Just need to vent...

2013-2015 Ford Escape, 4wd

 

Wow, because of the on-going recall of the Gen 5 Prius rear-door latch issues, we are not allowed to order any at the dealership....not sure when they'll open it back up.
So looks like my wife will be ordering a 2024 Corolla Hybrid. Salesman said it's about a 3-4 month waiting time. (We'd heard the Prius was a 6-month wait.)
I'm glad...I personally like the Corolla Hybrid more than the new Prius. (And I checked, it'll use the same oil and oil filter as my 2021 Prius.)

 

There's always other sources;


.

 

HOLY CARP!!!!
US DOLLARS?!?!?!?!?!?

wow.
I'll stick with trucks thank you.
They're cheaper over the long haul - even when gas is over $3 a gallon!!!!

($2.89 locally, yesterday for RUL)

 

Well, if you're putting 4,000 miles on a vehicle in 4 months, like I am, let's do the math (for a year):

Prius: 12,000 miles / 60 mpg = 200 gallons @ $2.89 = $578
Tundra: 12,000 miles / 15 mpg = 800 gallons @ $2.89 = $2,312

OUCH

 

Average gas in California where most drivers are, you find it's well over $5 per gallon. Highest in the state is over $7 per gallon. Got a California diesel pickup? Don't even get me started. Try to do the math on that.

 

I admit, it took me a few tries to figure out how that might be true.

I suppose if you don't drive your pickup much and leave it parked mostly in Alabama, it could last a really long time and cost little.

Up here, you only need about 15 winters to rust out your ride whether it is a $70k pickup or a $30k Prius. Some still take the pickup and pay extra for fuel & insurance the whole time.

 

Vehicles rust?
Hmmm.
That's still a thing in my beloved home state of Indiana, but not in the deep South.
My 2023 was $35k plus TTL, on sale because of a door-knob sized shallow dent in the front bumper.
They offered to replace the bumper but I declined.
Exactly one person noticed it and I told them that a Corolla hit me in the parking lot and was totaled, but fortunately the driver walked away.

So far I'm on a 15k miles per year track but I expect that to drop significantly when we sell the 2012 and put my CFO in a CUV.

No way I'm ever going to buy a diesel - even if the truck were 2/3 the price of a gasser instead of the other way around.
See also: Tundra.

I replaced a nearly bone stock 14-year-old GMC Sierra (w/Tow package) with the same thing.
My real-world MPG is 20-24 and I have a 9500# tow rating.
I did log 19.5 on my last 650 mile road trip but I was running....um......significantly above PSL for nearly all of the trip.

If I need to move anything heavier, I'll use explosives or......I live in the Deep South.
I know a dozen people with dually-diesels and at least 6 of them would be dependable enough for a >100 mile trip.

 

Well gosh, wish we'd known that before traveling 1,680 miles so far - to inlaws/Arkansas from Montana, on our way to Nashville in a couple days (round trip nearly ~4,900 rt miles). And we're in our dually diesel Class C motorhome. We're doomed!




Our 6cyl MB turbo diesel has been averaging around 11 MPG so far. If we'd have a Ford v10, our neighbor says she's only getting between 8 & 9mpg.

 

If you can afford the depreciation of an RV, you can afford the additional repair bills for an oil burner over a gasser.
If you're lucky, the costs may offset.
Maybe not in Nashville, though.

We use diesel GENSETS in telecommunications - because at scale, this seems prudent - for now.
(AND stationary diesels use off-road fuel and DO NOT use DEF!)
FORTUNATELY, we also have an organic Power Crew whose job-title is, literally!......Electronic Tech.
They (and I when necessary) are able to 'battle-short' all of the troublesome sensors when we REALLY NEED backup power - like during those autumnal storms that have plagued the coastal areas of our nation since we wrested that land from the indigs.
Diesel engines themselves are simplicity, durability, and reliability personified!!!
This has been true since the murder of Rudolf Diesel himself in the fall of 1913.
UNFORTUNATELY his engines are ALSO dirty AF - and so the Climate Industrial Complex has mandated that these oil-burners be fitted with a dizzying array of pollution mitigation devices and sensors WHICH will much more often than not be the cause of non-routine visits to your local service center.

My towing needs are simple, and will never exceed 10,000#
For ME, a $35000 gasser seems prudent.

YMMV.

 

Food pet peeve as we travel across the Deep south ....



With so many edible good parts (personal favorite being a nice pork roast) why would anybody want to eat its guts or it's pickled feet.
& Chitlins? Yuck. Shove 'em back where they came from.
.

 

Food insecurity is a thing, ONLY because people have a somewhat distorted view of what constitutes 'food' and 'insecurity.'
Mostly it's a money thing, but that is an aside.....
Sometimes people who are starving will eat ANYTHING that does not try to eat THEM first.
Example:
Soft Shell Crab.
Who the HECK ate the first one of THOSE things?????

As someone with some passing familiarity with what crabs EAT, I generally avoid eating them even when some industrious soul tries to disguise them by taking them out of the shell!!
...or at least deep frying them.

FUN Fact:
During the US Revolution, British Soldiers were commonly and disparagingly referred to as 'lobsterbacks' because of their red uniforms.
At that time ONLY a person of relatively LOW social standing would actually eat a lobster (because they were bottom-feeding scavengers!)
Think "sea buzzards."
Still....
Lobsters are actually not considered to be ignominious food today - at least by some people.
I suppose people eat....'food' that they would otherwise think is....um....'revolting' and think.....
"That wasn't toooo bad, actually...."

Other famous examples:
Escargot
Balout
Ortolon
Kimchi
Insects

Generally Speaking, TWO things cause historical disruptions that affect caloric intake: War and Disease.

There is a vestigial acceptance of 'greens' and 'chitterlings' in the US as being an acceptable calorie source because of the War of the Southern Rebellion, sometimes and curiously called the US Civil War.

I personally do NOT consider pigs feet, greens, organ meat, or most of the other things listed above as a socially acceptable calorie source - but I try not to look down on the people that do....



....and I'm NOT starving or 'calorie insecure.'

 

Things we continue to do despite having long ago forgotten why we do them, apparently ...

I went to withdraw some cash. The teller put the details into her computer and said "ok, you can sign right here", indicating the little signature pad on the counter. I said "thanks".

And we looked at each other for a moment.

And she said, "it's ready for you to sign any time."

"Ever since my childhood," I said, "I have signed for receiving cash when I have received cash...."

"Oh," she said, as if that was an obscure detail her training never really got into, and went and got the cash.

 

Peculiar food listings seem peevable, so I propose

Icelandic harkarl
stinky tofu
Durian fruit
A surprising variety of malodorous cheeses featuring those with resident mites

 

People will sign anything....and they don't read

 

So an email come in from Home Depot about a fraudulent purchase. The card is canceled; fraudulent payments to be refunded, and; even Home Depot contacted to know it was a fraudulent purchase. Been there, done that, caught it early.

Bob Wilson

 

we're seeing this about once a year. a lot of skimmers out there, and still places without tap to pay.

 

All of the fraudulent purchase alerts I have received from retail or other regular businesses supposed merchants, have themselves been fraudulent, from imposters linking to bad websites.

Of the few actual fraudulent transactions experienced, I personally reported about half to the card company, the other half were trapped by the card company itself even before they alerted me.

One of the later caused me a declined card at a restaurant, for a fraud attempt several states away that happened while we were eating in that restaurant. Ironically for this thread, it was a result of an earlier intrusion into and data theft from Home Depot's card processing system, but before that theft was made public.