Murgatroy

Ford is the only domestic vehicle I will own after the `08 crash. My Mustang and Fiesta have been solid, as was my Explorer prior. I will admit that my extensive experience with Ford vehicles has been positive. I think I might have only gotten one lemon, an `85ish Mercury Lynx wagon, a long long time ago.

I just ordered one. I hope I can get some gold finished controls for it.

I daily a V6 Mustang around 80 miles a day. If I keep my foot out of it I can average ~32MPG on a tank. That is nearly all interstate. If I don't keep my foot out of it I can pull an average of 28MPG.   My wife has a Fiesta, it has the NA 1.6 with the traditional automatic. I can pull ~45MPG out of it if I keep my foot out of it. Otherwise I can get 35MPG.   I consider keeping my foot out of it cruise set at 65MPH. And that is it. That takes some discipline.   However, I am not a big guy. I am a 200lb 6' guy. I guess what is considered 'average.' I fit in the Mustang fine, but I will crack my head on my wife's Fiesta from time to time if I haven't driven it in a few weeks.   It is also worth noting that my wife can't get above 23MPG average in the Mustang or 30MPG in her Fiesta. She is a full go/full whoa driver.   Anything above 30MPG with a normal driver in a car big enough to fit four adults is essentially a pipe dream. But it can be done.   Don't fall for the fallacy that a Hybrid gets better mileage. It does in the city. It doesn't on the interstate. A good friend bought a Prius, nice car, I liked it. He thought it would get 50MPG+ on his 100 mile daily commute, but as he was always running 70+ it never ran in electric mode, which is where a hybrid shines. He never pulled more than 45MPG reliably. While that is nice, I didn't tend to think the premium of the car offset the mild cost saving.   Edit: Harmony is a `13 Mustang automatic and Ratchet is a `14 Fiesta automatic, not CVT. 

Tipped wages. Sent from my LGLS740 using Tapatalk

The driver gets a small portion of the fee, for fuel.   I drive every now and then for a local Domino's franchise that I am friends with the manager. There is a $2.50 delivery charge, $1.20 of that goes to the driver for fuel. The rest is for the store. Unfortunately there is a large percentage of the population that believes that the entire $2.50 goes to the driver, thus they refuse to tip on their $50 order, as 'well that delivery charge is your tip!'   I personally (and admittedly with a bias) see it as very comparable to tipping a waitress. You didn't even have to get dressed, drive anywhere and wait to be seated. You picked up a phone (and in many cases talked to a driver to place your order) and waited in the comfort of your warm/cool/dry home while someone brought you the pizza. Yeah, I would appreciate a 20% gratuity for that And that isn't a $2.50 deliver charge on a $50 order.   /rant

I am not sure what has my curiosity piqued more, the duffel bag or the box.

Oddly enough I paid a lot more for my cars than I did for my guns, I trust Mobil 1 for them. Have for years. I can't believe I have been doing it wrong for so long. Sent from my LGLS740 using Tapatalk

It the IT world we call it a ID 10 T user error.

So why aren't these cats in custody? 

Liberal mindset of giving everyone another chance. Sent from my LGLS740 using Tapatalk

My cousin was hit and killed by a drunk driver about twelve years ago. He had been in court earlier that day for his sixth offense DUI. I think he was sentenced to just over a year for her death. It is my understanding he has gotten a handful more DUIs since his release.   Sometimes hanging's too good for these folks.

I see a lot of strong opinions in this thread. That is refreshing, but it also a bit short sighted and naive.    We are not cookies cut with the same shape.   That is what makes us fun.   That also doesn't make you wrong. Or right.   I graduated from high school by the skin of my teeth and was kicked out in the world. It beat my ass. I have held a full time job since I was on my own at 17. I was a guest of a state system that could care less and put me though a half baked 'independent living center.' I was on the streets with no skills and no help. I worked. I worked. I worked.   When I was 22 I enrolled in school and got saddled with a fair amount of student debt. It was my only option, how could I afford to eat and live, and pay for school. I worked two jobs and went to school full time. A couple of years later I got a piece of paper that meant crap, and honestly I have done nothing with it. It was all because I thought the only way to get ahead was to get a college degree. I make a good living, by working hard, and experience has done more for me than my education.   I pay my student loans. My education is something I am proud of. I carried a 3.75/4.0 GPA through the whole thing.    I am however teaching my daughter that life is better to find what you love, then find a way to make a good living doing it. I think way to much of the world is focused on money, and having more than the neighbors. I know that part of what motivates me is to ensure that my daughter never, NEVER, has to experience the life I did.    So while it is really easy to sit in your easy, or uneasy chair and judge everyone else based on their choices that differ from yours, remember that you haven't been presented the same choices to make with the same tools. I know that now in my life, I would make a whole lot of choices a lot differently, but I also know that I would still make a lot of them just as badly. And that is with all of the information that might not have been available ten, twenty or thirty years ago when I made them.   But I do think that today's enforced idea that a degree is required is highly flawed. And a lot of that comes from the fact that I have spent a large part of my post college career in specialized 'skilled trades.' It is also because at the end of the day, learning how to sit in an office and type on a computer isn't going to help you a bit when your car breaks down, or your pipes burst or a tree falls in your yard. Life experience can.    For the record I went to school for electrical engineering. And I sit behind a desk typing on a computer and telling people what to do. I can turn a wrench and run a chainsaw too.

Thank you for saying that. I have long felt that the focus on perceived racism is what perpetuates it. Yes, the struggle is real, but you have to struggle. Everyone does. Giving up and saying 'woe is me' is not the struggle. Regardless of the race. I see it a lot in low income White Americans as well, that is where I came from. There was no point in trying, you can just get food stamps and section eight housing. It is always someone else's fault.   I am white, so I am often told that I am not allowed to have an opinion about racism in American, well, any opinion other than 'I am so sorry, my bad.' That offends me. I can't call a spade a spade? If the people that worked so hard in this nation to defeat racism and the established culture against it fifty years ago knew today how all of their work was being distorted, I am pretty confident they would be furious.   I firmly hold the media and politicians accountable for this. Control and controversy. That is what racism is. That is what poverty economics have become.   What happened to the American Dream? A wife, a kid, a nice house on a cul-de-sac, two late model cars in the garage, an education and a stable job? Why did I bust my ass to get here to find out that it is obsolete?

I have never set a gear, but I have watched it be done.   I am not faint of heart, but it is something I would pay to have done. There is a little too much taking apart and reassembling to get the gear set right for my patience level.

It shows right side up on my screen?

Went out this weekend to sight in a few new toys, and I will be darned if I didn't lose this rifle. Her target, first time with anything bigger than her .22lr. 50yds. Center target.

I haven't watched the video yet.   But in every relationship there will be a dominant partner. Fact of life, not all men will be that dominant partner. That doesn't mean it is all part of a feminazi agenda.   I will note that my house is not run that way, but that doesn't mean that a person is a failure at life if they can recognize that someone else is more adept at handling the decisions that affect their family and well being.

My wife didn't find it nearly as funny as I did.   Our ten year anniversary is next month.

A nice Hi-Power is on my short list.

I have never bought a gun because of a movie. And I don't hold my AKM over my head and shout "Wolverines" either. Books however gave driven some desires. Eventually I will own a pair of Stainless Detonics Combat Masters. And double shoulder rig. Sent from my LGLS740 using Tapatalk

I really want to be offended, but I am laughing too much. Sent from my LGLS740 using Tapatalk

There is a lot more to a car than straight line performance.   The SVO handled ten times better than a 5.0 and would run circles around them on a twisty road. It was a much better driver's car.   I have seen many a V8 fanboi go home crying after a car they should have toasted walked them.   I personally think one of my most humbling experiences came when my 500WHP Camaro was walked up a mountain by a 'four banger' Honda Accord in the mid nineties. There was no way that a hundred horsepower rice burner could beat me up a mountain I was raised on.    It is a lesson I learned well, and have taught many times since with my Celica.   It takes less energy to stay fast. If you have to slow way down for the corners, you will run slower overall. A well balanced car, even a lower powered one, can maintain a higher average speed.     I learned a long time ago that the driver/car mod will almost always beat power mod.

I think he is bummed that some one didn't respond to his pm about something for sale. Sent from my LGLS740 using Tapatalk

I have one of those as well, fits in a pocket, and drives my dog nuts. She loves to chase lights. For occasional use I haven't had to change the batteries in six months or more.

I like to trade to find interesting stuff that I didn't know I was interested in. That is half of the fun for me.