Random Thoughts Thread

[David]

Excited to see that Super Sonic flight is coming back with very modern motors that are no more noisy than todays commercial engines on a DreamLiner.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/boom-is-ready-to-roll-out-its-first-supersonic-jet/vi-BB1808Yg?ocid=msedgntp

All carbon fiber, these new plans are way more cool than what has been done in the past.

So why am I talking about Super Sonic plans in a auto forum? Simple, this makes me wonder how soon someone will build a new modern supersonic car to go after and beat the world record held by this amazing baby!

 

 

[USA-1]

On 8/13/2020 at 6:06 AM, David said:

Review of the 2020 Corvette and the writer has some valid points, but I have to say it is tiring to read how surprised they are that America can build such a low priced, but fun and exciting sports car. Where did these morons grow up? Europe!

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/reviews/2020-chevrolet-corvette-2dr-stingray-cpe-review/

Euro Trash

[USA-1]

On 8/13/2020 at 6:04 PM, ocnblu said:

Well, today I ripped out old carpet and pried up old tack strips in my living room. Also cleaned out and organized my garage (thanks for all the hard work and help, Mom.) Then hauled it all to the dump very carefully. It is so handy to own a pickup truck! Oh, and I had professional help with my kitchen sink plumbing. Things are shaping up around this joint... still got a lot to do, as homeowners know, there is always a project or plan.

Want to paint the living room and choose new flooring next, too many good choices out there, need to keep to a strict budget.  I am thinking hard floors, so I can plug in the leaf blower and go to town, instead of vacuuming.

ALWAYS something to work on, upgrade or fix! Very true statement!!

[USA-1]

Oregon Coast today. 86 degrees and gorgeous.

Pic is from Kyllo's Seafood Restaurant deck in Lincoln City at "D" River, The Shortest River in the World that drains from Devils Lake "D Lake" that I grew up on. 

 

[trinacriabob]

20 minutes ago, USA-1 said:

Oregon Coast today. 86 degrees and gorgeous.

Pic is from Kyllo's Seafood Restaurant deck in Lincoln City at "D" River, The Shortest River in the World that drains from Devils Lake "D Lake" that I grew up on. 

 

Here are some photos of the area from somewhere between Thanksgiving and Christmas, about 5 to 7 years ago ...

Lincoln City - possibly that lake, on the inboard side of US 101 from that beach with the big parking lot and the seagulls that love people ... and it's easy to figure out why they love people:

Depoe Bay area:

Edited August 16, 2020 by trinacriabob

[USA-1]

9 minutes ago, trinacriabob said:

Here are some photos of the area from somewhere between Thanksgiving and Christmas, about 5 to 7 years ago ...

Lincoln City - possibly that lake, on the inboard side of US 101 from that beach with the big parking lot and the seagulls that love people ... and it's easy to figure out why they love people:

Depoe Bay area:

 

Yep, that's the lake side of the 101 that splits it from the river section at that large parking lot. Small inlet that becomes the lake just around that bend. And Depoe Bay just up the road, very beautiful as well.

[trinacriabob]

I've read a fair number of articles on consumer behavior and being good with money.  Believe it or not, buying things on sale to stock up TOO OFTEN can become problematic.

Usually, if I find a unique salad dressing flavor, good soups, Coast or Irish Spring body wash, or something like that at a deep discount, I'll buy a handful of them and keep them around.

Some supermarkets, like a discount one I go to, has a bargain basement section and there is some good stuff in there ... cheap.  Last winter, I put Bosch windshield wipers on my car.  Today, I found these cool night lights for about $1.50, so I bought two of them but, most of all, I found some unknown brand windshield wipers for $1.99 each!  I bought two.  Let's see how it goes.  Even if I get half the typical life cycle, I did well.

[daves87rs]

3 hours ago, USA-1 said:

Oregon Coast today. 86 degrees and gorgeous.

Pic is from Kyllo's Seafood Restaurant deck in Lincoln City at "D" River, The Shortest River in the World that drains from Devils Lake "D Lake" that I grew up on. 

 

Very nice looking beach!

[David]

Drinking Lobohills rose wine. Awesome end to a hot Saturday. 

https://www.lobohills.com/

Watching Hobbs and Shaw, great movie, love how many Toyota's they blow up! 

🤣

[balthazar]

Blinker fluid :

[trinacriabob]

An out of order spotting, dating back to around 2016.  I was driving past a farm in Quebec and saw this:

What the heck kind of Buick is that?  I know that, even with 3 ventiports on each fender, it is NOT a V6.

Amazing that, even with the rigorous Quebec winter, this old Buick is in such great shape.

[balthazar]

LeSabre. Without checking.... I believe the year is '70.

[oldshurst442]

Breathe hap-pie Fa-Breeze

La la la la la!

 

11 hours ago, balthazar said:

Blinker fluid :

I heard its highly flammable. 

Edited August 17, 2020 by oldshurst442

[daves87rs]

3 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

An out of order spotting, dating back to around 2016.  I was driving past a farm in Quebec and saw this:

What the heck kind of Buick is that?  I know that, even with 3 ventiports on each fender, it is NOT a V6.

Amazing that, even with the rigorous Quebec winter, this old Buick is in such great shape.

It’s a nice looking Buick! 🙂 

Also something that is rare around here, a Plymouth/dodge Breeze......

[Robert Hall]

10 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

An out of order spotting, dating back to around 2016.  I was driving past a farm in Quebec and saw this:

What the heck kind of Buick is that?  I know that, even with 3 ventiports on each fender, it is NOT a V6.

Amazing that, even with the rigorous Quebec winter, this old Buick is in such great shape.

Looks like a 1970 LeSabre.   Back then, 3 ventiports were on the B-body, and 4 ventiports were on the C-body (Electra).   The middle model (Wildcat) usually didn't have them..

Edited August 17, 2020 by Robert Hall

[trinacriabob]

@balthazar @Robert Hall  So, then, powered by the Buick variant of the 350 V8 ? 

[Robert Hall]

11 minutes ago, trinacriabob said:

@balthazar @Robert Hall  So, then, powered by the Buick variant of the 350 V8 ? 

Probably...looks like a low trim level based on the limited amount of chrome on the sides.   The LeSabre was also available w/ the 455.

Edited August 17, 2020 by Robert Hall

[oldshurst442]

OK...talking about Buicks is NOT a random thought.   Get that straight.  There are plenty of Buick threads in the Buick category for that.  (Channeling  my inner oceanblue)

Secondly,  there is a rarer Chryco  cloud car right beside that Buick.  I think its far more interesting to talk about THAT car.  Aight?!

Thirdly...those cars were found in Quebec.   I think we should just talk about Quebec. We could talk about how awesome Quebec is...

Dont mind me.  Just thinking out loud.  Just a huge random thought I had...   (at least Im getting with the program.  I aint talking about Buicks in a random thought thread...)  

Edited August 17, 2020 by oldshurst442

[Robert Hall]

There are many things

[oldshurst442]

Yes.  

And horsing around is fun fun fun.  Until daddy takes the T-Bird away.

Talking about Quebec...

The old man is snoring around these parts...   

 

Edited August 17, 2020 by oldshurst442

[balthazar]

[trinacriabob]

@oldshurst442 Hey, I know Quebec is definitely awesome. 

What might NOT be awesome is being in some redneck lumber town way north and east of Quebec City where they don't like Anglophones.  I've heard they might look at you much as if you were walking into an unknown town like you'd see in one of those old Western movies.

- - - - -

Side note:  I just called Culver's.  They are not participating in National Custard Day.  Turds.  Maybe it was the FL locations.  Thought I'd give you guys the heads up.  The flavor of the day (varies by store), however, is Chocolate Oreo Volcano.  Let the lava flow!

[David]

@oldshurst442 Who cares about Quebec when there are so many other awesome places to talk about like Seattle and the idiot protestors and city officials.   

Course the City and Officials might be on par with those in Quebec.  

I will say that the Buicks flow off the ships from China here in Seattle, onto train cars and get dispersed across this country. 🤔 Wonder if that means I will see the first imported Buick EV here? 🤔

[David]

 The web site Moneywise.com just published their list of things Millennials hate.

Top of the list was the following:

• Chevrolet Volt
• Fiat
• iPods
• https://moneywise.com/a/ch-b/brands-you-love-that-may-disappear-forever_SAFE-ByeBrandsJun04-LGSB-DSK?t=Millennials Don’t Like These Brands Anymore And They’re Struggling&utm_campaign=4876020&utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=Desktop&utm_term=msn-anaheim-us&utm_content=2904316876&taboola_click_id=GiDd0-txHhCrrx1n_h0IVyb6LzUZjWijLUTdHhrHcdbSkyC_uEo&hero=2020060415185904001368186443

[oldshurst442]

For the love of (name your choice of worshipped being)!   Could we please just let the millennials be!!!   Every generation gets their time when they get to rule.  The older geezers had their chance and there comes a time when their time is up.  We are at a point when its the millennials turn to rule.   

Lets be honest. Half of these brands were in dire straights BEFORE millennials had a chance to vote with their purchasing power.

Lets be honest.  More than half of these products should have NEVER risen to the top anyway...   Millennials choosing to avoid these products are just doing the SENSIBLE thing anyway.    example:  TIFFANY'S.    What a BLATANT exercise in human overconsumption, greed and everything shyte about capitalism...    (and NO...I aint a commie.  But really...which loving wife demands a huge diamond from her husband to show her his love for her?!  like I said...that marketing spiel is a BLATANT exercise in human overconsumption, greed and everything shyte about capitalism... )   What a waste of monetary resources and especially shameful what we did in the past regarding humans for shytty material objects (blood diamonds etc...) 

Lets be honest.  Half of those products are old and dated BEFORE millennials had decided to opt out from them.  New tech... I mean, even old geezers ceased to buy these products...   Example:  iPods.  Next thing they will tell us is that millennials killed the Video Cassette Recorder.  Because VCRs were a thing into the early 2000s... GTFO with that!

Lets be honest.  Shyte phoquing stores like GAP, Forever 21...Abercrombie and Fitch...   yes...even Abercrombie and Fitch...  overpriced shytty clothes that catered mostly to fad clothing.  In one year, outdated the next.    Im surprised Abercrombie and Fitch lasted as long as it did.  Stupid Baby Boomers, Gen Xers for keeping them alive actually.  Im ashamed of that.  KUDOS to the millennials for being smart!!!

Jello.  Kelloggs cereals, Kraft singles...   Why the phoque did we ever eat that in the first phoquing place?  

Im sick and tired of all this whining about millennials.  Makes me ashamed that my gen... are really snowflakey about whining about millennials.  Kinda ironic aint it?  (That millennials are called the whiny generation...) 

Edited August 17, 2020 by oldshurst442

[David]

@oldshurst442 Thank you for the editorial, I knew you would go off on it and this monday of heat, I wanted a good laugh and got it. THANK YOU

Agree with the let them be as we have other things to deal with, but of course, random is what we are all about.  

[daves87rs]

Hey, I might miss A&F. Granted, I stopped fitting in their clothes back in the late 90s..... 😮 

[David]

16 minutes ago, daves87rs said:

Hey, I might miss A&F. Granted, I stopped fitting in their clothes back in the late 90s..... 😮 

I honestly will not miss anything on that list. LOL always ready for the bleeding edge of new stuff.

[balthazar]

oooOOOOoooo; Kraft singles! 

[David]

Story is all over the news, but seems Ford has now stated that the next gen mustang will be out in 2022 as a 2023 model and teased with this image which has similarities to the Mach e and makes one wonder, does this mean that the Mustang is going EV only?

Nope, Ford did say they will have Hybrid as well as EV versions and some others.

At least everyone is saying the same thing, 2022 will be the all new Mustang, Hybrid, EV and some ICE models which many seem to think will be big V8 versions at the top end of the for sale as mid to lower end will be Hybrid with small generators powering an electric power train and pure EV.

🤔 Wonder what GM's answer will be for the Camaro!

https://www.motortrend.com/news/2023-ford-mustang-s650-s550-news/

https://www.topspeed.com/cars/car-news/the-next-generation-ford-mustang-will-arrive-in-2022-as-a-2023-model-ar187656.html

https://fordtrend.com/2022-ford-mustang/

https://www.thedrive.com/news/32075/the-next-ford-mustang-could-arrive-in-2022-report

30 minutes ago, balthazar said:

oooOOOOoooo; Kraft singles! 

America's way to get your Chemical Fix on!  

[trinacriabob]

I randomly thought of Pontiac and the simple beauty of their last family of small block V8 engines.

Here's what one looks like from a F-bird Formula 350 that was up for sale.  With no A/C, look at the ground beneath and all those spark plugs begging to be changed by any teenager with a shop class under his or her belt.

And who can forget the simple, clean, classic dashboards of yesteryear, such as the one in this F-bird Formula 350?

So damn glad I got to experience this stuff when it was the order of the day.

[balthazar]

Small blocks are the stepping stone to real power; big blocks!
Or, to follow my own mantra- there's no replacement for displacement.

Edited August 18, 2020 by balthazar

[daves87rs]

3 hours ago, David said:

Story is all over the news, but seems Ford has now stated that the next gen mustang will be out in 2022 as a 2023 model and teased with this image which has similarities to the Mach e and makes one wonder, does this mean that the Mustang is going EV only?

Nope, Ford did say they will have Hybrid as well as EV versions and some others.

At least everyone is saying the same thing, 2022 will be the all new Mustang, Hybrid, EV and some ICE models which many seem to think will be big V8 versions at the top end of the for sale as mid to lower end will be Hybrid with small generators powering an electric power train and pure EV.

🤔 Wonder what GM's answer will be for the Camaro!

https://www.motortrend.com/news/2023-ford-mustang-s650-s550-news/

https://www.topspeed.com/cars/car-news/the-next-generation-ford-mustang-will-arrive-in-2022-as-a-2023-model-ar187656.html

https://fordtrend.com/2022-ford-mustang/

https://www.thedrive.com/news/32075/the-next-ford-mustang-could-arrive-in-2022-report

America's way to get your Chemical Fix on!  

Sadly, Ford is going to have to cut back on the number of models it has for now. The only ones I have heard of have been EV, Hybrid, and Turbo.

Might change, but they are on a serious money crunch right now......

[trinacriabob]

Opera, anyone?

.

.

.

Opera window, anyone?

[David]

12 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

Opera, anyone?

.

.

.

Opera window, anyone?

Opera Browser? 🤔

My 20 year old couch died last night.

Since ya all know that I am anything but small, started looking around at the Big and Tall theater couches, chairs and found the two following web sites.

https://www.theaterseatstore.com/size/oversized-home-theater-seating

https://4seating.com/sofas-and-sectionals/index.html

Anyone ever buy from these companies or own these chairs / couches? 

Since the only time I watch TV is to watch a movie or go through a Season like the AWESOME Season 2 of "The Titan Games" I really do not lay around much, but I do want to be totally comfortable and was thinking might be nice to have charging, and other things built in. So looking at a quality chair or couch. 🤔

Ideas??????? 

[trinacriabob]

I found this photo taken a while back.  Does it indicate GM dominance over Ford?  (It was at a GM brand dealership.)  That first jelly bean Taurus was sort of weird and possibly the basis of the jargon "jelly bean" styling for cars that followed.

 

[David]

California announced today that they have signed agreements with the following 6 auto companies.

• BMW
• Ford
• Honda
• Volvo
• Volkswagen
• Audi

They were more lenient than the original required CARB plan, but stricter than the new EPZ rule according to the Green Car Reports write up.

These 6 auto companies make up 40% of all auto's sold in California. California also stated that any auto company that does not sign onto their CARB plan will be bared from fleet purchases of which the number one fleet sales company was GM.

GM and Toyota tied onto the Current administration plan which had floated a national EV plan which has since failed and even the new EPA rules are now under internal review due to not following the laws of the country. As such, the EPA has frozen the new rules and everything is rolled back to the last administration EPA rules.

These current CARB rules will affect all auto's that go on sale in 2026 as a 2027 model year.

This also puts an interesting battle between Ford and the State of Michigan which with 23 other states support the CARB standards and the states have all filed a group law suite against the current rewrite of EPA rules.

At this point, I think the 6 auto makers and 23 states supporting California CARB have a better poker hand than the current administration and auto companies that are NOT signing on to the CARB plan yet.

Honestly, I can see CARB becoming the new national standard as the EPA fails this country in protecting the citizens, but that is another topic for debate.

Here CARB 1, EPA 0 in the battle for the largest auto market in the country.

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1129282_automakers-commit-to-tougher-california-emissions-deal-and-more-evs

[David]

In other News, Mercedes-Benz has agreed to pay a $2.2 Billion dollar fine to the US Government for their 250,000 Diesel cars and vans sold that used cheating software.

With this settlement, MB will also set up a $700 million plan to settle with their diesel auto customers. MB has also anounced a shift to EV's for the US market as they drop Diesel and focus in the near term on traditional ICE as they build up their manufacturing to support EV's.

Currently MB has said China and Europe will be the first markets to get EVs and some time in the future the US.

MB is NOT going to bring their subcompact or compact EV to the US and the EQC is delayed indefinitely at this time. MB first EV will be their S-Class EV for North America.

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1129259_mercedes-set-to-pay-2-2b-in-us-diesel-settlements-as-it-slowly-pivots-to-evs

[balthazar]

^ Pretty big black eye for the 'best or nothing' company. The image damage will ripple for years & years.

[daves87rs]

I think a lot of what may happen when it comes to CARB or the EPA will depend on the upcoming election.....

[riviera74]

11 hours ago, balthazar said:

^ Pretty big black eye for the 'best or nothing' company. The image damage will ripple for years & years.

Daimler will probably survive this.  The hatred for MB is nowhere nearly as broad or as deep as it is/was for GM from 1980 to 2010.

[ccap41]

16 hours ago, David said:

In other News, Mercedes-Benz has agreed to pay a $2.2 Billion dollar fine to the US Government for their 250,000 Diesel cars and vans sold that used cheating software.

With this settlement, MB will also set up a $700 million plan to settle with their diesel auto customers. MB has also anounced a shift to EV's for the US market as they drop Diesel and focus in the near term on traditional ICE as they build up their manufacturing to support EV's.

Currently MB has said China and Europe will be the first markets to get EVs and some time in the future the US.

MB is NOT going to bring their subcompact or compact EV to the US and the EQC is delayed indefinitely at this time. MB first EV will be their S-Class EV for North America.

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1129259_mercedes-set-to-pay-2-2b-in-us-diesel-settlements-as-it-slowly-pivots-to-evs

Do you guys think that after VW was flying high and passing the diesel tests that the other manufacturers all bought TDI's and found the cheating software and essentially copied it? 

I find it a little tough that they all made cheating software because isn't this like the 3rd or 4th company to get busted? 

[ykX]

11 hours ago, balthazar said:

^ Pretty big black eye for the 'best or nothing' company. The image damage will ripple for years & years.

People who really buy MB could care less.

[balthazar]

1 hour ago, ykX said:

People who really buy MB could care less.

I wonder, because basically all they're buying over other choices is perceived image.

Edited August 19, 2020 by balthazar

[ykX]

6 minutes ago, balthazar said:

I wonder, because basically all they're buying over other choices is perceived image.

The perceived image is that they still buying car/suv from the best luxury automaker.

[ccap41]

People who buy Mercedes will never even know. You could extend that to almost any manufacturer because the public doesn't care. 

[David]

2 hours ago, ccap41 said:

Do you guys think that after VW was flying high and passing the diesel tests that the other manufacturers all bought TDI's and found the cheating software and essentially copied it? 

I find it a little tough that they all made cheating software because isn't this like the 3rd or 4th company to get busted? 

Bosch supplied VW, Audi, Porsche, BMW and Daimler with the hardware and software. This was a German Cheat Plan and while the auto companies are being hit hard, I have yet to see much action against Bosch for their part in creating the cheat software and hardware. 

What action has been taken has been very lite. $100 million here and there, but over all they got off scot free compared to the auto makers.

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/product-liability-and-toxics-law/bosch-sued-by-delaware-over-vw-diesel-emissions-cheat-software

https://www.forbes.com/sites/doronlevin/2019/05/23/german-parts-maker-bosch-gets-off-with-relatively-light-100-million-fine-from-vw-dieselgate/#77f8c9b721f2

https://www.autonews.com/suppliers/bosch-pay-100-million-fine-germany-over-emissions-cheat-software

38 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

People who buy Mercedes will never even know. You could extend that to almost any manufacturer because the public doesn't care. 

Sadly true, there needs to be more accountability, but sadly the public would rather be sold a bag a horse shit lies than the truth.

[ccap41]

31 minutes ago, David said:

Bosch supplied VW, Audi, Porsche, BMW and Daimler with the hardware and software. This was a German Cheat Plan and while the auto companies are being hit hard, I have yet to see much action against Bosch for their part in creating the cheat software and hardware. 

What action has been taken has been very lite. $100 million here and there, but over all they got off scot free compared to the auto makers.

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/product-liability-and-toxics-law/bosch-sued-by-delaware-over-vw-diesel-emissions-cheat-software

https://www.forbes.com/sites/doronlevin/2019/05/23/german-parts-maker-bosch-gets-off-with-relatively-light-100-million-fine-from-vw-dieselgate/#77f8c9b721f2

https://www.autonews.com/suppliers/bosch-pay-100-million-fine-germany-over-emissions-cheat-software

There was a VW documentary I watched and I believe there was an email exchange that they stated the part was not to be used in consumer vehicles and obviously VW did what they wanted with the part(s). I think they covered their own backside with the scandal. 

33 minutes ago, David said:

Sadly true, there needs to be more accountability, but sadly the public would rather be sold a bag a horse $h! lies than the truth.

The buying public who's spending tens of thousands of dollars on their vehicle just want the product they want. I think very few people actually care about what goes on behind closed doors, they just want the best product(in their eyes). 

[balthazar]

^ If true, that certainly leaves the barn door WIDE open to greatly cheapen / cut corners and make/rake in profits. Daimler is especially feeling that sort of pressure- will be interesting to watch.

Edited August 19, 2020 by balthazar

[David]

4 hours ago, ccap41 said:

There was a VW documentary I watched and I believe there was an email exchange that they stated the part was not to be used in consumer vehicles and obviously VW did what they wanted with the part(s). I think they covered their own backside with the scandal. 

The buying public who's spending tens of thousands of dollars on their vehicle just want the product they want. I think very few people actually care about what goes on behind closed doors, they just want the best product(in their eyes). 

Yes, the Public does want the best product in their eyes, but I also think the Public needs to hold companies accountable otherwise we end up with really bad corruption all for the sake of the 1% getting richer.

I also saw the Documentary and that yes there is the one loan email that said it should not be used in production, but that DOES NOT release Bosch of the fact that they new when selling hundreds of thousands of the parts that work with that software that it would not be abused. 

To me this is true executive corruption on profit before human health. 

Good thing Colleges are willing to tear apart a product to better understand and expose the corporate lies. Otherwise the Toxic diesel would still be going gangbusters on damaging the planet.

Course plenty of other product that are also doing damage too, just not diesel.