trinacriabob

February 9th and its place in history ... I always give this one a thought when I look at the calendar. The good: Today is the day that the Boeing 747 first took to the sky in a smooth as butter departure from Paine Field in Everett, WA where it was assembled. This makes for one helluva "feel good" moment in time. - - - - - The bad: Today is the day that, 55 years ago, Los Angeles had its "famous" Sylmar earthquake. Clearly, this was the inspiration for the original version of the 1974 film "Earthquake." The Northridge earthquake took place on MLK Day in 1994 got more coverage because media improved. The latter quake seemingly did a lot more damage. Northridge sits in the middle of the San Fernando Valley while Sylmar sits at the top end of the San Fernando Valley, where Los Angeles really thins out and sits at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains foothills. The commonality is that in both quakes, at least one of the really long concrete overpasses connecting the freeways I-5 and CA 14 collapsed. Every time I've driven under it or next to it, I've remarked that that is one really long span (CA 14 terminating and feeding cars onto I-5 southbound into the Valley and L.A.) - - - - - 1971 high ramp collapses at I-5 and CA-14 1994 high ramp collapses at I-5 and CA-14 (same interchange) The Los Angeles area went 23 years between its 2 major earthquakes. San Francisco had its historic 1906 quake that turned the then younger city into rubble, not having one again until 1989 - the Loma Prieta earthquake. The most severe fault in the state (the San Andreas) goes through San Francisco, while it crosses where the mountains end and the Central Valley begin some 50 to 60 miles north of Los Angeles. When you grow up around this, you seemingly familiarize yourself with all these facts and figures.

Haha. Well, it's new compared to what the trailer is carrying. It goes to show how well I (don't) know my BMWs and other foreign cars.

Good morning: Sending Sicilian Saturday vibes your way. I dropped off a rental car to board my plane in the States while it was flurrying. That is the hydrofoil that goes to Malta. I think that - where I am standing - I am a hair south in latitude compared to Tunis, the capital of Tunisia! But this is still Europe ... sort of. Walking along the beach in a small town I spotted this - the new and the old.

On a more positive note, travel related stuff ... A historic milestone was achieved by Cunard Line within the last week. When she was built, Queen Mary 2 (QM2) was too big to transit the Panama Canal. The same was true for other supersized passenger ships. In the interim, new larger locks were engineered and put into service. https://travelweekly.com.au/queen-mary-2s-first-transit-through-panama-canal-on-way-to-australia/ I saw the QM2 enter San Francisco Bay in 2007 because I was living out West. It came in on a Sunday and I spent the weekend south of the city and near SFO. I went there in a rented 2007 Monte Carlo costing less than $25 a day and stayed at one of the cheap chain hotels near SFO costing about $50 a night, which was ridiculously cheap even then. The ship went around South America and sailed northward up the Pacific. As such, it's not a trip they would be making too often with the QM2. QM2 transited the Panama Canal for the first time just days ago. She is headed to Los Angeles AND San Francisco. To clarify the article's headline, Australia is just its next leg - this is the full world cruise. She was last in Los Angeles in 2006 when she saluted her namesake Queen Mary and last in San Francisco in 2007 and seeing the passage under the Golden Gate Bridge was unforgettable. These were the only visits to these ports. With the new Panama Canal locks, her visiting the North Pacific Ocean and its major ports is much more likely to be on future world voyages. In the Panama Canal transit, the nail biter was supposedly going under the Bridge of the Americas - the one with the curved top. I saw this YouTube with passengers cheering and motorists up above honking. I blame my parents for this! They took us across the Atlantic a time or two too many when we were kids and this fascination began.

I still like these "older" cars: I didn't like these when they first came out. The first time I saw one I was driving a rented 2013 or 14 previous fleet Impala westbound on I-10 on the Florida panhandle and one of these new ones was crossing me eastbound on I-10. I wasn't convinced. The front fascia looked too tame and the back was a little chunky. Of the latest Malibus, I like the Camaro-esque taillamp treatment on this one. Not long ago, one drove past me and it must have really been taken care of because the exhaust note was damn near perfect. That would have been coming from a 2.5 liter Ecotec 4 cylinder.

@G. David Felt This was quite a surprise. I was going to sit down and do this paring down to get more space. I periodically would click on "This PC" to see how much space was available ... not much. Last night and this morning, I checked and I had gotten back slightly over 40 GB! I looked at it more than once to see if it was real. I wonder if it was a timed process within the system. I guess I'm doing ok now.

When I need a little something to lift me up a little I watch this.

Thank you very much. I knew you'd chime in. It has borrowed some 25 GB ... that I want back! I'll make myself a cup of hot tea this week when I hope to be more relaxed and do this.

Windows 11 ... Ok, the laptop was upgraded from Windows 10. There were a couple of power offs and restarts. Once I got onto the Microsoft Installation Assistant, it went smoothly. Interfaces and dialogue boxes are a little more user friendly. Here's the deal. I had about 45 GB free before I started the upgrade. I understand that Windows 11 takes up about the same amount of space as 10. I've seen posts where people complain that it has taken up a larger amount of disk space than they had before. The answer comes back that the system drive is temporarily "borrowing" this surplus of space and we'll be giving it back over time. Is this plausible? Duplicate files? How long to get the extra GBs freed up? Thanks.

I am the proud owner of this: It was on my list of things to do for the new year and it has arrived.

Today, Jan. 14, would have been my LaCrosse's 18th birthday. It could have done everything except drink. Same color, but different alloys. (stock photo) I hope that the buyer is getting good service from it. Every once in a while, when I see one, I miss it. Between the '92 Regal coupe and this last one, I have driven the 3800 V6, both as the original owner, for 399,000 miles. And the way I maintained them, there would have been a good bit more useful life in them left.

I'm really thrilled about this ... stupid as it may be Dallas has always been connected nonstop to Rome by American Airlines, which is headquartered at DFW. Houston has not yet had a nonstop flight to Rome, which seemed ridiculous. One is coming soon. Houston hubbed United won't be doing it. However, since ITA is now in Star Alliance under the Lufthansa umbrella, ITA will be providing the nonstop, which is even cooler in my book. I'd love to fly that segment.

I saw a Subaru Outback with personalized plates saying "B O X L N C H" . . . . now that I have your attention ... j/k

Good morning, folks ... Happy Nixon's Birthday!

Here are some interior views Sensible dashboard with easy to use controls - climate control vents and small touch screen embedded under the cowl ... all Versas have the black and blue trim, so they only offer exterior colors that work with that Push button ignition instead of key inserted into the side of the steering column and various cubby slots to power up Analog gauge for speedo at the right and left (display 1): digital readout Analog gauge for speedo at the right and left (display 2): trip information Analog gauge for speedo at the right and left (display 3): driving aids graphics ... and they're usually telling you something useful Analog gauge for speedo at the right and left (display 4): tire pressure Analog gauge for speedo at the right and left (display 5): DRUM ROLL ... a temperature gauge, which I almost require Pull tabs for everything in close proximity: trunk release, hood release, and fuel door release Good rear visibility and all around, really - - - - -

I was assigned a 2025 Nissan Versa from NY-LGA for the Labor Day weekend. About 10 years ago, I used to think that Versa was dowdy. As I got into it and drove around Long Island, Westchester County, and even a little bit of Manhattan (where I parked it on the street overnight for free!) with a friend I'd gone to school with, I came to like this little car. There's nothing overwhelming or remarkable about this last Versa It's just a straightforward economy car. It's nimble, slots into small spaces, and, on good pavement, rides smoothly enough for its size. The ergonomics of the interior make sense - an aesthetically balanced dashboard, simple controls, decent seats in a durable cloth, and good sight lines. The trunk is roomier than one might think. The engine is a NA 1.6 liter 4 cylinder driving through a CVT. And they were able to put this packaging together into a proportionate looking little sedan with an entry price of around $20 K. The car features a lot of the electronic assists and warnings, as in "standard." Highway mileage with good uninterrupted steady driving can easily hit the 40 mpg mark, and maybe a tad more. One would think that, in over a decade, Nissan might have dialed in the reliability of the CVT. It may not be everyone's favorite transmission, but I'm almost sure they're better than in their teething years. The curtain fell on the Versa without much fanfare. Production for the U.S. market ceased last month. Nissan will be keeping the one-up Sentra, which has been (noticeably) refreshed. I'd say this Versa is a slightly more attractive and likeable option than the recently gone Hyundai Accent and Kia Rio. Now is its "time to say good-bye." I like(d) it. Front angled view - classic Nissan treatment, nice alloys, and easy to work with Rear angled view - its lines have improved over older model years

Today is National Spaghetti Day. There's still time!

Happy new year to all my long time C&G friends! Overall, 2025 wasn't bad, but I didn't get as much as I wanted accomplished. For this upcoming year, I'd like to decide which side of the pond I want to live on. I don't want to call it a resolution as much as it is an objective. Since it's cars that brought me here a long time ago, it's no surprise that I'm bummed by the absence of coupes and sedans, not to mention many viable choices for things I would want to use my GM Card earnings on, should it come to that. I see that the VW Jetta is still around. I once had one in Houston, and I wrote about it. I liked it quite a bit. I've also had a few Nissan Versas recently and read that the curtain might be falling on that. The profit margin might be too slim. A few reviews said that this is one of the better small cars for the money. (CVT and all.) Lastly, the Toyota Camry LE should be around for a while and I once had one as a rental and like the latest rendition, complete with its hybrid engine. With GM having brought a good few of us to C&G, it would have been hard to imagine a day looking toward the future where there would be no GM sedans, let alone coupes, to choose from. End of (my usual) rant. Happy Friday.

National Park

Random thought ... to vent: I was accidentally lax with a phone camera setting and then I happened to see that a big chunk of photos were in heic files. I have had to copy them from my laptop back to my phone, where I have the feature to save them as jpeg files. It's super boring, but I'm almost done with it.

Today - depending on the time zone - marks 20 YEARS that I have been on C&G. It seems to have gone in chapters: First 3 years: Needed a new car, the LaCrosse was being released, and I was weighing the options, including test driving. Some of you will remember one ghastly initial design for the LaCrosse the Bob Lutz threw the book at the design staff for. Next 15 years: Owning the car, reporting on it, and driving other cars while on vacation, not to mention a lot of fighting with ocnblu ... which was hard to avoid! Last 2 years: NO car ... living on 2 continents ... (I would have never imagined this) ... renting cars as needed. There's a lot more to this decision than deciding between a LaCrosse, a Grand Prix, and a Monte Carlo.

I did that quiz that told me what state was most suited to my personality. I did it 2 times a few weeks apart and I kept saying Texas. How does relaxing, drinking hot tea, not liking crowds, and liking the mountains line up with Texas? So I just did another one that would be able to see what region I'm from. This one is a hoot. I am from diagonally across the country from the region indicated and I spent 21 of my first 25 years there. Now, every place I've been for work or school, or even if just a party, the Northeast is inevitably where the people that I reel in come from ... like a freaking magnet. It never fails. Happy Christmas Eve.

I once read that really, really rich people whose lives and occupations aren't really in the public eye can be understated and drive simpler cars and/or keep them for a long time. Rich people like that also tend to be a lot nicer.

A compendium of California car chronicling - say that three times real fast ... Entering Topanga Canyon, but still inside an L.A. zip code, was this Beverly Hillbillies type of truck set against the dry vegetation in the foothills and canyons. Hey, come back here! Seen going toward Ventura and Santa Barbara was this vision. I think the convertible works very well with the shapes below the beltline. The notch on the Riv coupe was a little more challenging. If we got to grow up around cars like this, we were very lucky! Seen while getting fuel and donuts was this older Chevy beauty. It's not just me who loves silver and red/burgundy. I don't know if this was true to factory, but it didn't matter. However, it had that simple and durable 283 c.i. V8 and a 2 or 3 speed automatic. I believe it was a 1962 Bel Air per my brief conversation with the owner. Wow ... that's the last-gen Riv and the place I saw it surprised me. That's in South Central L.A. You wouldn't have wanted to go in there when I was a kid. That's a new housing block they built. The other thing is that the 105 Freeway cuts through the base of South Central and you can get on and off easily with its bigger ramps. I saw this 1998 Olds Intrigue and remember how much I wanted one when they were released. It all worked itself out ... some 10 years later! Hollywood Boulevard spotting, practically in front of the famed Chinese Theater ... some older "cherry" Chevy full size coupes and God knows what that black vehicle was.

I think they knew all along and were in denial. I think that there are a lot of stupid people in our country, but it would surprise me if that many are that stupid. They needed something to pin their hopes on, like some sort of Anti-Christ, or a scapegoat. If anything, it could be the beginning of the ending of a very bad era. One very good sign is when Google Maps will show the inscription Gulf of Mexico ... again. About two weeks ago, the wind blew off a baseball cap I was wearing. That meant I had to grab my U-Dub baseball cap, which is kind of obnoxious, since it's all purple. In no time flat, I found a large variety of Gulf of Mexico baseball caps online and for great prices, so I will be ordering one in about a week. When I was on the ship that sailed out of Tampa in April for that repositioning voyage, there was a human p. o. s. up by the pools talking to someone and wearing a Gulf of America cap. I wanted to say something, but I held back. I thought that tacky people took short cruises to Mexico and the Caribbean, but I guess they cross oceans, too. Money does not buy class. Coincidentally, the perfect example of it is Agent Orange. Merry Christmas to those who celebrated as such or happy holidays. One of the things I will be celebrating with is a new Gulf of Mexico baseball cap.