Poetic license

[greatbear]

People driving past La Casa must wonder if we either have 1) lots of people living in the house, or 2) are constantly throwing parties. Sadly, the seven vehicles (three trucks and four cars) belong to just the two of us. Add in the 30 foot trailer and parking at Mayhem Acres sometimes takes some planning. I also have to remember lots of license plate numbers. This is not so bad, but for some odd reason I always seem to have a mental block remembering the plate number of my Dodge Stratus. The rest? No problem. The Strat, as I call it, is my usual daily driver. Though it's 14 years old, it's never had any serious problems, is pretty economical if I keep my foot out of it, and the parts for it are cheaper than average. Jeff and I used it as our ride of choice when we would travel, since it's something he can easily drive (no stick shift like the MINI Cooper,, or as long as a bus like the Silverado, for example). Since Jeff recently bought a new car (a 2015 Subaru Forester 2.5i Premium), some of the wear and tear on the Stratus has been relieved. It's a nice, roomy and economical ride with some cool gadgetry like the Eyesight collision avoidance system that also acts as an adaptive cruise control and will even give you a gentle reminder if you are sitting at a light, it turns green and you don't immediately start moving. It senses the road around it with a pair of cameras on either side of the rear view mirror, can alert you if you veer from between the lines, there's an animal or object in the road ahead and even stop the car at speeds below 20mph and you might be distracted and a car stops ahead of you. There's also the (required for 2015 models) rear-view camera and lots of other cool tech to get the geek on. This is Jeff's first brand-new car after all these years, and, so far, he's loving it. The subject came up a while back about what to call the car, if anything. I keep calling mine The Strat, Jeff started calling it the Subie, then I started calling it the Cubaru. For kicks, I went to see if CUBARU was taken as a vanity plate, and it wasn't. And surprising, given how many people around play guitar, neither was STRAT. My original plates were fading and the rear plate had a hole in it and was buckled from being rear-ended many years ago. So...



I am far too lapsed to be considered a guitarist these days, maybe I should bone up on my playing to do my two-meaning plate justice. My finger joints and my damaged shoulder make that difficult. Practice might not make perfect, but at least I could fake it. Jeff, however, needs no practice in being a cub. :)

Comments

[theoctothorpe.livejournal.com]

Ha!!

I don't think I want to draw any more attention to my RS5. That said, I toyed around with the idea of getting "Suzi".

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

I do remember seeing an Audi with the MD plate SUZI 4 on it.

Many years ago there used to be a hotrodded early 60s all-white Chevy van that I would see around these parts, at least 20 years ago. That license plate said SPOOGE.

Not that long ago a friend from Virginia, a member of my MINI club, had a plate on his Cooper S that said AHH WTF. I giggled every time I saw it.

I thought about the attention factor of both plates. A select few will "get" Jeff's plate. A lot more will know what mine stands for.

I've seen some clever plates on cars, some of which I would expect have been recalled later for being double entendres or hidden vulgar words. Then there are silly ones. A (decidedly lunkheaded) coworker had an '85 LTD. He just HAD to have a vanity plate. It was 85 LTD. No imagination.

I'm glad I have tamper-proof screw holding my plates on, come to think of it. They'd be snatched to hang in some rock club somewhere. :)

[theoctothorpe.livejournal.com]

I also considered "LOL MPG" (the combined MPG rating for the RS5 is 12. Yes, 12).

My fave plate e'er seen was probably one attached to a blue Plymouth Horizon, which said, brilliantly, "Beyond".

[dan4behr.livejournal.com]

This plate on a M37 is one of my all-time favourites, ever:

http://cdn.randomfunnypicture.com/wp2/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/infiniti-owner-toy-story-fan.jpg

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

And it's a MD plate at that. :)

[ciddyguy.livejournal.com]

Very cool stuff. I had enjoyed Mom's 05 Strat, though in comparison to my Mazda, it is a loosy, goosy meandering handling thing, but it IS comfortable I will say.

When I first read the plates, I immediately read Treasure the Cheapskate before correcting my miss parsing, LOL.

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

I have no complaints about the handling of this one, it tracks well and doesn't wander, and not too long ago it drove just fine through traffic circles and lots of stops and turns with the left hand tie rod completely disconnected. A car isn't supposed to do that.

Turns out Chrysler had problems with several models equipped with so-called "lubed for life" suspension components. Appears the supplier wasn't always generous with the grease. In my case, the left side was dry as a bone, yet never squeaked, rattled or wandered. It was a sunned stop heading into a parking spot with the wheels turned hard left that popped it apart. I narrowly missed hitting someone who drove around me as I was parking. When I fixed the car, and replaced both side tie rod ends, the right side was fine. Neither side had any means to periodically fill with grease. The replacements do. I also got replacement lower control arms (the ball joints are integral) just in case. My back self destructed before I could install those additional parts, and to this day they are still sitting in boxes in the garage, along with the timing belt, tensioner, idlers and water pump, which are about seven years past due for replacement.

[ciddyguy.livejournal.com]

Mom's car wasn't loose for wear as it had low miles, but as far as sharp handling, it wasn't, though I would have suspected by 2005, Chrysler had softened up the handling/ride to some extent.

While not bad in the overall scheme of things but when you drive something like a Mini or a Mazda P5, cars like the Strat will feel loosy goosy in comparison.

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

By adding low profile tires compared to the 60-series stockers, and replacing the original shocks, those simple mods transformed the car. Not on par with the MINI, of course, but competitive to a present-day sport sedan. Stratuses (Strati?) are blessed with what is most likely the best suspension suspension design of ChryCo cars of the era, using high-mount double wishbones and coilover shocks in the front, and a multilink with coilover rear setup. The geometry is excellent, but sadly, the ride is tuned soft. A set of KYB shocked tightened the ride nicely without making it harsh. I had plans a while ago to replace the rear swaybar with a stiffer one to tune out some of the designed-in understeer, but that hasn't materialized (a bar is available from Addco). My original choice for low profile tires (Bridgestone Potenza RE960, 215/45-17) made for much improved handling, but those tires were very stiff. The sidewalls were very similar to runflats. Last year I put Continental Extreme Contact DWS one size up at 225/45-17 with softer sidewalls and it was like a dream by comparison. The car is surprisingly tossable through all the roundabouts and curves around here and it's comfortable enough to drive all day.

[ciddyguy.livejournal.com]

I had suspected you didn't leave the car well enough alone when it came to ride and handling. :-)

I have those same Conti's on the Mazda and love them, they were what was rec'd for my car by Discount Tire.

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

Isn't it expensive to insure so many vehicles?

[furrbear.livejournal.com]

Multi-car discounts, married discounts, longevity and safe driver discounts, bundling discounts, e.g., homeowners, can significantly bring down the incremental cost of adding vehicles.

[furr-a-bruin.livejournal.com]

Yup. I have both my car and my motorcycle insured through the same company for that reason.

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

I have all the cars in a multicar discount, plus I have homeowner's insurance bundled in as well. It's not exactly cheap, but I know people with higher premiums on fewer vehicles.

I am going to see if the rate can be lowered even more. I am married now, and often rates for married folk are at least a bit lower if ot more. Jeff has a different insurance company, and we will pit one against the other to see which one can give a better rate since our status are changed.

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

Good luck!

[furrbear.livejournal.com]

The doc I'm seeing in Dallas has the plate "BEAR*MD". Why that wasn't already taken (in Texas!) is beyond me. I think he got it in late May — early June, 2011.

To use a vulgar expression, practicing the guitar would be good *cough* "physical therapy" *cough*cough*

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

I think it varies by state, but if a vanity tag is turned in, it may become available for use again, possibly after a delay.

There are lots of bear-themed plates to be seen at Bear Week in PTown. Some were rather clever, I wish I could remember some of them.

I tend to get very frustrated when I practice these days, so I tend not to do it. Motivation just isn't there. Perhaps one day i will get inspired to try playing again.

[dan4behr.livejournal.com]

Seven? SEVEN?

The Silverado, Subaru, Stratus (you have a thing for "S" cars?) and the Mini. What else is floating around the Casa?

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

Well, there's Jeff's S-10 (another "S"), my old '89 Dodge w250 Cummins, and my '69 Dart that's been mothballed for 20 years. The Dart is somewhat of a sad story these days, for the longest time it sat quietly in the garage awaiting some attention (there are two burned valves, all the fuel lines rotted, the carbs need rebuilding, and lots of bodywork). About six years ago I got supplies to redo the garage, insulate more walls, new cabinets and workbenches, electrical additions, general cleaning, etc.. I pushed the car out and started on the work, and about that time my body fell apart. The poor car sat outside all this time, the vinyl roof, which was still in passable condition, has now become a shredded mess, and the carpeting I installed years ago has faded badly. I really need to get back in the garage and do that work, but during all this time I've had issues, a lot of other work piled up on my with the house and other stuff. I am working my way through priorities and doing them as I am able to, within my limitations. I can't get anyone to help, it seems everyone I know that would be able to do that kind of work has mostly disappeared. So, anything mechanical, electrical, construction related, work on cars, computers, all the renovations and upgrades fall to me and me alone. 30 years ago I would be bombing through all the projects as if there were no tomorrow, these days, I can only do what I can, in the time I am able to do it. The few times I get help moves things along nicely, and I wish I could keep up the momentum. Even the W250 is out of commission and has been since 2007, when the transmission gave out (again) and I wasn't able to crawl around underneath. While it sat, the brake lines rusted out up front, and apparently either a fuel supply line on the frame rusted or the pickup in the tank has a leak, since air is getting in the fuel lines and few things keep a diesel engine from running than air pockets in the fuel. I want to yank the bed off and make new lines for everything. I had started on that years ago, I bent and assembled lines for the front axle (the ones that originally rusted out) but crawling around underneath to out them in has been not possible. I could probably do it these days, a little at a time, but I got other irons in the fire. I miss that old beast.

[furr-a-bruin.livejournal.com]

It's kind of obvious, but the Volvo with the plate YAISGUD made me giggle. ;)

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

That's a good one!

[ricksf.livejournal.com]

I've never gone for a signature plate but those are great choices!

Funny, but earlier today I was reading about a Top Gear (the UK version, one of my favorite shows) gaff in which they apparently bought a Porsche 928GT for use in a South America special in Argentina that had a plate with a subtle reference to the Fauklands War. Purchase was not intentional, car came with the plate but people didn't believe that. The producer's comments suggest that they were lucky to avoid being stoned to death.

It's got me thinking about a plate for my Lexus (IS-F)... Lexan (if I like plastic), Lexoid (it came from space), Flexus (nods to the model), etc.

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

How about LUTHOR? ;)

This is not Jeff's first personalized tag, when I first met his he was sporting CHEFFREY on his Sunbird. This wouldn't in MD, since there's a limit of 7 characters, and besides, he's not technically a chef where he's working right now. :)

Quite a few people have had their plates recalled when their meanings become "known," especially those using internet slang. I thought for sure STRAT was going to be taken. There is a long list of words and abbreviations used by motor vehicle departments that can't be used, of course it includes profanity, but lots of other combinations, some of which I couldn't figure out.

[mort-83.livejournal.com]

That's a lot of vehicles! We have parking issues with two, I can't imagine..love the plates. I have a Forester too-a 2010. My second one. I really like them. We call mine the Lesbomobile. :-)