Robert Hall

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...

Of the Firebirds a few years earlier, I like the '74-75, didn't like the '76.  Something about the front bumper angle..

Of the late 70s Firebirds, my favorite front is the '77-78, but my favorite rear is the '79-81 with the full width taillight trim...

30 minutes ago, David said:

That is awesome, wow, great price for the land and house. Excited for you Robert, will be great for you and your sister. 

I think you might need a small tractor to plow your own driveway.  

My electric snowblower w/ the 100 ft cord isn't going to cut it... maybe need a larger gas powered snow blower.  And since it is on the north east side of Cleveland, it's in a Lake Erie snow belt and gets about 20 inches more per year than I get on the southwest side where I am now...

14 minutes ago, David said:

@Robert Hall Sorry for your loss, never easy losing a loved one. Glad you have the other dogs to help you and your sister move on.

Very excited for you on the new house, I can totally understand as with my knee issue and my back/hip/foot issue that after 15 times on the mountain skiing, I had to stop due to all happening at once, stairs are a bitch. Wish ramblers were far more common here.

Look forward to pictures, if you have the real estate link, please post so we can check out the new digs.

How does the new garage compare to your current one? I know the current one was tight on space.

Wishing you all the best Robert.

The garage is great..2 1/2 car garage, over 20 ft deep and room to build another garage and or carport beside/behind it.   

I looked at another place last week at about the same price that had 4 garage spaces and a pole barn big enough for 6 cars and an RV, a pond and on 3 acres, but a much smaller house that was in rough shape...

This is the house I'm buying..

https://www.trulia.com/p/oh/highland-heights/5875-highland-rd-highland-heights-oh-44143--2045882742

The last 4 weeks have been a rough patch for my sister and I...  Our 17 yr old Yorkie Henry passed on March 7th (she drove back early from SC as I knew Henry was going down fast), and our 15 yr old Yorkie Ginger passed on April 4th after a heart attack at 3:30 am (she died as we were rushing her to the emergency vet).    Both had been declining for a long time and were on heart medications for enlarged hearts.   First time in almost 15 years without a Yorkie at home. Pic below of them from 2020 when they were healthy and in need of a grooming.    We still have Beardsley (chi-terrier mix) and Raine (Australian Terrier mix).

The exciting and anticipating is after about a month of looking at a variety of properties in the area, I put an offer on a house on Saturday and it was accepted Sunday..working through the process now, looking to close later in the month.   Nice 5 bedroom, 3000 sq ft ranch (one story w/ finished attic, 20 ft ceilings in some rooms), on almost 2 wooded acres in a suburb north and east of Cleveland closer to Lake Erie...only 20 miles from my current house.   Huge driveway w/ loads of parking space, large oversized garage w/ room to expand, deep and wide lot w/ a good setback and distance from the neighbors.    Looked at a number of places w/ more land and bigger garages that were duds as far as the houses...

Not looking forward to the task of moving, but after 6 years in my current house, looking forward to having one story again and not dealing w/ stairs as I get older....

Yesterday made 6 years since I bought my Jeep.  Has 72k on it now, still running great, no issues.

Watched the MH 370 documentary a few nights ago.  Very interesting story, still so much unknown about the why and what happened....

4 minutes ago, David said:

Robert you talking about this OEM color that they had on the 2020 CT5-V?

Yes, love that color.  Haven’t seen one in person yet.  

2 minutes ago, oldshurst442 said:

Subtle is a nice way to go.  Especially the way the 300C SRT8 was in 2013.  I agree!!!

With me though, Id like to flash a little bit of the wild side.   

I get that.  There is a place for everything.   
I saw a pic of a dark green CT5-v recently.  Love the muscle car in a tuxedo sport sedan style.  

1 minute ago, oldshurst442 said:

 

Id go for the original Hellcat hood.  All black.  Just 6 chromed Hellcat logos.   1 on each side of the front fenders and 4 on the wheels. The center caps.  That is it.  

Those are in the style of the Charger Hellcat.  I’d go for a super subtle Hellcat 300 styled like the 300C SRT back in 2013.    Black or dark gray, low key trim, lots of power.  

5 minutes ago, oldshurst442 said:

You are not entirely wrong though...

Stellantis has this new inline 6...   Brand new.  It hasnt debuted yet.  But it will. 

They will put this engine into something and sell it like soon.  Like in 2024 soon.  

I do wonder if the Charger and Challenger will continue.  It hasn’t been clear to me if 2023 is just the end of the Hellcat models or the end of the current Charger and Challenger generation completely.  They are being quiet about that unless I’ve misunderstood. 

I hope they do use it in cars.  I assume Ram will get it for trucks and Jeep will use it elsewhere.  

I just don't like small cars in general.  Too noisy on the road, cramped and uncomfortable. For my next new car, it will probably be another Grand Cherokee...maybe an Overland or Summit w/ the McIntosh stereo.  

I'm channeling my inner 65 year old, but I would love a brand new 1996 Cadillac Brougham, Buick Roadmaster or Lincoln Town Car w/ today's infotainment systems, soft-touch interior trim and today's V8 power and efficiency.  But with the classic cushy seats and ride and quiet...I want serenity in my drive, but still want blast some U2, NIN, Eagles, Joe Bonamassa, Pink Floyd, Pearl Jam, or Beethoven when I feel like it..

I wonder what the deal w/ all the Hellcat thefts is...do they have a particular vulnerability w/ the ignition or locks?   Or are thieves getting smarter and more clever... 

I still wouldn't mind having a Challenger..though I don't need a Hellcat..the regular R/T or R/T Scat Pack 392 w/ a manual and maybe the wide body would be fine, as long as it's in F8 green or octane red.

Maybe I'll get a CPO or otherwise clean late model one when I get my property plans sorted (got to have more garage space).  Though I do like the 2015+ Mustang quite a bit also.

I thought the same about the Demon 170 name. So tame.  The Hellcat image is outrageous, the name should be outrageous.   Something like Demon Tire Mutilator, Demon Defecator ( since it sh*ts all over the competition), Demon Dominator…

I read that the silver and black 170 they have been showing to the press has been stolen already. 

Looks like a decent compact for city driving.  Too small for me, I’m too old for subcompacts or compacts.  

4 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

1.5 million reservations for Cybertruck, but lets say in reality they sell 200-250,000 per year, that still steals maybe 50k each from Ford, GM and Ram, maybe a few from Toyota and a few new truck buyers.  It still disrupts.

 

The Cybertruck is one body style only, not remotely competitive with the F150.   You actually think there will be a next generation that competes w/ the F150?   I doubt it...they haven't even made a 2nd generation of the Model S.  Tiny company, poor quality, unable to compete w/ real car companies...claiming they will have a product that will outsell the F150 is just fanboy dreamer BS.

I assume the Charger EV will be a low volume novelty though.   Can't imagine the police fleet volume of Chargers going to the EV version.   Definitely going to be interesting to see what comes out in the next year or so.  

5 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

 Tesla Model Y was the #3 selling vehicle in the USA last month, the next gen car will sell better, take the sales crown from the F150, especially after the Cybertruck wrecks the sales of full size trucks.  

I can't imagine the Cybertruck will ever be in high production, let alone 'wrecking' the sales of full size trucks...it's just a novelty..no way that garbage will outsell the F150.

My company is publicly traded, looks like they had a small percentage of their cash reserves in SVB, and some 'sweep' accounts (not quite sure what that entails).   But they have their investments diversified across several banks is my understanding. 

On 3/17/2023 at 12:49 PM, David said:

It dawned on me that the Stealth Mode can help the single guys or gals sneak away from a 1 night stand if they so choose. 😆

Saw this write up on the SVB bank failure and have to say it is very illuminating.
 

Silicon Valley Bank

 

It’s hard to miss the news this week that sparked major disruptions in the banking industry. A sequence of events rapidly unfolded, resulting in the second largest bank failure in US history last week. Subsequent reports from other banks experiencing problems followed. The trigger started with an increased volume of withdrawals from venture-backed start-ups. This segment has struggled to obtain incremental investments in this conservative fiscal environment, so drawing more funds without incremental investments caused a strain on the banking reserves. Bad decisions on long-dated bond investments by Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) that resulted in a $1.8 billion loss inflated the problem. Management of SVB failed to hold enough liquidity to meet the increasing demands. SVC’s announcement that they were looking to raise more capital via additional share sales to cover their shortfall on March 8^th was quickly amplified on social media and caused a rapid bank run by customers.

 The whole collapse took a mere 48 hours to unfold.

 The SVB financial concentration on technology companies did not just affect small, early-stage start-ups. Some of the well-established technology companies affected included Roku, Etsy, and Cloudian. Here’s a more complete list that spans the US, Europe, and Asia. The impact felt by customers, employees, and other businesses serving the businesses affected by this collapse affects secondary and tertiary levels.

 Unlike the 2008 financial collapse triggered by over-leveraged lending, this event was not due to the fundamental integrity of customers, but rather to the fact that management failed to satisfy its fiduciary responsibility to preserve liquidity. More fuel was added to the fire by increasing interest rates, decreased VC investments, and fewer acquisition exits – a combination predictable in this more conservative fiscal phase we’re now in.

 In Europe, HSBC took over the U.K. division of SVB over the weekend. Accepting all of their assets and liabilities in exchange for £1, HSBC came to rescue of many customers and businesses worried about their livelihoods. 451 Research explains:

 The deal will considerably boost HSBC's exposure to startups and high-growth companies — a segment of the market that risk-averse incumbent banks in the U.K. have typically shied away from. As of March 10, SVB (U.K.) had loans of £5.5 billion and deposits of in the region of £6.7 billion, and about 3,300 clients. SVB (U.K.) turned a pre-tax profit of £88 million in the 2022 financial year. Although SVB (U.K.) does not make its fintech client list public, previous press releases suggest that it has lent money to the likes of well-known payments and remittance company Wise PLC (formerly TransferWise) and Liberis, a U.K.-based embedded finance specialist.

 Although HSBC's appearance as a white knight came as a surprise to many, the multinational bank has been bolstering its U.K. small and medium-sized business lending proposition in recent years, which suggests that the deal is strategic as well as opportunistic. HSBC launched its digital small-business banking product, Kinetic, in 2021, and its customer base stood at 53,000 as of year-end 2022. It also launched a global SMB  platform, Business Go, whose signups totaled 95,000 at the end of 2022.

 There’s still a lot more to come as the situation continues to unfold. 451 Research reminded its readers this week that it will take years for technology deal making and trust to recover. As other banking institutions come into the mix, the challenges will extend well beyond the technology industry. Here’s a write up from Fidelity if you have interest in their point of view.

I’ve been watching this closely.  My employer (Alkami Technology) is on that list linked above.  My CEO sent a Slack announcement about it and that it would not affect payroll (got paid on the 15th).   Strange days in tech right now.  

17 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

You can get a coupe Wrangler and I hope the brand never makes another "coupe" SUV. 

Totally different paradigm.   Wrangler is a convertible of sorts.

14 minutes ago, surreal1272 said:

 

And the interior (and bear in mind, they are showing the top level trim here so let me know what the larger selling base models will actually look like) is nice but damn, I'd have to close my eyes just to approach it and sit inside because that exterior...

 

Yeah, the lower trims will probably just be gray and depressing inside.

4 minutes ago, David said:

 That would be like an Eagle sedan then, right?

I was thinking more of an SUV coupe...like a fastback Grand Cherokee, conceptually similar to the MB GLE coupe.  

An Eagle revival as an AWD lifted sport wagon could be very cool also, though..  given the success of Subaru w/ their Outback wagons, I'm surprised Jeep hasn't done an Eagle wagon revival....