Recent Comments

1. 2 days ago on Stone Soup

   “Why not a Tesla?”

   Because I wanted a HYBRID, not an EV. This isn’t rocket surgery. I had three requirements: A pickup. Not as big as the usual “American pickup”. That’s a hybrid. There are several companies that sel hybrids in the US, and lots that sell pickups (not so many “small” pickups). And ONE (right now) that gets all three. Alas, it’s Ford… and Ford’s engineering is… not top notch.

   A friend who found out (after I’d ordered mine) what I’d done counseled me strongly to avoid the Maverick because his had been nothing but trouble and he eventually sold it (at a profit!) to get out from behind that eight ball. He’s driving a hybrid SUVish thing now. I decided that his (more than a year older than mine would be) was suffering from “version zero syndrome”… and decided to risk it. So far I’m more annoyed than sorry… but it’s trending (so far) toward sorry with every new issue. How many vehicles have you bought new… that arrived a few days after you get a recall notice for it? Not me: I got mine more than a WEEK after it arrived.

2. 3 days ago on Pearls Before Swine

   I did a 2-minute web search and failed to get anything memorable for “Benjamin Franklin quote optimism”… Post it please?

3. 3 days ago on Stone Soup

   Toyota Priuses are all hybrids now, though I think they made them for one or two years before they changed over. What they aren’t is a pickup†. We have a Prius and mostly like it a lot. A few design flaws such as WAY ugly tail lights and cutting out less than a pound or two by removing the rear window wiper… and several pounds by removing the spare tire (there’s a can of “sticky air” for emergencies).

   † A friend has a Prius from which he has removed all seats but the driver seat, and then built a deck to allow him to haul stuff. It’s still not a pickup, but he CAN get a remarkable amount of material packed into it! (including the spaces under the deck in what had been foot wells).

4. 3 days ago on Stone Soup

   Yeah. I’ve not had all that many vehicles — 50s Rambler: constantly broken and hard to fix. 60s VW microbus: constantly breaking but easyish to fix. Volvo 122S: I loved it, it was never a problem… until an αss-hat barreled out of a side street and totaled it. 60s Ford pickup: hard to work on, (had to take off the hood to be able to see the timing light, e.g…) and never quite right; badly designed. Chevy: 200+K miles with few problems as a work vehicle… but the engine gave up all at once. Datsun pickup: under-powered, 6V battery, bought here and NOW to finish moving from one county to another (see Chevy above). 2000 Toyota Tundra. Never a problem… except that as it approached age 25 there were a lot of things just going bad… including mileage which was now below 12 MPG. Ford Maverick hybrid: I’ve had it for 8 months. It’s been in the shop once for a factory recall, and will be back again in a couple of days for some kind of idiot glitch in the programming that “sometimes” just drains the 12V battery. I still think Ford’s engineers aren’t right bright… possibly made worse by comparison with the Toyota which was very well engineered. I really wanted a hybrid. Too bad only Ford has them.

5. 3 days ago on Ozy and Millie

   Confusion is the first step to understanding!

6. 3 days ago on Pearls Before Swine

   Pessimists: They expect the worst so they’re happy when things go bad… but they spend their lives kinda sour. Optimists: The expect the best so they’re disappointed when things go bad… but they spend their lives feeling pretty good. Realists know the pessimists have the better system.

7. 3 days ago on Pickles

   Leaving out the entire question of HOW he got gum in his undies..,

8. 3 days ago on Stone Soup

   When I finally had a job that paid well enough, one of the first things I did was stop changing my own oil. Followed shortly by no longer working on my vehicles except for break-downs or whatever that had to be fixed enough to get it to the shop.

9. 3 days ago on Phoebe and Her Unicorn

   Is that what happened to “I’ll give it a ten: It has a beat and you can dance to it.” ?

10. 5 days ago on Speed Bump

    It’s the new “iTransparent” phone.