Random Thoughts Thread

[Drew Dowdell]

It's raise and bonus time at work... got a sweet one this year. 

[G. David Felt]

Yup hoping for the same thing here at Dell. This week is the 1 on 1 with the management and you find out how you performed and what you get. Hoping for a good one too.

[ccap41]

Our bonuses are in December and raises used to be April but they've moved it to start at the beginning of the year(Jan 1st) so now raises/evaluations are in November/December as well. It's nice to get it at that point but it would also be nice to get a stagger between the two. 

[Drew Dowdell]

I'm mostly happy that my base rate went up a bunch.  They use to keep the base rates relatively low and then give larger one-time bonuses to make up the difference.  But bonus is based on a percentage of base rate, so that was keeping me a bit on the underpaid side.  Now I'm at industry standard for my profession. 

That said, I'm just going to pocket all of it and not buy anything I hadn't already planned on buying. 

[G. David Felt]

Equally as happy, just had my one on one with the boss and now I am on par for the industry position I am in. Part of how Dell does things over EMC where EMC paid lower but gave a bigger bonus. Dell pays on industry par but with a little smaller bonus. Yet having a biweekly bigger paycheck is nice.  

[G. David Felt]

Gotta love it when you can get details on why RED WINE is good for you! ???

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/wellness/the-definitive-truth-about-red-wine-health-benefits/ar-BBUaK20?li=BBnb7Kz

 

[ccap41]

 

[G. David Felt]

Cool Read from the LMC Automotive group on BEV Development.

https://lmc-auto.com/bev-development-lowering-cost-progress/

Also interesting to see their take on global Hybrid & EV here:

https://lmc-auto.com/what-we-do/our-services/global-hybrid-and-electric-vehicle-forecast/

[G. David Felt]

Tesla's Musk Pokes Fun At Ram Trucks "Puny" Towing Ability

http://flip.it/1UnUug

Too funny!

[ocnblu]

zzzzz

[oldshurst442]

3 hours ago, ccap41 said:

 

Is it me, or does it really sound like shyte???!!!

I saw this article at Road and Track's web site and this is what was said:

Quote

The Mustang GT350's "Voodoo" V8 isn't the only piece of American muscle capable of rocking a flat-plane crank. The owner of this last-gen Corvette Z06 decided it would be a good idea to equip a modified LS engine with a flat-plane crank layout, and now it sounds like something straight out of the Ferrari factory in Maranello.

 

It sounds NOTHING like something out of a Maranello factory let alone a Ferrari. Its NOT even worthy to mention the Voodoo V8 in the same breath. And yes it sounds like no other LS based V8 engine before...LS engines soung good. This sounds like SHYTE! THAT is why this does NOT sound like any other LS...

The Ferrari V8s and V12s are symphonies. The Voodoo V8 adds the cannons to that symphony like how the cannons are in the 1812 overture.  American V8 muscle is just simply Rock-N-Roll! 

But what we have got here is...a Backstreet Boys reunion for 2018.

 

Edited March 26, 2019 by oldshurst442

[balthazar]

3 hours ago, dfelt said:

Tesla's Musk Pokes Fun At Ram Trucks "Puny" Towing Ability

As the '19 Ram is rated to tow up to 35,000 lbs, it'll be really interesting to see what Tesla (eventually) puts out.

[balthazar]

[daves87rs]

12 hours ago, ocnblu said:

zzzzz

Kinda how i feel right now......

[balthazar]

'60 BelviDearGodThoseFins ~

[G. David Felt]

Ford really should build this as I am sure like the GT they could sell a limited run of the truck Velociraptor.

[Robert Hall]

Working in the remote office for a while today.  

[balthazar]

For Blu ~

[Drew Dowdell]

I still wonder how those COE jeeps got any traction to the rear wheels with accessories mounted on the front. 

[Robert Hall]

I ran across an FB post the other day on the Jeep FC...they were sold in the US from '56-65, then Willys sold or licensed the tooling to Mahindra, where they were built for several decades in India, including a passenger van and minibus version...

[ocnblu]

Hey BARRA... I want to know RIGHT NOW why the USA doesn't get this truck and Mexico DOES!  Regular cab short bed Sierra, plus it is in mid-level trim!

Edited March 28, 2019 by ocnblu

[ocnblu]

https://www.gmc.com.mx/pickups/sierra-regular-4x4

[Robert Hall]

That may be the best looking of the new generation of GM trucks..I like that blue, brown and the dark red. 

[balthazar]

[Drew Dowdell]

As usual, MB gets the credit for "inventing" something that someone else invented. In this case, crossover "coupe" styling.

[riviera74]

1 hour ago, Drew Dowdell said:

As usual, MB gets the credit for "inventing" something that someone else invented. In this case, crossover "coupe" styling.

The Buick Rendezvous looked better . . . . and probably was better.

[balthazar]

[G. David Felt]

This is crazy and Lyft is so OVER VALUED!

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-lyft-ipo/lyft-valued-at-24-3-billion-in-first-ride-hailing-ipo-idUSKCN1R92P4

No alternative taxi ride type company is worth this. Crazy! 

[balthazar]

[ccap41]

8 hours ago, dfelt said:

This is crazy and Lyft is so OVER VALUED!

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-lyft-ipo/lyft-valued-at-24-3-billion-in-first-ride-hailing-ipo-idUSKCN1R92P4

No alternative taxi ride type company is worth this. Crazy! 

Why not? 

[trinacriabob]

I recently read that WOW Air is shuttering.  That's sad.  They provided service to Europe on the cheap via Reykjavik from a lot of second tier American cities.  Icelandair stays on, which is the country's flag carrier, as Air France and Lufthansa would be to France and Germany.  WOW Air was a low cost alternative, similar to Southwest.  They cited that they were doing fine, operating with smaller single aisle Airbus planes, and then overextended themselves with much more distant destinations for which they needed and added Airbus 330s, twin aisle aircraft with 8 seats abreast.  Oh well.  On the other hand, low cost Irish Ryanair has stuck to a business model of only Boeing 737s and has been around for at least a decade.  If you can handle their nickel and diming for anything extra, they're a good way to go point to point within Europe.

Two European carriers are actually reasonably priced for flights across the pond - Aer Lingus of Ireland and TAP Air Portugal, both national flag carriers.  I've crossed the pond on both of them and they are pretty good.  You just have to be on the lookout for specials.

I'm all for the success of low cost carriers.  Now, if they can just solve the Boeing 737 MAX's problems and get them off the ground again soon.

[Drew Dowdell]

23 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

Why not? 

Because they lose money and their current business model isn't sustainable. 

From the article:

Quote

Lyft’s revenue was $2.16 billion for 2018, double the previous year’s and far higher than $343 million in 2016. It posted a loss of $911 million in 2018 versus $688 million in 2017.

It's trading that high because of the hype and that investors are wary of the other tech stocks out there.

[ccap41]

I definitely do not think it is worth investing in but I do not think "No alternative taxi ride type company is worth this."

[G. David Felt]

1 hour ago, ccap41 said:

I definitely do not think it is worth investing in but I do not think "No alternative taxi ride type company is worth this."

Then look at it from this point of view. This is not a tech company, this is not a medical, pharmaceutical, or any other company that creates something new all the time.

This is a taxi company with different colors. Yes they took technology to better streamline the pickup and drop off and how one pays, but just another taxi company that moves people and packages.

As such, this is greatly overvalued in an unsustainable business model.

Be you a fan of Warren Buffet or any other big name investing guru, they all have normal basic investment check list to run on any company to see if the valuation is worth it. This one does not match up to sound, solid investing practice and as such is overvalued and unsustainable. Correction is going to hurt them and investors.

[Robert Hall]

1 hour ago, trinacriabob said:

I recently read that WOW Air is shuttering.  That's sad.  They provided service to Europe on the cheap via Reykjavik from a lot of second tier American cities.  Icelandair stays on, which is the country's flag carrier, as Air France and Lufthansa would be to France and Germany.  WOW Air was a low cost alternative, similar to Southwest.  They cited that they were doing fine, operating with smaller single aisle Airbus planes, and then overextended themselves with much more distant destinations for which they needed and added Airbus 330s, twin aisle aircraft with 8 seats abreast.  Oh well.   

Yeah, it's too bad about WOW...had them here in Cleveland for about a year...my sister used WOW last year when traveling to Amsterdam for work.   I'm interested in going to Iceland, on my bucket list. 

[G. David Felt]

10 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

Yeah, it's too bad about WOW...had them here in Cleveland for about a year...my sister used WOW last year when traveling to Amsterdam for work.   I'm interested in going to Iceland, on my bucket list. 

You just want to go find the cave there that will take you to the Center of the Earth!  

[ccap41]

15 minutes ago, dfelt said:

Then look at it from this point of view. This is not a tech company, this is not a medical, pharmaceutical, or any other company that creates something new all the time.

This is a taxi company with different colors. Yes they took technology to better streamline the pickup and drop off and how one pays, but just another taxi company that moves people and packages.

As such, this is greatly overvalued in an unsustainable business model.

Be you a fan of Warren Buffet or any other big name investing guru, they all have normal basic investment check list to run on any company to see if the valuation is worth it. This one does not match up to sound, solid investing practice and as such is overvalued and unsustainable. Correction is going to hurt them and investors.

There are plenty of shipping companies and airlines that just move people and packages. Are they not worth it either? 

I'm not saying the share price is worth the gamble or that anything specifically about this company is but to say a taxi company isn't worth it, I find odd. It seems like less and less people get their license every year because they don't care about driving and these services are becoming bigger and bigger. Look at the big automakers who are having "mobility" divisions, this is a part of that. 

[ocnblu]

20 hours ago, balthazar said:

The stuff of science fiction!  Very cool.  Would be hilarious if they actually pull off some sort of desirable electric vehicle sometime in the next 35 years!

[trinacriabob]

12 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

Yeah, it's too bad about WOW...had them here in Cleveland for about a year...my sister used WOW last year when traveling to Amsterdam for work.   I'm interested in going to Iceland, on my bucket list. 

Yeah, do the Iceland stopover and sit in all those hot tubs they have at varying temperatures while looking up at a clear Nordic sky when it's freezing outside.  Those Iceland stopovers are good for their local economy.  The experience will be a big 180 from taking a dip at the Jersey shore and. moreover, with Jersey shore beachgoer types.  Instead, the Icelandic experience looks civil, genteel, and as if the volume has been turned way down.

[Drew Dowdell]

16 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

Yeah, do the Iceland stopover and sit in all those hot tubs they have at varying temperatures while looking up at a clear Nordic sky when it's freezing outside.  Those Iceland stopovers are good for their local economy.  The experience will be a big 180 from taking a dip at the Jersey shore and. moreover, with Jersey shore beachgoer types.  Instead, the Icelandic experience looks civil, genteel, and as if the volume has been turned way down.

Yeah, I really wanted to try it.  I'm told that the flights to get there are cheap, but everything else like food and hotel is expensive.

[balthazar]

[ocnblu]

God, I cannot tell my late-40's-very early-50's fastbacks from this distance... is that a Nash?  Packard?  HELP ME YOU WILL, YODA!  ?‍♂️

[balthazar]

'47 Buick Sedanette. Had to search a bit myself to ID it, and it did catch my eye as I posted it.
- - - - -

Edited March 31, 2019 by balthazar

[ocnblu]

Haha... right!  Seemed a little frumpy to me, that is why I was assigning it to those other makes... was being snobbish toward Nash (Packard was stuffy and dull during this time, imo), which I always liked, BTW.

Nash 600 -

[ocnblu]

Packard Custom 8 -

[balthazar]

Pic I took a few years ago; Caddo ~

[Robert Hall]

Those late 40s-early 50s frumpy humpies are pretty wild.. I kind of like the '50 Buick look. 

 

 

 

Edited March 31, 2019 by Robert Hall

[ocnblu]

That's pretty... it's not a fastback/Sedanette though, right?

[Robert Hall]

5 minutes ago, ocnblu said:

That's pretty... it's not a fastback/Sedanette though, right?

I thought it was, the rear window looks pretty slopey and it has a fixed B-pillar.  I know there was a 2dr ht, was there a 2dr non-fastback sedan also?   Or maybe not...this Special fastback below ooks different.  Though that angle and lighting of the green one it's hard to tell.. (I think there were two different body series for '50 Buicks, like B- and C- bodies?) 

 

 

The stupid posts got merged...hate that feature sometimes..

Woke up a few min ago to this.. guess I put the snow thrower away too soon..crazy, was about 62 here yesterday and 73 down in Athens. 

 

 

Edited March 31, 2019 by Robert Hall

[ocnblu]

Dude came in a couple of days ago with his comical sidekick.  He had an accident, and wanted to talk to me about a couple of things so I could start off on the right foot with his repair.  His car was to be towed in to our shop later that day.

"I need you to know, my car is a High Bird, it's a special car..."

"Yes, I see here on the paperwork, you mean it is a Camry Hybrid, right?"

"Yeah, it's a High Bird"

I had to keep a straight face through this ordeal.