Random Thoughts Thread

[balthazar]

no- the 46-48 Buicks all used 1 body, the '49 was a new body with integral front fenders. The Sedanette transcended the 2 generations.

[Robert Hall]

6 minutes ago, balthazar said:

no- the 46-48 Buicks all used 1 body, the '49 was a new body with integral front fenders. The Sedanette transcended the 2 generations.

According to Wikipedia the '48 style Special was carried over 'till mid year '49 when the redesigned body came out...i seem to recall reading that in a Collectible Automobile article also..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buick_Special

[balthazar]

I don't trust Wiki for auto details like that, but it does agree with other sources I see online, showing the 2 different bodies for '49. Also telling is that the Special doesn't appear in the '49 sales brochure.

[Robert Hall]

2 minutes ago, balthazar said:

I don't trust Wiki for auto details like that, but it does agree with other sources I see online, showing the 2 different bodies for '49. Also telling is that the Special doesn't appear in the '49 sales brochure.

I also seem to recall reading in CA years ago that the senior Buicks didn't get the new body in '48 like Cadillac and Olds did, but it was delayed to '49 as it had to be restyled, the original design rejected...but who knows, it was over 70 years ago.. 

[balthazar]

^There ARE records of history; we as a species haven’t relied solely on oral history for some... I don’t know; 250 years or more.

Edited January 21, 2020 by balthazar

[trinacriabob]

I saw the movie "Knives Out."  It got great reviews.  It's in a known genre (whodunit) but it's in a class of its own ... very quirky and different.  It deserved the good reviews.  If anyone saw the suspense thriller "Body Heat" with Kathleen Turner and William Hurt, you learn how that web all came together in the last 10 or so minutes.  With this one, it became somewhat apparent about 65% to 75% of the way into the film.  What the additional running time did is iron out the details for more "clarity."  Recommended. 

[Robert Hall]

I want to see that one.  I watched ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ over the weekend, very good, better than I thought it would be.   
 

I want to see Guy Ritchie’s newest that opens this week—‘The Gentlemen’. 

[balthazar]

Last 2 I saw were The Joker and Ford vs. Ferrari.

[balthazar]

[A Horse With No Name]

On 1/20/2020 at 11:21 PM, balthazar said:

Last 2 I saw were The Joker and Ford vs. Ferrari.

Ford Vs Ferrari was Epic...

 

The woodworker in me likes the above video. 

[oldshurst442]

1 moron did not vote for Derek Jeter!!!  How pathetic.

Anyway...

Another Expo in the hall of fame!!!  Colorado or Montreal?  I hope its the Montreal Expos jersey he and the League will choose!!!  But Ill understand if its the Rockies.  

 The 2nd Canadian in Cooperstown!!!

 

Larry, in my world, you were THE man rather than THAT machine way back when...

Edited January 22, 2020 by oldshurst442

[ccap41]

1 hour ago, oldshurst442 said:

1 moron did not vote for Derek Jeter!!!  How pathetic.

Anyway...

Another Expo in the hall of fame!!!  Colorado or Montreal?  I hope its the Montreal Expos jersey he and the League will choose!!!  But Ill understand if its the Rockies.  

 The 2nd Canadian in Cooperstown!!!

 

Larry, in my world, you were THE man rather than THAT machine way back when...

He should go in with the birds on the bat. 

I'm very glad to have seen him here and glad he got to make a World Series appearance with us. 

Also, I have NO CLUE how somebody couldn't vote for Jeter to be voted in. It should have been a 100% vote, hands-down.

[ccap41]

I remember watching this game live and his first at-bat in a Cardinals' uniform. 

He was appreciated more in the 1.5 years here than he ever got in MTL or COL. 

Check out 2hr, 12 min and 30 seconds in. Welcome to STL big boy! 

 

[oldshurst442]

26 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

He should go in with the birds on the bat.

To be honest, he won more awards and stuff with the Rockies. He spent more years in Colorado. I want him in a s an Expo because his years as an Expo were great too. But maybe not as a Hall of Famer great. But rookie year and young and all. He did have 2 Gold Gloves with the Expos out of the 6 years he spent in Montreal...33%, but he did win 5 in Colorado. 5 out of the 10 years he spent there. 50% of the time he was there.  He also had 3 batting titles...in Colorado.   MVP of the league  while in Colorado.

He was supposed to be a hockey goalie, but that never panned out. "Twas the Expos that scouted him...by chance. But the Expos organization always had the knack of finding such talent that no other in the League could ever do.   

The Cards?   I always respected the Cards.  In baseball for me though, I HATE all other ball clubs.  Especially the Yankees, Red Sox, Braves, the Blue Jays, The A's...   But I have the utmost respect for the Yankees and the Red Sox.   

 

The Cards, The Cubs, The Pirates, The Phillies, The Reds, The Giants, the Dodgers ... Yeah...teams like these I may not like...hate might be tooo strong of a sentiment, but these are teams that are...dare I say...likeable?  

The Dodgers and the Giants...I kinda like their New York origins.  I may not like their California destination...

So...I could see the Rockies as a choice for Walker.  I cant see the Cards though.  

PS:  I HATE the Nationals...  NO! Not because the Expos moved there. But because they NEVER acknowledged the Montreal tie-in.  NO!!!  They dont absolutely have to acknowledge Montreal...  Rightfully so Ill say!!!

BUT!!!

In NO WAY should they also acknowledge Raines, Dawson, Carter, Guerrero as part of their history if that is the case.

Carter gets inducted...no acknowledgement.  Dawson and then Raines...nothing...  Finally Guerrero gets in and all of a sudden, the Washington owners and fans want to be tied in with Montreal?    Why?   Because that ballclub now has 4 inductees? 

PHOQUE OFF is what I say to them!   

27 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

I'm very glad to have seen him here and glad he got to make a World Series appearance with us. 

 

Im happy for him for that too...

19 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

He was appreciated more in the 1.5 years here than he ever got in MTL or COL. 

 I do not know about Colorado...but that statement for Montreal is 100000000000000000000000000%  FALSE!!!

People in Montreal LOVED him.   First of all...CANADIAN....

Second of all...we lOVED our Expos. Every single one of them.

 

Listen to the Lyrics.

The refrain...of all the Expos that played in Montreal for close to 40 years..."Larry Walk"  is mentioned...

Says a lot about how Montreal fans feel for him.  Keep in mind that this Montreal song artist made this song in 2010.  Waaaaaay before Gary makes the HOF.  Waaaaay before the Expos might be returning back to Montreal.  This song was made shortly after the Expos left town. 

"This one’s for the Kid and the Cat and the Hawk And this one’s for Grip, Larry Walk and the Rock This one’s for El Presidente, Mo and O-Cab and this one’s for Spaceman, Crow and Vlad"

 

[ccap41]

23 minutes ago, oldshurst442 said:

To be honest, he won more awards and stuff with the Rockies. He spent more years in Colorado. I want him in a s an Expo because his years as an Expo were great too. But maybe not as a Hall of Famer great. But rookie year and young and all. He did have 2 Gold Gloves with the Expos out of the 6 years he spent in Montreal...33%, but he did win 5 in Colorado. 5 out of the 10 years he spent there. 50% of the time he was there.  He also had 3 batting titles...in Colorado.   MVP of the league  while in Colorado.

He was supposed to be a hockey goalie, but that never panned out. "Twas the Expos that scouted him...by chance. But the Expos organization always had the knack of finding such talent that no other in the League could ever do.   

The Cards?   I always respected the Cards.  In baseball for me though, I HATE all other ball clubs.  Especially the Yankees, Red Sox, Braves, the Blue Jays, The A's...   But I have the utmost respect for the Yankees and the Red Sox.   

 

The Cards, The Cubs, The Pirates, The Phillies, The Reds, The Giants, the Dodgers ... Yeah...teams like these I may not like...hate might be tooo strong of a sentiment, but these are teams that are...dare I say...likeable?  

The Dodgers and the Giants...I kinda like their New York origins.  I may not like their California destination...

So...I could see the Rockies as a choice for Walker.  I cant see the Cards though.  

PS:  I HATE the Nationals...  NO! Not because the Expos moved there. But because they NEVER acknowledged the Montreal tie-in.  NO!!!  They dont absolutely have to acknowledge Montreal...  Rightfully so Ill say!!!

BUT!!!

In NO WAY should they also acknowledge Raines, Dawson, Carter, Guerrero as part of their history if that is the case.

Carter gets inducted...no acknowledgement.  Dawson and then Raines...nothing...  Finally Guerrero gets in and all of a sudden, the Washington owners and fans want to be tied in with Montreal?    Why?   Because that ballclub now has 4 inductees? 

PHOQUE OFF is what I say to them!   

Im happy for him for that too...

 I do not know about Colorado...but that statement for Montreal is 100000000000000000000000000%  FALSE!!!

People in Montreal LOVED him.   First of all...CANADIAN....

Second of all...we lOVED our Expos. Every single one of them.

 

Listen to the Lyrics.

The refrain...of all the Expos that played in Montreal for close to 40 years..."Larry Walk"  is mentioned...

Says a lot about how Montreal fans feel for him.  Keep in mind that this Montreal song artist made this song in 2010.  Waaaaaay before Gary makes the HOF.  Waaaaay before the Expos might be returning back to Montreal.  This song was made shortly after the Expos left town. 

"This one’s for the Kid and the Cat and the Hawk And this one’s for Grip, Larry Walk and the Rock This one’s for El Presidente, Mo and O-Cab and this one’s for Spaceman, Crow and Vlad"

 

Oh I was just joking about going in in a Cardinals' uniform. I would expect him to go in in a Rockies uniform. That was when he had his best years. He had a pretty good send off here in STL being able to play in a World Series and making another playoff run the following year... he only had one playoff series prior to STL and he got 5 playoff series in STL. in 1.25 seasons. 

It's a shame what the Expos organization turned into. I have very little personal history of them being in Montreal because of my age but before they moved nobody went there and they were always losing. It seems like they were once a great organization and there had to have been a change in ownership or management that turned them south(both literally and metaphorically). 

[oldshurst442]

2 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

Oh I was just joking about going in in a Cardinals' uniform. I would expect him to go in in a Rockies uniform. That was when he had his best years. He had a pretty good send off here in STL being able to play in a World Series and making another playoff run the following year... he only had one playoff series prior to STL and he got 5 playoff series in STL. in 1.25 seasons. 

 I didnt catch the humour. LOL.  Words on a screen. Words on a screen.....

4 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

It's a shame what the Expos organization turned into. I have very little personal history of them being in Montreal because of my age but before they moved nobody went there and they were always losing. It seems like they were once a great organization and there had to have been a change in ownership or management that turned them south(both literally and metaphorically). 

 

Yeah... The Expos downfall...   Many reasons.... But NONE of them are because the fans let down the team and soured and let them die only for the Expos to leave town just because...

MLB economics and politics failed The Expos. 

Ownership...the original owners, the second owners, the third owners being Jeffrey Loria and his little puppet Samson and finally MLB ownership failed the fans of Montreal, the city of Montreal and the the team.

The Quebec government and the city of Montreal also failed the fans and the team.  Although I could not expect public funds to help build a stadium....especially when the province of Quebec, the city of Montreal was in deep deep deep economical crisis with a a dilemma of separating from Canada being front and center.  

The Expos drew more attendance than the Canadiens in the 1980s.   Not fair you say because the Olympic statdium sat 50 000 people as compared to 18 000 at the forum and the Expos played 80 home games versus 40 for hockey?  Yeah but hockey IS  religion in Montreal and when baseball season starts in the Spring is when hockey season really starts in Montreal...but in the 1980s...the Canadiens werent all that hot. They won the Cup in 1986...but the Expos WERE the team of the 1980s...and the team of the 1990s...   

The Expos drew MORE attendance than the Yankees in those 1980s...

https://exposnation.com/en/montreal-expos-attendance-per-year/

You will see in link above that the fans in Montreal...ARE baseball fans.   

This video...from urinatingtree...sums up the truth with the Expos part. 

Urinatingtree usually makes fun of sports teams, and usually stretches the truth...as all humour, sarcastic satirical medias do but with the Expos part...the truth is more sarcastic and funny than comedic satire itself...

 

The chronic underachieving of the Expos never really soured the fan base. We always had awesome diamonds in the rough players to root for.  Larry Walker being one of those players.  It was the constant fire sales and the two strikes/lock-outs and the spiraling payrolls that we couldnt afford that drove us away from MLB....   NOT from our Expos or baseball the sport.  But from MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL.

The Expos left, but parents kept on enrolling their kids in baseball and the kids continued playing baseball. In fact. Baseball grass roots GREW over the time that the Expos left town...

 

[balthazar]

[balthazar]

Really like the detailing on this dash ~

[G. David Felt]

10 hours ago, balthazar said:

While cool to see, this dash SCREAMS at me busy busy busy and is not a well thought out layout of a Dash.

38 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Really like the detailing on this dash ~

Totally agree, love the attention to detail and yet simple clean dash design. Would love to see it restored without all the corrosion. 

[G. David Felt]

Gotta love people selling restored auto's on Ebay.

 

https://www.autoblog.com/photos/ebay-finds-for-the-cost-of-an-average-car-in-america/#slide-2202577

 

[G. David Felt]

Oops, Seems Jeep and Suzuki have been caught with cheating on their Diesel auto's in Europe too now.

https://www.autoblog.com/2020/01/23/jeep-grand-cherokee-suzuki-vitara-diesel-emissions-europe/

Jeep says they have a fix that will go out to all jeeps immediately while Suzuki does not have a solution yet.

[Robert Hall]

Was sitting behind a current Hyundai Santa Fe this morning in a turn lane and realized they have the rear turn signals down low in the rear fascia..not in the main taillight cluster.   They are so low I couldn't see them over the hood of my Jeep, only saw the repeater on the driver's door mirror making blinky-blinky.   

[G. David Felt]

Very cool tech, GM's eBrake for Trailering allows GM full size trucks with trailer to brake to a stop 40 sooner than on average.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/autos-trucks/gms-latest-trailers-that-brake-as-well-as-trucks/ar-BBZeuOj

[surreal1272]

After I bought my Flex and posted here, I had stated that I really wished that it had the Sync 3 system instead of Sync 2 and @dfelt alluded to upgrades being available in that manner. After a little research, I pulled the trigger and did just that. Just installed It today but they sent me the wrong power module cord for the USB hub so no Apple CarPlay for now until they send that to me. Otherwise, here it is...

Edited January 23, 2020 by surreal1272

[G. David Felt]

@surreal1272 That is really cool, thank you for updating us. I am excited to see that you moved forward to do this. I honestly think you like myself and others that made the move will love the ability to have your phone tied into the auto system.

[balthazar]

Chevrolet turbo 'boxer' 6 :

[surreal1272]

4 hours ago, dfelt said:

@surreal1272 That is really cool, thank you for updating us. I am excited to see that you moved forward to do this. I honestly think you like myself and others that made the move will love the ability to have your phone tied into the auto system.

The phone part was important but having a better system overall is even more important. Sync 2 was flaky with the backup camera and not near as responsive as Sync 3. Here’s hoping that was worth the dough I shelled out for it. 

[ocnblu]

7 hours ago, balthazar said:

Chevrolet turbo 'boxer' 6 :

WOW, the purity is strong in this one.  So goodlooking.  So fun to drive.  Balanced on a sky-high fulcrum.

[ccap41]

17 hours ago, surreal1272 said:

After I bought my Flex and posted here, I had stated that I really wished that it had the Sync 3 system instead of Sync 2 and @dfelt alluded to upgrades being available in that manner. After a little research, I pulled the trigger and did just that. Just installed It today but they sent me the wrong power module cord for the USB hub so no Apple CarPlay for now until they send that to me. Otherwise, here it is...

Awesome! SYNC3 is worlds better, isn't it??? 

[surreal1272]

15 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

Awesome! SYNC3 is worlds better, isn't it??? 

It really is. The strange part was having to contact these folks for them perform a remote operation to get it to "jive"  with my car. The systems have to programmed according to your VIN  (failure to do so means I could use on screen climate controls for example). That process was a little unconventional because it required a Windows PC (which I do not have) to be connected from its USB port to the OBD port of the Flex while they performed this "operation" remotely using a program called "Forscan". My work around was to set up Boot camp on my new iMac and literally bring it outside to the car and connect it that way at 10 PM (they were on Hong Kong time) while it was freezing outside. Like I said, very unconventional.

 

[USA-1]

On 1/20/2020 at 12:40 PM, dfelt said:

MSN posted the Best selling Cars in America by Brand. Very interesting to read.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/research-guides/best-selling-cars-in-america-—-by-brand/ss-BBYPu65?li=BBnb7Kz#image=1

Clearly the SUV/CUV and Truck is the rage of the auto selling world and some models are just printing money for their company.

Saw a black Cullinan on the 101 freeway here a couple of days ago. WOW, what a sweet ride with that iconic Rolls front end and grille and a lil blondie piloting her. 

[surreal1272]

To add to the upgrade details, apparently the rear view camera still acts flaky and won't come up at times. Not sure what the issue is but its something I'm going to look into since I have a few theories on it.

[ocnblu]

 

 

[Robert Hall]

Looks like the new Trailblazer excels at driving through parking lots. 

[oldshurst442]

CUV videos on top of this post and 1980s girley pop music in my head...

Is this what my Friday nights look like in January of 2020? 

 

 

[ocnblu]

9 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

Looks like the new Trailblazer excels at driving through parking lots. 

It has a special crawl ratio for that. 

Dammit, just like 80's pop, it has a purpose.  I love it, and I'm not scared to say so!

[ocnblu]

 

[Robert Hall]

Tokyo Auto Salon sounds like a SEMA type event...that Suzuki off road van is pretty cool. 

[balthazar]

Not a huge volume of Nash fans out there, but they certainly put a ton of unique thinking into their interiors in the '50s. 1955:

[balthazar]

 1949-50's Uniscope. Look how they treated '100' graphically ?  : 

[Robert Hall]

51 minutes ago, balthazar said:

 1949-50's Uniscope. Look how they treated '100' graphically ?  : 

 

Neat how the oil, fuel and temp gauges are set in the lower half also.  Reminds me of how the first generation of the modern Mini had the gauges in the big central dial. 

Edited January 25, 2020 by Robert Hall

[ocnblu]

2 hours ago, balthazar said:

Not a huge volume of Nash fans out there, but they certainly put a ton of unique thinking into their interiors in the '50s. 1955:

Daggone, that is a sweet dash.  Interesting.

[ocnblu]

Went to the PA Farm Show Complex for the PA Auto Show today.  Was one of those "Motor Trend" shows, kinda like a dealer's association thing.  Was disappointed there was no Trailblazer or Encore GX there.  Mostly tried out some miniature conveyances.  Ecosport, Trax, Spark, Kicks, Fit, Venue, Elantra GT, Renegade, things like that.

[balthazar]

Owner made the 'Pontiac' trunk emblem light up- it never did that from the factory. Cool :

[daves87rs]

18 hours ago, ocnblu said:

Went to the PA Farm Show Complex for the PA Auto Show today.  Was one of those "Motor Trend" shows, kinda like a dealer's association thing.  Was disappointed there was no Trailblazer or Encore GX there.  Mostly tried out some miniature conveyances.  Ecosport, Trax, Spark, Kicks, Fit, Venue, Elantra GT, Renegade, things like that.

One would think they would have.....

[G. David Felt]

On 1/25/2020 at 11:53 AM, balthazar said:

Not a huge volume of Nash fans out there, but they certainly put a ton of unique thinking into their interiors in the '50s. 1955:

Wonder if Toyota got their inspiration to go with the center dash from Nash? ?

Or where there other auto's before Nash that tried the center dash approach?

8 hours ago, balthazar said:

Owner made the 'Pontiac' trunk emblem light up- it never did that from the factory. Cool :

Very cool and the woman gave the auto goosebumps!  

[balthazar]

1 hour ago, dfelt said:

...were there other auto's before Nash that tried the center dash approach?

Yes- centrally-located clusters were quite commonplace in the early years.

[oldshurst442]

RIP Kobe.  

Its even more tragic that his 13 year old daughter also had to go.  

This event truly saddened me tonight.   

 

 

Edited January 27, 2020 by oldshurst442

[balthazar]

Was in Flicksville PA today, I'll be generous and call it 'painfully rural'. Not that I don't like that, but where to even get a pizza.

I didn't take this pic in/of Flicksville (tho I did drive down this road); I stole it from....   Flickr.

[daves87rs]

3 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

RIP Kobe.  

Its even more tragic that his 13 year old daughter also had to go.  

This event truly saddened me tonight.   

 

 

Yeah, that was so sad.. ? 

Not a big basketball fan, but always thought Kobe was a first class guy. Even worse that his daughter was in it as well.