I hate it. It drives like an early 1980s car. Touch the accelerator and nothing happens. Stomp on the accelerator and the engine will bitch about you waking it up and eventually apply some force to the wheels. It has a 0-60 time of “don’t worry your pretty little head about it.” It’s AWD and got stuck going up my driveway in 1.5″ of snow.
It was so bad I resorted to using my oracular powers to determine wtf the designers were thinking. Here’s a transcript:
Lily stepped on it, and now the radio is locked on a Uruguayan shortwave station.
“Hans, ve vill put ze iDrive in ze MINI.”
“But Josef, ze Americans hated ze iDrive.”
“NIEN! Those vere ze oldenfartzen BMW owners. MINI owners are jungen und hipstich. Plus ve vill make it like ze gamingmaus und add more buttons.”
“Should ve put a cover over it in case zere ist eine fluffyhund in ze car?”
“No responsible fluffyhund owner vould allow ze hund to roam unrestrained.”
Pushbutton start is old and boring. Toggle switch start is hip and cool.
“You do have eine point Hans. Ve will add guards between svitches. Can you imagine if someone vas deactivating ze childproof vindows und touched ze dome light control? Plus, guards are tuff und chunky. Ze Countryman is ze rugged MINI for ze outdoors!
“Should ve make ze guards out of potmetal, Josef?”
“It doesn’t need to be zat tuff. Plastisch vill do.”
What do you mean Apple doesn’t make an oval iPhone?
“Don’t bother mit ze inztrument kluster, just drop in an iPhone. Not too big of one, ve don’t vant to distract ze driver. Re-skin the automobile controls app UI and it’ll be perfect.”
I don’t know why they put the forcefield controls next to the hazard lights. I guess the passenger is supposed to be able to work them?
“Josef! Ve saved so much money mit the iPhone trick, ve can really make the center display something special!”
“Vhat did you haff in mind Hans?”
“Blinkenlights!”
“Ja, ve need to make ze car do somethink ven the pedals are pushed.”
“Vhen ze engine goes vroom vroom ze right side vill light up! Vhen the kar goes faster, the left side vill light up!”
“Vouldn’t zat mean they’d light up at ze same time?”
“Not as much as you might think.”
Awwww sheeit. Can you return it, or have you had it for a while?
It was a rental from the body shop. I’ve got my WRX back now.
Question: is it good or bad if a dog only responds to commands from one person?
They can respond to multiple people, but they need to train with multiple people to understand they should listen to everyone, not just the owner. The concept is called “generalization”.
Ah. She does not come to other owners during the walk if they call her. She does to me though,and that’s what I’m most concerned with
I never cared that my dogs listened to others.
Hunting dogs are another story.
I agree with Tundra. It’s inappropriate unless they’re your dog walker or dog sitter, or they have asked you if they can call your dog.
My dog would listen to anyone for treats.
Oh, don’t get me wrong. My pups would give you the combination to the safe and get you a snack while you are looting it.
My advice is strictly theoretical!
You’re starting to sound like us old guys.
The first few years of Mini, The Sequel were terrific. The S models, Cooper models- they were fun as shit
However every year seems to fuck up good cars.
Most importantly, BMW have lost their minds.
Seriously though, they put guards between the map light and moon roof switches.
?️?
They gave the Mini the same growth hormone they gave the grill on the 3 and 4 series.
This monstrosity isn’t the same as the regulatory required disaster that is the Mini Electric.
The worst electric car made to satisfy CA and the CA emissions states is the Mazda
Tested: 2022 Mazda MX-30 EV Sparks Interest but Comes Up Short
Sorry that was supposed to go below to Penguin,
Perfect.
What’s the towing capacity?
Well, it can’t even move itself, so probably negative.
2600 lbs. Pretty much the same as every non-truck
I can’t imagine this car being popular in Alaska.
There’s a Mini dealership in Anchorage.
Considering the difficulty I have with it on the mean streets of Saratoga Springs, I find that unfathomable. Unless it’s a summer toy, like motorcycles are here. But even then, I can’t imagine the roads in AK in summer are all that great (again, considering how damaged they are here).
Is Al Michaels having a stroke i in real time?
Michaels really seems to have trouble counting the yards to first downs.
As for the vehicle, the current pointlessness of electric vehicles has been established:
Unless someone lives in a unique place in the country, people are getting electricity from fossil fuels. Considering the loss from energy transfers, people may well be getting less “gas mileage” by having an electric car rather than a gas one. Solar and wind power both need rare earth metals, the mining of which is often far harsher on the environment than, say, fracking gas. Additionally, wind & solar farms require lots of land.
The only reasons to get an electric car is if you have your own source of electric energy or you think the car is really cool. Not Adahn has answered the latter argument. I’m glad for him that he got his other car back.
This monstrosity isn’t the same as the regulatory required disaster that is the Mini Electric.
The worst electric car made to satisfy CA and the CA emissions states is the Mazda
Tested: 2022 Mazda MX-30 EV Sparks Interest but Comes Up Short
this is the fairest article on the subject I’ve ever read
I don’t fault anyone for pursuing cost-effective solutions; for now that’s not EV. They make sense in town for commuting especially when your employer offers free charging, but that sort of thing is a very bad fit for most people and will remain so for at least a decade.
Did you buy this car, NA?
Sounds like no.
Heh. 2nd comment. Thank you for your labour, UCS.
And there’s no way in hell I would have bought this after a test drive. I have no idea what it costs, but I’d bet it’s more than say, a Honda Civic Sport. And that car is actually drivable without thinking you’ve failed in life.
Halftime show app? Honestly?
“Hans, ve vill put ze iDrive in ze MINI.”
*makes sign of the cross*
McVay is no where near as clever as he’s made out to be.
He’s aggressive, which makes him seem clever compared to some of the dreadfully dull old dinos.
I dunno about that. He did a number on that Federal building.
Uruguayan shortwave station.
The first time I heard Mexican radio it was that song.
Riding home with Mom and Dad we used to pick up .XLEO on the AM radio late at night. No FCC to limit their power, they would blast through the airwaves.
That reminded me of KOMA which came thru loud and clear at nightime. Folks didn’t like it but I’d listen to their hopped-up-screaming-devil music in my room at night.
I love hopped up screaming devil music.
So many things I “need” or “want” to do right now. I “need” to get out of this house. I “need” to write something. I “need” to get to sleep so I can wake up early enough to commute to the office for the first time since July. I “want” to catch that gold-ranked Red Deer that has eluded me in Call of the Wild. I “want” to get back to documenting critters in Arceus. I “want” to make something.
As a result, I sit here indecisively.
Any of those easy? Knock them out first.
Easy and time consuming are not mutually exclusive. I just spent a half hour and got a clean kill on a Red Deer only to discover it was Silver-rated. I don’t have all the tools needed for the project I have in the vice.
Mostly I’m trying to procrastinate tommorrow’s arrival.
I don’t feel like I know how to do my job as it’s become now. Even though there are no complaints as to the actual results, I feel lost and uncertain of what I’m supposed to be doing. Of course, I have to delegate all the tasks with concrete criteria. The actual managing of direct reports isn’t bad. It’s the vagueness of what I’m supposed to be delivering to upper management and even less well defined deadlines that always feel like they’ve passed by the time I get told to do something.
vagueness of what I’m supposed to be delivering to upper management
The national management cadre strikes me as particularly weak, distracted, and unprincipled, private and public sectors alike. I don’t know what a competent middle manager is to do except play along, act as if you take the situation seriously, try not to ask too many clarifying questions of the very people who didn’t give the obviously-needed direction in the first place, but do follow up constantly with how you need more money and manpower to get “it” done so you look invested.
Nothing is easy.
I am always decisive. The path from me to what I want is always a straight line. The line is called Firsting. The end goal is to be First. Everything I do is in furtherance of that.
Your problem isn’t too much you have to do. It’s screwed up priorities.
Sorry, not all of us can accept such a pathetic objective in life. You do you, little man.
I joke a lot about the NFL being fixed, but I’m genuinely on the fence about it. The refs do things that to me are clearly meant to influence games. This crew threw 2 flags all game, then calls that ticky tacky bullshit to bail out Stafford and the Rams. Then another set of flags on the next play. Then another set of flags on the play after that.
That was an incredibly bullshit defensive holding call on the Rams to give them another 4 downs at the goal line (the first one). I bet the Bengals with the points so it didn’t matter to me one way or another, but that was a suspicious call, especially as the refs had been pretty hands off all game.
I agree. It looked like he barely brushed his jersey.
It was a makeup call for the missed call at the start of the half. The second holding was probably legit.
I thought it was a makeup call for the obvious PI on the previous play.
And then the holding on the O line on the next play was a makeup call for the “oh, crap, we just basically gave them the game” holding call. Except the personal foul negated the negative play.
And I have no explanation for missing the offensive pass interference and facemask. It was as “on an island” as you will ever see, and there should have been at least 2 pairs of eyes dedicated to the action right there.
But that is “part of the game” as they say. Humans are gonna make mistakes.
Which is why I like the eagle eye tennis line judge system. Even if the thing is wrong, it is objective and fair. It will be equally wrong for everyone, so no advantage gained and no feeling of bias.
I have thought the games were “fixed” for a while now.
A reason why i don’t bother to watch them anymore.
I hope everyone who did, had a great time.
The refs are giving the game to LA now.
There was that blatant facemask that went uncalled but, yeah, there were some WTF? calls.
Meh. The missed call on the OPI facemask was pretty egregious.
I’m not getting any papers sorted, but wow – I will never drive any of these roads, but they are gorgeous. Nepal, Peru, Siberia. Just wow!
Online sleuthing for the feds.
Serious question to TPTB:
When there is a poster here who contrubutes nothing to the discussion, annoys the hell out of everyone here, and launches personal attacks on other members here, how is {they) not “that guy*?
How about when said poster outs himself as a buffoon but occasionally provides relevant comments?
Pointing and laughing is still allowed.
Trump posts here?
I love to give The Bro crap. He seems to roll with the punches. I acknowledge that he gets borderline with his comments sometime. When he goes off on his tangent I treat the post like a Demi Moore post and ignore it.
Now there is something that I thought I’d never see: Me defending Brochettaward.
Bruce Willis posts here?
Demi-whatshername with the straining bikinis.
You are one of those libertarians who joined the LP and was deeply offended by that one guy who got up and danced in his underwear during their ridiculous party meeting, aren’t you?
Did you score any singles?
I could score countless sexy singles in my local area every day if I wanted to. They are all looking for a guy just like me.
But I only accept being First.
Deflower Child, eh?
Zing
Offended… No.
But, as I often do, I quietly whispered “stay off my side. You are not helping”.
I say that to myself a lot. Not just about libertarians. Conservatives and liberals do it all the time too. Progressives? Not so much. They are the only group that is almost never on my side.
Well, except superficially. They jumped on the police reform bandwagon again. And turned it all to racism and made it worse. Again.
So I used to say “stay off my side” about that… But now I realize that they never were on my side. It is t accidental, like some fat guy with tighty whities dancing onstage thinking he is being “transgressive”. It is intentional sabotage.
Wait… What were we talking about?
my opinion of the general work of suppliers to Countryman (without regard to which ones I worked for)
HVAC control by Behr Hella – probably okay
wipers by Denso – probably super reliable
cams by ThyssenKrupp – probably okay, but they’re not the firm with the focus they were
exhaust by Eberspaecher – probably solid
battery sensor by Hella – probably okay
balance shafts by Hirschvogel – who knows but what a stupid name for a company
oil separator by Mahle – probably okay but I hate them for buying out and ruining a company I did once work for
I’m happy to crap on Tesla for many things, but good things happen when you are forced to be more vertically integrated and do your own R&D.
Let me introduce you to the Superbottle.
When Tesla went to an all heat pump solution that was superseded by the Octovalve.
I enjoy that Tesla let’s its engineers be creative and hide the names on these things too.
good things happen when you are forced to be more vertically integrated
I take your point, but don’t forget that every engine and transmission you ever hated was probably designed and built in-house.
The main thing I like about superbottle is how long it’s going to take the Chinese to knock it off….a good three years or more, I’d think; on the other hand, though, twist one of those hose nipples off and you get to replace the whole $1500 toy?
The refrigerant compressor I can’t identify…..which is very odd: there’s only so many folks who can make them and I’ve worked for or closely against them all. The accumulator looks like they’re $300 apiece…..I dare not guess what they paid to tool it. On the other hand, the orifice device looks kludgy and cheap.
The cool thing about clean-sheeting all the thermal systems is that you can channel heat back and forth between what traditionally would be considered unrelated systems; the same thing is true of the electrical power side. I carry the scars from the hybrid nonsense and applaud Tesla: nothing is worse than having redundant drives and controls on every thermal system in a car.
This is what Google says: Aotecar
https://www.teslaoracle.com/2020/09/14/tesla-450k-heat-pumps-china-mdoel-3-model-y/
I’ll also take your point on drivetrain. ZF is best in the business.
I tried to get in a mini once. Nope.
From the land of the kei car?
The motor is too big to qualify for kei status so I’d imagine they aren’t super popular there. Current ones may be too physically big to be kei as well. So I’d assume you’d just buy a bigger car instead of the Mini. Otherwise if you want at tiny shitbox you’d buy one of the current kei car offerings.
No, I actually see them around quite often. Makes sense for them.
Interesting. Wouldn’t have guessed that.
Don’t even try a micro.
Much less a pico.
And a femto is a thousand times worse.
Rats! Spoiled my own (bad) joke by an order of magnitude.
I guess that’s my punishment for defending Bro.
Atto-boy!
*applauds in metric*
Even Straf knows there’s such a thing as too gay.
Sometimes you gotta just go for it.
https://soranews24.com/2022/01/07/gunma-man-arrested-for-attempted-marriage-of-woman-without-her-knowledge/
wow: I’ve worked with two plants (different companies) in Gunma prefecture….adored both experiences
Hell, if you can’t do that I’ll never get married.
She should have let it slide through, filed for divorce, and demanded alimony.
oldenfartzen BMW owners
alterkaker isn’t used much in Muenchen, but it should be.
In my days the krauts stayed pissed that they had to provide cup holders, but they probably are over the shame of that by now.
But six different ashtrays that might distract the driver were A-OK!
The cup holders in my 09 Chevy Malibu are on the bottom of the door, below where your knee goes, and tilted so you have to worry about any non-sealed cup leaking. Also, too small to fit anything larger than a 20 oz bottle. Gatorade has to take up the passenger seat.
I like most things from Kansas City
Awwwwwwww. ?
There’s a new post?!
I guess better 4 hours late than never.
I know, right? Found it just in time to get ready to go to sleep.
Spider-man has his Spidey Sense. I have my Firsting Sense. I get this tingle…a quiver…that lets me know when a new post has been made.
I used to get a button on the left side that did the same thing. 🙁
Watching this Raising Dion and thought cool, young kid, finds out has powers….powered…. then over the top racism. Fucking Hollywood
Apparently we’re still having that National Conversation.
Quit whining and get a fucking Tesla model Y.
Or whatever. I’m not your supervisor.
Order up and you will have it by… Eventually.
And the build quality will be… I don’t know how representative the examples I have seen photographed are. What’s up with that? Is it actually generally pretty good?
Morning Glibs.
Technically, I don’t have to until April, but I’ve decided to try to get back in the swing of commuting now that they’re not going to yell at me for being barefaced in the office.
I must have a masochistic streak.
Go Rams! Or something.
I’d like to place my order now for a custom made knife. I want mosaic pins.
Is that your only parameter?
I’d like it to be sharp and pointy too.
Okay. There is a bit of a production delay at the moment due to a facilities issue.
Well, it’s time to get moving out the door. I want a decent parking spot at the office. See you guys when I get there.
I’m not commuting until I can breathe free on the subway. Which probably means never.
Was subway air ever breathable?
If only masks prevented people from being pushed onto the tracks by the insane.
You have to wear one on the back of your head so they think you’re watching their approach.
https://news.yahoo.com/us-temporarily-suspended-mexican-avocado-040122794.html
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/02/givesendgo-hacked-demon-hackers-take-givesendgo-website-threaten-post-personal-information-freedom-convoy-donors/
*Kif sigh*
Asshole hackers but sites like this need to make sure they’ve got their security shit together.
I didn’t use my real name.
https://triblive.com/local/starbucks-workers-at-pittsburghs-bloomfield-store-join-nationwide-unionization-wave/
Starbuck’s is so fucked. Haha.
I don’t think I’ve ever bought anything from them.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ivan-reitman-ghostbusters-director-animal-house-producer-dead-75/
His son will resurrect him as a CGI ghost.
Good Morning my fellow early risers.
As expected masks were not worn in the game.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-10509281/Kendall-Jenner-Hailey-Justin-Bieber-lead-celebrities-Super-Bowl-Inglewood.html
I really don’t understand how we go to pre-war here. How can one country generate some much drama in the past 6 years?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10509827/Biden-tells-Ukrainian-president-respond-swiftly-decisively-Russia-invades.html
If he meant military action was really on the table that would be specified. He means sanctions and whatnot which is to be expected if an invasion actually does happen.
Biden threatens to take his ball and go home, leaving the Ukrainians and Russians hopelessly mired in a dance off.
Putin cranks up the music to 11.
A sharply worded letter will be forthcoming later, after Biden has his nap.
Maybe but the Russians have made a salient point, invasion or no. They hold the military cards in Ukraine and can invade and take over at will and we won’t do jack about it (which is the right move actually).
The office is so quiet… Unfortuantely that means I can hear myself chew. Darn breakfast.
Good morning, U! And Stinky, ‘bodru, Sean, and rhy!
Good luck on your first day back in the office, U. What’s for breakfast?
Roast beef sandwich with swiss, lettuce, tomato, and pickled banana peppers.
That sounds like a great breakfast to me.
There’s only one thing wrong with it – it’s all gone
The monitors at work are so tiny. How did I ever used to work this way?
this a once a day thing or permanent?
I’m unclear on what you’re asking.
yea, i realized that.
I meant, are you coming in once a week, twice a week, all the time???
I technically have an accommodation that doesn’t expire until April which would allow me 100% remote work. Even without that we’re on a 50% telecommuting schedule. I opted for a 60/40 so I didn’t have to remember which week had the three days and which had the two, so I’d be telecommuting tuesdays and thursdays. It is unclear whether 50% is the long term telecommuting plan, but this whole nonsense did show agency muckitymucks that most of us can work remotely just fine. For good or for ill.
I may be the only person in my office who doesn’t have two monitors. I could have had another if I wanted, but it wouldn’t work the way I have my PC set up – the monitor sits under overhead cabinets, and I have other stuff in the only place there would be room for another screen. Alt-tab is my friend.
I’m usually comparing multiple information sources and have a shitton of things open that I’m referencing/working at any given time. My home monitors each have more screen real estate than both of the work monitors put together. After having worked from home for two years, I’ve kinda grown used to being able to spread the information out rather than stack it up.
Doggone it! I didn’t even know this post was up. I was wondering why the conversation on the GlibFit post died out so early.
NA, you’ve obviously been spoiled for life by your Subie. Never settle for anything less!
Every so often, peer at the front page in case an article sneaks in.
I may have to do the same with the e-mail on my phone. I seem to have managed to turn off the notifications from Google Play services that were annoying me, but I don’t know if I’ll still get e-mail notifications. I don’t have the usual e-mails from every company with which I’ve ever done business.
Yeah, getting back in it was glorious.
That is an ugly dash. I mean, wow… it’s hideous.
Morning everyone. Another glorious Monday to welcome us all to reality. Well, not so much for me but to all those that get up early and keep the wheels of commerce churning.
UCS is going to set a bad example for his contemporaries, getting to work early. Back in the long ago days I too was a go-getter. Took my wife to work and later would go get her.
If I want a good parking spot, I have to arrive early.
Otherwise the lots fill up and there’s nowhere to park.
Yeah, having my first meeting at 7:30 does mean there’s plenty of parking within 100 yards of the front door.
HMFIC=6 feet from the front door parking.
Here that would put you awkwardly parked on the steps.
I don’t think my GTI has the ground clearance for that.
When we were full, the managers bitched that there was nowhere for them to park since they come in later than everyone else. An offsite parking lot was rented and a shuttle hired to bring them to work.
We have a series of lots with spaces allocated by seniority. The junior most people get stuck with the shuttle bus lots. I was so happy when I got into a lot within walking distance of the office.
Our parking priority is by greenness. EVs, ZEVs, and carpools.
I can only imagine that there will be DIE-prioritized parking in San Fran if there isn’t already.
Also…Mornin’ to 4×20 and everyone else.