Random Thoughts Thread

[ccap41]

10 hours ago, daves87rs said:

Dang, maybe I really need to shop out of my area for Jeeps.....

When I was looking with the wife, there were no deals around here to be had. ?  It’s funny you mention it, as I checked your area with the Compass as well and got some of the same results...cheaper for them there too.

Guess I might have to visit some car friends so I can get a good deal on a Jeep... ? It is interesting, as it’s not hard to find a deal on a Ford or GM product......

Illinois is a little closer to you than Washington! Hahaha

[G. David Felt]

3 hours ago, ccap41 said:

Illinois is a little closer to you than Washington! Hahaha

Better Scenery, great road trip!  

[ccap41]

24 minutes ago, dfelt said:

Better Scenery, great road trip!  

Hands down, correct. 

Southern IL has zero scenery. 

[Robert Hall]

28 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

Hands down, correct. 

Southern IL has zero scenery. 

Yeah, I remember when crossing the void a few years ago the drive on I-70 from St Louis to Columbus being pretty dull.... almost as dull as I-40 from Albuquerque to OK City through the Texas panhandle...

Edited February 13, 2020 by Robert Hall

[ccap41]

1 hour ago, Robert Hall said:

Yeah, I remember when crossing the void a few years ago the drive on I-70 from St Louis to Columbus being pretty dull.... almost as dull as I-40 from Albuquerque to OK City through the Texas panhandle...

You may have passed about 1/2 mile from me, if I was at my parents' house. Their subdivision somewhat backs up to the interstate. On a clear and calm night you can hear the semis. 

[ocnblu]

3 hours ago, ccap41 said:

On a clear and calm night you can hear the semis. 

In some contexts, a semi can be an embarrassment.

[balthazar]

[ocnblu]

4 hours ago, balthazar said:

1963 called...

[ocnblu]

 

[ccap41]

14 hours ago, ocnblu said:

In some contexts, a semi can be an embarrassment.

THINK ABOUT HEARING THEM! 

[trinacriabob]

On 2/2/2020 at 9:47 AM, ocnblu said:

Granted, this may not be excitement but I remember what a step forward these were (sort of). 

After driving in Europe, driving in NYC is a joke but it used to be sort of scary. I was once given a large wallowing sedan as an upgrade and driving it in NYC, where parkways are narrower and ramps are shorter, was unnerving, coming from the West.

Then, I was given a base model of one of these as a rental.  It was white.  Possibly wheel covers.  Probably a gray interior.  Probably a 2.5 liter 4 Iron Duke.  With its small size and rack and pinion steering, I was driving it around Manhattan, the Bronx, northern New Jersey, etc. with some confidence.  These were sort of "cute" when they were released on this chassis.  They sure were popular.

I don't know how well they held up.  After 15 years into this gen of Grand Am, I really didn't see any around.

[trinacriabob]

On 2/13/2020 at 2:02 PM, ccap41 said:

Hands down, correct. 

Southern IL has zero scenery. 

This is funny.  I think the very southern part of IL has some hills and forests in it, being closer to Arkansas and all.  The town of Galena always makes some lists for being a cool place ... hippie dippy shops and restaurants, if that interests someone.  I wonder if you're thinking central Illinois ... Champaign, Bloomington-Normal, Danville, Decatur, Springfield, Peoria ... just no.  Champaign, IL is one place I am still trying to expunge from my head decades later.  And, of course, you can't forget East Saint Louis.  I've actually set foot in it since Saint Louis's Metrolink trains cross the bridge into it and you can walk down this massive steel staircase and then a few hundred yards to either a casino or to look back at the Gateway Arch.  It feels "somewhat" secure, given that it's not far from this hotel-casino.  However, something still doesn't feel just right about it.

[ccap41]

5 minutes ago, trinacriabob said:

This is funny.  I think the very southern part of IL has some hills and forests in it, being closer to Arkansas and all.  The town of Galena always makes some lists for being a cool place ... hippie dippy shops and restaurants, if that interests someone.  I wonder if you're thinking central Illinois ... Champaign, Bloomington-Normal, Danville, Decatur, Springfield, Peoria ... just no.  Champaign, IL is one place I am still trying to expunge from my head decades later.  And, of course, you can't forget East Saint Louis.  I've actually set foot in it since Saint Louis's Metrolink trains cross the bridge into it and you can walk down this massive steel staircase and then a few hundred yards to either a casino or to look back at the Gateway Arch.  It feels "somewhat" secure, given that it's not far from this hotel-casino.  However, something still doesn't feel just right about it.

Yeah, that's true. The very southern part of the state is pretty but 95% of the rest is flat and boring. 

Oh that's East St. Louis for ya and it's actually super sketchy over there. About the only safe-ish place is the Casino..lol 

[Robert Hall]

On 2/14/2020 at 4:16 AM, ocnblu said:

1963 called...

Someone was inspired by the new Silverado.  Look at that vent between the fender and grille surround.  Or maybe a GM designer saw this and was inspired? 

[balthazar]

[riviera74]

1 hour ago, balthazar said:

1959?  1958?  It sure does need some TLC.

[Robert Hall]

15 minutes ago, riviera74 said:

1959?  1958?  It sure does need some TLC.

1959.  Has patina in spades..

Edited February 15, 2020 by Robert Hall

[balthazar]

Would be awesome just like that, with a CT6-V powertrain.

[Robert Hall]

2 hours ago, balthazar said:

Would be awesome just like that, with a CT6-V powertrain.

 

I could see that..an Icon Derelict style build.

[daves87rs]

7 hours ago, balthazar said:

Looks sad......

[balthazar]

They cleaned this up in TWELVE HOURS??
25 derailed & tangled cars also spilling into the roadway below?
What has happened to work crews in recent years?

Edited February 16, 2020 by balthazar

[ocnblu]

[trinacriabob]

Random bit of info, since I like to read articles about pets and owners ...

A study determined that, on average, a DOG loves its owner 5 X more so than a CAT.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

[balthazar]

[G. David Felt]

14 hours ago, balthazar said:

They cleaned this up in TWELVE HOURS??
25 derailed & tangled cars also spilling into the roadway below?
What has happened to work crews in recent years?

Union BS is what has happened to people wanting to be paid to wait around and do nothing till the person responsible for picking up one item does their job first before the second one does there. The inefficient unions have gone from the early days of helping people to making them lazy as costs go crazy up assigning a job to one person and everyone waiting for them first.

It is pathetic how lazy basic manual labor has become in the last 40 years due to corrupt labor unions.

3 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

Random bit of info, since I like to read articles about pets and owners ...

A study determined that, on average, a DOG loves its owner 5 X more so than a CAT.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

I can believe that, dogs love even when you yell at them. Cats, too independent and focused on licking themselves.

[riviera74]

2 hours ago, dfelt said:

Union BS is what has happened to people wanting to be paid to wait around and do nothing till the person responsible for picking up one item does their job first before the second one does there. The inefficient unions have gone from the early days of helping people to making them lazy as costs go crazy up assigning a job to one person and everyone waiting for them first.

It is pathetic how lazy basic manual labor has become in the last 40 years due to corrupt labor unions.

I can believe that, dogs love even when you yell at them. Cats, too independent and focused on licking themselves.

Small problem: if not for organized labor, few would be paid more than $12/hour these days.  Do some unions mess up? YES.  Will abolishing unions help the rest of America?  I doubt it.

[balthazar]

^ Unsupportable supposition ($12/hr).

[ocnblu]

7 hours ago, balthazar said:

Kaiser?

 

[balthazar]

[oldshurst442]

10 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

Random bit of info, since I like to read articles about pets and owners ...

A study determined that, on average, a DOG loves its owner 5 X more so than a CAT.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

 

6 hours ago, dfelt said:

 

I can believe that, dogs love even when you yell at them. Cats, too independent and focused on licking themselves.

 

1. How does one calculate love?
2. I never thought one could quantify love.
3. A dog will kill any threats to protect its master. THAT is a fact.  Another fact: A cat will kill  prey and present it to its master (care giver) as a token of appreciation.  I know that has psycho applications...that aside, that says a lot about how much love a cat has for its master/care giver.
4. I think the difference is this: A cat, although domesticated, I dont think a cat could fully be tamed. I dont think its in a cat's DNA to have a master. But a cat is quite happy to have a care giver. And if a human takes good care of his/her cat, then that love and respect is reciprocated. 
5. There is a reason why the saying goes: A dog is man's (as in mankind's in today's PC world) best friend.  A dog needs a master, and a master needs a dog. Its a symbiotic relationship. And that defines the differences between cats and dogs and humans. 

 

Im a dog person myself. If I were to have a pet, a dog it would be. The bigger dogs. The bigger, guard dog type.  German Sheppards, Dobermans, Huskies, Labradors (not that LAbs are pure guard dogs...) But you get the picture...

With that being said. I love cats too. I love the way cats are felines and they behave EXACTLY like a lion or tiger or cougar... They hunt they same way. They are stealthy the same way. They are agile and fast in the same way.  Yet, they see a human as a friend (or foe), but not as possible food source.  You got to respect that.   

A hungry, rabid dog, will ALWAYS go back to its ancestor'a DNA...wolf, coyote... and quite possibly see a human as a food source.   

That would be another difference...

 

Edited February 17, 2020 by oldshurst442

[balthazar]

^ yeah; the premise of ‘measuring animal “love” ‘ certainly isn’t science-based.

[balthazar]

[G. David Felt]

13 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

I love cats too.

Me Too, I love a lovely Pussy Cat, that is why I am married! ? 

[G. David Felt]

Gotta love interesting engineering videos of tech that we will probably never see. 

Hankook adjustable on the fly tires.

 

[balthazar]

^ 4 new "tires" = $22,000. Just guessing.

Obviously not rubber, so the wear & ride would be a wild unknown.

Did you see the quick shot of the traffic signal-less intersection where vehicles (assumedly talking to each other or master-controlled) just narrowly miss each other? Wonder how my B-59 would go thru there; would all other traffic stop suddenly at the renegade retro-missile?

That sort of sci-fi movie reality is 150 years off, minimum.

Edited February 17, 2020 by balthazar

[G. David Felt]

2 minutes ago, balthazar said:

^ 4 new "tires" = $22,000. Just guessing.

Obviously not rubber, so the wear & ride would be a wild unknown.

Did you see the quick shot of the traffic signal-less intersection where vehicles (assumedly talking to each other or master-controlled) just narrowly miss each other? Wonder how my B-59 would go thru there; would all other traffic stop suddenly at the renegade retro-missile?

That sort of sci-fi movie reality is 150 years off, minimum.

Yes, totally agree, we will not see tires like that in our life time.

All those auto's would crush up against your B-59 Tank!  

[balthazar]

I'm thinking the computer overlords would never allow the pods to impact another- so I could blaze thru cross-street intersections without lifting my right foot.

[ocnblu]

11 hours ago, balthazar said:

Is that lean-to for coal?

 

[balthazar]

^ Go up & ring the bell, and ask!
- - - - -
MERC!

[trinacriabob]

On 2/16/2020 at 8:32 PM, oldshurst442 said:

1. How does one calculate love?
2. I never thought one could quantify love.
3. A dog will kill any threats to protect its master. THAT is a fact.  Another fact: A cat will kill  prey and present it to its master (care giver) as a token of appreciation.  I know that has psycho applications...that aside, that says a lot about how much love a cat has for its master/care giver.
4. I think the difference is this: A cat, although domesticated, I dont think a cat could fully be tamed. I dont think its in a cat's DNA to have a master. But a cat is quite happy to have a care giver. And if a human takes good care of his/her cat, then that love and respect is reciprocated. 
5. There is a reason why the saying goes: A dog is man's (as in mankind's in today's PC world) best friend.  A dog needs a master, and a master needs a dog. Its a symbiotic relationship. And that defines the differences between cats and dogs and humans. 

 

Im a dog person myself. If I were to have a pet, a dog it would be. The bigger dogs. The bigger, guard dog type.  German Sheppards, Dobermans, Huskies, Labradors (not that LAbs are pure guard dogs...) But you get the picture...

With that being said. I love cats too. I love the way cats are felines and they behave EXACTLY like a lion or tiger or cougar... They hunt they same way. They are stealthy the same way. They are agile and fast in the same way.  Yet, they see a human as a friend (or foe), but not as possible food source.  You got to respect that.   

A hungry, rabid dog, will ALWAYS go back to its ancestor'a DNA...wolf, coyote... and quite possibly see a human as a food source.   

That would be another difference...

 

Some cats are okay.  If you have a cat that was socialized by being handled and played with by kids, it tends to like people more as it grows.  I hate the ones that run away and hide under the bed.  We once had a good cat when I was a kid.

I much prefer dogs.  I don't like those dogs you refer to all that much because they're too big.  I like the medium sized "working/herding dogs:"  border collies, Australian Shepherds, etc.  They are among the smartest breeds.

The way they run a study like this is that they have to quantify strata of qualitative factors.  Then they do observations.  And then they would run the numbers.  That's what it sounds like based on statistics courses I took a long time ago.

I'm not surprised a dog loves its owner at least 5X as much.

[ccap41]

On 2/16/2020 at 1:08 PM, dfelt said:

Union BS is what has happened to people wanting to be paid to wait around and do nothing till the person responsible for picking up one item does their job first before the second one does there. The inefficient unions have gone from the early days of helping people to making them lazy as costs go crazy up assigning a job to one person and everyone waiting for them first.

It is pathetic how lazy basic manual labor has become in the last 40 years due to corrupt labor unions.

[riviera74]

46 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

And ending organized labor will fix those problems HOW?

[balthazar]

Because individuals will have to survive as individuals, not as 1 Borg in the Collective. You have a much larger stake in how jobs progress and you can have more pride in your work because you made it happen. When a union feeds you work- there will always be work. When a union argues against job shortcomings, your personal accountability is diminished.

I’m not saying ‘no unions’- some industries still benefit from it. But this elevation of unions like they’re this saintly defender of the downtrodden & oppressed is certainly fairy-tale-esque.

NJ teacher union president makes more money than the president of the United States! $565,000 last I read. I would love to read an opinion on how that’s not outright corruption.

The idea that all entities are evil torturers is not grounded in reality. Sure, before federal laws and practices, 100 years ago; there were real, and perhaps common problems. But its not 1901 anymore, and unions have become small governments; primarily concerned with revenue streams, not people.

[ccap41]

5 minutes ago, riviera74 said:

And ending organized labor will fix those problems HOW?

It only took 12 hours to fix that train pileup. 

Also, I've said it here and I'll say it again for clarity. 

The idea of unions is absolutely wonderful! They were put in place to protect the worker and for fair pay. They were completely necessary when they were originally established and probably decades after, as well. 

Today, however, they are garbage, corrupt, and don't make working hard beneficial. 

[balthazar]

On a job I was on a bunch of years ago, PSE&G showed up to install a new telephone pole at the road. They set up, bored the hole, unloaded the pole. Then they started standing around.
I asked, 'Time to set the pole?'
'Oh no,' the guy answered. 'That's another team; union rules. They should be here late afternoon.'
Mind you; they had the boom/grapple that lifted the pole off the trailer, well able to turn the pole 90 degrees and stick it in the bore.

Why the F would you need independent, separate union bargaining to drill a hole than you would to backfill a hole?

Corruption.

[ccap41]

[G. David Felt]

29 minutes ago, balthazar said:

On a job I was on a bunch of years ago, PSE&G showed up to install a new telephone pole at the road. They set up, bored the hole, unloaded the pole. Then they started standing around.
I asked, 'Time to set the pole?'
'Oh no,' the guy answered. 'That's another team; union rules. They should be here late afternoon.'
Mind you; they had the boom/grapple that lifted the pole off the trailer, well able to turn the pole 90 degrees and stick it in the bore.

Why the F would you need independent, separate union bargaining to drill a hole than you would to backfill a hole?

Corruption.

[ccap41]

33 minutes ago, balthazar said:

On a job I was on a bunch of years ago, PSE&G showed up to install a new telephone pole at the road. They set up, bored the hole, unloaded the pole. Then they started standing around.
I asked, 'Time to set the pole?'
'Oh no,' the guy answered. 'That's another team; union rules. They should be here late afternoon.'
Mind you; they had the boom/grapple that lifted the pole off the trailer, well able to turn the pole 90 degrees and stick it in the bore.

Why the F would you need independent, separate union bargaining to drill a hole than you would to backfill a hole?

Corruption.

That reminds me of a time a buddy of mine just started a new job and he needed to get his job done but before he needed something else finished by "somebody else", who wasn't there. He said "screw it" because he was perfectly capable of doing whatever it was so he could get to his own job.

He got written up for it. 

Fck. modern Unions. 

Edited February 18, 2020 by ccap41

[Robert Hall]

17 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

That reminds me of a time a buddy of mine just started a new job and he needed to get his job done but before he needed something else finished by "somebody else", who wasn't there. He said "screw it" because he was perfectly capable of doing whatever it was so he could get to his own job.

He got written up for it. 

Fck. modern Unions. 

I remember a long time ago (over 20 years ago), I was working in an corporate IT cube farm, and my team got recubed--my whole department moved across the floor to a different collection of 20 or so cubicles.  I could box up my personal content in my cube, but couldn't move it, my chair or my computer--those had to be moved by union mover resource units.   Struck me as odd.  

[riviera74]

2 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

I remember a long time ago (over 20 years ago), I was working in an corporate IT cube farm, and my team got recubed--my whole department moved across the floor to a different collection of 20 or so cubicles.  I could box up my personal content in my cube, but couldn't move it, my chair or my computer--those had to be moved by union mover resource units.   Struck me as odd.  

If modern unions are so bad, are the alternatives a lot better?  Especially in certain industries (steel, automotive). . . . .

Now, public sector unions I would argue have serious issues that need to be addressed.  Now why do we have public sector unions again?