trinacriabob

Charming, indeed. A lot of the photos double for New England in some ways.

Random thought and random view of a YouTube lasting less than one minute Iberia Airbus 340-600 wearing the most recent livery taking off at LAX and headed to Madrid - about 11 hours. Foggy day at LAX and they usually take off over the ocean, to which LAX is adjacent.

Wishing a Happy Thanksgiving to the folks of the Cheers and Gears forum as well their loved ones and friends. Have a great day!

Love it. Too bad Jetsonian architecture had to leave us. I hope that place is still standing ... where is it?

A sampling of the Big 3 on one freeway trip First, (Ford) A metallic gold Lincoln MKS. It was cruising along at about 70 mph and a tiny lady was driving it. This car looks better from the rear and the side than it does from the front. I could have sworn I saw a differential under it from behind, or maybe that was something else. I had always assumed this car was FWD. Second, (Chrysler) A metallic charcoal Dodge Charger. It was the latest rendition. I couldn't tell if it was a V6 or a V8 nor could I tell if it was FWD or AWD. The guy driving it was glancing at his phone. Third, (GM) A silver Pontiac Bonneville of the latest model run, probably 2001 to 2003. It had alloy wheels, the ribbed cladding, and a spoiler. I love the rear tail lamp fascia on that car. I'm guessing that someone might either like it or hate it. It's unique. For its years, the car was in good enough condition. A stocky blue collar Italian guy one shouldn't pick a fight with was driving it.

Does Amazon's selection of a split second headquarters location (NYC and NoVa) surprise you? Me - yes and no. Yes, because these are expensive places. No, because they are in the Eastern Time Zone and there is a good labor pool to choose from. Incidentally, in NYC, they are going into Queens' Long Island City neighborhood, if I recall. L.I.C. has typically been a lower cost lodging option to Manhattan and Brooklyn, and still on a subway line. There is also limited parking available on the streets in Queens. Perhaps The Bronx will now emerge as another lower cost alternative since even once forsaken Harlem is now "cool."

Not really a joke with a Q & A, but a thing that people used to joke about doing ... making dinner reservations under "Donner, party of 6." Tasteless, morose, funny? You decide.

Heard these on the car radio last night, back to back, on some random classic rock station: 1. 2. Lyrics like: "Last car to pass, here I go ..." "And the line of cars drove down real slow ..." - - - - - I'd put my money on Eddie Money on this combo.

I've got a soft spot for this car. We had one in the base model with a 250 c.i. (Chevy manufactured) I-6, no A/C, and no fancy electric accessories. My dad was reluctant to buy a Pontiac, having graduated to Oldsmobile and Buick, but this was the most hassle free car our family ever owned. It was bought as a second car, mostly for the dog. Yesterday: A 2006 or 2007 Monte Carlo in the metallic bronze, with 5 spoke alloy wheels and a vertical spoiler, making it an LT model. I once had a rental with a black interior and it didn't look that good. This one going down the street had the tan interior and it was in near perfect condition. Sweet. Adieu, GM mid-size personal luxury coupes. * sigh *

I did not know that California elected Gavin Newsom as its governor. Two actors. Now Newsom. How quickly people forget. When he was the mayor of SF, he was involved in a scandal where he was having an affair with a female employee who was married to his friend and colleague. I'm not easily shocked, hailing from SoCal, but this sort of aligns with 'when someone shows you who they are the first time, believe them ...' He has always seemed smarmy to me. But, onward to music, when George Dukemejian was either running for or was the governor of California, they did a song mocking him called "Walk Like a Dukemejian" which paralleled the Bangles song "Walk Like an Egyptian." I generally don't like reboots for songs, but the Bangles also delivered on "Hazy Shade of Winter" by making it less morose. It was used in the film about rich a-hole SoCal kids living on the edge in "Less than Zero." But, then, in the country genre, Ray Steven's rendition of "Misty" also kicks arse on this romantic standard as performed by Errol Garner (the original) and Johnny Mathis. I've posted "Misty" at some point before.

I am definitely seeing that trend ... and I don't like it. It may work for some, but not for me.

When will we get a clear enough idea of what the 2020 Dodge Charger will look like? I'm going to assume it will be on the next platform for at least 5 years. If so and I like the way it looks and its powertrain, that could be my next car. Any ideas as to when?

I was doing more reading on cleaning the throttle body. With my last car, I never had it done and it went over a quarter of a million miles. Here's what I learned. The contaminants in the oil can travel upward and cause the soot in the throttle body. My oil has always gotten changed while it is still a bright enough gold color. I never let it get dirty. To that, I add the Techron every 5,000 miles. On the other end, as physically laid out, I change the air filter every 10,000 miles. I'm guessing that's why I haven't noticed changes in drivability on my current and last car. They say that your throttle body will tell you it may not be operating correctly through a "check engine" light that's tied to it or something near it (the MAF sensor), by engine hesitation, by poor mileage, or by a rougher than usual idle. I sure would like to know how the oil and/or the combustion process release by products upward so they would gunk up your throttle body flap.

I was hunting around Chevy's website and believe that the new (2019?) Malibu might/will be coming with a CVT with the base engine. I don't understand why a CVT would not be as long lived. With fewer parts, one would think that those parts could be strengthened and make for a more reliable unit. I am comfortable with a 6 speed automatic. You don't feel the last 3 shifts as it is in most cases. As for 8 gears, I know that the highest gear took a rented Dodge Charger (V6) down to about 1,600 rpm and delivered over 31 mpg going between 60 and 65 mph on cruise. And that's a 4,000 pound car.

While I don't like most Airbus twin aisle products, I like the Airbus 340 a lot. Earlier versions were smaller -200 and -300 series. The last version is a -600 series. I believe they were released in 1993 or 1995. It's a great set-up ... 2-4-2 seating in steerage, and 4 engines. The smaller engines on the -200 and -300 look just right. I have flown on those via Lufthansa. I saw one darting around FRA airport and the upward sweep of the wing from behind is beautiful. As for the -600 series, it was a flight on Iberia. The -600 engines are massive and have a lot of thrust. These -600s barrel down the runway and rotate very quickly with a full house aboard. The Airbus 340s are considered gas hogs, hence the twin engine Airbus 330. Same thing as the Airbus 340 inside, more or less, but with two engines. - - - - - Iberia Airbus 340-600 outbound - boarded via a connection at Chicago O'Hare Iberia Airbus 340-600 outbound - early arrival in Madrid at dawn - look at those engines! Iberia Airbus 340-300 return - Madrid - these are the smaller engines on an older bird Iberia Airbus 340-300 return - Madrid - boarding via bus and stairs; notice how hot and dry it is outside Iberia Airbus 340-300 return - I'm almost sure this is right over Las Vegas McCarran, since LAX would only take 30 more minutes and the runway layout looks familiar and like the one on the city map. Iberia Airbus 340-300 return - in an unlikely place ... over the California desert Iberia Airbus 340-300 return - a window seat view on the San Gabriels, with LAX in about 15 minutes Iberia Airbus 340-300 return - DTLA to the left, as the flaps start doing their job to land the plane Iberia Airbus 340-300 return - on the ground at LAX over 11 hours later (I think Iberia has retired the -200s and -300s ... not sure.)

I found an article. It had photos. Crazy. It was a 747-400 F (freighter). It has the winglets. The 400s were the best selling 747s. With the engines being sheared off and it breaking up, it's almost a miracle it wasn't worse. Being in Nova Scotia, it was being loaded up with lobsters to be flown to China. Some people made some offhand comments about the lobsters. I guess lobsters would be expensive if you need to have a 747 fly them to you. I think most of us remember what happened when an Air France Airbus 340 overran the runway in Toronto during heavy rain. That plane caught on fire and was laying on the embankment of the Canada 401 (?) expressway but everyone survived. All the slides opened up and people were getting the hell out of the plane and away from the aircraft. I'll never forget seeing that on the news. Yikes.

Yesteryear's Town Cars would have been too wallowy on the Angeles Crest Highway. Maybe more recent models hold the road better. I once had to take an old school Town Car from White Plains, NY to JFK. I was on the inside lanes near the guard rail on both the Hutch and the Van Wyck and I couldn't feel where the tires were. My boss was furious with something that happened with the initial car we were given and got this upgrade. My boss went back home first, so I got stuck with this massive car for an extra day or two. Within the last month, I learned that there is street slang along the lines of "old schoolz" and I think it refers to the mid 80s RWD Cutlass Supremes and company. You all can fill in the (politically incorrect) gaps.

The Boeing jumbos are beautiful but, some 10 years later, I still can't get my head around the Airbus 380 because it looks like a Beluga whale in the front 3/4 view. I'd still like to fly on one, though. I hear they are quieter than Boeing's products. I was looking for this 747 hull loss. Where did this happen? I couldn't find anything on it. I am actually booked on a segment on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. It's a short segment within the U.S. next summer. I wanted to get a whole day and catch a "red eye," but I decided to leave early in the afternoon and choose the flight using the Boeing 787. It's a ticket using accumulated miles. I feel like a big kid ... I am really excited about this! Some people don't like living near airports or under a flight path. I think I'd get off on it. (Well, not quite). Some friends of my parents lived on the approach to the north runway to LAX (before the houses were condemned or whatever happened) and we'd sit in the backyard watching jumbos fly over us and cross Sepulveda Blvd. to touch down on the tarmac ... heavies from all over the world and I love the way the 747 tilts slightly upward as it lands so the 16 wheels under the midsection touch the tarmac first.

50 is the new 30 and 60 is the new 40. Don't worry. Be happy. What I wanted to say is that I recently saw the movie "Gotti." I generally don't like these sorts of movies, and I thought the "Godfather" series can only be seen a time or two whereas some people I know watch these flicks over and over to this day. "Gotti" was not well received by most critics. What made it somewhat interesting is that it was more about his family's dynamics than it was a saga. For purposes of this forum, the number of old school GM cars in this movie is something you will notice. There are many. No one drove foreign cars. This is the '70s and '80s in stereotypical Italian-American neighborhoods in Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island. Beyond many Cadillacs, you'll also see cars like a '75 Monte Carlo and a red '77 Grand Prix. There are even El Caminos in a funeral procession. If not a GM car, then these characters drove Lincolns.

I'm glad I checked in this morning. Happy birthday!

I didn't realize you lived in "the ATL." I liked my brick ranch in ATL. A lot. Coming from the West, it was a treat to have an all brick home. And, having a carport at one edge made it all very Southern. It kept hanging on despite tear downs all around it. Around this past Easter, I drove down my old street and my brick ranch had met with the bulldozer and a McMansion was taking its place. When that neighborhood was all single story ranches and splits with brick/siding, it had much more character, nothing looked out of proportion, there were way more trees, and the people were normal ... even with me living there!

Perhaps homes in Moreland Hills have "more land." Just kidding. What's weird is how many of these homes are found in the eastern U.S. Dunwoody, on Atlanta's north end, sure had its share of Georgian colonials (known as "a five-four-and a door") but, then, there were some streets dominated by low slung ranch homes with this same type of rock cladding. I had to scratch my head and ask myself if I was in Atlanta or Ladera Heights (basically Los Angeles 90056). In Dunwoody, these homes weren't cheap, but they were fairly priced compared to some national norm. The Ladera Heights prices are not for the faint of heart.

It is amazing. It doesn't make me happy, though. Yesterday, I was at the dealership for service and sat in a GMC Acadia. Nice. A little pricey, too. The double sliding skylight didn't help. Well, I guess I should give up on ever seeing a reboot in the form of a svelte new Buick Riviera coupe.

What? Well, all the photos seem to show it in Europe or in China. I was at the dealership for service this afternoon. One of the salespeople nodded in a glum way that there isn't a (new) Verano in place. People have asked for it.

Random thought of the day: The new 2019 Ford Focus is at hand (sometime next year) and, while the exterior of the vehicle is attractive and nicely detailed, its interior is not.