La Salle Explorers

[eCat]

Do all the excursions you can - whale watching, salmon bake, crab bake, train rides - they are all worth it

got them all already booked - the train, the whale watch and seafood boil, and hiking the glacier

We're also going to hike somewhere in Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest since we are getting there a day early.

[Dr. Nostron]

Excellent

[eCat]

I thought this was interesting - brief history of the world behind the Dirty Dancing movie

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/beyo ... ket-newtab

and whats left of it today

https://forward.com/culture/183901/redi ... lorious-c/

[Saint]

my 2001 Toyota Sienna has 230K miles on it, the last 114K by me since 2011. I just put in a new radiator last week by myself (and the YouTube guy) which means the original one lasted 3x longer than it should have. It's got some other issues, but the motor is running great. I hope it lasts another 100K miles.

Spoke too soon. The engine light (which has been on for 2 years due to some vague fuse situation the Auto Zone guy told me not to worry about) is now blinking and the engine shakes while idling. Looks like best case is a bunch of new plugs and probably a coil. Worse case is that the head is starting to do. Either way, I don't think it's going to see another 100K miles, at least not with me.

[eCat]

my 2001 Toyota Sienna has 230K miles on it, the last 114K by me since 2011. I just put in a new radiator last week by myself (and the YouTube guy) which means the original one lasted 3x longer than it should have. It's got some other issues, but the motor is running great. I hope it lasts another 100K miles.

Spoke too soon. The engine light (which has been on for 2 years due to some vague fuse situation the Auto Zone guy told me not to worry about) is now blinking and the engine shakes while idling. Looks like best case is a bunch of new plugs and probably a coil. Worse case is that the head is starting to do. Either way, I don't think it's going to see another 100K miles, at least not with me.

the rear plugs on that is a pain in the ass, you have to take the throttle body off to get to them. At any rate, I doubt its head gasket. The only way you'd blow a head gasket in it is if you let it overheat.

Go back to auto zone and have them run codes for you again - or better yet, buy this
https://www.amazon.com/TT-Scanner-TOPDO ... way&sr=8-8 so you can read and clear the check engine lights.

In the mean time, disconnect your battery cables, touch them together (without it touching the battery) and leave them off for about 5 minutes, then connect them back. It resets the computer and you might be able to get a clear reading on what the real problem is.

[hedge]

"Looks like best case is a bunch of new plugs and probably a coil."

The MIF's daughter's boyfriend is driving some old ass car, I went with him somewhere in it the other week, it was trembling and shaking, no power, etc., he put new spark plugs in it and it's running fine now...

[hedge]

Just got back from Mexico and LA. Flew to San Diego then walked across the border, took a cab to the Tiajuana airport and rented a car and drove down Baja for a couple hours to Mexican wine country. It ain't Napa, but it's not bad. Then dropped the car off back at the airport, walked back across and rented a car and drove to LA. What a shithole. Bums everywhere, feces on the street, needles everywhere, etc. Just kidding. It was very clean everywhere we went, including driving up thru Compton and El Segundo, never mind Westwood, Hollywood, Silver Lake, etc, etc. Every other car was either a Tesla or a Ferrari (well, not quite, but there were plenty). Had lunch with one of the MIF's friends, she's a high school teacher, she just bought a house (900 sq. feet on a quarter acre) for $750K. Saw apartments listed as "Starting at $1.2 million." I think reports of California's demise have been greatly overstated...

[aTm]

Every asshole who couldnt find a place to live moved to Austin, TX.

[hedge]

Well, there are about 10 million assholes who have found a place to live. I enjoyed the visit, but goddamn, it takes 45 minutes to drive 5 miles. So fucking congested. But I sure as hell didn't see many poor folks. Fucking 150 bucks for an average lunch with a couple of drinks. Don't get me started on dinner. But they do have some excellent weed dispensaries. All kinds of products. Once again, I brought back a few bottles of THC infused drinks and a few packs of THC gummies. The MIF wrapped them carefully and put them in the middle of the suitcase. Got home and there they sat on top of the pile of clothes, unwrapped and out of the bag they had been in with a note from TSA laying on top: "TSA reserves the right to inspect any bag. Your bag was chosen for one of these inspections. If anything was damaged, we apologize, but TSA is not liable, blahblahblah." I guess they just don't care about this kind of thing anymore. That's progress...

[hedge]

And when we walked back across the border with our luggage in tow, it took about 10 minutes to roll right thru. They barely looked at us, just checked our passports and said welcome back. I'm not saying that we could've had kilos of coke in our bags (we did have to run them thru an X-ray machine), but easily could've had several ounces tucked in a shoe or some shit...

[SnoodGator]

Just got back from Mexico and LA. Flew to San Diego then walked across the border, took a cab to the Tiajuana airport and rented a car and drove down Baja for a couple hours to Mexican wine country. It ain't Napa, but it's not bad. Then dropped the car off back at the airport, walked back across and rented a car and drove to LA. What a shithole. Bums everywhere, feces on the street, needles everywhere, etc. Just kidding. It was very clean everywhere we went, including driving up thru Compton and El Segundo, never mind Westwood, Hollywood, Silver Lake, etc, etc. Every other car was either a Tesla or a Ferrari (well, not quite, but there were plenty). Had lunch with one of the MIF's friends, she's a high school teacher, she just bought a house (900 sq. feet on a quarter acre) for $750K. Saw apartments listed as "Starting at $1.2 million." I think reports of California's demise have been greatly overstated...

Shhh! Don't tell 'em how great it is in Cali

[hedge]

Some will never believe it irregardless. One thing they all have in common is that they've never been to California and never will. Which is lucky for California...

[SnoodGator]

And me and my neighbors.

[The Gray Ghost]

I thought we rounded up and shot the last morans who used 'irregardless' years ago.

[eCat]

I've been to San Jose, San Diego, San Francisco , Los Angeles, Chula Vista, Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, Pasadena, Cypress, Anaheim, Santa Monica - probably a host of others I can't think of at the moment.

Never had the desire to live there

[hedge]

You didn't like Yosemite or Lake Tahoe?

[hedge]

Bakersfield is probably more your speed...

[eCat]

You didn't like Yosemite or Lake Tahoe?

I liked alot of it, I think Pasadena from a living standpoint was my favorite

but there is alot to dislike about California - and it starts with many of the people living there and their attitudes about America

[hedge]

I would say many of them moved away from places like Paducah for the same reason...

[eCat]

I would say many of them moved away from places like Paducah for the same reason...

only the gays, and nobody liked Terry anyways