Random Thoughts Thread

[balthazar]

I’ve not seen ANY guard letting down in central jersey, yet new cases are up roughly 500%. Problem is, none of the methodologies recommended are 100% effective, and some folk are still going to get sick regardless of what they do. Likewise with future vaccine-recievers.

[A Horse With No Name]

[oldshurst442]

Quebecois somewhat let their guard down right after the summer was over.  Our politicians had to wrestle us back into reality.  When the schools opened up, we got huge spikes of infections. Lockdowns happened again, albeit not all over the province, but in the "red zones".  The most problematic.  Lockdowns are still in effect as we speak, our cases have been stabilized, but at an average of 1000 new Covid cases/day, not exactly great news.  Our deaths are about 7-8/day.  Sometimes we get 20-25 deaths for a couple of days then we drop down to 5 or fewer deaths for 4-5 days in a row.  Our hospitalizations are not quite critical, but we arent exactly on the cusp of being in control either.   We are getting restless about the whole thing though.  The confinements, the mask wearing.  XMAS is just around the corner and our doctors and politicians are fearing the worst in us in that we wont respect isolating ourselves from visiting our friends and family and avoiding "super spreader"  gatherings during the upcoming holidays.  We barely got through our Thanksgiving.  

As a society in Quebec, we dont see a near future where vaccines are a reality.  We as a society do see our near future as a pain in the ass to get around life as we do understand that Covid will be with us for quite sometime still.  But we are also quite fed up with it and I think we are just about ready to give up on the cautious way of living and just say phoque it!    

I hopes that we Quebecois could hold it together for just a tad more longer. 

Edited November 5, 2020 by oldshurst442

[A Horse With No Name]

One more funny for Today...

 

We are pushing 5000 cases of Covid a day in Ohio, I have largely stopped going out to eat and going places for the time being. I now know a bunch of people who ahve gotten it, and gotten wicked sick. 

[trinacriabob]

17 minutes ago, oldshurst442 said:

I hopes that we Quebecois could hold it together for just a tad more longer. 

Not trying to be self serving here, but I hope the Quebecois, and all of Canada, control it and get over it so that I and others who want to visit can get to Quebec and Canada again.

16 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

I have largely stopped going out to eat and going places for the time being. I now know a bunch of people who ahve gotten it, and gotten wicked sick. 

I am not there yet.  Even before this became a big deal, I have washed my hands a lot and always used hand sanitizer wherever it was offered at the entries of places of business.  However, it is more difficult than people think to keep one's hands away from their faces.  It's reflexive.

I'm sorry to hear that ... wicked sick, as in flu-like symptoms magnified ... or other/additional symptoms that were also very hard on them?

[A Horse With No Name]

https://youtu.be/mpkejmVQ7gA

In a few cases coughing up blood but...all sorts of symptoms.

[Robert Hall]

I haven’t eaten in a restaurant since the first week of March, also was the last time I went to a public event (a Dave Mason concert in Kent).   Haven’t been to a grocery since then either. Since I work from home and get everything delivered, I can do this indefinitely.  Though I hope I don’t have to...really avoiding being indoors around other people.  Being an early adopter of Amazon Prime, Instacart, DoorDash and Uber Eats in the before time made not going out pretty painless for me. 

Edited November 5, 2020 by Robert Hall

[David]

Same here @Robert Hall Wife, kids and I have not been in a restaurant since February. I do pickup an occasional curbside order from the couple places locally here to support our local small restaurants, but otherwise, we have been avoiding everything, but I do a once a week shopping trip to Costco. Yes I could have it ordered and delivered, but this keeps me sane getting out of the house.

[balthazar]

I haven't been in a restaurant since 2019. But we do go grocery shopping (when they first open); wife does the supermarket, I usually do Costco. I'm not overly paranoid about this whole deal; I acknowledge it's ominpresent, but I don't deal closely with that many people and I don't know anyone who has it... other than one customer's wife who had it with short, mild symptoms... but I haven't seen her in person since last year. I get out of the house via work, that's good.

[trinacriabob]

@Robert Hall

Look at you ... 30,000 posts ... I just noticed!

- - - - -

I have to get outside - to stores, restaurants, coffee, and the great outdoors.  In indoor spaces for the general public, I obviously mask up.  In the great outdoors, I do not do so where people are keeping their distance from each other.

[regfootball]

On 11/3/2020 at 8:40 AM, balthazar said:

You are no longer permitted to your own opinion or to ‘sit back’. Now you MUST be involved in every social /political issue, because your ‘life/soul/very existence’ depends on it (yet AGAIN). Sick of the lies and the spin.

its a premeditated attempt to suck you into believing you don't have -individual- rights, and have no right to your own point of view...Much less act in your own interest.

But the nation is founded on emphasizing the right of the individual within the bounds of not infringing in the rights of others.  That's why every bullying attempt at forcibly enacting certain things is to sell it as a 'right', and that you are infringing.  It's all certain groups have in most arguments but we are played emotionally to believe our 'life/soul/very existence' depends on it.  No, --their-- pocketbook depends on it is usually more the case.

Cooperating globally is a great concept but we should not bullied into thinking we as a fairly well to do country should be punished and extorted into giving up all sorts of taxes, fines and moneys to global organizations in the interest of 'cooperation' and rights.  

Until we understand that the nation was founded on the individual, the being bullied into being involved into every social and political issue will continue.  The answer is no, people are allowed to care to varying levels about a myriad of issues.

Edited November 6, 2020 by regfootball

[David]

Ferrari 65 year old CEO says that in his life time Ferrari will not go pure EV only. He believes that customers still want the sound of their ICE motors and at the most they will offer for those wanting a bit more green in their exotic sports car a plug-in hybrid at most.

https://www.autoblog.com/2020/11/05/ferrari-not-going-electric/

[David]

Massachusetts passes right to repair bill meaning Tesla will have to open up their books allowing non-Tesla auto repair shops to work on Tesla auto's. Gonna be interesting to see how that goes over with Tesla CEO Musk.

https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2020/11/massachusetts-passes-right-to-repair-protections/

Land Rover will not Confirm or Deny reports that their two door Defender SUV that has a Turbo 4 or inline 6 engine is getting a twin turbo V8 from BMW in their refresh of the two door SUV.

https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2020/11/report-land-rover-considering-more-oomph-for-defender/

[balthazar]

WV, 1908 :

[David]

According to the latest news out of Bentley, they are changing their whole lineup to Plug-in Hybrid by 2026 with being full EV only by 2030. This comes after in 2019 a board member who is in charge of Engineering said there was no reason to spend any time with electrification. Bentley is the worlds larges manufacture of 12 cylinder auto's. It now seems that due to European and Asian changes supporting electrification and banning ICE that Bentley is seeing a need to change and with that changing fast for such a high end luxury auto maker.

This does make me wonder about the CEO of Ferrari who said in his life time they would have a hybrid option but would not waste any time with electrification. Ferrari might not have a choice as governments move away from ICE to Hybrid/EVs.

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1130208_bentley-plans-to-go-all-plug-in-by-2026-all-electric-by-2030

[David]

There are those that Love their original Mini Coopers that made the original movie Italian Job so popular as well as the modern remake of the movie. Now comes a company that is offering one of two ways to take your old Mini and modernize it.

You can buy a fully refurbished Mini Cooper from the British Company Swindon Powertrian for $88,000. This gets you a 110hp, 24kWh battery pack, usb ports, heated front seats. Optional features available are AC, Power Steering and Navigation.

or you can go the project route and buy the components from them and refurbish the auto your self.

Current Kit of component list and Price:

• Motor & drivetrain - $11,535 US
• Battery pack - $21,033 US
• Motor Controller - $5,074
• Onboard Charger - $2,563

Total cost of kit - $40,205 US

https://swindonpowertrain.com/documents/Classic_Mini_Kit.pdf

https://swindonpowertrain.com/uk/index.aspx

I honestly could not see spending this kind of money on an old Mini for the size, but some will I believe.

If ya like adrenalin rushes, then this BMW powered Fly Suite is for you!

 

According to this news story, it seems the first Yellow Tesla S taxi has hit the streets of New York.

https://electrek.co/2020/11/06/first-tesla-model-3-official-nyc-yellow-cab/#more-154118

[David]

Seems that Formula E has continued to gain watching fans and they have decided to invest in Extreme E racing. Looks pretty cool to me.

https://chargedevs.com/newswire/formula-e-makes-strategic-investment-in-extreme-e-off-road-racing-series/

Now this ICE custom build project is just ugly to me. But there seems to be people willing to order it up. Ram Trucks has a new customer in the form of Aznom Palladium SUV. A custom built auto. They took the V8, slapped two turbos on it and tuned it for 710 hp / 700 lb-ft of torque. The SUV weights 6,000 lbs.

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/pictures/ram-pickup-aznom-palladium/

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/ugliest-car-a-ram-pickup/

[David]

Tequila anyone? How about a Tesla Tequila? Too bad, sold out in Hours as Tesla CEO Musk made good on his April Fools joke in 2018 and offered for $250 a bottle a Tesla Tequila.

https://www.autoblog.com/2020/11/06/tesla-tequila-sold-out/

[David]

This next one is weird, Cell Phone Maker Kyocera has built this concept auto as a tribute to the auto industry history and to encourage new unique devices and systems for the mobility segment of the automotive market. This Japanese cell phone maker believes there is a market for a see-through dashboard on autonomous cars, even regular driven cars where people want to see everything right in front of their auto.

Thoughts?

https://www.autoblog.com/2020/11/06/kyocera-moeye-autonomous-concept-car/

 

[trinacriabob]

1 hour ago, David said:

 

 

Didn't realize it was tequila until I read your captions.

It looked like a trendy and expensive bottle of cologne or perfume.

For that matter, the name Elon Musk sounds like a brand of men's cologne in and of itself.

[balthazar]

AN $88,000 MINI AND A/C IS OPTIONAL?!?!?!?

Un-frorking-believable.

[oldshurst442]

I bet if Elon Musk cologne was a thing, it smell like....weed.  

 

[oldshurst442]

@A Horse With No Name

Laughing at the Halloween scene.

I felt sorrow for the rest of your post.   

 

[trinacriabob]

7 hours ago, David said:

 

 

For some reason, an older thread querying members as to whether or not fins on cars - a previous Cadillac signature - would return was seeking attention.

I feel a little more strongly that opera windows, in one form or another, are more likely to return.  

[David]

10 hours ago, balthazar said:

AN $88,000 MINI AND A/C IS OPTIONAL?!?!?!?

Un-frorking-believable.

Right! I was shaking my head when I read A/C, Power Steering and Nav were optional. That must push this EV mini to $100K which is just stupid to me.

[balthazar]

You can get a new, much more modern Mini with numerous safety features for $22K.
Or you can get a fully restored vintage one for around $30K. This was stupid the moment it surpassed the latter by 15%.
Yet another EV attempt that fails to grasp the consumer in their picture.

A Sonic was an $18K car. Bolt is $38K. The pricing model is NOT sustainable.

[David]

2 minutes ago, balthazar said:

You can get a new, much more modern Mini with numerous safety features for $22K.
Or you can get a fully restored vintage one for around $30K. This was stupid the moment it surpassed the latter by 15%.
Yet another EV attempt that fails to grasp the consumer in their picture.

A Sonic was an $18K car. Bolt is $38K. The pricing model is NOT sustainable.

Totally agree, retrofit old auto's with EV powertrain and electronics that goes crazy stupid in price is not sustainable to the masses and is a failure.

Looking at the pricing of the Connect and Cruise ICE packages, if the Connect and Cruise EV packages are in the same price range, then I see value in having the options of ICE or EV.

GM can surpass all these small shops doing custom conversions if they can line up the pricing to be a decent deal for those of us that like auto projects and want to modernize at the same time.

Even I COULD NOT recommend anyone to go the route of the Mini above. Just crazy.

[A Horse With No Name]

9 hours ago, balthazar said:

You can get a new, much more modern Mini with numerous safety features for $22K.
Or you can get a fully restored vintage one for around $30K. This was stupid the moment it surpassed the latter by 15%.
Yet another EV attempt that fails to grasp the consumer in their picture.

A Sonic was an $18K car. Bolt is $38K. The pricing model is NOT sustainable.

38 Grand would almost buy me the ZR2 Colorado I want.

[oldshurst442]

A couple of Montreal connections    (maybe too political for some, so I'll omit naming names. I just learned about this tidbit of info from my wife today) 

Quote

When she was twelve, Harris and her sister moved with their mother to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where Shyamala had accepted a research and teaching position at the McGill University-affiliated Jewish General Hospital.^[30] She attended a French-speaking primary school, Notre-Dame-des-Neiges,^[31] and then Westmount High School in Westmount, Quebec, graduating in 1981.^[32]

 

Its the imagery of this video in the beginning that Im getting a kick out of and what Im thinking EXACTLY right about now. 

 

And last but not least, a song that I was just introduced to 2 days ago.  

 

Edited November 8, 2020 by oldshurst442

[balthazar]

[balthazar]

I'm confused. This is someone named Rebel Wilson. Article states she's flaunting "super sculpted abs", despite her GOAL WEIGHT target being 165 lbs. I... I don't see ANY 'sculpting'.

 

It's from 'Woman's Health' - is that supposed to be some sort of authority on that topic??? Is this one of those examples of 'saying without any evidence' I've been hearing so frequently?

The below pic is the same woman. Towering kudos to her! Rebel is the pic on the LEFT in my opinion... and "super sculpted" is on the RIGHT. Right?

Edited November 8, 2020 by balthazar

[oldshurst442]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 9, 2020 by oldshurst442

[oldshurst442]

LOL

 

 

 

Edited November 9, 2020 by oldshurst442

[oldshurst442]

LMFAO

YOU SSSTOOHLE IT!!!  HEEEEE STOOOHLE IT!!!

 

MFSAS 

 

Edited November 9, 2020 by oldshurst442

[oldshurst442]

This one does NOT belong in the music thread. Its more like a thought I just had.  

Aint no lie. Bye Bye Bye

 

 

 

 

Edited November 9, 2020 by oldshurst442

[David]

23 hours ago, balthazar said:

I'm confused. This is someone named Rebel Wilson. Article states she's flaunting "super sculpted abs", despite her GOAL WEIGHT target being 165 lbs. I... I don't see ANY 'sculpting'.

 

It's from 'Woman's Health' - is that supposed to be some sort of authority on that topic??? Is this one of those examples of 'saying without any evidence' I've been hearing so frequently?

The below pic is the same woman. Towering kudos to her! Rebel is the pic on the LEFT in my opinion... and "super sculpted" is on the RIGHT. Right?

If you have seen Rebel Wilson when she started in the Pitch Perfect series of Movies as Fat Amy, she does have sculpted abs. The following picture was her at the Pitch Perfect 3 release just a little over a year ago. She has made amazing progress this year focusing on her health during this pandemic. Having a stomach sticking out past ones breasts is never good.

I do agree with you that the bottom woman has rocked going from full figure to sculpted. For Rebel Wilson that has never done physical fitness, she has sculpted her abs finally but still has room to continue to improve.

[daves87rs]

2 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

This one does NOT belong in the music thread. Its more like a thought I just had.  

Aint no lie. Bye Bye Bye

 

 

 

 

Eh, it is danceable.....

[balthazar]

1 hour ago, David said:

For Rebel Wilson that has never done physical fitness, she has sculpted her abs finally but still has room to continue to improve.

LOL - must be "sculpted" on the INSIDE.

[oldshurst442]

9 hours ago, balthazar said:

LOL - must be "sculpted" on the INSIDE.

Nah.  Sculpted on the outside.

We tend to associate abs being sculpted with a Greek God image.  

But...

We tend to forget that ocean waves could also be sculpted. 

 

Now...think of THAT image and transfer that thought  into cellulite and fat whenever Rebel Wilson walks or giggles. Puts a damper on this whole positive body image propaganda, now doesn't it? 

 

Edited November 9, 2020 by oldshurst442

[A Horse With No Name]

Music for today...

 

Interesting build...

 

I like Sam on Aviation also...

 

[A Horse With No Name]

Todays vintage truck content

 

[Robert Hall]

6th day in a row w/ high over 70...first time since 1956 for NE Ohio, very unusual.   Beautiful weather...lots of leaves..  

[David]

@Robert Hall Seattle usually is mid 50's as we start are normal cool down to winter, but we are now in high 30's during the day, below freezing at night and rain returns tonight for the week with highs only in the low 40's and mid 30's at night. Expecting heavy snow fall in the mountains. No fall here, leaves changed last week and dropped over the weekend and now bare. Seems fall was only a few weeks and now winter. Crazy Climate Change.

[A Horse With No Name]

1 hour ago, Robert Hall said:

6th day in a row w/ high over 70...first time since 1956 for NE Ohio, very unusual.   Beautiful weather...lots of leaves..  

Beautiful weather here in Columbus also. 

[balthazar]

Jersey also: 76 and mildly breezy 2day.

[A Horse With No Name]

Starting at 7:54, I cannot figure out thye vintage car that crashes and burns. 

 

 

[balthazar]

I think it WAS a Ply-Mouth.

[A Horse With No Name]

Wait, wait, these don't ever break, ever...

 

10 hours ago, balthazar said:

I think it WAS a Ply-Mouth.

Was is the key word, thanks. 

[ccap41]

On 11/7/2020 at 10:59 PM, balthazar said:

I'm confused. This is someone named Rebel Wilson. Article states she's flaunting "super sculpted abs", despite her GOAL WEIGHT target being 165 lbs. I... I don't see ANY 'sculpting'.

 

It's from 'Woman's Health' - is that supposed to be some sort of authority on that topic??? Is this one of those examples of 'saying without any evidence' I've been hearing so frequently?

The below pic is the same woman. Towering kudos to her! Rebel is the pic on the LEFT in my opinion... and "super sculpted" is on the RIGHT. Right?

I have a good feeling *she* wasn't mentioning "super-sculpted abs" and it was the article stating that. 

With that said, she has lost A LOT of weight and looks great in comparison to herself a year ago. 

20 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

6th day in a row w/ high over 70...first time since 1956 for NE Ohio, very unusual.   Beautiful weather...lots of leaves..  

Sounds exactly like here. Today should be our last warm day and then it'll be in the 50's after today, like normal. 

I've bagged and mulched leaves 5 or 6 times in the last few weeks trying to keep the grass cleaned up. 

[ccap41]

This was Rebel Wilson's actual caption on the image.

The "sculpted abs" was click bait and it worked.