The B12 (XII) Forum, home of the 'Front Porch, y'all' at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

V8s are good

big block V8s are better

and turbo diesel's rule... my 12k# truck can hit 60 in right at 5 seconds.  there are a lot of cars that can outrun it now in stock condition, but 9 years ago when i first built it- there weren't.  
but i'll share something i hate.
i hate the guys who 'roll coal' in their turbo diesels, acting like they're all badass- when all they are doing is wasting fuel, putting good engines in unnecessary peril, and making the rest of diesel owners look like the schmucks they are.  
and something else i hate- not that i'm a grammar nazi- but the last sentence in the last line before this one... why can't i use they're there instead of they are?  that's stupid.  language is goofy, especially the bastardized version teenagers are using today.... i h8 that dung.  

It's not that you can't use "they're," it's just that it wouldn't sound right--therefore wouldn't make sense--in the reader's head.  Contractions are how we express in writing how people actually speak.  People point to a pair of boots and say "they're mine."  But people don't say "like the schmucks they're."  They say "like the schmucks they ARE."  To say it the former way would make the listener think that the speaker meant "like the schmucks there."

So I'm not the only one who's noticed the truck boys.  Seems to be the newer trucks.  The commonness of their blinding lights really annoyed me at first but now it's so very common that I suspect it's not anything the driver can control - like high beams.  Instead, I just suspect it's a combination of pickups sitting up higher and having much better lights than they used to.
For the longest time I hated the positioning of the lights on Dodge trucks.  The parking lights down in the bumper looked like fog lights. 
Now all the newer trucks seem to have very bright, somewhat obnoxious lighting.  Not necessarily like the Dodge set up but with HIDs and LED wrap arounds and being four feet off the ground, they're like mobile flood lights.

There's not much to like about the late-model pickup trucks on the road.  Their headlights are indeed high and multitudinous, and at night they are blinding.  The drivers seem to think they own the road, sitting at their regal elevation.  They'll tailgate you on the highway, then block you on the exit ramp when they slow down to avoid tipping over.  And they are both hilarious and a menace to everyone when driving on snow or ice.

Sorry, Fearless.  You don't make the cut.

My criticism of pickup drivers in the snow was aimed at those who live south of the frozen tundra of northwest Iowa.  You just don't qualify.

However, if you drive 80--getting right up on the rear bumper of any lesser mortal who is only doing 75--on 65-mph highways, then slow to 25 on the exit ramps, you might qualify under earlier provisions of my rant.

How about the driver in the left lane driving at the same speed as another driver in the right lane so nobody can pass them

Its like they are the law and will make sure you drive the speed limit

Now I know that in many states this is against the law but this doesnt keep these nitwits from doing this

my daughter turned 16 a couple years ago- earning her license only after passing the driving course offered through school (but paid for independently), contingent on grades above a C average to maintain and with restrictions that they can only be on the road after 9pm if they are returning from a school function.... communists, i tell you.  
use of left lane as a passing lane only is straight up ignored- not mentioned- not taught in even mention.  i had her ask her driving instructor who was a lady of considerable girth and likely 40 years old- she informed her 'left lane for passing is a myth, and only ignorant people believe otherwise"... 
meanwhile, the one of the taliban (lower case T, and referring to the boys who live(d) across the street from me for the last 10~12 years) has become a police officer in the last six months after studying for a couple years and getting his certificate (BLET) last spring.. I asked him- his response was starkly different than the chubby driving instructor lady saying 'left lane is for passing'.  I called him ignorant according to the lady.. he didn't like that- and i told him why... he too went through the same course offered through the school and had the same lady... he said he was going to set her straight when he sees her next.  
all the while, i sought a driving handbook from my daughters collection of study- and.... nowhere in it does it have mention of left lane for passing - not once... 
i was certainly taught that even long before drivers education.  it was a simple courtesy before it was a law.  it is no longer a courtesy and it appears the law is about to be removed, using what they're teaching as a measure. 

In Texas if you continue to drive in the left lane and are holding up traffic youre subject to a $200 fine

I don't know what the fine is, but it is also illegal in Oklahoma to hold up traffic in the left lane.  Left lane is the passing lane.  Went into effect a few months ago.

Fred we are multi taskers