It Really Never Ends…

Until it does, I guess. Yesterday I received a frantic call from a sales manager at the Ford dealership where I bought the Mustang. He said that the dealership that actually is in possession of the Z06 claimed they didn’t have it. His calls to the person who owns the shop “in charge” of the repairs went un-returned. (I will not deal with the service department of the local Chevrolet dealer. I decided to use another local independent shop for the Vette, a shop I had used before, after the debacle with the other dealer that had the Z06 for eight weeks and returned it not in optimal running condition. The owner of the independent shop then farmed out the work to the local dealership and he did inform me that he was going to do so.)

I was then involved in a three-way text exchange. The result was, I think, that the Z06 repairs will not be held up waiting for factory parts–it turns out the ETA on them has “gone missing”–and that either aftermarket parts or no parts will be used. You see, the only things missing are the Corvette’s secondary catalytic converters. I believe the Vette is the only car sold in the US with two sets of cats.

You probably don’t remember, but in the summer of 2020 those were removed by a shop in the mid-Atlantic that worked on my car. The Z06 easily passed Arizona emissions without the secondary cats. I know I mentioned to the person “in charge” of the repairs here that we didn’t need to re-install them, but he thought it would be better to do so as that would make the car completely stock.

I am not an attorney and don’t know if the Ford dealership can still unwind the deal for the Mustang even though they have the title to the Z06. What they can do is to delay cutting the check for the substantial amount they owe me until they have the car in their possession, even though it’s literally next door.

This picture is running through my mind:

I have long called my own personal version of Murphy’s Law the Johnny Astro Syndrome. When my wonderful wife and I married, the best man, Dr. Zal, made a toast during which he announced that the Johnny Astro Syndrome is over. If only that were true.

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Does the name Bob Babbitt mean anything to you? How about the Funk Brothers? Babbitt (given name Robert Kreiner) was a bass player who for part of his career was part of the Funk Brothers. The latter was Motown’s backing group of musicians from the time the company was founded in 1959 until the company moved its headquarters to Los Angeles in 1972. The actual roster of all of the musicians who were ever part of the group is unknown.

Babbitt, named the 59th best bass player of all time by Bass Player magazine, played with Dennis Coffey (another Funk Brothers alum) and the Detroit Guitar Band. They had one gold single, Scorpio. That song features a great solo by Babbitt and one that was very long in the context of its day. With the caveat that this is not the greatest mix ever–the bass is often almost completely drowned out by percussion and Coffey’s pizzicato of sorts–AND that I do not own the rights to the song, here is that solo.

I cannot describe the impact this song had on me. I had always leaned towards instrumental music, but this song was a revelation. As I am writing this, I hear Babbitt’s solo in my head. Here is a description from notreble:

“Babbitt’s approach to the bass break in “Scorpio” is a great example of development, space, and phrasing in a groove-based solo. He often rests between restating the initial groove of the song and adding funky embellishments, allowing the listener to hang on between the phrases with great expectations of what is to come. Over the course of the solo, he builds momentum with busier rhythmic lines and finally ushers in the rest of the ensemble to return to the head of the tune.”

From Wikipedia a picture of the late Bob Babbitt:

Of course, as soon as I finish writing this post I will have to listen to Scorpio and maybe play the bass solo by itself as well. After you finish reading, go listen to some of your favorite music.

#ItReallyNeverEnds

#JohnnyAstroSyndrome

#BobBabbitt

#FunkBrothers

#somanyCARSjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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Left Hand, Meet Right Hand

I received a call yesterday from a sales manager at the Ford dealership where I bought the Mustang GT. From the voicemail he left, it was obvious he didn’t know that the dealership had the title to the Z06.

I returned his call and he asked me right away about what was going on with the Corvette. I told him that it was no longer my car since the dealership had the title. He said he didn’t know that–left hand, meet right hand–but thanked me for the update. While we continued to talk he must have checked the status on his computer because he later confirmed the title transfer.

However, the dealership will not cut the check for the amount they owe me, even though they now own the car, until it is physically in their inventory. So, the meltdown of supply chains and logistics (and, I contend, lazy people taking advantage of those events) continues to hound me EVEN THOUGH I don’t own the Z06, anymore.

The person who owns the shop “in charge” of the Z06 repairs did confirm earlier this week that a delivery date does exist for the last parts needed to complete the job, but he didn’t reveal the date and I didn’t ask. Those parts were originally supposed to be delivered on August 16th, then August 29th, then in a window from September 8th through the 22nd. Don’t look now, but tomorrow is the 22nd.

I want to remain calm and think “This too shall pass” but it’s not easy to do so. I am not a patient person by nature, so this entire saga has been most unsettling. Yes, it’s a champagne problem, a first-world problem. It’s still a problem, though. Anyway, I have the Mustang and am enjoying the car.

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In Fibonacci Friday, new reader and commenter Rubens Junior commented about the Fibonacci sequence, “The fact we can find the sequence in nature, that tells me math wasn’t invented, but discovered.” This Why Evolution Is True post from yesterday is titled, “Did we discover mathematics or invent it?”

Blog author Jerry Coyne wrote, “My own view, and I’m hardly qualified to express one as I’m not a philosopher, is that nature can be expressed in mathematical rules because nature (or at least physics) is regular. That is, there are laws of nature most prominently the laws of physics.” It is an interesting question to me, sort of, but as I am also not a philosopher nor a physicist or mathematician I don’t know that any opinions I have are relevant. I do know that Galileo wrote, “Mathematics is the language of Science.”

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Anti-Semitism is almost as old as Judaism, sadly. On this day in 1348, Jews in Zurich, Switzerland were formally accused of poisoning wells. Perhaps this was in response to the burgeoning bubonic plague epidemic, known as the Black Death.

On this day in 1451, Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa ordered Jews of Holland to wear a badge. Most horribly, it was on this day in 1939 that ~~Nazi~~ leader ~~Reinhard Heydrich~~ went to Berlin to “chair” a meeting about the “Final Solution” to the “Jewish problem.”

Those who deny that Jews have been persecuted for their entire existence are no better than those who engage in overt anti-Semitism. In fact, I would argue that those actions are one and the same.

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On this day in 1893, Charles and Frank Duryea successfully road-tested what many consider to be the first-ever working American gasoline-powered automobile. Some automotive historians have disputed that claim arguing that others–such as Elwood Haynes–were first, but the Duryea brothers are considered by most to be the first pioneers of the American automobile.

In 1896, the Duryea Brothers produced 13 cars by hand and, therefore, Duryea became the first-ever commercially produced vehicle, and also the largest automobile factory in the United States. The history of the Duryea company is quite interesting and, as such, cannot be done justice in the confines of a blog post. The seminal work, standard catalog of®American Cars 1805-1942, has a long entry about Duryea. Counting the pre-1896 cars, the book credits Duryea with a total production of 719 cars through 1917 with no single year reaching even 100.

October 8: Frank Duryea, the first automobile driver in America, born on this date in 1869

#LeftHandMeetRightHand

#IsMathAnInventionOrADiscovery?

#TheDuryeaBrothers

#somanyCARSjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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The World Is Not That Predictable

Despite “deep learning” and “machine learning” the world is not that predictable. When I woke up this morning it was raining steadily, precipitation that had not been forecast. Again, maybe it’s the nature of desert weather, but the National Weather Service is not that accurate in predicting rain here.

When the Russian dictator launched an invasion of sovereign Ukraine in February, most observers thought it would not last more than a few weeks. Here we are, about seven months later and it appears (take all reports with some skepticism) that Ukraine actually has the upper hand, at least as of now.

Even in the context of a trivial, and seemingly simple, matter such as this blog, I cannot predict readership. Yesterday saw a strong number of views (59% more than the average of the last five days with a post) and visitors, including a fair number for this post–250,000th Corvette and Other Things–that I published almost three years ago. When I mention trends in readership in conversation I am often asked, “Why did that happen?” I always answer that I have no idea.

Data analysis is powerful, but not omniscient. I think of the remark attributed to Albert Einstein, “Not everything that can be counted counts and not everything that counts can be counted.” I don’t interpret that statement as we can’t ever know the structural equations of a model so the reduced-form equations cannot always be accurate. I think of the statement as a broader, almost metaphysical, acknowledgement that no one knows everything about anything. Einstein’s own futile search for a Unified Field Theory shows that not even he knew everything about Physics.

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Speaking of trivial…I have reached the three-quarter mark in my computer football season. This is the longest such season I have ever attempted (216 league games, plus playoffs; a real NFL season has 272 games plus playoffs). Perhaps that is why I am becoming a little bored with the whole thing. I just want the playoff races to be settled and to play the post-season and crown a champion.

Fortunately, the simulation allows me to set up any game to be played solely by the computer with the results becoming known in seconds. I hope this displays OK; below are, hopefully, the current standings.

Sorry for the screen effects. I tried to copy and paste from the actual file, but the WordPress editor cannot seem to handle fixed-space fonts, as opposed to proportional fonts.

I cannot vouch for the accuracy of Home, Divisional and Conference records. Despite being on the market for more than 20 years, this game still has more than its share of bugs.

Being the weirdo that I am, I would be happy if an AFC team makes the playoffs with a 9-9 or 8-10 record. The Buffalo Bisons began the season 0-5, but are still alive for the playoffs; that appeals to me, for some reason. The playoff format is like the original one post-merger (1970) in that the three division winners and one wild-card team make the playoffs in each conference.

No, I do not think that these results are important to anyone except me. No, I am not delusional and think that this is real life. Once again, I have been playing statistics-based (as opposed to graphics-based) sports games since I was 12; it’s in my blood, I guess. I even played these games while I worked in major league baseball although not as much as before or since.

Do any of you have any “lifetime” hobbies that you’d like to share?

#TheWorldIsNotThatPredictable

#somanyCARSjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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The Road Not Taken, The Mistake Not Made

As incomprehensible as this is to me right now, today could have been my 30th wedding anniversary. Years before I met my wonderful wife on the other side of the country, I was engaged. My first fiancée and I were supposed to be married on September 19, 1992.

The engagement ended in May and she moved out in June. (We had moved in together in January, 1992.) In all honesty, I think we were engaged because we were in our early 30s and thought it was time to be married. I liked that she was a bright person (she had a graduate degree in a science discipline) who liked sports. I think she liked the fact that I worked for the Orioles.

I consider myself very lucky not to have married this person, no offense to her intended–seriously. My wonderful wife, to whom I have been married for 23 years, is the kindest, cutest, sweetest and most wonderful person in the world. Yes, I used the word “wonderful” twice in the same sentence. So sue me…

We have much control over life outcomes. My first fiancée and I could have succumbed to inertia and married. Instead, we realized that was not the best decision we could make. The problem with making decisions is that while all decisions have consequences, we don’t always know what they are or will be when we make them.

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No, I did not watch Oklahoma roll over Nebraska on Saturday, the first game after now former head coach Scott Frost was fired by Huskers’ AD Trev Alberts. As only Nebraska can, they waited one more game to fire the worst defensive coordinator in D1 football, Erik Chinander.

Despite the whining by Huskers’ fans about bad luck–last season they were the only NCAA football team in history to lose nine games in a season each by fewer than 10 points–most of the misfortunes of the Nebraska football program are self-inflicted. Like I wrote, we have much control over life outcomes.

Since probably none of you reading is a Huskers football fan (I’m not really one, anymore, and haven’t been for awhile) I won’t bore you with details. Suffice to say that decision-making at the top level of the athletic department has been more about lurching from one extreme to another instead of devising a sound plan and trying to stick to it.

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The ordeal is over; no, repairs to the Z06 are not complete. I am no longer the owner of the car!

On Saturday, I received a text from a person in the finance department at the Ford dealership from whom I purchased the Mustang. He said my wonderful wife and I had to re-sign a few documents. Even though Arizona is a community property state, our cars are all titled differently. Her Corvette convertible is titled only in her name, the Cascada is titled only in my name, but the Corvette–and its successor, the Mustang–are titled in both of our names.

Unprompted by anyone, I thought it would be a good idea to take the title for the Z06 with us yesterday (yes, they are open on Sunday) and to find an opportunity to offer the dealership the title. The opportunity presented itself, the finance department was happy to receive the title even though the work has still not been completed and the Mustang is now fully paid for and then some.

Yes, I had always been surprised that the Ford dealership let me drive the Mustang home even though I still owned the car that was to be used as payment. This is the second time this dealer has come through for us. We sold the Cadillac ATS to them in April and they paid us substantially more than the local Cadillac dealer offered. If I sell the Cascada, a distinct possibility, they will get first dibs at buying it.

The Mustang is mine with no strings attached! I don’t care how long it takes for the Z06 repairs to be completed! I still need to get the license plate from the Corvette as it will be the Mustang plate and, of course, I need to retrieve a few personal items. However, I feel as if a giant cloud has lifted. Halle-frickin’-lujah!

#TheRoadNotTaken

#TheEndOfAnOrdeal

#2022FordMustangGT

#somanyCARSjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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Assorted Nuts

Post titles matter; today’s has nothing to do with anything except that I like the way it reads and sounds. Food products that are an assortment of nuts are almost always labeled “Mixed Nuts” and not “Assorted Nuts.” The latter just sounded better to me today.

This CNBC piece from early last week reports that a “Harvard expert” (Bill George, a senior fellow at Harvard Business School) thinks Zark Muckerberg is “de-railing” Fack Fucebook and that “He’s really lost his way.” My contempt for Muckerberg and his platform burns with the heat of a thousand suns.

Here is a remark from George, “I think Facebook is not going to do well as long as he’s there. He’s likely one of the reasons so many people are turning away from the company. He’s really lost his way.” Much of the article cites specific traits that George thinks are counter-productive.

Fack Fucebook and Guck Foogle have a de facto duopoly in digital advertising with a combined market share of more than 50 percent. Digital advertising comprises more than half of all advertising expenditures. It is in the best interests of a capitalist economy for entities with that kind of market power to be broken up.

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Here are links to four posts from Why Evolution Is True:

Mencken on nonexistent gods

Some of H.L. Mencken’s entries in his private diary have been described by some as racist and anti-Semitic. Others disagree with that characterization. Judging the words and actions of someone in 1900 by the “standards” of 2022 is often, but not always, nothing more than ideological and temporal arrogance.

I would be remiss if I didn’t note that Mencken and I graduated from the same Baltimore high school, although 82 years apart. Mencken graduated at age 15 as the school valedictorian. I think he once wrote that newspaper editors separate the wheat from the chaff and print the chaff.

Did Wokeness come from Marxism?

NYT and other media fall for a hoax because it matched their ideology

Confirmation bias is very real.

Two articles on the Queen: one lionizing her and the other attacking her

For the nth to the n time, one of my most strongly held beliefs is that NO ONE who is alive or who has ever lived is/was perfect. Read this book by the late Christopher Hitchens if you think Mother Teresa was perfect.

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I don’t know if this news is supposed to be shared, but we received the sad word from our friends and former neighbors, MB and BB, that they had to put down their legendary Basset Hound, Truman. He was the star of the neighborhood and graced us with his presence for all of the ten years they owned him after rescuing him at the age of two. I think most of us know what it’s like to lose a beloved pet.

To me, many dog faces resemble human faces. For me, no other species has the same quality.

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No, the parts needed to complete the repairs of the Z06 have still not been delivered; at least not as far as I know. The latest they are supposed to be delivered is Thursday the 22nd. I think it’s way less than 50-50 they are delivered by then and I will have to inform the Ford dealership from whom I purchased the ’22 Mustang GT. Not looking forward to that, at all.

#AssortedNuts

#FackFucebook

#HLMencken

#NOONEIsOrWasPerfect

#somanyCARSjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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Fibonacci Friday

I am probably in over my head trying to write about this topic…

Fibonacci (also known as Leonardo of Pisa) was an Italian mathematician of the 12th and 13th centuries. He has been described as “the most talented Western mathematician of the Middle Ages.”

He is best known today for the Fibonacci sequence and for the golden ratio, although it is my understanding he did not directly write about the latter nor was he the first to discover the two concepts. Here is a Fibonacci sequence starting at 0 although it can actually start with any two numbers: 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55. The next number in the sequence, like all in the sequence, is the sum of the previous two numbers.

The golden ratio refers to the fact, I think, that no matter what two numbers start the sequence, within just a few numbers the ratio of the next-to-last to the last number will be the same: .618. (That is also shown as the ratio of the last to the next-to-last, 1.618.)

The golden ratio seems to occur naturally in some, but not all, places. For example, the spiral arrangement of leaves or petals on some plants follows the golden ratio.

Technical stock analysts–those who only use the prices of stocks and their movements, as opposed to analyzing company fundamentals such as profits and expected growth–use something called Fibonacci retracement points. These points are often used to draw support lines, identify resistance levels, place stop-loss orders, and set target prices.

To no one’s surprise, I first learned of Fibonacci and the golden ratio from Bill James. I don’t remember the exact context in which he wrote about Fibonacci, but that concept really resonated with me.

When you’re a math nerd afflicted with OCD, even if it’s OCD-lite, stuff like this is just gold. Sorry for the pun, maybe not.

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We are now in the second half of the delivery window for the parts needed to complete the repairs of the demon ogre–uh, the Z06. I am still quite worried that the deal for the 2022 Mustang GT will be nullified if the parts are not delivered in a timely manner. No one at the Ford dealership said this to me, and perhaps that the Z06 is literally next door means they are not worried, but I am genuinely concerned.

I also don’t want to call the dealership to ask; the axiom “let sleeping dogs lie” seems appropriate. As I have written ad infinitum, it is hell to live inside my head.

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While The Hall of Very Good Cars series ended prematurely, I still have the list of approximately two dozen cars that I was going to show. I’m really not sure what is motivating me to show one of those cars today, but here it is.

This is a 1954 Hudson Hornet Hollywood Hardtop. (You know how much I love alliteration.) Of course, that was the last model year for “real” Hudsons as they became badge-engineered Nashes (called Hashes by their detractors) not long after the 1954 merger of those two companies that created American Motors.

It’s not the drivetrain that interests me, particularly. It’s just something about the lines of the car that especially appeals to me.

Just like all pickup trucks look basically the same to me, I’m sure many people–even those who are car enthusiasts–think cars from the ’50s or cars from the ’20s all look pretty much the same. Actually, I think almost all brass-era cars look the same. Different strokes for different folks, DSFDF.

#FibonacciFriday

#DemonOgre

#1954HudsonHornetHollywood

#DSFDF

#somanyCARSjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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Ford > General Motors And Chrysler?

These two CNBC articles report that 1) Ford, unlike General Motors, is allowing dealers to opt out of selling electric vehicles and continue to sell the company’s cars, and 2) has unveiled the new, seventh-generation Mustang (beginning in the 2024 model year) as a car powered by an Internal Combustion Engine, unlike Chrysler/Stellantis which will end the Challenger and Charger as ICE-powered cars after the 2023 model year. Ford’s Mustang announcement also is contrary to the loud rumors that GM/Chevrolet will re-launch the Camaro as an electric car.

Martin Gjaja, Ford’s chief customer officer for the company’s electric vehicle business, is quoted as saying, “There’s too much uncertainty. We don’t think it’s fair to force them to go on the EV journey or force them into a buyout. We think it’s really uncalled for because they have a healthy and strong, growing business. We want them to have the choice.” OMG, a car company executive talking about choice.

When GM and Volvo and Jaguar announce they are committing to an all-electric fleet they are saying, “If you want to buy a new car from us in the near future, you HAVE to buy an electric car, whether you want to or not.” Oh, isn’t GM currently producing ICE vehicles, hybrids and pure EVs and still making profits?

As for the Mustang, Jim Owens–head of Mustang marketing–said, “We know customers do want that internal combustion and some of them want the electric and we offer both in that Mustang family.” Once again, Ford is giving customers a choice. Isn’t that the way the US economy is supposed to work?

Sorry, but I don’t care if many would label me as an old fogy, customers are supposed to be able to choose from among competing products, not have choice removed by government and big business. Yes, I know those two entities have been hand-in-hand in regulating commerce and restricting your choices for years. However, heading blindly into EVs without any thoughts about infrastructure and access for the many millions of people who don’t have a garage is beyond a fool’s errand.

“Do not go gentle into that good night,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”

******************

While this recent piece has a European slant, it is from the UK division of Hagerty, it does show what might have been if manufacturers had been less timid. I think this car that was not to be, unlike some of the others mentioned that were produced but only for a short time, has a very nice design:

Rover 75 Coupe concept

As you can see from the front grille, this is a Rover, the 75 Coupé Concept. However, it did not end up in production because MG Rover went “into administration” (more than £1.4 billion in debt) not long after this was unveiled. Another Ford connection…the rights to the Rover brand were part of the transaction when Ford sold Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata Motors of India in 2008.

I don’t care if I’m the last person in the country not driving an electric car and/or an SUV or pickup truck. I will drive what I want until it is literally impossible to do so although I am 99.9% certain I won’t live that long.

#Ford>GMAndChrysler

#Rover75Coupé

#Choice!

#somanyCARSjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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Where Does The Time Go?!

I am having lunch today with someone I’ve known since 1988, more than half my life. We worked together at the two baseball teams for whom I worked full-time. (He is still working for the second of those teams and has for almost 30 years. That tenure is more than half of his life.)

I started working for the Orioles in a full-time job when I was 28; I am now 62. I know the reality, but it is semi-incomprehensible if I am to be completely honest.

Tomorrow will be five months since the Z06 first failed to start. Yes, supply chains and logistics are busted to bupkis. As frustrating as the situation is, it does not seem like five months.

Today is the 1,708th day that Disaffected Musings has existed. My wonderful wife and I married 8,501 days ago. Can this blog really have existed for one-fifth of our marriage?!

I liken the seeming increase in the speed of the passage of time with age to getting 100 marbles and giving them away one at a time. At first, you’re only giving away 1% of the marbles, but as the number of marbles decreases the percentage given away increases. You’re still only giving away one marble at a time, but when you get to 50 marbles remaining each marble represents 2%. When you get to 20 marbles left, the next marble given away is 5% of the total.

I think your internal clock knows your time is finite and processes each unit of time as a larger percentage of what time remains. I think that’s why time seems to be speeding up as we age. I have no proof (hey, physicists have no proof for string theory, either, but that doesn’t stop them from talking about it), but my theory is as good as anyone else’s.

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Speaking of string theory, this post from Why Evolution Is True is about “physicist and science popularizer” Sabine Hossenfelder “dissing” the multiverse. From the post:

“To Hossenfelder, the problem with mulitverse theories is that they all “Postulate the existence of unobservable entities.” That is, although the multiverse is an outcome of some mathematical physics, there is no way physicists have found to test it—to make observations that would make its existence more or less likely. If it ultimately can’t be tested, she says—and I agree—then it can’t be considered a scientific theory. (This is also true of string theory.)” [That last sentence is Jerry Coyne’s, not mine.]

As much as I respect science, I never forget that it is an endeavor of imperfect human beings. Even this guy wasn’t perfect, although I wish people like him were in charge instead of the dolt politicians.

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Today is Day 7 of the 15-day delivery window for the parts needed to complete the repairs of the Z06. Of course, the completion of the repairs is now all about getting the car ASAP to the Ford dealer from whom I purchased the Mustang GT last week. For perhaps the last time in this blog:

By the way, taking the published figures as given, the Mustang GT I purchased actually has a better power-to-weight ratio than the new Supra, at least in terms of horsepower. (In terms of torque it’s a virtual dead heat.) The Mustang definitely sounds better.

#WhereDoesTheTimeGo?!

#2022FordMustangGT

#somanyCARSjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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Tuesday Turmoil

No disrespect intended to the people of Ukraine and I fully acknowledge that the turmoil is all in my head.

Despite this being the fourth day that my new Ford Mustang GT is in our garage, I am still envisioning a scenario in which another delay in the delivery of the parts needed to complete the repair of the Z06 causes the deal to come undone. That’s just how my mind works, or doesn’t. Ironically, the Z06 is literally next door to the Ford dealership where I bought the Mustang.

The parts are supposed to be delivered no later than the 22nd and the Ford dealership made the deal with that “knowledge.” The best-laid plans of mice and men oft go awry.

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On this day in 1814 the British army and navy halted their attempt to capture the city of Baltimore. Fort McHenry had been bombarded for 25 hours. Of course, this battle inspired lawyer and poet Francis Scott Key to compose the poem, “Defence of Fort M’Henry,” which became the lyrics for the US National Anthem.

This Wikipedia article might be a good starting point if you want to learn more about the origins of the War of 1812. I must admit I know little about that conflict even though my birthplace was the site of one of the war’s major battles and a turning point. I am not a student of military history. From Why Evolution Is True, a photo of the earliest surviving sheet music of the anthem:

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On this day in 1899 Henry Bliss (an ironic name as you will soon see) became the first person to be fatally injured in an automobile accident in the US. (The accident happened on September 13; he died from his injuries the next day.)

Bliss was exiting a streetcar at West 74th Street and Central Park West in New York City when he was struck by an electric taxicab driven by Arthur Smith. Smith was charged with manslaughter, but was later acquitted.

In 2020, about 7,000 pedestrians were killed in car accidents. About a third of those pedestrians were legally drunk, meaning that they had a BAC of .08 g/dl or higher. We are in an era where we can’t “blame the victim.” The percentage of drivers who were legally drunk in accidents leading to the death of a pedestrian was, surprisingly, much lower, 13%. Maybe those in favor of Prohibition were on to something.

#TuesdayTurmoil

#TheDeal’sNotDoneUntilItIs

#Star-SpangledBanner

#somanyCARSjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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Monday Monday

For the WordPress week that ended yesterday, Disaffected Musings reached a level for blog views for the fourth consecutive week that had previously only occurred once since February 1. Many thanks and please keep reading.

Are any of you fans of The Mamas & The Papas? Of course, their song “Monday, Monday” was a big hit, reaching Number One on the Billboard chart in 1966. (It was their only Number One single.) The group was only together from 1965 to 1968, not counting a brief reunion to record an album in 1971. Michelle Gilliam Phillips is the only surviving member of the group as none of the other three made it to age 70. Cass Elliott (born Ellen Naomi Cohen in Baltimore) died of a massive heart attack at the age of 32 in 1974.

My wonderful wife and I do not have much overlap in our musical tastes. When we are driving together we either listen to an oldies station from the Phoenix market or ’60s Gold on Sirius XM. When listening to the latter, which seems to have a very short playlist, “Monday, Monday” and “California Dreaming” seem to be played quite often.

The Mamas and The Papas: How the group's harmonies were a huge hit - Click Americana

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The recent turn of events in Ukraine are a wonderful development, but the war–sadly–is far from over. In this CNBC Europe interview, David Roche, President and Global Strategist for Independent Strategy (a company that provides institutional investors with advice), offers his belief that the Russian dictator will be gone within a year. One can only hope it will not take anywhere near that long.

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Maybe I have really gone off the deep edge, but the car below has moved very high up on the list of those I would purchase as a restomod candidate if I am ever in a position to do so.

Fit and Trim: The General Motors B-Body Coupes of 1977 | The Daily Drive | Consumer Guide® The ...

This is a 1977 Buick LeSabre Sport Coupe. This was one of the General Motors’ B-Body coupes for that model year. Buick produced about 59,000 of these for 1977 and they were available with a V-8 although it’s not clear from looking at the Buick listing for 1977 in Encyclopedia of American Cars by the Auto Editors of Consumer Guide®exactly what V-8s. I do think that at least two of the three V-8s listed were from other GM divisions, a 301 cubic-inch motor that I believe was Pontiac’s and a 403 cubic-inch mill that I’m 99% sure was Oldsmobile’s.

I just think this car has a very sharp look and is the best-looking of the four GM B-Body coupes from 1977. My restomod ideas are almost always about a wolf in sheep’s clothing with very few, if any, external cues about what drivetrain/suspension/brakes lie underneath.

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