Posted on 09/25/2012 4:11:53 AM PDT by SoothingDave
Word For The Day, September 25, 2012
In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day".
kvetch [kvech]
-vi
to complain, especially chronically.
[1960–65, Americanism ; < Yiddish kvetshn literally, to squeeze, pinch; compare Middle High German, German quetschen]
We tested a Rav4 and a Highlander. The Rav4 is weaker on the hills and we live atop a good sized hill. It’s all about the power.
And the higher SUVs allow my lousy knees and bad back easier access to my butt hitting the seat. I am VERY excited. Saturday morning I got up, planned to run some errands, when DH asks what am I doing today. When he told me his plan to go test drive my dream car, ie SUV, I jumped at it. We tested two at one dealer, then DH called his mechanic and he recommended another dealer. We went there and it was love at first sight. It’s a smoky blue with a tan interior. Cloth seats, not a lot of extras, but it’s solid. I forgot to check if it had power doors, but it has powered locks, windows and seat adjustment. Only saw it and drove it Saturday. Pick up is tonight. I need to get it equipped with an automatic starter before winter.
Don’t forget that I am retired and lucky to be getting a new-to-me car. It’s a 2007, and dang cheap at that. The dealer does not haggle, he prices his vehicles to sell. Most go within 24-48 hours of hitting the lot. He moves volumes of them on that tiny lot. Southern cars, which we all want up here in the frozen tundra.
you will love it! xsteen has a Rav and i like it, but prefer something a little bigger, which the highlander is. Our driveway is a Toyota lot: xshub has the 4runner and xsboy the FJcruiser.
Once you get up in an SUV, you don’t want to go back down to a sedan again. That’s for sure.
My junker is a 1996 Avalon with 230,000+ miles on it. DH drives a much newer Lexus. We haven’t bought brand new cars in many years. Just one sacrifice we made years ago due to the economy. Couldn’t justify it. The key is to have a great mechanic, which we do. Neither one has ever broken down on us. Toyotas run forever.
That is the one of the funniest parodies I’ve ever seen, and true-should be a commercial seen on every cable network.
I do still miss my Caravan. I loved that one, bought it brand new. When it died we switched to Toyotas and never looked back.
There have been news stories from across the country about the new stingy calorie meals being forced on schools. Total grass roots from the kids themselves. Boycotts galore. Kids are packing their lunches to get enough food for the day.
I’m tired of the driveby media with
Their shrill and constant kvetching-
I press “mute” in 60 seeconds
Just to keep myself from retching
I’m tired of the Obama worship and
All the inane, halfassed excuses-
The apologies to lunatic “leaders”
And the nausea that it induces
If anyone needs a fool-proof diet-
Just listen to the media squall
You’ll lose pounds-and appetite
With absolutely no effort at all
Kvetch can also be used as a noun as in “So-and-so is a kvetch.”
I’ve seen the kid-led boycotts on the news, and good for them-lunch made at home is better anyway, because you know where that food came from. The schools shouldn’t feed growing kids sugar and empty carbs, but just feeding them a tiny portion of meat, veggies and tofu isn’t the answer either-they are not full-grown adults.
Ath a leet in two symbols? Easy. Swim mer, run ner, bi ker, and if a male it’s Ath o leet.
Started with Toyota Previa van when babies were born, then got a Chrysler town and country van and the dang transmission went after only 8 months. that was it for American made, have never gone back, it was Toyota Sienna vans thereafer and then most recently the highlander. Cannot beat Toyotas for reliability. It was noteworthy to see all the American cars in Ohio when we were at my brother’s, you can always tell its a union area bc of that.
My neighbor is a union man. He finally gave up on American made cars in frustration at the sheer crappiness of them. I laughed. I was already there.
Congratulations!
I have wanted an SUV, or a minivan, since they first came out, but my husband prefers big, traditional, 4 door sedans. Being an engineer, he always has a lot of facts and figures on gas mileage, horsepower, price, etc. to back up his preferences, so we always buy big, used, 4 door sedans. Even our antique Model A is a big, 4 door sedan.
I am always threatening to buy a 4 door pick up truck next time around, but I’m not sure that I could climb into one any more. We rented a Ford Escape (I think that was the model) on one of our trips to CA this summer, and I really liked that.
We always buy low mileage used cars and look for a model with the most luxury accessories. We need front wheel drive because we live on a hill too. It can be slippery when it ices up in the winter. Many of the car manufacturers have dropped front wheel drive, so that eliminates them. We evolved from 2 large Chryslers to 2 full sized Cadillacs over the past 5 years because Chrysler droppped front wheel drive on its large sedan.
Cadillac has just dropped its popular DeVille chassis and has gone to a new, smaller model with a fold down back seat — sort of incorporating the trunk into the seating compartment. I suspect that I am driving the last Caddy that I shall ever own. Even my current 2008 Luxury 3 model, has modified, or dropped, some features that my 2003 model had. They are little things in the great scheme of life, but I really liked them.
For instance, you can no longer activate the “lock” button from the rear doors. So, if you are unloading packages, you have to go back to the front doors to lock the car or use your key fob (when your hands are already full of “stuff”). My newer Caddy does not have lighted “vanity” mirrors in the back seat, even though the accessory packages that were included are top of the line. The side “map” pockets in the doors are so shallow that they are unusable, and the cupholders have reduced the spacing in the front seat so that it is difficult to place 2 cups of coffee, etc. in them side by side. The back of the front seat pickets have no gussets, so nothing fits in them.
None of these changes were noticeable until we had bought the car and driven it for a while. And the worst thing of all? It has a black leather interior. I lose everything in there. Seriously. This is not Cadillac’s fault — just my stupidity. I’ve lost the car manual, the dog’s leash, etc., ad nauseum. Things just disappear in plain sight, especially when the car is in the garage. The side windows are tinted, and you pop out to the garage and peek in the car looking for something — no, it’s not there, look some place else. 2 days later you find it right in the car where it was the whole time. Maybe if I remembered to keep the sun roof interior shade open I could see things, but I never remember.
So, when the 2003 model needs replacing, I’ve got to look for a different car. Maybe I’ll get my minivan, finally.
Although we loved our 2 Chrysler LHSs and put well over 200,000 miles on each of them, we replaced several transmissions. We had a friend who had a transmmission business, and he said he could live forever on just Chryslers. The other fault was the AC. We replaced that on each one too. We just gave granddaughter great grandmother’s Chysler Cirrus. 37,000 miles and already a new transmission. But, we figure she’ll be good for another 37,000 miles.
i thought only foreign cars like Mercedes, BMWs etc were rear wheel drive anymore? all of our SUVs are all wheel drive. i’d never own a rear wheel drive car, even living in NoVA and not getting all the snow and ice you guys do. Several years ago when we had the SNOWMAGEDDON, xshub passed plenty of Saabs, BMWs and other fancy cars abandoned on the road, and that’s what caused it to take him 7 hours to get home in what is normally a half hour trip.
Toyotas get great gas mileage, and run forever. Tell hubby that.
No, the worst thing is that whenever you open the car door, snow falls onto the driver’s seat.
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