Random Thoughts Thread

[ccap41]

2 hours ago, Frisky Dingo said:

I just had the most negative equity I've ever seen. 24K. At least he has GAP.

[Frisky Dingo]

18 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

You think that's bad, you should see what he's buried in.

[ccap41]

14 minutes ago, Frisky Dingo said:

You think that's bad, you should see what he's buried in.

Like the long line of $h! cars that he's been upside down in for 15 years?

[Frisky Dingo]

7 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

Like the long line of $h! cars that he's been upside down in for 15 years?

 

Just 2. Bought a new 2015 Chrysler 200 Limited, and then traded it in on a new 2016 Chrysler 200 C 6 months later. He's now a year into a 72 month open-ended lease!    

[ocnblu]

8 hours ago, ccap41 said:

SHHIIIITTTTTT I want an RS7(Performance or not) so freakin' bad...

Which engine is in the SE? Is that the 1.0T? If so, My buddy has one and he's let me drive it before... great freakin car. So much fun for a small package. The gearing was on the tall side but it is an economy car not the ST. I would easily consider one if I was in the market for this kind of car.

The one I have spec'd above has the 1.6.  The 1.0L has to be ordered in a package with plastic wheel covers and no fogs.  I did hear the sound of the little 1.0 growling in a KBB video (dude is cute but ANNOYING) over onto the YouTube, and it sounds cool, but Ford saddles it with humdrum aesthetics.

Has anyone heard a confirmation that the '17 model year will be shortened for the Fiesta here in America with a mid-year intro of the new design car we just saw intro'd in Paris IIRC?  Will we even be getting the new design Fiesta at all, or will Ford try to switch their miniature customers to the EcoSport?

[balthazar]

Progress ~
November 22 : 22K words. 
December 24 : 34K words.
December 30 : 37K words

 

Edited December 31, 2016 by balthazar

[Frisky Dingo]

So glad Christmas is over. I got shit gifts as always. I'm glad I don't have to deal with it for another year. I hate it with every fiber of my being.

[Stew]

Saw my first new Fiat 124 yesterday and i must say pictures do not do this car justice. 

[Frisky Dingo]

1 hour ago, Stew said:

Saw my first new Fiat 124 yesterday and i must say pictures do not do this car justice. 

 

I think that car is a rolling box of 'meh'.

[Stew]

31 minutes ago, Frisky Dingo said:

 

I think that car is a rolling box of 'meh'.

This was an Abarth so i am sure that helped lol. 

[Stew]

I feel oddly devastated about the passing of Carrie Fisher.

[Stew]

Destroyer Grey on the 17 Challenger looks amazing in person.

[ccap41]

1 hour ago, Stew said:

Destroyer Grey on the 17 Challenger looks amazing in person.

I haven't seen it in person but it looks badass in pictures. 

[balthazar]

9 hours ago, Stew said:

I feel oddly devastated about the passing of Carrie Fisher.

It's sad & premature, of course, but I for one never strongly identified with Star Wars, and Fisher never came remotely close to the acclaim she earned in SW. Without checking her IMDB, I would've assumed she went a decade at a time, and more than once, without a billing. When I saw her interviewed in connection with her role in the recent SW, I thought she had aged at an accelerated rate (I don't mean merely appearance-wise). 

[G. David Felt]

15 hours ago, Stew said:

I feel oddly devastated about the passing of Carrie Fisher.

Very sad and her mom died today. I am sure the stress of losing one's child did not help.

2016 seems to be closing with a number of people dieing. George Michael also died, This week is not closing out well for people.

6 hours ago, balthazar said:

It's sad & premature, of course, but I for one never strongly identified with Star Wars, and Fisher never came remotely close to the acclaim she earned in SW. Without checking her IMDB, I would've assumed she went a decade at a time, and more than once, without a billing. When I saw her interviewed in connection with her role in the recent SW, I thought she had aged at an accelerated rate (I don't mean merely appearance-wise). 

Sadly her own Alcoholism and substance abuse took it's toll. She did not handle the fame well in the early years.

Still sad that we lost her and her mother before the year closed out.

I do wonder how they will address it in the follow up SW movie to the Force Awakens.

[Stew]

20 hours ago, ccap41 said:

I haven't seen it in person but it looks badass in pictures. 

It was on a V6 with the Track package, but looked amazing.  I am torn between it and Granite as far as which i like better. 

8 hours ago, dfelt said:

Very sad and her mom died today. I am sure the stress of losing one's child did not help.

2016 seems to be closing with a number of people dieing. George Michael also died, This week is not closing out well for people.

Sadly her own Alcoholism and substance abuse took it's toll. She did not handle the fame well in the early years.

Still sad that we lost her and her mother before the year closed out.

I do wonder how they will address it in the follow up SW movie to the Force Awakens.

Yes it is terrible about both of them passing.  My heart goes out to that family.  i did read she had finished taping episode 8 so that should be a biter-sweet movie. 

[Frisky Dingo]

21 hours ago, ccap41 said:

I haven't seen it in person but it looks badass in pictures. 

I saw a new Octane Red one w/ the Blacktop Pkg last night and that thing looked incredible. It was totally clean, and sitting one car in front and to the right of me at a light. I couldn't stop staring.

[cp-the-nerd]

On 12/26/2016 at 1:55 PM, Frisky Dingo said:

So glad Christmas is over. I got $h! gifts as always. I'm glad I don't have to deal with it for another year. I hate it with every fiber of my being.

Man, that's a harsh view of christmas. I enjoy the gift giving. What's the problem? Or is that opening a huge can of worms?

[Drew Dowdell]

1 minute ago, cp-the-nerd said:

Man, that's a harsh view of christmas. I enjoy the gift giving. What's the problem? Or is that opening a huge can of worms?

Mine isn't as harsh as his.... but I really could just do without the holiday.  I've got so much going on in life that I don't usually have the time to deal with all of the visiting, the preparations, etc.  The only family I saw this holiday is the same family I see 2 - 4 times a month anyway... we didn't travel anywhere distant and no one traveled to us.

As far as gifts, there is nothing I need. I usually just buy anything that I do need from Amazon prime and it's at my house 2 days later.  I'm sitting here trying to think of what I got for Xmas besides cash... and it was a new set of sheets and duvet from my parents that I did need but held off buying so my mom could get something for us.... a couple of sweaters that I already have too many of.... and a bunch of other stuff that I don't recall because it wasn't something I was looking for.  The only thing I asked for that I didn't get was a watch winder. So now that Xmas is over, I'll just go buy myself one.  I got 95% of Albert's shopping done on Xmas eve, so there wasn't much thought that went into it. The one thing I did get for him that was meaningful was a collection of vintage photographs of the British Royal Family from the 1950 that I found at the Pittsburgh equivalent of an indoor flea market... grand total for all 25 photos was about $1.50.

The only thing that I need and wish I had that no one can get me is time. 

[balthazar]

Time would be fantastic- let me know where to opt in if a source is found.
I vote first for a 30-hr day and 2nd for an 8th day of the week. And time travel. My wish list is pretty simple.

We have greatly simplified Xmas in my house- stopped exchanging between my parents & my 2 siblings years ago, I personally only buy for my sons & wife. Wife buys for my 2 nieces also. 'Family holidays' are a lot of bother in general but one thing I do actually subliminally enjoy; I 'let go' of what I spend around Xmas (and when on vacation), I don't care what things cost as long as I feel the gift is meaningful/ would be appreciated. The rest of the year Im fairly Scroogish.

[ocnblu]

Well, one branch of ocn's famiry is going totarry Subaru... my aunt traded her trusty '97 Blazer on a '14 Forester.  A year later, she traded it on another one, a '15.  Her daughter (my cousin) picked up her own Forester today, a 2017 2.5i Premium in dark gray, trading in her 2010 Liberty after 17 years of Jeep ownership between a Cherokee, first and second gen Liberties.  She took me for a ride and I was very pleased with the operation of the vehicle.  The CVT in that thing is barely noticeable, and it runs very quietly (the '17 has thicker windshield and side glass, among other acoustic tweaks).  Goes to show that my experience with CVT in my Patriot and my mother's Cube and Versa was not all-encompassing on this type of transmission.

 

So now I want to test one out for myself (X-Mode, baby!)  I plan on ignoring the muffdiving tips in section 4 of the owner's manual though.  Bleh.

Edited December 30, 2016 by ocnblu

[Frisky Dingo]

21 hours ago, cp-the-nerd said:

Man, that's a harsh view of christmas. I enjoy the gift giving. What's the problem? Or is that opening a huge can of worms?

No, it's nothing deep or anything. I just hate the weather, the crowds, the traffic, the commercialism, peoples' expectations of gifts, the lame gifts I get, the insane amount of money my wife insists we spend on our kids. It's just madness. Factor in that I'm not religious in the slightest bit on top, and that just compounds it.

[Suaviloquent]

Gonna have another meh new year's. Joining the list of meh christmas's, meh meh's, and MEH MEH MEH'S

 

[daves87rs]

5 hours ago, ocnblu said:

Well, one branch of ocn's famiry is going totarry Subaru... my aunt traded her trusty '97 Blazer on a '14 Forester.  A year later, she traded it on another one, a '15.  Her daughter (my cousin) picked up her own Forester today, a 2017 2.5i Premium in dark gray, trading in her 2010 Liberty after 17 years of Jeep ownership between a Cherokee, first and second gen Liberties.  She took me for a ride and I was very pleased with the operation of the vehicle.  The CVT in that thing is barely noticeable, and it runs very quietly (the '17 has thicker windshield and side glass, among other acoustic tweaks).  Goes to show that my experience with CVT in my Patriot and my mother's Cube and Versa was not all-encompassing on this type of transmission.

 

So now I want to test one out for myself (X-Mode, baby!)  I plan on ignoring the muffdiving tips in section 4 of the owner's manual though.  Bleh.

 

Yeah, I still find myself looking at  them....always liked the Imprenza wagon/hatch...simple, yet effective!

 

And I think Christmas does get old....but the one thing I do enjoy is the family time. It's the only thing that I look forward too....it's also why I hate currently working in retail....pushing hard to get into something I actually enjoy.....

[ocnblu]

But then again this can be purchased for the same price, and it's a brand new design with more room inside, better looks and better gas mileage... and it has 8.2 inches ground clearance v. the vaunted Subaru's 8.7.

[Stew]

2 hours ago, ocnblu said:

But then again this can be purchased for the same price, and it's a brand new design with more room inside, better looks and better gas mileage... and it has 8.2 inches ground clearance v. the vaunted Subaru's 8.7.

I like the new CRV which is nice  considering I despise the current one lol.    I am really interested in the new Compass though I really hope it gets a version of the new Turbo 4 at some point even if it is only tuned for 200 or so HP. 

[ocnblu]

4 minutes ago, Stew said:

I like the new CRV which is nice  considering I despise the current one lol.    I am really interested in the new Compass though I really hope it gets a version of the new Turbo 4 at some point even if it is only tuned for 200 or so HP. 

Yeah if it is 2.4L only it will be kind of disappointing.  I understand the Compass might be roomier than the Cherokee in some important key areas.  It would be good if we got more info on the Compass, pronto.  Also... green has disappeared from the color choices on a lot of Jeep models.  Any year one cannot buy a green Jeep is a bad year.  I want my next vehicle to be blue or green.  Looking back, I have gray now, before that black, then green, then blue, then black, then blue, then green, then blueish gray, then green...

Edited December 31, 2016 by ocnblu

[Stew]

I have read that too.  It seems like their packaging gets better ith each new vehicle.  One thing I loved about my Patriot was the cavernous interior for it's small size.  

[ocnblu]

Sort of shocking how much cargo room Honda can extract from a sensibly sized vehicle... Fit, HR-V and CR-V are all cavernous v. the competition.

[Frisky Dingo]

Started the morning out right-

 

Just took a 2008 911 S 6MT w/ Sport Chrono, PSM, etc out for a nice warm-up drive. It's been a while since I've driven a 997, and I'm always reminded and impressed by how fantastic they are. 

I keep telling myself I want a 991 when they come down a little more, then I drive a 997 w/ the right equipment, and I'm like, "Nope, this is the one." Ugh. When the time comes, it's going to be very difficult deciding what to replace my GTI with.

[G. David Felt]

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!  

[balthazar]

Circa 1960 ~

[ocnblu]

Buick

Olds

Pontiac

[daves87rs]

14 hours ago, ocnblu said:

But then again this can be purchased for the same price, and it's a brand new design with more room inside, better looks and better gas mileage... and it has 8.2 inches ground clearance v. the vaunted Subaru's 8.7.

Dare I say, could be a good choice too....

[G. David Felt]

24 minutes ago, daves87rs said:

Dare I say, could be a good choice too....

But so bland looking. Very Forgetful. 

[daves87rs]

3 minutes ago, dfelt said:

But so bland looking. Very Forgetful. 

Yeah, true-but could be said for many in this class.....

[ocnblu]

Look at one in person.  The broad shoulders, the tough face, the roomy, attractive interior, the 29 overall average MPG rating (that matches the smaller HR-V on the same lot).  This is a very well done vehicle, engineered by a company that was a pioneer in the segment, and they understand the importance of it.

[balthazar]

You're just smitten 'cause it's green.

[G. David Felt]

^^^^^^ So Very True!  

14 hours ago, daves87rs said:

Yeah, true-but could be said for many in this class.....

Here's to hoping GMC shows off a very Butch Terrain! I love the current look, but now lets take it to the next level of off road mascular! 

[ocnblu]

3 hours ago, balthazar said:

You're just smitten 'cause it's green.

Hey at least they don't charge for it like GM did... $395.  They don't even charge for pearl white.

[balthazar]

It's still sprayed over a Honda. Massive pass.

[ocnblu]

10 minutes ago, balthazar said:

It's still sprayed over a Honda. Massive pass.

Well then, what is the solution?  I have 2500 miles of warranty left. 

[balthazar]

You'd go for a Trablant in that same shade of green, and you know it. 
'tough face, broad shoulders' - HA!
This is nothing about the warranty, it's your automotive wanderlust talking.
Get back in yer lil' Bowtie hauler and shush.  

 

[ocnblu]

8 minutes ago, balthazar said:

You'd go for a Trablant in that same shade of green, and you know it. 
'tough face, broad shoulders' - HA!
This is nothing about the warranty, it's your automotive wanderlust talking.
Get back in yer lil' Bowtie hauler and shush.  

 

  yessir daddy

Edited January 1, 2017 by ocnblu

[balthazar]

I have been in the same truck for 10.5 years at this point- somewhat surprising from a guy who in the beginning bought 2 cars/year (a number of which saw no road duty, to be honest).
I have entertained thoughts very recently on trading up, but then again perhaps some cosmetic upgrades to the current mule would suffice.
 

Edited January 1, 2017 by balthazar

[ocnblu]

12 hours ago, balthazar said:

I have been in the same truck for 10.5 years at this point- somewhat surprising from a guy who in the beginning bought 2 cars/year (a number of which saw no road duty, to be honest).
I have entertained thoughts very recently on trading up, but then again perhaps some cosmetic upgrades to the current mule would suffice.
 

10.5 years is an ETERNITY... I did my cosmetic upgrades after one year of ownership.  Pennsylvania gas tax just went up 8 cents, beginning of the year.

Paging BOBO... BOBO, please come to the front desk and turn in your summation of 2016.  BOBO???

[G. David Felt]

23 hours ago, balthazar said:

I have been in the same truck for 10.5 years at this point- somewhat surprising from a guy who in the beginning bought 2 cars/year (a number of which saw no road duty, to be honest).
I have entertained thoughts very recently on trading up, but then again perhaps some cosmetic upgrades to the current mule would suffice.
 

I am still driving my very clean 1994 GMC SLE Suburban! Loving it man!  

[balthazar]

I'd certainly consider a newer truck, one of my customers works for GM Corporate and offered to set me up with his discount… but I cannot justify a new vehicle's price tag, esp for a truck. I'll save more buying a 1-2 yr old than any level of corp discount, and get the same truck. But I'm still working off my investment in this truck, and I like it's relative stone-age tech.
I'd rather put money into my '59- the motor is going to be pricey.

[G. David Felt]

1 hour ago, balthazar said:

I'd certainly consider a newer truck, one of my customers works for GM Corporate and offered to set me up with his discount… but I cannot justify a new vehicle's price tag, esp for a truck. I'll save more buying a 1-2 yr old than any level of corp discount, and get the same truck. But I'm still working off my investment in this truck, and I like it's relative stone-age tech.
I'd rather put money into my '59- the motor is going to be pricey.

Wonder what the Employee / Friend of Family discount would be on a fully loaded Chevy BOLT?

That would be worth it possibly.

[Suaviloquent]

So I did my first workout of 2017..... I guess I get double brownie points, because I am going full speed ahead to 15% body fat?