Everyone who owns a car has their own limit of how much car maintenance they're willing/able to do on their own. Some people prefer to do everything on their own, and will only go to a mechanic for problems of the "engine falling out" calibre. Others couldn't find the oil dipstick if it were bright orange with a big "check oil here" sticker; in ( Read more... )

For various reasons, I pretty much haven't been up to the mountains at all since autumn (I actually can't remember my last trip), so I've really been pining for the trees lately. Last week, which was miserably gross weather-wise, I saw that the morning clouds were extra-low, and decided to try driving up to a nearby peak to get above them, a waste ( Read more... )

I drive a retired police cruiser, which looks like this. In Virginia, we have local tax decals, which are stuck to the windshield to indicate that the city or county taxes were paid on the vehicle, and they can look like anything since they're designed individually by each municipality. For the town I live in, the sticker takes the form of the ( Read more... )

I'm not sure I've ever really posted about my feelings on this, but I find the concept of a "friends cut" on LJ to be rather offensive. It sorta depends on who's doing it, but generally, if I'm following you on LJ, I care about you beyond just your words, and I also care about you enough to give you access to my non-public entries. So, when I see ( Read more... )

I'll start with the positive thing, something I forgot to mention before: I finally got some new plants. I'd been wanting more than just my unidentified-leafy-thing (which sprouted a vine and has literally taken over its window and curtains), so I finally picked up some new residents of the house ( Read more... )

After my last sunrise hike, I decided on a whim to do it again earlier this week, with working camera batteries this time. So, I rapidly loaded up and headed out to Wolf Gap one more time in the middle of the night. For future reference, I really need to remember that it takes me like a half-hour to load up for a hiking trip :-P ( Read more... )

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I keep seeing this commercial, and it really bugs me. Scion's main selling point seems to be "if you get a Scion, you can put blingy shit on it!".

How lame does a car have to be for aftermarket customization to be its biggest marketable selling point?

Over the last couple of weeks, I've received two bits of very disappointing news from two different European car brands, and I haven't posted in awhile, so I figured I'd share ( Read more... )

While checking my usual forums this evening, I stumbled across the news that Ozy & Millie, a favourite webcomic of mine since high school, will be coming to a final end at some point this year. This comic has nearly been a daily part of my life for the last six years, and even with all that's happened in that time, it's always been there give me a ( Read more... )

Transmission fluid has relatively little taste, but its texture is absolutely revolting when it gets in your mouth.