Once, not so very long ago, you only bought a small car if you couldn’t afford a large one. “Bigger,” as the saying goes, “was ever so much better.” But recent trends have pushed public opinion unmistakably and forcefully in the opposite direction.1 Computers chips have moved from micrometers to nanometers2 in scale, and small, […]
Car
Fender Bender Support Group for Traumatised Motorists
The latest support group taking over the world is a bit of a crash-course in handling trauma from minor automobile accidents. A growing number of motorists is finding solace in the Official Fender Bender Support Group (OFBSG), which takes its name from the informal American term for a minor road accident. The OFBSG began just […]
On Buying a Motor Vehicle
Recently,1 I’ve been considering buying a motor vehicle. This makes me quite an expert on motor vehicle purchases—or maybe it just makes me an expert on considering buying a vehicle. Anyway, whether my expertise is a purchasing expertise, or merely a consideration expertise, I’ve managed to break the process of purchasing, or at least of […]
What To Do When Your Check Engine Light Comes On
You’ve had the experience. You’re driving down the highway in your nine-and-a-half-year-old Ferrari, at about mach 3 speed, wind blowing in your hair even though the windows are up, and you see a cute little engine icon pop up on the dash board. Your first thought might be, “Oh, an Easter egg! The manufacturer’s letting […]
Turkeys Invade Ohio Suburb
An alert reader recently communicated the following excerpt from a local news-publication: A Westerville [Ohio] caller reported that several turkeys were disrupting traffic by chasing cars in the roadway. . . . When police arrived, the turkeys had left the area.1 Ever eager to find out the real truth behind what passes for news these […]
Reverse Advertising
I started to become aware of this new kind of advertising when a truck featuring a prominent bumper sticker pulled in front of me and slammed on its brakes.1 “Well,” I said to myself, “I’m never going to McDonald’s again.” It was only later, when I happened to discuss the incident with a fellow sufferer […]
Man Sues State of South Carolina for Speciesism
A couple of years back, the Massachusetts Supreme Court heard the case of Jane Doe v. State of Massachusetts, in which a woman who had been ticketed for HOV lane violation successfully maintained that the company of her three dogs made her car a high occupancy vehicle and that any claims to the contrary were […]
United States Supreme Court Rules Driving Barefoot Unconstitutional
Ever since the United States of America began its rebellion from the Mother Country, new and unusual legal quandaries have popped up in every facet of their, the Americans’, so-called laws, which could have been solved easily by the Royal Authority putting the Royal Foot down. A good example of this is the recent ruling […]