[Jean Poitiers]

I prefer the latter 13000 or so posts

But back on topic: has anyone here tried casu marzu?

Doesn't look so bad - from a distance..

We vacationed once in Corsica and I may have mistaken this for road kill in a supermarket cheese counter.

[Racer X 69]

I think I'll pass, thanks.

Me too.

It never ceases to amaze me the disgusting concoctions that people dream up to shove into their pie hole.

[Racer X 69]

The Model A that came after the Model T was available in the following colours: (Not counting striping and mouldings)

• Vagabond Green

From the vagabonds who wander the countryside . . . . .

• Madras Carbuncle (No idea what colour this is meant to be, but I'm guessing a red)

If it is anything like the carbuncles on the human epidermis I think I'll pass . . . . . .

• Duchess Blue

As in the Duchess of York?

• Cigarette Cream

Cigarette Cream?

Like the stuff one coughs up after having smoked too much?

• Chickle Drab

Huh?

• Bronson Yellow

As in Charles Bronson?

• Washington Blue medium

But, but, Washington is the Evergreeen State!

Black paint is actually very hard to manufacture because, while for light, black is the absence of colour, when it comes to paint black is actually often actually a very dark blue or dark purple. True black uses a huge amount of pigment and can therefore be quite expensive to manufacture.In Henry's day, black happened to be a very durable paint, which is the main reason he changed to black for some model year with the Model T. The fact that it dried faster than many of the other colours probably did not hurt either.

I have found that red paint was more expensive. Having an affinity for red I have painted a pickup (ute for you boy's Down Under) and a car red. The cost of material alone would have scared most intrepid do it yourself automotive painters away.

But not Racer.

Nope.

The car:



Somewhere I have photos of the pickup, but their location eludes me at the moment.

Carry on!

A little known fact about the Model T was that, for quite a number of years of production, Ford did not build their own gearboxes. They actually bought the gearboxes (or rather planetary transmissions) from Dodge Brothers. (Later Dodge - The Dodge Brothers were Horace and John) Supposedly, Henry Ford hit on the clever plan to specify that the crates the transmissions were shipped in be made to suit the length he needed to make the floor-boards of the Model T.

I did know that!

[savoche]

Cigarette Cream?

Like the stuff one coughs up after having smoked too much?

Thanks a lot for the image...

I have found that red paint was more expensive. Having an affinity for red I have painted a pickup (ute for you boy's Down Under) and a car red. The cost of material alone would have scared most intrepid do it yourself automotive painters away.

I think the word you're looking for is bakkie

Oh, and if I haven't said it before: nice car!

[ZoeB]

Probably a latitudinal thing, or maybe it's the lack of sunlight up north this time of year.

Or should that be down north?

Nah, it's not the light, it's the lack of vitamin ski. We haven't had snow in weeks, it's all chossy and awful.

[Parallax]

Nah, it's not the light, it's the lack of vitamin ski. We haven't had snow in weeks, it's all chossy and awful.

It's hard to imagine that part of the world not having snow this time of year.

[cbope]

Nah, it's not the light, it's the lack of vitamin ski. We haven't had snow in weeks, it's all chossy and awful.

Similar here in Helsinki, a week ago it was -20c, then we got about 15cm snow, it warmed up and now it's +3c. I would much prefer it to be -10c than all this see-saw weather. The whole freeze-thaw cycle sucks to be honest, especially when they don't clean the streets on a regular basis.

[tim60]

It's hard to imagine that part of the world not having snow this time of year.

Don't you know, fainting from heat effects is more common at Christmas than shivering.

[savoche]

Similar here in Helsinki, a week ago it was -20c, then we got about 15cm snow, it warmed up and now it's +3c. I would much prefer it to be -10c than all this see-saw weather. The whole freeze-thaw cycle sucks to be honest, especially when they don't clean the streets on a regular basis.

Tell me about it

Snow, slush, ice, then some more snow to cover up where those damned icy patches are. And just when the temperature drops to stable wintery level they start salting, turning the snow and ice into slush again.

Did I mention that I hate winter?

[Parallax]

Don't you know, fainting from heat effects is more common at Christmas than shivering.

Maybe if you're hanging upside-down.

[cbope]

Tell me about it

Snow, slush, ice, then some more snow to cover up where those damned icy patches are. And just when the temperature drops to stable wintery level they start salting, turning the snow and ice into slush again.

Did I mention that I hate winter?

Luckily we use salt very sparingly here. The best stuff in my opinion is granite gravel they use here. It doesn't cause melting, which just re-freezes anyway, and it adds a lot of friction. Oh, and our studded winter tires help too.

[savoche]

Luckily we use salt very sparingly here. The best stuff in my opinion is granite gravel they use here. It doesn't cause melting, which just re-freezes anyway, and it adds a lot of friction. Oh, and our studded winter tires help too.

Some places they use gavel - which is so incredibly much better than salt in every conceivable way - but in and around the city they insist on salting, often without even clearing the snow properly first

And then you get an extra tax if you have studded tires... Ok, I don't care too much about that. I don't drive much, especially not in winter. I hate icy cold cars, too.

[tim60]

• A little known fact about the Model T was that, for quite a number of years of production, Ford did not build their own gearboxes. They actually bought the gearboxes (or rather planetary transmissions) from Dodge Brothers. (Later Dodge - The Dodge Brothers were Horace and John) Supposedly, Henry Ford hit on the clever plan to specify that the crates the transmissions were shipped in be made to suit the length he needed to make the floor-boards of the Model T. This has been widely disputed by many experts. But, a friend of mine owns a completely original Model T Ford. So original that it has never been repainted or restored in any way. Minor repairs, yes, restoration never. So, we had a good look at the original floor boards and - yes - these had markings from the Dodge Brothers factory. Strange but true.

• Another anecdote from H. Ford's book is his transport on railways. When he started railways shipped stuff all around and charged by the ton-mile for the route actually taken - resulting in high freight charges as excessive delays as stuff was shipped all over the place instead of on direct routes.
  
  
  He set up shipping contracts based on the rail distance from origin to destination and said that is what he would pay. The result was that stuff arrived sooner and he paid less for shipping.
  
  
  I wish someone would do that with airlines who seem to charge by the seat mile and use hubs to make a modest trip take all day and increase the unpleasantness of travel. The quality of airports in most places except East Asia, where countries take the quality of the airport as a matter of competitive pride with their neighbours, are unpleasant to stay longer than necessary in (for example, they forget to give enough seats for all the waiting passengers, and they are generally somewhat dirty (or worse)) and we add the unpleasant parts of the flying experience, loading, unloading, take-off, landing, and the associated waits. I wish traffic control would not release a plane from the gate until it was a straight smooth drive to the take-off with only one take-off ahead when you get there, and I wish pilots would radio ahead to the airport so that the airport would have a gate ready to park at when they get there. It is especially irritating to get the "we will wait here while they clear another flight from the gate" when as a passenger looking around I can see many vacant gates at the airport and thing, the pilot should call control and ask for permission to park at one of the others, since control is clearly not up to it. If I am driving my car looking for a place to park I stop at the first available, legal location. If I needed permission I would ask, not passively wait to be given permission. The worst was 1 hour wait. It would have been fast to wheel some stairs up to the plane and get us all to get off and walk into the terminal, even dragging our baggage!

[cbope]

Some places they use gavel - which is so incredibly much better than salt in every conceivable way - but in and around the city they insist on salting, often without even clearing the snow properly first

And then you get an extra tax if you have studded tires... Ok, I don't care too much about that. I don't drive much, especially not in winter. I hate icy cold cars, too.

We pay enough taxes, I don't think there are additional taxes for studded tires here. They just replace the road surface every few years on heavily used asphalt roads; concrete and cobblestone lasts a lot longer. In fact, some of the cobblestone streets in Helsinki are a few hundred years old. We also have engine block heaters and interior heaters in our cars to warm them up before we drive. Many parking lots have 230V/10A power sockets for every car for this purpose or you can get a fully self-contained heating unit that doesn't need electricity and you can turn it on from your phone or a remote.

[Parallax]

We also have engine block heaters and interior heaters in our cars to warm them up before we drive. Many parking lots have 230V/10A power sockets for every car

That's the way things are in Fairbanks. You would have an engine block heater, electric battery blanket, and an A.C. interior heater. For those of you from the tropics; the interior heater is necessary to keep the plastics and vinyl surfaces of the interior from cracking.