nbailey

I donate about $5/month to a bunch of nonprofits that I benefit from.

• Debian project
• openbsd project
• wikimedia foundation
• EFF
• Internet Archive

My career wouldn’t exist without these folks, so it’s the least I can do.

Can’t upvote this enough. It’s not the consumers, it’s the dealers calling the shots. Some examples:

Looking for a Corolla hybrid: no dealer had one, and all of them said it could be 18 months or more before one would be available

Looking for a RAV4 suv: we have 8 on the lot take your pick

Looking for a Mazda 3 hatchback: the only one in the colour you want is a six hour drive away and no we can’t transfer it here

Looking for a CX5 suv: we have literally a million of them

In both examples the cars cost almost the same amount to build. They have the same drivetrain, engine, transmission, etc. But since the “suv” or “crossover” is taller and bigger they can charge 20-30% more, earning them more commission and dealer fees, so that’s what they order from the manufacturer. Unless you have months to wait, you take what you get.

It’s not perfect, but the new (2019+) mazda system is very nice. It’s all controlled by buttons and dials, zero requirement to ever touch a screen. It all feels quite thoughtfully done, especially when you compare it to fords or teslas with a big dumb laggy iPad stuck to the dash.

GOAT vehicle. It’s purely functional in pristine egg form. Bulletproof drivetrain. Comfy as hell, even by today’s standards. If one ever comes up on autotrader in good condition I’m buying one.

If we play our cards right, they might open for 2028 in LA…

I feel like “weird” misses the mark. It’s quite hurtful to people who are outside the norm and proud of it.

“Creepy” is a way better description of those guys.

So it’s a $66K VW but with Ford’s awful rotary shifter thingy?

Trust me, if you go to Japan you will go to a 7-11 whether you want to or not. They are absolutely everywhere, like “ubiquitous” is an understatement. I think when we were there we went to 2-5 convenience stores per day just because they were just so… convenient…

Do you people not put milk in your crude oil? I find it suits the subtle bitterness of Alberta tar to give it a wonderful but subtle aftertaste.

It means a lot more small scale housing and businesses will be allowed to operate. Most parking minimums specify your parking lot can accommodate something like “maximum capacity +20%” which is just absurd. I’ve never seen a full Walmart parking lot in my life, let alone the 30 spaces at most banks and 50 spaces at most pharmacies. Land is valuable, and this removes a big roadblock for reasonable construction.

I wish I was the right kind of creative, greedy, and dull to come up with this kind of crap. I could scam so many bald billionaires.

If it’s cheap, sure.