car SUCKS! i HATE car - The April 2018 Chat Thread

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > car SUCKS! i HATE car - The April 2018 Chat Thread

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INCHI DICKARI: Aug 23, 2006; by FactsAreUseless

dee eight posted:

and in one case, all three.

Gross

# ? Apr 6, 2018 08:36

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# ? May 20, 2024 18:52

spog: Aug 7, 2004; It's your own bloody fault.

The Door Frame posted:

I almost want to go back onto the feedback loop meds that put me into a state of hypomania for years. I worked 12 hour days in 3 different jobs and lifted hardcore everyday, I was in school and I had 2 real jobs. Sure, I don't have to worry about going into full blown mania or a deep depression anymore, but this even mood isn't going nearly as well as I thought it would

Two-stroke engines are much more fun than four-stroke, but in the long term, you're better off with the calmer one.

The Door Frame posted:

And my current meds make me extremely photosensitive. Going from inside into direct sunlight causes me to recoil from pain in my eyeballs

Yeah, but you can be very cool with shades:

# ? Apr 6, 2018 08:37

INCHI DICKARI: Aug 23, 2006; by FactsAreUseless

Just use transitions, gently caress

# ? Apr 6, 2018 08:45

InitialDave: Jun 14, 2007; I Want To Believe.

Larrymer posted:

You're not getting my humor, then. I'm an engineer, same as you (IIRC) and live pretty reasonably. I'm a bit more responsible these days and try to avoid car loans and debt if possible, that's all.

FWIW I've never even been to that site.

Poe's Law basically. I'm too used to seeing this nonsense on Pistonheads, where people genuinely do believe the simplistic "anything on finance means you can't afford it".

# ? Apr 6, 2018 08:48

cakesmith handyman: Jul 22, 2007; Pip-Pip old chap! Last one in is a rotten egg what what.

I'm coming round to the idea I need to replace my Panda, despite it being one of the best/most trouble free cars I've ever owned.

Wife is happy with the petrol S40, it's big enough, small enough, efficient enough and she won't kill it with short journeys, but we need something bigger that can tow a little. I don't want to drive a people carrier to work everyday simply because of the economy, though I like the space when I need an ersatz van.

If I had the money I'd get a Prius+ but it looks like I'll be looking for a diesel V70 shortly, I just hope the gubmint don't make them totally unaffordable environmental pariars in the next few years.

# ? Apr 6, 2018 09:15

randomidiot: May 12, 2006; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 11 years!)

The Royal Nonesuch posted:

I don't know much about 4x4 in modern transmissions, but you should be able to turn on 4x4high while moving at low speed, and 4x4low in neutral. Might have to drive it back/forth on loose terrain to get it to kick in. "Hill Descent" is likely a trick pulsing ABS feature.

Source: sitting in my old Jeep, watching my friend go back and forth buttonmashing his 2015 Tacoma TRD 4x4 into sensor compliance over a mild shelf obstacle.

No owner's manual in it (but there's a pre delivery manual in the glovebox intended for the lot porters :lol:

). I assumed 4 Hi should kick in so long as I'm at a stop or in park/neutral, but I don't feel anything if it is (there's a pretty solid THUNK when I put it in drive or reverse in any mode), and the center diff indicator on the LCD keeps blinking (front wheel indicators go steady). If I do 4 Lo, then the 4 Lo, center diff, and traction control indicators start flashing. I don't see manual hubs on it, so...

Gonna say someone broke something with only 2300 on it. Don't care that much, it's a rental and I just wanted to see what it would do in 4 Lo with traction control off in a dirt lot.

If I turn off traction control and turn on the lockers, and leave it in 2WD, it does a pretty drat nice smoky burnout + noisy drift around a corner. :haw:

Traction control is a serious killjoy otherwise, you feel it hammering down on the brakes.

It also has random buttons like "cargo light" (assuming that's the light over the bed), and one that looks like radar behind a vehicle (guessing that turns off the reverse collision warning? WHO KNOWS? Why would you need that when you have a camera anyway?!). Found a SD slot on the radio, pressed in on it, a SD card labeled "Nissan Navigation Maps 2016" popped out and the radio locked up. :cripes:

randomidiot fucked around with this message at 09:22 on Apr 6, 2018

# ? Apr 6, 2018 09:15

InitialDave: Jun 14, 2007; I Want To Believe.

cakesmith handyman posted:

I'm coming round to the idea I need to replace my Panda, despite it being one of the best/most trouble free cars I've ever owned.

I'd suggest a Saab 9-5 Aero estate with a manual gearbox for family duty, while keeping the Panda for lone commuting.

# ? Apr 6, 2018 09:23

Grakkus: Sep 4, 2011

InitialDave posted:

I'd suggest a Saab 9-5 Aero estate with a manual gearbox for family duty, while keeping the Panda for lone commuting.

This sounds like an excellent idea

# ? Apr 6, 2018 10:32

iwentdoodie: Apr 29, 2005; 🤗YOU'RE WELCOME🤗

Raluek posted:

Same, but the opposite. Aren't you a muscle car guy? I use metric somewhat frequently, but only because 14mm is basically 9/16 and 16mm is basically 5/8 and so forth. The occasional actual-metric fastener usually takes me like 3 guesses of socket size before I realize "oh, it's metric " only because I just don't run into them that often. I've never misplaced a 10mm anything, but I've lost at least three 9/16" ratcheting wrenches.

Like, who even uses metric fasteners? Oddball things always throw me for a loop until I realize they're not standard.

When I was younger, yeah. And the modern ones that I had most recently are a hosed up mix of both.

But yeah, standard for me is the oddball now. The only reason I even have so much again is from the dakota, because even though it was a 94 it had the odd loving mix of both.

# ? Apr 6, 2018 12:16

BigPaddy: Jun 30, 2008; That night we performed the rite and opened the gate.
Halfway through, I went to fix us both a coke float.
By the time I got back, he'd gone insane.
Plus, he'd left the gate open and there was evil everywhere.

InitialDave posted:

Poe's Law basically. I'm too used to seeing this nonsense on Pistonheads, where people genuinely do believe the simplistic "anything on finance means you can't afford it".

Last time I will reply about Pistonheads but when they banned tit monday it all went south.

# ? Apr 6, 2018 12:27

iwentdoodie: Apr 29, 2005; 🤗YOU'RE WELCOME🤗

Holy poo poo. I just got soft offered a promotion (pending HR agreement) that comes with a massive pay bump.

I'm 3 days shy of 90 days here.

Holy poo poo.

# ? Apr 6, 2018 12:47

Fermented Tinal: Aug 25, 2005; by Pragmatica

Sweet, hope you get it dude.

# ? Apr 6, 2018 12:52

FAT32 SHAMER: Aug 16, 2012

iwentdoodie posted:

Holy poo poo. I just got soft offered a promotion (pending HR agreement) that comes with a massive pay bump.

I'm 3 days shy of 90 days here.

Holy poo poo.

nice dude, congrats!

i had salary negotiations this week and they wanted to give me 4%. i countered with 12% because without me 3 projects that are currently happening would not be doable since nobody else has my experience

my theme song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn-6eOxnEMI

# ? Apr 6, 2018 13:16

iwentdoodie: Apr 29, 2005; 🤗YOU'RE WELCOME🤗

Thanks guys. It's just loving crazy to me.

That whole thing where people just don't work that hard is so goddamn true. Because I don't feel like I overachieve, and I even posted here before about the imposter feeling when I first started.

But goddamn.

# ? Apr 6, 2018 13:20

Fermented Tinal: Aug 25, 2005; by Pragmatica

Turns out most of the time all you need is a pulse and more than two braincells.

# ? Apr 6, 2018 13:21

BigPaddy: Jun 30, 2008; That night we performed the rite and opened the gate.
Halfway through, I went to fix us both a coke float.
By the time I got back, he'd gone insane.
Plus, he'd left the gate open and there was evil everywhere.

Pay negotiations are one of those things people are terrified of just like most money things. I was offered 4% this year and countered with 13% and they gave it to me. Just have to know how much you are worth because your boss probably doesn't want you to walk over an extra few grand.

# ? Apr 6, 2018 13:24

Dagen H: Mar 19, 2009; Hogertrafikomlaggningen

The Door Frame posted:

I really miss who I was before my psychotic break. The fit, young man who was ambitious and determined; not the doughy, anxious, lazy rear end I am now

I almost want to go back onto the feedback loop meds that put me into a state of hypomania for years. I worked 12 hour days in 3 different jobs and lifted hardcore everyday, I was in school and I had 2 real jobs. Sure, I don't have to worry about going into full blown mania or a deep depression anymore, but this even mood isn't going nearly as well as I thought it would

I so envy your current stability. I'm between medications right now and just sitting here at the bottom of the well.

# ? Apr 6, 2018 14:00

FAT32 SHAMER: Aug 16, 2012

BigPaddy posted:

Pay negotiations are one of those things people are terrified of just like most money things. I was offered 4% this year and countered with 13% and they gave it to me. Just have to know how much you are worth because your boss probably doesn't want you to walk over an extra few grand.

exactly

fukkin read this and live by it boyos
https://www.kalzumeus.com/2012/01/23/salary-negotiation/

quote:

Salary negotiations are very asymmetrical. Companies know this and routinely exploit it. Job seekers don�t, perhaps because they think doing so would be unfair and the word �exploit� makes them acutely uncomfortable. So we often default by pretending that the employer is evaluating the negotiation like we would. This is not true, and acting like it is true will harm both your interests and the interests of your future employer.

For example, many people�s mental model of employment is that an employee with a $60,000 a year salary costs about $60,000 a year to hire. If they negotiate $65,000 instead, that�s $5,000 extra which has to come from� somewhere. If the negotiation breaks down, then that is $60,000 saved. This mental model is broken.

First, get into the habit of seeing employees like employers see them: in terms of fully-loaded costs. To hire someone you need to pay for their salary, true, but you also have taxes, a benefits package, employer contributions to retirement, healthcare, that free soda your HR department loves mentioning in the job ads, and what have you. (Trivia: for a US employer of professionals, the largest component after salary is usually healthcare, followed by payroll taxes.) The fully-loaded costs of employees are much higher than their salary: exactly how much higher depends on your locality�s laws, your benefits package, and a bunch of other HR administrivia, but a reasonable guesstimate is between 150% and 200% of their salary.

The fully loaded cost of an engineer receiving market salaries these days in California or New York is close to $20,000 a month. It is �only� $10,000 a month if they�re receiving a heavily below-market salary, such as if they�re working for a startup. If you have a kid brother who majored in Flemish Dance and got a modest full-time job at a non-profit, his fully-loaded cost is still probably $4,000 a month or more.

This is a roundabout way of telling you that companies are not sensitive to small differences in employee wages because employees are so darned expensive anyhow. You see $5,000 and think �Holy cow, even after taxes that�s a whole new vacation. Five thousand dollars. Five thousand dollars. It would be so very, very greedy of me to ask for five thousand whole dollars.� The HR department sees $5,000 and thinks �Meh, even after we kick in the extra taxes, that is only about 3% of their fully-loaded cost for this year anyhow, or seven hundredths of one percent of that team�s hiring budget. I wonder if the cafeteria has carrot cake today?�

Virtually any amount of money available to you personally is mouse droppings to your prospective employer. They will not feel offended if you ask for it. (I received a comment that this is untrue for startups by someone today. For a funded startup which has enough engineers to warrant a foosball table, the company payroll is well north of $100,000 a month. Making a new hire is a big commitment, but they still have a lot of flexibility on the details because the details do not shave months off of their runway.)

We�ve been talking about your employer as an abstraction, but in the instant case you�re talking to an actual person. Let�s call him Bob. It is Bob�s job to get you signed with the company as cheaply as possible, but Bob is not super motivated to do so, because Bob is not spending Bob�s money to hire you. Bob is spending Bob�s budget. Bob generally does not get large performance incentives for shaving money off of his hiring budget: you get a new Macbook if you convince Bob to give you $5k extra, but Bob gets (if he is anomalously lucky) a dinner at TGIFridays if he convinces you to take $5k less. In fact, there are many organizations (and Bobs) for whom power, status, and money come from asking for more budget every year. If you turn out to be on the expensive side, that is great for Bob, because a) he manages a high-powered peon so he must be a high-powered manager and b) this will help Bob get more budget next quarter. So if you�re worried about what Bob will think of your moral character, or you want to compensate Bob because you feel you owe him for this job opportunity, do Bob a solid and negotiate in a spirited fashion with him.

# ? Apr 6, 2018 14:08

bolind: Jun 19, 2005; Pillbug

TT that's a great quote. There's also an excellent negotiation thread in BFC (disclaimer, I helped write the OP.)

TLDR: Good people are hard to find and even harder to retain.

# ? Apr 6, 2018 14:19

slidebite: Nov 6, 2005; Good egg

Darchangel posted:

At a certain point, for example, I'm going to have to decide if I will ever build the unbuilt model kits I have, or if I should just sell them. The good news is that a lot of them are OOP and/or vintage now, and therefore worth at least what I paid for them adjusted, if not more (a lot more, in some cases, it looks like.)

Holy poo poo, are you literally me? My unbuilt 1/48 aircraft and space collection has been moved to 5-6 times in 20 years. I have a couple beauties though, but I just know my skill won't do them justice.

# ? Apr 6, 2018 14:22

Fermented Tinal: Aug 25, 2005; by Pragmatica

Versa's valves are tappin something fierce so I got it in my head that I'd take it to the local Nissan dealership to get them adjusted. Neither service rep even remotely came close to understanding what I wanted, one thinks it's related to an oil change, and the other says they've never heard of what I'm talking about. :cripes:

# ? Apr 6, 2018 14:30

Bajaha: Apr 1, 2011; BajaHAHAHA.

Fermented Tinal posted:

dealership

You expected actual service work from a dealership? Shame on you. They're glorified high speed parts swappers at best.

# ? Apr 6, 2018 14:43

Fermented Tinal: Aug 25, 2005; by Pragmatica

Their price board behind the service counter has Valvetrain Service: $2## or whatever posted RIGHT THERE on it.

# ? Apr 6, 2018 14:48

Bajaha: Apr 1, 2011; BajaHAHAHA.

Fermented Tinal posted:

Their price board behind the service counter has Valvetrain Service: $2## or whatever posted RIGHT THERE on it.

Translation: oil change and maybe someone dumps a bottle of snake oil in the gas tank or oil prior to the change.

Due to some hilariously terrible service from our Hyundai dealer, we got a free service #3 from them, which is supposed to have a brake maintenance component. This amounted to what is nominally a $300 oil change, an inspection of the brake pad thickness and the usual never-actually-gets-done items like greasing door pivots and underbody parts. It was free and I still felt ripped off.

# ? Apr 6, 2018 15:02

Fermented Tinal: Aug 25, 2005; by Pragmatica

Well, there is always option B: https://www.ebay.com/itm/2007-2012-Nissan-Sentra-Engine-2-0L-MR20-MR20DE/183164007407?hash=item2aa56cf3ef:g:HV0AAOSwDn5Z3ml7&vxp=mtr

It's the same block and the ECU doesn't need to be changed...

# ? Apr 6, 2018 15:08

The Door Frame: Dec 5, 2011; I don't know man everytime I go to the gym here there are like two huge dudes with raging high and tights snorting Nitro-tech off of each other's rock hard abs.

spog posted:

Two-stroke engines are much more fun than four-stroke, but in the long term, you're better off with the calmer one.

Yeah, but you can be very cool with shades

Dagen H posted:

I so envy your current stability. I'm between medications right now and just sitting here at the bottom of the well.

Aye, I suppose it could be much worse, just wish I were getting more marks in the win column

# ? Apr 6, 2018 15:26

epic bird guy: Dec 9, 2014

InitialDave posted:

I'd suggest a Saab 9-5 Aero estate with a manual gearbox for family duty, while keeping the Panda for lone commuting.

Arc is nice too: More power than linear but with better fuel economy and some comfy upgrades vs Aero.

# ? Apr 6, 2018 15:28

FAT32 SHAMER: Aug 16, 2012

speaking of saabs, what ever happend to viggen?

# ? Apr 6, 2018 15:39

Darchangel: Feb 12, 2009; Tell him about the blower!

Incoming STR-sized megapost! :siren:

iwentdoodie posted:

Just found this in my tool box

Mine (and several of the jackstands) is on my desk.

Metal Geir Skogul posted:

No seriously who the gently caress uses SAE

Those of us who work on classic 'MERICAN MUSCLE.

Yu-Gi-Ho! posted:

Definitely not enjoying the harsh ride, but it's the Pro-4X, which has a pretty beefy suspension (and according to Nissan's website, Bilstein shocks), and an electronic locker. I have no loving clue why they'd be renting out 4x4s at a very suburban location, but there ya have it. It's from out of state, so maybe they do things differently where it normally resides.

Well, we are in Texas. If you don't drive a giant pickup or bloated "C"UV (they ain't all that compact any more), you get run over by bros, cowboys, and soccer moms.
Ask me how fun it is to drive the AE86 in traffic. not that bad, really. It's agile, and traffic is pretty slow, so I can keep up.

quote:

No joke there. When they picked me up, my first reaction was ".... I asked for a small car". Second was "seriously? the same color as my car?!".

When they got me to the office to do paperwork, I asked if they had anything smaller. They walked me out back and showed me a collection of CUVs and SUVs, and said they had absolutely zero cars of any type. I kept the truck, by that point I'd realized it'll be handy to haul a bumper back from the JY (if I find another suburban apathy one with the fog light cutouts, anyway).

I intend to use "suburban apathy" as a color name forever going forward, now.

Yu-Gi-Ho! posted:

I can't really figure out how to get it to go into 4x4 either. I can flip the knob over to 4x4 Hi or Lo, but the dash indicator just keeps flashing. I'm guessing I have to do some kind of Konami code (or at least put it in park first).

That. You have to stop, usually.

quote:

Kinda curious what the "hill descent" button does too.

Depends on the truck, but usually sets up the transmission for lots of engine braking, and keeps it in a low gear. Some will automatically apply the brakes.
You could read the owner's manual. I'm betting it's in the glovebox.

Yu-Gi-Ho! posted:

No owner's manual in it (but there's a pre delivery manual in the glovebox intended for the lot porters ).

Never mind about the manual, then.

dee eight posted:

I have an Airfix battleship Graf Spee 1/600 that I never put together. Looks like about 40 bux max value.
The last one I glued together was the USS New Jersey when I was a kid. I sank it soon after, in a kiddies wading pool, with an m-80

Mine are almost all car models.
I have an OOP Tamiya series 3 RX-7 that's apparently a bit valuable, and a couple of variations of the Mach Go Go Go Mach 5 from a defunct manufacturer. Mostly a bunch of '80s and '90s vintage Revell, MPC, and Monogram kits, and a scattering of '80s-'90s robot kits (mostly Japanese kits repackaged as Revell "Robotech" kits.) I have, liteally, an entire 4' x 6' x 16" metal shelving unit full of model kits, plus a footlocker. I still want to build this stuff, but the *time*... and I'm afraid that by the time I retire I won't have the eyesight or hands to do it.
Oh, I also have a few vintage spaceship kits - including an original NCC-1701 Enterprise. That one was already started when I got it, so value is decreased.

iwentdoodie posted:

Holy poo poo. I just got soft offered a promotion (pending HR agreement) that comes with a massive pay bump.

I'm 3 days shy of 90 days here.

Holy poo poo.

Congrats!
Meanwhile, I'm a permanent contractor, whatever that is poo poo. Will have been here a year in 22 days (I know that because of password reset emails.)
Frustrating. Mostly because healthcare with the company that's contracting me out is hella expensive, and I get no holiday , vacation, or sick time pay... and my host company takes *12* holidays a year. That's $2400 down the drain every year, unless I work 10 hour days, which there isn't enough work to do, really. On the flipside, it's remarkably stress-free, and I work with good folks. I don't want to upset that balance by bitching about not being hired perm. Argh.

Fermented Tinal posted:

Turns out most of the time all you need is a pulse and more than two braincells.

...and it's surprising how many employees *don't* seem to have one or the other.

slidebite posted:

Holy poo poo, are you literally me? My unbuilt 1/48 aircraft and space collection has been moved to 5-6 times in 20 years. I have a couple beauties though, but I just know my skill won't do them justice.

As noted above, mine are mostly cars, but, yeah, they've moved with me several times. I'm actually not a bad builder, and used to build a lot more, I just ran out of time during college, then the Internet happened, then life and marriage and job and real cars and a house and a kid... but mostly the Internet. On the plus side, it's a lot easier to get the aftermarket detail parts and such now, not to mention reference photos, paints, etc. Back in the day, you hoped you could find a decent hobby shop, or ordered out of the model magazines.

bolind posted:

TT that's a great quote. There's also an excellent negotiation thread in BFC (disclaimer, I helped write the OP.)

TLDR: Good people are hard to find and even harder to retain.

Oo, thanks. Bookmarked.

# ? Apr 6, 2018 15:59

OBAMNA PHONE: Aug 7, 2002

happy friday everyone, have a listen to one of the best mashups you'll ever hear

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8Upzye9Ctw

# ? Apr 6, 2018 16:27

Fermented Tinal: Aug 25, 2005; by Pragmatica

Yanno what is great about this Friday?

I'm not working tonight. :smugdog:

# ? Apr 6, 2018 16:36

FAT32 SHAMER: Aug 16, 2012

Fermented Tinal posted:

Yanno what is great about this Friday?

I'm not working tonight.

# ? Apr 6, 2018 16:42

Rhyno: Mar 22, 2003; Can't post for 10 years!

FAT32 SHAMER posted:

speaking of saabs, what ever happend to viggen?

He had another small breakdown and went scorched earth on facebook. Haven't heard from him since.

# ? Apr 6, 2018 16:49

Geoj: May 28, 2008; BITTER POOR PERSON

FAT32 SHAMER posted:

nice dude, congrats!

i had salary negotiations this week and they wanted to give me 4%. i countered with 12% because without me 3 projects that are currently happening would not be doable since nobody else has my experience

my theme song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn-6eOxnEMI

What's it like to have a job where giving raises is a thing that happens, rather than being endlessly told "well its just not in the budget, maybe next year"?

# ? Apr 6, 2018 16:49

epic bird guy: Dec 9, 2014

Rhyno posted:

He had another small breakdown and went scorched earth on facebook. Haven't heard from him since.

The internet is serious business

# ? Apr 6, 2018 16:53

The Door Frame: Dec 5, 2011; I don't know man everytime I go to the gym here there are like two huge dudes with raging high and tights snorting Nitro-tech off of each other's rock hard abs.

epic bird guy posted:

The internet is serious business

But unironically

# ? Apr 6, 2018 16:54

Rhyno: Mar 22, 2003; Can't post for 10 years!

epic bird guy posted:

The internet is serious business

Dude had actual brain trauma some years back. He was always abrasive but after his accident he had a hair trigger.

# ? Apr 6, 2018 16:55

FAT32 SHAMER: Aug 16, 2012

Geoj posted:

What's it like to have a job where giving raises is a thing that happens, rather than being endlessly told "well its just not in the budget, maybe next year"?

im of the mindset where if they say that once i begin looking for a new job because if they arent able to afford the costs involved in retaining their employees with incentives and rewards then they shouldnt be in business at all

# ? Apr 6, 2018 17:09

slurry_curry: Nov 26, 2003; <3mini-moni+animu^_^

Just got back from a week long roadtrip/baby-moon with the wife. Started in SF, worked our way down the coast to LA for a friends wedding(never pass up a opportunity to attend a gay drag wedding), then to Phoenix for a few days to visit family.

Ended up with a '17 Camry for a rental that was surprisingly comfortable, but god drat are those things slow. Granted I was taking it easy as too not make my pregnant wife car sick on the windier roads, but I legit got passed by a w123 Mercedes diesel wagon. Granted it was probably the cleanest example I had ever seen and somehow was not blowing smoke when he passed me.

# ? Apr 6, 2018 17:30

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# ? May 20, 2024 18:52

Geoj: May 28, 2008; BITTER POOR PERSON

FAT32 SHAMER posted:

im of the mindset where if they say that once i begin looking for a new job because if they arent able to afford the costs involved in retaining their employees with incentives and rewards then they shouldnt be in business at all

Yeah I've definitely adapted to this mindset. Biggest mistake I've ever made was sticking around for almost a decade at a job that gave 1.5% raises maybe once every three years.

# ? Apr 6, 2018 17:52

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > car SUCKS! i HATE car - The April 2018 Chat Thread

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