The point is that for various reasons, the US has become reliant not only on automobiles but on large gas guzzling vehicles without any realistic plans to wean ourselves off them.
At best, we have made small steps towards improved efficiency, which have almost paradoxically encouraged even larger vehicles that are more efficient than smaller vehicles of the past.
My point is that we all have our share of blame, whether or not we have a penis or envy the penis of another
Same thing seems to be happening (albeit I assume not to quite the same degree) in the UK. Cars just getting bigger and bigger. Which is baffling, because UK fuel prices really are high (those in the US really are not in comparison, not even remotely).
When I bought my truck, I wanted a much smaller one, like the Nissan I drove in the 90s or the Datsun my parents had in the 80s. Nothing that size can be bought anymore, only giant pickups.
Agreed, it’s much more quiet and comfortable for the dogs in the rear seat when the kids are safely corralled in the back.
And guys, guys, nobody here seriously thinks that you folks on the Dope made your personal vehicle choices as an attempted masculinity projection! You do not owe us any justification/explanation of your truck, or for that matter of your penis!
(To be fair, it’s true that my own automobile is an analogy for my penis, in that it’s nonexistent and I never had one.)
When having a parking lot conversation about my Bolt EV I do sometimes say, “If you use an automobile as an indicator of your dick, this is not the car for you.”
In the last few years, there have been several models of smaller trucks produced, like the Ford Maverick, that seem to be quite popular around here.
I was in the same position as you when I bought my current F150 in 2019. I just recently had it lowered to fit the garage of my new condo, and wow, does that make a difference in how practical it is as a vehicle in general, but also as a truck. It was the shortest model I could find at the time, and even then, the bed was too damn high. I’m not a short guy, but I still couldn’t reach things that were lying on the very bottom of the bed when standing next to it, I needed to be standing on a curb or something. Now I can move anything into or out of the bed with ease, and it’s easier to get in and out of the cab, as well.
I kept my small pick-up going for 27 years, but I can’t manage the required maintenance anymore.
I do have some people interested, but it’s going to be a “project truck”. Fine for someone with the knowledge, skill, tools, and space to work in. It’s a bind for folks who actually do want a small truck but can’t find new and when the the ones that do exist are the equivalent of 90 year olds in human terms.
Yeah, my Nissan (mileage unknown: the odometer stopped working) went to such a tinkerer. It’s all beyond me.
The vehicle market is more limited in Canada, but I probably could have found a smaller truck, but it was during the pandemic and I have a budget and a spouse, all of which limited my vehicle choices somewhat. (We share the car.)
Either I get a buyer for my 1999 Ford Ranger by the end of April or it’s off to the junkyard to become an organ donor for other vehicles. It will hurt to see it go, I really liked that truck, but as I said I can’t keep it running safe anymore.
Finally getting a new-to-me vehicle (delivery mid-April). Here’s hoping I can make it last as long as the pickup.
And it’s the “single reason” for high oil prices. Good to know blowing up all that oil processing and transportation infrastructure hasn’t hurt their production!
When your allies won’t help you because you had no plan, and stupidly blundered into a mess, the obvious solution is to insult them even more than you insulted them in the past.
When Trump is faced with a situation where he can’t rely on privilege, lies or bullying to get his way, he’s at a loss because at that point his toolbox is empty. This is exactly that sort of situation. This isn’t the US so he can’t rely on everyone just toadying to him, Iran both refuses to be bullied and knows better than to believe him, and he’s given the nominal allies of the US every reason to want him (and the US) to fail.
As well as personally despise him, and that matters; people aren’t robots.
Plus, by now they know better than to think they’ll get so much as a “thank you” out of helping. So they look at this mess and realize they’d have try to fix it themselves - while Trump flails around making things worse - in return for nothing but a share of the blame. Even from the coldblooded viewpoint of political and economic self interest there’s not much reason to help since odds of actually being able to fix anything as long as Trump is still busy there breaking things and making everything worse is minute.
The Kennedy Center announced Bill Maher as the winner of this year’s Mark Twain Prize - and then the Trump admin intervened to block him from receiving the award.
Stupidly blundered? I must take issue with this description. Rip van Simple stupidly and inentionally, purposely created this mess. There was no accidentally blundering into it.
