Planning a trip to Europe next year. Must sees include- Rome, Paris, England. Any tips for traveling cheap?
You guys want to hear something ironic? Today I INSTALLED a breathalyzer on a car. It was a real pain in the ass, too. It was on a 2016 Chevy Cruze, and the problem I had was that it was push-button start (Goddam, do I hate that feature on cars. What the fuck? Too lazy to turn a key? Fuck all of them.), which meant that pretty much all of the wiring under the dashboard was useless for this installation, and I had to route all of the breathalyzer wires under the hood. The installation isn't usually very complicated, but this one took hours because of that. I remember back when I was forced to get a breathalyzer on my Trans Am; I bypassed it the first night, and spliced in an extra starter wire that was activated by my (non-functioning) electric hatch release button. Whenever I wanted to start the car, all I had to do was press the hatch button. The guy at the breathalyzer place didn't buy it that I was only driving the car a couple of times a month (according to the machine), and he KNEW I had done something to it, but he never could find my work. It was funny watching him looking in all the wrong places for the jumper wire. Bitch, I'm a mechanic; do you think some little box is going to keep me from starting my own car?
When they put a breathalyzer on a car, what's to stop that person from just buying a POS cheapo car while the clock ticks on how long they have to have the breathalyzer?
Nothing. Not a damn thing. It just monitors the use of THAT VEHICLE ONLY. Back when I had mine, I had a PO that wanted to make life difficult for me (although I kind of think it was at the behest of the guy running the breathalyzer place; I think it burned him up that he couldn't catch me), and she said that if I wasn't using the car often enough, then I was going to have to install it on another vehicle (she wanted to put it on my dad's truck). She even called him to get authorization, to which my dad said that they could take me back to jail, he wasn't getting one of those things on his truck. The cunt said "We need to be able to monitor your alcohol use." I instantly pointed out that the judge ordered it to be placed on that car, with that VIN number, and that she would have to take this to court. She never did.
One of these things is not like the other... hard to provide advice on "England." There are a lot of places in England. Paris and London have amazing public transit. Forget about staying anywhere in the popular/expensive areas, just pick an AirBnb that's close to a metro line. Rome has no metro to speak of (they can't dig because of all the ruins). The busses are fine, and will get you where you need to go, so you can follow the same advice (stay out of the city center, somewhere near a bus stop), but it's a lot slower to get around there and they don't always run on time. Google Maps has bus routes and metro routes, so it's easy to get around. We walked a fuckton everywhere we went - don't know if that's your style or not, but it sure gives you a great experience of the city. In Rome, the "big" attractions are actually pretty awesome but you should just do some walking around the city, taking arbitrary side streets. There are incredible ruins and churches down random streets that are totally unmarked (and free to see). When you pick places to stay, aside from staying near public transit stops, if you can rent AirBnbs with kitchens, you can save a ton of money on eating out and still get a great experience. Lots of cities in Europe have great local markets with fresh produce, special local meats and cheeses, and baked goods, all dirt cheap. We almost always ate lunches out to experience the local cuisine, but often ate breakfast and dinner in our rental. Splurge on the occasional dinner, of course, but eating out every night is an easy way to rack up big charges, especially with alcohol. If you have time, taking trains/busses is a lot cheaper than most flights. Beware of rental cars - they're convenient, but a really good way to add $40-70/day to your budget. Use them to get around, but don't hang onto them during your city stays. What kind of trip are you looking for? Cities only? Hiking? Rural areas?
The cross-sea flight is the pricey part. You can get around using hostels and high-speed rail pretty cheap once you’re there. I was shocked by how low cost and efficient the trains are. I think Paris to Amsterdam was less than four hours and cost about eighteen dollars each. Here it’s five times that cost and 4x slower.
Yeah, and the time part. Since I’m self employed if I’m not working I’m not eating. Maybe I’ll grab a groupon travel or something someday.
Paris to Amsterdam is like a 6 hour drive. Price wise a greyhound is probably comparable . Looks like train prices are 4 x what you are quoting usd.
I wouldn’t attempt driving in Europe unless I lived there. Those weird, clunky cars that most people drive in outlaw road conditions freak me out. I genuinely loved the trains there. Having that sort of system here would change travel monumentally. But just the surveying for it would take years.
He pretty much only has done comedy since MadMen, or things with humorous intentions. You’d think with his chops and looks he would be after more serious, award-bait roles but he seems comfy playing the third string in half a dozen movies/shows per year. I loved him as Ronald Reagan’s personal assassin “The Falcon” in the prequel to Hot Wet American Summer. Me thinks he doesn’t like playing the Kiss Ass Olympics like the elite Academy assholes, and that’s why he isn’t an A-lister yet.
He may not technically be an A-lister, but I guarantee he gets just as much if not more of the attention at celebrity gatherings surrounding award shows and whatnot.
No doubt, he’s a very well-recieved guy. What I mean is fame-wise, he’s not on the wheel with the biggest cogs. He doesn’t need a team of bodyguards to go out in public, and plan an escape if shit gets crazy. I mean that insane Cruise/Depp/Julia Roberts level of fame. Hamm could easily become that huge, he has what it takes but he likes doing comedy. And he’s good at it, so good for him. He would make a great psycho in a movie, though. Actors need to play against-type more, a “funny guy” like Robin Williams or Michael Keaton turned out to be remarkable villains when given the chance.
I really don’t see a train system like that working out here. Maybe small regional hubs could sort of work but nothing like Europe or Japan. 6-10 hour train ride in Europe could take you through all the major countries with total different cultures and histories. What do you get Chicago to Florida? Yay.