Robert Hall

End of the year...good time to reflect and plan. I can't believe I'll be 55 in 6 months. Just sometimes can't wrap my head around it.

Took the Jeep in for an oil change and tire rotation this morning...a bit over 80k and running fine. Ready for the winter.

When I've traveled for work in recent years, I keep my laptop with me in my backpack usually, since I'm traveling between the hotel and the office..sometimes I'll leave it in the room when I go out for dinner or drinks after work for a few hours. Haven't seen a hotel room safe big enough for a laptop. A couple times in the past when I've had a laptop on vacation, I put the backpack in the trunk of my car if I'm going out of the hotel for all day or something. My most recent vacation/road trip I only took my iPad, less bulky than my laptop... I'd put my wallet and iPad in the room safe when I'd walk down to the beach w/ my phone.

250 amp up from 150 amp. It was old, all the breaker slots used. With 3000 sq ft, 2 new A/Cs and 2 furnaces, hot tub, etc it was maxed out…but not the right weather to do it.

Me too..I use them so much... I've given to them every year for at least 15 years... End of the year...tired. Yesterday was exhausting, power was off for hours getting a new main panel and meter, getting my home power upgraded and to code. Would have been ok had it been warm and April, but it was 34 and snow/rain. Sat in my Jeep running the heater and heated seats most of the day. Only 3 more work days spread over the next 2 weeks, looking at getting a lot of rest over the next two weeks...got to catch up on quality sleep and minimize online. Stay in bed w/ sleeping terriers.

Took the Caddy in for it's first service since I've had it. 60k service...oil change, tire rotation, spark plug changed, etc. Only one small issue--a crack and small leak in the washer fluid reservoir..they have to order the part. Running great otherwise...put 5300 miles on it 9 months.

I remember the Arco Arena being kind of off by itself. I recall eating at a few restaurants downtown that were nice. Been 20 years since I’ve been there. My sister did a few gigs for a few years at CALPERS, CALSTRS and CALTRANS, I visited a couple times to go to concerts back in the day.

Yeah, all too heavy. It's kind of absurd that they are so hefty, ICE or EV versions...

All that $h! is too heavy..

Kind of a bizarre story all around... when it originally happened, it seemed like the work of a professional, but this kid was clearly no Jackal. It is amusing how much effort the NYPD put into finding him, if the victim had been an ordinary person instead of a scumbag CEO of a corrupt insurance company I doubt if they would have done much or if it would have made the national news...

Yeah, what an obese pig..they need to reduce the weight by 50% or so..

I'm sure that will lead to support headaches. I'm glad I don't have to use Windows..

The train station in Cincinnati appears to be quite a gem...I need to take a mini vacation down there and explore the city...never spent anytime in Cincinnati, driven through on I-71 on my way to and fro Louisville a few times..

It looks quite different from the current model, all new I think. They are calling it a 2026, so the '25 is probably carryover. https://jalopnik.com/2026-hyundai-palisade-looks-awesome-and-has-a-front-ben-1851715336 Had to hunt around to find pics that were jpgs, most are the webp crap.

Didn't see a thread about it, but the new Hyundai Palisade is sharp...kind of Range Roverish from the rear 3/4. Interior looks sharp.

Saw a bright green wrapped Cybertruck w/ Waste Management decals..done up as a dumpster. Drove by the local Tesla store the other day, they had 3 Cybertrucks on the lot all covered in snow.. Saw one of the new '24 Mustang Dark Horse editions in that neat blue out in the muck, getting salty.

I assume Vance will carry the torch, and the brain washed masses that support the MAGA movement now will follow him even though he doesn't have the Trump name... There are plenty of young right wing MAGAts..it's not just the old farts...there are many brainwashed imbeciles of all ages that worship Trump, Musk, Joe Rogan, other right wing cretins... I never thought in my lifetime the movie Idiocracy would seem to be a documentary... a nation of useless imbeciles...f'em all. I have no interest in them.. Dwelling too much on the state of politics, state of the world and the state of culture is depressing. On the other hand, my stock portfolio is doing very well and my retirement investments are solid. A few more years in the game, maybe I'll retire early.. working from home at my current company is very pleasant, though. But I can't see myself staying in the tech grind until I'm 65... For the last week, it's been wet gray days in the 20s-30s with lake effect snow... winter came earlier than usual this year. Ugh.

Auugggghhhh....I worked for Wells Fargo in Chandler, AZ from 2009 to 2011...what a truly, deeply awful company...absolute sweatshop environment in IT/Software Development. Too many 70 hr weeks, 5am emergency calls, Friday night implementations...not to mention a 50 mile round trip commute in awful traffic... in 2011, after 3 people in my 25 person department had heart attacks in 6 months (one fatal), I had had enough. And I went somewhere even worse--McKesson, home of 90hr work weeks... I don't miss any of that.

Good news... I haven't paid attention to F1 much in the last few years, but used to be a huge fan...from reading about it in Road & Track as a kid in the late 70s to watching on tv whenever I could find it from the 80s through the early 00s, then again in 10s.

A lot of unrest and instability in the world today. I try and ignore the news and focus on things I can directly affect (work, pets, house, etc). Dwelling on the world is just too depressing these days.

There is also a Packard museum on the other side of the state...Dayton area IIRC. I want to visit that one also.

Speaking of Packards, can't recall if I posted about this here, but I went to the National Packard Museum in Warren (OH) last month...some really neat exhibits and cars. The 40s and 50s models had so much neat detailing.

The '72 Gran Torino is one of my favorite early 70s Fords..love the Sportsroof fastback roofline. I also really like the '71-72 Galaxies and LTDs..huge cars with very crisp lines.

I wouldn't mind retiring to somewhere walkable where I don't need to drive, but can drive when I want to..

My car has a supposed 525 mile highway crusing range on a full tank (19.5 gallons). I haven't fully tested that since I tend to fill up at 1/2 tank when on road trips..but I have recorded averages of 29.5 and 30 mpg on road trips, which is pretty good for a comfortable 4200lb AWD sedan..