First car? MG-B. Second car? Triumph Spitfire. Third? VW Bus (manual). Fourth car...

Never mind. Point remains that I've been there, done that, I and I know that a part of your attention is monitoring engine speed/noise, engaging/disengaging the clutch, shifting, etc., etc..

And that's a part of your attention that's not focused elsewhere.

Besides, I'm way past the point of thinking I'm a badass driver just because I can stomp my foot and make a car go vroom-vroom... ;)

"Don't make people think or force them to pay attention..."

Right. Because heaven forbid we let drivers actually focus on the road. You know? Looking out for other cars? Bikes? Pedestrians?

Much better to distract them micromanaging gears and focusing on split-second timing and clutch control. After all, nothing says road safety like diverting attention away from what actually matters.

And fun in this context usually means clinging to the fantasy that mastering an outdated gearbox somehow makes you a better driver.

A comforting myth in a culture that confuses noise, speed, and complexity with competence, and one that injects unnecessary complexity into a task that already kills 40,000 people a year.

Often by people swerving back and forth in traffic, speeding, racing, and blowing red lights.

"In the winter, "sticks" are better because you can start out in 2nd gear..."

True. And could come in handy the five days in the year I might need it.... as opposed to the other 360.

As pointed out above, I cancelled the subscription. As long as alternatives (or doing without) are options, one in fact can say, "No."

I actually have the Adobe "Photography" Plan that recently just bumped up from $9.99/mo to $15.52/mo. ($19.95 listed on site).

Or had, rather, since I just cancelled it. I no longer use it enough to justify the cost, and have been using Pixelmator Pro for the odd work that I needed done.

Switching to a new program isn't easy... but it's getting easier, and I was getting tired of Adobe's incessant price increases.

I'm also currently going through the painful process of trying to delete the apps from my machine. Apparently Adobe didn't hear about the "one click cancel/delete" rule...

"Clearly they care far more about the bottom line than doing what's best for their customers."

Staying in business is good for customers.

So, one person has has to stand behind that continuous miner and run it.. Cool. Now tell me, how many miners did that machine replace?

Okay, I'll bite. Please explain the circumstances under which the population replacement rate again climbs above 1.2?

Absent some major restructuring of society, Japan's only real hope is immigration.

Same as the US, actually.

If you're in command of a starship, head of engineering on the fleet flagship, or so on, I doubt you're in the bottom percentile in anything.

Try reading Hogan's Voyage from Yesteryear for an alternative take on this,

You want a ICE AND an electric motor AND a battery / charging system suitable for use as a PHEV... AND you want cheap.

And I want my atom-powered flying car too.

I mean, as long as we're wishing.

Then again, there's probably a Chinese PHEV that could come close. Too bad we're in protectionist mode.

"Typically, pickup truck buyers are not the demographic who are willing to compromise in those aspects of vehicle ownership."

The typical American suburban pickup truck buyer gets a F-150 or Silverado or RAM because they're afraid their dick is too small. This isn't my opinion, read the marketing demographics of pickup truck buyers, and then watch a ball game filled with grim-faced manly men doing construction and ranching and farming and other things that real manly-men do. They spend millions on those ads, and they know exactly who they're targeting.

So. If you're buying a truck as a ego-boo, then you're absolutely correct, the men that do that are concerned about size, comfort, and features.

This, on the other hand, is a city-truck. Designed to haul and deliver things in the city. There are millions of similarly sized vehicles in Europe and Asia doing actual work. You know? Work? That thing the rest of the world uses a truck to do?

"Also challenging the traditional "wisdom" of the US auto industry of pumping up the size and the price..."

From their perspective the "wisdom" was just fine, make a bigger, fatter truck or SUV, then charge more for it. Why try to eke out a profit selling 10 econo-boxes when you can make as much (or more) selling one fat-assed F-150 at $80K a pop?

Only problem is that, eventually, you run out of people who can afford to pay $80K+ for a truck.

"Most" have seating for at least 6?

Say again? Two in front with center console, three in back seat. That's five. Where does the 6th go? Roof rack?

Now there are three-row SUVs in the fat-assed Expedition, Yukon, and Subdivision classes [sic], but those seem to be far from "most".

"It doesn't have...."

Some people don't understand the concept of a basic, affordable truck. You know? A truck? Often used for work and to haul things? Truck?

"...you think a Bluetooth speaker would be loud enough for inside a car?"

It's a two-seater truck. How loud does it need to be?

"Nobody is going to surmount a 7 million loss of voters."

Delusional Donald ran on the economy. If he tanks it, runs up inflation, destroys retirement accounts, and/or cuts SSA and Medicare/Medicaid there might be a LOT of people ready to run him out of town.

It's all well and good to talk about immigration, culture, trans people, etc.. But when you start messing with their money...