[monochrome]

Ah... yea, no. My brother and sister-in-law lived in College Park for many years and got by with one car between the two of them. SoMd is typically St. Mary's, Charles and Calvert Counties.

I’m familiar with the area on maps but never been there. My direct lineal prime ancestor John Compton, second cousin of Henry Compton - England - settled in St. Mary’s County around 1665. There’s an unincorporated community, Compton, MD near Leonardtown with some NRHP buildings - about all that’s left of his holdings. He sold his landholdings to help form a Regiment for the Continental army 1776. Interesting to know you live. nearby.

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Last edited by monochrome; 02-13-2019 at 12:59 PM.

[Just1MoreDave]

...What's most frustrating to me is a commute that wildly varies in time. My commute is 16 miles. On a Friday when a lot of people are off, especially in summer with no buses, I can make it in 20 minutes or so. The other day something changed on the way home, the base was doing some exercise that closed a gate and re-routed traffic, and it was an hour. It's hard to plan on getting kids off the bus when you don't know if your drive will be 20 minutes, 30, 40, or even 60.

My wife's commute is the same distance and variability. There is a convenient light rail route, and she takes that to avoid the two hour slogs in snow. All the highway sections are new and up to 5 lanes wide, so it will only get worse. Unless the economy tanks.

The best commute was on Kaua'i, Lihue to Kalaheo. There was one two lane road, a few lights, top speed of 50mph. You pretty much just followed the other guy. There were 3 passing zones but passing was a waste of time. If you left at the same time you'd see the same people in front of you. You might as well just look at the great view, or tourists trying to put the top up on their rented Sebring in a quick rain shower.

[monochrome]

You might as well just look at the great view, or tourists trying to put the top up on their rented Sebring in a quick rain shower.

[ThorSanchez]

I’m familiar with the area on maps but never been there. My direct lineal prime ancestor John Compton, second cousin of Henry Compton - England - settled in St. Mary’s County around 1665. There’s an unincorporated community, Compton, MD near Leonardtown with some NRHP buildings - about all that’s left of his holdings. He sold his landholdings to help form a Regiment for the Continental army 1776. Interesting to know you live. nearby.

That's interesting. Compton is near Breton Bay, outside of Leonardtown, which was the nice neighborhood in St. Mary's County when the county was mainly tobacco farmers. This was before NAVAIR headquarters moved here and the base consolidations in the 1990s greatly expanded the population and average income of the area. Since then we've had several McMansion developments pop up to steal Breton Bay's crown. My wedding was at the Breton Bay Country Club, a few miles from Compton.

---------- Post added 02-14-19 at 08:10 AM ----------

The best commute was on Kaua'i, Lihue to Kalaheo. There was one two lane road, a few lights, top speed of 50mph. You pretty much just followed the other guy. There were 3 passing zones but passing was a waste of time. If you left at the same time you'd see the same people in front of you. You might as well just look at the great view, or tourists trying to put the top up on their rented Sebring in a quick rain shower.

Sebring... bah. When we were on Kaua'i we rented a Jeep Wrangler, with the hardtop and removable panels that weighed 30 pounds each, so getting them on and off is like wrestling a medium sized animal, only with sharp corners. We did that once, since it did rain three times a day. The Jeep was kind of silly, but nice to take on the terrible road to Polihale beach. Not too many places you can have a mile of Hawaiian beach to yourself.

I did briefly look for engineering jobs at Barking Sands, I could handle that commute.

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Last edited by ThorSanchez; 02-14-2019 at 06:11 AM.

[Perfessor5646]

From 1990 until 2010 I was a b2b sales rep for Xerox. Sometimes as a contract rep and at the end as an employee. I usually covered rural territories in Southern Indiana or Kentucky. My routine was to purchase low mileage used cars for cash and drive them up. In 2010 I got an office job with a small local printer dealer and got off the two lane blacktop but by 2016 my 2002 Impala started a progression of increasingly expensive repairs. The other factor in deciding to make a change was at 66 years old I wanted something that sat a little higher than a sedan or coupe for ease of entry and egress.

(One of my lady friends has a BMW coupe that she does not let me drive. It’s her baby but getting in and out is a struggle for me. It galls me a bit cuz she is 74 and doesn’t have a problem.)

My sons are Jeep guys as in off road Jeep guys but Hell, I don’t even like to walk off sidewalk. I had driven a KIA Soul the last time I got the notion to trade up so I went to the KIA dealer. My Chevy had been giving me fits with the computer activating the anti-theft device disabling the ignition for exactly 10 minutes when I’d turn the key. My usual car repair guys told me it’s a dealer fix only.

I decided to look at a KIA Soul and over a cocktail my BMW friend asked, “What are you going to get on your seats?”
I replied, “Probably coffee.”
“No, I mean cloth or leather.”
“I’m thinking of minimizing my cost. I just want reliable point A to Point B transportation”

So I made an appointment with the salesman who let me test drive a basic Soul earlier and I went back to the KIA dealer on a Saturday morning. The Impala anti-theft crap kicked in 4 times in a row that morning before it let me start the darn thing and drive it to the dealer. My plan was to check out a Jeep Renegade as well but I was afraid the Chevy would strand me if I kept shutting off.

Kevin the sales guy says, “About how many miles do you drive a month?”
“According to my service records, about 340.”
“340 miles a month! You are a good candidate for a lease.”
“Kevin, I’m a good candidate for a bus pass.”

I told him how much I’d like to spend and I’d like to see how much car I could get for that. I’d like a heated steering wheel and seats if possible and maybe a sunroof. I’ve never had a sunroof. We went for a ride in an Exclaim model Soul. I liked it and said how much? He went to his finance guy and came back a bigger number than I had in mind. Kevin handed me the keys said, “This is the last one like it on the lot. Go drive it for a couple hours and I’ll work on the money guy.”

Pretty soon I was rocking down the highway with the panoramic sun roof open, their best stereo blasting out classic R&B from the Sirius Radio channel Soul Train. Picked up another friend and went through the Star Bucks drive -thru and cruised down by the river. I loved it.

I crunched some more numbers at home before I took it back. I parked and Kevin came out to meet me.
I asked, “Did you get to my number?”
He said, “No.”
I looked out at massive summer thunder cloud rolling in and said,”OK. Write it up”

My sons asked what color and they approved when I said Stormtrooper White. My coworkers call me Johnny Soul. Two and a half years later, I still love it. Cruises handily at 80MPH on the expressway to see my grand babies. Heated steering wheel, heated and cooled seats, all handy in the Ohio River Valley where the temps go from 100+ to single digits, two tone leather interior that does not show coffee stains, great stereo with the interior door lights that pulse to the beat of NPR talk radio. The panoramic sun roof is open every chance I can even if it means turning up the heat and the radio to the max.

I’m at 11,998 on the odometer. It’s .6 of a mile to the office. Might turn over 12K after 30 months tomorrow. If not tomorrow certainly on Saturday.

DISCLAIMER: I know one picture is worth a thousand words but I’m a story teller, with me you get a picture and a thousand words. Sorry.

[ChrisPlatt]

Before we bought our last new car, a 2012 Mazda 3, we looked at a Soul.
I liked it by my wife rejected it due the visibility of the narrow rear window.
I wasn't thrilled by the black cloth seat material on all Kia models in stock.

The Kia dealer is the only other one in the area with a reputable service department,
four stars compared to Wantagh Mazda's five stars.

Chris

[Just1MoreDave]

Sebring... bah. When we were on Kaua'i we rented a Jeep Wrangler, with the hardtop and removable panels that weighed 30 pounds each, so getting them on and off is like wrestling a medium sized animal, only with sharp corners. We did that once, since it did rain three times a day. The Jeep was kind of silly, but nice to take on the terrible road to Polihale beach. Not too many places you can have a mile of Hawaiian beach to yourself.

I did briefly look for engineering jobs at Barking Sands, I could handle that commute.

The speed limit goes up to 55 out there, it is just crazy!

I bought my truck new out there, so I used to just creep along out to Polihale. I'd get passed by Camrys and Mustangs all the time.

[MikeBenson]

Wish I had not traded in my mini hatch ( 2 door) but I was going to have to take out the rear seat and fabricate a bracket for the car seat. Baby got too big.

Mazda 3 CPO car from Mazda dealer. Had a bad shimmy. After 10 trips they said hey it’s a used car your problem. Mazda totaled.

Mini Countryman very low miles. Dealer faked car fax report. After thousands in repairs traded for half price ( now car fax accurate) for VW rabbit. I like it.

Except for Ecco flintstone scary to drive tires it’s a nice ride. Very quiet zippy but civilized.

[niblue]

I've just got my old Mazda CX-7 back after it'd been in getting a few bits and pieces done - nothing serious, despite being 12 years old now - just a recall replacement of an airbag, some welding to the exhaust heatshield and a fix to an oil leak in the rear diff. It was good to have it though as we arrived early at the causeway over the Lindisfarne island and having the 4x4 meant we could bypass the queue of waiting cars and head over before the tide had total cleared.


It's getting on a bit now but will probably keep it for a while yet as it's not that easy to replace without spending a lot of cash as there aren't many 4x4's as fun to drive and as fast that aren't also extortionate!

[Ex Finn.]

before NAVAIR headquarters moved here

I was able to get to work sub 6 minutes...

[monochrome]

Before we bought our last new car, a 2012 Mazda 3, we looked at a Soul.
I liked it by my wife rejected it due the visibility of the narrow rear window.
I wasn't thrilled by the black cloth seat material on all Kia models in stock.

The Kia dealer is the only other one in the area with a reputable service department,
four stars compared to Wantagh Mazda's five stars.

Chris

I bought my daughter a 2011 KIa Soul! The dealer had thrown every possible Dealer Installed Option (mats, nets and stuff) in the car and parked it in a line of a dozen identical vehicles. The base models advertised as a local special were flying off the lot and these fancy ones sat there. It had some kind of houndstooth check fabric and dual racing stripes that turned her head. They must have wanted to move those cars because the price offered was so good I thought it was a bait and switch - but that was the price I paid.

She just traded it on a nicely trimmed Forester. She got $6,000 less on the trade than I paid for it. I was, frankly, astonished.

The fabric in new KIAs reallly has a toxic odor though. I couldn’t ride in it the first six months.

[Racer X 69]

The fabric in new KIAs reallly has a toxic odor though. I couldn’t ride in it the first six months.

Probably the hamsters.

Youtu.be

Youtu.be

[monochrome]

Those ads really worked. They’re why she wanted the car. She was one cool, cool kitty at college. Now they’re mostly invisible Mom cars. I read they sold 100,000 of them in 2017 - as many as 150,000 in 2015.

[Ratmagiclady]

Those ads really worked. They’re why she wanted the car. She was one cool, cool kitty at college. Now they’re mostly invisible Mom cars. I read they sold 100,000 of them in 2017 - as many as 150,000 in 2015.

They are kinda cute, like American-sized kei cars or something.

(also cause you and some other Film board regulars are here, were you that posted little plans/measurements to make an LX finger-grip? I was on the 'latest acquisition' board chattering about my 'new' Fuji X20, which is here, and the subject came up there.

[monochrome]

They are kinda cute, like American-sized kei cars or something.

(also cause you and some other Film board regulars are here, were you that posted little plans/measurements to make an LX finger-grip? I was on the 'latest acquisition' board chattering about my 'new' Fuji X20, which is here, and the subject came up there.

Not I, no, but I do have an uncut LX Grip A, which is a stick of cherry wood with the connectors embedded in the back,