trinacriabob

Good morning ... ... good times ...

The Airbus vs. Boeing debate goes on and on. Here, it's about the newer Airbus 350 versus the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Realistically, the A-350 could only compare to a B-787-10, the longest version of the Dreamliner. That said, they often pit the A-350, which could carry a lot of passengers in 2 class configuration, against the B-777. I have flown on 3 Boeing 787s in the last 5 years. Two were medium-haul and one was transatlantic - Rome to Philadelphia's AA hub. I just flew on the Airbus 350 for the first time about a week ago. It was by Finnair, picked up at Helsinki after transferring there for the flight to the U.S. I was truly expecting more from the Airbus 350. It does what it's supposed to do. It seems to be getting more sales than the Boeing. I prefer the Boeing 787 Dreamliner by a slight margin. The most important thing is that the humidification felt better in the 787. They say the A-350 is quieter, but it's negligible to the untrained ear. Even though some complain that the crew can lock and control the window dimming on the 787, they did not do this on my flights and I loved it, complete with the big taller windows. The A-350 metrics seem to benefit the operator. The A-350 can seat more people, it burns slightly less fuel, and can fly slightly more nautical miles, but it seemed crammed and I didn't like the feel of the cabin, right down to shades on the windows. In waiting on the delayed plane A-350 for an hour, the heat gain against my window - with the shade down - was too much. I got up and walked around the rear galley where the air conditioning better cooled me down. Both have 3-3-3 seating and they say that the A-350 cabin width puts a few more inches on the seat. That doesn't come into play for me. Not only that, Airbus puts in more thin Recaro-looking seats that seem hard whereas the Boeing puts in seats with a more conventional sculpted silhouette. It's subjective. I didn't find the A350 all that much quieter and like the "open sky" architecture of the 787 cabin, the seats, the dimming, and the humidification. The A-350 has a straighter looking wing angle with curled wingtips that look cool when they are maneuvering. However, the fully upward curved wing of the B-787 is stunning. The B-787 is a slightly better looking plane. I wish more carriers of 9 abreast aircraft would follow Japan Air Lines' move (in their B-787) to 2-4-2, which would make the Dreamliner more of a dream. If 9 across (3-3-3), I would go with the Boeing 787. However, I could skip this debate and step down in size to Airbus's latest A330-900 neo. It's got some up the upgrades, and keeps skinny harder seats; however, the 2-4-2 seating is the way to go for more comfort.

I don't know what to say ... typical Midwest political demographics where big cities with large minority populations, state capitals, and college towns are blue while everywhere else is red. After the 2016 election, I was driving across I-70 in the Buckeye state. To my right was a Sonic or Spark with the bumper sticker "Get Lost, Hillary." As I got alongside it, it was a smaller older white woman whose hair had a blue hue befitting a "bluehair," it also looked like she had stuck her finger in a light socket, and she had a slight underbite like a bulldog. The funny thing is that this is the demographic of the very people Agent Orange hates because they 'make him look cheap.' I really wanted to get her attention and give her the finger Viggo Mortensen style as in "Green Book." I might have occasionally done that in the past - in my SoCal days, which wasn't too smart - but I don't really do that anymore.

@Robert Hall I had meant to ask about this when it was mentioned a good while back. I'm not really on Facebook anymore - too much politics and religion. The post mentioned that the use of "white trash" lands someone in Facebook Jail. I was wondering how that worked: Door #1 "(insert name of person), you're such white trash." Offensive Door #2 "J.D. Vance talks about growing up white trash, so maybe that's why rurals can relate to him." Mostly an opinion Door # 3 "I found a casserole recipe on a site where the focus is on 'white trash cooking.' Here's a photo of the casserole." This is stating something "factual." - - - - - So, how does the FB censorship protocol work? Someone has to flag it?

Beautiful photo! Not a particularly large lineup; I don't see a Corvette and the divisional arrangement is a little confusing, yet B-O-P convertibles are in the back. Maybe the "consolidation" helped them be profitable. I'd be digging on a similar photo from '75 or '76, with Firebird/Camaro, my beloved colonnades, and some hefty full-sizes with quad rectangular lamps up front. Everything today is, by comparison, somewhat boring: cars, music, the gaming craze, too much political correctness, etc. Need I go on?

The interest rate scenario is changing. You can see it in CD rates. First, the rates have dropped. Second, there's a more noticeable incremental drop in the rates if you take the holding period further out. (There doesn't appear to be an inverted curve at this time.) Finally, they've gone to more annual or semiannual interest payouts than to monthly or quarterly ones. Oh well.

I was thinking along the lines of Taco Tuesday even though I'm heading out shortly for Greek food stateside.

Adam is hilarious ... an automotive walking encyclopedia with a voice for radio ... I learned quite a bit here. 1:15 - I think the silhouette is sort of weird, with the squared-up greenhouse about the exact same proportions as the hood and trunk on either side of it ... this was the car to borrow from your parents to put your friends in the trunk and take them to the drive-in free of charge. These proportions are off. I'm sure they could have done something a little better. 2:00 - Am I to read that, for the downsize in 1977, it was the 425 ci V8, and, then, for this year only, there was a NA 368 ci divisional V8 before Cadillac started to do some weird things for a couple of years? 3:00 - I had no clue that the cylinder deactivation modules could be removed and it would become a normal 368 ci V8. However, if taking it through its smog or safety check, their seeing it deactivated would cause it to flunk, I believe. 10:00 - the amount of information in this strip gauge era was not enough. The temp gauge was sorely needed. Bull about how well engineered Caddy cooling systems were. On an heirloom 350 V8 Cutlass Supreme, the fan clutch was iffy and the car could run hot. We had that fixed. Then, the upper radiator hose had a mind of its own, which has nothing to do with the cooling system's engineering, and it would periodically form a bulge in one of its elbows. We had to carry a spare in the trunk. I was driving it east to go to school over 2,000 miles away, and one burst in the desert near St. George, UT. I had to wait for a long time for it to cool, put in the provisional one from the trunk, and then buy yet another one from a NAPA or sim. in St. George, UT. Needing a temperature gauge goes beyond how well the car is engineered because other things could cause an overheating problem. You just need the idiot light to turn on soon, so it steers you to keeping an eye on the temperature gauge. 11:45 - he feels the same way I do about these interiors. They were phenomenal for a long road trip and a feast for the eyes. Never say never; however, I don't think we'll experience some of the creature comforts from this chapter again. So, yes, this car does feel like a brief return to the pre-1977 GM full-size downsizing in which most of the models got slab sided and lost a little bit of their personalities in the process.

Good morning ...

Random daydreaming ...

Enjoy the last official 3 day weekend of summer. Temperatures will start to cool and days will start to get shorter. I'm not doing much of anything, if I can help it. Happy Labor Day, folks!

Today is Warren Buffet's birthday per financial website power reading. It looks like 94. He lives in the same house he has lived in for decades. It cost something like $30,000. What sort of car does that buy today? He keeps cars for a long time. They say that those who are comfortable in their wealth don't fuss over the flash and cash of newer and expensive cars. Well, I keep cars for a long time. What the hell happened with me?!?

The overuse of the word "iconic" has become ridiculous.

I had forgotten this instrumental piece is such a great part of this "classic" comedy. As Serge would have said, "It's a very important piece." (Some movie scenes inserted in, which is cool.) This is excellent.

I agree. We had a cat. She didn't live too long. She was all black. Since she grew up in a household that had boys, we were always handling her and playing with her. She had no problem intreacting with anyone who came over. It was sad to see her pass. I've always had a thing for black cats. I commuted to college and, in an expensive area, stayed at home after that when I started working for about 3 years before my Atlanta chapter. Our dog, which I looked for specifically in the L.A. Times, lived between 11 and 12 years. She was a good guard, quickly figured out who were friends once they were inside the house and would calm down, and was a real morale booster on tough days. Like all working dogs, they are prone to hip dysplasia and that's what did her in. I remember when we all took her to the vet. For one, we took the Olds, with plush seats, when "her" designated car had a vinyl interior. She knew something was up. I held her during the ride to the vet and when he administered the shot. When we got back into the car, you could have heard a pin drop. That was different from the typical, and stereotypical, arguing that was par for the course.

Very cute. Looks like there's some Russian Blue in the DNA. I think I'm the one active member that likes dogs and cats about equally ... there are some great dogs and some great cats ... and their goofiness will steal your heart.

There was a movie filmed in Pittsburgh that had Anthony La Paglia in it and he was a detective or a cop chasing down a killer vampire snacking on Mafiosos. It turns out it's a younger lady - a French actress - whose subjects of choice are the bad guys. The movie starts out with a hit on a mobster while parked at a Pittsburgh viewpoint - probably Mt. Washington - and they are warming up to doing the nasty. That is, until she digs het fangs in. The camera then pans away from a dark Fleetwood Brougham of that era. What movie was that?

You mean 2026, right? I know. Ten to twenty years ago, we didn't have these thoughts. I can think of a few catalysts responsible for having moved us over to this sort of thinking, but we can't discuss these things here, so I'll let it go. As far as land yachts go, I like some of them. I wouldn't want to go too old on such a vehicle. I'd sure love a '75 or '76 Bonneville Brougham or Grandville Brougham coupe; however, that 400 or 455 would have to go and a 350 would need to go in. I'd sure love an '82 Delta 88 Royale (Brougham) coupe with the small Olds V8, but same line of thinking. But, on a more realistic note, the one's I'd come closer to owning would be a 2000+ Grand Marquis 4.6 SOHC V8 that was from one of the years with stellar Consumer Reports dots or a mid-'90s Caprice with the 200 hp (enough for me) Chevy 4.3 V8, Optispark and all - oh well. I think the Chevy would win because of my (previous) loyalty to GM and my having only owned all cast-iron engines thus far, which says "luddite."

In the search, this also came up. I had forgotten all about this! He remained so cool through this weird event and his news delivery didn't derail for more than a second! So, they know who the college kid in South Carolina that did this was. This raises more interesting questions. Who put him up to it? What did the college do about it? What does his college transcript look like? Did/does he produce less testosterone after this event? And is he living a fairly normal life today?

@Robert Hall famous enough, and on TV, but not an actor or a singer @A Horse With No Name no asylums involved ... no to that one, but funny Meteoroligist Jim Cantore, but probably in the early '80s. Random linked thinking: A tornado takes down a sizable VIP yatch off the coast of Sicily. I didn't know there were tornadoes in the Mediterranean. Then, is Jim Cantore still on the Weather Channel and putting himself smack in the middle of hurricanes and tornadoes? Apparently he is. I used to watch the Weather Channel, but now I just use its app.

Ok, so who is that person in the high schol photo? His parents should have had much more sense than let him out of the house to go get his high school portrait with a Hersey's Kiss-shaped frizz ball on top of his head.

Good afternoon ... ... no cheating

You know how apps - like those of airlines - have a theatrical type lead in ... I'm wondering if this one's start-up says "Shazam ... shazam ... shazam." Just a random thought. I have Flightradar 24 on my phone, which can be both useful and fun, so I'll have to look into this app.

I was eating at a bakery/coffee place I like and they had some music going in the background. I'm thinking it was new age - all instrumental - but a very good piece nonetheless. None of the employees would have known its name. I was then thinking that they do studies to figure out what kind of music dogs respond to both positively and negatively. Any ideas on this? I'm thinking they'd like new age instrumental and get riled up by "The Immigrant Song."

It's impressive and the way it spans that gorge or canyon is something to see. There's a viewpoint adjacent to it and you can look over the bridge and the canyon ... great photo op. The thing with WV is that its scenic wonders are not clustered together. They're fairly far apart from each other. I saw them under fall colors. I think I did a review of the Camry on that trip. It might have been 2019. Either way, I kept traveling - as allowed - during and after Covid, didn't get it, and then, in late 2022, I got a 3-day case of the omicron variant a few weeks before I had injection #4 scheduled.