Housekeeping

We have a winner from last month's ThinkWare Dash Cam contest.

It's a holiday Monday on both sides of the border. It's President's Day down here in the land of NASCAR and football that only has one 50-yard line. Meanwhile, the hockey-loving, syrup-guzzling folks on the other side are celebrating Family/Heritage day.

Hi there, folks. We're working on another initiative with our corporate parents/partners to promote our forums. In this case, it's all about Audi and F1.

Hey there B and B. Just checking in here to let you know we are off on Monday to celebrate/recognize Martin Luther King Day.

As you might know, our corporate parents and partners run a whole bunch of forums. One that might interest you if you like Japanese Domestic Cars (JDM) is Classic JDM forum.

Hey there Best and Brightest! How are you doing? Feeling good on a Monday? That's good. Well, grab a cup of coffee and sit down. We need to talk.

It's the last working day of the year, and we're going to shut down early so we can par-taaaay.

A few months ago, we announced a giveaway for a NOCO Boost Plus GB40 1000 Amp 12-Volt UltraSafe Lithium Jump Starter Box.

We can now happily announce the winner.

As per usual, we're going to head into the Christmas holiday by taking some time off.

It's American Thanksgiving! So we are outta here!

Hey there! We start this week with some TTAC news.

Monday is Columbus Day and Indigenous People's Day, and we're going to be off.

Hi gang. Our tech columnist is still dealing with the family emergency that sidelined him last week.

Our tech Q and A columnist is dealing with a family emergency, so the column will return next week.

It's Labor Day in the U.S. on Monday, and also Labour Day in Canada on Monday, so in advance of the three-day weekend we're gonna shut 'er down a bit early.

Hey there! As you know, TTAC looks a bit different than it did last week. And operates a bit differently, as well.

When you log in to this grand old site next week, it will look different. For the first time in … well, a long time.

I know, you’ve heard talk of a redesign before. I’ve even seen mockups! But for a variety of reasons, things never moved past the planning stage.

Now, however, our corporate parents are leveraging a partnership and TTAC will be getting fresh new duds.

Once again, it’s time to, and I quote The Simpsons: “Celebrate the independence of your nation by blowing up a small part of it.”

So that means we’re off on the Fourth of July.

But wait, there’s more!

Our corporate overlords have declared Juneteenth a holiday, and so it be declared that we, too, will be taking the day off.

We here at TTAC are happy to announce that we have a winner from the Bridgestone summer tire giveaway we ran at the end of April.

As per usual when a holiday approaches, TTAC will be taking some time off.

We ran a giveaway of Lithium Auto Care products recently and now, we have a winner.

And the winner is…

Today is President’s Day in America and Family Day in Canada, and so we, and our corporate masters, are taking the day off.

We’re pleased to announce the winner of our Bridgestone Winter Tire Giveaway.

It’s Martin Luther King Day, and it’s a holiday for American employees working for our corporate overlords, so we’re going to take the day and take a nice little break.

You guys remember that winter-tire giveaway we ran last month? Yeah? Well, one of you won — and have not replied to several emails informing you that’s the case.

I suspect the email went to spam.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, so it’s gonna be a long, relaxing weekend for those of us in the blog mines.

This means we will be knocking off early today.

It’s Labo(u)r Day on both sides of the border on Monday, so us hard-working bloggers/writers/editors are taking it easy peasy until Tuesday.

You may have noticed a bit of text at the end of our posts lately asking you to sign up for our newsletter.

It’s about time to celebrate America’s independence.

Which means fireworks, booze (don’t drink and drive), and barbecues.

Hi there. Your friendly Managing Editor here. I am checking in with you out there in B and B land to give you a quick update on what’s going on over here on this side of the computer/phone/tablet screen, over here in TTAC country.

Monday marks Memorial Day in America, and therefore, TTAC is taking a break.

Yes, like many of you, we will be off Monday.

Following in the footsteps of those hilarious Germans, we’re going to be changing our name to better reflect a changing automotive landscape as it shifts to electrification.

From now on, we’re The Truth About Current.

No, not the current POTUS. Or the previous one, or the one before that, or the one before that…

We’re taking Monday off to celebrate two long-dead presidents who shaped American history. Thanks to a revised holiday schedule from our corporate masters in … Toronto.

Hey gang, the boss here.

Thanks to a directive from our corporate masters, we’re off on Monday.

I don’t have much to say — you already know we’re on a light schedule until Monday. So I will keep this short.

The hellfire of a year that 2020 has been is almost over, and while 2021 likely won’t be a picnic — especially at first, as we wait for the pandemic to abate as vaccines are rolled out — I don’t think too many people are going to miss this year.

Yeah, it’s that time of year again. Except this year, it won’t be normal.

It’s taken a bit longer than planned, but we have our newest news contributor all settled in and raring to go. Please Welcome Jason Sakurai to our little, weird corner of the car Internet. He’ll be our next newshound, stepping into the role Steph Willems vacated.

When I got hired on at TTAC, I checked with our news team about what we were expected to disclose when it came to considerations from automakers. Steph told me that unlike with some other outlets, there was no need to disclose how the press-car system works, since y’all knew the deal.

As you saw last week, our news chief Steph Willems left the daily news grind behind to pursue an opportunity outside of automotive journalism. That leaves us looking for our next news guru.

For what I think is the third time this year, I find myself saying a holiday won’t be like the others. Pandemic life, sigh.

Today is a bittersweet day in the virtual offices that make up TTAC. Our own news chief, Steph Willems, is departing for a gig in an industry that is, I assume, somewhat less ridiculous than this one (by “ridiculous”, I mean both automotive journalism specifically and automotive in general). We wish him well.

The edict came down from our corporate parent last week: Juneteenth is now an official company-wide holiday.

That means we’ll be off on Friday, June 19th.

Alright, listen up. It’s Memorial Day weekend here in these United States, and pandemic or no, Monday is a day off.

Additionally, we’ll be closing it down a bit early today, somewhere around mid-afternoon.

As is usual, there may be a scattered post or two, and some tweets here and there, but mostly, we’ll be off from this afternoon until Tuesday morning.

Things in the automotive industry are in constant flux, and as the industry goes, so must we.

While the coronavirus pandemic has the industry temporarily paused, along with the rest of the world, there will, sooner or later, be a resumption of production and vehicle sales. And since we’re in tune with the pulse of the industry, we’ve decided we need to change our name. We’re doing so now, so that we can suck up the sweet, sweet Google juice as bored shoppers search for the car they plan to buy as soon as the shelter-in-place orders lift.

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce The Truth About Crossovers.

You’ve no doubt spent the last week receiving emails from every brand you’ve ever interacted with, with each missive spelling out how the company in question is handling the coronavirus.

Some of these messages make sense — I definitely want to know that airlines, hotels, and restaurants are taking this seriously and expanding their efforts to keep things clean and disinfected, as well as how cancellation/reservation policies may change — while others seem frivolous. Do I need to hear from Sunglass Hut?

You might be wondering how TTAC’s coverage of the auto industry will change, with life having seemingly ground to a halt in large swaths of the United States and Canada and around the world.

Perhaps it’s fitting that in the post-LA auto show haze, we’re getting a mild refresh of our own.

Christmas and New Year’s are upon us, and that means we’re gonna be off Monday and Tuesday each of the next two weeks, and with light posting in between.

What does that mean? Here’s how it’s gonna go…

It’s that time of year again — the time for gluttony, football, and politics with Uncle Argyle. Some of you will get smashed, many of you will eat potatoes mashed, and some of you will bash others in a fight for that last 60-inch TV at the big-box store.

Don’t drink and drive. Don’t overeat. Do come back Monday for the usual shenanigans.

If you haven’t yet cast your vote for the best and worst cars, click HERE to do so by 5 p.m. CST today.

The list of cars is linked here. Remember, we have 20 finalists in each category, and we’re going to cut the number down to 10 of each.

Here they are – the nominees for the Best and Worst Cars of 2018, as chosen by TTAC staff and readers.

If you need a refresher on the original guidelines and rules, click here.

If not, CLICK HERE TO VOTE.

You have until Friday, November 2nd, at 5 p.m. Central time to cast your ballot. We have 20 nominees in each category, but only 10 will make the cut. You can only vote once.

Yeah, yeah. I know. You’re being bombarded with calls to get out and vote. After all, there are midterm elections in the US of A this year.

And the midterms are important! Get out and vote, regardless of your politics. But before you do, why don’t you nominate your 10 best and 10 worst cars of 2018?

Howdy, folks — consider this a handy reminder to vote for your Best and Worst cars of 2018. See here for all the details, and click HERE to vote.

Voting closes Monday, so you still have a few days left to get cracking. The response rate is a little low so far, so if you want your voice to be heard, speak up!

However you spell it, Labor or Labour, Monday is an American holiday. Labor Day exists to honor (honour?) hard-working regular schlubs like you or I, since a random day off in the waning days of summer is apparently the best way for our government to pay homage to those of us who work for a living.

We’re aware of the login issues and have sicced IT on the case. Maybe you think we’re not aware, but that’s because sometimes we have trouble logging in, too.

We’re working on it. Please be patient while we get the site back to full speed.

Tomorrow is the Fourth of July, otherwise known as the day in which us Americans “celebrate the independence of [our] nation by blowing up a small part of it,” according to the ever-wise The Simpsons. Yes, Simpson’s truthers, I know the original, verbatim quote is “your nation” but I had to tweak it to make it make sense in this context.

Alright, people, listen up.

I know the world seems more divided than ever these days (although as someone who minored in history, I can assure you this is nothing new). I know that as much as I’d like to keep the craziness of politics away from TTAC, it’s not possible — the automotive industry intersects with politics all the time, and it’s our job to cover those topics and stories. I know arguments on social media are getting nastier.

You may have noticed a slowdown in posts this afternoon. That’s because it’s Memorial Day weekend and I told the staff to knock off early.

Hopefully, you’ve already punched out and are reading this from someplace other than your office.