The new to us Fiat 500 got a new thermostat to replace the failed unit and a new battery. The trunk lock still needs sorting along with windshield wipers and the driver’s side mirror. On the plus side we have snow tires on the way.

Railroads produced their own incomprehensible argot. “The con was flipping the tissue in the doghouse, hind shack was freezing a hot shoe and I was bending the rails when they hit us” translates to the conductor was doing paperwork in the caboose, the rear brakeman was tending an overheated axle, and the speaker was…

It would be fun to have a collection of a Mehari,  a Rodeo and a Matra Rancho for the full spectrum of weird French soft roaders

There were a series of screw ups leading up this in the late 60s. The Plan to replace the smaller 250cc 350cc and 500cc bikes,went sideways as management dropped a modular engine proposal by Bert Hopwood in favor of calling Edward Turner out of retirement which resulted in the Triumph Bandit, which consumed a lot of…

That's crazy,  my small city is putting in an overpass for 35mph surface street to eliminate a level crossing 

My thoughts exactly 

I see an Estima Luce delivering mail all the time. It's weird because it's noticeably narrower than a Previa. This van isn't e en RHD so it's just bad cosplay

A bus stop in the middle of the freeway is the stuff of dystopian sci-fi

I'm sure they will blame the intern, just like when the Beastie Boys sued Monster Energy.  FWIW the Beastie Boys had a stronger case since they never license their music for advertising 

The location varies some are in the intake, some are further out, my truck has the sensor on the radiator support near a headlight. There were also dedicated ones, 70s Volvos had an optional “ice gauge” with a sensor under the front bumper to see when the road was below freezing.  Cadillac had the analog version with…

CyberCucks being butt hurt about criticism is about as surprising as rain in Portland.  As the Hummer H2 of our time it was going to elicit reactions so either grow a thicker skin or buy a Rivian. 

Beam me up to Enterprise Oregon in the summer. Wallowa County is Oregon’s Alps and my wife wants to go back badly. I just don’t want the 6 hour drive to get there, although everything except the stretch of I-84 and a bit of industrial La Grande is scenic. Once you get there you have a choice of winding roads,  gravel…

A nice but not perfect feature is outside air temperature. Since most modern engine management systems have an ambient air temperature sensor it's a simple thing to display it. I noticed this because my 2002 F150 XLT has a temperature display but our 2003 Buick LeSabre doesn't despite having a trip computer with…

It would be more accurate to say a girdle manufacturer built space suits since Playtex was better known for the 18 hour girdle at the time. Also controlling tummy bulge was more relevant to space suit design. I'm kind of surprised NASA hasn't reached out to Spanx for their next suit design 

Probably a combination of not wanting to spend money to bury lines, not having environmental approval from California to trench and bury lines, and not having a big enough disaster to force it. New construction probably has underground utilities but they haven’t retroftted older areas.

This looks unpleasantly like the power line fault that started the Paradise fires in 2018. California has had 6 years to take preventive action and failed to clear trees and upgrade power lines. 

I'd be lot more interested if Oregon still registered Kei trucks.  As it stands I'll go for a standard size JDM van

I watch Squatch253 who is both obsessive and knowledgeable and I Do Cars, who admits ignorance,  but is still smarter than he let's on. 

I don’t see it as gatekeepers. The majority of motorcycles have a manual transmission with a clutch so not learning shifting and clutch control leaves a new rider locked into a small number of niche motorcycles. An automatic does make sense in dense traffic which is why this is a JDM bike, and why it’s a middle tier…

I regularly drive a 2002 Ford F150,  and occasionally ride my 1978 BMW R100S.  My son's fleet is even older,  he more or less dailies a 99 Suburban and just took delivery of a 99 HiAce.