It's Sunday. Definitely Last Day Of TTAC's Future Writers Week

The commenters already thanked the Saturday team of contestants for their great work. Let’s thank them again. It was good – at least most of it. Today, we announce Saturday’s winners. We also present a new batch of contestants. Then, we will take a break. But first, Saturday’s winners.

Please give it up for:

• Keith Kostecke, a.k.a. contestant #39
• Derek Young, a.k.a. contestant #41
• Michael Stephenson, a.k.a. contestant #36

TTAC applauds thee. Those who have not won: Don’t despair; there is always a chance to make Editor’s Choice. We announced one editor’s choice yesterday, and we will announce more next week when we wrap up TTAC’s Future Writers Week for a while. As announced, we will present you more contestants during the course of the coming weeks and months, but we won’t do it every day.

Before we do that, let me present you today’s – and for the time being last – batch of contestants.

The rules of engagement, listed below, remain the same as yesterday. Keep in mind, the writing examples are presented here in the same order as they arrived in my mailbox. They are shown unedited, unproof-read, as-is. If no writing examples were sent, despite the fact that they were requested, snippets from the emails were used instead.

Contestant 43 writes:

“I don’t like people, but I like cars. A machine seems simple, elegant, sometimes beautiful. Sleek body lines lead to enticingly sculpted rear fenders, making some objects of sexual desire. She (or maybe he) will go as far as you want on the first date (considering you’re buying), and putting on the aggressive moves just enhances the fun. It’s a delightful thought loving cars instead of people: no talking, no nagging, and you can just be yourself. Or can you?”

Contestant 44 writes:

“ The shifter knobs were gone. Which means that someone at some point realized that they were being stolen. It was the first day of the Phoenix Auto Show in downtown Phoenix. Great weather but no one would be there because it was Thanksgiving Day. A day for football and family and turkey. There were 500 cars. All brand new. You were allowed to sit inside every car. The advertisements said that there would be no ”selling”. But everyone knew that the salesmen would be there. How could they not be there when 100,000 buyers were going to be in that place. The ads were right. No salesmen. No selling. Just a few of the manufacturers’ employees to answer questions; and that’s all they did. No sales pitches. Just smiles.”

Contestant 45 writes:

As I started approaching 200K in the Accord, I decided that would be the magic number that would trigger my hunt for a new car. During the few months leading up to the rolling of the odo, I ruled out – or should I say gas prices ruled out – anything that didn’t get at least the average 23 MPG that I was getting during my commute to and fro the workplace. While I’m not a total Honda fanboy, I was quite satisfied with the low cost of ownership I experienced with the Accord, and also with the 2007 CR-V sitting next to it in the garage. Because of this, I thought for sure my next car would be another Accord EX, but this time not in the never-can-keep-it-looking-clean-for-more-than-five-minutes black color that I suffered with for all of these years.

Contestant 46 writes:

“ Riley was my college buddy who was gawky, stuttered, had bad teeth, and a haircut I could really only describe as a Starter Afro, which was weird because Riley was white and from Maine. And yet, to his friends’ continued amazement, Riley always got tons of girls – I mean they were all over him. Equally amazing, I remember thinking, was his choice of car: a 15-year-old 1987 5-speed 318is. Sure, the car looked pretty cool, in an ironic-homage-to-Gordon-Gekko kind of way, but for what he paid for it, there were surely better cars for braving the treacherous hills and thruways of wintertime central New York state. “

Contestant 47 writes:

“ I bought my Civic two years ago from a family member who bought it new way back in 1993. The car now has over 350,000 km on it, so I expected that it would require some repairs. But it hasn’t required much work. I have changed the starter, battery, and several coolant hoses, but nothing major – yet. In August of last year, I took the car to the nearest AirCare center for its bi-annual emissions test. It failed – high NOx reading. Shazbut. I had already checked everything on the car that I knew to check before the test. The engine doesn’t burn oil, the spark plugs were clean, and the timing was bang-on. I turned to the internet for help. ”

Contestant 48 writes:

“The bogan: A racist Australian male commonly seen dressed in black jeans, a Jack Daniels singlet and a pair of blacked out sunglasses. What makes a bogan though is his car. He will often have three cars, one functioning car in the garage and the other two that he’ll eventually get around to doing up. One will be on the front lawn, and the other in the backyard. They tend to be part on two camps, Ford or Holden. They will get together each year on a weekend in October to drink ”piss” (beer) and play Metallica as high as their cheap Aftermarket speakers can handle. This cocktail of alcohol and rivalry often leads to a brawl. “

Contestant 49 writes:

“Isn’t that covered under warranty?” Whenever this question was asked, there were two possibilities as to its origin. 1) The customer is trying to get something for nothing, or 2) The customer is dumber than they are stupid. As I learned as a service advisor, neither was the kind of person I wanted to deal with. I was at our company’s Saturn-SAAB dealership with some of the best people in the business. I was lucky enough that not only was the owner one of the best men I’ve ever met, he genuinely cared about his staff and his customers. We were always told to do whatever we had to do to keep the customers happy, because customer service is what built businesses. “

Above are today’s contestants. Pick them carefully. The top ones will be around for a long time. Here are the Rules of Engagement:

• You are presented with a set of seven writing examples. Their authors haven been carefully anonymized. They have a number instead.
• The top three out of each set of seven receive an entry permit into the rarefied world of TTAC writers. Those who don’t make the grade and who fail in front of our jury will be sold into white slavery, or worse, recommended for the morning shift at Jalopnik. (Inciting voter apathy could mean that all contestants are sold off, we want and keep the winners.)
• The snippets come in the exact order they landed in my mailbox.
• The snippets have been chosen by me, in a very subjective way: By looking quickly at the story, and by picking what stands out.
• You have two votes for each day. Both votes have equal weight. You may not vote more than once per day and set of contestants. Don’t throw away your votes!
• The vote for each set runs until the second set appears. That’s typically for around 24 hours. Vote now, do not procrastinate. Voting for the last set stops when I say so, also typically 24 hours after the last set goes up.

(No hanging chads. Don’t mail or phone it in. Read snippets before voting. Vote now.)

Remember: You have TWO votes. Place your bets.

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