Random Thoughts Thread

[Drew Dowdell]

I can't even tell with anything online anymore.... have to be so serious about everything and take it as it as written.

[Robert Hall]

Alas, the <sarcasm> tags never took off...

[G. David Felt]

1 hour ago, Drew Dowdell said:

I can't even tell with anything online anymore.... have to be so serious about everything and take it as it as written.

What? ? You mean I have to have integrity, honesty and not blame it all on #FakeNews?

Humans never tell a lie! 

[daves87rs]

8 hours ago, dfelt said:

Seems Honda has a new sub brand called Everus and showed off their first EV auto for the Chinese market.

https://www.autoblog.com/2018/04/25/honda-everus-ev-concept-beijing/#slide-7315575

Not sure if it is all the LED, but I like this....

[G. David Felt]

1 hour ago, daves87rs said:

Not sure if it is all the LED, but I like this....

I have to agree, not sure what specifically it is, but this is the first honda I have actually ever liked other than my Honda Boat motor. That little 10HP motor is awesome.

[ocnblu]

15 hours ago, ccap41 said:

That's a fairly attractive automobile. 

Dude it's an HR-V with a neon kit.  Are you serious? 

Edited April 27, 2018 by ocnblu

[ccap41]

3 hours ago, ocnblu said:

Dude it's an HR-V with a neon kit.  Are you serious? 

Looks way better than this even if it is very similar. 

[balthazar]

'Very similar'? It's literally the same vehicle with a different front bumper.

[Robert Hall]

14 minutes ago, balthazar said:

'Very similar'? It's literally the same vehicle with a different front bumper.

Different badges, different lighting, different rear bumper, different wheels, etc also.  But definitely likely related. 

[ccap41]

CRAAAAZY how a car can look very similar and not the exact same because you change the bumpers and wheels. 

Does a Focus RS look exactly like a Focus SE? ? Or perhaps it looks "very similar". 

[Robert Hall]

8 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

CRAAAAZY how a car can look very similar and not the exact same because you change the bumpers and wheels. 

Does a Focus RS look exactly like a Focus SE? ? Or perhaps it looks "very similar". 

Yeah, pretty amazing how trim levels and bumpers and wheels, etc can change the appearance.   Like comparing a base Grand Cherokee Laredo with a Trailhawk, Summit, or Trackhawk.   4 different trim levels, all with distinctly different appearances... 

[balthazar]

Same DLO, same doors, same hood, same fenders, same wheelwell black plastic... it's basically a 'rebadge'. I would agree it looks more 'gee-whizzy' and thus; more appealing, probably, to those shopping this segment, but it's not "likely related", it's the same base vehicle.

What catches my eye is the cutline of the rear hatch- to maintain uninterrupted neon tails, the cutline jags noticably into the opening... that's not going to see production with 2 arm-bashing protrusions into the cargo opening like that. Going to have to 'break' the neon there and square it up.

Also, I find this line visually jarring :
 

[Robert Hall]

It's funny, after seeing the pic of this concept yesterday, I really didn't think of it's connection to the HR-V, but then last night I walked past an HR-V in a parking lot and realized it looked similar...

[ccap41]

BUT IT'S THE SAME! 

[balthazar]

[frogger]

HRV and Everus remind me of what Honda also did with the Civic and the new Insight.

 

[trinacriabob]

Very sad that "pull out all the stops" New York style arrivals for yesterday's true ocean liners are a thing of the past.  Also, an ocean liner is not a cruise ship.  It is meant to function primarily for scheduled transoceanic service between two points (typically North America and Europe).

Here's the arrival of the S.S. France in New York on May 11, 1962.  There was no bridge across the Narrows (1964) and no WTC (~1971).  (However, the last Italian flagship and Cunard flagships would sail under the Verrazano upon sailing into the harbor.)  The French government pulled the plug on the "France" in 1974 because she was bleeding so much red ink.  Love it at about the midpoint of the video when you get an aerial view of the ship passing the Statue of Liberty and all the tugboats escorting the ship.

 

[Drew Dowdell]

Also the difference between a cruise and a crossing.  You'll never find me on a cruise, but I would love to do a crossing.

[Drew Dowdell]

In a famous meetup, the Eyesore of the Seas, the Ungainly of the Seas, and the Tacky of the Seas.

[balthazar]

[G. David Felt]

7 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

In a famous meetup, the Eyesore of the Seas, the Ungainly of the Seas, and the Tacky of the Seas.

I would hate to be on a boat with 10,000 plus people in a cramped place and not be able to clearly get away from everyone.

[ocnblu]

4 hours ago, balthazar said:

Wait is that fin LIT?  I never noticed that before!

[Robert Hall]

2 hours ago, ocnblu said:

Wait is that fin LIT?  I never noticed that before!

Appears to be...never seen a '60 Dodge up close before. 

[balthazar]

A Polara- different fins than the Dart.

I still drive by a Quonset hut garage out in the country where I vividly remember looking at a med blue '60 Dart Seneca 2-dr sedan for sale, with back-up light deletes and a transplanted 383. That would've been right about 1988.

[ccap41]

17 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Also the difference between a cruise and a crossing.  You'll never find me on a cruise, but I would love to do a crossing.

I said I'd never do a cruise either until the gf's parents took us all last November. I still don't think I'd ever pay for one myself but it was an overall very enjoyable experience. Ours was a Disney cruise and it surprisingly wasn't overly kid oriented like I was afraid of. I mean most of it was geared towards kids but they still had adult only areas and MOST parents didn't let their kids just be sh!theads. 

[trinacriabob]

17 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

In a famous meetup, the Eyesore of the Seas, the Ungainly of the Seas, and the Tacky of the Seas.

Agreed.  Your caption is funny.  I saw this yesterday.  (Still, these group photos are always sort of cool.) This is the largest segment of the Royal Caribbean fleet.  People derisively call them floating condominiums or cruise boxes.  They are sad in that they are too big and mostly all about bling and bells & whistles.

Traditional ocean liners were noteworthy and memorable because they were designed with the forecastle pushed back far enough from the bow and with rear decks that tapered nicely behind the funnels, and with the outdoor pools were typically placed on ample rear decks.  On the British and French liners, there were also additional pool(s) indoors, on the lower decks.  On the Italian liners, all the pools were outside.

The QM2, the only true transatlantic liner today, had to do a balancing act.  It was required that the bow was sleek enough, that the forecastle was pushed back enough, and that the rear of the ship would be tapered while upping the number of exterior and balcony cabins compared to the outgoing QE2.  That was a tall order, but they did a good job with the design.  Sadly, the QE and QV are part of the Cunard fleet, were built at Fincantieri near Venice, are boxy, are used primarily for cruises, and fortunately are NOT the Cunard flagship.  This shows what I'm talking about, with the QM2 in the middle, looking pretty darn nice to me:

Again, people respond to good design even though they may not be able to verbalize what they like and dislike.  Many ships come into Quebec City during the cruise season, but the area's citizens generally only turn out in significant numbers to see the arrival and departure of the QM2. 

Edited May 1, 2018 by trinacriabob

[ccap41]

9 hours ago, dfelt said:

I would hate to be on a boat with 10,000 plus people in a cramped place and not be able to clearly get away from everyone.

Most cruise ships are in the 2500-3500 passengers range. You'd be surprised how not cramped that is on a boat that massive. 

The world's largest hold 5800 people.

[frogger]

I have never been on one of the larger 4000+ passenger ships but I've been on a few average sized ones, I would go on another cruise before I went to another all inclusive resort, especially with kids.  Our family just needs to avoid the cheapest cruise lines or go on a Disney cruise because we like better food and the difference in the crowd.  I think my wife is researching the Celebrity Reflection for 2019 at this point.

I think the bigger the cruise ship the uglier they are in appearance, but I care more about the experience onboard vs the looks from off it.

[ccap41]

8 minutes ago, frogger said:

I have never been on one of the larger 4000+ passenger ships but I've been on a few average sized ones, I would go on another cruise before I went to another all inclusive resort, especially with kids.  Our family just needs to avoid the cheapest cruise lines or go on a Disney cruise because we like better food and the difference in the crowd.  I think my wife is researching the Celebrity Reflection for 2019 at this point.

I think the bigger the cruise ship the uglier they are in appearance, but I care more about the experience onboard vs the looks from off it.

The Disney(Dream is what we were on) ship was impressively nice, as it should be for 2-4 times the price.  We were docked next to a Carnival boat at one place and that just looked like a dump i comparison. Just looking at the Carnival boat made me never want to go on one.

[Drew Dowdell]

5 hours ago, ccap41 said:

I said I'd never do a cruise either until the gf's parents took us all last November. I still don't think I'd ever pay for one myself but it was an overall very enjoyable experience. Ours was a Disney cruise and it surprisingly wasn't overly kid oriented like I was afraid of. I mean most of it was geared towards kids but they still had adult only areas and MOST parents didn't let their kids just be sh!theads. 

If someone else was paying and the cruise went some place I was specifically interested in, I might do it. I would never seek one out though.

With one exception... I think the River cruises they offer in Europe look really cool. I would be interested in one of them. Substantially smaller boats.

[ccap41]

29 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

If someone else was paying and the cruise went some place I was specifically interested in, I might do it. I would never seek one out though.

That's how I felt/feel as well. They just don't excite me really. 

[trinacriabob]

5 hours ago, ccap41 said:

The Disney(Dream is what we were on) ship was impressively nice, as it should be for 2-4 times the price.  We were docked next to a Carnival boat at one place and that just looked like a dump i comparison. Just looking at the Carnival boat made me never want to go on one.

Since your location shows STL, did your cruise begin and end in Galveston, TX?  Carnival and Disney are the big regulars there, with some Royal Caribbean.

I would think the New England - Eastern Canada cruise would be interesting:  New York - Newport RI - Boston - Bar Harbor - Halifax - St. john's - Sept Isles or Saguenay Fjord - Quebec City (most or some of those ports).  The QM2 does it once or twice each autumn.

When I did see the QM2 there and it was departing Quebec City, the band was playing "New York, New York."  People ashore got a chuckle out of that.

I've only been on full crossings when I was a kid, courtesy of my parents' travel choices.  They didn't like airplanes but then had to get used to them because the ship stopped being an option.

[balthazar]

[trinacriabob]

1 minute ago, balthazar said:

A tribute to rear wheel drive?

[Robert Hall]

Since it was almost 80 and sunny today, went to the beach after work then out for seafood for dinner.   Restaurant is in a building from 1865 that was once a hotel. 

[balthazar]

28 minutes ago, trinacriabob said:

A tribute to rear wheel drive?

Hm-mmm..... um; what? ?

[Robert Hall]

33 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Something odd about that floorpan. 

[balthazar]

Indeed : the front pans aren't dropped.

[trinacriabob]

A beautiful spring day to have made history and to have launched the latest rendition of the "Queen of the Skies:"

 Just incredible ... both the rotation from Paine Field in Everett, WA and the descent to Boeing Field in Seattle, with the Cascades in the background.  Note the chase plane (a routine thing on inaugural flights) and the fact that the landing gear is in the operative position after the climb out.

Sadly, airlines have not been lining up to buy these in pax form as was hoped.  There have been way more orders for the freighter version.   It's all good.  Lufthansa was the launch customer and has/will have 19 of them.  I believe there are Air Force One orders for this version ... it's about time.  Either way, the 747(-8i) should live to see 50 years of flight next February 9, since it first took the skies on that date in 1969.

If being the "King of the Skies" means one has to be as ugly as the Airbus 380, it's probably better to settle for being queen.  I swear ... even today, when you're in an airport and one of these taxis by, everyone still turns to look!

At one time, I believe there were 2 YouTubes - one for the take-off and one for the landing.   I was just poking around and found this YouTube which consolidates the events.

Edited May 2, 2018 by trinacriabob

[ocnblu]

6 hours ago, balthazar said:

Quiet Tuning?

[ccap41]

15 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

Since your location shows STL, did your cruise begin and end in Galveston, TX?  Carnival and Disney are the big regulars there, with some Royal Caribbean.

I would think the New England - Eastern Canada cruise would be interesting:  New York - Newport RI - Boston - Bar Harbor - Halifax - St. john's - Sept Isles or Saguenay Fjord - Quebec City (most or some of those ports).  The QM2 does it once or twice each autumn.

When I did see the QM2 there and it was departing Quebec City, the band was playing "New York, New York."  People ashore got a chuckle out of that.

I've only been on full crossings when I was a kid, courtesy of my parents' travel choices.  They didn't like airplanes but then had to get used to them because the ship stopped being an option.

No, we went to Disney Thursday through Sunday and the cruise was Monday through Friday out of Port Canaveral, Florida. 

[ccap41]

9 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

and the fact that the landing gear is in the operative position after the climb out.

Why was this? Testing purposes..?

[ccap41]

I cannot comment on the sales threads.. This is what the bottom of my page looks like. There is no text box.

 

[trinacriabob]

1 hour ago, ccap41 said:

Why was this? Testing purposes..?

I don't know.  This plane was launched in 2011.  The same was true with the launch of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner in December of 2009.  There were two of them.  I think it has to do with photographing, security, monitoring performance, etc.  It would be an interesting thing ("chase planes") to look up.

When I almost bought the Monte Carlo instead of the LaCrosse and found one in another state, they were going to sell it to me in my state, just over the line and at a DMV, so I could purchase it with the much better tax situation.  They were very accommodating but I got cold feet on the Monte.  At any rate, the guy said he'd also send up a "chase car" to bring the driver of the Monte back to the dealership.

[Robert Hall]

Back in 07-08 when I was living in Denver and doing a gig at Jeppesen (Boeing subsidiary that makes aviation charts and charting software), I went to a few internal videoconference presentations about the 787...aviation is a fascinating domain...  complex products and complex systems...

[Drew Dowdell]

14 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

A beautiful spring day to have made history and to have launched the latest rendition of the "Queen of the Skies:"

 Just incredible ... both the rotation from Paine Field in Everett, WA and the descent to Boeing Field in Seattle, with the Cascades in the background.  Note the chase plane (a routine thing on inaugural flights) and the fact that the landing gear is in the operative position after the climb out.

Sadly, airlines have not been lining up to buy these in pax form as was hoped.  There have been way more orders for the freighter version.   It's all good.  Lufthansa was the launch customer and has/will have 19 of them.  I believe there are Air Force One orders for this version ... it's about time.  Either way, the 747(-8i) should live to see 50 years of flight next February 9, since it first took the skies on that date in 1969.

If being the "King of the Skies" means one has to be as ugly as the Airbus 380, it's probably better to settle for being queen.  I swear ... even today, when you're in an airport and one of these taxis by, everyone still turns to look!

At one time, I believe there were 2 YouTubes - one for the take-off and one for the landing.   I was just poking around and found this YouTube which consolidates the events.

I've seen them many times from a distance and they are quite beautiful.   But to really get the full effect, go down to the end of the runway at O'Hare, you can drive there, and watch as one of these ( An Air China in my case) takes off practically over your head. Not only do you get to appreciate the beauty... but you end up in awe of the size.  My brain said "My god, that's a big ship!"

[Robert Hall]

7 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

I've seen them many times from a distance and they are quite beautiful.   But to really get the full effect, go down to the end of the runway at O'Hare, you can drive there, and watch as one of these ( An Air China in my case) takes off practically over your head. Not only do you get to appreciate the beauty... but you end up in awe of the size.  My brain said "My god, that's a big ship!"

Fun....one of my favorite spots to view them is at Honolulu airport..the way the airport is laid out, there are open (covered) walkways between the gates and you will be walking along and find yourself within 50 feet or so of one parked at the gate...they are so huge in person.   Used to love taking the British Airways 747s from Phoenix to London. 

Edited May 2, 2018 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[trinacriabob]

45 minutes ago, Cubical-aka-Moltar said:

Used to love taking the British Airways 747s from Phoenix to London. 

That's right ... BA did/does fly a jumbo from Phoenix to London when US Airways folded into AA and PHX became a One World hub.  But, when US Airways was Star Alliance (IIRC), Lufthansa served Phoenix to Frankfurt with a jumbo.  We've gone from the Big 6 to the Big 3 within the last decade or so.

I'm betting those heavies have to work harder if full flights and taking off when it's 110F outside.  I remember being on a full Lufthansa 747 from Germany to San Francisco and it rotated effortlessly in misty 65F weather.  Planes and either Arizona or the Mojave Desert are a match made in heaven when it comes to "retirement!"

[Robert Hall]

There are days occasionally in Phoenix where it would get too hot for planes to take off and they would shut the airport...like the day last June when it was 120. 

[balthazar]

Tesla's March sales were down 39% vs. February's.

- - - - -

Edited May 4, 2018 by balthazar