trinacriabob

I could use some help here. If your luggage doesn't make a connection and there are many connecting flights later that day, aren't you entitled to some form of compensation, even if they bring it to you the next day ... and you're at a hotel? Also, for a nonstop flight in the morning where you are checking in over 1.5 hours ahead of departure and the same thing happens, shouldn't they give you some token money, even though it comes the following day? A nonstop flight! It never got loaded onto the plane! No one is going to go out and start buying things if there's a probability of it arriving in a day. However, it means one may have to sleep in their clothes or in their birthday suit, or something between the two, not to mention the stress of wondering if the luggage will in fact arrive. I thought there's a token amount that is reasonable for such inconveniences. I thought this convention about some token remuneration was written down somewhere. Luggage losses and delays are a minute percentage of all the luggage that they move. Looking for some input and information ...

I can't even do this ratio off of the number 10, so I'll use 20. If you go onto a Hyundai lot, you'll see approximately the following ratio of Sonatas : Elantras : Accents - 11 : 7.5 : 1.5 They have boatloads of Sonatas. Evidently, people are seeing them as good values and are scooping them up. On the other hand, with the restyling and slight enlargement of the Accent, the line between the Elantra and it has gotten finer. In short, one has to really scour a Hyundai dealership lot to spot an Accent. That's what I have experienced.

Today marks yet another anniversary of the sinking of the "Andrea Doria." *sigh*

Not really a joke, but a funny story with a joke embedded in it. When I lived on Atlanta's north side, I would drive to the MARTA station and take the train to work. (I couldn't believe all the trees ... beautiful.) A couple of times, I would pass this chiropractor's office that was near a small private college. This chiropractor had one of those message boards outside with the hanging letters that said "Free Spinal Exam." The nearby college students would periodically remove some letters so the message would read "Free Sex." Nowadays, that board would be electronic. Regardless, I thought those college kids doing that must have had a good sense of humor. Q: What is New York's 6th borough? A: Miami.

I like the sail panel lamps but not much else here. Very tacky. But then it's on a ritzy street in FL, per the houses and trees. A family friend who was too short to drive an' 80s Eldorado had one and had the fake tire affixed to the trunk ... terrible. Here you go. One such year was 1975. I had forgotten that there was a Calais series one step down from the Deville. Most of the cloth interiors offered were pretty wild. Only one, the "Manhattan," was consistent enough with the cloth seating offered for at least a decade going forward. http://automotivemileposts.com/cadillac/cadi1975interiortrim.html

I'm going to assume that this vehicle does NOT have platinum plugs then. My last car had conventional plugs and each tune up (30,000) showed them to still be in great shape. I still did a tune up every 30,000 miles. I watched a YouTube on throttle body (TB) cleaning (it was either a Bonneville or a GP) and the inside was gunked up pretty bad. I'm thinking it had to have been neglected or high mileage. The video said that a person has to be careful with the throttle body flap and that you had better be very careful with your fingers! Isn't a good air filter one of the first lines of defense for the TB?

Cool to get some consensus on the Techron. Some already know, but the small bottle is only intended for cars with smaller fuel tank capacities. I don't go to Costco that much anymore but keep my membership up. It's about tire rotations, large electronics purchases now and then, and jeans (great prices on some name brands). So, then, I need to make use of "Cafe 150" and the "sample lunch" to make it worth my while. LOL. Yes, I would imagine they bundle Techron at a good price. At the auto parts stores, I tend to see STP bundled in 2s for about $9.99. I have bought that before. I guess I like the double protection of top tier gasoline and fuel injector cleaner. I started this regimen beginning with the last car I owned. I didn't do any of this stuff with the '84 Supreme Brougham coupe, since it was a carbureted 3.8. At what point or place does one insert the throttle body cleaner? I just put in a new Fram higher end air filter every 10,000 miles. If a person has pulled off the air filter assembly to slide in the air filter and they see the outward side of the throttle body flap and it's really clean, does that mean that the inboard side would be clean, too? No driveability issues thus far.

It was interesting how, when first released, everything about the Seville was very purist. It was a clean looking "little" car! Within a few years, they felt compelled to make it more complicated ... busier grille, etc. Then, when it came down the combining the bustle back Seville with a V8-6-4 and/or a somewhat unreliable 4100 aluminum V8, the Seville became downright frightening. Have not seen a bustle back Seville IRL in at least 5 years. But I do see first-gen ones from time to time. Did anyone remember when the entry level Cadillacs of that era could be had with cloth (plaid) seats? I believe they were a "credit" option. Sevilles either had mono-color leather or velour seats. I know that the 252 Buick V6 was a "credit" option when it was offered.

Yesterday, I saw a 1975* (maybe 1974) Olds Delta 88 convertible at a light that was perpendicular to me. It was red, with a white top and a white interior. It had whitewalls and wire wheel covers. It was spotless. It was a retired guy driving it and his wife (probably) was in the passenger seat. She had a scarf or whatever it was around her head. I'm guessing they were channeling National Geographic and the World's Fair of 1964 in Flushing, NY. * round lamps up front - IIRC, it was only the Olds 98 that received quad rectangular lamps up front that year.

I get the sense that a few of the regulars on this forum are sort of taken by Mavericks ... possibly for their humorous qualities.

Do you routinely use a fuel injector cleaner or fuel system additive? I do. I add a bottle to the tank about every 5,000 miles, in addition to using the better detergent gasoline brands. Which ones do you use, like, and/or know have a good reputation? I've heard Techron is the best. Others mention brands like Lucas and Seafoam. I don't know much about these, so I don't use them. I have also used STP and Valvoline fuel system cleaner. You need to read the label on the Techron bottle. The one that is nicely priced only treats 12 gallons of gasoline. The one in the larger plastic bottle treats up to 21 gallons. My tank holds about 17 gallons. Any ideas on fuel injector/fuel system cleaner brands and frequency?

Yesterday, the car received a new transmission fitting where the line comes in (or out) to being cooled. There was a small leak that had been there for a while. No more drips. Keeping my fingers crossed. I like a clean concrete parking apron.

I like this. I've heard it said that French is the language of love ... and diplomacy I've heard it said that Italian is that language of art and music ... and, as you say, food. I'd buy that English is now the language of commerce. I know that I couldn't get into a groove with those taking Latin in high school. I will own my fairly high nerdy quotient. That of those taking Latin was more than I could relate to.

Q: How do you stop an Italian person from talking? A: You tie their hands behind their back.

The second thing I learned in German, and from an Austrian, is: "die Italiener sind lusting, die Spanier sind leidenschaftlich, und die Deutschen sind grundlich" (Italians are entertaining, Spaniards are passionate, and Germans are exacting) I cannot discuss the first thing I learned in German ... here. I once told a German lady on a Lufthansa flight after landing in Portland when they had the nonstop service about the second thing I learned and she laughed and added, "Eess not only the Spaniards that are leidenschaftlich." Too much!

When you're a kid and want to piss someone off, you might toilet paper their car or house. When you're an adult and want to do the same, you can't be quite so juvenile. One time I was sitting in a tavern that had good happy hour food specials and some steak Saturdays and the crowd tilted toward blue collar and biker. I ate and left. That was about it. They had a jukebox. I thought this could be funny. You go over to the jukebox as you are about to finish your food and program the following songs ... Donna Summer - "McArthur Park" Andrea True Connection - "More, More, More" Odyssey - "Native New Yorker" ... and get the hell out of the place. I'm sure most of the people inside would be steamed.

I don't sense there's a full set of teeth in the expanse of this photo ...

I have been telling this joke to some people and they like it!

In some cases, those adjectives don't apply. They are just lacking the je ne sais quoi they used to have. What's funny is when the ones who weren't very pleasant to most people because they lookED good (past tense) are now "nice." And you're thinking, "Save it ... I think I'll pass." We had a lady who worked on a different floor of this building in which I rode the elevators ... up and down ... every damn day. She was blonde, thin, late middle age, and had kept all her curves. She had somewhat of a stronger nose, but it looked o.k. on her. With a couple of guys on our floor who joked around, we nicknamed her "Reunion," because she may have NOT been cool in her younger years but was now routinely pleasant to everyone, based on observing her. She also had a shiny rock, so I think she was a (happily) married woman. I'd rather have a free Slurpee than a free doughnut. Perhaps not AS bad for you.

Thorough review ... I rented one on the heels of a Nissan Altima for a few days after an exchange and liked it much better than the Altima. I was able to get over 41 mpg (after converting kilometers and liters) on a jaunt from Quebec City back to Montreal in an Altima and thought they were great. Then, the Sonata told me how much more definition there is with a step-gear transmission. And, like you said, it shifted beautifully. I believe the highway mileage may have been about 35 or 36 mpg. I think they worked wonders with the mid-cycle refresh. The placement of "Sonata" in slanted letters across the rear has worked wonders for the car, albeit a small change. Usually, I don't like that. I also know that the current vernacular is to slope the rear back lite to the point of almost eliminating the trunk lid. I wish it wasn't as sloped, but it works with the car. I have test sat in the new model at both the auto show and in show rooms and, while Hyundai dashboards tend to be very practical, I can't say I like how horizontal the buttons are laid out in the center stack. I believe one salesperson referred to it as the "piano key" design/layout. That's a good way to put it. I prefer things a little more compact in the center stack. However, if I was buying in this segment and buying foreign, the Sonata and the Passat would be the only ones I'd consider. The price point of the Limited is too high. In lower grade trim, they are a good value. I would pass on the Camry and the Altima. Hopefully, GM can amp up its game in this segment.

I saw this yesterday. I notice(d) them because they are a "minority." Most late '80s and early '90s Cutlass Cieras and Centurys were sedans ... or even wagons. Only a few were coupes. Here's a Buick Century coupe. The color ought to provide clues to the year, but I'm guessing it's 1990 to 1993 ... a car that is over a quarter of a century old and still ticking. It either ran with a 3300 V6 or a 4 cylinder - 2.5 or 2.2. These two 4 bangers also powered W-body Luminas at different points in time. When I spotted it, a chick who evidently worked in big box retail was sitting in it. I couldn't photograph it. When I left the store, no one was in the car at that point. I get a kick out of this body style ... very "retro" in its own way.

To see 4 unusual Pontiacs in one day and within hours was weird ... as in good weird. Got it: 400! I would have been very happy with just a 350 ... plenty to pull around a GTO and a smaller block. But I accept that these were meant to be muscle cars, with 400s and 455s. What an era and so glad I actually got to see those more frequently when I was young.

Yesterday was an eerily Pontiac sort of day. I saw 4 of them, from bad to stellar, and in that order. 1. A fire hydrant yellow Pontiac Aztek - frightening 2. A navy blue 1964 Pontiac GTO +/- ... it was smaller and squarish than later ones 3. A light metallic gold Pontiac LeMans, maybe 1966 or 1967, with the fins on each side of the rear backlite. It was not a GTO, nor any other type of special named model. I'm going to assume it ran with a 326 c.i. V8 or something like that, prior to the days of the 350 V8. 4. A veritable jaw dropper - a light mint green metallic GTO - 1969, 1970, ? (help) - the front and rear treatment ought to provide those clues. I could not figure out which engine it had ... there was no badge. It had no power equipment (not a problem at all). It had no air conditioning, either (based on the dash climate control module - easy to work on!). And I realized that an operating console that tapers down on the center tunnel without reaching up and touching the dash was sort of cool and minimalistic after all. It really told me that Pontiac should have never been offed. It was GM's most provocatively styled brand across its lineup and there was a place for it, even as a small niche brand marketed together with others at GM dealerships. They caught my eye more than any other GM brand in most cases. Photos:

Has anyone noticed that you just can't pick up the phone and call anyone (a person) anymore? Texts are used as appointment methods to do just that. And I'm talking about friends/peers from decades ago who you just used to pick up the phone and call. How times have changed ... at least as far as communication tools go.