So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

[Trenchfriend]

But otherwise, the singe-breasted front of the coat, without todays mountable quilted-gilet, isn't "winterproof", equally, if there would be a winter-padding or a simple thin lining inside the coat.

So, it would never be a "complete" wintercoat, like my other beloved, heavy-warming (padded) tweedcoat with the additional quilted-gilet inside.

 

[GHT]

The poorly-trained temps that UPS hires during the holiday rush who always manage to lose at least one vital movie shipment that I have to spend the better part of three days -- far into the night, with constant phone calls between here and the West Coast -- trying to track down, only for UPS to admit that they did, in fact, lose the package and the distributor will have to overnight me a replacement that I'll have to spend all day tomorrow waiting for in hopes it will arrive in time for me to test it, and with no guarantee that the boneheads won't lose it as well.

Say what you will about the USPS, but I never, ever have these kinds of problems with them.

Although possible, the Brits don't use the letters for phone number reference as they do elsewhere. When UPS entered the British market by purchasing an established carrier, they put their phone number on the back of their delivery vans as in PICK-UPS. It didn't take long for the British coarse humour to rename the number: COCK-UPS. In Brit-speak, cock-up is borderline crude.

 

[Stearmen]

Although possible, the Brits don't use the letters for phone number reference as they do elsewhere. When UPS entered the British market by purchasing an established carrier, they put their phone number on the back of their delivery vans as in PICK-UPS. It didn't take long for the British coarse humour to rename the number: COCK-UPS. In Brit-speak, cock-up is borderline crude.

I hate those cute letters for phone numbers, takes forever to dial a number!

 

[Edward]

Yeah, the "officials" don't make that distinction between manual/automatic transmissions here in the U.S., though sometimes it seems they'll give anyone a license as long as they can simply manage to move their vehicle of choice 100 yards without crashing into something or running someone over during the duration of the test. However, you do need a specific license in order to be a chauffeur (i.e., taxi or other passenger vehicle), drive a motorcycle, or drive certain commercial vehicles.

I dson't know about private chaffeurs, but yes, we have most of those sorts of regs here too (though I think the accursed Uber gets round them as it does most other things). Motorcycles have a specifc licence (though my car-driving licence can cover me for driving a trike or a quad, or two-wheeled vehicles below a certain size and output - like a 49CC scooter, butg not one of those amzing eifficient and fast little Japanese 49cc racing bikes). Aside from the autos, I think most things are similar..... but automatic boxes just aren't at all common in the UK, never have been, whereas I had the impression they're pretty much the norm in the US?

But otherwise, the singe-breasted front of the coat, without todays mountable quilted-gilet, isn't "winterproof", equally, if there would be a winter-padding or a simple thin lining inside the coat.

So, it would never be a "complete" wintercoat, like my other beloved, heavy-warming (padded) tweedcoat with the additional quilted-gilet inside.

If you particularly love thed stayle of that coat and want a Winter version, it's worth pricing out.... though I would suspect that unless it's a particularly unusual style, it might well cost you more to have it converted than to buy a new one already at Winter weight.

 

[HudsonHawk]

I dson't know about private chaffeurs, but yes, we have most of those sorts of regs here too (though I think the accursed Uber gets round them as it does most other things). Motorcycles have a specifc licence (though my car-driving licence can cover me for driving a trike or a quad, or two-wheeled vehicles below a certain size and output - like a 49CC scooter, butg not one of those amzing eifficient and fast little Japanese 49cc racing bikes). Aside from the autos, I think most things are similar..... but automatic boxes just aren't at all common in the UK, never have been, whereas I had the impression they're pretty much the norm in the US?

I'm not sure I'd say automatic is the norm here, I'd guess it's about 50/50. But that's just a WAG, I don't really have any data to back that up.

You need a specific motorcycle license here in Texas too. Not sure if that's true for other states.

 

[LizzieMaine]

When my Toyota died and I went shopping for another beater, my choices boiled down to a Subaru Outback and a Mini Cooper. Everything else within my sub-$1000 price range was an automatic, and I wouldn't touch a sub-$1000 used car with an automatic with a 2000-foot pole. I still remember destroying the transmission on my grandmother's 1974 Ford Galaxie while trying to rock it out of a snowbank.

 

[Trenchfriend]

@LizzieMaine
I'm interested, how much fuel is the Subaru with it's 4WD drinking on 100 kilometres/62 miles?

 

[LizzieMaine]

It doesn't do very well, about 20 mpg. My '41 Dodge gets 18.

 

[HudsonHawk]

My '77 International got about 8 mpg. But it would drag a Ford Galaxie out of snowbank...sideways.

 

[tonyb]

I'm not sure I'd say automatic is the norm here, I'd guess it's about 50/50. But that's just a WAG, I don't really have any data to back that up.

You need a specific motorcycle license here in Texas too. Not sure if that's true for other states.

WAG is right. Not even close. Sales of passenger vehicles with manual transmissions have been in decline for decades, and now it's down to -- get this -- 3.9 percent. As older cars get "retired," the percentage of manuals still on the road declines as well, of course.

https://www.fix.com/blog/manual-vs-automatic-transmissions/

I maintain the motorcycle endorsement on my driver's license because, wotthehell, why not? Even though the last time I renewed it cost as much to add the endorsement as to renew the license itself. Haven't been on a bike in years, and I have no plans to get astride one again. But should that change I'd prefer being spared the testing.

I am pleased that the states (most of them, I think) honor the others' licensing. I got a Colorado license by presenting the folks at the licensing place with my Washington license and a bit of scratch. They took my picture, put a bunch of perforations in my old license (which they handed back), gave me a paper temporary and sent me on my way.

 

[HudsonHawk]

WAG is right. Not even close. Sales of passenger vehicles with manual transmissions have been in decline for decades, and now it's down to -- get this -- 3.9 percent. As older cars get "retired," the percentage of manuals still on the road declines as well, of course.

https://www.fix.com/blog/manual-vs-automatic-transmissions/
.

Wow, that's far less than I would have thought based on people I know.

 

[sheeplady]

The newer Subarus do a bit better on gas mileage. I get around 30 MPG with my all seasons and around 25 MPG with my snows... but I have "sticky" tires over slick ones. I have 80,000+ miles on the thing and so I think that's the mileage that's going to be.

 

[Trenchfriend]

The newer Subarus do a bit better on gas mileage. I get around 30 MPG with my all seasons and around 25 MPG with my snows... but I have "sticky" tires over slick ones. I have 80,000+ miles on the thing and so I think that's the mileage that's going to be.

30 MPG, which would be 7,82 european litres on 100km? Which cubic-capacity do you got?

 

[sheeplady]

30 MPG, which would be 7,82 european litres on 100km? Which cubic-capacity do you got?

I think my car holds nominal 16 gallons... I regularly get 350 (winter) or 400 (summer) miles with plenty to spare out of a tank. I could squeeze 400 in the winter with my snow tires, but due to some childhood experiences of getting stuck on a desolated isolated country road I don't drain it and try to leave at least an hour of idling gas in the tank. So those last 50 miles of gas I always keep in reserve and refill when I've driven 350 miles on a tank.

Also, cars run less efficiently in the cold, so I know I'm not seeing the 5 mpg difference just due to the tires.

 

[Trenchfriend]

I think my car holds nominal 16 gallons... I regularly get 350 (winter) or 400 (summer) miles with plenty to spare out of a tank. I could squeeze 400 in the winter with my snow tires, but due to some childhood experiences of getting stuck on a desolated isolated country road I don't drain it and try to leave at least an hour of idling gas in the tank. So those last 50 miles of gas I always keep in reserve and refill when I've driven 350 miles on a tank.

Also, cars run less efficiently in the cold, so I know I'm not seeing the 5 mpg difference just due to the tires.

Sorry, I meant "engine-displacement" with cubic-capacity. I drive an 1,4 litre-four cylinder.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

It doesn't do very well, about 20 mpg. My '41 Dodge gets 18.

How far we've come...

 

[tonyb]

Our current daily driver is a Toyota Sienna minivan -- V6 engine, automatic tranny, power everything. Most of my driving these days is on city streets in moderate to heavy traffic. Under such conditions I'm getting in the mid to high teens of miles per gallon -- 16 to 18, typically. On the open road I've seen 30 mpg. All that sitting in traffic with an idling engine comes at a real cost. It's a good argument for a hybrid.

 

[Trenchfriend]

It's a good argument for a hybrid.

Yes, when you got a plain countryside, mainly "part throttle" and really less accelerating, it would of course be a good thing. It's just the weighing on that.

That's, why in Germany no one needs a hybrid, with all these curvy, hilly country-roads and much much accelerating.

 

[tonyb]

Keeping in mind that most of my open highway driving since we acquired this vehicle a few months ago has been on mountain pass highways. The engine is working hard on the uphill sections, and hardly at all on the downhills.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Keeping in mind that most of my open highway driving since we acquired this vehicle a few months ago has been on mountain pass highways. The engine is working hard on the uphill sections, and hardly at all on the downhills.

So, forget the hybrid. Only senseful on plain countryside with part-throttle, when the running e-motor relieves the fuel-motor.