Ace-Garageguy

I don't have much use for Bezos or his company, though he's made his money fair and square in a free-market system. Nobody has ever been coerced to work for him or buy from him. And though he's no rocket scientist himself, being what's known now as a "midwit", he saw the potential of modern technology to implement the old-as-mankind "buy low, sell high" middleman philosophy on a global scale. And at least he's spending a chunk of his cash on fostering new technologies...even though typically he pays his own rocket scientists considerably less than Mr. Musk pays his. Mr. Branson made much of his pile providing transportation in markets simply unserved by anyone else. No surprise he should get in on the ground floor of the space tourism business...and his bucks have made the development of the Rutan-derived second-generation reusable "space plane" a reality. The vehicle has countless potential uses and benefits for Earth-bound humanity, most of which most humans haven't even thought of yet. And speaking of Mr. Musk, I personally see his interest in the colonization of other worlds as hopeful indeed, but tempered by a hard acceptance of reality. He cautions against the rapid development of self-aware AI, knowing full well it's likely to exhibit every negative characteristic of human nature, while developing AI himself. He knows bad AI is inevitable, humans being what they are, and is working to counter it. He's also working to build systems that have the potential to impact the environment in positive ways, but once again is enough of a realist to understand that people will continue fouling their own nest just because that's what most people do...while blaming somebody else. Mr. Musk's efforts toward space colonization are intended to provide a fallback position for humanity in the event most people continue being destructive, wasteful, willfully-ignorant, hypocritical, and stupid. Which is pretty dammed likely. That, to me, is the epitome of "hope".

Funny how none of these space-race guys inherited or stole their wealth, but they should be penalized for the success they achieved through hard work and applied intelligence in a free-market system. Time for Atlas to shrug. And I'm always curious to know the carbon-footprint and daily efforts to "save the planet" of folks who make pronouncements like this. Personally, I'd hazard to guess that my own carbon-footprint and contribution to pollution in general is among the lowest of anyone frequenting this board...even though I'm a hard-core hands-on gearhead and often operate older pre-emissions vehicles.

Not only a hemi-powered Ferrari, but a hemi-powered GREEN Ferrari. Yes, definitely.

I LIKE it...probably 'cause I started something kinda similar some time back. There was a time when an old Ferrari with a blown engine wasn't worth much more than its scrap value, and at least one real pontoon-fender TR did get American V8 power. EDIT: Back in the late '50s and well into the '60s, there was no shortage of people pulling fiberglass molds from existing sports car bodies and making copies, or building original designs. A repop TR body could easily have been mounted to a frame like you're using, etc. etc. etc. The M/SP class would be where something like this would have ended up, so it's actually entirely possible as a what-if. Definitely cool.

Let me help you complete this train of thought. To ensure you're not a part of the problem, first get rid of your computer and phone. Then disable your AC and heat. Give your car away; better yet, just abandon it in front of a recycling station. Don't take or use anything from the evil exploitave system. Plant a subsistence garden in your yard, and live entirely off-grid, like a peasant in the 1600s. There. All fixed. Much more effective than virtue-signaling on social media, doncha think?

Works for me...'cept it's three 26 foot vans, two of 'em pulling trailers, and a pair of multi-car transporters. Changing the world, or just changing one's own life, takes effort. A lot of effort. But I guess in your view, those early humans who left the Rift Valley 70,000 years ago to find greener pastures just should have stayed there, content to live in grass-and-mud huts, living on roots and bugs.

Filthy swamp-east weather. It's been overcast, pissy-dribble-raining, with humidity over 90% for weeks. This is the mildew, mold, rot, rust, and bug capitol of the "civilized" world. If I needed a reminder of why I'm spending thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours to move to the desert, this nasty summer sure as jell has been it.

Burt Rutan's Space Ship One was the first privately-funded craft to make it to the edge of space, in June of 2004. Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic was intended to have been offering commercial flights by 2008, but due to the magnitude of the task involved, and inevitable problems with ground-breaking physical technology, this was knocked back several years. Branson's (and crew) flight on July 11 of 2021, in vehicles developed directly from engineering pioneered on the earlier Rutan effort, marks the successful completion of the vehicle development. Passenger flights are expected to commence after two more sub-orbital shakedown missions. Of far more importance to the future of mankind, however, is the renewed interest in and commitment to establishing colonies on the Moon and Mars...largely utilizing technologies and hardware being developed by Elon Musk's people. While much of Earth-bound humanity continues to engage in increasingly petty and ignorant squabbling among the philosophical cesspools many choose to inhabit, the best and brightest have their attention focused on the stars.

Wow. This statement is so alien to my way of thinking, it actually made me physically nauseous.

I'd go. But I'd really like to keep on going. NCC-1701, I need you.

I'd send you some mice, but the feral cats I feed have eliminated them entirely. Seems the cats agree that "it's fun to see stuff jump around"...

Glad youse guys started this thread. As a result, a while back I did all the required research on the Roto (that's in my '63 Dynamic 88 convert), bought the factory manuals, some hard parts that are very difficult to find, found sources for the soft parts (clutches, bands, seals, gaskets) and flagged a buncha internet links to discussions of the beast. And once again, this is one of the things I've liked the most about this hobby...the opportunity to LEARN about the workings of real things in the real world.

Yeah, it takes a big 5 minutes of actual work to make a sandwich, a whopping ten minutes to make a burger, and about 15 to make spaghetti with sauce from almost scratch. Stir-fry, tacos, enchiladas, ditto. Geu-u-ine lamb vindaloo Indian curry maybe about 20 minutes of prep, and then the sauce simmers quite nicely unattended while the rice cooks. A pot roast with all the trimmings is also about 10 minutes of actual work. Oh, the humanity. I still work full time and own my business...which eats up almost as much time in admin as I spend generating revenue...so I only do "serious" cooking on weekend nights. I've never really thought of cooking for myself as a "luxury". It's just something I do. But as ol' Henry Ford is famous for saying "whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right".

Pizza's about the only thing I can't do in-house...just because I don't currently have a real oven. Indian or Thai, Chinese or Asian, Mexican, Greek, Italian, German, Polish, English, French, etc., no problem. I probably have as many cookbooks as car reference books, and really enjoy the total change of pace from other creative outlets. Some of my favorites are old railroad dining car recipes, from the time when travel was a big deal. Very rich standard "American" food. That said, every now and then, I'll buy a bag of Krystals or Taco Bell or McD's or KFC...but only if I'm in the neighborhood for something else anyway.

I haven't had a meal not "turn out right" for about 45 years (since I became a reasonably competent cook), so it's currently not that much of a downside.

Hard to beat the convenience of preparing what I want when I want it. Always better than restaurant fare, healthy first-quality ingredients, on time, hot (or cold, as desired), and delicious. Highly cost-effective for really great meals, no tipping, and no BS. But hey...that's just old-self-reliant-Luddite me.

They're becoming just another idiot-maintained glitchy mess. The more their 4-th rate emoji-designers-turned-web-developers tinker with the site, the worse it gets.

They don't get any cleaner than that. Very nice.

Oh YES! That, sir, is a hot rod.

There's also Spaz Stix https://www.amazon.com/ULTIMATE-MIRROR-CHROME-AEROSOL-SPRAY/dp/B07BQDGYDN and metalizer powders like C1, MGM, and Kosutte Ginsan. https://www.hiroboy.com/C1_Metalizer_Metallizing_Buffing_Powder--product--5570.html https://www.carousell.sg/p/mgm-hobby-chrome-powder-280309800/ https://www.scalemates.com/kits/wave-corporation-002513-kosutte-ginsan-finishing-powder--276173 Google is your friend (sorta).

Some years back, I used parts from this kit to scratch-bash a '50s style "slingshot" dragster...

A few years back, I combined an old Revell frame and some of the '49er parts to do a '50s style "slingshot" dragster...

...and driving Teslas charged with power generated from burning coal and natural gas...

I think we have a case of "do as I say, not as I do" with just about every "save energy!!!" mouthpiece today.

I have lotsa recipes for dog...