Ford Zucks

I've never liked Ford, maybe with the exception of the pretty "sturdy" ones we could find in Europe back in the late 70ies (Granada, Orion, etc) - before they all rusted away...

Once on U.S. soil, I've kept the Fords at bay. Hundred of times I've rented from Hertz (then owned by Ford) for the sole reason they also provided Toyotas, Mazdas, Subarus, Volvos, and in rare cases Hondas. When renting a car, you really do not have to worry about the quality of the vehicle, but you do have to worry about driving it. Most Fords were more like "riding", while all the other cars allowed themselves to be "driven".

One trip from Lynchburg, VA, down to RTP was the nail in the coffin for Fords in my life. A brand new Taurus (or maybe it was a Taurus under the Mercury moniker, the Sable) was to be driven down the parkway down to the RTP airport. Never has a drive been so scary since not even this BRAND new car could provide illumination of the road, less any other form of "control" normally associated with "driving" a car.

So, when I stumbled over this story on Consumerist.com today, it sort of just reminded me how bad Fords are in my mind, and how crooked many car dealerships are (not only Fords, but it does not help if the dealership has to make up for poor product design). I've had Nissans, Audis, Toyotas, Hondas, even Saabs, and not one can even come close to what this poor fellow experiences with his Ford truck. On the contrary, these "import" vehicles run perfectly fine even when they pass the 100K mile marker. We should ask that from any car these days!

Why kill WolveZ?

These majestic and beautiful animals, brutally killed from the air. If you are out to hunt, at least give the animals a fair chance. Arial hunting is just slaughter, nothing else, and promoted by someone that could one day be the Prez.

Just one heartbeat away from being PreZident of the United States

If you missed this skit from Saturday's SNL, watch it here. Brilliant!



Also very scary when realizing that the message in this skit is way too close to becoming reality - "one heartbeat away...". Yikes!

Finally back HOME from "Zvenska" land

Short notice, but we are back home after two weeks in Sweden.
Probably never felt as good in coming BACK HOME as it did this time. More about that later, but there were a number of details that drove me nuts in Sweden this time.
Just needed to get a small entry in here, since it has been a tad stale lately.