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Goodbye, and Goodriddence to 2009 and this awful decade

We started off the new millennium with lots of hopes. The whole “Year 2000″ thing sounded so exciting and futuristic, and we were all expecting great things to come. Instead, this decade has been an awful start that hopefully won’t set the stage for the next 90. While some areas had wild amounts of success and made our lives better (like all these fancy new cell phones), just about every part of our lives has suffered some kind of step backwards in the 2000s.

Here’s why I can’t wait for the month to end and will be welcoming 2010 with open arms.

The Music of the 00’s

It all started off with this and has just gone downhill.

Linkin Park: Pure awful on a disc

In 2000 the #1 album was “The Beatles: 1″, and by 2005 it was a 50 Cent album. That’s how fast things went downhill. The rest is history. Year after year we are treated to another piece of repetitive trash, a new Britney comeback album, or something else that just makes you dumber every time you hear it. It’s gotten so bad that we now consider a song who’se only lyrics are “Tonight’s gunna be a good night” to be perfectly acceptable. Excuse me while I go barf.

It’s ridiculous how much 90’s music I listen to now just because today’s “artists” have driven me in another direction so rapidly.

The music industry as a whole became something we all hated. Nothing like hearing record labels cry poor from piracy only to find out now that they use unauthorized recordings in compilations all the time.

Cars and The Auto Industry

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The Auto-Euthanization of “Cash for Clunkers”: What Happens to your Clunker when you trade it in.

Not even Bill would allow it

Since the CARS program has been on the news constantly I got to wondering: What happens to the vehicles that are traded in as “Clunkers”. There’s lots of things that could potentially be done with these cars, many of which are still in fantastic running condition. They could be donated to people that need cars, used for the government or military, be test vehicles on nuclear or crash test sites, given to local high school or college vo-tech programs so kids can learn how they work / how to modify them, monster truck rally, etc. There’s a million different options for what could potentially be done.

And what does the government choose to do instead of putting good running vehicles to good use? It systematically and ritualistically destroys them. They use a product called Sodium Silicate, AKA liquid glass to get the job done by pouring it directly into the engine. The Sodium Silicate runs about $360 per barrel, check out prices here, where you can also buy an absurd quantity of other chemicals.

How it works is simple: You mix up your Sodium Silicate / H2O solution and pour it directly into the engine where you would normally put the Oil. Let it run at about 2k RPMs for 3-7 minutes and wait till it dies out. Try to start it up to make sure and there we go: The car is rendered useless and will be sent off for scrap.

These are the instructions:
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Got a problem with Ninjas? Then we’ve got the car for you!

Yesterday morning, I took my car in to get looked over. While the “Diagnostic Testing” was a little pricey, the upside was that they gave me a free rental car off the lot to have fun with while my 940 was under the microscope. I was pretty thrilled to be driving off the lot in a $40,000 swedish luxury sedan: The Volvo S80.

The S80 has an abundance of features that make it easy to fall in love with. And with the elegant dashboard, the blind spot warning system (aka, blinking lights), and the absurdity of putting 6×9 speakers in the front doors, it’s pretty hard not to.

As I was discovering more and more things about the car that were just common sense, I discovered an extra feature: The Personal Car Communicator (PCC).
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My first 4th of July with a Foreign Car

On my way home from work on Tuesday, I was most disturbed when my 1988 Chevrolet Caprice just turned itself off in the middle of traffic. Such things are most unusual, and as such I figured that the car had merely stalled out and that I should just try to revive it. So I turned the vehicle on where she started right up. I then revved the engine a little bit and I was back on the road…only to have the car stop again a few blocks later. I’m able to steer the car over to the side of the road…where it no longer starts. I hear only a tick tick tick from the starter and that’s it. Upon calling my Dad to come check it out, we realize that a massive oil leak that sprung up from who knows where under the engine. The engine, of course, did not care for this any much and simply decided “You know what, I’ve had more than enough of this tomfoolery” and promptly right then and there decided to end it’s life. The small block 305 seized up right there, and that was that.

Left me by the side of the road waiting for Nick’s Towing to show up, I tried to keep my cool and not become completely irate. I think I did a fantastic job, but that’s just me. Mark this down as the single most frustrating week of my life between everything that’s happened.

My 1988 Chevy Caprice...in it's former glory

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Badass Punk / Pirate VW Rabbit

Another fun find while driving. Note the spraypainted skull and crossbones on the door.

This is the last of the “random weird cars I see while driving” for a while. I promise. But this was too sweet to not post up.

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Bumper Stickers….not always smart

While I don’t really consider this a “car’ blog and don’t plan on making it one, there’s been enough interesting car coverage to warrant a new category.

Anyways, on my way home I encountered a car with one of those pro american, save your job bumper stickers. The ironic bit being that it was on a Chevy HHR and this immediately threw up some red flags.

Behold, the car.

Chevy HHR: Made in...

Behold, the hypocracy.
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