It’s nice to know that AI can still give us that good old human touch in the form of blatant racism.

Somebody go ahead and shoot me, please. I want off this mother loving ride.

Journey apparently only has one original member left. I mention them because I remember them having a lot of turnover.

Splurging on a $4.99 chicken? My God, these people live on another planet.

This is stupid enough, but for a moment there I thought he was going to question the germ theory of disease, which would be even worse.

“…might be taxed more.”

Or taxed at all. If I dodged taxes the way these billionaire buttholes do, they would have already buried me UNDER the jail.

Yeah, this is the second post I’ve seen today regarding radishes.

Big Radish is on the move.

• Head of QC for O-Ring production, NASA, Jan 1983 - Oct 1986

I think you mean you worked for Morton Thiokol if you were in QC. I know, because I was in rocket component procurement at NASA around the same time, and I remember the contract very well for… reasons…

Did you ever see Doogie Howser, M.D.? I’m like that, except for middle management, and a lot younger. Got my MBA when I was still living in my parents.

His time with the Panthers was just another Jets situation. Remember, they had no idea how to win with Mayfield, then he immediately goes to the Rams and turns heads in a single game at the end of the season.

I picture a lady named Marge wearing Mom jeans and a sweater vest with an accent like the characters in Fargo.

Like the Lannisters, but even dumber than Cersei in the books.

I’ve never had the nerve to watch it, either. Something about the summaries I’ve read just make me dread it.

Second that. The Day After is pretty dark, dark enough that it supposedly inspired Reagan to pursue nuclear arms control far more than he had previously. That being said, where The Day After is dark, Threads is just relentlessly brutal. And it never feels like they’re just trying to shock you–it just lays all the awful consequences of nuclear war out there for the viewer.

I’ll check it soon and take a picture to share. I have zero pride left in this area, so I’m willing to do it to double check that I’m doing it right!

I’ll send off for that testing kit, too. That seems like exactly what will help me get a better picture of what is really happening.

If you look at the days of supply on hand, Lexus, Toyota, and Honda have the lowest. No surprise there. The models they have in the 25 list are not the ones people would want the most, either.

If I was an automaker, I do believe I would try to figure out what Toyota and Honda were doing right with the majority of their lineups.

There’s at least two shops I trust pretty well. I don’t have the sort of relationship with them where I actually interact with the mechanic–everyone has a front office these days. I do think I can trust what they do and the info they do share, though. I’m pretty confident I can get a prepurchase inspection when I need.

I think you’re right. What’s not super comforting is that Kia expects the damned things to burn oil, apparently. They’ll do a replacement if you burn an amount they consider beyond spec. The fact that there’s a consideration for how much oil it’s okay to burn tells me I’m likely never to be a customer again. I’ll be damned before I get anything that doesn’t have multi-port injection or dual injection going forward. From what I’ve learned, GDI can be okay, but city stop and go driving allows more chance for deposits. Someone here (a former Hyundai/Kia mechanic) advised me to take it on the road and put my foot down on it occasionally. I don’t know how much it helps, but I do have some visible exhaust when I do, so I feel like there’s some benefit, given that I’m usually way below highway speeds in my daily use.

I did read up on the Fusions and saw the issues. As long as you stick to the hybrids beyond the 2010-12 range and avoid the Ecoboost engines on the non-hybrids, they can go over 250,000 miles, apparently. Some people swear by them. Of course, Ford no longer makes them 🤡

As I’ve said elsewhere, I really wish I could get another Honda or Toyota. I’ve got a CR-V hybrid for my wife, and I love that thing.

When I do eventually get another one, I do plan to research everything and get a prepurchase inspection, for sure.

I’ve done the intake cleaning with the spray into the intake that goes into the throttle body. After I waited an hour, I took it on the road and put my foot down going onto the interstate. Put out a Billie of white smoke like you wouldn’t believe. Changed the oil after as directed.

Is there something else that needs to be done with that?

I’ll look into that Valvoline oil, for sure.

The fusions under consideration are 10 years and 8 years old respectively, so I’m thinking all original warranties are invalid. Given that they are dealerships, I would imagine there would be a three to five thousand or 60 to 90 day warranty for these used vehicles.

Like I’ve said elsewhere in the comments, I’ll be monitoring levels and adding as needed going forward. If I never get my knocking again, I think it’s a pretty good indication that my working theory about this whole thing is right. However, I am interested in the oil testing you mentioned. How would I go about doing that? Do the testing facilities provide some sort of kit for collecting the oil? I know I can Google this stuff, but I’d be interested to see what your recommendations are.

As for the methodology of checking the oil, I’ve always pulled the stick, cleaned it off, stuck it back in, and then read it when I pulled it again. It’s been suggested that since I haven’t necessarily checked it when the engine was cold that I might be getting a bad reading. I have not tended to read it cold because my driveway has a pretty steep grade, so I always need to move the car to make sure I get an accurate reading. It’s also possible that I’m not reading it right, but when I read it as full, it looks the same way as it does when I’m presented with the dipstick after my oil changes, with the oil covering the section between empty and full on the stick.

God, I feel like such a flipping idiot. Who doesn’t know how to read their oil dipstick?

I’ve heard some people talk about Seafoam like it was the best thing ever, but I’ve also heard some people suggest it was worthless or even harmful. I’m willing to try it, but is there any chance that it might cause me some trouble?