Very cool article and remembrance. My dad is not at all tech-savvy, but he had similar reactions and lifetime-bans from the house if a company or representative did something he disliked.

My first thought was also Tesla as Elon Musk fits the eccentric billionaire. But I’d go with the truck as it fits current US vehicle tastes (being a truck) and the famous “oops” demonstration fits our current time.

I need to throw in Mazda’s use of Bo Diddley.

Good point!  I got a few months before they started leaking, at least. 

I don’t recall its being all that unusual back then, as if you wanted decent sound in the car you usually went aftermarket (or bought a much more expensive car). I planned to, but financial reality set in. There was always setting a cassette boombox in the backseat, though.

I’m old enough that I got my first steady paycheck in 1989, which I immediately used as a down-payment for my first new car, a Nissan Pulsar NX with a stick. It was even in a radical 80s turquoise. I never got the Sportback hatch, however. I wish I did, as the stock notch limited rear room and trunk space.

Nice point of view. I love manuals and was happy I could return to driving one in 2012. (A nasty hiking accident had me in an automatic for a few years). So I tried the few manuals I could find, bought a new Mazda, and have been very happy with it. It adds fun and engagement to each drive without drawing much…

Towards the end of their era, nearly all of them had the rear bumpers replaced with wooden boards. I had a ‘79 Cutlass Supreme which had the rear bumper detach as I was driving it back to campus from a shop.

I used to think I had an overly cynical view of humanity. Living in a rural area where these kinds of attitudes are prevalent and being one of the very few people I see wearing a mask—and being gawked at and in one case antagonized for it—makes me think I was overly optimistic. In any case, I’m increasingly accepting…

Very cool! I have an 89 or 90 Schwinn Worldsport I’ve been planning on turning into more of a gravel bike. I was planning on getting help from an area co-op, but then the pandemic hit. I believe it has a “Made in Korea” sticker, which would make it a Giant?

Jennifer Lopez also did Subaru Legacy commercials. “Perfect new.”

I live in a rural area in the Great Lakes region and am often the only person I see wearing a mask, even indoors (like in the post office recently). Similarly, I use curbside pickup at the grocery store, but while waiting I noticed almost all the non-employees entering and exiting the store did not have masks.

I’ve typed and deleted a few words, but, if I may, I’d like to share John Coltrane’s “Alabama.”

I’ve only recently begun biking again after about 30 years, so it’s changed a lot. For me it looked like two general categories, road and mountain, with all sorts of variations under each, like trail, gravel, downhill, adventure, urban, etc. 

It’s hilly where I am but not mountainous. I’m not shredding downhills nor taking it on sweet jumps, just some rides on dirt trails through the woods (with occasional gravel or a rail trail). A hardtail mountain bike does those well.

Sure, but it wouldn’t be nearly as fun. Or weird.  One or the other.

Yes!  Probably a good idea to carry a haz-mat suit, too.  And avoid Ravenholm.

That wouldn’t be a bad workout plan.  Well, until I’d hit a downhill section then get run over with my own car.

I looked at some of those, but not enough into getting one registered in Ohio. That and being legal and getting someone at the bureau to believe me/do something unusual can be two different matters.

I shouldn’t have clicked. That yellow and red one is stylin’!