that was so great!

 

Bo jackson!

 

Lol how old was Nolan at the time?

 

Nor I.

However I find my cheap floor jack to be perfectly adequate for brake work, and for oil changes (and similar) I just drive the car up onto a set of plastic Rhino ramps that I think were about $50.

About the only times I have ever thought to myself "I want a lift so badly right now that I would gladly pay $2,000 for one" have been times when I was pulling a transmission from below, or changing a diff, or installing a catback exhaust system, etc. Basically, jobs that involve your entire body being beneath the car, wishing you had a lot more elevation between the car and the ground than you do, and needing unrestricted access to the center section of the undercarriage.

 

Makes for a good joke too.

Me: Hey, you know who's got the most career hits off of Nolan Ryan?

You: No, who?

Me: Robin Ventura. [mimes headlock punching] One, two, three, four, five, six...

GIFSoup

 

In high school art class we had to do a pointillism project and I used this exact photo:



Wish I still had that drawing...turned out awesome.

 

That dog boner pic was from a friend of mine's Christmas card.

 

Lessee... it was August 4, 1993... so means that Nolan was 46 and Ventura was 26.

 

aw I miss pudge already.

 

 

 

Just get bigger jack stands

 

Yeah, or pile up sheets of 1" thick pine below my existing jackstands, and use more blocks of wood on the saddle of my jack to increase its lifting range, and slowly raise the car higher and higher several inches at a time, all the while wondering if the ever-growing column of wood between the jack and the vehicle is going to collapse and send the vehicle crashing to the ground, etc.

It's doable, it's just sub-optimal.

 

These should work on a Miata.. You just need four, btw.

 

And, these extend to 30 inches. Safely.

 

totally shoooped.

 

My $1200 Rhino ramps (rear end lifts with floor jack and legs drop out to give you 30" of level lift - perfect for just about everything):



Because this sucks:

 

Oh lawl that's so embarrassing.

 

Sorry, didn't mean to ignore you, I must have missed your post. (overworked and battling the dinosaur flu lately)

The biggest difference is how people socialize.

In the US, people seem to get together for a purpose. It's almost like there has got to be an agenda to get together.
I mean, let's say friends call each other to see a movie. They meet at the theater 10 minutes before the show starts, buy tickets, get in.
Once the show is over they get out, talk for a couple minutes on the sidewalk, and the next thing you hear is car doors closing before they all head to their respective destinations.
In Turkey, the whole purpose is getting together. You meet hours before the movie, talk about stuff, and more than likely go to a cafe or whatever afterwards. The whole movie idea becomes a mere catalyst for the "social event".

This does not make either good or bad, just wildly different.

My grandmother (who is 101 this year, btw) has a saying which I have translated here for your convenience:
"The heart longs for neither coffee nor the coffee house,
The heart longs for friends, coffee is just an excuse."

I'm sure that explains a lot.

Other than the socializing issue, well...

Life could be sweet here if you know how to make money. Sucks to have a "limited income", because this place is damn expensive.
Gasoline is $10.13 as of today, for instance.

It's a strange brew of painfully hip to utterly ignorant people, and anything in between here. There is the stereotypical eurotrash variety, incredibly intelligent people, and everything in between.

We have our fair share of oppression here, as well. I had to go to the police headquarters and give a lengthy statement for writing "God is Santa Claus for adults" in Turkish, in a Turkish forum, for instance. Religion is religion here.

People know I am an atheist, and respect me tho. Just like it was in the US.

One cool thing is weekly street marketplaces. They just take up an entire streets, maybe for 3 miles, and sell fresh produce and knick knacks. Vendors are cool people, stuff is always fresh, and I have a ball.

Cars are expensive as hell because of taxes. A friend of mine bought an Audi Q7 in Seattle and paid like 45 or 47K for it. The same thing goes for 250K or more here. And people buy them left and right. A Mazda3 MPS goes for almost 100K.

If you have never been out of the country, please make it a priority to travel overseas. Do not listen to any paranoid crap, just go. Every border respects the US passport (there are exceptions, of course. You do not have to go to Afghanistan, for instance) and the $ rules.
Trust me, you will have a brand new understanding about the world, and the US. Just don't insist on burgers wherever you go, and go with the flow. You will have a great time.

 

Except when you need to get the wheels off.