Amen. 

I always eat at Popeyes after my quarterly double red donation. The chicken sandwich is truly restorative

I started with a Protege that was a hoot to drive for a basic econo car. Whioe that car was not super reliable, I did like it enough to go with a 2009 Mazda 3 2.3 S MT. I still daily that in MA and have ~185k miles on with no crazy repairs. Just started showing rust on the rear passenger side wheel well, which is of…

The Bolt wasn't a great launch, but it is affordable and GM is doing right by owners with a total recall and extended warranty. 

Good summary here:

Honestly though? Get that extendo warranty on the German over-engineering.

Carvana doesn’t work. It’s a stock promotion marketing machine that’s main mission was/is to enrich it’s largest shareholders. It’s succeeded in that main mission.

This was my grandfather’s favorite sandwich.  Pretty sure he didn’t get it from Hemingway as he didn’t know who that was.  To punch it up a notch he’d add bacon to it.  

If my attempt to buy a base manual 2022 Civic is any guide (~$31k out the door was the dealers take it or leave it deal), the MT Integra will be above $40k at most dealers.  Market adjustments are a bitch.  

I leave beer over at my MILs house.  She doesn’t drink any at all, so it often sits for a few months before we’re back over there for a visit.

I rather like Twitter, but I’m not a poster on the platform. I love it for sourcing insights and news from a variety of sources/thinkers. I doubt Elon changes much of that.

Agreed on holding out for a new vehicle.  When base model ‘22 Civics are getting $5k price boosts I have to decline.  And to the dealers credit, they’re transparent that the pricing is this way because they can get it.  Around metro-Boston at least, they are definitely moving the vehicles despite the mark ups.

We can dream. 

Toyota and Subaru hopefully.  And I guess Ford and Chevy.

Second part of the sentence, I can walk to four non-dealership shops.

My local Mazda dealer does excellent service work (Ira Mazda in Westood, MA) at fair prices.  I’ve done all my warranty work there on two Mazda’s I own, but for routine maintenance?  They’re a 30-40 minute drive from my house and I can walk to four independent/regional chain shops.  It’s purely convenience for me.…

Some experts agree that Omicron has changed the calculus of what China can accomplish:

An excellent podcast of labor and safety issues at the Chevron facility is in the third part of this Behind the News Feb 3 podcast:

I know what I’m watching this weekend.  Thanks!

Call me crazy, but this seems to portend bad things for the big chunk of the market that needs reasonably priced cars.  That has to have knock on effects that are hard to anticipate.