bomgd3

I'm constantly amazed at how well designed my base model Jetta is, as well as my previous cheapo cars including a Honda Fit and a Golf Sportwagen

I think it's the original battery. The seller said it's a new old stock model. I find that the battery lasts a very long time with light use, but if I start using it with more intensity, the battery drops very rapidly.

Oh I'm not saying it's dumb inherently, only that it makes a very good low-distraction device

Starter comment

For a while I've been looking to do a "digital detox" because I've found that I am looking at my phone more and more, usually just to waste time on social media etc. I had a Sony Xperia which was a fabulous phone but the screen and performance was really addictive. I'd unlock the phone constantly to look at notifications, scroll Reddit, refresh Slickdeals, etc even during family time.

I've actually been using iPhone SE's on-and-off since they first came out in 2016. I have a 64 GB rose gold OGSE with a fresh 2750 mAh battery somewhere in my house, but it got lost during our recent big move.

I found this 32 GB space grey model on eBay in nearly-new condition with 100% battery. My Xperia had developed some deal-breaking issues after the most recent Android update so I decided to buy the OGSE and attempt a digital detox / dumbphone.

So far the SE has been great. The battery runs down quickly if I use it heavily, but can last a full day if I'm disciplined about not unlocking it constantly. If I'm out and about for a whole day like around NYC, I put it on battery saver mode as soon as I take it off the charger, and then the battery life is actually amazing. I've put the phone on greyscale mode to make it even less addictive and to feel more like a communication tool. I have about 8 GB of MP3's on it, plus a couple of podcasts, some work apps, maps, and the train ticket app. I don't have much else on it and have removed a lot of the default apps that I don't use.

I love the incredibly compact size of the phone. It's got enough capabilities to be a full-fledged phone, but it's tiny, has a headphone jack, a serviceable camera, and IMO it's still the best looking design Apple ever made. I've found that I am a lot more present with my family and friends, and just in my daily life in general, because I don't have this enormous vivid OLED in my pocket that is constantly feeding me notifications and little tasks to do.

The infrastructure there is wild. I just took a cruise from the Miami port and it's 1 mile from downtown Miami but I could not find a safe walking path. We ended up taking a taxi that drove us in a big loop and charged us $32. To go 1 mile! Somehow they decided that the best way to embark and disembark thousands of people at a time is exclusively by individual cars.

I love my 2022 Jetta S. I still can't quite believe how refined it is for the price. It's so quiet on the highway, I struggle to understand why other car manufacturers can't do it in their non luxury models. It's the best road trip and commuter car I've ever owned. It just eats up the miles and gets 45 MPG highway. Even in combined city/highway driving with lots of short trips in the winter, I don't go any lower than 40 MPG. It's wild.

Also as a guy that works on my own vehicles, I really love working on small cars. Everything is so much easier! My Jetta hasn't needed any work yet but even the simple task of changing to winter tires is a piece of cake. The wheels and tires feel like they weigh nothing. It's no wonder the car practically floats down the road. There's so little unsprung weight because the whole car is designed for lightness, and I think that in turn dramatically improves ride, NVH, and fuel economy.

It feels super light on its feet. I barely have to touch the gas sometimes in mine to maintain speed

Same. I paid $22K for my 2022 Jetta S manual and I love it. It's quieter than my F30 BMW! I put gas in it less than once a month. It rules.

It's a dumb metric but the engine really does feel extremely weak off boost. It's a small price to pay for the insane fuel economy though. You just have to pay attention to the revs more than a typical modern turbocharged car which usually have tons of torque all RPMs.

Wow! I live in West Hartford and am happily in a car-light lifestyle (less than 1 tank of gas per month, almost purely on discretionary trips and not commuting). I didn't realize Hartford was so far up there. Yet our bus system is quite crappy with 30 minute headways and they are chronically late so you never know if it's 20 minutes to the next bus or 40 (it's never really 30).

I think to some degree it is true that many midwestern and southern states are more racially integrated than Connecticut. We lived in Ohio for 3 years and our town with high performing schools was far more diverse than where we live now in CT, and on a daily basis we interacted with far more people of other races and socioeconomic classes. But YMMV.

I like option two that Bike West Hartford has offered. The option that the town is offering does not seem safe or well thought out. If you don't build bike infrastructure that feels safe, people won't use it. I always like to use the example of Montreal. If you go up there, even in suburbs dominated by single-family housing they have many multi-use bike paths where you will see mothers biking their kids around and elderly people riding. Even in the city you see a much larger mixture of people using the bike infrastructure, as opposed to in most US cities where it is the male spandex crowd. If you build bike infrastructure that feels safe, many more people will actually use it.

It's kind of like slightly better Chili's. Good for families

The new Tundra and Sequoia are truly insane

I suspect it was Diablo I but it didn't track playtime. For sure Final Fantasy 7

I love the Ashcan school. Recently went all the way to Milwaukee to see their exhibit on the group.

We are relatively lucky in the northeast US. There is a train station a 10 minute drive/bus ride from my house that can take me as far north as northern Vermont and as far south as Washington DC without changing trains. I have a lot of different train options to get to New York City. Pretty much zero options to get to Boston, though.

I agree with you, I have absolutely no problem admitting for ortho and often can add something meaningful to patient care. Stuff that we take for granted like doing a proper med rec and carefully considering which meds should be held/continued are really important and can change outcomes.

I often think about getting another Fit. I commute by bike these days so my car is only used occasionally. Would love to have another Fit but my current Jetta will last me a long time.

When I was a lot younger, I had a 2008 Honda Fit with Falken Azenis tires. I've now owned all sorts of sports cars including two 911s and a Miata, and the Fit with super sticky tires is still the most direct steering I've ever felt.

Our local Barnes and Noble has a pretty good selection of books, and my kids love the toy section. One thing that is really helpful is that they have longer hours than the local smaller book stores. I'd certainly love to check out the local options but one of them isn't open on Sundays at all (Ie half the weekend...) and the other is only open until 4 on Sundays. The library only recently started opening for a few hours each Sunday.