My 2011 F-150, and many vehicles since then, have this wonderful feature called “auto dimming mirrors.” It’s a five dollar solution that kicks the sh*t out of this 3000 dollar nightmare. 

You’ve never tried to park a fleet of large vehicles in a single lot before, have you? I have, having worked for a motorhome rental and dealership business in my 20's. It’s not easy, even when said lot is just a huge open space surrounded by fences. Now imagine filling said lot with large expensive obstructions, one…

Funding isn’t the problem, allocation is. The amount of money going to schools these day (even factoring inflation) is obscene compared to what schools received 20 years ago when I graduated, yet nationally the graduating average of seniors has actually gone down year over year.
The issue isn’t money, rather where and…

Can we bitch about the stupid as hell steering wheel instead? I mean I thought KITT was badass when I was 5, but when I got to sit inside one of the “hero” cars a few years back I realized how much it would suck to actually drive daily with that style wheel. 

Cultural Appropriation. Have you watched Anime, or any sort of Japanese/Korean production lately? 90% of it is made up of shit appropriated from other cultures. Likewise Ballywood, which is nothing but appropriation in the form out outright ripoffs.
Gwen embraced harajuku girls because they so thoroughly embraced her…

... so you’re pissed at a heterosexual woman singing about her heterosexual romances?

I don’t even know what to do with that mentality other than weep for the future. 

{UPDATE}

I know you thoroughly hate Ford, Raph, but I’m completely fine with them taking extra time making sure EVERY delivery is up to snuff BEFORE handing the keys over to the new owners. I would much rather wait an extra month or two for my new vehicle than spend the next couple of years praying to God something broke…

Nope, nuclear. Google it. 

Neil Degrasse Tyson gave an excellent speech at an event I was photographing a couple years back in Germany, and when someone brought up “the dangers of Nuclear Power” when compared to other projects like the coastal windfarms in the Netherlands etc, he replied in a very scientific way essentially “go ahead and google…

Yeah I cringed at that too. The only time using a crescent wrench for anything under the hood or chassis is appropriate is at 2am, in the dark on the side of the highway. Otherwise borrow the right tool from a friend or the auto store. In this day and age there’s no excuse for not having the right equipment on a…

Not a thing wrong with that. Refreshers ensure you do it right. Easiest way to F up an “easy” job is too much overconfidence. I’ve done at least 6 brake swaps now in the last ten years, and I ALWAYS start each one by watching a good youtube video twice before getting started. 

100% this. Most vehicles these days larger than a Geo Metro have 8 lugs, and times 4 that’s a lot of ratcheting by hand. The only thing I changed between the first brake job and the second was borrowing a decent impact wrench. I’d buy one but I just don’t have enough need for one to justify the cost. 

Yup. I was surprised by how easy it was the first time I replaced the brakes on my ‘05 F-150. The only tools I needed that I didn’t already own were a breaker bar and a C Clamp large enough to push the pistons on the calipers back in. Basically I accomplished in an afternoon a swap that cost half what the mechanic…

So your point here is “just like any other task, always double check your work before putting everything back together?”
You meant to single out brakes I’m sure, but really you could potentially F up your engine by not properly tightening the clamps after replacing your car battery, so you run a similar risk with any…

That’s nice. Too bad JD Power is a shell of its former self. Case in point: Alaska Airlines won the JD Power Award for Best Airlines 11 years in a row, up until 2020 that is. In 2019 JD Power, under pressure from Southwest, changed the manner it weighs scores and eliminated the Low Cost category in which it and others…

About GD time you got around to posting about this. Sure glad you could find space on your priorities list to sneak it in AFTER the Gena Davis birthday post. 

Fourth Gear:

Go over what they repaired with the tech who did the repair before I pay a dime. I know it irritates them and I try to be as nice about it as possible, but I’ve had too many instances of things not being fixed or being fixed wrong to not take a few minutes of their time to verify everything before I drive off the…

Seriously, it’s that simple.