I got into an accident with my Leaf yesterday!

[John Kuthe]

But I was hit from the rear, so I know it was NOT MY FAULT!

John Kuthe, RN, BSN

[Bryan Simmons]

On Monday, July 10, 2023 at 1:52:33 PM UTC-5, John Kuthe wrote:
> But I was hit from the rear, so I know it was NOT MY FAULT!
>

Too bad it wasn't a FATAL accident. It would be nice if
you were dead. If they total your car, you won't get
enough cash to replace it, and you don't have the extra
money. You may have to resort to driving Baby II.
Hahahahahahahaha.
>
> John Kuthe, RN, BSN

--Bryan

[Thomas Joseph]

John Kuthe wrote:

> But I was hit from the rear, so I know it was NOT MY FAULT!

Nothing personal, but anyone who drives a car called a Leaf
deserves an accident every day. Car names convey image.
Stallion, Bronco, and Mustang among others conveys a
certain macho power image. Town Cars and Continentals
convey the image of an office on wheels. But a leaf, what
does it convey? It goes with the flow, wherever the wind blows,
plus it's electric so we know whoever's driving is a friendly
ecologically sound person who cares about everyone and
everything on the planet. Leafs go with the flow. Sounds
cool. Maybe is cool. But they have no control. Sometimes
having no control is good - it opens the door to many new
and exciting things. Other times It dips and dives and
zips into things that get in it's way. And they deserve it because
even though they are cool and provide an image of laid-back
grooviness they are in fact punks hiding behind that image
which is blatantly false and disgustingly non macho.

[Bruce]

On Mon, 10 Jul 2023 12:47:12 -0700 (PDT), Thomas Joseph
<jazee...@gmail.com> wrote:

>John Kuthe wrote:
>
>> But I was hit from the rear, so I know it was NOT MY FAULT!
>
>
>Nothing personal, but anyone who drives a car called a Leaf
>deserves an accident every day. Car names convey image.
>Stallion, Bronco, and Mustang among others conveys a
>certain macho power image. Town Cars and Continentals
>convey the image of an office on wheels. But a leaf, what
>does it convey?

It conveys green, nature, environment. It conveys modernity, progress,
sustainability. Electric cars FTW!

[Sqwertz]

On Mon, 10 Jul 2023 11:52:29 -0700 (PDT), John Kuthe wrote:

> But I was hit from the rear, so I know it was NOT MY FAULT!
>
> John Kuthe, RN, BSN

Oh boy. Sister is gonna be pissed off!

What's this, fourth time hit from the rear? It's from you
suddenly jerking to a stop to wave down hookers doing the rounds
and 12 year-old girls on their way to school.

You're fucked now. No insurance. Did you flee the scene? You
should have. That's what everybody here does now as there's a
standard defense against it: "It wasn't me driving".

-sw

[lucr...@florence.it]

On Tue, 11 Jul 2023 06:06:36 +1000, Bruce <Br...@invalid.invalid>
wrote:

Can't be referring to the battery then!

[Bruce]

Didn't you have shares in the fossil fuel car industry? :)

[melting clouds of lead]

On Mon, 10 Jul 2023 15:11:43 -0500
Sqwertz <sqwe...@gmail.compost> wrote:

> You're fucked now. No insurance.

You seem to fuck about anything:

https://www.centraltexasfoodbank.org/sites/default/files/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Steve-Wertz-Presentation-057.jpg

[Ed P]

Hit from the rear, it could be a big payday for him. Call one of those
TV lawyers.

[Thomas Joseph]

Bruce raved about: The Leaf

> It conveys green, nature, environment. It conveys modernity, progress,
> sustainability. Electric cars FTW!

It conveys only one thing to me, that I have now owned a car
in nearly 40 years, and as the world's greatest driver of all time,
as evidenced by my stellar not once accident ever record, I
more than anyone certainly deserve to own a car, and a society
of folks grateful for my existence should buy it for me. A few
pennies from everyone and I'm set. So for me that's what any
car conveys, another thing I don't own mainly because I know I
could never afford the maintenance. Nothing against electric
cars - not as a main issue anyway - but they too along with
every new version of older things will have negative aspects
most people have not yet considered, which seems to be the
case with lots of new stuff. I am not against new stuff either.
But I am also not for it. You seem to be for all new things, probably
because it conveys an image to others of you being an open
minded flexible human creature when clearly you are not. To
me the electric car conveys more than just the things you
mention. I see that little car and I see what comes with it
whether it's visible or not - "Baby on Board" signs in the back
window with the usual predictable package deal type political
bumper stickers all over the tiny chassis. They are not there,
not for real - not now. But they are there in spirit, no doubt
about it.

[Dave Smith]

That's a shame. A rear ender could damage his battery and insurance
would pay for a new one.

[Thomas Joseph]

Ed P wrote:

> Hit from the rear, it could be a big payday for him. Call one of those
> TV lawyers.

I don't know Kuthe personally but have a feeling he gets hit from
the rear quite often and is willing to pay for it when he has the money.

That's when the "Leaf" meets the "Leaf Blower."

[Bruce]

You make things so complicated. Small problems with electric cars are
being solved. Electricity can be generated and used in a sustainable
way, as opposed to fossil fuel. So electric cars are good. Simple as
that.

[Bering Sea Bar & Brig@MarthaStewart.GoodThing]

Intense neck pain can deliver a new Nissan ev with over 200 miles battery range. $44k base price.

[itsjoan...@webtv.net]

On Monday, July 10, 2023 at 1:52:33 PM UTC-5, John Kuthe wrote:
>

> But I was hit from the rear, so I know it was NOT MY FAULT!
>
> John Kuthe, RN, BSN
>

How much damage did it do to your car?

[Thomas]

On Monday, July 10, 2023 at 2:52:33 PM UTC-4, John Kuthe wrote:
> But I was hit from the rear, so I know it was NOT MY FAULT!
>
> John Kuthe, RN, BSN

Next time you are done in the car wash bay, pull out. It pisses people who are stuck in line waiting.

[lucr...@florence.it]

On Tue, 11 Jul 2023 07:47:35 +1000, Bruce <Br...@invalid.invalid>
wrote:

Not if all that electricity is generated by coal burning.

[Bruce]

Generating electricity can become and to a degree already has become
sustainable. Burning fossil fuel never will be.

"It is important to note that the environmental benefits of electric
cars also depend on factors such as the electricity generation mix in
a particular region, the source of materials used in batteries, and
the recycling practices for batteries. However, as the electricity
grid becomes cleaner and technology advances, the environmental
advantages of electric vehicles are expected to increase further."
(ChatGPT)

[jmcquown]

Not his fault, but didn't he just crow about getting it out of the shop?
Now it's back in the shop? I wonder if this is leading up to an
announcment of how he will not be able to make it to the so-called "job"
he claimed he'd be starting next Monday, July 17th.

Jill

[jmcquown]

Not if the person who allegedly rear-ended him didn't have insurance.
Kuthe has announced many times the only insurance he has is the state
minimum Liabiity, which does not cover collision, much less someone
rear-ending his car. Or him running his car up onto a curb or scraping
it along the side of his house. This is just another LOOK AT ME post.

Jill

[dsi1]

My guess is that battery energy density will be more than 400 wH/kg in a few years. It'll change everything. Gasoline engines will make as much sense as running trains on steam.

[Bruce]

On Mon, 10 Jul 2023 18:38:23 -0400, jmcquown <j_mc...@comcast.net>
wrote:

Ask him. He's here.

[Bruce]

On Mon, 10 Jul 2023 18:46:01 -0400, jmcquown <j_mc...@comcast.net>
wrote:

It worked. Again.

[Bruce]

Yes. Some things are actually changing for the better, whether
Lucretia likes it or not.

[Ed P]

On 7/10/2023 7:04 PM, Bruce wrote:

>>> You make things so complicated. Small problems with electric cars are
>>> being solved. Electricity can be generated and used in a sustainable
>>> way, as opposed to fossil fuel. So electric cars are good. Simple as
>>> that.
>>
>> My guess is that battery energy density will be more than 400 wH/kg in a few years. It'll change everything. Gasoline engines will make as much sense as running trains on steam.
>
> Yes. Some things are actually changing for the better, whether
> Lucretia likes it or not.

Wind and solar generated a record 22.3% of EU electricity in 2022,

In the US,Natural gas was the largest source—about 40%—of U.S.
electricity generation in 2022. Wind and solar about 5% and growing.
Coal 18%, the rest mostly nukes.

Takes a long time to make the changes, but it is in the works.

[Bruce]

According to ChatGPT, this is the top 5 most advanced countries in
this respect:
1. Iceland 2. Denmark 3. Sweden 4. Costa Rica (yes, Costa Rica) 5.
Germany

[Bruce]

On Tue, 11 Jul 2023 10:15:15 +1000, Bruce <Br...@invalid.invalid>
wrote:

As per ChatGPT's knowledge cutoff of September 2021, California is the
most advanced of the US states when it comes to sustainable energy. As
always, left wingers have to save the world.

[John Kuthe]

I was hit from behind, and knocked the whole rear off.

John Kuthe, RN, BSN

[Leonard Blaisdell]

On 2023-07-10, Ed P <e...@snet.xxx> wrote:

> Takes a long time to make the changes, but it is in the works.

I predict world war before Utopia arrives. Then, none of this will
matter. We'll see.

[S Viemeister]

I haven't visited Iceland in a number of years, but I have spent time
there in the depth of winter. The air was amazingly clean, and the
houses were warm and cozy. Much of their heating is (was?) provided by
hot water - hot water which is heated by their volcanoes.
.

[Thomas]

Equals totalled.

[Hank Rogers]

Or at least a new battery?

[Thomas]

"Neck pain" was the way to go until an STD meal gave the energy to brag about cutting the lawn.

[Bryan Simmons]

*Your car* was hit from behind. Too bad it wasn't you.
It would have been nice if someone had crushed your
skull.
>
> John Kuthe, RN, BSN

--Bryan

[itsjoan...@webtv.net]

I thought that job started at the end of June!

[itsjoan...@webtv.net]

The bumper????

[Sqwertz]

On Mon, 10 Jul 2023 17:18:36 -0400, Ed P wrote:

> Hit from the rear, it could be a big payday for him. Call one of those
> TV lawyers.

It made him impotent and narcissistic for life.

-sww

[lucr...@florence.it]

On 11 Jul 2023 00:46:07 GMT, Leonard Blaisdell

I think you might be right :(

[GM]

Michael Power on Kenya

"The 2030 target — which is well within reach as Kenya is ahead of its interim targets — is to generate
100% of power from renewable sources.

by Tyler Cowen July 11, 2023

https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2023/07/michael-howard-on-kenya.html

"With cyclical and Covid-related variations, of course, Kenya has been running a 5%+ GDP average annual growth rate for two decades. Since 1994, South Africa’s has, with an average of 2.4% per annum, not achieved half that. The contrast in performance is even more stark since 2011: in that year, South Africa’s GDP was 10.2 times Kenya’s; a decade later, in 2021, this ratio had fallen to 3.8. Meanwhile, according to Trading Economics, as South Africa’s current unemployment rate is 33%, Kenya’s is 5%…

Kenya’s informal economy is vibrant, solutions-oriented and celebrated — far more than pooh-poohed — by politicians of every persuasion. Called in Swahili “jua kali” — “hot sun”, or, literally, “sun hot” — it operates outdoors and amounts to a training ground for industrial labourers, many of whom have gone on to “graduate” into more formal manufacturing activities, a form of tropical apprenticeship that even the Germans would applaud.

It helps that 86% of Kenya’s workforce now has some post-secondary education.

On a drive into the City Centre from Nairobi Airport — now much faster thanks to a Chinese-built highway — you can see roadside manufacture of beds, buckets, furniture, tin trunks, lamps, kitchen pots, jikos (ovens), coffins… you name it. And this is all happening at 8pm, well after the jua has gone down!

Remoteness in Kenya is no longer a barrier to generating power: a flight over arid northern Kenya on a sunny day gives the impression of a country littered with “glittering diamonds”. On-grid electricity has benefitted from solar too, as well as wind and thermal with over 90% of power generated now coming from these sources.

The 2030 target — which is well within reach as the country is ahead of its interim targets — is to generate 100% of power from renewable sources.

As noted above, for renewable energy projects, private sector financing is everywhere to be seen, from the single solar panel on a house to the giant wind farms of Kipeto and Lake Turkana: Blackrock is an investor in the latter with the US government helping fund the former.

And Kenya’s thermal endowment — born of the country’s geological position astride the hot steam vents of the Great Rift Valley — is the original underpinning of its renewable energy story: here it has benefitted hugely from best-in-class Icelandic technical support and finance..."

</>

[songbird]

the classic example of: "If I don't like how it is going I'll
take all my toys and go home!" or tossing the chess board when
you're about to get check mated.

the facts of the matter, California is a huge economy and it's
made a great move forwards in electricity generation and storage
and it is proving many technologies and methods that others have
said won't work. works fine.

so unless you have your head up your rectum it's time to admit
you were wrong.

Texas, is a few steps behind but also a large economy that has
made improvements in electrical generation. in their case
because of incompetent leadership they've also shown exactly
how not to do some things. They've eaten a few billion
dollars of crow now. oops.


songbird

[GM]

On Tuesday, July 11, 2023 at 6:30:35 AM UTC-5, songbird wrote:
> Leonard Blaisdell wrote:
> > On 2023-07-10, Ed P <e...@snet.xxx> wrote:
> >
> >> Takes a long time to make the changes, but it is in the works.
> >
> >
> > I predict world war before Utopia arrives. Then, none of this will
> > matter. We'll see.
> the classic example of: "If I don't like how it is going I'll
> take all my toys and go home!" or tossing the chess board when
> you're about to get check mated.
>
> the facts of the matter, California is a huge economy and it's
> made a great move forwards in electricity generation and storage
> and it is proving many technologies and methods that others have
> said won't work. works fine.
>
> so unless you have your head up your rectum it's time to admit
> you were wrong.

Hmmm... a quick goog shows you are warbling "off - tune" there, "songbird":

😎


https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/23/californias-lofty-climate-goals-clash-with-reality-00058466

California’s latest power grid problems are just the beginning

State officials knew ahead of the recent heat wave that the grid was on shaky ground.

“Oh, my lord, we are in a very bad situation compared to even the worst case that we anticipated,” Siva Gunda, vice chair of the California Energy Commission, said he recalls thinking in the spring, when supply chain delays and a tariff on solar imports — compounded by severe drought — started to look like a multi-year power crisis.

The possibility of rolling blackouts became a shadow looming over California Democrats, even those who felt uneasy about keeping Diablo Canyon open. Some talked publicly about how outages contributed to the impeachment of then-Gov. Gray Davis at the beginning of the century..."


https://abcnews.go.com/US/california-blackouts-power-grid/story?id=89460998

"Why California has blackouts: A look at the power grid

The state's electrical grid has been strained during a prolonged heat wave.

Renewable energy supply: The state's grid is powered, in part, by renewable energy, including solar power and hydropower.

The solar supply decreases toward the end of the day, prompting the calls to reduce energy use after 3 p.m. or 4 p.m. There can also be uncertainty with solar supply due to factors such as cloud cover and smoke from wildfires, as the state battles several blazes..."

."

https://www.newsweek.com/california-facing-power-crisis-frets-over-electric-car-charging-routines-1602755

"California, Facing Power Crisis, Frets Over Electric Car Charging Routines

As temperatures hit triple digits during California's heat wave last week, the state's power grid operators encouraged residents to relieve pressure on the grid by charging their electric vehicles before the peak energy use times of day.

Increased reliance on solar and wind energy will present a "tricky problem" regarding "how much can we move what's currently overnight charging to be during the daytime hours, when generation may be more excessive," Moniot said..."

--
GM

[Bryan Simmons]

On Tuesday, July 11, 2023 at 6:30:35 AM UTC-5, songbird wrote:

West Texas has a huge potential for solar, and it's less
incompetence than ideology. I bought myself a retirement
present, a portable power supply. It was on sale for Prime
Days. It puts out 200W, and was less than $200. I didn't
buy a solar panel for it, but that can be added later.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09FF46FQ9
Today is my first day of retirement, and my wife's last day
to work is July 28.
>
> songbird

--Bryan

[GM]

Congrats on the retirements...!!!

--
GM

[melting clouds of lead]

On Tue, 11 Jul 2023 02:35:00 -0500
Sqwertz <sqwe...@gmail.compost> wrote:

> It made him impotent and narcissistic for life.
>
> -sww

You seem to fuck about anything:

https://www.centraltexasfoodbank.org/sites/default/files/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Steve-Wertz-Presentation-057.jpg

[Bryan Simmons]

I was supposed to work through Wednesday, but my
right knee was pretty painful, so I just quit in the middle
of my scheduled shift. The HR lady told me that if I
didn't complete my 2 weeks, I'd go on their "do not
rehire" list. I told her that I'd never work for Target, or
anyone else ever again.

The job had gotten to be more painful than fun, and
we don't need the money.
>
> --
> GM

--Bryan

[Mike]

In article <d1f16f0b-dc53-44c6...@googlegroups.com>, bryang...@gmail.com
Bryan says...

> I told her that I'd never work for Target, or
> anyone else ever again.
>
> The job had gotten to be more painful than fun, and
> we don't need the money.
>
>

> --Bryan
>
>
https://imgur.com/a/2VFth6W

Looks painful in more ways than one!

[Michael Trew]

On 7/10/2023 3:47 PM, Thomas Joseph wrote:
> John Kuthe wrote:
>
>> But I was hit from the rear, so I know it was NOT MY FAULT!
>
>

> Nothing personal, but anyone who drives a car called a Leaf
> deserves an accident every day.

LOL!

TJ, I saw a '56 Chrysler Windsor for sale the other day. It was a sharp
looking car, and the price was right (certainly more than you paid for
yours), but when he told me the engine was locked up from sitting, I let
it pass.

[Michael Trew]

On 7/10/2023 8:59 PM, S Viemeister wrote:
>
> I haven't visited Iceland in a number of years, but I have spent time
> there in the depth of winter. The air was amazingly clean, and the
> houses were warm and cozy. Much of their heating is (was?) provided by
> hot water - hot water which is heated by their volcanoes.

Well, that's a nifty source of heat. Either way, Geothermal heat can be
produced anywhere... most people don't want to (or can't afford to) pay
up to tap in.

[Michael Trew]

On 7/10/2023 7:02 PM, Bruce wrote:
> On Mon, 10 Jul 2023 18:46:01 -0400, jmcquown<j_mc...@comcast.net>
> wrote:
>>
>> Or him [Kuthe] running his car up onto a curb or scraping
>> it along the side of his house. This is just another LOOK AT ME post.
>
> It worked. Again.

Bingo.

[Ed P]

I read that a 200 foot well could provide enough heat for 500 sq. ft. so
for most homes you go deeper or multiple wells. Considering the price
of oil or electricity, there is a payback in 5 to 10 years. Considering
a house can last over 100, it could be a good deal.

[Dave Smith]

The guy who grow up across the street from us built a house up near
Sudbury and had geothermal heat installed. He likes it. I have no idea
of the cost but I don't imagine it is cheap. I imagine the costs might
be similar to that of drilling a well, which would cost about $15-20,000
here because we have to go down 300 feet to bedrock.

I wonder if anyone has ever considered a major commercial venture to
drill down closer to the core. There are some pretty deep mines already
dug in various parts of the worlds. There is one in Ontario that is
almost 10,000 feet. Temperatures get up to 50-60F, which should be more
than hot enough to heat homes. They could even drill down further from
there.

[jmcquown]

Nope. It's typical; he announces he has a job starting [whenever] and
suddenly the date changes. There is no job.

Jill

[Thomas]

I vote for the locksmith excuse.

[Dave Smith]

Don't worry. He accomplished what he was after..... attention.

[Bruce]

John's by far the most successful troll of RFC. He dwarfs Greg and
Hank.

[Alex]

John Kuthe wrote:

> On Monday, July 10, 2023 at 5:13:18 PM UTC-5, itsjoan...@webtv.net wrote:
>> On Monday, July 10, 2023 at 1:52:33 PM UTC-5, John Kuthe wrote:
>>> But I was hit from the rear, so I know it was NOT MY FAULT!
>>>
>>> John Kuthe, RN, BSN
>>>
>> How much damage did it do to your car?

> I was hit from behind, and knocked the whole rear off.
>
> John Kuthe, RN, BSN

Did you recover your bumper stickers?

[Hank Rogers]

I wonder if you ever sniff kuth's ass? After all, he's always
available, and he is a vegetarian, just like you, master.

He might even shave his nuts for you, to enhance the aroma.

[Thomas Joseph]

Bruce wrote:

> You make things so complicated. Small problems with electric cars are
> being solved. Electricity can be generated and used in a sustainable
> way, as opposed to fossil fuel. So electric cars are good. Simple as
> that.


I'll bet you're all behind self driving cars too. Cars that park themselves
and stop when something that doesn't register with their system appears
before them. These cars sound good and maybe one day they will live
up to the hype. But as things stand now there are not enough of them -
especially the self driving cars - to render a fair verdict one way or the
other. I do believe self driving cars will go over. But only if they get their
own roads - which surely they will as cars driven by people are relegated
to inferior roads. In the meantime I hope to read about as many accidents
as possible involving self driving cars. Maybe one day there will be traffic
court for misbehaving self driving cars. The owners will have to pay. And
until they do, their self driving cars will remain self parked on the street
till towed away by a self driving tow truck.

[Thomas Joseph]

Michael Trew wrote:

> LOL!
>
> TJ, I saw a '56 Chrysler Windsor for sale the other day. It was a sharp
> looking car, and the price was right (certainly more than you paid for
> yours), but when he told me the engine was locked up from sitting, I let
> it pass.

Always good to start out with an LOL - sucks me in every time.
You know it's possible that 56 Chrysler was mine. I guarantee
you if it never got totaled it's around somewhere toting a nice
price tag. I would love to hit the lottery but as a rule I don't think
about money lost from the past. Those cars I owned came easily
to me. They were cheap, mainly because I didn't need them and my
life did not revolve around them. I had mostly driving jobs in my life
but always drove other people's cars.

By the way, did I ever tell you I am the greatest driver this world has ever known?

[Bruce]

Yes, self-driving cars sound a bit scary to me. There's no software
without any bugs. On the other hand, self driving cars only have to be
as safe as or safer than human drivers.

[Thomas Joseph]

Dave Smith wrote:

> The guy who grow up across the street from us built a house up near
> Sudbury and had geothermal heat installed. He likes it. I have no idea
> of the cost but I don't imagine it is cheap. I imagine the costs might
> be similar to that of drilling a well, which would cost about $15-20,000
> here because we have to go down 300 feet to bedrock.
>
> I wonder if anyone has ever considered a major commercial venture to
> drill down closer to the core. There are some pretty deep mines already
> dug in various parts of the worlds. There is one in Ontario that is
> almost 10,000 feet. Temperatures get up to 50-60F, which should be more
> than hot enough to heat homes. They could even drill down further from
> there.

I am not in the least opposed to alternate energy sources. Whatever
works. But it really bugs me when people talk about how this or that
energy source is going to cost less than what we've got now. I don't
buy that for a second. Fuel can be made out of garbage. It can be made
from lots of things. Cheap things. But no matter how cheap the source
the cost will never be lower than it is now. For example, if gasoline costs
on $3.50 a gallon, the cost of garbage will be the same if used for as an
energy source. I am no economist but I do believe everything balances
out or moves upward. A good example of this are the outrageous minimum
wage hikes in some states - doubling from $7 and hour to $15. When pay
checks suddenly double you can expect the cost of living to double as well.

Slaves for Life!

[Thomas]

Bing fucking O.

[Thomas Joseph]

Bruce wrote:

> Yes, self-driving cars sound a bit scary to me. There's no software
> without any bugs. On the other hand, self driving cars only have to be
> as safe as or safer than human drivers.

That's easy to say since you don't have to prove it. I have read of
quite a few accidents involving self driving cars and in most cases
there was a human in the front seat not paying enough attention and
subsequently getting the blame for the 'self driving' car's subpar performance.
How many self driving cars have you seen? I mean sharing the street with
cars driven by humans with no human on board as a safety precaution. I
doubt you have seen many as such described. When you do and there are
no accidents you can crow all you want about how great they are. But they
have not come close to proving their value. Nowhere near it. Also, just my
opinion - but as stupid as humans can be, and as bad as many of them drive,
I will take them any day over a self driving car. If you're a good driver you
will always establish eye contact with drivers. You can hang your hand out
the window and wave them forward, or put your hand out in the halt position.
As things stand now there is no communication between drivers and self
driven cars. I have always viewed driving - even driving a cab which was my
job for 33 years - I always considered it more a communications job than
a transit one.

[Thomas Joseph]

Thomas wrote:

> doubling from $7 and hour to $15. When pay
> checks suddenly double you can expect the cost of living to double as well.

> Slaves for Life!


> Bing fucking O.

Thanks for that Thomas. So many examples. When I drove cab, if the
meter rate went up the cost to lease the cab would go up within a matter
of weeks. I'm living on age related SSI. It comes through social security.
Last year they raised it from $840 a month to $914 - a nice raise. Within
two months my rent went up accordingly. I was expecting it and I don't
mind. As long as things stay the same I'm ok. Anyway, there are a ton
of examples to go along with the minimum wage hikes. My opinion, if
you have to work you are not rich no matter how much money you make.

[Ed P]

So you find the $7.25 from 2009 acceptable today? Would you go back to
your 2009 wage?

[Bruce]

On Tue, 11 Jul 2023 18:16:24 -0700 (PDT), Thomas Joseph
<jazee...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Bruce wrote:
>
>> Yes, self-driving cars sound a bit scary to me. There's no software
>> without any bugs. On the other hand, self driving cars only have to be
>> as safe as or safer than human drivers.
>
>
>That's easy to say since you don't have to prove it.

Prove what? I'm not saying that self driving cars already are as
(un)safe as humans. I mean that once they're as safe as or safer than
humans, they're good to go.

>I have read of
>quite a few accidents involving self driving cars and in most cases
>there was a human in the front seat not paying enough attention and
>subsequently getting the blame for the 'self driving' car's subpar performance.
>How many self driving cars have you seen? I mean sharing the street with
>cars driven by humans with no human on board as a safety precaution. I
>doubt you have seen many as such described.

None.

>When you do and there are
>no accidents you can crow all you want about how great they are.

I'm not saying they're great. I'm not saying much at all about this.

>But they
>have not come close to proving their value. Nowhere near it. Also, just my
>opinion - but as stupid as humans can be, and as bad as many of them drive,
>I will take them any day over a self driving car. If you're a good driver you
>will always establish eye contact with drivers. You can hang your hand out
>the window and wave them forward, or put your hand out in the halt position.
>As things stand now there is no communication between drivers and self
>driven cars. I have always viewed driving - even driving a cab which was my
>job for 33 years - I always considered it more a communications job than
>a transit one.

With many new cars, I can't even see the driver.

[Thomas Joseph]

Ed P wrote:
Thomas wrote:

Thomas Joseph wrote:


> When pay checks suddenly double you can expect the cost of
> living to double as well.
> >
> > Slaves for Life!


> > Bing fucking O.


> So you find the $7.25 from 2009 acceptable today? Would you go back to
> your 2009 wage?

Are you talking to me or Thomas? Either way your question is too extreme
in both directions as if minimum wage has to be either $7 or $15. When I
worked in the liquor store in the mid 70s, minimum wage was $2.00 an hour.
I was fortunate to pay cheap rent. Other times I didn't pay rent at all, I slept
on people's floors. Anyway there have always been minimum wage hikes as
far back as I can remember. But to double the rate, it's just insane for anyone
to think the cost of living isn't go to skyrocket to make up for it. I have no wage
today. I don't work. I work at living but I don't have a job and I'm glad. But most
of my life's work was around minimum wage. I did not care as long as I could
handle my monthly apartment rent. A guy from Providence with a heavy New
England accent - Blackie Gallo was his name - he used to say it all the time: "You
can beat the knife and the fawk - but you can't beat the rent." He was talking
about walking out of restaurants without paying. But Blackie was a deeper
thinker than just that and his comment applies across the board. You may not
believe this, but in all the jobs I've had I never once asked what the pay would be.
I knew minimum wage was good enough to pay my rent. My only questions were,
"How many days a week and how many hours?" Like being in prison: "How much
time do I have to do?"

[Thomas Joseph]

Bruce wrote:

> With many new cars, I can't even see the driver.

I get that. But I still say communication is key. Always.
My brother goes for all the latest gadgetry. He loves the
rearview mirror that adjusts itself when the sun goes down
to not get the glare from cars behind. I am not a fan of
glare. But I don't like the self adjusting mirror either because
it makes everything dimmer including the face of the drivers
behind me. I believe seeing the face - if possible - is a good
thing, always - even if it's the ugliest face on earth. Even if
it's your face, Bruce my lad.

[Bruce]

I don't even have central locking, so a self adjusting rear mirror is
fairytale material to me.

[Thomas Joseph]

Bruce wrote:

> I don't even have central locking, so a self adjusting rear mirror is
> fairytale material to me.

A lot of stuff is new to me. The secret to finding new stuff is
to stick with old stuff for a long time, then even the most mild
change toward newness will seem like a big evolutionary event.

I drove cab for 33 years. A lot of rattle traps. But they ran. And
they also broke down - a lot. But later when it became strictly
lease where you pay a cab owner to rent his cab to drive for
the night, the cars were better taken care of because they were
owned by individuals, they did not come from a company fleet.

So later in my 'career' a lot of cars seemed modern to me even
though to most people they were standard fare. Sometimes the
owner would let me take the car home if he wasn't using it the
next day. I would park it and walk to the door of my apartment
building where I would stand and stare at the still burning headlights
- some kind of safety measure, rather common nowadays - and I
would stand there every time and stare at the headlights and would
not enter my apartment building until I saw the lights go out. Pretty
funny.

I drove a lot of crap cars in my time. I could tell you about some of
them but you'd probably not believe me or think I'm exaggerating. People
did not know it, but they were not in good hands when they called the
cab company. Most of the cars had no spares in the trunk. The tires
were bald. It was Raw Town all the way.

[Bruce]

On Tue, 11 Jul 2023 19:36:58 -0700 (PDT), Thomas Joseph
<jazee...@gmail.com> wrote:

>Bruce wrote:
>
>> I don't even have central locking, so a self adjusting rear mirror is
>> fairytale material to me.
>
>
>A lot of stuff is new to me. The secret to finding new stuff is
>to stick with old stuff for a long time, then even the most mild
>change toward newness will seem like a big evolutionary event.
>
>I drove cab for 33 years. A lot of rattle traps. But they ran. And
>they also broke down - a lot. But later when it became strictly
>lease where you pay a cab owner to rent his cab to drive for
>the night, the cars were better taken care of because they were
>owned by individuals, they did not come from a company fleet.

>So later in my 'career' a lot of cars seemed modern to me even
>though to most people they were standard fare. Sometimes the
>owner would let me take the car home if he wasn't using it the
>next day. I would park it and walk to the door of my apartment
>building where I would stand and stare at the still burning headlights
>- some kind of safety measure, rather common nowadays - and I
>would stand there every time and stare at the headlights and would
>not enter my apartment building until I saw the lights go out. Pretty
>funny.

Maybe it was a bit like going to bed before the baby's asleep.

>I drove a lot of crap cars in my time. I could tell you about some of
>them but you'd probably not believe me or think I'm exaggerating. People
>did not know it, but they were not in good hands when they called the
>cab company. Most of the cars had no spares in the trunk. The tires
>were bald. It was Raw Town all the way.

Until I met my now wife, who had higher standards than me, all my cars
cost under $300 American. Yearly safety checks were always touch and
go. Or touch and don't go.

[Thomas]

When my group was making 10 I was making 20.
The 10er's got bumped to 17 while I remained at 20. Had The 20 got bumped to 25 or 30 it would have felt equitable to me.

In 2001 I was at 35 but had a bad day.

[lucr...@florence.it]

On gadgetry - I listened to an item the other day all about car theft.
Apparently it is quite rare now for cars other than keyless starters
to be stolen, thieves can illegally enter a keyless car so swiftly and
smoothly that people in the car park don't even realise the car is
being stolen.

[songbird]

Bruce wrote:
...

> You make things so complicated. Small problems with electric cars are
> being solved. Electricity can be generated and used in a sustainable
> way, as opposed to fossil fuel. So electric cars are good. Simple as
> that.

on top of that, for those who are into actually thinking
about the problem and of energy topics in general look at
how much fossil fuels are required to generate the final
electricty compared to what happens with solar or wind
(in combination with battery storage). the difference is
quite large. most of what comes from fossil fuel use is
heat which is wasted.

it's a whole different world out there now and every
time someone puts more renewable energy onto the grid
improves the efficiency and capabilities for all the
others who are connected.

battery storage is a good way to store the energy but
also improving the grid transmission system means that
if you aren't local perhaps you can still get some juice
from some other place that has it avalable and is often
cheaper than firing up a fossil fuel burning plant.
much less pollution.

if i had a way to do solar here i would, but right
now i'm not the owner so any solar gadgets i do are
tiny in comparison to what would be needed on a hot
and sunny day or in the middle of winter when some
extra heat would be great. heat storage from summer
to winter would be really great but retrofitting an
existing place would be tough. yet even a months
worth of heat from summer made available to the mid-
winter would still save some expense (and for us some
fossil fuel burning since we use propane for heat
along with the electricity needed to move the heat
around).


songbird

[Mike Duffy]

On 2023-07-12, Thomas wrote:

> In 2001 I was at $35/hr but had a bad day.

This sounds like it precipitated a notable event.

How did the day end?

[Mike Duffy]

On 2023-07-12, songbird wrote:

> battery storage is a good way to store the energy

I predict heavy use of vanadium ion batteries.

These are relatively easy to build at at huge scales,
and the ion bath experiences zero deterioration.

However, vanadium is already expensive.

[songbird]

right, there are other less expensive alternatives.
it doesn't matter how big things are for a fixed
location where you can stack containers up or build
bigger tanks. one reason why lithium ion batteries
are not really well suited for bulk energy storage
but they have the current leg up on manufacturing
capabilities. however they have to be cooled and
closely watched so they don't burn up and also they
can't really be stacked too closely together because
if they do catch on fire you don't want them to
take out all the surrounding battery packs. with
iron flow, they don't burn and don't need to be
cooled so you can stack them or build them as big
as you'd like.


songbird

[Thomas Joseph]

Bruce wrote:

> Until I met my now wife, who had higher standards than me, all my cars
> cost under $300 American. Yearly safety checks were always touch and
> go. Or touch and don't go.

I'm from the days when tires had inner tubes. I rarely had a spare
tire, maybe never. I drove cross country many times with bald
tires and no spare. Get a flat and hitchhike to the nearest gas
station for a $2.00 inner tube. I was not very responsible. But
those were my own cars, my own business. Driving the cab
was different. You don't want one breakdown after another. They
can ruin your night. I drove for a variety of guys in L.A. One was
a young kid who owned a station wagon. He was very flexible.
Easy to deal with. That's because he didn't care. If something
went wrong he'd take forever to fix it. I had a flat one time and replaced
it with the only thing he had in his trunk - a donut tire. They are
designed just to get you through the night. I drove it for a week
before he finally got around to putting a real one on there. He was
very lax. That paid off for me in some ways, in others not so much.
Several times during my shift I'd be told by the dispatcher, "No more
calls for you tonight, your owner did not pay his weekly radio dues."
But I'm not complaining. If it were really that bad I'd have made a
change. And eventually I did. I never paid over $100 for a car. But
that was in the late 60s and early 70s when you could get a good
15 or 20 year old car for $50. When I was 20 I didn't even work and
owned two cars - a 48 Plymouth and a 59 Studebaker Lark station
wagon. When I was 21 I moved to L.A. and had to decide which car
to take. I went with the station wagon. Didn't matter, I don't think
I ever owned a car that lasted more than a year, 2 at the most. If
something went wrong and I couldn't find anyone to fix it, that was
it, it would sit on the street till it was towed away. There was a
certain freedom to it.

[Thomas Joseph]

Thomas wrote:

Ed P wrote:

> > So you find the $7.25 from 2009 acceptable today? Would you go back to
> > your 2009 wage?


> When my group was making 10 I was making 20.
> The 10er's got bumped to 17 while I remained at 20. Had The 20 got bumped to 25 or 30 it would have felt equitable to me.
>
> In 2001 I was at 35 but had a bad day.

In the late 60s in L.A. I worked for a large moving company.
Some of our jobs were two and three days long. Lots of mansions.
Middle of summer. Very hot. Had to take the back way in, passed
a lot of big swimming pools while carrying stuff. It pissed me off.
Anyway, at that time minimum wage was about $1.80 an hour. But
the moving company paid $11 an hour. Insane. $11 an hour and
there was always overtime. Most of the guys wanted it. They had
families and what they thought was a future and they wanted more.
But all I wanted was enough money to make it through the week,
enough to play pool and drink beer. With the moving job I made
enough money in one day to cover my weekly expenses with ease.
But jobs don't work that way, they want you 5 or 6 days a week. So
I lasted a year or more then later worked for a friend who had his
own truck. But even then I had a feeling $11 an hour was too much.
Most people would not see it that way, they would think $1.80 is
too little. Maybe it was. But $11 an hour was insane. I can't
explain it, just a vibe, but there was something about it I did not
like, or more accurately trust. It was a union job by the way. I
had a lot of weird jobs, mostly minimum wage. Worked the
carnival for 6 months too. Moments during every job where I
hated the world, but now that it's the past I wouldn't change
a thing.

[Thomas Joseph]

lucr...@florence.it wrote:

> On gadgetry - I listened to an item the other day all about car theft.
> Apparently it is quite rare now for cars other than keyless starters
> to be stolen, thieves can illegally enter a keyless car so swiftly and
> smoothly that people in the car park don't even realise the car is
> being stolen.

When I drove cab I would openly sympathize with customers
who would call for rides home because they were locked out
of their cars. I took one guy home who said he'd come back
tomorrow for his car. When I got him to his place he pulled
out an electric garage door opener and it wouldn't work. I
had to boost him up to a balcony where he was able to enter
via a window. Same applies to electric car windows. When
you have the old rollups it's a real bitch when someone gets
out and you have to lean back to roll up the window yourself.
That's when you're wishing you had electric windows. Then
finally one day you get them and one goes out. $300 to fix.
Also, last week there was another electrical blackout in this
area due to a storm which was really nothing more than some
rain. I live on the top floor, the 5th. A guy who lives on the same
floor took on the responsibility of letting people in who have
forgotten their keys. Well, for the outside door there are no
keys, it's some kind of fob that activates an electric switch.
With the blackout the door did not work. Neither did the
elevator. The guy told me he was up and down 5 flights of
stairs 4 times that night to let people in. What's wrong with
having both a key and electric? Progress.

[Thomas Joseph]

lucr...@florence.it wrote:

> On gadgetry - I listened to an item the other day all about car theft.
> Apparently it is quite rare now for cars other than keyless starters
> to be stolen, thieves can illegally enter a keyless car so swiftly and
> smoothly that people in the car park don't even realise the car is
> being stolen.

Do you remember "The Club"? It was device people put on
the steering wheels of their parked cars so thieves could not
drive them away. I went to visit my sister in NYC. She let me
use her car. She told me it was hard to find a place to park and
showed me the streets she's usually lucky with. She had "The
Club" under the front seat. "Don't forget when you park to the
car to put the club on", she said. The street I parked the car
on was a good block or two long. After putting on the club
and getting out I walked past those cars to my sister's place
and every last car had the club in place. Hilarious. When
everyone is using the same security system it's likely not
going to work for all. Also one time driving cab in L.A. I
picked up a guy who was depressed because his car was
stolen. He was in the backseat. The theft had occurred earlier
that day. He kept moaning, his head between his hands, over
and over, "I can't believe it, I had the club, I had the club!" Funny.

[Thomas Joseph]

songbird wrote:

> if i had a way to do solar here i would, but right

> now i'm not the owner so any solar gadgets I do are

> tiny in comparison to what would be needed on a hot
> and sunny day or in the middle of winter when some
> extra heat would be great. heat storage from summer
> to winter would be really great but retrofitting an
> existing place would be tough.

I am not against any source of power that works. I am
talking more about as yet unproven methods such as self
driving cars for example. Also reliance on new things
that require other new things to keep running. So in
some ways no matter which way you go in the world
of progress it seems it's the same old problems in a
different package.

[Thomas]

It ended with me looking up at the 90 foot cliff i fell off of.
The business closed shortly after and being on crutches for 8 straight years put a damper on new good jobs.
It also instantly ended my wedding photography side business that I did not include in my 35.
I learned what a "staycation" was rather quickly.
I do get good parking spots now.

[Thomas Joseph]

Thomas wrote:

Mike Duffy wrote:

> > How did the day end?

> It ended with me looking up at the 90 foot cliff I fell off of.

> The business closed shortly after and being on crutches for 8 straight years put a damper on new good > jobs.
> It also instantly ended my wedding photography side business that I did not include in my 35.
> I learned what a "staycation" was rather quickly.
> I do get good parking spots now.

Funny. Very funny. Today a person can make a fortune off a handicap
if he's smart. But he may have to join a group to do it. The victim industry
is huge these days. Yes of course I'd rather have two good legs, but there
are sometimes advantages to being handicapped. I think a good example
is a professional skier who is world class but nowhere near the top. He
can make money doing what he claims to love but it will never be enough
because he is not a champion. Then one day he gets hit by a car and has to
have one leg amputated and goes on to be the best one legged skier in the
world. A champion at last.

[Mike Duffy]

> It ended with me looking up at
> the 90 foot cliff i fell off of.

Ouch! Did you not see the drop,
or did a part collapse, or ?

A ninety foot drop is generally fatal,
so surviving seems lucky in some sense.

What type of surface did you land on?

[Thomas Joseph]

Mike Duffy wrote:

> Ouch! Did you not see the drop,
> or did a part collapse, or ?
>
> A ninety foot drop is generally fatal,
> so surviving seems lucky in some sense.
>
> What type of surface did you land on?

Well Mike, you got your all out vertical cliff and then
you got your nearly vertical cliff where grabbing things
on the way down can slow your fall. You're not going
to get me anywhere near the edge of a vertical drop.
I took a hike one day in the San Gabriel Mts to an
old defunct hotel 3,000 feet at the top. I was in good
enough shape to not worry about making the trip,
but the trail was claustrophobic and restrictive. It
was a switch back and there was no way off it other
than going down or up. No detours. On one side
a cliff going up, on the other a cliff going down. I
was not impressed. I told the guy I'm with to please
continue on, but I've got to back out. I was getting
more and more panicked as my bleak imagination
soared the higher the trail took us. It was an open
trail, rocky and barren looking, no foliage. I found
myself literally clinging to the inside cliff as I edged
my way down. In the meantime I was being passed
by people jogging down with their shoes only inches
from the perilous edge. I knew I was nuts, but I
wanted off.

[dsi1]

Sorry to hear about that. Congrats on the good parking spots though. I wanted to get me one of those handicap parking permits but my doctor won't agree to it. What a dick!
OTOH, my wife's friend used to have a doc that would give her as many pain-killers as she wanted. Her guts are non-functional because of all the opioids that she's been taking for years. Things look bleak for her and there's nothing anybody can do about it.

[Thomas Joseph]

I see myself at the top of the Grand Canyon with a friend
yelling, "Holy shit Tom, you have got to see this", beckoning
me toward the edge of the massive attraction. I would go
to the edge for a look, but only if my legs are attached to
a strong rope which in turn is attached to something well
anchored. I would inch my way toward the edge on my belly,
careful all the while not to give the ankle chain too much slack.

[Bruce]

On Wed, 12 Jul 2023 19:16:41 GMT, Mike Duffy <mxd...@bell.net> wrote:

>> It ended with me looking up at
>> the 90 foot cliff i fell off of.

Who wrote this?

>Ouch! Did you not see the drop,
>or did a part collapse, or ?
>
>A ninety foot drop is generally fatal,
>so surviving seems lucky in some sense.
>
>What type of surface did you land on?

Who are you talking to?

[Michael Trew]

On 7/11/2023 10:57 PM, Bruce wrote:
>
> Until I met my now wife, who had higher standards than me, all my cars
> cost under $300 American. Yearly safety checks were always touch and
> go. Or touch and don't go.

Ha! And you complain about my cars.

[Bruce]

Yours aren't checked. They could be murder weapons.

[Thomas]

I was doing photos of a waterfall mid winter, thick blue ice. The edge just disappeared.
Halfway down i tried to grab a root sticking out. That slowed me but ripped my arm out of the socket.
The miracle part is my landing on my back. I landed on the roots of a newly huge fallen tree.
It almost bounced me but was a huge cushion. I had friends up top and needed to get back up. They were able to climb down and get me back up. The scenic trail down was not passable and it woukd have been a few miles if it were. Helicopter rescue would have made the news.
Oh, the pictures sucked.

[Thomas]

I lost my sunglasses here.
https://uncoveringpa.com/hiking-falls-trail-ricketts-glen-state-park

[dsi1]

We have some falls here too. The most famous would be Akaka falls. The most amazing thing about it is that there are little fishes that will climb up the 440 feet fall wall to spawn. You don't believe it? Me neither!

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/GEfE8O8FcDo

[cshenk]

Thomas Joseph wrote:

> A good example of
> this are the outrageous minimum wage hikes in some states - doubling
> from $7 and hour to $15. When pay checks suddenly double you can
> expect the cost of living to double as well.
>
> Slaves for Life!

This last part is true. I knew it as I saw it happen 3 times in my
life. This is the fourth time. Same story. The middle man is the one
really feeling the pain. Ay 19-21$ they were doing well. Not so much
now.

[Hank Rogers]

She must not be asian.

[Hank Rogers]

The master complains about everything.

[Thomas Joseph]

cshenk wrote:

> This last part is true. I knew it as I saw it happen 3 times in my
> life. This is the fourth time. Same story. The middle man is the one
> really feeling the pain. Ay 19-21$ they were doing well. Not so much
> now.

Hard to put into words, but for me the economy comes down to
escalation. Things seemed safer when people made 50 cents a
week but a penny bought many things. To me it all comes down
to the rent. Most of my life the rule was one week's wages should
pay your monthly rent. Today with the jobs I had toward the end it
took 3 weeks to get the month's rent. Very stressful. But I am not
as stressed as most because I never expected much to begin with.
Still it's true - as long as the rents are affordable other things fall
into place. But rents are becoming less and less affordable. Most
people are trapped. And sometimes I wonder that maybe they
deserve it. The greedy bastards. Hah hah

[Bryan Simmons]

Bruce is worthless in the context of this NG.

--Bryan

[Hank Rogers]

But he does prevent dust buildup on our anuses.