trinacriabob

Some slotting of some spotting into its proper out-of-town month. Seen in SoCal ... An El Camino in not so great shape but still running, most likely with a 305 c.i. V8 ... and when it was likely that the 5 GM brands were sold at their respective dealerships. Also, the plate sequence looks very original. - - - - - An old school convertible Cadillac Seen along Imperial Highway (yes, from "I Love L.A." by Randy Newman) at Pershing Drive, the road that bounds the western edge of LAX, slightly inboard from and parallel to the Pacific Ocean Seen at the signal of Imperial Highway and Vista del Mar, which runs along the beach and which the planes take off over. I can assure you SoCal was a much nicer and more livable place when EITHER of these cars were newly minted.

To this I say:

I like the photos of the woodworking you posted, but I especially like this! ^ This map is pretty much spot on. Which makes me hate people who b!tch about stereotyping all the more. Where it says "farms" in the middle, it should also say "looks like Kansas." Driving up and down the Central Valley can be so flat and treeless that it reminds me of I-70 smack in the middle of the country. Kevin McCarthy may very well be the ONLY alum of Cal State Bakersfield that people can name. Where it says "palm trees" near Palm Springs, also add "heaven's waiting room." Right above "wine," add "meth" again ... to describe Lake County, right above Napa County, where the social ills barometer runs very high and has law enforcement and social services agencies spread thin. In and around Sacramento, add "bureaucrats" - many of them - who are paid too much for not enough work and sticking to their smoke breaks. To "sea otters," add "great white sharks" ... that snack on them and occasionally try to do the same with a surfer or two. - - - - - I love these sorts of maps. There was one for the city of Vancouver (Canada) that stereotyped all its neighborhoods and was also funny and spot on.

God, I love potato bread ... and potato buns for hamburgers and hot dogs. The problem is that I will snack on these buns late at night, so that I don't have enough for the hamburgers and hot dogs on hand.

Yes, a hearty Happy Canada Day greeting to our Canadian members - and Canadian members we don't see much of anymore - from those of us, such as me, who like Canada a lot!

Dave, I hope everything goes well for all of you. - - - - - Question on restaurant tipping. Do you tip on the pre-tax or after-tax tab? What is considered correct?

Happy Father's Day, gents! This time I mean it.

I've lived in quite a few states and overseas. Yes, people are different everywhere you go. It can vary within the city, the county, the state, and the country. But what I've seen is that you either click with a place or you don't. I was hesitant to move to Atlanta for a job in my twenties because it was "the South." After 4 months, I felt great about being there and felt welcome. Then, when I lived near Seattle, I did not feel that welcome. Their accent is generic West Coast, like what I speak. I was friends with a few transplants. But getting the "go back to California" vibe from even a few people was not cool. I even got it when opening up a bank account, and in a suit. It was all going smoothly until the question "place of birth" came up. So, these experiences can be like an on-off switch and you won't easily forget them.

@oldshurst442 I've seen the Olympic Stadium/Village complex about 10 times now. Thank you for the time lapse photos of the construction. When I first saw it, I was wowed by it. Like anyone would be. Then, with each visit, I learned more about it. Mayor Jean Drapeau aimed very high with that one, and with the blank check he "wrote." You take one look at that ambitious design and it flashes "cost overrun" in big red lights. But, yes, the stadium complex looks more worn with each visit. Just take a look at all the concrete plazas around it. But you keep going back and keep going back because it's just that unique. When they open up the border, some of us down here might just road trip up to Montreal. And we will be coming up there hungry, if you get my drift.

And also because the mindset and value system seems very similar to the one in Southern California. Many people think that. But a lot of the locals are not that cool. It's the natural beauty and the temperate climate that I enjoyed. The weather didn't really get me down - time for coffee somewhere and a good book! It seemed like some of the long-term locals were easily rattled by anything that was off color or slightly politically incorrect. The transplants rolled with it, or even enjoyed that sort of stuff. The PacNW is a little more attuned and receptive to NorCal. A little. It is definitely not attuned to a SoCal mentality. I once bought one of these at the Inclined Tower in Montreal. Haha. Where do you find this stuff?!?

Your ideal climate is found in the Bay Area and, to some extent, in the Pacific Northwest. It can be depressing, but people in the PacNW mention how the cool, moist air makes them and their skin feel clean. I don't know how that works. Perhaps that it's comfortable. That temperature band is probably the best one for people's well being. For that matter, cars in the PacNW probably fare better than in any other place in the country ... the air for combustion and the cool, moist ambient for tires, belts, and hoses. I was discussing this with a prof. I once had. She said that, even though heat is miserable, extreme cold will finish off a person quite a bit sooner than extreme heat. So, yes, 50F to 80F sounds just great. If you can afford the places where it's the calling card.

If ocnblu is Bill from PA, could that make him Billy Ocean? Probably the song most associated with this musical artist ... good song:

This looks like a Jetta or a Passat? Anyway, there is always the debate between dry heat and humid heat. I find humid heat more annoying than painful. An acquaintance of mine who is a Southerner moved from Phoenix to Houston, heading toward "home," where he will probably eventually end up. He said that, to better deal with heat, one has to keep their weight way down (he's short and lean) and wear little clothing and make sure it's cotton (t-shirts, shorts) and flip flops. To me, 95 F (should it be that high) and humid is less painful than 115 F and dry.

I thought it was today. The second Sunday in June, just like Mother's Day is the second Sunday in May. Sorry.

Happy Father's Day, gents. You all get medals for bravery.

After she had the incredible sense of humor to go along with this ridiculous televised parody, I decided I liked her. R.I.P.

For her vintage, the Normandie had a much nicer bow than her British counterparts of the era. But the superstructure and the smokestacks are a little squatty. The way it's decked out inside shows they threw a lot of francs at building this ship. I love it when they christened them, hurled the champagne bottle at the hull, and send the hulls sliding down to the water. A mechanical engineer in Italy I know told me they are not willing to risk a failed launch and, for decades, they have been built and floated in dry dock / a separate basin. The food had to have been off the charts. French Line's last flagship - the SS France - was renowned for having the best food on the North Atlantic run. The France wasn't in operation for that long - from 1962 to 1974. The fate of the Normandie was sad. I didn't know they righted it and moved it to New Jersey. I assumed it was dismantled right at the Hudson River pier. - - - - - I may have posted one of these before. Here's the alpha and omega of the "QE2," which served for Cunard from 1969 until 2008. Black and white footage from a British video for its maiden voyage arrival in New York: - - - - - Almost 40 years later, bought by Dubai. They threw a lot of money at this incredible welcome party. I saw a clip where the last captain of the QE2 got teary eyed handing over the keys and paperwork to the developer-buyer in Dubai. The economy tanked and the ship sat there for about a decade, with people from the U.K. coming up with plans and funds to bring her back home. The economy turned around again and she made it, so to speak. She is now open as a hotel in Dubai.

I've seen this sort of behavior in female and male puppies. Given that he was hungry and abandoned, he played his cards right, so to speak. Had he not warmed up to them, he might not have found a home. Many feral animals are afraid of people, even after being fed by a certain few for a long time, and they don't find homes by the time winter arrives. Yes, beautiful dog. Hilarious take with this math. I think most schools would be in deep $h!t if it was proffered at their Math and Science Fair/Day.

Don't get me wrong. I love what I call coffee weather. Even for a good part of the year. But when summer (like in the PacNW) only lasts 2 or 2.5 months, I don't want it to rain on the weekends!

I like most reads or audiovisual accounts of dogs ... This YouTube is from Bulgaria. Almost 3/4 million people like the video, which begs the question as to who the 7,300 dip$h!ts who don't like it must be. When you're thinking of this breed or that breed, and a dog like this comes along, you probably lucked out.

First, those Saturn Skys really catch my eye because they're rare and they were possibly the nicest of this GM set-up. Second, ah yes, those stunning days in the PacNW, where it's 82F to 84F everyday as you're driving to and from work during the summer, with a clearly visible Mt. Rainier in the distance, and you are planning to spend Saturday and Sunday outside, on or near the water. But, then, it reliably tanks to 68F and drizzle for the weekend. Then it goes back up to 82F to 84F on Monday! I've seen that maddening pattern quite a few times.

That's a '77 Chevy Malibu Classic coupe. Is that John Cusack when he was younger? It looks like him. - - - - - You couldn't go visit it, but you could have bid on line. This thing sold for $ 450 CAD (or $ 371 US). It has a diesel. Link to '80s GM boulevardier on its last legs auctioned off in the Canadian prairie ... albeit with a diesel

I know ... I know. The Charger remains high on my list. Thanks for the support! I saw (part of) this crazy movie called "Free Solo" on an airplane flight. I was flipping through channels. I would look at it ... and then look away. Read up on Alex Honnold, the person the movie is about. See what happens when you go to Berkeley?

I can't put this on the June spotting thread ... because I spotted it in my imagination ... and laughed. - - - - - I saw this person driving this "car" and saying, "Candy, little girl?" from its windows.

I've been thinking about cars. First, my sled is running fine. Next, I don't know what to buy sooner than later. My accumulated GM points are looking pretty good. (I am almost sure you can't use you them on CPO.) That aside, do I chuck them and get something get something other than GM - domestic, or even foreign? Then, assuming I go toward a smaller, more economical car on the next purchase, how about looking for a cheap daily driver like this? Not a Lumina Euro, but the basic coupe with a 2.2 Ecotec, no electric gizmos, and low mileage (if I can find one) to putt around in? It's the only W-body with a 4 banger. If it has wheel covers, I'll swap them over to stock alloys. I've got a weird thing for basic GM coupes with the smaller base engines and engine bays where you can spot everything and can see the ground ... if that isn't apparent by the crap I post. But I'd be breaking my rule and going back to two cars. Which then would probably prompt me to drive around more.