So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

[tonyb]

^^^^
A friend had a Samurai. I kinda liked it. In the years since they were last sold in the U.S. market they’ve attracted something of a cult following. I have no idea how capable they are as off-road vehicles, but they sure do look the part.

Those microcars make up a big part of the Japanese domestic market, where what makes for a “practical” car differs dramatically from what it is here, especially in the more westerly regions of our fair land. I have room here to park half a dozen cars, if I had to. And that’s not at all untypical. It’s all but unheard of in Japan.

I’d love to have a “kei” car for around-town use. While the things will reach highway speeds and then some, they’re working pretty hard at it. A larger car with a more powerful engine is just plainly more comfortable on those longer trips, especially for us creaky old people.

I’ve gone coast-to-coast and back again via motorcycle. I’ll never do it again. And I wouldn’t choose a kei car for such a voyage, either.

 

[tonyb]

This arrived in today’s mail.

Seven years to pay for furniture that might not last that long?

I’ve heard it said that if people were looking for the answer as to why they’re always barely scraping by, they might look in the driveway and/or the garage, where they keep two late-model cars they haven’t yet paid off, and maybe a boat and/or a snowmobile and/or a jet ski they’re also still making payments on.

Now they might also look at their household furnishings. What’s all to the worse is that better stuff can be had for pennies. With notable exceptions (“name” designer stuff) used furniture is cheap and readily available.

 

[Hercule]

While we're on the subject of broadcast media, news in particular, why do we have to know the name of the person reporting? Does anybody really care who is on the scene, in the chopper (in my experience ALL traffic reporters seem to be named Pat), in the weather command center or otherwise behind the microphone? I don't know about you, but I just want the news not a relationship. If they dispensed with all the "reporting live, I'm ..." they'd probably have another ten minutes of air time for reporting.

I really shouldn't complain, I don't seem to listen to much news anymore. Still, it sticks in my craw nonetheless.

 

[Zombie_61]

While we're on the subject of broadcast media, news in particular, why do we have to know the name of the person reporting?...If they dispensed with all the "reporting live, I'm ..." they'd probably have another ten minutes of air time for reporting.

But it doesn't really matter because, if they had another ten minutes, they'd just repeat the same not-really-news stories they've been talking at each other about for the previous four hours.

 

[Hercule]

But it doesn't really matter because, if they had another ten minutes, they'd just repeat the same not-really-news stories they've been talking at each other about for the previous four hours.

True, especially so with local news which is already rife with meaningless banter.

 

[LizzieMaine]

View attachment 400038

This arrived in today’s mail.

Seven years to pay for furniture that might not last that long?

I’ve heard it said that if people were looking for the answer as to why they’re always barely scraping by, they might look in the driveway and/or the garage, where they keep two late-model cars they haven’t yet paid off, and maybe a boat and/or a snowmobile and/or a jet ski they’re also still making payments on.

Now they might also look at their household furnishings. What’s all to the worse is that better stuff can be had for pennies. With notable exceptions (“name” designer stuff) used furniture is cheap and readily available.

I've never bought a "new" piece of furniture in my life. Everything I own came from second-hand stores or yard sales, was inherited from deceased friends and relatives, was brought home from the "swap shop" at the dump, or was picked up from the sidewalk next to a "FREE" sign. My sister, on the other hand, won't have anything "used" in her house, including me.

 

[tonyb]

^^^^^^
I bought a brand-spankin’ new bed (adjustable!) for the first time in my life three or four years ago. I was into my seventh decade drawing breath at that point.

Bought a new IKEA couch for the short-term rental unit (which hasn’t been occupied in more than a year, what with the pandemic and all) because it’s stylish and cheap and the old one was getting shabby. Also bought a new mattress for that unit, seeing how the shirttail relative I had housed there for several months had a little problem with incontinence. And the old mattress was used when it came my way, six years ago or so.

But other than that, I can’t readily recall buying an unused piece of furniture.

It’s not that I haven’t been financially profligate in other ways (some things that tickle my fancy really can’t be had on the cheap), but well-made used furniture with character and style isn’t hard to find, and doesn’t cost much, when it costs at all.

 

[Zombie_61]

The couches we had in our previous rental home were bought cheap and they lived up to their reputation, so when we moved into our house back in '98 we decided it was time to replace them. The temporary "get 'em while they last" store we chose to do business with was rather up-front about their goods, and the salesman told us, "Most people change their decor every five to ten years to keep up with the trends, so that's about how long this furniture should last and we aren't asking much for it 'cause you aren't going to use it forever." Made sense, so we spent just under $1k for a three-seater couch and a two-seater love seat, both tastefully upholstered with a faux leather material that was surprisingly resilient, and also had "recliner" seats. Five to ten years? No, we just replaced them last year; probably the best bargain we ever got for any type of "disposable" furniture.

 

[tonyb]

I could have bought this Lane leather chair and ottoman for 30 bucks last night, had I not dragged my feet and let someone else make the deal first.
I’d be kicking myself if not for my confidence that similar deals will come my way.
How much are they new? Something pushing a grand, maybe?

 

[Harp]

True, especially so with local news which is already rife with meaningless banter.

But it doesn't really matter because, if they had another ten minutes, they'd just repeat the same not-really-news stories they've been talking at each other about for the previous four hours.

Much of what is currently bandied about is idle economic and legal speculation, amounting to gibberish
which passes for erudition.... Awoke this morning to coffee and MSNBC (liberal residential choice),
much ado about increased GDP, jobs, but the M2 is over 26kb and velocity I believe 1.3 thereabouts===
too much money printed and inflated currency. And the media seems so astigmatic about everything else....

 

[LizzieMaine]

I remember in the 70s, NBC radio came out with their new "News and Information Service," a network deal offering affliliates a full 45 minutes of news and feature material plus network commercials. The local station would have about fifteen minutes for its own inserts and commercials, and it came across as a pretty good package when they started it up. There were some interesting features mixed in with the hard news, in the style of the old NBC Monitor weekend package -- my favorite was "Cleveland Amory, Curmudgeon At Large," who even in my youth I thought hilarious, a gravel-voiced old newspaperman/critic coming on for five minutes to vent his spleen on anything that ticked him off that morning. But it became apparent pretty early on that there just wasn't enough quality material available to fill 45 minutes an hour, 24 hours a day, and you began to notice features being repeated too often, stories read verbatim every half hour, and gradually a sense of sad desperation closed in on the whole thing.

Pretty much all "all news all the time" operations are like that now. Part of the reason you hear "over to Joe Blow now with this report" and then Joe Blow reads something he just tore off the wire (or whatever the 21st century equivalent of rip-n-read is now, I've been out of the business a long time) is because it gives the illusion of the station doing more active reporting than it actually is. In reality, Joe Blow never left the building to file that story, which he didn't even write. Not that stations wouldn't do more hard news reporting if they could -- but the giant combines that have come to dominate broadcasting since deregulation in the '90s see no reason whatever to spend the actual money that it would take to do it. I'd love to hear what "Cleveland Amory, Curmudgeon-at-Large" would have to say about that.

 

[Harp]

Not that stations wouldn't do more hard news reporting if they could -- but the giant combines that have come to dominate broadcasting since deregulation in the '90s see no reason whatever to spend the actual money that it would take to do it.

With all due respect.... I listen to MSNBC as a house guest since resident liberals prefer this source,
and I easily filter whatever wheat-if any, there is with the chaff; while cognizant of what is being
deliberately ignored. And it isn't managerial monetary concerns. Profligate spending is allowed
for bias. rumor, and innuendo. However what floors me is the dearth of intellect braying like mules
before the microphones and cameras.

 

[LizzieMaine]

My comments referred to "all news" radio. I have no truck with cable television news in any way shape or form. It's all garbage. All of it. The malign legacy of the late and scabrous Mr. Ailes dominates the entire cable news industry, regardless of political slant. It's garbage content created for a garbage format. There are different flavors of garbage created to be lapped up by each political niche audience, but it's still garbage no matter who's dishing it and who's consuming it.

 

[Harp]

My comments referred to "all news" radio. I have no truck with cable television news in any way shape or form. It's all garbage. All of it.

A sorry state of affairs indeed. Yet, Cable isn't all junk, any more than is radio. Pockets of rational analysis
exist, though few and far between. Newspapers slack off, but again not all papers are rags. This spillage
traverses journal, essay, internet. The latter a hodgepoge for charlatans and lackeys. Academic reviews,
surprisingly most of all, have law reviews ever fallen.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I came across an old VCR tape a while back containing a couple hours of CNN from 1984 or so, and then vs. now is the difference between night and day. The proportion of "news" to "analysis" was far higher then than it is now, and substantially more time was devoted to each story covered. We complained in the '80s about limited attention spans, but CNN '84, for all the ludicrous blow-dried waxen-faced High Eighties Style of it, was "See It Now" compared to what passes for cable news today.

The only thing worse is the latest batch of comedy-news talk shows. Bugging your eyes into the camera and waving your hands like Jon Stewart with a thryoid problem with every cheap one-liner doesn't make you funny, or politically cogent. I've seen more amusing stomach pumps.

 

[Harp]

I came across an old VCR tape a while back containing a couple hours of CNN from 1984 or so, and then vs. now is the difference between night and day. The proportion of "news" to "analysis" was far higher then than it is now....

l like Erin Burnett at CNN. And I adore foxes Sandra Smith and Julie Banderas over on FOX News.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I never went into television because I can't wear a sleeveless dress.

 

[Bugguy]

A friend had a Samurai. I kinda liked it. In the years since they were last sold in the U.S. market they’ve attracted something of a cult following. I have no idea how capable they are as off-road vehicles, but they sure do look the part.

Years ago I was discussing off-road vehicles with an old hand in Ecuador (Santo Domingo de los Colorados). We were making forays into the jungle collecting herps for the Univ. of South Florida and got to discussing the most capable transportation in the jungle... hands down it was the VW. The usual Land Rovers and Toyotas were too heavy for the soft ground and ended up stuck. The VWs were light enough to ride over the wet ground and with a little help could be lifted free of the mud if necessary. Seems like the Samurai would have similar characteristics.

Funny how little bits of miscellanea are retained...

 

[Harp]

The usual Land Rovers and Toyotas were too heavy for the soft ground and ended up stuck. The VWs were light enough to ride over the wet ground and with a little help could be lifted free of the mud if necessary. Seems like the Samurai would have similar characteristics.

Funny how little bits of miscellanea are retained...

Dovetail this with Ukranian application for frozen terrain most conducive to Russian T-72; T-80; T-90
tanks and field artillery 152s, 180s guns; with warmer weather such heavy armor and gunnery would
have a difficult traverse. Factor in the China Olympics, et al and tactical necessity damascene favors
late February or early March invasion.

 

[tonyb]

And of course we all remember when VW Beetle bodies were separated from their pans and fiberglass dune buggy bodies bolted on to take their place. Those things were pretty much a daily sight 50 years ago.