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fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

Battle won, war still ongoing.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Eh, that’s media spin. biden’s health is fine and he’s doing a good job.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

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Open Thread

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I’m in the Taj Mahal of auto mechanic waiting rooms (where I have been for several hours) having my annual inspection, getting a tune-up, and having an axle/cv joint/I’m not sure what replaced on the Subaru, and I have to say- dropping a grand on your car is a lot easier when you can sit and surf the web and drink coffee in comfort than it is sitting in a dingy waiting room twiddling your thumbs. Every waiting room should have wireless.

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57Comments

  3. 3.

    Bnut

    The Toyota place I used was like that. Flat screens, free gourmet coffee, wireless, current magazines. Guess when you are used to shit for so long, a turd that don’t stink is like filet mignon.

  4. 4.

    jibeaux

    A Subaru you say, has anyone asked you how the hopey changey thing is working out? I keep hoping someone will ask me, even though I have a Ford, but sadly not yet.

  5. 5.

    RedKitten

    It makes sense, really. It’s painful to sit in those dirty, boring waiting rooms with nothing but a bunch of grease-stained Newsweeks to pass the time. Mind you, I tend to just drop my car off, leave (via cab or helpful friend) and then go back when my car’s ready.

  6. 6.

    J.W. Hamner

    @jibeaux:

    A Subaru you say, has anyone asked you how the hopey changey thing is working out? I keep hoping someone will ask me, even though I have a Ford, but sadly not yet.

    Are Subaru’s the new VW’s? It certainly seems everybody north of Massachusetts owns one.

  7. 7.

    kindness

    Has anyone asked you “How’s that hopey/changey thing comin’?” since Caribou Barbi made that Subaru comment in her speech a couple weeks ago?

  9. 9.

    jeffreyw

    Local Ford dealer has a pretty good waiting room, no idea if it has free WiFi, though I can note that all the staff seem to have wireless notebooky things to handle their business.

  10. 10.

    numbskull

    First and last time I took my wife’s M-B to the dealership, it was over a grand for a simple tune and oil change. But hey, how else they gonna pay for the private golf course and the workout room (both empty). You know, the things that set them apart from the Toyota dealership (“Flat screens, free gourmet coffee, wireless, current magazines”) that they ALSO have. Oh yeah, they also had a gift shop where you could buy M-B jewelry and clothing. And golf balls.

    I like the place I take my cars to now. You’re lucky to get stale donuts and staler coffee, but the owner and staff have a huge garden next to the customer parking lot, and in season, there’s all kinds of fresh treats for customers waiting (mmmm, tomatoes…).

    Plus, the prices make sense.

  11. 11.

    John Cole

    No one has stopped me to ask me yet- but my Obama sticker wore off and I need a new one. Someone offered to send me one, but I never got it.

  12. 12.

    LuciaMia

    Well, at least you’ve got the leisure to post a lot of threads.
    Couldn’t Tunch have picked you up?

  13. 13.

    flukebucket

    The only option around here is to sit in the waiting room and watch FOX news on the flat screen TV which has a little sign attached to it saying, “DO NOT CHANGE THE STATION”

  14. 14.

    WereBear

    That ad for Brooks Brothers on the left, with the guy in the blue ensemble?

    It has to be a joke, right?

    3/4 sleeves AND a bow tie?

    Tell me it’s a farcical eye-catching ad, please!

  15. 15.

    p.a.

    my most recent auto mechanic experience (at lack-of-pep boys) consisted of pacing by windows overlooking the shop floor where 6 cars in various states of undress were attended by one single mechanic. i know the national shops are ripoffs, and i have a mechanic i like, but for minor things like a coolant flush/new thermostat i rolled the dice on the local megashop. the waiting room had 2 year old auto mags. and a tv that only tuned to 1 station, carrying a wrestling show. ugh.

  16. 16.

    Culture of Truth

    I’m in the Taj Mahal of auto mechanic waiting rooms (where I have been for several hours) having my annual inspection

    That’s ObamaCare for you.

  17. 17.

    boognish

    My Subaru dealer also has wireless. More often than not i log in and work from there when my car is in for service. And no, no one has stopped and asked me how the hopey changey is going for me.

  19. 19.

    John Cole

    @J.W. Hamner: I’m probably looking at 800-900 bucks today, but I am getting a ton done.

    Annual inspection
    tires rotated
    tune-up including new spark plug wires
    new cv joint/axle
    new remote keylock
    oil change
    timing belt

    This is only the second car I have ever owned, and I plan to get another 150k miles out of it before I buy another one, so I do not begrudge the money spent. My other car was an 83 Chevy Celebrity that lasted me until 2005.

  21. 21.

    RedKitten

    I’ll probably be getting rid of my ’03 Taurus in the next few years, maybe after we have another kid. My heart sinks at the idea of a minivan, but we probably WILL need something bigger than your average sedan. We’re pondering the Mazda 5, as it’s sort of a compact minivan and has a sportier look to it than most.

    Any suggestions?

  23. 23.

    Bob K

    Axle/CV Joint? That doesn’t sound Mexican. Panamanian? Colombian? Inquiring minds want to know.

    @ p.a. – I’d rather watch wrestling than Faux/Pravda.

  25. 25.

    Brian J

    Some good links:

    1. Once again, a familiar pattern: People call out O’Reilly for making a false statement. He objects. They point out where he’s wrong. He loses it. And some of his fans wonder why some of us get pissed with him. It’s one thing to have an opinion, even an extreme one, we don’t like, but it’s quite another to try to deny reality.

    2. I’m stealing this, from Bill Maher: Palin and Bachmann are MILFs, Morons I’d Like to Forget.

    3. All of this focus on Elena Kagan for the Supreme Court makes me think that she won’t be the nominee. I seem to remember a lot of focus on someone else the last time–Dianne Wood, or maybe Elena Kagan herself, or someone else–when it ended up being Sotomayor. In other words, the focus is sort of like a consolation prize. Forgive me if this doesn’t sound realistic, but I’d really, really like someone like Pamela Karlan to come walking out with President Obama.

  26. 26.

    dianne

    I have an almost 4 year old Subaru Forester and have never spent one dime on it for anything other than service. It’s the best car I’ve ever had.

  28. 28.

    ellaesther

    Inspired by Ta-Nehisi’s “hey, let’s all celebrate Confederate History Month!” I’m blogging about some people that he mentioned in passing who were, to my mind, some real heroes of the South, people I’d never heard of before who acted to secure freedom and justice for Black Americans and preserve the Union.

    Yesterday I wrote about General George Henry Thomas http://emilylhauserinmyhead.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/confederate-history-month/, today I’ll be tackling the likes of Elizabeth Van Lew, Robert Smalls, and/or Andre Callioux.

    The Moar You Know The Moar You Can Celebrate Confederate History Month.

  29. 29.

    dr. bloor

    @John Cole:

    You’re getting a timing belt and all that other stuff done for under a grand? Wow. Send your mechanic to RI when he’s done, please.

  32. 32.

    Dork

    Droppin a $K on a Subaru, eh? So, it needs a 2 new fuses and a dime-size doo-hickey in the engine?

  36. 36.

    BenA

    Does anyone else have this particular mental illness? There are car manufacturers I absolutely refuse to buy from… not for any tangible reason but because some asshole I used to be associated with drove one? Subaru and Audi are both dead to me for this reason.

    I also wont buy a Toyota because of Consumer Reports group think.

    I has issues.

  37. 37.

    Martin

    @John Cole: That’s not bad. The CV joint alone would run you that much out here.

    The trend here (probably everywhere) is that oil changes/tune ups are dirt cheap. $20ish. You can barely beat that doing it yourself. Touch one more thing on the car like a timing belt and you’ll instantly be at $500.

    It’s been a while since I did my own service and repairs, but I might find my way back to it now that the cars are getting older and my salary is getting smaller.

  40. 40.

    Tsulagi

    @John Cole:
    $800-900? Spendthrift. Actually, for the work you’re having done that would be a pretty good rate from a garage or especially from a dealer. For my late departed M5 it would probably be a grand just for a BMW dealer to acknowledge your presence.

    Still, if just a single half axle with CV joint, the parts on your list would probably be in the $200 range. The rest is labor. Get a shop manual for the car. If the timing belt on your engine isn’t too tricky, you could do all that work in a half day on the weekend. I’m too cheap to pay others what I can do myself.

    If you’re going to try to get high miles, at oil changes I’d suggest going to synthetic oil. Synthetic is twice the price of standard oil, but you can easily go three times the distance between oil changes. So it works out being cheaper plus synthetic really reduces the friction/wear in the engine.

  41. 41.

    Sarcastro

    @BenA: There are makes I will not buy, but my reasons are usually pretty tangible. Nissans, for instance, have a road feel that I simply can not tolerate. Chevys seem to have suspensions from the 50s. Dodge can’t make an engine that doesn’t feel sluggish.

    But Audis… yea, the prick factor rules them out for me. Subarus, OTOH, I wouldn’t care if they were only driven by the worst people in the world because of two words : Rally Homologation. Yes, in an STi you CAN outrun ugly.

  42. 42.

    BenA

    @Sarcastro: I’m with you on the NIssans… I also think they age rather poorly. They look old QUICK.

    I really should give Subaru’s a fair shot. My lease is up in a year and I’ll probably test drive a few. :-)

  43. 43.

    wenchacha

    Mr. Cole,

    If you put up with a damn Chevy Celebrity, then imagine how much you would luuurrrrve a Chevy Malibu.

    We have our 2004 Malibu Maxx and still are very happy with it. The old man is away right now, or I could tell you which engine we have that gets us 33-35 mpg on the highway. The new ones don’t use the same engine (curse you, GM!) but it is still a great car when you get tired of buying stuff for your Subaru.

    I cannot tell you if the Chevy dealer has wireless access, but everybody and their cat has flat screen tv. Except us.

  44. 44.

    RedKitten

    @John Cole: good to know. I’d also been pondering the Outback. I don’t need a giant honkin’ SUV (nor can I really afford one), but one of the crossover-types would probably do nicely.

  45. 45.

    pixelpusher

    I hope they still have nudie posters on the garage walls. Otherwise, no real mechanics work there.

  46. 46.

    Sentient Puddle

    Ezra talks to Sen. Corker (ranking Republican on the banking committee). I know the headline will be “OMG CORKER AGREES WITH MCCONNELL ABOUT THIS BEING A PERPETUAL BAILOUT MACHINE!!11”, but he’s actually talking sense here. He’s almost saying “Mitch, STFU, the adults are talking here.”

    Worth a read. It does make me irrationally exuberant about the prospects of some level of bipartisanship.

  47. 47.

    p.a.

    after a decade of owning both 2wd and 4wd vehicles, one interesting factoid – every part for a 4wd/awd vehicle costs more, even if the part has nothing to do with the drive train.

  48. 48.

    daverave

    Being a DFH, I had a Subaru once, drove it for 150k miles. It was always having pricey CV joint and boot issues, which my mechanic told me was common, so I didn’t mind giving it up. Maybe they’ve gotten better.

  50. 50.

    Andy K

    @daverave:

    CV joints and boots were not the issue with either of the Subarus (’89 GL wagon, ’92 Loyale wagon) I owned. It was all about the timing belt.

    @J.W. Hamner:

    Are Subaru’s the new VW’s? It certainly seems everybody north of Massachusetts owns one.

    Perhaps you aren’t familiar with snow. Feet-at-a-time snow.

    Within a week of buying my first (used) Subaru, West Michigan got socked with a 3′ blizzard. Guess who was pointing and laughing?

  52. 52.

    D-Chance.

    You don’t have a mechanic that offers free drop-off and pick-up service??? That is one of my first criteria. You want to fix my car; you take me home, call me with an estimate before tearing into it, then call me when it’s fixed and send someone back out to my house to pick me up and bring me back to your shop when you’re done.

  54. 54.

    joe from Lowell

    I take Trusty the Wonder Civic to a Cambodian guy who has trash all over the place. He’s got a couple of dirty car seats outside.

  55. 55.

    Billy

    @J.W. Hamner:

    Subarus go through things. We have a great many things in the Northeast, and Subarus go through them. Or over them, either is fine. People who don’t have them don’t have a frame of reference, but the cars are bloody unstoppable.

  56. 56.

    Bill

    @dr. bloor:
    Scoobys are designed so that the timing belt is easily accessed. The timing belt is pretty much the only thing that ever needs to be serviced , other than wear items, and the engineers put it right up front where it’s easy to get at. Completely intentional, completely awesome. I once did one in under two hours, with hand tools only.

  57. 57.

    Mr Furious

    RedKitten,

    Buy yourself a Subaru with confidence. I’ve had two—bare-bones and basic—and loved them both. Mechanically and reliability-wise they are the equal or better of any car out there, and as others have noted, there’s nothing better in the snow, short of a 1975 Land Cruiser (had one of those, too).

    When you’re done with it, drive it down to Asheville and sell it for 150% of book value.

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