Geeto67

Whether you agree with it or not...emoji's are part of fashion. Fashion can make a political statement. I think the most surreal sentence I have read this morning is "fucking with the meaning of emoji". Emoji's are just a stylized graphical representation of emotions themselves. Is there a deeper meaning you are worried about? So what if the other tech companies are jumping on the band wagon...it's not an abridgement of free speech so who cares. This isn't "political correctness": it's a private company making a decision about it's services in its own best interest. Nobody is forcing you to use txt messages, and despite the lack of and expectation of privacy cell service isn't exactly a "public forum" so...why are you all worked up about the political correctness that isn't there? I'm sure somewhere someone is "worked up about" all sorts of things and we don't hear about it. Why do you want to take that on? I'm pretty sure the people offended at Michelle's comments aren't even thinking about gun emoji's. That's a weird logic jump to make. Since 1983 the WHCD has had a comedian give a Roast of the Presidential Administration and the guests. Wolf delivered exactly that - a comedic roast. Suddenly the people she roasted are all offended? get over it. They got exactly what they paid for and knew it was coming. It's not political correctness, it's a bunch of butt hurt people who can't laugh at themselves or take a joke being butt hurt about jokes about themselves.

What Apple lacks in technological innovation it more than makes up for in being ahead or at least abreast of current fashion and aesthetic design trends. I think Emoji's fit squarely in to that. Anyway, who cares? Anybody want to talk about the White House Correspondents dinner? https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2018/04/30/michelle-wolf-white-house-correspondents-dinner-whca-president-margaret-talev/563835002/ https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/04/what-happened-at-the-white-house-correspondents-dinner/559232/ considering how hostile this administration has been to journalists and the media in general, I think they got exactly what was coming to them and Michelle Wolf owes nobody an apology. But I'm sure others disagree. I happened to watch her set for the dinner - it was hilarious.

I'm curious, what kind of power do you think it makes and about how fast you think it is with the current mods. I honestly know nothing about these cars but I have always been curious about them.

As far as I know clay, if it isn't a convertible then it is a targa. There aren't "fixed roof" cars like they did with the c5 z06 fixed roof coupe. I have to say, I am not thrilled by any of the colors of the new Zr1. I don't know why. I wonder if the new car will finally bring down the prices on the c6 Zr1s which are still over $60k 10 years later.

Maybe, and probably. I think the measure that introduces that idea should be comprehensive and have a roll out plan to as to minimize impact to veterans. Also there needs to be cost analysis done, conflict with existing laws check, budgeting to bring existing private facilities up to the same level of care that the VA was providing, there needs to be a schedule for roll out, etc....but the bill provides for none of that. Well...his roles are: 1) Appoint cabinet members. Secretary overseeing the VA is an executive Cabinet position. The head of the department's support can make or break a bill during the legislative process. 2) Sign bills into law. That includes this bill if it makes it past both houses, which is should as long as the republican majority stiill holds out. He's already said publicly that he will sign any part of his plan that comes across his desk. 3) Submit his plan for VA reform. Although he needs congress to enact, the President is still the compass of legislative directive in this country. He drafts a plan, he socializes it with congress, and then if there aren't enough votes he works with congressmen and women to secure the votes. In this case he almost literally copied the CVA's plan, and the CVA has been writing the draft legislation that republican congressmen have been introducing (and in some cases passing) without objection from Trump (who could exercise his veto power if he didn't like the bills author). This issue is the usual big government/small government argument that democrats and republicans have had for ages, with the notable exception that impacting veterans tends to sway moderate republicans away from the smaller government, free market, and privatization side. To that end Trump has a quasi 4th role - he can endorse those he sees as onboard in the upcoming midterms, and shun those that are resisting, if this becomes a big enough issue. He can also remove those in power that oppose his plan that sit in the executive branch. Add on top of this that the current VA system has a 92% satisfaction rating among polled veterans, and that the overwhelming sentiment from both independent veteran groups and veterans is that there needs to be some subtle reforms but not a complete overhaul. Furthermore several independent studies have shown that the majority of VA facilities outperform their local private healthcare equivalent in the same regions, in both quality of care and cost. It's hard to make an argument for sweeping reform in the light that the system is working pretty well.

yeah I am, which do you think will hurt less, left or right? Sometimes that is the choice that is presented. The CVA has drafted several submitted bills since Jan 2017. Their most visible one is the VA Accountability act which was passed in June of last year. To be honest, I actually don't have a lot of issues with the VA Accountability act since most of it was HR related (more protection for whistle-blowers, easier to fire employees for misconduct, etc...). Currently pending is the VA empowerment act, introduced in November of last year that seeks to allow veterans to bypass the VA and spend taxpayer money at private institutions. While it sounds good in theory, there is very little accountability or standards and limits on who and how those private institutions get paid. Most concerning is this phrase: “...termination of functions of the Veterans Health Administration directly related to the furnishing of hospital care, medical services, and other health care.” https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/4457/text The former Secretary of the VA was staunchly opposed to this and considers it one of the primary reasons he was removed from office. I mean, you are asking why you should care, and I would say the fact that they have flown under the radar enough to implement some of their plan is reason enough to me. To be honest I get paid to care because monitoring VA program changes is part of my actual job, but you get benefits from this and it affects you. This is the new normal of the trump administration - he makes noise and distracts the nation, and those he appoints and supports work while everyone is looking away. It's kind of important to be more diligent now, don't you think?

They aren't looking for piecemeal privatization, the Koch brothers are Libertarian leaning conservatives and fund the group Concerned Veterans for America which is pushing for the expansion of veterans health care options in the private market - something I don't think anybody who receives care from the VA wants at all. There is bipartisan support for piecemeal private outsourcing, the "smart privatization" that you mention, but it doesn't include some of the measures the CVA wants to implement. Trump is already friendly to the CVA having chose to rely on them for making policy decision and already considered at least one of their members for head of the VA prior to this Ronnie mess. So my question to you Greg, if your choices are status quo or the CVA's version of "privatization" which will look more like political handouts than "smart", which do you prefer?

Having seen this car in person, I am actually excited to see this thread and where you go with it. The car was much cleaner in real life than the pics in the ad would have lead someone to believe - even with the high miles. I meant to ask you, where did you source the m3 style bumpers?

I honestly don't disagree with anything said greg. My only question is where do you someone that's qualified to run the VA? Right now the biggest threat to the VA is the push from the Koch brothers to privatize the VA, something DT is not opposed to in the slightest. To fight that the VA is going to need a strong advocate as well as a strong organized leader, and very few fit the bill.

wood grain is easy, and actually I'm setup right now to do small trim pieces, the hard part is finding a wood grain that matches the pattern used on the car. There are like 20 different kinds of "burlwood" alone of various shades: https://watertransferprinting.com/product-cat/hydrographic-film/wood-grain/ The hard part with old plastic trim is usually the plastic has outgassed so much that it is brittle and warped and often needs repair. Some of it becomes greasy over time too which makes it a bad surface to promote adhesion.

Meh...I must prefer the small jabs like this than if she outright just left him and we had to deal with a publicly falling apart president.

Hydrogprahics or hydrodipping is just a different way of applying paint. The advantage is being able to apply complex graphics easier than say airbrushing or brush painting. The process is actually very old. Aqueous surface printing has been around Asia since 900 CE. If anybody has ever handled old books and seen the marbled end pages, those were hydrographicaly printed and were common in printing from the 1700-1900s. If you look at the pictures of my sportster at the beginning of this thread, that was done with paint. I floated oil based paint on the surface of the water and used a bbq skewer to make the swirl marble pattern. I suppose I could just float 1 single color on the surface of the water if I wanted a solid metallic or uniform surface, but at that point it would actually be easier for me to just spray the paint directly on to the part. For those who remember the days when airbrushing was the only option in the automotive realm, it took day to complete a piece and there was a lot of masking and and unmasking, and it was tremendously expensive. Now you can design in computer, print with a reconstituting ink on a dissolving substrate and transfer complex designs in minutes for a fraction of the cost. The mess and environmental impact is also considerably less as there is no over spray and the oil paint never mixes so it can be collected out of the water and the water disposed of normally. So here is the follow up question, are most just fundamentally opposed to patterns on wheels in general? or is it just the current offerings are just over the top?

All he wants is comfort and people to stare at him when he pulls in. Can you think of a better way to do that? I mean short of attaching a bright purple dildo to the hood of the supra....

have you thought about an old car? seriously, this sounds like a mid 1960's cadillac, or really any large 50's-60's barge. There is easily $3500 worth of fun in this: https://louisville.craigslist.org/cto/d/1966-cadillac/6563945332.html more if you put air ride in it and lay frame at the meet.

usually, but not always.... LOLZ. Is there an actual general "liberal" flag? double LOLZ.

I think there is your answer. Truck + bike and gear.

I am just trying to do something different. But I get it, this is kind of hard. Part of me wants to just do the paint swirl method because it's abstract and neat, and a little understated, and frankly I am allergic to anything camo which is what most of this stuff is used for. I am starting to understand why the internet is full of examples of unmounted hydrographic wheels but non actual pictures of ones mounted on cars. The one nice thing about the style 162 rims is that they offer a really wide spoke that would show off a pattern nicely. Honestly, stock they aren't the best looking wheels to begin with so anything I do is going to be an improvement. I might just have to go for the gusto on this one.

Hi all. So this weekend I picked up a set of style 162 sport wheels from Brian (Lauren on here - huge thanks to him for being a super solid dude). Last summer I undertook some refinishing projects and taught myself how to do hydro dipping/hydrographics at home. So far the biggest project I have undertaken was redoing the bodywork on my Ironhead sportster: Untitled by Anyway, this summer I want to refinish the wheels and I want to try doing an actual hydrographic print on them. The problem is, most of the designs/prints are kinda tacky or gaudy. So here is the question: If you were going to do a hydro-graphic print on your wheels, what print would you do? for reference these are the style 162 wheels: http://www.e90post.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1145631&stc=1&d=1421761540 I am kind of leaning toward a bandana style print, over a dark red or dark blue, https://kansashydrographics.com/collections/miscellaneous/products/silver-bandana or maybe a sliver or gold paisley over gloss black. https://kansashydrographics.com/collections/abstract/products/silver-paisley or black print over gloss white or gloss silver: https://kansashydrographics.com/collections/abstract/products/black-paisley I kinda like this circuit board print and think it might look good over gold: https://kansashydrographics.com/collections/abstract/products/black-circuit-board for a more subtle look this blue or gold brushed metal finish looks neat: https://kansashydrographics.com/collections/stones-metals/products/blue-metallic-brash-1 https://kansashydrographics.com/collections/stones-metals/products/gold-metal-brash Or I dunno....maybe a plaid because german car....so thoughts?

I think the problem is...you need to figure out what you want to do. think about it, up until this point you bought things or built things because they vaguely seemed like they would be fun, without any real goal or activity in mind. The Supra, while cool I am sure, really isn't a good drag car, isn't a good auto-x car, isn't a good street car, and you are kind of bored with it because even if you get it sorted, what's the point, amirite? I mean it's not like Miller will actually race you with his viper so... I think a little direction might help you. Think about what automotive milestones you want to accomplish and make a plan to go after them. You want to chase an auto-x championship? do it. You want to run a specific number int he 1/4 mile, build something to get you there. You want to win a trophy at a car show for the work you put into something, plan out the project and go for it. Once you start chasing something, all these other questions will get answered for you because you will have purpose and actually be problem solving, not just tossing darts at an unknown target. Right now, if I were you I would buy a motorcycle race suit and go take the gsxr to a track day and see if you like performance riding at all. You might love track riding, or you might realize you don't like motorcycles, but there is only really one way to test your interest and that is by doing something. heck, take it land speed racing too while you have the suit. Personally I wouldn't buy a quad, you already have a motorbike that you can literally ride anywhere and you don't, having a less practical version of that isn't going to make you ride more.

He’s talked about it in interviews, he specifically wanted a notchback because when it comes to high level custom builds, everyone chooses the fastback and there weren’t any notchbacks built to that same level of quality. So basically to be different. I’m pretty sure he likes the design better too.

10s in a showroom stock vette is pretty fantastic. 16 year old me living through the C4 era never thought I would see something like that at all. As more cars are running this numbers I wonder if they are going to push the ET requiring a roll cage lower. Also, I wonder if the prices of older zr1s will come down more.

As I understand it, you can deduct the sales tax you pay on the car on your federal income tax in the year you purchase the car, regardless as to whether you rolled it into financing or not, but you cannot deduct the interest payments made on that amount. Whether this is “bad” depends on your situation and your point of view. There are some who think you should never finance taxes because of how they feel about taxes in general, while others just see it as part of the whole cost of purchase transaction. Either way, taxes are one of those things that can sometimes creep up the cost and make an already marginal deal worse. Part of this also has to do with the way cars are sold and how often the taxes aren’t discussed until the end.

I understand that but even as a depreciating asset these assets aren't the same depreciation curve as something like a new 5 series BMW, or a Chevy Tahoe. Both of those vehicles will lose about 45% of their value in the first 5 years of ownership with the predominant amount happening in the first two years. Something like a special edition Lambo, ferrari, or porsche isn't going to come close to that as most lose less than 20% over the same time and most of that depreciation comes in the 3-5 year mark as miles accrue and newer models are introduced to replace the old ones. Even as a depreciating asset, an owner can hold a car for 2 years and see under 10% depreciation. I think this is the fundamental point we disagree on. You presume 98% of the customers for this product are using the product inappropriately, where as I think the number is much much much lower, and the majority of the people who are using this product are using it correctly and it is a bad idea for a small group of outliers. The companies that write these loans know their clientele well and rely a lot on repeat business.

Ok, I'll own that, maybe I did misread them. I read them in the context of the larger conversation, and responded based on my understanding in that context. But If what you are saying is indeed correct, then you agree with my position that this is not 100% a bad idea for all people in all situations and that there are people for whom this product makes financial sense. Right?

You are right in that there are ever increasing loan terms for more conventional loans on high volume common products, and you are right to be concerned about that. I'm concerned about it too. That's just not this product. Just because a jalopnik writer "discovers" this for the first time doesn't mean it hasn't been around for a while. These long term exotic and collector car loans have been around since at least the 1980s, same as Yacht financing and private airplane financing which are both about 240 months for new vehicles.