Random Thoughts Thread

[A Horse With No Name]

She is genuinely funny short clip from one of my favorite musicians.  

 

She is genuinely funny short clip from one of my favorite musicians.  

 

She is genuinely funny short clip from one of my favorite musicians.  

 

She is genuinely funny short clip from one of my favorite musicians.  

 

 

unsure of why that posted like 4 times....odd...

[A Horse With No Name]

Not good for the future of our planet...

 

[A Horse With No Name]

I remember having one of these as a Matchbox car. Saw one on the road a few years ago on Interstate 71 here in Columbus. Always liked these....other interesting cars in the background in the video. 

 

[G. David Felt]

6 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Not good for the future of our planet...

 

If old Trumpy gets back into the White House with his Drill Baby Drill attitude, expect this warming to pick up more.

[trinacriabob]

The world is a village. It doesn't matter where you go, you will always see people buying lottery cards, schedules, tickets, or scratchers.  Most of these people have no business buying them.

Said another way, most of these people wouldn't understand the most basic concepts of a statistics course if they bit them in the ass.

"Probability" is your friend.

[trinacriabob]

What people name their kids can be very interesting.

I was once checking into a hotel in a suburb of Toronto, and the name of the guy helping me was Supreme. I asked him if his parents were Oldsmobile fans ... nope, they were Motown fans.

The year before, I was going to the breakfast room at a hotel in Portugal and one of the employees running the breakfast service was a guy named Majeek.

Now, Supreme was laid back and likable, but Majeek was very cool.  I forgot where in the Portuguese diaspora his family came from ... possibly the Cape Verde Islands.

The more you travel, or just look around you and observe, the more trippy things you will see and unique people you will come across.

[trinacriabob]

On 10/16/2024 at 3:25 PM, A Horse With No Name said:

Not good for the future of our planet...

Deniers always continue to dispute issues even when they are presented with hard data by scientists, economists, statisticians, etc.  They're kind of dense and/or bring personal baggage into the equation.  It's almost sad that they get the same vote (instead of relative weighting ... what a concept) as some of the people with more critical thinking skills.  Then, it's definitely sad that our country's simpletons could determine policy and anything of import for those who live in large swaths with way more complex and enlightened areas.

[G. David Felt]

8 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

Deniers always continue to dispute issues even when they are presented with hard data by scientists, economists, statisticians, etc.  They're kind of dense and/or bring personal baggage into the equation.  It's almost sad that they get the same vote (instead of relative weighting ... what a concept) as some of the people with more critical thinking skills.  Then, it's definitely sad that our country's simpletons could determine policy and anything of import for those who live in large swaths with way more complex and enlightened areas.

End result is we should be putting the best skilled person in each position rather than a party that promises and never really delivers. We have so lost the ability of representing the people with honesty and integrity. Society of the whole is far more important than the one. IMHO

[oldshurst442]

Socrates and Plato said something similar about democracy and voting and allowing uneducated and untrained people to decide what is for the good of the polisfor everybody. Also, one of the two mentioned how easy it is for corrupt politicians to fool and to manipulate the dumb populace on what the corrupt politicians would want to influence. Also both mentioned that  perverse democracy leads to tyranny. 

And to know what really is mind blowing is that what is happening in the US and Canada right now and for the past 40 years with its stupid populace voting and especially voting for blatant corrupt leaders that dont even hide their agendas is that this very thing happened in Athens 2500 years ago and Socrates not only called it but he witnessed it with his own death...   Plato preached the faults of democracy and despised idiots voting. 

Democracy is not a bad thing per se, its a very good thing.  But its severely flawed when the general populace is dumb as phoque and dont realize how they get played by the ruling class  they keep on voting in.  In North America is quite evident that EVERYBODY including us...yes us right here posting right now, are just stupid pawns.  At least in France, Greece, Spain, Italy and maybe a couple of other European countries, the populace riots when their governments get out of hand.   Us here in North America, we wait in line like a bunch of jack asses for thext iPhone, or we cause a ruckus when Taylor Swift tickets are too expensive for us to attend her concerts or we cant get FM  radio on our Teslas (yeah a while back there was a slight backlash) or when GM decides that they dont want to offer Apple car play in their cars etc...

 

 

We listen to Youtubers and podcasters that make money on the monetized internet for clicks but we crucify legit scientists.  We are blinded by and worship corrupt politicians but we question the legit ones.  We idolize monetized Joe Rogans and Alex Jones and basterds like that...  And for the last 40 phoquing years North America has been on the decline.  

[oldshurst442]

We allow snake oilsalesmen and dirty CEOs to become billionnaires and we are against helping our societies grow...  

We believe in these snake oilsalesmen's shytty dreams and we make them demigods. All tech related products like Apple products or Paypal or Amazon is great, but all these billionnaires OWN us. We worship them but we allow them to control us even further... 

Bezos, Musk, Steve Jobs and others...   All these folks are a detriment to our FREEDOMS alongside shytty politicians...   But this is what we ultimately wanted...  

We made our beds. We shall now sleep in them... 

[trinacriabob]

Good morning ...

... happy birthday, Kamala Harris 

[A Horse With No Name]

 

[A Horse With No Name]

Interesting old video. 

[trinacriabob]

Two weeks to go ... and this "casual Catholic" is praying a lot.

[A Horse With No Name]

2 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

Two weeks to go ... and this "casual Catholic" is praying a lot.

At least you have the option of leaving the country....

 

[A Horse With No Name]

This and then I will leave you all alone, but this is spectacular...

 

[trinacriabob]

30 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

At least you have the option of leaving the country....

 

Yeah, true.  But it was put into motion for different reasons and it was a bug that my foreign born doctor out West put in my ear about 10 years ago.  I filed it away.  It then involved contacting the consulate to get the citizenship recognized and then be issued that passport.  It's not bad if you're first-gen, but it's still a lot of work.

You have these third-gen on one side who have to have it, and they have to come through with a big paper trail.

Still, I never thought it would come to this.  The EU in general is also very concerned with the outcome.

[G. David Felt]

1 hour ago, trinacriabob said:

Yeah, true.  But it was put into motion for different reasons and it was a bug that my foreign born doctor out West put in my ear about 10 years ago.  I filed it away.  It then involved contacting the consulate to get the citizenship recognized and then be issued that passport.  It's not bad if you're first-gen, but it's still a lot of work.

You have these third-gen on one side who have to have it, and they have to come through with a big paper trail.

Still, I never thought it would come to this.  The EU in general is also very concerned with the outcome.

Those of us that pay attention to history know that a certain fascist in the 1930's used the same type of attack to get the disillusioned to put him in power and we ended up with WWII. Now we have another individual who beams with adulation over Russia, China and especially North Korea leaders and is wanting to be in the same position. Democracy has never been more in danger than now. Our freedoms are at stake and every person needs to get out and vote.

Those that can move to another place have options, those with families, kids, grandkids, have less options, but one would hope the sanity of the nation would choose the lesser of the evils and not be swayed by negativity.

This country was founded by multi-cultural people and not a single specific group. Our Multi-cultural heritage is what gives us such amazing delights in food, Music, product design in having options.

Hold the criminals accountable and let freedom flourish. 

I will leave it at that for this soap box.

[G. David Felt]

Good Read and why EV Chargers are a good thing for businesses.
Public EV chargers are good for the planet. They're also good for business. | Grist

[trinacriabob]

Today marks the 1 year anniversary that I don't have a car registered to me.  Letting go of the LaCrosse was initially difficult, but I've gotten used to it.  I rent when I need to.  (That's what people like Manhattanites do!)

From 16 on, I had regular access to a car, even if our family ones weren't registered to me.

I have to figure out what to buy and when.  If across the pond, it will NOT be a new car. 

A weird state of limbo to be in, to be sure, but I don't really have a choice and I'll get it sorted out.

[G. David Felt]

7 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

Today marks the 1 year anniversary that I don't have a car registered to me.  Letting go of the LaCrosse was initially difficult, but I've gotten used to it.  I rent when I need to.  (That's what people like Manhattanites do!)

From 16 on, I had regular access to a car, even if our family ones weren't registered to me.

I have to figure out what to buy and when.  If across the pond, it will NOT be a new car. 

A weird state of limbo to be in, to be sure, but I don't really have a choice and I'll get it sorted out.

EV, Hybrid or ICE?

Car, SUV, Truck or Van?

Very interested in what you will get.

[trinacriabob]

If overseas, economical car with automatic and not ICE.  I will have too much on my plate ... the (stress of the) to do list is insane, including doing driving school.  Italy will not swap U.S. driver licenses.  (The school is always done with a manual, so I'll have to get back on that bicycle.)  Portugal will exchange them.

I talked to one lady in Italy who was really nice but also a douchebag in how she made it sound like I was preparing for a flight to the moon.  I went to driver's ed in 10th grade, cracked jokes with my friends, did the work, got an A, got 2 wrong on the written test, and got a 100 on the drive test.

My parents moved us to Italy before I ever started school and we came back before the 3rd grade.  I did not speak English and K through 2 was in Italian.  In the 5th grade, my teacher, a nun, said she wanted to talk to me.  I was wondering what I had done wrong.  She just wanted to pull me aside to tell me my standardized test scores, which surprised the hell out of me!  Point is that Italians have one glaring fault - they are quite obtuse in getting it that smart people can figure things out.  I think they have this narrow view because they did not colonize.  Somalia doesn't count. OTOH, the Spaniards, French, and Portuguese did, so they are less likely to insult people for minor speech "irregularities" since people in other lands far away have slightly differently accented versions of their languages and some of their customs.

End of rant.

Small car.  Automatic.  Reputable brand.  Gasoline engine.

[G. David Felt]

4 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

If overseas, economical car with automatic and not ICE.  I will have too much on my plate ... the (stress of the) to do list is insane, including doing driving school.  Italy will not swap U.S. driver licenses.  (The school is always done with a manual, so I'll have to get back on that bicycle.)  Portugal will exchange them.

I talked to one lady in Italy who was really nice but also a douchebag in how she made it sound like I was preparing for a flight to the moon.  I went to driver's ed in 10th grade, cracked jokes with my friends, did the work, got an A, got 2 wrong on the written test, and got a 100 on the drive test.

My parents moved us to Italy before I ever started school and we came back before the 3rd grade.  I did not speak English and K through 2 was in Italian.  In the 5th grade, my teacher, a nun, said she wanted to talk to me.  I was wondering what I had done wrong.  She just wanted to pull me aside to tell me my standardized test scores, which surprised the hell out of me!  Point is that Italians have one glaring fault - they are quite obtuse in getting it that smart people can figure things out.  I think they have this narrow view because they did not colonize.  Somalia doesn't count. OTOH, the Spaniards, French, and Portuguese did, so they are less likely to insult people for minor speech "irregularities" since people in other lands far away have slightly differently accented versions of their languages and some of their customs.

End of rant.

Small car.  Automatic.  Reputable brand.  Gasoline engine.

 Assuming at the start you meant not EV, since at the end you state gasoline engine which is ICE.  

 

There is a reason Italy has failed the auto industry for long term growth and survival as they are stuck in the past and not willing to move with the times. 500,000 auto's build, down 250,000 from last year and continuing to consolidate as they built crap autos and drivers training requiring a nearly dead technology, manual is a joke. Pathetic in the living in the past way of life.

[trinacriabob]

They have manuals in the cars they test with as a baseline.  If not, they probably have some code to restrict the license (to automatics).  I'm going to say go with the flow in case you need to rent a manual or drive someone's manual car for some reason.

[G. David Felt]

Interesting comparison.

 

[Robert Hall]

I do love fall in Ohio.  Nice cool sunny day, going for a scenic drive in a bit. 

[Robert Hall]

Took a drive in the beautiful rolling hills of Geauga County then up to the North Coast of Lake County, to Grand River for a late lunch of clams at Pickle Bills then a walk on the beach at Fairport Harbor.  Love the clouds. 

[trinacriabob]

Good morning ...

She'd make a great Karen.

- - - - -

Sadly, I share an alma mater with her - one of them. 

I'd really want any financial advice to be dispensed by someone with an MBA, or even a basic business degree, instead of a BA in Social Work with marginal grades. (Yes, I know she worked in financial services.)

As much as she tries to come across as sincere, she tries too hard and there's way too much flash.

Also, Tom Leykis doesn't like her. That counts!

Happy Sunday.

[trinacriabob]

17 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

Took a drive in the beautiful rolling hills of Geauga County then up to the North Coast of Lake County, to Grand River for a late lunch of clams at Pickle Bills then a walk on the beach at Fairport Harbor.  Love the clouds. 

Nice, evocative photos.

It stops at the clams! LOL. I am very ok with fish that is of the filet-able form.  I have had intermittent bad gastric experiences with shellfish, so I tread carefully.  I have no idea why it's random.

[trinacriabob]

An example of what I'm looking at ... a SEAT Ibiza coupe (gasoline instead of diesel, and a DSG 7 speed automatic) with this body style; most are manuals ... and under VW's family of companies at this point.

[G. David Felt]

It seems that Tesla has decided that a Cheap Tesla or an affordable one for the masses is not needed as everyone will pay Tesla to ride in their RoboTaxi's, Law suit filed over the name. 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/elon-musk-makes-major-tesla-u-turn-on-affordable-electric-vehicles-pointless/ar-AA1t0O3g?ocid=BingHp01&cvid=2315a0a6151343a8e858ca0c3d25fa96&ei=84

[ccap41]

17 hours ago, G. David Felt said:

It seems that Tesla has decided that a Cheap Tesla or an affordable one for the masses is not needed as everyone will pay Tesla to ride in their RoboTaxi's, Law suit filed over the name. 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/elon-musk-makes-major-tesla-u-turn-on-affordable-electric-vehicles-pointless/ar-AA1t0O3g?ocid=BingHp01&cvid=2315a0a6151343a8e858ca0c3d25fa96&ei=84

@smk4565, weren't you dead-set on Elon keeping his word on a $25k vehicle? 

[A Horse With No Name]

On 10/22/2024 at 11:37 AM, G. David Felt said:

Good Read and why EV Chargers are a good thing for businesses.
Public EV chargers are good for the planet. They're also good for business. | Grist

I can see that.

 

Flood cars from NC, amazing damage...

 

17 hours ago, G. David Felt said:

It seems that Tesla has decided that a Cheap Tesla or an affordable one for the masses is not needed as everyone will pay Tesla to ride in their RoboTaxi's, Law suit filed over the name. 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/elon-musk-makes-major-tesla-u-turn-on-affordable-electric-vehicles-pointless/ar-AA1t0O3g?ocid=BingHp01&cvid=2315a0a6151343a8e858ca0c3d25fa96&ei=84

I intend to avoid anything to do with Musk. Morally a horrible human being.

[A Horse With No Name]

Interesting how the number of repossessions is growing...

 

[trinacriabob]

9 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

I intend to avoid anything to do with Musk. Morally a horrible human being.

This.

[A Horse With No Name]

3 minutes ago, trinacriabob said:

This.

Agree...

Removing a flooded car from a river.

 

Ending on a positive note, a cool model train video.

 

 

[A Horse With No Name]

Absolutely fantastic model building...

 

[G. David Felt]

25 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

I can see that.

 

Flood cars from NC, amazing damage...

 

I intend to avoid anything to do with Musk. Morally a horrible human being.

Agree, Want nothing to do with Musk or Tesla as long as he is the CEO and Chairmen.

Have to say after looking at the video, I am puzzled as to why the Rivian is there as they are built to survive that flooding of the system, so cleaning it up, that should be good to go.

[Robert Hall]

1 minute ago, G. David Felt said:

 

Have to say after looking at the video, I am puzzled as to why the Rivian is there as they are built to survive that flooding of the system, so cleaning it up, that should be good to go.

Water and electronics don't mix well....think about the cabin electronics...it's scrap. .isn't any flood damaged car usually issued a salvage or scrap title in most states? 

[A Horse With No Name]

21 minutes ago, G. David Felt said:

Agree, Want nothing to do with Musk or Tesla as long as he is the CEO and Chairmen.

Have to say after looking at the video, I am puzzled as to why the Rivian is there as they are built to survive that flooding of the system, so cleaning it up, that should be good to go.

Probably additional water damage...

[G. David Felt]

1 hour ago, Robert Hall said:

Water and electronics don't mix well....think about the cabin electronics...it's scrap. .isn't any flood damaged car usually issued a salvage or scrap title in most states? 

Rivian has stated that even with water intrusion into the cab, the electronics should not be affected since the whole purpose of the Rivian design was to be waterproof for the R1 series. That is not going to be the same for the R2 and R3, but the R1 is supposed to be waterproof. I think maybe the insurance person does not really understand the Rivian R1 autos.

[A Horse With No Name]

19 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

Water and electronics don't mix well....think about the cabin electronics...it's scrap. .isn't any flood damaged car usually issued a salvage or scrap title in most states? 

They all should be scrapped actually.

[G. David Felt]

2 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

They all should be scrapped actually.

I agree with the bulk of the autos except the body panel parts. I would say they should go into a used parts plant where they get disassembled and parted out.

[Robert Hall]

27 minutes ago, G. David Felt said:

Rivian has stated that even with water intrusion into the cab, the electronics should not be affected since the who purpose of the Rivian design was to be waterproof for the R1 series. That is not going to be the same for the R2 and R3, but the R1 is supposed to be waterproof. I think maybe the insurance person does not really understand the Rivian R1 autos.

That doesn't seem likely.  Anything metal is going to be susceptible to corrosion, and wiring, etc don't do well being submerged.  Best to recycle such damaged vehicles. 

[trinacriabob]

I'm sorry ... I saw this when I was looking for a good image of Suze Orman and was doubling over laughing, so here it is.

https://amp-includes.tmz.com/videos/0-c6cbtqbv/

I've seen this TMZ org before.  I looked it up and it means "thirty mile zone," or a 30 mile radius from Beverly Blvd. and La Cienega Blvd.  That would mean they altogether miss Santa Barbara and Palm Springs.  As you can see, they stoop fairly low in dispensing ET, or "entertainment trash."

[smk4565]

6 hours ago, ccap41 said:

@smk4565, weren't you dead-set on Elon keeping his word on a $25k vehicle? 

A year or so ago all the talk was Tesla was going to build the factory in Mexico and they would build a sub $30k car. 

But now it seems it will be that Robo-taxi instead and I don't see that working in 2026, except maybe like on a closed college campus or business park or something where it is geo-fenced and doesn't go above 25 mph.  They don't even have a licensed level 3 system right not, so to be level 5 in 2 years seems not possible.

[A Horse With No Name]

16 hours ago, G. David Felt said:

I agree with the bulk of the autos except the body panel parts. I would say they should go into a used parts plant where they get disassembled and parted out.

Exactly. But never allowed on the road...

 

10 hours ago, smk4565 said:

A year or so ago all the talk was Tesla was going to build the factory in Mexico and they would build a sub $30k car. 

But now it seems it will be that Robo-taxi instead and I don't see that working in 2026, except maybe like on a closed college campus or business park or something where it is geo-fenced and doesn't go above 25 mph.  They don't even have a licensed level 3 system right not, so to be level 5 in 2 years seems not possible.

Agreed.

The state of electric cars in 1959

[oldshurst442]

Im reading @ccap41 posts about @smk4565 and his opinions of Elon Musk's flip flopping positions of affordable Teslas and memories of reading @smk4565 and his opinions of level ### of self driving vehicles and all that and Im laughing to myself.   

Several reasons as to why Im laughing to myself.  There is no need to put anybody on the ropes here. And then the TV in the backround plays a commercial with this song and I find it befitting as that is how I feel about @smk4565 and @ccap41 trying to rub it in and especially Elon flip flopping around all OVER the place trying to score a future where he is THE Messiah. 

 

Que sera sera

Whatever will be will be

The future's not ours to see

Que sera sera

What will be will be

Edited October 29 by oldshurst442

[A Horse With No Name]

Speaking of that era, documentary on the transistor...

 

2 minutes ago, oldshurst442 said:

Im reading @ccap41 posts about @smk4565 and his opinions of Elon Musk's flip flopping positions of affordable Teslas and memories of reading @smk4565 and his opinions of level ### of self driving vehicles and all that and Im laughing to myself.   

Several reasons as to why Im laughing to myself.  There is no need to put anybody on the ropes here. And then the TV in the backround plays a commercial with this song and I find it befitting as tat is how I feel about @smk4565 and @ccap41 trying to rub it in and especially Elon flip flopping around all OVER the place trying to score a future where he is THE Messiah. 

 

Que sera sera

whatever will be will be

the future is not ours to see. 

My future should include lots of music and hiking...and zero Tesla cars because I dislike Musk.

[A Horse With No Name]

This looks like a cool place to visit