trinacriabob

If I had to pin a genre, or similar to a genre, I'd say classic rock.

An unforgettable piece, especially since it's Bob Marley and he did a special "party remix" rendition of this for an Italian guy named Alex Natale. Discovered in the summer of 1996 in Portugal. An excellent piece to propel your rented econobox, and you in it, up I-80 over the Sierra Nevada.

I'll keep trying ...

I happened to see this video and thought I'd share. The answer? NOT MANY. Not at all .... see the video. That they made ~ 250 of these was decent. I thought they made about half of that number. I flew on 2 of these - one TWA and one Pan Am in the late '80s (to go to school ... and Miami for vacation, respectively). MD 10s and MD 11s are still around (FedEx and UPS, etc.) and the placement of the third engine on the MD 10-11 planes looks spindly. On the Lockheed Tri-Star 1011, that 3rd engine looks "very" engaged. The L-1011 was also known for the highest fuel consumption (per whatever metric they were using) among the wide-bodies, so it become unpopular with operators.

It's photogenic and, for the operator, a full A350 makes coin for them. Having flow on one for the first time in the last 2 weeks - Finnair, which is a good airline - but I wasn't crazy about it. I had to entertain myself for 8 hours and their seat-back screen programs weren't that good. Worse yet, there's no pull-down drink holder flap with the folding table back up in its place. That's a fairly basic need. Also, the only charging available was by USB so I couldn't open my laptop and keep it juiced. AC power is often under the seat in many modern planes.

This is the '90s and I heard it in the car ... The synthesizer going on in the background sounds like an electronic new age corn popper.

INTERIOR PHOTOS The view into the cabin from the driver's front door The view into the cabin from the passenger's front door How configured when I picked it up - note a voltmeter inset with the tach and some interesting things near the speedometer; this is either new or specific to this LT 2, Premier, or other designation for an upline model This is how I set it up. Familiar and easy to operate infotainment and climate control panels The colors and finishes are very nice Sound by Bose A fairly spacious rear seat in the cream/lt. beige color leather(ette) with the darker accents on the belts, in the carpeting, and on the doors This is what this sunroof looks like from the inside

EXTERIOR PHOTOS This is the most flattering color I've yet to see for a Malibu. This sunroof in a rental car was a treat though I barely used it. Here's a stance we've seen for 8 or 9 years and those alloy wheels look good. While refueling it, I took an opportunity to take this photo: you see this standout color, a light beige interior with darker accents, and even an interesting and less common color for the faux woodgrain that work together very well, making this a really likable unit.

I won't go into too much detail, but I had to bridge the way to another rental with a two day rental. The rental agent told me to go to a line with a higher level of service and pick out a car there. I saw an intriguing Malibu, for lack of a better word, in an outstanding color combination and with the full sunroof. I decided on that one and am glad I did. It looks like there are no more extensions. This is it. There won't be another generation of Malibu with an ICE. We were strung along with all the conceptual and schematic mock-ups just like we were with the Charger. I'm not surprised. - - - - - PHOTOS TO FOLLOW

I am saddened by the state of affairs. They have always done better, as per the saying, "If it ain't Boeing, it ain't going."

Not many go here, either

Yes, I can see why. I have a mental bucket list. Patagonia and the south of South America are supposed to be stunning. I'd like to see Romania and Bulgaria in fall colors. I have no use for places with Komodo dragons ... or even Reunion Island. Lastly, traveling can be tiring. You need a vacation from the vacation.

Good morning ... ... good times ...

The Airbus vs. Boeing debate goes on and on. Here, it's about the newer Airbus 350 versus the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Realistically, the A-350 could only compare to a B-787-10, the longest version of the Dreamliner. That said, they often pit the A-350, which could carry a lot of passengers in 2 class configuration, against the B-777. I have flown on 3 Boeing 787s in the last 5 years. Two were medium-haul and one was transatlantic - Rome to Philadelphia's AA hub. I just flew on the Airbus 350 for the first time about a week ago. It was by Finnair, picked up at Helsinki after transferring there for the flight to the U.S. I was truly expecting more from the Airbus 350. It does what it's supposed to do. It seems to be getting more sales than the Boeing. I prefer the Boeing 787 Dreamliner by a slight margin. The most important thing is that the humidification felt better in the 787. They say the A-350 is quieter, but it's negligible to the untrained ear. Even though some complain that the crew can lock and control the window dimming on the 787, they did not do this on my flights and I loved it, complete with the big taller windows. The A-350 metrics seem to benefit the operator. The A-350 can seat more people, it burns slightly less fuel, and can fly slightly more nautical miles, but it seemed crammed and I didn't like the feel of the cabin, right down to shades on the windows. In waiting on the delayed plane A-350 for an hour, the heat gain against my window - with the shade down - was too much. I got up and walked around the rear galley where the air conditioning better cooled me down. Both have 3-3-3 seating and they say that the A-350 cabin width puts a few more inches on the seat. That doesn't come into play for me. Not only that, Airbus puts in more thin Recaro-looking seats that seem hard whereas the Boeing puts in seats with a more conventional sculpted silhouette. It's subjective. I didn't find the A350 all that much quieter and like the "open sky" architecture of the 787 cabin, the seats, the dimming, and the humidification. The A-350 has a straighter looking wing angle with curled wingtips that look cool when they are maneuvering. However, the fully upward curved wing of the B-787 is stunning. The B-787 is a slightly better looking plane. I wish more carriers of 9 abreast aircraft would follow Japan Air Lines' move (in their B-787) to 2-4-2, which would make the Dreamliner more of a dream. If 9 across (3-3-3), I would go with the Boeing 787. However, I could skip this debate and step down in size to Airbus's latest A330-900 neo. It's got some up the upgrades, and keeps skinny harder seats; however, the 2-4-2 seating is the way to go for more comfort.

I don't know what to say ... typical Midwest political demographics where big cities with large minority populations, state capitals, and college towns are blue while everywhere else is red. After the 2016 election, I was driving across I-70 in the Buckeye state. To my right was a Sonic or Spark with the bumper sticker "Get Lost, Hillary." As I got alongside it, it was a smaller older white woman whose hair had a blue hue befitting a "bluehair," it also looked like she had stuck her finger in a light socket, and she had a slight underbite like a bulldog. The funny thing is that this is the demographic of the very people Agent Orange hates because they 'make him look cheap.' I really wanted to get her attention and give her the finger Viggo Mortensen style as in "Green Book." I might have occasionally done that in the past - in my SoCal days, which wasn't too smart - but I don't really do that anymore.

@Robert Hall I had meant to ask about this when it was mentioned a good while back. I'm not really on Facebook anymore - too much politics and religion. The post mentioned that the use of "white trash" lands someone in Facebook Jail. I was wondering how that worked: Door #1 "(insert name of person), you're such white trash." Offensive Door #2 "J.D. Vance talks about growing up white trash, so maybe that's why rurals can relate to him." Mostly an opinion Door # 3 "I found a casserole recipe on a site where the focus is on 'white trash cooking.' Here's a photo of the casserole." This is stating something "factual." - - - - - So, how does the FB censorship protocol work? Someone has to flag it?

Beautiful photo! Not a particularly large lineup; I don't see a Corvette and the divisional arrangement is a little confusing, yet B-O-P convertibles are in the back. Maybe the "consolidation" helped them be profitable. I'd be digging on a similar photo from '75 or '76, with Firebird/Camaro, my beloved colonnades, and some hefty full-sizes with quad rectangular lamps up front. Everything today is, by comparison, somewhat boring: cars, music, the gaming craze, too much political correctness, etc. Need I go on?

The interest rate scenario is changing. You can see it in CD rates. First, the rates have dropped. Second, there's a more noticeable incremental drop in the rates if you take the holding period further out. (There doesn't appear to be an inverted curve at this time.) Finally, they've gone to more annual or semiannual interest payouts than to monthly or quarterly ones. Oh well.

I was thinking along the lines of Taco Tuesday even though I'm heading out shortly for Greek food stateside.

Adam is hilarious ... an automotive walking encyclopedia with a voice for radio ... I learned quite a bit here. 1:15 - I think the silhouette is sort of weird, with the squared-up greenhouse about the exact same proportions as the hood and trunk on either side of it ... this was the car to borrow from your parents to put your friends in the trunk and take them to the drive-in free of charge. These proportions are off. I'm sure they could have done something a little better. 2:00 - Am I to read that, for the downsize in 1977, it was the 425 ci V8, and, then, for this year only, there was a NA 368 ci divisional V8 before Cadillac started to do some weird things for a couple of years? 3:00 - I had no clue that the cylinder deactivation modules could be removed and it would become a normal 368 ci V8. However, if taking it through its smog or safety check, their seeing it deactivated would cause it to flunk, I believe. 10:00 - the amount of information in this strip gauge era was not enough. The temp gauge was sorely needed. Bull about how well engineered Caddy cooling systems were. On an heirloom 350 V8 Cutlass Supreme, the fan clutch was iffy and the car could run hot. We had that fixed. Then, the upper radiator hose had a mind of its own, which has nothing to do with the cooling system's engineering, and it would periodically form a bulge in one of its elbows. We had to carry a spare in the trunk. I was driving it east to go to school over 2,000 miles away, and one burst in the desert near St. George, UT. I had to wait for a long time for it to cool, put in the provisional one from the trunk, and then buy yet another one from a NAPA or sim. in St. George, UT. Needing a temperature gauge goes beyond how well the car is engineered because other things could cause an overheating problem. You just need the idiot light to turn on soon, so it steers you to keeping an eye on the temperature gauge. 11:45 - he feels the same way I do about these interiors. They were phenomenal for a long road trip and a feast for the eyes. Never say never; however, I don't think we'll experience some of the creature comforts from this chapter again. So, yes, this car does feel like a brief return to the pre-1977 GM full-size downsizing in which most of the models got slab sided and lost a little bit of their personalities in the process.

Good morning ...

Random daydreaming ...

Enjoy the last official 3 day weekend of summer. Temperatures will start to cool and days will start to get shorter. I'm not doing much of anything, if I can help it. Happy Labor Day, folks!

Today is Warren Buffet's birthday per financial website power reading. It looks like 94. He lives in the same house he has lived in for decades. It cost something like $30,000. What sort of car does that buy today? He keeps cars for a long time. They say that those who are comfortable in their wealth don't fuss over the flash and cash of newer and expensive cars. Well, I keep cars for a long time. What the hell happened with me?!?

The overuse of the word "iconic" has become ridiculous.