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A year ago, I wouldn’t have imagined spending my 50th birthday at home, but that is how today turned out. But I’ve enjoyed it, from the Southern ham biscuits for breakfast, to the lemon cake my sister baked, to the nice juicy NY Strip steak I grilled along w/ a bottle of fine French champagne and a bottle of Napa Viognier... And watched a great documentary about the Targa Florio. Sheltering at home w/ the little terriers I love and the one family member that really understands me, made it a good day. What a long, strange trip it’s been to 50....

I can't believe how rusty and crappy Sprinter vans get when they're only a few years old.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I need to look at the birthday list regularly. You are joined by another member, Esther, who never posted a damn thing. (Happy birthday to Esther, too.) About the long, strange trip ... ain't that the truth? I can't believe some of the places I've lived, some of the schools I've attended (and even graduated from), some of the places I've worked, some of the people I've known, and some of the places I've traveled to. "Long, strange trip" might be a way to put it mildly. And many more to you.

I see mercedes has introduced yet another front wheel drive model to it's catalog- GLB. Has a 1.3L 4-cylinder. Und ya; ist looxoory! That is a new model right; they're using the same ultra-lame "First Eva" tagline.

I know it's not a '76, but wasn't that GM metallic lime green that year a great color? Especially when they put in white bucket seats and the dash / console / seat belts / carpeting were also sort of a lime color? We'll never see that in a mass production domestic vehicle again. It lasted just one year. The following year, GM flipped over to a pale mint green for their interiors and trim options.

Thank you... it has been fascinating and strange... from spending childhood in E. Ohio near Pittsburgh, to middle school and high school in the Florida Keys, college in NE Ohio, grad school in Michigan, then over decade on the Front Range of Colorado, almost a decade in Arizona, then back to NE Ohio again.... Living on a farm in the middle of nowhere, living in a beach house, living in the suburbs, in apartments in college towns, living in a Winnebago... and all the places I've worked in my career---startups, Fortune 50 companies, to working from home for 3 years straight.. to the countless concerts I've been to that have likely ruined my hearing... the interesting cars I've owned and have driven...25+ years w/ SUVs, etc. Party on Wayne, party on Garth. Wherever you go, there you are!

10 yr old Sprinters around here seem to be as rusty as 15-20 yr old Econolines and Expresses..

The 11 dogs that have been in my sister’s and my life the last 12+ years have all been rescues. Some well-adjusted, some with issues. At some point, I wouldn’t mind getting a puppy, probably a Westie or Cairn Terrier. Wowza. For that price, I’d want a GC Summit.

If I ever get a dog, I will look first at rescue dogs, but if I find nothing I like, it will be a Lab Puppy.

Kia has a new iMT manual transmission with higher MPG while keeping those that want to be engaged in driving a manual happy. Seems to be a computer controlled drive by wire manual transmission. Makes me think an fake manual auto tranny. https://www.autoblog.com/2020/06/26/kia-rio-intelligent-manual-transmission-clutch-by-wire/ Happy Birthday Robert. So glad you had a great day during this Pandemic. Continue to stay safe my friend!!! Woof, Woof, Woof to your little Fur kids. WOW, Awesome reading and video review of the 2020 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon with EcoDiesel power train. Shocking is that this fully loaded Wrangler costs $65,000 dollars! ??? https://www.autoblog.com/2020/06/25/2020-jeep-wrangler-rubicon-unlimited-ecodiesel-love-hate/

A travesty

Seems Auto Collectors are warming up to conversions of their classics to EV. Aston Martin and Volkswagen have joined Jaguar, Lunaz and MW Motors out of Czech Repulic in offering conversions to EV on their auto's. This company tailors to the rich 1%, but very nice to see these old sexy auto's out and about running. https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1128661_classic-jaguar-bentley-rolls-ev-conversions-no-gasoline Sexy XK120 would love to own if I could fit. Doing conversions on 1955 to 1965 XK 120 and XK140 models. These get two electric motors for a combined 316 HP and 516 lb-ft of torque. Moves the Jag from 0 to 60 in 5 seconds. 80 Kilowatt battery pack good for 250 miles of range. Imagine how quiet and sexy this is now with an EV power train. Lunaz does EV conversions on Bentley Continental S2 Flying Spurs, Rolls-Royce Cloud and Rolls-Royce Phantom V

Started physical therapy for a left frozen shoulder. At the place I spied this truck in the parking lot.

Im not a mean person. I dont do animal cruelty. I dont advocate it either. Although I joke about it often enough.

Dogs have one challenge we don't have. There are 10 pound dogs. Then there are 100 pound dogs. There are 200 pound people. But there are no 2,000 pound people ... that I'm aware of. Mostly, I've had negative experiences with chihuahuas and dachsunds. If I've known people who have owned them, these dogs didn't warm up to their guests. If you see them in shopping carts or in parked cars, they let you know their displeasure. Most Maltese and Havanese dogs (small) I've been around are friendly. It's medium sized and large dogs that are more amenable to letting people interact with them, from what I've seen. When people take these kinds of dogs to tourist sites or state parks, they seem happy to be around strangers and, based on their body language and asking their owners, you may be able to pet them. It's also based on breed. I don't think anyone knows a mean Labrador Retriever. The Belgian Sheepdog lines (Malinois, etc.) are not especially friendly among the herding/working dog breeds. I give Pit Bills and Rottweilers plenty of space, to be on the safe side. Very small dogs know they're small. That's why, when selecting a dog to own, you have to vet the breeds to find the one that's right for you or your family. Don't be punting any dogs, now.

Im guessing that they will be...and not only in California (Im going back to Cali Im going back to Cali Im going back to Cali) but all across the USofA. (We went dancing across the USA. On that crazy king's highway. Too much passion, too much play. We went dancin', dancin', dancin' across the USA) Eventually. As I understand it, it took God 6 days to create the universe, (and on the 7th day, he rested) (Oh, you can kiss me on a Monday A Monday, a Monday is very, very good. Or you can kiss me on a Tuesday A Tuesday, a Tuesday, in fact I wish you would. Or you can kiss me on a Wednesday A Thursday, a Friday and Saturday is best. But never, never on a Sunday A Sunday, a Sunday, 'cause that's my day of rest) But since all we are is just mere mortals, His creations, and we are not all that perfect, it will take just a tad longer than 6 days to create an EV infrastructure universe. But it WILL be made. And then maybe we could all take Sundays off again. Just like He intended for ALL of us to do... https://cleantechnica.com/2020/02/11/chargepoint-launches-1-billion-effort-to-add-ev-chargers-across-rural-america/ Oh...but YOU want it done NOW! I get it... The thing is, the first truck stop in the world DID in fact originate in the States. But the first one opened up its doors in the 1940s as a result from WW2. Also...oil companies opened up truck stops as well to create this large network that we have today. Just like they did with regular gas stations for regular cars. Give it a chance, man. Its easy to deny ANYTHING EV in 2020. It will be easy to deny anything EV in 2021 and 2022 and even in 2023. But I promise you, the landscape will be a lot different in 2024. Maybe... Covid really phoqued things up in many areas. But if you wanna discuss things rationally. Many economic reports state that China is gonna emerge a stronger economic player than the US after this Covid thing goes away in a year or two from now and the planet recovers economically from it... And we all know that CHINA is PUSHING HARD for EVs... We will see what will happen, but dont kid yourself. EVs are being PUSHED HARD by just about every governing and economic controlling entity. Im afraid even you, in Lancaster, wont have a choice, eventually.

Factory color, appears to be "enhanced" by some sort of filter for the photo. Lovely car!

Now that is green!

Again; "at the beginning of a change" is not NOW. It's disingenuous to state that list of EV trucks is available "now". BTW- in response to "Never seen any Class 8 truck maker listing MSRP for any of their products", here's the first 'Peterbilt MSRP' link google returned : I'll note that some sources are projecting a price for the Nikola semi at $350K. You could buy a brand new Peterbilt and $185K worth of fuel.

And that's my problem- some states (CA) are forcing manufacturers' hands, like there's huge lots of these already built, tested, and approved, along with thousands of hi-zip charging stations operational but padlocked... and manufacturer's refuse to release them. That's succinctly illustrated by this :

So after all the last few years of my harassing, and shopping, test driving, sending pictures ....my uncles let my mom know of a 2011 DTS for sale in the small town and where my parents had bought other Cadillacs before. Got a build sheet from GM and a Carfax to check it out. I could tell mom had found what she wanted . And less than 80,000 miles. I told her if she didn’t buy it today that I would. Maybe Cadillac needs to refocus on the large comfortable cars again. She got a good one, the interior is almost new condition. She wishes the dash top wasn’t so dark, I told her with used cars you get what you get. ?

I was checking out automotive websites yesterday, on the hunt for any news of an impending Dodge Charger redesign. Somehow, I find myself at the Chrysler site. And, to my surprise, the Chrysler 300 is present this year. I was surprised to see that. I thought it would be gone by now. Has the discontinuation of the 300 been confirmed? In print? In looking at the "gallery" photos for 2020: what a fine looking interior environment. Nice! It would be great if they kept both the Charger and the 300 going with the next refresh, but I doubt that will happen. Still tapping my fingers for any news to break ...

This reminds me of this: Wally World, here we come!

Mother Tucker

Not to be mean or anything. About Yorkies and other small dogs...but... If I had a small, annoying (but admittedly cute) barking dog coming at me... Id treat it like a soccer ball. And Id have the same reaction as this dude too. And Id see how far and how high it go...