Of Cats and Cars

It’s pretty much an established fact at this point that I’m only writing this stuff once a month.  Not that I want to make this a posting about postings, which bores even me to tears.

Anyway, summer is in full swing, as is life in general.  As I write this, we have a new addition to the family, the former Gaston (now re-named Oren).

I hadn’t planned on getting a new cat after JeanLuc passed away, but Ms. Rivers and Robby wanted to, and questions about “getting a cat” are, for me, about as easy as “hey, want to go for ice cream?” to answer.  A few things about Oren:

• It literally took weeks to come up with his name.  Weeks.
• Speaking of names, his full name is, in theory, “Oren Bruce Albert Carroll Rivers”.
• He has enough energy to power a Tesla for a round trip to/from Philadelphia.
• Among his cute traits, he sometimes growls like a dog, in addition to making an assortment of chortles.

He also absolutely adores Ms. Rivers. 

While I still do miss JeanLuc, it is nice to have a new cat in the house.  His housemate, Rambo, has been very patient with him, for the record.

Another addition will be arriving tomorrow, in the form of another car.  With my younger stepson getting ready for the quasi-adulting world after high school, I have gifted him my 2008 Nissan Altima.  As I told Ms. Rivers, I think having a car post-high school is important.  It speaks to the freedom to go places and the need to act responsibly when getting there.  It also teaches an important lesson about how things in the real world (such as the freedom to drive places) always come with some costs (be it gasoline, insurance, etc.).  I’ve had the Altima since 2017, and outside of assorted occasional leaks and wear/tear items, such as tires, it has served us well.  Given its age, the mileage isn’t too bad (less than 100k), and it is very well equipped.  I hope Robby continues to enjoy it as much as I have over the years.

By way of additional background, I bought a brand-new Chevy Silverado back in 2016, which I thoroughly enjoy driving.  It’s not very good on gas though, hence the need for the Altima back in2017.  There’s also the fact that I pretty much want to keep the Silverado forever, so driving it less than more is a goal.  Anyway, since I will be working in an office with some regularity for the foreseeable future, it makes sense (in other words, I’ve created a justification that probably only exists in my head) for me to look for another vehicle.  That process has been ongoing but concluding tomorrow when I become the owner of a 2018 Toyota C-HR.  As they say in the television news business (or used to say…) “film at 11”.

Now me being me, I literally analyzed the crap out of the car selection process, including the creation of a car analysis spreadsheet in Excel.  I had criteria and data, but as is the case with buying a vehicle for me, there is also a kind of “X factor/gut instinct” thing going on.  In this case, while the C-HR was on my potential list (good gas mileage, a hatchback, not AWD…which I don’t need because of the Silverado…etc.), what sold me was the fact that it just doesn’t look ordinary.  Not that I am all that interested in calling attention to myself, driving or otherwise, but all of us spend a fair amount of time in our vehicles, so why not at least have that reflective of something that looks good?

This is, for the record, probably the worst environment ever for buying a car (or a house for that matter).  Never being one for good timing, it is more important to get this purchase over with now than put it off any further.  The alternative is my continuing to ruminate over this even more.  Given the choice between probably overpaying or needlessly renting out space in my head, well, I chose the former.

On that note, the yard beckons and grass must be cut.

Filling the Bucket, Day 7 - Copenhagen

Port of Copenhagen, Denmark

This is a busy place.  With more bikes than people, transport in Copenhagen takes on a serious tone as you're driving down the street, a game of Frogger on a grander scale.  This is also actually far bigger place than a one day stop can give it justice, and if I ever come back to Europe, this would definitely be worth visiting again.  

While it's easy to appreciate the beauty of an old city (more on that in a moment), it's also worth remembering that this is still a western city, which means Circle K gas stations, more McDonald's that are probably necessary and, as we saw in Norway, 7-11 quickie-marts.  Then there is the basically ugly, more modern architecture...

(Apartments or military barracks?  You decide...)

...that we all know fills a need and is practical, but yet seems out of character in a beautiful city like Copenhagen. 

Now that I've gotten that out of my system, we did see some truly beautiful stuff today, most especially the Roskilde Cathedral of the Danish national church.  This building dates back to the 1100's; more information on it can be found HERE.

We also spent time at (another) Viking museum, this one also in Roskilde.  The chief attraction of this particular museum was the remnants of 5 Viking ships that were recovered and restored (well, what was left of them) from the inlets near Copenhagen.  

Of the five ships recovered, one was constructed in Norway, and another was constructed in Ireland.  The curators determined this based on the wood used for the ships.  Score two for science!

Finally, in service of the fact that it's just a cool picture, I caught a seaplane landing this morning not far from the ship.

A few observations:

• Weather.  It's apparently been insanely hot and very dry in Denmark, far more so than usual.  What once was grass is now a tan carpet.  Like Norway, air conditioning in buildings isn't a thing here, so it was pretty easy to break a sweat this morning at 10am while I was looking for a "so I don't look like a slob on a ship full of well dressed older people" shirt.
• Cars.  My brother Rich, who is interested in European cars, would love this place.  Between the Ford Ka and various other models, Denmark is full of vehicles which likely could fit in the bed of my Silverado.  For the record, I didn't see any pick-up trucks in Copenhagen.
• Gas Prices.  Speaking of cars and the lack of pick-up trucks, for the benefit of the curious, gas costs about 16 Danish Krone per liter, or about $2.67.  Converting that to how we measure liquids in the United States, it works out to about $6.46/gallon.  That may seem like a lot, but when you're driving a car that's getting 35+ mpg in combined city/highway driving, it's on par overall than what it costs to run the above referenced Silverado (which I average about 17 mpg and which would be also horrible at dodging bicycles).  Diesel is actually cheaper here per liter, likely because of it's greater use as a passenger vehicle fuel.
• Internet.  Ship-board internet service can best be described as being somewhere between "horrible" and "non-existent".  That's not such a bad thing by the way.  Having less connectivity sometimes is good for the soul.  Besides, all I need is enough bandwidth to post this stuff and a few pictures to the Facebooks.

Tomorrow we arrive in Germany for the day.  I'll try and remember a few words from Jr. High German class.

* * * * * *

A word about pictures:  I'm posting additional pictures on Facebook, for non-public view.  Let's connect if I know you in real life and you'd like to see these photos.

Road Apples, #167

S L O W  D O W N...I've never been a fan of blogs/bloggers who talk about going "on hiatus" and stuff like that; for Pete's sake, we're not drafting a new Constitution...it's just a silly blog.  Anyway, I say this with the full knowledge that I just haven't been writing as much.  Now I should be writing more, as I don't have a graduate class at the moment, but sometimes, well, it's just not there.  Besides, I've been distracted by some personal health stuff, and quite frankly I just don't want to write about that any more than I already have, and I've already reached the point of it being nauseating.

New Vehicle...I've never, in my entire life, ever purchased a new vehicle.  Now I have purchased vehicles that were a year old and less than 10,000 miles, namely "nearly new".  All that changed on Saturday.  Actually it was going to change for a few months now.  Having a truck was something my wife and I have been thinking about (well me more than her) for a while now; we've been talking about getting some kayaks and having a truck would make actually using them far easier.  It's also nice from a home owner perspective.

The Big Sell...As noted above, I've been thinking about buying a truck, but I was leaning more towards something smaller than a full-sized model (think Nissan Frontier or Toyota Taco).  This past Saturday we had a few errands to run, so while running around we decided to stop at the local Nissan dealership just to see what they had in their inventory.  The answer was "virtually nothing", and not a soul came out to talk to us.  That was a mistake.  From there we stopped at a used car dealer my wife and I have both purchased vehicles from, but they had all of about two trucks.  Lastly, as we were leaving the Wyoming Valley Mall, almost on a lark we decided to stop by Valley Chevrolet to look at the new Chevy Colorado.  We were greeted within about 10 seconds of hitting the lot.

Fast forward three hours later and I'm less one Nissan Rogue and plus one 2016 Chevy Silverado.  Suffice to say we got a very good deal, and despite the usual new car sale gimmicky stuff, it felt like a good experience.  The vehicle has several nice features, but one was a must have for me:  A back-up camera.  The camera comes in a lot of the rental vehicles I drive, so I've learned to really appreciate just how helpful it is (especially when one suffers from "Walleye Vision" as I do).

Introvert 101...I'm about as introverted as a human being can get without ending up in an institution.  Yet I've had something of a revelation.  Actually, as a side note, how cool is it that I can still have revelations at my age?  Anyway, I've discovered that while I don't necessarily like/enjoy/get energy from talking to other people, sometimes I need to.  It's that when I really, really get into my introverted self, things can get distorted, as if my thoughts end up folding in upon themselves. I kind of fall into a mental loop of sorts.  Having a quick, non-business conversation sometimes helps me clear my head...a kind of re-boot if you will.

Musicians Dying...Can we call a cosmic halt to all the musicians dying?  It's getting a little pathetic.

Politics...basically disgusts me these days.  Why?  Let me count the ways.

I don't think college should be free.  Now it shouldn't put someone into debt until they are age 45, but free?  Absolutely not.  If something is valuable, then it's worth paying and sacrificing (just a bit...) for it.  Making college free creates an entitlement that we just don't need in this country.  There goes one candidate.

Bill Clinton did more damage to the regulation of financial services companies in this country than every Republican president before and after him.   Call me crazy, but as a result I'm not keen on "round 2" with his wife.  There goes another candidate.

Mexico will not pay for a fence.  Muslims don't have the word "Muslim" tattooed on their foreheads, for ease of identification, either.  I don't want a president with more bankruptcy experience than me.  There goes another candidate.

Ted Cruz is a used car salesman.  And it's not a new car dealership...or even an upscale used car dealership...either.  I'm talking about some crappy little place with a trailer for an office, garbage in the back and plenty of beat up 2003 Hyundai's in the lot.  Skip.

Marco Rubio looks like he should be bagging groceries at a Kroger.  He sounds like he should be bagging groceries at Kroger.  If I want a memorized script I'll go to Mass on Sunday.  Next.

Is Jeb! Bush even still running for President?

I could go on, but the point is made.

At this stage there is no one from either major party that even remotely appeals to me.

Road Apples, #164

Comcast...File this under "giving credit where credit is due".  The local Comcast supervisor, a Mr Donald Kondraski, really came through for us.  It was his intercession that got the local pole wiring replaced, and since then our Internet service has been flawlessly working, and actually faster than before.  While I said some unkind things about Comcast (all true), in the end this gentleman pulled it out.  Give that man a raise Comcast!

The End of the Mac Experiment...Yes, my Mac is being donated to my youngest daughter.  This posting, as a matter of fact, is being typed on my new set-up, an HP desktop running Windows 10 on an Intel i3 processor.  It's fast enough, and I can further juice up the RAM.  The hard drive is 1TB, which is plenty of storage.  So far, so good.  It's nice to have a familiar set of tools in front of me, and I can safely say that I've been cured of the Apple bug.  The transition wasn't without some extra work, as getting my display to work with the new PC via an HDMI connection required some finessing, but all's well that ends well.  All that's left is to finish installing some software.

By the way, Windows 10 is great, particularly when compared to that unmitigated disaster, Windows 8.  There is a part of Windows 8 that remains on the machine, but thankfully the basic interface is classic windows stuff, complete with that I missed the most, namely painfully easy file management.

Radio Face...While working on a group presentation for my current graduate school class, I was paid a nice compliment about the quality of my speaking voice.  I've gotten the "you have a radio voice" compliment before, and it's nice to hear.  It does make me think though that I also happen to have something of a radio face to boot.  Now in truth, I know that's not completely true.  At my best I clean up rather well.

BBC...is getting ready to ruin Top Gear.  It will just never be the same without Jeremy, James and "the Hamster".  I don't know who the new host is, and quite frankly, I'm not sure I want to find out.  I mean how could you possibly top the old guys?  The played soccer with cars once and had a lit gas grill going in the back of a truck.

Uma Thurman...I confess, I really like the Fall Out Boy song "Uma Thurman", in spite of the fact that Fall Out Boy seems a bit Emo to me & that the song uses a sample, which I find a horrid, unoriginal practice.  It all works though in this song.  See for yourself.


It's catchy & clever (kind of like Blurred Lines, but without all the perv-y elements).  The video is fun to watch as well.

The Turn...I can feel "the turn" happening.  This is when the seasons really begin to change, and despite the heat wave we had in these parts through part of last week, I'm thinking that things are changing.  In as much as I really don't like Winter all that much, I have to confess that I enjoy there being an end to endlessly hot days.  This is why there won't be any retirement for me in the deep south or southwest; nice places, but just not for me.  Now to begin my favorite season, Fall.

Presidential Race...It looks like the smart-person glasses haven't been enough to keep Rick Perry in the Presidential race.  In terms relative to the current GOP field (compare him to Trump & Huckabee) Perry was one of the more moderate candidates, which in and of itself is a shocking statement.  I suspect that his 0-1% support might end up going to Rafael Cruz, which will make exactly no difference.  This will be the first of many, although I've always suspected that some are in this race simply because:

1) It's a kind of job.
2) They can use the exposure to sell books and stuff.

See Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum.

On the plus side, Dr Ben Carson is doing well.  While I don't think I'd vote for him (one never knows though...), he's the kind of outsider that I think most GOP voters want, without the monstrous ego and woman-hating of Donald Trump.

Holiday Road - Day 1, Watertown New York

The chronicles of my first trip outside the United States, even if it is just to Canada.

* * * * * * * * * *

Ms Rivers and I left the house on or about 3:45pm, which was slightly later than we had anticipated.  In fairness to us though, we had a few things to do before leaving, including cleaning and some packing related stuff.

Anyway, our destination is Quebec City, Canada.  Heading up the plan is to take interstate 81 to the border crossing, then once we arrive in the Great White North (henceforth GWN for the balance of these postings) following the seaway up to Quebec City.  Since we are both too old to want to stand 12 hours of driving, we decided to break the trip up into two parts.  The  trip up stop would be in Watertown, New York (for where I write this) and the trip back stop would be in Albany, New York.

The actual trip from NE Pennsylvania up to Watertown was uneventful.  This is not surprising, given the fact that there really isn't anything between the two points, other than glancing blows at Binghamton and Syracuse.  Actually interstate 81, with its lonely stretches in central PA and central NY should get some kind of recognition for "highway with the least to see".

The actual touchdown in Watertown was at something like 7pm, which isn't bad timing.  Our vehicle, by the way, is a brand spanking new Chrysler 200, which we rented for this trip.  So far I am impressed.  It has two bordering-on-must-have options:  Sirius satellite radio and a backup camera.  By the way, you know it's true love when your partner doesn't mind you listening to Howard Stern.

Dinner yesterday evening was at a Ponderosa steak house.  Funny* story:  During my first "post-wedding trip"** (many years ago) I ate at a Ponderosa steak house near Washington DC and I am reasonably sure that I got food poisoning.  Telling Ms Rivers that story elicited a completely reasonable response of "well maybe we should eat somewhere else", but throwing caution (and good dining sense) to the wind, we plunked down the $30 required for all-you-can-eat and had some typical non-oriental buffet food.  So far no food poisoning on my part.

Finishing up the day we stayed at a Hampton Inn.  Going up I used by frequent guest points for the room, and coming back Ms Rivers is using her points for that room.  I like to think of it as being a reward for all of those long business trips spent to such glamorous locations as Hartford, CT and central New Jersey.  No offense to residents of either.

Conversation of note:  Is it pronounced...

"Quee-beck"

or 

"Ka-bek"

I know it's the latter, but part of my wants to be the quintessential Ugly American, just once, by using the former pronunciation.  I know, I know, I actually won't, but it's a nice thought.  I have to keep the whole food poisoning thing in mind after all.

Regardless, today it's back on the road to the GWN this morning.  I will drive while Ms Rivers learns French.  We have a book, by the way, and she's good at language stuff.  I am not.  But I can drive, so I do feel I am doing my part.






(*) Funny as in ironic, as there is nothing actually funny about projectile vomiting (unless you are watching a Monty Python movie).

(**) I hate the term "honeymoon".  It sounds, well, dumb.  Like some Appalachian mountains custom enjoyed by people with 4 functioning teeth, a moonshine still in their back yard and Skoal rings in their pants.  Hence "wedding trip".

Happy Everything Holiday Greetings Christmas Hanukkah Kwanza Non-Sectarian Time (and stuff)

I know many people get needlessly upset over the words used to express holiday joy, so I've tried to be as all-inclusive and non-offensive as I possibly could.  So whatever you may be celebrating, or not celebrating, I hope it is enjoyable and filled with family and friends.  Unless you don't like your family, in which case I hope it's just filled with friends.  Or something like that, kinda.

As for me, I'm doing something I have never, ever done before:  I am staying home on Christmas.  Yes, I don't have to go anywhere.  We will have some folks coming over, which is wonderful.  I'm just glad though that for once I don't have to run around from place to place.  It will be a remarkably nice change of pace.

As I ponder things deep and wide over this holiday, I am truly grateful for many things, including the folks that take the time to read my stuff.  Yes, even you Cletus.

(From the folks at the VW Bug Facebook page.)

On the bleeding edge of Serbo-Croation automotive technology

All hail the zenith of Serbo-Croation automotive technology, the humble Yugo.

(image from Wired.com)

If you are not familiar with with Yugo, then you can read more HERE.

Anyway, and quite shockingly, the Yugo was the butt of many jokes.  Here are 10 of my favorites, plus a bonus.

Q:  Why does a Yugo come with a rear defroster?

A:  To keep your hands warm in the winter when you need to push it.

Q:  What do you call a Yugo at the top of a hill?

A:  A miracle!

Q:  What do you call the shock absorbers in a Yugo?

A:  Passengers.

Q:  What's the difference between a Yugo and a Ferrari?

A:  A Ferrari goes from 0 to 60 in 4 seconds.  A Yugo goes from 0 to 4 in 60 seconds.

Q:  A man walks into a auto parts store and says "I'll take a gas cap for my Yugo."

A:  The clerk says, "That sounds like a fair trade to me."

Q:  How do you double the value of a Yugo?

A:  Fill the tank up with gas.

Q:  Why don't Yugo's sustain much damage after a front-end collision?

A:  Because the tow truck takes the impact.

Q:  What's found on the last two pages of every Yugo owner's manual?

A:  The bus schedule.

Q:  How do you make a Yugo go faster down hill?

A:  Turn off the engine.

Q:  What do you do if your Yugo gets stuck in a swarm of killer bees?

A:  Stop pushing and get into the car!

Bonus
True Story - In the mid-late 80's I was working in Southcentral Pennsylvania.  While driving near one of the many shopping malls in the area, I was listening to the local radio station's traffic report.  That report went as follows:

"There is a major back-up on route 30 that seems to be caused by a Yugo stuck on a wad of chewing gum."

Road Apples, #146

No miracle cure here...TV pitchman and proponent of "secrets they don't want you to know about" Kevin Trudeau is headed to the pokey to spend the next 10 years.  Details HERE.  Mr Trudeau is a small-time con-artist who discovered the power of infomercials on late-night TV.  150 years ago he would have been selling snake oil.  Having read about him over the years, what's more fascinating than his actual scams is the lengths to which he has gone to avoid actually stopping what he was convicted of doing years ago.  In fact, I'm reasonably sure that over the past year I've actually seen this huckster on TV (even when he was apparently banned from such activity).

From the Department of Stupid Lawsuits...a New Jersey teenager has dropped a lawsuit against her parents.  Details HERE.  Yes, she was suing her parents.  It just goes to show you that, in America, if you have money and a nutty idea, you will absolutely find a lawyer to help you carry it out.

Religion and Morality...There is a great opinion piece at CNN that's worth reading on the subject of religion and morality.  You can link to it HERE.  One of the take-aways is this:  if morality requires religion, then why aren't jails full of atheists?  Yes, I do agree that a belief in a higher power can help form concepts such as morality, it's clearly not the only way these concepts can be formed.  What's more, religion can also lead to immorality; one need only look at some of the horrible misdeeds done in the name of religion for proof.  Speaking of religion and immorality, I'm almost done reading this book...

...full report to come.  You can find out more about the book at Amazon.com.  Read the reviews...it's an interesting mix of opinions.  Of course the one star ratings basically claim "Vatican Bashing", but those same folks are probably incapable of reading any books that is critical of the Catholic Church without making that same claim.

Comedian David Brenner...recently passed away.  I can't say that I was much of a fan of his work (growing up I was more into Richard Pryor and George Carlin), but the guy seemed to have staying power.  He also seemed to clearly love his work.  In a world full of self-obsessed and self-loathing celebrities, David Brenner is an example of someone who managed to have a career that didn't kill him.  Rest in Peace.

Toys...I don't really buy that much stuff for myself.  Not being a clothes horse, a gambler, a drinker, a car nut or anything of the sort, my "toys" are generally limited to some technology and, every five years or so, a new camera.  That noted, I did treat myself to a new car stereo.  Specially, the factory radio in my Nissan works well, but I unfortunately managed to bust the audio-out jack a few months ago, which means no connecting external music players.  Anyway, I do get to drive many different kinds of rental cars for my job, and I just love the ones that have touch-screen radios.  So putting both things together, I decided to buy a new radio for the Nissan.  I didn't over-research it, but what I ended up buying is a Kenwood receiver with a 7" screen.  It has all the usual bells-n-whistles, plus Bluetooth so that I can connect my cellphone through it as well.  The installation is scheduled for next Friday.

Leaves, leaves everywhere...When Ms Rivers and I bought our new house in December, we weren't paying that much attention the condition of the yards (front and back), but now that the polar icecaps have melted in West Pittston, it's pretty clear that nothing has been raked on the property in a very, very long time.  No bother...as I love doing yard work...but I am sure to get it up to my standards it will take a while.  Like I said, it's a good thing that I really like yard work.  Pssst...it also gives me an excuse to get various new forms of outdoor power equipment, including a new weed-wacker and a hedge clipper.  For the latter I'm seriously thinking about something gas powered, as we do have more than a few hedges on the property.

Speaking of yard work...One thing that is abundantly clear to me, as I start the countdown to a half century on the planet, is that my body is starting to feel it's age.  I simply get more aches than I did twenty years ago.  Mind you that doesn't really stop me from doing stuff, but it certainly makes me feel my age it after the stuff is done.  To quote that great philosopher Butthead, "Uh uh uhhh uh uh uhhh, he's old".

10 Reasons Why "The Good Old Days" Weren't So Good (in NEPA)

Thinking back to when I was a kid in the late 60's and 70's, it's clear that the "good old days" weren't so good.  Here are ten reasons why.

1.  Black Lung.  Nothing like dying of  "coalworker's Pneumoconiosis" whereby you choke to death on coal dust embedded in your lungs.  This sounds like horrid way to go, and yet when I was a kid I heard a awful lot about it.  Sadly, you don't hear so much about it any more, mainly because those affected have probably been killed by it.

2.  The Neighborhood Beer Garden.  In the old days in NEPA you had "beer gardens".  Pleasant sounding, don't you think?  Conjures up images of little Irish Fairies floating around flowers and such, doesn't it?  I mean who wouldn't want to go to a garden?  Of course conjured up images are different than reality:  these were bars, all to numerous, where the over-worked would drink themselves into oblivion and then go home and either beat their spouses and/or children or simply sleep it off...until tomorrow, when they would do it all over again.

3.  Beating Children.  Speaking of beating children, I knew kids growing up who where were actually beaten by their parents.  Fists and all.  These days we call that "child abuse", but sadly, when I was younger, it seemed to be much more frequent.  For the record, while growing up I was s%#t scared of my mother, she never laid a hand on any of her children (to the best of my knowledge).

4.  Blind Obedience.  Be it to a church in general, clergy specifically, a labor union, an employer, or to a politician, back in the old days it seems that adults were much more likely to be blindly obedient.  Now I do understand that the opposite of that is equally troubling, namely rampant cynicism, but back then many simply believed everything told to them by certain figures in authority, and our area was all the worse for it.

5.  Disgustingly Polluted Rivers.  As a kid I remember walking down to the Lackawanna River and smelling just how awful it was; the smell was akin to diesel fuel.  It was wretched, and for the most part, that seemed to be okay.  I am glad that has (mostly) changed.  Now we actually give a crap about our rivers.

6.  4 Television Stations.  Growing up we had just four television stations:  16, 22, 28 & 44 (ABC, CBS, NBC & PBS).  Now I don't really watch that much television myself, but it is nice to have some choices.

7.  Shamelessly Corrupt Politicians.  In retrospect, everyone knew that the likes of Dan Flood and Joe McDade were crooks, but yet almost everyone was fine turning a blind eye, as if they were stealing for us.  Note to file:  they were actually stealing for themselves; we just got the crumbs that fell off the table.  Unlike the other items on this list, sadly this one still continues to a certain extent.

8.  City Steam Heat.  Back in the old days, many cities (such as Scranton; I'm not sure about Wilkes-Boro) had centralized heating systems, whereby steam would be pumped directly into homes and businesses for heating purposes.  Growing up we had this in a house we lived in on Pine Street.  Sounds like a great idea, huh?  In  theory yes, provided that steam was the only  thing that came in along with the pipes.  It wasn't.  These were basically cockroach (or as we would call them "waterbugs") superhighways.

9.  Ethnic Enclaves.  Forget the Serbs and the Croatians, for in Scranton you had the Irish and the Polish (or the Irish and the Slovaks, etc.).  As if where your parents or grandparents came from actually, really mattered all that much in the grand scheme of things.  These differences were petty and stupid, and actually helped politicians take advantage of dim-witted voters by appealing to ethnic sensibilities.

10. Cars.  This isn't specific to NEPA, but I'm going to mention it anyway.  I learned how to drive in a 1976 Chevy Nova.  My first "real" car was a 1974 Plymouth Duster.  Want to know what the worst car in the world is in the snow/ice?  That would be a 1974 Plymouth Duster.  Cars "back in the day" by and large were horrible in all but dry pavement, guzzled gas (I had a 1975 Chrysler Newport that got less than 10mpg city) and handled like tractor trailers.  These days most cars handle decently in bad weather (I have an AWD Nissan that can climb goat paths in the snow), have lots of options and are much more fun to drive.  Oh, and they get much, much better gas mileage.

2013 Jeep Liberty

I recently rented a 2013 Jeep Liberty for a business trip and while I rent a lot of different vehicles, this one stood out, for all the wrong reasons.

Where do I begin?  Well first let me say that I have nothing against Jeeps in general.  In fact, one of the best vehicles I've ever rented was a Jeep Compass.  I've also driven Patriots, Commanders and Cherokees before, more or less without complaints.  A Jeep hater I am not.

Anyway, my biggest complaint about the Liberty?  It simply didn't feel very stable.  Driving in the competitive world of I80, there were more than a few occasions when I felt as if I was going to lose control of the vehicle.  Again, I drive dozens of different vehicles every year, and this is the first time I've ever felt unsafe while driving.  Maybe this thing handles better in bad weather, but on drive pavement going about 75 mph it seemed like a deathtrap waiting to happen.  Oddly enough I've rented the Jeep Liberty in the past but it never felt this way; maybe something changed with the vehicle's last re-design.

My second biggest gripe?  The drivers seat was extremely uncomfortable.  It was oddly narrow and for some reason I found my neck getting sore as I drove it.

On the plus side the controls were easy to use and it had a ton of room.  That was about it though.  I'll also note that I find the most recent re-design of the Liberty makes it an unattractive vehicle in my eyes.  In fact, I think the older version, with the round headlights, was far better looking.

My life is (nearly) complete: I got to see a DeLorean.

One of the greatest cars ever made was the DeLorean...the same car used by Marty McFly for time travel in the Back to the Future movies.  While shopping for a car yesterday at Nationwide Car Sales in Wilkes-Boro, I was astounded to find none other than a DeLorean in the showroom.  Apparently the car belonged to the owner of the dealership (who also owns Ken Pollack Nissan and Ken Pollack Suzuki) and was not for sale.  The vehicle was completely restored and had a hair over 1,000 miles on  the odometer.  Since I was spending a fair sum of money on a car at the dealership and since we had some time to kill with the paperwork associated with buying a car, photos were taken.

Up close with a classic car.  The stainless steel exterior is way cool.

Gull-wing door!  The doors actually don't take much side room to open; as you can see the driver-side door is actually really close to the wall, but yet opened with room to spare.  Pay no attention to the stranger in the background.

Sadly, this DeLorean did not have a Flux Capacitor.  The gas fill is actually right in front of the windshield.

DeLorean interior.  Cutting edge stuff for 1981.  You end up sitting so low in this car...literally just a few short inches off the actual ground.  

Manufactured June 1981.  Some of the dealer guys told me that the DeLorean used a Volvo engine.  

The actual vehicle I ended up buying:  a 2011 Nissan Rogue.  I am really happy with the choice.  

While I have been looking at/reviewing cars for several months now, yesterday was the first serious day of car shopping.  We stopped at Nationwide, as Ms Rivers had previously purchased her car there.  We ended up looking at three different vehicles (all were AWD, all were 2011 model year vehicles and the Toyota & Nissan both had a locking differential for really bad snow):

• Mitsubishi Endeavor - Really big, but handled reasonably well.  Had a ton of storage space.  I really didn't like the dash/controls (the radio was just a bunch of random buttons on the dash).
• Nissan Rogue - Loved how it handled...drove like an upscale sedan.  Controls are excellent, and I love dark red.  Had the smallest cargo space of the three we drove, but it also though was head-n-shoulder above the others in handling.  Controls are excellent.  The front seats are very comfortable.
• Toyota RAV4 - Packed more cargo room into a seemingly small space than the Nissan did.  Handling was great, but the vehicle felt somehow lighter than the Nissan.  Controls were decent, although it had fewer display options than the Nissan did (didn't have, for example, a "distance to empty" reading).  

In the end, I sacrificed some cargo space for far better handling.  Note that Consumer Reports rates both the RAV4 & the Nissan as being very reliable.  Coming from a very logical mind this next statement may seem out of place, but I'll say it anyway:  I also really liked the color of the Nissan.

Many thanks to my partner in crime, Ms Rivers, for helping me with the decision making process.

New car and a DeLorean:  'twas a good day.

Road Apples, #131

Voter ID...Pennsylvania's poorly conceived and politically motivated voter ID law will not be enforced for the November general election.  As I have said several times, this is a solution in search of a problem.  The law should be repealed and the issue studied.  Where there is a history voter fraud perhaps a photo Id should be required.  Note, however, the sequence:  "Problem Identified" then "Legislation enacted".  If you can't identify and quantify the problem, then don't pass a law to fix it.  Simple.

Tom "Frank Drebin" Corbett...can't be a happy guy now.  Even my uber-conservative brother thinks the guy is going a poor job of governing Pennsylvania.  One get's the distinct impression that the governor either...

...doesn't realize how his policies come across to the majority of Pennsylvania residents

or

...doesn't care how his policies come across to the majority of Pennsylvania residents

Either alternative is far from ideal.  Whether it's corporate welfare (Shell made nearly 6 billion dollars in profit this year...during the months of April to June alone...and they need a kickback from US????), playing pass the buck with education funding (lower state funding and the difference is simply made up by local taxes) or the politically motivated voter ID law, clearly this guy has some mixed up priorities.  If this were any other state I'd say that his chances of getting re-elected were slim to none, but then again this is Pennsylvania.  We must maintain our "8 years of a Republican followed by 8 years of a Democrat followed by 8 years of a Republican..." pattern, no matter what.

Debating the Debate...I'm not sure I'm going to watch tonight's "sound-byte fest", also known as the Presidential debates.  Most people don't understand that the commission that sets these debates is basically a conglomeration of both Republican and Democratic political hacks who carefully orchestrate an event that excludes BOTH alternative candidates (such as Gary Johnson) and deeper discussions about the issues that matter.  No, these debates are more a beauty contest than anything else, save for the occasional major gaff that could in fact turn an election.

Mold in Scranton Schools...Much as been reported about mold in one of Scranton's public elementary schools.  Conventional wisdom and basic science teaches us that mold is the result of prolonged exposure to moisture.  But this is only partially true on Scranton.  In my (current) city, mold has a third cause:  gross incompetence.  It's no secret that the Scranton School District (like many in the NEPA) has been run at least partially like an employment agency for the connected.  One needs only look at the Scranton School District's off-again, on-again, and off-again anti-nepotism policy for validation.  One other bellwether:  in a business that employs, say, 1,000 people, how many (or what percentage of the workforce) ends up getting terminated for poor performance?  Say about 2-3% per year?  Now let's ask the same question about the Scranton School District.  I'm thinking that, over the last 5 years, virtually no one in the district has been terminated for cause.  That must mean that everyone is doing an outstanding job, right?  I know a moldy school on Prescott avenue that seems to provide evidence to the contrary.

Bottom line:  The Scranton School District has been poorly managed (word "managed" used intentionally, as opposed to "leadership") for decades.  There will be no accountability for this latest moldy school, just as there was no accountability for the last moldy school.

Speaking of the Scranton School District...I was honored to stop by Tom Borthwick's "Borthday" party and campaign kick-off last Friday.  I'm not going to claim that Tom will the savior of the district, if elected, but I will say that he is genuinely passionate about education.  I can't say the same thing about most (if not all) of the current board directors.  The Scranton School District needs less of the politically connected crowd making decisions, period.

Cars...Thanks to the crew at Jack Williams Tire & Auto in Moosic for selling me some great new tires for the Kia Rio.  I had bought tires at a competitor about a year or so ago and they were already failing.  I was very happy with the experience.  In other car news, Ms Rivers and I will be looking at cars this coming Saturday.  An initial, serious shopping expedition, if you will.  I'm thinking either the Nissan dealership in Wilkes-Boro (I love driving Nissan's when I get them as rentals, and the Rogue is the about the size I am looking for) or the Suzuki dealership in Pittston.  Could I possibly stretch this whole process out any longer?

Road Apples, #130

In the getting older department...My middle daughter just turned 20 on Friday (see HERE).  It's amazing the perspective you get as a parent over the years.  Anyway, when your children become adults you learn to  treasure the time with them even more, for you have less of it.

Speaking of parenting...I know people who wrap their entire lives around their children, which on the surface may sound noble, but which in reality is exceedingly foolish.  As parents we must love, nurture, protect and guide our children.  But we also need to set good examples, including the importance of...

...of being independent & self-sufficient
...of having a variety of  interests
...of being intellectually curious
...of constantly learning
...of cultivating healthy relationships
...of wanting to make a difference in the world around you

Most of these things aren't "teachable", but they are "learnable", chiefly (as noted above) through setting good examples that your children observe throughout their lifetime.  Your children don't want you to tell them what to do...they want you to show them what to do...in big things and small.  For example, telling your children that reading is important but not actually doing much reading yourself is an example of hypocrisy that children eventually see through...and end up emulating for the worse.  No one ever said being a parent is an easy job.  

Boston Bound....I am headed to downtown Boston for a class this week.  I am really looking forward to four and a half days of being a student and learning.  Hell, I bought a notebook and pens just for the occasion.  I know that this isn't everyone's cup of tea, but for me I really do enjoy the occasional "pure learner mode" times I get.  I am hoping that group exercises, presentation and the like are of the "limited to none" kind this week.  I don't want to be a spokesperson, I don't want to work in a group, I don't want to socialize.  I just want to immerse in knowledge.

Facebook...Well it seems that Facebook stock is now trading at less than half the IPO price.  I'm not a stock analyst, nor do I play one on TV.  I do, however, have some business smarts about me and I've always thought that businesses that rely almost entirely on advertising revenue have to be viewed with some caution.  Google is the exception, for a single great reason:  they, unlike Facebook, Yahoo or others provide an extremely valuable service and they have figured out ways to steer traffic effectively to advertisers.  Facebook?  I'm far more likely to delete an advertisement on the right-hand side of my page than I am to actually click on it in anticipation of a making a purchase.  I'm even MORE likely to delete the advertisement if it is political in nature.  Mark my words:  this will not end well.

Car wars...I am still pondering cars.  I did toy with the concept of actually buying a new car, but I think that pretty much has gone the way-side.  Buying a new car is much more about emotion ("Hey, I got a new car!") than it is about sound financial decision making ("Hey, I got a new car, and the value of it dropped by 20% the moment I drove it off the dealer lot!").  I am still thinking about something chiefly with much in the way of room, unlike my Kia Rio.  Something that wouldn't be blown off the road by strong crosswinds...unlike my Kia Rio...would be nice as well.  Oh, and I have another month of this kind of pondering to do.

Road Apples, #129

PA GOP targets Gary Johnson...I saw this posted on Gort's blog and wanted to share it as well.  GOP voter suppression on the right.  I get the politics of trying to keep a competitor off the ballot, but maybe this is just another example of why politicians are rated somewhere below used car sales people in the respectability department.  I like Gary Johnson...a lot...and while I don't agree with all of his stands, I do find that he is the ONLY candidate for president that truly has bold ideas to change this country for the better.  We've tried giving poor people money and we've tried giving rich folks even more money...neither works.  We need a different path.

Gary Johnson 2012.

You know, I feel somehow soiled by even writing about politics these days.

Buying a car...My youngest daughter, who is starting her second year at West Chester University in just two weeks, just passed her driver's exam.  Needless to say, this is just one of many reasons why I am very proud of her (others include the fact that she works full time during the summer, she has always gotten very good grades in school & she has a big heart...but so I digress).  Anyway, at some point over the next few months I will be giving her my Kia Rio to drive back to school.  This creates the need for me to start the process of buying another car.  Now for someone like me, this is no small undertaking.  Here's just a sample of how my mind works with things like this...

• I think about how I foresee using a car
• I gather key attributes of the kind of car I like (for example, I loved the 63 cubic feet of cargo space in my old PT Cruiser & use that as a benchmark...note that I didn't like the fact that it was an unreliable piece of crap towards the end) & create a set of key specifications
• I research vehicles that I think might have those specifications (www.edmunds.com is a great resource) & post their specs on a spreadsheet
• I begin to narrow the field of cars down based on how they match to what I am looking for; I also factor in Consumer Reports quality ratings
• Once I have the field is narrowed down I start to physically look at some of the vehicles

...I know, it all sounds so very complex.  One thing missing?  Well, Ms Rivers nailed it when she said "well what kind of car would you LIKE?", which did make me stop and ponder for a moment.  My process does provide plenty of quantitative data, but I do sometimes have a habit of not thinking of the qualitative.  In the end, the idea is to put some science behind a process so that it is well thought-out and results in a better selection.  It is worth noting though that this process hasn't always yielded a better result:  I used it when I bought the previously mentioned PT Cruiser.  More to come...

Introversion...I saw this terrific graphic on Facebook and just had to share:

Credit goes to Marilyn Powell for putting something together that, speaking as a fairly extreme introvert, is spot-on.  I remember talking to a professional once (the specifics are not all that important), someone who should know better, who kept commenting about how I should go out and socialize more.  It was difficult trying to explain that I actually don't like to socialize all that much.  I like being active, but I am really uncomfortable with things like small-talk, parties, and the like.  It doesn't frighten me...we are not talking Agoraphobia here...but being in large groups and "hanging out" just is not me.  Yes, I can pretend to be extroverted (especially at work...people at the office are sometimes surprised at my dyed-in-the-wool introversion), but the fact remains that I am very comfortable in my introverted skin.  So says that man typing a blog entry in his apartment next to his cat.

Cable Wars...My Comcast cable bill has ballooned up to $130.59.  This is something I pay to get internet service and watch, maybe, 6 different channels.  Definitely on my radar of financial things to address.  I love Comcast's internet service, but the TV stuff is horrid.  Sorry, but why do I have to pay for stuff I will never watch?

Australia & Cigarettes...Kudos to the court system for requiring that tobacco companies do something that sometimes marketers hate:  tell the f&^king truth!  Article link HERE.  My general life philosophy on things like smoking & drinking is this:  if you want to do it fine, just...

...don't force me to do it as well (via second hand smoke, for example)
...do it with your eyes wide open

Forcing a company to say that their product, when used AS DIRECTED, causes your teeth & lungs to rot out seems pretty reasonable to me.  "But, but, but...candy makes you fat! Should a Hershey bar have a picture of a fat kid on it as well?"...I can hear the illogical smoking apologies retort in my head as I type this, so allow me to respond:   Food...of any kind really...is inherently necessary for our existence.  In fact, if you were stranded on an island with just a crate of Hershey bars as food, Milton Hershey's creation would save your life.  Smoking, on the other hand, has no benefit.  Bottom line?  If you want to smoke, then go ahead.  Just don't kid yourself about what it does to you.

Road Apples, #124

Sunday Writing...Okay, I am planning on rambling and writing, writing and rambling.  This wasn't my original plan for this next posting, but like most "best laid plans", what I've thought about writing and what I am actually going to write about are two completely different things.  Good thing that this whole thing is for my enjoyment anyway.

Rental Cars...I'm traveling to Hartford tomorrow, and as I picked up my rental car this evening I was pleasantly greeted by a Nissan Altima. Score!  No Chevy Impala!  Now I have nothing really against the Impala, well except for the fact that it's rather boring.  On the plus side, the Chevy does have a large gas tank that can make the Hartford round-trip without a re-fill.  I also like the standard Chevy radio.  The handling though on the Chevy is very nondescript.  Not sporty.  Not luxury.  Just, well, rental car.  The Nissan though (and I've rented Nissan's before) handles extremely well.  Very quick, great steering and the cruising range is enormous...even longer than that of the Chevy.

Titanic...If you are even casually interested in the Titanic disaster, then you have to check out the current edition of National Geographic.

Ken Smith for State Representative...If you live in NEPA and are in the district of representative Ken Smith, then make sure you read THIS article.  Ken Smith is a nice guy, that's for sure.  But "nice guy" isn't in and of itself a qualification for legislative service.  The reality is that someone who is incapable of managing his own (and that of his business) finances is not capable of managing the public's finances.  Period.  Vote for Kevin Haggerty week after next.

Observatory...Ms Rivers and I visited the Thomas Cupillari Observatory at Keystone College this past weekend.  It was a very, very cool experience.  For all my science geek-i-ness, I've never been to an observatory before.  I got to see spectacular views of Venus, Mars, and Saturn.  I also saw a few star clusters, two binary star systems and a trinary star system.

The view of Saturn alone was worth the drive.  This place is a hidden gem for residents of NEPA.

Random Thoughts (from the road)

This will be short, as the evolved 'hunt & peck' typing I use on my tablet is, at best, annoying.

Anyway, I am traveling this week, much to the disgust, I am sure, of my cat. I don't think he is all that fond of the cat-sitter. With travel on business comes a unigue set of challenges, which, after 23+ years of business traveling I have yet to master. Not that anyone who would care to look at me now would notice, as I try very much to fit in with the business travel crowd in terms of camouflage and customs. The one custom I can not mimic all that well though is all the mandatory socialization that comes with these types of things. Yes, facilitating an exercise in front of a large group of folks...most of whom I didn't know...yesterday was less stressful than the full team dinner I will participate in this evening. Such is file though, and as I tell myself all the time, Buger King counter help doesn't get to travel (translation: stop being so whinny Albert).

Wait, where are the 'Random Thoughts'? Well, in the spirit of compliance, here we go:

Motorcycles - last night, while driving to Hartford, I was passed on the right by a motorcycle. I was in the far right lane. He was on the shoulder of the road. It was 8:45pm. He was going 90 mph. It was a highway. Am I the only one who thinks that this sort behavior is idiotic? I was also passed by a pack of bikes before this incident that were traveling even faster, but at least they were not making their own lane.

Note to Andy Palumbo - Please do buy that new coat next year.

Primary Day in Illinois - Can Newt just fade into the sunset already? Does he just want to sell more books? If I promise to buy one will he just stop already? I ALMOST feel sorry for how pathetic his campaign had become.

Well I have to face the reality that my work day must now begin. Off to the races if you will.

posted from Bloggeroid

Advertorial

I was reading the golackawanna website today, trying to catch up on some local news, when I spied a review of the Suzuki Kizashi.  Now being mildly interested in cars, I thought to myself that this might make for an interesting diversion.  I like reading car reviews, and while I'm not in the market for a car at the moment, who knows, I may find some useful tidbit and/or factoid.

Then I saw the word: Advertorial.

My initial reaction was a simple and straight forward "what the hell is an advertorial?".  Then, as I am often fond of doing, I thought about it some more.  Sure, I got the definition...Advertisement + Editorial.  In other words, this was a paid opinion piece.  Someone greased the golackwanna folks so that they would publish this mock review of the Suzuki Kizashi.  Forget for a moment that this looked like a straight-off review, although the constant references to "J.D. Power award" came up time and time again.  That was a dead give-away.

Side note:  I think just about every piece of crap that Detroit has ever produced has won a J.D. Power award.  I wouldn't be shocked if, going back to the 80's, JD. Powers marveled at the cutting edge engineering of the Chevrolet Citation.

So now I am left wondering just what place, if any, the "Advertorial" has on a real news site.  Call me old fashioned but if an advertiser pays for space...be that space on paper or virtual...that is an advertisement.  Calling it something else is, in my opinion, walking the edge of propriety.

Maybe this is a common practice in print journalism.  Maybe I'm making too much out of this whole thing. Maybe I'm just tired.  Who knows?  Well I do know one thing:  I am disappointed in the golackawanna folks.

Missing Blogfest + Other Assorted Tales

I know that I am not the most outwardly social person on the planet.  Myers-Briggs tells me, in fact, that I am probably as introverted as a human being can probably be without degrading into Bridge Troll -dom.  This noted, I did have every intention of attending Blogfest 2011 in the thriving metropolis of Pittston last night.  Needless to say, I did not make it.  What happened?

My youngest daughter Rebecca attends West Chester University, which is about a hair shy of two and a half hours from Scranton.  Since she wanted to come home this weekend, my thought was to leave work at 4ish, make it down there and back, and slip into Blogfest for a few minutes in and around the 9pm time frame.  Sounds reasonable, right?  Of course there is a "but" here, and this particular "but" can be summarized by a few different words, so I'll just pick one:  monsoon.

Yes, it was raining basically all the way down the turnpike from Scranton to Philadelphia.  Going down I would hit patches of incredibly heavy rain inter-spaced with periods of light precipitation.  I could count my blessings and claim that "at least it wasn't snow", but I have other blessing to count.  Read on.  Anyway, my normally steady speed of 65-esque was shunted down to the 50's for much of the ride down and over to West Chester.  Coming back? Well that was quite worse indeed.

So I arrive in West Chester on or about 6:45pm.  This was a good 20 minutes later than I should have, but again my travel was inhibited by road conditions.  That and the two enormous ladders laying in the middle of Route 202.  By the time I got there, my daughter and her room-mate (who lives in NEPA and was hitching a ride with us) were all ready to go.  Some quick car packing and we were back on the road sometime slightly after 7pm.  From there, it seemed as if the rain picked up in intensity.  At times it was steady, at times it was so dense that visibility was really horrid.  Then there was the tunnel incident.

Coming up the turnpike approaching the NE Extension tunnel, the rain seemed to abate as the hole in the mountain grew near.  At that point I'm thinking "good, I can pick up some speed and make up for lost time", so once I got into the tunnel I got the car up to about 65, which was a far cry from the 40-50 mph that marked the journey so far.  Bad idea.  Popping out of the tunnel like a cork out of a rapper's bottle of Cristal, I almost immediately hit was seemed like a torrent of rain. What didn't hit?  That would be the wheels of my Kia Rio and the road surface.  For about a good mile I was basically floating on the road surface, more or less out of control of my vehicle.  I want to note that Kia Rio's weight about as much as your average washing machine, so it was the perfect storm of imperfect conditions:  slippery road an tiny, light car.  So what happened next?  Well I guess there are three schools of thought that could describe those few minutes in time:

1. Skill - Having been driving for something like 30 years, I knew enough not to over-steer the car and to not slam on the brakes.  I carefully corrected the direction of the car, preventing a mashing into the retaining wall (or off the road itself) by making slight directional changes and lightly touching the brake until the car got some traction and slowed down.
2. Higher Power - Some could argue that some kind of higher power guided me and prevented what would have been an ugly accident.
3. Some combination of the two above.

I don't want to sound overly dramatic here, but I was seriously in some deep doo-doo on this one.  The Physics of the situation were working against me:  I was clearly driving way too fast for the road conditions on a car that is only slightly evolved from a go-cart.  This was not a good time.  In the final analysis this morning, I am going to heavily weigh my after-the-fact conclusions on #1, above.  I'm also though not going to discount the fact that I was clearly pretty damn lucky...or pretty damn blessed.  #3 perhaps?  I will say that I did take a few minutes this morning to pray & contemplate it all.

Almost being turned into road-hamburger rightly noted, by the time I dropped my youngest daughter's room mate off and delivered daughter #3 to her mother's house it was exactly 10:15pm.  I would have missed almost all of Blogfest and besides, at that stage I was more or less a blithering idiot after having survived the West Chester trek.

I can't wait until the next Blogfest.

To All the Cars I've Known...

The cars I have owned (or co-owned) over the years.  I'm not counting vehicles that were driven mainly by others/family cars.

1974 Plymouth Duster, 2 door coupe.  I owned this with my brother Rich.  It was pea green, but one of the front fenders was rusted out so we replaced it with an used part...that happened to be orange.  I eventually handed over my interest in the car to my brother.  I think about a year later the engine blew.


1974 Plymouth Fury III, 4 door sedan.  This was probably my favorite car, ever.  360 cubic inch engine.  Very fast and very comfortable.  It was tan with dark brown vinyl tap. I ended up totaling it while driving on route 307 during a snowstorm (I was picking up my mother from where she worked).

1970 Buick LeSabre, 4 door sedan.  It was black and bore a resemblance to the batmobile.  I sold it after about a year or two.

1974 Chrysler Newport Custom, 4 door sedan.  This was the car I took away to college for my junior and senior years.  It was enormous.  How big?  Well I've stayed in hotel rooms with less interior space.   440 cubic inch engine got about 10 miles to the gallon city.  I didn't drive down the road in it...I floated down the road.  The transmission eventually went bad...and this is the gospel truth...while driving home for the last time from college.


1978 Chrysler LeBaron, 4 door sedan.  This was a great car, but it had one flaw:  whenever it rained the floor behind the drivers seat would flood.  I kid you not.  I checked and it wasn't rotted under there, so who knows where the water came from.  The car was totaled in York PA while I was driving back from work by a guy who ran a stop sign. 

1980 Dodge Colt, 2 door coup.  It looked just like the picture in the link.  This was a great car and I put a ton of miles on it.   I had this car while I worked for the Bon Ton.  Traveling between the Bon Ton in Carlisle and Perry County I went through something like four sets of front brakes.  The transmission eventually died at about 160,000 miles or so in mid-1989 as I was just starting with my present employer in Florham Park, NJ.

1974 Mercury Comet, 4 door sedan.  I was actually given this car by my brother Chris, as I needed something to drive (the Colt had died) while in NJ and I couldn't afford another car.  This was a wretched piece of crap that wasn't worth the "free" price I paid for it.  The steering was bad.  It leaked exhaust gas into the cabin.  It creaked like an 85 year old man.  One day I just drove it to the junk yard and said "take it".

1986 Chevy Celebrity, 4 door sedan.  A stop-gap car between the Comet and my next vehicle.  I had this for about a year or so.  Outside of a set of front brakes and a thermostat, this was a pretty good car.  I traded it in for the truck.

1997 Ford Ranger, extended cab pickup truck.  I loved the Ranger.  It's only real flaw was that it was rear-wheel drive, making it a a horrible drive in snow.  That noted, I loved the utility of the vehicle.  I bought it in 1998 and it only had a few miles on it.  I think I gave it to my oldest daughter when it had about 80,000 miles or so on the odometer, after having owned it for almost a decade.  I eventually traded it in for a more suitable female college student vehicle, a 1999 Chevy Cavalier 2 door coupe.  I'd love to get another truck one day, although it would have to be 4 wheel drive (or two wheel drive but as a second vehicle to something with front or AW drive).  The Ranger is probably still tooling about somewhere.

2005 Chrysler PT Cruiser.  I actually had the truck and the Cruiser together for a short period of time.  I bought the Cruiser in 2006 with about 15,000 miles on it and just recently gave it to my oldest daughter.  It's a great car that was small but drove like it was much larger.  My only complaint was that it started to run into mechanical problems at about 70,000 miles (two oil leaks, A/C compressor that went).  I want my oldest to trade it in when she graduates next Spring.

2009 Kia Rio, 4 door sedan.  My current vehicle.  I got this in May from Scranton Toyota, and it had about 10,000 miles on the odometer.  I've had a few minor problems, but all have been fixed by the local Kia dealer.  The Rio is great on gas, which is what I was mainly looking for in a car these days.  I'm probably going to hang on to this and eventually give it to one of my daughters.