Ace-Garageguy

"Idea", as in "the central theme" of a sentence, a paragraph, or a book is frequently missed by readers (and listeners) who have not been taught to fully comprehend what they read (and hear) by applying critical-thinking as they go, with the result often being words or phrases taken out of context and used as the basis for straw-man attacks on the writer (or speaker).

I learned to drive at 14 in a full-sized '63 Olds (which I tracked down in Texas, brought back here and still have, slated for resto-touring rebuild). Next thing I drove was the Old Man's '65 Mustang, then learned to drive a stick in a friend's VW van (practicing starting on hills), and I've driven most everything you're likely to encounter on a road since then...even a semi with a trailer when a situation made it necessary. Frankly, I never really noticed any difficulty in maneuvering big cars as opposed to little ones. As the man above said, it's all about spacial awareness, some people have it, some people don't. Parallel-parking land yachts can require more conscious thought, as can getting into narrow garages or trailers built for smaller cars. From my perspective, that's about it.

Off a cliff I will not jump just because everyone else does.

We got nothin'. 11F last night though, 20F now...42F in here when I got up. But my outdoor cats all checked in for breakfast, the water pipes under the house didn't freeze, and both trucks started, so all is well.

Some of us are at least as harsh judges of our own work as contest judges would be, however. I'll never denigrate a man for deciding how well he wants to do something, and then performing to that level. But what I can't understand is celebrating mediocrity. It's the "participation-trophy" mentality. I'll never be better than a 4th rate skier, golfer, guitarist, trumpeter, or chess-player. Nobody is ever going to praise my efforts. And that's OK because I lack either the talent or the willingness to develop the skill to excel. I also fully acknowledge I would have NOTHING to teach anyone in those fields, so producing yootoob videos showcasing my poor levels of accomplishment would just waste MY time and everyone's who watched them.

That's purty.

Very nice indeed. Biggest smile I've had all week.

Peanamennenned.

Kids are born with varying degrees of innate intelligence (which, according to innumerable studies is roughly 65% heritable...which means genetic...just as they're born with musical or mathematical talent), and though this is an actual fact, and though education and experience do also have measurable effects on the development and expression of innate intelligence, it's not a particularly popular "opinion".

Which, sadly, brings up the problem of finding anyone working on cars today (other than some of us old geezers) who has any clue about how a carburettor works, or how to even begin to diagnose a problem if there's nowhere to plug in a scan tool.

Probably a little gray wash? Maybe thinned flat-black acrylic, allowed to collect in the folds and mostly wiped off everywhere else?

Probably the best solution by far (or some other means of shadowing)...unless you have micro tools, extremely steady hands, and excellent magnification. As far as I can recall, I don't remember ever seeing louvers opened up in 1/24-1/25 that looked really good. But I could be mistaken. EDIT: Even the much larger factory-molded open-louvers on some kits, like one of the Lancia Stratos kits for example, take extreme care to open further so they look "right".

I look at it like this: if I were an elementary school teacher and I wanted to introduce music to a class that included some kids who'd never heard any really "good" music (jazz, classical, rock, etc.), I wouldn't start them out listening to a bunch of 3rd rate amateurs who couldn't play well together, who screeched and lost the beat, and had no real "feel" for what they were doing. I'd take them to hear performers who, while maybe not concert-hall quality, were at least accomplished enough to make truly beautiful music, to show them what was possible with a little applied talent and effort, not just a bunch of noise.

When I read "4-door 'Cuda", my first reaction was to cringe before I even saw it... HOWEVER...you've done a masterful job of maintaining attractive lines and proportions. Very nice craftsmanship too. Excellent work.

Forecast now down to 30%, what looks like snow showing on NWS radar, but nothing falling here yet. 20F outside, which is very cold for here, and impossible to heat this house "adequately" under the current circumstances...but a lot of people live in much less pleasant conditions, so no whining from me.

Osteoporosis can be prevented or slowed by getting enough vitamin D (from sunlight is best), calcium (dietary sources are generally preferable to supplements), and engaging in weight-bearing exercise.

Made poor Twiki stutter, she did...

Be de be de Bede Aircraft BD-5 was a single seat high-performance kitplane, and even real jet power was possible. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bede_BD-5

Now that you mention that, I had to do something similar several years back. There was also an issue, when we were still allowed to edit old posts (to change the title header to revive a long-dormant thread for example), when editing the header would somehow delete all the photos in the first post. Beautiful model, by the way.

"Close Encounters of the Garbage Kind" could be a movie about aliens throwing their trash on the street in front of my house, and their surprise when they start finding themselves teleported to a galaxy far, far away.

Why? You getting combat pay or sumpin?

I seem to remember reading it in either Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler too...

I understood him to say "I can re-create the issue pretty easily", not that he necessarily uses <img> tags. Sometimes during diagnostic procedures (in mechanical systems as well), you try to recreate the effect any way you can, which often sheds light on the actual cause. Well, I do, anyway.

Time to take out the garbage...

Bumper cars running on electrically conductive floors probably aren't allowed anymore.