I talked to my regular car repair place, and they do steering column replacements, et cetera, all the time, which means that I may well be able to go through them when the time comes. This comforts me quite a bit, since I trust them -- funny how you cling to something like that, you know?

I've been tending to think of my car as unlikely to be stolen -- how many young car thieves know how to drive standard these days? Evidently the joy-riders in my neighborhood do.

makes mental note to purchase The Club before reacquiring repaired car....

They need to make a club that actually clubs the thieves.

I didn't know that about Hondas (that the parts are worth lots of $$) but I remember that on Berkeley Street in Somerville, the only person I saw who had a Club on their wheel, and used it all the time, was our downstairs neighbor, who also had an old Honda. He may have had a similar lesson... the neighborhoods are very close, if not technically the same...

Wolfram, that's exactly the twist I'm hoping for; unfortunately, RM seems to delight in "worst case scenario", as last night proved aplenty. The preview for next week's finale looks pretty hairy too.

I wonder if I should start worrying about my rusty old Mustang II. I do get the occasional "Wow, you drive a Mustang" remark, which always makes me go, "I drive a Mustang *II*." Generally considered a very poor relation by the Mustang afficianados. I never lock the thing, because I don't have anything in the car worth stealing and I don't want to have to replace a window after potential thieves find that out for themselves.

The Club is a good choice, Theo -- you just want to discourage the thieves, not make it impossible to steal the car. They're creatures of convenience, and any element of inconvenience is to your benefit.

Oh, and my sympathies! I've been very lucky with my cars. The one time someone tried to steal my car all they did was fuck up the ignition, so I had to get it repaired but at least I still had it.

Apparently the California Assembly approved gay marriage. [link]

t boggled

I'm very happy about it, but I'm surprised they were able to come up with the votes. Now it goes to Ahnuld for approval. I wonder if he'll sign it, cause I'm damn sure they don't have the votes to override a veto.

Ah, right:

Schwarzenegger has not taken an official position on the legislation but has hinted that he would veto it.

Damn.

I didn't know that about Hondas (that the parts are worth lots of $$) but I remember that on Berkeley Street in Somerville, the only person I saw who had a Club on their wheel, and used it all the time, was our downstairs neighbor, who also had an old Honda. He may have had a similar lesson... the neighborhoods are very close, if not technically the same...

Yeah - high end cars are a speciality branch, and there's not much sense in chopping up a boutique item, but Civics are so damn utilitarian and durable they are the bread and butter for chop shops. Also, I think the parts can be used on other types of Hondas (and probably other types of cars period). For instance, I'm pretty sure the Del Sol is just Civic in a sportier, two-seater frame.

But you know, now is not the time for the blame game.

Perhaps now is not the time for political groups to use memos dating from 1996 to indict companies for (gasp!) authoring memos that speculate about dealing with supply levels that hurt profit margins.

How dare they try to be profitable! Why that, that's un-American!

For instance, I'm pretty sure the Del Sol is just Civic in a sportier, two-seater frame.

Yep. Also, the highly stolen Acura Integra/RSX is Civic based. You can also stick Acrua engines in Civics. Plus there's a HUGE market in all sorts of aftermarket Civic parts.

I wonder if I should start worrying about my rusty old Mustang II. I do get the occasional "Wow, you drive a Mustang" remark, which always makes me go, "I drive a Mustang *II*." Generally considered a very poor relation by the Mustang afficianados. I never lock the thing, because I don't have anything in the car worth stealing and I don't want to have to replace a window after potential thieves find that out for themselves.

I'm not positive, but I'd say you don't need to worry much. You're right about the Mustang II (essentially a sporty Pinto) not being very popular amongst the Mustang afficianados (although some do like them). The generation that came after (which was based on the Fox platform, shared by the Fairmont, Thunderbird, etc) is far more popular.