End of an Era

Last spring I decided to delay buying a new pickup until the 2020 models came out because I was told that GMC would have manual transmissions available then.  I called the GMC dealership the other day and found out that the information I got in the spring was not true.  Then I called the Ford dealership, which shows how desperate I had become, and got the same answer.  Then I had Cortana look it up for me, which is what I should have done in the first place, and found out that nobody makes half ton pickups with manual transmissions, and probably never will again.  They do put them in those mini-trucks, which will not comfortably accommodate my robust muscular physique, and some heavy duty industrial grade trucks, which I don't need and can't afford, but that's all.

Today I went back to the guy I originally talked to about getting a Chevy pickup and told him that I was ready to buy now.  I apologized for the delay and said that I should have listened to him in the first place, but he didn't seem to mind.  You can't order a new 2020 model now because of the strike, but it seems that most dealers stocked up on 2019s in anticipation of said strike, and he found two of them for me in short order.  In the old days, if a dealer didn't have what you wanted on his lot, you had to order it, but nowadays the dealers co-broke with each other via the internet.  That's how I got my last truck. I got a really good deal although I couldn't get the color I wanted, but this time I can get my choice of color (red), although I will have to pay considerably more than I did in 2004.  Inflation is part of the reason for the price increase, and also the fact that they all come with automatic transmissions and air conditioning now.  Then there's all the electronic bells and whistles, some of which hadn't been invented in 2004, and others that used to be optional and now come standard.  The good news is that this will probably be the last truck I ever buy.  If this one lasts as long as my last one, I will be 89 years old by the time it gives out.  If I am still alive and driving then, I can always lease one for the little time I will have left.

Speaking of the end of an era, the 2020s and beyond will not have CD players in them.  It seems that nobody wants CD players anymore because there are so many other ways to play music electronically, and they all plug into the modern motor vehicles.  Stupid people!  Just because they invent new stuff doesn't mean you have to throw your old stuff away.

I believe that about the squirrels.  My experience with wildlife is that they are sensitive to any sudden change in their immediate surroundings.  You can drive right up to a deer with a car or tractor if you keep your engine RPMs steady, but they will spook if you either rev up the engine or shut it off.  A rabbit or partridge will sit right there and let you walk past them, but might flush if you stop.  If they don't flush when you stop, they will surely flush when you start walking again.  Squirrels do have a short attention span however.  If you spook one, just sit down or stand real still, and they will forget about you in a half hour or so and go back to whatever it was they were doing.