The Daily Valet. - 9/22/20, Tuesday

✔️ Is the Stick Really in Trouble?

September 22, 2020

Tuesday, September 22nd Edition

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor in Chief of Valet.

Today’s the first official day of fall. Someone bring me a sweater.

Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf

Today’s Big Story

Is the Stick Shift Really Dying?

A closer look at the #SaveTheManuals mission

Think the manual transmission is a dying breed? You might be right. According to Car and Driver, sales of electric cars recently surpassed those with three pedals. And since earlier this year, several stick-shift-equipped models have been dropped from the U.S. market—either because the option or the entire model line has been discontinued.

And Cars.com puts it this way: while manuals used to be considered more efficient and quicker, a young driver’s reasons to learn stick now seem to be down to “they’re harder for millennials to steal” and “some old guy told me they’re more fun and I should put down my phone and pay more attention to my driving anyway.”

But more simply, automatics became a lot more affordable and able to shift faster than you could hope to, making the car a whole lot quicker. But, some may argue, a lot less fun.

One of the reasons the 2021 Ford Bronco was so well received when it was unveiled in July is because it offered a brand-new seven-speed manual transmission, reports Inside Hook. However, people quickly pointed out that Ford didn’t offer it on models equipped with the off-road Sasquatch package. Now, after an outcry on social media—along with a Change.org petition that racked up over 11,000 signatures—Ford has corrected course and given the people the stick shift they desperately desire.

And don’t forget about those electric cars. Automobile magazine envisions a shifting future: If adding gears can improve performance in electric cars, and people who like performance cars like stick shifts, who will be the first carmaker to introduce a manual EV?

↦ FYI: Car and Driver has compiled of list of more than 30 new cars available in the U.S. that come with a manual gearbox.

🤔 Are you ever too old to learn to drive stick?

Trump Narrows Supreme Court Pick

He plans to announce his selection to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Saturday

President Donald Trump is working to cement a conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court before the Nov. 3 election, telling reporters he planned by Saturday to reveal his pick to succeed the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, reports Reuters.

Democrats' hope of keeping the seat empty started fading Monday afternoon when two Republican senators, Chuck Grassley and Cory Gardner, signaled their support for moving forward quickly.

Furthermore, Senate Republicans are now saying they'll proceed with a vote on the president’s nominee to the Supreme Court even if Trump were to lose reelection.

Whatever happens, the Supreme Court will be weighing a major Obamacare challenge just days after the election. And without Ginsburg on the court, the New York Times explores how it could go one of three ways.

↦ FYI: Justice Ginsburg will lie in repose at the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday and Thursday, the Supreme Court announced Monday.

Michael Jordan Is Starting a NASCAR Team

And Bubba Wallace will drive for him

NBA legend Michael Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin announced Monday they'd be teaming up to form a new NASCAR Cup Series team with Bubba Wallace as driver, reports ESPN.

Jordan has personally been a fan of racing his whole life—his parents took his brothers, sisters and him to races while they were growing up in North Carolina. Of course, motorsports have historically struggled with diversity and there have been few Black owners. “The timing seemed perfect as NASCAR is evolving and embracing social change more and more,” Jordan said.

Wallace is the only Black driver at NASCAR's top level, who this season has championed causes that fight racial injustice. He announced earlier this month he was leaving the Richard Petty Motorsports team after the 2020 season. “This is a unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I believe is a great fit for me at this point in my career,” Wallace told CNN.

New Emoji Alert

Coming to help express the anguish of 2020

In a bit of good news, there will be new emojis in 2021 after all. You might remember that back in April, the Unicode Consortium—a non-profit that oversees emoji standards—announced there'd be no new emojis until 2022 because of the pandemic.

It's being called a “minor release,” but these new little guys will no doubt come in handy. Why? Because, according to The Verge, they're clearly influenced by the chaos of the year, whether it's “face exhaling” (clearly exhausted), “face in clouds” (smoke?), or “heart on fire” (self-explanatory).

The most 2020 of them all seems to be the “face with spiral eyes” emoji, submitted by Google emoji czar Jennifer Daniel. Also known as “face-unwell,” the proposal includes suggested keywords like “oh no,” “whoa,” and “yikes,” to trigger the symbol.

Of course, we might not get them until 2021, reports CNN. But I'm ready for them now because I'm sick of using 🤯 so much.

↦ Did You know: The father of the emoticon is not a fan of what the emoji has become.

In Other News

Other Things We’re Talking About Today

Looking good on a budget

Owning an Airstream

Widgets

The Science Behind WFH Dressing

So I’ve got to take off the sweats?

Researchers studying links between clothes, brain activity and productivity have long found that dressing up for work can improve your performance.

Scientists are now turning their attention to how these factors play out in dressing for remote work and Zoom meetings, reports the Wall Street Journal. Including the unexpected rise of the nice tops/schlubby bottoms combo.

The rise of video calls has added complexity to an area of research known as “enclothed cognition,” or what clothes signal to the brain, says Dr. Adam Galinsky, co-author of the pre-pandemic research that coined the term. “In some ways, the clothes that you wear might have an even bigger impact because we can often see ourselves and what we're wearing and that sort of draws that symbolic value [attached] to it even closer to our consciousness,” he says.

Of course, plenty of people can do their job in casual clothing. But if you're dressing up on top and ignoring the bottom, you might be distracting yourself with feelings of inauthenticity, according to the doctor. “Or maybe it will feel like people have a little secret and that can be kind of a motivating thing, that they're doing something other people don't know about.”

↦ New Shoes: It's high time you treat yourself to some house shoes. But we're not talking about stuffy slippers.

Sales We’re Eyeing

Timberland waterproof chukkas$165 / $82.50

Nordstrom just added a slew of merchandise to their clearance section. Much of it is early fall items, marked down 40%. But there are a lot of items discount as much as 60%. So now's the time to stock up on everything from jackets and shirts to shoes and accessories. And since they ship and return everything for free, there's no risk or cost there either.