@davesaddiction They'll have to rebrand as "Hz"

After nearly a full year of looking I finally admitted to myself I would not be getting another Echo hatchback. They're all gone, except for the ones that aren't, and the owners of those ones aren't selling.

I had a hard time deciding on a replacement, but then this Mazda came up recently and it checked all the boxes: Fun, reliable and economical. It's even a colour (but it still is not a blue Echo) It was only an hour's drive away, which was a bonus.

One owner, Krowned every year, 157K kms, no rust, Loaded base model. This thing is like a Rolls compared to the Echo!
The guy took super care of it. Even sold it to me with a full tank of gas.

It came with brand new steel wheels for snows, but as it turns out the snow tires from my Echo are an exact fit so I'll just run those until they are done and then put the next set on the new wheels. I might treat myself to some new wheels too. 4x100 should have tons of good options. The BBS my dad has on his Miata would be sharp.

Weathertech's were a nice addition by the previous owner.

See you in the spring, little Mazda!

Kitten says thanks for your time.

The Mazda 2 was an interim car. It was supposed to be my commuter, but I couldn't dig it. So I got this instead:

2013 Abarth 500 with 142k kms.

I'm happy to report the first tank yielded 6.66L/100kms, which achieves my goal of a fun car that I can commute in and not pay a fortune for fuel. Considering the Mazda got 6.5 I'd say that's a pretty weak showing on their part. I'll happily pay the extra for super to drive this instead.

Probably not the most responsible choice, but it makes me smile.

It's obnoxiously loud if you want it to be. It rides kind of firm, but not bad considering and it's pretty comfy. Here I am leaving a buddy's house last night. I didn't know he was filming, but I think it sums it up:

This is what I found on my workbench when I got home from work. From my oldest:

And in the kitchen when I got inside. From the other one:

Good to see the kids today can still appreciate a good ol' fashioned rickroll, and they were creative about it too!

So that's it then.

Edit: Best of luck @David-Tracy and Torch.

@i86hotdogs said in I Love Turo:

As a Ford engineer, and a big time fan of the Maverick, I am excited to see how the competition stacks up.

Owner requests that you do not disassemble their engine.

Got my new old truck last week!

This one had caught my eye before I'd even decided to take my 4Runner off the road. In the end, I went with my gut feeling on it and so far I'm very happy with my decision.

It's got 555k on it, so it's no spring chicken, but it has also been rust checked every year since new so the body still exists.

When I was researching it I discovered this truck has only had one owner. What I didn't discover until after I bought it was that the former owner spent 5 grand on a brand new engine in 2019 and it only has 27000kms on it! He also managed to change the oil 7 times since the new engine went in. That's the kind of surprise I can live with.

And full service records from day one. I keep good records on my cars and the records that came with this make my efforts look amateur. This truck was someone's pride and joy. I have to think they must have died because I don't know why they would trade it in after all the work they'd done on it right up until January of this year.

So far I've got new tires (on the winter wheels apparently. Guess I should have actually looked into the bags with what I thought were the winter tires. Whoops!) One day maybe I'll move the tires over to the nicer wheels.

I also ditched the class 1 trailer hitch and installed a class 4. And I spent the day today troubleshooting the 4wd. Pretty sure it only needs the pushbutton switch but either way now I have a good idea how it all works.

Now I can make use of my Father's day present!

Last shot of the fleet. It's outdated already though because I sold the Mercedes today.

Probably happening. Picked it up at lunch for an extended overnight test drive. I expect deals will be made tomorrow!

Edit: @MUSASHI66 is a good bad influence.

Update: I have just completed my 49th lap of the sun and am embarking on my 50th. Today is my birthday!

In other news, this is the first birthday I'll be celebrating as a single guy for 30 years near as I can figure. Big changes coming. Hopefully it's for the best!

Post things as appropriate.

We lost Tony, our cat, yesterday.

One day 3 years ago my spouse went to a roadside antique shop and Tony found and claimed her. The proprietor said that he'd been abandoned there a couple of days prior and living along a busy highway he'd surely be done in by a car or coyote in short order.

She convinced me to 'pick him up' which turned out to be me trying to catch a feral kitten and wrangle him into my car. "you gotta be fast!" was the refrain from the antique shop owner that still is an inside joke to this day. He disappeared into the rear hatch for the drive home. When I got home I gathered the family around and opened the hatch to reveal... nothing! Turns out he had driven home hiding under the driver's seat! The kids, particularly my youngest, were thrilled.

He lived outside at our house, quickly warming up to us and would spend a lot of time with me in the garage and out in the yard with the rest of the family. Sometimes he'd even be allowed into the house for a short time. I added a cat door to the garage so he could stay warm in the winter, but come and go as he pleased, which he did. He was always an adventurer and would sometimes disappear for days on end, but he'd always return 'home' to the drumstick or pork chop and neck scratches that would be waiting for him when he did. Sometimes he came home pretty beat up but I had confidence he could hold his own.

Contrary to popular belief, "Tony" was not a reference to "Tony the Tiger" but an esoteric reference to an old Kids In The Hall skit "Hotel la rut"

"I keep thinking about Tony. Where he is. Who he is with. What is he thinking? Is he thinking of me? And whether he'll ever return someday"

Yesterday morning I called out to him to see if he was around before I went to work. I hadn't seen him for a few days, but that was nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe he'll be here when I get home.

Unfortunately, I found him 4kms from my house. He'd been hit by a car along with another cat. I assume he was living his best cat life when he went. So in the end, he did return home even if I was the one who brought him there. I'm happy that I had the fortune to find him and bring him home for a second time. Otherwise I might still be wondering Where he was, and whether he'd ever return someday.

RIP Tony. You were a great cat, and I'm happy we could be part of your world.

@facw Kmart sucks.

@jminer said in OPPO Maintenance tonight at 2000 PST [Maintenance is complete]:

@AestheticsInMotion said in OPPO Maintenance tonight at 2000 PST:

@jminer ooooh what's the poll update? Can we embed them mid post instead of only at the top?

Don't get too ahead of yourself there - you'll be able to put a hyphen in a poll option now.

#hyphenated.

@davesaddiction That car has seen some things.

@fhrblig braid>beard oil.

Scents right on my face would drive me insane.

@beefchips Bearings are only a few bucks if you take it apart and replace them yourself. Worst that can happen is you have to buy a new (or reman) alternator.

Edit: How to assemble an alternator, a photo essay.

@kiltedpadre said in Yellow Rose (NSFW):

she left nothing to the imagination.

You can't post (female) nipples on facebook, but you can post your most intimate thoughts.

@beefchips For what? Maybe you can fix the one you have.

@MasterMario 70m isn't bad! The local hill here is only 50. I haven't snowboarded in near 20 years, but it is fun to mountain bike there in the summer and 50m is enough of a climb for me in one go!

Looks like the conditions were great when you took that photo.

@dogisbadob I'd still take the mustang.

@Highlander Hooray for local knowledge. I'll pay double price for that when I need it.