trinacriabob

I like Colorado. After living in the PacNW for a few years, the forestation and vegetation in CO seem drier - and they are. I just have an issue with too much fleece, those "hiking shoes" everyone wears and seem to have been issued at birth, and, of course, the Subarus. That would knock the forested communities of Northern New England out of the running, too. Here you go: Kate Brown, ex-governor of Oregon, and her husband doing some "free advertising" for LL Bean or Eddie Bauer or one of those companies. I liked the physical geography of California and didn't think I would ever leave. My entire family left, although not at all one time. Having just gotten back, I realize how much I liked, and have always liked, interacting with New Yorkers and Northeasterners. I get along with them more easily than the folks of any other American region. But, then, our living room in CA while growing up was usually populated by transplanted New Yorkers and European immigrants. The California natives were fine, too, and more relaxed, but nowhere near as colorful.

It's interesting how, among regular American folks, some gravitate toward northerly latitudes and some gravitate toward southerly latitudes. If they relocate from one to the other, I notice that they tend to go back to the latitude they know. Some Californians who moved up to Washington and Oregon during the different "waves" ended up going back to California. Some Northeasterners or Midwesterners who moved to Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, or one of the metro areas in Florida end up going back up. It's a baseline thing. For one, northerly latitude and southerly latitude people (in the States, for one) seem to develop different personality styles. Upon relocating, Californians in the PacNW are told to "tone it down," or they read the cues and do so. - - - - - My real random thought: It's great when people can resist the movie stars, athletes, and other celebrities at the polls. With me, someone's being a star or a celebrity most likely brings on the visceral reaction that I WON'T be voting for them. "Just say no" - well, that was a "movie star's" wife who said that ... * short rant *

Argh, I thought it was on the 8th. @Drew Dowdell Happy belated birthday. I hope you had a great day.

Yes, from this vantage point, it sort of does have the taillamp bar of this Town Car. though the front very much remained '90s Oldsmobile. As for the video clip, it's all there - there's both a "cathedrale roulante" and a "mini" cathedral that isn't rolling, even though he was rocking his way through those jump ropes. (I wonder how many takes it took to get that scene right.) Those very early Ninety Eights and Electras/Park Avenues needed to get some meat on their bones, which they did at some point into the '90s. The Ninety Eight became more appealing than the more rounded Electra/Park Avenue models, IMO.

@David I know that there are more and better cameras and sensors to help with changing lanes, backing up, and such. They are useful. No doubt about that. I just think that a minimum amount of over the shoulder visibility is desirable ... for anyone. It can help you gauge how fast someone is coming up on you. I know from having driven rented moving trucks a time or two or three that changing lanes can make for an uncomfortable feeling.

This has been a larger and older GM sort of weekend. Yesterday, I saw a powder blue Olds Toronado with a white top. That meant it was a '75. It was spotless. I couldn't take a photo. I waved at its driver. He waved back. This morning, I saw a mid 1990s' Olds Ninety Eight Regency of the variety @NINETY EIGHT REGENCY has. I saw it coming up on me in the fast lane on the freeway. I saw that it was silver. When it caught up with me, its interior was burgundy. But I already knew this is my favorite color combo for a vehicle. This was another immaculate GM car. For a split second, with its lack of finning at its rear, it almost resembled a small Lincoln Town Car from the rear. "Cathedrale roulante," baby. Within the last half hour, I saw a '76 or '77 Cadillac Eldorado convertible - white-white-white leather interior sitting perpendicular to me at a light. We're talking about times when nothing was cookie cutter.

Happy Sunday Maybe not ...

@David No to that aeroback/fastback EV Wildcat coupe. It's just plain bizarre. It will probably be hard to see out of it, too. I get it that auto styling studios will push the envelope. They did the same thing at Olds with the Antares that would become the Intrigue. Looking back, Antares mock-ups were too much. They typically dial things back. Intrigues were tasteful and the market responded accordingly.

I don't know much about them. Compared to so many other vehicles, it would now be less polarizing. I don't know what sort of reliability they turn in. As I was scrolling very quickly and landed on the photo of its interior, I thought it was an Olds Aurora for a split second. Again, a split second.

I only like the first vehicle shown. That is, unless they handled the rear and trunk styling poorly, which I can't tell from the angle. It looks like a sedan with a slight jellybean look for the trunk area. From the front, it looks great. Also, the new tri-shield badging is attractive. They might as well go this route, since we aren't going to be looking through a circular tri-shield hood ornament anymore! Most of the other cars are overstyled. It's interesting that this is happening. It's probably the realization that previous Buick owners will be walking if they don't bring some sedans (and coupes) back into the fold.

I'm not in the "early adopter" segment among C&G folks. I will want to wait until the infrastructure is better set up for it. I am all for EV technology. Back to potential cars, the Malibu won't be refreshed/retained and the Charger will come back as electric and be exorbitantly priced. There's the entry level small RWD Cadillac, but that's still too much money. Looking at imports, I don't like the Nissan and Kia/Hyundai sedan products. I could live with a Camry - I think - if the overstyling went away, but I don't see that happening soon enough. I could definitely live with a VW Passat, which got nicer and nicer over the years. Then I find out it's gone. I guess I could live with a VW Jetta. I looked at the VW site and they went from a 1.8 L down to a 1.5 L. (I dislike engines with less than the equivalent of 100 c.i. and I'm not the biggest fan of odd numbers!) The above is from the VW site itself. I hated older Jettas. However, they are now looking like "pocket Passats." Not bad. I had one for a week in Houston about 2 years ago.

I just looked and I have almost $ 5,000 toward the purchase of a new GM vehicle on my card. When I bought my current car in the late 2000s, the question was, "What should I buy?" (I applied $3,000 toward the car, courtesy of a rounding / top off to that amount.) Now, the question is, "What does GM make that I would even want to buy?" The auto industry is in a weird transition and funk right now. And so am I.

I know one person who had this unusual Subaru model. And, sure enough, he had to replace the transmission in it and this would have happened prior to 2000. Like the WRXs that kids turn into "rice rockets" (as they're called), I didn't get too much heartburn from Subaru SVXs, either, because you wouldn't see them on the roads with the all too common stereotypical owners and the all too common "Darwin with feet" and "Keep your laws off my body" decals.

I know. I definitely know. Trilingual Montrealers and Quebecois are common. It also ensures a global mindset instead of a hick one. I'm not a fan of hicks and narrow-minded thinking. I didn't speak English until I went to school because we spoke Italian at home. My parents spoke accented English their whole lives. They're no longer alive. They could handle what they needed to handle, for the most part. I only spoke Italian with them. However, once I became a teenager, I would usually intervene in their dealings with realtors, merchants, and auto repair places in English to make sure they were not taken advantage of. I did it reflexively. - - - - What I really wanted to say ... I saw an article which didn't really surprise me, but made me happy. Lufthansa is bringing some of its Airbus 380 fleet back on-line. For whatever reason, it will be based in Munich (MUC) and not Frankfurt (FRA), which is their main and larger hub. They will obviously also operate their Boeing 747-8s. Soon, 2 of 3 of the big European carriers will be operating the Airbus 380. What Air France will do remains to be seen. Details: Lufthansa Airbus A380 Returning In 2023 - One Mile at a Time Also, along with Swiss, Lufthansa is operating the smaller Airbus 340 quad, which I really like. It looks like Lufthansa will keep the newer Airbus 340-600s going, but be retiring the Airbus 340-300s and, according to some other article, replace those with Boeing 787 Dreamliners they will order. That way, they'll get the seating capacity of the Airbus 340-300, but in a newer and much more economical machine. Having the airplane manufacturer, airline, and travel industry point toward returning to new and previous highs is a very upbeat thing in my book.

I didn't know where to put this. It probably belongs here. Before having the tires (see post above) put on, they were fairly worn, hadn't been aligned in a long time, and were out of balance, with a slight vibration coming through the steering wheel. Now, with all that new tread, as well as optimal alignment and balancing, the car seems to show little rolling resistance on the freeway and unknowingly gets up to 70+ mph without even being aware of it. I'm loving the way it drives. I will be taking it on a medium-haul run in a few weeks and it will be a good time to check the mileage. "Fresh" Michelins have always fetched fairly impressive fuel mileage for me.

Good morning ... Got milk? Check. Got your Halloween costume ready? . . . Happy Halloween nonetheless.

So, I got the Moderna enhanced Covid booster on Tuesday. This morning, I got the adult IPV - the PV part means polio vaccine (booster). I couldn't find in the family paperwork when I had it, and if I had it as a kid in Europe or the states. The lady said it's fine for adults who don't react to vaccinations - and she read the list of potential allergens - to get this one-time adult booster. I expect to be in the NYC area in about a month or so. I asked her if there has been an uptick in requests for IPV. She said she has only given it one other time in the recent past - to a customer who was also concerned because they had to travel to the NYC area.

Good morning ... ... maybe not.

I looked at the color chart for the current Corvette. It's not that good, with the above color featured among 2 extra cost enamel ones and 2 extra cost metallic ones. The standard ones are almost better. I keep going back to silver and burgundy for this car. Was looking at the power train. Don't quite know if the dual clutch 8 speed transmission is something that GM (or supplier) created especially for this Corvette ... nor how it works.

Saw this yesterday ... I would not own one, but I like what they've done with it. Not only that, the craftsmanship and attention to detail are excellent. The sinister glance got me. Not the color I'd pick. I'd have to go to chart to see what they're offering. The yellow seat belts are interesting and stood out. Love that side air scoop. Also, who'd have thought we'd be seeing Americans produce a mid-engine sports car? This current Corvette makes quite a statement. I hope that it proves to be successful and reliable.

@David The IKEA card is indeed free. I've had one for years. Most average metro areas have only one IKEA. Sometimes, it's at an "end." I recall that, in the Seattle area, it's down south around Kent-Auburn* and one took the Valley Fwy. to get there, so I have only been once or twice. They could easily put one in on the north end and it would do well, if one is not already there. They might have upgraded the benefits. They don't matter much to me. I don't like their merchandise very much and I find the maze inside annoying. Mostly, I've used the card for the free coffee and tea and the food specials. I think that anyone can go to the julesbord events. It's just that the price spread for members and non-members was noticeable. Maybe they've changed the rules and are now requiring IKEA card membership to go to these "buffets." BTW, the IKEA card and its bar code mean squat in Europe. I explained the situation after presenting my card, getting a "thud," and they did tell me to help myself to the tea! * yes, that Kent, about which one friend said, "If Tonya Harding were from the Seattle area, she'd be from Kent." I've told this one before. Classic.

I'm just guessing they'll do it this year because we're seeing a lot of restrictions lifted. U.S. to Canada and vice versa travel is now free of restrictions. IKEA is probably waiting until closer to the date to decide whether they will do it. The Christmas one is typically the second Friday in December. I would check with your store in mid-November. The price with the IKEA card may now be a little higher than $12.99, but I expect it to be fair. There is an early seating and a late seating so they can handle the demand. You buy tickets in advance. That's what I've done at the Portland location. Just think: salmon, Swedish meatballs, soups, salads, sides, their Scandinavian chocolate bon bon type things, lingonberry juice, coffee and tea ... and return trips to the serving line for more. Wishful thinking for the return of IKEA smorgasbords!

Yes, from what I recall when they were doing them habitually, Portland IKEA has/had 4 of them a year: Easter julesbord (smorgasbord) Mid-summer julesbord (" ") Christmas julesbord (" ") a buffet centered around crayfish * They use a 2 seating system, with 2 blocs of time. With the IKEA card, they are a really good value. The food is actually of good quality, though it has that trademark Nordic IKEA blandness, which I can roll with. * I hated this one ... I don't like crayfish or crawfish ... for some reason, this event was largely attended by Asians and the decorations for the event reflected that, too. I don't know what the link might be. The others were attended by a more typical cross-section of people.

I got injection #4 Tuesday. I got the upgraded Moderna with the omicron component. I went two Pfizers and two Modernas. Of all the shots, this one had the least negative impact - no usual headache I get after any type of vaccination, but some soreness at the site of the injection. I'm wondering if I had a mild bout with omicron at some point that came and went. However, with all the free test kits now laying around, I made sure I was in good shape (negative) and with a good temp (high 97s) for a good while prior to getting this last jab. I, too, plan to mask up during any air travel. Instead of using N95 grade masks, I may opt for the regular cheap ones. (The newer the aircraft, the better the ACHs in the ventilation system should be.)

I have been thinking about IKEA's Christmas smorgasbord lately. Damn pandemic had to ruin things. I have a feeling it may return this holiday season. For about $12,99, all I can say is "bring it on."