Modern Vespa

Recently, we discovered a dairy farm in Santa Rosa, owned by a Portuguese family, that makes a version of São Jorge cheese. This is a distinct variety of cheese that originates in the Azores -- it's tangy and bright, and the aged version is one of my favorites.

I just got word that they are shutting down after 45 years. We were just there, visiting in the tasting room, a few short months ago.

https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/bay-area-cheesemaker-closes-20112726.php

Eu estou muito triste.

Me lo puedo imaginar.
Sad sign of the processed food times we are living in.
Over here it is very much the same ´mechanism´, supported by health&safety regulations, but inland village traditions keep the good stuff illegally for sale at the kitchen back door.

Gollowing up on the tow hitch thread:
Gave it up.
Bought a VW Scirocco; the sleeker looking Golf Coupé. Lighter, lower, wider stance than a Golf GTI and with cpu flashed to 250-260 hp.

That's only 70-80hp less than my GTI

Did they still let you smoke in the back?

HP don´t count for much here.
The AMG we chased down the A-7000 this morning has about 300 more than my MR2 Spyder. He literally smoked us for some 15 kms .... and then signalled to pass The weight weighed too heavy
The Scirocco is mainly for longer distance comfort and luggage space while maintaining reasonable sportyness. For me it has the drive on the wrong end of the car anyway
FYI look up the MA-3101. That is representative of what I lóve driving over. The A-7000 is huge fun but already very fast.

I often seem to post things here that don't quite qualify as something that I'm truly pissed off about, but more like somewhat agitated over, kind of a 'pissed off lite' kind of situation, yet still worthy of mention....in my mind, at least.

I sometimes wish for a 'Petty Bitch' forum, which would cover the majority of my life complaints, at least until I have more genuinely pissed off subjects to vent about. Probably redundant, I know, but I think about it.

As for my current bitchy complaints, I'd like to mention the six, very large, worn out bus tires I found down in the bus's luggage bay yesterday as I was to load twenty six high school debate team members for an overnight trip to their event at Sheridan, Wyoming.

The surprise load of old tires taking up no less than 75-80% of the available storage space down there, so the 'kids' and their three coaches had to find space and store their crap up in the passenger cabin.

I reported the situation back to the bus central headquarters and they had no idea of why I was loaded with old tires, but there it is.

Part of my job is improvising in unusual circumstances so we (I) made it work.

This is a good example of a 'Petty Bitch' here in my world...

New car yesterday, buyers remorse today. Nothing serious, mind you, but we still like our old cars, and well, my life doesn't feel proportionately better. Could just be me, aging, whatever. I certainly have been around long enough to fully comprehend how little "stuff" contributes to happiness. I think my dad was way ahead of me though.... he always drove a "fixer upper" for farm transportation, and got far more satisfaction from frugality than spending. I think I caught the virus and it was incubating in me for a bit.

The probable tipping point was waiting to pick up the car, signing forms, then sitting through the spiel about a full menu of warranty options and getting an earful about how much technology the newer cars have and how expensive it is to fix. Got me thinking dumping 5 or 10K into repairs on the old one suddenly didn't seem all that bad.

Like it or not, it's the future and I'll have to jump on board sooner or later. We'll enjoy the new one enough, I'm sure. And we were just a day ahead of the expected tariffs, one of my goals......

Your post reminds me of something that pissed me off a while ago. When copper prices were quite volatile, the local hardware store would up their prices on stock they'd have on the shelves for weeks. Seems kind of greedy, if not outright illegal.

This was 1966, so probably yes.

In 1999 on my way to Istanbul, I flew from LAX to Basel, Switzerland on Swissair. No smoking. I then transferred to a Turkish Air flight. I immediately noticed two things: families with full meals that they had brought on board, and seemingly, most adults were smoking.

In the Ataturk airport customs waiting area were two large advertisements for Marlboro cigarettes, complete with the "Marlboro Man" in full cowboy regalia.

I was there to teach a weekend course on group therapy to student therapists. The volunteers for the demonstration group were mainly women in their 20s. At one point they got into talking about loss and it turned out that many of them had recently lost a grandparent. Most of them had died from lung cancer. They were surprised at this coincidence. I wasn't.

as somebody who does fleet work this is literally breaking my brain.

the only response I can muster is: what in the actual fuck?!??

my best guess? if they're regrooveables and still got spec somebody was spotting them up to flip on the side. that's an easy five hundy if you got the connect to move 'em.

The bus I'm using for the Sheridan overnight trip is an abruptly arranged substitute for the bus I was supposed to be driving, which has been in the shop for a couple days while the mechanics are trying to run down a frustrating and intermittent electrical problem (the worst kind).

So, day before last, they dug this one, a Temsa 'short bus' out of the snow, tossed in some coolant, and threw me out on the road in it.

The were supposed to have it ready to go that evening so that I wouldn't have any nasty surprises when I picked it up at 6:15 yesterday morning.

They did manage to fill it with diesel, and I think they put a charge on its batteries, but weren't aware of the belly being stuffed with tires.

Upon walking around to check the rear end lights early yesterday morning, I found that someone had left the engine hatch lifted up and wide open, which wouldn't actually hurt anything, but would have been a supreme source of embarrassment as other drivers passing the bus would no doubt be wildly gesturing at me that something was amiss at the back of the thing.

As a regular pre-trip item, I don't look in the baggage bays, so I didn't find them there and toss them out before departure.

Little #33, a petite Temsa...

I buy the base model then after the warranty runs out I sell it.

They are making good money selling a warranty on a Honda, which doesn't need one because it's a Honda.

They are just trying to scare you.

Paint Protection, Interior Protection, Additional Warranties. It's all total bullshit

Apart from the kickbacks from the Manufacturer they don't make any money on new cars and so they have to invent a load of shit to make up the difference.

Don't fall for it.

I was really lucky to have a dad who was VERY mechanically inclined, and taught me to DIY everything I'll ever need to do.

My only can't-do is welding/bodywork/paint. But I suppose with a nice large garage in my future in CO, I can always pull up some youtube vidyas and hop to it. The beauty of ADHD hyperfixation....I can get really good at shit just from self-teaching.

At least you had a Dad................

Agreed, Bill. At this point it's not my first rodeo. Listening to the insurance sales pitch, I'm full on resisting. One of the options for example had the main feature of windshield repair protection. Yeah, they're surprisingly expensive, but in my case (including my parents, we've had easily hundreds of thousands of miles, a good dozen cars, and only last year did we have a cracked windshield. What are the odds? I look at the price of the policy, and I know they have to make money, so when you sort out the odds and their profits, it's a good gamble to pass on things. Sure, things can jump up and bite you,. but in my experience, it always seems to be the thing you never expected anyway.

Total agreement.

Ceramic Coat costs $40 a bottle to buy and can cost $350 to $1000 to apply.

So remind me why I have Clear Coat on my paint ?

no good reason that's for sure. you should sand it all off, show those painters who's boss.

Your auto comprehensive should cover your glass. I have had several windshields replaced over the years - at no cost out of pocket.

Salesman had an angle on that too.....story of someone whose insurance wanted an aftermarket windshield, and had big issues with the tech that's apparently embedded in them now. Still, I'd think I could pay the difference....

That must have been one lean, mean badger.

You can require OEM parts. "Stories" are often told by salespeople....

Yeah, I think "truth" is as fuzzy with them as politicians. Of course, currently....

Argh! The use of 'melt' instead of 'dissolve' and vice versa according to circumstances.

Sheesh.

Towards the end of the sales pitch for the product the Salesman will start the sentence with " just the other day" yada yada yada and he'll deploy the anecdote that comes from the script that the Sales Rep gave them.

By using this they underpin the chance of it happening by making it personal. It's worth it because it happened to a person etc.

The pressure comes from the Franchise Sales Managers and the Manufactures of the product which doesn't really work.

It's shameless bullshit. Nothing more.

Strangely familiar, that.

Thank God I've luckily married a frugal woman. We were on pretty much the same page from the start. Decades ago I went with wife #1 early in our marriage to help her buy a vehicle. Salesman pushed a warrany, we're doing a bit of back and forth, then he offers to leave us alone to discuss it ( I think he needed a smoke). I thought no, she was on the fence, thought it was resolved when he returns. He asks if we'd decided, and she says " Yes. We'll take it!

This. And I don't disagree with the dealers in some cases.

I've done a lot of my own work on cars. Sometimes to my own detriment. Those are fun stories. But I'm old enough that I've had a lot of cars I was able to work on and I'm grateful for that.

Our last two cars - a 1999 Subaru and a 1989 Volvo - were old enough that I saved money wrenching myself. We paid cash for each of them and had not had a car payment (for a daily driver) since 2005-ish.

That allowed us to pay off a lot of other stuff and save some cash. In 2023 we bought the new Toyota. I had always been told that buying a new car was a bad investment, but the crazy price of used cars made it a no-brainer. And, either way, we were paying cash, so there was no financing involved.

And we DID opt for the extended warranty. It's a ten year warranty that cost me a couple hundred bucks a month for 18 months. We did the math, and considering the usual number of repairs over the course of a 10 year period and the average cost of each, the warranty was significantly cheaper. There's no arguing how expensive car repairs have become, and not having the warranty would definitely be rolling the dice.

HOWEVER, two other things have happened in the last 20 years. Cars have become order of magnitude more complicated to work on. I can't remember the number of chips the dealer told me were controlling this car, but it was in the triple digits. The other thing that has happened is I have gotten older and have less desire to spend my free time under a car, even if I were able to fix it.

I will probably never wrench on this car. I know that. And the warranty for the peace of mind of not having to worry about paying for a four figure repair at any moment ... I'm ok with that.

And I figured it's probably the only new car I'm ever going to buy. We pulled out all the stops on making sure it's properly taken care of. No regerts.

Just for clarity, the Salesman was promoting a warranty on a brand new car or a used vehicle ?

Me, or Seamus? Both new according to my reading.

Both really.

Selling a warranty on a car that already comes with a warranty.

Interesting.

Was it an additional warranty for when the factory one ran out ?

Yes, there is a factory warranty that covers many things. The extended warranty goes well beyond the standard manufacturer warranty and covers other things, like electronics. And the DEALER warranty - no upcharge - is lifetime driveline. So everything lubricated is covered by the dealership as long as we own the car.

So, the price difference between the new car with the warranties and the used cars with no warranties was negligible. The little extra was well worth it.

Now I understand. Thank you.

Sounds like a good reason to keep the car forever til the engine goes at 300k miles or something then get a new one and keep goin

^^^I'm with this ^^^

I have had Toyota company cars since 2003, and every 2 to 3 years (50-60k miles) the gaffer chops it in against a new one, and I'm like WHY? (I know it's a tax thing, but still..)

The first Toyota I had back in 2003 was sold to one of the fitters, it's done about 250k miles now, and still going strong!

I have been forced to change to a Honda (because Toyota have stopped making the Prius Hybrid for the UK market), but I'm hoping to retire in a couple of years time. The Honda will have about 40k miles on it, should get a good deal off the gaffer for it, and they can bury me in it

Yes, this. It is the only way that you can realize the value of a declining asset. I always keep my cars until the value of a full tank of gas is more than the value of the car. And then I keep it a few more years.

We have bought many Mopars over the years and have run them all into the ground. Discussed on this forum previously, our 2004 Dodge Caliber came with a lifetime warranty on internal engine and transmission components. Of course this was not needed - in typical Mopar fashion everything else broke or rusted off while motor and tranny kept running fine for nearly 300,000 miles. Then I sold it for $750.

Warranty? We don't need no stinkin' warranty! (Says with a caballero accent.)

Chris from CLE

The Caliber was actually sold on it's ugliness.

I love those cars.

Freaking lottery.

So, my son and I were at Meijer last night. He's disabled and rides a city transport through GRATA (Grand Rapids Area Transit Authority) called Go!Bus. Hey buys tickets in books of ten for $35. One of the places they sell them is the customer service desk at Meijer.

We had a half hour wait at customer service. Because why? They also sell lottery tickets there.

I have personal feelings about the lottery. My Dad has been playing since I was a kid. He used to tape together sheets of graph paper and plot probability curves for each number, because he was a math teacher. And ever week for the last fifty years he says, "Well, maybe next week." He continually talks about tings he'll do if he wins the lottery. At $10 a week (and that's just a number; could be more or less) over fifty years that's $26K spent on bits of paper.

My beef isn't with the lottery itself for being a tax on poor people who don't understand statistics, despite one of the people in line being this poor old man who had difficulty walking and looked like he had been sleeping in the same clothes in a tent for the last two years (which is possible in the area), and yet he was bellying up to the counter for lottery tickets ... no. My beef is that if the Michigan lottery wants to be a thing, fine. Just have designated places to sell tickets that AREN'T customer service desks and gas stations where people are attempting to conduct legitimate business. We had time to walk to the floral section and check out with half a dozen roses for my wife and get back in the customer service line without it moving.

Put that line elsewhere.

Okay Bill -- here's my ultimatum for you. Start quoting who you are addressing (or at least tag them) or I will eject you from this thread.

Quoting who and what you are replying to/about is just basic forum etiquette. Your persistent refusal to participate (or even explain yourself) is unacceptable.

Bill, will you please start quoting and or tagging your replies so you don't get ejected from this thread? 😁

You guys don't have the automatic machines/kiosks there? Looks like a big vending machine, we've had em here for close to a decade now. Keeps the lottery people out of the way of those needing actual assistance very nicely.