Robert Hall

I went to high school with a Rossi, Enzo and a Giovanna..3 siblings whose parents immigrated from Italy to S. Florida in the 60s.. They were the 1st generation born in the US in their family. The kids spoke a bit of Italian IIRC. I wonder how they named their kids.. I've worked w/ people who had unusual names, and not names that would be considered 'ethnic'.. like a Jhonathn.. spelled like that, said his parents were non-conformist and wanted a non-standard spelling for his name.. also went to high school with a guy named Sky Rockett. Then there were people whose names seemed unfortunate...like a Richard Head (just like the actor)...hated being called Dick. We shared an office in grad school. Also worked with a Vincen... don't know what happened to the 'T' at the end.

Happy Birthday, Drew!

Got the leaves piled up on the tree lawn for the city to Hoover up.

Still got some fall color in my little woods, but a lot of leaves down.

I can see my driveway and sky from my office window. Will be interesting to look out when we get snow…

Yeah. Nice to have sort of daylight when getting up (7 am) but I know I won’t like it getting dark at 5… always messes up my sleep a few days when the time changes. I don't really like dark when I get up or dark at the end of the workday, but it is what is.. The lack of time change was something I did like about living in Arizona.

I'd assume its for law enforcement and taxes or something... need to know what county drivers are from as the registration cost varies depending on the county, some counties require emission tests, etc..

Ohio put the county name on the plates starting in the 80s IIRC...they switched to a county number sticker on the front and back at some point, but switched back to county name stickers in recent years.

First snow of the season last night... lots of leaves on the ground.

Recent pics of my home office and office assistants..still have some boxes to unpack from the move. Got a nice view of the driveway. Thinking about replacing the two 24 inch screens with a 43 inch or so widescreen..

The '70-72 Buicks were sharp..same greenhouse as the '70-72 Chevelle. I kind of like the '68-69 Buick Skylark for the sheer weirdness of their styling--the way the rear end curved inward and under, the sweepspear on the side (that Mercury inexeplicably used on the '69-70 Cougar).

I wonder if he will ever finish his '59 Buick..would love to see pics of it when finished. I like the idea of a vintage Buick..I wouldn't mind having a '80s Regal Grand National or T-Type or early 80s RWD C-body Electra.

I know. The nicest year round climate I’ve seen is San Diego.

My ideal would be 4 months of summer (no highs over 80, low humidity), 4 months of autumn, 2 months of spring, 2 months of winter (no lows under 40).

Interesting about the issues w/ Mopar 3.6 engines..for every story I've heard of people having issues, I've read about people putting 250k-350k miles on them without issues. My Jeep is almost 10 years old, w/ 77k miles. Still no issues..

For teeny tiny cars, I was impressed w/ the 1st gen Trax (2015) my sister owned. I drove it from Florida back to Ohio in 2020, and occasionally around Cleveland. Quite pleasant to drive for such a tiny 4cyl vehicle. Comfortable on road trips. It only had 25k when she traded it last December on a '23 Equinox. The Equinox drives quite well also, bigger and more comfortable. Equinox basically feels like a taller Malibu w/ more cargo space.

On the last trip also had to double check myself when I was checking out of the hotel that I didn't leave my eye meds in the suite fridge. I love the crisp '79-85 e-bodies, esp. the Eldorado.. also the B- and C- bodies of that era. A dark red w/ white interior Eldo convertible, an early 80s Buick Electra coupe, and a Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham de' Elegance (white w/ red leather interior) would be in my dream car garage.

Wallet, keys, phone, water bottle. The last time I went out of town (took an Uber to the airport, flew down to Dallas for a few days for work), I was in panic mode as I was getting ready to leave..couldn't find my wallet..usually leave it on the desk in my office or in a drawer by the front door where I keep car keys...ended up finding on my bed in a pair of jeans.. The Blazer looks sharp, didn't realize it was at dealers already...

Where I lived in the 70s was south of Youngstown on the Ohio River--Steubenville (birthplace of Dean Martin). Was an old steel town in decline, like a mini-Youngstown. Our next-door neighbor was rumored to be the capo of the local Mafia franchise. Big black Cadillacs were often seen next door. Also the birthplace of Ohio Valley Style pizza (DiCarlos)..I like to go down there once a year or so..see the plaque to my father downtown, have a meatball heel at Naples or a meatball sub at Capri's and get a slice or two from DiCarlos.. Speaking of Youngstown, Bruce Springsteen wrote an excellent song called 'Youngstown' about the decline of industrial America, was on his 1995 'Ghost of Tom Joad' album..a great, ferocious live track..

I'd like to rent an EV eventually and test it out, but would have to scope out beforehand to find the charging locations. Quite different from traveling to an unfamiliar area and picking up a normal rental car, never give a thought as to where the gas stations are since they are everywhere and easy to find..

With EVs, there are often weird door handles and overdone touch screen controls. A lot of tech that doesn’t improve the experience. I couldn’t imagine buying or leasing something without driving it and getting familiar with it first…and the driving experience *is* different, with a one speed trans/ linear power delivery and regenerative braking.

The charging and range are a big deal, certainly...but I care about how a car drives and the interior fit/finish, ergonomics, etc...even if it's just a potential lease appliance.. As a truly random thought, I'm definitely thinking about options for a new car in the next year....CPO or new or lease, with an 830 credit score what kind of deal can I get, etc.. I don't see myself getting an EV, considering anything I get would only be driven a few times a week w/ working from home.

Rental would be a good way to see how they drive, and how the interior fits and controls work, though...I don't care how they charge overnight.

If they had two models (2 row and 3 row) that would give them consistency with Chevy and Buick.

There was V reboot series about 10 years ago, don't know if it was any good. I remember regularly watching Magnum P.I., Simon & Simon, Hunter, Miami Vice, Sledge Hammer!, Police Squad, MacGuyver, A-Team, Dukes of Hazzard, The Fall Guy, TJ Hooker, Cheers, and Dallas growing up in the 80s. And starting back in the 70s--M*A*S*H*, ChiPs, Dallas and the Rockford Files. During the '88-97 period I didn't watch a lot of TV--was busy w/ college and grad school--but I did enjoy Twin Peaks, The X-Files, and my intellectual guilty pleasure--Beavis and Butthead. I love this montage I found on YouTube of 1980s music, movies and tv set to a popular '80s pop song..