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

I consider myself to be an expert in both pop culture and television! They often go hand in hand...

 

This thread is supposed to be about Aspergers Syndrome, so let’s talk about what one of my favorite Nicktoons has to do with it...

I believe that Carl Foutley, main character Ginger Foutley’s younger brother, could possibly either have Aspergers or another high-functioning form of autism. There’s a good chance he’s just an eccentric but neurotypical preteen, but he displays a lot of ASD characteristics too.

 

Also, As Told By Ginger took place in 2000-2002. In the series finale, Ginger and Carl’s mom married an ER physician and they moved into a very nice house. Carl would have turned 16 in about 2007 if the timeline is followed, so I could see Dr. Dave buying his stepson a used late model Tacoma as a first vehicle. However, the series takes place in Connecticut, so they’d have to look out for frame rust!

 

Here is my left rear brake after the second axle seal blowout...



These pictures were taken at my friend Pete’s garage yesterday morning; The axle seal, and the “notched” wheel bearing that caused both blowouts, have been replaced. My truck no longer squeaks when the brakes are applied!

 

They were even able to salvage the shoes this time! The dealer ate the cost this time around, but it still pisses me off that the tech just half-assed it in the first place. Should I stop going to that dealer?

 

I guess when it snows or gets icy you just stay home if you have a driveway like that!

 

Except for inspections, maybe...

 

I backed up it because I didn’t feel like backing down it, and I went over so slightly off the pavement. My right wheel hit some leaves and I wasn’t going anywhere; LSD kicked in and I stopped trying to make it up the driveway when I smelled burning rubber...

 

@Taco critter

Pennsylvania would be a much better place if vehicle inspections were done away with; It’s become a cottage industry for mechanics and is a conflict of interest!

 

If everybody in Pennsylvania refused to get their vehicle inspected for a year or two, it might just be the metaphorical “fuck you” the state needs to get the message.

 

@Taco critter

The day my truck fails an emissions test is the day I threaten a mechanic with a beating if he doesn’t put a sticker on it anyway; Luckily, I take care of my truck and don’t expect it to ever come to this!

 

But do you really want to be sharing the road with other vehicles that dont have safety inspections? While yours may be kept in top shape, imagine what some tweaker might have duct taped and baling wired together. Not something i want to be meeting on the highway doing 70mph.

 

Less than 5,000 miles a year?

 

@Taco critter

I misspoke...

The safety inspections I don’t have a problem with, especially since the local dealership doesn’t charge me for those (which is why I’m on the fence about completely ditching my dealership). The emissions test sucks because...

• It often costs upwards of $50.
• All vehicles pollute; Some more than others...
• If your check engine light is not on, you’re pretty much guaranteed to pass.
• Read all of the above; It’s a crock of shit!

 

I couldn’t drive less than 5,000 miles in a year if I tried! I put about 7,500 miles on my truck in the first year of ownership!

 

@Mitch76

New Jersey is a perfect example of
why safety inspections are good, but emissions testing is pointless...

NJ did away with safety inspections in 2010 but kept the emissions testing. The result is a bunch of shitboxes that are unsafe but legal because they can pass emissions. On top of that, Jersey only requires emissions testing every two years, and performs the test in efficient state-run facilities. Pennsylvania farms it out to often-crooked mechanics and requires it every year!

 

I’ve talked about the Asian woman I
used to work for at Puck, the one who quite literally got me off of my ass...

She was born on a US Air Force base in South Korea to a white American father and a Korean mother. They divorced and her dad remarried to another airman (technically an airwoman) while stationed in Guam. Her dad is originally from the Philly area, and her stepmom is from Nebraska. After spending years abroad (primarily in Germany), they settled in Nebraska when dad retires.

Obviously, Nebraska does not have emissions testing or safety inspections. One time in 2016, the dad came to PA for a visit. One time, I was tasked with picking up dad from boss’s house and bringing him back to Puck. Before he got in my Taco, he saw the inspection stickers on my windshield and said something along the lines of “They still do that shit here?!?!”

My thoughts exactly...

 

Yes, and New Jersey charges to inspect vehicles, but the state is not in the business of fixing them. You bring your vehicle in and it either passes or fails. If it fails, they tell you why and you are given some sort of extension so you can legally drive the vehicle for so many days until you get it fixed (Even California with its strict smog testing allows this). In Pennsylvania, the mechanics can tell you whatever they want in order to make a profit; My truck has been inspected both by the dealer and my dad’s mechanic (10 times total, not including the default inspection it got at the dealer before we bought it), and luckily both are honest. I’ve had my truck just over ten years and have NEVER failed an emissions test or safety inspection!

 

All new vehicles are subject to a visual inspection of emissions control systems in Pennsylvania, but are exempt from an actual emissions test; In Jersey, all brand new vehicles are exempt from emissions testing for five years from month they are shipped to the dealer. As of right now, all vehicles manufactured in or after November 2014 are exempt in NJ.

 

Going back to Carl Foutley, here are some traits I share with him:

• Above average intelligence.
• Extensive knowledge of random facts and pop culture.
• Socially inept at times.
• Genuinely caring and kindhearted despite various shortcomings
• Very specific interests/obsessions.
• Constantly at odds with authority figures.