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That's too interesting. I've never read an australian car mag but bein it must make for some entertaining reading. It's really hard to trust what American Car Journalists (magazines or online) say about cars and you have to wonder how much of that is based on advertising revenue. Maybe I'll have to subscribe to an Aussie magazine!
tom
Wheels is probably the best of the Australian motoring magazines. Pretty iconoclastic and not fussed whose nose they get up. Motoring magazines are less concerned about offending advertisers in Australia as they are an excellent marketing channel for a host of products whose suppliers want to reach primarily young males. Oddly, few car companies actually advertise much in them as they are not an ideal marketing channel for selling. However, lots of accessory and car related stuff.
http://www.wheelsmag.com.au/
There is a pretty comprehensive site from one of the major newspaper groups which is more heavily influenced by manufactureres, although the road tests pull no punches.
http://www.drive.com.au/
The other major magazine, Motor, is less intelligent and more focused at young men with small penises.
Cheers
Graham
http://business.smh.com.au/business/car-industry-doomed-with-holden-first-to-go-- expert-says-20090414-a4zz.html
I had no idea of how bad it was.
Bob
Now there's some blunt, honest writing.
Here we'd be reading something like this:
"American's car plants are losing money under these intensely difficult circumstances, but we believe in the power and innovation of the American worker, who will help them climb out of this recession and rise to become the standard of the world once again, as long as that check for their advertising doesn't bounce."
youngest daughter was due last Sunday ... they were headed to hospital just a bit ago .. Doctor will induce tomorrow ....
guess who took the day off ... hmmmmmm .....
Bob
The quotes used to suggest the imminent demise of the Australian motor industry are possibly a little alarmist. Australia has passed through a lengthy period of reducing protectionism with local car manufacturers, in particular, being exposed because they had previously enjoyed very generous protection.
There were some absurdities that came from that. Four wheel drive vehicles with ground clearance above 200mm (8" ) are treated as rural vehicles with a lower tariff structure as it was a sector where Australia did not historically have a competing vehicle. Accordingly Australian Outbacks and Foresters have slightly larger tyres and higher ride heights, ensuring that ground clearance is over 200mm. It made them cheaper than the Liberty (Legacy to you). However, the spare tyre was a very tight fit in the wheel well and quite a challenge to remove, requiring a slick plastic sleeve over one side so that they could slide out easily.
Protectionism versus Free Trade is one of the eternal arguments of all economies. All it does is introduce inefficiency to the economy. The hilarious Butter Mountains of the EU in the 1980's are the more extreme end of this, but the US has been particularly susceptible to narrow interest groups chasing protection of their industry sectors. Since the 1980's Australia has been enthusiastically chasing out tariffs, but at the cost of losing much manufactuiring capacity.
However there is a core manufacturing capacity that all countries must maintain, if only to provide a skills base for armaments production, against war risks. Australia is particularly sensitive to this - a large, sparsely populated continent with a serious fright from Japanese expansionism in the 1940s. Its a lesson which stays with us, looking judiciously to our Northern neighbours.
Accordingly, whilst there are real difficulties for the motor manufacturers, I think it precipitate to write it off. We have recently lost Mitsubishi in Australia, leaving only, GM (Holden) Ford and Toyota. Toyota is the fittest to survive, Ford being caught dead handed with big, fuel hungry manufacturing. Holden is viable as a stand alone unit but may be dragged down by the parent company troubles.
The suppliers to all the manufacturers are doing it hard, but the skills base here would be hard to replicate.
I'm hopeful that the economy will bounce back more quickly than the US. The inherently stronger economic base, largely a function of a hesitancy to accept the weird dreams of recent US theorists, means that there is more scope for managing the problems that the economic downturn have wrought. There is also a strong commitment to public infrastructure programmes including railways and road building, which has a significant multiplier effect on the whole economy (and gives us better roads and railways).
Here's hoping that it works
Cheers
Graham
in spite of this being mostly a 'male' forum, I'm going to tell an abbreviated version of the story ...
daughter went in on Thursday evening and they did some things to try to get labor to start ... then on Friday morning they began the official "inducement" drip ... that went on all day and into the night with very little progress ... finally at 2:30 on Saturday morning she got an epidural, they backed off on the artificial hormones and let her get some rest ... this morning they were thinking they'd have to do a Caesarian section around noon ...
I stayed at the hospital all day yesterday other than about a 2 hour break early afternoon to go get something to eat ... then dozed at hospital between about 4:00 and 5:30 this morning .. finally went home about 7:30 and slept 2 hours, showered and went back ...
not much .. and then there was a wonderful nurse on duty today who kept changing her position in order to get the baby in the 'right' position .. and she finally progressed and fully dilated ... the baby was delivered without the need for surgery at 2:40 EDT .. everyone is fine ...
his name is Harrison Dean .. with his middle name of Dean being the same as mine - a family name .. and he weighed in at 8 pounds, 12 ounces ... everyone is fine .. but grandma is EXHAUSTED even though his mom did all the real work ...
I'm headed to bed .. see ya ...
Bob
kcram - Pickups/Wagons Host
Our route is altered now to try avoiding the widespread flooding along the Red River, so we are dropping into easern Montana and down through South Dakota on I-90. So far, things are good. We have moved far enough south as to be well into "Spring" conditions. It feels downright warm here in Edmonton! We hit some snow and slush going through the Rocky Mountains east of Watson Lake, but it was short in duration and did little to slow us down.
Let's see, we saw caribou and two bald eagles in Alaska between Tok and the border. We then saw wood bison around Liard Hot Springs, two fox at different times, white-tailed deer, stone sheep (near Stone Mountain area... big surprise, huh?!), a coyote, oh, a couple moose at various times (standard fare), and, most recently, a group of, we think, mule deer just north of Moose Jaw in southern Saskatchewan. Oh, we also saw a huge gathering of migratory birds in that same area, taking a stop in some water-logged fields near the road. There were thousands upon thousands of them - Canada Geese, various ducks, cranes, and other birds of various shapes and sizes. It was an impressive collection.
We are in Moose Jaw for the night, and should pass into eastern Montana at some point in the morning.
No worries about the family - if you got to Tok without disowning each other, you're golden all the way to the East Coast.
Let's not think about vans breaking down. No use jinxing both of us.
I cannot even remember now when it is that trees typically leaf out down south, but considering they leaf out usually around the second week of May in Fairbanks, I suspect we should see leafy trees before too much longer. It is so warm down here - the temperature did not even dip down to freezing last night!
How are the gas prices? I guess the exchange helps out a little.
Take care and drive safely.
Congrats. on the new Subie Rob. also you juice on the new Miata, I know you have lusted after one for a long time.
Never did mange to get into the chat, despite some marathon sessions with Mod Bob and others from Edmunds, never could find out why I always found myself in a parallel chat room so I gave up trying.
Cheers Pat.
so ... the "other grandparents" went from having NO grandchildren to having TWO grandchildren - a boy and a girl - within 48 hours of one another !
Look at the names .. they could be 'twin names' ..
Harrison Dean
Addison Diane ... LOL
told 'em they made all sorts of new 'people' ... moms, dads, grandparents, son, daughter, cousins, aunts, uncles ....
Bob
Anyway, congratulations again.
Well, have to run, but will post more later. We are in Miles City, Montana tonight. Dave - no windshield cracks so far! Our van's screen is pretty beat up anyway, but nothing new on this trip. First time ever for no chips on a one-way travel down the highway.
Ah, that is just efficiency. Getting all the visiting over at once.
Congratulations
Graham
Congrats again!
kcram - Pickups/Wagons Host
Congrats Brenda! :shades:
but I'm still "ahead" .. I now have SIX grandchildren ! (Doesn't that make me sound OLD?!!!!)
Brenda: Congrats on the birth of your grandchild, and his cousin.
Frank - welcome to the east coast. I'll second Juice's suggestion of uploading the camera and speed trap POI onto your GPS. (Juice- to get rid of the annoying "ding, ding" I downloaded a voice warning of the red light ahead). They even came in handy when traveling around the country-just download where you are traveling through.
Wes - long trip, hope it went well. Sasketchewan brings back memories of working a carnival there about 30 years ago
Pat - hope the surgery went well.
Sorry if I missed anyone.
Mark
P.S.: Did you folks see the article about the 48hrs of Tristate in Drive Performance magazine?
Our c340 has that capability but my Nuvi 205W does not. It has a bigger screen but fewer features.
I should re-enable it for my wife, though, since we've been hit twice by the same speed cam. Her one day, me the next. Now we know where it is.
Sneaky location, too. It's on Rt. 98 in MD, right where the limit goes from 50 to 40 to 30, a school zone that isn't a school zone at night, of course, yet everyone drives through there at high speeds because there really isn't a reason to slow down in the middle of the night, when school is not in session.
I just ordered a 3rd GPS last Friday, another Garmin, this time a Nuvi 260W. That should have the features of the c340 but the big screen and compact size of the 205W, best of both worlds.
I didn't go for the voice activated or traffic enabled because the prices skyrocket and I'm not really convinced (yet) that they'd add that much value.
Will report back when I get my Nuvi 260W.
How much?
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I bet it was just an open box return, something like that. We'll see.
I felt OK taking the gamble because the other units have been fine - they outlive the maps loaded on them by a long shot. I just hope it has the latest maps (2009). If not I will call Garmin before I activate it, so I get the latest POIs.
Price was $125 delivered. They're usually around $200 or so brand new.
I also got a vent mount (model GN047) made by ARKON. I have one already and I know it'll fit in the Miata. Bob might say "huh?" because we tried when I saw him but later I found out the width is adjustable on those, so it fit perfectly once I figured that out.
I'm in pinch-pennies mode right now because all my cash went towards the new Miata. I'm a bit miffed because Mazda increased the rebate 18 days after I bought it.
POIs bug me.. I try to only use Shell gas, but you'd be amazed how many gas stations are gone, or change brands, by the time you start looking for them..
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I have 2008 maps though, so that's partially my fault.
I tend to get every 2nd update. New units are so cheap it's hardly worth paying $75 for new maps. New ones come with new maps!
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Limited internet access. Apparently high-end hotels are very stingy with the ammenities... unless one wants to pay exorbitant rates!
Later.... this place is shuttin down for the evening....
-Wes-
I've been a long hold out on getting a GPS unit, relying on my ability to find my way anywhere in the world with a basic map and a few road signs. However, after the recent bushfires, it became clear that all points of reference (road signs, identifiable buildings, trees, even road surfaces in some places) were missing as we tried to deal with insurance claims.
Hence we acquired TomToms based on one of our city based staff being very impressed. Unfortunately we did not check the quality of mapping outside urban areas and confusion has ensued. Australia is a big place with a lot of minor roads and it seems that the mappers have not got their heads across much of the country.I should have realized there was a problem when driving up a well established freeway which the GPS assured me did not exist. There is something weird about driving at 110kmh on well established blacktop as the GPS displays verdant fields and offers directions to the nearest formed road. It was at about this point that we named the device Eddie, in honour of the shipboard computer in The Hitch-hikers Guide To The Universe - polite, friendly and absolutely useless
Subsequently, Eddie has attempted to direct me across green pastures, through forests and up one way streets. In a polite helpful tone he has offered to direct me to the nearest road when I have been driving down a road constructed 170 years ago. He assures me that there is no number XXX when the residents have lived there for fifty years.
Eddie's strong suit is urban areas where he is mostly able to find his way between suburbs and get you to a street address. However, even then, he will often ignore logical routes, preferring to stick to major roads. All around, not the most useful object but useful for confirming actual speed.
My colleagues have similar tales. One assures me that leaving the voice setting as female is less distracting as he just pretends that the errors in navigation are no worse than his wife's (she is apparently lousy at map-reading!). He says that the upside is that he can shout at the GPS without creating a marital crisis.
The upside to the GPS is that it does provide an accurate Latitude and Longitude. Our local street directory, Melways, includes detailed map grids on each page, so if all else fails, you can at least find where you are. Its not quite how the manufacturer planned it, but...
Cheers
Graham
poi-factory link title (Actually I think Blaine on here gave me that site a while back).
They do have a POI of all the Shell stations (or rather a good amount of them) that you can always upload.
Mark
I've found the maps to be pretty good, but not always. When I went to Hungary 2 years ago I purchased the specific maps of the country since the "generic" one that came with my GPS was lacking in most detail. Yuo might be able to find better software so "Eddie" can work properly
Mark
I find that I am falling very far behind in the technology game these days. Cell phones are no longer phones, but handheld computers that can *also* be phones, and I still do not have a cell phone.... :shades:
On an up note, temperatures here in Baltimore are MUCH more tolerable today! As long as the rain is intermittent, I look forward to spending a little more time outdoors today.
http://bobrooks.com/
Bob
I believe Garmin uses NAVTEQ, FWIW, and you can submit errors to them.
When I got my very first Garmin I was using version 6 of the City Select North America maps. Those were lousy, very inaccurate. It got a lot better by the time version 8 came out, by then I found it was acceptable and was mostly only missing new construction.
After that came 2008, then 2009, and now 2010 just came out, this month. I got a feeling they've made most of the corrections already simple because GPS units are becoming abundant so more people are using them, making corrections, and demanding more accurate maps and POI databases.
Well, mine came in yesterday and it's working well. Copied my Favorites from my other Nuvi (one advantage of sticking with the same brand - it's easy).
Good news - the unit is in perfect condition and appears unused. Not a single scratch on the screen. I'm sure it was an Open Box or a return or something. Ironically the 200W model I bought brand new actually had one single bad pixel, so this "refurbished" 260W is actually in better condition.
The bad news? Well, Garmin allows for free updates for 60 days, so if I had bought a new one I would get the 2010 maps. Since I'm technically the 2nd owner, and this was first turned on in October 2008, I am not eligible for the free map update.
Shouldn't matter - I was fine with the 2008 maps, and it has 2009. I had yet to find a significant mapping error, though the POIs do change more frequently (mostly gas stations change ownership, things like that).
I stayed at the Hyatt Recency (disappointingly cheap hotel - in terms of quality only), so was very near the water break. I walked past there yesterday, and it was quite a scene. Our water was affected on Tuesday as a result of the break.
Back to Alaska today; I will write again tomorrow when I am home.
-Wes-
Stoney's Inn, in Curtis Bay of all places. www.stoneysinn.com