A Real A Or B

OK, two pics first…

That white smudge is Venus. Not sure why the pic is so blurry; it looks fine on my phone. Must be a resolution thing. Any help, photobyjohnbo? Ironically, I named the photo “A Better Picture Of Venus” before I saw it here. No rest for the “wicked,” I guess.

That is my wonderful wife holding up my newest acquisition. While Guck Foogle T-Shirts are plentiful, I had to have this made. I will wear it as often as possible and when it wears out, I will buy one or two more. Fack Fucebook!

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OK, today’s A Or B is not a theoretical exercise. Tangent…looking out my office window can be quite the distraction. I can’t get a good picture because of the window screen and schmutz (“dirt” in Yiddish), but my eyes and brain are having quite the feast at present with the bands of orange, the cactus and the distant mountain peaks. Just since I began writing this tangent, the sky has developed a large orange-pink feature. (Sorry, I am partially color-blind and terrible at assigning the “right” name to many colors.) It’s still 10-15 minutes before “sunrise.”

Anyway, back to the cars…as every regular reader of this blog knows, my wonderful wife and I are on the verge of buying a car, I think. While we will make the final decision, of course, I would like to get your choice and read your thoughts about these two cars:

See the source image

The photo comparison is not apples to apples because the picture of the Lexus RC is of “studio quality” and the picture of the Cadillac ATS coupe is not.

OK, what do you want to know? For this exercise price does matter and assume the Lexus is $5,000 more expensive, let’s say $30,000 compared to $25,000 for the Cadillac. Assume the turbocharged 4-cylinder engine for each car.

The rear seats in the Cadillac are larger, but the trunk space is virtually the same. I have no “data” on how the RC drives because we haven’t driven one, yet.

If you want more info before casting your vote, please feel free to let me know. OK, Lexus RC or Cadillac ATS coupe? Thanks.

#AOrB

#FackFucebook

#LexusRC

#CadillacATSCoupe

#somanycarsjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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Of Viruses And Vitriol

Good Riddance, 2020! Good riddance to a year when both a virus and an election cycle highlighted and exacerbated the social and political polarization of the United States. As I have written here often, I believe that polarization is now intractable and the only solution is dissolution.

Good Riddance, 2020! I will not miss a year in which so many people in my former industry of employment–professional sports–have died, including many I knew personally.

While in one way–the move to the desert–this year has been good for me and my wonderful wife, 2020 can only be described as a year of calamity. Another like it in 2021 and…I don’t even want to finish that thought.

I offer a most fervent wish for a happier, healthier, calmer and safer 2021.

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I hope this picture shows as intended:

Well, I guess the photo is not sharp enough to convey what I saw with my eyes. In fact, the picture almost looks like a painting. The full (or near full) moon illuminated the mountain that sits not far to the north of our house. Oh well, let me show some more:

My wonderful wife took those two photos. It does rain in the desert, but that rain can lead to some amazing panoramas.

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Except for “Joe Walsh’s” tongue-in-cheek endorsement of the Maserati (Life’s Been Good, not this year), every reader who offered an opinion favored this car as the one we should buy:

As I wrote yesterday, I think this car (a Cadillac ATS coupe) is in the lead at present. Thanks to everyone for reading and to those who offered opinions on the subject. The post drew quite a lot of views.

My wonderful wife and I kept saying “Next Year” as to the time frame of the car purchase. Well, tomorrow is next year. That’s not to say we’re going to buy a car next week, but I will not be surprised if we buy the car by mid-February.

Thanks to all of you who read the blog on a regular basis and to those who send so many thoughtful comments. Stay safe, be well and Happy New Year.

#OfVirusesAndVitriol

#DesertViews

#CadillacATSCoupe

#somanycarsjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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Time To Call An Audible

In case you don’t know, or even if you do, in the context of football an audible (as opposed to audible, as in able to be heard) is a verbal instruction to change the play that was called in the huddle. The change can be minor or major.

After guessing about the size of our “three-car” garage here, I decided to measure it yesterday. More specifically, I measured the part of the garage adjacent to the single-car door.

Yes, the garage is about 28 feet wide in total, about 2 feet shorter than what should be the minimum for a three-car garage. The single-car part of the garage, though, is only about 17 feet, or 204 inches, from the garage door to the bump-out for the guest bedroom closet. (The double-car part of the garage is almost 18 feet long in usable space.)

OK, do you think it’s prudent to try to park a 200-inch long car, like a 2000-2002 Cadillac Eldorado, in a 204-inch space? That car can’t be parked diagonally because of the insufficient width of the garage. Yes, I wish I had measured the garage while looking at the house before purchase. It’s not that I could have changed anything, but at least I would have gone into this exercise with my eyes open.

So, all of a sudden the Eldorado has become an impractical choice. If we had 18 feet in length instead of 17, then that would not be the case. The last-generation Chevrolet Monte Carlo is not much shorter at 198 inches and my wonderful wife and I don’t really want a three-Chevrolet garage.

I admit I am disappointed at this turn of events. This search for another car that began by looking at “classics” from the early 1960s has now morphed into something far less romantic.

I also must admit that this is when I wish a comprehensive online automobile database existed where I could search for cars based on criteria like length. I guess such a database has no commercial use so it doesn’t exist, at least not to my knowledge.

OK, now what do I do? Well, at least the short length has, in essence, ruled out cars with four doors, but that also means a Maserati Quattroporte (currently 207 inches in length; the first generation of the revival was 199 inches) is out. Even the Ghibli is too long at 196 inches and examples without high mileage are out of our desired price range.

What do you think of this?

See the source image

From GM Authority a picture of a 2015 Cadillac ATS coupe. At its introduction in 2012 (as a 2013 model year car), the ATS was named “Car of the Year” by Esquire, “Luxury Car of the Year” by Popular Mechanics and “Vehicle of the Year” by the Motor Press Guild. In 2013, a panel of 49 automobile journalists from the US and Canada named the 2013 ATS as “North American Car of the Year.” I grant that some automobile enthusiasts would call that last award as damning the car with faint praise.

The coupe is just 184 inches in length (the sedan would probably fit at 189 inches, but I need some semblance of romance left) so it would fit even in a 17-foot space. OK, why not a CTS coupe? I’m sorry, but the shape is just too odd for my tastes.

Using Car Gurus as a first source, 17 ATS coupes met the criteria for mileage (<= 50,000 miles) and color. (No cars with black or white exteriors and no cars with black interiors; this is the desert with about 300 sunny days per year.)

Only one had a list price under $20,000 ($19,995), but four others were listed at or below $21,500 and Car Gurus identified one of them as a “Good Deal.” The others were only described as “Fair Deals.”

This price range is above our target ($15,000-ish) so I may have to keep looking. Pushing the maximum mileage to 75,000 does not reveal any cars at that price.

OK, kind people, I am asking for your help. What two-door car with good looks and decent performance, with more than two seats and a trunk at least 12 cubic feet in volume, no older than the 2000 model year and no longer than 185 inches can we buy for no more than $15,000-$16,000?

I hope to hear from you. Thanks.

#TimeToCallAnAudible

#CadillacATSCoupe

#somanycarsjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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