"SteveLehto" (stevelehto)
12/18/2014 at 15:33 Filed to: None
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"SteveLehto" (stevelehto)
12/18/2014 at 15:33 Filed to: None | 10
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!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! for Car Buying went nuts today (even though it went up yesterday) and just crossed the 110K read mark. Not that I watch that counter obsessively or anything. I have much more important things to do. Like wonder why my neighbor cannot park his car between those handy lines someone painted in our parking lot. Yes, the green Explorer on the right is mine. Someday I will write the definitive piece about that truck (241,000 miles today - every single one by me) so don't rag on me too much about driving a car older than Twitter.
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This is the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! the doors on his truck into mine. Apparently, he has decided he was doing it from too far away. So, he moved closer.
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The good news? I saw some notices taped to his door the other day. One was a 3-Day Notice to Quit . So long as my truck survives until the weekend, I think she'll make it.
Pray for us.
Brian Silvestro
> SteveLehto
12/18/2014 at 15:39 |
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Yes I really want to know all about that Explorer.
Have you heard about our lord and savior rallycross?
The Transporter
> SteveLehto
12/18/2014 at 15:42 |
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When you're parking a container ship every where you go, "close enough" starts to enter your vocabulary.
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SteveLehto
> Brian Silvestro
12/18/2014 at 15:44 |
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I get all my live advice from people who knock on my door and tell me I am going to a bad place when I die. Is your religion/philosophy better than the ones I have been using? If so, come on in and tell me more. I have all day.
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SteveLehto
> The Transporter
12/18/2014 at 15:45 |
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He normally does a better job of getting it between the lines. I do think this is an intentional encroachment. The game has been upped.
CalzoneGolem
> SteveLehto
12/18/2014 at 15:51 |
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No one on Oppo would give you a hard time for driving an older car.
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The Transporter
> SteveLehto
12/18/2014 at 15:52 |
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So you're thinking he told the tug boat captain to place it like that, then.
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SteveLehto
> CalzoneGolem
12/18/2014 at 15:53 |
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Really? I hope that's true but I've gotten some flak on some pretty obscure stuff. Someone made fun of me for owning a Wrangler 20 years ago , for example. Maybe I'm just being paranoid . . . .
Thanks.
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Brian Silvestro
> SteveLehto
12/18/2014 at 15:54 |
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Well sir, instead of telling you all about some great power in the sky and some unbelievable post-death fate, I'm just going to enlighten you with the events known as SCCA Rallycross.
It's like autocross, but on dirt, gravel, snow, or other non-tarmac surface. It is some of the most fun you can have in a car for under $100.
The reason I tell you about it is because I believe you can enter and run your Explorer in these events! (depending on the region)
You would not be the first, as others have come before you, even a fellow Oppositelock member, Mathias Rios, has entered his SUV in a Rallycross event, and had an amazing time!
It's just as hilarious as you think it would be in an SUV, which makes the fun of racing on dirt all the more exciting. I wrote about the most recent event I, Aaron Brown, and Mathias Rios attended with the New England Region here.
I believe that you will not only have a bunch of fun participating in one of these events, but it will give insight and ideas to fuel your work here on Oppositelock, as well as Car Buying on Jalopnik. (will my warranty hold up if they know I've attended one of these events in my car, who knows!?!)
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SteveLehto
> The Transporter
12/18/2014 at 15:54 |
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Captains. Plural. There is no way this thing could be moved by just one tug.
jsemerica
> SteveLehto
12/18/2014 at 15:54 |
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It's like in Phoenix when someone just wants a little more shade...
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CalzoneGolem
> SteveLehto
12/18/2014 at 15:55 |
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What? That doesn't make any sense. Anyone give you any flak let me know and I will make a sternly worded comment on their comment!
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SteveLehto
> Brian Silvestro
12/18/2014 at 15:56 |
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Oh, I haven't had a warranty on this thing since before Twitter either. I will have to look into that (if the Explorer survives the weekend, that is.)
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Brian Silvestro
> SteveLehto
12/18/2014 at 15:59 |
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One interesting fact about the ML320, is that it has 239,000 miles on it. Interesting, don't you think!
Not all rallycross events are created equal, however. Some venues are rougher than others. Even just attending and watching will get you to learn a lot, and getting a ride in someone else's car will let you see exactly what it's like to rallycross a vehicle.
davedave1111
> SteveLehto
12/18/2014 at 16:05 |
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The gap in between those two is considered a parking bay here. That may explain why we think that door-dings are just a normal part of driving, akin to getting your tyres dirty.
MysticStick
> SteveLehto
12/18/2014 at 16:11 |
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The zealot has a point, you've already got a hundred door dings. What harm can a little rallycross do!
nermal
> SteveLehto
12/18/2014 at 16:38 |
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What's a 3 Day Notice To Quit?
Steve in Manhattan
> SteveLehto
12/18/2014 at 16:39 |
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On the ticket front - if you can get the cop to laugh, you might get out of there with a warning. I cracked one guy's veneer when I joked that the diesel Rabbit he thought I'd just been driving at 81 mph would, in fact, need to be dropped from an airplane to achieve that velocity. He told me to slow down and to get the hell out of there.
Blunion05 drives a pink S2000 (USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST)
> SteveLehto
12/18/2014 at 16:43 |
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unrelated, but this comment comes by way of reading this and some of the comments in the section. How on earth did a lawyer find Oppo, what got him to stick around, breaking this stereotypical image I have of lawyers by posting such informative stuff?
Tipo Stradale Fever
> SteveLehto
12/18/2014 at 16:49 |
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If you think this is bad, you really shouldnīt visit France, Algeria, Belgium or any country influenced by France. People actually use their bumpers while parking. I mean they routinely hit other cars while parking and itīs okay. Itīs a f*cking travesty and still moves me profoundly when I see it.
Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
> SteveLehto
12/18/2014 at 18:00 |
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This appears to be a deliberate attempt to piss you off. I'm pissed off just looking at it. I am the skinniest man alive, and even I think that's too tight for me. Nothing better than getting in the passenger side of your own goddamn car and hopping your ass over your own shifter just to get in the driver's seat.
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SteveLehto
> nermal
12/18/2014 at 18:08 |
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They are being evicted for non-payment of rent.
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SteveLehto
> Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
12/18/2014 at 18:13 |
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I actually managed to squeeze in. I was surprised - I'm not as wide as I thought I was.
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SteveLehto
> Blunion05 drives a pink S2000 (USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST)
12/18/2014 at 18:36 |
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Why, thank you for asking. I have written a few books (12-ish now, give or take). A couple of the books are car related (Chrysler Turbine Car, Bobby Isaac, now working on Preston Tucker and so on). A while back I sent a note to Matt Hardigree about an idea for a post I could write about something car-related. He said to send it over (this was pre-Kinja) and I did. He liked it and put it up.
From time to time I would send stuff over and he put up a lot of it. Later, I got hooked up with a Kinja account.
I like talking to people about the law. I had a radio show for years in MICH (I worked in radio before going to law school also) where I answered questions about the law. In fact, I recently revived that via podcasting . And I still have a law practice but I spend a lot of each day on the phone answering questions - pretty much the same ones I write about.
So, I started writing stuff that I thought might be of interest to the readers on Jalopnik/Oppositelock/Car Buying. A couple months ago, they made it official and offered to let me write one a week for CB. I have had four pieces break 100K in views including one which went nuts (over 450K last time I looked). For me, this type of writing is fun - compared to the legal stuff (boring) or books (a little more technical) - and relaxing. As long as people read it, I will keep writing it.
Feel free to fire any other questions my way.
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Blunion05 drives a pink S2000 (USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST)
> SteveLehto
12/18/2014 at 22:28 |
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Damn, that's impressive! Radio is cool. I've never seen the podcasts, but maybe I will listen in just to hear that radio voice if you have one!
Also, is it just me or am I only able to see how many views an article has on mobile only?
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SteveLehto
> Blunion05 drives a pink S2000 (USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST)
12/19/2014 at 07:21 |
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I can see the numbers on all my devices (android phone, iPad, PC Desktop).
I was a DJ for years (the top 40 stuff is hilarious to listen to now) and then a talk show host. I did that as recently as a couple years ago in Detroit. Radio, as an industry, is imploding now. Give the podcast a listen. Then when you read my stuff, you can imagine what it would sound like if I was reading it!
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Blunion05 drives a pink S2000 (USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST)
> SteveLehto
12/19/2014 at 07:31 |
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Now I have the urge to read up on radio and when it started declining! The last time I even listened to the radio was never. Except for times when I would ride with dad. The moment I got my license (didn't even get tested to parallel park!) and started driving to high school in the family's windstar minivan, I was plopping in cd's. Now the rage is AUX and cassette adapters.
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SteveLehto
> Blunion05 drives a pink S2000 (USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST)
12/19/2014 at 07:35 |
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Radio started falling apart when it was deregulated (under Clinton, believe it or not). All the stations got bought up by Clear Channel and a few others. To save money, they began cutting back on airstaff and making the stations all generic sounding. This, while iTunes and Pandora and others made music so much easier to find and listen to.
Why listen to music you may not like, littered with commercials, when you can pick and choose better music yourself?
The golden age of radio as a provider of music is behind us.
pip bip - choose Corrour
> SteveLehto
12/19/2014 at 07:48 |
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241k miles ? not yet run-in.
whats wrong with you , DRIVE IT man ;)
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Blunion05 drives a pink S2000 (USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST)
> SteveLehto
12/19/2014 at 07:54 |
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that sounds about the right time for radio to begin falling. I was born in '93, in this in between phase of technology where PCs were becoming mainstream yet a lot of old technology was still being utilized. My ipod is always with me everywhere I go. My high school that I graduated from began issuing portable laptops in my junior year. I hated it, because despite a firewall, I could still find a way to distract myself in class and I remember stuff better when I hand write it.
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SteveLehto
> pip bip - choose Corrour
12/19/2014 at 08:28 |
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Still has the original starter, water pump and exhaust. First brake job at 101K and the serpentine belt made it past 200K.
So, I am obviously babying it . . .
Gotta love a vehicle that outlasts friends and marriages.
Jeeper1
> SteveLehto
12/19/2014 at 22:54 |
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What sort of cretin did such a thing?!
Tohru
> SteveLehto
12/22/2014 at 07:49 |
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Pray for us.
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SteveLehto
> Tohru
12/22/2014 at 08:00 |
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I wondered if anyone would make the connection.
Thanks!
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Tohru
> SteveLehto
12/22/2014 at 08:32 |
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I am smarter than the average bear.
The Expedition has manual folding mirrors, right?
It'd be a shame if the passenger's one was... folded in.