I Bought A Firetruck • Hacker News Board

Re: I Bought A Firetruck

#21

Post by carlob » Sun, Mar 24, 2013, 8:27 PM UTC

Is there some sort of crazy game of one-upmanship in the USA as to who can drive the most impractical gas guzzler?

First it was stretch limos, then Hummers, then Hummer stretch limos. I wonder if we're gonna see stretch limo fire trucks…

Edit (since I'm being downvoted): The story is cool, I just find the fact that he's driving it daily to work completely retarded. What the hell I consider driving a car to work to be hardly justifiable at all in our trade, but a 31 year old fire truck is sending a giant fuck you to anyone else trying to reduce their carbon emissions.

Re: I Bought A Firetruck

#22

Post by geoka9 » Sun, Mar 24, 2013, 8:35 PM UTC

I wonder if the author realizes what a waste it is to drive a big car (let alone a fire truck) to the grocery store.

We all love nature. We go out of our way to live in a place where it is more spectacular. And yet we do our best to shit on it with the damn gas guzzlers. Because, you know, it's fun!

Re: I Bought A Firetruck

#23

Post by nraynaud » Sun, Mar 24, 2013, 8:35 PM UTC

This is completely immature and un-professional. I want one.

Re: I Bought A Firetruck

#24

Post by randomchars » Sun, Mar 24, 2013, 8:41 PM UTC

herpaderp wrote: post #7

WHAT AN AMAZING STORY ABOUT HACKING! Seriously, HN needs to see if there is a service out there that spams these type of sites with these horribly uninteresting reddit/digg/boingboing/hurrderp stories.

> horribly uninteresting

That's your opinion. And apparently the community doesn't agree with you.

Re: I Bought A Firetruck

#25

Post by ChuckMcM » Sun, Mar 24, 2013, 8:41 PM UTC

smoyer wrote: post #17

Someone got their childhood dream! Mine was shattered when I found out that my dad didn't drive trains (An electrical engineer is apparently not the same thing). Since then, I've ridden on many trains, but I haven't driven one (yet).

We did this http://wplives.org/ral.html with our kids, yes they let you actually drive the locomotive around, it was freakin' awesome!

Re: I Bought A Firetruck

#26

Post by [deleted] » Sun, Mar 24, 2013, 8:42 PM UTC

smoyer wrote: post #17

Someone got their childhood dream! Mine was shattered when I found out that my dad didn't drive trains (An electrical engineer is apparently not the same thing). Since then, I've ridden on many trains, but I haven't driven one (yet).

[deleted]

Re: I Bought A Firetruck

#27

Post by Axsuul » Sun, Mar 24, 2013, 8:45 PM UTC

Would make a good movie title (We Bought a Zoo)

Re: I Bought A Firetruck

#28

Post by rcfox » Sun, Mar 24, 2013, 8:46 PM UTC

geoka9 wrote: post #22

I wonder if the author realizes what a waste it is to drive a big car (let alone a fire truck) to the grocery store. We all love nature. We go out of our way to live in a place where it is more spectacular. And yet we do our best to shit on it with the damn gas guzzlers. Because, you know, it's fun!

It'll be slightly offset by the fact that it has a diesel engine. Not enough to make it equivalent to car, but it's something...

Re: I Bought A Firetruck

#29

Post by jlgaddis » Sun, Mar 24, 2013, 8:49 PM UTC

hariananth wrote: post #20

pmorici wrote: post #9

"Even though it's 31 years old and technically qualifies as an antique" What makes something technically and antique? I was under the impression that 50+ years was measure of antiqueness but I can't remember why I think that.

I'd guess that he means relative to other vehicles on the road. He follows that with "it looks like a modern fire truck." Apart from things like GPS and maybe improved radio communication, I'm curious as to what design and feature improvements have come along, considering those in nearly all other modes of transportation over the same period, and the importance they serve. E.g. do firetrucks really need to be that hu…

> do firetrucks really need to be that huge?

How many thousands of gallons of water can a Prius hold? =)

Re: I Bought A Firetruck

#30

Post by carlob » Sun, Mar 24, 2013, 8:51 PM UTC

rcfox wrote: post #28

geoka9 wrote: post #22

I wonder if the author realizes what a waste it is to drive a big car (let alone a fire truck) to the grocery store. We all love nature. We go out of our way to live in a place where it is more spectacular. And yet we do our best to shit on it with the damn gas guzzlers. Because, you know, it's fun!

It'll be slightly offset by the fact that it has a diesel engine. Not enough to make it equivalent to car, but it's something...

I've always wondered: why aren't there more diesel cars in the US?