They don’t want you to spend time in the restaurant. Less and less McDonalds PlayCenters are surviving. The seats in the restaurant purposely get uncomfortable after 20 minutes of sitting. Harsh lighting. Drab surfaces. They want you to get your food and go. Even better if you use the drive thru or mobile app. Any modern fast food restaurant like McDonald’s, but especially Starbucks, does not want to be your “third place”.

I’m assuming US?

One thing to note is that the US started requiring back up cameras in all cars manufactured after May 1, 2018. Your best bet to find a dumb car would be to look at base trims of some cheap 2015, 2016, and 2017 cars. Cars like the Elantra, Forte, Sonata, Altima, Versa, and Sentra did not have touchscreen displays in their base trim. I know because I basically lived in rental cars during those years and am very familiar with all of them.

Now, definitely watch out on the Korean ones though due their cheapening out of security equipment…but the Kia Boyz have probably salvaged titled all of them by now. I would also be hesitant on buying a used car with a CVT because it’s a crapshoot if the previous owners actually kept up with the mandatory maintenance on them.

I think the Mazda 3 or Toyota iA are good used car choices to keep on your radar. There is a “screen” in both cars, but they are dialed controlled when the car is in motion. They both have a REAL automatic transmission too. No CVT stuff to worry about.

When Interplay decided that Sim City needed goofy, over-the-top FMVs on a CD-ROM…I think that was peak Sim City. As a kid, I was disappointed 2k and 3k didn’t have professional, career-oriented adults yelling at you for your incompetence in FMV.

On 09/11, my middle school hid the news from the students. I heard information about what was going on through gossip from other students. It was incredibly surreal because students were getting pulled out of class left and right by their parents. Walking by the teachers lounge, I peaked in to see the teachers staring at the TV and crying, but the principal was steadfast about not telling the students.

I honestly had no idea what was really going on and it wasn’t until I got home from school by the bus where I was surprised to see my Dad already home from work just glued to the TV. That’s when I finally learned about what really happened and saw the footage for the first time…at 4pm in the afternoon…

Should be a variable charge like a gas tax placed on public EV chargers and not a one time yearly fee. There is a big consumption difference between a Hummer EV and a Smart EV.

EDIT: Not every state has thought clearly about additional EV fees. Starting later this year, Texans who drive electric cars will pay significantly more in registration fees than an average gas car driver pays in gas taxes each year…because it’s fucking Texas.