trinacriabob

It is a little out of control. A lot of rich foreign buyers have these units. They probably don't live there and I wouldn't expect the towers to feel all that neighborly. I will say that driving down the A1a and Collins Avenue from Lauderdale to Miami Beach is a feast of architectural eye candy. A lot of it is flashy but a few of the structures, both older and new, are nicely done. The Fontainebleau is one, for damn sure. (Think "Goldfinger.") A room at the Fontainebleau set me back $99 before taxes in '99. Is a pool/ocean view available? Ha. Not for that price. The room looked out onto Collins Avenue and toward the Intracoastal. No complaints. The problem with South Florida is also the sprawl, with so many 6-lane boulevards where people drive too fast and endless swaths of soulless office parks. Then there's San Francisco and its Millennium Tower with its issues. Miami was once "reasonably" priced. It has gotten much more expensive, especially in the last 5 to 10 years, yet also far more stressful to live in. Then, take your pick - plastic people or people who don't speak English ... not much else. Hey, doesn't that sound a lot like the L.A. of today?

I'm cleaning up stuff on my computer, figuring what to keep and what to throw out. I see this and what a wow this is to me. It's staying. I once had the brochure. I couldn't believe the color choices, interior schemes, and stand-alone options they would once offer. This was what a great America looked like ... look at how dignified the presentation is, too ... things were comparatively benign, people could afford their cars and the roofs over their heads, there was no war that was raging in modern world countries that I can point to, and one of the biggest thorns in people's sides was a newly introduced catalytic converter. There is no "again" button. A lady in our neighborhood had one of these. This color was Persimmon metallic. Hers had the while vinyl landau roof. I think it had the Olds rally wheels. I may ramble, but I could take you on a tour of this car, or a similar one, in no more than 10 minutes, unlike that niche dealership guy in SW Florida whose YouTubes last 30 to 40 minutes. I once looked at its interior from the windows. (This hasn't changed.) She had the electric options, but the steering wheel didn't tilt. She had a bench seat with the armrest. Here you see the swivel bucket seats with the reversible cushions. And, yes, it's a colonnade. And, with that, I bid @balthazar a happy birthday. If only someone could drop a mint colonnade of my choice into my birthday stocking.

From this vantage point, it's great ... traditional and contemporary at the same time, with a sinister Gotham City look thrown in for good measure I don't think so on this one. I understand that it's supposed to be stretched. The rear has the imagery of the old bustle back Seville (which I dislike(d) very much) combined with the cartoon-like Kia Amanti (or other similar car with those thin taillamps going up the lowered rear flanks).

@bobo Thank you for the great write-up, as usual. In a weird way, a lot happened in 2025, but it's mostly in big chunks of much the same. As he always intends to do, Trump dominates the spotlight, as would any megalomaniac. The same has become more and more true for Elon Musk. However, the former has people finding all sorts of ways to defend him and support him when the evidence says they shouldn't. It's not that way with the latter. The public's opinion of Musk is mostly negative. How can it not be after his jumping up and down? Then there's his recent comment to Justin Trudeau. Crassness seems to be more popular than ever. The deaths number much the same as they always do, but Quincy Jones, OJ Simpson, Phil Donahue (the father of a genre, IMO), Dr. Ruth (96), Bob Newhart, Shannen Doherty (yes, with an e), Richard Simmons (76, he fell in his home) and, of course, Jimmy Carter (100) stand out to me. As for OJ, wow, a chapter of tabloid crap also went with him. When working in the PacNW, the OJ disaster came on the news and the hateful locals in the office had to shake their heads and comment 'yeah, what you'd expect in L.A.' when he was leading the police in a chase up the freeway with people on overpasses cheering him on. From what I could tell, the folks cheering were sort of ghetto. Not one person I know, and probably anyone they'd know, would have been cheering on OJ escaping in his Bronco. It's great that Notre Dame in Paris reopened. The trusses in older historic structures tend to be heavy timber. Perhaps this will lead to greater safeguards to protect such structures. As for a cause, they are offering an "or" scenario ... either a cigarette butt OR an electrical short circuit. I, for one, will miss the steadfast Chevy Malibu. It would be like guessing how many marbles as to how many I've rented and how many miles I've put on this car model ... enough to feel like it's my daily driver when I get behind the wheel of one.

There isn't much in the way of mixed fleets when it comes to airlines. I'm referring to Boeing and Airbus. Some do it out of loyalty (Alaska goes with Boeing, being in Seattle). Some do it out of efficiency. In Europe, the bigger airlines buy from both manufacturers (British, Lufthansa, Air France, KLM, Turkish ...) as they have both the Airbus 350 and the Boeing 787 in their fleets. Lufthansa amazingly uses both superjumbos - the Airbus 380 and the Boeing 747-8. Slightly smaller but still international airlines are now going with one vendor. In Europe, this would now be TAP Portugal, Finnair, and ITA (the successor to Alitalia). They have all Airbus fleets.

Cleaning up bookmarks as some are no longer valid ... 10+ years of accumulating and tentatively archiving them ... Thought I'd share this beautiful photo I found in my bookmarks of an Iberia 747, which they no longer operate, taking flight. I'm almost sure it's a home base departure from Madrid, but don't know where it's headed ... could be New York, Miami, Buenos Aires, etc.

I never knew that much about Elon because he is instantly not likable. I learned he has produced 12 children. People are always wowed by that. It's not mechanically that difficult. However, some people seemingly do it as a display of power because they don't have to worry about providing for their financial needs. Are they there for those kids? (Even more challenging when created with several different spouses.) I knew some kids in school from very large old fashioned nuclear Catholic families ... 8+ kids ... and there was definitely some neglect and indifference. Make them, feed them, clothe them, school them ... but they're just a number in some big families. The same criticism holds for Eddie Murphy. I didn't realize he had 10 kids. Throw Robert De Niro under that same bus, too ... making babies at over 70 years of age. A lot of business tycoons and movie star types are dysregulated.

Hmmm ... First, if you leave the U.S., you still need to file a U.S. tax return. You get a tax credit for taxes paid to another country. The reason for leaving is actually the white people ... the redneck white trash in the center and in the south who have created the rift and want us to be a Christian nationalist nation. Don't kid yourself, though. There is a lot of inefficiency and bureaucracy and narrow minded stupidity overseas. Also, some people there try to chisel foreigners. There is a lot of stupidity here, too. You should see the low quality and indolence of the available labor pool around South Padre Island and in South Texas. They can handle simple tasks, as long as things don't get too complicated. But, mostly, it's the low brow, narrow minded, and backward type of "ugly American" that some people don't want to be around ... the very same one that creates a bad reputation for Americans globally. Couple that with the continually worsening very rich and very poor situation here.

Happy Nixon's birthday!

Love the "sled" and, in this case, I do mean sled. However, I wouldn't want to sacrifice a sweet 1979 Bonneville Brougham sedan, probably with a smooth running small block Pontiac 301 (4.9L) V8, on a tree for that kind of fun. Not only that, it would remind me of Sonny Bono, which I always get reminded of in the Sonny Bono concourse at the Palm Springs Airport. RIP Sonny Bono.

Not "local" by any stretch of the imagination! It appears to be expensive. Maybe every now and then. Comments point to others like this in the U.S., most of which are no longer around. While I like trains, I love urban transit rail systems that have heavy rail as opposed to light rail.

Mostly the Italian and Greek food. Beyond American food and some seafood, that is mostly what I eat when going out to eat. Of the others, French food isn't something you run into often, even though it can be stratospherically good. Also, a satisfying (Cantonese) Chinese or Japanese meal is sometimes a much needed change of pace.

I think "comfort food" is just an embellishment for what MAGAs eat.

Legitimate (laptop) safe This one fits a good sized laptop.

A few tidbits of travel advice for the new year ... I'll keep it at three: 1. If you have a full membership at an airline travel lounge, this does not apply. If you get but a few passes, possibly through a credit card, take note. Do not visit these places during breakfast hours. Do it if your connection allows for it and it's either lunch or dinner hours. Why? The spread at breakfast is weak. At lunch and dinner, it makes for a filling meal. I've used 2 passes at Houston-IAH over the last year. There are salads with many ingredients, wraps, soups, and there can be other things such as hummus or ingredients to fill up tortillas, etc. 2. When reserving a hotel, look for a hotel safe in the room. Nothing is ever 100% guaranteed, but it gives a little more peace of mind. On web sites, you will have to dig down through the list of amenities to see if one is available in each room. You might even have to crosscheck the website with a booking site. One may show it and the other may not. If you're at a low-cost brand, work around this a little/lot more cautiously. It is not admissible when a high-end brand does not have these in the room. If in a foreign location, definitely look for in-room safes. Also, find out if it's a combination key pad because a few are still operated with small keys they give you, which is a little old fashioned and inconvenient. In all cases, you might want to check if it can store a laptop. 3. Consider buying luggage straps for your luggage. These not only keep luggage from opening, but they also help identify luggage. I have black Travelpro brand luggage. That year, AAA only had that and burgundy. And the burgundy was more berry than burgundy, so I passed on it. In 2 cases, I've had people try to pull the smaller rollaboard off the carousel. I was right there and told them, "Hey." You need to hustle to baggage claim when you deplane. The worst was a change of planes in Stockholm, a place you'd never expect this to happen. The big piece was underneath on a shuttle bus. At the airport, the hold was opened at each terminal. I was sitting by the window. Fortunately. One stop before mine, I saw my big piece standing up outside by the curb. I told the driver to stay for an extra moment or two. I approached the guy and asked him WTF? I didn't use those words, but I was steamed. I also told him it even had American Airlines tags attached to it. He said to me, "You don't have to be an ass hole about it. Why don't you go back there?" He was not Scandinavian, but from the Middle East, appeared to have a Scandinavian wife, and was distracted with a baby they had in a stroller. When he did reach in for his bag, it was not even black, but the darkest possible shade of midnight blue!?! His bag also had completely different piping and seams. Had he taken mine, what would I have done? Reached for the dark midnight blue one just to have a piece of luggage? I am astounded at this because it tells me that people's ability in noticing details or understanding spatial things is a good bit less than mine. I'm sure he was skilled, but probably in tech or commerce. I'm sure he was also distracted. Looking on line in the last few days, the straps at Wally World are weird colors like lime or Pontiac Grand Am blue. Fine. These might definitely help. Also, make sure at least 2 readable tags are attached to the luggage on the outside and there is a tag inside. Anytime that the hatch door opens and luggage is going on or coming off during a shuttle ride, don't hesitate to step off and look into the hatch. This was the only time this happened with the big piece, I'm sure it was accidental, and it was, of all places, in a Scandinavian location. - - - - - Safe travels in the new year and beyond.

A time or two, friends and I have been in malls and department stores and, when it was more commonly done, asked to have them page "Gus Pacho" and "Al Bondigas." It was an American woman phone operator, but SoCal's Hispanic population is large and she obviously didn't get it. But the end result was what we wanted ... a good laugh.

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope that people with this surname reflect heavily on whether to name their offspring Michael.

Q: Why can't leopards hide? A: Because they are always spotted.

I will explain. Let me put some meat on its bones and do this a little later. I had a feeling you might say something. My comment was not meant to be negative, because they are not negative places. It's meant to be relative.

When I lived in the Seattle area, I'd go to Vancouver BC about once a month ... just because ... no reason other than its being so close and getting to be in another country. Back then, I'd think, "What would I have to do to live here?" They're realistically more tightly wound than PNWers. Eastern Canadians who make the move to their west coast often returrn to where they came from - Ontario, Quebec, etc., because they're not (as) tightly wound. Then, the light bulb went on: "Vancouver is their Miami." Hmmm. Pass. There is something to be said for abundant sunshine. And how it can impact your outlook and health.

This would be more of a random thought than a spotting. This Texan had a Christmas wreath in front of his truck, but did its engine bay have a motor in it? I was more interested in getting this photo than asking him to find out.

Happy Sunday: This is one of the funniest scenes in "Beverly Hills Cop." My college friends knew all these lines as well. This is 1 minute of Eddie's genius - he talked them into this improvisation .... "I think that would be best." Did you hear me? "I think that would be best." - - - - - Hey, he even got a street named after him in the California desert. Nah, it was already there. But, after the epic movie, I do laugh when I'm there and I see the sign. Ramon, or Ray, is a popular name among Puerto Ricans ... lots of Rays. But it took Eddie to make it funny.

Well, it's a good idea because it's very A to B in terms of from their kitchen to your table. Less overhead for marketing and fluff. Not only that, it helps smaller businesses succeed.

Denny's items have a uniform taste. What you get on your platter is it! I have had some good meals at Golden Corral - you can start out with putting together a salad and all sorts of vegetables on it or on the side of your plate, there are a lot of main dishes (at nighttime, you can also get small steaks grilled for you), and, then, taking it slow (in terms of time), I'll add a slice of cake and a few other desserts. For less than $20, with taxes. A drink is extra. I do this about once every 3 months.

Good morning ... from "Lionel Joseph"