Friday Ephemera

Bean glove. You heard me. || It’s a car, it’s a helicopter. (h/t, Things) || How to open a drawer. || How to peel potatoes. || The portable kitchen you’ve always wanted. || Pride. || “Alternatives to policing.” || More progressive motherhood. || The thrill of midwifery. || Monster detected. || Accelerated herding. || Maybe help will come. || Inside the Statue of Liberty. || Narrow city. || Vice of note. || Causality questioned. || Coffee Bar, 1959: “A square in the wrong hole is just not dug, even by the jukebox.” || Yes, there will be a test. || Not entirely unrelated. || Always ensure the tank is big enough. || And the robots will dance to K-pop. || The thrill of pencils. || Puzzling. || And finally, then they’ll pay. Then they’ll all pay.

Comments

[David]

So Brits can’t understand him either? Whew.

Not many, I should think. I sort of get fragments in the rambling. And those who can understand him without difficulty presumably live within a ten-minute drive.

[JuliaM]

Farnsworth: ’ …the average Joe and Jane who never change the oil in their cars…’

Doesn’t that sort of thing happen at yearly service time?

[semi retired conservative]

Upton Snodsbury.

Lead singer of the Emulsified High-Fat Offal Tubes.

[pst314]

I do remember a classic riff at Protein Wisdom where the commenters raked the person with the nick of "A Phoenician in the times of Romans" over the coals with their socks.

How many years ago was that??? I do remember that name, but only very vaguely as a somewhat obnoxious troll.

[pst314]

[ Scans horizon. Not a galleon in sight. Wipes sweat from brow. ]

Either the diversionary tactics worked or David is in a particularly mellow imperturbable mood...possibly due to a satisfyingly perfect cup of tea with breakfast.

[pst314]

Speaking of particularly satisfying breakfasts...

[pst314]

Doesn’t that sort of thing happen at yearly service time?

Well, yes, but you're supposed to do it every 3 months or 3000 miles.

[David]

possibly due to a satisfyingly perfect cup of tea with breakfast.

I rarely drink tea. Breakfast demands coffee.

[pst314]

Americans never have and never will know how to make a proper cuppa...styroform cup...microwaved water...Lipton tea bag...plastic container of "creamer".

Styrofoam cup? What kind of hotel was that? The Skid Row Sheraton? I only see styrofoam cups in fast food restaurants. That is an extreme case, but true nonetheless. Most restaurants will give you a stoneware coffee cup and a selection of Bigelow or Twinings tea bags, although still with a tiny pot of hot water that will cool too quickly. Sigh. Part of the problem is that few Americans ask for tea, and serving tea is much more time consuming than coffee and therefore a problem for very busy waitstaff who often don't know much anyway. Lipton is banned from my home. Only quality loose tea from England or China or India. Of course, if you want to rag on America, what's with all those middle aged adults drinking glass after glass of super-sweet soft drinks with their dinners?

[WTP]

And those who can understand him without difficulty presumably live within a ten-minute drive.

My wife thought he was Polish at first (she's Polish/Ukrainian ancestry). As for the first episode, for some inexplicable reason I haven't seen too many Top Gear episodes but I am quite familiar with Mr. Clarkson from the few I have seen and various excerpts. My wife was not familiar with him at all. But we were both howling with laughter when he bought the Lamborghini tractor. Watched the second regarding the sheep as well. Looking forward to the remaining six. Seems a shame that's all there is. We had been enjoying Escape to the Chateau which has ended here in a pre-pandemic season. The Canadian show Renovation Island, I believe called Island of Bryan or some such originally up there in the People's Democratic Republic is also a favorite.

As for proper making of tea. You're all too complicated. Get three family size Lipton Tea bags, put them in a clear gallon jug of water, set in the sun about three hours and you're done. Even Greta Thunberg would approve...not that I care.

[pst314]

I rarely drink tea. Breakfast demands coffee.

Jack Aubrey and I agree with you.

Americans never have and never will know how to make a proper cuppa

How's this?
Preheat the teapot with maximally hot tap water.
Wait for kettle to boil.
Empty teapot.
Put tea ball in pot. (Loose tea in pot is optional.)
Pour boiling water into pot.

[Nikw211]

Hot take

[pst314]

Remove tea ball after about 3 minutes, depending on the type of tea.

[Mags]

Hot take

https://twitter.com/ne0liberal/status/1411202495414779907

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

Looking forward to the remaining six. Seems a shame that's all there is.

It seems to be some curiosity of metric TV that a season con't go beyond 8 shows. Recently on either Britbox or Acorn there was a "new season" of a very good program(me) that was a whopping two shows.

Hot take

Better still trying to use water to put it out

[PiperPaul]

we were both howling with laughter when he bought the Lamborghini tractor

Lamborghini started as a tractor manufacturer, fancy cars came later.

[anon a mouse]

Americans never have and never will know how to make a proper cuppa

Thank God. Tea is for China cup pinky extended fops.

See Kent Rollins for good coffee...

[PiperPaul]

Hot take

Anything bad that happens anywhere is the fault of capitalism (for a while it switched to Trump).

Everyone knows that.

[Steve E]

Doesn’t that sort of thing happen at yearly service time?

Well, yes, but you're supposed to do it every 3 months or 3000 miles.

That's how it used to be. Cars that use synthetic oil are 1 year or 15,000 miles. Even cars using traditional oil are now recommended to go 5,000 to 7,500 miles between oil changes.

Cars run so much cleaner today and technology has really extended the operating life of engine parts. At one time you had to change your spark plugs at least once a year, some times twice depending on how dirty your engine ran. Now they'll last between 20,000 and 30,000 miles or two and a half years. The plugs in my car still looked good at 50,000 miles.

[a different james]

Cars run so much cleaner today and technology has really extended the operating life of engine parts

Yes. About 20 years ago, cars reached a point where they could be almost trouble-free for well over 100,000 miles and without falling apart from rust.

Then came excessive use of electronics followed by computer chips and pointless carbon-saving measures. Automatic shut off of engine when stopped? I am on my third battery and have had to replace the alternator with less than 30,000 miles

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

Cars that use synthetic oil are 1 year or 15,000 miles.

The main reason is the "free" service most manufacturers are hawking these days, way cheaper for them to push out to longer service intervals until the engine grenades after the warranty. However, both BMW and GM issued recall notices to shorten the intervals due to parts failures in warranty. Of course the asshats at BMW (probably others) deleted dipsticks which is the easiest way to tell if your oil needs changing.

[Steve E]

However, both BMW and GM issued recall notices to shorten the intervals due to parts failures in warranty.

Were these specific models or model years? I've owned three BMWs in the last 20 years and have never received a recall notice about reducing oil change intervals. Ditto for the two GM cars owned in the last 8 years.

Agree getting rid of the dipstick was a dipstick move.

[Squires]

Hot take

I would like to introduce these best & brightest of us to deep-sea geothermal vents.

[WTP]

Hot take

Where's that Tim Newman guy when you really need him?

main reason is the "free" service most manufacturers are hawking these days, way cheaper for them to push out to longer service intervals until the engine grenades after the warranty.

Bought a used 2016 Toyota Tacoma in 2018 and the dealer offers free (synthetic) oil changes for life. At first, when I bought it, I really didn't think I would use that as the dealer I bought it from was 50 miles away. But as I have since been COVID-retired, I found it to be no big deal to take an excursion once or twice a year up that way, get the oil changed, etc. and have lunch with some nearby friends. Well...back in those halcyon days of two years ago when we were still friends anyway...anyway, the dealer sends me emails and bugs me with phone calls long before I need the oil changed such that I'm usually getting my synthetic oil change every 4,000 or 6,000 miles. One time it was closer to 10,000 but not sure if that was on me or if I did get it changed at 5,000 and CarFax and Toyota and I all missed it.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

Steve E,

Sorry, not a recall, a "change of recommendation" for the bimmers. GM did the recall, and I have seen elsewhere where Toyota and Porsche have shortened their change intervals as well.

To me the bimmer one is still insane, why you would spring for an M5 and only change oil every 10K miles is nuts, but then getting an M5 other than an E28 or E34 is nuts.

[Steve E]

Sorry, not a recall, a "change of recommendation" for the bimmers.

Thanks for that Muldoon. You're right, I don't know anyone driving an M5 or M3 who would follow those guidelines. I've always used my best judgement based on the kind of driving I do and the conditions I'm driving in. I still have my 2002 325Ci Convertible. Lately I don't put any more than about 3,000 miles per year on the car and I don't drive it hard so I'm comfortable changing oil once a year. In the early years I was driving about triple that and would change the oil twice a year. My wife drives a leased Chevy Equinox. There's 8 months on the lease. We take the "free" oil change when the car computer tells us oil service is between 5 and 10%. I've notice that there must be inputs from the car's systems that determine the oil life algorithm because it doesn't seem to be a straight time or straight mileage proposition.

I hear what you're saying about the attempt by the dealer to save money with a service package. My experience has been that only the basics are free and they push real hard on extra service items every time you come in for an oil change. So I think the strategy was get them into the dealership as often as you can and go for the add ons. I've seen them change every filter in the car on some poor sod at full pop when you could still eat off the filter. Not to mention the fact you can buy filters at Pep Boys and others for a quarter of the cost and easily change them yourself.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

I've notice that there must be inputs from the car's systems that determine the oil life algorithm because it doesn't seem to be a straight time or straight mileage proposition.

Yep, has to be everything feeding into the ECU, the only thing I have in the fleet with an "oil life" indicator is an F-150 and it gives me the annoying warning more often if I use the thing mainly in town as opposed to long hauls on the highway unless I am towing.

Anyway, I don't give a lot of credence to the indicator, as you say, best judgement, how it has been driven, how it is going to be driven, and what the damn oil looks like, just like the other cars.

[Sam Duncan]

“Tea is for China cup pinky extended fops.”

Ahem. Although frankly, I get the distinct impression that the mug in those pictures has been washed at some point in the previous week, which really isn't in the spirit of the thing. The stains give it flavour.