StandardShift.com

I'm in Queens, NY but I don't have a car... I'm up for a meet anywhere in the region (Westchester, LI, Northern NJ) as long as I can get there by train or by bus.

So, when backing out of a parking space or my own garage, I generally ride the clutch, gently letting it out and pushing it back in while toying with the brakes and throttle. Is this the correct procedure? I'm just wondering if I'm putting too much wear on the clutch, or else if clutch-wear is inev...

Learned on a manual first. I passed my exam in a Mercedes 190D 2.5 which was the instructor's car. Then the first car I had was a hand-me-down from dad, a VAZ-2108, an old soviet beater.

Queens, NY

trouble is I don't own a car in the US, so I can't travel where no trains or buses go.

My father's first car, a dark brown VAZ-2103. He sold it when I was 5, and I remember it had a clear yellow plastic shift knob with a blue die embedded in it. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ru/b/b1/Vaz_2103.jpg My dad had a '99 Toyota Land Cruiser (3.0 turbodiesel, MT) as a company car for a ...

So, how's your trip to NYC going so far? The forecast says it's going to be mild and rainy around New Year's day.

The cheaper hotels around JFK like Comfort Inn or Best Western probably won't check ID. I've been to one and they never did. The area is somewhat seedy/shady, but since you're driving it would not be a problem. There's also a Comfort Inn in Queens right by the Maurice Ave exit of the LIE, which is a...

What version of flash are you using? If you're using anything less than 10, update it.

(The older versions of flash (used in firefox, opera, chrome) crash when you try to load too many videos all at once or it might not crash but the videos will stop playing at 00:02. )

Wonderful. Smarter than mailing photocopies of CDs and 3.5" diskettes. Wonderful spelling too: "who's spider is that?" "definately"

Winter driving in NYC is always fun to watch especially in areas where the snowplow doesn't come first thing in the morning like the side streets of Queens. Winter is the time when slushbox drivers realize there's more to driving than slamming on the gas and brake and steering. There hasn't been a n...

I'm a doctor working at the ER. A poster on the wall says "Microchip explantations are terrorism! Report all explantations to the police!" A patient arrives with a big, bleeding wound on her right arm. The paramedics warn me it might be a "terrorism attempt". I start treating the...

I've noticed the same thing. I need to give more gas to get going or climb a hill.

When the engine's idling and I switch the AC on, the tach needle slightly "dips" down for a second. When I switch it off, the needle jumps up a bit.

Not a bad house for $71K, plus you got a huge yard. I like the carport by the front entrance. In Queens/Long Island, NY such houses go for $350K-$650K depending on the neighborhood. And most of them are on 4000 sq foot lots! The NY metro area is still in total denial of the popping housing bubble ev...

A blonde lady in an SUV ended up in the middle of the intersection while waiting to make a left after her light had changed to red. She was busy talking on her cellphone, when the cross-traffic got a green and honked at her. The reaction was priceless: hands off the wheel and phone, mouth wide open,...

Nice! What engine does it have?