Random Thoughts Thread

[oldshurst442]

5 hours ago, G. David Felt said:

True, but in far more socialist countries, I suspect they have far better maintenance than in a capitalist society where profits are key over all else. Yes we have seen plenty of old planes all the way back to WWI that are still flying, but they have been taken care of far better than I think many for profit companies do on maintenance. 

Well...I do not know about all that...

Its easy for me to hate on ANYTHING american right now.  As you guys know...   But I will give praise where praise is due.  u.s. airliners are amongst the safest of all airliners in the world.  Maybe not THE safest but BECAUSE the FAA and the NTSB are quite strict and those entities are BASED in the us, american based airliners COMPLY.  And to be fair, the AMOUNT of americans flying for coast to coast daily, INCLUDING ALL the professional sports teams that fly coast to coast, there isnt ANY incidents.  This year was an anomaly. Quite a few of them incidents did happen. Most of that had to do with trump firing air traffic controllers and the like all in the name of musk's doge bullshyte.   Delta had a couple of questionable incidents and I get it...   But all in all, the airplane industry in the u.s.(except for maybe Boeing the last 15 years and doge) is the ONE industry where money does NOT come before safety and human lives...  

 

Edited yesterday at 08:43 PM by oldshurst442

[oldshurst442]

2 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

When a reporter was in front of the courthouse in New York, she was drowned out by all these people chanting in support of Luigi.

I betchoo that most of Luigi's supporters cheering him on were females.  The guy is a very well dressed and groomed individual. He is also kinda good looking too.  Some girls like that kinda thing in a guy.  Plus the whole murder thing and he is the bad boy some of them crave to tame.    (maybe...what the hell do I know???!!!)

2 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

Our prepster has to have his nice sweaters, argyle socks, and loafers suited to his taste. There's no denying that this is yet another type of cult. 

Well...he does know what looks good on him at least.  Knows what works for him. If nothing else, he does not dress like a slob and look like a bum.  Better to look good than to feel good, I guess.  Which brings up his mental well being...

 

2 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

there are still so many unanswered questions as to why.  I'm very interested in the psychological dimensions of this situation and what might have snapped.

 

Perhaps, a loved one may have gotten their insurance claim denied, or their policy terminated and he vowed revenge on the next insurance CEO suit he observed...  "Let them eat cake" kinda thing and with a "off with her head" result.  

Im indifferent to murders like this one.   People gonna snap when injustices are prevalent. People revolt... Maybe this CEO was a sweet man and his insurance company he represented and worked for accomplished the tasks of angels.  Or maybe not.  

 

All I know is that human beings are supposed to have 2 eyebrows...  

[G. David Felt]

Scary read as the end of the Feds could happen based on what is going on.

'Big Short' investor breaks decade-long silence with bad news for Trump

[G. David Felt]

My Bitch of the day, trucks like this need to be impounded for being illegal. The tires outside the wheel well, no mud flaps and way too high to be safe to other autos on the road. Sadly due to most states having this as such a low penalty, police ignore it when they should not as those tires especially during fall / winter throw so many rocks and other debris that it can crack and cause all kinds of problems for drivers. On top of this, I have seen these truck owners replace the fog lights with normal driving LED lights to light the road since the normal headlights are too high now and then they end up blinding people.

Totally agree with this article, I do not think the modern small turbo motors will last the way V8 and V6 engines have in the past. Yes, I know not all V6 and V8s have lasted, but I feel the points in this article are pretty spot on.

Downsized, Efficient, But Fragile — Why Today’s Engines May Not Last - Autoblog

[A Horse With No Name]

8 hours ago, G. David Felt said:

My Bitch of the day, trucks like this need to be impounded for being illegal. The tires outside the wheel well, no mud flaps and way too high to be safe to other autos on the road. Sadly due to most states having this as such a low penalty, police ignore it when they should not as those tires especially during fall / winter throw so many rocks and other debris that it can crack and cause all kinds of problems for drivers. On top of this, I have seen these truck owners replace the fog lights with normal driving LED lights to light the road since the normal headlights are too high now and then they end up blinding people.

Totally agree with this article, I do not think the modern small turbo motors will last the way V8 and V6 engines have in the past. Yes, I know not all V6 and V8s have lasted, but I feel the points in this article are pretty spot on.

Downsized, Efficient, But Fragile — Why Today’s Engines May Not Last - Autoblog

I would rather have EV than a turbo 4, although the Ranger has done well for itself. About to turn 126K, it just keeps on trucking. 

 

Didn't even know they made bikes in the USA anymore. 

 

 

[Drew Dowdell]

16 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

I betchoo that most of Luigi's supporters cheering him on were females.  The guy is a very well dressed and groomed individual. He is also kinda good looking too.  Some girls like that kinda thing in a guy.  Plus the whole murder thing and he is the bad boy some of them crave to tame.    (maybe...what the hell do I know???!!!)

Well...he does know what looks good on him at least.  Knows what works for him. If nothing else, he does not dress like a slob and look like a bum.  Better to look good than to feel good, I guess.  Which brings up his mental well being...

 

 

Perhaps, a loved one may have gotten their insurance claim denied, or their policy terminated and he vowed revenge on the next insurance CEO suit he observed...  "Let them eat cake" kinda thing and with a "off with her head" result.  

Im indifferent to murders like this one.   People gonna snap when injustices are prevalent. People revolt... Maybe this CEO was a sweet man and his insurance company he represented and worked for accomplished the tasks of angels.  Or maybe not.  

 

All I know is that human beings are supposed to have 2 eyebrows...  

While him being good looking is a factor, this feels like a French Revolution type thing.  Health Insurance companies are largely evil and people know it.  They literally continued the meeting after the CEO got shot, that's how heartless they are.

[A Horse With No Name]

 

2 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

While him being good looking is a factor, this feels like a French Revolution type thing.  Health Insurance companies are largely evil and people know it.  They literally continued the meeting after the CEO got shot, that's how heartless they are.

If only we could have Medicare for all. 

If anyone has any intelligent commentary on how the job market is affecting auto sales, I am all ears. 

 

[oldshurst442]

7 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

While him being good looking is a factor, this feels like a French Revolution type thing.  Health Insurance companies are largely evil and people know it.  They literally continued the meeting after the CEO got shot, that's how heartless they are.

My cousin from Boston is a stout republican.  Not a trumpster. But will NOT vote democrat. He was one of those morons that didnt vote last year, but I digress.    He was a dentist. He is retired now.  Went to dentistry school here in Montreal.  McGill University.  Like my daughter.  Didnt think of that before...

 Im digressing again... 

He stayed with our aunt in common. My dad's and his mom's sister.  Point being, he lived in Canada while going to school in Canada where tuition is not as expensive as in the u.s. and is SUBSIDIZED with SOCIALISMS governmental helps and hence why he did not go to Hahvehd or some other highfalutin massholecheussetts school system and came to get his edumacation in Frenchie-land Quebec Canada at affordable McGill prices.  (sarcasm for all the shytty republicans including my cousin)  Also...while his mom did not see Medicare up here in Canada because when she left for Boston, Canada didnt have Medicare just yet, HE saw Medicare in action.   He took his/my aunt to doctors appointments and hospitals and all that.  He saw when I was a baby and young kid get all the hospital care a child needs with no problems. Come income tax time, he saw what his/my aunt pay in income tax.  He helped her do her taxes...   I remember the discussions he had with my dad/his uncle regarding Medicare...  He was against from then as a young adult.

Well...his sister has epilepsy and his mom and dad had indebted themselves silly because insurance was steep. 

His mom/my auntie eventually got diabetes 30 years ago, and she went blind.  The insurances they had all dropped them.  His dad passes away but he took care of his sister and mom.  But that also meant that their home was not only mortgaged 2 or 3 times before my auntie went blind, but when the insurances dropped them, he had to re-mortgage the family house an additional 2 or 3 times....   And yup...he didnt want Medicare then also. Called it socialist communist.  Still to THIS day...he does not want Medicare.    He wasnt a fan of Obama... 

But he aint racist though.  He is just a stupid stupid stupid person with a dentistry degree. From Montreal.  Born and raised in a city where Hahvehd exists... 

 

Point of the story:

Yeah...american insurances are evil.  My family in Boston had to indebt themselves silly because american insurances are evil.  

Edited 48 minutes ago by oldshurst442

[G. David Felt]

Tonight Lexus reveals their all-new sports lineup of autos at 9pm

Save the Date: Live Stream of All-New Sports Models World Premiere on December 5 - Lexus USA Newsroom

[oldshurst442]

17 hours ago, G. David Felt said:

My Bitch of the day, trucks like this need to be impounded for being illegal. The tires outside the wheel well, no mud flaps and way too high to be safe to other autos on the road. Sadly due to most states having this as such a low penalty, police ignore it when they should not as those tires especially during fall / winter throw so many rocks and other debris that it can crack and cause all kinds of problems for drivers. On top of this, I have seen these truck owners replace the fog lights with normal driving LED lights to light the road since the normal headlights are too high now and then they end up blinding people.

 

While there are some folk up here with lifted trucks and Jeeps, its not to the extent of that stupidity.  But I also think that Quebec has laws that prevents owners to have the tires protrude the wheel wells.  The vehicle above may not be street legal in Quebec, I dont think.   And Ill agree with you 100% with your bitchin' here.  

17 hours ago, G. David Felt said:

Totally agree with this article, I do not think the modern small turbo motors will last the way V8 and V6 engines have in the past. Yes, I know not all V6 and V8s have lasted, but I feel the points in this article are pretty spot on.

Downsized, Efficient, But Fragile — Why Today’s Engines May Not Last - Autoblog

 

The article talks about downsized engines, but does not mention not even ONE downsized turbocharged engine that has problems...  Im sure they do, but the article does not mention any.

What the article DOES mention though are GM's V8s, Toyota's twin turbo'd V6s, and Ford's ecoboosted engines, and I assume they want to bitch about the 1.5 liter and the 2.0 ecoboost... but dont mention what ecoboost engines are a problem.  The 1.6 liter ecoboost had fire issues, but those were fixed.  The 1.6 was reliable... The 2.7 and 3.5 V6s were all reliable. The early 3.5s had teething problems but were fixed. 

What the article REALLY focuses on though are the THIN oils manufacturers WANT to use.  For fuel savings.

I personally dont think downsized 4 cylinder engines are a problem.  MOST of them are quite reliable.  Again, with proper maintenance.  But as with the article states, thin oils probably dont lubricate enough and well...problems... 

The article states that even with thicker oils, that only masks the problem and then uses GM's newest gen 6.2 liter V8 to use as an example.  Well...a 6.2 liter V8 from GM was not exactly downsized. It was upsized from the 5.7 liter LS1 and 6.0 liter LS2 from 20 years ago.  

If Toyota and GM did shytty manufacturing on their engines lately, THAT has NOTHING to do downsized 4 cylinder turbo'd ones...

If Honda done phoqued up with their 1.6 liter turbo 4 because of headgasket issues, well...Honda done phoqued up with their headgaskets. Its NOT a downsized problem issue. Its a manufacturing issue. 

Like the title suggest:

Manufacturing shortcuts and tighter tolerances compromise reliability across major brands.

 

But NOT how the take-away points out

Key Points

• Modern engines face high failure rates, prompting massive recalls from major automakers.
• Downsizing, turbochargers, and thin oils increase engine stress and vulnerability to defects.
• Automakers need to prioritize durability over marginal efficiency gains.

 

Its NOT about downsizing and turbo-charging.

It IS about thin oils and manufacturing short cuts...