When I lived in Colorado, I had a '77 Subaru wagon and then later an '84 Toyota Tercel wagon. Both were manual, with selectable 2wd/4wd. I got decent gas mileage most of the year, and could trade that for decent performance in the winter. Manual transmission gave me more torque control options for both starting (you can't start out in 2nd with an automatic) and stopping (more effective engine braking).
My '94 Saturn was light and nimble and a lot of fun to take out on the twisty hilly backroads of western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. The manual transmission played a big part in that fun.
Currently I have an '05 Kia. It is fairly big and heavy, with an automatic transmission. It is more powerful than the Saturn was, certainly quicker off the mark and faster overall, but I can't call it nimble. It is a much better car for in-city traffic and interstate cruising than the Saturn was, and I enjoy taking it out over those same twisty country roads, but it is not as much fun as that old Saturn.
I am in South Africa (!!!) waiting for my next flight. Am so tired I might fall over.
Oh, but Dana, I did want to say, I was involved with a youth organization that had a lot of assemblies, and we were strictly forbidden from ever abbreviating it in any way...
Whoa! Jesse, say hello to the lions. (Of course they have lions in the airport, right?)
Seriously, I would have said the Johannesburg airport looked like a parody if it weren't real. Half the stores are called things like Out of Africa, there are "African proverbs" on the walls, the song I heard playing was about Nelson Mandela, there are statues of giraffes and I'm sure also elephants, etc.
Shit, I really just want to lie in bed now, but what I should do is shower and go to the office.
What time is it there? You must be at least 6 hours ahead of here, right? If you lie in bed just a little longer, it will be quitting time, right?
Yep -- 6 hours ahead, so it's just lunch time! I said I'd go by the office at 3. If nothing else, it might help me coordinate some dinner!
Great start to the day. Got up on time and out the door only to get on the bus to find my transit card has been deactivated & is on the "hot list" which means it's been reported as stolen. Which I never did when I actually lost my wallet in February.
I had to scrounge in my wallet for enough change, because the card worked just fine last night. Now I'm all anxious and angry.
Ugh, shrift -- that cannot be right.
