Today’s post title does not refer to the usual meaning of its use in that freedom must be defended and that defense, of course, comes with human and financial costs. No, what I mean today is that the “liberalization” of drug laws, more “freedom,” is also creating costs.
This Newsweek opinion piece by Kevin Sabet, President of the Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions is titled, “Drugs Are Making Our Nation’s Mental Health Crisis Worse.” Here is one disturbing excerpt:
Scientific and medical data increasingly find links between today’s high-potency THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol, the primary psychoactive chemical in marijuana) drugs and an array of health consequences. According to the CDC, marijuana use is “associated with depression; social anxiety; and thoughts of suicide, suicide attempts, and suicide.”
While I do not believe in government micro-managing the behavior of its citizens, substance abuse and mental illness affect far more people than those who suffer directly. I will, once again, state my strong belief that IF marijuana use is legal, then the minimum legal age for using it should be 25. I feel the same way about alcohol consumption. I am under no illusion that my policy prescription will ever become reality. To repeat, I did not pick that age out of thin air. Virtually every study conducted on the topic has found that human beings do not reach their “adult” ability to assess risk and reward until about the age of 25.
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A blog note: I will almost certainly not post for an undetermined number of days starting on June 2. I will probably write this again in the last post before my break.
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I am now leaning strongly against getting a tune for the Jaguar F-Type. The recent issue with the TPMS after having new wheels/tires mounted is just a huge flashing warning light. The experience of my Z06 suffering an electrical meltdown nine months after an aftermarket tune has also not left me.
If the now ex-Jaguar dealer would offer tuning services (they don’t), the likelihood I would have it done would be much greater. When the BMW dealer installed a Dinan Stage 2 upgrade for my Z4 I had no issues with the car post-tune.
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Some of you may have wondered why I have not written about the NCAA and the “Power” athletic conferences agreeing to settle the House v. NCAA case. That settlement includes almost $3 billion in “damage” payments as well as a commitment for schools to pay athletes directly.
First, the details are far from being worked out. Second, the denouement to this situation is hardly a surprise. If the case were to go to trial, the NCAA would almost certainly lose and be on the hook for far more in damages than the negotiated settlement. To me, this is a “nothing to see here” story, at least right now.
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On this day in 1990 the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a then record value of 2,878.56. Where did it close yesterday? 38,441.54, more than a 13-fold increase. $10,000 invested on the morning of May 30, 1990 would have been worth $133,544 at the close of trading yesterday. Yes, one cannot invest directly in the Dow, indulge me.
Apple went public in 1980; Nvidia went public in 1999. If one had invested $10,000 in each stock on the day of their IPO and never sold any of their holdings, how much would the investments be worth today? How about $65 million!
I was in no position to invest in any stock in 1980; I was still an undergraduate in college and do not come from a wealthy family. My wonderful wife and I did recently have a position in Nvidia that did very well for us in the roughly two years we owned it. I may or may not have recently re-established a small position in the company not long before quarterly results were announced on May 22. A week before earnings the stock closed at about $944/share. Yesterday, two weeks later, it closed at $1,148/share, a 22 percent increase.
Virtually no one can become financially well-off working a 9-to-5 job and putting their savings in a bank account. If you work for your money then you should get your money to work for you. Once again, 80 percent of American millionaires are first-generation millionaires, meaning they earned their wealth and did not inherit it. Being resentful and envious of people wealthier than you is not a sound basis for public policy.
#FreedomIsn’tFree
I guess readers had little interest in Bill Walton. The number of views for yesterday was very low.
I still maintain that this blog has a large proportion of sports fans, but perhaps more of them are football fans than anything else. As I will never pay for Guck Foogle analytics, some of the characteristics of blog readers will always be unknown to me.
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Originally, I was going to write–at some depth–about Kaiser-Frazer as it was on this day in 1946 that the first body was lowered on to the first chassis for the first Frazer car. That was more of a ceremonial event than the beginning of real mass production, but was significant in terms of how quickly the company was able to tool up.
Last October, after I purchased Kaiser Frazer: The Last Onslaught on Detroit by Richard Langworth, I wrote a few posts containing material from the book. That topic didn’t prove very popular, either. That lack of popularity is why I decided not to write about the Kaiser-Frazer and the first Frazer car in depth today.
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From this Why Evolution Is True post:
The world continues to excoriate Israel for supposedly targeting civilians in a humanitarian area, killing 21-50 Gazans and wounding dozens more. From the outset you have to be skeptical of such claims given that they’re reported by Hamas and because Israel avoids targeting civilians. Now we learn that skepticism is warranted: there were no deliberate attacks on civilians and nobody was killed in a humanitarian zone.[emphasis mine] The IDF spokesman below, using videos and intercepted phone calls, explains what we know: two Hamas officials were targeted in a Jeep using very low-power bombs to minimize other casualties.
Those bombs set off secondary explosions. We’re not sure why, but the spokesman below suggests that weapons stored in the area (there were Hamas rocket launchers, too) were exploded by the bomb. Other sources indicate that shrapnel from these secondary explosions ignited a fuel tank in the area, and that is what caused the fires that led to civilian deaths. Note that none of the civilians killed were in a humanitarian zone, so the world’s accusations are misplaced. That said, it’s still a tragedy–noncombatant Gazans were killed in a series of unexpected and concatenated disasters. I wish the Gazans would stay in the humanitarian zones, but, according to Malgorzata, IDF attacks are often called off when they see civilians or children near Hamas targets, and some civilians are counting on that form of “protection” (it’s a risky calculation). Further, some Gazans prefer to stay near Hamas because they want to “support the resistance.” Whatever the reasons, in general it’s safer to stay in humanitarian zones, as the IDF scrupulously avoids targeting those.
Hamas is evil. Israel is fighting evil. That’s the unvarnished truth. Sadly, too much of the world is on the side of evil.
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Maybe Puck Futin didn’t think about second- and third-order effects of his war crimes against Ukraine. However, if he thought he could divide Europe then nothing is further from the truth. This CNBC article reports that six countries that border Russia are joining forces to build a “drone wall” to protect their borders.
Of course, Finland and Sweden (the latter does not have a direct border with Russia) have joined NATO since Puck Futin began the war crimes against Ukraine. The timing is obviously not a coincidence.
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If you are a fan of Jerry Seinfeld in any way, then I think you will enjoy this interview (and video) he did with Bari Weiss, founder of The Free Press. I believe Seinfeld is a very intelligent person. Here is one thing he said that I think is spot-on:
You can’t act like we don’t see this every day in many realms. Let’s just talk politically, left and right. You’re watching mobs. They’re mobs believing their own crap. That’s what a political party is. “We’re going to make up a bunch of nonsense and we’ll all agree to it, right? Right. Okay, let’s print up some bumper stickers and get out there, kids.” That’s politics. We’re tribal animals. We’re social creatures. We’re driven by agreement and consensus. And mob rule gives us comfort and certainty. It’s all BS.
“They’re mobs believing their own crap. That’s what a political party is.” Truer words have never been spoken.
#NotAPopularTopic
#PuckFutin
#JerrySeinfeld
I haven’t followed college basketball in more than 20 years. I haven’t followed the NBA in more than 40. I never saw Michael Jordan play in an NBA game. A related story…I was talking about which sports I watched (sometime around 1990) with someone who was a friend at the time, but who has not been a friend for more than a quarter century.
When I told this person that I didn’t watch the NBA he replied, “But I bet you watch Michael Jordan.” When I told him I didn’t watch any NBA games with or without Jordan this person called me a liar. Maybe you understand why he is now a former friend.
All that being said, Bill Walton was an important person in my formative years as a sports fan, as a basketball fan. I am almost certainly not qualified to make this statement (when has that ever stopped me), but if his body had not betrayed him–due to injuries Walton played in just 468 regular season NBA games, the equivalent of fewer than six seasons–I think he would have had as impactful a career as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Wilt Chamberlain. (Of course, one could say Walton’s body betrayed him again as he died of cancer yesterday at age 71. A 70-year old male in the US has a life expectancy of about 14 years.)
After Walton led the Portland Trail Blazers to the NBA championship in 1977 by defeating the Philadelphia 76ers in the finals, Philadelphia head coach Gene Shue said, “Bill Walton is the best player for a big man who ever played the game of basketball.” Despite his truncated career, Walton was named to the all-time NBA teams for both the league’s 50th anniversary in 1996 and its 75th anniversary in 2021.
Like most basketball fans of the era, I first became aware of Walton during his stellar college career at UCLA. He played three seasons for the Bruins (freshmen were not eligible to play on the varsity when Walton entered UCLA) and was named Naismith College Player of the Year in all three seasons.
In his junior year, he led UCLA to its seventh straight NCAA championship culminated by an unbelievable performance in the title game against Memphis State. Walton scored 44 points, making 21 of 22 shots, and added 13 rebounds as UCLA won 87-66.
Not surprisingly, Walton was the first pick in the NBA draft in 1974. The season after he led Portland to the NBA championship, the Trail Blazers won 50 of their first 60 games before Walton became injured. (They finished with a 58-24 record.) He tried to return in the playoffs, but was injured in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series. After having received a painkilling injection to play, X-rays taken after Game 2 revealed the navicular bone below Walton’s left ankle was broken. He never played for Portland again and sat out the entire next season.
Walton then signed with the San Diego/Los Angeles Clippers, but he played in only 169 of the team’s 492 games in his six seasons there. He then orchestrated a move to the Boston Celtics where he had one relatively healthy season in which he received the NBA Sixth Man Award and Boston won the NBA championship. Walton is the only player to have won an NBA Finals MVP, Sixth Man Award, and regular season MVP.
After retiring as a player, Walton became a respected broadcaster for both NBA and college games, receiving an Emmy Award in 2001. He overcame what had been a lifelong stuttering problem. Walton said, “I’m a stutterer. I never spoke to anybody. I lived most of my life by myself. But as soon as I got on the court I was fine. But in life, being so self conscious, red hair, big nose, freckles and goofy, nerdy looking face and can’t talk at all. I was incredibly shy and never said a word. Then, when I was 28 I learned how to speak. It’s become my greatest accomplishment of my life and everybody else’s biggest nightmare.”
Walton and his first wife, Susie, had four sons. I met one of them, Nate, as he interned one summer for the San Diego Padres while I was working there. He was an extremely polite and hard-working young man. Another of Walton’s sons, Luke, was a member of two NBA championship teams with the Los Angeles Lakers.
I’ll leave the last word about Bill Walton to his long-time broadcast partner, Jim Gray. “My heart is broken. Bill Walton was the best friend a guy could ever have. He was loving, generous, kind, caring, intelligent, and so much fun. He loved life, his family, basketball, and most of all, people. I always marveled at how he had time for everyone and was never in a hurry. Bill was a national treasure and brought joy to the world.”
Goodbye, Bill Walton.
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Just as my not posting yesterday was in absolutely no way intended to disrespect the memory of those men and women who gave their lives in military service to this country, my writing about my own health is not intended to disrespect the memory of Bill Walton.
I do not have strep, COVID or the flu as tests for all three were negative. My sore throat is due to post-nasal drip from an acute case of sinusitis. In the discharge papers from the walk-in clinic, the cause of the sinusitis is listed as “unspecified,” but the PA told me she thought the cause was a sinus infection. She prescribed a Z-Pack, Azithromycin, but as yesterday was Memorial Day the pharmacy was closed. Hopefully, I can begin the short course of treatment (five days) today.
The PA (thanks, Kayla) also recommended I begin using something like Navage to treat my allergies. The one disappointment about moving to Arizona is that my allergies are worse here than they were in the mid-Atlantic. Some other topics about which I had intended to write will have to wait until tomorrow or the day after.
#GoodbyeBillWalton
#ArizonaAllergies
Who gets sick in late May? You can’t see me, but I’m raising my hand.
I don’t have a fever (I don’t think) and I don’t really have the body aches characteristic of the flu, but I have a sore throat and achy sinuses. I don’t know if what I’m about to describe is verified by empirical evidence, but last week marked “the end” of a long, stressful period. I will spare you the details, but it is often said that after people get through a long period of stress they seem to get sick at a higher rate than usual.
This is not the first time I have had these symptoms. Usually, they pass in 4-6 days. I hope that is the course of this illness.
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Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker made some comments during a commencement speech at Benedictine College that caused some controversy. His teammate, future Hall of Fame tight end Travis Kelce, whom I guess is currently dating someone moderately famous <end sarcasm>, made these comments about Butker:
“I cherish him as a teammate. I think Pat [Mahomes] said it best where he [Butker] is every bit of a great person and a great teammate…He’s treated family and family that I’ve introduced to him with nothing but respect and kindness. And that’s how he treats everyone. When it comes down to his views and what he said at the commencement speech, those are his. I can’t say I agree with the majority of it or just about any of it outside of just him loving his family and his kids. And I don’t think that I should judge him by his views, especially his religious views, of how to go about life, that’s just not who I am.”
Mike Florio, who has run the Pro Football Talk website and broadcast for a long time, chimed in with, “He [Kelce] did a good job of finding balance amid the I’m-right-you’re-an-idiot modern discourse.” Ironically, I don’t read Florio’s website as often as I used to because I think he has become too political and not in an objective way. However, I believe he is right in describing the current state of political and social discourse in the US and elsewhere.
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For the fifth or sixth time I am reading The Fall of the Packard Motor Car Company by James A. Ward. It’s a great book, by the way, if you are interested in such histories.
In the back of my mind I wonder if I keep reading it trying to figure out a way that Packard could have been saved. Of course, that is the ultimate exercise in futility, but as I used to write quite often in this blog, I don’t think consolidation in any industry is usually a net positive. In the automobile business, fewer companies means fewer sources of innovation for engineering and styling.
Let me quickly add that I do not think reviving the Packard name at this late date would work. In fact, it hasn’t as someone tried to revive the Packard name just a few years ago and failed miserably. Still, the company that introduced the V-12 engine (for all intents and purposes), air conditioning and torsion-bar suspension should be remembered. “Ask The Man Who Owns One” Oh, the car shown below is among the best designs of the 1950s, in my opinion. Too bad it was from the last model year of “real” Packard production.
This is a 1956 Packard 400 or Four Hundred as spelled out on the front fender behind the wheel wells. As I’m sure I’ve written before, Packard produced 3,224 of these cars, about 11 percent of its total output for the 1956 model year. Maybe some day…
#UnderTheWeather
#1956Packard400
OK, I don’t really believe in omens, but I am hoping to get a few more clicks. Speaking of clicks, I once again ask that if you receive an email notification when a post is published that you actually click on the post title instead of just reading the post in your email.
It was just yesterday that I wrote about one of my favorite cars, the 1956-57 Continental Mark II. Take a look at what was in the parking lot this morning after my wonderful wife and I finished breakfast.
This Mark II looked like it is in excellent condition. One of those badges on the front grille was an AACA award. (AACA is the Antique Automobile Club of America.)
I have not seen very many of these “in the wild.” Usually, I see these at auctions or at dealerships like Gateway Classic Cars.
Oh, this was far from the only interesting vehicle we saw this morning. On the way home we saw a beautiful blue Maserati MC20, a McLaren Long Tail (I am actually not a fan of the looks of that car) and a Ferrari 458, maybe it was a 488. As I have written on many occasions, such as in this post, the car culture out here is simply amazing.
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I was originally going to call today’s post Bye Bye, DEI. As expected, the University of North Carolina System has abandoned any formal bureaucracy based on DEI. At the same time, the basis for the action is, seemingly, a de facto adoption of institutional neutrality like the Kalven Principles. (Even though I have no connection to the school, I am tempted to make a donation to it.)
In a related vein, here is a relevant opinion piece published in Newsweek. In my opinion, it is worth reading. Oh, apparently the University of Wyoming has also eliminated its DEI department and will move its staff and some of its programming to other departments on campus.
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Once again, I am compelled to explain that Harvard University is well within its rights to deny the conferral of degrees to 13 seniors who participated in the demonstrations supporting genocidal barbarian rapists. Freedom of speech does NOT mean freedom from criticism or freedom from consequences. Of course, the protestors denied freedom of speech to those who disagree with them.
This principle applies to employment as well. From Nicole Page, a partner at Reavis Page Jump, a law firm that represents employers and employees in employment matters. “It’s not considered illegal for an employer to say, ‘You’re representing us; we think that behavior reflects badly on us and so you’re fired.'”
#AnOmen?
#ArizonaCarCulture
I don’t really know if the TPMS “saga” of my Jaguar F-Type has ended, but I can hope. Yesterday, I took the car to the shop where I had made an appointment about solving the TPMS issue.
The store manager put their very young technician on the case and in about 10 minutes he said that he had successfully programmed the TPMS sensors to the car. The store did not charge me for the service, but the tech said, “If the fault light comes on in the next 10 to 15 minutes just bring back the car.”
I was quite happy, but the joy was short-lived. About 12 or 13 minutes out, and no more than 5 minutes from home, the TPMS fault light came on. (Yes, I saw the movie “Office Space” and am aware of the similarity of TPMS to the dreaded TPS reports.)
When I brought the car back the store manager said, “Well, you need new sensors and programming.” What choice did I have?
A few hours and a few hundred dollars later, although only one-third of the amount quoted to me by the Jaguar dealer for the same job, the car was ready. I drove it home without incident, but even though the job comes with a 2-year/24,000-mile warranty, I suspect I will be a bit uneasy at least for awhile, hoping the fault light does not come on.
Of course, “All’s Well That Ends” is a twist on the title of a famous Shakespeare play, “All’s Well That Ends Well.” At the end of my first season with the Baltimore Orioles, 1988, the now late Larry Lucchino organized an “All’s Well That Ends” party for the entire organization. (I remember talking with Orioles catcher Terry Kennedy during the party about trying to get the team to buy me a new computer with a 386 microprocessor; he was a “computer guy.” Of course, the 486 chip was released the next year. Yep, that was a long time ago and I am old.)
In 1988, the team had endured the longest losing streak to start a season in major league history, losing its first 21 games, as well as the death of Orioles owner Edward Bennett Williams, Lucchino’s mentor, in August. Williams’ death was understandably very hard on Lucchino. I remember putting a note on his desk the day after Williams died quoting Pulitzer-Prize winning author Saul Bellow, “We have a word for everything except for what we really think and feel.”
Again, I don’t know if the TPMS saga has ended, but if it has then that would be a very good thing, indeed. Wish me luck.
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This Why Evolution Is True post is among many places reporting the story that the Harvard Corporation, the smaller but more powerful of the school’s two governing boards, overruled the wishes of the school faculty and denied conferring degrees to 13 seniors who were not considered in good standing after participating in one of the many disgusting “pro-Palestinian” protests at American institutions of so-called higher learning. Tough sh*t for those idiots, including the one who was supposed to begin a Rhodes Scholarship in the fall.
I suspect, however, at some time in the future when the furor has died down, the school will quietly give those idiots their degrees. What did Bill Maher say?
All of that childhood tolerance is resulting in grown-up tyrants. It’s no wonder that by the time they get to college, just having to listen to an opinion they don’t agree with is considered an act of “violence.”
I weep for the future even though I will not see it.
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I thought I had previously titled a post “Fifties Friday” or “Friday Fifties,” but I guess not. In any event, during a recent outing with my two friends/neighbors who graciously mounted the new wheels/tires on the F-Type, we visited the local Gateway Classic Cars location. One of these is in inventory; in fact, it’s been there for quite some time although not as long as the Kaiser-Darrin that has been on the showroom floor for two years because they can’t find the owner. (They suspect he died; Gateway sells cars on consignment.)
I used this picture because the car at Gateway Classic Cars is in White. This is hardly the first time I have written about and/or shown the Continental Mark II.
Even though by this time next month the large concrete pad at the south end of the house will be accessible, don’t expect me to buy one of these although I would love to. This is not a modern, computer-controlled car with electronic fuel injection and TPMS, but as only 3,000 were built, I don’t think getting parts would be easy and not too many shops can service this car, even in this car-crazy part of the country. One can still dream, though, but I doubt I will ever be able to say “All’s Well That Ends” as it would relate to the hunt for and purchase of a Continental Mark II.
#All’sWellThatEnds?
#IStandWithIsrael!
Many would comment, and not without merit, that today’s post title is an oxymoron. Two reasons would be that first, Americans don’t think as they have had their brains numbed by social media and garbage TV. Second, America is no longer a single entity so it has multiple thoughts about every topic.
In terms of a topic near and dear to me, we have seen much coverage (and in my opinion, inappropriate legitimization) of pro so-called Palestinian protests. What do Americans really think about the situation? Via this Why Evolution Is True post comes the results of a Harvard/Harris poll whose results might surprise you. Here are two graphs that show some of those results.
If these sentiments really reflect the opinion of Americans, then that is another piece of evidence in favor of the hypothesis that US “mainstream media” and social media are biased against Israel. In terms of the latter I would blame foreign government infiltration.
(By the way, as I write this at 5:30 AM Arizona time, all search engines seem to be off line. WTF!)
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Bill Maher is just one American and I confess I don’t watch his show and will not buy his new book. However, this excerpt from one of his monologues rings very true to me:
America is a country whose children score low in math and science but off the charts in self-esteem. A study of eight developed countries found that U.S. students were dead last in math skills but number one in confidence in math skills, even though they suck at it. Yes, we’re number one in thinking we’re number one.
The idea that kids have too little self-esteem is antiquated. It’s a Zombie Lie, one of those ideas that perhaps was true in the past but now is not, and yet people keep saying it. Kids now have too much self-esteem, and it’s turning them into angry, screaming grievance collectors.
All of that childhood tolerance is resulting in grown-up tyrants. It’s no wonder that by the time they get to college, just having to listen to an opinion they don’t agree with is considered an act of “violence.” This is what happens when no one ever loses and everyone gets a prize. You can run the wrong way on the field and score five goals for the other team, and you’re still a winner. Even though you’re actually a big f*cking loser. No wonder today’s NBA players give each other high fives when they miss a foul shot.
We tell our children they don’t have to fix their flaws, because it’s the world’s job to accept everything about them and love it. Like they say on reality shows, the most important thing is just “you doing you.” But what if “you” is a big asshole?
Even though some might say my viewpoint is irrelevant because my wonderful wife and I don’t have children, I have long believed that much which plagues the developed world is due to bad and/or absent parenting. That’s my story and I know I am not the only person who feels that way.
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This Why Evolution Is True post is titled, “Will DEI be dismantled this week in the University of North Carolina System?” Here is an excerpt from a Substack column cited in the post; yes, the author is not completely objective, but that doesn’t mean he’s mostly wrong, either.
On Wednesday, the system’s governing board may end the controversial program that institutionalizes bias and prejudice based on neo-Marxist principles and falsehoods.
. . .UNC appears to be joining a group of schools that repudiate the institutionalized bias of “DEI.”
The UNC Board of Governors oversees the entire UNC system. Itis expected to voteon a measure this week that would reverse and replace its DEI policy.
This follows an April vote by the Board’s five-person committee on University Governance to dismantle DEI offices.
Last week, UNC Chapel Hill’s Board of Trustees diverted $2.3 million to Public Safety from DEI, as the campus has been embroiled in Pro-Palestinian protests and encampments.
The vote will actually occur today. As regular readers know, to me DEI stands for Deny Excellent Individuals. My friend and former neighbor MB has a better interpretation:Didn’tEarnIt.
Woke identity politics want everyone to be judged solely by group affiliation(s) and never by individual traits or accomplishments. Sorry, but that’s a pile of sh*t and a road to ruin.
Wish me luck as I take the F-Type to a shop today to, hopefully, get the TPMS sorted out.
#WhatAmericaThinks
On this day in 1962, Thomas Doty, a passenger on Continental Airlines Flight 11 from Chicago to Kansas City, ignited six sticks of dynamite in the plane lavatory causing a massive explosion. The plane broke apart and crashed killing all 45 people on board.
Doty, who was about to appear in court on an armed robbery charge, thought his wife could collect $300,000 in life insurance, about $3 million in today’s money. She did try to collect, but the insurance company denied her claim when Doty’s death was ruled a suicide.
I cannot imagine trying to do something like that, but sadly it seems that far too many people are capable. Yes, we know the saying “Desperate times call for desperate measures,” but acts like Doty’s are simply depraved. If one were willing to do the research, it is likely one could find a similarly heinous act to his for any day of the year, if not multiple acts.
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Changing gears enough to grind them…from this article on chevycarusa.com comes this picture (?) of the soon-to-be released 2025 Chevrolet El Camino. In all honesty, I have never been a fan of what they call “Utes” in Australia, but this vehicle looks cool to me.
Forget the twin triple-tailpipe configuration (although I think it looks great) and consider what it means: an Internal Combustion Engine, rumored to be a V-8, at least in SS spec. Unlike the 2025 Dodge Charger, which will first be released as an EV and then as an ICE-powered car, the scuttlebutt is that the El Camino will first be introduced with an ICE (maybe as early as November of this year) and then, perhaps, in EV and/or hybrid spec.
Whatever happened to Chevrolet and General Motors going “all-electric” by 2030?! Uh, it’s not happening, folks. Remember that, pretty much under the radar, GM has made/will make $2.3 billion in investments in new internal-combustion engines and the vehicles they will power. It’s very bad business to throw away that kind of investment without at least attempting to fully amortize it in addition to simply ignoring that most Americans do not want to buy EVs.
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I have always been interested in Pompeii and Herculaneum. Oh, do I have to explain?! They were two Roman cities buried in the 79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius. This Newsweek article is titled, “We’re Archaeologists at Pompeii. A Third of the City Is Still Undiscovered.”
Think about that…major archaeological activity has been going on at Pompeii since the middle of the 18th century, but a third of the city is still undiscovered. Largely preserved under volcanic ash, Pompeii gives us a snapshot of Roman life nearly 2,000 years ago. It was a town of 10,000-20,000 inhabitants, apparently many of whom were wealthy.
As I have written before, the best entertainment for me is to learn something. The mindless garbage that makes up the majority of material that passes for entertainment today disgusts me.
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Maybe it’s time for some humor from this Archon’s Den post:
My girlfriend left me today because I’m too insecure…
Oh wait, she’s back.
She just went to make a cup of tea.
I saw a man, sitting in Starbucks. No phone, no iPad, no laptop, just sitting there, drinking coffee, like a psychopath.
I took my wife out to a nice restaurant the other night.
She stopped me just as I was about to take the first bite and asked, “Don’t we need to pray first?”
I said, “Nah, that’s not necessary.”
She replied, “But we always pray before we eat at home.”
I said, “Yeah, but this chef probably knows what he’s doing.”
#TheDepravityOfMan
#TheReturnOfTheElCamino
#Pompeii
According to WordPress, the platform that hosts this blog and literally millions of others, Disaffected Musings has reached a milestone for “unique” visitors since I started it in January, 2018. Without revealing the actual figure, let’s just say it is a large, round number.
Thanks to all of you who read the blog. Incredibly, over its six-plus year life this blog has been read by people in well over 100 different countries. So far in 2024, the blog has had views from 60 different countries, including the US and Canada.
I don’t know how many more posts I will publish or how much longer this blog will be active, but I am grateful to those of you who read. Thanks again.
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So, I have an appointment with a local independent shop to, hopefully, fix the TPMS issue with the F-Type. It is apparent that the vendor who sold me the wheels and tires did not install original equipment Jaguar TPMS sensors as no programming would be needed if that had been the case. (Alternatively, one or more of the sensors are defective.) All efforts to reach the vendor have been unsuccessful and have not generated any reply.
Not long after I made the appointment, the owner of the other shop I called reached out to me. After a half-hour conversation, I must admit that I am more confused than ever. He is the one who confirmed that, when original Jaguar TPMS sensors are installed, no programming is necessary.
However, he warned me that Jaguars are notoriously finicky about working with aftermarket parts. When I told him what I had been quoted by the first independent shop to install and program new aftermarket TPMS sensors, if necessary, he strongly hinted that sounded suspiciously low and not much later gave me the famous line, “You get what you pay for.” He did not, however, recommend taking the car to the Jaguar dealer and was VERY critical of what they charge for work.
Again, while I am at an age and situation where time and avoiding stress are more valuable to me than money, I do not want to grossly overpay for work. I spoke to the shop where I have the appointment and explained my dilemma. The tech/service writer just said to bring in the car and we would go from there.
The amount the Jaguar dealer quoted me to replace the TPMS sensors was a four-figure amount higher than the other estimate from the independent shop. Do most Jaguar owners not care at all about money? Except for recalls and highly specialized work, you DON’T have to take your car to a dealer for service.
Below is, once again, a picture of my F-Type, which is yet another example that EVERYTHING in life is a trade-off. Even when you die, you don’t have to worry about paying your bills or getting your TPMS fixed.
#VisitorMilestone
#TPMSHeadache
I didn’t post yesterday because I, arbitrarily, thought I should just take a day off. As it turned out, yesterday’s number of views/visitors was one of the highest ever in the history of this blog for a day without a post. (Thanks, by the way.) I can’t know for sure, of course, but if I had posted the blog might have had the best blog stats for any day this year.
Another example…My first instinct was to have the new wheels/tires for my F-Type mounted by a shop. Not wanting to be a bad friend/neighbor, and perhaps listening to “domestic” pressure, I let two friends/neighbors mount the new wheels/tires.
As I wrote in my last post, I am receiving a TPMS (Tire Pressure Management System) fault warning on the dashboard most of the time I drive. While it is possible the vendor who sold me the wheels/tires installed the wrong TPMS sensors, it is also possible that the sensors needed to be programmed to the car, which my friends/neighbors (and I) didn’t know and couldn’t do, anyway.
There was no way I could have known, in advance, that yesterday’s readership numbers would be very good for a day without a post although I had no real reason for not posting. My first instinct about the new wheels/tires was very strong, however. It is entirely possible that I will now incur substantial additional expense if my only recourse is to have the dealer install four new sensors and program them. (They will not program “unknown” sensors.) Penny wise, pound foolish is never a good course of action.
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The video shows a downside to living in Arizona, wildfires. (I almost called today’s post EVERYTHING Is A Trade-Off.) We have not received much rain and with the weather warming (it is almost June) and windy conditions, we can suffer from outbreaks of wildfires. The one pictured above grew from 500 acres to more than 13,000 in just 24 hours.
As best as I can tell, the western edge of the fire is just three miles from our house. Fortunately for us, the winds have blown the majority of the fire away from us. (The fire is burning primarily in a National Forest and, right now, does not seem to be threatening many homes.)
Another drawback to living where we do is something called NAOS, which stands for Natural Area Open Space. Much of the land that we “own” is designated NAOS. That means we have little autonomy over most of our lot, meaning–for example–that we can’t clear a quarter acre to build a garage.
Supposedly, we are allowed to clear five feet of space around our “usable” lot as a fire break. I have been meaning to call our “tree people” to do this for us for months. I guess I better call them today. I will also tell them they can clear a little more than five feet even if that means cutting down some trees. I will not let some arbitrary rule endanger our safety.
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On this day in 1987 American Motors Corporation’s (AMC) Board of Directors approved the purchase of all of the company’s outstanding stock by Chrysler Corporation. Of course, Chrysler is now just part of multi-national automotive conglomerate Stellantis.
As I wrote here, the new Dodge Charger–both EV and ICE versions–will be produced solely at the Chrysler plant in Bramalea (Brampton), Ontario. That plant was originally built by AMC. At the time of Chrysler’s purchase of AMC they made no secret of the fact they were only interested in Jeep, the Canadian plant and AMC’s dealer network. Chrysler President Lee Iacocca was quoted in the Los Angeles Times as saying, “For Chrysler, the attractions are Jeep, the best-known automotive brand name in the world; a new assembly plant at Bramalea, Canada, and a third distribution system giving us access to a larger market.”
The rebooted Charger as well as the recently discontinued Challenger were also built at the Brampton plant, except for European models and those with RHD, which were built in Graz, Austria from 2005 to 2010. (Of course, Graz is where the current Toyota Supra and BMW Z4 are being manufactured.) The Brampton plant opened in 1986, just a year before the Chrysler takeover.
The car pictured below will always be my favorite AMC model:
This is a less than clear picture (sorry) of a 1968 AMC Javelin. I think these were the best-looking of the original pony cars. In a world where my net worth is orders of magnitude higher than it is, it would be better than 50-50 that I would own one of these. Of course, I would have it resto-modded.
#OutsmartingMyself
#GoodbyeAMC
#AMCJavelin
