How to, or how not to, buy a car (My C32 Experience)
Disclaimer: I am not a professional mechanic, nor a professional driver. My interest in cars is purely a hobby. I don’t have a license to advise anyone on anything. Also, I have a problem with becoming quickly bored with whatever automobile I have in my possession.
It started with a nagging feeling of wanting something different to add to the Porsche 911 CS2 and BMW X3 currently in our possession; something in the middle. Previously, we’d owned an E46 BMW M3. But it wasn’t quite in the middle of a sports car and a utility vehicle – it leaned much closer to the sports car side of things. I wanted something with four doors, but I didn’t want a boat. I needed a cruiser, something that required little to no effort to drive. It could be a little soft as long as it didn’t hurt on the curbs. It needed to be as fast as an M3, but adequate for someone lazy who wants to just get somewhere comfortably and quickly. I also wanted to be liberated from my fear of valet parking. It seems as if the X3 acquired a fresh ding with each trip to a parking lot. I wanted something that I wouldn’t worry over.
3 weeks ago • 3 notes
Ugh.
1 month ago • 56 notesAfter boarding my JetBlue flight from San Juan to New York today, I managed to record the pilot’s announcement of the kneejerk new TSA regulations affecting us as a result of the amateur terrorist job on Xmas.
My understanding is the TSA actually makes us less safe by incompetently doing a worse job than private firms would do. I recall enjoying this article in The Atlantic two years ago about “security theater”, ie, the impression of security via goofy rituals that do nothing to improve actual security. In fact, the article alleges, two things have improved security since 9/11:
“…the reinforcement of cockpit doors, and the fact that passengers know now to resist hijackers.”(The latter was demonstrated on Xmas when a passenger counterattacked the terrorist)
I was also pissed that we couldn’t watch TV on our flight. And if I were JetBlue, I’d be pissed that one of my company’s distinguishing features was now indefinitely banned.
