Wed. Jun. 22, 2022 – chinese bioweapon update, and stuff

By on June 22nd, 2022 in open thread, personal, WuFlu

Hot, because Houston.  Humid, because Houston.

Over 100F yesterday and some parts of town did get rain.   The freeway was wet in the downtown area as I did my pickups.  The sun was like a laser burning my scalp too.  Blue sky and fluffy clouds LOOK nice, but whooo boy it was hot.

Posting the Tuesday night so I can get to bed and sleep in.

Went to bed Monday with a vague headache, but then had really bad chills.  No fever, just felt cold.  Double blanket solved that.  Woke up feeling like I had a mild hangover, some body aches, like I needed to stretch after sitting too long, and the barest suggestion of  a headache.  No fever.

Started my day, but my wife suggested I do the covid test just to be sure, and WHADDA YA KNOW.    Chinese “certificate” in the box didn’t exactly inspire confidence.  It did inspire anger that they are STILL profiting from this mess.

Kids had a test Sunday before camp and were negative.   Wife did her test when she got home from work yesterday and was negative.  I hope that continues to be the case.

Me?  I’m off to bed again.  I’ll check in during the day.  Sleep is usually my best medicine.

And I’ve got stuff stacked if I don’t feel better today.

Stack some stuff,

nick

61 Comments and discussion on "Wed. Jun. 22, 2022 – chinese bioweapon update, and stuff"

  1. Greg Norton says:

    Started my day, but my wife suggested I do the covid test just to be sure, and WHADDA YA KNOW.    Chinese “certificate” in the box didn’t exactly inspire confidence.  It did inspire anger that they are STILL profiting from this mess.

    I’ve done tests from boxes with four different names on the outside but the exact same contents, right down to the “certificate”. One factory.

    The only variation I saw was the first pair of tests the job sent, with a QR code on the body of the test … device … which we photograph and submit to HR showing negative results. The latest tests they sent do not have that code, however.

  2. paul says:

    @paul, did you ever have any bad symptoms from your trial of the med that can’t be named?

    No bad symptoms or bad side effects.  Some unexpected good effects.  I use the 1% liquid.

    To me it sounds like you pushed a too hard and nope, you are never over sunstroke or heatstroke.  I forget which is which but I pushed the edge over 15 years ago and I still can’t take the heat. 

  3. Nick Flandrey says:

    Well I’m up.  88F and 70%RH at almost 10am.

    Still feels like a cold.  Slightly runny nose.    Ache in the skin and muscles of my back right at the bottom of my ribcage is probable from so many hours in bed.   Slight headache.  Little feeling of being “off”.     Pretty sure the old bean isn’t working at 100%.

    The occasional cough hurts a bit, mainly due to the rib aches.

    n

  4. Nick Flandrey says:

    Can’t decide if I feel the same or slightly worse today.  Hard to separate any pain in torso from being in bed, from any other pain.

    Coffee still tastes great and burnt english muffin still tastes bitter.

    n

  5. MrAtoz says:

    Over the last week I’ve received multiple emails from Schemer, Stretch, plugs, and BUTTO begging for money. I’ve never received so many. I guess the Dumbos are sweating bullets over the mid-terms.

    In Vegas.

    Oh, yeah…

    OK15, groomer15.

  6. Nick Flandrey says:

    Getting a little junk up with the occasional cough now.   Think I’ll head back to bed after some lunch.

    n

  7. SteveF says:

    Getting a little junk up

    Nobody here needs to know about your junk, Nick.

  8. lynn says:

    “VIRAL FEARS: First outbreak of highly infectious polio detected in UK since 1984 – the 6 signs to know”

        https://www.the-sun.com/health/5615177/first-outbreak-highly-infectious-polio-uk-signs/

    “POLIO is spreading in the UK for the first time in decades, officials claim.”

    “Health bosses urged Brits to check their children’s jabs are up to date after picking up signs of the virus being passed between individuals.”

    And here is the next leg of the stool.

    Hat tip to:

        https://www.drudgereport.com/

  9. Nick Flandrey says:

    I’ve been up because the cops on the scanner are doing some major drug bust.   They surveilled a guy with an undercover buyer, then grabbed him for no lights on his trailer, got permission to search, found the goods in a trash bag on the trailer.   He’s given permission to search his house, where there is supposed to be more stuff.

    Cops got a special team (I didn’t recognize the acronym), but the team has “all their drones with them.”    The OIC asked them to get a drone up to see the back side of the residence.   

    Now the special team and backup is marshaling at a pizza place before they go into the house.   House has an older female and another male inside according to the perp….

    Interesting that they had a unit standing by as the designated “undercover rescue vehicle.”

    They also had an air unit  coordinated by the same guy I’ve been hearing for a couple of years, who works for DEA, overhead during the initial ‘follow and stop’ phase.

    Drama, better than tv.

    n

  10. Nick Flandrey says:

    Nobody here needs to know about your junk, Nick.

    pics or it didn’t happen, right?

    n

  11. CowboyStu says:

    Nick, spit the junk in a little Rx tablet container and send it Fauci for analysis.

  12. Pecancorner says:

    “VIRAL FEARS: First outbreak of highly infectious polio detected in UK since 1984 – the 6 signs to know”

       https://www.the-sun.com/health/5615177/first-outbreak-highly-infectious-polio-uk-signs/

    “POLIO is spreading in the UK for the first time in decades, officials claim.”

    It is vaccine-derived.  From the Sun’s article:

    UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) experts believe a traveller – likely from Pakistan, Afghanistan or Nigeria – shed the virus in their stools after being given the oral polio inoculation.

    But the bug has now spread to others after mutating, with the same strain being repeatedly detected in sewage samples since May.
     

  13. Nick Flandrey says:

    Ah, cultural vibrancy at work again.

    n

  14. lynn says:

    “Do I Have to Pay for Microsoft’s Defender Antivirus Now?”

        https://www.pcmag.com/news/wtf-do-i-have-to-pay-for-microsofts-defender-antivirus-now

    “A recent Microsoft announcement throws users into a panic with the implication that Microsoft’s venerable antivirus tool is longer free. The truth is a bit more nuanced.”

    “In the end, there’s no actual change to Microsoft Defender Antivirus on Windows. The new Microsoft Defender for Individuals strictly protects non-Windows systems. It offers antivirus protection on macOS and Android (but not iOS) and web protection on Android and iOS (but not macOS). Web protection refers to what Windows users know as SmartScreen Filter, which I’ve zinged in the past for protecting only Microsoft browsers.”

    I was wondering if MS had an extra cost addon for Defender.

  15. lynn says:

    “Top 10 reasons to be thankful for our blistering heat and emerging drought”

        https://spacecityweather.com/top-10-reasons-to-be-thankful-for-our-blistering-heat-and-emerging-drought/

    10. The BBQ pit heats up far more quickly. Some afternoons you can even dispense with the wood or coals.”

    Wow.

  16. Nick Flandrey says:

    The popo have wrapped up their operation.   Searched the house, found the dope.

    NGT was the special team.  No idea what that stands for.

    Main suspect is “headed to DEA for processing”.

    And I’m off to bed.

    n

  17. Nick Flandrey says:

    Rawles’ site has an article about travel bag prepping, and it’s not horrible.

    I feel like these two posts, and the COMMENTS are better 🙂

    https://www.ttgnet.com/journal/2017/08/09/guest-post-nick-some-thoughts-on-preparedness-and-my-recent-travels/ 

    https://www.ttgnet.com/journal/2016/08/03/wednesday-3-august-2016-traveling-and-the-prepper-some-thoughts/ 

    And they’ve held up pretty well.   I note that I REALLY need to update the UHT milk at my sibling’s place in Michigan.   I wouldn’t (and don’t) keep UHT milk in even medium term preps anymore.   THey are short term only.   At 6mo past ‘best buy’  they are getting chunky.  And time goes by quickly.  I have not tried to freeze UHT milk, if anyone has, please share your experiences.  Normal milk doesn’t freeze well.

    n

  18. paul says:

    7. Your dogs won’t track in mud from the back yard.

    Not a problem.  If I think ahead I have a towel to wipe their feet.  If I don’t think, hey no worry, let it dry and it will vacuum up.  I have “taupe” colored carpet for a reason. 

    2. No rain means far fewer mosquitoes are out there biting in the evening.

    Or any time of the day.

    No rain means I don’t have to mow.  I actually do need to mow, I haven’t since last Spring.  Not the Spring we just finished, last year.  The yard is getting shaggy.  The random wild flowers are interesting.

    The rain will come someday.  

    There’s a Low Water Crossing on CR330 on the way to town.  It’s been improved, the “bottom your car suspension dip” is gone.  I imagine the couple of houses nearby miss the dip just for the speed of traffic. Maybe it will survive a heavy rain…. I’ve seen the water there four or five feet deep.  Anyway, that “creek” runs across a couple of pieces of land and then across the back of my place.  Across the back of my place the ditch is 15 to 20+ feet deep in spots.  I’ve seen it as high as 3 feet from the top more than once. 

  19. Denis says:

    ~jim says:

    21 June 2022 at 10:24

    Not fun, to say the least. So let this serve as a warning: if you have had more than a couple bouts of diverticulitis get your resection done ASAP. Doctors kept putting me off, and I regret not pushing harder for the rather simple one stage procedure.

    ~jim, I feel for you and wish you a speedy and complete recovery.

    I was plagued with diverticulitis, starting on New Year’s  Eve 2014-15 while I was on holidays in Germany. A Bavarian hospital patched me up with IV antibiotics, and said wait and see what develops after the first bout calms down. When I got home, my local specialist kept pooh-poohing it, feeding me more and stronger antibiotics like candy and twice telling me to come back in three months. It became debilitating, to the point that by June I called the original German doctor – fortuitously, a top abdominal surgery expert – and told her I was coming back for a consultation. I didn’t think I would survive the 800km road trip, but I made it, and she had me under the laparoscopic knife two days later. I am very glad to report that I  fully recovered, and I have regained my quality of life, with no lasting effects, other than needing to maintain enough fibre in my diet. I just eat fresh fruit salad for breakfast, and avoid too much white bread and pasta, and all is well.

    I wish that your surgeons are as good as my Germans, and that you will also be back in the full of your health as soon as possible.

    For others, don’t ignore it if your bowel habits change when your diet didn’t, or if you develop persistent abdominal discomfort. Get it checked out. Don’t pooh-pooh your poo!
     

  20. Lynn says:

    “Did Russian hackers blow up a Texas LNG pipeline on June 8?”

    https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/did-russian-hackers-blow-up-a-texas-lng-pipeline

    They just declared a force majoure for the rest of 2022.  And the failure was weird, multiple safety systems failed.

    Just another conspiracy.

    2
    1
  21. Lynn says:

    “Uvalde police stopped an officer from rescuing his wife”

        https://gunfreezone.net/uvalde-police-stopped-an-officer-from-rescuing-his-wife/

    “Police officer husband of slain Uvalde teacher detained, disarmed after he tried to save his wife”

    I ain’t gonna say what I think here but it is not good.

    6
    2
  22. Greg Norton says:

    Contributing to the Mad Libs – I’ll call this one “Party At Kitty And Studs: Caged Heat”

    https://www.local10.com/news/local/2022/06/22/andrew-gillum-former-candidate-for-fl-gov-surrenders-over-alleged-campaign-fraud/

    Again, FL Dems knew. They didn’t care what happened beyond 12:05 AM EST on Inauguration Day 2019.

    3
    2
  23. lynn says:

    I just went through my annual hearing at the Fort Bend County Appraisal District.  This is fourth time I have fought them, I won the previous three times.  They raised the value of my nine acre office property from $900,000 to $1,094,774.  I told them about my neighbor failing to sell her 36 acre property for $26,000 an acre in 2020 and that the FBCAD had valued the land for my property at $40,000 an acre.  I did not have a problem with the building appraisals even though one of the comps was almost at Nick’s house.

    The hearing board asked me what I thought the property was worth and I said $1,000,000.   The commercial appraiser agreed with me ! The last year she yelled at me in the hearing room when the board agreed with me.  So the hearing board agreed with me and reset the property value to $1,000,000.  That will save me $1,800 at tax time.

    11
    2
  24. lynn says:

    Contributing to the Mad Libs – I’ll call this one “Party At Kitty And Studs: Caged Heat”

    https://www.local10.com/news/local/2022/06/22/andrew-gillum-former-candidate-for-fl-gov-surrenders-over-alleged-campaign-fraud/

    Again, FL Dems knew. They didn’t care what happened beyond 12:05 AM EST on Inauguration Day 2019.

    It is worse than that.  All of the dumbrocrats across the USA do not care about the country whatsoever.  Many of them are even looting the country for every penny they can steal.  And their constituents are getting ready to go through hell.

    Me, I am wondering what will happen when Uncle Santa Claus’s checks don’t cash anymore.  The “full faith and credit” of the USA may be coming to an end.

    7
    3
  25. Greg Norton says:

    Me, I am wondering what will happen when Uncle Santa Claus’s checks don’t cash anymore.  The “full faith and credit” of the USA may be coming to an end.

    The payments aren’t checks anymore. They are Chase-Paymentech debit cards.

    I know one of the architects personally, but we haven’t been in communication in years.

    2
    1
  26. Greg Norton says:

    The Texas unemployment system (odd, where is the libertarian viewpoint there)

    The claim wasn’t about the money as much as it was part of a legal strategy. Not everything to do with that situation got posted here.

    Whoever said I was a Libertarian?

    3
    3
  27. SteveF says:

    The state forcibly collects unemployment insurance premiums. Only a moron would call it a violation of libertarian principles to want to be able to collect on the insurance.

  28. ITGuy1998 says:

    Ok, going after someone’s children is something that can’t be tolerated. Ban hammer needs to come out.

  29. Ray Thompson says:

    Took the guests from Norway to a dinner show, Pirates Voyage.

    Took some pictures with the iPhone. Amazing for a device that fits in the pocket.

      http://www.raymondthompsonphotography.com/Pirates/

    For those interested.

  30. SteveF says:

    -blink- Dinner show? To me that means “dinner theatre”, which is usually a performance space about 15’x8′, a cast of amateurs in it for the fun, and set and props which cost under $100 in total. Apparently “dinner show” has other meanings.

  31. SteveF says:

    Nobody here needs to know about your junk, Nick.

    —pics or it didn’t happen, right?

    Just this once I’ll let it slide.

  32. Nick Flandrey says:

    @lynn congrats on that fight.   We’ve won and lost at various times.   It’s always worth a try.

    Vertical again.   Weird dreams.   Grey goo self replicating little crabs.   Probably inspired by the “Others” ant things in the Bobiverse books. Which are real fun, and I’m part way thru book 2 after my vacation reading.

    n

  33. Nick Flandrey says:

    But if Russia is responsible for the Freeport LNG incident, it breached explicit warnings from President Joe Biden against critical infrastructure attacks. Technically, it would also have conducted an act of war on U.S. soil.

    –why would anyone be afraid of poopy pants? or heed any warning noises his mouth hole might make?

    n

  34. Nick Flandrey says:

    Wow Ray, that show looks cool.   And the digital zoom on the iphone is better than the optical on my digital camera…

    n

  35. drwilliams says:

    Cornyn and Sinema: “How long does it take to read an 80-page bill?”

    The reply should have been: “Did you idiots read the Second Amendment?”

  36. Nick Flandrey says:

    ‘This is a time of war. Bring down the price you are charging at the pump!’: Biden demands refiners lower gas prices amid oil price drop, after Fed chair Powell says inflation was ‘certainly high’ before Russia’s invasion

    • Biden called on oil companies to lower the cost of gas, arguing the nation is in a ‘time of war’
    • ‘To the companies running gas stations and setting those prices at the pump, this is a time of war, global peril, Ukraine, this is not normal times. Bring down the price you are charging at the pump,’ Biden said
    • ‘Do it now,’ he called on gas companies  
    • Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell broke with Biden, saying inflation was on the rise well before Russia invaded the Ukraine in February
    • ‘Inflation was high before — certainly before the war in Ukraine broke out,’ Powell said in testimony on Capitol Hill 
    • Biden called on Congress pass a three-month suspension of the federal gas tax
    • Biden wants Congress to lift federal gas tax – about 18 cents per gallon of gasoline and 24 cents per gallon of diesel – through the end of September 
    • He may not have the votes on Capitol Hill to get it passed 
    • Experts say suspending gas tax may not save consumers that much money
    • In 2008, Obama called such a move a ‘gimmick’ 

    Slo Joe just declared war on Russia.  FFS.   “Time of war”.   Can’t be a general state since there has always been war going on somewhere, all times are ‘times of war’.   Has to be specific therefor, and so the meatsack has just announced that he believes the USA to be at war with Russia.   

    Jebus.

    n

  37. drwilliams says:

    @SteveF

    “Apparently “dinner show” has other meanings.”

    The goddess in red looks tasty, even if her footwork is terrible.

  38. Greg Norton says:

    I just went through my annual hearing at the Fort Bend County Appraisal District.  This is fourth time I have fought them, I won the previous three times.  They raised the value of my nine acre office property from $900,000 to $1,094,774.  I told them about my neighbor failing to sell her 36 acre property for $26,000 an acre in 2020 and that the FBCAD had valued the land for my property at $40,000 an acre.  I did not have a problem with the building appraisals even though one of the comps was almost at Nick’s house.

    Next year should be interesting. A lot of commercial real estate is sitting empty around us, and H-Mart has a new office building going up behind their store, right across the street from a mostly empty four story building which was almost completely rented by Zynga when we moved here.

  39. Greg Norton says:

    -blink- Dinner show? To me that means “dinner theatre”, which is usually a performance space about 15’x8′, a cast of amateurs in it for the fun, and set and props which cost under $100 in total. Apparently “dinner show” has other meanings.

    It does in touristy areas like Orlando, Branson, and, in Ray’s case, Gatlinburg.

    The Mouse is reopening the Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue on property this week. That’s the standard everyone else imitates.

    Orlando Disney legend is that, among many other celebrities, Michael Jackson was a fan and would attend in disguise.

  40. Nick Flandrey says:

    Love the Hoop-dee-doo Review! The food is really good too.

    This looks like cirque meets seaworld meets Gilbert and Sulivan!

    —-

    Was only a short time ago we had some discussion here about cutting the gas tax.   Now SloJoe says 

    The revenue from the gas tax is used to help fund highway and other transportation projects.

    He said the federal government has plenty of funds to pay for his infrastructure plan even if the gas tax was suspended.

    ‘We have plenty of capacity to do that,’ he said. “

    –sounds to me like the cut should be made permanent.

    n

  41. Nick Flandrey says:

    Well well well.   While I was asleep,  we got rain.  Not a lot, but some heavy drizzle.   I can see puddles on the street!

    Currently 82F and 94%RH.

    Weather station says 0.10 inches.

    County Flood control district gauges show anything from 0 to 0.64 inches with the closest to me showing 0.12 and 0.16.   Most of the rest of Houston shows 0.0.

    Micro climates, we haz um.

    n

  42. Ray Thompson says:

    the digital zoom on the iphone is better than the optical on my digital camera

    I avoided the digital zoom. Instead opting to use the zoom, and wide angle, lenses on the iPhone. There are three lenses that get selected depending on the zoom setting. Exceed the 3X setting and digital zoom kicks in. Like most phone cameras the digital zoom is horrible. Not a sensor problem alone. The small lenses used are, well, crappy.

    I tell people looking for a camera that it is foolish to get a camera with a 40 megapixel sensor when the optics will only resolve 5 megapixels. Get a cheaper camera and more expensive optics. The results will be better.

  43. Mark W says:

    I gamed an office group lunch surveymonkey years ago by using the obvious cookie tricks. On purpose I voted more times than there were people and got disqualified from voting.

    Amusing, but I wasn’t doing it to make myself look important.

  44. lynn says:

    Vertical again.   Weird dreams.   Grey goo self replicating little crabs.   Probably inspired by the “Others” ant things in the Bobiverse books. Which are real fun, and I’m part way thru book 2 after my vacation reading.

    n

    Or the replicator robots in the various Stargate tv series.

         https://stargate.fandom.com/wiki/Replicator

  45. lynn says:

    Well well well.   While I was asleep,  we got rain.  Not a lot, but some heavy drizzle.   I can see puddles on the street!

    Currently 82F and 94%RH.

    Weather station says 0.10 inches.

    County Flood control district gauges show anything from 0 to 0.64 inches with the closest to me showing 0.12 and 0.16.   Most of the rest of Houston shows 0.0.

    Micro climates, we haz um.

    n

    We got some random rain out here in the sticks too.  Just enough that every square centimeter got one drop of rain.

  46. lynn says:

    But if Russia is responsible for the Freeport LNG incident, it breached explicit warnings from President Joe Biden against critical infrastructure attacks. Technically, it would also have conducted an act of war on U.S. soil.

    –why would anyone be afraid of poopy pants? or heed any warning noises his mouth hole might make?

    n

    What is Slow Joe gonna do ?  He is not going to directly attack Russia by any means.

    Slow Joe might try to embargo Russia but that will stop the minute a Russian sub sinks a USA destroyer, which will happen fairly quickly.

    4
    1
  47. lynn says:

    I just went through my annual hearing at the Fort Bend County Appraisal District.  This is fourth time I have fought them, I won the previous three times.  They raised the value of my nine acre office property from $900,000 to $1,094,774.  I told them about my neighbor failing to sell her 36 acre property for $26,000 an acre in 2020 and that the FBCAD had valued the land for my property at $40,000 an acre.  I did not have a problem with the building appraisals even though one of the comps was almost at Nick’s house.

    Next year should be interesting. A lot of commercial real estate is sitting empty around us, and H-Mart has a new office building going up behind their store, right across the street from a mostly empty four story building which was almost completely rented by Zynga when we moved here.

    Those meetings at the various Fed offices are probably scary.  They are gaming the system and seeing what happens if they take the federal funds rate to 15%.  If their models do not show the unemployment paralleling the federal funds rate then they are deceiving themselves.

    And Slow Joe thinks that the feddies have infinite money to spend.  The man is delusional, at some point people wake up and say where are we going.  Or, somebody attacks your money system like  George Soros did to the UK back in the 1990s.

        https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/08/george-soros-bank-of-england.asp

    I am still amazed that Soros is not spending his life in the Tower.

  48. Nick Flandrey says:

    Huh.   I missed the summer solstice.  Bob never did.  I guess I should be scolded.  

    n

  49. Nick Flandrey says:

    I’m still amazed that soros is walking around.

    n

  50. lynn says:

    Huh.   I missed the summer solstice.  Bob never did.  I guess I should be scolded.  

    n

    It was hot and humid.  And the sun did not go down until almost 830 pm. 

    The wife and I delayed our dusk 1.2 mile walk until 810 pm or so.  Did I mention it was hot ?

  51. Nick Flandrey says:

     Unnecessarily long video but lots of great video of Lake Mead.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCBG_aVkv4s 

    I’m thinking this is a bigger issue than most people realize.   Get out of Cali, or get a 1000 gallon rainwater tank….

    n

  52. Greg Norton says:

    Those meetings at the various Fed offices are probably scary.  They are gaming the system and seeing what happens if they take the federal funds rate to 15%.  If their models do not show the unemployment paralleling the federal funds rate then they are deceiving themselves.

    15%? Volcker goosed the rate to 20% in early 1980 and kept the rate above 16% for over a year. The “Volcker Shock”.

  53. Alan says:

    >> It is worse than that.  All of the dumbrocrats across the USA do not care about the country whatsoever.  Many of them are even looting the country for every penny they can steal.  And their constituents are getting ready to go through hell.

    Not that it’s any excuse for the Dumbs but how many Repubs have clean hands? They’re all still politicians.

  54. Alan says:

    >> I gamed an office group lunch surveymonkey years ago by using the obvious cookie tricks. On purpose I voted more times than there were people and got disqualified from voting.

    Wouldn’t have happened to be 11,780 more times, would it??

  55. Jenny says:

    Four rabbits processed. Getting faster. 90 minutes start to finish including setup and cleanup. 
    They were born March 11. I’m pleased with their growth and think I chose the right age for slaughter. They had enough fat for flavor but not so much as to indicate they’d reached an inefficient state of growth.  Last batch were several weeks older and had too much fat. Past a certain point the weight gain is fat not muscle.

    Earlier tonight I spent an hour with a friend. She’s been a licensed driver fir years but didn’t know how to operate a manual transmission. We worked on rectifying that knowledge gap. Need a few more lessons then she’ll be road worthy. 
     

    Good day. 

  56. JimB says:

    …didn’t know how to operate a manual transmission.

    Soon: double clutching 101.

    But seriously, after she masters the basics, teach her how to reduce clutch slippage when starting from a stop. That will go a long way toward extending clutch life. I am surprised how many people never learn this. They are the ones who get only 50k miles on a clutch. There is no reason a clutch can’t last the life of the car. Changing a clutch on a front wheel drive car is a pain.

  57. Alan says:

    >> Earlier tonight I spent an hour with a friend. She’s been a licensed driver fir years but didn’t know how to operate a manual transmission. We worked on rectifying that knowledge gap. Need a few more lessons then she’ll be road worthy. 

    That knowledge will slowly disappear as Slow Joe and Mayor Pete have EVs take over. Except for a Porsche and an Audi, all have one-speed automatic transmissions. Some hope though…sorta…from Toyota:

    Currently, only two manual transmission EVs are readily available. The Porsche Taycan Turbo S Cross Turismo can be delivered with a two-speed rear axle transmission for a starting price of around $187,600.

    Somewhat more affordable is the 2022 Audi e-tron GT. With a two-speed automated manual real axle transmission, the first all-electric car from Audi can be had for a starting price of around $101,000, advises Edmunds.

    Manual EV that may be on the way
    In early 2022, Toyota filed a patent for an all-electric vehicle that simulates the feel of driving a clutch-and-gearbox car. With an ersatz clutch, make-believe stick shift, and three-mode selector, the concept Toyota Sports EV will give drivers the experience of driving with a manual transmission. Unlike a gasoline-powered car, the electric motor in the proposed vehicle will never stall, explains MotorTrend magazine.

  58. Jenny says:

    @JimB

    teach her how to reduce clutch slippage when starting from a stop

    I’m not sure I know this myself. I am regrettably hard on clutches -grimace-

  59. PaultheManc says:

    @Jenny – re manual transmission

    I have recently acquired a new Honda Jazz (Fit) which is exclusively Hybrid here in the UK.  Practically it operates as an Electric Vehicle, only driven by the electric motor except in a very narrow set of circumstances.  I believe a similar approach will be taken by most (all) manufacturers, certainly for developed countries, on the proposed (?) route to all electric.

    Net is all cars will basically be EV driven, even if ICE powered.  Given this approach, there is no need for gear box or stick shift, so this is a skill that will die, except where manufacturers put in ‘pretend’ manuals to keep some people happy.

    As an aside, the Jazz does a bit of the cosmetic ICE engine management, revving the ICE when hard accelerating and doing ‘dummy’ ‘gear’ changes to make it sound like gear box changes – totally unnecessary, but I assume customer feedback lead them to do this.

    Also – the use of the small hybrid battery is very effective in significantly reducing mpg around town – running the ICE selectively and only at maximum (Atkinson Cycle) efficiency.

  60. MrAtoz says:

    OK16, groomer16.

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