trinacriabob

Most of us like facts and figures, knowing all the numerical data about so many cars and trucks ... and spouting a lot of statistics about the current pandemic. Changing the subject: California's population has recently hit the 40 million mark. Los Angeles County has been at the 10 million mark for a good while - the city of L.A. has 4 million people. That means ~ 1 in 4 Californians lives in Los Angeles County. The state has about 166,000 square miles. Los Angeles County has about 4,000 to 5,000 square miles. That's about 2.4% of California's total area. And big chunks of Los Angeles County are not habitable or just not that sought after (state parks and national forests, really steep mountains, and the "High Desert") I never distilled it down to these kinds of numbers. Ouch.

Good song. Great movie - "The Night Shift" - it starred Henry Winkler, Shelley Long (from "Cheers'), and was the first film for Michael Keaton, who did a fantastic job in his debut.

Don Shula passed away today. No, it was not "the" virus. I couldn't believe he was already 90 ?!? How time flies. R.I.P. - I'm sure South Florida is mourning.

It's amazing how the eye instantly gravitates toward the Air France 747-400. That variant first flew 31 years ago! Qu'est-ce que c'est l'autre grand avion hideuse? Have you ever been? It's an incredible place on that bluff overlooking the ocean, but the Breakers takes the cake among the mansions there. I would love to take the tour of the Breakers but my timing while there has always been off.

Laugh. Out. Loud. Hate might be a strong word here. I did not like the Maverick but was definitely amused by it and how it looked like a "toad." I think enough time has passed to where they can bring back the nameplate and put it on something else. The connotation behind the word "maverick" is good, I suppose. Ford wasted it on a relatively wimpy car. How about some Mopar spy shots? I am still anxiously awaiting spy shots or tangible clues that stick about the next Dodge Charger. I have no freaking clue as to the disposition of my GM point earnings the way the auto industry is going.

Without looking at the map of T-O, I'm going to guess Bloor West is near High Park. When I'm in town, I always try to get this photo. It's great if you take photos here when there are some crepe myrtle trees doing their thing and other colors are optimal. This was not "optimal." It was in November. But the "idea" is still there.

Looks like it has been added onto in the back. A lot of "Gallic" in this here building. Wow. Bloor W. near what? Looks way quieter than Bloor and Yonge around these parts!

I am seeing photos of protesters at different state government capitols. Why am I not surprised their redneck quotient is above average? Right now, COVID-19 is spreading more rapidly in rural and isolated areas than it is in urban areas, percentage wise. I was hoping things would look up in May.

Haha. That is old school Montreal. If you go more than 3 or 4 miles in any direction from Centre-Ville, those houses with the tight, curved staircases up to the porch disappear. I know you know that (I'm preaching to the choir ... sorry). I've never been to your city when it has been snowing. Every time I see those staircases, I wonder how many poor immigrants from warmer places slid on their behinds down those absurd staircases, got banged up something awful, and cursed that they ever came over to "la Nouvelle France."

Nice photos. That same winter, the snow load was too much for the cathedral on First Hill to take and the dome's roof gave out. It is weird that, for being near the 47th parallel, like Montreal, more or less, Seattle can get through some winters without any white stuff. I once went into a movie theater at Northgate Mall to see "Godfather 3" with a friend, we left, and it had snowed so much that it was almost impossible to drive my dad's RWD Buick sedan back to his house. Brings back memories of the ad slogan, "Wouldn't you really rather have a Buick?" Ouch. How does that even happen if a person is going slow enough? Blame it on the RWD. Which interstate is that in the bottom photo? The car at the very left looks like an Eldorado. Which one is the LeMans?

Nice. Nicely sized back yard. A lot of newer homes (Craftsman style, and unchanged for about 20 years) on the East Side of the lake have been built on these small 5,000 square feet lots. I don't like the idea of wearing a mask, even the stupid dust masks I have. Also, I got a bandanna and it keeps loosening up as you wear it. The better masks have a little square box that is apparently where you breathe through. Until they come up with a better solution, I will accept wearing something. Look at how some people dress in 110 F weather to adhere to their religious beliefs. That's wild. I have been on planes, buses, and trains with people I didn't choose to ride in proximity to me. What can you do ...

I am starting to see more and more internet ads for masks. As they ramp up production, I think the "good" ones will be more available to the general public. When that happens, and they are in "surplus" mode, I'd like some. I can definitely think of some places I would wear one ... air travel, public transit, trains, Costco, Walmart, etc.

And remember, folks, not even a right turn on red on the Ile de Montreal (Island of Montreal). The whole island includes a few other cities. Huge Laval is on a different island, so it's exempt from that rule. So are individual cities north and south of the St. Lawrence River. This is a good one. It's a true story. An American idiot goes to Quebec and runs a stop sign. The placard was octagonal ... and red. When he got pulled over, he said, "Well, it said arret, and not stop." In France and some European countries, they'll put stop on the sign. In Quebec, they stick to their mother language. ("We do not need to speak French ... we need French in order to speak.") Still, basic Driver's Ed 101 says red is understood to mean the highest level of caution and stopping ... internationally. People like this make us look bad, as in "ugly Americans."

Since we may come to bowing as a society instead of shaking hands ...

Frijoles

Saw this one yesterday. In very nice condition. The rear badging says it's not a 1998 or 1999. We are then talking about an 18 to 20 year old car nonetheless. I like the alloys the Intrigue migrated to. The size of the badging says 2000 to 2002. The color and trim level might allow one to zero in on that. Check out the excellent condition of the metallic paint. Look over yonder, there's another W-body I could drive off in.

They would look right at home at Versailles ... before heads began to roll ...

That's a good name for it. That was adventurous of you. Similarly, Virginia could be the Commonwealth of Katie Couric. At any rate, I saw this earlier in the month. I see it a lot. I believe it might belong to a higher level store employee, someone kept in bon bons, or the pharmacist. Not sure. These Pontiac G8s were, and still are, nice sports sedans.

Yes ... went to town ...

I do NOT want this to become the "new normal:" I DID go ahead and cut my own hair. I just grabbed "parallel" sections of it and took some off with a small pair of scissors. Now, while it doesn't look bad, it does NOT look good, either! (After I finished, I realized that I had forgotten to take a photo of the longest hair I recall having.)

popcorn ceiling

expansion

Of the ones I see shown, that one (Autumn Bronze) and the Aleutian Blue are the nicest ones for a Firebird. Is there a one-stop place to dig up these sorts of brochure displays for the cars of yesteryear ... without getting old brochures on EBay?

Wow ... beautiful! (Even nicer with that house in the background.) This doesn't look like a factory color ... or is it? Can't tell these apart that easily -' 67, '68, or '69? I wonder if this could be repurposed as a plant to make N95 masks or hand sanitizer ...

Yep, that is nice. I had a hand-me down '84 Supreme Brougham coupe and my dad had an early '80s Regal Limited sedan with seats were just like these (upper LH). I've driven both of them on long trips. The Buick may have had slightly more comfortable seats because of where your shoulders landed. That central IP pad had either 3 square pods (if with idiot lights) and 5 square pods (if it had the gauge package). Ours had the 5 square pods. Come to think of it, that dash may have been nicer than that of the Olds, except that you felt this void immediately to your right. However, the Olds mid-size looked way better from the outside. Yep, that 40-40 seat (bottom RH) would be great if the car is a coupe except that it looks like it could only be had in leather. The cloth seating was super comfortable. I'm starting to miss '80s cars.