Tuesday Tales Out Of Turn

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I had a scare last Friday. I have had no problem walking 60-70 minutes on the treadmill every other day averaging about a 4 MPH pace and all uphill.

Last Friday, however, when the treadmill readout displayed 48 minutes it was as if I had been placed in quicksand inside of an airtight bag. At 50 minutes I paused the treadmill for about 30 seconds hoping I could catch my breath. I had to stop at 57 minutes. Moreover, I could not catch my breath for at least 20 minutes after I got off the treadmill. Usually, I am only out of breath for a minute or two after a workout and not to the degree I was on Friday.

In the interest of safety, I decided on Friday to push the next workout from Sunday to Monday giving me an extra day of rest. It was on Sunday I learned that a long-time friend of mine had been recently diagnosed with congestive heart failure of no known cause.

Of course, I began to panic. Had I suddenly developed some heart condition which caused my workout to be short-circuited? (I do have some cardiac issues, anyway.) I can tell you that for the 15-20 minutes before I began my workout yesterday I was almost in panic attack mode.

In deference to Friday’s experience I warmed up a little less vigorously and walked a little more slowly. I had no problem walking four miles in 63 minutes and change; usually, I walk that distance in 61-62 minutes. I have to admit that I became a little teary-eyed after finishing the workout without any issues.

For me, regular exercise is the key to health and the key to keeping my parents’ problematic physiologies away. I have often told my wonderful wife that if for some reason I can no longer exercise, then I will not live more than five years after that.

The laziness of many/most Americans is the real reason, in my opinion, that US life expectancies fall behind those of other advanced nations. EVERYBODY has time to exercise if they make it a priority. Too many people here want a magic diet, a magic pill, a magic surgery to make/keep them well. Magic is an illusion, it isn’t real.

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Maybe I’m burying the lede…I must now make the confession of which I have hinted previously. I have not been 100% forthcoming about the situation relative to the Z06.

On Saturday August 13th, I made a deal to trade the Z06 in for a 2021 Toyota Supra with about 6,000 miles. Although the Corvette was still in the shop I had a text from the owner of the business “in charge” of the repairs saying the parts needed to complete the job would be delivered on Tuesday the 16th. As this was the first time I had been given a specific date I assumed the parts would be delivered that day and the job would be completed a few days thereafter.

The dealership had no problem waiting for the Z06 although, of course, I couldn’t take the Supra home until they received the Corvette. Sight unseen they offered me more for my car than the price for the Supra. For the first time in my life, I would have purchased a car AND received money back.

Of course, the best laid plans of mice and men…on the 17th I discovered the parts had not been delivered the previous day and were now not scheduled to be delivered until the 29th. I had to let the salesman at the dealership know. I ended up having many conversations with multiple staff members, the last of which being a week ago in which a sales manager said she could keep the deal alive another week and would call me with an update.

Until 9 PM last Friday I thought the deal was still alive. It was then, during a search for Supras available in the local market (I had to hedge my bets), that I discovered the dealership had put the Supra back on the market.

I don’t blame them for canceling the deal, but I do blame them for not having the decency to call me first. In retrospect, I should not have tried to purchase another car without the Z06 being out of the shop, but the dealership had no reservations about making the deal. Obviously, I will never do business with them again.

There is basically no chance that I will keep the Z06 for even a week after the repairs are completed. This saga has now been going on for almost 20 weeks. I am beyond done with that car. Oh, I have no idea if the parts were delivered yesterday. The person who owns the shop “in charge” of the repairs has actually farmed the work out to the local Chevrolet dealership. He was very upfront about all of this and he knows how much I loathe the service department of that dealership, which was not the same one that had the Z06 for eight weeks from April to June.

I know this is a first-world or champagne problem, but it’s still a problem, still another example of how it appears that nothing in my life can go smoothly from A to Z. I will offer the following probabilities: 90%+ that I buy a Supra, 4%-5% that I buy a Nissan Z (assuming I can find one not marked up to hell) and the remainder that I just sell the Z06 and pocket the money. Below is a picture of a Supra closely resembling the one I tried to buy although it’s not the same car.

 

 

You are now up to date. I would not be surprised if all of this isn’t resolved until the end of next month.

 

#TuesdayTalesOutOfTurn

#Exercise!

#Z06Saga

#somanyCARSjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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Published by rulesoflogic

Empiricism over ideology!

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12 thoughts on “Tuesday Tales Out Of Turn”

  1. No matter how rosy some folks want it to be, there are still serious supply chain problems. We currently have 5 projects delayed due to lack of parts, or delays from the machine manufacturers who can’t get parts to complete machines. In one case the customer had to buy and install a used piece of machinery due to the lead time for the bearings it needed having a 36 week lead time. Obviously they wouldn’t be able to meet commitments with their equipment down for 9-10 months. Yes, they are special bearings, also large (for an 8″ shaft) and expensive ($8,000 each) but a couple years ago I was able to find similar with a 2 week lead time. Earlier this year we had a similar situation and ended up finding bearings in, of all places, The United Arab Emirates. Shipping was eye watering, but at least we were able to get the customer back up and running.

    Transportation is another mess. I recently had to move 5 truckloads of machinery approximately 250 miles. 2-3 years ago it would have been $750-$1000 maximum. 4 months ago it cost $2,300 for a standard flatbed load, $3,500 for an overwidth load. And it was a struggle to even GET trucks. The broker we use, a friend of mine for over 15 years, told me at the time there was 2800 loads available and 190 trucks available. Drivers could be choosy and also charge pretty much what they wanted.

    I guess this rant was a long way of saying I hope you get your Z06 back soon and get into something you can actually drive.

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    1. Wow! Thanks for sharing, DDM. I, in no way, think that my situation with the Z06 is unique. That doesn’t make it any less frustrating, though.

      I would hope that businesses have learned a valuable lesson and will rely less on just-in-time manufacturing and skinny inventories, but I am under no illusion that any changes will be permanent. Our alleged brainpower is all too often wasted.

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      1. “rely less on just-in-time manufacturing and skinny inventories”

        One of the reasons that became the norm, was due to taxes on inventory held by a company. The government, in its infinite greed, came up with a way to squeeze more money out of thin air. So to try to reduce their tax burden, companies went to JIT and targeted deliveries. It works well, right up until it doesn’t.

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      2. Thanks, DDM. I often think one of the “Vox Populi” sketches from Monty Python. In that particular bit one of the interviewed “regular people” says, “I think we should tax all foreigners living abroad.”

        Some in government believe they have first dibs on all of a country’s assets and income. That is a most dangerous perspective.

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  2. I have a small roof drain project I need installed. I designed what I want installed and I purchased the parts so I have all the materials on hand. It took me a while to accumulate the parts, about a month, buying from different suppliers. So now all I need is the contractor. Originally I was going to install it myself, but wisdom and my bum knee changed my mind. Ladders and I don’t get along as well as we used to. Supply chain issues won’t impact this project.

    Exercise for me had been a walk in the morning through our neighborhood, My route is simple, following the edge of the street in a big “circle” starting and stopping at the garage door. It totals out to 1.5 miles. Before my knee problems stopped me completing my “lap around the block”, I could complete it in under 30 minutes. I know it is 1.5 miles as my engineer/Boy Scout brain had me count the steps and calculate it out based on my 30 inch long step. I will start my walk again shortly after I complete my physical therapy after my knee replacement surgery. Everybody NEEDS to exercise. God made our bodies to require exercise, so keep moving any way you can.

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    1. “Everybody NEEDS to exercise.”

      You’re smart enough and have the right work ethic/attitude to understand this basic truth. Unfortunately, the fact that many in this country aren’t and don’t means ALL of us pay with higher health care costs.

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  3. IMO you need to drive the Supra before you unload the Vette……I have found Asian sports cars to be less glued to the road than you might be used to. They seem to have less of a substantial vibe. Especially when compared to the Vette and other Euro sports cars.

    Hope the treadmill incident was “nothing”.

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    1. Thanks, Bob. I have driven the Supra and it is an excellent vehicle. It accelerates, steers and brakes well. It also has much better seats than the Z06 in addition to nav, front/rear parking sensors–the Vette has neither. My only reservation is that the Supra is really a BMW with a Toyota badge. If the car had been built in Germany, then I almost certainly wouldn’t consider buying it.

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      1. When the Supra was released I was working for a Toyota dealership. We received some technical info saying the BMW engine got some improvements specifically on the internal moveable parts, after all, we all know how “sensitive” BMW engines are. The suspension also received lots of upgrades. But we never bother asking where the car is manufactured.

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      2. Thanks for the comment. For me, the country of origin is significant because my parents were Holocaust survivors. Although I have owned a BMW, I never felt comfortable. Of course, the fact that it was not a reliable car didn’t help.

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      4. Thanks for the comment. As I have written, the only potential obstacle in my eventual purchase of a new Supra is that it is really a BMW with a Toyota badge. However, the fact that these cars are built in Austria, a country of real significance in my family history, mitigates that to a large degree. Yes, I know Shitler was born in Austria, but so was my sister.

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