My favorite thing is when archaeologists dig up female statues with big breasts and wide hips and call them evidence for a “cult of fertility”. I guess that sounds more sciencey than “porn”.

The irony of using the “{such-and-such era} called, they want their {thing from that era} back” stale joke format to criticize the staleness of my joke is palpable.

I’ve been thinking about getting a used Z4 next when my current Z3 dies. Early 00s Z4s are barely more expensive than Z3s these days and they are unquestionably superior driving machines - I particularly like that they don’t use the same rear suspension as WWII-era Soviet trucks like the Z3 does. I honestly don’t think they’re as attractive, though.

I would add that those filters only apply to school districts that maintain their own fleets and driver pools. The private bus companies don’t generally worry about child abuse or drug use with their drivers - or drinking, speeding, using phones while driving, or paying them well, or providing any benefits …

any used BMW is ridiculously expensive to repair

I mean that’s true, but to be fair they’re pretty reliable and things don’t go wrong on them all that often. The net cost of ownership is still a lot less than any modern new car - and roadsters are a lot of fun for the price.

I started driving around the same time as you. I remember how common real VW beetles were and I don’t think any of them ever had automatic transmission - if they did I never saw one. I spent a summer driving one with no starter and a broken reverse gear, which meant I had to be very careful about where I parked it. Today’s kids will never know the fun that came from that situation.

I’m a school bus driver - buses with manual transmissions are long gone. The drug use and child molestation filters weed out enough potential drivers as it is.

I’ve been driving used BMW Z3s for the last 15+ years. These days they’re way cheaper than even the crappiest normal used cars because nobody can drive a stick any more and nobody wants to have a two-seater as their daily driver. They cost less than a new bicycle (although that’s because modern bicycles have absolutely insane price tags attached to them).

No, driving is about keeping the Saudi wealth faucet working.

The thing is, those people working IT at this school aren’t members of the rich elite or else they wouldn’t be working there. The parents of the children spied on are members of the rich elite, so it’s strange that their concerns got tossed in the dumpster here.

The most insane thing about Mac chargers is their lack of a strain relief, solely because the designers didn’t like how they look. So of course they fucking break all the time.

It needs 3D borders.

My aunt died in 2013 and at the reception after her funeral my cousin (her stepson) suggested the whole family make a “Harlem Shake” video. Even as a joke it would have been staggeringly tasteless, but he wasn’t joking.

At least he didn’t suggest putting my aunt in it, I suppose.

I’m sure Microsoft has some good devs

I’m sure they do too, but I’ve been surprised many times by the former coworkers I’ve learned have ended up working for Microsoft. To put it politely, they were generally not the best programmers I’ve ever worked with.

Their spell check sucks too. “I’m the capstan now!”

An interesting book somewhat related to this is Poilu, the notebooks of a French soldier who served through most of the war. He was an avowed socialist who never fired his weapon at the enemy and encouraged the soldiers under him (when he was a corporal) to do the same. One of his stories was about a period later in the war when the soldiers on both sides of the trenches in his area had reached an “accommodation” where they refused to shoot at each other. One day a high-ranking officer visited, saw the situation, picked up a soldier’s rifle and shot dead an enemy soldier lounging in full view across no-man’s land. This precipitated a resumption of “normal” warfare in the area but almost got the officer killed - by his own soldiers.

I watch a lot of street food videos on Youtube, nothing angering or annoying about them at all. The weight gain is a problem, though …