Shortest battery life ever?
Sitting at Honda, 2 hours into my “appointment” only to learn the OE battery (which recently failed us on a road trip) is faulty. 2 years and 8 months old, but because the car has 36,800 miles on it, Honda has no leeway.
SNES Classic on pre-order at Walmart!
It’s official, just a heads up. Get em before they run out again!
Tire mounting at Walmart
After almost 20 years of only visiting specialized tire shops, I finally said “Hey, we drive an appliance now, why not just take it where everyone else goes?”
You keep using that word...
Nissan Leaf parked in a lot in a place with over 95% coal-fired electrical generation. Maybe it should say “Zero Direct Emissions” or “Acid Rain is a Myth” or something like that. Maybe “NIMBY Emissions.”
Talk me out of an R-Class Mercedes
I’ve always had an affinity for Mercedes — not for the badge, but for the build quality (electronics excepted). I also feel like VW/Audi have prepared me for disappointment in some sort of weird Automotive Stockholm Syndrome.
Bad morning already, FML!
Here, have some Millenial-grade melodrama
Amazon Le Mans documentary series (Racing is Everything)
Highly recommended, especially for those of you (like me) who find it a wee bit boring to watch an endurance race in its entirety. It follows 6 different teams through the 2015 race, with good detail around the team members’ backstories, etc. Porsche, Audi, Nissan, Rebellion and others are well represented and I…
Fix Kinja before making it worse again
Seriously...Kinja is still the worst thing to ever happen to Gawkmodo. Every single “improvement” (except notifications) has made it markedly worse, and I know most of you agree. Today is yet another “live beta test” that I’m sure will either be quietly killed or change your commenting abilities forever. Truly…
Let's play: Uglier Over Time
Find a car that has, as objectively as possible, gotten successively uglier over at least three consecutive generations. I don’t mean just things like “I hate Acura/Lexus grilles,” but the entire package. I’ve been thinking about this for weeks while driving around, but only have a couple:
The Motorcycle Diaries
I always try to share this with my wife whenever she thinks I’m giving her the silent treatment or holding something back.
First high-deductible ER visit...
Back when I had a full coverage option at a smaller employer, ER visits were typically $150 copay, plus 10% of the final bill. Last year I started with a giant employer who, somewhat ironically, only offers higher-deductible plans for similar premiums.
I adopted A Thing!
Meet my new home office assistant, Waldo (or “Wally” for short, which is not really shorter). He’s a 7-week-old male rescue cat that we found 2 days ago at a vet clinic. They spent the previous several weeks checking him out, weaned him off of a bottle, and treated him for parasites. Now all we have to do is get him…
That last dealer visit before the warranty expires...
So the Odyssey is at almost 35k miles and I’ve never had the “privilege” of owning a car under factory warranty before. I have documentation from prior owners of my older cars that they would visit the dealership for every little thing, which I’ve avoided so far. But with one free trip left, I want to make it my last…
On Chris Cornell, Gen X, depression, and suicide
LINK (because Kinja)
JCP pulling the plug on 138 stores
I’m torn between nostalgia and “good riddance.” But either way, stop blaming Amazon for your own failures. Macy’s will be next, along with Sears.
Fahrvergnugen
Picked up son from school. It was 95 degrees and the car was parked outside (~140+ inside), so I had to drive with the windows down because the A/C was doing nothing. Picked up son, then a rear window wouldn’t go up and lock wasn’t working. My entire door regulator has been marginal for 5+ years, but it’s not worth…
The Day I Tried to Live
One of my favorite Soundgarden songs of all time. Seems especially fitting today. I never realized they made a video for it until just now...
Preparing for 6-hour Meeting
Time for our company-wide risk meeting, which happens twice a year. This year, we’re all doing it remotely instead of spending multiple days in alternating coastal cities (at a cost of $200k+ in travel expenses). Hopefully it goes well. I’m the “official minutes taker” which means I have to crank out ~15 pages of…
Key & Peele: Teaching Center
Some of the best production values in satire I’ve seen in a while (yes, it’s from 2015 but still applies). Bonus BMW content.