Cars and stuff.

I was driving home from dropping Cliff off at his house. The onramp to Route 80 from 206 recommends a speed of 25 mph. I usually try to hit around 50 at the beginning of it – I’ll usually drop to 45 at the end of the hill. Today I was stuck behind somebody that decided to drive that 25 mph. Naturally I thought, “What the fuck.” And then it hit me.

“Dude, I’m from Jersey.” Either drive or get out of the way. Getting my speed up before I even hit the ramp is something that’s been conditioned of me from living in Jersey. It’s flat-out unsafe to merge onto Route 80 going forty. Something I’ve noticed is that out-of-state onramps are like a mile long. You can actually accelerate once that open lane is next to you. Jersey? LANE DISAPPEARS. YOU’RE ON THE HIGHWAY. MERGE. ACCELERATE NOW.

At least, that’s the feeling I’ve gotten.

I consider maintaining my speed a matter of courtesy. I drive a van. As such, I can’t accelerate all that well. So I rely on my ability to maintain speed. I’m sure if I tried to start that ramp at 25 mph and accelerate slowly up it, the person behind me would say “What the fuck”.

Anyway.

I’ve been thinking about the untimely demise of the Van. It’s bound to happen someday. I want her to make it to twenty years. But. Well. Well, I’m thinking about what should succeed her. Blasphemy? Perhaps, I just find it strange to be thinking about… cars. That’s so unlike me.

I want a stick shift. I want it to be red. Two doors, maybe. They still make cars with two doors, right? NO DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS. I will stab a car dealer if I get sold something with daytime running lights. I don’t want power everything. I want windows I can roll up even if I forget my keys in somebody’s pocket and I’m too drunk to remember where they are. I don’t want a spoiler. Shit, just give me an engine with a seat attached. No, not a motorcycle, but it has crossed my mind. I don’t want a moonroof. And since I’m not getting anything extra, it better not cost much. Well, I would like some floormats. Cheap bastards.

And then it hits me: I want my dad’s old 1983 Dodge Colt. That was red with a black leather interior. Two door, stick shift. No AC, but AC wasn’t common then, either. Towards the end of its life, it couldn’t get out of its own way. Pity.

I jest about the Colt. It’s just such a pity that new cars look so goddamn ugly. Who designs these spaceships? And these boxes? Smack! Are they proud of these pieces of shit?

Cars are just such a big investment. When the time comes, I’d like to blow my money on something I like.

Phedre

July 5, 2005

Cloud used to have a Colt. It wasn’t that old but still… Anyway, he killed it by ramming it into a mailbox. ::shrugs::

i hope your van isn’t an economy ford. if that’s the case, it’s not going to last to 20, that’s for damn sure. i have plenty experience with those, unfortunately.

Huh, so that’s why people from Jersey drive like morons.

absalom

Cars drive me crazy too, because they’re just so freakin’ expensive and it feels like the money is going nowhere. I would drive the biggest beater ever just so I could run it into the ground. I drive my mom’s car now, and it’s annoying that I can’t let people smoke in it, or spill drinks when they’re intoxicated. I want a car I can drop a full McDonald’s meal in when I’m drunk and not care. yea.

originalsinner

In California, which is the second largest state in the Union, and has more than one county larger than all of New Jersey, the access ramps are tiny, and when the sign says 25, they really mean 20. Somehow, they still expect you to merge into traffic going 70 (speed limit in most of Ca)when you’re still in second gear. In Pa and in Md, most of the ramps were of decent size, and properly curved.

Go figure out why Ca seems to think it needs reverse-graded curves on highway (thye call ’em freeways here)access ramps. It reminds me of an intentional exercise in Darwinian selection each time I merge onto the freeways.

re: daytime running laghts, power windows, etc.: Once you get them, you wonder how you ever survived without them. Same thing with cruise control, although it’s much more useful here in the west than in the east. Last year, when I went back east, I rented a Cadillac Escalade that had heated seats. I was seduced. Not even ten years ago, I would have sneered at such an extravagance.

ja9ae

July 6, 2005

You want a GTM Libra (http://www.gtmcars.co.uk), but by the time you’ve got one to the US, it’ll be fabulously expensive 🙂

ShatteredSoul

yeah that’s something i’ve been thinking about with cars. there’s a mercedes dealership like a half mile from my house, and these new styles are just… not nearly as nifty looking as the older models. though, mercedes all look like boxes if you ask me. (why then do i want one? the world may never know). i wish i could drive manual. khail said he’d teach me… but it hasnt happened yet.

Dibrom

Yeah, us Jersians drive like freaks.

Blogging, the frequent, chronological publication on the Web of personal thoughts & opinions for other Internet users to read. The name, coined in late 1990s, derives from Web logging. The product of blogging is known as a blog. There are millions of blogs on the Net. In addition to thoughts & opinions, many bloggers use their blogs to recommend books, music, & links to other sites on the WWW.

Jaded Daisy

July 7, 2005

You’re from Jersey? I’m from Jersey. I’m the most dangerous driver in the world when I’m out of state. It’s not my fault the rest of the world doesn’t know how to drive on the highway.

burn it blue.

I feel the same way.I’d like to build my own car, but at this point, still carless after all these years… I’ll take whatever I can.I want a four-door something, with ac, and a radio.I don’t care about power anything. If it has it or it doesn’t… Whatever.I need it to be reliable, and I can put a decent stero in it later.Yup.

Now I want to go to Jersey.I drive pretty fast. Maybe I’ll finally fit in.F-cking Los Angeles.

roller82

July 10, 2005

i dont know if you get them in america, but have you ever seen a mazda6? beautiful creature. when i can afford it, it shall be mine.