My daughter kindly bought me two weeks worth of food from the company Green Chef and last night I finally had a chance to cook up my first meal: Baked Lemon Pepper Tilapia with Feta. It was fun to prepare, and the results were quite delicious and plenty for two people. But there are trade-offs with this popular form of food prep that I wanted to explore, along with sharing more information about the experience…Read More
If you’ve got tweens or teens in the house, you know the worry of wondering if they’re going to be bullied – or bullying someone else – online, along with questions about whether they’ll succumb to scams or creepy adults masquerading as youngsters. Twenty five years ago, it was easy since the only interaction children were having in the digital world was through chat rooms on AOL and similar, but with the rise of social…Read More
I had a chance to head up to the humble but surprisingly interesting and informative Loveland Museum a few days ago to catch a special exhibit of famed photographer Ansel Adams’ WWII photos of the Manzanar “relocation” camp. It was both interesting and distressing. When Japan attacked the US Fleet at Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, the United States immediately declared war on Japan and fired up the enormous war machine that was America…Read More
While it might be difficult for most to believe, let alone accept, few marriages last forever. And conjecture this is not; it is a reality substantiated by multiple studies. One of those studies was not too long ago published by Forbes, an international media company focusing on business, investing, technology, entrepreneurship, leadership, and lifestyle. In that study, researchers revealed that nearly 690,000 marriages ended in divorce in 2021. While this might cause some people to…Read More
Jeep has come a long way from its original vehicle, the Willys MB, a tough and durable car for wartime. Sold to the US Army in the 1940s, the Jeep 4×4 became one of the enduring symbols of World War II, and the first commercial Jeep, the CJ, was introduced immediately post-war, to great acclaim. The original price? $738 per unit. Adjusted for inflation, that’s about $12,000. Suffice to say, when Jeep invited me to…Read More
The compact SUV space is hot, and there are a lot of great options for today’s car buyers, from the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4 to the Mazda CX-5. In the Chevrolet lineup, the compact but roomy Chevy Equinox offers yet another solid option, though whether it’s truly competitive is another story entirely. In fact, people still view companies like Chevrolet as based in America to compare with foreign car companies like Toyota and Honda,…Read More
One benefit of being a car writer is that I get to spend lots more time behind the wheel of various vehicles than a regular Joe. When I decided to trade in my Toyota Highlander a few years ago, I leveraged that experience to choose what has proven a really great compact SUV for my needs: A 2017 Mazda CX-5 Limited. While it’s become a bit small as my kids have grown up to be…Read More
Honda has been selling rugged, off-road vehicles for decades and its Passport is one of the most popular Honda vehicles with a young, male demographic. It’s clear that the vehicle is intended to take on the Toyota 4Runner head-to-head and much of the Honda marketing material focuses on the differences between these two vehicles. With Toyota falling behind in its interior redesign efforts over the last few years, Honda’s well poised to redirect lots of…Read More
I’ve spent the last week driving a Graphite Shadow 2023 Infiniti QX50 Sport AWD and while I found it a comfortable, enjoyable ride, it was also rather forgettable. Perhaps it’s a problem with comparing hundreds of cars over time; they start to blur together. Pick a category like Sports Utility Vehicles and you’ll begin to be convinced that any given vehicle is a mashup of the elements of previous vehicles you’ve evaluated. There’s nothing at…Read More
It’s early November which means that it’s time for another election. Your first opportunity to vote comes after you’re done with high school, however, so there’s no universal way to learn how to vote or even how to understand what you’re voting for. People who seek positions are obviously important, but often the greater impact is on measures, propositions, amendments, ballot initiatives, and tax levies. We’re supposed to be educating citizens so we can cast…Read More
Most car writers have a preference for big, fast, expensive vehicles, and I get it. There’s something about the design and drive experience of a $100K+ vehicle that is pretty delightful. And those admiring looks you get from fellow auto enthusiasts aren’t bad either. But most people don’t drop $100,000 or more on a vehicle, and a whole category of buyers seek the least expensive auto that will work for their families and get them…Read More
Imagine the early days of motorcars. Every manufacturer had a few different styles, but for the most part, each brand had its spot in the hierarchy of functional sedans to luxury motorcars, with many of those brands still around today. Manufacturers didn’t tend to spin off completely different lines, but instead expanding through acquisition and consolidation, hence conglomerates like General Motors. Autos also used to be more regional, with Americans buying American cars, Germans buying…Read More
Some car brands are iconic in the luxury and racing world. Ferarri, Lamborghini, Rolls Royce, Mercedes-Benz. And Jaguar. I’ve always admired the lines of a classic Jag and it’s hard not to wax poetic about the XK line from the 1950s, absolutely iconic convertible sportscars that were all about the engine and drive experience, eschewing all comfort for the driver and much of any space for a passenger. Back seats? Puhlease. The company’s been producing…Read More
When I had the chance a few years ago to drive the 2020 Chevy Bolt, I really enjoyed it quite a bit, naming it one of my favorite cars. Here’s my writeup if you want to get the full scoop: One of My Favorite Cars: The 2020 Chevy Bolt EV. The problem with the Bolt EV is that it’s pretty small. Not quite SmartCar small, but still, quite cozy even compared to my Mazda CX-5….Read More
We’ve come a long way from the days when pickup trucks were utilitarian work vehicles with minimal comforts, driven by people who needed them for work or couldn’t afford a car. There’s no better demonstration of this evolution than the beautiful 2022 GMC Sierra 1500 Crew Cab AT4X, as is immediately obvious by its $76,700 price tag (without dealer upcharges, as has become common nowadays). Figure at least $85,000 out the door with taxes and…Read More
Okay, so the tension that was adjusted was on the main spring in my garage door. Did you know that modern garage door openers are designed to have a precise adjustment of the main spring to balance the weight of the door so that the actual door opener has the least work possible? I knew it in theory, but having a garage service tech from 225 Garage Door Repair Thornton check over my door was…Read More
Most people are familiar with the differentiation between budget, mid-range and luxury vehicles, but it turns out that there’s a tier or two above the standard luxury car in the marketplace. Supercars, for example, can have pricetags that exceed the value of most houses, and really high end ultra-luxury vehicles offer an extraordinary experience for drivers, but particularly for passengers. The fifth generation 2022 Range Rover “L460” is at this rarified level, the top of…Read More
Ever peeked at a real estate listing for a multi-million dollar mansion and marveled at how it’s kinda like your own living space, just much, much bigger? That’s the same experience I had driving the 2022 Infiniti QX60 SUV as the owner of a modest Mazda CX-5 compact SUV. It’s like someone fed my car way too much Miracle-Gro and it expanded in every dimension. It also dialed up the plush luxury interior amenities and…Read More