$1000 too much for a daily driver. Had a Yugo and was fortunate it was built mid-week. Yugos built on either Monday or Friday were crap since hangovers and early weekend partying took their toll on build quality. It was a decent car with lots of room inside that got great mileage. By the time Zastava really got it…

A few years ago, I was driving home at about 10 p.m. and decided to take a different route past the Mesa-Gateway Airport as it recently expanded and I was curious. There were a number of unmarked, white buses pulling into a restricted entrance leading to the tarmac. They were followed by one Border Patrol SUV. I…

Quick. Light. One of the most Lotus-y Lotuses.

My horrible restaurant story involves the owner, not a customer. My very first job was working at a now huge chain known for Chicago-style hot dogs, Italian Beef, etc. Because I was new, I mostly worked the grill, cranking out burgers. One afternoon, my third month there, I came in and everyone was in a panic. "Dick…

Kinda like buying bunnies and chicks for Easter or kittens and puppies for Christmas ... except that there are no shelters for discarded drones.

The Cadillac of minivans

The 500L is under appreciated. It has plenty of room for, "lumber and stuff," has the same engine as the Abarth 500, and is comfortable. We carry everything we need for selling at a farmer's market (including the booth). I just returned from a 3000-mile trip and was very pleased with how this car performed. I was even…

One reason I loved my '72 Ford hippie van. I might over-indulge at a party and had a bedroom on wheels, just in case. Only once while parked in a supermarket lot did a concerned cop knock on my door. I explained I thought it was safer to sleep it off than to try to drive home and I hoped he didn't mind that I did so.…

Until the mujahideen snipers learned they could place a rifle round into the engine intake as Hinds flew through remote mountainous areas. The Red Army then changed from solitary patrols to 2 or 3 craft patrols, the plan being the backup helicopters would be able to fire upon the sniper's position after he took out…

Many parents of transfolk, especially MtF transwomen keep the picture of their, "son," alongside other family photos while completely denying the existence of their daughter. Denial's more than a river in Egypt.

Yes. The first I was aware of was a CDC study on suicide among young people in about 1991-91. The study reported that suicide rates among GLBT youth were over double non-GLBT youth and part of what they faced was being kicked out of the family home for being GLBT. Since you have the question, do a bit of research to…

You just know this is out there somewhere.

I had a student who was really excited when the Lancer became available. She went out, bought one, took it to the track at Phoenix International Raceway the first weekend she had it, and went sideways, hard, into the bales ... broke an axle, trashed the bodywork on one side, and that was that for her new car. I…

The Smart has larger doors and a taller cabin than the 500, so it was easier to get in and out of. I could get into the 500, but not out of it without difficulty. The 500L is much roomier than both the Smart and the 500. When one is a six-footer, such things become important in purchase decisions.

As you acknowledge, Fiat didn't return until '12. Why bother telling me I should have bought a car not only 3 years before the company was doing business in this country, but also buying the model I bought 6 years before it was being sold at all? And, I don't fit into, but mostly getting out of a Fiat 500. So, the…

The Roadster ... we need that, too.

The gearbox is fine if one knows how to drive properly ... expecting it to work in a manner contrary to its design and function is just silly. And, it runs fine on regular unleaded. We bought one in '09, it saved us thousands in gas over the Toyota pickup we had before. And, compared with the other cars you mention as…

Fiat is?

Unless you're a strict vegan who won't wear or use leather, get yourself a quality leather briefcase and other luggage that will age gracefully with minimal care the rest of your life. Modern ones have properly padded pockets, etc., to protect laptops and other fragile gadgets. Your upfront cost is a bit higher, but,…

Yes. The actual first military incursion was as described above. It was a variation of the Warsaw Pact exercises diverting into Czechoslovakia in 1968 to remove Dubcek and in 1959 to crush the Hungarian Revolution. The Afghan government at the time was a minority government which didn't start by declaring a, "People's…