Dozzi92

I won't pretend I haven't done dumb shit out of rage, and perhaps I'm just fortunate to not have had my kids in the car. I think I've gotten a little smarter, more relaxed, the older they get. I'm kind of at a point where the only people who can really get under my skin are my kids.

Yeah, he unfortunately went too hard on the mods and it blew up one day, I was behind him when it happened, and it never got back after that. Bigger turbo, downpipe, all that jazz. This is going back probably 15 or more years at this point, but he had a trans-am ts6 after that that was an equally fun ride, absolute factory freak, but so different.

I will say, the '24 WRX seems more well equipped for steep driveways than my '13 did, that car was low. It's a rally car and so it should look and feel like an old group B car. That sounds like a great "conversion", because the '03 body is just such a piece of history at this point, that car is why WRX is what it is, and if you can keep it running, maybe make it a little more fun, that's great.

It just loses its luster after a point. I've been to hundreds of shows, went out pretty much every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday for like 15 years. Now, someone will be like, hey, you wanna go see x band/DJ that we've seen a dozen times? I do end up working two to three nights of the week in board meetings, and so having a night that I can be at home and just relax is just more appealing. I'm also becoming more and more a morning person, so I'm game to go out all day, get home at a reasonable hour, and go to bed.

That's not to say there's not things that bring me out these days, but I think it's gotta have some draw.

All this being said, I'm good for a show a month probably, grabbing drinks a couple times, or dinner at friends' houses. Not doing nothing, but certainly don't have the compulsion to kick it like I'm 10-15 years younger than I am.

I had a buddy who had a gen 1 or 2 MR2 (been so long), and that car was a lot of fun, but holy snap oversteer, very unforgiving. But hey that made it more fun, right? I preferred the predictable oversteer of my nismo 350z. I miss that car. But neither the MR2 nor the 350 are great when I have two little people to put in the back, and all of their stuff.

I had a 2013 WRX after the Nismo, and it was definitely smaller than the 2024, but my 2024 WRX is smaller than my 2018 Legacy was, that was a boat.

And I had a '99 Legacy before, and that car was fantastic. It had ground clearance, I took it offroad to places it absolutely didnt belong. Lots of fun. And very well equipped for it's time. RIP.

So I do think even the stock F series trucks have to meet bumper height requirements. A whole separate issue are people raising their shitty truck without making adjustments to the bumpers. We see trucks and tractor trailers with Mansfield bars, yet Joe Schmo with his jacked up pavement princess does what he wants, and doesn't even have a million dollar policy to at least remunerate the family of whomever he kills.

I appreciate that insight, as I have very little of my own. My buddy is kind of a jack of all trades, framing one day, sheetrock one day, finishing the next. I think he likes the idea of unloading the bed easily, moving from one site to the next. I seem to recall his complaint about the van being associated with needing to kinda rejig it depending on the tasks he was performing, and if he had one of those days where he's visiting multiple sites, doing multiple jobs, the truck was just easier. But that's my faulty memory and zero experience.

All I have is having driven ambulances. I started back on the van conversions, older F350s. The boxes were squat only, no standing room. I left for about 10 years, roughly, and upon my return the ambulances were now F450 Super Duties. Absolutely massive, couldn't stand it. I'm a good driver, I'll toot my own horn, but I'd ride with a bunch of people who just could not navigate the big rigs into tight driveways, but there was this desire for size, and so we had what we had. I won't lie, they were comfortable, all air ride equipped. But they were big, and adults could get lost in front of them. They did have all around cameras, but it's crazy to rely on them.

Since my departure (two young kids and my own business is hard to find time to volunteer at the moment), they've gone the way of the Sprinter-type vans, which I can appreciate. I'm sure there were some sacrifices, but I also feel like 90% of the equipment we carried was hardly used. We're also in suburban New Jersey, so it's not like we're responding to places and being the only ones on scene, so someone else will show up with the gear that I'm sure they did away with.

In sum, big truck (generally) unnecessary.

Ha, he had a rape van prior to the F150. He thinks the access in the 150 is better, and who am I to judge, because I don't live it day in and day out, so I'll defer to him.

I get the argument, but it's pretty obviously disingenuous.

The 250 is much less common than the 150. There are admittedly plenty of them. The 250 is bigger in every dimension.

And even my WRX towers over a Miata.

I just think Miata to 250 is a pointless comparison. And I say that agreeing that Miatas are fun and that the 250 (and even the 150) are way, way too big. I have a buddy with a 150, and it's filled with his tools and lumber every day. I'd argue the 250 is totally unnecessary for 90% of trades, and I specify trades because your average Joe certainly doesn't need one period.

Hopefully you don't do this with your kids in the car anymore.

This is one thing that bothers me. I hear people talk about Trump's policies being isolationist, but this flies in the face of that. If youre going to do a thing, do that thing all the way, none of this picking and choosing. If you want to cut the US off from the world, just fucking commit to it. It's not my ideal course for the country, but I just want consistency.

Yeah, my daughter had expressed interest in doing competition dance. She just had a recital this past weekend, after which she was like, you know, I don't want to give up my weekends and all my time to competition stuff. I'll still dance, for fun, but I don't need the competition. I said hell yeah, because I also don't wanna do it. I'm glad she doesn't feel pressured to be ultra competitive, and can still get enjoyment from an activity.

but I don't know where all African countries are.

I know they're in Africa, at least. Boom, chalk one up for the Americans.

I also know where Mauritius is and how to say it, because I met a guy from there and he said it and I was like I've never heard of this place, and the he spelled it, and I added it to the list of words that I'd only ever read and not heard, and this pronounced incorrectly, like epitome and ethereal.