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Yes, those visitors are what is keeping the site alive via their ad revenue. We do fairly well on search results for niche automotive things. We get a huge number of hits for the 4.3 V8 Baby LT1 and for some reason no one knows how to pronounce Impala as those two threads still get a huge number of hits.

Obviously, 2020 saw everyone focus elsewhere primarily, dampening discretionary outlets like this. That’ll turn around. I thought I saw a snippet somewhere here that visitor volume was quite respectable (near 200 at that moment, IIFC), would be cool to have some of them post... anything. I certainly can review my new truck when(ever) it gets here. Getting spot-welded & bolted together this week!

Lots of cool stuff coming with all the various changes due to the EV world growing. Technology is going to change the Auto world big time, we have to look at things even if we do not like it and discuss those changes as the Auto Industry is not going to change the move away from ICE to EV's. As such, hopefully by the end of this year we will have more exciting stuff to discuss. GMC Hummer SUV comes out on 4-3-21. That should be interesting to at least some of us that see the EV future.

You're absolutely correct. I pretty much stopped writing after Jan 2020 because I lost all my heart for it because of the flame wars. Before that I was writing 4 - 6 news clips a day during the week and one or two vehicle reviews a month. Plus William was writing regularly too. William got a new job and could no longer devote time to the site, so that's why he doesn't post much anymore. The thing is, I want to get back into it. I keep telling myself I'm going to start writing again.... but every time I log in here there is some flame war going on. Don't get me wrong, I love to debate stuff and I encourage it. But having a spirited debate and having a flame war are two very different things.... one person got himself suspended for 5 days because he was losing the debate and turned it into a flame war and added bigotry to the mix as well. And after I pulled the trigger on his suspension, I just logged off and left the site for a while out of frustration until I started getting e-mail notices that another flame war was going on. Can you see why it would get exhausting?

About as subtle as a hemorrhoid

The day we are reminded what we are the other 364.

I think it was successful. The spam account signups have dropped way down. I’m getting way less spam in my admin email account. And comment spam is down to just 2 since the attack (typically runs around 100 a week, you just never see them) so I think we can call this a win.

I'm sure I could find one... I just want something a bit better. This is what I am aiming for. https://amzn.to/2OhVU9M

I could understand a worn belt making the record play slower or inconsistently, but I'm not sure how it would make it play faster. Anyway, it's a 30ish year old el'cheapo unit from Bradlies (anyone remember that chain?) and it is connected to an oversized stereo. I'm going to get something that hooks up to my surround sound either via USB or Bluetooth and downsize substantially.

I agree. While not meaning to be political, I do think the previous adminsitrations rhetoric about bringing jobs back is a huge step in the right direction. I also think the current adminsitrations infrastructure plan and a reliance on domestic products for it is another step in the right direction. This is one of the reasons I bought the Ranger, if you want American manufacturing here, at some point you need to vote with dollars and buy American products. Still as frustrated as ever about American foreign policy regardless of the adminstration....but at some point you just need to vote with $ and buy American. From Scioto Grove, the park where I hike nearest my house. This spot is especially tranquil.

We get enough traffic that the ads pay about 90% of the costs. If I have to throw $10 - $20 a month at it, it's no big deal, however, I haven't had to add money to the site checking account for a while now, so if I went and looked at the reports, it is probably self-sustaining since at least September. It was not at all profitable when I was still traveling to all 4 of the car shows and 4 ride-and-drive media events each year. I did those because I enjoyed them and yes that money came from my own pocket. What I'm struggling with lately is not financial. In the past 4 years every. single. discussion. turns into a fight.... not just here... but Facebook, TikTok, Reddit, whatever. I don't want this site to become a place where it's just flame wars all the time. I want to come here to discuss cars. Unfortunately, a number of people have done their part to kill my passion for this site with their near constant negativity about cars and/or people they don't like. This site will be 20 years old in August. I'd like to see it continue into its 20s, but damn if some people aren't doing their best to kill it before then. I'm just not sure how much fight I have left. Where will my passion to write reviews come from if every article comment section turns into yet another flame war? Is a flame war site some place you'd want to visit? (not just you, everyone) If you guys just want to flame each other over stupid shit, I'll just leave the site running as long as it is financially self-sustaining, turn off notifications, and go ride my motorcycle and you won't hear from me again... when something breaks, oh well. Give me a reason to want to write again and run this place again...

March 31st made 4 years since I bought this Jeep w/ 25k miles. April 1st was the first road trip I took, from Phoenix up to Prescott and back down through the mountains to Wickenburg then back to Phoenix. I took this pic somewhere south of Prescott. It's been trouble free for 4 years and an additional 25k miles. May the next 4 years be uneventful.

Looks like my truck will just squeak out before the shortage (I expect) hits GM truck plants. Gotta get these critical fundamentals back & manufactured in the home field.

I's a good boy. ?

Because the songs didnt need to suffer the same fate. I love these sings anyhow.

Just a place to swap stories about our vaccine experiences. I got the Moderna shot on Jan 11th. Other than a sore arm for a few days (same thing I get with a flu shot) I had no side effects. I got my second shot on Feb 11th at 6pm. The next morning I woke up feeling feverish with body aches and chills. I took Advil and drank Gatorade and felt blah all day. In the evening I had to pick up a curbside grocery order, I didn’t feel well but I went anyway. On the way back I really felt awful and almost pulled over to make Albert drive back. I made it home and went right back to bed. I had fevers during the night for the next few nights. I didn’t start feeling normal again until day 5 and didn’t catch up on my sleep for a week. but I’d do it again to avoid getting Covid.

Neither I or my wife has gotten the vaccine yet. Her mother (92) got the J&J one today. My folks get their 2nd shots tomm.

I don’t know who that guy is but he looks one spare rib dinner away from a heart attack.

I qualified because I’m management in an organization with first responders. Albert had to wait a bit longer but eventually he got qualified because he is taking care of his parents. He got his second shot today of Pfizer. He says he’s feeling fine but I’ve caught him napping today. ( he’s off today) my best friend qualified under the BMI rule which is ridiculously low. He’s a weight trainer so he’s not actually obese but his BMI qualified him.

Pfizer says they are looking at a combined Flu / Covid shot.

This is the one I plan on getting for my living room.

That is a really nice one.

Yeah. Maybe we could archive most of the automotive stuff and have just an intimate chat about our lives. I would love to hear about YKX's new Mustang, your adeventures on your bike, Balthazars Buick, etc. It's almost like everyone here has lost interest in cars. Very little being built now interests me, hence my interest in motorcycles. But I ahve been so bosy woodworking, I don't know how much I can add to my life. Add Hiking and reading into the mix, and my days are very full. I need a reason to like cars again to get passionate about the place. Not seeing one. Maybe C and G can be reborn as a motorcycle and travel forum-TC Bob likes travel, few guys here like bikes, I don't know what to do. Actually I am hoping you will become a bad boy when the Buick gets done and give it the thrashing of its life. Regards from Ohio, Your friend.....! Christopher Why I have switched to loving trains, woodworking machinery, aviation, maritime history, etc. for my machine fix. VERY little rational or interesting discussion left on the internet anywhere of an automotive origin. Some 4WD sites are the exception. But I can only afford one expensive hobby. That's woodworking. I can't dump 40K into a Wrangler and dump 40K into building it. Buying a used DR650 Suzuki or KLR 650 Kawasaki for 4 grand and hitting the trails though....hmmmmm.....

Yeah, 4 years of WFH incl. a year of CV staying home has resulted in the miles accumulating slowly... went to the beach and put about 50 miles on it last Saturday, which was the most in a while...

With how little you're driving lately, it will probably take 8 years to get another 25k miles.

Well, a second person got themselves put into a 5 day timeout. This is not Reddit or 4chan. This is a place for respectful discussion about cars. I don't care if I have to ban everyone except Balth, Horse, Robert, and Dave. After the year we just had the very least we can do is just be nice to each other. But if you want to keep acting up.....

Steak

Crazy drivers out there....almost got hit by a GMC Yukon...with extra bright leds......

I take it you were/are not a wrestling type a guy... I used to watch the stuff from time to time. It was...interesting. I havent watched it since the early 2000s though. I grew up, I guess. But then again, folk who read my posts will beg to differ... Yup...Im soooo more mature now than I was back then...

Riding your bike does seem like fun. And I have realized that its exhausting to be daycare worker and mommy and daddy for stupid shyte. I do understand your pleas to me to just phoquing stop with the stupid shyte. Like I said. I understood this awhile ago. I wont be partaking in crap no more.

Happy April Fools Day Everyone!

Ill just re-post a 20th Anniversary Trans Am again since it went...like the spam bots... Maybe it was the spam bots that took away my Trans Am... Damn you spam bots try to catch THIS one!

Due to taking care of both side of parents and grandparents, my wife and I qualified for the multi-generational household. So we got our Pfizer Shots and booster. I had no side affects from either shot, wife was fine with the first shot, but the second shot, but the time we got home was really out of it and slept the rest of the day and night and the next day was fine. Our family doctor said due to her not having a thyroid, she was slower to respond but over all should be fine. Like @Robert Hall we are not eating out, going anywhere other than local road trips. I make once a week trips for shopping for everyone, delivery to the doors of the parents / grand parents and then back home. Wife shop's via online and has stuff delivered, she makes 1 or 2 trips a month to Kohls to return stuff for Amazon returns and to Macy's for returns always early when they first open up to avoid crowds. Pretty much will stay this way for the year while the world gets vaccinated. Work with CDC, John Hopkins and Oxford in support of the storage they use for their Covid-19 research. Seems lots of research is going on with the focus of another booster shot in about 6 months to address Covid-19 variants. Rather get vaccinated than deal with Covid-19 sickness. https://www.businessinsider.com/pfizer-testing-3rd-booster-shot-for-covid-19-vaccine-variants-2021-2

I had my first Pfizer shot on March 22. Had registered online w/ the local hospital chains, Walgreens, and CVS to see when I could get an appointment...University Hospitals came through first once I was eligible. Had an 8 am appointment, first group of the day at a local hospital. They were pretty efficient, from queuing up, to the registration, to the actual shot and the post shot wait w/ a 15 min timer I was in and out in around 35 minutes. I ended up going there twice that day---my sister's appointment was at 5:45 at the same hospital, and she wanted me along as her emotional support sibling. Only a little shoulder pain that evening. The next two nights I had bouts of insomnia and only got about 3-4 hrs of sleep, so ended up feeling washed out and weak the following days..took a half day off from WFH and slept. Got shot #2 scheduled for April 12th. Haven't changed my behavior, not going to eat out at crowded bars and restaurants....I guess at 50 I'm not much of a risk-taker anymore. Staying at home indefinitely works for me now, though I do miss going to concerts, museums, restaurants, etc and other things I did in the before time....with Spring here (though not today--snowy and 32F), I do look forward to getting out for walks and hikes in the metro parks and nearby Cuyahoga Valley National Park soon...

I got the 1st shot of Pfizer, and other than a sore shoulder I was fine the first day. But then I had insomnia the next two nights and was pretty exhausted and fuzzy the following days. Not sure if was from my insomnia or a drug interaction w/ my regular prescription sleep meds.

Wife and I are fully vaccinated now, got our second shot of Pfizer last week. No side affects for me, but by the time I got home the day of the booster shot, the wife said everything was fuzzy and she was tired. Slept like crazy the rest of that day and till the next morning then she was fine. Very crazy on how it reacts to each person. Wishing you all the best @Robert Hall for the booster shot.

I really want to see that come out.

Somehow, even with partial WFH, I'm already at 10,000 miles on the truck since August. I don't even know where I'm driving to be doing that. But I also noticed this week that I've put only 1,000 miles on the Toronado since June. So since Sunday the truck has been parked and I've been taking the Toronado when I need to go places and I'm moving back to WFH a lot more. And of course taking the bike on every nice day I can.

No. I’ve had to suspend premium members in the past.

Gotta get many other things back and manufactured in the home field. ESPECIALLY away from China. But Id be happy if we (as in the USA...but for Canada too) could get the essential fundamentals back if it only BE just that.

Ford has announced additional production shutdowns due to the chip production shortage. Seems we will see 6 plants shut down multiple times between now and June affecting their Truck and SUV production as well as cars. Ford is Expecting Billions in losses due to the production shutdown. Ford Says Chip Shortage Forcing Production Halt at Several Plants - WSJ

Thoughts of the Fontainebleau, and its environs, randomly go through my head from time to time ...

https://www.corvetteblogger.com/2021/03/30/motortrend-says-e-ray-corvette-will-be-quicker-than-the-c8-z06/ Corvette SUV Coming in 2024 We led first with the E-Ray news but the bigger news for MT Confidential is that the Corvette SUV is real and will make its debut in 2024. Built on top of the GM’s Ultium BEV (battery electric vehicle) platform, the electric Corvette SUV “will be a four-door, four-seat, performance-tuned crossover with key design cues lifted from the mid-engine C8.” The column also “whispers” that the crossover may not be the only four-door electric Corvette in the line-up as a four-door rival for the Porsche Taycan sedan is also under consideration.

Got this on vinyl the other day and it was almost a shame to break the shrink wrap on it.

From where my son is hiking Saturday, snow will be gone but... https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/washington/granite-creek-trail--2?ref=header

Sauce

Happy 20th CheersandGears!

Thanks for moderating the site.

@Drew Dowdell @William Maley I too have a message. In musical form Thank-you Its like that and that's the way it is! (you know...COVID...)