Random. Just Random.

[mlooney 3,561]

[mlooney 3,561]

[mlooney 3,561]

[mlooney 3,561]

[mlooney 3,561]

I must sleep. Sleep is the mind-healer. Sleep is the big-life that brings total ability to fucking do anything. I will face my bed. I will permit the blankie to pass over me and snores to pass through me. And when sleep has gone past I will turn the outer eye to greet the new morning. When the sleep has gone there will be everything. Energy and will to live will remain.

[The Old Hack 2,484]

So today while driving near the University of Copenhagen I encountered a car with a vanity plate reading OBAFGKM. I was highly amused. I do take joy in encountering someone who is not only a huge nerd but also openly and proudly embraces it.

[mlooney 3,561]

It's to bad that I remember that sequence by the slightly creepy mnemonic "Oh, Be A Fine Girl, Kiss Me."

[mlooney 3,561]

Opps, that didn't work

[mlooney 3,561]

Sack of Rome by Goths, 410

[ProfessorTomoe 1,332]

Ferrari AF Corse Number 50 wins the 24 Hours of Le Mans, for the second year in a row. The weather comes second.

[mlooney 3,561]

[Pharaoh RutinTutin 1,614]

Back in the 70's I had a small plastic toy that looked a lot like that  Thing? 

My toy had a notched plastic rod you could insert through a hole in the roof and pull out quickly causing the wheels to spin.  Does this contraption have a similar accessory? 

 

[mlooney 3,561]

12 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

Back in the 70's I had a small plastic toy that looked a lot like that  Thing? 

My toy had a notched plastic rod you could insert through a hole in the roof and pull out quickly causing the wheels to spin.  Does this contraption have a similar accessory? 

 

No, that would make it useful

[The Old Hack 2,484]

On 6/17/2024 at 7:45 PM, mlooney said:

GOD that thing looks awful. And Teslas are already concentrated awful to begin with.

[ProfessorTomoe 1,332]

I saw a Tesla Cybertruck in the wild for the first time yesterday. Good lord, those things are ugly. They look like something a first grader would come up with when tasked to draw a vehicle.

[mlooney 3,561]

2 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

They look like something a first grader would come up with when tasked to draw a vehicle.

Or a billionaire who has too much confidence in his own skills, no matter how much it's shown he doesn't have those skills.

[Darth Fluffy 333]

4 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

I saw a Tesla Cybertruck in the wild for the first time yesterday. Good lord, those things are ugly. They look like something a first grader would come up with when tasked to draw a vehicle.

Ugly, and not particularly functional. They beg the question, "Why?" What does it bring to the table? How is that abomination a 'truck'?

I suppose it's a status symbol to some, like the civilian Hummers were, for people with more money than brains. I've seen one in the wild (Which was odd, I thought they were recalled, and so not shipping) and was no more impressed than by the media images.

All that said, I have a friend who has a more normal Tesla, and for all the things I don't like about Tesla, and some misgivings about the implementation, it is a comfortable ride, and it is cheap to operate. OTOH, he's afraid to run the software update, knowing it could brick the vehicle. He has used the remote drive to back his Tesla out of tight parking spaces. He stands well away when he uses it. It also has significantly better range than its EV competition.

[The Old Hack 2,484]

1 hour ago, Darth Fluffy said:

All that said, I have a friend who has a more normal Tesla, and for all the things I don't like about Tesla, and some misgivings about the implementation, it is a comfortable ride, and it is cheap to operate.

Also it is excellent if you want a vehicle that can inescapably trap you when it is on fire or immersed in water. Because when you have only seconds left before suffocation, drowning or hideous disfiguring injury, it is the exact time you need to scramble for a manual that can tell you how to manually force the doors to open.

[mlooney 3,561]

As I understand it , you can't open the doors if it's doing a software update,  Also turns off the AC.  This might be lethal in a sunny place.

[Don Edwards 558]

I don't know if I'd go so far as to call it ugly, but the design does have some significant practical issues.

Several of which have already been mentioned in this thread.

I'll add that I seriously doubt it can take a standard pickup-truck bed cap (that's the thing shaped sort of like an inverted pickup-truck bed, that protects stuff in the bed from the weather) let alone a camper (very small living quarters that sit in the bed of the truck).

And I'm uncertain about a 5th-wheel hitch - it may be that the design would be significantly less capable of sharp turns, because the trailer would hit the side of the bed sooner than with the usual horizontal top edge.

[mlooney 3,561]

23 minutes ago, Don Edwards said:

let alone a camper (very small living quarters that sit in the bed of the truck).

 

 

[Darth Fluffy 333]

On 6/21/2024 at 10:18 AM, The Old Hack said:

Also it is excellent if you want a vehicle that can inescapably trap you when it is on fire or immersed in water. Because when you have only seconds left before suffocation, drowning or hideous disfiguring injury, it is the exact time you need to scramble for a manual that can tell you how to manually force the doors to open.

Even without an emergency situation, the doors are odd. He (owner) has trained me to push the proper button to open the door, and yes, if you had no power, that would not be an option. Note, though, my default option was a mechanical release; I don't think you'd need a manual to get out. It had more to do with manually opening would damage the window gasket.

Just FYI though, for most automotive vehicles, immersing them in water is not recommended. Nor is setting them on fire, though, admittedly, I have experienced an unplanned external engine fire (external to the cylinders). I've owned some vehicles I would have like to set on fire, but I would not have been inside them at the time.

 

22 hours ago, mlooney said:

As I understand it , you can't open the doors if it's doing a software update,  Also turns off the AC.  This might be lethal in a sunny place.

Doing a software update while you are driving a Tesla sounds like a nomination for a Darwin award. However, since you can initiate the software update from the control panel which is inside the vehicle, I hope they allowed for exiting the vehicle during the update. Or are you expected to wait it out? You have me curious; I'll ask. I think you can initiate the update from a Tesla phone app.

 

20 hours ago, Don Edwards said:

I don't know if I'd go so far as to call it ugly, . . .

I've talked to maybe a couple dozen people about this, including this forum. You are one of a select few that doesn't think so. Esthetics are subjective, so I wouldn't say you are wrong, but your view seems to be an outlier.

 

19 hours ago, mlooney said:

(photo-documented Cybertruck tent failure)

It's funny, and it kind of confirms my perception that the vehicle is impractical, also not always intuitive to use (see previous comment about doors).

It is also sad, the bozo that bought it ought to be able to use it, and his desire to camp in it is not unreasonable.

To be honest, I didn't know it had enough space that you could camp in it. I would not have guessed that was true.

 

19 hours ago, mlooney said:

cybertent: $3000

They are gouging. Very much so. If the Cybertruck sells, there will be a competing aftermarket. Given how few seem to be out there, it may not happen.

 

If I were in the market for another truck, the Cybertruck would not be on my list. It has neither the convenient access of a pickup truck nor the roominess of a van; not even a soccer mom van. I see it competing in the SUV arena, where having more space may give it an advantage.

The 'cyber'; in Cybertruck is hardly a positive. All motor vehicles built today are significantly computerized, just to meet pollution standards. Displays are electronic, it's cheaper than old school gauges. Tesla goes one step further by eliminating most of the displays and leaving you with one pad computer interface. It seems adequate, albeit without an actual dash display; certainly no heads up option at this time. The interface display is mounted on a pedestal, slightly tilted. It takes your attention off the road just a bit, not a good thing.

Given the trouble we've seen with John Deere and the ability to repair your own equipment, I do not see the trend toward software dominated mechanics as an entirely healthy thing. The Air Force was very careful about tracking and applying software updates to their fleets, because they had to ensure compatibility with equipment acquired over decades. Manufacturers of consumer goods will not put in as much effort to tracking and testing compatibility with older models; it is a cost they want to avoid, and hey, if they break it, you'll need to buy a new one. It has already occurred that 'updates' have had to be backed out because they broke things. And you have less and less control over the 'updates'.

An EV is sort of cheaper to run. If you use it for grocery trips and commuting, and recharge it off of home power, it works out cheaper than gas. If you take a longer trip, and have to charge at a station, it is in the ballpark of paying for gas. The up front costs are high, and the batteries are expensive and will have to be replaced eventually. It appears that EVs are not all that great for the environment, either, at present. Much of the negatives are from manufacturing the batteries.

Taking a long trip is doable; I have friends that have done so fairly often. But it is nothing like hopping in your car and going. You have to plan your route and know where you are stopping to recharge. Planning your activities around the recharge time. Making sure you have the proper adapters with you. If your destination is not set up for you, you can still charge with an extension cord, but it will be s-sl-lo-ow-w . . .

If I had an EV and a place to charge it, I could probably make due; most of my trips are within an hour radius. I would probably rent a more normal vehicle for an occasional long trip.

 

Re: Tesla, I think they should use the front portion of a donkey, with his head turned toward you, grinning, as their logo, and change their name to half-assed motors.

 

[ijuin 590]

If you want an electric pickup truck, you are probably better off going with the Ford F-150 Lightning.

[Pharaoh RutinTutin 1,614]

 

But the Lightning looks like any other F150.

The point of an EV is to make everyone know you are driving an EV.

 

[mlooney 3,561]

4 minutes ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

 

But the Lightning looks like any other F150.

The point of an EV is to make everyone know you are driving an EV.

 

And that's about the only point.  Total life cycle carbon release is equal to or greater then a normal vehicle for less than 5 years.  And that's not including the ecological disaster that lithium mining is.