Bah! The cretins at the Honda dealership have pushed off the date of my car’s delivery till Friday. FRIDAY!! UNACCEPTABLE! A plague upon their houses!
As a result, I’m bound to driving my father’s Explorer for a couple more days. Driving an SUV isn’t all that bad. I’ve likened it to driving an apartment to work and back, and I stand by that. It’s been pretty comfortable except for the one or two times I’ve had to come to a short stop. In those cases, the thing gets all squirrely and feels like it’s going to fall to pieces and/or roll end over end or something. not at all stable.
One thing about it that strikes me as quintessential American engineering is the cup holders. there is one normal sized one, and then one other one. It has a rubber insert in it with a hole that’s the same size as the other “normal” sized one. you remove the insert if you’ve gone to any number of fast food places that serves cylindrical drinking troughs (aka “super size” soft drinks”). Additionally, with the insert removed there is a small cut that goes beyond the radius of the cup holder to accomodate a handle… like, from a regular uncovered coffee mug. This being for those who absolutely can’t be bothered to go so far as to use a travel mug. In no country is the engineering involved with laziness as highly developed as in America. Cup holder technology is absolutely paramount here… We can design a cup holder to accomodate a beverage of any size and shape, yet we still use pushrod engines. mmmmm… coffee……
I rode in an explorer a few weeks ago for the first time in years. I was shocked at how small it is…
The coffee cup thing is one of my favorite things about capitalism. People are constantly inventing *very* small changes that substantially add to everday life. These things, not the biggies like non-invasive surgery and a pharmaceuticals, are what i think of when people talk about the good ol’ days.
Of course, I *do* long for the days when smoking and three piece suits were universally cool…
did they have in writing that you’re car would be in the other day? If so, I would make a stink about it.
Also, see what kind of face they make when they ask (at least when I buy a new car they’ve always asked, and I’m pretty sure they have to)about putting a dealer sticker on the car and you give them a per year sponsership price. They always look completely befuckled.
speed safely
most cars in germany don’t have cup holders at all. it is assumed that if you are in your car, you are there to drive, not chat on a cell phone, eat your bratwurst, invade poland, whatever it is people do for fun in germany.