Friday Went Like So

Ran a few miles, fuddled about at the Mall since it was gonna be my last FRIDAY Friday (as in all to myself) for oh maybe five weeks. Then I got back home when Brenda asked me to like a good Mister Husband.

Back in the Once Upon a Time, When No One Expected Brenda had Cancer? We bought tickets to see Jim Jeffries. Brenda slightly rescheduled her chemo so she'd be at her best. Or the best she could manage.





We found a relatively quiet table in the back of Rock Bottom, which I wiped down with a disinfecting wipe first.





Then time for an incredibly incorrect show. Trump got maybe two minutes, cuz truth is, Donald's neither interesting nor entertaining. But you'd have to watch the show to see better material and I'm not ruining it....

My Byoo-tiful Car! It's OBSELETE!!!!

So this appeared on the internets very recently.





My car's the third one. In the shadows. You know, the one you can buy right now.
The first two are the proposed replacement looks.






Those new back ends are SEXAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY.



If you ask me, the new front ends are STUPID. Nice looking? Sure! But unless you live in Michigan (or a similar state) you ruin that grille with a cruddy, wrinkly, cheap-looking license plate. Oh! And and AND if you spend more on a very nice option like full-stop adaptive cruise (HINT: You want that, you really do) you'll deface it yet some more with the radar sensor.

(ETA: If you ask ME? Certain states should sell blacked-out plates with luminescent numbers for 2-3x the price of a standard plate. Four times the price for a custom blacked-out plate. They'd sell the living (BLEEP) out of 'em! But I digress. Surprise, surprise)

But Sonatas aren't selling. For whatever reason Sonatas aren't selling. And the (formerly super-sexy) Kia Optima's sales have dropped even more dramatically. Again, no idea why. A Sonata guy and I were in the parking lot at the gym last week, wondering why everyone hasn't bought themselves three of them already. Whether the cheapest base model or a loaded one, they're quiet and reliable and smooth and a ridiculous bargain and well-backed and an Asian-level midsize car. Chevy might have just caught up with interior capacity, but not with that Ecotec engine, ya don't. Ford isn't there yet, with their tiny back seat and heavy curb weight. Chrysler's given up trying...even after Hyundai was nice enough to loan 'em parts. Anywayyyyyy

What I hope the Koreans do--beyond pretty styling--is catch up to the next Camry. Sorry, Korea. It's time to upgrade the powertrain with an 8 speed tranny. And while you're at it, try TUNING THAT TURBO ENGINE so it's not a bad joke. Maybe they can get away with the 7-speed DCT instead. Mayyyyyyybe. But the results will have to edge everyone else in the crowded field. 'Specially considering every other competitor offers a 6-cylinder option. Furd's base model Fusion is NOTHING compared to a similar Sonata. BuuUUUuuut Furd races cars in all the stock car leagues and also offers a 300+ horsepower twin-turbo version of their car. If Korea imagines that doesn't affect some folk's decisions--even those who'll never afford more than a well-chewed rental return--they should think again. No one makes these decisions using both halves of their brain. If even one.

K that's tonight's NerdRant.