Automation, in low cost of living area, with red-state employee “benefits” is what it takes to possibly make something as basic as domestically-made shoes affordable. That, and it’s not a publicly traded company so it might still be relatively expensive.

Western reliance on cheap Asian labour is a problem, especially when the cheap labour starts to think they want more.

MAGA isolationism is certainly not helping.

I just took mine apart. It was, itself, composted.

IKEA window sensors are pretty cheap, and that’s what I’ve used. You’d need to have a lot of sensors or a lot of faith in the rapidity of air movement to avoid window sensors.

Miele, Asko, or Bosch in a pinch.

Some low end Bosch have in the past been Frigidaire or something dressed up as a Bosch. Keep an eye out for that.

I replaced my Miele (2001 build date) this year. The control panel was getting a little unreliable. It still was cleaning dishes (when it started).

Step one: build rapidly, with little more than token acknowledgment that there is an alternative to cars for transportation.

Step two: act shocked and surprised when cars (trucks, really) travel at high rate of speed through the streets (that are designed to move traffic around quickly) and kill pedestrians and cyclists.

They’re running generators to power the data centre. Apparently they’re incredibly inefficient if they’re releasing methane

The reason q3 and q4 are slow is because people like you who suffered from severe cranio-rectal inversion a) don’t want to approve vacation and b) won’t let people accrue vacation so everyone suddenly is pressured to take long weekends (instead of a real vacation) towards the end of the year.

I don’t really sympathize with the government or media producers on this one, but I do see it’s a challenging problem they’ve built up in their mind. However, legalizing at-will censorship is not a great way to address this

It’s also a job as you allude to where early retirement needs to be part of the plan. It’s a good job but hard on the body and it’s hard to create an efficient way to reduce the amount of weight that they need to lift in a day.

I know a few who were union and pensioned off, retired in their 50s but that doesn’t change the way their joints feel.

Not sure if it’s better or worse than turd herding.

Just a small quibble.

In the late 1950s, a cheap American car cost about $14k.

You’ve shifted a decimal point.

• Bel Air $1987
• Studebaker $1855
• Oldsmobile 88 $3541

https://www.rd.com/list/this-is-how-much-classic-cars-cost-in-the-1950s-and-what-theyre-worth-today/

One thing to bear in mind, though, is that these cars were generally shit. Today, 100,000mi is a reasonable distance for a car to go before the first owner considers selling it on; in the 50s it was easily half that. I’ve heard, but can’t cite a source, that 3-5 years was the upper limit for most of them.

This was a time when a lot and custom home could be gotten for $5-10k

Do you have to retake the exams and tests? Think about the logistics involved in that as you won’t have a car to take them in.

You’ll need an alternate ID card. The ubiquity of a drivers license as proof of residence and photo ID is highly convenient.

Save a penny, spend a dollar is what this sounds like. Give it 5 years and see how often you use it. There’s a lot of Canada you can’t get to on public transit.

Look at the 1950 American cars. They’re wild.

One reason for the perception that cars look fancy or not is that you become accustomed to a design when you see it all the time.

Supercars are wildly impractical, and slapping that body on a Corolla chassis would make a Corolla that only seats 2 and has no space for bags, but somehow takes up a lot more space than a Corolla. Also, downforce is bad for fuel efficiency.

Your note at the bottom is interesting. The perceived luxury of a car is not related to the quality of the vehicle. As a car guy with a penchant for German cars, I do have to admit that while they’re wonderful in many ways, a beige Corolla or Civic will stand far more abuse.