trinacriabob

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.

I had forgotten this instrumental piece is such a great part of this "classic" comedy. As Serge would have said, "It's a very important piece." (Some movie scenes inserted in, which is cool.) This is excellent.

I agree. We had a cat. She didn't live too long. She was all black. Since she grew up in a household that had boys, we were always handling her and playing with her. She had no problem intreacting with anyone who came over. It was sad to see her pass. I've always had a thing for black cats. I commuted to college and, in an expensive area, stayed at home after that when I started working for about 3 years before my Atlanta chapter. Our dog, which I looked for specifically in the L.A. Times, lived between 11 and 12 years. She was a good guard, quickly figured out who were friends once they were inside the house and would calm down, and was a real morale booster on tough days. Like all working dogs, they are prone to hip dysplasia and that's what did her in. I remember when we all took her to the vet. For one, we took the Olds, with plush seats, when "her" designated car had a vinyl interior. She knew something was up. I held her during the ride to the vet and when he administered the shot. When we got back into the car, you could have heard a pin drop. That was different from the typical, and stereotypical, arguing that was par for the course.

Very cute. Looks like there's some Russian Blue in the DNA. I think I'm the one active member that likes dogs and cats about equally ... there are some great dogs and some great cats ... and their goofiness will steal your heart.

There was a movie filmed in Pittsburgh that had Anthony La Paglia in it and he was a detective or a cop chasing down a killer vampire snacking on Mafiosos. It turns out it's a younger lady - a French actress - whose subjects of choice are the bad guys. The movie starts out with a hit on a mobster while parked at a Pittsburgh viewpoint - probably Mt. Washington - and they are warming up to doing the nasty. That is, until she digs het fangs in. The camera then pans away from a dark Fleetwood Brougham of that era. What movie was that?

You mean 2026, right? I know. Ten to twenty years ago, we didn't have these thoughts. I can think of a few catalysts responsible for having moved us over to this sort of thinking, but we can't discuss these things here, so I'll let it go. As far as land yachts go, I like some of them. I wouldn't want to go too old on such a vehicle. I'd sure love a '75 or '76 Bonneville Brougham or Grandville Brougham coupe; however, that 400 or 455 would have to go and a 350 would need to go in. I'd sure love an '82 Delta 88 Royale (Brougham) coupe with the small Olds V8, but same line of thinking. But, on a more realistic note, the one's I'd come closer to owning would be a 2000+ Grand Marquis 4.6 SOHC V8 that was from one of the years with stellar Consumer Reports dots or a mid-'90s Caprice with the 200 hp (enough for me) Chevy 4.3 V8, Optispark and all - oh well. I think the Chevy would win because of my (previous) loyalty to GM and my having only owned all cast-iron engines thus far, which says "luddite."

In the search, this also came up. I had forgotten all about this! He remained so cool through this weird event and his news delivery didn't derail for more than a second! So, they know who the college kid in South Carolina that did this was. This raises more interesting questions. Who put him up to it? What did the college do about it? What does his college transcript look like? Did/does he produce less testosterone after this event? And is he living a fairly normal life today?

@Robert Hall famous enough, and on TV, but not an actor or a singer @A Horse With No Name no asylums involved ... no to that one, but funny Meteoroligist Jim Cantore, but probably in the early '80s. Random linked thinking: A tornado takes down a sizable VIP yatch off the coast of Sicily. I didn't know there were tornadoes in the Mediterranean. Then, is Jim Cantore still on the Weather Channel and putting himself smack in the middle of hurricanes and tornadoes? Apparently he is. I used to watch the Weather Channel, but now I just use its app.

Ok, so who is that person in the high schol photo? His parents should have had much more sense than let him out of the house to go get his high school portrait with a Hersey's Kiss-shaped frizz ball on top of his head.

Good afternoon ... ... no cheating

You know how apps - like those of airlines - have a theatrical type lead in ... I'm wondering if this one's start-up says "Shazam ... shazam ... shazam." Just a random thought. I have Flightradar 24 on my phone, which can be both useful and fun, so I'll have to look into this app.

I was eating at a bakery/coffee place I like and they had some music going in the background. I'm thinking it was new age - all instrumental - but a very good piece nonetheless. None of the employees would have known its name. I was then thinking that they do studies to figure out what kind of music dogs respond to both positively and negatively. Any ideas on this? I'm thinking they'd like new age instrumental and get riled up by "The Immigrant Song."

It's impressive and the way it spans that gorge or canyon is something to see. There's a viewpoint adjacent to it and you can look over the bridge and the canyon ... great photo op. The thing with WV is that its scenic wonders are not clustered together. They're fairly far apart from each other. I saw them under fall colors. I think I did a review of the Camry on that trip. It might have been 2019. Either way, I kept traveling - as allowed - during and after Covid, didn't get it, and then, in late 2022, I got a 3-day case of the omicron variant a few weeks before I had injection #4 scheduled.

INTERIOR PHOTOS The view upon getting in from the driver's side - a little bit of sand on a seat is to be expected in these parts The view upon getting in from the passenger's side The extent of the dashboard as seen from the center of the rear seat The main instrument cluster has nice graphics and does not have the "twin" dials we are used to seeing - device information such as music and more would have been in the right panel The console is "intelligent" in all ways - I liked the placement of the switches and controls ... and operating them This is a close-up of the controls on the steering wheel and the steering wheel itself feels great with the material, the stitching, etc. The door switches are fairly standard and there is some sculpting and stitching in the interior of the door panels This is an excellent place to put this module and the way it's consolidated is handy This shows the shape and the fabric of the driver's seat With an unusually shaped window in the rear quarter panel, the pillar isn't too intrusive and visibility is acceptable This shows the amount of space in the rear seat and some of its features and accessories This is the driver's side at night with the orange sweep of illumination across the top of the dash onto the door This is the passenger's side at night with the orange sweep of illumination across the top of the dash onto the door The trunk or rear storage space is more than acceptable with the rear seat up This shows the luggage that this configuration can take, with additional room on top of it for smaller items before closing the rear hatch and having the cover hide the contents MECHANICAL PHOTO Organized engine bay for this small but capable turbocharged engine with clear access points to fluids, simple to service battery location, and conventional prop rod - - - - - END OF PHOTOS

EXTERIOR PHOTOS Side view - not slab sided, but sculpted ... nice alloy wheels that have some "motion" incorporated into the design Angled rear view - seen in the Southeastern Sicilian countryside Rear view - the pleasing lines continue and it looks good from all vantage points Front view - I see a little bit of Mustang here - a little bit - and others might see something else One of its exterior lighting features is to shine the Cupra logo from the base of the outside rearview mirrors

You do embrace change better than I do. I probably do it better than most Americans, though. It might take a while. It takes me considerably longer to do things left handed. I periodically try just to try.

Another thing that periodically comes to mind: For people who live in the UK, Japan, Australia, etc., the steering wheel is on the right side of the passenger cabin when looking toward the front. If a person is right handed, like the majority of people, wouldn't it be difficult to operate a manual transmission shifter placed to the left of you? It might even be a little bit harder to move an automatic around. I look at photos of these cars and get a little bewildered. I try to mentally imagine myself behind the wheel and it's not easy.

Subaru + me = laughter ... one of my quirks. They are huge around the Smokies and in states like Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York. They are extremely popular in New England ... when a local lady saw me taking a photo of one of those transporters loaded up with Soobies near Boston, presumably going to dealerships, she said something like, 'They practically spawn here.'

Canadians! Saskatchewan! Except for some rust and body issues, he did a nice job. I'm laughing because it's a Subaru I wouldn't rag on. I was neutral toward them when they were just another Japanese option. Truthfully, I am okay with recent Legacy sedans.

I had forgotten to mention this before. There are some stupid travelers out there. The last time I was in South Florida, I took Delta and changed planes in Atlanta. Both of the segments were operated with Boeing 757s, which are usually reliable. Once in Atlanta, folks boarded the 757 for FLL. There was an announcement that one of the two flight monitors in the cockpit was quirky and that they'd try to reboot it. No luck. Everyone got off and waited for another 757, which worked out. In this group was a couple going on a Caribbean cruise out of Lauderdale. The original arrival time was 1 p.m. The actual arrival time was 4 p.m. They missed their cruise. Lesson to be learned: If you're sailing out of a port that has a lot of nonstops a day into it, like ATL to FLL, or Chicago to New York, get in the day before. If your luggage doesn't make it, it can catch up with you on a later flight or even the morning of an afternoon sailing. If you're connecting because you're coming in from a small airport, or are coming in from across country, and even Vancouver or Calgary, get in 2 days prior to the sailing. Having only done this a few times, I made damn sure I was in New York 2 days before.

What? I barely remembered this considering what an ensemble of musical artists it showcases. Someone I know posted this on social media. Springsteen and Lauper seem to be leaning into this a little much, but Tina shines as usual. Impressive how all these talents came together to make a difference.

Ouch!!! I had meant to say 120 to 130 KM per hr. That's about 75 to 80 mph, give or take. It was late when I wrote this.

That's funny. He and I were not on the same page with the ensuing Olds et. al. colonnade era and its '81+ refresh until the curtain fell. Granted, Intrigues and other later GM, like the 2013 or 14 Impala refresh, were far more updated and relevant motoring experiences, but nothing moved me emotionally quite the way the colonnades did. (What I'd give to find an immaculate '76 Regal S/R coupe and swap in an "even firing" Buick 231 V6 that is out of the crate and configured to hook up to RWD. I wouldn't have the patience.)

Boeing is having issues again. In general, I see a slimmer product line for the near future: 777X (recent issues on the news) overtaking the 777-300 787 variant(s) 767 (born circa 1982) only for freight to continue 737 variant(s) - - - - Every now and then, I think of what the future Boeing 797 could be.