The folks on the road at work liked to have new maps, and I liked to save money on the budget. So instead of buying the brand new just printed Minnesota maps, I got a carton of the previous year for half price. Someone complained and I said “what, did they move the road?” I was just looking at the atlas I inherited from my dad for an upcoming trip and noted it was from 1990. I might try and find a new one or not. With Wayz and navigation who needs it?
I think since I was about 10 I used to always be the navigator for my dad. I’d read the map. I think they were 10 cents at the gas station.
Does your wife have trouble finding things around the house, and do you help her find them? That would be a total roll reversal in a stereotypical relationship. My wife can’t find places on the road and must depend on the map app on her phone, while I usually don’t need to app until I get close to an unfamiliar destination. I often can’t find something at home and she grabs it immediately. That’s been going on so long that I’ve read it’s rooted in tribal behavior. Men hunted and women took care of the camp. We’ve just updated the hardware, but still behave the same way.
I know! Every time I try to go to Country Barrell in my 2003 Eldorado it keeps beeping at me about the seat belts. I keep telling my wife “I’m already wearing a belt, what is the problem” and then she drove us straight in to the lake. The city says I have to take a bus now but then why did they dredge the lake to pull out my Cadillac if I’m not allowed to drive it down main street to get my denature cream and go to cracker barrel.
The kids never visit anymore. The only visitors I get are from the local girl scout troop and they only just want money from me.
Whatever happened to Johnny Carson? Oh, how I loved his antics especially with the animals. They have that man now with the chin. I think. Ugh I think I’m having a Maalox moment.
Back to the topic at hand. If I would have happily driven a particular car 10 years ago, or 20 years ago, and I can get my hands on one now in excellent condition, why wouldn’t I feel comfortable driving it today? Safety features have improved, and technology has advanced, but that 25 year old car is just as safe today as it was 25 years ago, assuming it’s in good condition, and has received proper maintenance.
Hire an elderly technical writer to write the user manual, instead of a young computer science graduate. I bought a 2020 Pacifica and have only got to page 500 of the manual. I will have to reread as I can’t remember how to engage the seat and steering wheel heaters or to tell if that feature is installed.
When I had my 68 Dart, I ordered the factory service manual for I think $10. I later gave it away to the guy I car pooled with who had a Plymouth, but it was the easiest and clearest manual to understand that I have seen. Pictures, good charts, good explanations, etc. Maybe all the Chrysler mechanics were of limited intelect, but it was easy to understand. My 81 Olds manual was not too bad, but my 86 Buick manual was horrendous. Two 6" volumes of thin paper and with page numbers like a military manual so that they could be updated continuously.
My father was born in czarist Russia. Lived through WWI, the Russian revolution, Stalin’s purges of intellectuals, Hitler’s invasion, was taken as forced labor to Germany before making it to Allied lines ahead of the advancing Eastern front. Otherwise, the Russians would have sent him back into continued captivity under Stalin and Beria.
He liked tinkering with mechanical things and became especially good at reassembling things I took apart but couldn’t put back together again. Liked cars but grew up loving horses and was a good driver. For me, horses belong under a hood.
He never had a checkbook. State Farm agent had to convince him that it was ok to take a car loan, although he already had a mortgage. He drove to Bell Telephone, Electric and Gas Co and bank offices each month to pay the bills. Needless to say he had no credit cards. After getting a 20 yr mortgage for a new house as a 58 yrs old still drove the 10 miles to the old town to pay the same old bills. Having a different mortgage meant a different bank which must have caused some consternation if not tribulation. I sometimes wonder what they would have made of today’s technology. I have some idea. When I returned from ‘Nam’ I took it upon myself to replace the rotary on the wall in the kitchen with a push button, added a long cord so you could sit and talk AAAANNNDDD had a Princess installed in their bedroom so my mother could gossip in comfort. I don’t think they ever forgave me.
I’m 72 yrs young, love flying sailing driving and repairing old machinery. I trained on old main frames as a computer operator, command lingo, finding a programmer typo that could empty a half a box of printer paper before you could purge it, punch cards, tape and hard drives as big as a dishwasher for 60 megabytes RAM IIRC. Eventually it became apparent to me that my computer room was going to fit on a kitchen table and very soon.
A&P school in the mid 70’s taught from inception through 60’s technology so I know magnetos, pressure carburetors and mechanical fuel controls for turbines. Today’s planes come with flat panel displays and it’s all about interfacing. The potentially deleterious effects 5g networks might have on radar altimeters, which are essential to landing in low low IFR conditions.
I am the geezer in the apartment building we live in but we bought a new 2018 hybrid Niro and just bought a 21 Niro EV. Three years and the leap in tech between the two is almost worrisome. My 70 Opel GT had a pamphlet for an owners manual and could be read in one sitting on the crapper. The all encompassing service manual was about $10. The current cars have thick manuals, one for the car, one for the infotainment system and a couple more for good measure if you find yourself with time to spare or are severely constipated.
I love driving. I find the ‘driver assists’ in new cars are more a nuisance and have turned them off for the most part. I find it disconcerting that my fellow drivers can’t be bothered to save their own lives but they need to be distracted by texting, spreading newspapers or paperbacks on the steering wheel or digging in a briefcase while pressing a flip phone against their ear with their shoulder, good grief. Racing drivers have survived amazing crashes by simply being belted in and the relatively new HANS device. Some focus on crush zones and penetration but it still is mostly the restraining sys and brain buckets.
I agree completely. I see this fairly often with families who are regular customers. Kids get to be driving age, dad is driving a 15 year old sedan that would be a great teen’s first car. But instead the kid gets a newer car, because the old sedan doesn’t have side curtain air bags and lane departure warning. I don’t get that.
On the other hand we can take driving old cars to an extreme and say that many old cars would be unsafe today. For instance a 65 VW Microbus in stock configuration would be a safety hazard just to drive. There’s no way that car could accelerate up to 70 to merge safely onto the freeway, you’d be rear-ended if you tried.
Brakes as well. I’ve had several early to mid-60’s full size sedans. If you’ve never had the “pleasure” of trying to panic stop one of those cars I recommend the thrill. There’s nothing like standing on the brake pedal with both feet so hard you’re lifting yourself out of the seat and wondering why the car isn’t slowing down at all.
Because it is as our insurance agent said - It is not if the new driver has an accident but when the new driver has one the parents really want the kid to have a better chance of survival .
And it’s not just driving. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been driving in a parking lot or a commercial district street and someone just walks out in front of the car without looking. I mean, I’m going to stop because I’m supposed to, but how do they know that?
It’s like a lot of humans have lost any instinctive drive for basic survival.
We have tech writers. Computer Science graduates do NOT write technical manuals. Tech writers are usually people with degrees in English or journalism.
Yup!
A couple of days ago, two pedestrians suddenly stepped into a crosswalk, uncomfortably close to my path. Naturally, I jammed-on the brakes. Both of these boobs were totally focused on their phones, and I don’t think that they were at all aware of my vehicle.
