I am sorry, but not sorry for starting posts with the following reminder:
PLEASE click on the tiny “Read on blog” link or the post title itself in the email notifying you of a new post. Thanks.
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Today’s post title refers to my intention to show more than one or two links to pieces around the Internet. When I stop writing I wonder if I will save all of these emails that enter my inbox.
First, however, a photo some might call strange, but consider the source.
I took this picture yesterday. We have lived in Arizona for more than four years, but this container of salt we purchased at Wegmans is still not quite empty. (Wegmans is a supermarket chain with stores in eight states, all of which are in the Northeast or mid-Atlantic, and the District of Columbia.) One of the reasons is that I do not completely fill the salt shaker on the kitchen table because I don’t want this container to become empty and have to throw it away.
No supermarket in Arizona can match Wegmans in terms of selection, price and customer service. I published Goodbye, Wegmans 49 months ago. (!) Oh, we still have two containers/packages of aluminum foil from there with the Wegmans name on them. I will save an empty Wegmans container for posterity, just not sure which one.
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This Why Evolution Is True (WEIT) post is titled, “Sadly, academia got what it asked for.” I understand why Jerry Coyne thinks the unraveling of academia is a negative outcome, but I believe if a person or institution thinks they should be rewarded for good behavior then they should have to deal with the negative consequences of bad behavior.
Here is the first paragraph from WEIT:
“An article in the Chronicle of Higher Education by Michael Clune (a professor of English at Case Western Reserve University) reprises the familiar idea that the “wokeness” of academia—the explicit aim of turning higher education towards reforming society in a “progressive” way—has largely destroyed academia and reduced its standing in the eyes of the public. It has done this, he says, by alienating the public via professors making pronouncements outside their area of expertise, something that simply turns off the average Joe or Jill.”
For some reason, I am now compelled to publish the following photo, just like I am compelled to conserve the salt from Wegmans.
My alma mater was, sadly, among the first universities in America that attempted to indoctrinate incoming freshmen with the poison of woke. Guess what happened? Many parents complained and the programs were ended, more or less. Bad or absent parenting is everywhere and affects almost everything, and not in a good way.
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I guess I am not going to show as many links as I had originally thought…
This Savage On Wheels piece is about the Studebaker Sceptre. That was the concept car that was supposed to be the foundation of the vehicle that would replace the Gran Turismo Hawk in the Studebaker lineup. Of course, Studebaker stopped building cars in the US in December, 1963 and stopped building them altogether in March, 1966. Here are pictures I took of the Sceptre and its description at the AACA Museum in Hershey, Pennsylvania in 2019.
Brooks Stevens was a very important industrial designer and not just in the automotive sphere. However, his masterful re-working of the aging Studebaker Hawk in 1962 created a car that, in my opinion, still looks amazing today.
The probability I buy a Gran Turismo Hawk one day is not high, but it’s not zero. In the unlikely event I buy a “classic” car in the future, given the costs one of these or a 1967-68 Cadillac Eldorado is the most likely target.
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This article from ClassicCars seems to contradict previously published reports that Jaguar was going to exit the automobile industry. Here are some passages:
“Jaguar announced several days ago that it is redoing its logo as it takes a respite from automotive production and prepares for the next phase of its existence. And how is it going for the hallowed brand?
Not well, it seems.
Jaguar’s portfolio hasn’t been cutting it in the face of strong competition from the Germans, Japanese, and even Koreans. The XJ hasn’t been selling and the mid-size XF quickly lost its luster against the likes of the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and BMW 5 Series. Of course, there are several SUVs that have managed to maintain brand visibility in the American market, but Jaguar doesn’t want to be an SUV brand.
Then there’s the brand’s 2021 announcement of going all-in with EVs by 2025. That’s great and all, but the market has changed since 2021 and many manufacturers are backing away from all-EV edicts. That leaves Jaguar in a pickle.”
I would argue it’s a self-inflicted “pickle.” Given its size, the company should have known it could not amortize the cost of developing all-electric vehicles over its limited sales numbers. Oh, you want to see the new logo?
As a Jaguar owner I admit that I worry about being able to get the car serviced in the future. Of course, I worry about almost everything because that’s how I’m wired. Speaking of service, the shop where I take the Jaguar said there is nothing wrong with Heating/AC vent on top of the center stack. They claimed they were able to open and to close it many times.
One item that had concerned me was the battery. I have no real maintenance history for the F-Type and thought it was possible that the battery in the car was just the second in its lifetime (it’s a 2015 model). I asked the shop to perform a load test. Sure enough, the battery failed and was replaced.
As the store manager (thanks, Mitch) explained to me, even though I was correct in pointing out that once a car is started the alternator actually powers all electronic devices, the battery is sort of a “brain” for the electrical system and if it’s failing all kinds of problems can ensue, like a vent that doesn’t always open.
The shop also found discolored power steering fluid so I gave them the OK to do a flush and fill. I also asked them to check the brakes and they said, after examining them, the rotors still have plenty of surface remaining.
Of course, my concern is not with being able to find techs who can work on the F-Type, but about the availability of parts. I have seriously thought about buying some parts now just to have them, but what do I buy? I am not going to spend $50,000 on a Jaguar parts inventory. Oh yes, here is the current object of my automotive affection.
Que bella machina! Long Live Jaguar!
#SaturatedSaturday
#Jaguar