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Westley Graham-Paige @wesnotfewer.bsky.social · 1d

Yes, I just bought a DVD of the online miniseries “The Lucky Ones” that was made for the launch of the 2004 Mercury Mariner. Yes, I have the theme song stuck in my head. Yes, I am not normal, thanks for asking.

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Westley Graham-Paige @wesnotfewer.bsky.social · 5d

At least with the FWD New Yorker, you could still plainly see the E-Class underneath, but Chrysler just skipped the step where they stamped the rear window out of the quarter panel.

Westley Graham-Paige @wesnotfewer.bsky.social · 5d

Ah, Tesla, the company a thousand fanboys are quick to defend as the undisputed kings of car manufacturing technology, taking a page from (checks notes) the 1980s Chrysler Fifth Avenue, which just slapped vinyl padding over the quarter windows because it was cheaper. Note the opera-light wiring.

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Westley Graham-Paige @wesnotfewer.bsky.social · 5d

Once you see the filthy, gunked-up headliner in the "Baby Driver" WRX, you'll never be able to watch this scene again without noticing it.

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Westley Graham-Paige @wesnotfewer.bsky.social · 8d

What nobody tells you about rolling out a layer of RedGard is that, for at least a brief moment, you can have your very own Barbie Dream House.

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Westley Graham-Paige @wesnotfewer.bsky.social · 9d

To be fair, they raised only $4.5m, which isn't even worth noting in terms of funding. It's a rounding error. It's a "we'll give these dorks some cash and maybe we'll get 5% ROI on it" wager. It's a vote of non-confidence, hoping that maybe the company will incubate someone worth poaching.

Westley Graham-Paige @wesnotfewer.bsky.social · 11d

It’s become an affectation of the useless influencer class. “Ohmygod, guys this *insert thing* is sooo aesthetic.”

I feel like there’s an simpler, Occam’s Razor, plaque-between-the-dendrites explanation to your question, though.

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Westley Graham-Paige @wesnotfewer.bsky.social · 13d

Me, when the SN95 was introduced: 😐

Me, seeing yours today:

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Westley Graham-Paige @wesnotfewer.bsky.social · 16d

I’ve washed my hands, like, five times and I still can’t bring myself to take it out of the sealed bag.

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Westley Graham-Paige @wesnotfewer.bsky.social · 18d

But it comes with a free frogurt.

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Westley Graham-Paige @wesnotfewer.bsky.social · 19d

No.

Westley Graham-Paige @wesnotfewer.bsky.social · 23d

*410A, not 140A. Dammit.

Westley Graham-Paige @wesnotfewer.bsky.social · 23d

3/ I'd expect the disadvantages to disappear over time as designs get better—like how we got to hear Boomers bitch about R-134 not being able to make icicles when it debuted, and now they bitch about R-1234yf not being as cold as good ol' R-134 systems were in the 90s.

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Westley Graham-Paige @wesnotfewer.bsky.social · 23d

2/ to the same setpoint. Evidently a 454B system requires around 15% more coil surface area to be as efficient as 410A.

The other was that 454B is still more expensive than 410A. If you get a leak or there's a failure, the parts are warrantied, but usually you're on the hook for a charge

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Westley Graham-Paige @wesnotfewer.bsky.social · 23d

I just installed a Bosch R-454B mini-split in my backyard office.

R-454B has about a fifth the GWP of R-140A.

Its downsides were that 454B is slightly less efficient than 410A in the same systems - so the previous year's Bosch was 410A and had the same size coils and required less power to cool

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Westley Graham-Paige @wesnotfewer.bsky.social · 25d

I had the extended warranty on that transmission that GM provided, and when their obligation to honor that was vacated post-bankruptcy, the Vue’s space in my garage was vacated as well.

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Westley Graham-Paige @wesnotfewer.bsky.social · 25d

Fun fact: I bought, new, a 2003 Vue AWD with the 2.2 Ecotec and a CVT. In 2008 I was on the launch trip for the Astra and related this fact to Jill Lajdziak - then General Manager of Saturn - and she patted me on the shoulder and looked me in the eyes and said, "Oh, my, I'm sorry."

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Westley Graham-Paige @wesnotfewer.bsky.social · Sep 11

Not going to disagree that the current Washington plates are very nice, but more surprising is that the sequence of "420" isn't blocked automagically here, like '69' is on vanity plates. WA sent these for the GT350 and they must have thought I really liked weed. Or K-pop.

Westley Graham-Paige @wesnotfewer.bsky.social · Sep 9

"Gimme Shelter" is the song that, when you hear it in a period-piece movie set in the 60s/70s, you immediately know that some shit is going to go down.

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Westley Graham-Paige @wesnotfewer.bsky.social · Sep 7

They were just lying there, with the cat nuzzling his snout, until I turned around with the camera. Then it became playtime. 😐

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Westley Graham-Paige @wesnotfewer.bsky.social · Sep 7

What advantages does that motor car have over, say, a train? Which you could also afford?

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Westley Graham-Paige @wesnotfewer.bsky.social · Sep 6

Happy birthday to me.

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Westley Graham-Paige @wesnotfewer.bsky.social · Sep 6

We interrupt *gesticulates wildly at everything* to bring you my cat and my corgi nuzzling.

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Westley Graham-Paige @wesnotfewer.bsky.social · Sep 5

Neat, so it got stuck in a redirect loop to war.gov. This administration has given us... *lowers sunglasses* ...endless wars.

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Westley Graham-Paige @wesnotfewer.bsky.social · Sep 4

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