Random Thoughts Thread

[oldshurst442]

47 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

I would take Montreal over any city on the continent....you are the gluiest man to live there...

@A Horse With No Name

Montreal and the Province of Quebec and its inhabitants are far from perfect.

We have more of our fair share of problems, hypocrisies, intolerances, stupidities, corruptions, ass backwardnesses and the like.

But it seems as much as  crap we have, we get through it, we BOND as a society and try to solve our problems TOGETHER!

Sure, in the past we were NOT as tight as we are today in 2017, but that is the thing, Montrealers and the people of  Quebec in general have faced many cultural fights with many facets and culture defining moments with many facets that we are definitely very comfortable in our own skins as Quebecois today after all these changes since Jacques Cartier first navigated the St. Laurence river and Samuel de Champlain tried to do trade with the locals and Jeanne Mance and Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve settled the area known as Hochelaga renamed city of Ville-Marie to what is known as Montreal today along with the defeat of the French at the Plains of Abraham in Quebec city by the English with General Wolfe and Commander Montcalm all the way to today with 2 referendums to separate Quebec from Canada to the protection of the French language and Culture to the English lessen their stranglehold on their dominance to acknowledging the French and for both cultures embracing all other immigrants...

Lot of turmoil in there and  Montreal is 375 years old this year, so that  makes it at least 375 years of this pain, we did learn something along the way in 375 years!

And that is Montreal's birthday, French settlements and indigenous peoples history is a tad  more older than that....

[balthazar]

Mmmmmmmmmm!

[G. David Felt]

15 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

@A Horse With No Name

Montreal and the Province of Quebec and its inhabitants are far from perfect.

We have more of our fair share of problems, hypocrisies, intolerances, stupidities, corruptions, ass backwardnesses and the like.

But it seems as much as  crap we have, we get through it, we BOND as a society and try to solve our problems TOGETHER!

Sure, in the past we were NOT as tight as we are today in 2017, but that is the thing, Montrealers and the people of  Quebec in general have faced many cultural fights with many facets and culture defining moments with many facets that we are definitely very comfortable in our own skins as Quebecois today after all these changes since Jacques Cartier first navigated the St. Laurence river and Samuel de Champlain tried to do trade with the locals and Jeanne Mance and Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve settled the area known as Hochelaga renamed city of Ville-Marie to what is known as Montreal today along with the defeat of the French at the Plains of Abraham in Quebec city by the English with General Wolfe and Commander Montcalm all the way to today with 2 referendums to separate Quebec from Canada to the protection of the French language and Culture to the English lessen their stranglehold on their dominance to acknowledging the French and for both cultures embracing all other immigrants...

Lot of turmoil in there and  Montreal is 375 years old this year, so that  makes it at least 375 years of this pain, we did learn something along the way in 375 years!

And that is Montreal's birthday, French settlements and indigenous peoples history is a tad  more older than that....

Montreal and the Province of Quebec is very much Like the Greater Seattle Area.  Lucky for me I do not have to deal with stupid French language and the dual language signs. Leave it to history and lets just standardize on English and start populating the stars.  

[G. David Felt]

2016/2017 ski season was so AWESOME!

Stevens pass where I always get a season pass just posted their compiled less than 5 min recap of the season. Hope on the slope to find a cure for cancer was awesome.

 

[G. David Felt]

Gotta love concepts that are just cool

GM-X Stiletto was cool as a drawing 

Pontiacs Stiletto Concept car for the auto show circuit was even better.

This would rock

1951 Buick Le Sabre Concept

Is it me or have we really not seen any cool concepts from the auto industry in a while?

[A Horse With No Name]

I like all of the above!

[G. David Felt]

4 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

I like all of the above!

Niva Concept was always cool tool.

One Concept I never really liked, 2005 GMC Graphite SUV.

[A Horse With No Name]

If GM did some interesting things with the Trax it would get me into a show room.

[Robert Hall]

Thursday evening randomness...been full time in NE Ohio a little over two weeks...after 20+ years away, forgot how nice June can be here..some rain, a bit of humidity, blue skies and sunshine...walked out on my back patio a few min ago, deer in the back yard, fireflies...out front, deer strolling through the front yard and down the street...everything very green...such a different reality from the dusty hell of Phoenix in June.  Gets dark pretty late here also.   60 degrees at 6 am while driving w/ the sunroof open and windows down is such a novel idea..

I'm adjusted to the 3hr time difference; working remotely is a bit strange the last couple weeks w/ my Scottsdale client--I was off for a week, came back to find out a major go live date has been pushed out 3 weeks and my department is in chaos because the development manager--my manager--abruptly quit last week--went to work for one of the vendors.   So I really don't report to anyone right now but have a number of tasks I'm working on...pretty low key, couple daily status calls.     

Edited June 23, 2017 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[A Horse With No Name]

10 hours ago, Cubical-aka-Moltar said:

Thursday evening randomness...been full time in NE Ohio a little over two weeks...after 20+ years away, forgot how nice June can be here..some rain, a bit of humidity, blue skies and sunshine...walked out on my back patio a few min ago, deer in the back yard, fireflies...out front, deer strolling through the front yard and down the street...everything very green...such a different reality from the dusty hell of Phoenix in June.  Gets dark pretty late here also.   60 degrees at 6 am while driving w/ the sunroof open and windows down is such a novel idea..

I'm adjusted to the 3hr time difference; working remotely is a bit strange the last couple weeks w/ my Scottsdale client--I was off for a week, came back to find out a major go live date has been pushed out 3 weeks and my department is in chaos because the development manager--my manager--abruptly quit last week--went to work for one of the vendors.   So I really don't report to anyone right now but have a number of tasks I'm working on...pretty low key, couple daily status calls.     

Good to ahve you back in the buckeye state...

[G. David Felt]

Rampage the Movie staring "The Rock" has another cool star, "The Bronco"

[balthazar]

1951 Buick Le Sabre Concept

This car is actually the '1951 GM LeSabre' - it never was nor is it physically identified as a Buick.

[balthazar]

Notice anything?

 

[Suaviloquent]

Back after so long. My interest has cars has basically vanished. Might come back. Might not. 

[G. David Felt]

4 hours ago, balthazar said:

This car is actually the '1951 GM LeSabre' - it never was nor is it physically identified as a Buick.

Cool info as the auto site I found it on had marked it as a Buick LeSabre. Either way very cool car.

1 hour ago, balthazar said:

Notice anything?

 

Love the modern take on the bottom truck and the getting rid of the chrome crap. Same long bed version, even the model year looks the same. Just 4x4 versus 2wd which also has extra tank. Anything else I am missing?

1 hour ago, Suaviloquent said:

Back after so long. My interest has cars has basically vanished. Might come back. Might not. 

Welcome back, Hope you hang around. I can understand loosing interest in an item that many cannot afford now.

[A Horse With No Name]

1 hour ago, Suaviloquent said:

Back after so long. My interest has cars has basically vanished. Might come back. Might not. 

I had the same issue...it came back...things ebb and flow.

[G. David Felt]

Very interesting Reading:

https://www.bts.gov/sites/bts.dot.gov/files/docs/browse-statistical-products-and-data/bts-publications/202411/pocketguide2017revised.pdf

This shows that an auto purchase is the second largest expense in households right now behind the house itself or rent. Lots of other interesting statistics. Enjoy the read.

[G. David Felt]

http://www.cnbc.com/2015/06/01/record-highs-of-americans-leasing-vehicles.html

According to this story, Leasing of Auto's was at 31% of all new auto purchases on June 1 2015. They say due to lower monthly rates and the ability to drive a nicer auto, more people are going with Leases.

Interesting read, from 2014 so 3 years old, but at this time Mercedes Benz was leasing 60% of new car sales and states they fear the hundreds of thousands of off lease auto's coming back will overwhelm their dealerships and as such they will have to dump them on the used 3rd party auto market.

http://www.autonews.com/article/20140414/RETAIL/140419915/mercedes-dealers-in-u.s.-could-be-overwhelmed-by-wave-of-off-lease

Very interesting.

[daves87rs]

On 6/22/2017 at 3:44 PM, dfelt said:

2016/2017 ski season was so AWESOME!

Stevens pass where I always get a season pass just posted their compiled less than 5 min recap of the season. Hope on the slope to find a cure for cancer was awesome.

 

One day I need to learn how to ski......

[G. David Felt]

9 hours ago, daves87rs said:

One day I need to learn how to ski......

Ultimate rush, none other like it. Hope to see you on the slopes one day.

[A Horse With No Name]

22 hours ago, dfelt said:

Ultimate rush, none other like it. Hope to see you on the slopes one day.

A lot of people who autocross cars actually ski. one of the people in the Miata racing community was an Olympic skiing medalist...

The sensations are not un alike...

[G. David Felt]

1 hour ago, A Horse With No Name said:

A lot of people who autocross cars actually ski. one of the people in the Miata racing community was an Olympic skiing medalist...

The sensations are not un alike...

True, just the gear is cheaper for skiing.  

[G. David Felt]

Gotta Love Power especially when it comes from the bullet proof LS7 Small Block. Mercury Racing took GM's 7.0 Liter 505 hp / 470 lb-ft torque big block and turned it into an even bigger monster with 750HP naturally aspirated ponies. You can get the Engine custom colored when you order it. They build this in Marine package or auto package. They also have a TTV8 version that is 1700HP.

Mercury Racing Web site

The Drive has a video with one of the top guys covering the engine and all they did to this including the integrated pressurized fuel lines. Tight clean package that can fit into very small auto's.

The Drive Web Site

 

[A Horse With No Name]

2 hours ago, dfelt said:

Gotta Love Power especially when it comes from the bullet proof LS7 Small Block. Mercury Racing took GM's 7.0 Liter 505 hp / 470 lb-ft torque big block and turned it into an even bigger monster with 750HP naturally aspirated ponies. You can get the Engine custom colored when you order it. They build this in Marine package or auto package. They also have a TTV8 version that is 1700HP.

Mercury Racing Web site

The Drive has a video with one of the top guys covering the engine and all they did to this including the integrated pressurized fuel lines. Tight clean package that can fit into very small auto's.

The Drive Web Site

 

Flyin Miata has an LS conversion package....the 1700 horse version in a car that weighs 2200 lbs...a little over a lb per HP....yeah...I could enjoy that!

What I would put it in though is an exocet, a kit car that uses Maita suspension bits and driveline and weighs in at about 1200 lbs...

This with the 1700 HP twin turbo, please...more than 1 HP per lb....yeah....

[G. David Felt]

6 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Flyin Miata has an LS conversion package....the 1700 horse version in a car that weighs 2200 lbs...a little over a lb per HP....yeah...I could enjoy that!

What I would put it in though is an exocet, a kit car that uses Maita suspension bits and driveline and weighs in at about 1200 lbs...

This with the 1700 HP twin turbo, please...more than 1 HP per lb....yeah....

That would be fun. I also think this is the first motors that are artwork worthy. So clean and neat, it is crazy. Wish all auto OEMs would put this kinda effort into building clean engines for the auto's.

[balthazar]

My brother's '68 'bird, 402 CI Pontiac, about 685 HP, 9.85 @ 135 MPH.

[A Horse With No Name]

Gorgeous....I will see you a Firebird....and raise you a Firebird...

 

Granted, that is in the eighth...but it is Pontiac powered...and 190 in the eighth is nothing to sneeze at.

[Robert Hall]

My brother was looking a clean '69 Firebird 400 recently...bright blue, 4spd.   He has owned a couple Pontiacs back in the late 70s-early 80s--a '74 Firebird 400 in dark blue and a '65 GTO in gold.   But he has 10 cars and 7 motorcycles now, said he doesn't need any more vehicles. 

[balthazar]

We like Pontiacs in my family~
Dad only had 3 ('63, '70, '77) but continuously from '66-'95.
My brother has had 4 ('65 GTO, '68 FB, '71 GTO, '83 T/A) plus a '63 Tempest shell.
I've had 8 ('60, '64, '64, '64 GP, '65, '65, '65, '66 GP) all big cars.
Grandfather had 7 (all bought new & all big cars: '55, '57, '63, '66, '69, '72, '76).

Still in the family are the '65 GTO, '68 FB, '71 GTO and the '64 GP.

[A Horse With No Name]

4 minutes ago, balthazar said:

We like Pontiacs in my family~
Dad only had 3 ('63, '70, '77) but continuously from '66-'95.
My brother has had 4 ('65 GTO, '68 FB, '71 GTO, '83 T/A) plus a '63 Tempest shell.
I've had 8 ('60, '64, '64, '64 GP, '65, '65, '65, '66 GP) all big cars.
Grandfather had 7 (all bought new & all big cars: '55, '57, '63, '66, '69, '72, '76).

Still in the family are the '65 GTO, '68 FB, '71 GTO and the '64 GP.

Would love pics of the 65 GTO some day....

[A Horse With No Name]

 

This guy makes a lot of common sense....and some of the things he is critical of are rampant here at C and G....

[A Horse With No Name]

17 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

 

This guy makes a lot of common sense....and some of the things he is critical of are rampant here at C and G....

....and what he says about Chinese companies copying American companies and profiting from it goes into what we are talking about in the other thread...

[G. David Felt]

18 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

 

This guy makes a lot of common sense....and some of the things he is critical of are rampant here at C and G....

He nailed it soo true!  

[A Horse With No Name]

Just now, dfelt said:

He nailed it soo true!  

Ohhh absolutely....

Bonus content....

 

Worth a watch....all electric...

...and what the other video said about Fanbois and know it alls...

 

But lets end on a positive note...more electric goodness!

[Drew Dowdell]

I had a couple co-workers tell me today that I intimidated them. Another co-worker said they call me the Grim Reaper. I'm not sure how I feel about this.

The Grim Reaper one I understand the reason for the nickname. In my old job, when someone got walked to HR it was my job to swoop in and seize their computer and phone for evidence.

Some of the smaller offices I visit used to assume, if I showed up unannounced, that I was there to fire them all.

I'm not sure why other people should be intimidated though.

[Robert Hall]

7 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

 

Some of the smaller offices I visit used to assume, if I showed up unannounced, that I was there to fire them all. 

Like George Clooney's character in Up in the Air...

Years ago I had a coworker tell me I scared them...because when I'm being facetious or sarcastic I never change my tone of voice..

[Drew Dowdell]

1 hour ago, Cubical-aka-Moltar said:

Like George Clooney's character in Up in the Air...

Years ago I had a coworker tell me I scared them...because when I'm being facetious or sarcastic I never change my tone of voice..

Never saw it. I guess I should watch it.

[A Horse With No Name]

1 hour ago, Drew Dowdell said:

I had a couple co-workers tell me today that I intimidated them. Another co-worker said they call me the Grim Reaper. I'm not sure how I feel about this.

The Grim Reaper one I understand the reason for the nickname. In my old job, when someone got walked to HR it was my job to swoop in and seize their computer and phone for evidence.

Some of the smaller offices I visit used to assume, if I showed up unannounced, that I was there to fire them all.

I'm not sure why other people should be intimidated though.

You seem friendly enough to me...

[balthazar]

There's a difference between professionally intimidating (due to hierarchy) and being personally intimidating.
I met DD; I didn't get that impression. Apologies if that's something you're working on cultivating.

- - - - -

"Electric cars have been a miserable market failure" :
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/california-wants-deal-valley-death-143512679.html

Think of this when you see gushing reports on 'super hot electric pickups!!' with no plans for production or price, involving a university as one of the leads for production. IOW; hype shouldn't trump data.

[Drew Dowdell]

21 minutes ago, balthazar said:

There's a difference between professionally intimidating (due to hierarchy) and being personally intimidating.
I met DD; I didn't get that impression. Apologies if that's something you're working on cultivating.

I see your point and the difference between professional and personal. I'm not trying to cultivate a personality of intimidation.  I'm not the office "friend" though. I go to work to work, not to socialize... And today I made a rare appearance at a work social function. 

It will sounds like hubris, but I am very good at what I do plus I have 11 years of institutional knowledge to go with it. I carry myself with the confidence which goes with that. In short, I know where all the bodies are hidden around the company.  I'm sure that is the source of the intimidation. However, I don't want it to be seen as a reason to be intimidated by me.

[balthazar]

Can certainly be a delicate line to walk.

I was in the corporate/office world for 10 years, came in on ground floor and a young punk, went thru every job there and ended up project managing over half the company's revenue. Some people who worked under me, I was surprised to catch a comment or 2 years later expressing some degree of frustration/annoyance with me that I didn't think -at the time- was 'a thing'. Authority comes with consequences but like you said (and I agree with this);

 

[G. David Felt]

4 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Never saw it. I guess I should watch it.

Yup, Watch Up in the Air, George did a great job and it really does cover how worker bees see certain people. You're just doing your job but for some you're the grim ripper of unemployment.

Stay positive as like I stated, you're just doing your job and it is nothing personal. People fear their jobs in times of uncertainty and we are definitely in that.

On another note and I really cannot seem to find an answer and I am not trying to start a political pissing match, but with federal laws against sexual harassment, most people are fired when they do this. With all the clear evidence of Potus 45 doing it especially against MSNBC and both GOP and Demo in an uproar over this, why is Potus exempt from these very same laws?

[A Horse With No Name]

See, I was an electrician ad a foreman and ran projects.  Bad things happen in companies regardless of what they are with no chain of command.

If people want steady employment a chain of command  is a must have.

Firm, fair, and friendly can go a long way.

But I also do not go to work to socialize.

[A Horse With No Name]

5 hours ago, dfelt said:

Yup, Watch Up in the Air, George did a great job and it really does cover how worker bees see certain people. You're just doing your job but for some you're the grim ripper of unemployment.

Stay positive as like I stated, you're just doing your job and it is nothing personal. People fear their jobs in times of uncertainty and we are definitely in that.

On another note and I really cannot seem to find an answer and I am not trying to start a political pissing match, but with federal laws against sexual harassment, most people are fired when they do this. With all the clear evidence of Potus 45 doing it especially against MSNBC and both GOP and Demo in an uproar over this, why is Potus exempt from these very same laws?

Because a whole lot of people voted for him knowing exactly the kind of person he was. Clinton and Trump are both hideous...she remained married to Bill who was just as much of a predator as Donald.

I am in that awkward position where I remember the hostage crisis very clearly...

But find myself highly jealous of Iran for being governed by actual adults, even if they are religious fanatics...

Would honestly feel pretty much the same way if Clinton had won...

Off political...too much fun with cars, woodworking, my family...

Will have car pics of the Beetle and woodworking pics at some point...

[A Horse With No Name]

I don't even play guitar but want to try some different acoustic guitar designs...

[A Horse With No Name]

Didn't realize it...but the Catholic church has paid our almost 4 Billion dollars since 1950 for sex crimes against Children...

https://youtu.be/PYmbVwHj9s4

Edited June 30, 2017 by A Horse With No Name

[surreal1272]

19 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Didn't realize it...but the Catholic church has paid our almost 4 Billion dollars since 1950 for sex crimes against Children...

https://youtu.be/PYmbVwHj9s4

Shameful. 

[G. David Felt]

20 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Didn't realize it...but the Catholic church has paid our almost 4 Billion dollars since 1950 for sex crimes against Children...

https://youtu.be/PYmbVwHj9s4

So disgusting what they have done. I miss @Drew Dowdell column he did on covering things like this. So educational to know so that hopefully intelligent people can keep it from happening again.

[G. David Felt]

Demolitions gone wrong is soo funny!

 

[oldshurst442]

On 6/30/2017 at 0:36 PM, A Horse With No Name said:

Didn't realize it...but the Catholic church has paid our almost 4 Billion dollars since 1950 for sex crimes against Children...

 

 

On 6/30/2017 at 0:56 PM, surreal1272 said:

Shameful. 

 

On 6/30/2017 at 0:58 PM, dfelt said:

So disgusting what they have done. I miss @Drew Dowdell column he did on covering things like this. So educational to know so that hopefully intelligent people can keep it from happening again.

 

I was looking to post a specific GIF in another thread regarding good  'ole Robert DeNiro in one of his Mafia gigs when I came across this GIF...I think this GIF is appropriate here and how Ray Liotta smirks at the end just captivates this topic quite well I find!