This is just good practice in general - I always move the gearshift (on my manual cars) before starting it. Also, it seems like it helps to just reset the muscle memory of how the shift pattern feels, which on my Vanagon is incredibly vague.

ministitions?

I thought that was so they could say to you “you know why I pulled you over?” and then when it is clear that they have no reason, say “ it looked like your tailight is out, you should get that fixed”.

Not to be a downer, but there are really good reasons not to run over piles of leaves : http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2018/02/parent_of_girls_killed_in_leaf.html

This isn’t so much a superstition, but I try to always back into parking spots if at all possible. One of the few times that I didn’t, I was parked at a coffee shop. Even though I thought I had checked behind me, I almost backed into an elderly couple that had just walked around from behind a car.

Seriously, this is a failure at all levels and absolutely these evil women were enabled by a racist CPS system. If you want to read something this morning to make you cry simultaneously in anger and sadness, here is an interview with their biological mother, Sherry Davis. Even during her drug addiction, she took…

Fair point...I didn’t make it more than 2 minutes into that video - I had enough.

Yeah, this cloth and stick bedroom canopy abomination that she has is not even a “tipi”, in any real sense.

Yeah, I live in Oregon and the more information that comes out every day from local reports about his family, the more heartbreaking it is. These women were evil, and there was so much evidence, but because of their whiteness they were allowed to continue a cycle of abuse.

Seriously - even in the Sheriff’s language it oozes out here ; “It is absurd that this happened, and I feel terrible for the young man, and for the mom...”

Because there is no way to KNOW that you will be accepted to the school that you apply to, so the strategy is to diversify your options! And you don’t know what financial aid package will look like until accepted, so this is a key part of decision-making. I can’t believe people are even having to explain this...

What is most impressive to me is that it looks like everything is hand controlled.

These are exactly the kind of cars I would love to bring to the US, but the value vs. cost of importation gets sideways. You would need to bring only the best example over in order to make it worth it, yet very cheap cars like this are rarely kept in “collector” condition.

Probably not. I’m more likely to keep the old Leaf and wait for VW to deploy their new EV models with more useful range more broadly in the next few years.

I can see how that works well for you and a Tesla. For our Leaf, I always charge to 100%, as that extra 20% really is meaningful when the max effective range is ~70 miles. But even that limited range really works for most all our needs around town...for the rest of my driving I choose from our fleet of 80's diesel…

Luckily...because if 0% really equaled 0V, everyone’s electronics would pretty much be single use! It seems newer devices have more of this built in-protection and necessary customer deception.

Another analogy that I like to use is that charging a battery is like filling a beaker with boiling water. (ok, really an Erlemenyer Flask..) You don’t want it to overflow, and you can pour water in faster at the beginning, but as you reach the top you need to slow down.

Wow, that is great to hear (that he is ok). I also always thought these things were kind of cool, but death traps. Likely they are MUCH safer than the older cars I drive!

Nice! I picked up a ‘77 a few months ago that I am putting a TDi into. You don’t happen to have a good spare windshield...;) ?

In my humble opinion, you would be an EXCELLENT candidate for the new Jalopnik/ Tempest podcast series, which explores people’s individual stories about connection to cars. https://jalopnik.com/tag/tempest