10-13-10 – Fish

Have a Seat it is then?

Tiny Spanish cars. 128mph tops. Meh.

Hot volleyball cheerleaders, though.

😉

No, we’ve combined “Fish” and “Seats” now, so it’s Fiats.

Tiny Italian cars. 128mph tops. Meh.

Except that Fiat owns Maserati and Ferarri and Alfa now… 😀

So my Dad’s wee Fiat is actually related to a Ferarri now?
We have a Ferarri! I have driven a Ferarri!!!!

So my Dad’s wee Fiat is actually related to a Ferarri now?
We have a Ferarri! I have driven a Ferarri!!!!

One thing you’ve got to hand it to the Italians for though, you can take a little Alfa or Fiat and barrel through the mountains like a maniac without raising a sweat. I used to pass Honda CRXs in my ’68 Berlina.

The big ol’ Benz I drive now, and most of the American cars I’ve driven remind me of (to bring us back slightly on topic) the HHTG quote: “Looks like a fish, moves like a fish…steers like a cow”.

I was kinda taken aback by the short notice on this one, but Kestrana and I just figured now we have an excuse to visit the Mystic Aquarium.

You must be near my home town. Tell me how things look if you go. I miss it.

I think we’re going Saturday or Sunday.

Ah, I see “Niantic” as your location. I grew up in Stonington/Mystic but moved away in the late 70s. I spent a lot of time in Old Lyme and Old Saybrook in later years but I haven’t been back there since probably 1998 or so.

So my Dad’s wee Fiat is actually related to a Ferarri now?
We have a Ferarri! I have driven a Ferarri!!!!

One thing you’ve got to hand it to the Italians for though, you can take a little Alfa or Fiat and barrel through the mountains like a maniac without raising a sweat. I used to pass Honda CRXs in my ’68 Berlina.

The big ol’ Benz I drive now, and most of the American cars I’ve driven remind me of (to bring us back slightly on topic) the HHTG quote: “Looks like a fish, moves like a fish…steers like a cow”.

I’ll never figure out why American car makers are so hesitant to put a suspension and brakes that match the engine into a car. For a while, I drove a 62 Austin Healy, and that thing was like driving a go-kart on the interstate.

I drove a little tiny Toyota something, probably a Yaris, when I was on Kodiak Island. Thing looked like a cherry tomato, but it was fun to drive. Probably wasn’t built to be a rally car, but hey, it was a rental. I got all four wheels off the ground twice on a one-lane dirt road.

I don’t think I’ve ever driven the wheels off a car like I did to my 1998 Subaru Forester. I had it for 9 years in a town with a closed road system where the road goes 40 miles north of town and then stops. I bought it used in 2001, and put over 125,000 miles on it and it only left town once on the ferry. There’s not a stretch of back road here that it didn’t take me down, often in unplowed snow that was nearly up to the axles. Damn shame about the head gasket weakness in that particular year’s model.

I also drove a Forester from Anchorage nearly to the Canadian border in one 900 miles in 20 hours trip, with about 120 miles on some of the roughest gravel/ice/frostheaved road I’ve ever come across. I saw two other cars in 120 miles. The guide I had said to allow 5-6 hours for the 60 mile one-way trip to the end, and I did it in just over two hours. There were a bunch of times on that trip that I came over a small crest and saw the 50-yard slush-filled lagoon in the road ahead of me and I was sure that was the end of the joyride, but we powered through everything.

Last month, on Prince of Wales Island, the rental car company had the nerve to give me a six-year old Taurus. I took it on a night-time 150 mile one-lane dirt road that had so many twists, turns, steep inclines, and huge holes that 15 miles an hour felt like breakneck speed.

Goddamn, I love driving.

Ah, I see “Niantic” as your location. I grew up in Stonington/Mystic but moved away in the late 70s. I spent a lot of time in Old Lyme and Old Saybrook in later years but I haven’t been back there since probably 1998 or so.

“Mystic”? Isn’t there a pizza joint there? I heard they’re the bomb, but the waitresses have big teeth and an annoying laugh…

When i was a kid, my mother worked at the real Mystic Pizza. When she worked there it was owned/run by a guy named Ted Haines or something like that.

I don’t think I’ve ever driven the wheels off a car like I did to my 1998 Subaru Forester. I had it for 9 years in a town with a closed road system where the road goes 40 miles north of town and then stops. I bought it used in 2001, and put over 125,000 miles on it and it only left town once on the ferry. There’s not a stretch of back road here that it didn’t take me down, often in unplowed snow that was nearly up to the axles.

Love my Forester. Bought it new in 2002 because it was only $2000 more for the new 2002 than for the used 2000 with 45K miles on it…

I’ve since put over 135K miles on it – mostly chasing storms around Arizona, but it’s also seen time in snow, sleet, and f’ing blazing desert heat.

I’m on my third set of CV boots now, second set of rack boots… other than those minor bits, I’ve had no mechanical issues with it at all.

…I have an inside, working knowledge of the penal system.

Really? Me too! Good to know! Oh, and it’s spelled ‘penile‘, btw. Just sayin’. 🙄