Is The Chatter Dying Down?

well, there's 'chatter', and then there's 'chatter'. if it interests you, there's plenty of it here. is it different than some years ago? maybe. but it's still chatter.

 

Yep, dying down. Part of the reason I posted my song thread. Part of the reason I am not here much, other than being super-busy is that the forum is very difficult to access most of the times I try, which is usually early a.m. on West Coast of the USA.

Right now I am inside, because there is a Flycatcher that seems to be injured outside my house and I don't want to scare it. I am hoping it will recover, but I am not optimistic....


Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Identification, All About Birds - Cornell Lab of Ornithology

But, I think frustration about the forum outages have also led to less chatter.

 

do they work, maybe we can transport some easterly.

 

Danny -- er -- Bisco: I thought you lived in the Western US. I know what it says on your Bisco persona, but I figure that is a red herring.

Anyway, Easterners have their own version of a flycatcher:


Eastern Kingbird, Life History, All About Birds - Cornell Lab of Ornithology


Update: The Flycatcher is gone. I am thinking it recovered. I am hoping so anyway. I was slipping off my rubber irrigation boots, prior to putting on my "working on the Prius boots" when I saw the bird just about a foot away from me -- just below my big kitchen window. Birds at times do collide with that window, so I am thinking that that must of been what happened. Most seem to recover and fly off quickly, but this bird did NOT look good.

Hoping for the best.

Well, back outside -- it is rotate the tires day -- joy -- raise up front tire, take it off. Install spare. Lower front of car. Raise rear of car, take off rear tire, install previous front tire. Lower back of car. Raise front of car, take off spare, install previous back tire.

Repeat on the other side of the car....after that it will be time for a Rolling Rock and maybe some exciting golf on one of the five channels I get on my TV.

 

My feeling is that yes, we need to see a 60 mpg hybrid. That would stimulate the market quite a bit. I think it is a possibility to build one. Yes, the Ioniq is making wild claims of being faster, sexier and more mpg than the Prius. But the Ioniq has to show us longevity with low maintenance costs.

The automotive industry seems to be "testing" the water to see what the market's appetite is. More power? More mpg? More gizmos? All three? Tesla seems to be in a market of its own by offering all three. Their new car that will sell under 30k is the real test. I think that one is going to sell like crazy. Heck, going over 200 miles on one charge and zero to 60 in a 440 Hemi speed is fun...........and cheap!!

 

One reason there is less chatter, there is less misinformation to correct.
Even automotive writers have mastered that B is for Braking not for Battery.
We are not flooded with 16 year olds driving the diesel pickup mommie bought them.
Very few are contending that the Hummer is a better deal ecologically.

 

Flycatcher is gone@24. Would not wish to speak against this optimism.

Birds after window strikes are often 'out' for more than a minute. Some sort of warm reboot.

 

I think that a lot of the very vocal semi-wealthy smug [your favorite expletive] Prius owners moved on to Teslas to further their I'm-better-than-you lifestyles.

Funny story: met up with an old JDM-scene acquaintance of mine a few weeks back who worked at Tesla and told him about how I hated the vicious, smug community. He said that all the time he'd be at a supercharger with his own Model S and he'd be getting dirty looks from other owners and he wanted to be all "I designed your car, [your favorite expletive here]" to them.