Robert Hall

I closed on my new house today. All went pretty smoothly. Only 20 miles from my current house, but bigger, one story, much more storage and garage space, almost 2 acres. I’ll be busy the next month or so moving in and then putting my current house up for sale. Icky weather today though. 34 and sleet.

Futura was the 'fancy' trim level on the Falcon. Just like Sprint was the 'sporty' trim level.

I don't think I've ever replaced a wheel bearing...my old Jeep probably needed them as it got older..it was making various noises from the rear wheels and a rear axle whine when I retired it at 170K and 16 1/2 years back in '17.

Listening to the Wheel Bearings podcast this morning, one of the hosts was talking about a current Subaru and described the 'boxer' engine layout using the an analogy of the piston motions being like a boxer throwing punches. Hmm....I'd always thought the use of 'boxer' to describe a flat/horizontally opposed engine was a reference to it being shaped like a rectangular box. The human boxer motion analogy makes sense, though.

Went to the post office and saw this C8 in a gorgeous red. Reminded me of the old Hot Wheels Spectraflame colors.

Reminds of a popular line from school...'party at Rob's!!'

Also thinking about a walk-in tub w/ whirlpool jets in one of the bathrooms, a hot tub for the backyard, and maybe an above ground pool eventually...I really miss having a pool and a hot tub. I'd rather invest in upgrades to my house than an EV that would only irritate me..

I am thinking of getting a whole house generator. The new house has an electric stove top (which is great), 2 gas furnaces and 2 air conditioners. And a fireplace.

Since EV technology is changing so fast, I would only consider a lease. But an EV makes no sense for me since I don’t have a commute. My driving patterns are so variable…depending on what I do on weekends, some weeks I drive 5 miles, some 50 miles, some 500 miles…

I sat in the Lyriq at the auto show in Feb. Really like the interior and exterior design...

Not unlike Cleveland...even with automatic climate control, I find myself tweaking it often...I do like the intuitive up/down arrows for temp and rotary dial for fan speeds.. FCA did a good job on the '14-22 WK2 GC HVAC and radio controls, IMO...most of these are duplicated in the touch screen and there is stuff only in the touch screen pages like the seat and steering wheel heaters, which vents to blow out of, etc. But the basic functionality is all there w/ buttons.

I like a mix of real buttons and touch screens. I don't think I could live w/ a touch screen only interior w/o smashing the screen out of rage/frustration eventually.. 😡

I kinda like the Chevy one w/ the red and the one below it...the rest seem to be ugly gray plastic... The Hummer went crazy with rectangles... looks like an homage to the F-bodies, Fiero and other 80s designs.

I figure if I'm worrying about how much it would cost to repair, then I'd be keeping it too long... I don't intend to keep anything 'modern' (i.e. my '14 Jeep or anything newer) after it's out of warranty or so old that it needs a repair to cabin tech... I do think FCA in the mid 10s had a good mix of touch screen controls, physical controls, and redundant controls. I like having the audio controls on the back of the steering wheel (just like my '00 GC did) and as physical center stack controls and on the touch screen...and the HVAC as a mix of buttons and on-screen.

My home is mixed Apple (moi) and Google/Samsung (my sister). She loves Android Auto in her new Equinox...works very well from what I've seen. In my Jeep, I mostly listen to Sirius XM channels for New Wave, Classic Rock, Alternative, or podcasts streamed from Overcast on my iPhone or music from Amazon music... once in a while I'll pop in a CD (CD player is in the center armrest, awkward to use). I've tried playing music from a USB flash drive, but the interface on the Jeep's touch screen is so slow when reading from a USB drive...haven't used AM or FM in years...

When I lived and worked in the DTC in the 00s, I used to get on at the Bellview station and go to out to County Line to meet friends that lived out there, or to University area and downtown..very convenient. They were planning the airport line then...

Always been a fan of light rail, used it often when I lived in Denver..they have a pretty extensive service around the metro area that keeps growing. Alas, Phoenix and Cleveland's light rail is more limited and never been useful for me.

I do seem to have a pretty good sense of direction. But having vehicles the last 25 years or so w/ a simple 'N', 'S', etc indicator on the dash does help, independent of the nav system. I love maps, having grown up w/ Rand McNally maps and Thomas street guides. I usually pull up a place on my computer on Google Maps before I travel there the first time and study the various routes...I rely on my phone and Google Maps navigation in the car when I go to a place the first time, after that, I usually can find my way pretty well w/o nav or a map.

Not a good move, IMO. Apple Car Play is a 'gotta have' feature for my next vehicle

It's funny how that illustration shows all the different colors for the Model Y, anytime I see one of them on the road it's always white w/ black wheels..so bland and fecal. Interesting...a passenger side screen like how Jeep does on some models, but not really well integrated...looks like an afterthought...

It's going to be an adventure. Glad I didn't have to do a contingent sale. I can take my time moving and do some improvements to my current house before I put it up for sale...it should go for $275k or so (over $100k more than I paid for it 6 years ago).

Yeah, I wonder...it may have been the couple's adult children selling the property..it was another one that has the square footage listed wrong--basement might be 250 sq ft, house was only a little over 2000 sq ft (not the 3600 listed), beautiful wooded lot.. Linked below: https://www.trulia.com/p/oh/chesterland/13063-woodcrest-ln-chesterland-oh-44026--2045350499 This house below we liked a lot, I put an offer on it about 3 weeks ago, but they took another offer they already had: https://www.trulia.com/p/oh/chesterland/8635-carmichael-dr-chesterland-oh-44026--2045352075 I loved all the garage space, pole barn and pond with this one below, but the house was smaller than represented and needed a LOT of work... (I've noticed a lot of sloppy listings where they have the basement listed as the same square footage as the upper floors (inaccurately). And it was a split level, not any bigger than my current split... https://www.trulia.com/p/oh/streetsboro/1913-frost-rd-streetsboro-oh-44241--2046037349

Looking forward to Easter brunch on Sunday...we are going to a restaurant in downtown Cleveland that has a great brunch..

One house I toured last weekend had been built in the 50s and last remodeled in the 70s...had some great details (slate entryways, lots of original stone and wood) and had belonged to an older couple that were either deceased or in care homes...sadly, their furniture and kicknacks were still in the house, family photos on the walls, etc..and in the garage---a clean Cadillac Brougham from around 1990-92 (dark brown w/ dark brown leather interior) and a clean late 90s Eldorado in dark red w/ red interior.

Went and saw Bruce Springsteen for the 10th time in 25 years this past week..most of the band is over 70 now, but still put on a high energy show clocking in at almost 3 hours. Great music, always great live... I was distracted by all my personal drama this week, but had bought the tickets probably 8 months ago, so couldn't skip the show. Was a great evening...