Things you just don't get

[HRoi]

I probably liked The Stand the best of his books, and it was actually turned into a 4-part series that I thought was quite good (albeit dated)

 

[HRoi]

here's another thing I don't get - why do American taxi/livery companies insist on using fuel-inefficient vehicles like Town Cars, Crown Vic's and SUV's? I don't know much about the business but gas has got to be the biggest variable expense for an operator, amirite?

in SAn Francisco all the taxis were Priuses and as much as the sight of them annoys me, I thought it made all the sense in the world. Crown Vics are really not more comfortable, although I suppose they are a bit wider and have more trunk space. but a Prius was just fine for 2 passengers with 3 suitcases

 

[HRoi]

..

 

[upthewazzu]

here's another thing I don't get - why do American taxi/livery companies insist on using fuel-inefficient vehicles like Town Cars, Crown Vic's and SUV's? I don't know much about the business but gas has got to be the biggest variable expense for an operator, amirite?

in SAn Francisco all the taxis were Priuses and as much as the sight of them annoys me, I thought it made all the sense in the world. Crown Vics are really not more comfortable, although I suppose they are a bit wider and have more trunk space. but a Prius was just fine for 2 passengers with 3 suitcases

I think it has to do with the economies of scale for the old Ford fox-bodies. There is an entire support industry built around those cars. It's just too expensive to switch at this point. Although, I think changes are being made or have already been made in NYC. If so, the rest of the country will soon follow. FWIW, I didn't see too many Crown Vics as taxi's in Vegas last September, it was mostly Chevy Malibu's.

 

[deadly7]



The Stephen King book that it's based on was terrible as well. Probably 500 pages longer than it needed to be.

I was so lucky to stop reading King after the 2nd dark tower book came out. Not really by choice but kind of forgot about reading anything new after that book. That being said, with the advent of excellent cable TV like game of thrones out, I don't get why a cable TV network doesn't invest heavily into a good King book that can be drawn out into 12 episodes (like what netflix is doing with house of cards).

I also don't get why ron howard or even michael bay (yup I said it) doesn't make a super cheesy/hammy/entertainment only movie based on a Deen Koontz book like Cold Fire. Koontz's books seem tailor made for that kind of movie making.

I can't stand Stephen King's writing. It doesn't do anything for me as a horror thriller, I don't find it interesting, and even the Dark Tower series I could not find myself caring about. That said, some of his works have been adapted to amazing movies. I haven't met anybody that's neutral on King's novels, though: people either seem to love him, or hate him.

 

[otc]



here's another thing I don't get - why do American taxi/livery companies insist on using fuel-inefficient vehicles like Town Cars, Crown Vic's and SUV's? I don't know much about the business but gas has got to be the biggest variable expense for an operator, amirite?

in SAn Francisco all the taxis were Priuses and as much as the sight of them annoys me, I thought it made all the sense in the world. Crown Vics are really not more comfortable, although I suppose they are a bit wider and have more trunk space. but a Prius was just fine for 2 passengers with 3 suitcases

The cabs in chicago are rapidly switching. In fact, I can't remeber the last time I was in a crown vic. My last few cabs have been something like an Altima, a Prius, an SUV, and a Scion xB.

Unfortunately, I am not sure I like this trend. The Prius drivetrain is perfect for cabs--all cabs should be hybrids with regenerative braking since they put in 90% of their miles in stop and go traffic, but the prius is not a good size for a cab, especially since it costs as much as a crown vic or even a van-cab to ride in but has a fraction of the space.

I often get in a cab with 4 (and sometimes 5) people total which is just terrible in a prius or a scion. Even worse if the driver has long legs and needs the seat back a bit. And then if you have a bunch of stuff, you realize that the prius trunk is tiny since that is where the batteries also live. I can fit my bicycle with the front wheel off in the cavernous trunk of a crown-vic with the trunk lid closed and latched. A few Chicago companies have started adding MV-1s that run on compressed natural gas to their fleet which are purpose-built cabs and are well suited to the purpose. The altima cabs aren't bad either...I'm a big dude and have no trouble fitting in them comfortably.

upthewazzu is right about the infrastructure too. If you have a crown vic, there are companies that stock taxi dividers and rules-compliant seat covers that go right into the car without modification. Most of the new cab models seem to have weird seat covers (chicago doesn't allow cloth seats in cabs) and some ill-fitting driver shield that hits your knees...if they have a driver shield at all (there must be some exemption that allows prius cabs to get away without them...because I think chicago mandates the separators).

 

[HRoi]

^ all good points. I also just thought, ford must also give out some really sweet fleet pricing because literally no one else buys these cars

All of the above being true, I'm surprised that no (few?) cab companies pursue fuel efficiency improvements on cars that would meet some of the above standards. Or the car manufacturers themselves.

 

[dwinnier]

Men over the age of 18 wearing flip flops... put on some damn shoes and dress like a man!!!
Women wearing flip flops with dirty feet... its like they were walking in dirt all day and decided to go out without cleaning they're feet!!
People who cant stop looking at their damn "Smart phone" ... It's a phone with email, pics and useless aps... wow! get over it!!

 

[lawyerdad]



Men over the age of 18 wearing flip flops... put on some damn shoes and dress like a man!!!
Women wearing flip flops with dirty feet... its like they were walking in dirt all day and decided to go out without cleaning they're feet!!
People who cant stop looking at their damn "Smart phone" ... It's a phone with email, pics and useless aps... wow! get over it!!

People who can't master basic punctuation, capitalization, and spelling.

 

[otc]



All of the above being true, I'm surprised that no (few?) cab companies pursue fuel efficiency improvements on cars that would meet some of the above standards. Or the car manufacturers themselves.

Actually, I should have noted that I've also seen a lot of CNG fueled Altima cabs on the road (obviously only the same companies as the MV-1s since they have the refueling infrastructure). Maybe some hybrid and CNG Camrys too.

On a true hybrid, I'm not sure. Obviously they are doing it with the prius (and there aren't many other hybrids out there), but I can't decide if the pros and cons of the hybrid work for or against cab companies.

You get huge fuel savings from all of the regenerative braking (although how much fuel cost is paid by the cabbies vs the dispatch company they rent the car from), but you do have high up front costs. At the same time...how long are cabs on the road for? A big problem with hybrids is battery breakdown with age but if you are a cab service working double shifts on your cars, do the cars really last long enough to experience battery issues? If you've put 200k on the clock and sold off the car after 3 years, the late-onset maintenance costs of a hybrid will never hit.

The ideal urban cab would probably be a series hybrid (like a train, not power-split/parallel like a Prius) with the generation powered by CNG instead of gasoline....probably a microturbine instead of a conventional engine. You could take a chassis like the MV-1 or a london cab, direct drive the wheels (the effect on suspension from the unsprung mass wouldn't be a problem for a taxi), and eliminate a ton of unnecessary components. The end result would be fuel efficient, cheaply constructed, and have room for a full set of passengers plus storage. No need to pay for SUV power and toughness on a vehicle that will never leave the city streets and no need for the passenger amenities that get stripped out or covered up in a taxi-conversion.

 

[Rambo]

Cuckolds. I don't get this. Why would you want to watch as some dude bangs the **** out of your wife while she berates you for being horrible in the sack?

 

[Distorbiant]

Cuckolds. I don't get this. Why would you want to watch as some dude bangs the **** out of your wife while she berates you for being horrible in the sack?

AFAIK the feelings of jealousy, envy, and anger are a turn on for some people. Cuckolding just brings that out.

 

[Gibonius]

Humiliation fetish too.


I think there's some "sharing" fetish as well. Basically get off on knowing that somebody else enjoys "your" wife, but you get to go home with her.

 

[HRoi]

i always thought 'cuckolding' was one of those things that only existed in pr0n.

here's one thing i don't get - -

kopping/owning a **** ton of pocket squares. considering their usage and visibility, don't you only need a few of these in different colors?

 

[cptjeff]



i always thought 'cuckolding' was one of those things that only existed in pr0n.

here's one thing i don't get - -

kopping/owning a **** ton of pocket squares. considering their usage and visibility, don't you only need a few of these in different colors?

I just leave white cotton ones permanently stuck in the pockets of all my suits. I change 'em out on occasion, and look at the small pile of silk ones I never use with a little guilt, but it always looks good and is never wrong. One less thing to remember when I'm still waiting on my morning tea to cool down enough to drink.