Don’t drink beer out of green bottles, don’t forget to stretch, and always remember to write your grandmother a thank-you note. Along with these basic rules for success, when researching new cars, I’ve always eliminated options that were available only with automatic transmissions. Car enthusiasts argue over almost every imaginable detail, save this one. Perhaps it has to do with their beloved “involvement” with the machines that they adore, but manual transmissions have long been a unanimous preference for card-carrying members of the local gearhead union.
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Dangers of Texting and Driving: A Personal Experience
The call every parent dreads begins like this:
“Your kids have been in an accident.”
There’s nothing scarier or more dreadful than hearing those words except for the unknown information that comes next.
Are they okay? Where are they? What happened? The questions flood your brain like rapid-fire bullets, and the answers can’t come fast enough. Guilt sets in because the number one function of a parent, protecting the kids, didn’t happen.
It’s an overwhelming feeling that’s only eased by the words, “They’re okay.”
I didn’t fully understand it until it happened to me.
What Happens When a Buyer Never Registers a Car You Sold?
It’s a good rule in life to expect the best but prepare for the worst.
Most humans on Earth are good people who want to live the best life possible, but a few are set on breaking the rules for their own benefit.
Selling a car can be a profitable venture, but it can also provide opportunity for unscrupulous humans to use the seller’s good name in a crime. It’s rare, but it can happen.
When you buy a vehicle from a private seller, you take the transferred title to your local DMV and register the car in your name. All the paperwork is taken care of for you if you buy from a dealer.
Sometimes a private seller will sell his or her car, but the buyer won’t ever register it. Any parking tickets or driving infractions caught on camera will be under the seller’s name. If any crime is committed in the car, it’ll be the seller in the crosshairs of law enforcement.
Here’s how to make sure this doesn’t happen to you. Continue reading >>>
Get on the Road with Maps, not Apps
I had forgotten about maps.
I’m not talking about the lovely little app on the iPhone or the fantastic online service provided by Google. I’m talking about actual maps. Like the kind that is printed on paper and unfolds to almost actual size.
Remember those?
Upon entering Canada this week I received an automated text message that welcomed me to traveling abroad.
“How nice,” I thought, “My service provider is keeping tabs on me and making sure I know I’ve left U.S. cell service. What a comforting feeling.”
What I should have thought was, “Uh oh. I’m about to take out a second mortgage to pay for receiving an email.”
As it turns out, AT&T likes to charge roughly $1,333 per megabyte once a phone leaves the country. I only figured that out once I received another text, then an email, informing me that my firstborn son is about to be confiscated for the privilege of getting online.
Needless to say I switched to Airplane Mode on my phone and haven’t been online since, with the exception of the occasional spotty free wifi connection.
I didn’t panic without my phone at first. In fact, I thought it would be nice to be away from the addiction for a while. Except an addiction isn’t an addiction when it’s a requirement.
Without even thinking I reached for my phone to plug a destination into my maps, and then panicked. How am I supposed to know where to go without my GPS?
Then my wife said, “Looks like we need a map.”
I’d forgotten about maps.
The Best Cars and Trucks for Snow and Ice: 2011/2012 Edition
In this day and age, it doesn’t take long for things to become obsolete. Digital cameras? No need, I have a smart phone. E-mail? Nope, I’d rather text. That Facebook status from 30 seconds ago? Puh-lease. Latest news only, thank you very much.
So I’m just a little surprised that a blog post from two years ago still gets people fired up. The subject matter, though, is as timeless as the seasons: the best vehicles for snow and ice.
I’ve taken some mild criticism for that post. One such comment began, “This might be the worst list ever for snow vehicles…”
Ouch. While some of the cars and trucks on that list might be questionable choices, I stand behind them and would drive any of them in a snowstorm and feel comfortable. Well, a Seattle snowstorm. You know, one that drops maybe 3 inches of the white stuff. For vehicles built to survive a serious Syracuse-style snowfall, keep reading!