RpMc Posted May 6, 2018 Share Posted May 6, 2018 44 minutes ago, wcblack34 said: I'm actually considering a 6 week working vacation in Poland at the end of the year. Was in Krakow several years ago and loved it. Didn't venture around the rest of the country. I've got it narrowed down to about 16 different places for the base of operations I'm going to Iceland and France in a couple of weeks. I'm pretty excited about that. I’m in Wroclaw, about three hours from Krakow. Beautiful city, and if you like history it’s absolutely full of it. Went to Krakow for a weekend, and Innsbruck in Austria for a weekend as well. I’ll be up near Gdańsk and the Hel Peninsula at the end of the month. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RpMc Posted May 6, 2018 Share Posted May 6, 2018 (edited) An update of profile picture was in order... one of my favorite shots from the Stadium in Innsbruck, Austria. I love Zygi-World but it’s hard to beat a mountain backdrop for a game. Edited May 6, 2018 by rpmwr19 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted May 7, 2018 Share Posted May 7, 2018 (edited) 21 hours ago, french t0ast said: Hey, as someone who used to sell cars at Hudson Ford, Fusions are VERY underrated, fantastic cars! Just glad you didnt get a Focus Well, you'll have to get your hands on them soon since Ford (nonsensically) ain't gonna be selling them anywhere in the US in a couple of years. Edited May 7, 2018 by disaacs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perrynoid Posted May 7, 2018 Share Posted May 7, 2018 28 minutes ago, disaacs said: Well, you'll have to get your hands on them soon since Ford (nonsensically) ain't gonna be selling them anywhere in the US in a couple of years. You might be able to get a Fusion for a while yet: "Fiesta and Taurus could be eliminated from Ford’s offerings as early as next year, but the Fusion could remain in the company’s lineup for several more years, Ford said." https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2018/04/26/ford-has-been-synonymous-with-cars-for-more-than-a-century-thats-about-to-change/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.126747e98d43 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted May 7, 2018 Share Posted May 7, 2018 (edited) 4 minutes ago, perrynoid said: You might be able to get a Fusion for a while yet: "Fiesta and Taurus could be eliminated from Ford’s offerings as early as next year, but the Fusion could remain in the company’s lineup for several more years, Ford said." https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2018/04/26/ford-has-been-synonymous-with-cars-for-more-than-a-century-thats-about-to-change/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.126747e98d43 Well, that's something...because it's still pure nonsense, because when the price of gas skyrockets again (which it inevitably will), people won't be clamoring for their SUVs. I'll also argue that people weren't buying their sedans because of a lack of quality, not lack of demand. The Fusion was the only car that Ford has made in the last 20+ years that wasn't crap. Edited May 7, 2018 by disaacs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heimdallr Posted May 7, 2018 Author Share Posted May 7, 2018 2 minutes ago, disaacs said: when the price of gas skyrockets again (which it inevitably will) why do you think that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted May 7, 2018 Share Posted May 7, 2018 Just now, Heimdallr said: why do you think that? For a combination of factors, many of which include the political factors as well as the need to dramatically fix the aging infrastructure, which the only way that's likely to occur is to increase fuel taxes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cearbhall Posted May 7, 2018 Share Posted May 7, 2018 44 minutes ago, Heimdallr said: why do you think that? Peak oil Fracking may have pushed back peak oil back a few years but we'll still get there and at that point prices will be up, up, up! It seems likely that globally we'll hit peak oil in the next ten years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heimdallr Posted May 7, 2018 Author Share Posted May 7, 2018 1 minute ago, Cearbhall said: Peak oil Fracking may have pushed back peak oil back a few years but we'll still get there and at that point prices will be up, up, up! It seems likely that globally we'll hit peak oil in the next ten years. I'm involved in almost every major O&G project in North America, and I can definitely say we are nowhere near maximum oil production capability, and nowhere near any sort of reserve shortages. All the big energy companies are planning on oil prices being at this level (because they are restricting supply to maintain this level) for the foreseeable future (30+ years). Supply will exceed demand past the point when alternative technologies cause oil demand to trail off. The "peak oil" theory lost any meaning 10+ years ago due to new technologies. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perrynoid Posted May 7, 2018 Share Posted May 7, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, disaacs said: Well, that's something...because it's still pure nonsense, because when the price of gas skyrockets again (which it inevitably will), people won't be clamoring for their SUVs. I'll also argue that people weren't buying their sedans because of a lack of quality, not lack of demand. The Fusion was the only car that Ford has made in the last 20+ years that wasn't crap. Well, I would dispute that. The Freestyle and Taurus's we've owned have been excellent cars. On Heimdallr's peak oil points, I must concur: in the past, an oilfield play was considered spent if 3% of the oil was extracted. Now due to fracking and horizontal drilling, we can actually go back to "spent" oilfields and extract much more oil than was ever extracted from them in the past. Edited May 7, 2018 by perrynoid revised Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted May 7, 2018 Share Posted May 7, 2018 I'm not going to go into the whole fracking thing, just because of the political nature of it, but I will say that I'm not very fond of it. As far as Ford, the last couple of times I have owned Fords (1 of them was a Taurus) it was garbage. I owned it for 2 weeks and the transmission dropped out of it. Luckily, it was still under warranty, but even after that, I had nothing but trouble with them. I buy a Korean car (which was assembled in the US)...have had it for 7 years and had absolutely no issues with it. I also have had a VW for 4 years and it has 175K miles on it, and minimal issues. I hate having to buy foreign cars, since I grew up in a union family, but unfortunately, they are made better, so I have to do what's best for me. If and when the "American" car companies (Ford is not alone in it) start making better cars, then I'll consider going back, since I'd prefer to do so...but they haven't shown concern about quality for 30+ years, so I highly doubt that it will change anytime soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cearbhall Posted May 7, 2018 Share Posted May 7, 2018 19 minutes ago, Heimdallr said: I'm involved in almost every major O&G project in North America, and I can definitely say we are nowhere near maximum oil production capability, and nowhere near any sort of reserve shortages. All the big energy companies are planning on oil prices being at this level (because they are restricting supply to maintain this level) for the foreseeable future (30+ years). Supply will exceed demand past the point when alternative technologies cause oil demand to trail off. The "peak oil" theory lost any meaning 10+ years ago due to new technologies. Glad to hear it. You obviously know more about it than me. I lost interest in the peak oil scare over 10 years ago myself and haven't paid any attention to it since then. I was just tossing the possibility out there since you asked for a reason why gas prices would skyrocket. Personally, I ride a bike as much as possible and use a Ford Fiesta when I have to drive owing to some sense of social responsibility towards future generations. I figure this is a reasonable response to those that were pushing the peak oil scare ~15 years ago. I used to consistently be subjected to the latest in the scare by a guy I worked with until he found a job with a different company. Based on what you say, perhaps I can go ahead and get a big truck without worrying about all the scary things he would talk about. I'll still enjoy the bicycle as much as possible for health reasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gnat Posted May 7, 2018 Share Posted May 7, 2018 That's actually changed a fair amount as of late, where the US made cars are starting to stack up against the Asian cars. Ford has been rated decently for a little while, and Chevy has had some cars in that range as well. I mainly know this because of having a parent who is very interested in cars, still go with a Toyota over most of them in terms of reliability, but there is much less of a gap than there once was, and really now it's just harder to find a poorly made vehicle. Even what used to be the cheap cars in Kia are actually quite good and reliable for the long haul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cearbhall Posted May 7, 2018 Share Posted May 7, 2018 All this talk about cars has me wondering if there is anyone around here that knows much about fixing them. The Fiesta I drive is still pretty new (2014) and hasn't given me any problems yet. However, I own a 2001 Ford Focus Wagon that my son has been driving. I had to use a tow dolly to get it home last week owing to a front axle that broke while he was driving it. I have never replaced an axle before so thought it would be a good learning experience for the boy and I. I got the old one out and a new axle in without too much problem. However, I screwed up the bearings (or they already were screwed up) and I am having a heck of a time trying to replace them. The vehicle has been up on jack stands for almost a week by now. I've done bearings before but the vehicle was a lot less rusty. Anyone have any hints on how to get the snap ring out of the hub assembly? It is rusted in place and preventing me from making progress. I've hit it with plenty PB blaster. Just can't get the thing out. Is there a trick to this that I need to know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perrynoid Posted May 7, 2018 Share Posted May 7, 2018 11 minutes ago, Cearbhall said: All this talk about cars has me wondering if there is anyone around here that knows much about fixing them. The Fiesta I drive is still pretty new (2014) and hasn't given me any problems yet. However, I own a 2001 Ford Focus Wagon that my son has been driving. I had to use a tow dolly to get it home last week owing to a front axle that broke while he was driving it. I have never replaced an axle before so thought it would be a good learning experience for the boy and I. I got the old one out and a new axle in without too much problem. However, I screwed up the bearings (or they already were screwed up) and I am having a heck of a time trying to replace them. The vehicle has been up on jack stands for almost a week by now. I've done bearings before but the vehicle was a lot less rusty. Anyone have any hints on how to get the snap ring out of the hub assembly? It is rusted in place and preventing me from making progress. I've hit it with plenty PB blaster. Just can't get the thing out. Is there a trick to this that I need to know? Pics would help! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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