Dillards 31: Grifting, Lying, and Allergies

[SapphireSlytherin]

2 minutes ago, PennySycamore said:

 

I love my MINI Cooper!

 

I test-drove a Cooper S a few years ago and loved it, but ended up buying a Mercedes SLK instead. (Got a GREAT deal on a used one and it's the ONE CAR in my life that I still miss to this day, but it was getting long in the tooth and I was leery of the cost of potential future repairs so I traded it in on something else.)

[pamplemousse]

I love my Prius. I bought it new 3 years ago and intend to drive it for a good long time.

I still miss the Grand Prix that was my first car, though. If only the transmission hadn't started to go (although it was up there in years and if the transmission had held up, something else might have gone...)

[Shadoewolf]

I inherited a bright red 2010 VW Beetle from my mom when she died last year. Only had a bit over 9,000 miles on it. Drives good but you should see our family of 5 pile out of it, it's like a clown car! 

As we just got screwed in a spot delivery scam at the local dealer its going to be a while before we car-shop again.

[SapphireSlytherin]

2 minutes ago, Shadoewolf said:

spot delivery scam

'splain, please?

[So-Virgin-It-Hurts]

Just bought a Toyota RAV4 but I really could give a rat's ass about cars.  It's purely a mode of transportation for me.  We like Toyota products and the RAV4 met our needs.  We just moved back to the US so Mr. So-Virgin will likely get a Lexus.

[potato]

I had a two door 1996 Toyota Tercel throughout undergrad and wouldn't stop complaining about it until our trusty mechanic confirmed that it was a death trap.  Then as a graduation gift last year, I got a 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe.  It's definitely not perfect but it's such a big step up from my little Tercel that I'm still loving every minute of it!   

[Kangaroo]

I've always wanted a Mini. One day I'll get one, but I have a feeling it will be many years away.  It's got to be red with white stripes (Because it goes faster, duh), or green because then it matches my Lego mini cooper 

If I was buying a car today (which would be my first car!), I think I'd buy a Toyota Corolla hatch. It's not too small and bubbly looking, and they seem like a decent car. I don't know much about cars.

Fun car related story. When I watch American shows, you always have car brands we don't have here. Some of them just have different names, but it took me a long time to figure that out.

[AlwaysExcited]

I didn't finish my driving course, so I cannot legally drive, so no car, so this thread drift is boring.

But every car should be big enough to have a space for at least one huge dog.

[lumpentheologie]

For those of us who don't have cars/drive, we could talk about favorite public transportation. I miss the Metro in St. Petersburg.  The Russian subways are the best I've ever been on -- the trains come every 90 seconds on average, the stations are clean and gorgeous, and a ticket is very inexpensive. I also like taking the escalators that go so far down you can barely see where they end. 

The New York subway seems to be crumbling around us as we speak, ugh. 

[wikinggirl]

6 minutes ago, lumpentheologie said:

For those of us who don't have cars/drive, we could talk about favorite public transportation. I miss the Metro in St. Petersburg.  The Russian subways are the best I've ever been on -- the trains come every 90 seconds on average, the stations are clean and gorgeous, and a ticket is very inexpensive. I also like taking the escalators that go so far down you can barely see where they end. 

The New York subway seems to be crumbling around us as we speak, ugh. 

I prefer this thread drift over cars! 

I also really liked the Russian subway, especially in Moscow. Another favorite is the Seoul Metro, maybe because they have free and clean toilets on every station.

I think I prefer the tram though, I just love sitting on a tram around whichever city I'm in. 

[SilverBeach]

Actual car: Toyota Camry that is a color that inspired my user name. Will keep it until the wheels fall off.

Fantasy car: Tesla

Oh, and cars should have space for the driver's purse, stupid male car designers.

And, as long as that baby isn't born anywhere near July 20, I'm good.

[AlwaysExcited]

1 hour ago, lumpentheologie said:

For those of us who don't have cars/drive, we could talk about favorite public transportation.

Metro in Stockholm. Cheap, fast and easy to use. I really enjoyed it. It's been a while since I was in Prague, but I remember that their metro was similar. I've never been in Russia.
There were plans to build a metro in capital city of my country in 80s. People protested. It never happened.

[xlurker]

Dream car? 64 1/2 candy apple red rag top mustang, hands down   A VW Karman Gia comes in a close second.  Favorite car I owned was a 67 GTO...I do miss that car!  What I drive now?  Kia Soul...great milage and I can (almost) use it like a small truck

[Marly]

I don't specifically have a 'favorite' public transportation system, but I do have a favorite part of public transportation in the Netherlands: free use of the public transportation system for students. Aside from that, although I'm happy that public transportation exists and that I think people should be encouraged to use PT from an environmental point of view, I disagree with our current system, mainly because of the prices. If you have to pay full price, the Dutch public transportation system is very expensive, and rather discourages people from using the PTS. It's usually cheaper to go somewhere by car than by PT. I lose my free PTS card after the summer, and since I don't have a car it means I'll be visiting my parents a lot less. More than 15 euro's for a two-way ticket for a 16 minute train ride (would be 25 minutes by car) is too much for me to do on a weekly basis.
Thankfully, I do have three bicycles, so instead of taking the bus to the university I'll go on my bicycle after summer. (It's about 35 minutes by bike, 14 by bus). (It would be about three hours to bicycle to my parents' place, and that's way too long for me :P)

The prices of the PTS do make me wish I had a car.

[Karma]

I'll be braving the Beijing metro in a few days.  Wish me luck!  

We have a Subaru Outback on lease thru my husband's package. Turn it over every 4 years.  It was great when the kids were younger and I had bikes on a rack, and took the kids camping, but these days I think it's too big, so I'm keen for something smaller next time.  We managed with one car until 2 years ago as he catches the train to and from work, but once Miss karma got her license we bought a little Hyundai I20. I LOVE driving that - it's so little and easy to park.  But it's got no power and I have to allow extra time if turning right and there's oncoming traffic.  I wouldn't even consider overtaking in it.

[DawkinsFanGirl]

The absolute best public transport system in this whole wide world is in Vienna, Austria! (Sorry, all other places ;-)). It's cheap (1€/day for the whole city for the "year ticket"), fast, dependable, clean, runs all through the night on weekends and if there's ever a problem, they fix it immediately. A lot of people here don't have cars or even licenses because it's just not necesary.

[lumpentheologie]

5 minutes ago, Karma said:

I'll be braving the Beijing metro in a few days.  Wish me luck!  

Good luck!  When I used the Beijing metro I found it very manageable, if limited in destinations.  But that was in 2005, they may have expanded it by now.  

[Karma]

Thanks!  I've used metros in most places we've travelled, and generally end up in the right place eventually...although I've never been somewhere where I couldn't recognise words.  I was just looking online and was happy to see they've got a metro card, which simplifies buying tickets at least.

[onekidanddone]

3 hours ago, lumpentheologie said:

For those of us who don't have cars/drive, we could talk about favorite public transportation. I miss the Metro in St. Petersburg.  The Russian subways are the best I've ever been on -- the trains come every 90 seconds on average, the stations are clean and gorgeous, and a ticket is very inexpensive. I also like taking the escalators that go so far down you can barely see where they end. 

The New York subway seems to be crumbling around us as we speak, ugh. 

The Metro in Washington DC won the prize for the worst subway system for at least four or five years running. And 'running' might not be the best term. More like 'stuck in an unconditioned car in a tunnel for half an hour".

Oh as for dream car?  A mid 70s Toyota Land Curiser FJ40 because it brings back good memories of spending the summer in New Mexico when I was a kid.

[SapphireSlytherin]

I think London's tubes are the easiest to navigate, and they're generally clean and "not scary."

NYC subway is second-easiest, but yeah - it's dirty and smelly... and ratty. Literally. lol

Not a fan of the Paris Metro or Chicago's El. 

 

[lumpentheologie]

2 minutes ago, SapphireSlytherin said:

I think London's tubes are the easiest to navigate, and they're generally clean and "not scary."

NYC subway is second-easiest, but yeah - it's dirty and smelly... and ratty. Literally. lol

Not a fan of the Paris Metro or Chicago's El. 

 

My problem with the Tube is that it makes me claustrophobic! The ceilings are so low I can't even stand upright except in the very center of the car, which is rarely available. 

I'm surprised you found the NYC subway easy!  I've lived in New York for 6 years and still have problems with it. It took me about a year to figure out which trains were express and which were local during which hours, and if you want to go anywhere on the weekend or late at night there's about a 50/50 chance that a given train line won't be running normally. Lately there have been so many signal problems that it seems like you're taking your chances even getting on the subway -- recently it took me an hour and a half to get somewhere that usually takes 40 minutes. 

At least Chicago's El has real plastic cards you can pay with instead of the magnetized MetroCards in New York that routinely steal fares from me. 

[Lurky]

New York subway did my head in, as the stations with the same names don't actually link up in a lot of places.  So you get off and walk a block overground to change lines, whereas in London, Barcelona, Madrid etc, if the lines are in different places, you can walk between them without leaving the station.

[SapphireSlytherin]

16 minutes ago, lumpentheologie said:

My problem with the Tube is that it makes me claustrophobic! The ceilings are so low I can't even stand upright except in the very center of the car, which is rarely available. 

I'm surprised you found the NYC subway easy!  I've lived in New York for 6 years and still have problems with it. 

<snip>

I consider myself tall and have no problems standing on the Tube, even by the doors (I'm 5'7"). I love LOVE the Oyster Card payment system, too.

I hear you, though, on the service interruptions on the NYC subway, and my biggest gripe is the lack of a direct connection from Penn to Grand Central. I've heard they're going to phase out the mag stripe cards soon?

[cascarones]

@Karma good luck! I'd love to hear all about your trip after, I'm going early next year! 

Cars: I've got one of the new beetles, currently visiting the car doctor after a cross country road trip and I love her. They're referring to her as the onion car, because they had to pull a bunch of onions out of the under carriage (thank you agricultural wonders of Idaho!). I'm really tickled by it.

Public transportation: When I first moved to New York I tried to check on someone and give him a bottle of water and snack bar, thinking he might be dead as he hadn't moved from when I'd been earlier.

He wasn't dead, he punched me in the face and then asked if he could still have the water.

So I looked like a panda for a bit and New Yorkers were exceedingly nice to panda cascarones, nobody would let me pay for anything, carry anything. 

 

[The Wanderer]

41 minutes ago, SapphireSlytherin said:

I think London's tubes are the easiest to navigate, and they're generally clean and "not scary."

NYC subway is second-easiest, but yeah - it's dirty and smelly... and ratty. Literally. lol

Not a fan of the Paris Metro or Chicago's El. 

 

I love the Tube! London has been my favorite mass transit system so far. NYC is sub-par to it imho, although it is pretty easy to navigate. And the Paris Metro is disappointing (haven't used mass transit in Chicago yet).

Surprisingly, my second-favorite mass transit system is Hong Kong's, which is about as clean as the tube so I was very impressed.

ETA: Most cities beat out mass transit where I'm from (Atlanta). I use MARTA to go to the airport but they have a long way to go.