trinacriabob

It was obvious that the Dow was coming down from being at around 36,000. It might have gotten up there too fast. I thought that it might head down toward and stay at about 33,000 to 33,500 for a while. Well, I was wrong. Given that they put a man on the moon over 50 years ago, anything is possible.

A non sequitur random thought in my world ... I tend to get a lot of stories and videos about bears, mountain lions, sharks, and alligators on my homepage. I guess the cookies tell them to send those my way. This one is mind blowing. They confirmed the existence of a rumored alligator in Lake Conway, Arkansas. So I looked at the map. It is NORTH of Little Rock. One draws some latitude lines in their mind above which the conditions should not be good for alligators and this is fairly far north, so I learned you can't count on these "lines in the sand." Incidentally, many parts of Arkansas are surprisingly scenic. I learned that last fall. There was also one spotted last week on the waterside trails of an apartment complex outside Huntsville, Alabama. And it made the local news. Not Mobile, AL, down on the Gulf, but more northerly Huntsville, near the Tennessee border.

I looked up Wiki and saw more 6 speeds, even though they weren't listed as paired to engines. That 2.4 EcoTec with a 6 speed automatic, by today's standards, is a keeper. I have been seeing more mid-engine Corvettes lately. I'm starting to like them more and more, but it's not anything I would ever own! The last one I saw was an interesting orange color. They look good from all angles and, from the side, it's a nicely proportioned sports car. Also, that intake scoop behind the front door looks "daring," in a way ... and accomplishes brining in the air from outside.

Accurately and economically stated! (I need to work on being less verbose.)

As for the last part, it had to have been about economies of scale, so they had to stay in FoMoCo. These 2 vehicles shared so many components, notably their powertrains. As for the cars themselves, there is no doubt that if I was looking at these 2 vehicles, I would have opted for the Milan. The difference of ~$500 to $1,000 (at the time they were on the market) probably wouldn't matter to people who keep their cars for a long time. That's also a cheap price tag to avoid an ongoing cognitive dissonance problem! Hearing what Elon Musk thinks of everything is annoying and it was the same way when Bill Gates was the VIP in the spotlight. (On the other hand, Warren Buffett seems to make insightful and reasonable observations, for the most part.) I tuned out to Elon and to Tesla a long time ago. I don't even bother to study or analyze Tesla cars all that much since they're more ugly than not.

The random things that went through my head in the last few days: Pushing the cart down the aisles at the supermarket tells me that, from last year, it looks like the price of grocery items has gone up 20% to 25%. The current gas prices are really, really bad for the discretionary travel industry and have caused me to cancel plans. I am disgusted to read or listen to the news to learn that a certain type of criminal event seems to occur just about daily now and the "innocence lost" factor is becoming a much bigger problem in this country. It's amazing to see that, in looking at the Ford stable, there are so many Fusions and Milans (4s and 6s) on the road, in excellent physical and mechanical condition, and their owners do not want to part with them. There was a Milan in my rear view mirror tonight and it remains a handsome and timeless vehicle. This is a 2010.

@surreal1272 The actual rainfall in Seattle (and Portland) on an annualized basis is less than that of most cities in the East, including Atlanta, for example. I've lived in both and, in Seattle, it's an ongoing thing, but it rarely comes pouring down. Eastern cities are more apt to get thunderstorms where it comes down in buckets, so that probably explains why they get more when annualized. I would sometimes watch heavy rain in Atlanta send so much damn red clay down the sides of residential streets. I did okay with the rain. It gave me an excuse to get coffee and/or read. It didn't put me in a bad mood. I will say that that corner of the country is reputed to have some very uptight people and I would concur with that. Many California and East Coast transplants commiserated about this ... and befriended each other. The Univ. of Wash. psych. and soc. departments have faculty and researchers who study these social phenomena and write about them. @Robert Hall Good call on your "what if" scenario, except that it is so expensive in the PacNW right now. It's interesting how, when Boeing was not doing well in the late '60s and early '70s, some people funded a billboard on I-5 southbound saying 'Will the last person leaving Seattle turn off the lights?' or something like that. People would also call the Univ. of Wash. "the U," which was sort of small townish. Nobody has called it that for at least 2 decades! I will say that any place where the predominant tree cover is evergreen makes for a more pleasant environment than one that is deciduous. That's why, to me, at least, Maine looks nicer than Southern New England and Duluth and the UP of MI look nicer than the Twin Cities, so it makes for a nicer place to be day in and day out. The Atlanta area also looked nice because of the ubiquitous stands of Southern pine. My parents came to visit me there once and took the Delta "red eye" from SoCal, never having been in that corner of the U.S., and were mostly impressed.

There are a lot of "messed up" people because they like both New York and California and, because they get into these moods, they tend to move back and forth. This would be people who have that sort of money. And some of these people have residences in both places. Say it all with a New York accent: When in New York: "the weather is awful" When in California: "there is no culture here," "you can't get good food at 1 a.m." They love to whine. - - - - - The second photo looks more like La Jolla (San Diego) even though I was thinking it could be near Palos Verdes or Laguna Beach, but I'm not sure.

Live (as opposed to recorded studio) performers and performances deserve a lot of credit. They have to get it right. I've been to Syracuse twice, I believe. It's right on the New York Throughway. I couldn't believe how hilly parts of it are, including most of the Syracuse Univ. campus itself. Interesting observations about the Equinox. It is now powered by a 1.5 T 4 cyl. However, it keeps a 6 speed automatic. That's good fuel usage. The dash is pretty much the same dash as that of the Malibu. I was talking to a neighbor I don't know that well. He has a '17 Equinox. He said his has a 2.4 L 4 cyl. and a 4 speed automatic transmission. I told him he's lucky to have such a combination that should be very dependable. I didn't know 2.4s were used by Chevy. That's what is in the Verano.

Another one of those songs that you remember exactly where you were when you heard it from the car's cassette player. Not really a fan of Kenny Loggins, but this songs broods more than his more poppy stuff. Some friends and I were coming back from a ski trip to the Lake Tahoe area, had descended from the Sierra Nevada, and were driving down I-5 back to SoCal through a Central Valley covered in clouds and this "darker" song fit the situation. Who'd have thought that, per Wikipedia, Kenny Loggins was native to Everett, WA?

This one, your first one shown, is probably the best one. That character line across the lower part of the doors makes a strong statement and helps break up the relative length of the Regal.

I did the donut thing TWICE on Friday. Just to be a goofball. I figured something like this national day calendar existed. I will have to download it and circle the events that interest me. I look at this in a different way. It's all about whether you "like" your salesperson or not. If you don't "like" them - and you usually know that fairly quickly - then it's hard for them to sell you anything you don't want, including some car you were investigating in a noncommittal, information gathering sort of way. It's easy to say NO. The few times I've bought - new (and keep them for a long time), they gave me a real good price right away, or I got a good price along with some rebate or card earnings applied, and I signed on the dotted line. I've got some great NO stories and, of course, most of them would have an adversarial quality. But I've got a NO story that stands out to me as funny. When I was looking at LaCrosse-Grand Prix-Monte Carlo, I went into a Pontiac dealership and was looking at some Grand Prixs. The salesman was really laid back and friendly. It turned out he was related to this family business and wasn't that motivated. He said something like along these lines, 'Open it up, check it out, I'll get the keys, and we'll take her for a spin. Just for the heck of it.' He was going, 'Yeah, drive on this freeway, step on the gas, check out this long ramp, drive down this road next to the river, blah, blah.' It's like he wanted to joyride and talk. I told him I had been in South Florida a month or so before, to which he responded, "Yeah, I was down in Lauderdale once ... had a great time chasing skirt." We drove back to the dealership, I thanked him, got his card, and drove off in my car laughing. In this case, I didn't want to give him the business because he was such a flake, in addition to deciding that I would not be buying that car of the three I was considering.

This sled (^) looks sort of Communist! As done this one, near the big Orthodox cathedral in the center of Sofia, Bulgaria.

SEdan SEville SExy ... well, sort of Not having sedans around is going to make us crave for them even more. And, at this juncture, on this 3rd of June, I'm craving that free donut.

I'm not on board here. I do not like Krisy Kreme donuts and their oil slick like glazing at all. I will readily stop by Dunkin and I'm okay with Tim Horton's donuts as well. I like the drier cake frosting of the latter two places. These Greek treats sound similar to but look different from loukoumades, which always seem to be available at Greek festivals. As much as I like Greek festivals, they can get pricey for their a la carte pricing. If I have room after the meat, potatoes/fries, and baklava, I might try these. And they are also good. This conversation is useful because it's reminding me not to miss out on National Donut Day!

That was it ... the 4.0 inline 6. I'm sure it would have easily busted past 200K, but you kept it for a good 17 years. Thanks for the info on when these engines were last slotted into these cars. I'm better with these sorts of facts when they apply to GM vehicles that I've been a big fan of!

Jeeps are interesting. Some of them are more attractive than others. They have had a wide variety of engines. I have only ridden in one Jeep and it was a Grand Cherokee (Limited or up-level version) that a boss had. It had the V8, probably 5.8 L if in the 2000s, and probably 360 if measured in c.i. (I'm guessing). On one occasion, I had to drive it somewhere and I actually enjoyed driving it. It rode very well. The funny thing is that they tend to make the "avoid" list some auto journalists put together and I don't know why. When was the last year that a Jeep was fitted with an all cast iron inline 6 or 4? From what I've heard, Jeeps with inline 6s were the vehicles to have ... for the long haul.

Very glad to see you back posting, Cort, and I hope you're doing well.

You can probably make multiple stops ... just like one does during a "Costco lunch."

Random but timely thought: TOMORROW is National Donut Day. Check the chains and the indies for their specials so you can scarf down a donut or two.

Spotted this past weekend in the same parking lot. The owner of this immaculate old Mopar convertible was friendly enough. Those wheels look similar to the long-lived Buick alloys. I forgot which model this was since they made some nameplates that didn't stick around long, even when Mopar was chugging along smoothly. (Remember the short-lived Mirada?) Now, the owner of this vehicle was a different story. He got sort of miffed with me that I thought it was a kit car. He said it's an original 1965. BFD. I wouldn't own one. It was just unusual, so I took some photos.

I did this. I used to pay the GM dealer about $ 40 to do this every few years. This time around, I paid less than $ 25 for this Bosch filter and $ 0 for labor by doing it myself.* It is accessed from the engine bay, even though it is indeed behind the glove box. You get to look straight into the blower motor as you do this! *proof that YouTube is your friend

It's an interesting place, in it's own way. Mostly, I like that one can put in some jaunts to Galveston, which seems to be coming along and, sadly, getting more gentrified and expensive. I can see that about driving there. And would probably agree with that, of the cities listed. This might weave in some politics, but I was miffed watching this. I was in H-town in Feb. of 2020 and it was evening rush hour time, so it was backed up on one of the feeder roads to I-45 south of the city. There was this dark haired bearded guy his 30s in a big white newer raised Ram truck stuck in this traffic. In front of him was this middle aged brunette lady in a VW Jetta. She was going the speed limit and then stopping as the traffic crawled, but he was riding her tail and getting aggressive toward her. There were no political stickers on her car, nor on his truck. I glanced over and he seemed really angry. I'm almost sure that it was because, the month before, the election didn't turn out the way he wanted and he had to channel that anger. Having just been down there again, it's amazing, and stereotypical, what I see on cars, trucks, and properties in white suburbia that's both not very klassy (yes, with a k) and seems to have good disposable income ... probably from working in the trades, working in energy, or working in a higher paying govt. job.

Let's see: "four of these are of the Found On Road yada yada variety while the other vehicle is not?"

Can't peg Bryan Adams' musical style ... it's like an interpolation of that of various other musical artists. I believe he's Canadian. This is one of his better songs.