Random Thoughts Thread

[trinacriabob]

Random thought:  I seem to think about food a lot ...

[G. David Felt]

26 minutes ago, trinacriabob said:

Random thought:  I seem to think about food a lot ...

Who does not, especially coming off Thanksgiving? 

I love cooking with the wife, so food is always on my mind. 

[trinacriabob]

8 hours ago, David said:

Who does not, especially coming off Thanksgiving? 

I love cooking with the wife, so food is always on my mind. 

Well, Thanksgiving, and tryptophan, can actually wean you from food ... for a while.

As far as cooking goes, I can't cook which, in my case, is probably a good thing.

- - - - -

Per today's C&G homepage, happy birthday wishes to @riviera74 ... and many more.

[balthazar]

[trinacriabob]

I find some old photos and laugh.  It seems the past was better than the present.  There was less negativity.

Here is a photo of my very first car.  It was a hand me down from my parents.  This car lasted for 16 years and, even though the weather got to it, the intake and exhaust system must have remained in great shape, since the quiet and rhythmic hum of the Rocket 350 V8, both inside and outside the car, sounded similar to when it was new.

I can't tell if the center caps are there or not.  I could never hang on to them on my 1984 Cutlass Supreme.  That's what happens when you park them at commuter rail stations.

Here it was in a subdivision outside of Atlanta - near Stone Mountain - that was being built out.  This would have been some 30 years ago.  While never slow paced, metro Atlanta would not be anywhere as slow paced as this photo might suggest.  Good times.

[balthazar]

You've all seen a pic of my very first car, taken this past June.
October '21 marked 35 years under my ownership.
Dropping the motor off to the rebuilder this weekend.  

There were a couple of serious prior contenders for my first car- a '59 Pontiac Catalina 4-dr flattop and a '63 Studebaker GT Hawk. I might include a '59 Eldorado Biarritz convertible, but the $1500 asking price was wildly out of my pocket's range, plus I was only 15 yrs old.

[balthazar]

Thru September of '21, Chevrolet sold 24,803 Bolts.
Thru November of '21, Ford sold 24,791 Mach-Es.

Ford is expected to surpass Chevy here due to the temporarily-suspended production of the Bolt, but it's interesting that the oft-maligned Bolt is more popular than the Mach-E so far.
 

[balthazar]

For trinacriabob ~ 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1976-pontiac-grand-lemans/
 

[balthazar]

Beetle (slightly modified) : 

[trinacriabob]

14 hours ago, balthazar said:

For trinacriabob ~ 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1976-pontiac-grand-lemans/
 

It's very nice.  Thank you.  The rear fender skirts would have to go.  I'd have preferred that the rally wheels not be body colored.  Someone blew it by not getting tan seat belts when they went all out otherwise with the high line model.  That said, this is an interesting color combo and more common on European metal than on American cars.

I think I've seen this before.  The car was being sold on Long Island (Lawn Giland).

- - - - -

So, you go to the casino buffet the day they're featuring that special price.  You think "a dollop of this and a dollop of that."  When you leave, you vow not to go to another buffet for 3 months.

I find this to be less of a problem with Brazilian steak houses.  Their main items are better prepared and probably less fatty, and they don't have that many/any casserole type dishes.  Plus, dessert is never included, and, with the price of the rodizio being high enough, I know I won't order dessert.

1.  The salad was good and I love artichokes and tomatoes

2  Pizza, filled pasta, baked fish, and green beans - all good

3.  Linguini with shrimp (a little spicy, didn't finish), a potato hash type casserole (eh), and a sweet potato (I've grown to love these)

4.  Generally, I haven't got great desserts but, this time, they were all good - the brownie (excellent), the chocolate swirl cake, the kolaches, the oatmeal raisin cookie, and even the pumpkin mousse these ladies at the adjacent table said they were enjoying

- - - - -

How I would eat in the college cafeteria on the regular back in the day and NOT put on any weight is beyond me.  Things have changed.  I do stick to my once every 2 or 3 months rule.

[G. David Felt]

Gotta Love Production of the Hummer EV by GMC.

[riviera74]

4 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

How I would eat in the college cafeteria on the regular back in the day and NOT put on any weight is beyond me.  Things have changed.  I do stick to my once every 2 or 3 months rule.

I think we all wish we had our 20 year old bodies and metabolisms right now and for the next decade or three.  Me included.

[G. David Felt]

Interesting Video

 

[balthazar]

Automotive recycling : 

[G. David Felt]

4 hours ago, balthazar said:

Automotive recycling : 

Yes lovely auto and great that it got a second life, but most are sitting around rusting and polluting the ground. 1/10th of 1% is a best guess on my part of how many can really afford this. As such, let the great auto round up begin and recycle for use in new products.

[balthazar]

That’s the thing tho- it doesn’t have to be a crazy nut-n-bolt show car or a hi-buck resto-mod. That’s the fallacy: any level of preservation / caretaking is a positive & can be enjoyed.
 

And there’s certainly not many desirable ‘60s car sitting in fields anymore; they’re either saved or gone for the most part. If in were the ‘80s, it’d be completely different.

[oldshurst442]

23 hours ago, riviera74 said:

I think we all wish we had our 20 year old bodies and metabolisms right now and for the next decade or three.  Me included.

I found myself not snacking on junk food as much.  

At the restaurant, I stopped nibbling on french fries, bacon, pepperoni, cheese kurds etc.. whenever I was near them.   Just by doing that, I lost a lot of the belly I had, not that I had a big belly anyway, but its nice that I have lost at LEAST 5 lbs of unnecessary weight in that area.  I also found myself not craving any sweets like I used to. Part of THAT reason is that my wife gives me all kinds of fruits to nibble on whenever I get the urge to nibble on something at work.  And what THAT does is that also curbs my sweet tooth.  

But yeah, I miss those care free days of eating just about everything and anything at any time day or night no matter how much I ate. Not that I count calories now either, but I just love...eating everything and anything at any time day or night and at 48 I cannot do that anymore. 

[oldshurst442]

1 hour ago, balthazar said:

That’s the thing tho- it doesn’t have to be a crazy nut-n-bolt show car or a hi-buck resto-mod. That’s the fallacy: any level of preservation / caretaking is a positive & can be enjoyed.

I had a discussion with you regarding this statement a while back.

I said that a proper restoration requires lots of money.   Although you didnt say it exactly like the quote I just quoted, I now understand what you meant. I did understand then also, its just that I was adamant to say that restoration, a proper restoration requires a lot of money. 

I can now re-think my logic just a tad.

Obviously,  there CAN be a subset of people that CAN do a proper and safe restoration without a crazy nut-n-bolt, hi-buck show car.  

But the bottom line is (like you said):

ANY level of preservation IS a positive and SHOULD enjoyed! 

 

 

[G. David Felt]

@balthazar You can down vote my statement all you want and yet I still feel you are missing the big picture. 

You are RIGHT any person who takes care of their auto, drives it and is responsible for having it a running auto is great be it maintenance like I saw today on a white BMW that I believe is from the 70's to a full restoration of a mustang.  If people want to do that and enjoy it then great go for it.

My statement is on the 10's of thousands of autos and even farm equipment left rusting in fields all over that would be better served being recycled.

Here is just a few of the examples I am talking about and farms or people with extended property seem to be some of the biggest polluters in doing this as everything rots eventually and so when they sit an auto or piece of farm equipment, the chemical liquids eventually get into the soil.

For the future of humanity, our kids, our grand kids, we need to be better stewards of this planet and clean things up rather than leave them out polluting the grounds.

I know you have seen homes in your area as I sure did when I worked in NJ for a 1 1/2 years and you know there are auto's that will not be returned to service and are just rusting away.

@oldshurst442 In all my travels across Canada, I have seen plenty of farms to homes on large property where you can see auto's just rusting away. Not everything can be saved, and most humans do not seem to be interested in keeping a single auto running for ever. People Like Balthazar and even me with my autos that are very old are far more rare than common. 

Is it better to let the chemicals get into the ground water and rust/rot or recycle back into new products? 

[oldshurst442]

3 minutes ago, David said:

Is it better to let the chemicals get into the ground water and rust/rot or recycle back into new products? 

I wasnt talking about that.

I was talking about ANY restoration made on a car, hi dollar rollahs or a father and son project on a budget,  SHOULD be enjoyed.   

But THAT is another form of recycling.  Perhaps even a more greener approach as a factory is not being used to produce a new car, a factory is not being used to recycle the metals that are to be melted etc...

But yeah, I agree with you, all those cars NOT being restored and they just sit there rotting away SHOULD be recycled. Either by being restored OR be...recycled. 

[balthazar]

This is the core separation in David's & my viewpoint, as I see it.

He sees an old, rusty car parked next to a barn, and his impulse is to have it shredded and melted into another shitbox corolla.

I see it and want to see it preserved, rejuvenated and care-taken into the future, even if that means sliding it into a garage for another 50 years, untouched. 

[ccap41]

19 hours ago, David said:

Yes lovely auto and great that it got a second life, but most are sitting around rusting and polluting the ground. 1/10th of 1% is a best guess on my part of how many can really afford this. As such, let the great auto round up begin and recycle for use in new products.

I think you're assuming the rebuilt automobile has to be modified and made with higher performing suspension, brakes, and engine. I think you're also assuming not many people have second toy vehicles that cost 50k+.

I think any of us could refresh an old car like this if we wanted it as a daily driver for 10-20k all-in. 

[G. David Felt]

12 hours ago, balthazar said:

This is the core separation in David's & my viewpoint, as I see it.

He sees an old, rusty car parked next to a barn, and his impulse is to have it shredded and melted into another shitbox corolla.

I see it and want to see it preserved, rejuvenated and care-taken into the future, even if that means sliding it into a garage for another 50 years, untouched. 

Recycling into another Corolla is not needed when there are so many other products that it can be recycled into to help society.

You storing it for another 50 years is also another problem you have touched on and that is the excessive Hording by Americans that do not have the means to ever restore an item to usable condition.

This brings up another issue I have and that is with the excessive Historical tagging of buildings, roads, etc. Everything has a useful life and then dies. Great Circle of life and trying to save everything when History should be in the books to learn from is another difference. Cost have gone crazy up due to so many buildings, roads, even simple warehouses that people feel are historical for one reason or another and as such, once tagged have to be saved and the cost to save that building, road, item is crazy high.

Last time I was in Boston, I was shocked by the crazy number of historical places that had limited use but because it was a barn or horse stable from the American revolution someone got it saved even roads way too small for today's autos are saved because someone thought it was a special horse and buggy road.

End result we horde way too much when a useful life is done and needs to go back into the circle of life.

3 hours ago, ccap41 said:

I think you're assuming the rebuilt automobile has to be modified and made with higher performing suspension, brakes, and engine. I think you're also assuming not many people have second toy vehicles that cost 50k+.

I think any of us could refresh an old car like this if we wanted it as a daily driver for 10-20k all-in. 

Nope I do not assume as many autos can be maintained to run for decades without being upgraded. I am focused on the amount of steel that is sitting around that will never be used, never be made usable and is covered in blackberry vines to having trees grown through them, etc. from farms to businesses as another example lumberjack mills and folks that had their own small business of harvesting trees for wood use that closed up and you see a ton of old steel equipment rusting away. 

So much steel could be recycled rather than just left rotting and when hoses finally rot out and dump their chemical soup onto the planet it poisons the water table.

You all know you have seen stuff like this:

That would be better served being recycled than ripping up the planet to get the raw materials to build this steel. Be it old auto's that are rotting or commercial equipment, we can take better care of our planet if we recycle than try and save everything by hording it a building especially when the person has no means to actually get it going again.

When I see this kind of thing sitting on property:

A part of me says yes, I wish they all could be on the road running and being used, but the realist in me knows they never will and rather than have them pollute the ground, would it not be better to recycle them, put a little cash in the owners pocket and get the steel, glass, etc. back into use for other products.

 

[Robert Hall]

Speaking of the decaying and dying planet, heard about this on a podcast..'Earth's Black Box' project in Tasmania...pretty interesting..  going to recording lots of data.

https://www.earthsblackbox.com/

[balthazar]

I posted a dozen photos of vehicles David would proclaim were 'dumping fluids' & 'never get restored' (because (somehow) he knows the disposable income of everyone everywhere).... yet still got restored anyway. Funny, that.

As for auto graveyards, trust me; I have a 35-yr history going to dozens of them (NJ, PA, NY) / buying parts remotely... and every one from the first 20 of those 35 years is gone.

The periodic run ups on steel scrap prices plus local/state ordinances plus rising land values plus exorbitant liability & insurance costs have done away with the majority of junkyards. It's no longer a common thing; there's still some, but nothing like it was in the '70s, 80s, 90s.

It's a completely different scenario now.

Here’s yet another ‘never going to be restored’ because ‘nobody has any money’ (?!?!) car : 

[G. David Felt]

53 minutes ago, balthazar said:

I posted a dozen photos of vehicles David would proclaim were 'dumping fluids' & 'never get restored' (because (somehow) he knows the disposable income of everyone everywhere) .... yet still got restored anyway. Funny, that.

As for auto graveyards, trust me; I have a 35-yr history going to dozens of them (NJ, PA, NY) / buying parts remotely... and everyone from the first 20 of those 35 years is gone.

The periodic run ups on steel scrap prices plus local/state ordinances plus rising land values plus exorbitant liability & insurance costs have done away with the majority of junkyards. It's no longer a common thing; there's still some, but nothing like it was in the '70s, 80s, 90s.

It's a completely different scenario now.

Here’s yet another ‘never going to be restored’ because ‘nobody has any money’ (?!?!) car:

Lovely, restored auto as an example and maybe 1 of only a handful that have been restored out of the millions originally produced and you have exaggerated my statement. 

Yes, many auto pick n pull yards are gone. In fact, the last one by me here on Highway 99 closed last summer after the Pandemic hit hard. The family had stated that the 50 some odd acres of auto's had more value in being scrapped, and the land being repurposed even with the ground clean up required by the EPA than the original business that was started 3 generations ago.

The bulk of society has moved to a consumable and replace model and you and I who love different types of old autos and the rest of those here on Cheers and Gears are the minority.

As such, just like we had our cash for clunkers to get people to upgrade to new auto's. We need a cash for scrap to clean up the farms, businesses and those places especially in the rural areas where we do find plenty of old steel autos, semi's, commercial equipment that could be better used by recycling.

Those that want to hold onto old autos in storage, great it is after all your auto and your money spent to hold onto it. Yet we still have an excess of steel, aluminum, glass, etc. products sitting around on land that could be repurposed into new products. Many people are not wanting to spend the time and money to get rid of things like what you see in the images I have posted. As such, if we are going to spend taxpayers dollars, I would rather we spend it on something that would create jobs, clean up the land and have an end result benefit than just blow it on social programs that have had minimal if any results or to cover pork barrel spending that seems to be the rage now in DC.

Better for the planet, better for society and the human population. Cash for Scrap.

[G. David Felt]

This totally sucks, seems there is faulty Valve Lifter lock pin Springs on the 6.2L V8 motors. Cadillac will assess and replace all valves and springs.

Service Update Released For Cadillac Escalade V8 Valve Lifter Issues (cadillacsociety.com)

[balthazar]

It's effected the 5.3L & 6.2L engines, across the Company.
There's a reputed sub-set that affected Sept '20 thru April '21 built trucks, but some owners have claimed it goes farther back than that.

Thankfully, my engine has no lifters. 😁

[oldshurst442]

 

Ive got my reasons on why this is posted here and not in the what are you listening thread.   Trolling just a little bit...

[balthazar]

This, you recycle : 

 

THIS, you save : 

Edited December 7, 2021 by balthazar

[Robert Hall]

9 hours ago, balthazar said:

Thankfully, my engine has no lifters. 😁

?

[balthazar]

DOHC.

[Robert Hall]

34 minutes ago, balthazar said:

DOHC.

Diesel?  I thought the GM truck V8s were all still pushrod 

Edited December 7, 2021 by Robert Hall

[ccap41]

12 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

Diesel?  I thought the GM truck V8s were all still pushrod 

Yes, he has the 3.0 Duramax diesel.

[G. David Felt]

This is sure an OUCH to listen to when he tries to go through the mud bog.

 

[A Horse With No Name]

[G. David Felt]

Some interesting Crazy news via Cadillac Society website:

309 miles, Used CT5-V Blackwing for $150,000? 

This Almost-New 2022 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing Is Listed At $150K (cadillacsociety.com)

Chip Shortage has had many features removed from Cadillac and other GM brands on 2022 models, but it seems one is coming back that was supposed to be on all 2022 Escalades, SuperCruise.

Super Cruise Driver Assist Technology Returns To 2022 Cadillac Escalade (cadillacsociety.com)

This just re-enforces why the 2021, 2022 and 2023 model year autos should be avoided if you really do not need to buy an auto. Missing features that in this case should be standard after all it is a luxury brand.

2022 Cadillac Models Will Have Limited Heated Steering Wheel Availability (cadillacsociety.com)

For those interested in Tech and wanting to see how far we have come in Robotics and facial movement, check this video out. Freaky amazing if you ask me.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/corywarfield_meet-ameca-the-humanoid-from-engineered-activity-6872414486662320128-Q_Tx

[ccap41]

10 minutes ago, David said:

Some interesting Crazy news via Cadillac Society website:

309 miles, Used CT5-V Blackwing for $150,000? 

This Almost-New 2022 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing Is Listed At $150K (cadillacsociety.com)

Chip Shortage has had many features removed from Cadillac and other GM brands on 2022 models, but it seems one is coming back that was supposed to be on all 2022 Escalades, SuperCruise.

Super Cruise Driver Assist Technology Returns To 2022 Cadillac Escalade (cadillacsociety.com)

This just re-enforces why the 2021, 2022 and 2023 model year autos should be avoided if you really do not need to buy an auto. Missing features that in this case should be standard after all it is a luxury brand.

2022 Cadillac Models Will Have Limited Heated Steering Wheel Availability (cadillacsociety.com)

For those interested in Tech and wanting to see how far we have come in Robotics and facial movement, check this video out. Freaky amazing if you ask me.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/corywarfield_meet-ameca-the-humanoid-from-engineered-activity-6872414486662320128-Q_Tx

HA, after clicking through the first link there's a link to those GOSH DARN GREEDY DEALERS marking up CT5-VB $35,000! 

[G. David Felt]

29 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

HA, after clicking through the first link there's a link to those GOSH DARN GREEDY DEALERS marking up CT5-VB $35,000! 

Yup, I saw all those crazy markups at the Lexus dealership that is selling this used Cadillac. I would love to know the story on it as stated by the Cadillac Society story. Would be interesting to know why the person who bought it originally sold it.

[balthazar]

Blackwings aren't 'marked up'; they're already APPRECIATING. 😁

[G. David Felt]

@balthazar For you, a HELL RUNNER!

 

[balthazar]

Watch their values over the next few years....
These are in the same 'value vein' as the Buick GNXs.

[balthazar]

Hellrunner could be yours; it's for sale for $295K.

[balthazar]

I took note when Ford stock was $2/share. Thought about buying but didn’t. Said to myself- it can’t go lower and Ford isn’t going anywhere.

$2500 / 2 = 1250 shares.
currently $19.xx/ share.
1250 x $17 = $21,250 profit.
😩

[trinacriabob]

On 12/6/2021 at 5:36 PM, balthazar said:

Not my "brand," but they did a nice job.

[A Horse With No Name]

As a Mustang lover, this is fantastic. 

[ccap41]

1 hour ago, balthazar said:

I took note when Ford stock was $2/share. Thought about buying but didn’t. Said to myself- it can’t go lower and Ford isn’t going anywhere.

$2500 / 2 = 1250 shares.
currently $19.xx/ share.
1250 x $17 = $21,250 profit.
😩

Just last year you could have gotten in for $5-6/share, still a great buy-in price. 

24 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

As a Mustang lover, this is fantastic. 

David would prefer this get crushed. 

[G. David Felt]

5 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

Just last year you could have gotten in for $5-6/share, still a great buy-in price. 

David would prefer this get crushed. 

Agree, still some great stock buys out there.

Hard to say if this is really that mustang on top that was restored, but considering that less than 1% are restored, if it is sitting around rusting out like the top pic shows and contaminating the ground. I bet the owner would have taken cash from a recycler who would pick it up and recycle into new products.

Yes the bottom mustang is a lovely looking car and you know that was probably a very solid 5 figures of cash to make it that way.

We all know most auto's never get that treatment.

I have also been very clear about the large amount of steel/glass/ etc. that is sitting around both consumer and commercial stuff that should be recycled.

Yes, if no one after advertising wanted to buy it as a project auto, nothing wrong with crushing it to make new products.

[balthazar]

1 hour ago, ccap41 said:

Just last year you could have gotten in for $5-6/share, still a great buy-in price. 

While true from an investment point in hindsight, Ford was parked in the circa $5 range for some years, IIRC.
I think it's still a buy at $19- it's last peak was $32 in the end of '98.

[ccap41]

2 minutes ago, balthazar said:

While true from an investment point in hindsight, Ford was parked in the circa $5 range for some years, IIRC.
I think it's still a buy at $19- it's last peak was $32 in the end of '98.

Just last week they started to payu a dividend again, although smaller than pre-COVID. They took almost a two year hiatus on paying dividends and in that span the share price dropped hard to the 5-6 range. I bought a few shares in the 16 dollar range like 6 years ago and it's just now profitable. I wish I would have bought some last year when it was really low again.