oldshurst442

LOL looking at cat videos, I came upon this one. It seems appropriate enough after that nuclear attack I had to endure. LOL

True true. Disclaimer: The image expressed in this gif are only for comedic effect and property of some sort of Hollywood movie. Any image and actions presented in that gif may or may NOT be condoned by myself.

LOL you proved the article right. By you saying the article was sensationalist journalism you are proving their sensationalist view of what and how people ignore Toyota's problems. Thanx for the laugh. PS: Love that middle finger photo of the man in black. Ive used it a couple of times myself. Thanx for the regifting.

Compared to the Model Y? The Mach-E is very comparable to the Model Y is EVERY metric. The Model Y is Tesla's 5th attempt at an EV. 1. Roadster 1.0 2. Model S 3. Model X 4. Model 3 5. Model Y The Mach - E is Ford's 1st attempt. The Mach-E is quite the accomplishment and NOT how you want to present it.

And yet Ford ALSO said that they would be profitable in selling EVs as soon as MORE models come to fruition... As of now, economies of scale aint kicking in... And as it turns out...by the end of next year. https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/ford-ceo-out-to-prove-wall-street-wrong-on-crazy-high-ev-goal-1.1922468#:~:text=Farley has promised its first,third of Ford's global production. And if you think Farley is overselling... Dont tell me ANY of that UNLESS you acknowledge that Elon Musk ALSO oversells... Meaning... you BETTER believe that Tesla is NOT making all that money and that Tesla is NOT all that profitable and Tesla is NOT that huge juggernaut that Elon wants all of us to believe. So if Elon is allowed to oversell, so should Jim Farley be allowed.

heavily modified MEANS that it is NOT the C2 platform and hence the NEW designation... In FACT...GE1 is an acronym for GLOBAL ELECTRIFIED 1. The GE1 is still a bespoke platform. A DEDICATED EV platform. Engineered at the same time as the C2 platform to save costs as probably, the GE1 platform FROM the CD2 platform could be reworked and rescaled to accomodate ALL the vehicles from the CD2 platform to become 100% BEVs. GE2 and GE3 and someforth and so forth... Meaning. When FoMoCo engineered the C2 platform and brought it out in 2018, FoMoCo had it in their engineering plans to heavily modify it to make the GE1 and THAT is how the Mach-E was introduced as fast as it was without ANYBODY knowing how and why Ford had a legit 100% battery electrical CUV to sell in 2020 when FoMoCo hadnt announced anything about a BEV EV... Probably because FoMoCo hasnt learned just yet where they can lose weight where it aint necessary. It is the first try after all. The Mach-E is OVER engineered and the Mach-E launch videos actually EXPLAIN that the Mach-E is overengineered because Ford doesnt want to phoque things up ESPECIALLY when they have named it a Mustang Mach-E... But yeah...its nice to spin things negatively...

PSS: little adjustements NEED to be made. I aint THE boss. I am A boss. Not THE Boss. HUGE reality check I just faced today. Im humbled and THAT is a GOOD thing!!!

I was sent home early by my employer today. Turns out that customers are shyte. Shyttier than my former customers when I had my restaurant. Turns out I cant tell them how I truly feel. He got my back, my director that is. But I need to learn that in the corporate world, Karens are not exactly frowned upon. We just ignore a Karen, smile and direct the Karen gently outside the premises. And if that dont work, we let the director handle the situation and he will give a corporate smile and he will gently escort the Karen to where the Karen needs to go. I cant tell a karen to go to hell. My director cant either. But he did tell me I need to manage my emotions better. I...as a manager, need to calm things down and not escalate further. And hence why I was told to go home to relax. Its funny as in my restaurant, myself, my former partner, RIP, or my manager, never felt the need to gently deal with a Karen. We dealt with Karens bang and boom. But that was with a small family restaurant. *SIGH* Welcome to the corporate world... Oh well... PS The 25 plus years that I had the restaurant, only in the beginning did I have CONSTANT Karen problems. Oh yeah...THAT phenomenon aint new. But my partner and I chased ALL the bad in faith customers away and we CULTIVATED a clientele FREE from that kind of buklshytte!!! This new job and Karens are...EVERYWHERE!!!

There is nothing to explain as he is lying through his teeth when he says that... He knows that the Mach-E is built on a pure bespoke EV platform. This also a lie... However... Tesla's production efficiency is non-existent. Elon lies a lot. Therefore... Tesla's price cuts and Tesla is bleeding money meaning that the measley $1 250 rebate of the Model 3 and the $2000 rebate of the Model Y are monies that interfere with the Model 3s and Model Ys profits meaning small rebates of vehicles that have sold as much as they have and produced as much as they have and the production lines of Tesla are not up to legacy automobile manufacturer's srandards. Meaning if FoMoCo is losing $60 000 on each Mach-E sold, then Tesla ALSO is losing money on each Model 3 and Model Y sold. ESPECIALLY on rebate. Meaning Tesla cannot sustain rebates... The thing is...Elon started a price war Tesla cant afford. His mouth is writing checks his ass cant cash... But its nice to find faults with GM or Ford or anybody else but hypocritically defend Tesla. Sounds like a Toyota argument come to think of it. @surreal1272 Hope your hip surgery went well, buddy, even thought I would have NEVER have thought to paint you as a brand nut jobber! But...it is Toyota you defend, so it makes sense. Apple, Toyota and Tesla...

Lets see. For: NOT a Toyota Against: Not a real production car For: still a classic GM Pontiac from the '50s Against: still truckish in looks. Verdict Ill pass.

Vincenzo Cotroni affiliated with the Bonanno family. Nicolo Rizzuto took over afiliated with...the Bonanno family. The Montreal mafia would be New York's 6th family. There is Montreal style pizza. The crust is puffy. Baked until the crust is golden brown. The tomato sauce would be a slight variation of the original tomato sauce of the original pizza. All kinds of toppings but the stereotypical toppings would be all dressed. Thin sliced pepperonin, thinly sliced green bell peppers, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese. And Montreal's Little Italy, original pizza is also a part of the scenery. If somebody visits Montreal...I BEG them to stop by Pizzeria Napoletana. Best pizza in North America. Many celebrities stop by. It is a Montreal landmark. It is part of pizza history too. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Mafia Godfather finds out that his bookkeeper of 20 years, Guido, has cheated him out of $10 million. Guido is deaf which is why he got the job in the first place. The Godfather assumed that since Guido could not hear anything, he could never testify in court. When the Godfather goes to confront Guido about his missing $10 million, he takes along his personal lawyer because he knows sign language. The Godfather tells the lawyer, “Ask him where the money is!” The lawyer, using sign language, asks Guido, “Where’s the money?” Guido signs back, “I don’t know what you are talking about.” The lawyer tells the Godfather, “He says he doesn’t know what you are talking about.” The Godfather pulls out a pistol, puts it to Guido’s head, and says, “Ask him again or I’ll kill him!” The lawyer signs to Guido, “He’ll kill you if you don’t tell him.” Guido trembles and signs back, “OK! You win! The money is in a brown briefcase, buried behind the shed at my cousin Bruno’s house.” The Godfather asks the lawyer, “What did he say?” The lawyer replies, “He says you don’t have the balls to pull the trigger.”

LOL Computers and sensors and all kinds of electronic dood dads break down. Even moreso in shytty climates. And shytty when it comes to computers and electronics INCLUDE hot climates as well as cold. YOU are asking simple minded folk to upkeep expensive computers and sensors? YOU have that faith in people? The average age of cars in the US in 2022 was 12.2 years. The average in 2023 went up to 12.5. A vehicle that is 6 or 7 or 8 years old, YOU think that its in good working order? Let alone 10 or 12? Autonomous driving to happen means that ALL systems NEED to be not just functional...these systems, software, sensors, lidars, brakes, steering, tires... ALL need to be working 100% FLAWLESSLY. YOU have that faith in people? When we have ABS sensors that tell people that their tires are low on air because they are lazy to check for themselves and the tech we have today even tells us WHICH tire is low on air and we STILL dont fill it up... How many idiot lights are on a 6 year old BMW, Mercedes, Audi? Are the brakes and steering on a 12 year old Chevy pristine? YOU have that faith in people? LOL And that is one aspect of when talking about OLDER cars on the road. WHO will be responsible to FORCE people to MAINTAIN their vehicles SO these super sensitive, super improntant parts are working properly? In the aviation industry, every country in the 1st world have agencies like the FAA and keep a close check-up on airlines. When an airline has an accident, NTSB makes an investigation and it it finds that an airline cut corners in maintenance...huuuuuge problems for that airline... The FAA ENSURES that airlines's airplanes are safe. Is thsi gonna happen in the automotive industry too? LOL With all the dubious, nefarious, questionable, shady, corrupt people in automotive garages, used car salesmen, rednecked folk that redneck repairs... LOL The automotive industry WORLDWIDE is NOT a friendly place to follow rules and regulations for safety. LOL And THAT is when the vehicles are old. The tech itself is untrustworthy. In the air, the planes fly nicely in a vector. Not that planes fly straight. Winds and turbulence knock the flight path out of whack, but its easy to course correct. On the gprund...there are far too many obstacles for that to happen non-chalantly. Our softtware is waaaaaay to buggy to have a consistant safe automation let alone to course correct smoothly. In aviation, many accidents have occured and will continue to occur to add to comptuer strategy and knowledge. Meaning many peopel have died in airplane crashes for that data to have been collected. In automotive, there isnt enough data and there never WILL be enough EVEN for AI to account for everything. Besides, humanity will NEVER tolerate THAT many computer accidents to happen so data could be collected for autonomous driving to be safe. I could write more things about why autonomous driving will never be a thing. But what I DID write SHOULD be enough for ANYBODY to understand that autonomous driving is but a pipe dream...

I think nobody even gets to level 3... Autonomous driving is a pipe dream. Wait until any system of anybody goes haywire, and this whole experiment gets shut down for good. LOL Waymo has all kinds of problems and California keeps on limiting their testing boundaries... LOL Its criminal that ANY goverment allows Tesla or anybody else with this shyte. But judgement day for autonomous driving is just around the corner... Just a question of time when a real disaster will occur involving Tesla, GM, Mercedes or anybody else... POINT BEING... Aircraft after all these decades dont allow for level 3. Automatic pilot for airplanes is the equivalent of level 2 in the automotive world. Drones are a completely different animal as there are NO humans on board... So I do NOT want anybody mentioning drones to me. Although with airplanes, in the air, its a CLOSED circuit, and aircraft CAN fly autonomously, without ANY incidences, the systems in place are STILL not trusted enough. The flight IS done 100% autonomously, but the pilots are ALWAYS looking at what the airplane is doing. The airplanes are in fact landed by humans DESPITE the airplane being capab;e Although the article does claim that for airplanes...fully pilotless airplanes and flights carrying people is closer than it looks. But keep in mind, with airplanes, the circuit for flight paths are closed. Meaning, airplanes are programmed to fly in a specific flight path and it is predetermined. There are NO variations. Humans when driving do NOT at ANYTIME drive form point A to B. They drive to Point Z and them to point G and then they decide to drive to Point X before they want to arrive at their original final destination of point B. And all that is nice and dandy when the road conditions are perfect. And dont forget, airplane systems and controls are checked with EACH flight and maintenance overhauls are not only mandated but actually done at very strict and frequent intervals. We are supposedly even today, to check are tires EACH and every time we get into the car and drive off. LOL There aint NOT ONE son of a bitch that does that, let alone keep their car at optimal upkeep... Ive stated this multiple times. And Ill state it a million times more. https://canadianaam.com/2022/06/07/aam-aircraft-levels-of-autonomous-flying/ Today’s level of autonomy It’s well known that airplanes have autopilot. Even the 1980 movie Airplane! jokes about it, but in which level modern-day commercial airplanes are? On a commercial airliner, nearly the entire flight is flown on autopilot. The pilots continuously monitor the computer to ensure that it follows the correct programmed course and make sure that all of the programming is in order. Autopilot systems cannot takeoff, so taxi, takeoff, and other ground operations are done manually. The autopilot is usually engaged a few hundred feet off of the runway after departure. When arriving at an airport, the autopilot is usually used until the very last segment of the approach. When the runway is in sight, the pilot flies the plane to the landing. Some planes do have autoland systems, but these are generally only used in poor visibility when they must be used. With a certified autopilot, some airplanes can land after an instrument approach in zero-visibility conditions.

This theme reminds me of some sort of covert detective and/or vigilante. A cross between a James Bond character and Inspector Clouseau without the clumsiness. But no military or government technology or help. Maybe like Batman but grounded in reality.

Ill equate this theme song to the slick jewel thief in the 1st movie. The Phantom. Therefore my idea of what an under the radar, sophisticated, slick with a touch of Hollywood style fantasy thief's choice of ride would be.

I have being saying this for a couple of years now. Yeah. 2 years. That EVs have almost achieved price parity with their ICE counterparts. Obviously 2 yeaers ago it wasnt that obvious, but as the years go by, and more and more EV models come to market from different manufacturers, the more choices and price brackets open up. Economies of scale being acheived. Slowly but surely. That does not mean that battery mining is getting cheaper. But the cost of battery manufacturing is inching downward slowly slowly. The holy grail of that 30 000 dollar EV is just about to be offered. But...price of ICE-Vs are going up in price too. So...maybe a 30 000 dollar EV might not be that holy grail price point that manufacturers NEED... Whether ICE-Vs are going up artificially or not, is not the argument. The point is, EVs are offered at the SAME price points as their ICE counterparts and are optioned out the same or better. And these EVs are not small EVs either. They are as functional for folk as ICE-Vs are.

@David If you have any predispositions about women, that would be on you. Bulgari has sold the snake jewelery motif for 50,60, 70 years now. That first lovely lady in the black and white picture is Liz Taylor. She was THE actress back in the day before you and I were born and a sex symbol for the ages. She wore a snake watch. Its in the picture and Bulgari wanted to point that out with pride. I had known about the Bulgari Serpenti line and I realized that all the watches that were posted in this thread were all male oriented. So I decided to be inclusive and post something a lady would appreciate. And those of us who are of the male species could surely do the same and adore the beauty and elegance of these time pieces and the diamonds, emeralds, stones and gems. Who wouldnt want their better half to be adorned with such elegance and luxury to compliment their beauty? Over at the beautiful car thread, I continued to be inspired by this and I wanted to post watches, music, and cars with a theme of a femme fatale. Then I toned it down with the femme fatale thing and I just wanted to do expensive but elegant trinkets and cars with the assumption that a woman might enjoy those things that I posted. MY idea of what an elegant lovely lady would want to wear and drive.

The Bolt is not killed off. The Bolt will live on as an Ultium platformed vehicle and most probably be sold at the same price it is now. https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a44639082/chevrolet-bolt-ev-second-generation-details/ There will be a second-generation Chevrolet Bolt EV, General Motors CEO Mary Barra confirmed today during an earnings conference call. Earlier this year, General Motors had proclaimed the Bolt dead as it prepared the hatchback's factory for a transition to assembling electric pickups. But the Bolt is not dead and is in fact getting better, with Barra revealing that the second-gen Bolt will use GM's newer Ultium battery technology. Also, the Equinox EV is also said to be starting at around the 30 000 mark as well. https://www.chevrolet.com/electric/equinox-ev GM WILL come back with a Bolt 2.0 The Bolt 1.0 was the only vehicle on that platform. Then the EUV came. But still no economies of scale. The Bolt 2.0 has 23 or 24 new EVs coming to help spread the costs of those batteries. $100 000 plus Escalades and Silverados. $350 000 Celestiqs. $60 000 Lyriqs. $50 000 Blazers and all kinds of Buicks not to mention the two Chevrolets called Bolt and Equinox @ 30K to help with those costs... Also...Honda will be using this platform which will also aid in keeping those costs down... Therefore... GM may NOT be like others to lose money on EVs... Also, Tesla is NOT making the money it NEEDS BECAUSE they DISCOUNT their EVs BECAUSE their market share is eroding. Classic automobile scenario... Worthless... All smoke and mirrors. Tesla is waaaaaaaaaay OVERvalued and THAT might bite MANY people in the ass. All kinds of investors and banks that have enjoyed the riches of OVER evaluating Tesla all these years. ESPECIALLY if Tesla's market share keeps eroding and Tesla continues on discounting their cars. Reailty WILL eventually settle in with Tesla's evalution... The chickens WILL come home to roost... I REALLY cant stress enough Tesla's need for 2nd generation of their S-3-X-Y line-up. Refreshes mean nothing when EVERYBODY will be offering NEW shinier and BETTER products... Take the Equinox EV for example. Or the Honda products that are the Equinox's platform brother. The Bolt 2.0 The Buicks All those and JUST from GM will give Tesla headaches. ESPECIALLY when GM products and their owners WILL be able to USE Tesla's supercharger network... Also...GM will be building their OWN network too. WITH BMW, Honda, Hyundai-KIA, Stellantis, MERCEDES-BENZ... https://news.gm.ca/en/home/newsroom.detail.html/Pages/news/ca/en/2023/jul/0726_seven.html Seven major global automakers – BMW Group, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz Group, Stellantis NV – will create an unprecedented new charging network joint venture that will significantly expand access to high-powered charging in North America Targeting to install at least 30,000 high-powered charge points in urban and highway locations to ensure customers can charge whenever and wherever they need With a focus on delivering an elevated customer experience, the network will provide reliability, high-powered charging capability, digital integration, appealing locations, various amenities while charging, and use renewable energy Charging stations will be accessible to all EV customers, offering both Combined Charging System (CCS) and North American Charging Standard (NACS) connectors First stations are scheduled to open in the summer of 2024 Elon also wants to colonize Mars. There is no oxygen nor water in space and on Mars. So...

Only Tesla? Everybody needs to sell $30 000 vehicles. Be it ICE or EV. North American consumer goods and services have gone through the roof price wise and wages have stagnated. All those manufacturers that want to bail on affordable cars will soon find out that pricey cars will rot on their dealership lots. And...doom their existence that much faster. Without straying too far away from the crux of this discussion...Tesla needs 2nd gen of their S-3-X-Y line-up. They dont need a $30 000. They would be going downmarket for no reason. They have already established themselves and their image as premier EV makers. They have established themselves in a price market where people do not think twice giving up their hard earned cash. And that price range is $50 000-$100 000. All Elon has to do is make sure the 2nd gen of their S-3-X-Y line-up is better than the 1st gen in every possible metric and let marketing do their job properly and they will maintian their market share quite easily. But they need those 2nd gens right now... Elon is foolin' around NEEDLESSLY with that Cybertruck and Roadster 2.0. If he had thought things through and ADVANCED his EV tech INSTEAD of putting all that money and energy into Twitter/X and Mars...Tesla tech would have continued to be 10 years ahead of the competition and threats from Lucid and Rivian and GM and Volks/Porsche and the Chinese companies would have been at bay. Cute projects like the Cybertruck and Roadster 2.0 could then be started after. Instead, its Ford and Dodge that truly re-imagined what the electric pick-up truck could and will be, and GM produced the concept dream poster truck made into production toy for the rich Hummer pick-up and SUV. And it was Rivian that swooped in with their vision the electric lifestyle offroader. The dream of going 0-60 in 1.9 seconds in electric style with the Roadster 2.0 has also been messed with because Elon had other things to do. And Ferrari, Lamborghini, Corvette and everybody else that has entered the elctric world, be it with hybrid thought or pure electrics, they all pushed Tesla aside. Ill repeat, when Elon was selling us his visions, these electric visions of speed and innovation and re-imagining new ways and change the old ways, every other OEM on the planet had no freaken idea where to start with EV development. And here we are today in 2023, Elon has pissed that lead away. And more market erosion will happen. Elon could price drop his current EVs, but Elon NEEDS that revenue. He cant afford to drop those prices. Sure, he sells more cars this way and maintains somewhat that 50% marketshare threshold. But monies arent coming in that Tesla DESPERATELY needs. 100% EV makers dont have any other kind of vehicle to sell. GM could price drop the EVs to maintain equal prices with Tesla. But GM ALSO sells ICE. GM has revenue coming either way. Ditto for Ford and VW and everybody else that produces their own EVs but produces ICE as well... GM has a history of 100 plus years of going toe to toe with price wars with its rivals. What Tesla is facing now about dropping prices to maintain market share, and GM, Ford AND Stellantis...ALL of Stellantis not just Chrysler, have been through this SEVERAL times and they know that this kind of thing NEVER ends good... Tesla is going to feel lots of pain. Tesla NEEDS 2nd gens of their S-3-X-Y cars. I CANT stress that enough... Tesla does NOT need to sell lower priced cars IF 2nd gen of their S-3-X-Y cars go on sale. Tesls has THAT vehicle price range ALL to themselves. But...they NEED those 2nd gens right now for them to continue to own that price range!!!

Yes...even this one is torture DESPITE being a quite capable and interesting ENTHUSIAST car... Nothing to do with it being a hatch. Nor a 3 cylinder. But EVERYTHING to do with it being a Toyota...