Random Thoughts Thread

[balthazar]

[trinacriabob]

18 hours ago, balthazar said:

Recent access ramp I built for a customer. They didn't ask me to paint it, tho perhaps that's in the near future, as reportedly it's a permanent structure.

Nice.  Where did you acquire those skills?

15 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

@ocnblu

@oldshurst442

I'm going to give this one a phonetic try - I R O V I A  P O L L A' ?

This is one that I like:  ^ A ^ A P I A (where the ^ is lambda) ... an easier one for a visitor to figure out

It's a beautiful place, too:  L A L A R I A, the white beach on the island of Skiathos in the Sporades archipelago.

 

 

 

[balthazar]

1 hour ago, trinacriabob said:

Nice.  Where did you acquire those skills?

:shrug: Just picked it up I guess. I worked with my brother for about 7 years, but we mostly did excavation. I just know how to build things structurally.

[balthazar]

[ccap41]

Dang, it isn't $1.39 here.. I filled up the lawnmower yesterday(after a little tuneup - Spark plugs, air filter, and the oil change will probably be this weekend) and regular was $2.04 still. I get the old girl premium though as last year it was sputtering under not-full-throttle. 

this lawn mower was a hand-me-down from my dad when I bought this building to renovate as he bought a new Husquvarna. I don't have the tools at home for everything(well, at the time) so I took it to have the blades sharpened and they told me they were on backwards, Hahaha. My dad had taken them off to sharpen and put them on backwards so they were just ripping the grass. It also needed something else in the blade system that the barings were shot so it was cutting really crooked. $150 later and it cut like it was brand new. It has to be 15 years old at this point and me changing the spark plugs was the first time they were ever changed. My dad had never done that... just changed the oil and sharpened the blades every year(and put them back no backwards at least once!). I cut the grass yesterday and it seemed to  fix whatever sputter it had. The plugs didn't look good but one really didn't look terrible. 

[G. David Felt]

After working all week in the house and not going much of anywhere, today is food run and pharmacy run to get the wife her meds. Will be nice to get out for a brief time.

[Robert Hall]

Did the pharmacy run yesterday (drive through only) and will make a vet run Monday to get a refill of meds.

[ccap41]

I got my bike from my parents last week and have gone on a few bike rides this week to get out. I can't stand being stuck inside this much. I'm actually excited to get working on my lawn to do something outside and move around now that my gym has closed. 

[trinacriabob]

Now the media is focusing on shopping.  They are giving all these guidelines.  More people are covering their faces somehow.  The media both helps and hurts.  

After health workers and first responders get access to masks, sanitizing products, and the like, these products should become more available to the general public as a slow trickle.

As much as I like to keep my tank above half, I will be consolidating shopping/errands and refueling a lot less.

Edited April 3, 2020 by trinacriabob

[ocnblu]

My job is "essential" to the Commonwealth, so I am still going in on a split schedule, M-T-W 8-2.  So I am still getting inside ppl's nasty-ass cars to take the necessary insurance photos.  Our governor has just recommended we wear masks when we leave the house.

[balthazar]

^ Bill, you seeing markedly less volume tho, or no?

[ocnblu]

Yes we are.  And I just got a text from my boss, we are going back to M-F, 8-2 for public interactions, but we can stay longer if we have work to do.

 

1949 Oldsmobile 88 Futuramic

[balthazar]

Harper hay chopper :

[ocnblu]

Gotta say this is not surprising.  Hybrid/EV drivers are all the same. 

[ocnblu]

Whoa, TANG-y!

[G. David Felt]

2 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

Now the media is focusing on shopping.  They are giving all these guidelines.  More people are covering their faces somehow.  The media both helps and hurts.  

After health workers and first responders get access to masks, sanitizing products, and the like, these products should become more available to the general public as a slow trickle.

As much as I like to keep my tank above half, I will be consolidating shopping/errands and refueling a lot less.

I have gone from fueling every 4 days to about every 7 to 8 days on the SS. So yea, spending less money which is good on fuel.

2 hours ago, ocnblu said:

My job is "essential" to the Commonwealth, so I am still going in on a split schedule, M-T-W 8-2.  So I am still getting inside ppl's nasty-ass cars to take the necessary insurance photos.  Our governor has just recommended we wear masks when we leave the house.

How is Auto Accident repair essential to the commonwealth? With everyone supposedly staying home, much less traffic on the roads, auto repairs are reduced and I do not see how an auto repair from an accident is considered essential unlike food or medical? I am honestly surprised that your state has that listed as essential. Repair shops here are all shut down.

[ocnblu]

It is an auto safety thing, dfelt.  If a light is broken out or a mirror broken off, or the door is pinned shut, etc. etc.

Think about it.

 

As for the mechanical side, citizens need their cars running to get to and from the grocery store, doctor, etc.

[balthazar]

And emergency personnel need to keep vehicles operational. It’s not 1903. ?
Repair shops and dealership service departments are open in NJ. Dealership sales are closed tho.

Edited April 3, 2020 by balthazar

[G. David Felt]

37 minutes ago, ocnblu said:

It is an auto safety thing, dfelt.  If a light is broken out or a mirror broken off, or the door is pinned shut, etc. etc.

Think about it.

 

As for the mechanical side, citizens need their cars running to get to and from the grocery store, doctor, etc.

Got it, forgot you guys are on the east coast where static Government oversight of having to tell auto owners that this or that is broken and has to be replaced and excessive auto inspections to create low paying jobs are a requirement.

28 minutes ago, balthazar said:

And emergency personnel need to keep vehicles operational. It’s not 1903. ?
Repair shops and dealership service departments are open in NJ. Dealership sales are closed tho.

I have yet to see a government group that uses dealerships for the Police, medical or fire auto's that are used as they usually have their own mechanic shops.

I give this to you as I constantly am surprised by how much government oversight and running of the average persons life there is on the east coast. Crazy.

[balthazar]

No vehicle inspection in NJ other than gas engine emissions.

Local Chevrolet dealer does police vehicle service from a number of towns. I would think it was more cost effective rather than each township mantaining a multi-brand garage/ employing & training mechanics.

Most equipment mandates are at the federal level, tho of course the individual states enforce condition. I would think you would be highly supportive of all safety & other equipment being functional, Mr Felt. Me; I don’t care so much.

Edited April 3, 2020 by balthazar

[G. David Felt]

30 minutes ago, balthazar said:

No vehicle inspection in NJ other than gas engine emissions.

Local Chevrolet dealer does police vehicle service from a number of towns. I would think it was more cost effective rather than each township maintaining a multi-brand garage/ employing & training mechanics.

Most equipment mandates are at the federal level, tho of course the individual states enforce condition. I would think you would be highly supportive of all safety & other equipment being functional, Mr Felt. Me; I don’t care so much.

I am all about keeping everything safe and functional, but the years I have worked on the east coast and been in the various states, seems to be allot of enforced state checks / inspections rather than common sense, repair and maintain your auto. Emissions testing is just stupid now as most auto's are so clean and you can see when an auto is burning oil so then the police should pull over and a hefty fine given. Same with people driving around with broken up auto's, do not need an inspection but I understand what you say and appreciate your thoughts on this.

[balthazar]

Not sure what you mean by 'a lot of enforced checks'.
Jersey used to be yearly on everything older than 4 years. It's probably been 8 years now that it's only emissions for gasoline vehicles (nothing for diesels). Takes less time to have you car inspected than it does to fully charge an EV.

They do, I believe, still have the authority to test obvious smoke-emitters on the road (tho I've never seen or heard of this being done). It's really not onerous at all. But note that vehicles over time do commonly show a decline in emission quality, hence the testing. They probably could lengthen the new car interval tho.

Edited April 3, 2020 by balthazar

[ocnblu]

dfelt has too much faith in the level of common sense among the motoring public.  Does he really think anyone pulls  their wheels to check their brake lining life, let alone their tire tread depth?  Does he really believe they put their car on a lift and check for rust holes?  Wow.  An advocate of "zero maintenance" EVs believes this?

[balthazar]

^ These are the same people who are probably demanding voice-activated power windows (but just as a stopgap until thought-activated power windows appear).
- - - - -
Just a 'plain Jane', cheap, Plymouth Belvedere : 

[daves87rs]

26 minutes ago, ocnblu said:

dfelt has too much faith in the level of common sense among the motoring public.  Does he really think anyone pulls  their wheels to check their brake lining life, let alone their tire tread depth?  Does he really believe they put their car on a lift and check for rust holes?  Wow.  An advocate of "zero maintenance" EVs believes this?

Well, I know for sure it is tougher in the rust belt states.

My wife’s 17 year old Cavalier had to be replaced not because the car stopped running (engine and trans had a lot of life left at 155k) but rust was making the doors fall off. It’s why it’s not uncommon to see 10 year old cars in the junkyard....

[trinacriabob]

I got lube, oil, and filter service before this all got out of whack.  I now wonder how the mechanics or dealers will deal with cars when they have to work on them.  They will have to touch the steering wheel, the keys, the shifter, etc. and will have to go in and out of the limited airspace of the passenger cabin to start it, check how it's running, move it, etc.  The same applies to the customers and their cars.

I'm trying to look for some humor in the fact that I might be cutting my own hair for the first time and it will be without one of those contraptions you see for $39.99 on an infomercial.

Edited April 3, 2020 by trinacriabob

[Robert Hall]

My Jeep needs an oil change, but I probably haven't driven it more than 100 miles since the end of January, the Trax I drove back from Florida at the end of January, and to a couple doctor's trips here w/ my sister (with her broken foot, she really can't easily get in and out of the Jeep).  The STS hasn't been out of the garage since January, but I start it every couple of weeks. 

Edited April 4, 2020 by Robert Hall

[balthazar]

I chenge m ern earl.

[daves87rs]

Let’s see:

Trax is 70% OLM

Equinox is 55% OLM

Cobalt is at 77% OLM

Cavalier’s oil is still pretty clean, but closing on a year old.

Should be good at least for a little while.....

[ocnblu]

Still at 70%, but my cubicle is one wall away from a mechanic shop.

Per my boss pleading with our dealer principal, our department will no longer be on a split schedule starting Monday.  We will be a full crew M-F, 8-2 for the public, longer if we have work to do after official closing time.

Edited April 4, 2020 by ocnblu

[ocnblu]

[oldshurst442]

Quebec closed auto repair shops deeming them not essential as well.  

And check this out...the dealership part to buy cars are open.   Try to figure out that idiotic move...

Other than that, Quebec politicians and health advisors  are managing this pandemic quite well.    Kudos to them. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ocnblu]

Sales is closed here.  Right now, it seems to me, it is much more important to keep your present car running v. getting a new one.

On the other hand, the whole process starts with selling a car, which will need maintenance, and possibly a ding or two repaired along the way.

[oldshurst442]

10 minutes ago, ocnblu said:

Sales is closed here.  Right now, it seems to me, it is much more important to keep your present car running v. getting a new one.

On the other hand, the whole process starts with selling a car, which will need maintenance, and possibly a ding or two repaired along the way.

Correction...

I just researched and I will retract my statement.   

Dealerships in Quebec are  indeed closed.  Along with the auto repair shops. Until April 13.   I misunderstood the news from a week ago.    Quebec shut down all non-essential business last week except pharmacies, hardware stores, grocery stores  and gas stations. Restaurants with drive thrus could remain open (YAY!!!) but only serve peoples through the drive thru...

Dealerships are closed and the auto repair shops would remain open...but 24 hours later, our politicians deemed auto repair shops non-essential, so those closed after. As of now, all auto related businesses are closed. 

But..the idiocy shall remain...

Bicycle  repair shop owners complained and convinced our politicians that THEIR services are essential so...BICYCLE repair shops are open...

Also...we are in complete shut down of ALL businesses EXCEPT pharmacies and gas stations on Sundays. 

Edited April 4, 2020 by oldshurst442

[Robert Hall]

19 minutes ago, oldshurst442 said:

 

Also...we are in complete shut down of ALL businesses EXCEPT pharmacies and gas stations on Sundays. 

That kinds of sounds like how parts of the US were in olden days as a 'normal' Sunday. 

[oldshurst442]

11 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

That kinds of sounds like how parts of the US were in olden days as a 'normal' Sunday. 

Yup...in Quebec too.  

We still have that in some ways still today.  Stores close at 5:00 PM on the week-ends.  Actually, it has been barely 20 years that stores  open until 9:00 PM on the weekdays.  Stores closed at 5:00 PM all week long.  

 

[oldshurst442]

2 hours ago, ocnblu said:

Inspiration:

Also...it kinda looks like a high on meth Ford designer was trying to green light a Taurus coupe. 

Edited April 4, 2020 by oldshurst442

[balthazar]

Was there a Pontiac Sunfire COUPE concept? Those are the Sunfire’s wheels.

This looks like a photoshoppe, because everything from the front wheels back screams of that concept.

[ocnblu]

The Sunfire was much prettier than the Ford Ghia Vivace.

Bleh - was recently released to a private owner, is not street legal, IIRC

[balthazar]

OK- Not quite the same wheels. Or car.
I always liked the Sunfire concepts. And those wheels are very cool.

[balthazar]

[trinacriabob]

Today was my first trip to get groceries in April.  There are more masked and gloved customers in the stores.  Adults seem to be evaluating other people's masks (preformed/cupped, home made cloth,  and purchased across the face types), just like little kids in school look to see who has the best lunch pails.

At the first supermarket, people were very well behaved.  Then, I went to a drug store chain I like.  As I was walking in, an older lady with a noticeable enough white trash quotient comes stumbling out of the store, and coughs ... and then later coughs again.  She did not bother to aim for her elbow.  She was walking under the covered walkway, so I walked over to area behind the cars to approach the store.  As I was about to walk in, I happened to make eye contact with a person in the handicapped spot waiting in his car and we both shook our heads at what we just saw.

It's people who choose to remain oblivious to what we are told, and is spelled out for us, that are hindering most well intentioned people's efforts.

 

[oldshurst442]

Je me souviens...

 

 

 

 

 

Therefore...I will never agree why anything below an S Class is deemed luxury from Mercedes Benz. 

 

Edited April 4, 2020 by oldshurst442

[riviera74]

Luxury from MB is rather simple: S class before 1990 and since; E class after 1990 or so; the ML class (nowadays the GL classes).  The C class is a tweener (i.e. near luxury) and the CLA class is just a cheap fake luxury Mercedes. Any questions?

[balthazar]

Question : Is this a luxury car interior? 

[oldshurst442]

1 hour ago, riviera74 said:

Luxury from MB is rather simple: S class before 1990 and since; E class after 1990 or so; the ML class (nowadays the GL classes).  The C class is a tweener (i.e. near luxury) and the CLA class is just a cheap fake luxury Mercedes. Any questions?

Not happy with that definition. Id further define that to:

The E Class after 2005  is 1950s and 1960s Oldsmobile/Buick luxury as even in the 1990s, the E Class was a Chevrolet Caprice equivalent in the Euro market. From cop car duty to taxi service. The C Class eventually took its place and that happened sometime in the 2000s.   

Id even peg the current E Class down to late 1950s Pontiac Bonneville levels.  Even to Impala SS levels...So no...I dont think the E Class is all that luxurious...

The C Class and equivalent before the mid 2000s was a compact econobox.  

The S Class and its predecessors were always luxo barges.  But...from after the war and up until the late 1990s, the interiors were horrid.   Especially up until the 1970s.   

Pre WW1 and WW2 Mercedes Benz cars were pure luxury.  Nobody could deny that. 

After the WW2, Mercedes Benz had to build cars for the masses in war torn Europe in their home turf of Europe. Poverty and rationing was a way of life in Europe from 1945-1980.  ESPECIALLY from 1945-1975. 

What they exported to the US and to oil rich Middle eastern countries after WW2, were the the efforts of luxury. "Efforts" is the key word here as there was no monies for R&D to be state of the art and for quality control.   Sure, the 1950s Gullwing was a techno tour de force. But that car lasted 3-4 years as a supercar for the day. Another 20 years went by before Mercedes engineered another car for the market that was state of the art for the day.  The late 1960s S Class predecessor, the 600 Pullman.  And even then, no match for what Detroit was pumping out at the time. That car had a high high high price tag only to try to get people with money in the US to look at it. In reality, what SMK says about other car companies needing discounts to compete with Mercedes Benz cars today...well what he says is true for Mercedes and that car...   

Very few folk bought it.  OK...Dictators bought it. Only because it wasnt their money they were wasting... They just wanted to flaunt and to lavishly spend...so they saw a car with a huge price tag and just bought it.  

Irony is that those people that were suppressed and oppressed  by those dictators that drove the 600 Pullman always looked down on American cars and their excessiveness and the American way of life.  Anyway...that is for another discussion on another day... 

The W123 Mercedes was built like a tank...for work and utility duties...for it being a workhorse. Yeah...kinda like pick-up trucks and that B-Body Chevrolet I posted... 

What R&D monies were available after WW2, it was all monies subsidized by the US and UK governments to rebuild West Germany...to shove it to those Commies.   You know...Ich Bin Ein Berliner and the like...Cold War chess games.

The ONLY reason why Mercedes, VW, and BMW exist today...IS because the US and the UK governments sunk money into West Germany... 

1 hour ago, balthazar said:

Question : Is this a luxury car interior? 

 

Nope. Nope its not.

 

 

 

Edited April 4, 2020 by oldshurst442

[balthazar]

So they just call it a luxury car, and so it is.  so EASY!
- - - - -

 

[riviera74]

8 minutes ago, balthazar said:

So they just call it a luxury car, and so it is.  so EASY!
- - - - -

 

And price it like one, even when it wasn't a luxury car.  Perception (to a lot of people) is reality.  But that was the 80s.  MB and BMW and Audi don't do that now. . . . . .

[oldshurst442]

 

 

32 minutes ago, riviera74 said:

And price it like one, even when it wasn't a luxury car.  Perception (to a lot of people) is reality.  But that was the 80s.  MB and BMW and Audi don't do that now. . . . . .

Ahem...

Yes I know...a couple of Astros and a Savannah...

 

Edited April 4, 2020 by oldshurst442

[trinacriabob]

4 hours ago, balthazar said:

Question : Is this a luxury car interior? 

No.  Being high-line Germanic and relying on its storied heritage will get it to be billed that way, though.  I don't like this dash, just like I didn't like the boring and utilitarian dash of the BMW 3## series of that same era.  Now, I would take cloth seats, like those shown, over leather any day of the week and twice on Sundays.

Right after college, a friend of mine bought a nice house in the suburbs and a Mercedes 190.  It was always in the shop.  He said that they were "throw-away cars."

Edited April 4, 2020 by trinacriabob