Occupation of Independence

Is it understandable or reasonable that an older car buyer would like to get excited about what-might-be their last car, especially if they have never done so before? There can be a romance to such an important part of life. Carried to extreme, it might seem silly. After 15 years of fussing and fuming, of sturm und drang, I finally bought a new tow vehicle. It didn't work out like a romantic novel, by, say, Sir Walter Scott or Alexander Dumas. Rather, it resembled a Jane Austen novel, in composite, non-literal form: a young woman, enthused about a dashing young rake, the best dancer at the balls, and always fashionably dressed. He drives a stylish and fast carriage, and rides a stallion. She's even heard whispers that he has killed a man in a duel. Then she finds out he is an irresponsible, self-centered cad. After a suitable amount of wailing, she transfers her attentions to a man who isn't too old, and doesn't look terrible, has good inheritance prospec

Blogger is telling me that it no longer lets a commenter use Open ID. So if that is what you were used to, go ahead and switch to Anonymous, just by checking the Anonymous box. In a recent post I was a missionary for the sticker of RPO codes if you are considering GM vehicles. Now they tell me that starting in 2018 they no longer attach stickers to the usual places (passenger side door jamb or glove box for older vehicles) but instead use GM Global Connect. Either the dea ewlership can print the RPO codes from this, or maybe the individual can access GM Global Codes.  Give your salesman the VIN number and make them email the RPO (build) codes to you.

It has been a pleasant surprise to find out how much I like my little eReader (Kobo Libra H2O). Sometimes I get the best results by reading a couple screens-worth, and then looking away, and thinking about something else. Then I look down at the bottom of the screen, where it shows that only 5% of the book has been read. from shutterstock. My gawd, why are authors so wordy? Who needs all those words? Why don't they say something meaningful in a few sentences, and then 'shut up.' I still haven't decided whether I will even bother to read books in my 'next life.' (grin) At such moments, my brain goes back to internet surfing. At least what you read there is shorter! And it seems more alive, somehow? But is it? Why does the heavy (e-) lumber of a book seem so tedious, so much like dead stuff, but 'breaking news' on the internet seems alive? Most of the stuff on the internet is the same everyday; only the details change, as was true of newspapers

I don't write about politics too often, because the subject makes me and the reader sour or angry -- or depressed. In fact, only twice have I felt joyous and triumphant. My own country had nothing to do with either of these events. They are British accomplishments. In 2013 the British House of Commons declined to approve military action (the old-fashioned term is 'war') against Syria. Soon the Obama regime backed off of direct and forcible war against Syria. After all, the American War Machine needs to invoke the mythology of World War II and the hero worship of Churchill in order to pronounce the enemy-du-jour as the next Hitler. In the last couple years of his regime, Obama then went on to make an international fool out of himself by describing America as the one true indispensable nation. And now, for the second time in just a few years, we see who the one true indispensable country really is: Britain. news.sky.com If you haven't watched a video of

What a bizarre process it is to buy a car! The other day I was at a typical dealer's overcrowded lot. The cars were parked closer together than they are in a Portland OR grocery store parking lot. The salesman was a big guy. He would open "my" van's door smack into the adjacent vehicle, actually dinging a newish vehicle. He didn't seem concerned. That really shows the high regard they have for their product, doesn't it?! I suppose I should grateful for the search engines, such as AutoTrader, Car Gurus, Auto Tempest, etc. But they suck! They over-describe unimportant things like the car having a clock, sun visor, intermittent windshield wipers, 16 air bags, etc. Oh, and it has "a CD player," too. But as for the engine, they will just say, "V8". Apparently it doesn't matter that GM made three different V8 engines for the years in question. The poor customer's time is wasted on jargon, abbreviations, the reckless use of prono