I can't escape my dissertation, even when I drive to Cincinnati to buy a new car!


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I'm getting too old to handle exhaustion well. I have about a week to send off an all-but-final draft of my dissertation to my committee. So I haven't been sleeping much, or eating much (except dinner, by which time I'm starving), or doing much of anything except thinking about the diss.

That's not exactly true. I've also been trying vainly to keep ( Read more... )

I owned an American car for 52 hours.

Wait, let me back up.

I drive a 1996 Nissan Pathfinder. It's a hulking, gas-hungry, beast of an automobile. We pour between $1,000 and $2,000 in maintenance into the maw of that beast every year. Everything about it is expensive. The tires cost twice as much as those for compact cars, it gets half the gas mileage ( Read more... )

Dammit, Saab just won't die!

The tide in my epic battle against Saab has turned in my favor again!  MSNBC's headline: "Quirky Saab Looks Headed for Brand Junkyard."  The enemy is falling back, and I'm about to light up a cigar...

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Now playing: Dead Kennedys - Kill the Poor
via FoxyTunes   

So much accomplished in a surprisingly little amount of time.  Friday night we hit up the Columbus Zoo with akennett and ericah to see the Christmas lights.  The animal habitats were really pretty with all the little lights.  We didn't see many actual animals, of course, since it was dark, but that's ok.  We got to see the bats awake for the first time, and saw ( Read more... )

My hatred for Saab is as fierce as it is irrational.  They are incredibly ugly, and I assume all Saab owners are pretentious.  I have no basis for this opinion; but I am going to stand by it.

Which is why I claimed victory the other day when news came out that the Saab brand is going the way of Saturn and other GM brands.  Then, today, I stumble ( Read more... )

rdchino picked cars I've owned: 1982 Honda Accord, 1989 Toyota Camry, 2003 Honda Civic LX, and 1996 Nissan Pathfinder.

‎#1 died a violent death at a railroad crossing outside Yuba City, CA; #2 was in Mexicali as of 2001; #3 was my fun car (stick shift, sunroof, etc) with a horrible interest rate (my negotiating skills were nonexistent); #4 still drives me ( Read more... )

Continuing my random tour of Ohio, I found my way to Newark yesterday!  For those of you outside Ohio, Newark is pronounced just like the city in New Jersey.  I will be teaching a class on OSU's Newark campus (aka Central Ohio Technical College) next quarter, and I met some folks who located my mailbox and random other stuff I might need.  The ( Read more... )

stinky_monky gave me an early birthday present a couple weeks ago: an iPod-ready car stereo and four speakers.  Unfortunately, one must take the entire door panel off in order to get to the old speaker to change it out.  I went out a few days afterwards and tried to pop off a door panel but only succeeded in breaking one of the clips that holds it ( Read more... )