Here are today’s Clovers!
First, the Lexus Clover.Who can also be a BMW or Mercedes or Audi Clover. These are the drivers of “luxury sport” sedans who drive them as if they were driving a ’79 Caddy with whitewall tires and fake wire wheels; i.e, leisurely. And there’s nothing wrong with that, per se. What’s absurd is to drive that way in a “luxury sport” sedan with 18 or 19 inch wheels and “sport” tires and high capacity four wheel disc brakes and so on.
It is like walking around wearing one of those fake muscle suits that make you look as though you’re big.
The second Clover is the stereotypical Subaru Clover – who slows down even more for the curves:
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Don’t blame BMW, blame Arnie Becker.
Actually, blame Steven Bochco, creator of L.A. Law. By making ambulance chasing sexy (TV always had plenty of cheap to produce courtroom dramas, but with grizzled old men, not Susan Dey in her prime), and turning Yuppies into an aspirational lifestyle, everyone wanted a German sports car. Didn’t matter that at the time they were very plain Jane, ride like s**t over potholes and no one in LA could drive faster than 40 MPH on a good day, at least that badge showed you paid too much for your transportation.
Same thing happened with the SUV, when it destroyed the station wagon. At first it was all about getting out of the driveway without having to shovel snow. Then it became an odd sort of status symbol for middle and upper class suburbia. I remember getting a ride to some off site function from the sales manger in her XJ… leather seats, dash full of gadgets, baby seat in the cargo area and a car phone (which she proceeded to use for the whole ride rather than talk shop with me, a mere technician). I’m certain that thing never saw anything but bare pavement.
So the manufacturers had to step up and make them into luxury vehicles. Airbag suspensions to take out the bumps. Leather seats (that crack, because Germans can’t get leather right for some reason), gadgets and map lights, etc. Stuff that has nothing to do with driving and everything to do with making them what the customer really wanted, a Cadillac.
I have a Clover story…nothing to do with driving though.
There is no greater anguish as a parent than watching your children date.
I mentioned a month or two ago my youngest met someone at Prom. Over the last month it has been a constant barrage of texts, two to three hour phone calls, etc. This was from the young man, who will now be referenced as “ball-less dweeb” . He texted her in the morning, at night, and throughout the day. She responded when he did. Three weeks ago he invited her to a social gathering with a bunch of other kids their age (17 to 19 years old). It was kind of an outdoor picnic with sports (kickball, baseball, etc.). Daughter believed they had a good time. She met some new people, participated in kickball, and had a cheeseburger. When she got home she texted ball-less dweeb for inviting her and said she had a good time. No response to her text for a week. She then tries calling him (one phone call)…again no response. Another week passes and she texts him again, “Are you okay?” He then blocks her! No “I am sorry this isn’t working out” nada just text going from blue to green.
Of course daughter is confused. I haven’t dated in 30 years so I have no idea is this is normal. If this is the new wave of dating no wonder no one wants to be in a relationship. I did ask her if she had a pic of him. She shook her head no. I told her if she did it, it would be good dart practice. I would have a lot more respect for the guy if he was upfront with her instead of acting like an 8 year old by disappearing.
Morning, RG!
This is called ghosting and it’s pretty common now, apparently. Sail Fawns are our misfortune. We were damned lucky to have grown up before the damned things appeared.
Hi Eric,
You are right…cellphones is society’s downfall.
I am happy to be a child of the 80s…things were simpler.
Having been in the modern dating world, at least as it was in 2019, I’ll offer a few observations:
1) It is harder to avoid people. We’re all connected to a communications network 24/7. “Sorry I missed your call, I wasn’t home” isn’t a valid excuse any more. I have a phone on my wrist, unless I’m out of coverage (which for most isn’t possible) there’s no missing calls. If your squeeze isn’t picking up, assume they’re avoiding you for some reason.
2) It’s far too easy to keep a dialogue going. For the same reason as above, it is very easy to continue a conversation for weeks, and history allows you to pick up where you left off. Once you give out your number/screenname, that’s it. For some people the conversation runs all day all the time. And if you’re at a different place on the relationship timeline it can get really annoying to see her name come up on caller ID morning noon and night if it isn’t working out. In my case I was her weekend meal plan and tech support while to me, she was “the one.” That didn’t end well but we still parted on good terms.
3) Conflict avoidance. Hours of Youtube fights and unnecessary emotional outbursts leads to not wanting to deal with her suicidal side. And these days when everyone has to hug and share, younger generations aren’t equipped to deal with disappointment.
4) Doxxing/Swatting. Things don’t work out. Go our separate ways? No way! Pump up the likes on TikTok with your “crying in the car” videos. Or worse, put out a mob hit to your followers who will harass on your behalf. Or maybe even call in a hostage threat. Why not? It’s all fun and he probably deserves it for voting for Trump anyway.
Not sure what we can do about all this, still early days for the tech. Time will heal wounds, but it also will show kids that it isn’t the end of the world to get dumped. Lots of fish in the sea and all that. That works both ways. Ignoring a bad relationship will always be worse than just being up front and honest.
Hi RK,
You make very valid points. Sometimes on a slow Friday night hubby and I will put YT on and watch old Kevin Samuel videos, Taylor the Fiend, or GriffinMind because neither one of us truly believe that people (usually women) actually make videos online sobbing uncontrollably and looking absolutely ridiculous.
I actually felt bad for the guys because the women came away looking like gold digging, attention seeking, nut jobs.
In real life it seems both sexes suffer from emotional immaturity. I told daughter the best thing to do was work on becoming successful…focus on her studies and work toward her degree.
Sparkey is right…it was best that our kids don’t date until they’re 25. 😳
Well, rats. So he’s gone, that ruins the “gut the first one that shows up, drape over the fence as a warning to future horn dogs”. (credit to my best bud Jimmy for that one!)
Anyway, you’re a common sense Mom, and Dad is still at home – two very important pillars of support as your daughter grows thru the teen years. This makes a good set point for her future hubby choice (if she wants to get married) the example of Mom and Dad staying with the program thru thick and thin. Subconsciously she will be judging them “how will my future look with Delbert here?”
You’ve probably already imprinted this but gals need to understand “you’re not Florence Nightingale, guys f’d up in their teens are f’d up forever, don’t ruin your future with some obvious loser”.
So I got stuck behind one today. 30 in 35 where most people do 45. Then when we get to the 25mph zone and the 20mph school zone the clover goes right through at 30 just like every clover on this road.
I was in a long back up before this road doing 30 in a 50. My guess it was caused by this dufus who decided 30mph everywhere.
Really? A Clover does 30 in a 20 m.p.h school zone? That’s, super weird.
They have speed trap cameras & extra-hide-ie cops in The City near here and I always slam on the brakes for those revenue generators. The F-er’s jump up on ya.
Your comment made me watch Eric’s video. It cracked me up with the brake lights on the corners, as if they were driving my Navigator while pulling a heavy trailer.
Being out here in flatland Iowa (like, Chi town) I can’t imagine the frustration Eric must go thru going down all those twisty downhill turns.
That said. Oh man, I hope to Never have to drive in Chee-Ca-Go ever again. My sympathies.
Morning, Brent!
Yup. A characteristic of Clovers is they drive erratically. The slow down for no apparent reason and then speed up – again, for no apparent reason. Then they brake – again, for no apparent reason. Maybe it’s the clot shots… all I know is it is getting worse.
Why am I not surprised it was a Jewcedes, ES most likely (The official jewish brand in the tristate)
Besides those, grew up with Lux driving clovers in my old home town; housewives and their daughters in the higher up models (not M’s but 335s/350s/etc.) driving like Grandma in her Corolla, why I loathe germans that aren’t classics, and why other than my manual A4 I avoided them like the plague.
Remind me to order some anti-clover stickers btw, wanna support you the fun way
Jew-This, Jew-That, you people are nutz.
Oh no, I’m not a raging “Anti-semite”, its just a fact that most of the Lexus ES and RX’s are driven by Jewish folks in the the area, esp. in summer when the Sephardic jews come down from NY to invade Deal.
Its so used, you don’t think about it, like when someone from the tristate uses “fuck” in a sentence. If I threw in bastard afterwards, then your point would be valid
Another issue here in WA is the urban bus riders deciding highway design out in the sticks. SR 410 is the state highway that takes you around the east side of Mt. Rainier, it’s a very scenic and fun ride on a motorcycle.
The “Clovers/Tree Huggers of Highway Design” environment wackos put the nix on adding shoulder areas with at least a 30 ft cutback of trees and brush near Greenwater WA / Federation Forest State Park area. This was to provide a reasonable chance of avoiding a head on crash and see & avoid the large number of deer in the area. “Oh no – our precious trees!”
Here’s what we got, road rebuilt but no shoulders and trees and brush right up to the road, Google maps: 5835+98G Greenwater, Washington
Typical in many forested areas in the state.
Here is SR410 on the east side run, this got done decades ago before the enviro nuts infested the highway dept, via Google maps: XM2R+CCH Goose Prairie, Washington
In Russia, Russians have been known to chop off the front end of a car, use the back seat to hold reins from the bit and bridle attached to a horse pulling the rest of the car.
In Arizona, a box truck has a vehicle inside the box and pulling another vehicle on I-10, all the way to Mexico. They get to be a road hazard.
The real clovers are out there everywhere you go.
When you are in Seattle, be sure to visit Olympia Pizza up on Queen Anne Avenue.
You won’t be disappointed.
“ When you are in Seattle, be sure to visit Olympia Pizza up on Queen Anne Avenue “
When they opened in 1975 it still was a fun town for “normal” folks. Dad was a Seattle native, knew Canlis personally as he set them up with Kingsford charcoal for authentic grilled meats back in the day. Mom was related to the Mastro crew we got included in some awesome family dinners including them taking over the Mirabeau, complete for a family only dinner. I liked the 70s. Now, I never set foot in Seattle unless it’s unavoidable such as wine distributor pickups to help the daughter – quick trip in and out and a scamper home to Eastern WA.
RE: “In Arizona, a box truck has a vehicle inside the box and pulling another vehicle on I-10, all the way to Mexico.”
I don’t believe you.
You don’t have to believe me, it is done.
There is a reddit page that talks about it.
Live in or near an area with lots of new folks from south of the USA you’ll absolutely believe it. The s**t goes on around here is unreal yet it is real! County south of mine is now majority Hispanic.
Even more ridiculous is your 55 MPH highway was designed for a wallowing boat of a car with old school bias ply tires to make that run at 60 MPH. Clean straights, banked curves = no need for brakes IF THEY WERE NOT STUPID. I share your frustration.
If I see a BMW around here, it is broken down on the side of the road with the driver waiting for the tow truck. One stretch of road going to Home Depot is particularly notorious for offering that scene on a regular basis.
I have no idea why.
The X5 used to be quite popular with the three year and out leasing crowd in my part of Austin until devices came along. Now I see every device made, including those made in small numbers by nearly bankrupt companies.
Maybe, I need to get out more? I have Never seen a BMW broken down on the side of the road with the driver waiting for the tow truck.
Not, once.
‘Course, in all my years of driving – other than fixing a flat tire – I am the Only person I saw sitting next to a broken down car.
..And, a young hot chick stopped and gave me a ride half-way to where I was going. Tease.
Oh wait, there was this one time in the middle of Winter & I gave an attractive young woman & her clueless dude a lift down the road to a gas station.
But, that’s it.
…I’m guessing, this happens more frequently in the Sunbelt, ‘er sumthin? Idk.