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

What confounds me is that my mom begrudgingly let me ride on the back of my dad’s motorcycle (1997 Yamaha Virago from 1996 to 1998 and 1999 Harley FXDX from 1998 to 2009) from the age of 7 as long as I wore a helmet, but wouldn’t let me ride shotgun in a vehicle with airbags until I was in middle school. After a particularly bad day at school in February 2001, I gave my mom an ultimatum and from then on I rode shotgun in all vehicles if there wasn’t another adult present.

My Grandpa’s ‘93 Lincoln Continental had dual airbags, and I rode shotgun in that from 1994 when he bought it 1996 when my mom read the airbag study. By the summer of 2001, I was riding shotgun in the Lincoln again, and by 2003-2004 my grandpa was letting me drive the thing even though I was over a year from legally being able to drive. My Grandma drove a 1987 Mercedes 300E
from 1987 until 2002, and my Grandpa did not like the Benz at all. However, he knew I liked riding shotgun so he begrudgingly drove the Benz instead of the Lincoln so I could do so. By 2001, I was now well past the minimum safe size to ride shotgun in a vehicle with dual airbags so he started driving the Lincoln again when we did stuff together.

 

The first time I EVER rode shotgun in one of my aunt and uncle’s vehicles was in late 2002 when my uncle gave me a ride in his then-new Nissan Frontier (which he still has), his first new vehicle in about 17 years. Other than that, I was almost enough to drive (as was her younger son, a cousin who was 5 months older than me) by the time my aunt stopped being a safety nazi and finally let me the younger of her two sons ride shotgun. My uncle, with the exception of the ride in the new Nissan, was the same way.

To give you an idea of how much my aunt changed, she let me drive her 2009 RAV4 Limited in 2010 when I was still on a learner’s permit. Keep in mind that we were in Virginia, but I had a Pennsylvania learner’s permit. In addition to Virginia, I also drove in California, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, and New Jersey on my obviously out-of-state permit between August 2009 and April 2011 (though always with a licensed driver in the vehicle) before finally getting my license in May 2011. I did extensive research on this and it would seem that Indiana is the only state that explicitly prohibits, in writing, driving on an out-of-state learner’s permit.

Right now, my aunt and uncle have three vehicles; The yellow 2002 Nissan Frontier XE 2WD, a 2009 Toyota RAV4 Limited 4WD, and a 2018 or 2019 (pretty sure it's an '18) Toyota Highlander XLE AWD.

 

My Taco, and an ‘07 stick shift Camry with 230K miles!

 

One thing I just suddenly remembered is the obnoxious "no hugging" policy from 8th grade. However, before we get to that, I would also like to point out that I completed 6th and 7th grade at Oak Harbor Middle School in the Washington town of the same name. I went to 8th grade at Liberty Middle School in Clifton, Virginia. When I went 4th and 5th grade in Virginia Beach, I distinctly remembered that 6th grade was considered middle school. Liberty Middle School was in the Fairfax County School District, and despite being only a three-hour drive from Virginia Beach, the school system was different. In Virginia Beach, Kindergarten through 5th grade was considered elementary school, 6th through 8th grade was considered middle school (or junior high, whatever you want to call it), and high school was 9th through 12th. In Fairfax County (and I believe neighboring school districts), 6th grade was part of elementary school, and only 7th and 8th grade were high school, but 9th through 12th was still high school. My cousin (the school psychologist with the '17 RAV4) went to school in the Parkland School District in Lehigh County (Pennsylvania). If I remember correctly, 9th grade for her was high school. In Central Bucks, where I attended 11th and 12th grade, 9th grade was part of middle school.

 

Anyway, considering that I once saw a girl giving a guy head in a bathroom stall in 2005, not long after starting 11th grade (I can only assume that's what was happening based on visual evidence and body positions, since the door to the stall was locked), this "no hugging" BS from 8th great is pretty damn stupid...

I certainly did not have any friends during my time in Fairfax County that I had a close enough relationship with to hug, but I saw this regularly. It always involved girls, and it was always a gym teacher named Mr. Kestyn who enforced the policy. A couple of 12-14 year old co-ed BFFs would see each other in the hall between classes or after school, and they would walk up and hug each other as a gesture of friendship. If Mr. Kestyn (who happened to be my gym teacher) saw this, he would immediately come running over and say something along the lines of "Sorry ladies, this is a no hugging school!" He was not an asshole about it, but it seemed like one of those "pick your battles" type of situations.

Middle school cannot hold a candle to what went on in high school, and neither can match what goes on in a bar on a typical Saturday night!

 

what year is that Hilux? thinking of getting a 1973 Hilux and 1992 sc400 and trying to swap parts over to the truck

 

@El Duderino
@Running Man
@Taco critter

Ali3n is ignoring me.

 

@Running Man

Any idea why he might be ignoring me?

 

Oh well, you’re an adult you’ll get over it

 

Why is he ignoring me? Do you guys know something I don't? I don't like the unknown.

 

Nope

 

In your opinion, have I done anything wrong? I commented directly on his thread and he didn't respond. Apparently it's his birthday today?

 

Wow! That's a sleeper street racer truck! Is that V8 from a Sequoia or 4 Runner?

 

Its a 1980 RHD Hilux from japan.

 

Its from a GS400

 

@El Duderino
@Plain Jane Taco
@Running Man
@Taco critter

Today, I was driving on the turnpike on my way to see friends in Media, and I saw a 2007ish Chrysler Sebring on the shoulder. It had a white towel closed in the front left window, which is the universal sign that a vehicle has broken down or run out of gas...

The Sebring did not have a license plate, which leads me to wonder...

Did the owner of the Sebring anticipate that someone would steal the license plate and removed it to take with them, or did someone actually steal the license plate?!?!