Robert Hall

^ The Avanti was definitely a unique design..didn't really care for the front, but love the back window..

It's been going on a while, but the used car market is hot. Late model low mileage cars are commanding a premium. It's interesting, I did a search in NE Ohio on Auto Trader and found several 2014-2016 Grand Cherokee Limiteds with under 60k miles all priced within 2-3k of what I paid for my 2014 with 25k in March 2017... one example--a 2014 w/ 57k miles (more miles than I have now and a slightly lower spec) is within $1000 of what I paid for my 2014 in 2017 w/ 25k miles... depreciation seems to have been slowed...

Saw a really clean early '80s Buick Electra Park Avenue at the grocery... white w/ a dark red top and dark red interior.. always liked the styling of those cars. Looked so classy parked amidst the boring modern generic transportation units...

IIRC, I flew BA 747s out of Denver once, Phoenix once...then the other three trips across the pond in the 00s were on BA 777s out of Phoenix... if I were to do it now (I really want to get back to Blighty, go out to Cornwall and Devon, up to Northumberland), I'll probably have to drive to Pittsburgh or Detroit to fly direct (I don't like connecting flights).

Following on from @oldshurst442, more beautiful E-body Mopies...'71 Challengers this time..love the styling of these cars. More Mopies...my favorite B-body muscle cars--the '71 Plymouth Road Runner and GTX...love the fuselage styling. Something about the early 70s muscle car aesthetic has captivated me since I was a kid...love the wings and scoops, and stripes..

The blue one looks a new FJ Cruiser..that looks interesting, along w/ the sports cars.

Considering GM has been building and selling trucks in cold climates for over 100 years, I'm sure they have done their homework and developed these products to perform under a variety of conditions. This is a large car company, not some tiny startup...

One of those big Russki jets sat for years at DIA, used to see when landing in the 00s...never knew why it was there.

My big 3 mainstay cuisines are American, Italian and Mexican. But there are plenty other cuisines I enjoy, esp Asian cuisines such as Indian, Thai, Chinese and Vietnamese. And other European such as French, German (too many sausages, though) and Spanish…

IIRC, I've flown on 747s to the UK a couple of times on British Airways, and a couple times to Hawaii on United or American. It's been a while, but I remember I felt they were more spacious than other trans-ocean planes I've been on. I do miss travel, don't miss airports and crowds, though. I just don't feel comfortable spending hours in a tin can w/ plague-infested masses. But I really need to get back out West sometime in the next year...

I had heard a while back about a new I6 planned for the GC and Wrangler...if they are doing away w/ V8s they will need a beefier V6 or I6 for Ram and the Wag/GWag. I'd love to see a modern I6 for Jeep, always liked the old 4.0 my WJ had. It will be interesting to see what they do, the powertrains in the new WL GC and the Wag/GWag are carryover.. And the food..I love Greek and Italian cuisine...it's hard to beat Italian for cold weather comfort food...

I remember that chain. They were shutting down in the late 70s, when I was still a little kid..but I can remember seeing one in WIntersville, Oh near where I lived then... I don't know if my Dad bought any thing from them, he wore suits and ties to work every day (school superintendent) and had his suits custom made at a local small town tailor. Back when I worked in a cubicle, I shopped at JC Penney and The Men's Warehouse for business casual/business formal wear. Haven't dressed up to go anywhere in almost 2 years of pandemic staying at home...I miss getting dressed up to go to a nice restaurant or the symphony or other things I did in the before time...

Yes, and another interesting factoid--where I was when I took that pic was at the widest point of Lake Erie--from Painesville Township Park in Ohio, it is approx. 60 miles/97 km across to Port Stanley, Ontario. I love the Great Lakes region.

I recall some cars in years past with spoiler delete options. No idea if anyone has such an option anymore.

By the way, I checked my Marine Traffic app, it was the CSL Tadoussac, a Canadian ore laker. https://www.boatnerd.com/pictures/fleet/CSLTadoussac.htm

Yesterday was a beautiful day, got out and went up the coast to a pier to see the lake, saw a big lake freighter out on the lake. Very windy. I love it.

I do miss dining in restaurants from the before time. I haven't eaten inside in a restaurant since March 2020. Been cooking at home, getting meals delivered, doing takeout. Ate outside at restaurants a couple of times.

Smart garage door sounds potentially useful, but it's just another failure point. Hitting the Homelink button in my car is more convenient than fiddling around on the phone. A fob or key makes sense for many use cases, for example, when you have to let someone else drive the car...I'm not going to hand over my phone over to some rando at the dealer or to a valet... Evolving technology makes everything more complicated, rarely ever makes things simpler...and more points for failure.. Phones get lost, destroyed, replaced and the batteries go dead. Don't want to be completely dependent on a device when a simple key works just as effectively to get in the house...

My folks' various Town Cars, Thunderbirds and Explorers had that feature...remember using it as a kid in the 80s.

One thing I've always found neat that I'd like to have seen go mainstream was Ford's door keypad. I like that idea..would certainly be convenient at the beach. When I go to the beach I still take my key fob and phone w/ me and stash them in my beach chair when I go in the water, but it would be nice to be able to leave the fob in the Jeep. Though it is convenient to pop that hatch as I walk toward it dragging the beach chairs/etc at the end of the day...

Even though I am a 'tech guy', I have no interest in opening or starting my car w/ my phone. I don't need to connect to everything via my phone, I don't mind carrying the key fob. When I leave my house, I always have my wallet, phone and car key & house key. I do like the way my Jeep unlocks when I grab the door handle w/ the fob in my pocket and the push button start is fine. I keep my phone locked and unlock w/ a finger print, don't need face recognition. But the younger digital native resource units probably find keys to be an antiquated concept and want to control everything via their phone or smart watch. So face recognition for opening a car or starting it is for them...

Many consumers are used to using their face to unlock their phone, so this is just an extension of that..

My company is doing it's holiday party next Friday afternoon as a virtual event...since we do have several 100% remote people incl. myself and almost no one goes in the office. I'd wear nice pants, a dress shirt or turtleneck (since it's December) and a sport coat if I had to go to an in-person event. As far as formal wear, last time I wore a suit and tie was for my Mom's funeral 5+ years ago. I did tend to dress up for nice dinners and evenings at the symphony in the before time (I really enjoyed going out to nice events in the before time), but rarely put on a tie.

Got my 3rd Pfizer shot the week before Thanksgiving and my flu shot in October, no ill effects of either. I've had a cold/mild sinus infection for the last couple of weeks...always seems to happen when the weather turns cold. Just rolling into the end of the year exhausted. Looking forward to some time off between Xmas and New Years.

There is a plug-in hybrid 5 series. In the 80s they used the e suffix on the 525e and 528e for ‘economy’. Those were known for bad engines.