Friday, November 17, 2023
a truck driver who claimed to have 10 years of driving experience caused serious damage to the “iconic Red Covered Bridge” on Illinois Route 26
smart curb design for the Vegas F1
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=718856806942370&set=a.641277798033605
Too much focus on the schmoozing, not enough on the fundamental track management... the Las Vegas F1 practice immediately shut down when a Ferrari his a water valve cover that wasn't sealed to the pavement (suction from the car going over at high speed vacuumed it up)
The Las Vegas Grand Prix first practice of the Formula One race was halted nine minutes into the session Thursday night because Sainz ran over a water valve cover that badly damaged his Ferrari.
Multiple drainage covers needed to be sealed ahead of the second practice, which was originally scheduled for midnight but didn't begin until 2:30 a.m. on Friday. Track organizers an hour earlier had told all fans to leave "due to logistical considerations for our fans and our staff."
It made for a troubling start to the ballyhooed race in which F1 returned to Las Vegas for the first time since it ran in 1981 and 1982 on a course that mostly consisted of the Caesars Palace parking lot. F1 and Liberty were determined to make this year's race an extravaganza, but the hype has been tempered by expensive tickets, exorbitant hotel rates that outpriced many new American fans, and locals simply furious by the months of disruptions to build the course.
Because much of the course is open to traffic during the day, the FIA was not able to inspect the track and approve it for racing until early Thursday morning after the course had been closed overnight. It appeared the initial inspection began around 3:30 a.m; FIA rules require a track to pass inspection one day before cars are on track.
There have been similar incidents, most recently in 2019 at Baku when George Russell ran over a manhole cover in the first practice. In 2016, Nico Rosberg ran over a manhole cover at Monaco and the cover flew up and hit Jenson Button's car, causing extensive damage to Button's McLaren.
Have you learned of Alexandra, aka "the little operator"? In the family business since age 14, of installing septic systems in New Hampshire
She wants to be relatable to her followers and prove you can be a “normal girl in the construction industry” if you are hardworking — a lesson she learned on her own being surrounded by male figures her entire life. In fact, she started her social media journey in hopes of connecting with likeminded women.
“A lot of the reason why I started my social media page was because I didn't see anybody else like me doing what I was doing.”
Alexandra explains that she has a decision to make in the future about returning and taking over the family business. However, she says that her main priority is to stay in the field without getting sucked into the six-days-a-week, twelve-hours-a-day pressure that many industry workers fall prey to.
Being self-employed, she was working for the family business full-time, but kind of works for a couple of contractors in the area who, you know, don't specialize in septic systems. They'll do the site work, she comes in, and puts the field in and does all the connections and things like that.
That's getting her foot in the door in the industry, because working in septic systems in particular, it's a lot of word-of-mouth recommendation.
She's learning from everyone who's been doing this for such a long time, yet still working for the family business mostly doing septic systems with them and residential house lots. But getting her name out there for people who need septic systems, for companies that can't find help, whether it's too expensive to keep them full-time and keep them busy, or they're just a one-man crew, and they just needed help for one day.
She's learning from everyone who's been doing this for such a long time, yet still working for the family business mostly doing septic systems with them and residential house lots. But getting her name out there for people who need septic systems, for companies that can't find help, whether it's too expensive to keep them full-time and keep them busy, or they're just a one-man crew, and they just needed help for one day.
She also wants to use her social media presence to encourage healthier lifestyles and a return to focusing on what’s important in life, inside and outside the job.
She often discusses what it’s like for women in construction, how she tries to let girls know there’s space for normal girls in the industry, and how she avoids scrutiny as a woman by keeping her content focused on her work.
She also has a shared love of equipment as a huge part of her relationship with her dad. And Alexandra spoke at CONEXPO 2023 emphasizing that while it’s important for her to advocate for women in the industry, she also wants to make life better for everybody in construction by encouraging new ways of conducting and organizing business, so people have more freedom.
Thursday, November 16, 2023
Chevy did an awesome commercial last December, and I just discovered it. I hope you enjoyed it... GM just declared it's no longer doing Super Bowl commercials
Oddly, Chevy seems to show us what an amazing and long use a 57 Chev wagon had, to get us to buy a new whatever.
That new car ain't ever going to have a long life. Too many plastic parts in the engine, too many computers. New cars won't last half as long as anything made without plastic and computers.... those aren't repairable. Old cars are. The minute some computer sensor fails, or the code isn't compatible, that car made after 1980 is going to be in a junkyard waiting to be crushed.
The 57 wagon? Will last until someone doesn't want to fix rust. Everything else, is replaceable.
This 2022 Holiday Commercial from Chevy, was a response to the amazing results they had with the 2021 holiday commercial.
Makes me wonder, will they make a 2023 commercial in a similar heartfelt way?
Nope. The news today, Nov 21st, is that GM declares it's done wasting money on Super Bowl commericals https://fordauthority.com/2023/11/gm-follows-ford-in-ditching-super-bowl-advertisements/#google_vignette
A thorough look at the cause, and results of the fire under interstate 10 in downtown Los Angeles
The blaze began in the early hours of Nov. 11 in a storage yard beneath the freeway containing wood pallets, vehicles and even containers of hand sanitizer. The fire quickly spread to a second yard and eventually consumed eight acres.
An investigation by California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) concluded that the fire was set intentionally
UserBronco, a regular reader and commentor (Hi! Thanks!) reminded me that a similar fire happened under 100 feet of Interstate 85 in Atlanta in 2017, causing a section to collapse, because a crackhead with 20 prior arrests started a fire in a construction storage area
https://abcnews.go.com/US/man-charged-arson-fire-led-collapse-atlanta-highway/story?id=46515096
Big Dill and The Pickle Jar, a matched set of Isettas. Big Dill is a Harley-Davidson-powered dragster, and it's transporter/flatbed hauler is of course, The Pickle Jar.
The dragster: nicknamed Big Dill features an extensive list of modifications outside, inside and in the engine compartment. Brown started the project by building a custom frame. He then modified the body to clear a pair of widened, Volkswagen Beetle-sourced rear wheels wrapped by massive tires and replaced the factory-fitted 298-cubic-centimeter single-cylinder engine with a 1.2-liter V-twin taken off of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
Brown then turned his attention to the interior, which is entirely custom-built as well. Accessed via a side-hinged front door, it's equipped with a single seat, a quick-release steering wheel, a roll hoop and diamond-stitched upholstery. All told, the project took about 438 hours to finish.
Brown then turned his attention to the interior, which is entirely custom-built as well. Accessed via a side-hinged front door, it's equipped with a single seat, a quick-release steering wheel, a roll hoop and diamond-stitched upholstery. All told, the project took about 438 hours to finish.
While the Isetta was never a common sight on American roads, Brown managed to find a second example to turn into a car hauler he calls The Pickle Jar. The transformation required designing and building a one-off subframe to mount a tilting platform on, and Brown chose a 230-cubic-inch Chevrolet-sourced straight-six to significantly increase the pocket-sized BMW's payload capacity. He didn't leave the body alone, either. Up front, the Isetta received a pair of Volkswagen Beetle fenders and lights. Out back, it wears fenders from a Ford Model A.
a longtime fan of Bob Glidden built a street legal tribute to Glidden’s famous Pinto (thanks Mike!)
the original Glidden Pinto that was sold at the January 2020 Mecum Auction in Kissimmee. The car was on display in Kissimmee for several days before it crossed the auction block, giving Randy and a friend time to crawl around the car, taking photos and making measurements.
In addition to measuring the exact placement of all the sponsor decals, finding those original decals, or reproductions of them, proved difficult or impossible. A friend with a vinyl graphics business duplicated the missing stickers, Randy says.
The 351 Cleveland V8 in Randy’s car isn’t quite as strong as Glidden’s original engine, but it still produces 500 horsepower and 500 foot-pounds of torque. Visually, the powerplant looks like the original, complete with the correct tunnel-ram intake, twin 700cfm Holley four-barrel carbs, MSD ignition components, and chrome Moroso valve covers.
Glidden was in the low 8s, Irwin is in the low 11s with the tribute, but it's street legal
this poor full cage Nova SS has been chained in place for about 6 years... hasn't moved
It has been at this address since at least 2007 according to Google Street view. It's been under the car cover since before 2018
The guy has kept the Ford truck for at least the past 16 years. Nice.
Wednesday, November 15, 2023
a dyno test comparing the air filters that cost about 10 bucks, vs those that cost 80 bucks
obviously the cheap ones were better.
Obviously it's rare to find real dyno test results that show who makes parts or filters that out perform the competition, and what the comparative power, and cost, was.
I WISH someone had the guts to do extensive tests, so we could see the wide range of what the other brands do, like Fram, Wix, K&N, but... I can't afford the dyno time.
https://www.thedrive.com/features/dyno-testing-air-filters-9-to-90-in-my-civic-si-do-any-make-power
a great guy at SEMA whose booth had a fun game, try to be the closest to matching the pressure selected by spinning the wheel, with a vice and pressure gauge...
87 Merkur XR4Ti by Jordan Henke and the crew of JH Restorations in Windsor, Ontario.
The Merkur XR4Ti is a Ford hot hatch sold in North America from 1985 to 1989, a version of the European Ford Sierra adapted to U.S. regulations
With their own production lines occupied building Sierras for the European market, Ford contracted out assembly of the XR4Ti. Using body panels from Ford's factory in Genk, the cars were largely hand-built by Wilhelm Karmann GmbH in Rheine, Germany.
Chief executive officer Pete Petersen decided that the car would be sold under the 'Merkur' brand name. The name means 'Mercury' in German, and tied the new brand to the Lincoln-Mercury dealers through which the car would be sold. Initially, 800 Lincoln-Mercury dealers enrolled to also become Merkur dealers.
not many people have a super cool classic in their family history, fewer are ever able to find it again (80 years in this case) and buy it.
Malcolm Stern with his dad's 1930 Sunbeam Talbot-Darracq 80 years ago and now
Malcolm's father sold it in 1942. The decades passed, and it became a family tale. Then in 2020, a 91-year-old Malcolm looked up the car online.
In a few clicks, he found a listing for a Talbot-Darracq — with a recent photo. It was still in one piece, and the license plate matched the one in their family photos. It was going on auction in a few weeks’ time.
Malcolm and his son Jonathan purchased the nearly century-old car for around $8,000 and began a refurbishment project that lasted three years. Last week, the Talbot-Darracq — complete with a new yellow paint job — hit the road again, capping the unlikely restoration of the Sterns’ family treasure.
In a few clicks, he found a listing for a Talbot-Darracq — with a recent photo. It was still in one piece, and the license plate matched the one in their family photos. It was going on auction in a few weeks’ time.
Malcolm and his son Jonathan purchased the nearly century-old car for around $8,000 and began a refurbishment project that lasted three years. Last week, the Talbot-Darracq — complete with a new yellow paint job — hit the road again, capping the unlikely restoration of the Sterns’ family treasure.
Mr Stern said his son will inherit the car, passing it on to a third generation of the family.
Jonathan Stern said: "Dad's been working on this for such a long time and he's just such a stubborn and obstinate guy so there was no way that this was ever not going to happen - and he just made it happen.
"To see it come full circle from it being a wreck to something that we could reliably drive... is testament to the incredible amount of work my dad has put in."
Jonathan Stern said: "Dad's been working on this for such a long time and he's just such a stubborn and obstinate guy so there was no way that this was ever not going to happen - and he just made it happen.
"To see it come full circle from it being a wreck to something that we could reliably drive... is testament to the incredible amount of work my dad has put in."
it's not often that a photo accidentally caught a random bit of crazy... but this one of Las Vegas did
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10231692472397943&set=gm.1428502727730645&idorvanity=197491484165115
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