Random Thoughts Thread

[A Horse With No Name]

15 hours ago, balthazar said:

'56 Nic-L-Silver Vectress prototype (fate unknown) :

Love the pickup and the studebaker in the back ground. That 46-48 Ford coupe would make a damn fine street rod also. I could live another hundred years happy playing with the vehicles in this pic!

Oak staircase being removed from a home for "modernization" purposes, not my work...

 

Balthy can prefer these in black and white, but local, Chilicothe Ohio....

...and in a way I kind of agree with Balthy, original image. 

[balthazar]

About 5 years ago I did work in a big (5800 SF) modern house, and the entire first floor had wide, white trim, pickled oak flooring and medium gray walls. It was an epiphany for me. Suddenly, the practice of painting every room a different color seemed hugely illogical.

Were I re-doing a new-to-me house, I would definitely paint all common areas the same color.

[A Horse With No Name]

It may be awhile....

Tahitian Coral...

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2020/10/28/black-ghost-a-street-racing-cops-hemi-challenger-r-t-added-to-national-register-of-historic-vehicles?fbclid=IwAR0_62Zd-0xq4Kbziy4OBKosnN4Asy4xuH4IMwx5CN4yWVPOASGtd1vWc50

[balthazar]

^ With the matching vinyl roof, that's so hot.

[A Horse With No Name]

2 minutes ago, balthazar said:

About 5 years ago I did work in a big (5800 SF) modern house, and the entire first floor had wide, white trim, pickled oak flooring and medium gray walls. It was an epiphany for me. Suddenly, the practice of painting every room a different color seemed hugely illogical.

Were I re-doing a new-to-me house, I would definitely paint all common areas the same color.

I am thinking about repainting the downstairs of my house all the same color. I want to wait until I change some furniture before I do it. I have come to really like modern houses...a lot. 

I know Cubical/Molitar/Robert/That dude from Arizona, Cleveland, et al likes Mid Century modern, which I also like. 

1 minute ago, balthazar said:

^ With the matching vinyl roof, that's so hot.

Hotter than anything built today for damn sure. I would even take that over a new Shelby Mustang....and that's saying something. 

[Robert Hall]

8 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

 

Looks like an R/T SE--the SE package added the small limo rear window and vinyl top.   Love the styling of the '70 Challenger, and it looks so good in triple black w/ the steel wheels and dds...

[A Horse With No Name]

I wouldn't kick Sublime out of the garage either. Love brightly colored cars. My wife though, prefers not to stand out like this. Still a hot car...

 

[Robert Hall]

I even like Challengers in purple, it was 1970 after all.   they look great in most colors..even like them in white (a color I normally loathe).  Love the styling..early 70s styling really resonates with me.   The last two are '71s, different grille.

 

Unknown-2

14 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

 

Hotter than anything built today for damn sure. I would even take that over a new Shelby Mustang....and that's saying something. 

I'd want one of each...the Shelby GT350R (not the GT500) would be an absolute blast on windy back roads...a '70 Challenger would be great for raw old school rumbly fun, cruising around listening to vintage tunes--put on my RayBans, put in some Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Rolling Stones, or Pink Floyd on 8-tracks...

[A Horse With No Name]

3 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

I even like Challengers in purple, it was 1970 after all.   they look great in most colors..even like them in white (a color I normally loathe).  Love the styling..early 70s styling really resonates with me.   The last two are '71s, different grille.

 

Unknown-2 11.3 kB · 0 downloads

I'd want one of each...the Shelby GT350R (not the GT500) would be an absolute blast on windy back roads...a '70 Challenger would be great for raw old school rumbly fun, cruising around listening to vintage tunes--put on my RayBans, put in some Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Rolling Stones, or Pink Floyd on 8-tracks...

Yeah. time and money, time and Money. 

Triumph....1970....another hit from the same year....in another good vintage color. 

Even Sportsters look good with the Cafe racer look...

 

[Robert Hall]

Those old bikes are charming...my brother's first motorcycle was a '68 Triumph followed by a Norton in the early 70s.

[A Horse With No Name]

9 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

Those old bikes are charming...my brother's first motorcycle was a '68 Triumph followed by a Norton in the early 70s.

God I love Norton motorcycles. Thinking seriously of taking the Motorcycle safety new rider class in the spring. I am so bored with mdoern cars, and there are a lot of modern bikes that are "special" in ways a lot of modern cars are not. 

 

My latest crush....from a guy who has had a million mechanical crushes. I deeply envy guys like Balthazar and Trinicria Bob who don't have my automotive ADHD....

Honda Africa Twin. 

Edited December 18, 2020 by A Horse With No Name

[Drew Dowdell]

4 hours ago, ykX said:

Trico is not equivalent to Icons

I have not found any significant improvement in quality in the Icons over Trico NeoForms that justify the Icons being 3 to 4 times the price. 

[A Horse With No Name]

[A Horse With No Name]

Disturbing book title...

 

[A Horse With No Name]

I visually love old woodworking tools. This shaper is in great shape. I ahve an odler version of the same, this is early 70's, mine dates to 1941. 

Wood turnings, not mine but cool. 

 

 

Edited December 18, 2020 by A Horse With No Name

[A Horse With No Name]

The bowls are from my friend Tom Robbins, he is much more talented than I am. 

His website is here. 

https://www.birchmountaincrafts.com/index.html

[A Horse With No Name]

 

P 38 Lightening. 

Creative....

[A Horse With No Name]

For those snowy Lancaster PA Winters, hey, its ICE!

Cadillac wagon...

 

I think this must be one of the Wagons they built as festival cars for the 1969 Indy 500....they came with a simialr unique interior. I had a chance to buy one once. 

69 Caddillac was a good loking car. 

[balthazar]

Cadillac paced Indy in ‘73; I can’t think of a reason they had wagons built for Indy for ‘69.

[Drew Dowdell]

@balthazar and @A Horse With No Name

what’s the expected life of a water heater and should it be proactively replaced if it is well over that age but otherwise functioning normally?

[Drew Dowdell]

On 12/17/2020 at 12:51 PM, ykX said:

How do you like it so far, is it powerful enough?

I was considering getting it but they were forecasting warmer than usual winter here ( so far doesn't look that way) and the last two winters we  basically didn't see any snow here in NJ so I was reluctant to spend money on it.

It defenitely had enough power. The one I got was only rated for 8" deep max and we got 10-12 here.  I was still able to do most of my driveway and my neighbor's driveway on a single charge.  I did run out of battery before I finished my driveway, but again I was going through snow deeper than it was rated for and I covered enough ground to park 6 or 7 cars.  The batteries charge in an hour or less, but I only have a single charger for now, so total charge time is 2 hours.

Not related to the power train... it gets stuck on every minor imperfection in concrete where my old one would just slide over it. 

[balthazar]

There's some sort of homeowner study entity that has done studies- the average life expectancy of just about any major home appliance is only 12-14 years.

I've been in my house 28 years. Did water heater #2 at 14 years (it started leaking), did water heater #3 last year- it would randomly only provide lukewarm water. Mine's in the basement, which is unfinished... tho the sump pit is in the opposite corner from the heater. Yes; you can certainly do a pre-emptive.

I remember when my grandfather replaced his water heater- I am going to say it was around 2010. That unit was a '57, but it had a copper tank. The industry realized they were lasting too long and engineered limited lifespan glass tanks. I have his '58 GE Combination refrigerator - still works great tho I only use it Thanksgiving week. Old appliances lasted forever- their lifespans are shorter now than any other time.

[Robert Hall]

59 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Cadillac paced Indy in ‘73; I can’t think of a reason they had wagons built for Indy for ‘69.

Found an article about them...5 were commissioned for toting around VIPs at the '69 500.

http://www.stationwagonfinder.com/2017/01/1969-cadillac-deville/

[ykX]

44 minutes ago, balthazar said:

any major home appliance is only 12-14 years

They last 7-8 years if you lucky now.

[balthazar]

Bradford-White is supposed to be the best tank water heater brand for quality.

[ykX]

1 hour ago, Drew Dowdell said:

what’s the expected life of a water heater

I think they say around 12-14 years, but mine started leaking earlier and at my parents house it leaked after 9 years and destroyed laminate floor.  

If the water heater somewhere where it can do damage if it leaks I would strongly suggest replacing it pre-emptively. 

Personally, I put tankless water heater in my house.

Edited December 18, 2020 by ykX

[Drew Dowdell]

3 hours ago, balthazar said:

There's some sort of homeowner study entity that has done studies- the average life expectancy of just about any major home appliance is only 12-14 years.

I've been in my house 28 years. Did water heater #2 at 14 years (it started leaking), did water heater #3 last year- it would randomly only provide lukewarm water. Mine's in the basement, which is unfinished... tho the sump pit is in the opposite corner from the heater. Yes; you can certainly do a pre-emptive.

I remember when my grandfather replaced his water heater- I am going to say it was around 2010. That unit was a '57, but it had a copper tank. The industry realized they were lasting too long and engineered limited lifespan glass tanks. I have his '58 GE Combination refrigerator - still works great tho I only use it Thanksgiving week. Old appliances lasted forever- their lifespans are shorter now than any other time.

 

2 hours ago, ykX said:

I think they say around 12-14 years, but mine started leaking earlier and at my parents house it leaked after 9 years and destroyed laminate floor.  

If the water heater somewhere where it can do damage if it leaks I would strongly suggest replacing it pre-emptively. 

Personally, I put tankless water heater in my house.

When I was assembling the snow blower the other night, I looked up and was eye height with the installer's label on the water tank.  It was installed in 1994.... hence the question.

[Robert Hall]

Going to have to check the vintage on my water heater..it's working fine currently.  I've replaced the furnace, washer and dryer since I've been here almost 4 years now.  A/C was still working fine this summer, but it is a 1991 vintage unit. 

[ocnblu]

I'd like to get a tankless one next time.  No need to keep a whole big tank of water hot over time, plus it saves space.  It would require discipline when taking a shower though, and my water is hard, so I understand it would need yearly flushing or whatev.

 

[G. David Felt]

7 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

Ok, for my tech question:

Is ViewSonic for a basic, no frills desktop monitor a decent enough brand?

ViewSonic has been a hit and miss for me both home and at work. They tend to pick up the surplus parts / stuff that needs to be dumped and so I say buyer beware. They have some good deals, but you need to read reviews and see how the life is on the specific model. Be careful!

I tend to stay with NEC and DELL monitors as they just last, at least for me they have.

[G. David Felt]

5 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

@balthazar and @A Horse With No Name

what’s the expected life of a water heater and should it be proactively replaced if it is well over that age but otherwise functioning normally?

Here, water heaters seem to run in 5, 10 and 15 year warranties. A test to see if the water heater needs replacement is to take a clear bowl or plastic container, fill it up with hot water. If it looks rusty colored, then the water tank is starting to wear out and needs replacement.

I usually flush mine once a year. I have been lucky to have 5 year water tanks last about 15 years this way.

4 hours ago, ykX said:

I think they say around 12-14 years, but mine started leaking earlier and at my parents house it leaked after 9 years and destroyed laminate floor.  

If the water heater somewhere where it can do damage if it leaks I would strongly suggest replacing it pre-emptively. 

Personally, I put tankless water heater in my house.

Not a fan of Tankless water heaters, they can fail far easier than a water tank and flood a house. My sisters house was built with one and the first one lasted 4 years, second is at 6 but leaking so they have it scheduled to replace it. 

Plus if you loose power, a gas hot water tank at least gives you 30 to 50 gallons to use depending on size where a tankless unit is not able too till power is restored.

[trinacriabob]

4 hours ago, David said:

ViewSonic has been a hit and miss for me both home and at work. They tend to pick up the surplus parts / stuff that needs to be dumped and so I say buyer beware. They have some good deals, but you need to read reviews and see how the life is on the specific model. Be careful!

I tend to stay with NEC and DELL monitors as they just last, at least for me they have.

The particular ViewSonic model gets high customer rankings.  I've seen some of theirs that didn't on the same site.

I know I mentioned this here before.  I bought an HP monitor.  It went out in a year or two.  Thankfully, I kept the old monitor, also HP and ancient but super reliable, and that's what I have hooked up now. 

I tried hooking up the failed newer one again but I can't even get the blue light to show up.  Does this mean it's toast or are there other tests?  Too bad, because I like both the brand and the design of the monitor.  There was a power outage, and I have a new(er) surge protector, but the monitor seems to have failed while everything else thankfully "lived."

[ocnblu]

Recent statements by Toyota's CEO (and GM's CEO) have me changing my mind about buying a Toyota product in the future.  Maybe a RAV4 Adventure?

Edited December 20, 2020 by ocnblu

[balthazar]

All junk. 

[ykX]

14 hours ago, David said:

Not a fan of Tankless water heaters, they can fail far easier than a water tank and flood a house.

As I said before, my parents house water tank lasted  9 years and than leaked and destroyed the floor.  I haven't heard about tankless leaking.  They do require yearly maintenance and they are way more efficient than regular ones.  Seems the early models weren't very reliable but i heard they got better now.  Mine is two years old and i have friends with 3-5 year old tanks.  If they break they simply stop heating, not leak.  Regular water tanks do keep working without power but i have generator now in case i loose power so I am not worried.

[A Horse With No Name]

20 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

@balthazar and @A Horse With No Name

what’s the expected life of a water heater and should it be proactively replaced if it is well over that age but otherwise functioning normally?

Around here we have insanely hard water...so they generally last 8 to 10 years.

[G. David Felt]

12 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

The particular ViewSonic model gets high customer rankings.  I've seen some of theirs that didn't on the same site.

I know I mentioned this here before.  I bought an HP monitor.  It went out in a year or two.  Thankfully, I kept the old monitor, also HP and ancient but super reliable, and that's what I have hooked up now. 

I tried hooking up the failed newer one again but I can't even get the blue light to show up.  Does this mean it's toast or are there other tests?  Too bad, because I like both the brand and the design of the monitor.  There was a power outage, and I have a new(er) surge protector, but the monitor seems to have failed while everything else thankfully "lived."

Possible the power supply got fried. You could take apart the monitor and see what type of power supply it uses. Then check online for pricing, a possible cheap way to see if a new power supply would bring the monitor back to life.

I use UPS in my home on all computer gear to protect it against outages/brownouts.

[ocnblu]

The Bronco Sport is getting excellent reviews, whether 3- or 4-cylinder powered.  While I haven't seen/felt up an example in the flesh yet, they look like a daggone nice little CUV.  One feature that makes me swoon:  the separate liftglass in the gate.  I just don't understand why everyone doesn't do that.

Edited December 20, 2020 by ocnblu

[balthazar]

^ The '11 Jeep Liberty Sport here has that, but frankly it's almost never used. The un-framed glass kinda makes me nervous slinging items thru. Still, it might be handy when moving long items. But I'd prefer a retractable glass in a hatch.

[ocnblu]

5 hours ago, balthazar said:

^ The '11 Jeep Liberty Sport here has that, but frankly it's almost never used. The un-framed glass kinda makes me nervous slinging items thru. Still, it might be handy when moving long items. But I'd prefer a retractable glass in a hatch.

Ah, so you're getting a 4Runner?  Because I believe Toyota 4Runner is the only SUV/wagon that still has a retractable back glass.

5 hours ago, balthazar said:

makes me nervous slinging items thru

Well, ya gotta open the glass first. 

[ocnblu]

Meep Meep... little guy pushing through!

 

 

[balthazar]

^ black car a diesel?

4 hours ago, ocnblu said:

4Runner is the only SUV/wagon that still has a retractable back glass

That’s because it’s cheaper to just hinge it.

[ocnblu]

4 hours ago, balthazar said:

^ black car a diesel?

White car sounds like a diesel too.

[surreal1272]

On 12/19/2020 at 7:44 AM, balthazar said:

All junk. 

Name one SUV made in the last forty years that is more reliable long term (sorry but recalls do not mean "unreliable") while having killer resale like the 4Runner (go ahead and sprinkle in the Land Cruiser while you're at it).

Edited December 20, 2020 by surreal1272

[balthazar]

 

toyoters in general are junk. They used to be very good, then Corporate dropped the ball. 4-runner is probably the best of them. Of course; it's 11 years old currently; last 10 years has had 1 engine, 1 transmission, 1 wheelbase. If an OEM can't get that right after a decade...

Edited December 20, 2020 by balthazar

[trinacriabob]

One more month to go ...

[regfootball]

Here is my entry for lowest price DVD player of the holiday season, and it has HDMI input even!

 

 

Edited December 21, 2020 by regfootball

[balthazar]

Sylvania; inventor of the fluorescent tube light (and the fixtures) - first shown at the '39 World's Fair.  2nd largest radio tube manufacturer, 3rd largest light bulb manufacturer.  Emporium, Pennsylvania.

Now a label belonging to a Chinese consortium.

[daves87rs]

1 hour ago, balthazar said:

Sylvania; inventor of the fluorescent tube light (and the fixtures) - first shown at the '39 World's Fair.  2nd largest radio tube manufacturer, 3rd largest light bulb manufacturer.  Emporium, Pennsylvania.

Now a label belonging to a Chinese consortium.

Sadly the fate of many brands now.....

[ocnblu]

The "For Sale" sign on America's front lawn was taken down for a brief time.

Edited December 21, 2020 by ocnblu