Leaderboard

This is crazy. You go to either Galveston or South Padre Island and there are all these kitsch images of sharks on stores, restaurants, boardwalks, etc. Then, when I was last there, I called a seafood restaurant to see if they had shark on the menu. It can be tasty - I have had thrasher shark in California several times. The lady told me that, in Texas, it is illegal to offer commercially fished shark to restaurant patrons. So, you can't eat the shark ... and this is in Texas, a state with a big emphasis on guns and hunting, and liberties like that. How about passing laws that the shark can't eat you?!?

...and got a very attractive offer from the small local company this afternoon that I'm mulling over...

Yeah...I see that! When I was younger, I had constant nose bleeds. (When the climate be too dry). My mom took me to the doctor and he shove this tall match like thing up my nose to lessen the nose bleeds. I had done that 3 or 4 times. So the feeling of having a test swab shoved up my nose was not a new thing for me. The pleasant surprise was there was no burning sensation as it was with a nose bleed. But yeah...doing THAT daily would definitely not be a thing Id like to do! PS: Thanx to your wife for staying tough and helping us all out! Health workers have ALWAYS been important to our society. NOW more than ever!

Flattening the slab for the entertainment center for my friend... First coat of oil on, pics don't do it justice, lots of curl and figure in the Cherry... At the lumber yard... I didn't build it, but also out of Cherry, my friend Matt owns this, Gorgeous.

Its freakin' cold here today. No snow fall since the last time we chit chatted, but the temps sure did dip. We just came back from our Covid testing. Not as bad as people make it out to be. We'll get our results in 24 hours about.

Tesla is going to have 1,100+ horsepower this year. Don't have to wait until 2025-2026. What they could do with the C8 s try to cut weight, it would drive up cost, but they could make higher ends more track focused and push the handling and braking capabilities rather than straight line speed. Mercedes is my favorite brand, 7 consecutive Formula 1 championships too. But Tesla is the brand everyone is chasing.

Tesla is probably the coolest, most desired, or hottest brand name in cars. Tesla is the "it" brand. They don't even advertise and yet everyone talks about them. That's what I am comparing, no brand name carries the impact of the Tesla brand name.

Duck Dodgers in the 24rth and a 1/2 Century

Amazing the quality of photoshopping some people have now.

I get your take on this. One way to convert to an EV fleet faster is by allowing businesses to take advantage of tax breaks as incentives. Example is that the private taxi drivers in Europe buy high end BMW and Mercedes auto's as they are allowed to write off 50% of the cost in the first year and the rest in year 2 as long as they drive over 100,000 kilometers each year. Easy for a taxi driver, gives them a nice new auto to drive, cleaner for the passengers and helps create multiple jobs. Here in Washington state, there are incentives like this for the private companies that contract with school districts to convert over to alternative energy school buses that started in 2015. The number of Diesel had been dropping while CNG, Hybrid had been increasing and as the school districts have stated a move to EV school buses will be embraced once a return to in school classes after the pandemic is over. Yes everything costs, but what price can you put on a child's life in comparison to breathing toxic diesel fumes? In this regards, I consider everyone's life far more precious than the cost of leaving what has been efficient transportation for cleaner better transportation as we improve ourselves via education, science and technology.

This is a really rare and unique car, would love to see it restored.

There is nothing stopping them from adding a sedan or larger SUV. I know they're not in the sedan/car market anymore but if the market shifts again, these EV skateboard platforms can just change the body to a car. We don't even know what a "real" Cybertruck will look like because everybody with a brain knows what they showed off will need drastic changes to even be street legal.

This sums up a lot, regardless of your political views...

My wife gets to do it at least once a week as a health worker. Gets old pretty fast.

Emissions standards all over the world after 2030 or 2035 say otherwise for ANY internal combustion engine. Im all for the Corvette to retain its V8 engine as long as its possible. Until its V8 cant pass emissions any longer. If by any chance, ICE engineers can somehow engineer a V8 (not JUST any ICE like a 4 banger, but a V8... Corvette, right?) to pass the inevitable highly impossible emissions, then Ill be ecstatic about a V8 Corvette in a EV world. But lets not kid ourselves here.... Pie in the sky scenarios aside, I hope we all understand that the world no longer wants the ICE. I hope we could understand that BEVs are what is next in our future for our personal transportational needs. Be it in 2035 or 2055....its coming... Especially when GM has said to have stopped working on new generation internal combustion engines. Oh...they will updated this new LT2 in the coming decade, but as is, this engine will never pass the impossibly high emissions to come in 2030 or 2035. And seeing that development money is zero for a next gen Chevy small block, this would be the last gen V8 GM will produce.

https://ca.yahoo.com/news/opening-car-windows-could-reduce-165700273.html But Gary Numan said that Here in my car, I can feel safest of all. I can lock all my doors... Its the only way to live...in cars. What is this bulllshyte talk about opening up windows, now? You know...Ive started to think If I open my windows, the image breaks down I dont really want you...visiting me Stay 6 phoquing feet away from me, in cars. Im leaving tonight Before the image breaks down....in cars.

Not much going down here in NE Ohio..cloudy and 23F today, had the coldest night of the year so far w/ about 19F last night (nothing like the polar vortex lows 2 years ago at this time). Supposed to get snow flurries today and some later this week...been a pretty mild January. On my job search, got about 2 weeks left on my current gig...been through 2nd interviews at two places, had a couple 1st interviews...in talking w/ recruiters late on Friday it sounds like offers may be coming Mon-Tues on a couple of them.. decisions, decisions..both companies in the fin tech space, one a contract w/ a big Western New York company (100% remote) with a traditional software development environment, the other an FTE position with a small local company that is growing and has pretty cutting-edge technology...

Model Y & Mach-E GT are both supposed to do 0-60 in 3.5 secs. But here's the deal: 1. both are plenty quick enough, 2. NOBODY is drag racing these against each other for prize money, and 3. the quickest vehicle in a given segment is almost never the highest sought-after. In other words; a few tenths is meaningless unless it's a competition vehicle (which these aren't). Tesla's biggest problem is stale styling and over-pricing (the company still loses money selling cars). They can charge whatever until competition starts heating up, then the probability they're F'd rises quick. There's a LOT more Ford buyers out there than Tesla buyers.

No, c'mon; it's both statistically irrelevant and from a compromised source. Not admissible.

@oldshurst442 I totally agree with you that the Tesla Tunnel is NOT EFFICIENT! The only reason it was approved and done was that Musk owns the tunnel system, it is not a public system. Private system and I think more of a Tesla Marketing system to have people experience EVs Tesla style. Sadly, I think it is a FAILURE out of the box as I cannot fit in the Tesla 3 compared to the electric trains. I think many people will not be impressed on fitting in. More negatives over the long term than in the short term. As with anything new, it will be cool for a few months to maybe a year or two and then people will be saying the same thing you have stated above. Seattle Lite Rail is better than the Tesla Tunnel as it is both under ground in places and above ground and even goes over our floating bridges.

The thing is though, if we wanna praise horsepower...Bugatti has had 1000 horsepower for over a decade. Bugatti right now has 1500 HP. On good 'ole ICE. On good 'ole ICE, WW2 airplanes have had 1500-2000 HP. But we are on the same page here. I loved what you said about Tesla's performance numbers are on heavy, family hauling sedans and not super touchy, super expensive, space deficient exotic cars. THAT is incredible. And what Tesla could do with their motors, batteries, softwares and everything else Tesla is known for... @balthazar once said that, and I really believe in what he said, is that the next big frontier in the EV world WILL be weight. The next EV maker that could get weight down with batteries and the like, WILL win the next EV battle and thus win market share.

I give a less than 25% chance of Tesla Delivering. Their semi and Truck plus the new Plaid power train upgrade to the S and X models will come before a limited production Roadster happens. Issues with Tesla 3 also are going to hit hard if they do not update to incorporate the Model Y improvements into the 3. Tesla is as usual years behind delivering Roadster 2.0. With Rivian, Ford and GM coming on strong, I expect Tesla to take a major hit. Many reviews by Tesla owners who are getting their Mach-E and talking about how much better it is than Tesla. Tesla is gonna have major headaches later this year if they do not get their butt in gear to update and have a better quality built auto.

Hey @smk4565 Remember when I answered you with this? Well...it goes both ways, buddy! Mention Tesla...and some go bat shyte crazy! Gives TDS a new meaning, doesnt it? Tesla Derangement Syndrome Kinda ironic too if you think about it...

Certainly is ugly enough to be an EV, I will give it that. Hated it then, hate it more now.

Right, Ford could do lots of things, they will need an EV cheaper than the Mach-E that can start under $30k at some point. And they can do mid-size and larger SUVs that aren't performance oriented. I get that most of the market is not about performance cars, that is why the Rav4/Camry are top sellers in the 2 biggest segments. So Ford can look at more practical EV's that aren't just about performance. But when you use the Mustang name, you position the Mach-E as your top performance EV, now maybe they have a faster version coming, like a Mustang Mach-E Cobra R or Shelby GT, only time will tell. But Tesla has a 1,100 hp car going on sale this year, so we are entering a world where the Hellcat V8 is weak and obsolete as far as performance goes. Companies are going to have to hop on board the EV train for performance cars in a hurry.

The Camaro V8 couldn't pass Euro emissions, I think the Corvette was reworked to pass it, but yes, it will only get tougher or ICE powertrains could just be banned in 2035. It is nice to let the V8 run out it's life cycle, but that isn't the future, so it isn't where companies will put their engineering dollars. But I think they can make an electric Corvette that is faster than the V8 Corvette, so I don't see losing the V8 as anything that hurts. It is just evolution, most family sedans had a 3-3.8 liter V6 15 years ago, now most have a 2 liter 4-cylinder and are faster. It's just progress.

Erin Gray Was so hot in Buck Rogers!

Plus Ford has a lot more plants, and can build automobiles that hold up over hundreds of thousands of miles without the issues Teslas have. And they ahve the dealership network, and more engeneerring budget. Cybertruck and F150 will fill different market segments, but my money is on Ford here.

OUCH Porsche pricing for the Panamera is Crazy. While the base still starts at $88,550, prices for options have jumped considerably and if you want the Panamera Turbo SE Hybrid Executive edition, that will start at $190,450 and run up from there. 19 different trim levels from base to the Executive edition on top of a crazy assortment of woods, leathers, etc. Seems maybe Porsche is looking to go Rolls Royce for their top of the line sedan? 2021 Porsche Panamera pricing is here, so gird your wallet - Roadshow (cnet.com) R.I.P. in piece Shop-Vac, a company the Pandemic took in September 2020 according to Honda. Honda has offered for years a family favorite, a built in Shop-Vac system to clean the interior of the Honda Odyssey Mini-Van. Sadly the Shop-Vac company closed it's doors last fall with Zero Notice to employees and Honda has not found an a replacement supplier and as such moved up their 2022 Mini-van with no built in vacuum system. Honda Odyssey loses nifty in-van vacuum option after supplier shuts doors - Roadshow (cnet.com)

Seeing the pic (would you call that a thumbnail?) on the vid and then watching the video...all I kept on hearing in my mind was this lyric : "I think its so groovy now!"

Continuing the old Ohio photos themes, here are some pics from Put-in-Bay, a neat little town I like on South Bass Island in Lake Erie. They are known for vintage car races, from the 40s to today.

Episodes 6 and 7 on Sandy Munro's road trip are not worthy of a posting. Episode 7 is both funny and cringe. BUT...Episode 5 on his tear down of the Model 3 is a must to be viewed. What I got from this small window: Tesla is learning to engineering cars and to manufacture them, but they are improving at a snail's pace. The Model Y is an example of how Tesla could be all across the board, yet on the 2021 Model 3, they havent fully embraced the improvements. The production of the 2021 Model 3 is an improvement over the 2018 version, but not enough. The Model Y which shares many components with the Model 3 is an improvement over the Model 3 including the 2021 version. But it baffles me (with Sandy's opinions in mind) as to why they wont go to the extra lengths to improve the Model 3 the way they might have with the Model Y.

Conceled carry done right! Okay, let's end politics at all cost in terms of our discussion here...

Steubenville, Ohio (I lived there 1971-1981) Below: Port Washington, Ohio (grew up about a mile outside of town, my family has had property there since 1968). Old pic of the railroad and Ohio & Erie Canal. Port Washington elementary school--- I went there 1977-1984, my sister went there 1968-1971 when my Dad was the district superintendent. Torn down around 2000 replaced w/ a new school.

flat wrong

It's GM Marketing and top brass salivating at the chance to capitalize on the Corvette name...again. The Chevrolet Corvette is a classic two door premium sports car that sits low to the ground with a front or modern day mid-engine setup and that's how it should stay. The 1,000 hp Super-car Corvette Zora coming in a few years with a high winding 850hp 5.5TT V8 thundering away pushing behind the driver and passenger is the propulsion and sound it always needs, the 150 hp electric motor pulling in front is all the electric propulsion it should have. BEV's have their place, but we need to keep the sweet sounding V8 and only two doors while sitting low to the ground in a Corvette.

I would even recommend that one should open all the windows in the car with All the Hot Air coming from the orifices of certain immediate objects inside that are melting...snow❄️ in the forecast.

I believe that recommendation is for the scenario where you are in an untrusted car with randos (like an Uber ride, taxi ride, ride in the back of a police car, etc) or you are in your own car with randos or other resource units not in your immediate household.

Thinking about the good 'ole times...I guess.

^ heh-heh...'fin tech'= 'financial technology'...banking & financial related technologies.

TDS is very real and on full display by a few on here, they just can't help themselves.

I forgot to mention: My daughter did not hang around that boy because she thinks he is stupid. All of his friends too. She also said that he had missed the last 2 school days. There are several good news to this: 1. Is that she hasnt had any symptoms for at least that many days and even longer... Could be that she is asymptomatic, but if she has it and now I and the other members of our family have it, well, we havent showed signs of Covid either. 2. Is that she thinks that boys are stupid. She is 15 and quite smart and quite cute. I also know that she thinks that most boys are stupid! 3. She still finds boys stupid at 15! I dont have to worry about stupid boys for a tad longer!

E5 of Sandy Munro's road trip He says he barely squeezed in a charging point and that there were only two spots available. Im curious now more than ever to find about his battery and range details... He also said that his wife asked him to eat better food other than gas station hot dogs. LOL. He also hinted that he took a look at a Faraday Future and he said that its a nice car and he is impressed by it. Nothing else was said about it but he will go into detail about it later on.

Request from one of the Admins: Please knock it off with the political content on this thread. Currently going through a number of reports on this thread dealing with politics.

You realize that that money Tesla is 'worth' is all borrowed, right? Stock revenue is not something a company is supposed to survive off of. Tesla still, I believe, loses money on every car they sell. And a company's worth is far more than just it's stock price. Tesla failed to take a big enough bite out of the market in order to gain & maintain a lead.

If... and I stress IF there wasn't a nation-wide pandemic and unprecedented issues with foreclosures/ evictions, unemployment/ebbing income tax revenues, bankruptcies/ fleeing businesses, withering industries begging for lifelines... MAYBE the Gov't could simply double the $560,000,000 of paper money they print DAILY and pay for many of these pie-inna-sky dream projects. I just don't see where the money would come from. I mean, it's on the order of $125 Billion just for the school bus dream... and the states don't even own all those buses (private companies & individual contractors are a major component- how does the Gov't force them to spend a quarter million/bus??) Typical Big Gov't disconnect from reality.

Looks like not one, but two snow storms on the way......

This is extremely inspring. Love the look on her face when she flies, she is very expressive. Her second solo landing is amazing. Nice to see young people work hard for a goal. If you don't want to watch the whole thing, skip ahead to about 2:15 and watch her face when she lands with her isntructor. Okay, back to cars. This never gets old, ever.