Random Thoughts Thread

[oldshurst442]

On 3/14/2020 at 1:47 PM, balthazar said:

Fast food employees are the least likely to take pride in their prep. I mean; why would they?

True.  But there is no incentive for restaurant staff to have pride in their work. 

• Students...between their school day and their work day...really have loooong hours to achieve what it is they need to achieve in that day.
• Ungrateful bosses (owners or managers) and ESPECIALLY clients giving them shyte...
• MONEY...as in the piss poor amount they make vis-avis what they need to do to satisfy cleanliness,  proper food prep, customer satisfaction...

However...what DFELT said

On 3/14/2020 at 1:56 PM, dfelt said:

True many young adults and teens are never shown how to take pride in any job, but if the manager of the place is properly mentored to have pride and they instill this in each of their workers then pride should show in the end result. Fast food work should never be a life career. Minimum wage was NEVER MEANT to be a Living wage. It was meant to give small profit margin businesses a way to hire young no experience folks and let them earn some coin while living at home with their parents and gain some work experience.

Sadly the death of chain businesses is due to poor leadership, mentoring and the lack of instilling pride in their employees in every job they do.

Pride should never be ignored in the work anyone ever does.

But...

Quote

Fast food work should never be a life career.

THAT is such a false statement. THAT statement is such a common brain washing attempt to suppress restaurant worker wages...

Quote

 Minimum wage was NEVER MEANT to be a Living wage.

And yet...not toooooo long ago...it was.

How many Italian American and Italian Canadian, Jewish American and Jewish Canadian, Greek American and Greek Canadian, Chinese American and Chinese Canadian have immigrated to either country (US and Canada) from the 1900s-1970s and started off working at restaurants as dish washers or burger flippers, started a family, raised a family, bought houses and sent money BACK to the OLD COUNTRY and then STILL had enough money for some of them to even BUY OUT their FORMER boss' restaurant or start their own business to then have their sons and daughters work in that business? 

How many DINERS were open in the USofA feeding all walks of life from your friendly neighborhood police man to the trucker that trucked on from coast to coast and the waitress fed her son whose daddy was either killed in Viet Nam or Korea or whatever...

I have seen it COUNTLESS of times. Then. 

You know when I stopped seeing this?

Right about when Wall Street started bulshytiing Washington and then Washington (Ronald Reagan) gave FREE reigns for that greed and then that middle class dream went up in smoke...

I pay my students slightly more than minimum. I MENTOR them to take pride in the JOB they do. I DEFEND MY RESTAURANT, MY FOOD I and MY STAFF serve and MY employees FROM SHYTTY ENTITLED customers.  But I also GIVE GREAT FOOD AND SERVICE in RETURN for the MONEY the clients PAY US.   (If we happen to phoque up...we own it) 

I cant give my staff any more than I do.

The system is rigged.

Apart from taxes and all...  Big corporations and suppliers that supply me my stuff, GOUGE the PHOQUE outta me...

In the good ole days when restaurant owners had to buy their stuff at the local grocery store...all had decent prices that also paid their workers decent salaries and everybody made decent wages that fed that supply chain and kept it moving. 

I dont do my own grocery shopping at the local grocery store that was once owned by my neighbor...

And that supplier SHOULD  be cheaper than that of the grocery store...but it aint...often its MORE expensive sometimes...

And so forth and so forth...

 

 

 

 

Edited March 16, 2020 by oldshurst442

[trinacriabob]

13 hours ago, dfelt said:

For those that want the latest statistics on Covid19, John Hopkins is leading the US charge and keeping track.

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/

Thank you.  I've also looked at the ones by the CDC and Wiki.

I'm trying to focus on the recoveries.  This one actually paints a less favorable, though still good, picture of the "Diamond Princess," which looks better on Wiki.

It indicates 7 deaths to 325 recoveries. 

The problem seems to be that, even if the mortality rate is low, the serious case numbers are still a lot higher than the resources typically available during a flu season when people in poorer health might need to go to the hospital.  Overseas, that has called for triage management and prioritization of who gets more thorough treatment.

At this point, I am more interested in the recoveries. 

 

19 hours ago, dfelt said:

31 of what is now 42 confirmed deaths are from the Living Care Nursing facility in Kirkland. The rest are at other facilities or work places. At one hospital in the south end, an Emergency Physician, Age 40 was just quarantined as he has Coronavirus.

I'm not up to speed on this one.  Did they ever pinpoint how it got into the nursing home in Kirkland WA to begin with?

[G. David Felt]

1 hour ago, trinacriabob said:

Thank you.  I've also looked at the ones by the CDC and Wiki.

I'm trying to focus on the recoveries.  This one actually paints a less favorable, though still good, picture of the "Diamond Princess," which looks better on Wiki.

It indicates 7 deaths to 325 recoveries. 

The problem seems to be that, even if the mortality rate is low, the serious case numbers are still a lot higher than the resources typically available during a flu season when people in poorer health might need to go to the hospital.  Overseas, that has called for triage management and prioritization of who gets more thorough treatment.

At this point, I am more interested in the recoveries. 

 

I'm not up to speed on this one.  Did they ever pinpoint how it got into the nursing home in Kirkland WA to begin with?

They have not figured out the exact individual who brought it in yet or are not saying. Just this is ground zero it would seem.

[A Horse With No Name]

On 1/25/2020 at 2:53 PM, balthazar said:

Not a huge volume of Nash fans out there, but they certainly put a ton of unique thinking into their interiors in the '50s. 1955:

Very modern and sleek. 

 

A little more 50's love...notice the cameo the Pontiac makes on the return road. 

[A Horse With No Name]

 

[G. David Felt]

We are now below where Potus45 took over almost 4yrs ago.

Definitely a buy time if you have extra cash to invest.

[riviera74]

10 minutes ago, dfelt said:

We are now below where Potus45 took over almost 4yrs ago.

Definitely a buy time if you have extra cash to invest.

If we are in a bear market, I would hold off until the market reaches an actual bottom first.  This is regardless of who is in the White House.  Being selective in what stocks to buy is also helpful.

[G. David Felt]

48 minutes ago, riviera74 said:

If we are in a bear market, I would hold off until the market reaches an actual bottom first.  This is regardless of who is in the White House.  Being selective in what stocks to buy is also helpful.

True, but now is the time to research and think about where you want to buy at, no matter what, almost 10K down, solid companies will still be a value even if they drop another 10% before going back up.

My only thought was to point out, now is the time to consider, research and plan for investing to make money or if you do have cash plus bills at a high interest rate, pay them off and then use your wages to invest to increase your money.

1 hour ago, A Horse With No Name said:

 

Awesome POST,

WELCOME BACK, Been too long away and you have been missed!

[G. David Felt]

6 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

THAT is such a false statement. THAT statement is such a common brain washing attempt to suppress restaurant worker wages...

And yet...not toooooo long ago...it was.

How many Italian American and Italian Canadian, Jewish American and Jewish Canadian, Greek American and Greek Canadian, Chinese American and Chinese Canadian have immigrated to either country (US and Canada) from the 1900s-1970s and started off working at restaurants as dish washers or burger flippers, started a family, raised a family, bought houses and sent money BACK to the OLD COUNTRY and then STILL had enough money for some of them to even BUY OUT their FORMER boss' restaurant or start their own business to then have their sons and daughters work in that business? 

How many DINERS were open in the USofA feeding all walks of life from your friendly neighborhood police man to the trucker that trucked on from coast to coast and the waitress fed her son whose daddy was either killed in Viet Nam or Korea or whatever...

I have seen it COUNTLESS of times. Then. 

You know when I stopped seeing this?

Right about when Wall Street started bulshytiing Washington and then Washington (Ronald Reagan) gave FREE reigns for that greed and then that middle class dream went up in smoke...

I pay my students slightly more than minimum. I MENTOR them to take pride in the JOB they do. I DEFEND MY RESTAURANT, MY FOOD I and MY STAFF serve and MY employees FROM SHYTTY ENTITLED customers.  But I also GIVE GREAT FOOD AND SERVICE in RETURN for the MONEY the clients PAY US.   (If we happen to phoque up...we own it) 

I cant give my staff any more than I do.

The system is rigged.

Apart from taxes and all...  Big corporations and suppliers that supply me my stuff, GOUGE the PHOQUE outta me...

In the good ole days when restaurant owners had to buy their stuff at the local grocery store...all had decent prices that also paid their workers decent salaries and everybody made decent wages that fed that supply chain and kept it moving. 

I dont do my own grocery shopping at the local grocery store that was once owned by my neighbor...

And that supplier SHOULD  be cheaper than that of the grocery store...but it aint...often its MORE expensive sometimes...

And so forth and so forth...

Did not mean to insult you or piss you off. I should have expanded my thoughts on the statement. For the bulk of people who are trying to make a little extra money as they go to school or first job experience, there is nothing wrong with fast food. I grew up working in the industry and see nothing wrong with it or anyone that wants to become a Manager or run their own restaurant. 

I still do believe that minimum wage is not to be a living wage as it is an entry point for anyone especially teens and college students who have no skills to get a start on a job and prove themselves and after that get a pay raise while this helps the business owner out in taking risks on those with no skill set.

No matter the business, minimum wage is needed to allow places to hire and take a risk on unskilled labor.

I also do believe there are many managers / business owners who mentor and instill pride in their work force, sadly, I have seen too much of the opposite in the Wendy's, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Domino's business to see no pride.

I truly honor and am happy by why you posted here on how you run your business and wish you nothing but the utmost success.

We need to support the local small business owners and instill pride in our own kids in everything they do, we fail as parents when our own kids do not work hard and contribute to society.

In this regards I feel I succeeded as both my kids are college educated with successful careers and have no problem working hard.

Wishing you all the continued success in your business as you re-calibrate to keep the doors open, staff employed, change up for a possible bigger take out, curb side service or delivery service of dishes that people want while keeping social distance and space to keep everyone safe and healthy. 

Would love to visit your place one day and try the food. Please consider posting pictures so we can see your place and the dishes. Love all kinds of food, but then I am a Foodie that loves to eat which is why I workout so that I can enjoy eating.  

[trinacriabob]

It's hard to think about the stock market in regular or bull markets because you don't know how far the bull will run, what the real financial profile of a company is like (there's this area called technical analysis which is beyond most of our heads), and then some.  Even with those who know that stuff, the opinions of analysts about certain companies are still all over the map.

Back to health matters, do you think that the quarantines and limitations will help flatten the curve?  State and local governments here in the U.S. also seem to be relying on it.  They say this technique has worked before.

@A Horse With No Name  It's good to see you on here.

Edited March 16, 2020 by trinacriabob

[G. David Felt]

Who knows how this will work out, but Washington State is now at 48 deaths, 904 infected individuals and they have stopped stating how many are in testing or have tested negative.

Over all, weird world to be living in when you do not seem to see anyone.

[oldshurst442]

@dfelt

You didnt piss me off, insult me or offend me in any way. LOL

Im just correcting a misnomer about jobs in America...

Shopkeep is the backbone of America. Or at least it was...

Shopkeep was the KEY to the American Dream...

Shopkeep was THE middle class. 

Now we have key phrases such as minimum wage is not/should not be wages big enough for a livable income?

Lack of skillset?

Shopkeep is the BACKBONE of BIG CORPORATIONS.

Shopkeepers do what CEOs do...

What skillsets are those you say at a small, family owned business?

The basics of business 101 Id say.

Food costs, payroll, advertising, balancing books, ordering product. Pricing the product to break even and then pricing the product to make a profit. Customer satisfaction. The actual work to prep and cook the food. Management of human resources and scheduling and teaching the job...

The people that get trained to do the job also should be learning these skills from their bosses.

Apprenticeships dont exist anymore. But apprenticeships in the restaurant industry and the mechanics domain and the carpentry industry and the plumbing industry was a STAPLE in American business and was a STAPLE for KEEPING the middle class stay afloat.

It seems like Wall Street has done a number to you as well...and your Mr. Dfelt, are a sound, intelligent man. But this brain washing runs deep...deep enough even to skew intelligent folk much like yourself.

I aint mad, nor do I want to insult you. Because I realize I might have...but I just want to EXPOSE thew bullshyte that runs rampant in modern day talk about minimum wage...

 

 

 

[G. David Felt]

@oldshurst442 NP, We all good my friend. Wishing you all the best as you deal with this from both a family side and business side. 

[ocnblu]

[balthazar]

Social distancing done right ~

[G. David Felt]

Awesome barn finds going up for auction.

According to the auction site and story this is a partial list of the 50 auto's here when he died.

Schroll's collection:

• 1923 Ford T Bucket
• 1930 Ford Model A Coupe
• 1932 Ford Five-Window Coupe
• 1934 Ford Tudor Sedan
• 1936 Ford truck
• 1938 Chevrolet Street Rod
• 1948 Chevrolet Sedan
• 1950 Mercury Custom
• 1954 Chevrolet Corvette
• 1955 Ford Thunderbird
• 1959 Chrysler Imperial
• 1959 Dodge Royal
• 1959 Dodge Sedan
• 1960 Chrysler Windsor
• 1961 Mercury Comet
• 1962 Plymouth Valiant
• 1964 Chevrolet Corvair Convertible
• 1965 Ford Mustang
• 1967 Volkswagen Beetle (x2)
• 1969 Ford Mustang
• 1969 Ford Thunderbird
• 1973 Chevrolet Corvette
• 1978 Chevrolet Corvette
• 1979 Ford Ranchero GT

https://www.auctionzip.com/Listings/3400015.html

https://www.thedrive.com/news/32604/this-50-car-barn-find-is-full-of-your-wildest-american-muscle-car-dreams

[G. David Felt]

I always love cool auto projects, this Dutch company will take your 911 Porsche and convert it into a Shooting brake car.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/32553/engineering-students-transform-porsche-boxster-into-shooting-brake-of-our-dreams

Will we see .99 cents per gallon gas due to Covid19?

I am seeing more and more stories and wonder what you all think will happen?

https://www.thedrive.com/news/32607/plummeting-gas-prices-might-see-return-of-0-99-per-gallon-in-us

[ykX]

I usually like shooting brakes but that's just ugly.

Also reminds of Hyundai Veloster

 

[Robert Hall]

Would like to see interior pics of the Porsche shooting brake...strange to imagine a mid engined wagon.  I like the side profile.

Edited March 17, 2020 by Robert Hall

[trinacriabob]

15 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

@dfelt

You didnt piss me off, insult me or offend me in any way. LOL

Im just correcting a misnomer about jobs in America...

We can always rely on our resident Greek-Canadian member to say what he has to say with passion and conviction.  Keep up that zesty Mediterranean candor.  And I mean that in a nice way.

I'm not in on the conversation you two are having but, like so many other teenagers, I had a brief stint in fast food during high school.  In the U.S., I have seen a steady decline in the quality of service.  If we didn't treat customers right, we got in big trouble.  I remember that my paper application had a spot on it for G.P.A.  And that the hiring manager put a check next to it.  I look back at this and laugh because, today, it seems you just need a pulse.

Nowadays, a lot of the kids at these chain fast food places look like they don't want to be there.  Some don't want to explain anything to you, don't look at you, and are incapable of saying thank you.  There are exceptions.  Generally speaking, I see that suburban and rural fast food locations, like ones along the interstates, have better mannered young employees.

If you go into a Subway and it's a busy one, those people have to hustle during their busy times.  That would explain the huge turnover. If they do their work correctly and are nice to their customers, you have to give them credit for that.

 

[frogger]

39 minutes ago, ykX said:

I usually like shooting brakes but that's just ugly.

Also reminds of Hyundai Veloster

 

I thought of this

[daves87rs]

Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone!!!!!!!

[G. David Felt]

1 hour ago, ykX said:

I usually like shooting brakes but that's just ugly.

Also reminds of Hyundai Veloster

 

Maybe that is where the Dutch company got their inspiration, love the front end of the Porsche and thought they could do a better Veloster.

Used to see tons of the Veloster in the greater Seattle area, they seem to have just disappeared in the last few years replaced by a glut of Tesla 3's which is also just ugly to me.

35 minutes ago, frogger said:

I thought of this

That BMW is way more ugly than the Veloster. Thanks for making me on St. Patrick's Day!  ☘️

[daves87rs]

1 hour ago, dfelt said:

I always love cool auto projects, this Dutch company will take your 911 Porsche and convert it into a Shooting brake car.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/32553/engineering-students-transform-porsche-boxster-into-shooting-brake-of-our-dreams

Will we see .99 cents per gallon gas due to Covid19?

I am seeing more and more stories and wonder what you all think will happen?

https://www.thedrive.com/news/32607/plummeting-gas-prices-might-see-return-of-0-99-per-gallon-in-us

No  99 Cent gas....Strong feeling says we will the the opposite by the end of the summer. Places will simply stop producing oil, period, Expect major turmoil in the Middle East soon.....

[ccap41]

That 911 shooting brake is terrible. It'd be much easier to lower a Mecan than whatever the fck they're doing. 

[trinacriabob]

1 hour ago, daves87rs said:

Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone!!!!!!!

Thank you!  Same to you.  Two weeks ago, I knew where I was going to go for an Irish lunch today.  It's an Irish pub/restaurant ... not part of any chain.  Now, they are not open.

[balthazar]

“Wildest muscle car dreams” [auction linked earlier]

Not a single mucsle car listed. 🤣
—————

Home Depot by me today limiting customer head count to a max of 50. Costco still jammed every day- but I havent been in there in like 2 weeks (was normal then).

Edited March 17, 2020 by balthazar

[G. David Felt]

Got milk? NOPE

 

Got Bacon? NOT REALLY

yup ran an errand to Fred Meyers to get a few things and people are still going crazy buying up everything. 🤪

 

Crazy is the gun shop by me usually only a couple cars, lot packed. CRAZY

[Robert Hall]

The doomsday preppers and end times believers must be feeling validated these days.   Surreal days.  

[balthazar]

Don’t drink milk. But I hope the Red Bull / Monster supply line stays open!! 😆

[G. David Felt]

30 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

The doomsday preppers and end times believers must be feeling validated these days.   Surreal days.  

So True, My bible thumping parents say this is the end and God is taking only the righteous to the new paradise. 🙄🤪

No offense meant to anyone here who believes in God. Just so tired of my parents ranting. 

28 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Don’t drink milk. But I hope the Red Bull / Monster supply line stays open!! 😆

Balthazar, I gave up Monster due to the crazy chemicals and the acid bite hit my stomach weird, but Red Bull is good and I found that Reign Energy - Preworkout drinks are great.

https://urinereview.com/

Love the no Sugar, but packed with what the body needs to fuel the body.

https://www.reignbodyfuel.com/en/

I buy them by the 12 pack at Business Costco. $15.99 Pretty good deal.

FYI, Each can has 300mg of Caffeine, so it can amp you up if your sensitive since most monster drinks are around 170 mg.

[G. David Felt]

Update on Washington State, 52 dead, 1,012 Confirmed infected with Covid 19

[Robert Hall]

I did stock up on dog treats and dog food from Amazon..that came today.  And jerky, snacks, etc.  I've been pretty much quarantined since the beginning of February, so nothing new.   Got plenty of TP, paper towels, cleaning supplies.  Just ordered some Omaha Steaks and fixins from Amazon, going to do some grilling.. 

[balthazar]

46 minutes ago, dfelt said:

FYI, Each can has 300mg of Caffeine, so it can amp you up if your sensitive since most monster drinks are around 170 mg.

The big Monster cans are 300 also. Reign is good. I hate to drink sugar-free; artificial sweetners are the worst, but I should watch sugar intake due to inflammation.

[Robert Hall]

I quit energy drinks maybe 10 years ago. I do enjoy a few Cokes or Cherry Cokes ( the European size mini cans) every week as an afternoon pickup...  can’t stand the taste of diet sodas.  But for caffeine I have 3-4 cups of coffee every morning before 10.. with the time change I’ve been needing an extra cup...been sleeping in until 8.  

Edited March 17, 2020 by Robert Hall

[balthazar]

Average cup of coffee is supposedly 120 mg of caffeine, so 4 would be 480, 5 would be 600.

I do (1) 8 oz (sugared) @ 84 mg and 1 big can (sugar-free) at 300 : 384

[daves87rs]

I need another Pepsi...... 😮 

[Robert Hall]

I have to cut off caffeine by 4...it messes up my sleep if I drink something caffeinated in the evening, even with my sleeping pills. 

[daves87rs]

4 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

I have to cut off caffeine by 4...it messes up my sleep if I drink something caffeinated in the evening, even with my sleeping pills. 

About 5pm is as late as I can go.....

[trinacriabob]

4 hours ago, dfelt said:

Crazy is the gun shop by me usually only a couple cars, lot packed. CRAZY

Looking at that gun shop (further ahead) in that strip mall, why am I not surprised at the types of vehicles parked there?  Who said consumer research doesn't work?

1 hour ago, Robert Hall said:

I quit energy drinks maybe 10 years ago. I do enjoy a few Cokes or Cherry Cokes ( the European size mini cans) every week as an afternoon pickup...  can’t stand the taste of diet sodas.  But for caffeine I have 3-4 cups of coffee every morning before 10.. with the time change I’ve been needing an extra cup...been sleeping in until 8.  

Energy drinks don't look appealing and seem bad for you.  I remember drinking a lot of Mountain Dew for all-nighters to cram while a student.  I now can't look at a can of Mountain Dew without having it turn my stomach.  But I'm with you on most Coke products (regular and calorie free) except for the latest flavors up on billboards.

I can't do that much coffee.  If at a Starbucks in the a.m., I will get decaf when they have it around.  I probably drink 3 cups of tea a day.

[G. David Felt]

2 hours ago, balthazar said:

The big Monster cans are 300 also. Reign is good. I hate to drink sugar-free; artificial sweetners are the worst, but I should watch sugar intake due to inflammation.

Reign uses Stevia, at least on the cans I have gotten it said that. Yes, some of the 16 or 24 oz monster cans also have 300, but most seem to be about half that amount as was my observation. Course, I can mainline caffeine and still go to sleep 30 min later.

[G. David Felt]

Frig in my garage for over flow veggies, meats, fruit and frozen stuff. Top shelf is mine except for the wifes LaCroix flavored water.

[Robert Hall]

I can’t touch Mountain Dew either.  Drank way too much of it in grad school and my first couple jobs.  Haven’t had one in close to 20 years probably.  

[G. David Felt]

@trinacriabob @Robert Hall While in college in Japan, they had Triple Jolt Cola and Triple Dew Mountain Dew. Drank both like crazy till I realized Mountain Dew was so bad for you due to the ingredients I researched for a paper I wrote. Stopped cold turkey on the stuff. Gave up Triple Jolt Cola too once I realized how acidic it was and a sugar bomb that could cause Diabetes. Since then most drink water, some chai tea, black tea and then stevia sweetened Pre-work out drinks.

This is one of the best break downs on why not to drink Mountain Dew.

https://juicing-for-health.com/mountain-dew-bad

[ocnblu]

New Buick Envision, shares a platform with Cadillac XT4, powered by a 2.0t gasoline engine.  Production version of the Enspire Concept.  Looks pretty tame, but better than the current car.  Sry for the low-res photo.

[ccap41]

3 hours ago, ocnblu said:

New Buick Envision, shares a platform with Cadillac XT4, powered by a 2.0t gasoline engine.  Production version of the Enspire Concept.  Looks pretty tame, but better than the current car.  Sry for the low-res photo.

Those are two very different sized vehicles, aren't they? I thought the XT4 was tiny and the Envision was just below the 3-rower in the Enclave? Are they moving it down closer in size to the Encore? 

It looks sharp but kind of weird they're using the same name for what seems like a pretty big change in size. 

Well, FWIW, they're closer than I thought. 

[trinacriabob]

11 hours ago, ocnblu said:

New Buick Envision, shares a platform with Cadillac XT4, powered by a 2.0t gasoline engine.  Production version of the Enspire Concept.  Looks pretty tame, but better than the current car.  Sry for the low-res photo.

I like the front, except for maybe where the front lamps merge into the grille.  That rear pillar looks sort of thick.  I'd prefer slightly higher displacement and no turbocharger.

[trinacriabob]

I was thinking that we can all move to West Virginia.  That is, until today.  U.S. possessions or territories in the Pacific like the Marianas are still viable options.

I think I'm going to try to support small businesses like restaurants these days.  There are a couple of them I like.  They feature specials on certain days.  I've gotten e-mails from them urging people to call in and that they will bring the food out to your car when you get there.  That sounds plausible for a couple of evenings a week.

 

[riviera74]

4 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

I like the front, except for maybe where the front lamps merge into the grille.  That rear pillar looks sort of thick.  I'd prefer slightly higher displacement and no turbocharger.

Sorry, but thanks in part to CAFE, turbochargers are now standard.  The Envision deserves a V6 for one reason: more torque than any 4cyl (with or without a turbo) can provide.  Too bad China also insists on displacement taxes too.

[balthazar]

general store & gas station, Hyden KY, 1940 :