kuhla

So Apex gets a new "builder" character with an accent and a deployable turret. And Valorant just got a new "builder" character with an accent and a deployable turret. uhh....

I don't want to leave you hanging. Speaking for myself, I'm not sure is the straight answer. I'm probably going to get an oil change in the next couple of weeks. I also am not sure if we will find a road that is much better than that. It basically had everything I think we were looking for. It did not have much straightaways but I that's a good thing because it forced us to keep our speed lower. All the turns allowed for a lot of opportunties to work with breaking, feel the cars roll and other behavior. Again I would have to default to Tino if he has other destinations in mind for spirited driving.

I'm especially disappointed in Germany but look at the other countries in that survey. France, Italy, Greece, Spain are also in the >50% "don't get involved even to defend an ally" group. Those are some of the biggest EU militaries. Unless the numbers are skewed by people not taking the survey questions seriously, NATO really does look pointless. On that same page, just scroll down a little bit to the survey "People in member states say the U.S. would defend a NATO ally" and look at those results. They overwhelmingly feel that the US would jump to their defense. Everyone decries the USA acting as "world police" but offer no alternative and are unwilling to get their hands dirty.

I know this is a really old thread but I did not want to start a new thread. https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2020/02/09/nato-seen-favorably-across-member-states/#public-reluctance-on-article-5-obligations-across-nato-member-countries Results from one survey question from last year. 60% of Germans claimed their country should NOT use military force to defend a NATO ally in the event of a Russian attack. Think about that for a moment. They are obligated by the NATO agreement but they still would not want to. It is disappointing.

Finished it. I was ok with the premise at the beginning but shortly after the story gets going, it starts to go down such a strange path because of a plot mechanic that feels like a giant plot hole. Even if it was an intentional plot hole, since we are talking about a satire, the characters take it so seriously that I just felt completely detached. I do not reccommend it and I have no idea why it gets such high praise. MASSIVE SPOILER LIKE LITERALLY THE WHOLE BOOK: Started reading Wool by Hugh Howe. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13453029-wool-omnibus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silo_(series) Still relatively early. I'll post again once I'm farther.

feelings

Was already posted in group chat. What I still need: Whisper of the Worm (1:28) Anarchy (1:50) Outbreak Perfected (2:11) Legend of Acrius (2:33) Izanagi's Burden & Catalyst (2:43) Bad Juju & Catalyst (3:00) Huckleberry Catalyst (3:12) Ace of Spades (3:26) Ruinous Effigy (3:36) Tarrabah (3:43) Sleeper Simulant (4:02) Thorn (4:24) Last Word (4:47) Truth (5:01) Lumina (5:09) (This should probably be near Thorn in the list if you watch the video) Polaris Lance (5:32) Telesto Catalyst (5:40) Worldline Zero & Catalyst (5:54) Jotunn & Le Monarque (6:28) Rat King (6:40)

I am about 1/2 way into Redshirts by John Scalzi. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14896596-redshirts https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redshirts_(novel) It's a sci-fi parody novel (mostly Star Trek). I am not sure if I have ever read something like this before. It's easy to read (which is why I am already so far into it) and kind of entertaining but something happened about 1/3 of the way in that I am still very confused about and I am hoping they will at least try to explain it at some point. Considering this is a satirical take on sci-fi with some 4th-wall-breaking-ish stuff going on I am not sure if plot holes are intentional or not.

We were talking about my tires yesterday so I wanted to check if there was any newer reviews that included it...... 2020 Auto Bild Summer Tyre Test - https://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2020-Auto-Bild-Summer-Tyre-Test.htm .....and the Falken Azenis FK510 that I have can still hang with the big boys in wet braking and aquaplaning and ends up coming in 7th place (out of 20).

Image below is stolen from here: https://www.powerpyx.com/destiny-2-garden-of-salvation-raid-walkthrough/ Each + sign is next to the platform that it repairs. You have to tether/connect that plus sign to repair that section.

On a sidenote, I have started the return process for the 2-pack of walkie talkies I had and purchased a 3-pack. Different manufacturer this time (Motorola) and better battery options.

2021 Toyota Rav4 Prime Product page: https://www.toyota.com/rav4prime/ I feel there are a lot of things to like about this car. $39k Plug-in hybrid with 40 miles of electric only range. Combined with a full tank of gas means like 500+ mile total range. AWD 8 inches of ground clearance, should be able to go over most standard curbs 302 combined net horsepower Somewhere between 6-7 seconds 0-60 in hybrid mode The 2020 Rav4 has good crash ratings https://www.iihs.org/ratings/vehicle/toyota/rav4-4-door-suv/2020 Apparently they fixed the moose test fail with a software update that you can request from the dealer

Hmm. I'm not sure. I wonder how Tino and I compare when it came to speed when entering corners and if that was a factor in what you perceived.

Feedback: Morning is absolutely best (on the way there at 7:15am). I was really glad we were already on the way down when I saw that crowd of sports cars coming up the mountain. The route we took (see image below) was everything I had in mind for this trip and had lots of turns at both upwards and downward inclines, including blind turns. It crept up on me unaware but I should not have been surprised that my brakes started fading 2/3 of the way into the driving. I guess I do sometimes forget that I drive "the performance trim edition of a city car". Other than the brakes, my car did absolutely fine in every other way as usual. There were a couple of straightaways I floored it on, and could have used a bit more power, but there were so few opportunities to do that and that was not where the fun was anyways. There were plenty of bikers (both pedal powered and motored) and they generally did not cause me too many issues although there was one motorcycle driver who got awfully close to me while passing in the opposite lane. Was what we did overall safe (driving)? Eh. Sorta. I was going as fast as I felt comfortable even though there was the occasional car in the opposite lane going the other direction. I never shot for the apex on any turns and only shifted in the other lane to get around bikers when I had clear view of any oncoming traffic. For documentation purposes, the map of the route:

I'm 90% sure that road is closed to vehicles. I just posted in group chat about it.