by Simon 59 Replies latest social current
Yeah, the Europa. The Elan, the Elite and the Europa.
Have any of you heard of a little car called a Singer ... '55 Roadster? Believed it had an aluminum body.
I believe the Singer was the car driven by Elizabeth Taylor in the movie Butterfield 8. She crashed it at the end.
Maybe I'm not up to speed on all the details but aren't there things up there in Michigan called barns ???
Yep... but there is an law in beef production. If you bring your cows up close to a barn cause they have the closest due dates... the heifer you left in the back pasture will calve. with complications.. on the last 10 below night of the spring.
always count your sutures when you treat a prolapsed uterus... it's a chore to cut stitches and look for a needle you cant account for.
Besides...barns are for those wimpy dairy cows.
Hill
Thanks Gregor. I'm going to check that out.
Maybe the time we spend in the damn things has something to do with it also. When traveling by auto in the UK I noticed a perception of driving distances much different than the western US where I grew up. For example, London to York is a little over 200 miles. It seemed to me that locals considered that a pretty major auto trip. In California it would be no big deal to go visit a friend 200 mi away in the AM and drive home in the evening. Can anyone from the UK vouch for this or am I mistaken?
Yes, but traffic being what it is a 200 mile trip in the UK can take a lifetime - I can't remember the last time I was in a traffic jam over here (other than when I was right in the middle of Calgary and there were some floods). Once you are out of the city the roads are clear and there are usually alternate roads to go on.
In the UK the level of traffic on many of the roads is already at or past peak capacity. I've driven along the A55 (dual carriageway) on the Friday before a bank holiday weekend going *from* Llandudno back to Manchester (thank goodness) and the other carriageway has been stationary traffic the whole way - that's an hour and a half drive at 70 MPH ('cause I never sped, honest) and nowhere near 200 miles.
PS. Simon, When visiting there I loved the ability to drive from Calgary to Banff for dinner. Beautiful!
Yes, it's amazing to live so close to such beautiful places and be able to go for the day. It used to take a 9 hour flight to get this close
I've thought about it quite a bit. There are exactly 2 reasons.
1. Americans invented the "Hip" and "Square" concept. Whereas Euro-pee-ons have all kinds of deeply ritualized mechanisms by which they determine their pecking order, usually involving being the most "cultured" and most "the way you are 'supposed' to be", Americans create the social popularity ladder by being most interesting/individual/funny/or entertaining. Flashy cars, expecially unique or "other than normal" work well to that end.
2. America grew up and continues to be COMPLETELY dependant on cars. The car is a way of life because the car is necessary for life. Minneapolis got its FIRST light rail train just a few years ago. A Japanese friend expressed astonishment when I told her about it, I answered (she didn't own a car, neither did her family). I explained if I didn't have a car I'd starve to death and die in addition to not be able to go anywhere I want to go. I'm not kidding, my car broke down so I was without for about 4 days once, I got hungry (not much of a cook, nor did I have food in the house to cook). It isn't that Americans are obsessed with cars, its the Europeans can imagine cars to be an optional part of their lives. For Americans, they are not.
For example, London to York is a little over 200 miles. It seemed to me that locals considered that a pretty major auto trip. In California it would be no big deal to go visit a friend 200 mi away in the AM and drive home in the evening. Can anyone from the UK vouch for this or am I mistaken?
All Europeans are like that. Their countries are leeetle (everything IN their countries also is leetle). A Russian friend and me made hay about these kinds of perceptions. Big countries, big traveling, leetle countries, leetle traveling. It was funny to both of us, so its got nothing to do with being "American" more "from a big country".
I was staying in Berlin and decided on a whim to go see Munich, like on Friday during the day I said "I think I'll go to Munich tonight", to be back Monday morning for class. The Europeans and other small country people thought that was insane. That wasn't even driving, taking a night train. I can't remember how long it was, but I remember it wasn't long enough to actually sleep very much. To them going to Munich would be like being in New York and flying to Los Angeles for the weekend.
That's because we built better looking cars as the following shows:
http://www.stockmopar.com/pictures/1969-plymouth-road-runner-pictures.html
http://musclecars.howstuffworks.com/classic-muscle-cars/1970-plymouth-road-runner-superbird.htm
http://www.stockmopar.com/pictures/1971-plymouth-cuda-shaker-billboard-340-b5-blue.html
http://images.carcraft.com/howto/116_0502_01_z+amc_build+1970_amc_javelin.jpg
http://www.highperformancepontiac.com/features/hppp_0708_tin_indian_pontiac_gto/photo_06.html
The only British made car that I find remotely appealing is the Mini Cooper.
wasnt life grand then... $2500-4000 bucks... walk out with a 14 second car on pump gas with bias tires and a back seat
Id like a Jag xke if the lights worked and the battery stayed charged
Hill
I so wish I still had mine.
Looked like this one.:
I was staying in Berlin and decided on a whim to go see Munich, like on Friday during the day I said "I think I'll go to Munich tonight", to be back Monday morning for class. The Europeans and other small country people thought that was insane. That wasn't even driving, taking a night train. I can't remember how long it was, but I remember it wasn't long enough to actually sleep very much. To them going to Munich would be like being in New York and flying to Los Angeles for the weekend.
I had a similiar experience about 20 years ago in the UK. We were situated in Befordshire about two hours outside of London and everyday we would make daytrips to Brighton, Stonehenge, Wales, (ok that was an overnighter). My English cousins were flabbergasted that we would travel so far in one day. In the two weeks I was there, we saw more of England than they had seen in their entire lives!
They also made non-stop jokes about the "big Buicks" we all drive back home. At the time, in the 80's, small Japanese economy cars were much more popular, Civics, Tercels, etc. Luxury cars tended to be European, Porsche, Jaguar, Mercedes. Their perception of North Americans though was still stuck in the 50's. They imagined we all drove big Cadillacs and Buicks and big old Ford Thunderbirds.
Perception is very relative.
