Obviously Ms. Summers is too young to appreciate Fast Times.  It’s a classic for those of us from that era.

In actuality it was a gee-whiz “show off” program on SGI machines to traverse the file system. Nobody ever ran it more than once as far as I can tell. Any real computer person would use the command line.

Disagree. It’s NOT a fuck-up *anyone* could have made. If you don’t have photos like that, it’s not a fuck-up you can make. Simple as that. If you choose to take a risk, ok, but it’s not like the possible consequences were unforeseen.

I’m not sure I follow you. Are you talking about automotive service? Wal-Mart already has (some) automotive service, yet there are (at least here) a number of independent auto service places.  If Wal-Mart decided to get into used auto sales in a big way, then yes, I would think they could pretty quickly gain monopoly…

Everyone who is going to come anywhere near him gets a rapid test before they are allowed near him.

Well, if the law requiring dealerships was removed and then so few people used dealerships that they folded, then that’s a good thing, right — the free market speaking.

Chalk is alkaline and can in some cases cause damage to the mucous membranes, possibly leading to vision damage.

A: Yes, yes you are.

That doesn’t mean that getting that right in the face wouldn’t be dangerous.

Nobody is saying to outlaw dealerships — just get rid of the laws that REQUIRE them. Many states have laws outlawing, (in varying degrees), direct sales from manufacturers, they must be through dealerships not owned by the manufacturer. The FTC has recommended getting rid of such dealership protection laws as a way to…

All of those things are easily doable w/o new car dealerships. Non-manufacturer Service Centers: Those exist. Nothing prevents a manufacturer from opening a service center either. You can sell your used car yourself or take it to Carmax and sell it on the spot. Financing: Credit Unions & Banks. You’ll probably get a…

Because if manufacturer A is charging X, then manufacturer B can charge less than X and get more business (and still maintain their previous profit).  And no, the manufacturer does not need to assume all the overhead of the dealerships. No need for the physical dealership, no need for any of the employees. Out of the…

One part? What kind of response were you expecting to “You could not have any less understanding on how this all works.”

That 5% is still $3000 out of (or still in) my pocket.

There was a reason that Bob Seger called it “a long and lonesome highway East of Omaha”. I-80 in western Iowa is not at all busy. It’s signed for 70mph, but nobody but a semi with a speed limiter goes anywhere near as slow that. And it only gets worse west of Lincoln, where it’s jack squat until SLC.

If you are at BK and you aren’t getting the Big King XL, you are doing it wrong.

I’d be willing to knock off a million bucks if they named their kid “My Parents are Stupid and Irresponsible”

I’m fine with no charges -- just send them the fucking bill.

Yup, wait 2 weeks and boom!.  Our surge is almost for sure as the result of “8:01 Day” parties on August 15th. (ISU starting at 00:07)  Video taken about 3 blocks from my house.

*2*? How quaint. Greetings from Iowa State, the COVID Capital of the Known Universe. Currently running 28.8% positivity. Yay, us!