Just need to vent...

Agree -- anyone who tells me with a straight-face, that a smaller-displacement engine with a scroll will be just as reliable as a larger, more-cylinder'd predecessor, needs to own one as punishment

Even the turbo models of the past (WRX/STI, Lancer Evolution for example) know that turbos make good power, not extend reliability. The only reliable turbo engines are measured on motorsports timeframes, not DD ones.

Another example: no one calls the older NA C6 Z06 Corvettes more reliable than a vanilla LS3 one... but the C7 supercharged Zogs were in shops all the time, if not kiboshing power with onboard s/w, within a few laps of a desert racetrack like Willow Springs. Boost is by definition harder on everything it touches, that's why ring gap has to be opened up and better rotating assembly spec'd, to get any reliability.

So why Toyota of all marques chose to make a drivetrain that has to be rugged and no-brainer-reliable for work-truck duty, out of a 3.5L V6 with two scrolls... is just silly. More heat so needing constant airflow to keep it cool (not gonna get that, towing or climbing or doing normal worktruck things), bulkier and heavier components, and greater cost of repair -- only Toyota's coffers seems to benefit from the change.

Hope the faithful and their refusal to buy into this gaslight, convince the company to wise up, post-Aiko

 

Started driving in the late 60s. Many car's seat backs only went up to the armpit level for drivers 6 ft & over - which made reaching / twisting your torso around easy - to see out the back much. ½century later - 3point seat belts, taller seats with headrests, & very little visibility out the back & sides? Yeah go figure - cameras make visibility still possible out the rear

 

Lots of folks wanting to hang Microsoft buffoons (yeah I know - redundant) for killing off their publisher program for crappier ways to do what you need to do.

This is why we stopped purchasing latest & greatest software as they try to force you to pay for online versions.

 

Agree in principle... but not willing to revert to the other conventions of the era (lap belts only, tiny pillars so huge rollover mortality potential, lots of non-safety glass and no crumple zones) just see out the rear glass

Haven't had any trouble looking out the back, raised in '80s - '90s with full 'bucket' seats w\ headrests (granted, not so easy after the dreaded head-tilt designs that don't function very well as actual headrests) & 3-points but sans cameras... but then again was actually twisting around said obstacles to get a full view (to this day), regardless of extra obstacles vs. 1960s cars. Bit less flexible vs my 20s of course... but glad I do it regularly enough not change my driving from stiffness.

Understand my case may be in the minority, not everyone will have 40+ yrs doing that, or healthy post-40 spinal posture to begin with (huge behavioural modifier behind the wheel). But for those who can't, also can't say they've not basically demanded thru decades of their own inactions, these cameras exist in most US-market vehicles.

 

2 is about reducing theft.

My issue with Walmart is that they don't accept tap payments.

 

All Walmart cares about is making money. They know you will be back for their low prices.

 

Not really vents per se... but some observations and thoughts on stuff seen recently.

-- watched a rather good but probably AI-produced video about the '75 Corvette -- how its sales year was only ~300 under the highest sales year for any Corvette to that year ('69, 38762.. '75 38465) despite having anemic 165- & 205-bhp 350s. '79 had the highest of the C3s w\ 53807 -- which proves all show and no go was what sold Corvettes post-fuel-crisis...

Gripe is, does anyone actually like the styling of the tapered-butt C3s, over the original '68 - '73 bobbed Kamm tail? May've been attractive to mid-'70s eyes I guess... but I've never liked it, even as a kid thumbing thru R&Ts on the newsstand. Both ends' mods from '74 on never appealed to me -- a way to get C3s to pass bumper legislation? And at OEM ride height just screws up the proportions of the back of the car

-- have mentioned before re: disliking drivers who jink left to turn right into a car park, because they have no idea where the right side of their car / truck is. Well noticed another among dozens of medals I didn't have to deal with until perhaps 20y ago: not f***ing looking when you're backing out of a space.

Whilst getting lunch... were walking thru a car park when one of those FIAT-Panda-based Jeeps (Renegatorade?) backed up with me walking up behind them, but to the side. Kept walking to the store door whilst they got closer, obvi not looking... was about to hop out of the way when the driver finally noticed, dynamiting the brakes.

Wonder what that flub would've cost you, ma'am? And a mid-'20s model, so backup camera and big (8") screen. Can't band-aid crap drivers with equipment, they'll just ignore it and keep driving Punjab-jingle-truck-style -- 'if God wants me dead, then it's my time' excuse, let those paying attention and a good lawyer sort it all out for me -- paying attention, so lame

-- lastly, we lost all internet connection on this island about an hour and a half Both thru cell svc and cable, which enters the sea a few miles south of us. 'WuThFug' was insufficient disdain...

Losing access over cable's typical for my provider every few months, as that's apparently how they field updates to their equipment -- install it, cut off all access without any warning, then let Tier 1 handle thousands of angry calls. Usually a reboot to the box and back in biz... but losing access over cell at the same time? That came back earlier than cable... but weird both ghosted at the same time.

Since they'd texted self-congratulations to all their customers re: getting svc back after Lala (which were thankfully rather contained, vs. Big Island east and south coast flooding devastation) -- you'd think it wasn't necessary. Welcome to post-disaster tech under FAFO mgmt

 

Trying to decode Hawaiian:

-bobbed Kamm tail

-R&Ts

-noticed another among dozens of medals I didn't have to deal with

-driving Punjab-jingle-truck-style

-Welcome to post-disaster tech under FAFO mgmt

 

WHICH 'hour and a half?"
Starlink went down TOO?
Daytime maintenance on "the internet" is quite rare.
REPAIRS are less so.
Planned outages are usually late at night and we always try to keep a back-out contingency in place should we need it until the new path or equipment is fully vetted.
Cellular and cable internet sometimes share the same 'back-haul.'
Like that under-sea cable you mentioned.
I'm a mainlander so I have little experience with sea cables (1850s tech) even back when I was wearing dolphins - but Big Bell has people who tinker with such things.
There's also cyber security to deal with when you have self-important people who think that "air gaps" do not REALLY apply to THEM.

Communications is pretty important.
A Marine once told me that he's rather lose his rifle than his radio:
"Son, If you ain't talkin' You ain't living!! - besides....I know how to fight, so I can always get another rifle!"

I get fiber internet as a company benefit, but I know what PACE stands for in COMMS....
Primary
Alternate
Contingency
Emergency.

I also pay Elon $10 a month for a Starlink mini dish and a ROAM plan in 'standby' mode.
It's only 0.5mb/s - about 10 times faster than the old dial-up used to be but it's much more than enough to run an alarm system and one camera. I can make a facetime phone call and do email too.

If the internet goes out as it is wont to do, I can throttle the Starlink up to whatever their rated throughput would be during an emergency without having to get into line and wait for a dish.
I chose the smaller 'mini' system for portability and the fact that it runs on less than 20w - and I've already PROVEN more than once that I do not need 1gb/s to do 'stuff and things.'

 

Hawaiian hurricane damage

 

Seems reasonable.
My first major Hurricane (Hugo) taught me lots......

 

Not only come back for price, they come back if something is extra special. I'm thinking of Seinfeld's Soup Nazi