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Nice builds! Love the Beretta. Here is some of my collection.

So here's another "checking in" post after 3 and a half years away. I find it difficult to stay interested enough to keep up with social media these days so excuse the absence. I'll try to keep this one short and sweet. I can't quite remember, but I believe my last update came when I was still in Michigan. Anyways, as I alluded to in that post, I ended up relocating to Charleston, SC after exhausting my options around Detroit. For work, I've now completely switched industries, transitioning into home energy. It pays the bills, so I can't complain about that. Once again, though, I might be looking for yet another destination to call home in the next year or so. The Southern lifestyle has it's advantages, but I don't think it's for me. On the automotive front, it shouldn't come as any surprise that I've added a few more to the list. If I didn't mention it previously, I sold the ATS and daily drove the Miata for a while. Eventually I picked up a 2014 Mazda6 to use for my temporary job. To make moving easier, I sold that one as well before heading to SC. I then picked up a cheap beater in the form of a 2002 Lexus IS300 to live out my 2JZ fantasies. After those fantasies turned out to be a bust (I managed to buy the neediest one apparently), I jumped ship to something completely different. Before I get into that, I should note that I still have the Miata after 5 years and 3 months. It now has 165k, a new clutch, and one rust-repaired quarter panel. Shortly after moving south the clutch pilot bearing started going out which necessitated it becoming a garage queen for a while. It's now back in service but really doesn't get driven much, having only added 5k miles to the odometer the last two years. Lately, I've wrestled with the thought of selling it, but each time I get serious, I can't go through with it. This brings me to Tesla. I'm now on my second Model 3 after a transformative test drive in the fall of 2020. I always keep an open mind when it comes to choosing cars, but I really didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did. Switching to electric hasn't been as much of a struggle as I initially feared, either. We've even added a Model Y to the mix, leaving the Miata as our sole gas-powered vehicle. With that said, here's the current lineup. Cheers!

Speaking of diecast, @Cory Wolfe, I've been into building models for the last year+. This is what I've built and the ones I have up next. I'm currently building an Enzo that I'm about finished with.

I finished my Beretta model. Well, this wasn’t so much if a built as it was just a paint job as it was an old dealer promo model that I painted to look as close to my first car as I could. It has the same body as my Z26 had but different wheels.

I'm not remotely saying I'm 100% risk adverse, because that also isn't possible. The low numbers of issues of the vaccinated? I never said I was worried of getting some illness/having and issue from a covid vaccine. Like I've already said, I'm taking in information, evaluating what's out there, and making decisions. I'm not some anti-vaxxer thinking the government is out to track me (while carrying a phone that already does that). Heck, I've recently applied for a Federal job that requires me to be vaccinated. I'll get vaccinated if I get the job. It isn't a huge issue to me, like some have made it. I'm just glad my parents both got vaccinated over the summer as they're obviously older (mid-60's) and my dad has a form of lymphoma (in remission for a few years now). They are the pretty right wing, super pro Trump (sorry - politics), that would be the kind of anti-vaxxer that I'd be worried about. I'm just glad they got it.

Thanks, Drew. I'm going to try to be more active this year. Outside of being a lurker in a few Facebook groups, I don't participate much in any automotive discussions these days. The last few years have sort of drained my passions a bit. 2021 was at least a bit of a return to the norm for me with more frequent trips to Cars and Coffee and beginning to rebuild my diecast collection. Photography is still on the back burner for the most part, so I'd like get out and do more with that this year. We shall see...

The Ford v GM question is going to come down the the EV platform. GM appears to have the edge here (pun intended) because their Ultium system looks significantly more flexible and scaleable

No separate thread needed. Less is more. Today, the 14th, marks 14 years of ownership of my sled. Back then, I got the keys to this LaCrosse with the odometer reading less than 20 miles. This morning, the odometer showed 112,023 miles. (The last one - more or less the same type of vehicle - probably had TWICE the above miles on it at 14 years.) Happy Friday, folks.

Neither of those are pediatric? Long Covid is a real thing. Yes you may survive a Covid infection but that doesn’t mean you won’t have long term complications from it. Surviving Covid and recovering from Covid are two different statistics. My friends in Colorado who used to go hiking in the mountains and got Covid very early on still gets winded on a flight of steps. Is a life of gasping for breath, or having random neurological problems something you can live with?

PCR test came back this morning. I’m negative for Covid

You find some good GIFs. That lady is funny. Now, let's bring on the blue dresses. (This never fails to make me laugh.)

Yes, SAE should have stepped in a lot earlier, however there would still likely need to be at minimum two different plugs Depending on if it's an AC or DC charge. The best one, IMHO, is the CHAmoDo/CCS charger. It allows AC charge or DC Fast charging up to 350w (and possibly higher). The different shape of the plugs doesn't really matter for different continents. I don't really care what mainland China does.

Sorry I missed posting this yesterday. Happy birthday ?????

Have to go older to get some strength back in body construction. This car did a 360-degree roll at 90 MPH ~

Yup Roll Over protection since the autos from 20 to 30 years ago and older did terrible when an auto rolled over. Pancake flat.

I don't have a joke for the joke thread, with a punchline and all, but this reminds me of: "I think I need to talk to my doctor about my thyroid." "I think you need to put down the fork."

Yesterday, I was at a lunch buffet (I'll spare you the photos of it), this came on: The lady who was working my area, and whose area I ask for, and I both agreed that THIS was real music. I also told her I once had a Cutlass Supreme to round out the situation. She laughed and said she had one, too. Karma, I tell you.

Id also give you an upvote on that. Im glad that you made yourself MORE clear because whether we like it or not, we ALL judge this situation we are all in with Covid. Im glad you are not so blind and have made a clear cut division on vaccines. I didnt think you were. But I did judge. Hard not to these days. But it all goes back to my INTIAL post... just wanted to make it clear that Covid does NOT discriminate between young and old. Fit or unfit. It really is how YOUR own personal experience and how YOUR body will react to Covid that is REALITY...

I see that. With the advent of these shytty electrical cars, how can ANYBODY be be passionate about cars anymore???!!! OOPSIES. I see that you own not one, but TWO of these Tesler cars.. I like Telsa. I just dont like Elon. I like EVs. My next car will probably be an EV... lets just see what everybody else will bring to the table... AWESOME!!! I have a 73 or 74 car collection scale 1/18 (always forget how many I got) diecast cars. OK...Im lying. One of those is a resin model. 2015 Hellcat Challenger by GT Spirit. Waiting for the Z06 C8 to come out to complete and end the collection once and for all. Hopefully by Autoart if they make one. Ill have to settle for a resin Stingray from GT Spirit I think it is if no-one makes a Z06. I used to have over 100 of them. Collection was too big. Its kinda too big now. Hope you stick around. I have lurked and read your past posts in here so you are not a stranger to me as I am to you.

We all do, everyday. Hence why I work out regularly, eat fairly healthy(certainly won't lie and say I eat perfectly), and take my regular vitamins.

One last link for @ccap41 Now now. As in now. As of January 12, 2022, 4 p.m. There are more deaths from the older groups in total because its with the older groups that got the hardest at the beginning of the pandemic. But in Quebec, now, 85% of the older groups have been vaccinated 2 doses at least. So, in revenge, its the younger folk that havent been vaccinated that are getting hit hard, now. So, you can feel good about yourself about the deaths being higher for the older folk if you want to, but its not smart to ignore all other data... https://www.quebec.ca/en/health/health-issues/a-z/2019-coronavirus/situation-coronavirus-in-quebec Distribution of confirmed cases by age group GraphTable Age group % of confirmed cases 0-9 years 9.5 10-19 years 12.6 20-29 years 17.7 30-39 years 15.9 40-49 years 15.3 50-59 years 12.2 60-69 years 7.2 70-79 years 4.0 80-89 years 3.5 90 years or more 2.0 Previous12Next Cumulative data. Source: TSP, MSSS, January 12, 2022, 4 p.m.

In Quebec, the 'unvaccinated' will be taxed, will have to pay a significant amount of money because the unvaccinated are causing these latest hospital turn outs which have put a burden on our health staff and the medical help that others need that isnt Covid related. https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/quebec-to-table-bill-to-tax-the-unvaccinated-amid-pushback-from-opposition-parties-doctors-1.5739369 Low and behold https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/thousands-sign-up-for-1st-dose-of-covid-19-vaccine-as-quebec-threatens-to-tax-the-unvaxxed-1.5736806 More than 7,000 people registered for their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday, amid threats by Quebec officials to tax the unvaccinated.

Your body, your choice. @ccap41 It doesnt matter if one 95 year old has survived Covid and one 25 year has not. Hey, more power to you if you feel comfy that only 15 000 folk died from Covid aged 30-39 and folk older than than have higher numbers... You like to play the numbers game. Its all good. Problem is, you might not get to tell us if you DO catch it. I know. I know. The numbers tell you otherwise... It cant POSSIBLY happen to you... https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/montreal-area-man-who-died-of-covid-19-at-39-was-unvaccinated-but-had-just-booked-his-first-dose-1.5588192 https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/after-anti-vax-sentiment-seeps-in-three-die-and-a-tight-knit-community-near-montreal-is-torn-apart-1.5679029 LAVAL, QUE. -- When COVID-19 killed a 39-year-old Laval athlete in early September, it sent a shock through his tight-knit Greek community. Stefanos Govas was unvaccinated, and his girlfriend told media that his death had been avoidable—he’d been planning to get the shot soon anyway, she said. But tragic as Govas’s death was, it was only one part of a bigger series of losses that took two months to play out and have torn that community apart. https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/after-anti-vax-sentiment-seeps-in-three-die-and-a-tight-knit-community-near-montreal-is-torn-apart-1.5679029 https://abcnews.go.com/US/30-year-man-dies-attending-covid-party-thinking/story?id=71731414 https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/father-urges-people-to-get-vaccinated-after-daughter-29-dies-of-covid-19-4692280 A grieving father who will bury his daughter this week is urging people to get vaccinated, warning that COVID-19 is a merciless disease And I could do this MORE than 15 000 times... As THAT number is ONLY US numbers. Its only numbers until it happens to you... Which I do NOT wish upon. Life is too short for me to discuss this any further... Do as you wish. I just wanted to point out that Covid does NOT discriminate between the young or old. Fit or unfit.

Because a childrens hospital filled with pediatric ICU Covid patients shows that the young can still have pretty severe Covid issues even if they ultimately survive. and I already made my point about the difference between surviving and recovering.

I most certainly was.

Im happy to hear the good news. Strep is a hassle, and it could lead to something more severe, but its better than the alternative!

Pediatric ICU cases disagree. Our Childrens hospital here is full. Did an online urgent care today since my Covid tests continue to come back negative and I’m having zero respiratory issues. Doc thinks it’s strep. Started the antibiotics tonight

You should see the place where I work. It has road plans, housing developments, and building plans going back to the 1920s. One of my projects that I started last year and will go on for a 3-4 more years is to get all of that stuff digitized.

What a tremendous miss that in the 21st century there wasn't a universal BEV plug standard developed from the start, instead of the mess above.

The counts are going to be inaccurate because of the different sources and they way they count. This isn't like ballots, with a controlled population/sample size. But I do believe that the unvaccinated are more likely to be hospitalized ... and to be in ICU. With all the changing viral forms, breakthrough infections are going to be more of a problem. Just from glancing at my homepage, it looks like obnoxious Jimmy Fallon and Whoopi have contracted it, and they're vaccinated. The thing that bugs me is medical people who do not want to get the vaccine. I know one person like that ... a nurse who says, "I don't trust it." A lot of medical people have training and education, but, sometimes, it's "STEM lite" and doesn't go as far as where some people's education goes. They may have not taken classes in bacteriology and virology nor in statistics, yet they are still so damn sure of themselves. Then there are the people who don't have good education (or any), yet they have an even more forceful "telling" conversational style when it comes to health matters, politics, and financial matters, as opposed to stating that these are opinions or how they feel about things. Most people have done a lot of housecleaning with their friends and relatives during the last 2 to 5 years. It's something that sometimes needs to be done.

"They" dont want us to know. "They" dont want us in the loop. Its a conspiracy...

I was disappointed they didn't give me the wifi network name and password.

Im kinda bummed out and disappointed. Just a sore shoulder for my wife and I but nothing much else to report. But why the sad? I was promised by some people out there that getting THE Covid vaccine would make me transmit 5G WiFi. All for free. Well, the fee being that I got THE Covid vaccine. Im on my 3rd vaccine now, but no 5G WiFi. What gives???!!! I SPECIFICALLY got THE Covid vaccine JUST so I could transmit 5G internet myself. Internet services are way expensive in Canada...

I'm not sure if it cracks me up, per se, but assume you've got some people vehemently objecting to vaccination, their job is on the line because of the employer or state they live in, and they sheepishly "cave in" to getting vaccinated. And, then, nothing adverse happens to them as a result of it. Which then brings up the question: "WTF was all that grandstanding about?"

Hah, right. Tesla ownership definitely has its negatives, the biggest of which is probably Elon. Many owners blindly worship the Haus of Musk which leads everyone else to believe that any owner must as well. While I think he has definitely had some radical ideas that have led us to where we're at now, it might be time for him to step back and perhaps abmit he was wrong about certain things (*cough* FSD, *cough* removing radar, *cough* v11 software). One of my biggest regrets is selling my old diecast collection about 10 years ago. I had about 100 cars and I let it go for a few hundred. Some of those cars really ballooned in value and it would cost me 10 times the amount I sold it for to rebuild the collection exactly as I had it. Right now I'm back up to about ten 1:18 scale, about 150 Hot Wheels/Matchbox cars, and a handful of others that fit in-between. Unfortunately my latest super rad purchase was damaged by USPS...