But then you don’t get the manual transmission that’s available mostly on the base models in the US. I can add gadgets and luxury items myself, although perhaps not as well integrated as the factory solution, but I can’t easily throw a 6MT into the same vehicle. And I’d rather have the manual than gadgets, even if I…

Back in the mid ‘70s my mother got pulled over for speeding and driving without taillights. When asked how fast she was going she responded that she didn’t know because she couldn’t see the instruments and that she was just keeping up with traffic. The officer responded that if she was keeping up with traffic in SoCal…

The aircraft involved in the incident was a Boeing 777-312ER, registered as 9V-SWB. At the time of the incident, the aircraft was almost nine years old, having been delivered to Singapore Airlines in November 2006. Its manufacturing serial number (MSN) was 33377.

And my mother and I would rearrange the candle holders every Christmas to read out ‘LEON’ instead of ‘NOEL’. No, nobody in the house is named Leon...

In retrospect, maybe I should have turned it down...

Hmm - got my Mercedes when I was in my 30s. Frequently used directionals on my BMWs and had friends tell me they were surprised because he thought that they were not wired up from the factory and were surprised to see working ones. The pickup I drove 30 years ago was plain beige (not white, but close enough...), but…

Years ago I had a crappy Ford Windstar. Being an American car, the brake lights could be activated without the key in the ignition; I prefer the German method of not having the brake lights function without the car powered up, because, well, why would you need your brake lights if you aren’t in the car?

Did I want leather, Bluetooth, heated seats, a trip computer? Yes, I did. Did I want them more than I wanted a manual transmission? Absolutely not, and not once have I regretted that decision.

Way to go, FCA - you fixed something that wasn’t broken.

Did they take their design cues from Airbus? Lever control position meaningless to system status, computers having the final say, and lots of people wondering aloud “why did it do that?”

Since I don’t have a garage any more, or even a carport, I’ve gone back to taking my car to the dealer for oil changes. $25, with an easily obtained coupon, gets me the oil change, top off of all fluids with what I assume to be the correct stuff Mazda recommends (that long-life coolant ain’t cheap), and a wash. If I…

Years ago there was apparently a guy that made some $200 bills, complete with a picture of George W. Bush on the front and a picture of the White House on the back, complete with a ‘For Sale’ sign on the lawn. He used it to buy something and the cashier gave him $198 in change. He was arrested but couldn’t be charged…

Such a thing was rare in NGR, but stuff still happened there. Someone once stole all of the CDs out of my Vanagon; it turned out that the culprit was the dweeb on the next street that ran a meth lab in his parent’s garage. I caught him, setting up a sting with the two shops in the area that bought used CDs, and had a…

Very close - just across the freeway in Laguna Hills, actually. And in a good section, namely Nellie Gail Ranch, where the ‘walk’ button at street crossings is intentionally set about a foot higher than normal so that residents on horseback can access them...

I had an ‘81 Rabbit pickup that had a lot of GTI parts under the skin; I kept it beige and ran 14" steelies with P600s from a Golf GT in an attempt to make it more stealthy. The motor started life in a Jetta GLI, but was bored out, had lots of porting and polishing work on the head and a rather lumpy cam. With tubular…

Funny you mentioned HR. We had one of ours stolen and abandoned. As the largest ground handler, our competitors just grabbed our bulk carts and dollies whenever they damn well pleased. Just before a TACA flight was about to be loaded, someone absconded with the bulk cart with the body in it. Every free person and…

I don’t have kids and buying a minivan was the best purchase I’ve made in a long time. This one is actually my third since 1986, and I see no reason to change. In between I’ve had a Porsche, a couple of BMWs, a Benz and several VWs, but I keep going back to the practicality of the minivan over and over.

Yup - that flag would be a good thing. So would a good night’s sleep - if I had that I might have actually picked up on the humor. Because of my zombie-like state I assumed you were one of those that thinks that the L-1011 was the greatest thing flying and should still be in the air. Yes, it was quite a good and…

Economics. Why spend several million on a D-check when it’ll be worth less than that at the end of the overhaul process? The three-person cockpit didn’t help either. However, I think the biggest factor was an airworthiness directive on the -22B engines.

‘Wit’ instead of ‘with’.