Random Thoughts Thread

[surreal1272]

27 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

There must be something intrinsic to the design of the Camry and Altima that prevents owners from turning on the headlights in the dark.

Same with Accords around where I live. Driven by the same folks who have to check their blinker fluid once a week, I surmise. 

[oldshurst442]

I dont have an issue with idiots not turning on their headlights at night as much as I have a problem with what it seems like EVERY damn Toyota driver NOT driving the damn speed limit or keeping up pace with the traffic.  And it doesnt matter what Toyota it is. Lexus is included. It dont matter what type of vehicle it is. It could be as lazy of of a vehicle like a Lexus ES or Prius to speedy Lexus 'F' cars and freakin' Supras...    Yeah...Supra of all things.    There is exemptions.  There are a few 86s driving around in the summer and those drivers do drive normally. Sometimes briskly.   But that one Supra driver that I encountered over the summer....phoquing yikes, man! 

Ive whined about that before in the random thoughts thread....I remember.  But seeing Drew's complaint and enduring Toyotas today, yesterday, last week...I felt it was a good time to revisit my bitchin'.  

[surreal1272]

3 minutes ago, oldshurst442 said:

I dont have an issue with idiots not turning on their headlights at night as much as I have a problem with what it seems like EVERY damn Toyota driver NOT driving the damn speed limit or keeping up pace with the traffic.  And it doesnt matter what Toyota it is. Lexus is included. It dont matter what type of vehicle it is. It could be as lazy of of a vehicle like a Lexus ES or Prius to speedy Lexus 'F' cars and freakin' Supras...    Yeah...Supra of all things.    There is exemptions.  There are a few 86s driving around in the summer and those drivers do drive normally. Sometimes briskly.   But that one Supra driver that I encountered over the summer....phoquing yikes, man! 

Ive whined about that before in the random thoughts thread....I remember.  But seeing Drew's complaint and enduring Toyotas today, yesterday, last week...I felt it was a good time to revisit my bitchin'.  

As a four time former Toyota owner (including one on your "list"), please do not lump me in there with those idiots. I got a speeding ticket in an '81 Chevette as a teenager and my foot has not lighten its load, so to speak lol. I don't get rude with the slowpokes. I just get around them, turn signal and all and with my headlights on.

[oldshurst442]

Ive got to explain myself though. Its not as if Im speeding.  Im not.  When I have a chance to speed, I do drive faster than what the posted speed limit is, but I dont speeeeeed.  If there are cars in front of me, I do follow the traffic and I dont weave in and out of traffic.  Im a calm driver.  But I get itchy and bitchy when drivers dont move out of the passing lane, or dont follow traffic. No...I dont road rage.  I get itchy and bitchy on the inside.  I seathe and boil, all to myself. But I remain calm when I drive, but when I get a chance to pass, oh do I pass. That pedal is mashed....but I eventually slow down as to not attract attention from the poe-leece. And I dont want to be involved in an accident...  

[oldshurst442]

[oldshurst442]

[oldshurst442]

[oldshurst442]

[David]

On 12/14/2022 at 1:41 PM, Drew Dowdell said:

There must be something intrinsic to the design of the Camry and Altima that prevents owners from turning on the headlights in the dark.

This late fall as we get close to the first day of winter has brought out all the crazy cooks as Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi drivers seem to not like turning on their lights in late day fading daylight driving and worse yet, the lack of turn signal usage. 

I have yet to figure out what makes a person think you can read their mind when making a left turn without any signal on.

I have also replaced the BMW jerks as being upped one by Tesla Drivers. Nissan Leaf and Toyota Prius are the 20 mph below posted speed in the far-left lane and now Tesla drivers have replaced the jerk BMW drivers for their aggressive driving and using the HOL lane to pass others in.

[David]

Seems Tesla is in deep trouble with it's shareholders, Musk sold more stock to fund Twitter and the stock is off 61% from the start of January. Top 3 major shareholders want a full time CEO to take over Tesla.

Now Tesla has lost the speed Crown to Lucid Sapphire.

 

[David]

I am liking this rendition of a Modern Day Syclone!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CmPXIs7gOY4/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

The Return Of The GMC Syclone Puts Modern American Pickups To Shame (msn.com)

[surreal1272]

5 hours ago, David said:

I am liking this rendition of a Modern Day Syclone!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CmPXIs7gOY4/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

The Return Of The GMC Syclone Puts Modern American Pickups To Shame (msn.com)

Great idea but that Sierra front end on what would be a Canyon does not work at all IMO. Makes an otherwise nice concept render look tacky.

[trinacriabob]

The World Cup final game for the championship is on, with Argentina and France.*  (Edit:  they appear to be tied at this point.)  I have no loyalties here.  I like both countries.

It's being played in Qatar.  That sure brought on a lot of administrative and political baggage.

* I did watch France beat England from a hotel bar across the pond and a local there, who was intoxicated and for whom every 4th word was the F-word, didn't know when to shut up and had to have the police called on him, who hauled him away in their paddy wagon.   This hotel belonged to a somewhat nicer chain, so not a folksy kind of place.  It's the first time I've seen someone actually being hauled off for this kind of behavior.

On 12/15/2022 at 2:39 PM, oldshurst442 said:

One of my favorite cities in the world.  There are no words.  And I'm almost envious that you live there. 

I'm kidding.  I'm actually happy for you.

Edited December 18, 2022 by trinacriabob

[trinacriabob]

This is downright frightening ... so much so that I had blocked these from my memory.

[Robert Hall]

14 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

This is downright frightening ... so much so that I had blocked these from my memory.

That side window treatment was so weird... it did look slightly better the final year when they moved to a bigger body, IMO.   Haven't seen any Marlins in many years.

 

[ccap41]

On 12/14/2022 at 5:05 PM, surreal1272 said:

. I don't get rude with the slowpokes. I just get around them, turn signal and all and with my headlights on.

This is may be the single biggest gripe in driving. I feel like more often than not, people don't like to pass and will ride your bumper, even on the interstate. I can't even count how many times on the interstate that I'll be in the right or middle lane and somebody comes up on me fairly quick, gets pretty close to me, and just don't pass when there's waaaay more than enough time to get around me.

The same goes for 2-lane roads. I'm in a pretty rural area so I drive a lot of 2-lane roads. I'm not a very quick driver but on 55mph roads I almost always set my cruise at 60mph and people do the same thing, get up on me real quick, stay there when there are miles of road to get around me, and just hang out there. 99% of the time I just stay my course.  1% of the time they get too close and I'll slow down to the speed limit, because they could and should just go around me anyway. 

[trinacriabob]

Good morning ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Kari

[oldshurst442]

I do a new thing.  

I watch documentaries of all sorts, or movies  that involve real places and I track the places mentioned via google maps.  I try to choose movies that travel from one place to another realistically in a realistic manner of that place in the movie where the actual city is used and not in another city as a stand-in.  

Ive done Los Angeles and its surroundings the last 2-3 weeks.   It all started with O.J. Simpson and his murderous rampage of his ex-wife Nicole and her acquaintance which lead to Motley Crew singer Vince Neil killing his friend passenger while his was driving drunk in his Pantera one shyte-faced party fueled night and then unto several Los Angeles 'hood" movies like Menace II Society.  From there I 'google map drove' to Jay Leno's garage and several other points of interest in and around the Los Angeles area.  Compton, Watts,  Santa Monica Pier which I have also visitied plenty of times playing my son's Grand Theft Auto video game...   I could now safely say that I am comfortable actually visiting L.A. and not getting lost.   I actually know how to get around.   The awesomness of modern technology, computing power and  the all powerfull Google. Google is like the Wizard of Oz...   

Im kinda liking this new hobby.   I feel like I have accomplished something.  I dont know what exactly it is that I have accomplished, but Im pretty satisfied with myself. 

Edited December 19, 2022 by oldshurst442

[David]

19 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

This is downright frightening ... so much so that I had blocked these from my memory.

WTF, who made this? Is that a Buick badge on the back, the picture is not clear enough to tell.

Interesting as a concept, but I cannot imagine it was a good idea to actually go into production. The Riviera was a way better way to go IMHO.

3 hours ago, ccap41 said:

This is may be the single biggest gripe in driving. I feel like more often than not, people don't like to pass and will ride your bumper, even on the interstate. I can't even count how many times on the interstate that I'll be in the right or middle lane and somebody comes up on me fairly quick, gets pretty close to me, and just don't pass when there's waaaay more than enough time to get around me.

The same goes for 2-lane roads. I'm in a pretty rural area so I drive a lot of 2-lane roads. I'm not a very quick driver but on 55mph roads I almost always set my cruise at 60mph and people do the same thing, get up on me real quick, stay there when there are miles of road to get around me, and just hang out there. 99% of the time I just stay my course.  1% of the time they get too close and I'll slow down to the speed limit, because they could and should just go around me anyway. 

I agree, I also hate that people especially Prius drivers think it is the right thing to do in getting into the far left lane and drive 20 mph under and then when flashed they sit there not moving over to the right.

Driving is a privilege earned, not a right. Cannot read, write or speak English, you do not get to take a driving test in another language and drive. Hello, while we have never as a country in the U.S.A made English our official language, it should be done and driving should only be allowed for those that can read, write and speak English. After all it is important to speak with Law, Medical and Fire if in an accident, not to mention just basic reading of road signs and basic comprehension of state driving laws.

[Robert Hall]

2 hours ago, David said:

WTF, who made this? Is that a Buick badge on the back, the picture is not clear enough to tell.

 

Nope, AMC Marlin.   Nothing Buick about it.

Made for 3 years--'65-67.  The '65-66 were based on the midsized Rambler Classic, basically a huge fastback grafted onto a square sedan.  The '67 was based on the redesigned for '67 full size Ambassador, and had much better styling, IMO.

'65 and '67 below. '66 looked much the same as '65.

 

 

For comparison, here is what the regular 2drs looked like--'65 Classic and '67 Ambassador:

 

Edited December 19, 2022 by Robert Hall

[ccap41]

4 minutes ago, David said:

I agree, I also hate that people especially Prius drivers think it is the right thing to do in getting into the far left lane and drive 20 mph under and then when flashed they sit there not moving over to the right.

To me, I don't notice any vehicle in particular that does this more than another. Damn near every vehicle that gets on the interstate immediately jumps in the left lane and just hangs out there, regardless of their speed. I notice I seem to pass more people in the middle and right lanes with my cruise control set at ~5mph over because people just jump left and hang out there. 

[surreal1272]

28 minutes ago, David said:

Driving is a privilege earned, not a right. Cannot read, write or speak English, you do not get to take a driving test in another language and drive. Hello, while we have never as a country in the U.S.A made English our official language, it should be done and driving should only be allowed for those that can read, write and speak English. After all it is important to speak with Law, Medical and Fire if in an accident, not to mention just basic reading of road signs and basic comprehension of state driving laws.

Some faulty logic there as signs on the road are mostly pictographs so that English is not an issue. The issue of non-english speaking drivers has more to do with the driving habits of their homelands (one drive to Tijuana back in '93 taught me this lol). There are folks who speak supposedly perfect English that can't drive for $h!. Your remark about Law, Medical, and Fire is faulty as well because there could be non-english speaking passengers (even if the driver speaks English) that may need to speak to them yet you're not calling for that to be gone. What if said driver died and you only have non-english speaking passengers to communicate with? I get your core point but it A.) will never happen and B.) will cripple the economy since there are millions of non-english speaking folks who and WORK and now you are saying they should not be able to drive to their jobs because of their lack of English speaking. Sorry but that does not fly, legally or morally.

Edited December 19, 2022 by surreal1272

[oldshurst442]

2 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

Nope, AMC Marlin.   Nothing Buick about it.

Made for 3 years--'65-67.

'65 and '67 below. '66 looked much the same as '65.

 

 

@David

The AMC Marlin has more of a Chrysler feel to it than a Buick.  Actually,  nothing about a Marlin says General Motors in any shapr or form in any of GM's brands.

'66 Dodge Charger 

(with the hidden lamps unhidden...) 

 

And back in Australia, the Chrysler Charger Valiant. 

 

I dont mind the Marlin.

 

Not the prettiest girl at the prom.  But you do have a date to dance with when the slow dances come on.   

AMC had uglier cars in their history that Im grateful I was too young to know about or remember outright.  Unfortunately, some movies have glorified these freaks of nature.  Looking at you Wayne's World.  Or even Police Academy.  (That god aweful Matador police car) 

Edited December 19, 2022 by oldshurst442

[David]

9 hours ago, surreal1272 said:

Some faulty logic there as signs on the road are mostly pictographs so that English is not an issue. The issue of non-english speaking drivers has more to do with the driving habits of their homelands (one drive to Tijuana back in '93 taught me this lol). There are folks who speak supposedly perfect English that can't drive for $h!. Your remark about Law, Medical, and Fire is faulty as well because there could be non-english speaking passengers (even if the driver speaks English) that may need to speak to them yet you're not calling for that to be gone. What if said driver died and you only have non-english speaking passengers to communicate with? I get your core point but it A.) will never happen and B.) will cripple the economy since there are millions of non-english speaking folks who and WORK and now you are saying they should not be able to drive to their jobs because of their lack of English speaking. Sorry but that does not fly, legally or morally.

I appreciate you honest feedback. I agree to disagree.

Maybe 25% of the road signs in Washington state are pictograph only. Everything else is numbers and English.

When I am in other countries that are not English speaking, I take a taxi and do not drive. My choice I know.

All Countries have various languages which I agree with you on, many require native language speaking to drive that I have seen. America does not do this and here in Washington state, taxpayers pay for interpreters and for that, I feel it is wrong. 88 different languages are allowed to have the driver's license test read to them and they can get a license. This to me is wrong.

When I travel out of the U.S. I take that risk that if I am in an accident, I might not be able to communicate with the local Medical, Fire and or Police. Risks of international travel.

Sadly, the politicians are the ones that have screwed us over, looking for votes in every language segment.

I also disagree with you that it will cripple the economy. Plenty of public transportation to get around. This has been proven that people who want to work figure out a way to get to work.

Many countries I have seen will allow foreign workers to come in and work, but if they cannot speak the local language, they do not drive. They have to learn and use the local public transport system.

I have no problem with a multicultural society. Anyone that is wanting to come here to work and for a better life is great, but we do not need to support them by letting them have access to everything as if it were a right.

I see nothing morally wrong with requiring people to pay their own way, learn the local language to earn the right to drive.

I get that for those that are not staying in a major city with a major public transportation system, driving is the most efficient way to get around and for that reason we find plenty of websites to help you navigate driving outside of ones country.

Example

Driving in a Foreign Country: What You Need to Know - Road Affair

I find many multi-cultural folks and I also put white people in this group that have lost the edge to drive in their senior years or are scared of driving, not comfortable, etc. and yet they got a license as family pushed them into it. 

Driving and testing should be on going all the time to ensure everyone is current on laws, skills and vision.

Seeing the huge increase in drivers due to the growth of the Seattle area and so many more accidents where timid drivers ended up getting hurt due to a discomfort of driving, one has to wonder what it will take to stop the madness.

Thank you for the discourse on this as it is a subject that needs to be discussed especially as we have more and more seniors on the road as well as transplants that have moved from one state to another, then especially if they are originally from out of the U.S. they bring in their parents to help with the family. All good, but what about the safety of those already here and on the road?

Where do you draw the line about who should and shouldn't be driving?

 

[surreal1272]

7 hours ago, David said:

Maybe 25% of the road signs in Washington state are pictograph only. Everything else is numbers and English.

Literally every drivers Ed handbook points to signs as being designed to be understood regardless of writing (like the color red means stop and yellow means caution). No offense but I’m not going to indulge this further because every country does this with their road signage and for mostly the same reasons. 

7 hours ago, David said:

Where do you draw the line about who should and shouldn't be driving?

The line is drawn with every drivers license test. If the pass the test, they get the license. Again, a lot of your complaints as just as common with American drivers as they are for non-English speaking drivers. 

[surreal1272]

8 hours ago, David said:

Seeing the huge increase in drivers due to the growth of the Seattle area and so many more accidents where timid drivers ended up getting hurt due to a discomfort of driving, one has to wonder what it will take to stop the madness.

And literally none of that is predicated on one’s ability to understand English. 
 

And feel free to look up California if you think there wouldn’t be economic repercussions for what you’re suggesting. 
 

[surreal1272]

8 hours ago, David said:

Seeing the huge increase in drivers due to the growth of the Seattle area and so many more accidents where timid drivers ended up getting hurt due to a discomfort of driving, one has to wonder what it will take to stop the madness.

Notice how that has nothing to do with able to speak English or not. The problem is overpopulation and suburban sprawl. After seven years in sprawl hell Phoenix, they can have it. However its driver problem is due to too many drivers in one area (again, sprawl). Testing should occur regularly but that, again, has squat to with language. 

[surreal1272]

Correction:

”Notice how that has nothing to do with BEING able to speak English or not.”

[surreal1272]

BTW @David, if you want to pass some blame here, start with the US itself circa the 1970s when we not only rejected the metric system, but a universal pictograph system used in just about every other country in the world. The U.S., Canada, and Australia were the only three that said no so if you want to start with us first before saying it's a non-english speaking immigrant driver problem.  Europe has dozens of different languages across the continent yet drivers can drive from Germany to Italy, from France to Greece, with no issues with signs because of the standardized pictograph system in place there.

[ccap41]

9 hours ago, David said:

I also disagree with you that it will cripple the economy. Plenty of public transportation to get around. This has been proven that people who want to work figure out a way to get to work.

That only works if they're in a city. Nowhere near everybody that comes from another country moves to a city.

1 hour ago, surreal1272 said:

Literally every drivers Ed handbook points to signs as being designed to be understood regardless of writing (like the color red means stop and yellow means caution). No offense but I’m not going to indulge this further because every country does this with their road signage and for mostly the same reasons. 

100%. The colors and shapes are there for this exact reason. You do not need to be able to read English to be able to safely navigate our roadways. 

 

Also, not having an official language of the US is kind of a major part of what the US is about, diversity. We're a melting pot of nationalities from all over the globe. 

[surreal1272]

10 hours ago, David said:

I also disagree with you that it will cripple the economy. Plenty of public transportation to get around. This has been proven that people who want to work figure out a way to get to work.

You clearly have not had to deal with public transportation daily if you believe that. I have and it was simply not possible for me to rely on it, in Phoenix. Plenty of buses but one key thing you are missing here. Distance to work. When I lived in Peoria (15 minutes west of Phoenix, I was looking at busing from there to my job in Phoenix. The bus time alone would have consumed 3 hours my day whereas just driving there was less tan 40 minutes total each day. 20-30 stops in said route created that problem and solidifies the following point. Time is money and so are the simple logistics of just getting to work and back. For many folks, that time means everything, if you have a family to support and want to actually spend time with them, not to mention the sheer logistics of things like childcare and such when you are relying on the bus. Sorry, but your version of "idealism" here runs smack in the face of realism for most folks.

[Robert Hall]

25 minutes ago, surreal1272 said:

You clearly have not had to deal with public transportation daily if you believe that. I have and it was simply not possible for me to rely on it, in Phoenix. Plenty of buses but one key thing you are missing here. Distance to work. When I lived in Peoria (15 minutes west of Phoenix, I was looking at busing from there to my job in Phoenix. The bus time alone would have consumed 3 hours my day whereas just driving there was less tan 40 minutes total each day. 20-30 stops in said route created that problem and solidifies the following point. Time is money and so are the simple logistics of just getting to work and back. For many folks, that time means everything, if you have a family to support and want to actually spend time with them, not to mention the sheer logistics of things like childcare and such when you are relying on the bus. Sorry, but your version of "idealism" here runs smack in the face of realism for most folks.

True...plenty of buses and now a bit of light rail in the Phoenix metro area, but none of it would have been practical for my commutes...the 9 years I lived there, I lived in North Central Phoenix...one job worked downtown (which the bus might have worked, but it was only a 15 min drive), but mostly I worked in the burbs...27 mile freeway drive south to Chandler.  SE to downtown Tempe/ASU area.  East on surface streets to downtown Scottsdale.  Freeways to NE Scottsdale.   Commuting by car/SUV was the only practical solution for me. 

[ccap41]

I take the bus to work but that's only because it only adds abuot 5 minutes to my commute. It's an "express" route so there are only a dozen total stops but I get off on the first stop in Missouri and the route it takes is exactly what I would be taking with two stops in the middle, not out of the way at all. If I was one of the later stops, there's no way I'd waste an extra 30 minutes each way for the bus. 

I'm not sure how the attachment will work here but I get on at Highland and off at the first stop across the river in MO. 

MCT_Route_14X.pdf

[oldshurst442]

10 hours ago, surreal1272 said:

BTW @David, if you want to pass some blame here, start with the US itself circa the 1970s when we not only rejected the metric system, but a universal pictograph system used in just about every other country in the world. The U.S., Canada, and Australia were the only three that said no so if you want to start with us first before saying it's a non-english speaking immigrant driver problem.  Europe has dozens of different languages across the continent yet drivers can drive from Germany to Italy, from France to Greece, with no issues with signs because of the standardized pictograph system in place there.

I agree 1000%

But at least in the US and Canada, our roadways and signage between our 2 countries also have some sort of standardization.  So there is that.  But like you have stated many times,  the idiocy of drivers not driving well has nothing to do with not knowing English.

And not getting into the French language thing in Quebec, not knowing French or English does NOT prevent you from knowing that this is a STOP sign.   Even though its not written in English.  Meaning its NOT a language issue.   Its a RED octogon and in North America, in Canada and in the US at least, THAT means a car has to come to a full STOP at the intersection..

 

And a French only speaking Quebecker, a full force Quebec nationalist separatist hatin' on the Henglish, and will never ever learn to speak Hanglish, will visit New York from time to time, Plattsburgh or Burlington, but NEVER Ontario, will KNOW to stop at the bloody intersection when he/she will come across this sign

http://static1.squarespace.com/static/53dd6676e4b0fedfbc26ea91/54b6c509e4b062126976d942/58f6664de6f2e1a8b587d19e/1492607075008/20353724820_239383b608_k.jpg?format=1500w

 

More to it than that, I think any non-English speaking human coming from any part of a non-English speaking country actually knows the word STOP. 

But whether Canada and the US did not agree with European signages...we could all agree that this signage, in German, is kinda universal...

 

Other than in the US where the speed limit of 30 KM/H would be written in MPH

 Canada

The language written is not important and not necessary to understand what a driver really should be doing in this zone.

In Germany, the US and Canada, the signage is pretty much the same even though North America's signage differs from the European system.  

And for good measure...in Japan

 

And although I do not know what the writing is telling me, because I UNDERSTAND the picture that it might BE a school zone, maybe as a driver passing by this place, I should be slowling down to either 15 MPH or 30 KM/H...

The issue is not of language spoken, but maybe of quality of driving...

And...the American way of obtaining a driver's license is 3rd world bad.

American driver's and Canadian, really arent taught HOW, to drive, HOW to master the car.  We pump out drivers, but we dont TEACH them ANYTHING.  If anything, @David maybe your issues with drivers is how shytty our respective countries dish out driver's licenses to ANYBODY.  Its like you say, its a privilege and not a right.  And its OUR drivers that are of concern.  

Its definetely not the German drivers from Germany, or the Nordic European drivers or even those from Japan and Korea.  Those Countries TEACH their drivers how to control a car.  

India, China, US, Canada...ALL fail.  But it aint because of the lack of English...  Its because of lack of skill. 

[David]

16 hours ago, surreal1272 said:

You clearly have not had to deal with public transportation daily if you believe that. I have and it was simply not possible for me to rely on it, in Phoenix. Plenty of buses but one key thing you are missing here. Distance to work. When I lived in Peoria (15 minutes west of Phoenix, I was looking at busing from there to my job in Phoenix. The bus time alone would have consumed 3 hours my day whereas just driving there was less tan 40 minutes total each day. 20-30 stops in said route created that problem and solidifies the following point. Time is money and so are the simple logistics of just getting to work and back. For many folks, that time means everything, if you have a family to support and want to actually spend time with them, not to mention the sheer logistics of things like childcare and such when you are relying on the bus. Sorry, but your version of "idealism" here runs smack in the face of realism for most folks.

Here I again disagree with you as in the PNW we have local bus routes and express bus routes and from what I can tell other states have it too. If Phoenix does not have express bus routes, then that is the failure of the politicians in that state.

As I was writing this, I was curious and so did a search and am truly shocked at the Piss Poor Community transit bus system.

Peoria to Phoenix - 6 ways to travel via bus, line 90 bus, and tram, and taxi (rome2rio.com)

This shows the incompetence of the city, county and state politicians to not properly put in place local and express buses. I get your point.

Yes, I could take the local bus and spend a 1 1/2 hrs. each way to get to work or I can drive to the local bus transfer station (5-minute drive from my house) and jump on an express bus that has me in Seattle in 25 to 45 minutes depending on traffic.

Before the Pandemic, Seattle requires all companies to pay for employees who live outside of the city to have a bus pass. They also did give an option for companies to offer paid parking for those that do not live near buses.

Dell Technology had 1,200 employees in the 7-story building at First and King St. We now only have 1 floor as 95% of the employees are now work from home. I rode the bus for 9 1/2 years into Seattle. So, I am familiar with mass transit.

Taking a look, I now see the point you, @ccap41 and @Robert Hall have stated as I see in the areas of where you all live, a very poor community transit system.

I get the point you all and including @oldshurst442 are saying about signage. Yes there are those basics that have been standardized the world over. Yet that also still does not take away from the point of people unable to read the signage causing problems on the roads by driving how they might be used to in their country rather than adjusting to or a better term would be to assimilate into the local society. 

The old phrase, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. 

I get it that as a tourist, it would be more of a challenge for a short period of time to change habits. Yet when one immigrates to a new country, why should they not assimilate into the local society, learn the language, understand how things are done there. 

I am just saying that immigrants that do assimilate into the local society/language succeed far more than those that fight change.

[surreal1272]

Because we “need” dealerships. 
https://www.yahoo.com/news/dealer-falsified-people-income-could-000320918.html

5 hours ago, David said:

I am just saying that immigrants that do assimilate into the local society/language succeed far more than those that fight change

And I’m just saying (for the last time), see Europe as an example of your faulty language logic where it applies to our public roads. Your bar moving here does not change that fact. Sorry. 

[surreal1272]

5 hours ago, David said:

Yet that also still does not take away from the point of people unable to read the signage causing problems on the roads by driving how they might be used to in their country rather than adjusting to or a better term would be to assimilate into the local society. 

Europe. 
 

And these “problems” are merely perceived by you without basis of fact. 
 

And you should really read this. 
https://www.metro-magazine.com/10112565/best-and-worst-cities-for-commuting-on-public-transportation

 

 

 

 

End of this particular discussion for me. 

Edited December 21, 2022 by surreal1272

[ccap41]

6 hours ago, David said:

Taking a look, I now see the point you, @ccap41 and @Robert Hall have stated as I see in the areas of where you all live, a very poor community transit system.

The whole United States, in general, is not known to have good public transportation systems. Obviously some cities are better than others but that's also assuming all of these migrants/immigrants are moving to cities. There are plenty of towns/small cities that don't have public transportation at all. 

6 hours ago, David said:

I am just saying that immigrants that do assimilate into the local society/language succeed far more than those that fight change.

I think you're also assuming that everybody that doesn't currently know the English language, isn't trying to learn either. Just because they are driving and don't currently know the language doesn't mean they're not trying to learn it or aren't currently learning. 

 

1 hour ago, surreal1272 said:

Because we “need” dealerships. 
https://www.yahoo.com/news/dealer-falsified-people-income-could-000320918.html

Boy-o-boy do I love dealerships. 

[ccap41]

1 hour ago, surreal1272 said:

And you should really read this. 
https://www.metro-magazine.com/10112565/best-and-worst-cities-for-commuting-on-public-transportation

I'm super fortunate that my personal route only consumes about 9% more time than driving, 5 minutes. 

I think it's funny they mention the St Louis Loop Trolley and that's been a pretty big joke around here because it was suuuuuch a failure. I think the route was really bad, had too long of gaps between trollies, it wasn't super cheap, and there was plenty of places to park publicly(for free) along the route so there just wasn't much of a benefit of that whole system. It looked "cute" to have a trolley in that area but the functionality was piss poor. I believe they're in a battle over the funding now though because there was a huge chunk of government money put into it and it's not running right now. (now that I'm Googling things, I think it may be running now but it was shut down for gobbling money with little to no use.) One of the biggest things that pissed people off about the whole thing was they tore up a lot of road to put this in the middle of the road so there were road closures for a long time for something that just failed.  

"The answers can be found in the fact that the federal government has threatened to take the money it sank into the project back, a development that would also imperil St. Louis' ability to receive federal grants in the future.

As reported by KSDK, the Federal Trade Commission said in December that it would demand that some of the federal grants used for construction of the trolley — a sum totaling $37 million — be repaid if it did not resume operation by this summer. Mayor Jones has reportedly said that getting it running again could cost an additional $22 million."

This is why it is back running but on a compressed schedule and, I believe, now run by the local MetroLink system. 

Edited December 21, 2022 by ccap41

[regfootball]

Got my Pacifica oil changed the other day.  No Dodge Hornets in the showroom yet.  Showroom all filled with Jeeps. Many, those interiors on the Grand Cherokee and Wagoneer are nice.  Ram trucks too, interior nicer than the Chevy's by a lot.  I'd seriously look at a Ram truck with a new Hurricane inline six engine in it instead of a Chevy turbo 4 and cheaper looking interior.  Hope they get those Hurricanes in the Rams soon.  

If they legitimately redesign the Charger and Challenger, and put the Hurricane in those, that would immediately become something I would be interested in.  Very curious and interested in the Hornet or Alfa Tonale.

The Ram and Grand Cherokee in the showroom were the electrified one.  One thing i learned in car sales, you put the cars in the showroom that look good but probably won't sell fast because you don't want to spend so much time getting them in and out.  So i presume they had the electrified Ram and GC in there because they weren't selling hot.

[trinacriabob]

Love me some travel.

Right after Thanksgiving, I bolted across the pond, more so to Iberia for some nicer weather, and stayed about two weeks, flying home the day after my birthday so I could be home for the holidays.  It was a paid One World (American and its allied airlines) ticket and it wasn't all that pricey in the economy cabin for an "open jaw" trip. 

I went outbound on American's partner Finnair, laying over in Helsinki, to get down to Portugal.  Helsinki isn't all that far from the Russian border and is an incredibly clean, high functioning, and slightly expensive city.

This is the ubiquitous Airbus A330 and I've got a few seats on this one I like.  Finnair appears to be slotting in Airbus A350s to replace them, but I prefer 2-4-2 seating to 3-4-3.

I returned on British Airways and, again, had to have the treat of flying on the Airbus A380.  It's now not that hard to do because they're using them to/from London into at least 4 U.S. gateway cities that are big American Airlines hubs.

That would be the ride across the pond to Chicago O'Hare for the next plane connection.  There's another A380 parked behind it and I didn't look to see where it was headed.  To the right of me would have been the MIA and DFW bound superjumbos. 

This one going to MIA had just pushed back and was getting ready to proceed to the taxiways and runway.

Pushing back and sitting upstairs way in the back, I could see that other two-level beast that was parked at the gate to the right.

I'll find a few more photos to put up in the Airplanes thread.

[oldshurst442]

15 hours ago, David said:

The old phrase, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. 

Common David...

Even after Im TELLING you that North Americans SUCK at driving, here you are trying tom defend your pointless position.

Newly arrived immigrants actually DO do as Romans do in Rome regarding driving.

Americans and Canadians have possibly the WORST driving habits in all of the world.

Texting while driving. Eating while driving.  Doing anything and everything BUT driving. 

Tailgating.  While not soley an Ameri-Canadian  thing, its a hugely widely common problem here.

American stop.  The definition is not coming to a full stop at a stop sign and the name that it has lends itself to the country where its probably the most prevalent.   Greeks in Greece fight with the Italians in Italy and the French in France for the title ofEurope's worst drivers and NONE of those peoples have a driving violation named after them...

You are dead wrong on this.  Its NOT an immigrant problem not speaking English or non-comprehension of English. 

Its a driving culture that sucks. Its a system in which Ameri-Canadians get driver's licences but the programs to help them GET a driver's license SUCKS.  Its a culture to which is narcissistic. To which is geared more for comfort rather than actual driving. Its a culture that promotes shopping while driving. Eating while driving (drive-thrus and phoquing cup holders to which those things were BORN in AMERICANA culture since the END of WW2) 

All the immigrants are doing is just copying what they see while they drive on North American roads... 

German drivers dont do the shyte what WE do. Even when they DO come here to live, because THEIR driving culture is SERIOUS.  They dont DARE do the shyte we do because they have been taught NOT to do that kinda shyte what WE do. 

Greek drivers in Greece on the other hand,  because its a lassier-faire affair much like here,  they just ADAPT to the shytty ways that WE here in North America do.  And maybe, they are a tad better drivers because they DONT eat while they drive because in Greece, there are no phoquing DRIVE-THRUS in Greece.   But if they DO eat a phoquing Big Mac in their car, they are just COPYING this SHYTTY car culture we have here that WE have taught them. And if they SUCK at THAT worse then us, its because WE have taught them to eat while they drive.   WE ENABLE shytty driving culture...   WE enable shytty driving habits.  WE enable shytty driving because OUR standrads are low.  If we accept peoples around the world to drive on our roads, they WE should teach THEM to NOT  eat and drive.  text and drive. shop and drive.  We should show THEM the correct way to drive. But we dont because WE have shytty driving habits...   German and Northern European folk IMPROVE our track record.  On par countries like us DEGRADE here because OUR standards are sooooo phoquing low. 

Maybe WE should adjust to BETTER driving culture rather than blame language...   

Stop being stubborn on this...  You are dead wrong about it.  

 

 

Edited December 21, 2022 by oldshurst442

[oldshurst442]

23 minutes ago, trinacriabob said:

I'll find a few more photos to put up in the Airplanes thread.

[Drew Dowdell]

7 hours ago, regfootball said:

No Dodge Hornets in the showroom yet.

Not launching until spring.

[trinacriabob]

7 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

 

Thank you.  Even though I hate the part of the year when the days are short.

[oldshurst442]

About public transportation.

Even in Montreal, when OUR public transportation is #2 in North America, right below NYC, even OUR public transportation does NOT favour Joe Public to abondon his car to use the bus, train and subway. 

There are vast parts of Montreal that has shytty service.   In and around the core of the city is AMAZING.  On the island itself, 85% of the public transportation is GREAT and going to get better when the new electric train that is above ground is going to go online. But, even though the West of the Island is going to get covered by this new electric train, most of the WEST of the Island is STILL crappy for public transport.  Off island ANYWHERE around the ISland of Montreal is pitiful still.  We do have subways in Longueil (South of the Island) and Laval (North of the Island) but Vaudreuil (West) and Repentigny (East) has nothing and the train service and bus service sucks)   Lots of room to improve, yet Montreal is #2 in North America...

Our DRIVING culture takes precedence in North America.  And its a NARCISSTIC one at that which spills unto our public transportation perception of.  We dont want to use public transport BECAUSE we simply dont want to because WE want to drive. Which was fine up until the 1960s.  But since then, we dont even want to drive anymore.   We want to eat while we drive. Shop while we drive. Text while we drive. Hell, we want to SLEEP while we drive.  (Do I have to post pics of shytty Tesla drivers sleeping?)  And yet, we could do ALL of those things nowadays IF we used the public transport system and HELP our governments, local and federal, to spend the money on producing a very very good system but we narcisstically dont want ANY of that because WE want our cake and eat it too.  We want a car, but not just a car, an SUV or truck  just so in we pick up a load of lumber or the hundreds of desks and tables we will by in our lifetimes, so no bus.  Hell, we dont even want to buy an EV JUST because we MIGHT go on a family vacation somewhere, but we dont go anywhere because we would rather fly, but damn that EV electric range...

Sorry for the rant, even if it doesnt make any sense, my mind is racing in several directions.  @David has me riled up...

Our driving habits, our driving wants is based on pure narcissism.  

WE dont drive well because WE dont give a shyte about OUR surroundings.  Its all about the individual.  And since public transport is PUBLIC, its a no-go for such a narcissitic culture.    

The driving rant and the public transport rant is all the same thing....

These next pics just summorize ALL of my rants on why we SUCK at driving and its NOT the language English thing, and why we dont want to use public transportation...

 

 

Its a phoquing traffic sign... Its in English, but its more for an Amri-Canadian rather than a European or an African.  I dont think an immigrant not knowing how to read this sign actually texts and drives.  If he does, he learned it from OUR shytty car culture!!! 

ABC news....that lady is an AMERI-CANADIAN....   I dont think its a foreigner immigrant..  Even if it is, that lady learned to be lazy and hate driving, yet wanna drive, because of OUR shytty driving culture...

TAKE the PHOQUING BUS, BITCH!!!

 

 But NO!!! Why should shy???!!!

She owns a phoquing car!!!

So she could wait in line for HOURS waiting to stuff her phoquing face with a burger and a coffee while not having to leave her phoquing car.  A public bus will NOT stop at the Starbucks for her...

 

 

 

 

[Robert Hall]

Denver was the only place I’ve lived where I’ve used public transportation.  The light rail is extensive and effective.  But I usually would drive my Jeep to a light rail station then take the train downtown or elsewhere.  I’ve never lived anywhere that rail or bus was more convenient than driving most of the time.  Growing up in rural Ohio and the Florida Keys, driving was a necessity to get anywhere.   I don’t see that changing for me anytime soon.  And since I don’t have a commute anymore, I enjoy driving more since I usually am doing it for fun (sightseeing, out to dinner, to the beach, etc)

[trinacriabob]

Today's list shows that it's Surreal's b-day - @surreal1272 - and many more.

[surreal1272]

2 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

Today's list shows that it's Surreal's b-day - @surreal1272 - and many more.

The big 5-0oooh my freakin Jesus! Thanks lol!

[ccap41]

Oh, well then, Happy Birthday @surreal1272!