The transition

[PedalUma]

The Cadillac dealer of all places sold Yugos. I sat in one and the quality of things such as the turn signal lever was less than a free disposable McDonald's Happy Meal toy, by a lot. Now I remember the hand roll up windows in the early 1970's Benz' as being as smooth as silk and when you slammed the door it was solid has hell. American cars were always misaligned back then the seams at the hood, trunk, and doors were never even. The AMC that appeared in a Bond film was one of the worst. The Pacer too. A 7,000 pound Chrysler in about '77 had a 97 hp motor and ran at at about 9 mpg. In 1984 a Cadillac had the same frame and parts as a Chevy.

In the early '80's Yugoslavia seemed to be on the upswing. I saw them in Pasadena at the Rose Bowl in the 1984 Olympics play football (soccer) and the they were great, the scary part was doing the 'Wave' it seemed like a fascist, populist thing, where the collective lost is individual minds. That changed the way I thought about things like rallys where the herd-mind takes control. When it is then pointed at a 'them' by a charismatic, it is even worse. That is what happened in Yugoslavia, Civil War resulted. And hundreds of thousands were killed. Regrettably, it is happening here now.

 

[Chargeride]

It is better than I was thinking.
View attachment 215275View attachment 215276

Its actually a van, about the size of a large SUV but half the weight.
Ugly as F, but does the job.

 

[Chargeride]

Back in the 90s we went skiing in Bulgaria, just about every car was a Yugo, you had to wait ten years to get one.
We made friends with a local taxi driver, gave him some novelty glasses with a knightrider scrolling led across the top.
He offered to lend us his car and have his sister for the night.
It truly was Borat country back then.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Back in the 90s we went skiing in Bulgaria, just about every car was a Yugo, you had to wait ten years to get one.
We made friends with a local taxi driver, gave him some novelty glasses with a knightrider scrolling led across the top.
He offered to lend us his car and have his sister for the night.
It truly was Borat country back then.

Yes it was. Truly.

In any country, a taxi driver at least tries to drive a big car. When I was there in 1990s, all cabs in Bourgas were Yugo-sized. Worse. I got into a larger taxi in the city of Rousse at night. The driver didn't tell me there was a gaping hole in the floor, and it was a lot of mud on the streets. Once I reached my hotel, the legs of my trousers were ruined!

We had a vacation in Bourgas in 1994 I think - my family and a buddy engineer flew together with me there. I was spending days doing a training for the refinery but we had afternoons, evenings and the weekend for ourselves. After we returned to Warsaw, my wife exclaimed: "See?! We have level roads! How cleanly it is here!"

I loved the food, wine, sunshine and my fellow Bulgarian engineers but it was a Borat country then.

On the beach in Nessebar. L to R: Magda (the little one in a hat), myself, my wife Sheila, a Bulgarian engineer, and my Polish engineer mate.

Me and my buddy.

 

[Chargeride]

Yes it was. Truly.

In any country, a taxi driver at least tries to drive a big car. When I was there in 1990s, all cabs in Bourgas were Yugo-sized. Worse. I got into a larger taxi in the city of Rousse at night. The driver didn't tell me there was a gaping hole in the floor, and it was a lot of mud on the streets. Once I reached my hotel, the legs of my trousers were ruined!

We had a vacation in Bourgas in 1994 I think - my family and a buddy engineer flew together with me there. I was spending days doing a training for the refinery but we had afternoons, evenings and the weekend for ourselves. After we returned to Warsaw, my wife exclaimed: "See?! We have level roads! How cleanly it is here!"

I loved the food, wine, sunshine and my fellow Bulgarian engineers but it was a Borat country then.

View attachment 215283
On the beach in Nessebar. L to R: Magda (the little one in a hat), myself, my wife Sheila, a Bulgarian engineer, and my Polish engineer mate.

View attachment 215284
Me and my buddy.

My friend, he fourth sexiest man in bulgaria, he gets an extra window in his tent.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Reminds me of Engineer Mamoń from an old Polish comedy film

The most famous Engineer Mamoń monologue was one in which he bashed Polish movies: "Bad actors... Bad dialogues... Lack of action..." while he was play-acting exactly the same!

 

[Chargeride]

The endless digital ID debate is now reaching going the pub.
Its 18 in the soon to be disbanded UK and phone based biometrics are being introduced.

Interesting is one of the alternatives considered.

Other tech under consideration as part of the government push to digitise age verification for alcohol sales include a device which scans the veins in a drinker’s finger to verify their age. That system has not yet been approved for use.

My favourite doorman age proof story is the guy who handed over his plastic ID card and the doorman tried to use two fingers to zoom in on his face.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

in the soon to be disbanded UK

I won't live up to this happening

My favourite doorman age proof story is the guy who handed over his plastic ID card and the doorman tried to use two fingers to zoom in on his face.

Well, we do use mObywatel, which is a smartphone app with all the citizen related data here. Tommy (a disabled person and a Warsaw tax-payer) has the right for free travels on the Fast Urban Railway network. He stopped carrying his plastic/paper documents. Now, he is asked to ID his rights on the train. He reaches for his smartphone and enters a wrong password...

The train conductor was a trusting and patient person and she let Tommy go. His app was stuck for the next five minutes!