Harry's Ruminations

Context: http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2018/05/war-footing-toyota-ceo-unleashes-seven-samurai-bid-survival/#more-1625584 “With our rivals and the rules of competition also changing, a life-or-death battle has begun in a world of unknowns,” [Toyota CEO] Toyoda said during a fiscal update last week. “Cost reduction is crucial. It is a fight to restore our original strength.” Dear  Toyota USA I read the article below and it sickens me. You are a great company well on the way to being FCA if you take your eye off product and think only of Expense controls. Having worked for a company that cut expense for 17 straight years (when it wasn't spending $3 Billion to buy companies it had no idea what to do with), let me be the first to say, this will not work, and it will drive your talent away. It's not employees' fault that Tundra is a dead stick. Chevy makes oodles of cash off the Tahoe/Suburban line and you can't move the metal. Your hybrid strategy is a money-lo...

I've toyed with the idea of doing a video review of this car.  If you'd like one, leave a comment So, I've had a 10th Generation 2018 Honda Civic since April 24th.  I had a little car trouble  and found myself in need of a car. Crap.  Nothing like buying a car in the middle of Spring, when everyone else is buying a car thanks to Tax Refunds.   Middle of the model year.  No incentives.  Yaaaaay . My short list went like this: Ram 1500 GM half-ton with the 5.3 V8 Buick Lacrosse Lexus GS350 Honda Accord So basically: Truck or car? Practical or practical or practical. I needed something practical I could put my wife and girls in.  I was driving around in a sweet full size Chevy Impala, so I was feeling a car again, hence the Lacrosse being on the list. I 86'd the GM as it drove too big, and Whitney homed in on the Ram and the Buick as her top 2.  On April 23rd I took off work and we went driving during the morn...

As the lights go up after a comic book movie, there are reactions one expects: Awed silence; various onomatopoetic words like "Whoa!," or (in the DC Universe) grim reflections that it either did or didn't suck as much as expected. One does not  expect seething, shocked anger like the gentlemen next to me, "Well, I'm glad I never saw Black Panther," or the repeated, mindless exclamation of a teen across the auditorium. This movie BROKE ME.  This movie completely BROKE ME.  I am Broken. Truly, after Infinity War , I think none of us will be the same again.  Our happy childhood of origin stories and side quests is over.  The reality (stone?) of us dutifully hitting the bar in our rat cages marked "comic book movie" with our $$$ since 2007 is  coming to pass.  Or, as Master Mordo said in a (much better) comic book movie: "The bill comes due." (Note: I'll try to avoid spoilers) Too Many Sorcerers...er...Characters  The film...