PennSilverTaco's "Perfect 5-Lug Regular Cab" Build, Aspergers, and General BS MegaThread!

@Iamraiderpower
Today, on Tacoma Spotting with Charlie...

A nice Lunar Mist 1st gen AC 4x4, presumably an SR5. It's a stick shift, but due I don't know what engine it has due to it being debadged...

 

Gen 2 OR wheels

 

And a blue pre-2009 AC TRD Sport 4x4 V6/auto, also spotted in Doylestown!



I knew it was older than 2009 because I glanced inside and saw that it had one these radios (this one is a stock/research photo from Crutchfield)...


It also lacked the backup camera in the tailgate handle...

 

Season 1 Episode 1 of Tacoma spotting with Charlie! Love it!

 

Season 1, but not episode 1...

 

With the iPhone it is!

 

No... Believe it or not the majority of photos of Tacomas I took with my Nikon, prior to the encounter with my aunt's neighbor, were taken at the Carlisle Truck Nationals. Everything else was done with the iPhone...

 

Charlie...you need some music for your Tacoma Spotting effort. It reminded me of Trainspotting:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6iKFn8dlxX8

 

@Plain Jane Taco

Bill, was your Yaris a stick shift as well?

 

My parents got me a '76 Chevy Scottsdale C10 for Christmas!

 

Some more of my vehicle ornaments...

 

This ornament was my favorite for years (now surpassed by the orange '76 Chevy seen above).

It's a 1995-1996 Dodge Ram 2500 SLT Laramie with the V10 engine (Yes, the truck is detailed enough that you can actually read the emblems)!



One thing I do not get is why Santa would buy a 2WD pickup truck?!?! He lives in the freezing cold and snowy North Pole, does he not?!?! A 2WD V10 Dodge Ram with a locking rear diff would do fine in mild situations, but I think a 4x4 version (like the one driven by the late Bill Paxton in Twister) would be a better choice...


Who knows? Maybe when the Dodge Ram was sucked into the tornado at the end of the movie, it didn't get destroyed and ended up unharmed in the North Pole?

 

Recently, my wife had some issues and DCF was contacted... jump ahead to a couple months back and we started having "speech therapy" for my son. He has a couple of VERY minor issues- mostly when playing with certain toys where he runs a truck with large tires over his head, or if he's engrossed in something he does not answer to his name. This therapist for speech is an OT and they started throwing "Autism" labels all over the place.

He's been at the same Daycare since he was 4 months old- he's 2.5 yo now and she's not convinced and neither is the state person who visits daycare all the time. He's extremely smart- been using an iPhone 5 and now an Amazon Fire since he was about 6 mos old. Opens apps, takes pics and vids, closes unused apps, etc. Anyhow, we are wondering if he's got Asberger's. He's very functional, openly goes up to kids and plays, etc. His speech is slightly delayed but I didn't talk until I was 3 myself. Then they couldn't shut me up!

My fear is that if they label him, he will be segregated, have therapies, and be "different" in school. If he has an issue- we will confront it head-on. If not, I don't want the state (Massachusetts- where EVERYONE needs a label) to push him into it. I'm also waiting for an actual SPEECH THERAPIST to come to the house and work on that actual issue. I'm thinking that with the tools of actual speech, he will become more expressive and "normalized" as it were. Otherwise, if you meet him, you'd have NO idea except that his speech is slightly delayed- but all kids are different and boys are typically behind their girl counterparts in that area anyhow.

As for the OP- good for you. I'm glad you're leading the life you want and have much more ahead of you. And, good choice on the truck!

 

First question... Did you actually put a grill guard on a Prius?

Now to get down to business...

If you have the money, send your kid to a private school. My best friend John was diagnosed with Asperger's (Not Asberger's) at age 5, and he went to a private school from kindergarten through 12th grade. As a result, I'd say he turned out a bit better than me in terms of being independent. The only thing I know how to do that he can't is drive a stick shift. He does drive, but like most millennials, he can't drive a stick. Unlike me, he has his own apartment and a steady full-time job.

Part of the problem for me was that my dad was in the Navy for 25 years and we moved a lot. If I would have been in just one or two school districts my whole life, I think life would have been a hell of a lot easier. I was not diagnosed with Asperger's until I was 9. I was never in any of those miserable "segregated" special education classes.

I didn't speak in complete sentences until I was 3, and I wasn't potty-trained until I was 3 either.

Once I started speaking, I advanced very quickly. I consider myself to be quite mechanically-inclined. I love building stuff, and I also loved taking stuff apart. Needless to say, my dad was not too happy when he would buy me $20-$30 diecast 1:18 scale models, only for me to break them from playing to roughly and end up taking them apart.

I've always been very good in English/Grammar/Language Arts. I've also historically been very good in history (pun, uh, not intended; Or maybe it was? ) Not so good in math...

 

Yes.

In fact, the only auto I've ever owned is my current rig

 

New stick shift vehicles are very rare on dealer lots 'round here!

 

It's a dying breed, for sure

 

Even back in 2010...

Thompson Toyota in Doylestown had a stick shift Corolla iM on the lot for the longest time, and I think it didn't sell quickly because it had these rather outlandish orange wheels and an expensive body kit...

 

When I was a kid growing up in the 70's and 80's.....half the vehicles on the road were manual transmissions.