trinacriabob

It's imperative to do this ... especially when traveling. There is no rewind button. The only thing that is more easily remedied is the replacement of hotel magnetic cards if they know you at the front desk and/or you have other ID. - - - - - I'm all for color returning to automotive cabins. This red, however, is a bit loud. Some of the colors they are bringing back are too strong, like the "brick" brown/red interior, too. As for this (E) vehicle, it's as long as the learning curve to operate it is not too lengthy and difficult.

I agree. I was impressed by its competence for the category and price point. I definitely enjoyed it for one day a few years back and it did its job for that week in August-September. With the Smart car, the back of the car is practically right behind the driver. With the Spark, it's just a "little bit" further back than with the Smart!

What I had really wanted to post: THE BIG THREE - what am I talking about? - - - - - As you depart anywhere, you should always ask yourself if you have these 3 things with you: 1) Your wallet (or similar) 2) Your keys 3) Your phone I routinely do this now. I have sometimes driven off with the phone left at home. Also, if staying in a hotel, the magnetic keys are easy to overlook, so those get included in the keys category. Okay, that's enough being your mother for this morning.

Slightly painful to watch. Who knows ... there could have been my beloved 260 V8 in that Delta 88 that someone could have set aside for me. It would be interesting to tastefully make it into one - and only one - backyard garden planting ... surrounded by ornamental horticulture (perhaps with a birdbath or bird feeders perched atop the air cleaner assembly). I'm joking. However, I very much miss the purr of a new(ish) small block Olds Rocket V8. Now ... as for the Eldorado ... how does someone let such a beautiful car - I loved that body style from 1979 to 1985 (+/-) - get into that kind of shape? I have always disliked the Biarritz trims and the excess metal trimming that went with that ... too much. Either sans or with a vinyl top, these were the best looking of the triplets. There might have been malaise in its engineering (engines like a newly released 4100 Cadillac V8 with teething problems, the diesel, and the 4.1 Buick V6 as a credit option), but there was no malaise in the car's exterior styling and interior creature comforts in my book. - - - - - Now this is what I'm talking about! I'm always for the alloy wheels and, at some point, there were stock Cadillac ones available Except that they would have to be in cloth - - - - - I'm waxing nostalgic.

Yes, Dino Crocetti. Big black Cadillacs, and often, is usually a good sign. What is Ohio Valley style pizza? I prefer thin crust pizza from the tri-state NYC area, but have learned what Detroit style pizza is - and like it. There's also Pittsburgh style, St. Louis style, probably Philly style, probably Baltimore style, yada yada, but I don't know what they are. My mom used to make a deep(er) dish pizza and it wasn't my cup of tea. But I'd still eat it.

I think a lot of it has to do with "packaging." Generally speaking, red places have way more hicks, aren't as well educated, many people are gullible and see things in black and white for simplicity's sake, and, along with that, comes things like non-denominational Christianity and love of guns. Most/many Catholics, Episcopalians, and Lutherans lean blue. So, when they identify by their specific denomination, I don't lump them in with "Christians," though they are a subset. Some of the shootings in bluer places (Colorado, Connecticut) were carried out by kids or younger people who were disturbed and slipped through the system because the signs were missed, but rabid love of guns is way more of a red thing. I rehashed the poor Republican joke because someone like that is irritating me more and more: she IS educated, but is a megachurch Christian, is proud to be a gun owner, and likes the New Millennium's "Agent Orange." Last Christmas, she texted me how she spent the day and it included a link for the service she attended with her mom: 40 minutes of "hickdom" that I watched for 15 seconds - just to see what kind of stuff I was being fed - and then turned it off. That alone would point to the bad boundaries this person has. - - - - - My jokes ... from school and neighborhood days: "Down the Yellow River" by I.P. Freely "Rusted Bedsprings" by I.P. Nightly "The Proper Use of a Condom" by Justin Case "Under the Bleachers" by Seymour Butts "Hawaiian Pleasure" by Kamana Wanaleia - - - - - Have a nice day, folks!

Good morning: A poor Republican is like a cow that is pro-leather.

What I was really going to post - - - - - current watch: Timex Expedition - black face, blue illumination capability, leather watchband - bought in 2011 for about $40 - Timex: "takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin' " past tense watch: Seiko I used to have - (similar, but not "Presage" and regular gold ... not rose gold) left on a hotel nightstand while hastily packing for an early morning flight from Italy back to the U.S. - the hotel wasn't of the genre that would admit to finding it and send it back to you - consider what happened to Gandolfini's (RIP) Rolex when he was in the hospital ... I do plan to get another similar Seiko sooner than later. I still look at my wrist for the time more so than at my phone.

I'm with you on this. I don't care much about watches except that they be classic and appealing enough, reliable, and a good value. If money were no object, I might pay more attention. Just like I keep cars for as long as I can, I do the same with watches. I've had my current Timex Expedition where the dial goes blue if it's dusk and you push in where you wind it/set it since 2011. Mine has a leather band and I keep replacing it. A person doesn't even need much arm hair for it to pinch. It goes looking for it. I have more of an issue keeping travel money in my pocket, but am always looking for a deal there, too. I think I'm dreaming! That Bulgari is not that appealing, as you say. I do like analog clocks in vehicles. I really liked the one set toward the right edge of the instrument panel in the last Buick Envision, and even the way it was incorporated into the dash. With the new IP in the more recent Envision, that cool analog clock went away. I never noticed the gargoyles in the tower on the Parliament House in Ottawa ... until now. Small, but yet an icon for the city and the port that not everyone knows about. The Plage de l'Horologe with the blue umbrellas is "fairly" recent and shows the more unbridled sense of humor and irony that is more Gallic than Anglo. Bravo, Montreal. If someone were to look up "high maintenance" in the dictionary, Elizabeth Taylor's name should be next to it. It seemed like she needed a lot of props for her self-esteem. She had at least 7 or 8 husbands and that didn't seem to keep her happy, either. She started out as a peaches and cream "English rose" and, evidently, L.A. and "the industry" took that away from her.

This is probably more of a definition than a joke. "Youngstown tune-up" I have both heard this from someone who lives there and have read about it ... when the mob was more active decades ago in a bustling industrial Youngstown (OH) that hadn't yet gone into an economic slumber, this was the term used when someone got rubbed out by the mob there. Mildly humorous ... in a twisted sort of way.

You beat me to it. LOL. I usually notice these on the homepage. I was not on "terra firma" during this event. The Arch is very cool. First, no two views of it to the visitor are likely to be the same. Second, it gives a lot of credence to the notion that "less is more." Happy belated to @ccap41

I'll go with your second sentence here. Rentals are what helped me decide on my current (ICE) car and sample others I have considered buying in the past. For EVs, this is going to be a gradual process rather than a fast shove. I agree with this, but more so about basic operation than recharging them, which is also an issue. Look at how I went to a general charger, figured I'd be up until past midnight (since it's now October, I could have turned into a pumpkin if it had been this month), and had to go back to the drawing board to find the supercharger type that would charge the vehicle in 20 minutes. For recharging during a rental, the way to get around that would be planning out the charging stops, which is a lot more difficult than purchasing fuel. You can bet that the interaction was negative. First, I couldn't shut the EV off with ease. I thought that repeating what I had done with the key fob vis a vis the slot near the console top to turn it on would then shut it off. That wasn't the case. Second, I didn't know where to obtain the mileage at return/exchange. I didn't feel so bad when the rental agent came to the vehicle, sat in it, and fumbled around for about 30 seconds before locating the odometer reading. Once seated, it should take no longer than 3 seconds for anyone to do that. Yet all of this happened in less than half a day. Yes, "overdone" is a good word. I'm sure it has to do with the brand and how "normal" they choose to make these vehicles. If they decide to keep EVs in rental fleets, they should hand out a basic info sheet or let you scan something with your phone that would give you info on the most basic 10 functions you will encounter, if not 20 of them. It's not Barnes and Noble, so I'm not expecting 'EVs for Dummies' or be handed a book. However, something to help the customer rather than shove them out the door to tend to the next customer (or the end of their shift) would be helpful.

It would have to be both to make it equitable. Especially if there is a long lease term involved. Also, it makes it way better if it's a "flow through" when signing on the dotted line than having to wait for it until filing a return, or finding out which type of credit it is (the kind that can kick off a refund ... or that won't). Purchases are more straightforward, so it makes me wonder what happens when someone doesn't comply with the initial terms of the lease. I'm not at the stage of thinking about an EV, so I won't be educating myself on all the details. I only know I've got a decent chunk of GM card points and scratch my head as to whether I will ever be using them.

I was told about that when I was doing the first charge on that Tesla "wild card" rental that I exchanged. The guy charging up his car near me was telling me about these rebates ... and also that he didn't think these vehicles belonged in rental fleets because of the learning curve, even though he loved his car.

I wrote my comment inside his post!

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to our members north of the border (we're so used to hearing "south of the border") and those who want to celebrate this day with them. For the Canadians, I believe it's an annual celebration of the harvest more so than commemorating the symbolic arrival of the pilgrims to Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts. Happy Thanksgiving!

My real random thought: Here's one where you learn something new every day. I learned this yesterday. Long Island, NY contains 7 million residents. Long Island is almost as long as the distance between Los Angeles and San Diego. With 7 million residents, it holds about 1/3 of the population of the entire state of New York. This requires dismantling these numbers a little bit. Brooklyn and Queens are technically on the western edge of Long Island, but are never considered Long Island by people because they are across the river from Manhattan and the Bronx, are boroughs of NYC, and, together, they have 4 million inhabitants. Once you cross the line from Queens into Nassau County, you are into what is meant by Long Island. Nassau and Suffolk Counties are huge, have a lot of breathing room, and, across almost 100 miles, only have a population of 3 million. Capisce? - - - - - A sad homepage statistic read within the last hour or so: California holds about 1/3 of the homeless population in the U.S. - - - - - BTW, greetings from Long Island, NY

The 007 discussion should all go back to "the industry" trying to figure out how Ian Fleming envisioned the James Bond character. There has been way too much variability in who they've cast to play 007. Sean Connery (RIP) seemed to own the franchise and every subsequent actor was compared to him for a long while. To me, Lazenby wasn't that much more wooden than the others that played the part. I once read that he became high maintenance (it went to his head) and they did not cast him again. @Robert Hall mentions some of the interesting aspects of OHMSS, but let's not forget to add Irma Bunt, one of the funniest villain(esse)s in a 007 flick, though she was probably not funny to those in her context. To North American audiences, she was a hoot. I believe this was the first major motion picture she did in English. Roger Moore delivered on the sarcasm and sense of humor, but the movies he was in were hit and miss. Thumbs up to "Live and Let Die,""For Your Eyes Only," and "A View to a Kill" ... and thumbs down to "Moonraker" and "Octopussy." What an introduction in "Live and Let Die," where he goes to New York, hails a cab, and tells the driver, "Uptown, please," to which the driver says, "Uptown? We headed into Harlem, man!" My friends and I knew a lot of lines from these movies. I'm going to say okay to Dalton and Brosnan. I liked the opening chase sequence on the Thames in London in "The World is Not Enough" a lot. I just checked Wiki and Daniel Craig has had the role in the films released between 2006 and 2021. They're getting stupid with the political correctness in who they should be casting for the next movie. K.I.S.S. (keep it simple, stupid) and figure out who Ian Fleming was writing about.

@oldshurst442 Yes, I also wonder why on the Olds-Buick decision? Olds was righting the ship with the Aurora, the Intrigue, and even the Alero. It could have been an issue with the name and long-term associations. Marketing research was also scratching their heads in the background. I'll say here that, of their offerings, I only like the Envision, and I'm talking about the last model and not the current one. I was driving down the interstate for a fairly long time and had all of the Buick trio come up alongside me. Enclave? The current one has nicer sheet metal, with the last one being too bulbous. Still, I would not own one. Encore? I've never warmed up to it, even the slightly larger one. Envision? The last-gen drove alongside me and I looked and looked and thought it has the most "reasonable" lines. I am not a big fan of the current one. Then, it goes without saying that some Buick owners are not happy that there are no sedan offerings, let alone coupe offerings. The Chinese appear to be getting some, which wax and wane in how good they look. I don't know where the disgruntled long-term Buick owner is going if they're not buying. For now, Buick needs to stay and it probably will for a while. But I'm not the one doing the penciling.

BONUS PHOTO The infotainment display is very ease to use. Per design lingo, it might adhere to the saying that "less is more." However, when it comes to certain types of music, it's better to have "more, more, more." As you can see, I'm fairly "reliable." - - - - - END OF PHOTOS

INTERIOR PHOTOS Overall view of the dashboard Except for the lack of a temperature gauge, everything else is very clear. I like the digital speed display, along with the gear it's in shown in a box to the right This is the center stack from top to bottom This made for a great shifter with surprisingly good build quality; getting it over to L requires a jog, which is a goog thing Here's a view of the driver's seat, along with that lone armrest! I think the door control on my car is exactly like this, so things haven't' changed much (reliability and cost savings) Two types of USB ports and a 12 V port The trunk when empty, with folding 60-40 rear seats: it's not too deep This is the trunk when full; I was able to put a few more things in and still have the cover on top of them conceal everything MECHANICAL PHOTOS A small and well-organized engine bay, which GM does better than its competitors; note that someone had to inscribe 4.2 qts. That's probably because someone may have (tried to) put in more. The website specs actually said 4.25 qts. An interesting place to put the short prop rod Confirming that it has 1.4 liters (Ecotec 4 cyl.), is California compliant, and continues on with the long-lived OBD II diagnostics system

EXTERIOR PHOTOS Sitting next to a field along a rural detour to I-70; interesting character lines for the amount of sheet metal and I like where they placed the rear door handles Seen above the Metro parking lot for UMSL South - UMSL is a neat campus and this parking lot for Metrolink is considered safe enough and has enough spaces. I had to take a photo of the car in front of the student union at alma mater #2 Another view of the Spark Everything is this car is small - check out the tailpipe ... also, the alloys help its looks quite a bit

One last August slot in: Here you see a 2011 DTS which is basically one the few more recent Cadillac models I've liked. It looks great from every angle. Still haven't forgotten the ice blue metallic one with bucket seats and a console I saw in Pensacola back when these were new. This was at the historic Kirkwood Amtrak depot in Kirkwood, MO - a suburb of St. Louis. The Amtrak "Missouri River Runner" that goes to KC comes through here 4 times a day, but I didn't make it to see the train. The owner was sitting there with his buddies. He said the car had been very reliable. He was originally a northeasterner who also spent part of his time in Florida. Aren't Midwesterners supposed to be the most down-home folks? And aren't Southerners supposed to be the most hospitable? This guy, who incidentally was Italian, and I talked for quite a while. This always happens to me. I don't wear a sign asking northeasterners to talk to me. Foreigners talk to me, too. People from other regions of the U.S. don't seem to talk to me. Such is life.

This one deserves its own space. It was seen on a rural road that was serving as a detour to I-70 construction. It reminds me of someone. It also makes for a vintage photo of sorts.

Some other stuff that needed to be slotted in to this month: - - - - Along east-west I-70 in Indiana - Not something you see every day ... does it run? This is when Honda was only known for basic econoboxes and these were real cheap. - - - - - Along east-west I-70 in Illinois - The "police Caprice" (that rhymes) has always been more attractive than the slightly more bloated Impala of the same years. It's too bad the general market here didn't get this option ... much nicer grille and nicer side view, at the very least. It was available in the Middle East for the general public. I couldn't believe I struck up a conversation with the state trooper at this rest area. She was very nice and said that this is one of the remaining ones as the fleet transitions to SUVs. Why am I not surprised?