So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

[Trenchfriend]

One thing, that TICKS me really off:

This fashion of the last ten years, that people put the "to be honest" in their sentences without any need.

Which moron started that crap??

 

[MisterCairo]

One thing, that TICKS me really off:

This fashion of the last ten years, that people put the "to be honest" in their sentences without any need.

Which moron started that crap??

To be honest, I do not know...

 

[tonyb]

One thing, that TICKS me really off:

This fashion of the last ten years, that people put the "to be honest" in their sentences without any need.

Which moron started that crap??

It’s most commonly a preface to a lie and/or an insult.

 

[Turnip]

In Italy, you order 'caffe corretto', i.e. 'corrected coffee'.

Café Canard / Café Royal in France
Carajillo in Spain
Mazagran in Portugal
Biedermeier, Fiaker, Kosaken... in Austria
Pharisäer, Schwatter... in Germany

 

[tonyb]

I never understood what one could do in a six figure car that they can't do in a four figure car, or even a three figure car. I'd feel like the french fries I drop on the floor would have to be gold-plated.

I can appreciate the engineering that goes into extremely expensive cars. But in a world of 65 mph speed limits and traffic jams it’s hard to argue the utility of a Ferrari or a new Porsche 911. Those kind of cars, while still far from ordinary, aren’t such a rare sight, either. I just hope never to collide with one.

I’ve found that the new wears off of most toys in fairly short order. About all I want from a car these days is reliability and anonymity — a car that doesn’t draw much attention to itself, for good or for ill. This is not to say that I don’t understand the appeal of toy cars (I’ve owned some decidedly impractical motor vehicles myself), but I have far better places to put the money these days, what with old age looking me in the eye.

 

[Hercule]

I can appreciate the engineering that goes into extremely expensive cars. But in a world of 65 mph speed limits and traffic jams it’s hard to argue the utility of a Ferrari or a new Porsche 911. Those kind of cars, while still far from ordinary, aren’t such a rare sight, either. I just hope never to collide with one.

I’ve found that the new wears off of most toys in fairly short order. About all I want from a car these days is reliability and anonymity — a car that doesn’t draw much attention to itself, for good or for ill. This is not to say that I don’t understand the appeal of toy cars (I’ve owned some decidedly impractical motor vehicles myself), but I have far better places to put the money these days, what with old age looking me in the eye.

Well put, all the way around.

A while back I had a dentist that drove a Maserati. I remember seeing the thing in the back parking lot. It Looked like a fancy lawn mower and was about the height of a mower deck off the pavement. Given that in this town you can't drive more than 100 yards without having to stop for a light or a stop sign, and that there are fewer pot holes and smoother roads in most third world countries than there are here, I could not help but laugh to myself and wonder what kind of moron he was for having such a car. But, to each his own. I admit that occasionally I get envious of the high end cars, though I'm quick to remind myself that my Mazda is completely paid for, and that just about every other car on the road is a high end make. Hardly exclusive anymore. Though I still find Porshe SUVs amusing (they seem to be mostly driven by women - I wonder if they know that Porshe made tanks during the war?), and I am quick to ask my Lexis driving friends how they like their Toyota (they really appreciate my interest).

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

I am quick to ask my Lexis driving friends how they like their Toyota (they really appreciate my interest).

I call them "a Toyota with a trust fund".

 

[GHT]

I still find Porshe SUVs amusing (they seem to be mostly driven by women - I wonder if they know that Porshe made tanks during the war?)

Porshe SUV's are one thing, standards have really dropped when Rolls Royce produce an SUV. A quarter of a million pounds, since you ask.

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

Here's a real trivial annoyance, broken shoe laces. Back in the pre-COVID days, I'd be hustling to get out of the house and to my office. When a shoelace broke I was slowed down either by changing shoes or by rummaging through a drawer looking for a new pair.

I recently got an ad for Kevlar shoelaces. That has some appeal, practically unbreakable. Then I saw the price, $13.00 a pair. So when the plague is over, I'll keep in mind where I keep those spare shoelaces, maybe sort them by color and length, and plan a five-minute retard of my leaving time.

 

[belfastboy]

One thing, that TICKS me really off:

This fashion of the last ten years, that people put the "to be honest" in their sentences without any need.

Which moron started that crap??

had to be a politician!

 

[belfastboy]

Café Canard / Café Royal in France
Carajillo in Spain
Mazagran in Portugal
Biedermeier, Fiaker, Kosaken... in Austria
Pharisäer, Schwatter... in Germany

In my house we keep a bottle of Southern Comfort on the kitchen table. We each take a splash in our morning coffee. It is the closest we have to ritual in our house. It started when we RV'd in the US..... where you can buy Kirkland brand Irish Creme for $10 a litre....we use it instead of creamer. In Canada we have to buy the real Bailey's for $40 for 750ml....so we don't. Southern Comfort is the most palatable of the cheaper booze so it is our poison of choice.

 

[Hercule]

Here's a real trivial annoyance, broken shoe laces. Back in the pre-COVID days, I'd be hustling to get out of the house and to my office. When a shoelace broke I was slowed down either by changing shoes or by rummaging through a drawer looking for a new pair.

I recently got an ad for Kevlar shoelaces. That has some appeal, practically unbreakable. Then I saw the price, $13.00 a pair. So when the plague is over, I'll keep in mind where I keep those spare shoelaces, maybe sort them by color and length, and plan a five-minute retard of my leaving time.

I would submit that by just making this post and describing that it has been on your mind more than just in passing, you have spent more than $13 in effort over them. Go ahead and order them. You'll be glad you did. Besides, there are plenty of us here more than willing for you to be the Guinea pig before committing ourselves. (saw them on line for less that $10, but you'll have to search for shipping that isn't stupid expensive)

Reminds me of my college days when I wore a Pea coat. I had a devil of a time with buttons staying on. I tried everything (rug yarn seemed to last the longest) until my brother (in the Navy at the time - hence my source for Pea coats, and boondocker boots - it was always a treat to visit the PX when he was home on leave) gave me lengths of suture thread. Don't know what it was but I never lost a button after that.

 

[tonyb]

Well put, all the way around.

A while back I had a dentist that drove a Maserati. I remember seeing the thing in the back parking lot. It Looked like a fancy lawn mower and was about the height of a mower deck off the pavement. Given that in this town you can't drive more than 100 yards without having to stop for a light or a stop sign, and that there are fewer pot holes and smoother roads in most third world countries than there are here, I could not help but laugh to myself and wonder what kind of moron he was for having such a car. But, to each his own. I admit that occasionally I get envious of the high end cars, though I'm quick to remind myself that my Mazda is completely paid for, and that just about every other car on the road is a high end make. Hardly exclusive anymore. Though I still find Porshe SUVs amusing (they seem to be mostly driven by women - I wonder if they know that Porshe made tanks during the war?), and I am quick to ask my Lexis driving friends how they like their Toyota (they really appreciate my interest).

I’ve heard financial advisor types offer that the reason so many of their clients find it difficult to save, let alone invest, can be found in the driveway. Making payments on, and insuring and maintaining, two or three cars just sucks the blood out of a family’s budget.

All but the lowest-priced cars these days have power windows and A/C and power steering and, and, and ... So it’s not that the Lexus makes for a more appealing mode of transport than the Toyota, not in any appreciable way, anyhoo.

 

[Harp]

I buy membership to a local museum of “fine and decorative arts.” In the before times I visited monthly or so, which had the annual membership fee amortized in about six months...

I enrolled at the Art Institute of Chicago when in college so I could avail its research library before
I discovered this was the place to meet girls.

 

[tonyb]

^^^^
The arts attract women and gay men in numbers disproportionate to their representation in the population at large.

That’s all to the better, by my way of thinking.

 

[ChiTownScion]

Hear hear! Do tell. Are you on an adventure that we could share vicariously?

This pandemic has me quarantined so the days and nights spent in Glacier and Rocky Mountain Nat'l Parks are, for now, memories. It is definitely on that post vaccine to- do list.

 

[Hercule]

This pandemic has me quarantined so the days and nights spent in Glacier and Rocky Mountain Nat'l Parks are, for now, memories. It is definitely on that post vaccine to- do list.

Fair enough, and thank you for the imagery, maybe I'll borrow it sometime. Right now my happy place (sadly not one based on actual experience) is more tropical and involves a hammock and a beverage served in a cocoanut (no umbrella).

 

[Harp]

Or you arrive at the JAG office Monday morning, they have not filled the water reservoir in the coffee maker which takes ten minutes even if full to prepare it, and there is still some from Friday in the insulated carafe, well, you see where I went on that day...

A NCOIC (Non commissioned officer in charge of coffee) could fix this problemo pronto.

 

[ChiTownScion]

I never understood what one could do in a six figure car that they can't do in a four figure car, or even a three figure car. I'd feel like the french fries I drop on the floor would have to be gold-plated.

Six figures for a vehicle does seem obscene... although my pulse quickens as much as anyone's at the sight of, say, a Shelby Cobra or a '55 T- Bird convertible. Let alone a Duesenberg or Boattailed Auburn.

But I do grasp the notion of long term economy, IF it actually plays out in real life. If a decent Mercedes model will actually outlast the four or five Chevys that could be purchased over its lifetime, that's all well and fine. We all know, however, that it's a lot more costly to maintain a Mercedes ( Replacing a broken headlamp alone is a pricy proposition.) than a Chevy. So it's never an easy call.

 

[Harp]

although my pulse quickens as much as anyone's at the sight of, say, a Shelby Cobra or a '55 T- Bird convertible. Let alone a Duesenberg or Boattailed Auburn.
We all know, however, that it's a lot more costly to maintain a Mercedes ( Replacing a broken headlamp alone is a pricy proposition.) than a Chevy. So it's never an easy call.

I got the call. Sixteen years ago inside a hospital room after surgery. A Wall Street Journal article
about Jaguar, corporate suite stuff. Then, a nurse told me that I had to get up and move around,
not lazabout. So, I went to the window and it was an overcast rainy afternoon. And a Jaguar pulled out
of the parking lot across the street. I could only conclude that this was a sign from Heaven.
God wanted me to buy a Jaguar.
I scoured Ebay Motors for months. And I concentrated on high end dealers that wouldn't accept
junk trade ins. And I nailed a '94 Jaguar XJS convertible at McGrath-Lexis.
A little misunderstanding with the Internal Revenue Service three years later caused a devil trade.