Many people noted that yesterday’s date–12/02/2021–was a palindrome, the same when read forwards or backwards. If today’s date is written as 12/3/21, then that is also a palindrome.

The longest single-word palindrome is saippuakauppias, the Finnish word for soap-seller. I think the longest such word in the English language is detartrated. What does that mean? “To remove tartrates, especially from fruit juices and wines, in order to reduce tartness or sourness.”

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Gordon Lightfoot had a hit song whose title was the same as this road. Can anyone tell me the song title? Oh, no cheating by trying to find the name of the photograph.

 

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Our 2015 Cadillac ATS has now been in the body shop for more than eight weeks. Since the accident occurred at least five weeks before we took the car to the shop, we have now been without the ATS for about a quarter of a year.

I have doubts about the reliability and drivability of the car when it is returned to us. Maybe I am just making excuses so we can buy something else, something like this:

 

 

Of course, I’d really rather buy something like this:

 

 

Remember though: Happy Wife, Happy Life. In case you don’t know–or even if you do–the top photo is a 2018 Maserati Ghibli while the bottom is a 2017 Maserati Gran Turismo. My Maserati obsession began when my age was still measured in single digits; in other words, it was a LONG time ago. To wit:

 

 

That’s the rendering of a Maserati 5000 GTI from The Golden Guide To Sports Cars, first published in 1966 and first purchased by me through my elementary school in 1968 or 1969. I’ve been hooked on Maserati ever since. Do you remember this picture?

 

 

I received that shirt for test-driving a Maserati Spyder in 2006 in our old stomping grounds of Plano, Texas. I almost died in February of 2004 from a nasty infection and decided to live it up for quite some time after I recovered (my credit card bills from that period are proof although I always paid the bill in full every month). I was actually not that impressed with the Maserati and bought my second Corvette instead early in 2007. That “near-death” experience still pushes me sometimes, at least when I am not fighting some other physical malady.

While I would never advocate spending oneself into bankruptcy, I am in favor of enjoying life as much as possible. My wonderful wife’s late mother was a child of the Great Depression and could almost never bring herself to spend on things that were not absolutely necessary. While her attitude was understandable given her childhood, she left a lot on the table, which is good–in a way–for my wonderful wife, but her mother would probably have enjoyed herself more if she could have “let loose” from time to time. I mean no disrespect to the memory of my wife’s mom, just making a statement.

Life is finite and if one has the means to splurge from time to time, then by all means do so. <Political Rant> One thing that really bothers me about one side of the political spectrum is that they think government has first dibs on private wealth. They act as if all wealth just exists and is handed down from generation to generation so government can just confiscate it. EIGHTY percent of American millionaires are first-generation millionaires, meaning they did NOT inherit their wealth. The acquirer should have first dibs on assets legally acquired. <End Rant>

By the way, about 80 percent of inherited wealth is dissipated within three generations of that inheritance, WHETHER OR NOT the original estate was subject to federal estate taxes. Many of the policy prescriptions of that side of the political spectrum are based on lies/misunderstandings. Blind adherents to any ideology are usually wrong.

Anyway…the probability of our purchasing a replacement for the ATS is not zero, but certainly doesn’t approach even 80 percent. However, I will not tolerate a car whose ride has been severely compromised. We’ll just have to see how the ATS drives; that is, if we get the car back while we can still drive.  🙂

 

#FridayFolly

#Saippuakauppias

#LifeIsShortSoEnjoyYourself

#MyWealthBelongsToMe

#somanycarsjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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