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Post by epaul on Apr 18, 2024 17:43:46 GMT -5
Way back before I ever knew there was anything like internet forums and such, I read about bone saddles in AG Magazine, so I went online, a new experience for me, to see what I could find out about them. I found myself in the middle of a spirited discussion on exotic saddle materials. Some fellow was extolling at length the supreme sonic virtues of fossilized walrus tusk when these other two fellows began suggesting other exotic materials that perhaps might suit his ear even better. After coming up with a lengthy list of such sonically supreme saddle materials the fellow should try, they settled on recommending fossilized cow patties, ideally from Texas steers, as the very best of all.
Oh, they had a hoot and the golden-eared fellow they were having a good time with left in an uppity huff)
The two fellows? Rockerbob and Allan Houston (of Seagull fame). I loved it. I jumped in the thread only to discover it was a year old, but, I was in.
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Post by epaul on Apr 18, 2024 17:00:49 GMT -5
Hmm, Rockerbob? Interesting! We were just listening to a fellow named Rockerbob here last week. Fancy that, two Rockerbobs in one week!
Listen this Rockerbob, he's real good!
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Post by epaul on Apr 18, 2024 14:58:34 GMT -5
I just received this email from Doc Froon:
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USPS
Apr 18, 2024 14:45:29 GMT -5
Post by epaul on Apr 18, 2024 14:45:29 GMT -5
That got off track. Long story short. EV's and Hybrids are tested in ideal (or nearly so) conditions. There is a difference in range and mileage results between rolling around a test track at 70 degrees with no heat or AC running and going down a gravel road with the heater blasting at 20F. Or worse, 0F.
There are situations EVs will work well, and there are situations where they just don't.
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USPS
Apr 18, 2024 14:33:00 GMT -5
Post by epaul on Apr 18, 2024 14:33:00 GMT -5
When I started my new car search this winter, I was initially set on getting a hybrid, until I learned while the increased purchase cost of a hybrid would apply in full to me (more than full, as it turned out), the hoped for savings in fuel costs wouldn't.
There have been enough complaints up here about lower than expected mileage with hybrids that the Honda dealership in town has a Honda Hybrid Fact sheet on display that explains that owners can expect significantly lower gas mileage during the winter. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, at a temperature of 20F, a conventional gasoline-powered car will experience (on average) a 15% drop in gas mileage, while a hybrid gas/battery powered car will (on average) experience a 30-35% decline. (battery runs down quicker, takes longer (and more gas) to charge).
And it isn't as if 20F is cliff where all goes to hell, batteries begine to show a noticeable decline in performance once temps drop below 50F. The lower it goes, the worse it gets.
Well, sheesh, for me that basically meant that for half the year, that Honda Hybrid CR-V I was looking at would get the same mileage (or slightly worse, especially on highway miles) as a regular CR-V... and, in my case, with the exact same trim level (loaded), a hybrid CR-V would have cost me close to $4,000* than the conventional CR-V EX-L I ended up getting.
I would have to own that hybrid CR-V 83 years for the gasoline savings (at 10,000 miles a year) to make up that $4,000.**
* The MSPR on a CR-V Hybrid is $2,500 higher than a conventional CR-V. The additional $1,500 (in my case) came in bargaining leverage. I was able to get $1,500 knocked off my conventional CR-V while dealers weren't budging on the hybrids. The opposite. Many dealers are tending to put (unwanted) dealer options on the hybrids they had in stock, options that raised the cost anywhere from $500-$1,500 (which they they would discount slightly and advertise in the paper as "Below Dealer Sticker!").
**estimated. But it will take a long time for a mileage improvement of 4 mpg at 10,000 miles a year to cover that $4,000 initial expense plus the lost interest/opportunity on that 4 grand during the years of use. If 80 years is high, 30 years is low.
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Post by epaul on Apr 18, 2024 13:25:11 GMT -5
Doc did say [of forum access] "I wanted to. I tried thrice, thrice but to no avail."
Parsing that quote: "I wanted to" was in response to my invitation to pop over to the forum and say "Hello" to some of his old forum buds. "I tried thrice, thrice but to no avail" is a little tricky until you realize that "thrice" means "three" and isn't a drunken comment on the menu. So, I read that as he tried three times to join the forum and post but had no luck at it.
I see no harm in sending him a easy access link to the forum. He can use it or ignore it.
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Post by epaul on Apr 18, 2024 9:19:13 GMT -5
My response to Doc Froon's CD offer included an invite to pop over to the forum and say "Hi" as several members here recall him fondly. I included a link to the Cafe. Doc's response below:
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NPR
Apr 17, 2024 22:24:20 GMT -5
Post by epaul on Apr 17, 2024 22:24:20 GMT -5
A Katherine Maher, a former tech executive appointed in January as NPR's chief executive, has been criticized by conservative activists for social media messages that disparaged former President Donald Trump. The messages predated her hiring at NPR. What a peculiar way to frame it. Well, grumble, ok, you have a point. It is more than peculiar (it is gratuitous) . The sentence "...criticized by conservative activists..." does make it seem like only a few nut job fringies on the right have criticized the new CEO's appointment (based on her very public political stances). It is especially peculiar as the gist of the article is that Uri Berliner, a certified, raised by lesbian liberal, is the article-noted criticizer. He is not only criticizing the new CEO, but is quitting his NPR job in protest . (hint, so not just a limited fringe of wacko conservative activists (who have nothing to do with the story or the controversy surrounding the story) are criticizing the new CEO, but a concerned, non-wacko, long term, raised by lesbian, employee of NPR. A non-wacko employee who is concerned that NPR risks going wacko on the other end of the spectrum. And he and his criticism is the point of the entire brouhaha (and this article). It is an inhouse fight. (no wacko activists on the right needed; no story, or interest, on that end). You owe me, John.
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Post by epaul on Apr 17, 2024 20:46:58 GMT -5
We used to do that with balloons in our dorm room... after a few doobies. We got pretty good at it... I think.
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USPS
Apr 17, 2024 20:33:05 GMT -5
Post by epaul on Apr 17, 2024 20:33:05 GMT -5
In fairness to Bruce, we're all old and a little sour.
(I just found out the Caitlin Clark jersey I paid $175 for is backordered... till Dec. And if I cancel, I lose my spot in line. Grrr!)
Time for a little Scotch.
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Post by epaul on Apr 17, 2024 8:33:43 GMT -5
Good things to have. The one I had last fall sent me off on quite an adventure. Slice and dice, cancer scare, cancer un-scare, probes here and there, incisional hernia, scheduled patch job this may upcoming. 70 years of never having spent a day in hospital other than the day I was born, then BOOM!
But, I'm alive, happy, and in good shape (relatively speaking), but without that colonoscopy catch, I would be in big trouble.
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USPS
Apr 17, 2024 8:28:02 GMT -5
Post by epaul on Apr 17, 2024 8:28:02 GMT -5
(oh, I don't hate my fellow Americans, I just hate the 80% or so that aren't like me and are just pretending to be Americans)
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USPS
Apr 17, 2024 8:26:22 GMT -5
Post by epaul on Apr 17, 2024 8:26:22 GMT -5
Why do you hate your fellow Americans, your country, so?
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Post by epaul on Apr 17, 2024 8:20:21 GMT -5
Out of the blue, Doc Froon contacted me. While sorting through some old CDs, he found "A Tin Cup Full of Rain" by Steve Cloutier. And it had my email address on it. Apparently, I sent him the CD as my contribution in some sort of CD swap initiated by the old guitar forum many of us were part of. The CD is in pristine condition and he offered to mail it to me.
I don't know if I could find my CD player and there must be a better home for it, and in that regard I thought of Russell, or perhaps someone else on this forum. If interested, post here or PM me. Russell, due to his personal connection, gets first dibs. After that, if there is an after that, or a before that, for that matter, the gifting will be based on a coin flip, or the most interestingly written request, I don't know. It could even go through another mail around, or stay with Doc.
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Post by epaul on Apr 16, 2024 13:01:48 GMT -5
Yes.
What the hell is a bowed psaltry?
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Post by epaul on Apr 16, 2024 8:37:01 GMT -5
Short post. Difficulty typing. Cat.
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Post by epaul on Apr 15, 2024 22:40:52 GMT -5
Pebble Beach and Augusta are nice courses, true, but you if haven't golfed Hiawatha on a fine spring day, with Martinfever, I might add, you have missed a truly wonderful golf experience.
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Post by epaul on Apr 15, 2024 9:18:52 GMT -5
Yesterday was absolutely gorgeously perfect. I did a little garden cleaning, put some tomatoes in the Brand New Greenhouse (they are still in gallon pots so I can bring them back in it should go hell next week)...
AND I grilled my first ribeye of the season. And made myself my first gin and tonic to go with it. And my second and third as well!
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Post by epaul on Apr 15, 2024 8:25:31 GMT -5
Something for a guy that has everything... except a 1939 1st generation F-Series Ford Pickup!
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Post by epaul on Apr 14, 2024 18:52:14 GMT -5
I heard a Cardinal singing when I was putting away dishes. I darn near broke my ankle racing outside to try get a look at him. But the Cardinal wasn't outside, he was singing from the TV set in the living room.
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