I got into an accident on the way to work on Friday and yesterday I found out that State Farm is going to total my car. I need ideas of what to get next, as I was not at all in the mode of thinking about a new car.
Old car: Mercedes CLK 550 convertible
New car requirements: ICE, probably a certified, pre-owned something with sub 20K miles, I love to drive so driver experience is a priority. The insurance payout does not have to cover the cost of the new ride.
Just how badly damaged is it? Insurance companies have gotten notorious for "totaling" cars that aren't close to it with low-ball settlements. It might be worth accepting a partial payment, but not signing over the title, and fixing it. At least an option worth considering, unless it really is seriously smashed up.
After researching rental car purchase pros & cons, I bought a 430i convertible from Enterprise a few years ago and have been very happy. Supposedly they maintain the cars well as it's more cost effective than repairing them.
Would you consider a 2015 Honda Accord EL-X with 87k miles? The driver experience is unparalleled if intense suburban middle-aged vibes make you weak in the knees.
I love driving my wife's 2016 Subaru Outback. Compared to my 2014 Ram 1500, it is zippy and super fun. I also love the paddle shifters on the left and right side of the steering wheel.
Caveats: I'm not a car person at all and also I don't know if this applies to your situation
The people I know who have been buying cars lately originally looked into pre-owned, but the market has been so wild that they ended up buying new. So, I would suggest not ruling out a new car!
FYI, i work at IonQ, a company that builds quantum computers ..
from yesterday's all hands meeting when someone asked, what if someone is not comfortable working on something that might get sold to military. people seemed a little shocked by our CEOs answer ..
“we are not building evil military things on purpose and do not intend to. yet we may still have them as our customers. the easiest way to not work on something you dont want to work on is to get another job since this is not a democracy”
There are many times in my job I feel compelled to respond in a particular way but do not, understanding how it may affect others or be perceived and this isn't a bad thing. Restraint is the better part of judgment and maturity and it is okay and actually necessary for a leaders to acknowledge someone has a feeling. It doesn't mean that changes the outcome but it can and should change the dialogue.
Good points. And yet, I see the quote above as being somewhat less than confrontational. It is a reality check, but it isn't saying that a person has to clear out their desk.
It does come across as a little insensitive. At the same time, that's the business' bread and butter. Defense contracts are a fact (and probably a necessity) of life.
There was a scene in a West Wing episode I saw recently in which Toby Ziegler had an appointment with someone from the Hill (Tawny Cryer, played by Valerie Mahaffey). Tawny wanted to cut all funding for the NEA and re-direct it to the National Parks. She kept bringing up examples of art that people objected to as reasons for defunding the NEA.
Toby finally said, "Look you can't simply choose not to pay taxes because there are things the budget pays for that you don't like. There are plenty of people who don't like tanks, or feeding poor people, but they still pay their taxes and we still pay for those things."
And this is one of those things. "You don't want to be part of it? Don't. Go do something else, somewhere else," is what the CEO is saying.
I learned yesterday that the equinox is NOT the midway point between the two solstices nor is it necessarily the point at which the time from sunrise to sunset equals the time from sunset to sunrise.
It is the point at which the sun crosses the celestial equator (an imaginary line in the sky above the Earth's equator). In March, the sun is moving from south to north when it crosses the celestial equator; in September, the sun is moving from north to south.
Another measure of this is when the daylight hours for a date certain is equal in difference (+ or -) to the most recent solstice and the next solstice.
I've always understood it to be as you explained. However, I am unsure of the effect at different locations. If I am correct, at the vernal equinox, the North Pole will get 24 hours of light though the sun will be at an extremely low position in the sky, rising gradually each day until summer solstice. If this is true that means as you travel south from the North Pole on the equinox, you will have less hours of light, but at a higher angle in the sky, until you hit the equator. Not sure if this is correct, but it is how I imagine the effect at various locations. Anyone know if this is true?
The closer you get to the poles, the more sunlight you get at the equinoxes compared to a location closer to the Equator. Also, the closer you get to a pole, the sun dips shallower below the horizon during that part of the year that includes the summer solstice.
Check out the US Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department on the web -
Request data on Civil Twilight, Nautical Twilight, and Astronomical Twilight for Utqiagvik, AK (located on Alaska's Northern Coast in the Arctic Ocean). 71 deg, 17 min. North (lat.), 156 deg., 47 min. West (long.)
The data tables you will get will show varying dates at which the conditions that define civil twilight, nautical twilight, and astronomical twilight do not apply. If you compare the Sunrise/Sunset table for Utqiagvik to where you live, you will probably notice similarities around the equinoxes, but there will be a period where the sun never sets or never rises.
Second link, love the fact that I can pull data for moonrise for some random date as far back as 1700. I like to think that somewhere out there, someone has a useful need for this data.
The vernal equinox is defined when the Sun crosses the Celestial Equator (CE). It will also be the time when the length of the day and night are the same (Sunrise->Sunset = Sunset->Sunrise) to first order.
If we assume the Earth's orbit is circular, then the equinoxes will be the midpoint between the solstices, but the Earth's orbit is slightly elliptical (e = 0.01671022 where e = 0.0 means circular and e= 1.0 parabolic). And the equinox will only be the midpoint if and only if the point of closest approach in the elliptical orbit (perihelion) coincides with one of the equinoxes.
For the Earth's orbit, this is not the case. In fact the Earth's perihelion occurs on ~Jan. 2rd. Since the Earth moves faster in its orbit when closest the Sun, that means that the Autumnal->Vernal (Sept->March) equinox side will be shorter than the Vernal->Autumnal (March->Sept) side, but the difference is small (fairly certain it is <<1 day) given the near circular nature of the orbit.
The last point, For people standing on the poles, the equinoxes mark the time when the Sun rises and sets (depends on the pole and which equinox). For example on the vernal equinox, the Sun will set at the South pole (SP), and will rise on the North pole (NP), and the autumnal equinox the Sun will set at the NP and rise at the SP. Now this does not account for atmospheric refraction which will change these times slightly, but you will notice that the length of the day on the North (and South) pole if we define a day as two successive rising of the Sun is one year. Once you step off the pole (and yes that can be 1 inch from the pole), all locations on the Earth will have equal length of day and night for the equinoxes. This is again of course to first order because we are not accounting for various second order affects like atmospheric refraction, and others.
Friends response? That was a thorough and impressive explanation. I need to take a beginners astronomy class. I am engaged in self study of geology currently and it’s enough hard so nice for now though.
this last weekend was one of my favorite bike races on the pro calendar. the Milan-San Remo is also known as La Primavera since it is the first monument of the year.
there are 5 monuments which are considered the 5 most important one-day races on the calendar aside from the World Championships - which is it's own special thing.
This past summer, a friend and I hiked in the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness. Due to our original trailhead being washed out, we had to do a point-to-point hike with a car shuttle. We hiked from near Ebbett's pass eventually dropping down into a meadow valley where the East Carson River and Silver King Creek merge. On our first creek crossing on the third day out, we realized that water volume and freezing temp in the creeks would create significant risk at the trail crossings the further we went down the drainages. My friend nearly got swept up on the third morning. He is a good 45 pounds heavier than me. I started the ford and doubled back to find a sketchy and slippery log to cross upstream. The rest of the trip we had to scout alternate, less dangerous crossings. The second to last day involved a crux crossing of the Silver King. We scouted for an hour and finally found an alternate where the creek was shallow and wide, but safe. In our minds, we knew we could always reverse back to the trailhead we started, but once you are 30-40 miles in, the pressure to carry on becomes pretty immense.
Tough time making sense of the MBB transfers…word is Madsen was not guaranteeing starting jobs, so Newell and Brown both left. Where they land will be interesting. Hurts depth, which is really tough to have in the NIL/transfer portal era.
If true, I'm hoping this means Madbear has a plan... and recognized that the departing players were below what the standard needs to be to field a March Madness team. If he plans to be near the top of the ACC, none of the departing players (short of possibly Brown's potential) were good enough to land a roster spot on a blue blood. In the portal era, might as well set your sights sky high. Problem is jelling early with a fresh roster, but the more talent you have, the longer you can take.
In the era of NIL/transfer portal, how can you make guarantees without having a roster set and knowing you will make additions in the transfer portal, which may bring a more highly skilled or experience player? If the rumor is true, sounds like he is at least being honest with these kids.
At some point, you HAVE to make a judgement of when to lock up what, at the risk of missing out of something better, but also to lock up something before it gets away.
Dodgers beat the Pads 5-2. Dodgers had 2 on and there was a ground ball to 1st. The first baseman goes to backhand the ball and the ball rips through the webbing for a single. Would've probably been a double play otherwise.
I had that happen to me once. Back when they had H.S. Type bleachers in right field at Candlestick, McCovey hit a line drive homer and I ran down to catch it and it went right through my webbing. Crushing to a young kid.
Anyone else of the opinion that baseball should go back to a 154 game schedule? For one thing it would mean the World Series would end before Halloween as Oski intended. Also could mean opening day is in April, against as the good lord intended.
Condensing the schedule under "normal" circumstances stands no chance. The owners are all about money, and losing dates loses gates and tv exposure and revenue. And merch/concessions, etc. sales. There is also a reason why the inordinate number of spring training games is not reduced. I'd expect 170 before 154 even gets discussed.
I’m fine with the 162. Opening in March is lame, but they very easily could have Opening Day in April and still play 162, as they did until the last 5-10 years.
I've been of the opinion that the least MLB could do is shorten the regular season schedule to 154 games. I think that with the expanding playoffs the logical step in revising the regular season schedule is to reduce the number of games so that players aren't simply exhausted by the time the World Series is played. 154 games is a start. I think that a 150 schedule should be considered as well.
Let's crowdsource ideas for Scootie's next car.
I got into an accident on the way to work on Friday and yesterday I found out that State Farm is going to total my car. I need ideas of what to get next, as I was not at all in the mode of thinking about a new car.
Old car: Mercedes CLK 550 convertible
New car requirements: ICE, probably a certified, pre-owned something with sub 20K miles, I love to drive so driver experience is a priority. The insurance payout does not have to cover the cost of the new ride.
Ideas please!
Just how badly damaged is it? Insurance companies have gotten notorious for "totaling" cars that aren't close to it with low-ball settlements. It might be worth accepting a partial payment, but not signing over the title, and fixing it. At least an option worth considering, unless it really is seriously smashed up.
WRX or STI .. both super fun to drive as a stick. we have WRX. HAG's oldest has STI
my main complaint is that it is noisy and you feel a lot of the road,.
i dont know BMW models that well. i would assume they are the most fun to drive sporty luxury model.
ALSO must be available in black with tan interior :)
After researching rental car purchase pros & cons, I bought a 430i convertible from Enterprise a few years ago and have been very happy. Supposedly they maintain the cars well as it's more cost effective than repairing them.
Here ya go: https://bit.ly/4a3dUsW
Tan interior removes a lot of candidates. But when you know what you want, you know what you want.
Would you consider a 2015 Honda Accord EL-X with 87k miles? The driver experience is unparalleled if intense suburban middle-aged vibes make you weak in the knees.
That feels a bit outside my wheelhouse, but never say never I've been told
I love driving my wife's 2016 Subaru Outback. Compared to my 2014 Ram 1500, it is zippy and super fun. I also love the paddle shifters on the left and right side of the steering wheel.
Caveats: I'm not a car person at all and also I don't know if this applies to your situation
The people I know who have been buying cars lately originally looked into pre-owned, but the market has been so wild that they ended up buying new. So, I would suggest not ruling out a new car!
Also, what does ICE mean in reference to a car?
ICE = Internal Combustion Engine. Gas or diesel powered.
Thanks!
work ethics
FYI, i work at IonQ, a company that builds quantum computers ..
from yesterday's all hands meeting when someone asked, what if someone is not comfortable working on something that might get sold to military. people seemed a little shocked by our CEOs answer ..
“we are not building evil military things on purpose and do not intend to. yet we may still have them as our customers. the easiest way to not work on something you dont want to work on is to get another job since this is not a democracy”
I like to get my colleagues riled up by telling them I don't think quantum is real.
it's not. completely made up!
The CEO could have stopped at the first two sentences and left the last sentence out entirely.
Maybe, maybe not. The CEO may have felt compelled to answer as s/he did.
There are many times in my job I feel compelled to respond in a particular way but do not, understanding how it may affect others or be perceived and this isn't a bad thing. Restraint is the better part of judgment and maturity and it is okay and actually necessary for a leaders to acknowledge someone has a feeling. It doesn't mean that changes the outcome but it can and should change the dialogue.
Good points. And yet, I see the quote above as being somewhat less than confrontational. It is a reality check, but it isn't saying that a person has to clear out their desk.
And yet, the CEO is not wrong. Harsh reality of the business world.
it came across as a little insensitive or tone deaf even the answer was always going to be about the same.
we already have contracts w/ Air Force and everyone knows it.
It does come across as a little insensitive. At the same time, that's the business' bread and butter. Defense contracts are a fact (and probably a necessity) of life.
There was a scene in a West Wing episode I saw recently in which Toby Ziegler had an appointment with someone from the Hill (Tawny Cryer, played by Valerie Mahaffey). Tawny wanted to cut all funding for the NEA and re-direct it to the National Parks. She kept bringing up examples of art that people objected to as reasons for defunding the NEA.
Toby finally said, "Look you can't simply choose not to pay taxes because there are things the budget pays for that you don't like. There are plenty of people who don't like tanks, or feeding poor people, but they still pay their taxes and we still pay for those things."
And this is one of those things. "You don't want to be part of it? Don't. Go do something else, somewhere else," is what the CEO is saying.
Today is the first full day of spring.
The Vernal Equinox occurred at 8:06 PM PDT and MST, 9:06 PM MDT, 10:06 PM CDT, and 11:06 PM EDT yesterday in the continental United States.
I learned yesterday that the equinox is NOT the midway point between the two solstices nor is it necessarily the point at which the time from sunrise to sunset equals the time from sunset to sunrise.
It is the point at which the sun crosses the celestial equator (an imaginary line in the sky above the Earth's equator). In March, the sun is moving from south to north when it crosses the celestial equator; in September, the sun is moving from north to south.
Another measure of this is when the daylight hours for a date certain is equal in difference (+ or -) to the most recent solstice and the next solstice.
I've always understood it to be as you explained. However, I am unsure of the effect at different locations. If I am correct, at the vernal equinox, the North Pole will get 24 hours of light though the sun will be at an extremely low position in the sky, rising gradually each day until summer solstice. If this is true that means as you travel south from the North Pole on the equinox, you will have less hours of light, but at a higher angle in the sky, until you hit the equator. Not sure if this is correct, but it is how I imagine the effect at various locations. Anyone know if this is true?
The closer you get to the poles, the more sunlight you get at the equinoxes compared to a location closer to the Equator. Also, the closer you get to a pole, the sun dips shallower below the horizon during that part of the year that includes the summer solstice.
Check out the US Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department on the web -
https://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/index
The page for Table of Sunrise Sunset, Moonrise/Moonset, or Twilight Times for an Entire Year can yield interesting data -
https://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/RS_OneYear
Request data on Civil Twilight, Nautical Twilight, and Astronomical Twilight for Utqiagvik, AK (located on Alaska's Northern Coast in the Arctic Ocean). 71 deg, 17 min. North (lat.), 156 deg., 47 min. West (long.)
The data tables you will get will show varying dates at which the conditions that define civil twilight, nautical twilight, and astronomical twilight do not apply. If you compare the Sunrise/Sunset table for Utqiagvik to where you live, you will probably notice similarities around the equinoxes, but there will be a period where the sun never sets or never rises.
Second link, love the fact that I can pull data for moonrise for some random date as far back as 1700. I like to think that somewhere out there, someone has a useful need for this data.
And location. Latitude and Longitude are your friends!
Thanks for the links! Looks quite interesting!
checking w/ astronomer friend ..
The vernal equinox is defined when the Sun crosses the Celestial Equator (CE). It will also be the time when the length of the day and night are the same (Sunrise->Sunset = Sunset->Sunrise) to first order.
If we assume the Earth's orbit is circular, then the equinoxes will be the midpoint between the solstices, but the Earth's orbit is slightly elliptical (e = 0.01671022 where e = 0.0 means circular and e= 1.0 parabolic). And the equinox will only be the midpoint if and only if the point of closest approach in the elliptical orbit (perihelion) coincides with one of the equinoxes.
For the Earth's orbit, this is not the case. In fact the Earth's perihelion occurs on ~Jan. 2rd. Since the Earth moves faster in its orbit when closest the Sun, that means that the Autumnal->Vernal (Sept->March) equinox side will be shorter than the Vernal->Autumnal (March->Sept) side, but the difference is small (fairly certain it is <<1 day) given the near circular nature of the orbit.
The last point, For people standing on the poles, the equinoxes mark the time when the Sun rises and sets (depends on the pole and which equinox). For example on the vernal equinox, the Sun will set at the South pole (SP), and will rise on the North pole (NP), and the autumnal equinox the Sun will set at the NP and rise at the SP. Now this does not account for atmospheric refraction which will change these times slightly, but you will notice that the length of the day on the North (and South) pole if we define a day as two successive rising of the Sun is one year. Once you step off the pole (and yes that can be 1 inch from the pole), all locations on the Earth will have equal length of day and night for the equinoxes. This is again of course to first order because we are not accounting for various second order affects like atmospheric refraction, and others.
Friends response? That was a thorough and impressive explanation. I need to take a beginners astronomy class. I am engaged in self study of geology currently and it’s enough hard so nice for now though.
my hiking/skiing companion is a friend from grad school who is an astronomy prof at Ball State.
pasta primavera for dinner
this last weekend was one of my favorite bike races on the pro calendar. the Milan-San Remo is also known as La Primavera since it is the first monument of the year.
there are 5 monuments which are considered the 5 most important one-day races on the calendar aside from the World Championships - which is it's own special thing.
OH SHIT
This past summer, a friend and I hiked in the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness. Due to our original trailhead being washed out, we had to do a point-to-point hike with a car shuttle. We hiked from near Ebbett's pass eventually dropping down into a meadow valley where the East Carson River and Silver King Creek merge. On our first creek crossing on the third day out, we realized that water volume and freezing temp in the creeks would create significant risk at the trail crossings the further we went down the drainages. My friend nearly got swept up on the third morning. He is a good 45 pounds heavier than me. I started the ford and doubled back to find a sketchy and slippery log to cross upstream. The rest of the trip we had to scout alternate, less dangerous crossings. The second to last day involved a crux crossing of the Silver King. We scouted for an hour and finally found an alternate where the creek was shallow and wide, but safe. In our minds, we knew we could always reverse back to the trailhead we started, but once you are 30-40 miles in, the pressure to carry on becomes pretty immense.
...said the human with the flashlight.
"Breakfast", the bear thought to himself.
Goose .. Holy Shit, its Viper!
Maverick .. He's probably saying "Holy Shit, it's Maverick and Goose"
one of the best scenes in the entire movie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk0gBZtTYUA
Goose: Yeah I'm sure he's saying that.
OSKI DISCIPLE’S TRIVA FUN, A DAILY DBD FEATURE
According to a NASA study, 98% of the time a person types LOL, they have not literally laughed out loud.
(All trivia verified by the International Trivia Foundation.)
I am part of the 2%, LOL
LOL x100.
which means i actually LOL'ed twice
Hence, pqtm.
That is all.
CAL
Tough time making sense of the MBB transfers…word is Madsen was not guaranteeing starting jobs, so Newell and Brown both left. Where they land will be interesting. Hurts depth, which is really tough to have in the NIL/transfer portal era.
If true, I'm hoping this means Madbear has a plan... and recognized that the departing players were below what the standard needs to be to field a March Madness team. If he plans to be near the top of the ACC, none of the departing players (short of possibly Brown's potential) were good enough to land a roster spot on a blue blood. In the portal era, might as well set your sights sky high. Problem is jelling early with a fresh roster, but the more talent you have, the longer you can take.
In the era of NIL/transfer portal, how can you make guarantees without having a roster set and knowing you will make additions in the transfer portal, which may bring a more highly skilled or experience player? If the rumor is true, sounds like he is at least being honest with these kids.
At some point, you HAVE to make a judgement of when to lock up what, at the risk of missing out of something better, but also to lock up something before it gets away.
Go Bears!!!
Pro
Dodgers fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani's long time personal interpreter. Wow
A while back, someone here was lamenting the lost opportunity of being Ohtani’s interpreter. That position is now open again.
https://www.si.com/mlb/dodgers/news/shohei-ohtanis-interpreter-fired-by-dodgers-following-allegations-of-massive-theft-nc2000
Baseball has started!! Dodgers and Pads
Dodgers beat the Pads 5-2. Dodgers had 2 on and there was a ground ball to 1st. The first baseman goes to backhand the ball and the ball rips through the webbing for a single. Would've probably been a double play otherwise.
Seemed like a weak draw for the game (15k), but looks like capacity is only about 16k
I had that happen to me once. Back when they had H.S. Type bleachers in right field at Candlestick, McCovey hit a line drive homer and I ran down to catch it and it went right through my webbing. Crushing to a young kid.
will try to go to an early season Mets game if the weather is decent.
these are regular season games? i was wondering why there was a game going on this morning when i cracked open my computer.
Yeah. The Dodgers and the Pads are playing 2 games in Seoul. The rest of the games probably start end of next week?
Next Thurs 3/28 is baseball’s “Opening Day.”
Anyone else of the opinion that baseball should go back to a 154 game schedule? For one thing it would mean the World Series would end before Halloween as Oski intended. Also could mean opening day is in April, against as the good lord intended.
nah - I like snow games...
Condensing the schedule under "normal" circumstances stands no chance. The owners are all about money, and losing dates loses gates and tv exposure and revenue. And merch/concessions, etc. sales. There is also a reason why the inordinate number of spring training games is not reduced. I'd expect 170 before 154 even gets discussed.
I’m fine with the 162. Opening in March is lame, but they very easily could have Opening Day in April and still play 162, as they did until the last 5-10 years.
I've been of the opinion that the least MLB could do is shorten the regular season schedule to 154 games. I think that with the expanding playoffs the logical step in revising the regular season schedule is to reduce the number of games so that players aren't simply exhausted by the time the World Series is played. 154 games is a start. I think that a 150 schedule should be considered as well.