trinacriabob

11 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Everything is up. I thought about buying a new Ranger since my Ranger is at 86k. Keeping my Ranger. 

Religion continues to go the way of the DODO bird...

 

Interesting take on things. 

I'm very mixed on all of this.  I have a  religion - the one I was raised in - but I'm not a religious fanatic.  There's somewhat of a compass that comes with being part of a religious community.

On the other hand, my religion, and others, have been criticized for their inability to stay out of people's bedrooms.  Now they're overreaching for wanting into the polling booth with folks.

People are steamed with all this.

FICTION:

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FACT:

The Griffith Observatory does NOT sit right above downtown.  LOL.  Far from it.

We have someone with the handle "Los Angeles" having a birthday today.

That said, I had to look up the city of Los Angeles's birthday - it's April 4, 1850.  As a native, I should have known that.  So, a birthday of April 10 (today) isn't too far off.

Admission Day for California is September 9, 1850 .... actually AFTER that of the city of Los Angeles ... and both 1 year after the most likely year for the Gold Rush - 1849.  Depending on where you went to school and/or worked, Admission Day could be a day off.

2 hours ago, David said:

One very evil and unattractive woman.

Well, materialistic, shallow, and would do whatever it takes to get somewhere.  That worked. 

Overdone - at this point - for sure, and a rather ordinary looking Slavic girl when younger.

I wouldn't care one way or the other if people like this stayed in the private sector.  They'd get a pass ... maybe.

What I was really going to say ... I was doing some surfing last night and was reading some biographical stuff and landed here.

Ok, she's fine where she is with the deep pockets she has access to.

However, had she not accessed those, she could have been quite successful if cast as a recurring foreign villainess in the 007 franchise.

On 4/6/2024 at 5:17 PM, riviera74 said:

If Elon Musk got fired from Tesla, Tesla stock would rise 50% within one year.  Elon Musk is literally a boat anchor to shareholder value at Tesla and elsewhere.

For the most part, brand new EVs are NOT CHEAP, and the median price of a new car is about $40K. The market is crying out for more affordable EVs if were are to reduce car-based pollution.

No, they are not cheap.  Look where we've had to go to hold prices down - 3 cylinder engines and other paring down across the board.  However, all the solid state stuff and complicated electronics remain - as can and should be expected - and raise the ownership costs for those planning on a long(er) holding period.

I'd say that 25% to 30% of my repair bills on my last car were for fixing quirky codes and related gremlins.

I believe the jet lag is over, but a week ago I spent from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm in flight, with the time change realistically putting me in at about 5:00 am the next day - Rome to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Houston, and Houston to Florida.  I picked Houston as the connection point because Lufthansa was using the popular 747-400 while the few operators of the jumbo have 747-8s (so does Lufthansa).

That's a 747-400 at Frankfurt, also with the new livery, but not the plane bound to Houston ... Lufthansa also uses this equipment on the Frankfurt-Toronto route.  Most North America flights use the 747-8.

This is the one for the flight to Houston ... the one at the left has the old blue and gold livery

Going over the top of the world to get from point A to point B

The Germans make Kanada and Kongo look and sound Germanic ... love the flight monitor instead of trying to take in a movie or music with the background noise

The plane's icon is quite close to Greenland ... some flights on this route go over it and some fly even further south of it.

I like that last window seat in one of the "twins" all the way at the back, with there being 3 across just a few rows up

The view forward from the rearmost of 5 cabin segments on the main level ... I am as taken with the the jumbo jet as I was as a teenager, if not more.  The diversity of people on these international flights is interesting and something to see.

The outermost engine on this quadjet seen while descending over Eastern Texas and approaching Houston-IAH Bush airport.  When the seat flight monitor tells you how many miles you are from The Woodlands, you know you're close to Houston!

It was an amazing day and all flight segments got in a little early.  Also, for the -400 not being as humidified and climate controlled as the 8-i version, the almost 10 hour flight did not wear on me all that much.

I'm staying temporarily to do some things I have to do and then heading back.

This stuff was coming in on Bluetooth from my music collection.  So, I'm going along the A1a in Ponte Vedra Beach in a rental car (more about that later) and this song piped in.  I didn't go looking for it specifically.

To me, this is quintessentially (South) Floridian, brings back memories, and works well with the A1a, even if in North Florida.

Yes, I know ... I can be a broken record.

On 4/7/2024 at 11:13 AM, Robert Hall said:

Beautiful spring weather today.  Driving all 3 cars around.    Took the Mustang for a quick spin this morning, got up to 70 in I-90, hit a few winding back roads.  Took the Caddy out to lunch at a excellent Vietnamese restaurant, hit the winding scenic Chagrin River Road which winds through some of the most expensive NE Ohio real estate (Gates Mills, Hunting Valley, Moreland Hills, Woodmere).   Saw several nice Corvettes and Porsches of various vintages, and a gorgeous black XLR-V rolling top down.  

Together, that's quite a range of interesting wheels.  Incredible sky in that photo.

To those who celebrate it, Happy Easter.*

To those who don't, have a great weekend.

* I always struggle with the after-the-event deeply discounted chocolate in the stores. However, I've read more than one source that says some dark chocolate is actually good for one's heart ... I'll run with that one.

I just  recently saw this ... me and my smooth riding I.C.E. sedans ... and coupes, too.

What's baking in the oven here is mostly looking good.  Mostly.

Captivating enough front end ... nicer than that of Camry. A little too heavy handed on the grille, at least for the base model.

Attractive enough side windows in the greenhouse with nice lower sculpting and beltline/flank rounding at the rear passenger doors, and quality looking door handles.

The exhaust area is handled nicely and the rear lights are sort of thin, jellybean-like, and anticlimactic.  Also, it does NOT want to be a '60s Plymouth Barracuda, a '70s Mustang Mach I from a James Bond movie, nor today's Buick Envista.  Big demerits for what could turn out to be a 2 volume vehicle.

Clean it up some ...

then "just do it."

Regarding Tesla - it's either love or hate with these vehicles.  A college friend I'll be seeing when in SoCal next month has 2 of them, and I'll probably be riding in both of them - one is his sleeker S model and I forgot which the other one (that his wife drives) is.  In certain places, people have a lot of disposable income and having a Tesla goes with the landscape.

Minimalist(ic) isn't necessarily bad.  We all remember the adage "less is more."  I'll vouch that the workmanship of the interior is good and I can also vouch that the overall look (including the centered everything on one display) is ugly.  I will say that EV motors are supposed to last a long time but the battery replacement is very expensive and the range is currently not that optimal.

I did not like the model Y I had for less than 1 day.  Also, its exterior is mostly ugly.  That's my opinion.

This isn't a discussion I want to get into.  I would much prefer a more user-friendly EV ... and not just yet.

- - - - -

What I was randomly going to say:

I'm not sure whether I'm in shock or still feeling surreal as to what happened in Baltimore.  At first, I thought a ship just hit something on a bridge.  Then I saw the footage and that's the surreal part ... the domino-like collapse of the entire structure and the size of the ship.  I remember having to figure out the forces of either tension or compression on each member of a truss-like structure when I was in school.   A group of us sat there for about 3 or 4 hours one night - with some Mountain Dew - to work that out.

I don't believe I've been on that bridge since it's on the outer beltway, but it's numbered as part of the U.S. interstate system.  From looking at the map, it is the major bridge on the entrance to/exit from Baltimore Harbor.  I hope they find the 6 individuals who were working on it fixing potholes in the middle of the night who fell down with the bridge.  The ship giving a mayday is what allowed them to shut down both approaches to the bridge just in time.  

The weird thing is that it happened on March 26.  IIRC, the deliberate (domino-like) implosion of the reinforced concrete Kingdome in Seattle happened on March 26, 2000 (no rain that day) and people were sitting on slopes overlooking downtown to see that happen.  But that's how it is with planned implosions.  I went there that morning and have photos of the Kingdome's last day somewhere.

https://www.seahawks.com/video/kingdome-implosion-hd

It was indeed March 26, 2000.  I was one of the few who liked the Kingdome.

29 minutes ago, David said:

Are you thinking ICE, PHEV or EV?

I.C.E. 

It's going to be slightly used.  I'm thinking Opel, SEAT, VW, and maybe some French models ... mostly ones I've already rented at some point.

There's enough to adjust to across so many realms that this isn't going to be an arena where I want to experiment, especially with so many things on my plate.

Amazing.  Today marks 5 months of not owning a vehicle.  I use a cheap monthly transit pass.  It goes most everywhere I need to go.  I'm saving a lot of coin. 

For one, I'm going to be going back and forth a bit this year.  Then, I really want to do the research before making an auto purchase, especially since I foresee it being a lightly used vehicle in this fairly different context.

24 minutes ago, David said:

Fix account sync issues - Android Help (google.com)

Thanks.  Let's see what this reveals.  I'd like it to work in both directions.

Help needed - tech in nature - instead of going onto another thread

So, you've got a Google platform phone and, with it, a Google account.  It seems that the phone (camera gallery) and what's on my account as seen via the laptop (or desktop) is slightly off synch and it's irritating.  Since I tend to take multiple photos and then pick the one that turns out better, I purge and delete, mostly via the phone.

It looks like they are not in sync(h).  What's in the account (per laptop or desktop) seems to have more photos.

Aren't these two supposed to "talk" to each other?  How do I get them to sync(h) ... at the end of the day, at the end of the week, or similar?  How about some settings instructions for both the phone and the computer?

Thanks.

6 hours ago, ccap41 said:

I definitely agree that I would use a different salesman. I HATE a crappy salesperson. Those people make me associate them all as sleezy. 

This is sort of like "Fifty million Frenchmen can't be wrong."

This just came on in a coffeehouse/bistro that plays a lot of '70s to '90s U.S. pop.

This song could have been truncated,  but Stevie Wonder has had some great songs.

"I Will Survive" now is on, and I'll spare you from that one.

- - - - -

As of yesterday, I've been here 90 days.  I've done some offbeat things in my life, but this pushes the envelope.

On 3/13/2024 at 4:33 PM, Robert Hall said:

I like the current gen Malibu...I've rented a couple since 2017.   The dearth of sedans from the traditional Big 3 is a sad state...I just can't get into the CUVs that the market is flooded with. 

I very much agree.  That there isn't one bread and butter one  ... just one ... across 3 divisions is absurd.  We disagree a little bit on the Malibu ... I like most of it with some reservations about some clunky aspects.

On 3/14/2024 at 8:51 AM, David said:

Would love to see GM shock everyone with a Hybrid or EV version of this sedan that is very modernized with the current technology and style.

I think this will happen given what Toyota has done.  I'd still like a lower cost entry-level 4 banger ICE option.  They should offer at least 2 powerplant options.

17 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

They are keeping the Malibu going at Fairfax as a way to keep the lights on and volume at that plant.  The XT4 that is also built there doesn't have the volume to support the facility on its own... though with XT4 sales numbers where they are, I can't imagine anything coming out of Fairfax being that profitable.  My guess is they have future plans for the plant and they're keeping it going just enough because it would cost too much to idle it and then bring it back later.

Right.  Someone had to have penciled this out.  I still would like to see them retool to put out a much improved and more competitive version of this car.

Re breakfast:

Spanish breakfast buffets are different from Italian ones ... and Portuguese ones.  (These are the only 3 countries I usually visit to begin with.)  At the Spanish ones, they have those great potato pies, with other ingredients.  Their locals hams are excellent. 

So, there are things I like better on an Italian breakfast buffet and things I like better on a Spanish breakfast buffet.  One interesting thing is that a Portuguese one features mushrooms more than the others ... almost always.  And I'm very okay with that.

Re other meals:

That's a nice looking (club) sandwich.

1 hour ago, Robert Hall said:

My company recognizes Pii day by sending out a coupon for free pie....haven't used mine yet, good through April 30th.

Is it pi or pii or both ... I believe I've seen formulii and formulas at one point.

1 hour ago, David said:

I had Spanish Pie for breakfast.

You can't argue with a hotel's breakfast buffet in Spain.  Did you have a good flight over there (on an interesting plane)?

I am amazed at how international nonstops to/from Seattle/Europe have increased.  It used to be just British and Scandinavian (I took the latter once). 

British still does it, Scandinavian no longer does it, and Air France came and went.  Now, add Finnair, Lufthansa, Icelandair, and Turkish.  

- - - - -

Food ...

Phenomenal breakfast buffet in Palermo last month ... that red slice of cake was strawberry flavored (it rotated and not every day) and off the charts, as was the pineapple juice and Sicilian blood red orange juice

Here's a recent economy lunch packaged deal at a restaurant in a town in Central Italy.

Happy Pi Day, folks ...

... it is a damn good thing that I barely know how to operate an oven.

9 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

3.6 w/ 10 spd auto.  I drove one with the 3.0 twin turbo, a CT5 with the 3.0 and a CT5 with a 2.0 4.  

Does a 2.0 4 respectably propel a(ny) Cadillac?  Just curious.

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Edit/add:

I have never been to the Outer Banks, nor anywhere on the SC coast, either.

I'm wondering if the Outer Banks beaches are as nice as they say and if the water color leans turquoise.  VA Beach has a typical dark blue ocean.  I am quite taken with the FL panhandle, so that's where I usually go and temporarily function as an annexed "redneck" on the "Redneck Riviera."

3 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

Yep....treated myself to a new (to me) car today.   Had been looking, did a few test drives of CT5s and CT6s, found this minty 2019 CT6 AWD w/ 44k miles at the Cadillac dealer in downtown CLE.    Took a test drive, fell in love.   Going to take it on my road trip to the Outer Banks and Myrtle Beach next month.    Hadn't really intended on getting another black car...but couldn't find one in red in the state.   

 

An attractive vehicle ... I'm thinking 3.6 DOHC V6 ... also, quite a few gears on the auto trans - like 9 or 10?

22 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

Spotted this in my driveway this afternoon...

Clearly, there's a story line here ...