I don’t valet because the stick shift in my Mazda5 and the fact that I’m cheap. Just going to the car wash is a pain since I have to wait for the one guy that can drive stick. At least the dealerships have a fair number of employees that can still drive a manual (thank you, Miata).

And I had the opposite happen, sort of. I was having lunch at Costco when an employee from the tire center came over and gave me some keys to a Volvo and said that my car was ready to go. I hadn’t gone there to get my car worked on, so I don’t know why he chose me. I really had to insist that it wasn’t my car as he…

Wrong - it’s Delphingrau:

There are a couple of automotive trends that I thought were quite stupid when I first saw them, and still think are stupid despite the fact that I do both of them:

I can believe this. I wasn’t fitting in with this new group, and I think she took this as an opportunity to squeeze me out. We had installed a new software package that required quite a bit of data entry. There was a strict no-overtime policy in place due to some lawsuits that were filed against the company (and…

Years ago I was joking around with a co-worker that I thought I was on good terms with. She was sniffling and sneezing and so I asked her if she had allergies, then asked if she had a cold - basic nothing office conversation. I then jokingly suggested that she do what I did, namely switch from powdered cocaine to…

Late 2009 mini, early 2008 MacBook Pro and 2007 MacBook here. They’re all still going strong, and the first two run quite well with El Capitan.

The same basic thing happens in the airline industry. Take the basic 747-400 - there were multiple versions with different maximum takeoff weights depending on the range you wanted to pay for; you could upgrade later if you needed more range. There weren’t any structural or tank capacity difference in these various…

Umm, I’ll stay poor, thanks...

Well, if it’s a private driveway, Google wouldn’t be allowed on it, right? Wait - oh...

It’s not a sports car, but a sporting goods car...

For 113 HP, you’re probably right. Years ago I thought about the crazy things I would do to my E34 if I became stupid rich, and this exact conversion was what I would consider. But as I’ve aged I’ve come to appreciate stock vehicles and less weight in the nose of the car, as well as the simplicity and ease of working…

That 40 HP bump is the difference between the stock and modified versions of the 850CSi V12 (380 vs 420 HP). The I6 in the E34 M5 put out only 307 HP, so the total increase is actually 113 HP.

On the road? Other than the occasional Mirage and a co-worker’s Galant, no. But I do see dozens in the local junkyards. I assume that they were purchased on those $0 down payment/no payment for 12 months deals, driven without maintenance for a couple of years, and repossessed a few months after that after they seized…

I have no idea. Even though I have access to this new series, for some reason I just haven’t had the motivation or desire to actually watch a single episode. This coming from someone who would be counting the hours and minutes until I could watch episodes of the previous incarnation.

Does intent of the use of a word still have any significance, or have we gotten to the point where just mentioning a particular word is taboo? I don’t freak out when an Airbus aircraft yells “RETARD! RETARD!” on final approach because I pretty sure that some engineer in France or wherever isn’t trying to insult me by…

“Fuck the Police” is actually correct. The band was formed in the mid to late ‘70s, at the height of the punk movement, and they wanted a name that fit in with that spirit. I read an interview with Stewart Copeland ages ago where he said that he originally wanted to call the band ‘Fuck the Police”, but under guidance…

Pffft - my school’s Apple ][s were networked to a 5MB Corvus hard drive. Floppy disks were for peasants...

If they do end up scrapping this ‘plane they’ll certainly get their money’s worth out of it. Quite often, a used aircraft is worth more as parts than as a complete aircraft, and why perfectly functional 18 month old Frontier A318s were scrapped for parts when buyers couldn’t be located for the entire ‘plane. There’s…

Shall we just make it a law, like TPMS and rear-view cameras for 2017? (bracing for the impact of all of the “dang ol’ gummint telling me what to do in my car” arguments...)