So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

[Just Jim]

^^^^^
I’ve never lived in a place that required vehicle safety inspections as a condition of licensing. Emissions, yes, but no one is checking for bald tires and metal-on-metal brakes (with brown brake fluid) and rusted-out structural members.

The widow of an acquaintance of mine is still driving the 1961 Ford Falcon he bought her new as a wedding present. Since I told him I'd keep an eye on the car safety-wise, I was over there recently to change the oil, lube, etc. I couldn't help noticing that it still has a line of window stickers from the old safety inspections back when Nebraska did them.

 

[LizzieMaine]

We still have them here, because calcium chloride will destroy the structural integrity of any car driven year-round long before the mileage ever hits 200,000. No modern car I've ever owned has lasted longer than 150,000 miles before the rear struts fell off because there was nowhere left on the body pan to attach them. The inspector will usually catch that just before it happens. Usually.

Some of the beaters you see on Maine roads are deathtraps waiting to happen, especially the trucks used by lobstermen to haul gear. The beds are usually completely eaten out by salt water, but they get around the inspection law by registering them as "antique autos."

 

[tonyb]

Such is life in an imperfect world.

If not for the corrosive deicers more vehicles would get lost to collisions, which is the least of the problem, really. Injuries, some “serious,” some deadly, would be higher, too.

 

[Trenchfriend]

You know, what's wondering me?

My Aviator sunglasses from optician chain store is still working fine after eleven years, although the frame was a zero-priced storebrand one of the cheapest quality level. It never has to be repaired!

 

[Trenchfriend]

When a breeze of Beef Roulade from any window comes to your nose and your mouth starts dripping instantly.

 

[Hercule]

Though I don't follow sports, this is just stupid.

https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2021/07/23/cleveland-indians-name-change-guardians/

 

[Harp]

Were I the owner of the Washington Redskins with all the PC pleaze sleeze skeeze, I would simply
change the team handle to the Washington Cherry Blossoms.

A real snot nose smash mouth Chicago Bears kick ass NFL team moniker.

 

[Hercule]

Were I the owner of the Washington Redskins with all the PC pleaze sleeze skeeze, I would simply
change the team handle to the Washington Cherry Blossoms.

Nah, they should have simply changed their mascot to a potato.

All the people with native American heritage I know are of the mind that those are their teams. They're the ones they follow and root for.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I was really rooting for "Spiders," a name with a strong historical basis in Cleveland baseball, and a name with infinite possibilities for interesting merchandise. "Guardians" sounds like exactly what it is -- bland, focus-grouped, and joyless.

At least, thank Veeck, they didn't go with "Cleveland Rocks." Or even more loathsome, "Rox."

 

[Hercule]

I was really rooting for "Spiders," a name with a strong historical basis in Cleveland baseball, and a name with infinite possibilities for interesting merchandise. "Guardians" sounds like exactly what it is -- bland, focus-grouped, and joyless.

At least, thank Veeck, they didn't go with "Cleveland Rocks." Or even more loathsome, "Rox."

Or something "... Burning River". It really is a tiresome local trope.

 

[MisterCairo]

Though I don't follow sports, this is just stupid.

https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2021/07/23/cleveland-indians-name-change-guardians/

Will their motto be "in loco parentis" ?

 

[Hercule]

Will their motto be "in loco parentis" ?

Now THAT'S funny!!!!!

 

[Zombie_61]

Nah, they should have simply changed their mascot to a potato...

The Washington Spuds?

 

[Hercule]

The Washington Spuds?

No need to change the name - redskin potatoes are colloquially known as redskins. It would stop the whole issue dead in its tracks.

 

[LizzieMaine]

What bugs me about modern sports names in general is that they're so manufactured. A bunch of marketing geeks sit in a room with their computers full of analytics and they engage in various robotic calculations until they've reduced the question to the lowest common denominator. Then they hire another group of geeks to apply the same process to a logo, to a "wordmark," to a complete "image package" in which even the "letterforms" are carefully parsed.

Marketing, more than any single factor, has leached so much of the joy out of baseball that I really don't enjoy watching it anymore. The ridiculous debacle of the recent All-Star game uniforms, which looked like something you'd get in the kids' department at Wal-Mart, had me turning off the game after just an inning and a half. I simply could not bear to look at it.

Now, I have no problem at all with the Cleveland ballclub changing its name. But I guess it's too much to expect such an organization in this analytics-driven, soulless Boys From Marketing hellscape we're forced to live in, to come up with anything with the least bit of honest spontaneity to it.

 

[Harp]

Now, I have no problem at all with the Cleveland ballclub changing its name. But I guess it's too much to expect such an organization in this analytics-driven, soulless Boys From Marketing hellscape we're forced to live in, to come up with anything with the least bit of honest spontaneity to it.

The Cleveland Indians were fine. Honest, spontaneous. And, truth be told, in Sweet 16, the Injuns
were the better managed team, and, C's players; especially the rotation, a more disciplined club
than were the Cubs. Chicago caught some luck.

The boys in the front office are not responsible for the PC craze which undeniably exists.
And with most everything else with the progressive side of life a decided lack of focus prevails.
Let's call it for what it is. Runamuck stupidity.

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

Will their motto be "in loco parentis" ?

QUIS CUSTODIET IPSOS CUSTODES

 

[tonyb]

I was really rooting for "Spiders," a name with a strong historical basis in Cleveland baseball, and a name with infinite possibilities for interesting merchandise. "Guardians" sounds like exactly what it is -- bland, focus-grouped, and joyless.

At least, thank Veeck, they didn't go with "Cleveland Rocks." Or even more loathsome, "Rox."

My cousin Bob, who along with his loving husband has been our houseguest for the past few days, had the same suggestion, with which I, a casual student of the game’s early history, heartily concurred.

We also agreed that Washington Football Team is a perfectly good name for that city’s entry in the National Football League.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Is "semolina pudding" common in the US?

 

[LizzieMaine]

My cousin Bob, who along with his loving husband has been our houseguest for the past few days, had the same suggestion, with which I, a casual student of the game’s early history, heartily concurred.

We also agreed that Washington Football Team is a perfectly good name for that city’s entry in the National Football League.

They're really missing the boat by not embracing this name -- I mean, what's more Washington than "the football?" Have the logo be a man in a black suit and sunglasses carrying a big briefcase.