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We got a fair amount of rain. Almost 3/4" just since midnight. The wind was pretty dramatic with 56 mph gusts around 6:30 this morning. It's much more quiet now, and seems to be winding down.
According to preliminary reports on television, from the teleprompter readers, SF had about 1/4" downtown and 1/2" at SFO.
The plants look healthier in my yard. I may get a good crop of potatoes this year. My 25' tall loquat is flush with fruit. I have no way to pick 95% of it. I can only reach what grows on the lowest branches. I've been advised to cut off everything higher than what I can reach. That sounds rather drastic, but it makes sense. No point in letting a giant tree grow. It serves no purpose since I can't pick the fruit. Someone else told me that I should have started cutting off the top when the tree reached 10'. I guess now, I have an "excuse" to "play" with my chainsaw and wood chipper. Maybe I'll chop down that 20' avocado tree which has never produced any fruit. As a farmer, I am a failure.
Well, I dumped another inch out of my low tech rain gauge today. It has helped with the allergies, but the humidity has wreaked havoc with my asthma.
We were up early today for Sunrise Services. Beautiful weather for it (no snow) and I didn’t have to go and hide 6 cases of eggs this year. It seems that we are not able to attract younger people to the Service/fraternal organizations, I’m one of the youngest in my Lion’s Club at 49. Any ideas on how to bring in some younger members?
It seems that we are not able to attract younger people to the Service/fraternal organizations, I’m one of the youngest in my Lion’s Club at 49. Any ideas on how to bring in some younger members?
The next generation has no desire to participate. As I look around, every fraternal organization, service organization, non-profit community benevolent associated, et cetera. All aging. No next-gen to take the helm. In my small community, my friends, family, and associates are in motorcycle clubs, Masonic Temples, Rotary Club....... my cousin is an officer in our family association. They all say the same thing. No young people are walking in the door. Nobody is coming around to even seek membership, let alone rise to a leadership position.
Then I point out the obvious. There's no enticement. Nothing to motivate someone to join. In the old days, in Chinatown, people joined clubs for mutual aide. When you belonged to an organization, the members gained access to goods and services. If you were to become a member of a certain group, it was known that you could find employment - no, wait, you actually got the job - because that organization had influence over staffing and placement. There were other groups, where the members were merchants, and they would trade amongst themselves with favorable pricing - which meant that nonmembers paid higher prices - making it impossible to compete in the marketplace without being in the association. Then there was the Chinese cemetery. It was, and still is, sectioned off to where certain associations controlled sections. You want to bury your parents, you had to join the association, before they would sell you a burial plot. And if you wanted to start a business, you had to join an association, or you would not be able to start anything. Associations controlled the retail spaces. They decided who got to rent a store front, and for how much rent. Even today, some of the associations are incorporated as "credit unions". Members lend money amongst themselves.
In today's society, I don't have to belong to a motorcycle club. I have no fear of riding without a patch on my back. I don't need to belong to some community society to visit the underground gambling under their control. Very few people in fraternal organizations are hiring managers, who could get away with only hiring other members of the organization. It's not as if I needed to know the secret handshake to get a loan from the bank.
Not that there's anything wrong with wanting to be in a service organization. But there is nothing to motivate the next generation. It's not like the old days, where my dad got a job with The City, because he knew someone. Or how my uncle got into a certain labor union, and was immediately given a choice job at prevailing wage, because he knew someone. I fear that clubs may have to offer perquisites to recruit. It's not like your Lions Club could get patches on leather jackets and tattoos, then beat up everyone who wasn't in the club. Then the only way for them to not get beat up everyday, was to join, pay dues, and help beat up other people.
LOL, yes! The supply chain issues are keeping us from being an $800 stock. The demand is there for sure. I'm just glad I changed careers from Supply Chain / MFG to Engineering about ten years ago. Supply Chain is a thankless job. No one notices when you do a good job, but they sure do when you can't get all the thousands of built to print parts in on time.
Happy two Mavericks for Tuesday Nor Cal. LOL
Went to my church this morning for the weekly men's power breakfast, as I was leaving I saw a light gray Maverick in the parking lot. I was in a hurry to get home, but next week I will try and find out who owns it and maybe get a chance to see if I can actually fit inside. It was the base model with the trailer hitch and connector. I don't know if it was the four pin or seven pin, but that is a moot point. It would save me a trip down to Selma to see one on a dealer lot.
Jim
The Maverick is built on a compact platform. The C2. Same as Bronco Sport, Escape, and Focus. It will be a snug fit. With any luck, the seat will be high enough for you to slide in and out of the truck without too much trouble. My Transit Connect was built on the C1 platform. It feels like I'm sitting behind the wheel of a compact car. The good part is that it drives and handles like a front wheel drive car. The bad news is that you really don't have a truck, since you can't do any heavy lifting with a front wheel drive car.
I hesitate at buying anything which is the 1st generation or 1st year. That's almost always the model with all the faults, recalls, and service bulletins. Wait at least 2 years. Let the OEM sort it out and fix all of the faults.
Remember that this is Ford. Some issues they've never fixed. They sold hundreds of thousands of cars, for decades, with poor quality multifunction switches, HVAC control actuators, headlamp switches, door handles, leaks, et cetera. In some cases, owners had to figure it out for themselves, and then turn to the aftermarket. Like the 3rd brake lights with bad gaskets, leaking. Then either you buy an aftermarket with an "improved" gasket, or you run a bead of bathroom silicone.
And now we're into about 10 years, with Power Transfer Units that go bad, despite being filled with 1/2 quart of 75W-140 "lifetime fluid". Every vehicle owner, technician, and Ford knows that the PTU mounted behind the engine, transmission, and catalytic converters was cooking the 16 ounces of fluid. Some people were drilling holes to install their own drain plugs, so that the fluid can be changed. Dorman began to manufacture PTU units with a drain plug. To be fair, Ford did manufacture the unit with a fill plug - so that they could fill it at the factory. All that you had to do was insert a vacuum suction line into the fill port, suck out the old fluid, and then pump in new fluid. You didn't have to shrug your shoulders, shake your head, and just accept that lifetime gear oil never has to be changed. On the new PTU, Ford includes the drain plug. But it is still a lifetime fluid.
For the Ford Maverick with the 8 Speed automatic transmission, I would change the fluid also. Ford also specifies that the ATF is "lifetime". It uses ULV ATF. Just like the 6F35, the 8F35 has a drain plug, a fill port, and a vent tube. There is no dipstick to check the fluid. But at least it's serviceable.
I will be waiting 2 years to buy the Maverick anyway, as I have to pay off my $10k loan first. So, hopefully by then the new model curse will be abolished by then. Or I could come to my senses, and just put the money into the Ranger I already have. I know I can get in and out of it, and I know what problems it currently has.
In 2 years, the supply and demand balance will shift again. New car dealers won't be short on inventory. They won't be able to charge more for a car than it's worth. You will be able to "kick the tires", and haggle pricing again. Just like the old days. Pay less than the sticker price.
In 2 years, you might be able to get a slightly used model, or a leftover truck that was stuck on the lot from the last model year. Then that dealer has to fix everything, do all the recalls, before you take delivery. It used to be common that you could find a demo model, test drive model, loaner, or just a car that never sold in the back of the dealership lot. Usually the base model that nobody buys.
The economy turned. Budgets were cut. A certain city told the dealership that there was no money to pay for the trucks that they already took delivery of. So they could not take delivery of any more trucks. My truck was one of those. I got a good price on it. I suspect those circumstances will reoccur. We will go from too many buyers and not enough inventory, to dealerships not being able to sell what they have on the lot.
Rezvani's Latest Post-Apocalytic Monster Is a Ford F-150 Raptor Underneath
Slideshow: Called the Fortress, the 850-horsepower pickup combines Raptor underpinnings with military-inspired features, survival equipment, and a starting price of $285,000.
