I feel at home in this photo. My beard has turned 1% more gray this blessed night.
The key differences I have come from the fact that I am drawn to the “chief engineer turned goose farmer” future even more than the “greybeard recluse inventor” one. I
get to use a Debian machine at work all day anyway, plus of course the home PC runs it. With KDE there is nothing that feels old about it unless I check when the kernel was released.
My car isn’t THAT old but it’s on its way. I drive an almost 15 year old mazda3, which we have owned for all of those years. I just did my biggest-yet DIY maintenance/repair when I had to replace some disintegrated-yet-seized brake hoses in addition to pads and rotors and flushing the fluid. In my driveway, no garage. I got a bunch of new wrenches and vise grips!
The mazda is an automatic since we originally bought it for my wife. But it was right after the company debuted the Skyactiv stuff. Among other things like great fuel efficiency, that means the transmission locks up the torque converter as often as possible. And it has manual shift mode. So when you’re in gear holding some mid-range RPM, you do still feel that direct powertrain connection between engine and wheels.
Part of me is casually keeping tabs on the “fun” new car models out there that still offer a manual transmission or DCT. But another part of me is constantly noting to self how I already have a nearly perfect old familiar car that is fun and practical for the whole family. It has low mileage for the age and a good maintenance history. And it is $FREE versus $30,000+.
Aside from the car difference, I have cast off a bunch of little devices and accessories thanks to my conscious efforts to be less connected and more about experiencing life at my natural pace. I no longer wear a watch, ever, even though I definitely have the chunky leather wallet. Also no glowing visible clocks in the bedroom or family room. And no big stereo because 95% of my music listening is via headphones at work or working outside in my yard.
Most of my listening is also done over headphones, and I admit that my library is all in mp3 format. As much as I love optical media, it’s because I can rip my discs to my machine in whatever quality and format I want, then never have to handle them again unless all my copies are deleted. This preserves the discs.
I have a portable CD player from, and I use the term portalble liberally because while it can accept six AA batteries for a power source, it also has no anti-skip because it was made in 1991.
But what I love about this thing is how much of an occasion it makes the listening experience. Handling the discs carefully so as not to smudge or scratch them. Waiting for it to spin up and start playing. And just sitting there and intentionally listening to it. It’s kind of magical. Even more so with a decent set of cans and a dark room.
Mazda3 is an excellent car to have. My brother used to have an '08 Mazda3 hatch until it was totaled by a drunk driver. He wasn’t in the car. It was parked on the side of the road. Really cool car, and the 2.3 is probably one of the most underrated engines out there. They really pack a punch.
I don’t necessarily have a thing against automatics. My beef is more with the fact that manuals aren’t really an option anymore. I said in another comment that my real cars are a '97 Honda Prelude and a '12 Civic. I did daily the Prelude for six months when the starter died in my Civic, but the Prelude is really only a weekend car because it does maybe 25 mpg and takes premium fuel. My Civic does 40 without trying and E10 costs about $1.40 less per gallon where I am. My Civic is an auto, and I’m fine with it. Automatic just feels boring to me. I really enjoy having something to do with all four limbs at once.
If I ever feel like dropping money on a newer car, I’ve always loved the idea of a manual midsize sedan. I know the Accord could be had with a six speed manual all the way until like 2021, which is bonkers to me since Toyota stopped making the manual Camry in 2006. I think my only other option in this very specific segment is a BMW 3-series, and I just can’t picture myself in a Bimmer.
Anything brakes is always so stressful. If anything else fails, you can probably still get the 3,000 pound metal death box to stop. But if your BRAKES fail? Yeah, just pull the hand brake and try not to cry too much. I basically rebuilt the rear brakes on my Civic last month. It has 147,000 miles on it and was running on original brake shoes. And because I’d waited until they started grinding, the drums couldn’t be resurfaced, either. So I went all in and got new hardware and cylinders, too. I’d so much rather do disc brakes than drum brakes. Those springs are such a pain, and Honda made them really weird. Not to mention my hammer was entirely too small for the job of literally beating the brakes off the thing lol 2012 was the last year the Civic LX had drum brakes of any kind. I’m fine with drums. They really do last forever if you’re not a monster on the brake pedal. I’m just glad I won’t be doing brake shoes again for at least another 7-10 years.
My wife points out every new gray hair in my beard. One day, there will be so many new ones at once that she’ll have to stop counting. For now, it’s really cute. I love it.
First, I appreciate that your comment is even longer than mine AND came with the multimedia.
I totally get what you mean about it being an occasion to listen to music with the old equipment. I had at least one portable CD player with no anti-skip. So not only can I feel some of that experience just through nostalgia, but then I start thinking about nerdy little kid me getting a player with anti-skip. It had a clear window on the lid, so I could see how the disc spun at 2x speed for while when starting a song or causing skips. I started to understand how it was filling a buffer and must have had a bit of extra RAM in there. And now middle aged me monitors and controls engine RPM all the time in my automatic car, lol.
On listening to MP3s, I see no issue there, but I have always been more of a videophile and less of an audiophile. However, I have also transitioned away from locally stored music, to just streaming from my Jellyfin server. Thanks to that practically eliminating audio size concerns, I just use FLACs of everything.
As high tech as that sounds, the server capacity also helps me discover music in the old-fashioned & natural way rather than algorithmically. When I realize I am missing some song I want, I will add as much of that band’s entire discography as I have available. Then it’s just a question of whether I listen to albums or random songs. Any songs that noticeably stroke my neurons the right way gets added to my single playlist of bangers, for when I don’t want random or albums.
Finally, a manual transmission midsize sedan can still be had in a few non-BMW forms. I have actually been researching current fun-transmission new cars even though I don’t plan to buy anything any time soon. Most of them will be performance oriented models that recommend premium, but most seem to be able to run regular these days with just reduced max hp. So just going off memory for now:
Civic Si - This might be your best bet. High fuel economy, great 6-speed, well equipped, well priced. I think it’s in the Car & Driver top 10, with a 10/10 score, alongside the Type R which is like $20K more.
Mazda3 hatchback - ok it’s not a sedan, but for some reason you can get a specific premium trim level of the hatchback with a really good 6-speed. It’s also a FWD 2.5L that recommends regular unleaded.
Elantra N: 6-speed manual and 8-speed DCT available. Seems like an extremely fun performance bargain. Lots of tech and adjustability, including fancy LSD.
WRX: 6-speed AND full time AWD. I had one long ago and loved it. It isn’t regarded as being quite as aggressive and refined as the Si and the N these days I think, but it’s definitely a great all around vehicle and you aren’t stuck with FWD if that matters to you.
As a person old enough to have driven manuals from 3 on the tree to 4 and 5 speeds, to 4x2, 5x2, 5x3 and 5x4 double sticks, 10 speeds and 13 speeds. Rowing your own gears is highly over rated. And even worse in stop and go driving.
I feel at home in this photo. My beard has turned 1% more gray this blessed night.
The key differences I have come from the fact that I am drawn to the “chief engineer turned goose farmer” future even more than the “greybeard recluse inventor” one. I
get to use a Debian machine at work all day anyway, plus of course the home PC runs it. With KDE there is nothing that feels old about it unless I check when the kernel was released.
My car isn’t THAT old but it’s on its way. I drive an almost 15 year old mazda3, which we have owned for all of those years. I just did my biggest-yet DIY maintenance/repair when I had to replace some disintegrated-yet-seized brake hoses in addition to pads and rotors and flushing the fluid. In my driveway, no garage. I got a bunch of new wrenches and vise grips!
The mazda is an automatic since we originally bought it for my wife. But it was right after the company debuted the Skyactiv stuff. Among other things like great fuel efficiency, that means the transmission locks up the torque converter as often as possible. And it has manual shift mode. So when you’re in gear holding some mid-range RPM, you do still feel that direct powertrain connection between engine and wheels.
Part of me is casually keeping tabs on the “fun” new car models out there that still offer a manual transmission or DCT. But another part of me is constantly noting to self how I already have a nearly perfect old familiar car that is fun and practical for the whole family. It has low mileage for the age and a good maintenance history. And it is $FREE versus $30,000+.
Aside from the car difference, I have cast off a bunch of little devices and accessories thanks to my conscious efforts to be less connected and more about experiencing life at my natural pace. I no longer wear a watch, ever, even though I definitely have the chunky leather wallet. Also no glowing visible clocks in the bedroom or family room. And no big stereo because 95% of my music listening is via headphones at work or working outside in my yard.
My man.
Most of my listening is also done over headphones, and I admit that my library is all in mp3 format. As much as I love optical media, it’s because I can rip my discs to my machine in whatever quality and format I want, then never have to handle them again unless all my copies are deleted. This preserves the discs.
I have a portable CD player from, and I use the term portalble liberally because while it can accept six AA batteries for a power source, it also has no anti-skip because it was made in 1991.
But what I love about this thing is how much of an occasion it makes the listening experience. Handling the discs carefully so as not to smudge or scratch them. Waiting for it to spin up and start playing. And just sitting there and intentionally listening to it. It’s kind of magical. Even more so with a decent set of cans and a dark room.
Mazda3 is an excellent car to have. My brother used to have an '08 Mazda3 hatch until it was totaled by a drunk driver. He wasn’t in the car. It was parked on the side of the road. Really cool car, and the 2.3 is probably one of the most underrated engines out there. They really pack a punch.
I don’t necessarily have a thing against automatics. My beef is more with the fact that manuals aren’t really an option anymore. I said in another comment that my real cars are a '97 Honda Prelude and a '12 Civic. I did daily the Prelude for six months when the starter died in my Civic, but the Prelude is really only a weekend car because it does maybe 25 mpg and takes premium fuel. My Civic does 40 without trying and E10 costs about $1.40 less per gallon where I am. My Civic is an auto, and I’m fine with it. Automatic just feels boring to me. I really enjoy having something to do with all four limbs at once.
If I ever feel like dropping money on a newer car, I’ve always loved the idea of a manual midsize sedan. I know the Accord could be had with a six speed manual all the way until like 2021, which is bonkers to me since Toyota stopped making the manual Camry in 2006. I think my only other option in this very specific segment is a BMW 3-series, and I just can’t picture myself in a Bimmer.
Anything brakes is always so stressful. If anything else fails, you can probably still get the 3,000 pound metal death box to stop. But if your BRAKES fail? Yeah, just pull the hand brake and try not to cry too much. I basically rebuilt the rear brakes on my Civic last month. It has 147,000 miles on it and was running on original brake shoes. And because I’d waited until they started grinding, the drums couldn’t be resurfaced, either. So I went all in and got new hardware and cylinders, too. I’d so much rather do disc brakes than drum brakes. Those springs are such a pain, and Honda made them really weird. Not to mention my hammer was entirely too small for the job of literally beating the brakes off the thing lol 2012 was the last year the Civic LX had drum brakes of any kind. I’m fine with drums. They really do last forever if you’re not a monster on the brake pedal. I’m just glad I won’t be doing brake shoes again for at least another 7-10 years.
My wife points out every new gray hair in my beard. One day, there will be so many new ones at once that she’ll have to stop counting. For now, it’s really cute. I love it.
MY man!
First, I appreciate that your comment is even longer than mine AND came with the multimedia.
I totally get what you mean about it being an occasion to listen to music with the old equipment. I had at least one portable CD player with no anti-skip. So not only can I feel some of that experience just through nostalgia, but then I start thinking about nerdy little kid me getting a player with anti-skip. It had a clear window on the lid, so I could see how the disc spun at 2x speed for while when starting a song or causing skips. I started to understand how it was filling a buffer and must have had a bit of extra RAM in there. And now middle aged me monitors and controls engine RPM all the time in my automatic car, lol.
On listening to MP3s, I see no issue there, but I have always been more of a videophile and less of an audiophile. However, I have also transitioned away from locally stored music, to just streaming from my Jellyfin server. Thanks to that practically eliminating audio size concerns, I just use FLACs of everything.
As high tech as that sounds, the server capacity also helps me discover music in the old-fashioned & natural way rather than algorithmically. When I realize I am missing some song I want, I will add as much of that band’s entire discography as I have available. Then it’s just a question of whether I listen to albums or random songs. Any songs that noticeably stroke my neurons the right way gets added to my single playlist of bangers, for when I don’t want random or albums.
Finally, a manual transmission midsize sedan can still be had in a few non-BMW forms. I have actually been researching current fun-transmission new cars even though I don’t plan to buy anything any time soon. Most of them will be performance oriented models that recommend premium, but most seem to be able to run regular these days with just reduced max hp. So just going off memory for now:
Civic Si - This might be your best bet. High fuel economy, great 6-speed, well equipped, well priced. I think it’s in the Car & Driver top 10, with a 10/10 score, alongside the Type R which is like $20K more.
Mazda3 hatchback - ok it’s not a sedan, but for some reason you can get a specific premium trim level of the hatchback with a really good 6-speed. It’s also a FWD 2.5L that recommends regular unleaded.
Elantra N: 6-speed manual and 8-speed DCT available. Seems like an extremely fun performance bargain. Lots of tech and adjustability, including fancy LSD.
WRX: 6-speed AND full time AWD. I had one long ago and loved it. It isn’t regarded as being quite as aggressive and refined as the Si and the N these days I think, but it’s definitely a great all around vehicle and you aren’t stuck with FWD if that matters to you.
As a person old enough to have driven manuals from 3 on the tree to 4 and 5 speeds, to 4x2, 5x2, 5x3 and 5x4 double sticks, 10 speeds and 13 speeds. Rowing your own gears is highly over rated. And even worse in stop and go driving.
And I use Kinonite on a mini desktop.