are quite a few cars with heated and cooled leather seats for less than that? The first thing that came to mind is any recent year Ford Fusion/Mondeo. Actually, one of those fully loaded can be pretty luxurious, and for a lot less than $40K.

HFCS doesn’t bother me. It’s chemically very similar to honey, as far as the proportions of sugars go. Personally, I like pancake syrup that doesn’t use HFCS, only because I think the texture is a little better.