Random thoughts thread

Gearhead_1- Heh heh, yeah...you and I have seen a whole lot of "exotic race equipment" become daily driver stuff, for better or worse. Remember when those "50 series Gatorbacks" were All That?!?

And yeah, what`s "high performance" has changed a lot too! Now [certain individuals] think that "only" 400hp is insufficient for getting to work, and that they need those ceramic rotors for street use. Meanwhile nobody buys winter tires :rolleyes:

Some areas near us have potholes that will stop most vehicles dead if hit a certain way, the kind that bend control arms (LEOs miss the Crown Vics because those could soak up stuff that breaks Chargers same as it broke the Chevy PPV). We give genuine thought to whether we can take the Audis for various errands.

The repaved our normal, suburban residential street a couple years ago and there are already big chunks of it missing...and I live in a "nice area" where things are supposedly very well maintained.

When it`s not potholes it`s Approach Angles; the S8 isn`t a "low car" by today`s standards, but I can`t use it to run local errands because it`ll scrape..no matter how I do it, it`s just too low with too much overhang to get in/out of parking lots. I watch others actually leave pieces of front airdams lying in the street, driving away like nothing happened.
 
Nizmo- Yeah, manuals that require dbl-clutching up make you appreciate what people went through not so long ago..at one time *every* driver had to do such stuff, and do it well, or they weren`t getting anywhere.

Thought: if you`re not "working" at the shifting, you don`t need to put time/thought/effort into it. So you can direct those at simply driving better :D Far to often, people take several seconds to do the right thing in emergent situations and IRL there`s seldom time for that. I`m all about distilling Driving down to the basics so one`s resources aren`t spread too thin. Heh heh, a Q that usually gets me blank looks is..when somebody talks about braking during an accident or even a near-miss: "How many ABS pulses did you get before that happened?" If the answer is anything except "way too many to count" then the driver totally blew it, and I dunno about adding a manual transmission into that mix.
 
attachment.php
Yesterday we got a invite in the mail to join nextdoor dot com. I never should have joined, for one can never unsee whats been seen. A third of what was on there for my "community" was about this man. He sits in the median with this sign. I smile at him, or if in the convertible I say hi to him. More than likely what on the sign isn`t true. Who really knows what the whole true story is about him. I`ve been by him many, many times. He sits there quietly every time I`ve seen him. People want him gone so badly. Comments on this so call community site say things like he`s vulgar, smokes weed constantly while there, throws garbage all around him. I`ve never seen him smoking. I`m sure he has yelled some vulgarities out. Probably at people who said mean nasty things to him first. People on there saying things like he should be locked up in a cage at the zoo. Hopefully an accident happens in the intersection and he get crushed. Personally I don`t hand out money like that. Which I think is said because there are some who just truly need the help, but the bad eggs ruin it for them too. Even if I knew he drives a Ferrari Daytona and just sat there for the easy money. I would not be so mean to this person. He`s not forcing anybody to do anything. He`s not in the way of traffic. He doesn`t approach you asking for anything. Why wish harm on someone, and someone will probably follow through someday. The messed up thing is they`ll probably get away with it too.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0264.JPG
    IMG_0264.JPG
    96.6 KB · Views: 52
Accumulator, I had forgotten all about those gatorbacks. I`m like holy cow yeah.

Herb Adams stuck as set on a C2 `vette and it promptly handled almost as well as a C3...I put a set on my F-body and promptly got away with driving like a [jerk]. Those were a real advance, and I was used to Michelins.

And I hear you on the way people just Love To Hate on some folks. No, I basically never give to panhandlers. I know people who go the extra mile and get to know such people and then decide whether to help them or not...OK, great, but I`m just not gonna do that :o BUT, to ridicule them, to wish them ill...bah [expletive] that.

IMO if he *is* a vet of that disaster he`s earned the right to be vulgar and to smoke whatever he wants. OK, he shouldn`t litter..if he`s really doing that. Somebody who gives to him will have earned the right to perhaps suggest that.

I sincerely hope you just blow off that NextDoor [crap] rather than allowing it to pollute your life and waste your time. Though I suppose it`s given you some insight into your fellow community members.
 
Those gators definitely were a big leap forward in tires. I was too poor back then to get to experience them first hand though.

I had closed that account after only a few hours. I think you used the correct word when you said "pollute my life" that`s exactly what it would do real fast. I`m so glad for all of you here on autopia, where community has real meaning.
 
Swanicyouth- Be sure to keep the dehumidier`s tank nice and clean. Even though "it`s just distilled water" mine usually (OK...always) get too nasty for me to use their output on anything that matters so I just toss it down the drain while spending $ for distilled :o

That’s the beauty of the setup. Water doesn’t go in the tank. Goes right out the hose in the back into the gallon container. It can overflow - there’s a drain right there in the floor. Just bought some 2 gallon buckets with lids
 
Heh. SW, if I`m using distilled in my detailing bottles, there must be a reason why I`m using DI . It`s only like a dollar a jug.

LOL, but where the water comes off the condensate, I would think there is something on the valve/plumbing where the outlet is.
I`ve taken apart many AC related things. Every month, I put a cleaner tab on the drip rail as well, just to keep the baddies away.
 
That’s the beauty of the setup. Water doesn’t go in the tank. Goes right out the hose in the back into the gallon container...
Heh heh...oh sheesh...how could I have overlooked that, what with two of `em set up to drain into my floor drains?!? Out of sight, out of mind I guess :o It`s the ones in rooms with no such drains that I`m seeing all the time.

mobiledynamics said:
...[distilled water].. only like a dollar a jug.

Lots less if you buy it in 5 gallon jugs, at least in my area.
 
For me the $1 per gallon isn’t the point. The point is always having to remember to get it and keep enough on hand and dragging those gallons home.
 
Huh, even $1/gallon is more than it costs in our local grocery stores, must be a regional thing...IIRC the last time I bought single gallons it was ~0.79. OK, only 20¢ but a few of those do add up.

The 5 gallon jugs we can get are from a Water Treatment (i.e., softeners/salt/etc.) place. IIRC it was about $3.75 or so...again, small savings but hey I`m there for salt anyhow (which is another thing that can be pretty inexpensive if you get a sale/coupon).

But yeah, the single gallons are handy and don`t take up much space.
 
SW. It`s the internet...so hard to decipher tone of voice ;-).
I wasn`t calling out on the ROI of things.

I was pointing out that the water that collects on the drip rail or the elbow/condensate outlet....more often that not, it`s not exactly ~crystal clear clean~.....
 
Those gators definitely were a big leap forward in tires. I was too poor back then to get to experience them first hand though.

I had closed that account after only a few hours. I think you used the correct word when you said "pollute my life" that`s exactly what it would do real fast. I`m so glad for all of you here on autopia, where community has real meaning.

Hey, Coleroad !

I too got that postcard in the mail when I moved in here, inviting me to nextdoor.com..
And like you I also figured out it is a huge waste of time..
Only thing on there daily - lost dogs, found dogs, dogs doing poopy things in yards, the whole dang thing was going to the dogs!!! :)

I don`t recall anyone on that forum being as out and out mean as some people over there on yours.. :(

Also, I don`t really support people standing in traffic medians panhandling.. It`s just too dang dangerous in my opinion..

But I have on many occasions, when approached outside a store, fast food place, invited that person/s inside and bought them lunch..
Some of them have said ok, more of them have said no, but the ones who accepted a free lunch have mostly been really nice people who just need a little help sometimes..

You know, I didn`t even get why people are homeless, but when you talk to them, many of them have chosen to be homeless.. No one forced them to, they want to be alone, they want to get away from stuff, they are fine..

There was an episode of Mad Men once, where Don Draper was having a little flashback to when he was a child, living with a mean step-dad, and not sure who the lady was, but it was not his real Mother I believe..

A "hobo" stopped by their house and asked if he could please work for a little money and for a meal; the Mom said ok, and she would feed him, the StepDad didn`t really want to do it but finally agreed to it.
The "hobo" worked that day, ate dinner with the family, spent the night in the barn, and little Don Draper talked with him for a little while.

The "hobo" was pretty articulate, and nice.. He taught Don the "signs" hobo`s put on houses (it looked like they carve a little set of lines, angles, etc., into a wood post, etc.,) so other hobo`s would know a little about the people there, as they walked by..
He showed Don the sign for "good honest people", "good food", "dishonest people", etc..

Next day, the "hobo" comes up to the step-dad and asks him per their agreement, for a little pocket change, and the step-dad looked at him and told him to move on, get out..

This poor man, just looked at him and walked away.. You could just feel how tired he was, probably even more tired of how people treated him..

Little Don Draper later ran out to the front gate of their house and on the gate post - the sign for "dishonest people"... :(
Dan F
 
For the wiki,for those reading this and don`t use said chlorine like products in your AC related drain pans, check them out...

You would be grossed out on what you may see in the pan or lines post evaporator.
Or EVEN more gross for those that have mini-splits, where drip rail is right on the bottom but the blower wheel is literally inside the place of residence....

Lots`a crap that literally you don`t see or know until you do soo....then you do the proactive practice on the hvac tabs IMO
 
..But I have on many occasions, when approached outside a store, fast food place, invited that person/s inside and bought them lunch..

Nice, but not at all surprising, that you`re walking the talk of your Belief System (quite literally). A bit rare these days IMO, at least when it involves actually being up-close and personal with the disenfranchised (especially when, uhm... nobody`s watching).
 
Back
Top